He kōrero i whiria ki te pōuri me te toto, e miramira ana i te hiahia tangata: ko Matapēhi, te whakaari a Wiremu Hakipia, kua whakaorangia ki te reo rangatira.

Ko te kupu i tīkina rawatia i te ngākau, i te whatumanawa hei kōpaki i te whakaaro o te tangata, ahakoa rere taua whakaaro rā ki hea, he kupu kua āta tāraia e tōna kaitārai.

Katoa ngā āhuatanga kua whakarārangitia e Wiremu Hakipia ka rangona mai i ngā kaupapa e ngau tonu ana i ēnei rā. Ko Matapēhi he whakaari mō te mauri whakakite, te hiahia, te tōwhare; mō ngā whaea rangatira me ngā kīngi; mō ngā ruahine taki i te ‘rererua, matarua, maikiroa ē’; mō te ao i kīia ai te kōrero ‘he pai te kino, he kino te pai’.

Nā, kua ora mai anō te pakitūroa pōuriuri, whakawai i te hinengaro, kua tuhia ki te reo Māori e te mātanga kaiwhakamāori, e Te Haumihiata Mason. Nāna anō i puta ai Te Rātaka a Tētahi Kōhine, me te reo aroha o Rōmeo rāua ko Hurieta ki te reo Māori. He tamāhine nō ngā maunga tapu o Ruatoki, he atamai ki te raranga rerenga. Nāna i whakahauora ngā kupu a Hakipia kia kawea ake ai a Matapēhi ki tētahi ao hōu.

He taonga tēnei mā te hunga kaingākau ki te reo o Hakipia, ki te reo rangatira, ki te korakora hoki ka rere i te pānga o ngā ao e rua. I tēnei putanga reorua, ka takoto ngātahi te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā; e rere tahi ana te ia o te kōrero, me he awa rua: motuhake te ia, tūhono te rere, kī tonu i te mauri o te kupu. He aho mārama kei ia reo, e kitea ai he hōhonutanga hōu i tērā rā.  

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A reo Māori translation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth: a gripping tale of ambition and betrayal, prophetic visions and dripping blood.

Shakespeare’s Scottish play is a tale of prophecy, ambition and murder; of lairds and ladies and kings; of witches, cauldrons and of ‘double, double, toil and trouble’ – all in a world where ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’.

Now, this dark and captivating classic is brought to life in te reo Māori by the doyenne of reo Māori translators – Te Haumihiata Mason. The force behind the translations of The Diary of Anne Frank and Romeo and Juliet, a daughter of Rautoki and a master of her craft, she breathes new life into Shakespeare’s language and carries Macbeth to a new realm of rhythm, power and poetry.

This book is a treasure for lovers of Shakespeare and te reo Māori alike, and of the alchemy that sparks where they meet. This dual-language edition places Māori and English side by side, moving through the play like twin currents: distinct, entwined and alive with meaning. Each language casts its own light, revealing fresh depths in the other.

Te Kaitito / Playwright

He kaitito whakaari, he kaitito toikupu, he kaiwhakaari a William Shakespeare (1564–1616). Ko ia te kaituhi kawenga nui katoa ki te reo Ingarihi, tata ana te whakawhitihia o ana whakaari ki ngā reo katoa me te kaha ake i ētahi atu kaitito whakaari te whakaaritia ki te kura, ki te atamira. I te takiwā o 1606 kua whakaaritia tuatahitia a Matapēhi.

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William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was a playwright, poet and actor. He is considered the most influential writer in the English language: his plays have been translated into almost every language and are performed in schools and theatres more often than any other playwright. Shakespeare’s Macbeth was first performed around 1606.

Te Kaiwhakamāori / Translator

I whānau mai a Te Haumihiata Mason (Tūhoe, Ngāti Pango, Te Arawa) ki ngā pāpāringa o Tauranga Moana, ka whakatipuhia ki te whārua o Ruatoki i roto o Tūhoe. Ko te reo Māori te reo o te hapori katoa i tōna tamarikitanga, i pono ai tōna ngākau ki te reo Māori. He wā hoki tērā i ora ai te whārua i ōna whenua, i ōna ngahere me ōna awa, me te aha, whakatōkia ana ki roto ki a Te Haumihiata te aroha ki te reo, ki ngā tini a Tāne, a Tangaroa, me te hiahia tonu ki te whakatipu i ngā momo mea katoa. Ka whakahaungia e Tīmoti Kāretu kia haere ia ki te whare wānanga i ōna tau 30, nāwai ā, ka noho ia hei kaiako i te Tari Māori o Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato. Nō muri ka haere ia ki Te Taura Whiri, ka noho hei Kaitiaki Reo mō te motu. Ko tana pukapuka Te Rātaka a Tētahi Kōhine, tana whakamāoritanga o te Diary of a Young Girl a Anne Frank, i tohaina ki ngā kura o Aotearoa i te 2019. I whakaputaina tana whakamāoritanga o tā Hakipia whakaari, o Rōmeo rāua ko Hurieta, e Auckland University Press i te 2023.

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Born by the sea in Tauranga Moana and raised in Ruatoki in the nation of Tūhoe, Te Haumihiata Mason (Tūhoe, Ngāti Pango, Te Arawa) has spent a lifetime devoted to te reo Māori. Her formative years were spent in a monolingual Māori language community at a time when most of the food on the table was sourced from the land, bush and river. Growing up in this environment instilled in Te Haumihiata a passion for te reo Māori, a love of native flora and fauna and a compulsion for growing things. Persuaded by Tīmoti Kāretu to attend university in her 30s, Te Haumihiata went on to become a lecturer at Waikato University and then worked for many years at Te Taura Whiri, eventually becoming Kaitiaki Reo and a national authority on the language. Her book Te Rātaka a Tētahi Kōhine, a translation of Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl, was distributed to schools across Aotearoa in 2019. Te Haumihiata’s translation of Romeo and Juliet, Rōmeo rāua ko Hurieta, was published by Auckland University Press in 2023.

Endorsement

‘He ao kē anō, he takiwā kē anō i noho ai a Hakipia ki te tito i āna whakaari. Engari ko ngā kaupapa matua o roto, kei te ao nui tonu, kei te ao Māori anō. I tēnei o āna titonga, i pēhia ai te kiripuaki matua e ngā mata a ngā kuia matakite, i nui ai te maringi o te toto, koia nei ētahi o ngā kaupapa tāpua, e ngau tonu nei i ēnei rā, huri i te ao: ko ngā taukumekume o pai rāua ko kino, ko te rere kōtui o te ao kiko me te ao mariko, ko te ngākau apo ki te mana nui ahakoa pēhea rawa te inati o te utu, tae atu ki ōna tukunga iho – ki te kaniawhea, ki te pōrangi, ki te ngakinga o te mate.’
— Mai i te kupu takamua nā Hēni Jacob

‘Shakespeare wrote his plays in a quite different time and place to our own, but the main issues in the plays resonate in the wider world today and in the Māori world also. In this play, that sees Macbeth’s mind overwhelmed by the spells of witches and bloodshed everywhere, the following are some of the key themes, which remain relevant still: the conflict between good and evil, the interplay between the physical and spiritual worlds, the hunger for power no matter the cost, and the consequences of that hunger – remorse, madness, death.’
— From the foreword by Hēni Jacob

‘E whakaahua ana a Te Haumihiata Mason i tōna tohungatanga ki te tui haere i ētahi ao e rua, kia kotahi, me te whai whakaaro tonu ki te mana motuhake o tēnā, o tēnā ao. Ko tana rehe ki tāna mahi kua kitea i roto i te ngahurutanga tau, i tāna i whakaako ai, me tāna i tuhi ai. Ngā tohu rā o tana rumakina ki tā te Māori titiro ki tōna ao, me tōna reo ūkaipō, me te aha, puare mai ana te tatau kia whātare atu ai te ākonga ki te ao o nehe o ō tātou tīpuna. Ko tā mātou noho hei pia mā Te Haumihiata, otirā mā Hakipia tonu, he hōnore tino nui.’
— Nā Mere-Hēni mātou ko Trist, ko Ariana Simcock-Rēweti

‘Te Haumihiata Mason portrays an incredible practical experience in the art of weaving together as one, two very different worlds and languages, in a way that respects the integrity of both. Her expertise and experience born out in the many decades of teaching and vast published works, are testament to the unique Māori worldview and distinct native tongue she was born with, that for ākonga opens a door into the yesteryear of our forebears. Our time with Te Haumihiata and by extension Shakespeare himself was an absolute privilege.’
— Nā Mere-Hēni mātou ko Trist, ko Ariana Simcock-Rēweti