In an interesting book called _The Legends and Myths of Hawaii,_ by
King Kalakaua, there is a tale called "Kaala, the Flower of Lanai; A
Story of the Spouting Cave of Palikaholo," which also involves the use
of a submarine cave, but has a tragic ending. It takes the King
fifteen pages to tell it, but the following condensed version retains
all the details of the original that relate directly to love:
Beneath a bold rocky bluff on the coast of Lanai there is a
cave whose only entrance is through the vortex of a
whirlpool. Its floor gradually rises from the water, and is
the home of crabs, polypi, sting-rays, and other noisome
creatures of the deep, who find here temporary safety from
their larger foes. It was a dangerous experiment to dive
into this cave. One of the few who had done it was Oponui, a
minor chief of Lanai Island. He had a daughter named Kaala,
a girl of fifteen, who was so beautiful that her admirers
were counted by the hundreds.
It so happened that the great monarch Kamehameha I. paid a
visit to Lanai about this time (near the close of the
eighteenth century). He was received with enthusiasm, and
among those who brought offerings of flowers was the fair
Kaala. As she scattered the flowers she was seen by
Kaaialii, one of the King's favorite lieutenants. "He was of
chiefly blood and bearing" with sinewy limbs and a handsome
face, and when he stopped to look into the eyes of Kaala and
tell her that she was beautiful, she thought the words,
although they had been frequently spoken to her by others,
had never sounded so sweetly to her before. He asked her for
a simple flower and she twined a _lei_ for his neck. He
asked her for a smile, and she looked up into his face and
gave him her heart.
After they had seen each other a few times the lieutenant
went to his chief and said:
"I love the beautiful Kaala, daughter of Oponui. Give her to
me for a wife."
"The girl is not mine to give," replied the King. "We must
be just. I will send for her father. Come to-morrow."
Oponui was not pleased when he was brought before the King
and heard his request. He had once, in war, narrowly escaped
death at the hand of Kaaialii and now felt that he would
rather feed his daughter to the sharks than give her to the
man who had sought his life. Still, as it would have been
unwise to openly oppose the King's wishes, he pretended to
regard the proposal with favor, but regretted that his
daughter was already promised to another man. He was,
however, willing, he added, to let the girl go to the victor
in a contest with bare hands between the two suitors.
The rival suitor was Mailou, a huge, muscular savage known
as the "bone breaker." Kaala hated and feared him and had
taken every occasion to avoid him; but as her father was
anxious to secure so strong an ally, his desire finally had
prevailed against her aversion.
Kaaialii was less muscular than his rival, but he had
superior cunning, and thus it happened that in the fierce
contest which followed he tripped up the "bone-breaker,"
seized his hair as he fell, placed his knees against his
back, and broke his spine.
Breaking away from her disappointed father Kaala sprang
through the crowd and threw herself into the victor's arms.
The king placed their hands together and said: "You have won
her nobly. She is now your wife. Take her with you."
But Oponui's wrath was greater than before, and he plotted
revenge. On the morning after the marriage he visited Kaala
and told her that her mother was dangerously ill at Mahana
and wanted to see her before she died. The daughter followed
him, though her husband had some misgivings. Arriving at the
seashore, the father told her, with a wild glare in his
eyes, that he had made up his mind to hide her down among
the gods of the sea until the hated Kaaialii had left the
island, when he would bring her home again. She screamed and
tried to escape, but he gathered the struggling girl in his
arms and jumped with her into the circling waters above the
Spouting Cave. Sinking a fathom or so, they were sucked
upward into the cave, where he placed her just above the
reach of the water among the crabs and eels, with scarcely
light enough to see them. He offered to take her back if she
would promise to accept the love of the chief of Olowalu and
allow Kaaialii to see her in the embrace of another. But she
declared she would sooner perish in the cave. Having warned
her that if she attempted to escape she would surely be
dashed against the rocks and become the food of the sharks,
he returned to the shore.
Kaaialii awaited his wife's return with his heart aching for
her warm embrace. He recalled the sullen look of Oponui, and
panic seized him. He climbed a hill to watch for her return
and his heart beat with joy when he saw a girl returning
toward him. He thought it was Kaala, but it was Ua, the
friend of Kaala and almost her equal in beauty. Ua told him
that his wife had not been seen at her mother's, and as her
father had been seen taking her through the forest, it was
feared she would not be allowed to return.
With an exclamation of rage Kaaialii started down toward the
coast. Here he ran across Oponui and tried to seize him by
the throat; but Oponui escaped and ran into a temple, where
he was safe from an attack. In a paroxysm of rage and
disappointment Kaaialii threw himself upon the ground
cursing the _tabu_ that barred him from his enemy. His
friends took him to his hut, where Ua sought to soothe and
comfort him. But he talked and thought alone of Kaala, and
after partaking hastily of food, started out to find her. Of
every one he met he inquired for Kaala, and called her name
in the deep valleys and at the hilltops.
Near the sacred spring of Kealia he met a white-haired
priest who took pity on him and told him where Kaala had
been hidden. "The place is dark and her heart is full of
terror. Hasten to her, but tarry not, or she will be the
food of the creatures of the sea."
Thanking the priest, Kaaialii hastened to the bluff. With
the words "Kaala, I come!" he sprang into the whirlpool and
disappeared. The current sucked him up and suddenly he found
himself in a chilly cave, feeling his way on the slimy floor
by the dim light. Suddenly a low moan reached his ear. It
was the voice of Kaala. She was lying near him, her limbs
bruised with fruitless attempts to leave the cave, and
no longer strong enough to drive away the crabs that were
feeding upon her quivering flesh. He lifted her up and bore
her toward the light. She opened her eyes and whispered, "I
am dying, but I am happy, for you are here." He told her he
would save her, but she made no response,
and when he put his hand on her heart he found she was dead.
For hours he held her in his arms. At length he was aroused
by the splashing of water. He looked up and there was Ua,
the gentle and beautiful friend of Kaala, and behind her the
King Kamehameha. Kaaialii rose and pointed to the body
before him. "I see," said the King, softly, "the girl is
dead. She could have no better burial-place. Come, Kaaialii,
let us leave it." But Kaaialii did not move. For the first
time in his life he refused to obey his King. "What! would
you remain here?" said the monarch. "Would you throw your
life away for a girl? There are others as fair. Here is Ua;
she shall be your wife, and I will give you the valley of
Palawai. Come, let us leave at once lest some angry god
close the entrance against us!"
"Great chief," replied Kaaialii, "you have always been kind
and generous to me, and never more so than now. But hear me;
my life and strength are gone. Kaala was my life, and she is
dead. How can I live without her? You are my chief. You have
asked me to leave this place and live. It is the first
request of yours I have ever disobeyed. It shall be the
last!" Then seizing a stone, with a swift, strong blow he
crushed in brow and brain, and fell dead upon the body of
Kaala.
A wail of anguish went up from Ua. Kamehameha spoke not,
moved not. Long he gazed upon the bodies before him; and his
eye was moist and his strong lips quivered as, turning away
at last, he said: "He loved her indeed!"
Wrapped in _kapa_, the bodies were laid side by side and
left in the cavern; and there to-day may be seen the bones
of Kaala, the flower of Lanai, and of Kaaialii, her knightly
lover, by such as dare seek the passage to them through the
whirlpool of Palikaholo.