Ko ‘reptiles’ te kupu a te Pākehā mō ngā ngārara – te tuatara, te mokomoko, tae rawa atu ki ngā ngārara nui rawa kei ngā pūrākau a te Māori.
Ngā momo ngārara
I tapaina te tuatara mō tōna āhua – he taratara i tōna tuarā.
Ka karangatia e te Pākehā te mokomoko, he ‘skink’ he ‘gecko’ rānei. I ōna rā ko te kawekaweau te mokomoko nui rawa atu i te ao. ‘E 60 henimita tana roa, he rite tana mātotoru ki te kūiti o te ringa; he parauri, he whero ōna tae.’ 1
I whakapono te Māori he ngārara nui whakaharahara i tōna ao. Heoi, kāore anō kia kitea he taunakitanga pūtaiao hei tautoko i te kōrero nei. Karangatia ai ēnei he ngārara, he taniwha rānei. He rite ō rātou āhua ki te mokomoko, te tuatara rānei.
Ngā uri o Punga
Nā Tangaroa ka puta ko Punga, koia te matua o ngā ngārara katoa. He anuanu te āhua o ngā uri o Punga, tae atu ki ngā mangō me ngā pepeke.
Nā Punga ko Tū-te-wanawana. Nā Tū-te-wanawana rāua ko Tūpari ka puta ā rāua tamariki te kawekaweau (Hoplodactylus delcourti), te tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus me Sphenodon gentheri), te mokopāpā (Pacific gecko, Hoplodactylus pacificus), te mokomoko (skink, Oligosoma me Cyclodina).
Ngā kōrero tuku iho mō te ngārara
He kōrero tā tēnā iwi, tā tēnā iwi mō te takenga mai o ngā ngārara. Tērā te kōrero e mea ana ko Peketua te matua o ngā ngārara katoa. Hei tamaiti a Peketua nā Rangi rāua ko Papa. Ka taka ki tētahi rā, ka pokea e Peketua he ngārara i te uku. Ka mauria e ia ki a Tāne. Ka kī atu a Tāne ki a ia, ‘Me whakaira tangata’. Nāwai, ka puta te tuatara tuatahi rawa ki te ao.
Arā anō te kōrero e mea ana i puea ngā mokomoko i te matenga o tētahi ngārara nui whakaharahara rawa atu, a Ngārara Huarau. I tahuna a ia ki te ahi, mate rawa. Heoi, ka puta ōna unahi me tōna hiku i te ahi, ka huri hei mokomoko.
Tērā a Te Whakaruaki, nāna tētahi wahine i kāhaki hei wahine māna. Ka mau a ia e te iwi o tana wahine ki roto i tōna whare. Ka tahuna te whare, mate rawa atu. I a ia e whakahemohemo ana ka makere mai tana hiku, ka rere. Ā tōna wā ka tū taua hiku hei matua o ngā mokopāpā katoa. E kī ana te kōrero, atu i taua wā, ina hopo ana te mokomoko ka makere tōna hiku.