A certain chief who lived on the island of Oahu in the very misty
memory of long, long ago thought he would travel over his lands and see
their condition. So pleased was he that he boasted of his wide domain
when he met a fellow-traveller. The man said, “I can see the lands of
Wakea and Papa and they are larger and fairer than these fine places of
yours.” Then they decided to go together to find that wonderful land of
the gods.
Soon they passed a man standing by the way-side. The chief asked him
what he was doing. The man replied: “I am Mama-loa [The very swift]. I
am waiting for the sun to rise, that I may run and catch him.” They all
waited until the sun appeared and started to rise above the island. The
man ran very fast and caught it, tied it, and held it as a prisoner for
a time.
Then the three travelled together—the chief, whose name was Ikaika-loa
(The very strong), and the man who could see clearly a long distance,
whose name was Ike-loa (The-far-sighted), and Mama-loa. In a little
while they saw two men sleeping by the path. One was shivering with
cold; his name was Kanaka-make-anu (Man-who-dies-in-the-cold). The
other was burning as if over a fire; his name was Kanaka-make-wela
(Man-who-dies-in-the-fire). They warmed one and cooled the other, and
all went on together.
They came to a field for rat-shooting, and found a man standing with
bow and arrow, shooting very skilfully. His name was Pana-pololei
(The-straight-shooter). They asked him to go to the lands of Wakea and
Papa, so he journeyed with them. By and by they found a man lying by
the path with his ear to the ground. The chief asked him, “What are you
doing?” He looked up and said, “I have been listening to the quarrel
between Papa and Wakea.” The man who was listening to their harsh words
was Hoo-lohe-loa (The-man-who-could-hear-afar-off). They all journeyed
on until they entered a land [24] more beautiful than any they had ever
seen before.
The watchmen of that country saw six fine-looking men coming and with
them a seventh man, superior in every way. The report of the coming of
these strangers was quickly sent to the chiefess who ruled the land
under Wakea and Papa. She commanded her chief to take his warriors and
meet these strangers and bring them to her house. There they were
entertained. While they slept the chiefess gathered her people together
until the enclosure around the houses was filled with people.
In the morning Ikaika-loa, the chief, said to the chiefess: “I have
heard that you propound hard riddles. If I guess your riddles you shall
become my wife.” The chiefess agreed, took him out of the house, and
said, “The man who is now my husband is standing by the door of the
house of Wakea and Papa; where is the door of that house?” The chief
turned to Ike-loa and secretly asked if he could see the door of Papa’s
house. He looked all around and at last said: “The door of that house
is where the trunk of that great tree is. If you are strong and can
break that tree you can find the door, because it is in one of the
roots of that tree.”
Then the chief went out to that tree and lifted and twisted the bark
and tore away the wood, opening the door.
After this the chiefess said: “There are three dogs. One belongs to our
high chief, Wakea; one to his wife, Papa; and one is mine. Can you
point out the dog belonging to each of us?”
The chief whispered to his servant Hoo-lohe-loa, “Listen and learn the
names of the dogs.” So the man who could hear clearly put his ear to
the ground and heard Papa telling her servants: “This black dog of
Papa’s shall go out first, then the red dog of Wakea. The white dog
belonging to the chiefess shall go last.” Thus the chief learned how to
name the dogs.
When the black dog leaped through the door the chief cried out, “There
is the black dog belonging to Papa.”
When the red dog followed he said, “That is the red dog of Wakea.”
Then came the white dog, and the chief cried out, “That white dog
belongs to us, O Chiefess.”
After this they prepared for a feast. The chiefess said: “Very far is
the sweet water we wish. You send one of your men and I will send one
of my women each with a calabash for water. If your man comes back
first while we eat, we will marry.”
The chief gave a calabash to Mama-loa and he made ready to go—a woman
with her calabash standing by his side.
At the word they started on their race. The man ran swiftly, thinking
there was no one among all men so swift as he, but the woman passed him
and was leaving him far behind.
The chief called Pana-pololei, the straight shooter, and told him they
needed his skill. He took his bow and arrows and shot. Far, far the
arrow sped and whizzed just back of the head of the woman. She was so
startled that she stumbled and fell to the ground and the man passed
by.
After a time the chief said to Ike-loa, the far-sighted, “How are they
running now?”
The servant said, “The woman is again winning.”
The chief said to his rat-hunter, “Perhaps you have another arrow?” and
again an arrow sped after the swift runners. It grazed the back of the
woman and she fell. Mama-loa passed her, rushed to the spring, filled
his calabash and started back. But the woman was very swift, and,
quickly dipping her calabash, turned and soon passed the man. An arrow
sped touching the head of the woman, and she fell forward, breaking the
calabash and spilling the water; but she leaped up and saved a little
water and hastened after the man who had sped past her.
“Ah, how she runs! She flies by the man as they are almost at the end
of their race,” exclaimed Ike-loa.
Then the chief called to his bowman: “O Pana-pololei! Perhaps you have
another arrow?” The bowman shot a blunt arrow, striking the woman’s
breast, and she fell, out of breath, losing all the water from her
broken calabash.
The chief took the calabash from his man and poured water into a
coconut-cup and gave to the chiefess to drink.
When the woman came the chiefess asked why she had failed. The woman
replied: “I passed that man, but something struck me and I fell down.
This came to me again and again, but I could not see anything. At last
I fell and the calabash was broken and all the water lost, and this man
won the race.”
Meanwhile Mama-loa was being ridiculed by the other servants of the
chief. He asked: “Why do you laugh at me? Did you not see my victory?”
They laughed the more, and said: “Ka! If we had not aided you, you
would have been defeated.” Then they told him how he had been watched
by the far-sighted one and aided by the arrows of his friend.
The chiefess told the chief that she had one more test before the
marriage could take place.
She said: “In this land there are two places, one very hot and one very
cold. If you can send men to live in these two places we will marry.”
Then the chief said to Kanaka-make-anu, “You die in the cold, but
perhaps you can go to the very hot place for the chiefess.” And
Kanaka-make-wela who suffered from heat he asked to go into the cold.
The two servants said: “We go, but we will never return. These are our
natural dwelling-places.”
There were no more riddles to solve, so the chief and chiefess married
and lived royally in that beautiful land of the gods.