When the child was about two months old the sky became overcast and
there came up a mighty storm, with lightning and an earthquake. Kaopele
awoke in his dark, watery couch, unbound the cords that held his feet,
and by three powerful strokes raised himself to the surface of the
water. He looked toward Kauai and Oahu, but love for his wife and
child prevailed and drew him to Kauai.
In the darkness of night he stood by his wife's bed and, feeling
for her, touched her forehead with his clammy hand. She awoke with
a start, and on his making himself known she screamed with fright,
"Ghost of Kaopele!" and ran to her parents. Not until a candle was
lighted would she believe it to be her husband. The step-parents,
in fear and shame at their heartless conduct, fled away, and never
returned. From this time forth Kaopele was never again visited by a
trance; his virtue had gone out from him to the boy Kalelealuaka.
When Kalelealuaka was ten years old Kaopele began to train the
lad in athletic sports and to teach him all the arts of war and
combat practised throughout the islands, until he had attained
great proficiency in them. He also taught him the arts of running
and jumping, so that he could jump either up or down a high _pali_,
or run, like a waterfowl on the surface of the water. After this, one
day Kalelealuaka went over to Wailua, where he witnessed the games
of the chiefs. The youth spoke contemptuously of their performances
as mere child's play; and when his remark was reported to the King
he challenged the young man to meet him in a boxing encounter. When
Kalelealuaka came into the presence of the King his royal adversary
asked him what wager he brought. As the youth had nothing with
him, he seriously proposed that each one should wager his own body
against that of the other one. The proposal was readily accepted. The
herald sounded the signal of attack, and both contestants rushed
at each other. Kalelealuaka warily avoided the attack by the King,
and hastened to deliver a blow which left his opponent at his mercy;
and thereupon, using his privilege, he robbed the King of his life,
and to the astonishment of all, carried away the body to lay as
a sacrifice on the altar of the temple, hitherto unconsecrated by
human sacrifice, which he and his father Kaopele had recently built
in honor of their deity.
After a time there reached the ear of Kalelealuaka a report of the
great strength of a certain chief who lived in Hanalei. Accordingly,
without saying anything about his intention, he went over to the
valley of Hanalei. He found the men engaged in the game of throwing
heavy spears at the trunk of a cocoanut-tree. As on the previous
occasion, he invited a challenge by belittling their exploits, and
when challenged by the chief, fearlessly proposed, as a wager, the
life of one against the other. This was accepted, and the chief had
the first trial. His spear hit the stem of the huge tree and made
its lofty crest nod in response to the blow. It was now the turn
of Kalelealuaka to hurl the spear. In anticipation of the failure
of the youth and his own success, the chief took the precaution to
station his guards about Kalelealuaka, to be ready to seize him on
the instant. In a tone of command our hero bade the guards fall back,
and brandishing his spear, stroked and polished it with his hands from
end to end; then he poised and hurled it, and to the astonishment of
all, lo! the tree was shivered to pieces. On this the people raised
a shout of admiration at the prowess of the youth, and declared he
must be the same hero who had slain the chief at Wailua. In this way
Kalelealuaka obtained a second royal sacrifice with which to grace
the altar of his temple.
One clear, calm evening, as Kalelealuaka looked out to sea, he
descried the island of Oahu, which is often clearly visible from
Kauai, and asked his father what land that was that stood out against
them. Kaopele told the youth it was Oahu; that the cape that swam out
into the ocean like a waterfowl was Kaena; that the retreating contour
of the coast beyond was Waianae. Thus he described the land to his
son. The result was that the adventurous spirit of Kalelealuaka was
fired to explore this new island for himself, and he expressed this
wish to his father. Everything that Kalelealuaka said or did was good
in the eye of his father, Kaopele. Accordingly, he immediately set to
work and soon had a canoe completely fitted out, in which Kalelealuaka
might start on his travels. Kalelealuaka took with him, as travelling
companion, a mere lad named Kaluhe, and embarked in his canoe. With
two strokes of the paddle his prow grated on the sands of Waianae.
Before leaving Kauai his father had imparted to Kalelealuaka something
of the topography of Oahu, and had described to him the site of
his former plantation at Keahumoe. At Waianae the two travellers
were treated affably by the people of the district. In reply to the
questions put them, they said they were going sight-seeing. As they
went along they met a party of boys amusing themselves with darting
arrows; one of them asked permission to join their party. This was
given, and the three turned inland and journeyed till they reached a
plain of soft, whitish rock, where they all refreshed themselves with
food. Then they kept on ascending, until Keahumoe lay before them,
dripping with hoary moisture from the mist of the mountain, yet as if
smiling through its tears. Here were standing bananas with ripened,
yellow fruit, upland kalo, and sugar cane, rusty and crooked with
age, while the sweet potatoes had crawled out of the earth and were
cracked and dry. It was the very place where Kaopele, the father of
Kalelealuaka, had years before set out the plants from which these
were descended.
"This is our food, and a good place, perhaps, for us to settle down,"
said Kalelealuaka; "but before we make up our minds to stay here let
me dart an arrow; and if it drops soon we shall stay, but if it flies
afar we shall not tarry here." Kalelealuaka darted his arrow, while
his companions looked on intently. The arrow flew along, passing over
many a hill and valley, and finally rested beyond Kekuapoi, while
they followed the direction of its wonderful flight. Kalelealuaka
sent his companions on to find the arrow, telling them at the same
time to go to the villages and get some awa roots for drink, while
he would remain there and put up a shelter for them.
On their way the two companions of Kalelealuaka encountered a number
of women washing kalo in a stream, and on asking them if they had
seen their arrow flying that way they received an impertinent answer;
whereupon they called out the name of the arrow, "Pua-ne, Pua-ne,"
and it came to their hands at once. At this the women ran away,
frightened at the marvel.
The two boys then set to gathering awa roots, as they had been
bidden. Seeing them picking up worthless fragments, a kind-hearted
old man, who turned out to be the konohiki of the land, sent by his
servants an abundance of good food to Kalelealuaka.
On their return the boys found, to their astonishment, that during
their absence Kalelealuaka had put up a fine, large house, which
was all complete but the mats to cover the floors. The kind-hearted
_konohili_ remarked this, and immediately sent her servants to
fetch mats for the floors and sets of kapa for bedding, adding the
command, "And with them bring along some _malos_" (girdles used by
the males). Soon all their wants were supplied, and the three youths
were set up in housekeeping. To these services the konohiki, through
his attendants, added still others; some chewed and strained the awa,
while others cooked and spread for them a bountiful repast. The three
youths ate and drank, and under the drowsy influence of the awa they
slept until the little birds that peopled the wilderness about them
waked them with their morning songs; then they roused and found the
sun already climbing the heavens.
Now, Kalelealuaka called to his comrades, and said, "Rouse up and let
us go to cultivating." To this they agreed, and each one set to work in
his own way, working his own piece of ground. The ground prepared by
Kalelealuaka was a strip of great length, reaching from the mountain
down toward the ocean. This he cleared and planted the same day. His
two companions, however, spent several days in clearing their ground,
and then several days more in planting it. While these youths occupied
their mountain home, the people of that region were well supplied
with food. The only lack of Kalelealuaka and his comrades was animal
food (literally, fish), but they supplied its place as well as they
could with such herbs as the tender leaves of the popolo, which they
cooked like spinach, and with inamona made from the roasted nuts of
the kukui tree (_Aleurites molluccana_).
One day, as they were eking out their frugal meal with a mess of popolo
cooked by the lad from Waianae, Kalelealuaka was greatly disgusted at
seeing a worm in that portion that the youth was eating, and thereupon
nicknamed him _Keinohoomanawanui_ (sloven, or more literally, the
persistently unclean). The name ever after stuck to him. This same
fellow had the misfortune, one evening, to injure one of his eyes by
the explosion of a kukui nut which he was roasting on the fire. As a
result, that member was afflicted with soreness, and finally became
blinded. But their life agreed with them, and the youths throve and
increased in stature, and grew to be stout and lusty young men.
Now, it happened that ever since their stay at their mountain house,
_Lelepua_ (arrow flight), they had kept a torch burning all night,
which was seen by Kakuhihewa, the King of Oahu, and had caused him
uneasiness.
One fine evening, when they had eaten their fill and had gone to bed,
Kalelealuaka called to Keinohoomanawanui and said, "Halloo there! are
you asleep?"
And he replied, "No; have I drunk awa? I am restless. My eyes will
not close."
"Well," said Kalelealuaka, "when you are restless at night, what does
your mind find to do?"
"Nothing," said the Sloven.
"I find something to think about," said Kalelealuaka.
"What is that?" said the Sloven.
"Let us wish" (_kuko_, literally, to lust), said Kalelealuaka.
"What shall we wish?" said the Sloven.
"Whatever our hearts most earnestly desire," said
Kalelealuaka. Thereupon they both wished. The Sloven, in accordance
with his nature, wished for things to eat,--the eels, from the
fish-pond of Hanaloa (in the district of Ewa), to be cooked in an
oven together with sweet potatoes, and a bowl of awa.
"Pshaw, what a beggarly wish!" said Kalelealuaka. "I thought you had
a real wish. I have a genuine wish. Listen: The beautiful daughters
of Kakuhihewa to be my wives; his fatted pigs and dogs to be baked
for us; his choice kalo, sugar cane, and bananas to be served up for
us; that Kakuhihewa himself send and get timber and build a house
for us; that he pull the famous awa of Kahauone; that the King send
and fetch us to him; that he chew the awa for us in his own mouth,
strain and pour it for us, and give us to drink until we are happy,
and then take us to our house."
Trembling with fear at the audacious ambition of his concupiscent
companion, the Sloven replied, "If your wish should come to the ears
of the King, we shall die; indeed, we should die."
In truth, as they were talking together and uttering their wishes,
Kakuhihewa had arrived, and was all the time listening to their
conversation from the outside of their house. When the King had heard
their conversation he thrust his spear into the ground outside the
inclosure about Kalelealuaka's house, and by the spear placed his
stone hatchet (_pahoa_), and immediately returned to his residence at
Puuloa. Upon his arrival at home that night King Kakuhihewa commanded
his stewards to prepare a feast, and then summoned his chiefs and
table companions and said, "Let us sup." When all was ready and they
had seated themselves, the King said, "Shall we eat, or shall we talk?"
One of them replied: "If it please the King, perhaps it were better
for him to speak first; it may be what he has to say touches a matter
of life and death; therefore, let him speak and we will listen."
Then Kakuhihewa told them the whole story of the light seen in the
mountains, and of the wishes of Kalelealuaka and the Sloven.
Then up spoke the soldiers, and said: "Death! This man is worthy to
be put to death; but as for the other one, let him live."
"Hold," said the King, "not so fast! Before condemning him to death,
I will call together the wise men, priests, wizards, and soothsayers;
perchance they will find that this is the man to overcome Kualii in
battle." Thereupon all the wise men, priests, wizards, and soothsayers
were immediately summoned, and after the King had explained the whole
story to them they agreed with the opinion of the soldiers. Again
the King interposed delay, and said, "Wait until my wise kahuna
Napuaikamao comes; if his opinion agrees with yours, then, indeed,
let the man be put to death; but if he is wiser than you, the man
shall live. But you will have eaten this food in vain."
So the King sent one of his fleetest runners to go and fetch
Napuaikamao. To him the King said, "I have sent for you to decide
what is just and right in the case of these two men who lived up in
the region of Waipio." Then he went on to state the whole case to
this wise man.
"In regard to Keinohoomanawanui's wish," said the wise man, "that is an
innocent wish, but it is profitless and will bring no blessing." At
the narration of Kalelealuaka's wish he inclined his head, as if
in thought; then lifting his head, he looked at the King and said:
"O King, as for this man's wish, it is an ambition which will bring
victory to the government. Now, then, send all your people and fetch
house-timber and awa."
As soon as the wise man had given this opinion, the King commanded
his chief marshal, Maliuhaaino, to set every one to work to carry
out the directions of this counsellor. This was done, and before
break of day every man, woman, and child in the district of Ewa,
a great multitude, was on the move.
Now, when the Sloven awoke in the morning and went out of doors,
he found the stone hatchet (_pahoa_) of the King, with his spear,
standing outside of the house. On seeing this he rushed back into
the house and exclaimed to his comrades, "Alas! our wishes have been
overheard by the King; here are his hatchet and his spear. I said
that if the King heard us we should die, and he has indeed heard
us. But yours was the fatal ambition; mine was only an innocent wish."
Even while they were talking, the babble of the multitude drew near,
and the Sloven exclaimed, "Our death approaches!"
Kalelealuaka replied, "That is not for our death; it is the people
coming to get timber for our houses." But the fear of the Sloven
would not be quieted.
The multitude pressed on, and by the time the last of them had reached
the mountain the foremost had returned to the sea-coast and had begun
to prepare the foundations for the houses, to dig the holes for the
posts, to bind on the rafters and the small poles on which they tied
the thatch, until the houses were done.
Meantime, some were busy baking the pigs and the poi-fed dogs in ovens;
some in bringing the eels of Kanaloa and cooking them with potatoes
in an oven by themselves.
The houses are completed, everything is ready, the grand marshal,
Maliuhaaino, has just arrived in front of the house of the ambitious
youth Kalelealuaka, and calls out "Keinohoomanawanui, come out!" and
he comes out, trembling. "Kalelealuaka, come out!" and he first sends
out the boy Kaluhe and then comes forth himself and stands outside,
a splendid youth. The marshal stands gazing at him in bewilderment
and admiration. When he has regained his equanimity he says to him,
"Mount on my back and let us go down."
"No," said Kalelealuaka, "I will go by myself, and do you walk ahead. I
will follow after; but do not look behind you, lest you die."
As soon as they had started down, Kalelealuaka was transported to
Kuaikua, in Helemano. There he plunged into the water and bathed all
over; this done, he called on his ancestral shades (_Aumakua_), who
came and performed on him the rite of circumcision while lightning
flashed, thunder sounded, and the earth quaked.
Kaopele, on Kauai, heard the commotion and exclaimed, "Ah! my son
has received the purifying rite--the offspring of the gods goes to
meet the sovereign of the land" (_Alii aimoku_).
Meanwhile, the party led by Maliuhaaino was moving slowly down toward
the coast, because the marshal himself was lame. Returning from his
purification, Kalelealuaka alighted just to the rear of the party,
who had not noticed his absence, and becoming impatient at the tedious
slowness of the journey,--for the day was waning, and the declining
sun was already standing over a peak of the Waianae Mountains called
Puukuua,--this marvellous fellow caught up the lame marshal in one hand
and his two comrades in the other, and, flying with them, set them down
at Puuloa. But the great marvel was, that they knew nothing about being
transported, yet they had been carried and set down as from a sheet.
On their arrival at the coast all was ready, and the people
were waiting for them. A voice called out, "Here is you house,
Keinohoomanawanui!" and the Sloven entered with alacrity and found
bundles of his wished-for eels and potatoes already cooked and awaiting
his disposal.
But Kalelealuaka proudly declined to enter the house prepared for
himself when the invitation came to him, "Come in! this is your
house," all because his little friend Kaluhe, whose eyes had often
been filled with smoke while cooking _luau_ and roasting kukui nuts
for him, had not been included in the invitation, and he saw that
no provision had been made for him. When this was satisfactorily
arranged Kalelealuaka and his little friend entered and sat down to
eat. The King, with his own hand, poured out awa for Kalelealuaka,
brought him a gourd of water to rinse his mouth, offered him food,
and waited upon him till he had supplied all his wants.
Now, when Kalelealuaka had well drunken, and was beginning to feel
drowsy from the awa, the lame marshal came in and led him to the two
daughters of Kakuhihewa, and from that time these two lovely girls
were his wives.