“He did not mention that his skill was as a carver. He had never sold pounamu. He would not sell pounamu. For one could not put a price upon a treasure, just as one could not purchase mana, and one could not make a bargain with a god. Gold was not a treasure – this Tauwhare knew. Gold was like all capital in that it had no memory: its drift was always onward, away from the past.”
