CHAPTER I

THE HAWAIIAN ROMANCE OF

LAIEIKAWAI

WITH INTRODUCTION AND TRANSLATION

BY

MARTHA WARREN BECKWITH

[Illustration: A KAHUNA OR NATIVE SORCERER]

PREFACE

This work of translation has been undertaken out of love for the land of

Hawaii and for the Hawaiian people. To all those who have generously aided

to further the study I wish to express my grateful thanks. I am indebted to

the curator and trustees of the Bishop Museum for so kindly placing at my

disposal the valuable manuscripts in the museum collection, and to Dr.

Brigham, Mr. Stokes, and other members of the museum staff for their help

and suggestions, as well as to those scholars of Hawaiian who have

patiently answered my questions or lent me valuable material--to Mr. Henry

Parker, Mr. Thomas Thrum, Mr. William Rowell, Miss Laura Green, Mr. Stephen

Desha, Judge Hazelden of Waiohinu, Mr. Curtis Iaukea, Mr. Edward

Lilikalani, and Mrs. Emma Nawahi. Especially am I indebted to Mr. Joseph

Emerson, not only for the generous gift of his time but for free access to

his entire collection of manuscript notes. My thanks are also due to the

hosts and hostesses through whose courtesy I was able to study in the

field, and to Miss Ethel Damon for her substantial aid in proof reading.

Nor would I forget to record with grateful appreciation those Hawaiian

interpreters whose skill and patience made possible the rendering into

English of their native romance--Mrs. Pokini Robinson of Maui, Mr. and Mrs.

Kamakaiwi of Pahoa, Hawaii, Mrs. Kama and Mrs. Supé of Kalapana, and Mrs.

Julia Bowers of Honolulu. I wish also to express my thanks to those

scholars in this country who have kindly helped me with their criticism--to

Dr. Ashley Thorndike, Dr. W.W. Lawrence, Dr. A.C.L. Brown, and Dr. A.A.

Goldenweiser. I am indebted also to Dr. Roland Dixon for bibliographical

notes. Above all, thanks are due to Dr. Franz Boas, without whose wise and

helpful enthusiasm this study would never have been undertaken.

MARTHA WARREN BECKWITH.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY,

October, 1917.

CONTENTS

Introduction

I. The book and its writer

II. Nature and the Gods as reflected in the story

1. Polynesian origin of Hawaiian romance

2. Polynesian cosmogony

3. The demigod as hero

4. The earthly paradise; divinity in man and nature

5. The story: its mythical character

6. The story as a reflection of aristocratic social life

III. The art of composition

1. Aristocratic nature of Polynesian art

2. Nomenclature: its emotional value

3. Analogy: its pictorial quality

4. The double meaning; plays on words

5. Constructive elements of style

IV. Conclusions

Persons in the story

Action of the story

Background of the story

Text and translation

Chapter I. The birth of the Princess[A]

II. The flight to Paliuli

III. Kauakahialii meets the Princess

VI. Aiwohikupua goes to woo the Princess

V. The boxing match with Cold-nose

VI. The house thatched with bird feathers

VII. The Woman of the Mountain

VIII. The refusal of the Princess

IX. Aiwohikupua deserts his sisters

X. The sisters' songs

XI. Abandoned in the forest

XII. Adoption by the Princess

XIII. Hauailiki goes surf riding

XIV. The stubbornness of Laieikawai

XV. Aiwohikupua meets the guardians of Paliuli

XVI. The Great Lizard of Paliuli

XVII. The battle between the Dog and the Lizard

XVIII. Aiwohikupua's marriage with the Woman of the Mountain

XIX. The rivalry of Hina and Poliahu

XX. A suitor is found for the Princess

XXI. The Rascal of Puna wins the Princess

XXII. Waka's revenge

XXIII. The Puna Rascal deserts the Princess

XXIV. The marriage of the chiefs

XXV. The Seer finds the Princess

XXVI. The Prophet of God

XXVII. A journey to the Heavens

XXVIII. The Eyeball-of-the-Sun

XXIX. The warning of vengeance

XXX. The coming of the Beloved

XXXI. The Beloved falls into sin

XXXII. The Twin Sister

XXXIII. The Woman of Hana

XXXIV. The Woman of the Twilight

[Footnote A: The titles of chapters are added for

convenience in reference and are not found in the text.]

Notes on the text

Appendix: Abstracts from Hawaiian stories

I. Song of Creation, as translated by Liliuokalani

II. Chants relating to the origin of the group

III. Hawaiian folk tales, romances, or moolelo

Index to references

ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE 91. A kahuna or native sorcerer

92. In the forests of Puna

93. A Hawaiian paddler

94. Mauna Kea in its mantle of snow

95. A native grass house of the humbler class

INTRODUCTION

I. THE BOOK AND ITS WRITER; SCOPE OF THE PRESENT EDITION

The _Laieikawai_ is a Hawaiian romance which recounts the wooing of a

native chiefess of high rank and her final deification among the gods.

The story was handed down orally from ancient times in the form of a

_kaao_, a narrative rehearsed in prose interspersed with song, in which

form old tales are still recited by Hawaiian story-tellers.[1] It was

put into writing by a native Hawaiian, Haleole by name, who hoped thus

to awaken in his countrymen an interest in genuine native story-telling

based upon the folklore of their race and preserving its ancient

customs--already fast disappearing since Cook's rediscovery of the group

in 1778 opened the way to foreign influence--and by this means to

inspire in them old ideals of racial glory. Haleole was born about the

time of the death of Kaméhaméha I, a year or two before the arrival of

the first American missionaries and the establishment of the Protestant

mission in Hawaii. In 1834 he entered the mission school at Lahainaluna,

Maui, where his interest in the ancient history of his people was

stimulated and trained under the teaching of Lorrin Andrews, compiler of

the Hawaiian dictionary, published in 1865, and Sheldon Dibble, under

whose direction David Malo prepared his collection of "Hawaiian

Antiquities," and whose History of the Sandwich Islands (1843) is an

authentic source for the early history of the mission. Such early

Hawaiian writers as Malo, Kamakau, and John Ii were among Haleole's

fellow students. After leaving school he became first a teacher, then an

editor. In the early sixties he brought out the _Laieikawai_, first as

a serial in the Hawaiian newspaper, the _Kuokoa_, then, in 1863, in book

form.[2] Later, in 1885, two part-Hawaiian editors, Bolster and Meheula,

revised and reprinted the story, this time in pamphlet form, together

with several other romances culled from Hawaiian journals, as the

initial volumes of a series of Hawaiian reprints, a venture which ended

in financial failure.[3] The romance of _Laieikawai_ therefore remains

the sole piece of Hawaiian, imaginative writing to reach book form. Not

only this, but it represents the single composition of a Polynesian mind

working upon the material of an old legend and eager to create a genuine

national literature. As such it claims a kind of classic interest.

The language, although retaining many old words unfamiliar to the

Hawaiian of to-day, and proverbs and expressions whose meaning is now

doubtful, is that employed since the time of the reduction of the speech

to writing in 1820, and is easily read at the present day. Andrews

incorporated the vocabulary of this romance into his dictionary, and in

only a few cases is his interpretation to be questioned. The songs,

though highly figurative, present few difficulties. So far as the

meaning is concerned, therefore, the translation is sufficiently

accurate. But as regards style the problem is much more difficult. To

convey not only the meaning but exactly the Hawaiian way of seeing

things, in such form as to get the spirit of the original, is hardly

possible to our language. The brevity of primitive speech must be

sacrificed, thus accentuating the tedious repetition of detail--a trait

sufficiently characteristic of Hawaiian story-telling. Then, too, common

words for which we have but one form, in the original employ a variety

of synonyms. "Say" and "see" are conspicuous examples. Other words

identical in form convey to the Polynesian mind a variety of ideas

according to the connection in which they are used--a play upon words

impossible to translate in a foreign idiom. Again, certain relations

that the Polynesian conceives with exactness, like those of direction

and the relation of the person addressed to the group referred to, are

foreign to our own idiom; others, like that of time, which we have more

fully developed, the Polynesian recognizes but feebly. In face of these

difficulties the translator has reluctantly foregone any effort to

heighten the charm of the strange tale by using a fictitious idiom or by

condensing and invigorating its deliberation. Haleole wrote his tale

painstakingly, at times dramatically, but for the most part concerned

for its historic interest. We gather from his own statement and from the

breaks in the story that his material may have been collected from

different sources. It seems to have been common to incorporate a

_Laieikawai_ episode into the popular romances, and of these episodes

Haleole may have availed himself. But we shall have something more to

say of his sources later; with his particular style we are not

concerned. The only reason for presenting the romance complete in all

its original dullness and unmodified to foreign taste is with the

definite object of showing as nearly as possible from the native angle

the genuine Polynesian imagination at work upon its own material,

reconstructing in this strange tale of the "Woman of the Twilight" its

own objective world, the social interests which regulate its actions and

desires, and by this means to portray the actual character of the

Polynesian mind.

This exact thing has not before been done for Hawaiian story and I do

not recall any considerable romance in a Polynesian tongue so

rendered.[4] Admirable collections of the folk tales of Hawaii have been

gathered by Thrum, Remy, Daggett, Emerson, and Westervelt, to which

should be added the manuscript tales collected by Fornander, translated

by John Wise, and now edited by Thrum for the Bishop Museum, from which

are drawn the examples accompanying this paper. But in these collections

the lengthy recitals which may last several hours in the telling or run

for a couple of years as serial in some Hawaiian newspaper are of

necessity cut down to a summary narrative, sufficiently suggesting the

flavor of the original, but not picturing fully the way in which the

image is formed in the mind of the native story-teller. Foreigners and

Hawaiians have expended much ingenuity in rendering the _mélé_ or chant

with exactness,[5] but the much simpler if less important matter of

putting into literal English a Hawaiian _kaao_ has never been attempted.

To the text such ethnological notes have been added as are needed to

make the context clear. These were collected in the field. Some were

gathered directly from the people themselves; others from those who had

lived long enough among them to understand their customs; others still

from observation of their ways and of the localities mentioned in the

story; others are derived from published texts. An index of characters,

a brief description of the local background, and an abstract of the

story itself prefaces the text; appended to it is a series of abstracts

from the Fornander collection, of Hawaiian folk stories, all of which

were collected by Judge Fornander in the native tongue and later

rendered into English by a native translator. These abstracts illustrate

the general character of Hawaiian story-telling, but specific

references should be examined in the full text, now being edited by the

Bishop Museum. The index to references includes all the Hawaiian

material in available form essential to the study of romance, together

with the more useful Polynesian material for comparative reference. It

by no means comprises a bibliography of the entire subject.

_Footnotes to Section I: Introduction_

[Footnote 1: Compare the Fijian story quoted by Thomson (p. 6).]

[Footnote 2: Daggett calls the story "a supernatural folklore legend of

the fourteenth century," and includes an excellent abstract of the

romance, prepared by Dr. W.D. Alexander, in his collection of Hawaiian

legends. Andrews says of it (Islander, 1875, p. 27): "We have seen that

a Hawaiian Kaao or legend was composed ages ago, recited and kept in

memory merely by repetition, until a short time since it was reduced to

writing by a Hawaiian and printed, making a duodecimo volume of 220

pages, and that, too, with the poetical parts mostly left out. It is

said that this legend took six hours in the recital." In prefacing his

dictionary he says: "The Kaao of Laieikawai is almost the only specimen

of that species of language which has been laid before the public. Many

fine specimens have been printed in the Hawaiian periodicals, but are

neither seen nor regarded by the foreign community."]

[Footnote 3: The changes introduced by these editors have not been

followed in this edition, except in a few unimportant omissions, but the

popular song printed below appears first in its pages:

"Aia Laie-i-ka-wai

I ka uka wale la o Pali-uli;

O ka nani, o ka nani,

Helu ekahi o ia uka.

"E nanea e walea ana paha,

I ka leo nahenahe o na manu.

"Kau mai Laie-i-ka-wai

I ka eheu la o na manu;

O ka nani, o ka nani,

Helu ekahi o Pali-uli.

"E nanea, etc.

"Ua lohe paha i ka hone mai,

O ka pu lau-i a Malio;

Honehone, honehone,

Helu ekahi o Hopoe.

"E nanea, etc."

Behold Laieikawai

On the uplands of Paliuli;

Beautiful, beautiful,

The storied one of the uplands.

REF.--Perhaps resting at peace,

To the melodious voice of the birds.

Laieikawai rests here

On the wings of the birds;

Beautiful, beautiful,

The storied one of the uplands.

She has heard perhaps the playing

Of Malio's ti-leaf trumpet;

Playfully, playfully,

The storied one of Hopoe.]

[Footnote 4: Dr. N. B. Emerson's rendering of the myth of _Pele and

Hiiaka_ quotes only the poetical portions. Her Majesty Queen Liluokalani

interested herself in providing a translation of the _Laieikawai,_ and

the Hon. Sanford B. Dole secured a partial translation of the story; but

neither of these copies has reached the publisher's hands.]

[Footnote 5: The most important of these chants translated from the

Hawaiian are the "Song of Creation," prepared by Liliuokalani; the "Song

of Kualii," translated by both Lyons and Wise, and the prophetic song

beginning _"Haui ka lani,"_ translated by Andrews and edited by Dole. To

these should be added the important songs cited by Fornander, in full or

in part, which relate the origin of the group, and perhaps the name song

beginning "The fish ponds of Mana," quoted in Fornander's tale of

_Lonoikamakahiki_, the canoe-chant in _Kana_, and the wind chants in

_Pakaa_.]

II. NATURE AND THE GODS AS REFLECTED IN THE STORY

1. POLYNESIAN ORIGIN OF HAWAIIAN ROMANCE

Truly to interpret Hawaiian romance we must realize at the start its

relation to the past of that people, to their origin and migrations,

their social inheritance, and the kind of physical world to which their

experience has been confined. Now, the real body of Hawaiian folklore

belongs to no isolated group, but to the whole Polynesian area. From New

Zealand through the Tongan, Ellice, Samoan, Society, Rarotongan,

Marquesan, and Hawaiian groups, fringing upon the Fijian and the

Micronesian, the same physical characteristics, the same language,

customs, habits of life prevail; the same arts, the same form of

worship, the same gods. And a common stock of tradition has passed from

mouth to mouth over the same area. In New Zealand, as in Hawaii, men

tell the story of Maui's fishing and the theft of fire.[1] A close

comparative study of the tales from each group should reveal local

characteristics, but for our purpose the Polynesian race is one, and its

common stock of tradition, which at the dispersal and during the

subsequent periods of migration was carried as common treasure-trove of

the imagination as far as New Zealand on the south and Hawaii on the

north, and from the western Fiji to the Marquesas on the east, repeats

the same adventures among similar surroundings and colored by the same

interests and desires. This means, in the first place, that the race

must have developed for a long period of time in some common home of

origin before the dispersal came, which sent family groups migrating

along the roads of ocean after some fresh land for settlement;[2] in the

second place, it reflects a period of long voyaging which brought about

interchange of culture between far distant groups.[3] As the Crusades

were the great exchange for west European folk stories, so the days of

the voyagers were the Polynesian crusading days. The roadway through the

seas was traveled by singing bards who carried their tribal songs as a

race heritage into the new land of their wanderings. Their inns for

hostelry were islets where the boats drew up along the beach and the

weary oarsmen grouped about the ovens where their hosts prepared cooked

food for feasting. Tales traveled thus from group to group with a

readiness which only a common tongue, common interests, and a common

delight could foster, coupled with the constant competition of family

rivalries.

Hawaiian tradition reflects these days of wandering.[4] A chief vows to

wed no woman of his own group but only one fetched from "the land of

good women." An ambitious priest seeks overseas a leader of divine

ancestry. A chief insulted by his superior leads his followers into

exile on some foreign shore. There is exchange of culture-gifts,

intermarriage, tribute, war. Romance echoes with the canoe song and the

invocation to the confines of Kahiki[5]--this in spite of the fact that

intercourse seems to have been long closed between this northern group

and its neighbors south and east. When Cook put in first at the island

of Kauai, most western of the group, perhaps guided by Spanish charts,

perhaps by Tahitian navigators who had preserved the tradition of

ancient voyages,[6] for hundreds of years none but chance boats had

driven upon its shores.[7] But the old tales remained, fast bedded at

the foundation of Hawaiian imaginative literature. As now recited they

take the form of chants or of long monotonous recitals like the

_Laieikawai_, which take on the heightened form of poetry only in

dialogue or on occasions when the emotional stress requires set song.

Episodes are passed along, from one hero cycle to another, localities

and names vary, and a fixed form in matter of detail relieves the

stretch of invention; in fact, they show exactly the same phenomena of

fixing and reshaping, that all story-telling whose object is to please

exhibits in transference from mouth to mouth. Nevertheless, they are

jealously retentive of incident. The story-teller, generally to be found

among the old people of any locality, who can relate the legends as they

were handed down to him from the past is known and respected in the

community. We find the same story[8] told in New Zealand and in Hawaii

scarcely changed, even in name.

_Footnotes to Section II, 1: Polynesian Origin of Hawaiian Romance_

[Footnote 1: Bastian In Samoanische Schöpfungssage (p. 8) says:

"Oceanien (im Zusammenbegriff von Polynesien und Mikronesien)

repräsentirt (bei vorläufigem Ausschluss von Melanesien schon) einen

Flächenraum, der alles Aehnliche auf dem Globus intellectualis weit

übertrifft (von Hawaii bis Neu-Seeland, von der Oster-Insel bis zu den

Marianen), und wenn es sich hier um Inseln handelt durch Meeresweiten

getrennt, ist aus solch insularer Differenzirung gerade das Hilfsmittel

comparativer Methode geboten für die Induction, um dasselbe, wie

biologiseh sonst, hier auf psychologischem Arbeitsfelde zur Verwendung

zu bringen." Compare: Krämer, p. 394; Finck, in Royal Scientific Society

of Göttingen, 1909.]

[Footnote 2: Lesson says of the Polynesian groups (I, 378): "On sait ...

que tous ont, pour loi civile et religieuse, la même interdiction; que

leurs institutions, leurs cérémonies sont semblables; que leurs

croyances sont foncièrement identiques; qu'ils ont le même culte, les

mêmes coutumes, les mêmes usages principaux; qu'ils ont enfin les mêmes

moeurs et les mêmes traditions. Tout semble donc, a priori, annoncer

que, quelque soit leur éloignement les uns des autres, les Polynesiens

ont tiré d'une même source cette communauté d'idées et de langage;

qu'ils ne sont, par consequent, que les tribus disperses d'une même

nation, et que ces tribus ne se sont séparées qu'à une epoque où la

langue et les idées politiques et religieuses de cette nation étaient

déja fixées."]

[Footnote 3: Compare: Stair, Old Samoa, p. 271; White, I, 176; Fison,

pp. 1, 19; Smith, Hawaiki, p. 123; Lesson, II, 207, 209; Grey, pp.

108-234; Baessler, Neue Südsee-Bilder, p. 113; Thomson, p. 15.]

[Footnote 4: Lesson (II, 190) enumerates eleven small islands, covering

40 degrees of latitude, scattered between Hawaii and the islands to the

south, four showing traces of ancient habitation, which he believes to

mark the old route from Hawaii to the islands to the southeast.

According to Hawaiian tradition, which is by no means historically

accurate, what is called the second migration period to Hawaii seems to

have occurred between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries (dated from

the arrival of the high priest Paao at Kohala, Hawaii, 18 generations

before Kaméhaméha); to have come from the southeast; to have introduced

a sacerdotal system whose priesthood, symbols, and temple structure

persisted up to the time of the abandoning of the old faith in 1819.

Compare Alexander's History, ch. III; Malo, pp. 25, 323; Lesson, II,

160-169.]

[Footnote 5: _Kahiki_, in Hawaiian chants, is the term used to designate

a "foreign land" in general and does not refer especially to the island

of Tahiti in the Society Group.]

[Footnote 6: Lesson, II, 152.]

[Footnote 7: Ibid., 170.]

[Footnote 8: Ibid., 178.]

2. POLYNESIAN COSMOGONY

In theme the body of Polynesian folk tale is not unlike that of other

primitive and story-loving people. It includes primitive

philosophy--stories of cosmogony and of heroes who shaped the earth;

primitive annals--migration stories, tales of culture heroes, of

conquest and overrule. There is primitive romances--tales of

competition, of vengeance, and of love; primitive wit--of drolls and

tricksters; and primitive fear in tales of spirits and the power of

ghosts. These divisions are not individual to Polynesia; they belong to

universal delight; but the form each takes is shaped and determined by

the background, either of real life or of life among the gods, familiar

to the Polynesian mind.

The conception of the heavens is purely objective, corresponding, in

fact, to Anaxagoras's sketch of the universe. Earth is a plain, walled

about far as the horizon, where, according to Hawaiian expression, rise

the confines of Kahiki, _Kukulu o Kahiki_.[1] From this point the

heavens are superimposed one upon the other like cones, in number

varying in different groups from 8 to 14; below lies the underworld,

sometimes divided into two or three worlds ruled by deified ancestors

and inhabited by the spirits of the dead, or even by the gods[2]--the

whole inclosed from chaos like an egg in a shell.[3] Ordinarily the gods

seem to be conceived as inhabiting the heavens. As in other mythologies,

heaven and the life the gods live there are merely a reproduction or

copy of earth and its ways. In heaven the gods are ranged by rank; in

the highest heaven dwells the chief god alone enjoying his supreme right

of silence, _tabu moe_; others inhabit the lower heavens in gradually

descending grade corresponding to the social ranks recognized among the

Polynesian chiefs on earth. This physical world is again the prototype

for the activities of the gods, its multitudinous manifestations

representing the forms and forces employed by the myriad gods in making

known their presence on earth. They are not these forms themselves, but

have them at their disposal, to use as transformation bodies in their

appearances on earth, or they may transfer them to their offspring on

earth. This is due to the fact that the gods people earth, and from them

man is descended. Chiefs rank, in fact, according to their claim to

direct descent from the ancient gods.[4]

Just how this came about is not altogether uniformly explained. In the

Polynesian creation story[5] three things are significant--a monistic

idea of a god existing before creation;[6] a progressive order of

creation out of the limitless and chaotic from lower to higher forms,

actuated by desire, which is represented by the duality of sex

generation in a long line of ancestry through specific pairs of forms

from the inanimate world--rocks and earth, plants of land and sea

forms--to the animate--fish, insects, reptiles, and birds;[7] and the

special analysis of the soul of man into "breath," which constitutes

life; "feeling," located in the heart; "desire" in the intestines; and

"thought" out of which springs doubt--the whole constituting _akamai_ or

"knowledge." In Hawaii the creation story lays emphasis upon progressive

sex generation of natural forms.

Individual islands of a group are popularly described as rocks dropped

down out of heaven or fished up from below sea as resting places for the

gods;[8] or they are named as offspring of the divine ancestors of the

group.[9] The idea seems to be that they are a part of the divine

fabric, connected in kind with the original source of the race.

_Footnotes to Section II, 2: Polynesian Cosmogony_

[Footnote 1: In the Polynesian picture of the universe the wall of

heaven is conceived as shutting down about each group, so that boats

traveling from one group to another "break through" this barrier wall.

The _Kukulu o Kahiki_ in Hawaii seems to represent some such confine.

Emerson says (in Malo, 30): "Kukulu was a wall or vertical erection such

as was supposed to stand at the limits of the horizon and support the

dome of heaven." Points of the compass were named accordingly _Kukulu

hikina, Kukulu komohana, Kukulu hema, Kukulu akau_--east, west, south,

north. The horizon was called _Kukulu-o-ka-honua_--"the

compass-of-the-earth." The planes inclosed by such confines, on the

other hand, are named _Kahiki_. The circle of the sky which bends upward

from the horizon is called _Kahiki-ku_ or "vertical." That through

which, the eye travels in reaching the horizon, _Kahiki-moe_, or

"horizontal."]

[Footnote 2: The Rarotongan world of spirits is an underworld. (See

Gill's Myths and Songs.) The Hawaiians believed in a subterranean world

of the dead divided into two regions, in the upper of which Wakea

reigned; in the lower, Milu. Those who had not been sufficiently

religious "must lie under the spreading _Kou_ trees of Milu's world,

drink its waters and eat lizards and butterflies for food." Traditional

points from which the soul took its leap into this underworld are to be

found at the northern point of Hawaii, the west end of Maui, the south

and the northwest points of Oahu, and, most famous of all, at the mouth

of the great Waipio Valley on Hawaii. Compare Thomson's account from

Fiji of the "pathway of the shade." p. 119.]

[Footnote 3: White, I, chart; Gill, Myths and Songs, pp. 3, 4; Ellis,

III, 168-170.]

[Footnote 4: Gill says of the Hervey Islanders (p. 17 of notes): "The

state is conceived of as a long house standing east and west, chiefs

from the north and south sides of the island representing left and

right; under chiefs the rafters; individuals the leaves of the thatch.

These are the counterpart of the actual house (of the gods) in the

spirit world." Compare Stair, p. 210.]

[Footnote 5: Bastian, Samoanische Schöpfungs-Sage; Ellis, I, 321; White,

vol. I; Turner, Samoa, 3; Gill, Myths and Songs, pp. 1-20; Moerenhout I,

419 et seq.; Liliuokalani, translation of the Hawaiian "Song of

Creation"; Dixon, Oceanic Mythology.]

[Footnote 6: Moerenhout translates (I, 419): "He was, _Taaroa_ (Kanaloa)

was his name. He dwelt in immensity. Earth was not. _Taaroa_, called,

but nothing responded to him, and, existing alone, he changed himself

into the universe. The pivots (axes or orbits), this is _Taaroa_; the

rocks, this is he. _Taaroa_ is the sand, so is he named. _Taaroa_ is the

day. _Taaroa_ is the center. _Taaroa_ is the germ. _Taaroa_ is the base.

_Taaroa_ is the invincible, who created the universe, the sacred

universe, the shell for _Taaroa_, the life, life of the universe."]

[Footnote 7: Moerenhout, I, 423: "_Taaroa_ slept with the woman called

_Hina_ of the sea. Black clouds, white clouds, rain are born. _Taaroa_

slept with the woman of the uplands; the first-germ is born. Afterwards

is born all that grows upon the earth. Afterwards is born the mist of

the mountain. Afterwards is born the one called strong. Afterwards Is

born the woman, the beautiful adorned one," etc.]

[Footnote 8: Grey, pp. 38-45; Krämer, Samoa Inseln, pp. 395-400; Fison,

pp. 139-146; Mariner, I, 228; White, II, 75; Gill, Myths and Songs, p.

48.]

[Footnote 9: In Fornander's collection of origin chants the Hawaiian

group is described as the offspring of the ancestors Wakea and Papa, or

Hina.]

3. THE DEMIGOD AS HERO

As natural forms multiplied, so multiplied the gods who wedded and gave

them birth. Thus the half-gods were born, the _kupua_ or demigods as

distinguished from _akua_ or spirits who are pure divinities.[1] The

nature of the Polynesian _kupua_ is well described in the romance of

_Laieikawai_, in Chapter XXIX, when the sisters of Aiwohikupua try to

relieve their mistress's fright about marrying a divine one from the

heavens. "He is no god--_Aole ia he Akua_--" they say, "he is a man like

us, yet in his nature and appearance godlike. And he was the first-born

of us; he was greatly beloved by our parents; to him was given

superhuman power--_ka mana_--which we have not.... Only his taboo rank

remains, Therefore fear not; when he comes you will see that he is only

a man like us." It is such a character, born of godlike ancestors and

inheriting through the favor of this god, or some member of his family

group, godlike power or _mana_, generally in some particular form, who

appears as the typical hero of early Hawaiian romance. His rank as a god

is gained by competitive tests with a rival _kupua_/ or with the

ancestor from whom he demands recognition and endowment. He has the

power of transformation into the shape of some specific animal, object,

or physical phenomenon which serves as the "sign" or "body" in which the

god presents himself to man, and hence he controls all objects of this

class. Not only the heavenly bodies, clouds, storms, and the appearances

in the heavens, but perfumes and notes of birds serve to announce his

divinity, and special kinds of birds, or fish, or reptiles, or of

animals like the rat, pig, or dog, are recognized as peculiarly likely

to be the habitation of a god. This is the form in which _aumakua_, or

guardian spirits of a family, appear to watch over the safety of the

household they protect.[2]

Besides this power of transformation the _kupua_ has other supernatural

gifts, as the power of flight,[3] of contraction and expansion at will,

of seeing what is going on at a distance, and of bringing the dead to

life. As a man on earth he is often miraculously born or miraculously

preserved at birth, which event is heralded by portents in the heavens.

He is often brought up by some supernatural guardian, grows with

marvelous rapidity, has an enormous appetite--a proof of godlike strain,

because only the chief in Polynesian economic life has the resources

freely to indulge his animal appetite--and phenomenal beauty or

prodigious skill, strength, or subtlety in meeting every competitor. His

adventures follow the general type of mythical hero tales. Often he

journeys to the heavens to seek some gift of his ancestors, the

ingenious fancy keeping always before it an objective picture of this

heavenly superstructure--bearing him thither upon a cloud or bird, on

the path of a cobweb, a trailing vine, or a rainbow, or swung thither on

the tip of a bamboo stalk. Arrived in the region of air, by means of

tokens or by name chants, he proves his ancestry and often substantiates

his claim in tests of power, ability thus sharing with blood the

determining of family values. If his deeds are among men, they are of a

marvelous nature. Often his godlike nature is displayed by apparent

sloth and indolence on his part, his followers performing miraculous

feats while he remains inactive; hence he is reproached for idleness by

the unwitting. Sometimes he acts as a transformer, changing the form of

mountains and valleys with a step or stroke; sometimes as a culture hero

bringing gifts to mankind and teaching them the arts learned from the

gods, or supplying food by making great hauls of fish by means of a

miraculous hook, or planting rich crops; sometimes he is an avenger,

pitting his strength against a rival demigod who has done injury to a

relative or patron of his own, or even by tricks outwitting the

mischievous _akua_. Finally, he remains on earth only when, by

transgressing some _kupua_ custom or in contest with a superior

_kupua_, he is turned into stone, many rock formations about the islands

being thus explained and consequently worshiped as dwelling places of

gods. Otherwise he is deified in the heavens, or goes to dwell in the

underworld with the gods, from whence he may still direct and inspire

his descendants on earth if they worship him, or even at times appear to

them again on earth in some objective form.[4]

_Footnotes to Section II, 3: The Demigod as Hero_

[Footnote 1: Mariner, II, 103; Turner, Nineteen Tears in Polynesia, pp.

238-242; Ibid., Samoa, pp. 23-77; Ellis, I, 334; Gracia, pp. 41-44;

Krämer (Samoa Inseln, p. 22) and Stair (p. 211) distinguished _akua_ as

the original gods, _aiku_ as their descendants, the demonic beings who

appear in animal forms and act as helpers to man; and _kupua_ as deified

human beings.]

[Footnote 2: When a Polynesian invokes a god he prays to the spirit of

some dead ancestor who acts as his supernatural helper. A spirit is much

stronger than a human being--hence the custom of covering the grave with

a great heap of stone or modern masonry to keep down the ghost. Its

strength may be increased through prayer and sacrifice, called "feeding"

the god. See Fornander's stories of _Pumaia_, and _Nihoalaki_. In

Fison's story of Mantandua the mother has died of exhaustion in rescuing

her child. As he grows up her spirit acts as his supernatural helper,

and appears to him in dreams to direct his course. He accordingly

achieves prodigies through her aid. In _Kuapakaa_ the boy manages the

winds through his grandmother's bones, which he keeps in a calabash. In

_Pamano_, the supernatural helper appears in bird shape. The Fornander

stories of _Kamapua'a_, the pig god, and of _Pikoiakaalala_, who belongs

to the rat family, illustrate the _kupua_ in animal shape. Malo, pp.

113-115. Compare Mariner, II, 87, 100; Ellis, I, 281.]

[Footnote 3: Bird-bodied gods of low grade in the theogony of the

heavens act as messengers for the higher gods. In Stair (p. 214) Tuli,

the plover, is the bird messenger of Tagaloa. The commonest messenger

birds named in Hawaiian stories are the plover, wandering tattler, and

turnstone, all migratory from about April to August, and hence naturally

fastened upon by the imagination as suitable messengers to lands beyond

common ken. Gill (Myths and Songs, p. 35) says that formerly the gods

spoke through small land birds, as in the story of Laieikawai's visit to

Kauakahialii.]

[Footnote 4: With the stories quoted from Fornander may be compared such

wonder tales as are to be found in Krämer, pp. 108, 116, 121, 413-419;

Fison, pp. 32, 49, 99; Grey, p. 59; Turner, Samoa, p. 209; White I, 82,

etc.]

4. THE EARTHLY PARADISE; DIVINITY IN MAN AND NATURE

For according to the old myth, Sky and Earth were nearer of access in

the days when the first gods brought forth their children--the winds,

the root plants, trees, and the inhabitants of the sea, but the younger

gods rent them apart to give room to walk upright;[1] so gods and men

walked together in the early myths, but in the later traditions, called

historical, the heavens do actually get pushed farther away from man and

the gods retreat thither. The fabulous demigods depart one by one from

Hawaii; first the great gods--Kane, Ku, Lono, and Kanaloa; then the

demigods, save Pele of the volcano. The supernatural race of the dragons

and other beast gods who came from "the shining heavens" to people

Hawaii, the gods and goddesses who governed the appearances in the

heavens, and the myriad race of divine helpers who dwelt in the tiniest

forms of the forest and did in a night the task of months of labor, all

those god men who shaped the islands and named their peaks and valleys,

rocks, and crevices as they trampled hollows with a spring and thrust

their spears through mountains, were superseded by a humaner race of

heroes who ruled the islands by subtlety and skill, and instead of

climbing the heavens after the fiery drink of the gods or searching the

underworld for ancestral hearth fires, voyaged to other groups of

islands for courtship or barter. Then even the long voyages ceased and

chiefs made adventure out of canoe trips about their own group, never

save by night out of sight of land. They set about the care of their

property from rival chiefs. Thus constantly in jeopardy from each other,

sharpening, too, their observation of what lay directly about them and

of the rational way to get on in life, they accepted the limits of a

man's power and prayed to the gods, who were their great ancestors, for

gifts beyond their reach.[2]

And during this transfer of attention from heaven to earth the

objective picture of a paradise in the heavens or of an underworld

inhabited by spirits of the dead got mixed up with that of a land of

origin on earth, an earthly paradise called Hawaiki or Bulotu or "the

lost land of _Kane_"--a land about which clustered those same wistful

longings which men of other races have pictured in their visions of an

earthly paradise--the "talking tree of knowledge," the well of life, and

plenty without labor.[3] "Thus they dwelt at Paliuli," says Haleole of

the sisters' life with Laieikawai, "and while they dwelt there never did

they weary of life. Never did they even see the person who prepared

their food, nor the food itself save when, at mealtimes, the birds

brought them food and cleared away the remnants when they had finished.

So Paliuli became to them a land beloved."

Gods and men are, in fact, to the Polynesian mind, one family under

different forms, the gods having superior control over certain

phenomena, a control which they may impart to their offspring on earth.

As he surveys the world about him the Polynesian supposes the signs of

the gods who rule the heavens to appear on earth, which formerly they

visited, traveling thither as cloud or bird or storm or perfume to

effect some marriage alliance or govern mankind. In these forms, or

transformed themselves into men, they dwelt on earth and shaped the

social customs of mankind. Hence we have in such a romance as the

_Laieikawai_ a realistic picture, first, of the activities of the gods

in the heavens and on earth, second, of the social ideas and activities

of the people among whom the tale is told. The supernatural blends into

the natural in exactly the same way as to the Polynesian mind gods

relate themselves to men, facts about one being regarded as, even though

removed to the heavens, quite as objective as those which belong to the

other, and being employed to explain social customs and physical

appearances in actual experience. In the light of such story-telling

even the Polynesian creation myth may become a literal genealogy, and

the dividing line between folklore and traditional history, a mere shift

of attention and no actual change in the conception itself of the nature

of the material universe and the relations between gods and men.

_Footnotes to Section II, 4: The Earthly Paradise_

[Footnote 1: Grey, pp. 1-15; White, I, 46; Baessler, Neue Südsee-Bilder,

pp. 244, 245; Gill, Myths and Songs, pp. 58-60.]

[Footnote 2: Compare Krämer's Samoan story (in Samoa Inseln, p. 413) of

the quest after the pearl fishhooks kept by Night and Day in the twofold

heavens with the Hawaiian stories collected by Fornander of _Aiai_ and

_Nihoalaki_. Krämer's story begins:

"Aloalo went to his father

To appease Sina's longing;

He sent him to the twofold heavens,

To his grandparents, Night and Day,

To the house whence drops fall spear-shaped,

To hear their counsel and return.

Aloalo entered the house,

Took not the unlucky fishhook,

Brought away that of good luck,"

etc.]

[Footnote 3: Krämer, Samoa Inseln, pp. 44, 115; Fison, pp. 16,

139-161, 163; Lesson, II, 272, 483 (see index); Mariner, II, 100, 102,

115, et seq.; Moerenhout, I, 432; Gracia, p. 40; Turner, Nineteen Years

in Polynesia, p. 237; Gill, Myths and Songs, pp. 152-172.

In Fison's story (p. 139) the gods dwell in Bulotu, "where the sky meets

the waters in the climbing path of the sun." The story goes: "In the

beginning there was no land save that on which the gods lived; no dry

land was there for men to dwell upon; all was sea; the sky covered it

above and bounded it on every side. There was neither day nor night, but

a mild light shone continually through the sky upon the water, like the

shining of the moon when its face is hidden by a white cloud."]

5. THE STORY: ITS MYTHICAL CHARACTER

These mythical tales of the gods are reflected in Haleole's romance of

_Laieikawai_. Localized upon Hawaii, it is nevertheless familiar with

regions of the heavens. Paliuli, the home of Laieikawai, and

Pihanakalani, home of the flute-playing high chief of Kauai, are

evidently earthly paradises.[1] Ask a native where either of these

places is to be found and he will say, smiling, "In the heavens." The

long lists of local place names express the Polynesian interest in local

journeyings. The legend of _Waiopuka_ is a modern or at least adapted

legend. But the route which the little sister follows to the heavens

corresponds with Polynesian cosmogonic conceptions, and is true to

ancient stories of the home of the gods.

The action of the story, too, is clearly concerned with a family of

demigods. This is more evident if we compare a parallel story translated

by Westervelt in "Gods and Ghosts," page 116, which, however confused

and fragmentary, is clearly made up of some of the same material as

Haleole's version.[2]

The main situation in this story furnishes a close parallel to the

_Laieikawai_ A beautiful girl of high rank is taken from her parents and

brought up apart in an earthly paradise by a supernatural guardian,

Waka, where she is waited upon by birds. A great lizard acts as her

protector. She is wedded to a high taboo chief who is fetched thither

from the gods, and who later is seduced from his fidelity by the beauty

of another woman. This woman of the mountain, Poliahu, though identical

in name and nature, plays a minor part in Haleole's story. In other

details the stories show discrepancies.[3] It is pretty clear that

Haleole's version has suppressed, out of deference to foreign-taught

proprieties, the original relationship of brother and sister retained in

the Westervelt story. This may be inferred from the fact that other

unpublished Hawaiian romances of the same type preserve this relation,

and that, according to Hawaiian genealogists, the highest divine rank is

ascribed to such a union. Restoring this connection, the story describes

the doings of a single family, gods or of godlike descent.[4]

In the Westervelt story, on the whole, the action is treated mythically

to explain how things came to be as they are--how the gods peopled the

islands, how the _hula_ dances and the lore of the clouds were taught in

Hawaii. The reason for the localization is apparent. The deep forests of

Puna, long dedicated to the gods, with their singing birds, their forest

trees whose leaves dance in the wind, their sweet-scented _maile_ vine,

with those fine mists which still perpetually shroud the landscape and

give the name Haleohu, House-of-mist, to the district, and above all the

rainbows so constantly arching over the land, make an appropriate

setting for the activities of some family of demigods. Strange and

fairylike as much of the incident appears, allegorical as it seems, upon

the face of it, the Polynesian mind observes objectively the activities

of nature and of man as if they proceeded from the same sort of

consciousness.

[Illustration: IN THE FORESTS OF PUNA (HENSHAW)]

So, in Haleole's more naturalistic tale the mythical rendering is

inwrought into the style of the narrative. Storm weds Perfume. Their

children are the Sun-at-high-noon; a second son, possibly Lightning;

twin daughters called after two varieties of the forest vine, _ieie_,

perhaps symbols of Rainbow and Twilight; and five sweet-smelling

daughters--the four varieties of _maile_ vine and the scented _hala_

blossom. The first-born son is of such divine character that he dwells

highest in the heavens. Noonday, like a bird, bears visitors to his

gate, and guards of the shade--Moving-cloud and Great-bright-moon--close

it to shut out his brightness. The three regions below him are guarded

by maternal uncles and by his father, who never comes near the taboo

house, which only his mother shares with him. His signs are those of the

rainstorm--thunder, lightning, torrents of "red rain," high seas, and

long-continued mists--these he inherits from his father. An ancestress

rears Rainbow in the forests of Puna. Birds bear her upon their wings

and serve her with abundance of food prepared without labor, and of

their golden feathers her royal house is built; sweet-scented vines and

blossoms surround her; mists shroud her when she goes abroad. Earthquake

guards her dwelling, saves Rainbow from Lightning, who seeks to destroy

her, and bears a messenger to fetch the Sun-at-high-noon as bridegroom

for the beautiful Rainbow. The Sun god comes to earth and bears Rainbow

away with him to the heavens, but later he loves her sister Twilight,

follows her to earth, and is doomed to sink into Night.

_Footnotes to Section II, 5: The Story: Its Mythical Character_

[Footnote 1: As such Paliuli occurs in other Hawaiian folk tales:

1. At Paliuli grew the mythical trees Makali'i, male and female, which

have the power to draw fish. The female was cut down and taken to

Kailua, Oahu, hence the chant:

"Kupu ka laau ona a Makali'i,

O Makali'i, laau Kaulana mai ka pomai."

2. In the Fornander notes from Kepelino and Kamakau, Paliuli is the land

given to the first man and is called "hidden land of Kane" and "great

land of the gods." 3. In Fornander's story of _Kepakailiula_, the gods

assign Paliuli to be the hero's home. To reach it the party start at

second cockcrow from Keaau (as in the _Laieikawai_) and arrive in the

morning. It is "a good land, flat, fertile, filled with many things

desired by man." The native apples are as large as breadfruit. They see

a pond "lying within the land stocked with all kinds of fish of the sea

except the whale and the shark." Here "the sugar cane grew until it lay

flat, the hogs until the tusks were long, the chickens until the spurs

were long and sharp, and the dogs until their backs were flattened out."

They leave Paliuli to travel over Hawaii, and "no man has ever seen it

since."

4. In Fornander's story of _Kana_, Uli, the grandmother of Kana, goes up

to Paliuli to dig up the double canoe Kaumaielieli in which Kana is to

sail to recover his mother. The chant in which this canoe is described

is used to-day by practicers of sorcery to exorcise an enemy.]

[Footnote 2: The gods Kane and Kanaloa, who live in the mountains of

Oahu, back of Honolulu, prepare a home for the first-born son of Ku and

Hina, whom they send Rainbow to fetch from Nuumealani. The messenger,

first gaining the consent of the lizard guardian at Kuaihelani, brings

back Child-adopted-by-the-gods to the gods on Oahu. Again Hina bears a

child, a daughter. For this girl also the gods send two sister

messengers, who bring Paliuli to Waka, where she cares for the birds in

the forests of Puna. Here a beautiful home is prepared for the girl and

a garden planted with two magical food-producing trees, Makalei, brought

from Nuumealani to provide fish and prepared food in abundance. These

two children, brother and sister, are the most beautiful pair on earth,

and the gods arrange their marriage. Kane precedes the boy, dressed in

his lightning body, and the tree people come to dance and sing before

Paliuli. Some say that the goddess Laka, patroness of the _hula_ dance,

accompanied them. For a time all goes well, then the boy is beguiled by

Poliahu (Cold-bosom) on the mountain. Paliuli, aware of her lover's

infidelity, sends Waka to bring him back, but Cold-bosom prevents his

approach, by spreading the mountain with snow. Paliuli wanders away to

Oahu, then to Kauai, learning dances on the way which she teaches to the

trees in the forest on her return.

Meanwhile another child is born to Ku and Hina. The lizard guardian

draws this lovely girl from the head of Hina, calls her Keaomelemele,

Golden-cloud, and sets her to rule the clouds in the Shining-heavens.

Among these clouds is Kaonohiokala, the Eyeball-of-the-sun, who knows

what is going on at a distance. From the lizard guardian Golden-cloud

learns of her sister Paliuli's distress, and she comes to earth to

effect a reconciliation. There she learns all the dances that the gods

can teach.

Now, Ku and Hina, having learned the lore of the clouds, choose other

mates and each, bears a child, one a boy called Kaumailiula,

Twilight-resting-in-the-sky, the other a girl named Kaulanaikipokii.

The boy is brought to Oahu, riding in a red canoe befitting a chief, to

be Goldencloud's husband. His sister follows with her maidens riding in

shells, which they pick up and put in their pockets when they come to

land. Ku, Hina, and the lizard family also migrate to Oahu to join the

gods, Kane and Kanaloa, for the marriage festival. Thus these early

gods came to Oahu.]

[Footnote 3: Although the earthly paradise has the same location in both

stories, the name Paliuli in Westervelt's version belongs to the

heroine herself. The name of the younger sister, too, who acts no part

in this story, appears again in the tale collected by Fornander of

_Kaulanapokii_, where, like the wise little sister of Haleole's story,

she is the leader and spokesman of her four Maile sisters, and carries

her part as avenger by much more magical means than in Haleole's

naturalistic conception. The character who bears the name of Haleole's

sungod, Kaonohiokala, plays only an incidental part in Westervelt's

story.]

[Footnote 4: First generation: Waka, Kihanuilulumoku,

Lanalananuiaimakua.

Second generation: Moanalihaikawaokele, Laukieleula; Mokukeleikahiki and

Kaeloikamalama (brothers to Laukieleula).

Third generation: Kaonohiokala m. Laieikawai, Laielohelohe (m.

Kekalukaluokewaii), Aiwohikupua, Mailehaiwale, Mailekaluhea,

Mailelaulii, Mailepakaha, Kahalaomapuana.]

6. THE STORY AS A REFLECTION OF ARISTOCRATIC SOCIAL LIFE

Such is the bare outline of the myth, but notice how, in humanizing the

gods, the action presents a lively picture of the ordinary course of

Polynesian life. Such episodes as the concealment of the child to

preserve its life, the boxing and surfing contests, all the business of

love-making--its jealousies and subterfuges, the sisters to act as

go-betweens, the bet at checkers and the _Kilu_ games at night, the

marriage cortege and the public festival; love for music, too,

especially the wonder and curiosity over a new instrument, and the love

of sweet odors; again, the picture of the social group--the daughter of

a high chief, mistress of a group of young virgins, in a house apart

which is forbidden to men, and attended by an old woman and a humpbacked

servant; the chief's establishment with its soothsayers, paddlers,

soldiers, executioner, chief counselor, and the group of under chiefs

fed at his table; the ceremonial wailing at his reception, the _awa_

drink passed about at the feast, the taboo signs, feather cloak, and

wedding paraphernalia, the power over life and death, and the choice

among virgins. Then, on the other hand, the wonder and delight of the

common people, their curious spying into the chief's affairs, the

treacherous paddlers, the different orders of landowners; in the temple,

the human sacrifices, prayers, visions; the prophet's search for a

patron, his wrestling with the god, his affection for his chief, his

desire to be remembered to posterity by the saying "the daughters of

Hulumaniani"--all these incidents reflect the course of everyday life in

aristocratic Polynesian society and hence belong to the common stock of

Hawaiian romance.

Such being the material of Polynesian romance--a world in which gods and

men play their part; a world which includes the heavens yet reflects

naturalistically the beliefs and customs of everyday life, let us next

consider how the style of the story-teller has been shaped by his manner

of observing nature and by the social requirements which determine his

art--by the world of nature and the world of man. And in the first place

let us see under what social conditions Polynesia has gained for itself

so high a place, on the whole, among primitive story-telling people for

the richness, variety, and beauty of its conceptions.[1]

Polynesian romance reflects its own social world--a world based upon the

fundamental conception of social rank. The family tie and the inherited

rights and titles derived from it determine a man's place in the

community. The families of chiefs claim these rights and titles from the

gods who are their ancestors.[2] They consist not only in land and

property rights but in certain privileges in administering the affairs

of a group, and in certain acknowledged forms of etiquette equivalent to

the worship paid to a god. These rights are administered through a

system of taboo.[3]

A taboo depends for its force upon the belief that it is divinely

ordained and that to break it means to bring down the anger of the gods

upon the offender. In the case, therefore, of a violation of taboo, the

community forestalls the god's wrath, which might otherwise extend to

the whole number, by visiting the punishment directly upon the guilty

offender, his family or tribe. But it is always understood that back of

the community disapproval is the unappeased challenge of the gods. In

the case of the Polynesian taboo, the god himself is represented in the

person of the chief, whose divine right none dare challenge and who may

enforce obedience within his taboo right, under the penalty of death.

The limits of this right are prescribed by grade. Before some chiefs the

bystander must prostrate himself, others are too sacred to be touched.

So, when a chief dedicates a part of his body to the deity, for an

inferior it is taboo; any act of sacrilege will throw the chief into a

fury of passion. In the same way tabooed food or property of any kind is

held sacred and can not be touched by the inferior. To break a taboo is

to challenge a contest of strength--that is, to declare war.

As the basis of the taboo right lay in descent from the gods, lineage

was of first importance in the social world. Not that rank was

independent of ability--a chief must exhibit capacity who would claim

possession of the divine inheritance;[4] he must keep up rigorously the

fitting etiquette or be degraded in rank. Yet even a successful warrior,

to insure his family title, sought a wife from a superior rank. For this

reason women held a comparatively important position in the social

framework, and this place is reflected in the folk tales.[5] Many

Polynesian romances are, like the _Laieikawai_, centered about the

heroine of the tale. The mother, when she is of higher rank, or the

maternal relatives, often protect the child. The virginity of a girl of

high rank is guarded, as in the _Laieikawai_, in order to insure a

suitable union.[6] Rank, also, is authority for inbreeding, the highest

possible honor being paid to the child of a brother and sister of the

highest chief class. Only a degree lower is the offspring of two

generations, father and daughter, mother and son, uncle and niece, aunt

and nephew being highly honorable alliances.[7]

Two things result as a consequence of the taboo right in the hands of a

chief. In the first place, the effort is constantly to keep before his

following the exclusive position of the chief and to emphasize in every

possible way his divine character as descended from a god. Such is the

meaning of the insignia of rank--in Hawaii, the taboo staff which warns

men of his neighborhood, the royal feather cloak, the high seat apart in

the double canoe, the head of the feast, the special apparel of his

followers, the size of his house and of his war canoe, the superior

workmanship and decoration of all his equipment, since none but the

chief can command the labor for their execution. In the second place,

this very effort to aggrandize him above his fellows puts every material

advantage in the hands of the chief. The taboo means that he can

command, at the community expense, the best of the food supply, the most

splendid ornaments, equipment, and clothing. He is further able, again

at the community expense, to keep dependent upon himself, because fed at

his table, a large following, all held in duty bound to carry out his

will. Even the land was, in Hawaii and other Polynesian communities,

under the control of the chief, to be redistributed whenever a new chief

came into power. The taboo system thus became the means for economic

distribution, for the control of the relation between the sexes, and for

the preservation of the dignity of the chief class. As such it

constituted as powerful an instrument for the control of the labor and

wealth of a community and the consequent enjoyment of personal ease and

luxury as was ever put into the hands of an organized upper class. It

profoundly influenced class distinctions, encouraged exclusiveness and

the separation of the upper ranks of society from the lower.[8]

To act as intermediary with his powerful line of ancestors and perform

all the ceremonials befitting the rank to which he has attained, the

chief employs a priesthood, whose orders and offices are also graded

according to the rank into which the priest is born and the patronage he

is able to secure for himself.[9] Even though the priest may be, when

inspired by his god, for the time being treated like a god and given

divine honors, as soon as the possession leaves him he returns to his

old rank in the community.[10] Since chief and priest base their

pretensions upon the same divine authority, each supports the other,

often the one office including the other;[11] the sacerdotal influence

is, therefore, while it acts as a check upon the chief, on the whole

aristocratic.

The priest represented in Polynesian society what we may call the

professional class in our own. Besides conducting religious ceremonials,

he consulted the gods on matters of administration and state policy,

read the omens, understood medicine, guarded the genealogies and the

ancient lore, often acted as panegyrist and debater for the chief. All

these powers were his in so far as he was directly inspired by the god

who spoke through him as medium to the people.[12]

_Footnotes to Section II, 6: The story as a reflection of aristocratic

social life_

[Footnote 1: J.A. Macculloch (in Childhood of Fiction, p. 2) says,

comparing the literary ability of primitive people: "Those who possess

the most elaborate and imaginative tales are the Red Indians and

Polynesians."]

[Footnote 2: Moerenhout, II, 4, 265.]

[Footnote 3: Gracia (p. 47) says that the taboo consists in the

interdict from touching some food or object which, has been dedicated to

a god. The chief by his divine descent represents the god. Compare

Ellis, IV, 385; Mariner, II, 82, 173; Turner, Samoa, pp. 112, 185;

Fison, pp. 1-3; Malo, p. 83; Dibble, p. 12; Moerenhout, I, 528-533.

Fornander says of conditions in Hawaii: "The chiefs in the genealogy

from Kane were called _Ka Hoalii_ or 'anointed' (_poni ia_) with the

water of Kane (_wai-niu-a-Kane_) and they became 'divine tabu chiefs'

(_na lii kapu-akua_). Their genealogy is called _Iku-pau_, because it

alone leads up to the beginning of all genealogies. They had two taboo

rights, the ordinary taboo of the chiefs (_Kapu-alii_) and the taboo of

the gods (_Kapu-akua_). The genealogy of the lower ranks of chiefs (_he

lii noa_), on the other hand, was called _Iku-nuu_. Their power was

temporal and they accordingly were entitled only to the ordinary taboo

of chiefs (_Kapu-alii_)."]

[Footnote 4: Compare Krämer, Samoa Inseln, p. 31; Stair, p. 75; Turner,

Samoa, p. 173; White, II, 62, and the Fornander stories of _Aukele_ and

of _Kila_, where capacity, not precedence of birth, determines the

hero's rank.]

[Footnote 5: In certain groups inheritance descends on the mother's side

only. See Krämer, op. cit., pp. 15, 39; Mariner, II, 89, 98. Compare

Mariner, II, 210-212; Stair, p. 222. In Fison (p. 65) the story of

_Longapoa_, shows what a husband of lower rank may endure from a

termagant wife of high rank.]

[Footnote 6: Krämer (p. 32 et seq.) tells us that in Samoa the daughter

of a high chief is brought up with extreme care that she may be given

virgin to her husband. She is called _taupo_, "dove," and, when she

comes of age, passes her time with the other girls of her own age in the

_fale aualuma_ or "house of the virgins," of whom she assumes the

leadership. Into this house, where the girls also sleep at night, no

youth dare enter.

Compare Fornander's stories of _Kapuaokaoheloai_ and _Hinaaikamalama_.

See also Stair, p. 110; Mariner, II, 142, 212; Fison, p. 33.

According to Gracia (p. 62) candidates in the Marquesas for the

priesthood are strictly bound to a taboo of chastity.]

[Footnote 7: Rivers, I, 374; Malo, p. 80.

Gracia (p. 41) says that the Marquesan genealogy consists in a long line

of gods and goddesses married and representing a genealogy of chiefs. To

the thirtieth generation they are brothers and sisters. After this point

the relation is no longer observed.]

[Footnote 8: Keaulumoku's description of a Hawaiian chief (Islander,

1875) gives a good idea of the distinction felt between the classes:

"A well-supplied dish is the wooden dish,

The high-raftered sleeping-house with shelves;

The long eating-house for women.

The rushes are spread down, upon them is spread the mat,

They lie on their backs, with heads raised in dignity,

The fly brushers wave to and fro at the door; the door is shut,

the black _tapa_ is drawn up.

"Haste, hide a little in refreshing sleep, dismiss fatigue.

They sleep by day in the silence where noise is forbidden.

If they sleep two and two, double is their sleep;

Enjoyable is the fare of the large-handed man.

In parrying the spear the chief is vigorous;

the breaking of points is sweet.

Delightful is the season of fish, the season of food;

when one is filled with fish, when one is filled with food.

Thou art satisfied with food, O thou common man,

To be satisfied with land is for the chief."

Compare the account of the Fiji chief in Williams and Calvert, I, 33-42.]

[Footnote 9: Stair, p. 220; Gracia, p. 59; Alexander, History, chap. IV;

Malo, p. 210. The name used for the priesthood of Hawaii, _kahuna_, is

the same as that applied in the Marquesas, according to Gracia (p. 60),

to the order of chanters.]

[Footnote 10: Gracia, p. 46; Mariner, II, 87, 101, 125; Gill, Myths and

Songs, pp. 20, 21; Moerenhout, I, 474-482.]

[Footnote 11: Malo, p. 69.]

[Footnote 12: Ellis (III, 36) describes the art of medicine in

Polynesia, and Erdland (p. 77) says that on the Marshall Islands

knowledge of the stars and weather signs is handed down to a favorite

child and can raise rank by attaching a man to the service of a chief.

Compare Mariner, II, 90; Moerenhout, I, 409; Williams and Calvert, I,

111.]

III. THE ART OF COMPOSITION

1. ARISTOCRATIC NATURE OF POLYNESIAN ART

The arts of song and oratory, though practiced by all classes,[1] were

considered worthy to be perfected among the chiefs themselves and those

who sought their patronage. Of a chief the Polynesian says, "He speaks

well."[2] Hawaiian stories tell of heroes famous in the _hoopapa_, or

art of debating; in the _hula_, or art of dance and song; of chiefs who

learned the lore of the heavens and the earth from some supernatural

master in order to employ their skill competitively. The _oihana

haku-mele_, or "business of song making," was hence an aristocratic art.

The able composer, man or woman, even if of low rank, was sure of

patronage as the _haku mele_, "sorter of songs," for some chief; and his

name was attached to the song he composed. A single poet working alone

might produce the panegyric; but for the longer and more important songs

of occasion a group got together, the theme was proposed and either

submitted to a single composer or required line by line from each member

of the group. In this way each line as it was composed was offered for

criticism lest any ominous allusion creep in to mar the whole by

bringing disaster upon the person celebrated, and as it was perfected it

was committed to memory by the entire group, thus insuring it against

loss. Protective criticism, therefore, and exact transmission were

secured by group composition.[3]

Exactness of reproduction was in fact regarded as a proof of divine

inspiration. When the chief's sons were trained to recite the

genealogical chants, those who were incapable were believed to lack a

share in the divine inheritance; they were literally "less gifted" than

their brothers.[4]

This distinction accorded to the arts of song and eloquence is due to

their actual social value. The _mele_, or formal poetic chants which

record the deeds of heroic ancestors, are of aristocratic origin and

belong to the social assets of the family to which they pertain. The

claim of an heir to rank depends upon his power to reproduce, letter

perfect, his family chants and his "name song," composed to celebrate

his birth, and hence exact transmission is a matter of extreme

importance. Facility in debate is not only a competitive art, with high

stakes attached, but is employed in time of war to shame an enemy,[5]

quickness of retort being believed, like quickness of hand, to be a

God-given power. Chants in memory of the dead are demanded of each

relative at the burial ceremony.[6] Song may be used to disgrace an

enemy, to avenge an insult, to predict defeat at arms. It may also be

turned to more pleasing purposes--to win back an estranged patron or

lover;[7] in the art of love, indeed, song is invaluable to a chief.

Ability in learning and language is, therefore, a highly prized chiefly

art, respected for its social value and employed to aggrandize rank. How

this aristocratic patronage has affected the language of composition

will be presently clear.

_Footnotes to Section III, 1: Aristocratic Nature of Polynesian Art_

[Footnote 1: Jarves says: "Songs and chants were common among all

classes, and recited by strolling musicians as panegyrics on occasions

of joy, grief, or worship. Through them the knowledge of events in the

lives of prominent persons or the annals of the nation were perpetuated.

The chief art lay in the formation of short metrical sentences without

much regard to the rhythmical terminations. Monosyllables, dissyllables,

and trisyllables had each their distinct time. The natives repeat their

lessons, orders received, or scraps of ancient song, or extemporize in

this monotonous singsong tone for hours together, and in perfect

accord."

Compare Ellis's Tour, p. 155.]

[Footnote 2: Moerenhout, I, 411.]

[Footnote 3: Andrews, Islander, 1875, p. 35; Emerson, Unwritten

Literature, pp. 27, 38.]

[Footnote 4: In Fornander's story of _Lonoikamakahiki_, the chief

memorizes in a single night a new chant just imported from Kauai so

accurately as to establish his property right to the song.]

[Footnote 5: Compare with Ellis, I, 286, and Williams and Calvert, I,

46, 50, the notes on the boxing contest in the text of _Laieikawai_.]

[Footnote 6: Gill, Myths and Songs, pp. 268 et seq.]

[Footnote 7: See Fornander's stories of _Lonoikamakahiki, Halemano_, and

_Kuapakaa_.]

2. NOMENCLATURE: ITS EMOTIONAL VALUE

The Hawaiian (or Polynesian) composer who would become a successful

competitor in the fields of poetry, oratory, or disputation must store

up in his memory the rather long series of names for persons, places,

objects, or phases of nature which constitute the learning of the

aspirant for mastery in the art of expression. He is taught, says one

tale, "about everything in the earth and in the heavens"--- that is,

their names, their distinguishing characterstics. The classes of objects

thus differentiated naturally are determined by the emotional interest

attached to them, and this depends upon their social or economic value

to the group.

The social value of pedigree and property have encouraged genealogical

and geographical enumeration. A long recitation of the genealogies of

chiefs provides immense emotional satisfaction and seems in no way to

overtax the reciter's memory. Missionaries tell us that "the Hawaiians

will commit to memory the genealogical tables given in the Bible, and

delight to repeat them as some of the choicest passages in Scripture."

Examples of such genealogies are common; it is, in fact, the part of the

reciter to preserve the pedigree of his chief in a formal genealogical

chant.

Such a series is illustrated in the genealogy embedded in the famous

song to aggrandize the family of the famous chief Kualii, which carries

back the chiefly line of Hawaii through 26 generations to Wakea and

Papa, ancestors of the race.

"Hulihonua the man,

Keakahulilani the woman,

Laka the man, Kepapaialeka the woman,"

runs the song, the slight variations evidently fitting the sound to the

movement of the recitative.

In the eleventh section of the "Song of Creation" the poet says:

She that lived up in the heavens and Piolani,

She that was full of enjoyments and lived in the heavens,

Lived up there with Kii and became his wife,

Brought increase to the world;

and he proceeds to the enumeration of her "increase":

Kamahaina was born a man,

Kamamule his brother,

Kamaainau was born next,

Kamakulua was born, the youngest a woman.

Following this family group come a long series, more than 650 pairs of

so-called husbands and wives. After the first 400 or so, the enumeration

proceeds by variations upon a single name. We have first some 50 _Kupo_

(dark nights)--"of wandering," "of wrestling," "of littleness," etc.; 60

or more _Polo_; 50 _Liili_; at least 60 _Alii_ (chiefs);

followed by _Mua_ and _Loi_ in about the same proportion.

At the end of this series we read that--

Storm was born, Tide was born,

Crash was born, and also bursts of bubbles.

Confusion was born, also rushing, rumbling shaking earth.

So closes the "second night of Wakea," which, it is interesting to note,

ends like a charade in the death of Kupololiilialiimualoipo, whose

nomenclature has been so vastly accumulating through the 200 or 300 last

lines. Notice how the first word _Kupo_ of the series opens and swallows

all the other five.

Such recitative and, as it were, symbolic use of genealogical chants

occurs over and over again. That the series is often of emotional rather

than of historical value is suggested by the wordplays and by the fact

that the hero tales do not show what is so characteristic of Icelandic

saga--a care to record the ancestry of each character as it is

introduced into the story. To be sure, they commonly begin with the

names of the father and mother of the hero, and their setting; but in

the older mythological tales these are almost invariably _Ku_ and

_Hina_, a convention almost equivalent to the phrase "In the olden

time"; but, besides fixing the divine ancestry of the hero, carrying

also with it an idea of kinship with those to whom the tale is related,

which is not without its emotional value.

Geographical names, although not enumerated to such an extent in any of

the tales and songs now accessible, also have an important place in

Hawaiian composition. In the _Laieikawai_ 76 places are mentioned by

name, most of them for the mere purpose of identifying a route of

travel. A popular form of folk tale is the following, told in Waianae,

Oahu: "Over in Kahuku lived a high chief, Kaho'alii. He instructed his

son 'Fly about Oahu while I chew the _awa_; before I have emptied it

into the cup return to me and rehearse to me all that you have seen.'"

The rest of the tale relates the youth's enumeration of the places he

has seen on the way.

If we turn to the chants the suggestive use of place names becomes still

more apparent. Dr. Hyde tells us (_Hawaiian Annual_, 1890, p. 79): "In

the Hawaiian chant (_mele_) and dirge (_kanikau_) the aim seems to be

chiefly to enumerate every place associated with the subject, and to

give that place some special epithet, either attached to it by

commonplace repetition or especially devised for the occasion as being

particularly characteristic." An example of this form of reference is to

be found in the _Kualii_ chant. We read:

Where is the battle-field

Where the warrior is to fight?

On the field of Kalena,

At Manini, at Hanini,

Where was poured the water of the god,

By your work at Malamanui,

At the heights of Kapapa, at Paupauwela,

Where they lean and rest.

In the play upon the words _Manini_ and _Hanini_ we recognize some

rhetorical tinkering, but in general the purpose here is to enumerate

the actual places famous in Kualii's history.

At other times a place-name is used with allusive interest, the

suggested incident being meant, like certain stories alluded to in the

Anglo-Saxon "Beowulf," to set off, by comparison or contrast, the

present situation. It is important for the poet to know, for example,

that the phrase "flowers of Paiahaa" refers to the place on Kau, Hawaii,

where love-tokens cast into the sea at a point some 20 or 30 miles

distant on the Puna coast, invariably find their way to shore in the

current and bring their message to watchful lovers.

A third use of localization conforms exactly to our own sense of

description. The Island of Kauai is sometimes visible lying off to the

northwest of Oahu. At this side of the island rises the Waianae range

topped by the peak Kaala. In old times the port of entry for travelers

to Oahu from Kauai was the seacoast village of Waianae. Between it and

the village of Waialua runs a great spur of the range, which breaks off

abruptly at the sea, into the point Kaena. Kahuku point lies beyond

Waialua at the northern extremity of the island. Mokuleia, with its old

inland fishpond, is the first village to the west of Waialua. This is

the setting for the following lines, again taken from the chant of

_Kualii_, the translation varying only slightly from that edited by

Thrum:

O Kauai,

Great Kauai, inherited from ancestors,

Sitting in the calm of Waianae,

A cape is Kaena,

Beyond, Kahuku,

A misty mountain back, where the winds meet, Kaala,

There below sits Waialua,

Waialua there,

Kahala is a dish for Mokuleia,

A fishpond for the shark roasted in ti-leaf,

The tail of the shark is Kaena,

The shark that goes along below Kauai,

Below Kauai, thy land,

Kauai O!

The number of such place names to be stored in the reciter's memory is

considerable. Not only are they applied in lavish profusion to beach,

rock, headland, brook, spring, cave, waterfall, even to an isolated tree

of historic interest, and distributed to less clearly marked small land

areas to name individual holdings, but, because of the importance of the

weather in the fishing and seagoing life of the islander, they are

affixed to the winds, the rains, and the surf or "sea" of each locality.

All these descriptive appellations the composer must employ to enrich

his means of place allusion. Even to-day the Hawaiian editor with a nice

sense of emotional values will not, in his obituary notice, speak of a

man being missed in his native district, but will express the idea in

some such way as this: "Never more will the pleasant _Kupuupuu_

(mist-bearing wind) dampen his brow." The songs of the pleading sisters

in the romance of _Laieikawai_ illustrate this conventional usage. In

_Kualii_, the poet wishes to express the idea that all the sea belongs

to the god Ku. He therefore enumerates the different kinds of "sea,"

with their locality--"the sea for surf riding," "the sea for casting the

net," "the sea for going naked," "the sea for swimming," "the sea for

surf riding sideways," "the sea for tossing up mullet," "the sea for

small crabs," "the sea of many harbors," etc.

The most complete example of this kind of enumeration occurs in the

chant of Kuapakaa, where the son of the disgraced chief chants to his

lord the names of the winds and rains of all the districts about each

island in succession, and then, by means of his grandmother's bones in a

calabash in the bottom of the canoe (she is the Hawaiian wind-goddess)

raises a storm and avenges his father's honor. He sings:

There they are! There they are!!

There they are!!!

The hard wind of Kohala,

The short sharp wind of Kawaihae,

The fine mist of Waimea,

The wind playing in the cocoanut-leaves of Kekaha,

The soft wind of Kiholo,

The calm of Kona,

The ghost-like wind of Kahaluu,

The wind in the hala-tree of Kaawaloa,

The moist wind of Kapalilua,

The whirlwind of Kau,

The mischievous wind of Hoolapa,

The dust-driven wind of Maalehu,

The smoke-laden wind of Kalauea.

There is no doubt in this enumeration an assertion of power over the

forces the reciter calls by name, as a descendant of her who has

transmitted to him the magic formula.

Just so the technician in fishing gear, bark-cloth making, or in canoe

or house building, the two crafts specially practiced by chiefs,

acquires a very minute nomenclature useful to the reciter in word debate

or riddling. The classic example in Hawaiian song is the famous

canoe-chant, which, in the legend of _Kana_, Uli uses in preparing the

canoe for her grandsons' war expedition against the ravisher of Hina

(called the Polynesian Helen of Troy) and which is said to be still

employed for exorcism by sorcerers (_Kahuna_), of whom Uli is the patron

divinity. The enumeration begins thus:

It is the double canoe of Kaumaielieli,

Keakamilo the outrigger,

Halauloa the body,

Luu the part under water,

Aukuuikalani the bow;

and so on to the names of the cross stick, the lashings, the sails, the

bailing cup, the rowers in order, and the seat of each, his paddle, and

his "seagoing loin cloth." There is no wordplay perceptible in this

chant, but it is doubtful whether the object is to record a historical

occurrence or rather to exhibit inspired craftsmanship, the process of

enumeration serving as the intellectual test of an inherited gift from

the gods.

Besides technical interests, the social and economic life of the people

centers close attention upon the plant and animal life about them, as

well as upon kinds of stone useful for working. Andrews enumerates 26

varieties of edible seaweed known to the Hawaiians. The reciters avail

themselves of these well-known terms, sometimes for quick comparison,

often for mere enumeration. It is interesting to see how, in the "Song

of Creation," in listing plant and animal life according to its supposed

order of birth--first, shellfish, then seaweed and grasses, then fishes

and forests plants, then insects, birds, reptiles--wordplay is employed

in carrying on the enumeration. We read:

"The Mano (shark) was born, the Moana was born in the sea and swam,

The Mau was born, the Maumau was born in the sea and swam,

The Nana was born, the Mana was born in the sea and swam."

and so on through Nake and Make, Napa and Nala, Pala and Kala, Paka

(eel) and Papa (crab) and twenty-five or thirty other pairs whose

signification is in most cases lost if indeed they are not entirely

fictitious. Again, 16 fish names are paired with similar names of forest

plants; for example:

"The Pahau was born in the sea,

Guarded by the Lauhau that grew in the forest."

"The Hee was born and lived in the sea,

Guarded by the Walahee that grew in the forest."

Here the relation between the two objects is evidently fixed by the

chance likeness of name.

On the whole, the Hawaiian takes little interest in stars. The

"canoe-steering star," to be sure, is useful, and the "net of Makalii"

(the Pleiads) belongs to a well-known folk tale. But star stories do not

appear in Hawaiian collections, and even sun and moon stories are rare,

all belonging to the older and more mythical tales. Clouds, however, are

very minutely observed, both as weather indicators and in the lore of

signs, and appear often in song and story.[1]

Besides differentiating such visible phenomena, the Polynesian also

thinks in parts of less readily distinguishable wholes. When we look

toward the zenith or toward the horizon we conceive the distance as a

whole; the Polynesian divides and names the space much as we divide our

globe into zones. We have seen how he conceives a series of heavens

above the earth, order in creation, rank in the divisions of men on

earth and of gods in heaven. In the passage of time he records how the

sun measures the changes from day to night; how the moon marks off the

month; how the weather changes determine the seasons for planting and

fishing through the year; and, observing the progress of human life from

infancy to old age, he names each stage until "the staff rings as you

walk, the eyes are dim like a rat's, they pull you along on the mat," or

"they bear you in a bag on the back."

Clearly the interest aroused by all this nomenclature is emotional, not

rational. There is too much wordplay. Utility certainly plays some part,

but the prevailing stimulus is that which bears directly upon the idea

of rank, some divine privilege being conceived in the mere act of

naming, by which a supernatural power is gained over the object named.

The names, as the objects for which they stand, come from the gods. Thus

in the story of _Pupuhuluena_, the culture hero propitiates two

fishermen into revealing the names of their food plants and later, by

reciting these correctly, tricks the spirits into conceding his right to

their possession. Thus he wins tuberous food plants for his people.

For this reason, exactness of knowledge is essential. The god is

irritated by mistakes.[2] To mispronounce even casually the name of the

remote relative of a chief might cost a man a valuable patron or even

life itself. Some chiefs are so sacred that their names are taboo; if it

is a word in common use, there is chance of that word dropping out of

the language and being replaced by another.

Completeness of enumeration hence has cabalistic value. When the

Hawaiian propitiates his gods he concludes with an invocation to the

"forty thousand, to the four hundred thousand, to the four thousand"[3]

gods, in order that none escape the incantation. Direction is similarly

invoked all around the compass. In the art of verbal debate--called

_hoopapa_ in Hawaii--the test is to match a rival's series with one

exactly parallel in every particular or to add to a whole some

undiscovered part.[4] A charm mentioned in folk tale is "to name every

word that ends with _lau_." Certain numbers, too, have a kind of magic

finality in themselves; for example, to count off an identical phrase by

ten without missing a word is the charm by which Lepe tricks the

spirits. In the _Kualii_, once more, Ku is extolled as the tenth chief

and warrior:

The first chief, the second chief,

The third chief, the fourth chief,

The fifth chief, the sixth chief,

The seventh chief, the eighth chief,

The ninth, chief, the tenth chief is Ku,

Ku who stood, in the path of the rain of the heaven,

The first warrior, the second warrior,

The third warrior, the fourth warrior,

The fifth warrior, the sixth warrior,

The seventh warrior, the eighth warrior,

The ninth warrior, the tenth warrior

Is the Chief who makes the King rub his eyes,

The young warrior of all Maui.

And there follows an enumeration of the other nine warriors. A similar

use is made of counting-out lines in the famous chant of the "Mirage of

Mana" in the story of _Lono_, evidently with the idea of completing an

inclusive series.

Counting-out formulae reappear in story-telling in such repetitive

series of incidents as those following the action of the five sisters of

the unsuccessful wooer in the _Laieikawai_ story. Here the interest

develops, as in the lines from _Kualii_, an added emotional element,

that of climax. The last place is given to the important character.

Although everyone is aware that the younger sister is the most competent

member of the group, the audience must not be deprived of the pleasure

of seeing each one try and fail in turn before the youngest makes the

attempt. The story-teller, moreover, varies the incident; he does not

exactly follow his formula, which, however, it is interesting to note,

is more fixed in the evidently old dialogue part of the story than in

the explanatory action.

Story-telling also exhibits how the vital connection felt to exist

between a person or object and the name by which it is distinguished,

which gives an emotional value to the mere act of naming, is extended

further to include scenes with which it is associated. The Hawaiian has

a strong place sense, visible in his devotion to scenes familiar to his

experience, and this is reflected in his language. In the _Laieikawai_

it appears in the plaints of the five sisters as they recall their

native land. In the songs in the _Halemano_ which the lover sings to win

his lady and the chant in _Lonoikamakahiki_ with which the disgraced

favorite seeks to win back his lord, those places are recalled to mind

in which the friends have met hardship together, in order, if possible,

to evoke the same emotions of love and loyalty which were theirs under

the circumstances described. Hawaiians of all classes, in mourning their

dead, will recall vividly in a wailing chant the scenes with which their

lost friend has been associated. I remember on a tramp in the hills

above Honolulu coming upon the grass hut of a Hawaiian lately released

from serving a term for manslaughter. The place commanded a fine

view--the sweep of the blue sea, the sharp rugged lines of the coast,

the emerald rice patches, the wide-mouthed valleys cutting the roots of

the wooded hills. "It is lonely here?" we asked the man. "_Aole! maikai

keia!_" ("No, the view is excellent") he answered.

The ascription of perfection of form to divine influence may explain the

Polynesian's strong sense for beauty.[5] The Polynesian sees in nature

the sign of the gods. In its lesser as in its more marvelous

manifestations--thunder, lightning, tempest, the "red rain," the

rainbow, enveloping mist, cloud shapes, sweet odors of plants, so rare

in Hawaii, at least, or the notes of birds--he reads an augury of divine

indwelling. The romances glow with delight in the startling effect of

personal beauty upon the beholder--a beauty seldom described in detail

save occasionally by similes from nature. In the _Laieikawai_ the sight

of the heroine's beauty creates such an ecstasy in the heart of a mere

countryman that he leaves his business to run all about the island

heralding his discovery. Dreaming of the beauty of Laieikawai, the young

chief feels his heart glow with passion for this "red blossom of Puna"

as the fiery volcano scorches the wind that fans across its bosom. A

divine hero must select a bride of faultless beauty; the heroine chooses

her lover for his physical perfections. Now we can hardly fail to see

that in all these cases the delight is intensified by the belief that

beauty is godlike and betrays divine rank in its possessor. Rank is

tested by perfection of face and form. The recognition of beauty thus

becomes regulated by express rules of symmetry and surface. Color, too,

is admired according to its social value. Note the delight in red,

constantly associated with the accouterments of chiefs.

_Footnotes to Section III, 2: Nomenclature_

[Footnote 1: In the Hawaiian Annual, 1890, Alexander translates some notes

printed by Kamakau in 1865 upon Hawaiian astronomy as related to the art of

navigation. The bottom of a gourd represented the heavens, upon which were

marked three lines to show the northern and southern limits of the sun's

path, and the equator--called the "black shining road of Kane" and "of

Kanaloa," respectively, and the "road of the spider" or "road to the navel

of Wakea" (ancestor of the race). A line was drawn from the north star to

Newe in the south; to the right was the "bright road of Kane," to the left

the "much traveled road of Kanaloa." Within these lines were marked the

positions of all the known stars, of which Kamakau names 14, besides 5

planets. For notes upon Polynesian astronomy consult Journal of the

Polynesian Society, iv, 236. Hawaiian priestly hierarchies recognize

special orders whose function it is to read the signs in the clouds, in

dreams, or the flight of birds, or to practice some form of divination with

the entrails of animals. In Hawaii, according to Fornander, the soothsayers

constitute three of the ten large orders of priests, called Oneoneihonua,

Kilokilo, and Nanauli, and these are subdivided into lesser orders. _Ike_,

knowledge, means literally "to see with, the eyes," but it is used also to

express mental vision, or knowledge with reference to the objective means

by which such knowledge is obtained. So the "gourd of wisdom"--_ka ipu o ka

ike_--which Laieikawai consults, brings distant objects before the eyes so

that the woman "knows by seeing" what is going on below. Signs in the

clouds are especially observed, both as weather indicators and to forecast

the doings of chiefs. According to Westervelt's story of _Keaomelemele_,

the lore is taught to mythical ancestors of the Hawaiian race by the gods

themselves. The best analysis of South Sea Island weather signs is to be

found in Erdland's "Marshall Insulaner," page 69. Early in the morning or

in the evening is the time for making observations. Rainbows,

_punohu_--doubtfully explained to me as mists touched by the end of a

rainbow--and the long clouds which lie along the horizon, forecast the

doings of chiefs. A pretty instance of the rainbow sign occurred in the

recent history of Hawaii. When word reached Honolulu of the death of King

Kalakaua, the throng pressed to the palace to greet their new monarch, and

as Her Majesty Liliuokalani appeared upon the balcony to receive them, a

rainbow arched across the palace and was instantly recognized as a symbol

of her royal rank. In the present story the use of the rainbow symbol shows

clumsy workmanship, since near its close the Sun god is represented as

sending to his bride as her peculiar distinguishing mark the same sign, a

rainbow, which has been hers from birth.]

[Footnote 2: Moerenhout (I, 501-507) says that the Areois society in

Tahiti, one of whose chief objects was "to preserve the chants and songs

of antiquity," sent out an officer called the "Night-walker," _Hare-po_,

whose duty it was to recite the chants all night long at the sacred

places. If he hesitated a moment it was a bad omen. "Perfect memory for

these chants was a gift of god and proved that a god spoke through and

inspired the reciter." If a single slip was made, the whole was

considered useless.

Erdland relates that a Marshall Islander who died in 1906 remembered

correctly the names of officers and scholars who came to the islands in

the Chamisso party when he was a boy of 8 or 10.

Fornander notes that, in collecting Hawaiian chants, of the _Kualii_

dating from about the seventeenth century and containing 618 lines, one

copy collected on Hawaii, another on Oahu, did not vary in a single

line; of the _Hauikalani_, written just before Kamehameha's time and

containing 527 lines, a copy from Hawaii and one from Maui differed only

in the omission of a single word.

Tripping and stammering games were, besides, practiced to insure exact

articulation. (See Turner, Samoa, p. 131; Thomson, pp. 16, 315.)]

[Footnote 3: Emerson, Unwritten Literature, p. 24 (note).]

[Footnote 4: This is well illustrated in Fornander's story of

Kaipalaoa's disputation with the orators who gathered about

Kalanialiiloa on Kauai. Say the men:

"Kuu moku la e kuu moku,

Moku kele i ka waa o Kaula,

Moku kele i ka waa, Nihoa,

Moku kele i ka waa, Niihau.

Lehua, Kauai, Molokai, Oahu,

Maui, Lanai, Kahoolawe,

Moloklni, Kauiki, Mokuhano,

Makaukiu, Makapu, Mokolii."

My island there, my island;

Island to which my canoe sails, Kaula,

Island to which my canoe sails, Nihoa,

Island to which my canoe sails, Niihau.

Lehua, Kauai, Molokai, Oahu,

Maui, Lanai, Kahoolawe,

Molokini, Kauiki, Mokuhano,

Makaukiu, Makapu, Mokolii.

"You are beaten, young man; there are no islands left. We have taken up

the islands to be found, none left."

Says the boy:

"Kuu moku e, kuu moku,

O Mokuola, ulu ka ai,

Ulu ka niu, ulu ka laau,

Ku ka hale, holo ua holoholona."

Here is my island, my island

_Mokuola_, where grows food,

The cocoanut grows, trees grow,

Houses stand, animals run.

"There is an island for you. It is an island. It is in the sea."

(This is a small island off Hilo, Hawaii.)

The men try again:

"He aina hau kinikini o Kohala,

Na'u i helu a hookahi hau,

I e hiku hau keu.

O ke ama hau la akahi,

O ka iaku hau la alua,

O ka ilihau la akolu,

O ka laau hau la aha,

O ke opu hau la alima,

O ka nanuna hau la aone,

O ka hau i ka mauna la ahiku."

A land of many _hau_ trees is Kohala

Out of a single _hau_ tree I have counted out

And found seven _hau_.

The _hau_ for the outriggers makes one,

The _hau_ for the joining piece makes two,

The _hau_ bark makes three,

The _hau_ wood makes four,

The _hau_ bush makes five,

The large _hau_ tree makes six,

The mountain _hau_ makes seven.

"Say, young man, you will have no _hau_, for we have used it all. There

is none left. If you find any more, you shall live, but if you fail you

shall surely die. We will twist your nose till you see the sun at

Kumukena. We will poke your eyes with the _Kahili_ handle, and when the

water runs out, our little god of disputation shall suck it up--the god

Kaneulupo."

Says the boy, "You full-grown men have found so many uses, you whose

teeth are rotten with age, why can't I, a lad, find other uses, to save

myself so that I may live. I shall search for some more hau, and if I

fail you shall live, but if I find them you shall surely die."

"Aina hau kinikini o Kona,

Na'u i helu hookahi hau,

A ehiku hau keu.

O Honolohau la akahi,

O Lanihau la alua

O Punohau la akolu,

O Kahauloa la aha,

O Auhaukea la alima,

O Kahauiki la aono,

Holo kehau i ka waa kona la ahiku."

A land of many _hau_ trees is in _Kona_

Out of a single _hau_ I have counted one,

And found seven _hau_.

Honolahau makes one,

Lanihau makes two,

Punohau makes three,

Kahauloa makes four,

Auhaukea makes five,

Kahaniki makes six,

The Kehau that drives the canoe at Kona makes seven.

(All names of places in the Kona district.)

"There are seven _hau_, you men with rotten teeth."]

[Footnote 5: Thomson says that the Fijians differ from the Polynesians

in their indifference to beauty in nature.]

3. ANALOGY: ITS PICTORIAL QUALITY

A second significant trait in the treatment of objective life, swiftness

of analogy, affects the Polynesian in two ways: the first is pictorial

and plays upon a likeness between objects or describes an idea or mood

in metaphorical terms; the second is a mere linguistic play upon words.

Much nomenclature is merely a quick picturing which fastens attention

upon the special feature that attracts attention; ideas are naturally

reinforced by some simple analogy. I recall a curious imported flower

with twisted inner tube which the natives call, with a characteristic

touch of daring drollery, "the intestines of the clergyman." Spanish

moss is named from a prominent figure of the foreign community "Judge

Dole's beard." Some native girls, braiding fern wreaths, called my

attention to the dark, graceful fronds which grow in the shade and are

prized for such work. "These are the natives," they said; then pointing

slyly to the coarse, light ferns burned in the sun they added, "these

are the foreigners." After the closing exercises of a mission school in

Hawaii one of the parents was called upon to make an address. He said:

"As I listen to the songs and recitations I am like one who walks

through the forest where the birds are singing. I do not understand the

words, but the sound is sweet to the ear." The boys in a certain

district school on Hawaii call the weekly head inspection "playing the

ukulele" in allusion to the literal interpretation of the name for the

native banjo. These homely illustrations, taken from the everyday life

of the people, illustrate a habit of mind which, when applied for

conscious emotional effect, results in much charm of formal expression.

The habit of isolating the essential feature leads to such suggestive

names as "Leaping water," "White mountain," "The gathering place of the

clouds," for waterfall or peak; or to such personal appellations as that

applied to a visiting foreigner who had temporarily lost his voice, "The

one who never speaks"; or to such a description of a large settlement as

"many footprints."[1] The graphic sense of analogy applies to a mountain

such a name as "House of the sun"; to the prevailing rain of a certain

district the appellation "The rain with a pack on its back," "Leaping

whale" or "Ghostlike"; to a valley, "The leaky canoe"; to a canoe, "Eel

sleeping in the water." A man who has no brother in a family is called

"A single coconut," in allusion to a tree from which hangs a single

fruit.[2]

This tendency is readily illustrated in the use of synonyms. _Oili_

means "to twist, roll up;" it also means "to be weary, agitated, tossed

about in mind." _Hoolala_ means "to branch out," as the branches of a

tree; it is also applied in sailing to the deflection from a course.

_Kilohana_ is the name given to the outside decorated piece of tapa in a

skirt of five layers; it means generally, therefore, "the very best" in

contrast to that which is inferior. _Kuapaa_ means literally "to harden

the back" with oppressive work; it is applied to a breadfruit parched on

the tree or to a rock that shows itself above water. Lilolilo means "to

spread out, expand as blossom from bud;" it also applies to an

open-handed person. _Nee_ may mean "to hitch along from one place to

another," or "to change the mind." _Palele_ means "separate, put

somewhere else when there is no place vacant;" it also applies to

stammering. These illustrations gathered almost at random may be

indefinitely multiplied. I recall a clergyman in a small hamlet on

Hawaii who wished to describe the character of the people of that place.

Picking up a stone of very close grain of the kind used for pounding and

called _alapaa_, literally, "close-grained stone," he explained that

because the people of that section were "tight" (stingy) they were

called _Kaweleau alapaa_. This ready imitativeness, often converted into

caricature, enters into the minutest detail of life and is the clew to

many a familiar proverb like that of the canoe on the coral reef quoted

in the text.[3] The chants abound in such symbols. Man is "a long-legged

fish" offered to the gods. Ignorance is the "night of the mind." The

cloud hanging over Kaula is a bird which flies before the wind[4]--

The blackbird begged,

The bird of Kaula begged,

Floating up there above Waahila.

The coconut leaves are "the hair of the trees, their long locks." Kailua

district is "a mat spread out narrow and gray."

The classic example of the use of such metaphor in Hawaiian song is the

famous passage in the _Hauikalani_ in which chiefs at war are compared

with a cockfight, the favorite Hawaiian pastime[5] being realistically

described in allusion to Keoua's wars on Hawaii:

Hawaii is a cockpit; the trained cocks fight on the ground.

The chief fights--the dark-red cock awakes at night for battle;

The youth fights valiantly--Loeau, son of Keoua.

He whets his spurs, he pecks as if eating;

He scratches in the arena--this Hilo--the sand of Waiolama.

* * * * *

He is a well-fed cock. The chief is complete,

Warmed in the smokehouse till the dried feathers rattle,

With changing colors, like many-colored paddles, like piles of

polished Kahili.

The feathers rise and fall at the striking of the spurs.

Here the allusions to the red color and to eating suggest a chief. The

feather brushes waved over a chief and the bright-red paddles of his war

fleet are compared to the motion of a fighting cock's bright feathers,

the analogy resting upon the fact that the color and the motion of

rising and falling are common to all three.

This last passage indicates the precise charm of Polynesian metaphor. It

lies in the singer's close observation of the exact and characteristic

truth which suggests the likeness, an exactness necessary to carry the

allusion with his audience, and which he sharpens incessantly from the

concrete facts before him. Kuapakaa sings:

The rain in the winter comes slanting,

Taking the breath away, pressing down the hair,

Parting the hair in the middle.

The chants are full of such precise descriptions, and they furnish the

rich vocabulary of epithet employed in recalling a place, person, or

object. Transferred to matters of feeling or emotion, they result in

poetical comparisons of much charm. Sings Kuapakaa (Wise's translation):

The pointed clouds have become fixed in the heavens,

The pointed clouds grow quiet like one in pain before childbirth,

Ere it comes raining heavily, without ceasing.

The umbilicus of the rain is in the heavens,

The streams will yet be swollen by the rain.

[Illustration: A HAWAIIAN PADDLER (HENSHAW)]

Hina's song of longing for her lost lover in _Laieikawai_ should be

compared with the lament of Laukiamanuikahiki when, abandoned by her

lover, she sees the clouds drifting in the direction he has taken:

The sun is up, it is up;

My love is ever up before me.

It is causing me great sorrow, it is pricking me in the side,

For love is a burden when one is in love,

And falling tears are its due.

How vividly the mind enters into this analogy is proved, by its swift

identification with the likeness presented. Originally this

identification was no doubt due to ideas of magic. In romance, life in

the open--in the forests or on the sea--has taken possession of the

imagination. In the myths heroes climb the heavens, dwelling half in the

air; again they are amphibian like their great lizard ancestors. In the

_Laieikawai_, as in so many stories, note how much of the action takes

place on or in the sea--canoeing, swimming, or surfing. In less

humanized tales the realization is much more fantastic. To the

Polynesian, mind such figurative sayings as "swift as a bird" and "swim

like a fish" mean a literal transformation, his sense of identity being

yet plastic, capable of uniting itself with whatever shape catches the

eye. When the poet Marvel says--

Casting the body's vest aside,

My soul into the boughs does glide;

There, like a bird, it sits and sings,

Then whets and combs its silver wings,

And, till prepared for longer flight,

Waves in its plumes the various light--

he is merely expressing a commonplace of primitive mental experience,

transformation stories being of the essence of Polynesian as of much

primitive speculation about the natural objects to which his eye is

drawn with wonder and delight.

_Footnotes to Section III, 3: Analogy_

[Footnote 1: Turner, Samoa, p. 220.]

[Footnote 2: Ibid.; Moerenhout, I, 407-410.]

[Footnote 3: Turner, Samoa, pp. 216-221; Williams and Calvert, I, p.

110.]

[Footnote 4: Williams and Calvert, I, 118.]

[Footnote 5: Moerenhout, II, 146.]

4. THE DOUBLE MEANING; PLAYS ON WORDS

Analogy is the basis of many a double meaning. There is, in fact, no

lyric song describing natural scenery that may not have beneath it some

implied, often indelicate, allusion whose riddle it takes an adroit and

practiced mind to unravel.

This riddling tendency of figurative verse seems to be due to the

aristocratic patronage of composition, whose tendency was to exalt

language above the comprehension of the common people, either by

obscurity, through ellipsis and allusion, or by saying one thing and

meaning another. A special chief's language was thus evolved, in which

the speaker might couch his secret resolves and commands unsuspected by

those who stood within earshot. Quick interpretation of such symbols was

the test of chiefly rank and training. On the other hand, the wish to

appear innocent led him to hide his meaning in a commonplace

observation. Hence nature and the objects and actions of everyday life

were the symbols employed. For the heightened language of poetry the

same chiefly strain was cultivated--the allusion, metaphor, the double

meaning became essential to its art; and in the song of certain periods

a play on words by punning and word linking became highly artificial

requirements.[1]

Illustrations of this art do not fall upon a foreign ear with the force

which they have in the Polynesian, because much of the skill lies in

tricks with words impossible to translate, and often the jest depends

upon a custom or allusion with which the foreigner is unfamiliar. It is

for this reason that such an art becomes of social value, because only

the chief who keeps up with the fashion and the follower who hangs upon

the words of his chief can translate the allusion and parry the thrust

or satisfy the request. In a Samoan tale a wandering magician requests

in one village "to go dove catching," and has the laugh on his simple

host because he takes him at his word instead of bringing him a wife. In

a Tongan story[2] the chief grows hungry while out on a canoe trip, and

bids his servant, "Look for a banana stalk on the weather side of the

boat." As this is the side of the women, the command meant "Kill a woman

for me to eat." The woman designed for slaughter is in this case wise

enough to catch his meaning and save herself and child by hiding under

the canoe. In Fornander's story a usurper and his accomplice plan the

moment for the death of their chief over a game of _konane_, the

innocent words which seem to apply to the game being uttered by the

conspirators with a more sinister meaning. The language of insults and

opprobrium is particularly rich in such double meanings. The pig god,

wishing to insult Pélé, who has refused his advances, sings of her,

innocently enough to common ears, as a "woman pounding _noni_." Now, the

_noni_ is the plant from which red dye is extracted; the allusion

therefore is to Pélé's red eyes, and the goddess promptly resents the

implication.

It is to this chiefly art of riddling that we must ascribe the stories

of riddling contests that are handed down in Polynesian tales. The best

Hawaiian examples are perhaps found in Fornander's _Kepakailiula_. Here

the hero wins supremacy over his host by securing the answer to two

riddles--"The men that stand, the men that lie down, the men that are

folded," and "Plaited all around, plaited to the bottom, leaving an

opening." The answer is in both cases a house, for in the first riddle

"the timbers stand, the batons lie down, the grass is folded under the

cords"; in the second, the process of thatching is described in general

terms. In the story of _Pikoiakaala_, on the other hand; the hero

puzzles his contestants by riddling with the word "rat." This word

riddling is further illustrated in the story of the debater, Kaipalaoa,

already quoted. His opponents produce this song:

The small bird chirps; it shivers in the rain, in Puna, at Keaau,

at Iwainalo,

and challenge him to "find another _nalo_." Says the boy:

The crow caw caws; it shines in the rain. In _Kona_, at _Honalo_,

it is hidden (_nalo_).

Thus, by using _nalo_ correctly in the song in two ways, he has

overmatched his rivals.

In the elaborated _hula_ songs, such as Emerson quotes, the art can be

seen in full perfection. Dangerous as all such interpretation of native

art must be for a foreigner, I venture in illustration, guided by Wise's

translation, the analysis of one of the songs sung by Halemano to win

back his lost lady love, the beauty of Puna. The circumstances are as

follows: Halemano, a Kauai chief, has wedded a famous beauty of Puna,

Hawaii, who has now deserted him for a royal lover. Meanwhile a Kohala

princess who loves him seeks to become his mistress, and makes a

festival at which she may enjoy his company. The estranged wife is

present, and during the games he sings a series of songs to reproach her

infidelity. One of them runs thus:

Ke kua ia mai la e ke kai ka hala o Puna.

E halaoa ana me he kanaka la,

Lulumi iho la i kai o Hilo-e.

Hanuu ke kai i luna o Mokuola.

Ua ola ae nei loko i ko aloha-e.

He kokua ka inaina no ke kanaka.

Hele kuewa au i ke alanui e!

Pela, peia, pehea au e ke aloha?

Auwe kuu wahine--a!

Kuu hoa o ka ulu hapapa o Kalapana.

O ka la hiki anuanu ma Kumukahi.

Akahi ka mea aloha o ka wahine.

Ke hele neiia wela kau manawa,

A huihui kuu piko i ke aloha,

Ne aie kuu kino no ia la-e.

Hoi mai kaua he a'u koolau keia,

Kuu wahine hoi e! Hoi mai.

Hoi mai kaua e hoopumehana.

Ka makamaka o ia aina makua ole.

Hewn down by the sea are the pandanus trees of Puna.

They are standing there like men,

Like a multitude in the lowlands of Hilo.

Step by step the sea rises above the Isle-of-life.

So life revives once more within me, for love of you.

A bracer to man is wrath.

As I wandered friendless over the highways, alas!

That way, this way, what of me, love?

Alas, my wife--O!

My companion of the shallow planted breadfruit of Kalapana.

Of the sun rising cold at Kumukahi.

Above all else the love of a wife.

For my temples burn,

And my heart (literally "middle") is cold for your love,

And my body is under bonds to her (the princess of Kohala).

Come back to me, a wandering Au bird of Koolau,

My love, come back.

Come back and let us warm each other with love,

Beloved one in a friendless land (literally, "without parents").

Paraphrased, the song may mean:

The sea has encroached upon the shore of Puna and Hilo so that the

_hala_ trees stand out in the water; still they stand firm in spite

of the flood. So love floods my heart, but I am braced by anger.

Alas! my wife, have you forgotten the days when we dwelt in Kalapana

and saw the sun rise beyond Cape Kumukahi? I burn and freeze for

your love, yet my body is engaged to the princess of Kohala, by the

rules of the game. Come back to me! I am from Kauai, in the north,

and here in Puna I am a stranger and friendless.

The first figure alludes to the well-known fact that the sinking of the

Puna coast has left the pandanus trunks standing out in the water, which

formerly grew on dry land. The poetical meaning, however, depends first

upon the similarity in sound between _Ke kua_, "to cut," which begins

the parallel, and _He Kokua_, which is also used to mean cutting, but

implies assisting, literally "bracing the back," and carries over the

image to its analogue; and, second, upon the play upon the word ola,

life: "The sea floods the isle of life--yes! Life survives in spite of

sorrow," may be the meaning. In the latter part of the song the epithets

_anuanu_, chilly, and _hapapa_, used of seed planted in shallow soil,

may be chosen in allusion to the cold and shallow nature of her love for

him.

The nature of Polynesian images must now be apparent. A close observer

of nature, the vocabulary of epithet and image with which it has

enriched the mind is, especially in proverb or figurative verse, made

use of allusively to suggest the quality of emotion or to convey a

sarcasm. The quick sense of analogy, coupled with a precise

nomenclature, insures its suggestive value. So we find in the language

of nature vivid, naturalistic accounts of everyday happenings in

fantastic reshapings, realistically conceived and ascribed to the gods

who rule natural phenomena; a figurative language of signs to be read as

an implied analogy; allusive use of objects, names, places, to convey

the associated incident, or the description of a scene to suggest the

accompanying emotion; and a sense of delight in the striking or

phenomenal in sound, perfume, or appearance, which is explained as the

work of a god.

_Footnotes to Section III, 4: The Double Meaning_

[Footnote 1: See Moerenhout, II, 210; Jarves, p. 34; Alexander in

Andrews' Dict., p. xvi; Ellis, I, 288; Gracia, p. 65; Gill, Myths and

Songs, p. 42.]

[Footnote 2: Fison, p. 100.]

5. CONSTRUCTIVE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

Finally, to the influence of song, as to the dramatic requirements of

oral delivery, are perhaps due the retention of certain constructive

elements of style. No one can study the form of Hawaiian poetry without

observing that parallelism is at the basis of its structure. The same

swing gets into the prose style. Perhaps the necessity of memorizing

also had its effect. A composition was planned for oral delivery and

intended to please the ear; tone values were accordingly of great

importance. The variation between narrative, recitative, and formal

song; the frequent dialogue, sometimes strictly dramatic; the repetitive

series in which the same act is attempted by a succession of actors, or

the stages of an action are described in exactly the same form, or a

repetition is planned in ascending scale; the singsong value of the

antithesis;[1] the suspense gained by the ejaculation[2]--all these

devices contribute values to the ear which help to catch and please the

sense.

_Footnotes to Section III, 5: Constructive Elements of Style_

[Footnote 1: The following examples are taken from the Laieikawai, where

antithesis is frequent:

"Four children were mine, four are dead."

"Masters inside and outside" (to express masters over everything).

"I have seen great and small, men and women; low chiefs, men and women;

high chiefs."

"When you wish to go, go; if you wish to stay, this is Hana, stay here."

"As you would do to me, so shall I to you."

"I will not touch, you, you must not touch me."

"Until day becomes night and night day."

"If it seems good I will consent; if not, I will refuse."

"Camped at some distance from A's party and A's party from them."

"Sounds only by night, ... never by day."

"Through us the consent, through us the refusal."

"You above, our wife below."

"Thunder pealed, this was Waka's work; thunder pealed, this was Malio's

work."

"Do not look back, face ahead."

"Adversity to one is adversity to all;" "we will not forsake you, do not

you forsake us."

"Not to windward, go to leeward."

"Never ... any destruction before like this; never will any come

hereafter."

"Everyone has a god, none is without."

"There I stood, you were gone."

"I have nothing to complain of you, you have nothing to complain of me."

The balanced sentence structure is often handled with particular skill:

"If ... a daughter, let her die; however many daughters ... let them die."

"The penalty is death, death to himself, death to his wife, death to all

his friends."

"Drive him away; if he should tell you his desire, force him away; if he is

very persistent, force him still more."

"Again they went up ... again the chief waited ... the chief again sent a

band."

"A crest arose; he finished his prayer to the amen; again a crest arose,

the second this; not long after another wave swelled."

"If she has given H. a kiss, if she has defiled herself with him, then we

lose the wife, then take me to my grave without pity. But if she has

hearkened ... then she is a wife for you, if my grandchild has hearkened

to my command."

A series of synonyms is not uncommon, or the repetition of an idea in

other words:

"Do not fear, have no dread."

"Linger not, delay not your going."

"Exert your strength, all your godlike might."

"Lawless one, mischief maker, rogue of the sea."

"Princess of broad Hawaii, Laieikawai, our mistress."

"House of detention, prison-house."

"Daughter, lord, preserver."]

[Footnote 2: In the course of the story of _Laieikawai_ occur more than

50 ejaculatory phrases, more than half of these in the narrative, not

the dialogue, portion:

1. The most common is used to provide suspense for what is to follow and

is printed without the point--_aia hoi_, literally, "then (or there)

indeed," with the force of our lo! or behold!

2. Another less common form, native to the Hawaiian manner of thought, is

the contradiction of a plausible conjecture--_aole ka!_ "not so!". Both

these forms occur in narrative or in dialogue. The four following are found

in dialogue alone:

3. _Auhea oe?_ "where are you?" is used to introduce a vigorous address.

4. _Auwe!_ to express surprise (common in ordinary speech), is rare in

this story.

5. The expression of surprise, _he mea kupapaha_, is literally "a

strange thing," like our impersonal "it is strange"

6. The vocable _e_ is used to express strong emotion.

7. Add to these an occasional use, for emphasis, of the belittling

question, whose answer, although generally left to be understood, may be

given; for example: _A heaha la o Haua-i-liki ia Laie-i-ka-wai? he

opala paha_, "What was Hauailiki to Laieikawai? 'mere chaff!'", and the

expression of contempt--_ka_--with which the princess dismisses her wooer]

IV. CONCLUSIONS

1. Much of the material of Hawaiian song and story is traditional within

other Polynesian groups.

2. Verse making is practiced as an aristocratic art of high social value

in the households of chiefs, one in which both men and women take part.

3. In both prose and poetry, for the purpose of social aggrandizement,

the theme is the individual hero exalted through his family connection

and his own achievement to the rank of divinity.

4. The action of the story generally consists in a succession of

contests in which is tested the hero's claim to supernatural power.

These contests range from mythical encounters in the heavens to the

semihistorical rivalries of chiefs.

5. The narrative may take on a high degree of complexity, involving many

well-differentiated characters and a well-developed art of conversation,

and in some instances, especially in revenge, trickster, or recognition

motives, approaching plot tales in our sense of the word.

6. The setting of song or story, both physical and social, is distinctly

realized. Stories persist and are repeated in the localities where they

are localized. Highly characteristic are stories of rock transformations

and of other local configurations, still pointed to as authority for the

tale.

7. Different types of hero appear:

(_a_) The hero may be a human being of high rank and of unusual power

either of strength, skill, wit, or craft.

(_b_) He may be a demigod of supernatural power, half human, half

divine.

(_c_) He may be born in shape of a beast, bird, fish, or other object,

with or without the power to take human form or monstrous size.

(_d_) He may bear some relation to the sun, moon, or stars, a form rare

in Hawaii, but which, when it does occur, is treated objectively rather

than allegorically.

(_e_) He may be a god, without human kinship, either one of the

"departmental gods" who rule over the forces of nature, or of the

hostile spirits who inhabited the islands before they were occupied by

the present race.

(_f_) He may be a mere ordinary man who by means of one of these

supernatural helpers achieves success.

8. Poetry and prose show a quite different process of development. In

prose, connected narrative has found free expression. In poetry, the

epic process is neglected. Besides the formal dirge and highly developed

lyric songs (often accompanied and interpreted by dance), the

characteristic form is the eulogistic hymn, designed to honor an

individual by rehearsing his family's achievements, but in broken and

ejaculatory panegyric rather than in connected narrative. In prose,

again, the picture presented is highly realistic. The tendency is to

humanize and to localize within the group the older myth and to develop

later legendary tales upon a naturalistic basis. Poetry, on the other

hand, develops set forms, plays with double meanings. Its character is

symbolic and obscure and depends for its style upon, artificial devices.

9. Common to each are certain sources of emotional Interest such as

depend upon a close interplay of ideas developed within an intimate

social group. In prose occur conventional episodes, highly elaborated

minor scenes, place names in profusion which have little to do with the

action of the story, repetitions by a series of actors of the same

incident in identical form, and in the dialogue, elaborate chants,

proverbial sayings, antithesis and parallelism. In poetry, the panegyric

proceeds by the enumeration of names and their qualities, particularly

place or technical names; by local and legendary allusions which may

develop into narrative or descriptive passages of some length; and by

eulogistic comparisons drawn from nature or from social life and often

elaborately developed. The interjectional expression of emotion, the

rhetorical question, the use of antithesis, repetition, wordplay (puns

and word-linking) and mere counting-out formulas play a striking part,

and the riddling element, both in the metaphors employed and in the use

of homonyms, renders the sense obscure.

PERSONS IN THE STORY

1. AIWOHI-KUPUA. A young chief of Kauai, suitor to Laie-i-ka-wai.

2. AKIKEEHIALE. The turnstone, messenger of Aiwohikupua.

3. AWAKEA. "Noonday." The bird that guards the doors of the sun.

4. HALA-ANIANI. A young rascal of Puna.

5. HALULU-I-KE-KIHE-O-KA-MALAMA. The bird who bears the visitors to the

doors of the sun.

6. HATUA-I-LIKI. "Strike-in-beating." A young chief of Kauai, suitor to

Laie-i-ka-wai.

7. HAUNAKA. A champion boxer of Kohala.

8. HINA-I-KA-MALAMA. A chiefess of Maui.

9. HULU-MANIANI. "Waving feather." A seer of Kauai.

10. IHU-ANU. "Cold-nose." A champion boxer of Kohala.

11. KA-ELO-I-KA-MALAMA. The "mother's brother" who guards the land of

Nuumealani.

12. KA-HALA-O-MAPU-ANA. "The sweet-scented hala." The youngest sister of

Aiwohikupua.

13. KAHAU-O-KAPAKA. The chief of Koolau, Oahu, father of Laie-i-ka-wai.

14. KAHOUPO 'KANE. Attendant upon Poliahu.

15. KA-ILI-O-KA-LAU-O-KE-KOA. "The-skin-of-the-leaf-of-the-koa (tree)."

The wife of Kauakahialii.

16. KALAHUMOKU. The fighting dog of Aiwohikupua.

17. KA-OHU-KULO-KIALEA. "The-moving-cloud-of-Kaialea." Guard of the

shade at the taboo house of Kahiki.

18. KA-ONOHI-O-KA-LA. "The-eyeball-of-the-sun." A high taboo chief, who

lives in Kahiki.

19. KAPUKAI-HAOA. A priest, grandfather of Laie-i-ka-wai.

20. KAUA-KAHI-ALII. The high chief of Kauai.

21. KAULAAI-LEHUA. A beautiful princess of Molokai.

22. KE-KALUKALU-O-KE-WA. Successor to Kauakahi-alii and suitor to

Laie-i-ka-wai.

23. KIHA-NUI-LULU-MOKU. "Great-convulsion-shaking-the-island." A

guardian spirit of Pali-uli.

24. KOAE. The tropic bird. Messenger of Aiwohikupua.

25. LAIE-I-KA-WAI. A species of the _ieie_ vine. (?) The beauty of

Pali-uli.

26. LAIE-LOHELOHE. Another species of the _ieie_ vine. (?) Twin sister

of Laie-i-ka-wai.

27. LANALANA-NUI-AI-MAKUA. "Great-ancestral-spider." The one who lets

down the pathway to the heavens.

28. LAU-KIELE-ULA. "Red-kiele-leaf." The mother who attends the young

chief in the taboo house at Kahiki.

29. LILI-NOE. "Fine-fog." Attendant to Poliahu.

30. MAHINA-NUI-KONANE. "Big-bright-moon." Guard of the shade at the

taboo house at Kahiki.

31. MAILE-HAIWALE. "Brittle-leafed-maile-vine." Sister of Aiwohikupua.

32. MAILE-KALUHEA. "Big-leafed-maile-vine." Sister of Aiwohikupua.

33. MAILE-LAULII. "Fine-leaf ed-maile-vine." Sister of Aiwohikupua.

34. MAILE-PAKAHA. "Common-maile-vine." Sister of Aiwohikupua.

35. MAKA-WELI. "Terrible-eyes." A young chief of Kauai.

36. MALAEKAHANA. The mother of Laie-i-ka-wai.

37. MALIO. A sorceress, sister of the Puna rascal,

38. MOANALIHA-I-KA-WAOKELE. A powerful chief in Kahiki.

39. MOKU-KELE-KAHIKI. "Island-sailing-to-Kahiki." The mother's brother

who guards the land of Ke-alohi-lani.

40. POLI-AHU. "Cold-bosom." A high chiefess who dwells on Maunakea.

41. POLOULA. A chief at Wailua, Kauai.

42. ULILI. The snipe. Messenger to Aiwohikupua.

43. WAI-AIE. "Water-mist." Attendant of Poliahu.

44. WAKA. A sorceress, grandmother of Laie-i-ka-wai.

The chief counsellor of Aiwohikupua.

The humpbacked attendant of Laie-i-ka-wai.

A canoe owner of Molokai.

A chief of Molokai, father of Kaulaailehua.

A countrywoman of Hana.

Paddlers, soldiers, and country people.

ACTION OF THE STORY

Twin sisters, Laieikawai and Laielohelohe, are born in Koolau, Oahu,

their birth heralded by a double clap of thunder. Their father, a great

chief over that district, has vowed to slay all his daughters until a

son is born to him. Accordingly the mother conceals their birth and

intrusts them to her parents to bring up in retirement, the priest

carrying the younger sister to the temple at Kukaniloko and Waka hiding

Laieikawai in the cave beside the pool Waiapuka. A prophet from Kauai

who has seen the rainbow which always rests over the girl's dwelling

place, desiring to attach himself to so great a chief, visits the place,

but is eluded by Waka, who, warned by her husband, flies with her

charge, first to Molokai, where a countryman, catching sight of the

girl's face, is so transported with her beauty that he makes the tour of

the island proclaiming her rank, thence to Maui and then to Hawaii,

where she is directed to a spot called Paliuli on the borders of Puna, a

night's journey inland through the forest from the beach at Keaau. Here

she builds a house for her "grandchild" thatched with the feathers of

the _oo_ bird, and appoints birds to serve her, a humpbacked attendant

to wait upon her, and mists to conceal her when she goes abroad.

To the island of Kauai returns its high chief, Kauakahialii, after a

tour of the islands during which he has persuaded the fair mistress of

Paliuli to visit him. So eloquent is his account of her beauty that the

young chief Aiwohikupua, who has vowed to wed no woman from his own

group, but only one from "the land of good women," believes that here he

has found his wish. He makes the chief's servant his confidant, and

after dreaming of the girl for a year, he sets out with his counsellor

and a canoeload of paddlers for Paliuli. On the way he plays a boxing

bout with the champion of Kohala, named Cold-nose, whom he dispatches

with a single stroke that pierces the man through the chest and comes

out on the other side. Arrived at the house in the forest at Paliuli, he

is amazed to find it thatched all over with the precious royal feathers,

a small cloak of which he is bearing as his suitor's gift. Realizing the

girl's rank, he returns at once to Kauai to fetch his five sweet-scented

sisters to act as ambassadresses and bring him honor as a wooer.

Laieikawai, however, obstinately refuses the first four; and the angry

lover in a rage refuses to allow the last and youngest to try her

charms. Abandoning them, all to their fate in the forest, he sails back

to Kauai. The youngest and favorite, indeed, he would have taken with

him, but she will not abandon her sisters. By her wit and skill she

gains the favor of the royal beauty, and all five are taken into the

household of Laieikawai to act as guardians of her virginity and pass

upon any suitors for her hand.

When Aiwohikupua, on his return, confesses his ill fortune, a handsome

comrade, the best skilled in surfing over all the islands, lays a bet to

win the beauty of Paliuli. He, too, returns crestfallen, the guards

having proved too watchful. But Aiwohikupua is so delighted to hear of

his sisters' position that he readily cancels the debt and hurries off

to Puna. His sisters, however, mindful of his former cruelty, deny him

access, and he returns to Kauai burning with rage, to collect a war

party to lead against the obdurate girls. Only after band after band has

been swallowed up in the jaws of the great lizard who guards Paliuli,

and his supernatural fighting dog has returned with ears bitten off and

tail between its legs, does he give over the attempt and return home

disconsolate to Kauai.

Now, on his first voyage to Puna, as the chief came to land at Hana,

Maui, a high chiefess named Hina fell in love with him. The two staking

their love at a game of _konane_, she won him for her lover. He excused

himself under pretext of a vow to first tour about Hawaii, but pledged

himself to return. On the return trip he encountered and fell in love

with the woman of the mountain, Poliahu or Snow-bosom, but she, knowing

through her supernatural power of his affair with Hina, refused his

advances. Now, however, he determines to console himself with this lady.

His bird ambassadors go first astray and notify Hina, but finally the

tryst is arranged, the bridal cortege arrives in state, and the bridal

takes place. On their return to Kauai during certain games celebrated by

the chiefs, the neglected Hina suddenly appears and demands her pledge.

The jealous Poliahu disturbs the new nuptials by plaguing their couch

first with freezing cold, then with burning heat, until she has driven

away her rival. She then herself takes her final departure.

Kauakahialii, the high chief of Kauai, now about to die, cedes the

succession to his favorite chief, Kekalukaluokewa, and bids him seek out

the beauty of Paliuli for a bride. He is acceptable to both the girl and

her grandmother--to the first for his good looks, to the second for his

rank and power. But before the marriage can be consummated a wily rascal

of Puna, through the arts of his wise sister Malio, abducts Laieikawai

while she and her lover are out surfing, by his superior dexterity wins

her affection, and makes off with her to Paliuli. When the grandmother

discovers her grandchild's disgrace, she throws the girl over and

seeks out her twin sister on Oahu to offer as bride to the great chief

of Kauai. So beautiful is Laielohelohe that now the Puna rascal abandons

his wife and almost tricks the new beauty out of the hands of the noble

bridegroom; but this time the marriage is successfully managed, the

mists clear, and bride and bridegroom appear mounted upon birds, while

all the people shout, "The marriage of the chiefs!" The spectacle is

witnessed by the abandoned beauty and her guardians, who have come

thither riding upon the great lizard; and on this occasion Waka

denounces and disgraces her disowned grandchild.

Left alone by her grandmother, lordly lover, and rascally husband,

Laieikawai turns to the five virgin sisters and the great lizard to

raise her fortunes. The youngest sister proposes to make a journey to

Kealohilani, or the Shining-heavens, and fetch thence her oldest

brother, who dwells in the "taboo house on the borders of Tahiti." As a

youth of the highest divine rank, he will be a fit mate to wed her

mistress. The chiefess consents, and during the absence of the

ambassadress, goes journeying with her four remaining guardians. During

this journey she is seen and recognized by the prophet of Kauai, who has

for many years been on the lookout for the sign of the rainbow. Under

his guardianship she and the four sisters travel to Kauai, to which

place the scene now shifts. Here they once more face Aiwohikupua, and

the prophet predicts the coming of the avenger. Meanwhile the lizard

bears the youngest sister over sea. She ascends to various regions of

the heavens, placating in turn her maternal uncles, father, and mother,

until finally she reaches the god himself, where he lies basking in the

white radiance of the noonday sun. Hearing her story, this divine one

agrees to lay aside his nature as a god and descend to earth to wed his

sister's benefactress and avenge the injuries done by his brother and

Waka. Signs in the heavens herald his approach; he appears within the

sun at the back of the mountain and finally stands before his bride,

whom he takes up with him on a rainbow to the moon. At his return, as he

stands upon the rainbow, a great sound of shouting is heard over the

land in praise of his beauty. Thus he deals out judgment upon

Laieikawai's enemies: Waka falls dead, and Aiwohikupua is dispossessed

of his landed rights. Next, he rewards her friends with positions of

influence, and leaving the ruling power to his wife's twin sister and

her husband, returns with Laieikawai to his old home in the heavens.

In the final chapters the Sun-god himself, who is called "The

eyeball-of-the-sun," proves unfaithful. He falls captive to the charms

of the twin sister, sends his clever youngest sister, whose foresight he

fears, to rule in the heavens, and himself goes down to earth on some

pretext in pursuit of the unwilling Laielohelohe. Meanwhile his wife

sees through the "gourd of knowledge" all that is passing on earth and

informs his parents of his infidelity. They judge and disgrace him; the

divine Sun-god becomes the first _lapu_, or ghost, doomed to be shunned

by all, to live in darkness and feed upon butterflies. The beauty of

Paliuli, on the other hand, returns to earth to live with her sister,

where she is worshiped and later deified in the heavens as the

"Woman-of-the-Twilight."

BACKGROUND OF THE STORY.

Whatever the original home of the _Laieikawai_ story, the action as here

pictured, with the exception of two chapters, is localized on the

Hawaiian group. This consists of eight volcanic islands lying in the

North Pacific, where torrid and tropical zones meet, about half again

nearer to America than Asia, and strung along like a cluster of beads

for almost 360 miles from Kauai on the northwest to the large island of

Hawaii on the southeast. Here volcanic activity, extinct from

prehistoric times on the other islands, still persists. Here the land

attains its greatest elevation--13,825 feet to the summit of the highest

peak--and of the 6,405 square miles of land area which constitute the

group 4,015 belong to Hawaii. Except in temperature, which varies only

about 11 degrees mean for a year, diversity marks the physical features

of these mid-sea islands. Lofty mountains where snow lies perpetually,

huge valleys washed by torrential freshets, smooth sand dunes, or fluted

ridges, arid plains and rain-soaked forests, fringes of white beach, or

abrupt bluffs that drop sheer into the deep sea, days of liquid sunshine

or fierce storms from the south that whip across the island for half a

week, a rainfall varying from 287 to 19 inches in a year in different

localities--these are some of the contrasts which come to pass in spite

of the equable climate. A similar diversity marks the plant and sea

life--only in animal, bird, and especially insect life, are varieties

sparsely represented.

Most of the action of the story takes place on the four largest

islands--on Oahu, where the twins are born; on Maui, the home of Hina,

where the prophet builds the temple to his god; on Hawaii, where lies

the fabled land of Paliuli and where the surf rolls in at Keaau; and on

Kauai, whence the chiefs set forth to woo and where the last action of

the story takes place. These, with Molokai and Lanai, which lie off Maui

"like one long island," virtually constitute the group.

Laie, where the twins are born, is a small fishing village on the

northern or Koolau side of Oahu, adjoining that region made famous by

the birth and exploits of the pig god, Kamapuaa. North from Laie

village, in a cane field above the Government road, is still pointed out

the water hole called Waiopuka--a long oval hole like a bathtub dropping

to the pool below, said by the natives to be brackish in taste and to

rise and fall with the tide because of subterranean connection with the

sea. On one side an outjutting rock marks the entrance to a cave said to

open out beyond the pool and be reached by diving. Daggett furnishes a

full description of the place in the introduction to his published

synopsis of the story. The appropriateness of Laie as the birthplace of

the rainbow girl is evident to anyone who has spent a week along this

coast. It is one of the most picturesque on the islands, with the open

sea on one side fringed with white beach, and the Koolau range rising

sheer from the narrow strip of the foothills, green to the summit and

fluted into fantastic shapes by the sharp edge of the showers that drive

constantly down with the trade winds, gleaming with rainbow colors.

Kukaniloko, in the uplands of Wahiawa, where Laielohelohe is concealed

by her foster father, is one of the most sacred places on Oahu. Its fame

is coupled with that of Holoholoku in Wailua, Kauai, as one of the

places set apart for the birthplace of chiefs. Tradition says that since

a certain Kapawa, grandson of a chief from "Tahiti" in the far past, was

born upon this spot, a special divine favor has attended the birth of

chiefs upon this spot. Stones were laid out right and left with a mound

for the back, the mother's face being turned to the right. Eighteen

chiefs stood guard on either hand. Then the taboo drum sounded and the

people assembled on the east and south to witness the event. Say the

Hawaiians, "If one came in confident trust and lay properly upon the

supports, the child would be born with honor; it would be called a

divine chief, a burning fire."[1] Even Kaméhaméha desired that his son

Liholiho's birth should take place at Kukaniloko. Situated as it is upon

the breast of the bare uplands between the Koolau and Waianae Ranges,

the place commands a view of surprising breadth and beauty. Though the

stones have been removed, through the courtesy of the management of the

Waialua plantation a fence still marks this site of ancient interest.

The famous hill Kauwiki, where the seer built the temple to his god, and

where Hina watched the clouds drift toward her absent lover, lies at the

extreme eastern end of Maui. About this hill clusters much mythic lore

of the gods. Here the heavens lay within spear thrust to earth, and here

stood Maui, whose mother is called Hina, to thrust them apart. Later,

Kauwiki was the scene of the famous resistance to the warriors of Umi,

and in historic times about this hill for more than half a century waged

a rivalry between the warriors of Hawaii and Maui. The poet of the

Kualii mentions the hill thrice--once in connection with the legend of

Maui, once when he likens the coming forth of the sun at Kauwiki to the

advent of Ku, and in a descriptive passage in which the abrupt height is

described:

Shooting up to heaven is Kauwiki,

Below is the cluster of islands,

In the sea they are gathered up,

O Kauwiki,

O Kauwiki, mountain bending over,

Loosened, almost falling, Kauwiki-e.

Finally, Puna, the easternmost district of the six divisions of Hawaii,

is a region rich in folklore. From the crater of Kilauea, which lies on

the slope of Mauna Loa about 4,000 feet above sea level, the land slopes

gradually to the Puna coast along a line of small volcanic cones, on the

east scarcely a mile from the sea. The slope is heavily forested, on the

uplands with tall hard-wood trees of _ohia_, on the coast with groves of

pandanus. Volcanic action has tossed and distorted the whole district.

The coast has sunk, leaving tree trunks erect in the sea. Above the

bluffs of the south coast lie great bowlders tossed up by tidal waves.

Immense earthquake fissures occur. The soil is fresh lava broken into

treacherous hollows, too porous to retain water and preserving a

characteristic vegetation. About this region has gathered the mysterious

lore of the spirit world. "Fear to do evil in the uplands of Puna,"

warns the old chant, lest mischief befall from the countless wood

spirits who haunt these mysterious forests. Pélé, the volcano goddess,

still loves her old haunts in Puna, and many a modern native boasts a

meeting with this beauty of the flaming red hair who swept to his fate

the brave youth from Kauai when he raced with her down the slope to the

sea during the old mythic days when the rocks and hills of Puna were

forming.

_Footnotes to Background of the Story_

[Footnote 1: _Kuakoa_, iv, No. 31, translated also in _Hawaiian Annual_,

1912, p. 101; Daggett, p. 70; Fornander, II, 272.]

[Illustration: MAUNA KEA IN ITS MANTLE OF SNOW (HENSHAW)]

LAIE I KA WAI

A HAWAIIAN ROMANCE TRANSLATED FROM THE HAWAIIAN TEXT OF S.N. HALEOLE

(PRINTED IN HONOLULU, 1863)[1]

[Footnote 1: Title pages.

(_First edition_.) The story of _Laie-i-ka-wai_, The Beauty of

Pali-uli, the Woman-of-the-Twilight. Composed from the old stories of

Hawaii. Written by S.N. Haleole, Honolulu, Oahu. Published by Henry W.

Whitney, editor of the _Kuakoa_, 1863.

(_Second edition_.) The Treasure-Book of Hawaii. The Story of

Laie-i-ka-wai who is called The-Woman-of-the-Twilight. Revised and

published by Solomon Meheula and Henry Bolster. For the benefit and

progress of the new generation of the Hawaiian race. Honolulu. Printed

by the _Bulletin_, 1888.]

FOREWORD

The editor of this book rejoices to print the first fruits of his

efforts to enrich the Hawaiian people with a story book. We have

previously had books of instruction on many subjects and also those

enlightening us as to the right and the wrong; but this is the first

book printed for us Hawaiians in story form, depicting the ancient

customs of this people, for fear lest otherwise we lose some of their

favorite traditions. Thus we couch in a fascinating manner the words and

deeds of a certain daughter of Hawaii, beautiful and greatly beloved,

that by this means there may abide in the Hawaiian people the love of

their ancestors and their country.

Take it, then, this little book, for what it is worth, to read and to

prize, thus showing your search after the knowledge of things Hawaiian,

being ever ready to uphold them that they be not lost.

It is an important undertaking for anyone to provide us with

entertaining reading matter for our moments of leisure; therefore, when

the editor of this book prepared it for publication he depended upon the

support of all the friends of learning in these islands; and this

thought alone has encouraged him to persevere in his work throughout all

the difficulties that blocked his way. Now, for the first time is given

to the people of Hawaii a book of entertainment for leisure moments like

those of the foreigners, a book to feed our minds with wisdom and

insight. Let us all join in forwarding this little book as a means of

securing to the people more books of the same nature written in their

own tongue--the Hawaiian tongue.

And, therefore, to all friends of learning and to all native-born

Hawaiians, from the rising to the setting sun, behold the

Woman-of-the-Twilight! She comes to you with greetings of love and it is

fitting to receive her with the warmest love from the heart of Hawaii.

_Aloha no!_[1]

[Footnote 1: For the translation of Haleole's foreword, which is in a

much more ornate and involved style than the narrative itself, I am

indebted to Miss Laura Green, of Honolulu.]

CHAPTER I

This tale was told at Laie, Koolau; here they were born, and they were

twins; Kahauokapaka was the father, Malaekahana the mother. Now

Kahauokapaka was chief over two districts, Koolauloa and Koolaupoko, and

he had great authority over these districts.

At the time when Kahauokapaka took Malaekahana to wife,[1] after their

union, during those moments of bliss when they had just parted from the

first embrace, Kahauokapaka declared his vow to his wife, and this was

the vow:[2]

"My wife, since we are married, therefore I will tell you my vow: If we

two live hereafter and bear a child and it is a son, then it shall be

well with us. Our children shall live in the days of our old age, and

when we die they will cover our nakedness.[3] This child shall be the

one to portion out the land, if fortune is ours in our first born and it

is a boy; but if the first born is a daughter, then let her die; however

many daughters are born to us, let them die; only one thing shall save

them, the birth of a son shall save those daughters who come after."

About the eighth year of their living as man and wife, Malaekahana

conceived and bore a daughter, who was so beautiful to look upon, the

mother thought that Kahauokapaka would disregard his vow; this child he

would save. Not so! At the time when she was born, Kahauokapaka was away

at the fishing with the men.

When Kahauokapaka returned from the fishing he was told that Malaekahana

had born a daughter. The chief went to the house; the baby girl had been

wrapped in swaddling clothes; Kahauokapaka at once ordered the

executioner to kill it.

After a time Malaekahana conceived again and bore a second daughter,

more beautiful than the first; she thought to save it. Not so!

Kahauokapaka saw the baby girl in its mother's arms wrapped in swaddling

clothes; then the chief at once ordered the executioner to kill it.

Afterwards Malaekahana bore more daughters, but she could not save them

from being killed at birth according to the chief's vow.

When for the fifth time Malaekahana conceived a child, near the time of

its birth, she went to the priest and said, "Here! Where are you? Look

upon this womb of mine which is with child, for I can no longer endure

my children's death; the husband is overzealous to keep his vow; four

children were mine, four are dead. Therefore, look upon this womb of

mine, which is with child; if you see it is to be a girl, I will kill it

before it takes human shape.[4] But if you see it is to be a boy, I will

not do it."

Then the priest said to Malaekahana, "Go home; just before the child is

to be born come back to me that I may know what you are carrying."

At the time when the child was to be born, in the month of October,

during the taboo season at the temple, Malaekahana remembered the

priest's command. When the pains of childbirth were upon her, she came

to the priest and said, "I come at the command of the priest, for the

pains of childbirth are upon me; look and see, then, what kind of child

I am carrying."

As Malaekahana talked with the priest, he said: "I will show you a sign;

anything I ask of you, you must give it."

Then the priest asked Malaekahana to give him one of her hands,

according to the sign used by this people, whichever hand she wished to

give to the priest.

Now, when the priest asked Malaekahana to give him one of her hands she

presented the left, with the palm upward. Then the priest told her the

interpretation of the sign: "You will bear another daughter, for you

have given me your left hand with the palm upward."

When the priest said this, the heart of Malaekahana was heavy, for she

sorrowed over the slaying of the children by her husband; then

Malaekahana besought the priest to devise something to help the mother

and save the child.

Then the priest counseled Malaekahana, "Go back to the house; when the

child is about to be born, then have a craving for the _manini_

spawn,[5] and tell Kahauokapaka that he must himself go fishing, get the

fish you desire with his own hand, for your husband is very fond of the

young _manini_ afloat in the membrane, and while he is out fishing he

will not know about the birth; and when the child is born, then give it

to me to take care of; when he comes back, the child will be in my

charge, and if he asks, tell him it was an abortion, nothing more."

At the end of this talk, Malaekahana went back to the house, and when

the pains came upon her, almost at the moment of birth, then Malaekahana

remembered the priest's counsel to her.

When the pain had quieted, Malaekahana said to her husband, "Listen,

Kahauokapaka! the spawn of the _manini_ come before my eyes; go after

them, therefore, while they are yet afloat in the membrane; possibly

when you bring the _manini_ spawn, I shall be eased of the child; this

is the first time my labor has been hard, and that I have craved the

young of the _manini_; go quickly, therefore, to the fishing."

Then Kahauokapaka went out of the house at once and set out. While they

were gone the child was born, a girl, and she was given to Waka, and

they named her Laieikawai. As they were attending to the first child, a

second was born, also a girl, and they named her Laielohelohe.

After the girls had been carried away in the arms of Waka and

Kapukaihaoa, Kahauokapaka came back from the fishing, and asked his

wife, "How are you?"

Said the woman, "I have born an abortion and have thrown it into the

ocean."

Kahauokapaka already knew of the birth while he was on the ocean, for

there came two claps of thunder; then he thought that the wife had given

birth. At this time of Laieikawai and Laielohelohe's birth thunder first

sounded in October,[6] according to the legend.

When Waka and Kapukaihaoa had taken their foster children away, Waka

said to Kapukaihaoa, "How shall we hide our foster children from

Kahauokapaka?"

Said the priest, "You had better hide your foster child in the water

hole of Waiapuka; a cave is there which no one knows about, and it will

be my business to seek a place of protection for my foster child."

Waka took Laieikawai where Kapukaihaoa had directed, and there she kept

Laieikawai hidden until she was come to maturity.

Now, Kapukaihaoa took Laielohelohe to the uplands of Wahiawa, to the

place called Kukaniloko.[7]

All the days that Laieikawai was at Waiapuka a rainbow arch was there

constantly, in rain or calm, yet no one understood the nature of this

rainbow, but such signs as attend a chief were always present wherever

the twins were guarded.

Just at this time Hulumaniani was making a tour of Kauai in his

character as the great seer of Kauai, and when he reached the summit of

Kalalea he beheld the rainbow arching over Oahu; there he remained 20

days in order to be sure of the nature of the sign which he saw. By

that time the seer saw clearly that it was the sign of a great

chief--this rainbow arch and the two ends of a rainbow encircled in dark

clouds.

Then the seer made up his mind to go to Oahu to make sure about the sign

which he saw. He left the place and went to Anahola to bargain for a

boat to go to Oahu, but he could not hire a boat to go to Oahu. Again

the seer made a tour of Kauai; again he ascended Kalalea and saw again

the same sign as before, just the same as at first; then he came back to

Anahola.

While the seer was there he heard that Poloula owned a canoe at Wailua,

for he was chief of that place, and he desired to meet Poloula to ask

the chief for a canoe to go to Oahu.

When Hulumaniani met Poloula he begged of him a canoe to go to Oahu.

Then the canoe and men were given to him. That night when the canoe star

rose they left Kauai, 15 strong, and came first to Kamaile in Waianae.

Before the seer sailed, he first got ready a black pig, a white fowl,

and a red fish.

On the day when they reached Waianae the seer ordered the rowers to wait

there until he returned from making the circuit of the island.

Before the seer went he first climbed clear to the top of Maunalahilahi

and saw the rainbow arching at Koolauloa, as he saw it when he was on

Kalalea.

He went to Waiapuka, where Laieikawai was being guarded, and saw no

place there set off for chiefs to dwell in. Now, just as the seer

arrived, Waka had vanished into that place where Laieikawai was

concealed.

As the seer stood looking, he saw the rippling of the water where Waka

had dived. Then he said to himself: "This is a strange thing. No wind

ripples the water on this pool. It is like a person bathing, who has

hidden from me." After Waka had been with Laieikawai she returned, but

while yet in the water she saw someone sitting above on the bank, so she

retreated, for she thought it was Kahauokapaka, this person on the brink

of the water hole.

Waka returned to her foster child, and came back at twilight and spied

to discover where the person had gone whom she saw, but there was the

seer sitting in the same place as before. So Waka went back again.

The seer remained at the edge of the pool, and slept there until

morning. At daybreak, when it was dawn, he arose, saw the sign of the

rainbow above Kukaniloko, forsook this place, journeyed about Oahu,

first through Koolaupoko; from there to Ewa and Honouliuli, where he saw

the rainbow arching over Wahiawa; ascended Kamaoha, and there slept over

night; but did not see the sign he sought.

CHAPTER II

When the seer failed to see the sign which he was following he left

Kamaoha, climbed clear to the top of Kaala, and there saw the rainbow

arching over Molokai. Then the seer left the place and journeyed around

Oahu; a second time he journeyed around in order to be sure of the sign

he was following, for the rainbow acted strangely, resting now in that

place, now in this.

On the day when the seer left Kaala and climbed to the top of

Kuamooakane the rainbow bent again over Molokai, and there rested the

end of the rainbow, covered out of sight with thunderclouds. Three days

he remained on Kuamooakane, thickly veiled in rain and fog.

On the fourth day he secured a boat to go to Molokai. He went on board

the canoe and had sailed half the distance, when the paddlers grew vexed

because the prophet did nothing but sleep, while the pig squealed and

the cock crowed.

So the paddler in front[8] signed to the one at the rear to turn the

canoe around and take the seer back as he slept.

The paddlers turned the canoe around and sailed for Oahu. When the canoe

turned back, the seer distrusted this, because the wind blew in his

face; for he knew the direction of the wind when he left Oahu, and now,

thought he, the wind is blowing from the seaward.

Then the seer opened his eyes and the canoe was going back to Oahu. Then

the seer asked himself the reason, But just to see for himself what the

canoe men were doing, he prayed to his god, to Kuikauweke, to bring a

great tempest over the ocean.

As he prayed a great storm came suddenly upon them, and the paddlers

were afraid.

Then they awoke him: "O you fellow asleep, wake up, there! We thought

perhaps your coming on board would be a good thing for us. Not so! The

man sleeps as if he were ashore."

When the seer arose, the canoe was making for Oahu.

Then he asked the paddlers: "What are you doing to me to take the canoe

back again? What have I done?"

Then the men said: "We two wearied of your constant sleeping and the

pig's squealing and the cock's crowing; there was such a noise; from the

time we left until now the noise has kept up. You ought to have taken

hold and helped paddle. Not so! Sleep was the only thing for you!"

The seer said: "You two are wrong, I think, if you say the reason for

your returning to Oahu was my idleness; for I tell you the trouble was

with the man above on the seat, for he sat still and did nothing."

As he spoke, the seer sprang to the stern of the canoe, took charge of

the steering, and they sailed and came to Haleolono, on Molokai.

When they reached there, lo! the rainbow arched over Koolau, as he saw

it from Kuamooakane; he left the paddlers, for he wished to see the sign

which he was following.

He went first clear to the top of Waialala, right above Kalaupapa.

Arrived there, he clearly saw the rainbow arching over Malelewaa, over a

sharp ridge difficult to reach; there, in truth, was Laieikawai hidden,

she and her grandmother, as Kapukaihaoa had commanded Waka in the

vision.

For as the seer was sailing over the ocean, Kapukaihaoa had

foreknowledge of what the prophet was doing, therefore he told Waka in a

vision to carry Laieikawai away where she could not be found.

After the seer left Waialala he went to Waikolu right below Malelewaa.

Sure enough, there was the rainbow arching where he could not go. Then

he considered for some time how to reach the place to see the person he

was seeking and offer the sacrifice he had prepared, but he could not

reach it.

On the day when the seer went to Waikolu, the same night, came the

command of Kapukaihaoa to Laieikawai in a dream, and when she awoke, it

was a dream. Then Laieikawai roused her grandmother, and the grandmother

awoke and asked her grandchild why she had roused her.

The grandchild said to her: "Kapukaihaoa has come to me in a dream and

said that you should bear me away at once to Hawaii and make our home in

Paliuli; there we two shall dwell; so he told me, and I awoke and

wakened you."

As Laieikawai was speaking to her grandmother, the same vision came to

Waka. Then they both arose at dawn and went as they had both been

directed by Kapukaihaoa in a vision.

They left the place, went to Keawanui, to the place called Kaleloa, and

there they met a man who was getting his canoe ready to sail for Lanai.

When they met the canoe man, Waka said: "Will you let us get into the

canoe with you, and take us to the place where you intend to go?"

Said the canoe man: "I will take you both with me in the canoe; the only

trouble is I have no mate to paddle the canoe."

And as the man spoke this word, "a mate to paddle the canoe," Laieikawai

drew aside the veil that covered her face because of her grandmother's

wish completely to conceal her grandchild from being seen by anyone as

they went on their way to Paliuli; but her grandchild thought otherwise.

When Laieikawai uncovered her face which her grandmother had concealed,

the grandmother shook her head at her grandchild to forbid her showing

it, lest the grandchild's beauty become thereafter nothing but a common

thing.

Now, as Laieikawai uncovered her face, the canoe man saw that Laieikawai

rivaled in beauty all the daughters of the chiefs round about Molokai

and Lanai. And lo! the man was pierced through[9] with longing for the

person he had seen.

Therefore, the man entreated the grandmother and said: "Unloosen the

veil from your grandchild's face, for I see that she is more beautiful

than all the daughters of the chiefs round about Molokai and Lanai."

The grandmother said: "I do not uncover her because she wishes to

conceal herself."

At this answer of Waka to the paddler's entreaties, Laieikawai revealed

herself fully, for she heard Waka say that she wished to conceal

herself, when she had not wanted to at all.

And when the paddler saw Laieikawai clearly, desire came to him afresh.

Then the thought sprang up within him to go and spread the news around

Molokai of this person whom he longed after.

Then the paddler said to Laieikawai and her companion, "Where are you!

live here in the house; everything within is yours, not a single thing

is withholden from you in the house; inside and outside[10] you two are

masters of this place."

When the canoe man had spoken thus, Laieikawai said, "Our host, shall

you be gone long? for it looks from your charge as if you were to be

away for good."

Said the host, "O daughter, not so; I shall not forsake you; but I must

look for a mate to paddle you both to Lanai."

And at these words, Waka said to their host, "If that is the reason for

your going away, leaving us in charge of everything in your house, then

let me say, we can help you paddle."

The man was displeased at these words of Waka to him.

He said to the strangers, "Let me not think of asking you to paddle the

canoe; for I hold you to be persons of importance."

Now it was not the man's intention to look for a mate to paddle the

canoe with him, but as he had already determined, so now he vowed within

him to go and spread around Molokai the news about Laieikawai.

When they had done speaking the paddler left them and went away as he

had vowed.

As he went he came first to Kaluaaha and slept at Halawa, and here and

on the way there he proclaimed, as he had vowed, the beauty of

Laieikawai.

The next day, in the morning, he found a canoe sailing to Kalaupapa, got

on board and went first to Pelekunu and Wailau; afterwards he came to

Waikolu, where the seer was staying.

When he got to Waikolu the seer had already gone to Kalaupapa, but this

man only stayed to spread the news of Laieikawai's arrival.

When he reached Kalaupapa, behold! a company had assembled for boxing;

he stood outside the crowd and cried with a loud voice:[11] "O ye men of

the people, husbandmen, laborers, tillers of the soil; O ye chiefs,

priests, soothsayers, all men of rank in the household of the chief! All

manner of men have I beheld on my way hither; I have seen the high and

the low, men and women; low chiefs, the _kaukaualii_, men and women;

high chiefs, the _niaupio_, and the _ohi_; but never have I beheld

anyone to compare with this one whom I have seen; and I declare to you

that she is more beautiful than any of the daughters of the chiefs on

Molokai or even in this assembly."

Now when he shouted, he could not be heard, for his voice was smothered

in the clamor of the crowd and the noise of the onset.

And wishing his words to be heard aright, he advanced into the midst of

the throng, stood before the assembly, and held up the border of his

garment and repeated the words he had just spoken.

Now the high chief of Molokai heard his voice plainly, so the chief

quieted the crowd and listened to what the stranger was shouting about,

for as he looked at the man he saw that his face was full of joy and

gladness.

At the chief's command the man was summoned before the chief and he

asked, "What news do you proclaim aloud with glad face before the

assembly?"

Then the man told why he shouted and why his face was glad in the

presence of the chief: "In the early morning yesterday, while I was

working over the canoe, intending to sail to Lanai, a certain woman came

with her daughter, but I could not see plainly the daughter's face. But

while we were talking the girl unveiled her face. Behold! I saw a girl

of incomparable beauty who rivaled all the daughters of the chiefs of

Molokai."

When the chief heard these words he said, "If she is as good looking as

my daughter, then she is beautiful indeed."

At this saying of the chief, the man begged that the chiefess be shown

to him, and Kaulaailehua, the daughter of the chief, was brought

thither. Said the man, "Your daughter must be in four points more

beautiful than she is to compare with that other."

Replied the chief, "She must be beautiful indeed that you scorn our

beauty here, who is the handsomest girl in Molokai."

Then the man said fearlessly to the chief, "Of my judgment of beauty I

can speak with confidence."[12]

As the man was talking with the chief, the seer remained listening to

the conversation; it just came to him that this was the one whom he was

seeking.

So the seer moved slowly toward him, got near, and seized the man by the

arm, and drew him quietly after him.

When they were alone, the seer asked the man directly, "Did you know

that girl before about whom you were telling the chief?"

The man denied it and said, "No; I had never seen her before; this was

the very first time; she was a stranger to me."

So the seer thought that this must be the person he was seeking, and he

questioned the man closely where they were living, and the man told him

exactly.

After the talk, he took everything that he had prepared for sacrifice

when they should meet and departed.

Chapter III

When the seer set out after meeting that man, he went first up Kawela;

there he saw the rainbow arching over the place which the man had

described to him; so he was sure that this was the person he was

following.

He went to Kaamola, the district adjoining Keawanui, where Laieikawai

and her companion were awaiting the paddler. By this time it was very

dark; he could not see the sign he saw from Kawela; but the seer slept

there that night, thinking that at daybreak he would see the person he

was seeking.

That night, while the seer was sleeping at Kaamola, then came the

command of Kapukaihaoa to Laieikawai in a dream, just as he had directed

them at Malelewaa.

At dawn they found a canoe sailing to Lanai, got on board, and went and

lived for some time at Maunalei.

After Laieikawai and her companion had left Kalaeloa, at daybreak, the

seer arose and saw that clouds and falling rain obscrued the sea between

Molokai and Lanai with a thick veil of fog and mist.

Three days the veil of mist hid the sea, and on the fourth day the

seer's stay at Kaamola, in the very early morning, he saw an end of the

rainbow standing right above Maunalei. Now the seer regretted deeply not

finding the person he was seeking; nevertheless he was not discouraged

into dropping the quest.

About 10 days passed at Molokai before he saw the end of the rainbow

standing over Haleakala; he left Molokai, went first to Haleakala, to

the fire pit, but did not see the person he was seeking.

When the seer reached there, he looked toward Hawaii; the land was veiled

thick in cloud and mist. He left the place, went to Kauwiki, and there

built a place of worship[13] to call upon his god as the only one to

guide him to the person he was seeking.

Whenever the seer stopped in his journeying he directed the people, if

they found the person he was following, to search him out wherever he

might be.

At the end of the days of consecration of the temple, while the seer was

at Kauwiki, near the night of the gods Kane and Lono,[14] the land of

Hawaii cleared and he saw to the summit of the mountains.

Many days the seer remained at Kauwiki, nearly a year or more, but he

never saw the sign he had followed thither.

One day in June, during the first days of the month, very early in the

morning, he caught a glimpse of something like a rainbow at Koolau on

Hawaii; he grew excited, his pulse beat quickly, but he waited long and

patiently to see what the rainbow was doing. The whole month passed in

patient waiting; and in the next month, on the second day of the month,

in the evening, before the sun had gone down, he entered the place of

worship prepared for his god and prayed.

As he prayed, in the midst of the place appeared to the seer the spirit

forms[15] of Laieikawai and her grandmother; so he left off praying, nor

did those spirits leave him as long as it was light.

That night, in his sleep, his god came to him in a vision and said: "I

have seen the pains and the patience with which you have striven to find

Waka's grandchild, thinking to gain honor through her grandchild. Your

prayers have moved me to show you that Laieikawai dwells between Puna

and Hilo in the midst of the forest, in a house made of the yellow

feathers of the _oo_ bird[16]; therefore, to-morrow, rise and go."

He awoke from sleep; it was only a dream, so he doubted and did not

sleep the rest of the night until morning.

And when it was day, in the early morning, as he was on Kauwiki, he saw

the flapping of the sail of a canoe down at Kaihalulu. He ran quickly

and came to the landing, and asked the man where the boat was going.

The man said, "It is going to Hawaii"; thereupon he entreated the man to

take him, and the latter consented.

The seer returned up Kauwiki and brought his luggage, the things he had

got ready for sacrifice.

When he reached the shore he first made a bargain with them: "You

paddlers, tell me what you expect of me on this trip; whatever you

demand, I will accede to; for I was not well treated by the men who

brought me here from Oahu, so I will first make a bargain with you men,

lest you should be like them."

The men promised to do nothing amiss on this trip, and the talk ended;

he boarded the canoe and set out.

On the way they landed first at Mahukona in Kohala, slept there that

night, and in the morning the seer left the paddlers, ascended to

Lamaloloa, and entered the temple of Pahauna,[17] an ancient temple

belonging to olden times and preserved until to-day.

Many days he remained there without seeing the sign he sought; but in

his character as seer he continued praying to his god as when he was on

Kauwiki, and in answer to the seer's prayer, he had again the same sign

that was shown to him on Kauwiki.

At this, he left the place and traversed Hawaii, starting from Hamakua,

and the journey lasted until the little pig he started with had grown

too big to be carried.

Having arrived at Hamakua, he dwelt in the Waipio Valley at the temple

of Pakaalana but did not stay there long.

The seer left that place, went to Laupahoehoe, and thence to

Kaiwilahilahi, and there remained some years.

Here we will leave the story of the seer's search. It will be well to

tell of the return of Kauakahialii to Kauai with Kailiokalauokekoa.[18]

As we know, Laieikawai is at Paliuli.

In the first part of the story we saw that Kapukaihaoa commanded Waka in

a dream to take Laieikawai to Paliuli, as the seer saw.

The command was carried out. Laieikawai dwelt at Paliuli until she was

grown to maidenhood.

When Kauakahialii and Kailiokalauokekoa returned to Kauai after their

meeting with the "beauty of Paliuli" there were gathered together the

high chiefs, the low chiefs, and the country aristocracy as well, to see

the strangers who came with Kailiokalauokekoa's party. Aiwohikupua came

with the rest of the chiefs to wail for the strangers.

After the wailing the chiefs asked Kauakahialii, "How did your journey

go after your marriage with Kailiokalauokekoa?"

Then Kauakahialii told of his journey as follows: "Seeking hence after

the love of woman, I traversed Oahu and Maui, but found no other woman

to compare with this Kailiokalauokekoa here. I went to Hawaii, traveled

all about the island, touched first at Kohala, went on to Kona, Kau, and

came to Keaau, in Puna, and there I tarried, and there I met another

woman surpassingly beautiful, more so than this woman here

(Kailiokalauokekoa), more than all the beauties of this whole group of

islands."

During this speech Aiwohikupua seemed to see before him the lovely form

of that woman.

Then said Kauakahialii: "On the first night that she met my man she told

him at what time she would reach the place where we were staying and the

signs of her coming, for my man told her I was to be her husband and

entreated her to come down with him; but she said: 'Go back to this ward

of yours who is to be my husband and tell him this night I will come.

When rings the note of the _oo_ bird I am not in that sound, or the

_alala_, I am not in that sound; when rings the note of the _elepaio_

then am I making ready to descend; when the note of the _apapane_

sounds, then am I without the door of my house; if you hear the note of

the _iiwipolena_[19] then am I without your ward's house; seek me, you

two, and find me without; that is your ward's chance to meet me.' So my

man told me.

"When the night came that she had promised she did not come; we waited

until morning; she did not come; only the birds sang. I thought my man

had lied. Kailiokalauokekoa and her friends were spending the night at

Punahoa with friends. Thinking my man had lied, I ordered the

executioner to bind ropes about him; but he had left me for the uplands

of Paliuli to ask the woman why she had not come down that night and to

tell her he was to die.

"When he had told Laieikawai all these things the woman said to him,

'You return, and to-night I will come as I promised the night before, so

will I surely do.'

"That night, the night on which the woman was expected,

Kailiokalauokekoa's party had returned and she was recounting her

adventures, when just at the edge of the evening rang the note of the

_oo_; at 9 in the evening rang the note of the _alala_; at midnight rang

the note of the _elepaio_; at dawn rang the note of the _apapane_; and

at the first streak of light rang the note of the _iiwipolena_; as soon

as it sounded there fell the shadow of a figure at the door of the

house. Behold! the room was thick with mist, and when it passed away she

lay resting on the wings of birds in all her beauty."

At these words of Kauakahialii to the chiefs, all the body of

Aiwohikupua pricked with desire, and he asked, "What was the woman's

name?"

They told him it was Laieikawai, and such was Aiwohikupua's longing for

the woman of whom Kauakahialii spoke that he thought to make her his

wife, but he wondered who this woman might be. Then he said to

Kauakahialii: "I marvel what this woman may be, for I am a man who has

made the whole circuit of the islands, but I never saw any woman resting

on the wings of birds. It may be she is come hither from the borders of

Tahiti, from within Moaulanuiakea."[20]

Since Aiwohikupua thought Laieikawai must be from Moaulanuiakea, he

determined to get her for his wife. For before he had heard all this

story Aiwohikupua had vowed not to take any woman of these islands to

wife; he said that he wanted a woman of Moaulanuiakea.

The chiefs' reception was ended and the accustomed ceremonies on the

arrival of strangers performed. And soon after those days Aiwohikupua

took Kauakahialii's man to minister in his presence, thinking that this

man would be the means to attain his desire.

Therefore Aiwohikupua exalted this man to be head over all things, over

all the chief's land, over all the men, chiefs, and common people, as

his high counsellor.

As this man became great, jealous grew the former favorites of

Aiwohikupua, but this was nothing to the chief.

CHAPTER IV

After this man had become great before the chief, even his high

counsellor, they consulted constantly together about those matters which

pleased the chief, while the people thought they discussed the

administration of the land and of the substance which pertained to the

chief; but it was about Laieikawai that the two talked and very seldom

about anything else.

Even before Aiwohikupua heard from Kauakahialii about Laieikawai he had

made a vow before his food companions, his sisters, and before all the

men of rank in his household: "Where are you, O chiefs, O my sisters,

all my food companions! From this day until my last I will take no woman

of all these islands to be my wife, even from Kauai unto Hawaii, no

matter how beautiful she is reported to be, nor will I get into mischief

with a woman, not with anyone at all. For I have been ill-treated by

women from my youth up. She shall be my wife who comes hither from other

islands, even from Moaulanuiakea, a place of kind women, I have heard;

so that is the sort of woman I desire to marry."

When Aiwohikupua had heard Kauakahialii's story, after conferring long

with his high counsellor about Laieikawai, then the chief was convinced

that this was the woman from Tahiti.

Next day, at midday, the chief slept and Laieikawai came to Aiwohikupua

in a dream[21] and he saw her in the dream as Kauakahialii had described

her.

When he awoke, lo! he sorrowed after the vision of Laieikawai, because

he had awakened so soon out of sleep; therefore he wished to prolong his

midday nap in order to see again her whom he had beheld in his dream.

The chief again slept, and again Laieikawai came to him for a moment,

but he could not see her distinctly; barely had he seen her face when he

waked out of sleep.

For this reason his mind was troubled and the chief made oath before all

his people:

"Where are you? Do not talk while I am sleeping; if one even whispers,

if he is chief over a district he shall lose his chiefship; if he is

chief over part of a district, he shall lose his chiefship; and if a

tenant farmer break my command, death is the penalty."

The chief took this oath because of his strong desire to sleep longer in

order to make Laieikawai's acquaintance in his dream.

After speaking all these words, he tried once more to sleep, but he

could not get to sleep until the sun went down.

During all this time he did not tell anyone about what he saw in the

dream; the chief hid it from his usual confidant, thinking when it came

again, then he would tell his chief counsellor.

And because of the chief's longing to dream often, he commanded his

chief counsellor to chew _awa_.

So the counsellor summoned the chief's _awa_ chewers and made ready what

the chief commanded, and he brought it to him, and the chief drank with

his counsellor and drunkenness possessed him. Then close above the chief

rested the beloved image of Laieikawai as if they were already lovers.

Then he raised his voice in song, as follows:[22]

"Rising fondly before me,

The recollection of the lehua blossom of Puna,

Brought hither on the tip of the wind,

By the light keen wind of the fiery pit.

Wakeful--sleepless with heart longing,

With desire--O!"

Said the counsellor, to the chief, after he had ended his singing, "This

is strange! You have had no woman since we two have been living here,

yet in your song you chanted as if you had a woman here."

Said the chief, "Cut short your talk, for I am cut off by the drink."

Then the chief fell into a deep sleep and that ended it, for so heavy

was the chief's sleep that he saw nothing of what he had desired.

A night and a day the chief slept while the effects of the _awa_ lasted.

Said the chief to his counsellor, "No good at all has come from this

_awa_ drinking of ours."

The counsellor answered, "What is the good of _awa_ drinking? I thought

the good of drinking was that admirable scaley look of the skin?"[23]

Said the chief, "Not so, but to see Laieikawai, that is the good of

_awa_ drinking."

After this the chief kept on drinking _awa_ many days, perhaps a year,

but he gained nothing by it, so he quit it.

It was only after he quit _awa_ drinking that he told anyone how

Laieikawai had come to him in the dream and why he had drunk the _awa_,

and also why he had laid the command upon them not to talk while he

slept.

After talking over all these things, then the chief fully decided to go

to Hawaii to see Laieikawai. At this time they began to talk about

getting Laieikawai for a wife.

At the close of the rough season and the coming of good weather for

sailing, the counsellor ordered the chief's sailing masters to make the

double canoe ready to sail for Hawaii that very night; and at the same

time he appointed the best paddlers out of the chief's personal

attendants.

Before the going down of the sun the steersmen and soothsayers were

ordered to observe the look of the clouds and the ocean to see whether

the chief could go or not on his journey, according to the signs. And

the steersmen as well as soothsayers saw plainly that he might go on his

journey.

And in the early morning at the rising of the canoe-steering star the

chief went on board with his counsellor and his sixteen paddlers and two

steersmen, twenty of them altogether in the double canoe, and set sail.

As they sailed, they came first to Nanakuli at Waianae. In the early

morning they left this place and went first to Mokapu and stayed there

ten days, for they were delayed by a storm and could not go to Molokai.

After ten days they saw that it was calm to seaward. That night and the

next day they sailed to Polihua, on Lanai, and from there to Ukumehame,

and as the wind was unfavorable, remained there, and the next day left

that place and went to Kipahulu.

At Kipahulu the chief said he would go along the coast afoot and the men

by boat. Now, wherever they went the people applauded the beauty of

Aiwohikupua.

They left Kipahulu and went to Hana, the chief and his counsellor by

land, the men by canoe. On the way a crowd followed them for admiration

of Aiwohikupua.

When they reached the canoe landing at Haneoo at Hana the people crowded

to behold the chief, because of his exceeding beauty.

When the party reached there the men and women were out surf riding in

the waves of Puhele, and among them was one noted princess of Hana,

Hinaikamalama by name. When they saw the princess of Hana, the chief and

his counsellor conceived a passion for her; that was the reason why

Aiwohikupua stayed there that day.

When the people of the place had ended surfing and Hinaikamalama rode

her last breaker, as she came in, the princess pointed her board

straight at the stream of Kumaka where Aiwohikupua and his companion had

stopped.

While the princess was bathing in the water of Kumaka the chief and his

counsellor desired her, so the chief's counsellor pinched Aiwohikupua

quietly to withdraw from the place where Hinaikamalama was bathing, but

their state of mind got them into trouble.

When Aiwohikupua and his companion had put some distance between

themselves and the princess's bathing place, the princess called, "O

chiefs, why do you two run away? Why not throw off your garment, jump

in, and join us, then go to the house and sleep? There is fish and a

place to sleep. That is the wealth of the people of this place. When you

wish to go, go; if you wish to stay, this is Hana, stay here."

At these words of the princess the counsellor said to Aiwohikupua, "Ah!

the princess would like you for her lover! for she has taken a great

fancy to you."

Said Aiwohikupua, "I should like to be her lover, for I see well that

she is more beautiful than all the other women who have tempted me; but

you have heard my vow not to take any woman of these islands to wife."

At these words his counsellor said, "You are bound by that vow of yours;

better, therefore, that this woman be mine."

After this little parley, they went out surf riding and as they rode,

behold! the princess conceived a passion for Aiwohikupua, and many

others took a violent liking to the chief.

After the bath, they returned to the canoe thinking to go aboard and set

out, but Aiwohikupua saw the princess playing _konane_[24] and the

stranger chief thought he would play a game with her; now, the princess

had first called them to come and play.

So Aiwohikupua joined the princess; they placed the pebbles on the

board, and the princess asked, "What will the stranger stake if the game

is lost to the woman of Hana?"

Said Aiwohikupua, "I will stake my double canoe afloat here on the sea,

that is my wager with you."

Said the princess, "Your wager, stranger, is not well--a still lighter

stake would be our persons; if I lose to you then I become yours and

will do whatever you tell me just as we have agreed, and if you lose to

me, then you are mine; as you would do to me, so shall I to you, and you

shall dwell here on Maui."

The chief readily agreed to the princess's words. In the first game,

Aiwohikupua lost.

Then said the princess, "I have won over you; you have nothing more to

put up, unless it be your younger brother; in that case I will bet with

you again."

To this jesting offer of the princess, Aiwohikupua readily gave his word

of assent.

During the talk, Aiwohikupua gave to the princess this counsel.

"Although I belong to you, and this is well, yet let us not at once

become lovers, not until I return from my journey about Hawaii; for I

vowed before sailing hither to know no woman until I had made the

circuit of Hawaii; after that I will do what you please as we have

agreed. So I lay my command upon you before I go, to live in complete

purity, not to consent to any others, not to do the least thing to

disturb our compact; and when I return from sight-seeing, then the

princess's stake shall be paid. If when I return you have not remained

pure, not obeyed my commands, then there is an end of it."

Now, this was not Aiwohikupua's real intention. After laying his

commands upon Hinaikamalama, they left Maui and went to Kapakai at

Kohala.

The next day they left Kapakai and sailed along by Kauhola, and

Aiwohikupua saw a crowd of men gathering mountainward of Kapaau.

Then Aiwohikupua ordered the boatmen to paddle inshore, for he wanted

to see why the crowd was gathering.

When they had come close in to the landing at Kauhola the chief asked

why the crowd was gathering; then a native of the place said they were

coming together for a boxing match.

At once Aiwohikupua trembled with eagerness to go and see the boxing

match; they made the canoe fast, and Aiwohikupua, with his counsellor

and the two steersmen, four in number, went ashore.

When they came to Hinakahua, where the field was cleared for boxing, the

crowd saw that the youth from Kauai surpassed in beauty all the natives

of the place, and they raised a tumult.

After the excitement the boxing field again settled into order; then

Aiwohikupua leaned against the trunk of a _milo_ tree to watch the

attack begin.

As Aiwohikupua stood there, Cold-nose entered the open space and stood

in the midst to show himself off to the crowd, and he called out in a

loud voice: "What man on that side will come and box?" But no one dared

to come and stand before Cold-nose, for the fellow was the strongest

boxer in Kohala.

As Cold-nose showed himself off he turned and saw Aiwohikupua and called

out, "How are you, stranger? Will you have some fun?"

When Aiwohikupua heard the voice of Cold-nose calling him, he came

forward and stood in front of the boxing field while he bound his red

loin cloth[25] about him in the fashion of a chief's bodyguard, and he

answered his opponent:

"O native born, you have asked me to have some fun with you, and this is

what I ask of you: Take two on your side with you, three of you

together, to satisfy the stranger."

When Cold-nose heard Aiwohikupua, he said, "You are the greatest boaster

in the crowd![26] I am the best man here, and yet you talk of three from

this side; and what are you compared to me?"

Answered Aiwohikupua, "I will not accept the challenge without others on

your side, and what are you compared to me! Now, I promise you, I can

turn this crowd into nothing with one hand."

At Aiwohikupua's words, one of Cold-nose's backers came up behind

Aiwohikupua and said: "Here! do not speak to Cold-nose; he is the best

man in Kohala; the heavy weights of Kohala can not master that man."[27]

Then Aiwohikupua turned and gave the man at his back a push, and he fell

down dead.[28]

CHAPTER V

When all the players on the boxing field saw how strong Aiwohikupua was

to kill the man with just a push;

Then Cold-nose's backers went to him and said: "Here, Cold-nose, I see

pretty plainly now our side will never get the best of it; I am sure

that the stranger will beat us, for you see how our man was killed by

just a push from his hand; when he gives a real blow the man will fly

into bits. Now, I advise you to dismiss the contestants and put an end

to the game and stop challenging the stranger. So, you go up to the

stranger and shake hands,[29] you two, and welcome him, to let the

people see that the fight is altogether hushed up."

These words roused Cold-nose to hot wrath and he said: "Here! you

backers of mine, don't be afraid, don't get frightened because that man

of ours was killed by a push from his hand. Didn't I do the same thing

here some days ago? Then what are you afraid of? And now I tell you if

you fear the stranger, then hide your eyes in the blue sky. When you

hear that Cold-nose has conquered, then remember my blow called

_The-end-that-sang_, the fruit of the tree which you have never tasted,

the master's stroke which you have never learned. By this sign I know

that he will never get the better of me, the end of my girdle sang

to-day."[30]

At these words of Cold-nose his supporters said, "Where are you! We say

no more; there is nothing left to do; we are silent before the fruit of

this tree of yours which you say we have never tasted, and you say, too,

that the end of your girdle has sung; maybe you will win through your

girdle!" Then his backers moved away from the crowd.

While Cold-nose was boasting to his backers how he would overcome

Aiwohikupua, then Aiwohikupua moved up and cocked his eye at Cold-nose,

flapped with his arms against his side like a cock getting ready to

crow, and said to Cold-nose, "Here, Cold-nose! strike me right in the

stomach, four time four blows!"

When Cold-nose heard Aiwohikupua's boasting challenge to strike, then he

glanced around the crowd and saw someone holding a very little child;

then said Cold-nose to Aiwohikupua, "I am not the man to strike you;

that little youngster there, let him strike you and let him be your

opponent."

These words enraged Aiwohikupua. Then a flush rose all over his body as

if he had been dipped in the blood of a lamb.[31] He turned right to the

crowd and said, "Who will dare to defy the Kauai boy, for I say to him,

my god can give me victory over this man, and my god will deliver the

head of this mighty one to be a plaything for my paddlers."

Then Aiwohikupua knelt down and prayed to his gods as follows: "O you

Heavens, Lightning, and Rain, O Air, O Thunder and Earthquake! Look upon

me this day, the only child of yours left upon this earth. Give this day

all your strength unto your child; by your might turn aside his fists

from smiting your child, and I beseech you to give me the head of Ihuanu

into my hand to be a plaything for my paddlers, that all this assembly

may see that I have power over this uncircumcised[32] one. Amen."[33]

At the close of this prayer Aiwohikupua stood up with confident face and

asked Cold-nose, "Are you ready yet to strike me?"

Cold-nose answered, "I am not ready to strike you; you strike me first!"

When Cold-nose's master heard these words he went to Cold-nose's side

and said, "You are foolish, my pupil. If he orders you forward again

then deliver the strongest blow you can give, for when he gives you the

order to strike he himself begins the fight." So Cold-nose was

satisfied.

After this, Aiwohikupua again asked Cold-nose, "Are you ready yet to

strike me? Strike my face, if you want to!"

Then Cold-nose instantly delivered a blow like the whiz of the wind at

Aiwohikupua's face, but Aiwohikupua dodged and he missed it.

As the blow missed, Aiwohikupua instantly sent his blow, struck right on

the chest and pierced to his back; then Aiwohikupua lifted the man on

his arm and swung him to and fro before the crowd, and threw him outside

the field, and Aiwohikupua overcame Cold-nose, and all who looked on

shouted.

When Cold-nose was dead his supporters came to where he was lying, those

who had warned him to end the fight, and cried, "Aha! Cold-nose, could

the fruit we have never tasted save you? Will you fight a second time

with that man of might?" These were the scornful words of his

supporters.

As the host were crowding about the dead body of their champion and

wailing, Aiwohikupua came and cut off Cold-nose's head with the man's

own war club[34] and threw it contemptuously to his followers; thus was

his prayer fulfilled. This ended, Aiwohikupua left the company, got

aboard the canoe, and departed; and the report of the deed spread

through Kohala, Hamakua, and all around Hawaii.

They sailed and touched at Honokaape at Waipio, then came off Paauhau

and saw a cloud of dust rising landward. Aiwohikupua asked his

counsellor, "Why is that crowd gathering on land? Perhaps it is a boxing

match; let us go again to look on!"

His counsellor answered, "Break off that notion, for we are not taking

this journey for boxing contests, but to seek a wife."

Said Aiwohikupua to his counsellor, "Call to the steersman to turn the

canoe straight ashore to hear what the crowd is for." The chief's wish

was obeyed, they went alongside the cliff and asked the women gathering

shellfish, "What is that crowd inland for?"

The women answered, "They are standing up to a boxing match, and whoever

is the strongest, he will be sent to box with the Kauai man who fought

here with Cold-nose and killed Cold-nose; that is what all the shouting

is about."

So Aiwohikupua instantly gave orders to anchor the canoe, and

Aiwohikupua landed with his counsellor and the two steersmen, and they

went up to the boxing match; there they stood at a distance watching the

people.

Then came one of the natives of the place to where they stood and

Aiwohikupua asked what the people were doing, and the man answered as

the women had said.

Aiwohikupua said to the man, "You go and say I am a fellow to have some

fun with the boxers, but not with anyone who is not strong."

The man answered, "Haunaka is the only strong one in this crowd, and he

is to be sent to Kohala to fight with the Kauai man."

Said Aiwohikupua, "Go ahead and tell Haunaka that we two will have some

fun together."

When the man found Haunaka, and Haunaka heard these words, he clapped

his hands, struck his chest, and stamped his feet, and beckoned to

Aiwohikupua to come inside the field, and Aiwohikupua came, took off his

cape,[35] and bound it about his waist.

When Aiwohikupua was on the field he said to Haunaka, "You can never

hurt the Kauai boy; he is a choice branch of the tree that stands upon

the steep."[36]

As Aiwohikupua was speaking a man called out from outside the crowd, who

had seen Aiwohikupua fighting with Cold-nose, "O Haunaka and all of you

gathered here, you will never outdo this man; his fist is like a spear!

Only one blow at Cold-nose and the fist went through to his back. This

is the very man who killed Cold-nose."

Then Haunaka seized Aiwohikupua's hand and welcomed him, and the end of

it was they made friends and the players mixed with the crowd, and they

left the place; Aiwohikupua's party went with their friends and boarded

the canoes, and went on and landed at Laupahoehoe.

CHAPTER VI

In Chapter V of this story we have seen how Aiwohikupua got to

Laupahoehoe. Here we shall say a word about Hulumaniani, the seer who

followed Laieikawai hither from Kauai, as described in the first chapter

of this story.

On the day when Aiwohikupua's party left Paauhau, at Hamakua, on the

same day as he sailed and came to Laupahoehoe, the prophet foresaw it

all on the evening before he arrived, and it happened thus:

That evening before sunset, as the seer was sitting at the door of the

house, he saw long clouds standing against the horizon where the signs

in the clouds appear, according to the soothsayers of old days even

until now.

Said the seer, "A chief's canoe comes hither, 19 men, 1 high chief, a

double canoe."

The men sitting with the chief started up at once, but could see no

canoe coming. Then the people with him asked, "Where is the canoe which

you said was a chief's canoe coming?"

Said the prophet, "Not a real canoe; in the clouds I find it; to-morrow

you will see the chief's canoe."

A night and a day passed; toward evening he again saw the cloud rise on the

ocean in the form which the seer recognized as Aiwohikupua's--perhaps as we

recognize the crown of any chief that comes to us, so Aiwohikupua's cloud

sign looked to the seer.

When the prophet saw that sign he arose and caught a little pig and a

black cock, and pulled a bundle of _awa_ root to prepare for

Aiwohikupua's coming.

The people wondered at his action and asked, "Are you going away that

you make these things ready?"

The seer said, "I am making ready for my chief, Aiwohikupua; he is the

one I told you about last evening; for he comes hither over the ocean,

his sign is on the ocean, and his mist covers it."

As Aiwohikupua's party drew near to the harbor of Laupahoehoe, 20 peals

of thunder sounded, the people of Hilo crowded together, and as soon as

it was quiet all saw the double canoe coming to land carrying above it

the taboo sign[37] of a chief. Then the seer's prediction was fulfilled.

When the canoe came to land the seer was standing at the landing; he

advanced from Kaiwilahilahi, threw the pig before the chief, and prayed

in the name of the gods of Aiwohikupua, and this was his prayer:

"O Heavens, Lightning, and Rain; O Air, Thunder, and Earthquake; O gods

of my chief, my beloved, my sacred taboo chief, who will bury these

bones! Here is a pig, a black cock, _awa_, a priest, a sacrifice, an

offering to the chief from your servant here; look upon your servant,

Hulumaniani; bring to him life, a great life, a long life, to live

forever, until the staff rings as he walks, until he is dragged upon a

mat, until the eyes are dim.[38] Amen, it is finished, flown away."

As the chief listened to the prophet's prayer, Aiwohikupua recognized

his own prophet, and his heart yearned with love toward him; for he had

been gone a long while; he could not tell how long it was since he had

seen him.

As soon as the prayer was ended, Aiwohikupua commanded his counsellor to

"present the seer's gifts to the gods."

Instantly the seer ran and clasped the chief's feet and climbed upward

to his neck and wept, and Aiwohikupua hugged his servant's shoulders and

wailed out his virtues.

After the wailing the chief asked his servant: "Why are you living here,

and how long have you been gone?"

The servant told him all that we have read about in former chapters.

When the seer had told the business on which he had come and his reason

for it, that was enough. Then it was the seer's turn to question

Aiwohikupua, but the chief told only half the story, saying that he was

on a sight-seeing tour.

The chief stayed with the seer that night until at daybreak they made

ready the canoe and sailed.

They left Laupahoehoe and got off Makahanaloa when one of the men, the

one who is called the counsellor, saw the rainbow arching over Paliuli.

He said to the chief: "Look! Where are you! See that rainbow arch?

Laieikawai is there, the one whom you want to find and there is where I

found her."

Said Aiwohikupua: "I do not think Laieikawai is there; that is not her

rainbow, for rainbows are common to all rainy places. But let us wait

until it is pleasant and see whether the rainbow is there then; then we

shall know it is her sign."

At the chief's proposal they anchored their canoes in the sea, and

Aiwohikupua went up with his counsellor to Kukululaumania to the houses

of the natives of the place and stayed there waiting for pleasant

weather. After four days it cleared over Hilo; the whole country was

plainly visible, and Panaewa lay bare.

On this fourth day in the early morning Aiwohikupua awoke and went out

of the house, lo! the rainbow arching where they had seen it before;

long the chief waited until the sun came, then he went in and aroused

his counsellor and said to him: "Here! perhaps you were right; I myself

rose early while it was still dark, and went outside and actually saw

the rainbow arching in the place you had pointed out to me, and I waited

until sunrise--still the rainbow! And I came in to awaken you."

The man said: "That is what I told you; if we had gone we should have

been staying up there in Paliuli all these days where she is."

That morning they left Makahanaloa and sailed out to the harbor of

Keaau.

They sailed until evening, made shore at Keaau and saw Kauakahialii's

houses standing there and the people of the place out surf riding. When

they arrived, the people of the place admired Aiwohikupua as much as

ever.

The strangers remained at Keaau until evening, then Aiwohikupua ordered

the steersmen and rowers to stay quietly until the two of them returned

from their search for a wife, only they two alone.

At sunset Aiwohikupua caught up his feather cloak and gave it to the

other to carry, and they ascended.

They made way with difficulty through high forest trees and thickets of

tangled brush, until, at a place close to Paliuli, they heard the crow

of a cock. The man said to his chief: "We are almost out."

They went on climbing, and heard a second time the cock crow (the cock's

second crow this). They went on climbing until a great light shone.

The man said to his chief, "Here! we are out; there is Laieikawai's

grandmother calling together the chickens as usual."[39]

Asked Aiwohikupua, "Where is the princess's house?"

Said the man, "When we get well out of the garden patch here, then we

can see the house clearly."

When Aiwohikupua saw that they were approaching Laieikawai's house, he

asked for the feather cloak to hold in his hand when they met the

princess of Paliuli.

The garden patch passed, they beheld Laieikawai's house covered with the

yellow feathers of the _oo_ bird, as the seer had seen in his vision

from the god on Kauwiki.

When Aiwohikupua saw the house of the princess of Paliuli, he felt

strangely perplexed and abashed, and for the first time he felt doubtful

of his success.

And by reason of this doubt within him he said to his companion, "Where

are you? We have come boldly after my wife. I supposed her just an

ordinary woman. Not so! The princess's house has no equal for

workmanship; therefore, let us return without making ourselves known."

Said his counsellor, "This is strange, after we have reached the woman's

house for whom we have swum eight seas, here you are begging to go back.

Let us go and make her acquaintance, whether for failure or success;

for, even if she should refuse, keep at it; we men must expect to meet

such rebuffs; a canoe will break on a coral reef."[40]

"Where are you?" answered Aiwohikupua. "We will not meet the princess,

and we shall certainly not win her, for I see now the house is no

ordinary one. I have brought my cloak wrought with feathers for a gift

to the princess of Paliuli and I behold them here as thatch for the

princess's house; yet you know, for that matter, even a cloak of

feathers is owned by none but the highest chiefs; so let us return."

And they went back without making themselves known.

CHAPTER VII

When Aiwohikupua and his companion had left Paliuli they returned and

came to Keaau, made the canoe ready, and at the approach of day boarded

the canoe and returned to Kauai.

On the way back Aiwohikupua would not say why he was returning until

they reached Kauai; then, for the first time, his counsellor knew the

reason.

On the way from Keaau they rested at Kamaee, on the rocky side of Hilo,

and the next day left there, went to Humuula on the boundary between

Hilo and Hamakua; now the seer saw Aiwohikupua sailing over the ocean.

After passing Humuula they stopped right off Kealakaha, and while the

chief slept they saw a woman sitting on the sea cliff by the shore.

When those on board saw the woman they shouted, "Oh! what a beautiful

woman!"

At this Aiwohikupua started up and asked what they were shouting about.

They said, "There is a beautiful woman sitting on the sea cliff." The

chief turned his head to look, and saw that the stranger was, indeed, a

charming woman.

So the chief ordered the boatmen to row straight to the place where the

woman was sitting, and as they approached they first encountered a man

fishing with a line, and asked, "Who is that woman sitting up there on

the bank directly above you?"

He answered, "It is Poliahu, Cold-bosom.".

As the chief had a great desire to see the woman, she was beckoned to;

and she approached with her cloak all covered with snow and gave her

greeting to Aiwohikupua, and he greeted her in return by shaking hands.

After meeting the stranger, Aiwohikupua said, "O Poliahu, fair mistress

of the coast, happily are we met here; and therefore, O princess of the

cliff, I wish you to take me and try me for your husband, and I will be

the servant under you; whatever commands you utter I will obey. If you

consent to take me as I beseech you, then come on board the canoe and go

to Kauai. Why not do so?"

The woman answered, "I am not mistress of this coast. I come from

inland; from the summit of that mountain, which is clothed in a white

garment like this I am wearing; and how did you find out my name so

quickly?"

Said Aiwohikupua, "This is the first I knew about your coming from the

White Mountain, but we found out your name readily from that fisherman

yonder."

"As to what the chief desires of me," said Poliahu, "I will take you for

my husband; and now let me ask you, are you not the chief who stood up

and vowed in the name of your gods not to take any woman of these

islands from Hawaii to Kauai to wife--only a woman who comes from

Moaulanuiakea? Are you not betrothed to Hinaikamalama, the famous

princess of Hana? After this trip around Hawaii, then are you not

returning for your marriage? And as to your wishing our union, I assure

you, until you have made an end of your first vow it is not my part to

take you, but yours to take me with you as you desire."

At Poliahu's words Aiwohikupua marveled and was abashed; and after a

while a little question escaped him: "How have you ever heard of these

deeds of mine you tell of? It is true, Poliahu, all that you say; I have

done as you have described; tell me who has told you."

"No one has told me these things, O chief; I knew them for myself," said

the princess; "for I was born, like you, with godlike powers, and, like

you, my knowledge comes to me from the gods of my fathers, who inspire

me; and through these gods I showed you what I have told you. As you

were setting out at Humuula I saw your canoe, and so knew who you

were."

At these words Aiwohikupua knelt and did reverence to Poliahu and begged

to become Poliahu's betrothed and asked her to go with him to Kauai.

"We shall not go together to Kauai," said the woman, "but I will go on

board with you to Kohala, then I will return, while you go on."

Now, the chiefs met and conversed on the deck of the canoe.

Before setting out the woman said to Aiwohikupua and his companion, "We

sail together; let me be alone, apart from you two, fix bounds between

us. You must not touch me, I will not touch you until we reach Kohala;

let us remain under a sacred taboo;" and this request pleased them.

As they sailed and came to Kohala they did not touch each other.

They reached Kohala, and on the day when Aiwohikupua's party left,

Poliahu took her garment of snow and gave it to Aiwohikupua, saying,

"Here is my snow mantle, the mantle my parents strictly forbade my

giving to anyone else; it was to be for myself alone; but as we are

betrothed, you to me and I to you, therefore I give away this mantle

until the day when you remember our vows, then you must seek me, and you

will find me above on the White Mountain; show it to me there, then we

shall be united."

When Aiwohikupua heard these things the chief's heart was glad, and his

counsellor and the paddlers with him.

Then Aiwohikupua took out his feather cloak, brought it and threw it

over Poliahu with the words, "As you have said to me before giving me

the snow mantle, so do you guard this until our promised union."

When their talk was ended, at the approach of day, they parted from the

woman of the mountain and sailed and came to Hana and met Hinaikamalama.

CHAPTER VIII

When Aiwohikupua reached Hana, after parting with Poliahu at Kohala, his

boat approached the canoe landing at Haneoo, where they had been before,

where Hinaikamalama was living.

When Aiwohikupua reached the landing the canoe floated on the water; and

as it floated there Hinaikamalama saw that it was Aiwohikupua's canoe;

joyful was she with the thought of their meeting; but still the boat

floated gently on the water.

Hinaikamalama came thither where Aiwohikupua and his men floated. Said

the woman, "This is strange! What is all this that the canoe is kept

afloat? Joyous was I at the sight of you, believing you were coming to

land. Not so! Now, tell me, shall you float there until you leave?"

"Yes," answered Aiwohikupua.

"You can not," said the woman, "for I will order the executioner to hold

you fast; you became mine at _konane_ and our vows are spoken, and I

have lived apart and undefiled until your return."

"O princess, not so!" said Aiwohikupua. "It is not to end our vow--that

still holds; but the time has not come for its fulfillment. For I said

to you, 'When I have sailed about Hawaii then the princess's bet shall

be paid;' now, I went meaning to sail about Hawaii, but did not; still

at Hilo I got a message from Kauai that the family was in trouble at

home, so I turned back; I have stopped in here to tell you all this; and

therefore, live apart, and on my next return our vow shall be

fulfilled."

At these words of Aiwohikupua the princess's faith returned.

After this they left Hana and sailed and came to Oahu, and on the sea

halfway between Oahu and Kauai he laid his command upon the oarsmen and

the steersmen, as follows: "Where are you? I charge you, when you come

to Kauai, do not say that you have been to Hawaii to seek a wife lest I

be shamed; if this is heard about, it will be heard through you, and the

penalty to anyone who tells of the journey to Hawaii, it is death, death

to himself, death to his wife, death to all his friends; this is the

debt he shall pay." This was the charge the chief laid upon the men who

sailed with him to Hawaii. Aiwohikupua reached Kauai at sunset and met

his sisters. Then he spoke thus to his sisters: "Perhaps you wondered

when I went on my journey, because I did not tell you my reason, not

even the place where I was to go; and now I tell it to you in secret, my

sisters, to you alone. To Hawaii I disappeared to fetch Laieikawai for

my wife, after hearing Kauakahialii's story the day when his party

returned here. But when I came there I did not get sight of the woman's

face; I did not see Laieikawai, but my eyes beheld her house thatched

with the yellow feathers of the _oo_ bird, so I thought I could not win

her and came back here unsuccessful. And as I thought of my failure,

then I thought of you sisters,[41] who have won my wishes for me in the

days gone by; therefore I came for you to go to Hawaii, the very ones to

win what I wish, and at dawn let us rise up and go." Then they were

pleased with their brother's words to them.

As Aiwohikupua talked with his sisters, his counsellor for the first

time understood the reason for their return to Kauai.

The next day Aiwohikupua picked out fresh paddlers, for the chief knew

that the first were tired out. When all was ready for sailing, that very

night the chief took on board 14 paddlers, 2 steersmen, the 5 sisters,

Mailehaiwale, Mailekaluhea, Mailelaulii, Mailepakaha, and the youngest,

Kahalaomapuana, the chief himself, and his counsellor, 23 in all. That

night, at the approach of day, they left Kauai, came to Puuloa, and

there rested at Hanauma; the next day they lay off Molokai at

Kaunakakai, from there they went ashore at Mala at Lahaina; and they

left the place, went to Keoneoio in Honuaula, and there they stayed 30

days.

For it was very rough weather on the ocean; when the rough weather was

over, then there was good sailing.

Then they left Honuaula and sailed and came to Kaelehuluhulu, at Kona,

Hawaii.

As Aiwohikupua's party were on the way from Maui thither, Poliahu knew

of their setting sail and coming to Kaelehuluhulu.

Then Poliahu made herself ready to come to wed Aiwohikupua; one month

she waited for the promised meeting, but Aiwohikupua was at Hilo after

Laieikawai.

Then was revealed to Poliahu the knowledge of Aiwohikupua's doings;

through her supernatural power she saw it all; so the woman laid it up

in her mind until they should meet, then she showed what she saw

Aiwohikupua doing.

From Kaelehuluhulu, Aiwohikupua went direct to Keaau, but many days and

nights the voyage lasted.

At noon one day they came to Keaau, and after putting to rights the

canoe and the baggage, the chief at once began urging his sisters and

his counsellor to go up to Paliuli; and they readily assented to the

chief's wish.

Before going up to Paliuli, Aiwohikupua told the steersmen and the

paddlers, "While we go on our way to seek her whom I have so longed to

see face to face, do you remain here quietly, doing nothing but guard

the canoes. If you wait until this night becomes day and day becomes

night, then we prosper; but if we come back to-morrow early in the

morning, then my wishes have failed, then face about and turn the course

to Kauai;" so the chief ordered.

After the chief's orders to the men they ascended half the night,

reaching Paliuli. Said Aiwohikupua to the sisters: "This is Paliuli

where Laieikawai is, your sister-in-law. See what you are worth."

Then Aiwohikupua took Mailehaiwale, the first born; she stood right at

the door of Laieikawai's house, and as she stood there she sent forth a

fragrance which filled the house; and within was Laieikawai with her

nurse fast asleep; but they could no longer sleep, because they were

wakened by the scent of Mailehaiwale.

And starting out of sleep, they two marveled what this wonderful

fragrance could be, and because of this marvel Laieikawai cried out in a

voice of delight to her grandmother:

LAIEIKAWAI: "O Waka! O Waka--O!"

WAKA: "Heigh-yo! why waken in the middle of the night?"

LAIEIKAWAI: "A fragrance is here, a strange fragrance, a cool fragrance,

a chilling fragrance; it goes to my heart."

WAKA: "That is no strange fragrance; it is certainly Mailehaiwale, the

sweet-smelling sister of Aiwohikupua, who has come to get you for his

wife, you for the wife and he for the husband; here is the man for you

to marry."

LAIEIKAWAI: "Bah! I will not marry him."[42]

When Aiwohikupua heard Laieikawai's refusal to take Aiwohikupua for her

husband, then he was abashed, for they heard her refusal quite plainly.

CHAPTER IX

After this refusal, then Aiwohikupua said to his counsellor, "You and I

will go home and let my sisters stay up here; as for them, let them live

as they can, for they are worthless; they have failed to gain my wish."

Said the counsellor, "This is very strange! I thought before we left

Kauai you told me that your sisters were the only ones to get your wish,

and you have seen now what one of them can do; you have ordered

Mailehaiwale to do her part, and we have heard, too, the refusal of

Laieikawai. Is this your sisters' fault, that we should go and leave

them? But without her you have four sisters left; it may be one of them

will succeed."

Said Aiwohikupua, "If the first-born fails, the others perhaps will be

worthless."

His counsellor, spoke again, "My lord, have patience; let Mailekaluhea

try her luck, and if she fails then we will go."

Now, this saying pleased the chief; said Aiwohikupua, "Suppose you try

your luck, and if you fail, all is over."

Mailekaluhea went and stood at the door of the chief-house and gave out

a perfume; the fragrance entered and touched the rafters within the

house, from the rafters it reached Laieikawai and her companion; then

they were startled from sleep.

Said Laieikawai to her nurse, "This is a different perfume, not like the

first, it is better than that; perhaps it comes from a man."

The nurse said, "Call out to your grandmother to tell you the meaning of

the fragrance."

Laieikawai called:

LAIEIKAWAI: "O Waka! O Waka--O!"

WAKA: "Heigh-yo! why waken in the middle of the night?"

LAIEIKAWAI: "Here is a fragrance, a strange fragrance, a cool fragrance,

a chilling fragrance; it goes to my heart."

WAKA. "That is no strange fragrance, it is Mailekaluhea, the

sweet-smelling sister of Aiwohikupua, who has come to make you his wife

to marry him."

LAIEIKAWAI: "Bah! I will not marry him!"

Said Aiwohikupua to his counsellor, "See! did you hear the princess's

refusal?"

"Yes, I heard it; what of her refusing! it is only their scent she does

not like; perhaps she will yield to Mailelaulii."

"You are persistent," said Aiwohikupua. "Did I not tell you I wanted to

go back, but you refused--you would not consent!"

"We have not tried all the sisters; two are out; three remain," said his

counsellor. "Let all your sisters take a chance; this will be best;

perhaps you are too hasty in going home; when you reach Keaau and say

you have not succeeded, your other sisters will say: 'If you had let us

try, Laieikawai would have consented;' so, then, they get something to

talk about; let them all try."

"Where are you, my counsellor!" said Aiwohikupua. "It is not you who

bears the shame; I am the one. If the grandchild thought as Waka does

all would be well."

"Let us bear the shame," said his counsellor. "You know we men must

expect such rebuffs; 'a canoe will break on a coral reef;' and if she

should refuse, who will tell of it? We are the only ones to hear it. Let

us try what Mailelaulii can do."

And because the counsellor urged so strongly the chief gave his consent.

Mailelaulii went right to the door of the chief-house; she gave out her

perfume as the others had done; again Laieikawai was startled from sleep

and said to her nurse, "This is an entirely different fragrance--not

like those before."

Said the nurse, "Call out to Waka."

LAIEIKAWAI: "O Waka! O Waka--O!"

WAKA: "Heigh-yo! Why waken in the middle of the night?"

LAIEIKAWAI: "Here is a fragrance, a strange fragrance, a cool fragrance,

a chilling fragrance; it goes to my heart."

WAKA: "That is no strange fragrance; it is Mailelaulii, one of the

sweet-smelling sisters of Aiwohikupua, who has come to get you for his

wife; he is the husband, the husband for you to marry."

LAIEIKAWAI: "Bah! I will not marry him!"

"One refusal is enough," said Aiwohikupua, "without getting four more!

You have brought this shame upon us both, my comrade."

"Let us endure the shame," said his counsellor, "and if our sisters do

not succeed, then I will go and enter the house and tell her to take you

for her husband as you desire."

Then the chief's heart rejoiced, for Kauakahialii had told him how this

same man had got Laieikawai to come down to Keaau, so Aiwohikupua

readily assented to his servant's plea.

Then Aiwohikupua quickly ordered Mailepakaha to go and stand at the door

of the chief-house; she gave forth her perfume, and Laieikawai was

startled from sleep, and again smelled the fragrance. She said to her

nurse, "Here is this fragrance again, sweeter than before."

Said the nurse again, "Call Waka."

LAIEIKAWAI: "O Waka! O Waka--O!"

WAKA: "Heigh-yo! Why waken in the middle of the night?"

LAIEIKAWAI: "Here is a fragrance, a strange fragrance, not like the

others, a sweet fragrance, a pleasant fragrance; it goes to my heart."

WAKA: "That is no strange fragrance; it is Mailepakaha, the

sweet-smelling sister of Aiwohikupua, who has come to get you for a wife

to marry him."

LAIEIKAWAI: "Bah! I will not marry him! No matter who comes I will not

sleep with him. Do not force Aiwohikupua on me again."

When Aiwohikupua heard this fresh refusal from Laieikawai, his

counsellor said, "My lord, it is useless! There is nothing more to be

done except one thing; better put off trying the youngest sister and, if

she is refused, my going myself, since we have heard her vehement

refusal and the sharp chiding she gave her grandmother. And now I have

only one thing to advise; it is for me to speak and for you to decide."

"Advise away," said Aiwohikupua, "If it seems good, I will consent; but

if not, I will refuse."

"Let us go to the grandmother," said his counsellor, "and ask her; maybe

we can get the consent from her."

Said Aiwohikupua, "There is nothing left to be done; it is over; only

one word more--our sisters, let them stay here in the jungle, for they

are worthless."

Then Aiwohikupua said to his sisters, "You are to stay here; my

cherished hope has failed in bringing you here; the forest is your

dwelling hereafter." It was then pretty near dawn.

At Aiwohikupua's words all the sisters bowed their heads and wailed.

When Aiwohikupua and his companion started to go, Kahalaomapuana, the

youngest sister, called out, "O you two there! Wait! Had we known in

Kauai that you were bringing us to leave us in this place, we would

never have come. It is only fair that I, too, should have had a chance

to win Laieikawai, and had I failed then you would have a right to leave

me; we are all together, the guilty with the guiltless; you know me

well, I have gained all your wishes."

When Aiwohikupua heard his youngest sister, he felt himself to blame.

Aiwohikupua called to his sister, "You shall come with me; your older

sisters must stay here."

"I will not go," answered the youngest sister, "unless we all go

together, only then will I go home."

CHAPTER X

At these words of his youngest sister[43] Aiwohikupua said, "Stay here,

then, with your sisters and go with them wherever you wish, but I am

going home."

Aiwohikupua turned to go, and as the two were still on the way, sang the

song of Mailehaiwale, as follows:

My divine brother,

My heart's highest,

Go and look

Into the eyes of our parents, say

We abide here,

Fed upon the fruit of sin.[44]

Is constancy perhaps a sin?

Aiwohikupua turned and looked back at his younger sisters and said,

"Constancy is not a sin; haven't I told you that I leave you because

you are worthless? If you had gained for me my desire you would not have

to stay here; that was what you were brought here for." The two turned

and went on and did not listen to the sisters any longer.

When Aiwohikupua and his companion had departed, the sisters conferred

together and agreed to follow him, thinking he could be pacified.

They descended and came to the coast at Keaau, where the canoe was

making ready for sailing. At the landing the sisters sat waiting to be

called; all had gone aboard the canoe, there was no summons at all, the

party began to move off; then rang out the song of Mailekaluhea, as

follows:

My divine brother,

My heart's highest--turn hither,

Look upon your little sisters,

Those who have followed you over the way,

Over the high way, over the low way,

In the rain with a pack on its back,

Like one carrying a child,

In the rain that roars in the hala trees,

That roars in the hala trees of Hanalei.

How is it with us?

Why did you not leave us,

Leave us at home,

When you went on the journey?

You will look,

Look into the eyes,

The eyes of our parents,

Fare you well!

While Mailekaluhea was singing not once did their brother

compassionately look toward them, and the canoe having departed, the

sisters sat conferring, then one of them, Kahalaomapuana, the youngest,

began to speak.

These were her words: "It is clear that our brother chief is not

pacified by the entreaties of Mailehaiwale and Mailekaluhea. Let us,

better, go by land to their landing place, then it will be Mailelaulii's

turn to sing. It may be he will show affection for her." And they did as

she advised.

They left Keaau, came first to Punahoa, to a place called Kanoakapa, and

sat down there until Aiwohikupua's party arrived.

When Aiwohikupua and his companions had almost come to land where the

sisters were sitting, Aiwohikupua suddenly called out to the paddlers

and the steersmen, "Let us leave this harbor; those women have chased us

all this way; we had better look for another landing place."

As they left the sisters sitting there, Mailelaulii sang a song, as

follows:

My divine brother,

My heart's highest,

What is our great fault?

The eyes of our chief are turned away in displeasure,

The sound of chanting is forbidden,

The chant of your little ones

Of your little sisters.

Have compassion upon us,

Have compassion upon the comrades who have followed you,

The comrades who climbed the cliffs of Haena,

Crept over the cliff where the way was rugged,

The rugged ladder-way up Nualolo

The rough cliff-way up Makana,

It is there--return hither,

Give a kiss to your sisters,

And go on your way,

On the home journey--heartless.

Farewell-to you, you shall look

Look, in our native land,

Into the eyes of our parents.

Fare you well!

As Aiwohikupua heard the sister's voice, they let the canoe float

gently; then said Kahalaomapuana, "That is good for us; this is the only

time they have let the canoe float; now we shall hear them calling to

us, and go on board the canoe, then we shall be safe."

After letting the canoe float a little while, the whole party turned and

made off, and had not the least compassion.

When they had left, the sisters consulted afresh what they should do.

Kahalaomapuana gave her advice.

She said to her sisters, "There are two of us left, I and Mailepakaha."

Answered Mailepakaha, "He will have no compassion for me, for he had

none on any of our sisters; it may be worse with me. I think you had

better plead with him as you are the little one, it may be he will take

pity on you."

But the youngest would not consent; then they drew lots by pulling the

flower stems of grass; the one who pulled the longest, she was the one

to plead with the brother; now when they drew, the lot fell to

Kahalaomapuana.

When this was done, they left Punahoa, again followed their brother and

came to Honolii, where Aiwohikupua's party had already arrived. Here

they camped at some distance from Aiwohikupua's party, and Aiwohikupua's

party from them.

At Honolii that night they arranged that the others should sleep and a

single one keep watch, and to this all consented. They kept watch

according to age and gave the morning watch to the youngest. This was in

order to see Aiwohikupua's start, for on their journey from Kauai the

party had always set out at dawn.

The sisters stood guard that night, until in Mailepakaha's watch

Aiwohikupua's party made the canoes ready to start; she awakened the

others, and all awoke together.

As the sisters crouched there Kahalaomapuana's watch came, and the party

boarded the canoe. The sisters followed down to the landing, and

Kahalaomapuana ran and clung to the back of the canoe and called to them

in song, as follows:

Our brother and lord,

Divine brother,

Highest and closest!

Where are you, oh! where?

You and we, here and there,

You, the voyager,

We, the followers.

Along the cliffs, swimming 'round the steeps,

Bathing at Waihalau,

Waihalau at Wailua;

No longer are we beloved.

Do you no longer love us?

The comrades who followed you over the ocean,

Over the great waves, the little waves,

Over the long waves, the short waves,

Over the long-backed waves of the ocean,

Comrades who followed you inland,

Far through the jungle,

Through, the night, sacred and dreadful,

Oh, turn back!

Oh, turn back and have pity,

Listen to my pleading,

Me the littlest of your sisters.

Why will you abandon,

Abandon us

In this desolation?

You have opened the highway before us,

After you we followed,

We are known as your little sisters,

Then forsake your anger,

The wrath, the loveless heart,

Give a kiss to your little ones,

Fare you well!

When, his youngest sister raised this lamentation to Aiwohikupua, then

the brother's heart glowed with love and longing for his sister.

And because of his great love for his little sister, he took her in his

arms, set her on his lap, and wept.

When Kahalaomapuana was in her brother's lap, Aiwohikupua ordered the

canoemen to paddle with all their might; then the other sisters were

left far behind and the canoe went ahead.

As they went, Kahalaomapuana was troubled in mind for her sisters.

Then Kahalaomapuana wept for her sisters and besought Aiwohikupua to

restore her to her sisters; but Aiwohikupua would not take pity on her.

"O Aiwohikupua," said his sister, "I will not let you take me by myself

without taking my sisters with me, for you called me to you before when

we were at Paliuli, but I would not consent to your taking me alone."

And because of Aiwohikupua's stubbornness in refusing to let his sister

go, then Kahalaomapuana jumped from the canoe into the sea. Then, for

the last time she spoke to her brother in a song, as follows:

You go home and look,

Look into the eyes,

Into the eyes of our parents.

Love to our native land,

My kindred and our friends,

I am going back to your little sisters,

To my older sisters I return.

Chapter XI

During this very last song of Kahalaomapuana's, Aiwohikupua's heart

filled with love, and he called out for the canoe to back up, but

Kahalaomapuana had been left far behind, so swiftly were the men

paddling, and by the time the canoe had turned about to pick her up she

was not to be found.

Here we must leave Aiwohikupua for a little and tell about his sisters,

then speak again about Aiwohikupua.

When Aiwohikupua's party forsook his sisters at Honolii and took

Kahalaomapuana with them, the girls mourned for love of their younger

sister, for they loved Kahalaomapuana better than their parents or their

native land.

While they were still mourning Kahalaomapuana appeared by the cliff;

then their sorrow was at an end.

They crowded about their younger sister, and she told them what had

happened to her and why she had returned, as has been told in the

chapter before.

After talking of all these things, they consulted together where they

might best live, and agreed to go back to Paliuli.

After their council they left Honolii and returned to the uplands of

Paliuli, to a place near Laieikawai's house, and lived there inside of

hollow trees.

And because they wished so much to see Laieikawai they spied out for

her from day to day, and after many days of spying they had not had the

least sight of her, for every day the door was fast closed.

So they consulted how to get sight of Laieikawai, and after seeking many

days after some way to see the princess of Paliuli they found none.

During this debate their younger sister did not speak, so one of her

older sisters said, "Kahalaomapuana, all of us have tried to devise a

way to see Laieikawai, but we have not found one; perhaps you have

something in mind. Speak."

"Yes" said, their younger sister, "let us burn a fire every night, and

let the oldest sing, then the next, and so on until the last of us, only

one of us sing each night, then I will come the last night; perhaps the

fire burning every night will annoy the princess so she will come to

find out about us, then perhaps we shall see Laieikawai."

Kahalaomapuana's words pleased them.

The next night they lighted the fire and Mailehaiwale sang that night,

as they had agreed, and the next night Mailekaluhea; so they did every

night, and the fourth night passed; but Laieikawai gave them no concern.

The princess had, in fact, heard the singing and seen the fire burning

constantly, but what was that to the princess!

On the fifth night, Kahalaomapuana's night, the last night of all, they

lighted the fire, and at midnight Kahalaomapuana made a trumpet of a

_ti_ leaf[45] and played on it.

Then for the first time Laieikawai felt pleasure in the music, but the

princess paid no attention to it. And just before daylight

Kahalaomapuana played again on her _ti_ leaf trumpet as before, then

this delighted the princess. Only two times Kahalaomapuana blew on it

that night.

The second night Kahalaomapuana did the same thing again; she began

early in the evening to play, but the princess took no notice.

Just before daylight that night she played a second time. Then

Laieikawai's sleep was disturbed, and this night she was even more

delighted.

And, her interest aroused, she sent her attendant to see where the

musical instrument was which was played so near her.

Then the princess's attendant went out of the door of the chief-house

and saw the fire which the girls had lighted, crept along until she came

to the place where the fire was, and stood at a distance where she was

out of sight of those about the fire.

And having seen, she returned to Laieikawai, and the princess inquired

about it.

The attendant told the princess what she had seen. "When I went outside

the door of the house I saw a fire burning near, and I went and came and

stood at a distance without being myself seen. There, behold! I saw five

girls sitting around the fire, very beautiful girls; all looked alike,

but one of them was very little and she was the one who played the sweet

music that we heard."

When the princess heard this she said to her attendant, "Go and get the

smallest of them, tell her to come here and amuse us."

At these words of the princess, the nurse went and came to the place

where the sisters were and they saw her, and she said, "I am a messenger

sent hither by my chief to fetch whichever one of you I want to take; so

I take the smallest of you to go and visit my princess as she has

commanded."

When Kahalaomapuana was carried away, the hearts of the sisters sang for

joy, for they thought to win fortune thereafter.

And their sister went into the presence of Laieikawai.

When they had come to the house, the attendant opened the door; then,

Kahalaomapuana was terrified to see Laieikawai resting on the wings of

birds as was her custom; two scarlet _iiwi_ birds were perched on the

shoulders of the princess and shook the dew from red _lehua_ blossoms

upon her head.

And when Kahalaomapuana saw this, then it seemed marvelous to the

stranger girl, and she fell to the ground with trembling heart.

The princess's attendant came and asked, "What is the matter, daughter?"

And twice she asked, then the girl arose and said to the princess's

attendant as follows: "Permit me to return to my sisters, to the place

from which you took me, for I tremble with fear at the marvelous nature

of your princess."

Said the princess's attendant, "Do not fear, have no dread, arise and

enter to meet my princess as she has commanded you."

"I am afraid," said the girl.

When the princess heard their low voices, she arose and called to

Kahalaomapuana; then the girl's distress was at an end, and the stranger

entered to visit the princess.

Said Laieikawai, "Is the merry instrument yours that sounded here last

night and this?"

"Yes; it is mine," said Kahalaomapuana.

"Go on," said Laieikawai, "play it."

Kahalaomapuana took her _ti_ leaf trumpet from behind her ear, and

played before the princess; then Laieikawai was delighted. This was the

first time the princess had seen this kind of instrument.

CHAPTER XII

Now, Laieikawai became fascinated with the merry instrument upon which

the girl played, so she bade her sound it again.

Said the girl, "I can not sound it again, for it is now daylight, and

this instrument is a kind that sounds only by night; it will never sound

by day."

Laieikawai was surprised at these words, thinking the girl was lying. So

she snatched the trumpet out of the girl's hand and played upon it, and

because she was unpracticed in playing the trumpet the thing made no

sound; then the princess believed that the trumpet would not sound by

day.

Said Laieikawai to Kahalapmapuana, "Let us two be friends, and you shall

live here in my house and become my favorite, and your work will be to

amuse me."

Said Kahalaomapuana, "O princess, you have spoken well; but it would

grieve me to live with you and perhaps gain happiness for myself while

my sisters might be suffering."

"How many of you are there?" asked Laieikawai, "and how did you come

here?"

Said Kahalaomapuana, "There are six of us born of the same parents; one

of the six is a boy and five of us are his younger sisters, and the boy

is the oldest, and I am the youngest born. And we journeyed hither with

our brother, and because we failed to gain for him his wish, therefore

he has abandoned us and has gone back with his favorite companion, and

we live here in distress."

Laieikawai asked, "Where do you come from?"

"From Kauai," answered Kahalaomapuana.

"And what is your brother's name?"

"Aiwohikupua," replied the girl.

Again Laieikawai asked, "What are the names of each of you?"

Then she told them all.

Then Laieikawai understood that these were the persons who came that

first night.

Said Laieikawai, "Your sisters and your brother I know well, if it was

really you who came to me that night; but you I did not hear."

"Yes; we were the ones," said Kahalaomapuana.

Said Laieikawai, "If you were the ones who came that night, who guided

you here? For the place is unfrequented, not a single person comes

here."

The girl said, "We had a native of the place to guide us, the same man

who spoke to you in behalf of Kauakahialii." Then it was clear he was a

fellow countryman of theirs.

The end of all this talk was that Laieikawai bade her grandmother to

prepare a house for the sisters of Aiwohikupua.

Then, through the supernatural power of her grandmother, Waka, the

matter was quickly dispatched, the house was made ready.

When the house was prepared Laieikawai gave orders to Kahalaomapuana:

"You return, and to-night come here with all your sisters; when I have

seen them then you shall play to us on your merry instrument."

When Kahalaomapuana rejoined her sisters they asked what she had

done--what kind of interview she had had with the princess.

Answered the girl, "When I reached the door of the palace a hunchback

opened the door to receive me, and when I saw the princess resting on

the wings of birds, at the sight I trembled with fear and fell down to

the earth. For this reason when I was taken in to talk with the princess

I did just what she wished, and she asked about us and I told her

everything. The result is, fortune is ours; she has commanded us all to

go to her to-night."

When they heard this the sisters were joyful.

At the time the princess had directed they left the hollow tree where

they had lived as fugitives.

They went and stood at the door of the chief-house. Laieikawai's

attendant opened the door, and they saw just what their sister had

described to them.

But when they actually saw Laieikawai, then they were filled with dread,

and all except Kahalaomapuana ran trembling with fear and fell to the

ground.

And at the princess's command the strangers were brought into the

presence of the princess, and the princess was pleased with them.

And at this interview with the princess she promised them her

protection, as follows:

"I have heard from your younger sister that you are all of the same

parentage and the same blood; therefore I shall treat you all as one

blood with me, and we shall protect each other. Whatever one says, the

others shall do. Whatever trouble comes to one, the others shall share;

and for this reason I have asked our grandmother to furnish you a home

where you may live virgin like myself, no one taking a husband without

the others' consent. So shall it be well with us from this time on."[46]

To these conditions the stranger girls agreed; the younger sister

answered the princess for them all:

"O princess, we are happy that you receive us; happy, too, that you take

us to be your sisters as you have said; and so we obey. Only one thing

we ask of you: All of us sisters have been set apart by our parents to

take no delight in men; and it is their wish that we remain virgin

until the end of our days; and so we, your servants, beseech you not to

defile us with any man, according to the princess's pleasure, but to

allow us to live virgin according to our parents' vow."

And this request of the strangers seemed good to the princess.

After talking with the princess concerning all these things, they were

dismissed to the house prepared for them.

As soon as the girls went to live in the house they consulted how they

should obey the princess's commands, and they appointed their younger

sister to speak to the princess about what they had agreed upon.

One afternoon, just as the princess woke from sleep, came Kahalaomapuana

to amuse the princess by playing on the trumpet until the princess

wished it no longer.

Then she told Laieikawai what the sisters had agreed upon and said, "O

princess, we have consulted together how to protect you, and all five of

us have agreed to become the bodyguard for your house; ours shall be the

consent, ours the refusal. If anyone wishes to see you, be he a man, or

maybe a woman, or even a chief, he shall not see you without our

approval. Therefore I pray the princess to consent to what we have

agreed."

Said Laieikawai, "I consent to your agreement, and yours shall be the

guardianship over all the land of Paliuli."

Now the girls' main purpose in becoming guardians of Paliuli was, if

Aiwohikupua should again enter Paliuli, to have power to bar their

enemy.

Thus they dwelt in Paliuli, and while they dwelt there never did they

weary of life. Never did they even see the person who prepared them

food, nor the food itself, save when, at mealtimes, the birds brought

them food and cleared away the remnants when they had done. So Paliuli

became to them a land beloved, and there they dwelt until the trouble

came upon them which was wrought by Halaaniani.

Here, O reader, we leave speaking of the sisters of Aiwohikupua, and in

Chapter XIII of this tale will speak again of Aiwohikupua and his coming

to Kauai.

CHAPTER XIII

At the time when Kahalaomapuana leaped from the canoe into the sea it

was going very swiftly, so she fell far behind. The canoe turned back to

recover Kahalaomapuana, but the party did not find her; then Aiwohikupua

abandoned his young sister and sailed straight for Kauai.

As Aiwohikupua sailed away from Hawaii, between Oahu and Kauai he spoke

to his paddlers as follows: "When we get back to Kauai let no one tell

that we have been to Hawaii after Laieikawai, lest shame come to me and

I be spoken of jeeringly; and therefore I lay my commands upon you.

Whoever speaks of this journey of ours and I hear of it, his penalty is

death, his and all his offspring, as I vowed to those paddlers of mine

before."

They returned to Kauai. A few days afterwards Aiwohikupua, the chief,

wished to make a feast for the chiefs and for all his friends on Kauai.

While the feast was being made ready the chief gave word to fetch the

feasters; with all the male chiefs, only one woman of rank was allowed

to come to the celebration; this was Kailiokalauokekoa.[47]

On the day of the feast all the guests assembled, the food was ready

spread, and the drink at the feast was the _awa_.

Before eating, all the guests together took up their cups of _awa_ and

drank. During the feasting, the _awa_ had not the least effect upon

them.

And because the _awa_ had no effect, the chief hastily urged his _awa_

chewers to chew the _awa_ a second time. When the chief's command was

carried out, the guests and the chief himself took up their cups of

_awa_ all together and drank. When this cup of _awa_ was drained the

effect of the _awa_ overcame them. But the one who felt the effects most

was the chief who gave the feast.

Now, while the chief was drunk, the oath which he swore at sea to the

rowers was not forgotten; not from one of his own men was the forbidden

story told, but from the mouth of Aiwohikupua himself was the chief's

secret heard.

While under the influence of the _awa_, Aiwohikupua turned right around

upon Kauakahialii, who was sitting near, and said: "O Kauakahialii, when

you were talking to us about Laieikawai, straightway there entered into

me desire after that woman; then sleepless were my nights with the wish,

to see her; so I sailed and came to Hawaii, two of us went up, until at

daylight we reached the uplands of Paliuli; when I went to see the

chief's house, it was very beautiful, I was ashamed; therefore I

returned here. I returned, in fact, thinking that the little sisters

were the ones to get my wish; I fetched them, made the journey with the

girls to the house of the princess, let them do their best; when, as it

happened, they were all refused, all four sisters except the youngest;

for shame I returned. Surely that woman is the most stubborn of all, she

has no equal."

While Aiwohikupua talked of Laieikawai's stubbornness, Hauailiki was

sitting at the feast, the young singer of Mana, a chief of high rank on

the father's side and of unrivaled beauty.

He arose and said to Aiwohikupua, "You managed the affair awkwardly. I

do not believe her to be a stubborn woman; give me a chance to stand

before her eyes; I should not have to speak, she would come of her own

free will to meet me, then you would see us together."

Said Aiwohikupua, "Hauailiki, I wish you would go to Hawaii; if you get

Laieikawai, you are a lucky fellow, and I will send men with you and a

double canoe; and should you lose in this journey then your lands become

mine, and if you return with Laieikawai then all my lands are yours."

After Aiwohikupua had finished speaking, that very night, Hauailiki

boarded the double canoe and set sail, but many days passed on the

journey.

As they sailed they stood off Makahanaloa, and, looking out, saw the

rainbow arching above the beach of Keaau. Said Aiwohikupua's chief

counsellor to Hauailiki, "Look well at that rainbow arching the beach

there at Keaau. There is Laieikawai watching the surf riding."

Said Hauailiki, "I thought Paliuli was where she lived."

And on the next day, in the afternoon, when they reached Keaau,

Laieikawai had just returned with Aiwohikupua's sisters to Paliuli.

When Hauailiki's party arrived, behold many persons came to see this

youth who rivaled Kauakahialii and Aiwohikupua in beauty, and all the

people of Keaau praised him exceedingly.

Next day at sunrise the mist and fog covered all Keaau, and when it

cleared, behold! seven girls were sitting at the landing place of Keaau,

one of whom was more beautiful than the rest. This was the very first

time that the sisters of Aiwohikupua had come down with Laieikawai,

according to their compact.

As Laieikawai and her companions were sitting there that morning,

Hauailiki stood up and walked about before them, showing off his good

looks to gain the notice of the princess of Paliuli. But what was

Hauailiki to Laieikawai? Mere chaff!

Four days Laieikawai came to Keaau after Hauailiki's entering the

harbor; and four days Hauailiki showed himself off before Laieikawai,

and she took no notice at all of him.

On the fifth day of her coming, Hauailiki thought to display before the

beloved one his skill with the surf board;[48] the truth is Hauailiki

surpassed any one else on Kauai as an expert in surf riding, he

surpassed all others in his day, and he was famous for this skill as

well as for his good looks.

That day, at daybreak, the natives of the place, men and women, were out

in the breakers.

While the people were gathering for surfing, Hauailiki undid his

garment, got his surf board, of the kind made out of a thick piece of

_wili-wili_ wood, went directly to the place where Laieikawai's party

sat, and stood there for some minutes; then it was that the sisters of

Aiwohikupua took a liking to Hauailiki.

Said Mailehaiwale to Laieikawai, "If we had not been set apart by our

parents, I would take Hauailiki for my husband."

Said Laieikawai, "I like him, too; but I, too, have been set apart by my

grandmother, so that my liking is useless."

"We are all alike," said Mailehaiwale.

When Hauailiki had showed himself off for some minutes, Hauailiki leaped

with his surf board into the sea and swam out into the breakers.

When Hauailiki was out in the surf, one of the girls called out, "Land

now!"

"Land away!" answered Hauailiki, for he did not wish to ride in on the

same breaker with the crowd. He wished to make himself conspicuous on a

separate breaker, in order that Laieikawai should see his skill in surf

riding and maybe take a liking to him. Not so!

When the others had gone in a little wave budded and swelled, then

Hauailiki rode the wave. As he rode, the natives cheered and the sisters

of Aiwohikupua also. What was that to Laieikawai?

When Hauailiki heard the cheering, then he thought surely Laieikawai's

voice would join the shouting. Not so! He kept on surfing until the

fifth wave had passed; it was the same; he got no call whatever; then

Hauailiki first felt discouragement, with the proof of Aiwohikupua's

saying about the "stubbornness of Laieikawai."

CHAPTER XIV

When Hauailiki saw that Laieikawai still paid no attention to him he

made up his mind to come in on the surf without the board.

He left it and swam out to the breakers. As he was swimming Laieikawai

said, "Hauailiki must be crazy."

Her companions said, "Perhaps he will ride in on the surf without a

board."

When Hauailiki got to the breakers, just as the crest rose and broke at

his back, he stood on its edge, the foam rose on each side of his neck

like boars' tusks. Then all on shore shouted and for the first time

Laieikawai smiled; the feat was new to her eyes and to her guardians

also.

When Hauailiki saw Laieikawai smiling to herself he thought she had

taken a liking to him because of this feat, so he kept on repeating it

until five breakers had come in; no summons came to him from Laieikawai.

Then Hauailiki was heavy-hearted because Laieikawai took no notice of

him, and he felt ashamed because of his boast to Aiwohikupua, as we have

seen in the last chapter.

So he floated gently on the waves, and as he floated the time drew near

for Laieikawai's party to return to Paliuli. Then Laieikawai beckoned to

Hauailiki.

When Hauailiki saw the signal the burden was lifted from his mind;

Hauailiki boasted to himself, "You wanted me all the time; you just

delayed."

And at the signal of the princess of Paliuli he lay upon the breaker and

landed right where Laieikawai and her companions were sitting; then

Laieikawai threw a _lehua_ wreath around Hauailiki's neck, as she always

did for those who showed skill in surf riding. And soon after the mist

and fog covered the land, and when it passed away nothing was to be seen

of Laieikawai and her party; they were at Paliuli.

This was the last time that Laieikawai's party came to Keaau while

Hauailiki was there; after Hauailiki's return to Kauai, then Laieikawai

came again to Keaau.

After Laieikawai's party were gone to the uplands of Paliuli, Hauailiki

left off surf riding and joined his guide, the chief counsellor of

Aiwohikupua. Said he, "I think she is the only one who is impregnable;

what, Aiwohikupua said is true. There is no luck in my beauty or my

skill in surf riding; only one way is left, for us to foot it to Paliuli

to-night." To this proposal of Hauailiki his comrade assented.

In the afternoon, after dinner, the two went up inland and entered the

forest where it was densely overgrown with underbrush. As they went on,

they met Mailehaiwale, the princess's first guardian. When she saw them

approaching from a distance, she cried, "O Hauailiki, you two go back

from there, you two have no business to come up here, for I am the

outpost of the princess's guards and it is my business to drive back all

who come here; so turn back, you two, without delay."

Said Hauailiki, "Just let us go take a look at the princess's house."

Said Mailehaiwale, "I will not let you; for I am put here to drive off

everybody who comes up here like you two."

But because they urged her with such persuasive words, she did consent.

As they went on, after Mailehaiwale let them pass, they soon encountered

Mailekaluhea, the second of the princess's guardians.

Said Mailekaluhea, "Here! you two go back, you two have no right to

come up here. How did you get permission to pass here?"

Said they, "We came to see the princess."

"You two have no such right," said Mailekaluhea, "for we guards are

stationed here to drive off everybody who comes to this place; so, you

two go back."

But to Mailekaluhea's command they answered so craftily with flattering

words that they were allowed to pass.

As the two went on they met Mailelaulii and with the same words they had

used to the first, so they addressed Mailelaulii.

And because of their great craft in persuasion, the two were allowed to

pass Mailelaulii's front. And they went on, and met Mailepakaha, the

fourth guardian.

When they came before Mailepakaha this guardian was not at all pleased

at their having been let slip by the first guards, but so crafty was

their speech that they were allowed to pass.

And they went on, and behold! they came upon Kahalaomapuana, the

guardian at the door of the chief-house, who was resting on the wings of

birds, and when they saw how strange was the workmanship of the

chief-house, then Hauailiki fell to the earth with trembling heart.

When Kahalaomapuana saw them she was angry, and she called out to them

authoritatively, as the princess's war chief, "O Hauailiki! haste and go

back, for you two have no business here; if you persist, then I will

call hither the birds of Paliuli to eat your flesh; only your spirits

will return to Kauai."

At these terrible words of Kahalaomapuana, Hauailiki's courage entirely

left him; he arose and ran swiftly until he reached Keaau in the early

morning.

For weariness of the journey up to Paliuli, they fell down and slept.

While Hauailiki slept, Laieikawai came to him in a dream, and they met

together; and on Hauailiki's starting from sleep, behold! it was a

dream.

Hauailiki slept again; again he had the dream as at first; four nights

and four days the dream was repeated to Hauailiki, and his mind was

troubled.

On the fifth night after the dream had come to Hauailiki so repeatedly,

after dark, he arose and ascended to the uplands of Paliuli without his

comrade's knowledge.

In going up, he did not follow the road the two had taken before, but

close to Mailehaiwale he took a new path and escaped the eyes of the

princess's guardians.

When he got outside the chief-house Kahalaomapuana was fast asleep, so

he tiptoed up secretly, unfastened the covering at the entrance to the

house, which was wrought with feather work, and behold! he saw

Laieikawai resting on the wings of birds, fast asleep also.

When he had entered and stood where the princess was sleeping, he caught

hold of the princess's head and shook her. Then Laieikawai started up

from' sleep, and behold! Hauailiki standing at her head, and her mind

was troubled.

Then Laieikawai spoke softly to Hauailiki, "Go away now, for death and

life have been left with my guardians, and therefore I pity you; arise

and go; do not wait."

Hauailiki said, "O Princess, let us kiss[49] one another, for a few

nights ago I came up and got here without seeing you; we were driven

away by the power of your guards, and on our reaching the coast,

exhausted, I fell asleep; while I slept we two met together in a dream

and we were united, and many days and nights the same dream came;

therefore I have come up here again to fulfill what was done in the

dream."

Laieikawai said, "Return; what you say is no concern of mine; for the

same thing has come to me in a dream and it happened to me as it

happened to you, and what is that to me? Go! return!"

As Kahalaomapuana slept, she heard low talking in the house, and she

started up from sleep and called out, "O Laieikawai, who is the

confidant who is whispering to you?"

When she heard the questioner, Laieikawai ceased speaking.

Soon Kahalaomapuana arose and entered the house, and behold! Hauailiki

was in the house with Laieikawai.

Kahalaomapuana said, "O Hauailiki, arise and go; you have no right to

enter here; I told you before that you had no business in this place,

and I say the same thing to-night as on that first night, so arise and

return to the coast."

And at these words of Kahalaomapuana Hauailiki arose with shame in his

heart, and returned to the beach at Keaau and told his comrades about

his journey to Paliuli.

When Hauailiki saw that he had no further chance to win Laieikawai, then

he made the canoe ready to go back to Kauai, and with the dawn left

Keaau and sailed thither.

When Hauailiki's party returned to Kauai and came to Wailua, he saw a

great company of the high chiefs and low chiefs of the court, and

Kauakahialii and Kailiokalauokekoa with them.

As Hauailiki and his party were nearing the mouth of the river at

Wailua, he saw Aiwohikupua and called out, "I have lost."

When Hauailiki landed and told Aiwohikupua the story of his journey and

how his sisters had become the princess's guardians, then Aiwohikupua

rejoiced.

He declared to Hauailiki, "There's an end to our bet, for it was made

while we were drunk with _awa_."

While Hauailiki was telling how Aiwohikupua's sisters had become

guardians to Laieikawai, then Aiwohikupua conceived afresh the hope of

sailing to Hawaii to get Laieikawai, as he had before desired.

CHAPTER XV

Said Aiwohikupua, "How fortunate I am to have left my sisters on Hawaii,

and so I shall attain my desire, for I have heard that my sisters are

guardians to the one on whom I have set my heart."

Now, while all the chiefs were gathered at Wailua, then Aiwohikupua

stood up and declared his intention in presence of the chiefs: "Where

are you! I shall go again to Hawaii, I shall not fail of my desire; for

my sisters are now guardians of her on whom I have set my heart."

At these words of Aiwohikupua, Hauailiki said, "You will not succeed,

for I saw that the princess was taboo, and your sisters also put on

reserved airs; one of them, indeed, was furious, the smallest of them;

so my belief is you will not succeed, and if you go near you will get

paid for it."

To Hauailiki's words Aiwohikupua paid no attention, for he was hopeful

because of what he had heard of his sisters' guarding the princess.

After this he summoned the bravest of his fighting men, his bodyguard,

all his chiefly array, and the chief arranged for paddlers; then he

commanded the counsellor to make the canoes ready.

The counsellor chose the proper canoes for the trip, twenty double

canoes, and twice forty single canoes, these for the chiefs and the

bodyguard, and forty provision canoes for the chief's supplies; and as

for the chief himself and his counsellor, they were on board of a triple

canoe.

When everything was ready for such a journey they set out.

Many days they sailed. When they came to Kohala, for the first time the

Kohala people recognized Aiwohikupua, a magician renowned all over the

islands. And because the chief came in disguise to Kohala when he fought

with Cold-nose, this was why they had not recognized him.

They left Kohala and went to Keaau. Just as they reached there,

Laieikawai and the sisters of Aiwohikupua returned to Paliuli.

When Laieikawai and her companions returned, on the day when

Aiwohikupua's party arrived, their grandmother had already foreseen

Aiwohikupua's arrival at Keaau.

Said Waka, "Aiwohikupua has come again to Keaau, so let the guard be

watchful, look out for yourselves, do not go down to the sea, stay here

on the mountain until Aiwohikupua returns to Kauai."

When the princess's head guard heard the grandmother's words, then

Kahalaomapuana immediately ordered Kihanuilulumoku,[50] their god, to

come near the home of the chief and prepare for battle.

As the princess's chief guard, she ordered her sisters to consult what

would be the best way to act in behalf of the princess.

When they met and consulted what was best to be done, all agreed to what

Kahalaomapuana, the princess's chief guard, proposed, as follows: "You,

Mailehaiwale, if Aiwohikupua should come hither, and you two meet, drive

him away, for you are the first guard; and if he should plead his cause

force him away: and if he is very persistent, because he is a brother,

resist him still more forcibly; and if he still insists then despatch

one of the guardian birds to me, then we will all meet at the same

place, and I myself will drive him away. If he threatens to harm us,

then I will command our god, Kihanuilulumoku, who will destroy him."

After all the council had assented they stationed themselves at a

distance from each other to guard the princess as before.

At dawn that night arrived Aiwohikupua with his counsellor. When they

saw the taboo sign--the hollow post covered with white _tapa_--then they

knew that the road to the princess's dwelling was taboo. But Aiwohikupua

would not believe it taboo because of having heard that his sisters had

the guardian power.

So they went right on and found another taboo sign like the first which

they had found, for one sign was set up for each of the sisters.

After passing the fourth taboo sign, they approached at a distance the

fifth sign; this was Kahalaomapuana's. This was the most terrible of

all, and then it began to be light; but they could not see in the dark

how terrible it was.

They left the sign, went a little way and met Mailehaiwale; overjoyed

was Aiwohikupua to see his sister. At that instant Mailehaiwale cried,

"Back, you two, this place is taboo."

Aiwohikupua supposed this was in sport; both again began to approach

Mailehaiwale; again the guardian told them to go. "Back at once, you

two! What business have you up here and who will befriend you?"

"What is this, my sister?" asked Aiwohikupua. "Are you not my friends

here, and through you shall I not get my desire?"

Then Mailehaiwale sent one of her guardian birds to Kahalaomapuana; in

less than no time the four met at the place guarded by Mailekaluhea,

where they expected to meet Aiwohikupua.

CHAPTER XVI

And they were ready and were sent for and came. When Aiwohikupua saw

Kahalaomapuana resting on the wings of birds, as commander in chief,

this was a great surprise to Aiwohikupua and his companion. Said the

head guard, "Return at once, linger not, delay not your going, for the

princess is taboo, you have not the least business in this place; and

never let the idea come to you that we are your sisters; that time has

passed." Kahalaomapuana arose and disappeared.

Then the hot wrath of Aiwohikupua was kindled and his anger grew. He

decided at that time to go back to the sea to Keaau, then send his

warriors to destroy the younger sisters.

When they turned back and came to Kahalaomapuana's taboo sign, behold!

the tail of the great lizard protruded above the taboo sign, which was

covered with white _tapa_ wound with the _ieie_ vine and the

sweet-scented fern,[51] and it was a terrible thing to see.

As soon as Aiwohikupua and his companion reached the sea at Keaau,

Aiwohikupua's counsellor dispatched the chief's picked fighting men to

go up and destroy the sisters, according to the chief's command.

That very day Waka foresaw what Aiwohikupua's intention was. So Waka

went and met Kahalaomapuana, the princess's commander in chief, and

said: "Kahalaomapuana, I have seen what your brother intends to do. He

is preparing ten strong men to come up here and destroy you, for your

brother is wrathful because you drove him away this morning; so let us

be ready in the name of our god."

Then she sent for Kihanuilulumoku, the great lizard of Paliuli, their

god. And the lizard came and she commanded him: "O our god,

Kihanuilulumoku, see to this lawless one, this mischief-maker, this

rogue of the sea; if they send a force here, slaughter them all, let no

messenger escape, keep on until the last one is taken, and beware of

Kalahumoku, Aiwohikupua's great strong dog;[52] if you blunder, there is

an end of us, we shall not escape; exert your strength, all your godlike

might over Aiwohikupua. Amen, it is finished, flown away." This was

Kahalaomapuana's charge to their god.

That night the ten men chosen by the chief went up to destroy the

sisters of Aiwohikupua, and the assistant counsellor made the eleventh

in place of the chief counsellor.

At the first dawn they approached Paliuli. Then they heard the humming

of the wind in the thicket from the tongue of that great lizard,

Kihanuilulumoku, coming for them, but they did not see the creature, so

they went on; soon they saw the upper jaw of the lizard hanging right

over them; they were just between the lizard's jaws; then the assistant

counsellor leaped quickly back, could not make the distance; it snapped

them up; not a messenger was left.

Two days passed; there was no one to tell of the disaster to

Aiwohikupua's party, and because he wondered why they did not return the

chief was angry.

So the chief again chose a party of warriors, twenty of them, from the

strongest of his men, to go up and destroy the sisters; and the

counsellor appointed an assistant counsellor to go for him with the men.

Again they went up until they came clear to the place where the first

band had disappeared; these also disappeared in the lizard; not a

messenger was left.

Again the chief waited; they came not back. The chief again sent a band

of forty; all were killed. So it went on until eight times forty

warriors had disappeared.

Then Aiwohikupua consulted with his counsellor as to the reason for none

of the men who had been sent returning.

Said Aiwohikupua to his counsellor, "How is it that these warriors who

are sent do not return?"

Said his counsellor, "It may be when they get to the uplands and see the

beauty of the place they remain, and if not, they have all been killed

by your sisters."

"How can they be killed by those helpless girls, whom I intended to

kill?" So said Aiwohikupua.

And because of the chief's anxiety to know why his warriors did not come

back he agreed with his counsellor to send messengers to see what the

men were doing.

At the chief's command the counsellor sent the Snipe and the Turnstone,

Aiwohikupua's swiftest messengers, to go up and find out the truth about

his men.

Not long after they had left they met another man, a bird catcher from

the uplands of Olaa;[53] he asked, "Where are you two going?"

The runners said, "We are going up to find out the truth about our

people who are living at Paliuli; eight times forty men have been

sent--not one returned."

"They are done for," said the bird catcher, "in the great lizard,

Kihanuilulumoku; they have not been spared."

When they heard this they kept on going up; not long after they heard

the sighing of the wind and the humming of the trees bending back and

forth; then they remembered the bird catcher's words, "If the wind hums,

that is from the lizard."

They knew then this must be the lizard; they flew in their bird bodies.

They flew high and looked about. There right above them was the upper

jaw shutting down upon them, and only by quickness of flight in their

bird bodies did they escape.

CHAPTER XVII

As they flew far upward and were lost to sight on high, Snipe and his

companion looked down at the lower jaw of the lizard plowing the earth

like a shovel, and it was a fearful thing to see. It was plain their

fellows must all be dead, and they returned and told Aiwohikupua what

they had seen.

Then Kalahumoku, Aiwohikupua's great man-eating dog, was fetched to go

and kill the lizard, then to destroy the sisters of Aiwohikupua.

When Kalahumoku, the man-eating dog from Tahiti, came into the presence

of his grandchild (Aiwohikupua), "Go up this very day and destroy my

sisters," said Aiwohikupua, "and bring Laieikawai."

Before the dog went up to destroy Aiwohikupua's sisters the dog first

instructed the chief, and the chiefs under him, and all the men, as

follows: "Where are you? While I am away, you watch the uplands. When

the clouds rise straight up, if they turn leeward then I have met

Kihanuilulumoku and you will know that we have made friends. But if the

clouds turn to the windward, there is trouble; I have fought with that

lizard. Then pray to your god, to Lanipipili; if you see the clouds

turn, seaward, the lizard is the victor; but when the clouds ascend and

turn toward the mountain top, then the lizard has melted away; we have

prevailed.[54] Then keep on praying until I return."[55]

After giving his instructions, the dog set out up the mountain, and

Aiwohikupua sent with him Snipe and Turnstone as messengers to report

the deeds of the dog and the lizard.

When the dog had come close to Paliuli, Kihanuilulumoku was asleep at

the time; he was suddenly startled from sleep; he was awakened by the

scent of a dog. By that time the lizard was too late for the dog, who

went on until he reached the princess's first guardian.

Then the lizard took a sniff, the guardian god of Paliuli, and

recognized Kalahumoku, the marvel of Tahiti; then the lizard lifted his

upper jaw to begin the fight with Kalahumoku.

Instantly the dog showed his teeth at the lizard, and the fight began;

then the lizard was victor over Kalahumoku and the dog just escaped

without ears or tail.

At the beginning of the fight the messengers returned to tell

Aiwohikupua of this terrible battle.

When they heard from Snipe and his companion of this battle between the

lizard and the dog, Aiwohikupua looked toward the mountain.

As they looked the clouds rose straight up, and no short time after

turned seaward, then Aiwohikupua knew that the lizard had prevailed and

Aiwohikupua regretted the defeat of their side.

In the evening of the day of the fight between the two marvelous

creatures Kalahumoku came limping back exhausted; when the chief looked

him over, gone were the ears and tail inside the lizard.

So Aiwohikupua resolved to depart, since they were vanquished. They

departed and came to Kauai and told the story of the journey and of the

victory of the lizard over them. (This was the third time that

Aiwohikupua had been to Paliuli after Laieikawai without fulfilling his

mission.)

Having returned to Kauai without Laieikawai, Aiwohikupua gave up

thinking about Laieikawai and resolved to carry out the commands of

Poliahu.

At this time Aiwohikupua, with his underchiefs and the women of his

household, clapped hands in prayer before Lanipipili, his god, to annul

his vow.

And he obtained favor in the presence of his god, and was released from

his sinful vow "not to take any woman of these islands to wife," as has

been shown in the former chapters of this story.

After the ceremonies at Kauai, he sent his messengers, the Snipe and the

Turnstone, to go and announce before Poliahu the demands of the chief.

In their bird bodies they flew swiftly to Hinaikamalama's home at Hana

and came and asked the people of the place, "Where is the woman who is

betrothed to the chief of Kauai?"

"She is here," answered the natives of the place.

They went to meet the princess of Hana.

The messengers said to the princess, "We have been sent hither to tell

you the command of your betrothed husband. You have three months to

prepare for the marriage, and in February, on the night of the

seventeenth, the night of Kulu, he will come to meet you, according to

the oath between you."

When the princess had heard these words the messengers returned and came

to Aiwohikupua.

Asked the chief, "Did you two meet Poliahu?"

"Yes," said the messengers, "we told her, as you commanded, to prepare

herself; Poliahu inquired, 'Does he still remember the game of _konane_

between us?'"

"Perhaps so," answered the messengers.

When Aiwohikupua heard the messengers' words he suspected that they had

not gone to Poliahu; then Aiwohikupua asked to make sure, "How did you

two fly?"

Said they, "We flew past an island, flew on to some long islands--a

large, island like the one we first passed, two little islands like one

long island, and a very little island; we flew along the east coast of

that island and came to a house below the hills covered with shade;

there we found Poliahu; that was how it was."

Said Aiwohikupua, "You did not find Poliahu; this was Hinaikainalama."

Now for this mistake of the messengers the rage of Aiwohikupua was

stirred against his messengers, and they ceased to be among his

favorites.

At this, Snipe and his companion decided to tell the secrets prohibited

to the two by their master. Now how they carried out their intrigue, you

will see in Chapter XVIII.

CHAPTER XVIII.

After the dismissal of Snipe and his fellow, the chief dispatched

Frigate-bird, one of his nimble messengers, with the same errand as

before.

Frigate-bird went to Poliahu; when they met, Frigate-bird gave the

chief's command, according to the words spoken in Chapter XVII of this

story. Having given his message, the messenger returned and reported

aright; then his lord was pleased.

Aiwohikupua waited until the end of the third month; the chief took his

underchiefs and his favorites and the women of his household and other

companions suitable to go with their renowned lord in all his royal

splendor on an expedition for the marriage of chiefs.

On the twenty-fourth day of the month Aiwohikupua left Kauai, sailed

with 40 double canoes, twice 40 single canoes, and 20 provision boats.

Some nights before that set for the marriage, the eleventh night of the

month, the night of Huna, they came to Kawaihae; then he sent his

messenger, Frigate-bird, to get Poliahu to come thither to meet

Aiwohikupua on the day set for the marriage.

When the messenger returned from Poliahu, he told Poliahu's reply:

"Your wife commands that the marriage take place at Waiulaula. When you

look out early in the morning of the seventeenth, the day of Kulu, and

the snow clothes the summit of Maunakea, Maunaloa, and Hualalai,[56]

clear to Waiulaula, then they have reached the place where you are to

wed; then set out, so she says."

Then Aiwohikupua got ready to present himself with the splendor of a

chief.

Aiwohikupua clothed the chiefs and chiefesses and his two favorites in

feather capes and the women of his household in braided mats of Kauai.

Aiwohikupua clothed himself in his snow mantle that Poliahu had given

him, put on the helmet of _ie_ vine wrought with feathers of the red

_iiwi_ bird. He clothed his oarsmen and steersmen in red and white

_tapa_ as attendants of a chief; so were all his bodyguard arrayed.

On the high seat of the double canoe in which the chief sailed was set

up a canopied couch covered with feather capes, and right above the

couch the taboo signs of a chief, and below the sacred symbols sat

Aiwohikupua.

Following the chief and surrounding his canoe came ten double canoes

filled with expert dancers. So was Aiwohikupua arrayed to meet Poliahu.

On the seventeenth day, the day of Kulu, in the early morning, a little

later than sunrise, Aiwohikupua and his party saw the snow begin to hide

the summits of the mountain clear to the place of meeting.

Already had Poliahu, Lilinoe, Waiaie, and Kahoupokane arrived for the

chief's marriage.

Then Aiwohikupua set out to join the woman of the mountain. He went in

the state described above.

As Aiwohikupua was sailing from Kawaihae, Lilinoe rejoiced to see the

unrivaled splendor of the chief.

When they came to Waiulaula they were shivering with cold, so

Aiwohikupua sent his messenger to tell Poliahu, "They can not come for

the cold."

Then Poliahu laid off her mantle of snow and the mountain dwellers put

on their sun mantles, and the snow retreated to its usual place.

When Aiwohikupua and his party reached Poliahu's party the princess was

more than delighted with the music from the dancers accompanying the

chief's canoe and she praised his splendid appearance; it was beautiful.

When they met both showed the robes given them before in token of their

vow.

Then the chiefs were united and became one flesh, and they returned and

lived in Kauai, in the uplands of Honopuwai.

Now Aiwohikupua's messengers, Snipe and Turnstone, went to tell

Hinaikamalama of the union of Aiwohikupua with Poliahu.

When Hinaikamalama heard about it, then she asked her parents to let her

go on a visit to Kauai, and the request pleased her parents.

The parents hastened the preparation of canoes for Hinaikamalama's

voyage to Kauai, and selected a suitable cortege for the princess's

journey, as is customary on the journey of a chief.

When all was ready Hinaikamalama went on board the double canoe and

sailed and came to Kauai.

When she arrived Aiwohikupua was with Poliahu and others at Mana, where

all the chiefs were gathered for the sport between Hauailiki and

Makaweli.

That night was a festival night, the game of _kilu_ and the dance

_kaeke_ being the sports of the night.[57]

During the rejoicings in the middle of the night came Hinaikamalama and

sat in the midst of the festive gathering, and all marveled at this

strange girl.

When she came into their midst Aiwohikupua did not see her, for his

attention was taken by the dance.

As Hinaikamalama sat there, behold! Hauailiki conceived a passion for

her.

Then Hauailiki went and said to the master of ceremonies, "Go and tell

Aiwohikupua to stop the dance and play at spin-the-gourd; when the game

begins, then you go up and draw the stranger for my partner to-night."

At the request of the one for whom the sports were given the dance was

ended.

Then Hauailiki played at spin-the-gourd with Poliahu until the gourd had

been spun ten times. Then the master of ceremonies arose and made the

circuit of the assembly, returned and touched Hauailiki with his _maile_

wand and sang a song, and Hauailiki arose.

Then the master of ceremonies took the wand back and touched

Hinaikamalama's head and she arose.

As she stood there she requested the master of the sports to let her

speak, and he nodded.

Hinaikamalama asked for whom the sports were given, and they told her

for Hauailiki and Makaweli.

And Hinaikamalama turned right around and said to Hauailiki, "O chief of

this festal gathering (since I have heard this is all in your honor),

your sport master has matched us two, O chief, to bring us together for

a little; now I put off the match which the master of ceremonies has

chosen. But let me explain my object in coming so far as Kauai. That

fellow there, Aiwohikupua, is my reason for coming to this land, because

I heard that he was married to Poliahu; therefore I came here to see how

he had lied to me. For that man there came to Hana on Maui while we were

surf riding. The two of them were the last to surf, and when they were

through, they came home to play _konane_ with me. He wanted to play

_konane_. We set up the board again; I asked what he would bet; he

pointed to his double canoe. I said I did not like his bet; then I told

the bet I liked, our persons; if he beat me at _konane_, then I would

become his and do everything that he told me to do, and the same if he

lost to me, then he was to do for me as I to him; and we made this

bargain. And in the game in a little while my piece blocked the game,

and he was beaten. I said to him, 'You have lost; you ought to stay with

me as we have wagered.' Said that fellow, 'I will wait to carry out the

bet until I return, from a touring trip. Then I will fulfill the bet, O

princess.' And because of his fine speeches we agreed upon this, and for

this reason, I have lived apart under a taboo until now. And when I

heard that he had a wife, I came to Kauai and entered the festal

gathering. O chief, that is how it was."

Then the men at the gathering all around the _kilu_ shelter were roused

and blamed Aiwohikupua. Then at Hinaikamalama's story, Poliahu was

filled with hot anger; and she went back to White Mountain and is there

to this day.

Soon after Hinaikamalama's speech the games began again; the game was

between Aiwohikupua and Makaweli.

Then the master of ceremonies stood up and touched Hauailiki and

Hinaikamalama with the wand, and Hauailiki arose and Hinaikamalama also.

This time Hinaikamalama said to Hauailiki, "O chief, we have been

matched by the sport master as is usual in this game. But I must delay

my consent; when Aiwohikupua has consented to carry out our vow, after

that, at the chief's next festival night, this night's match shall be

fulfilled." Then Hauailiki was very well pleased.

And because of Hinaikamalama's words, Aiwohikupua took Hinaikamalama to

carry out their vow.

That very night as they rested comfortably in the fulfillment of their

bargain, Hinaikamalama grew numb with cold, for Poliahu had spread her

cold snow mantle over her enemy.

Then Hinaikamalama raised a short chant--

Cold, ah! cold,

A very strange cold,

My heart is afraid.

Perhaps sin dwells within the house,

My heart begins to fear,

Perhaps the house dweller has sinned.

O my comrade, it is cold.

CHAPTER XIX

When Hinaikamalama ceased chanting, she said to Aiwohikupua, "Where are

you? Embrace me close to make me warm; I am cold all over; no warmth at

all."

Then Aiwohikupua obeyed her, and she grew as warm as before.

As they began to take their ease in fulfillment of their vow at the

betrothal, then the cold came a second time upon Hinaikamalama.

Then she raised a chant, as follows:

O my comrade, it is cold,

Cold as the snow on the mountain top,

The cold lies at the soles of my feet,

It presses upon my heart,

The cold wakens me

In my night of sleep.

This time Hinaikamalama said to Aiwohikupua, "Do you not know any

reason for our being cold? If you know the reason, then tell me; do not

hide it."

Said Aiwohikupua, "This cold comes from your rival; she is perhaps angry

with us, so she wears her snow mantle; therefore we are cold."

Hinaikamalama answered, "We must part, for we have met and our vow is

fulfilled."

Said Aiwohikupua, "We will break off this time; let us separate;

to-morrow at noon, then we will carry out the vow."

"Yes," said Hinaikamalama.

After they had parted then Hinaikamalama slept pleasantly the rest of

the night until morning.

At noon Aiwohikupua again took her in fulfillment of the agreement of

the night before.

As those two reposed accordingly, Poliahu was displeased.

Then Poliahu took her sun mantle and covered herself; this time it was

the heat Poliahu sent to Hinaikamalama. Then she raised a short song, as

follows:

The heat, ah! the heat,

The heat of my love stifles me,

It burns my body,

It draws sweat from my heart,

Perhaps this heat is my lover's--ah!

Said Aiwohikupua, "It is not my doing; perhaps Poliahu causes this heat;

perhaps she is angry with us."

Said Hinaikamalama, "Let us still have patience and if the heat comes

over us again, then leave me."

After this, they again met in fulfillment of their vow.

Then again the heat settled over them, then she raised again the chant:

The heat, ah! the heat,

The heat of my love stifles me.

Its quivering touch scorches my heart,

The sick old heat of the winter,

The fiery heat of summer,

The dripping heat of the summer season,

The heat compels me to go,

I must go.

Then Hinaikamalama arose to go.

Said Aiwohikupua, "You might give me a kiss before you go."

Said Hinaikamalama, "I will not give you a kiss; the heat from that wife

of yours will come again, it will never do. Fare you well!"

Let us leave off here telling about Aiwohikupua. It is well to speak

briefly of Hinaikamalama.

After leaving Aiwohikupua, she came and stayed at the house of a native

of the place.

This very night there was again a festivity for Hauailiki and the chiefs

at Puuopapai.

This night Hinaikamalama remembered her promise to Hauailiki after the

game of spin-the-gourd, before she met Aiwohikupua.

This was the second night of the festival; then Hinaikamalama went and

sat outside the group.

Now, the first game of spin-the-gourd was between Kauakahialii and

Kailiokalauokekoa. Afterward Kailiokalauokekoa and Makaweli had the

second game.

During the game Poliahu entered the assembly. To Hauailiki and Poliahu

went the last game of the night.

And as the master of ceremonies had not seen Hinaikamalama early that

night, he had not done his duty. For on the former night the first game

this night had been promised to Hauailiki and Hinaikamalama, but not

seeing her he gave the first game to others.

Close on morning the sport master searched the gathering for

Hinaikamalama and found her.

Then the sport master stood up in the midst of the assembly, while

Hauailiki and Poliahu were playing, then he sang a song while fluttering

the end of the wand over Hauailiki and took away the wand and Hauailiki

stood up. The sport master went over to Hinaikamalama, touched her with

the wand and withdrew it. Then Hinaikamalama stood in the midst of the

circle of players.

When Poliahu saw Hinaikamalama, she frowned at the sight of her rival.

And Hauailiki and Hinaikamalama withdrew where they could take their

pleasure.

When they met, said Hinaikamalama to Hauailiki, "If you take me only for

a little while, then there is an end of it, for my parents do not wish

me to give up my virginity thus. But if you intend to take me as your

wife, then I will give myself altogether to you as my parents desire."

To the woman's words Hauailiki answered, "Your idea is a good one; you

think as I do; but let us first meet according to the choice of the

sport master, then afterwards we will marry."

"Not so," said Hinaikamalama, "let me be virgin until you are ready to

come and get me at Hana."

On the third night of Hauailiki's festivities, when the chiefs and

others were assembled, that night Lilinoe and Poliahu, Waiaie and

Kahoupokane met, for the three had come to find Poliahu, thinking that

Aiwohikupua was living with her.

This night, while Aiwohikupua and Makaweli were playing spin-the-gourd,

in the midst of the sport, the women of the mountain entered the place

of assembly.

As Poliahu and the others stood in their mantles of snow, sparkling in

the light, the group of players were in an uproar because of these

women, because of the strange garments they wore; at the same time cold

penetrated the whole _kilu_ shelter and lasted until morning, when

Poliahu and her companions left Kauai. At the same time Hinaikamalama

left Kauai.

When we get to Laieikawai's coming to Kauai after Kekalukaluokewa's

marriage with Laieikawai, then we will begin again the story of

Hinaikamalama; at this place let us tell of Kauakahialii's command to

his friend, and so on until he meets Laieikawai.

After their return from Hawaii, Kauakahialii lived with

Kailiokalauokekoa at Pihanakalani. [58] Now the end of their days was

near.

Then Kauakahialii laid a blessing upon his friend, Kekalukaluokewa, and

this it was:

"Ah! my friend, greatly beloved, I give you my blessing, for the end of

my days is near, and I am going back to the other side of the earth.

"Only one thing for you to guard, our wife.[59] When I fall dead, there

where sight of you and our wife comes not back, then do you rule over

the island, you above, and our wife below; as we two ruled over the

island, so will you and our wife do.

"It may be when I am dead you will think of taking a wife; do not take

our wife; by no means think of her as your wife, for she belongs to us

two.

"The woman for you to take is the wife left on Hawaii, Laieikawai. If

you take her for your wife it will be well with you, you will be

renowned. Would you get her, guard one thing, our flute, guard well the

flute,[60] then the woman is yours, this is my charge to you."

Kauakahialii's charge pleased his friend.

In the end Kauakahialii died; the chief, his friend, took the rule, and

their wife was the counsellor.

Afterwards, when Kailiokalauokekoa's last days drew near, she prayed her

husband to guard Kanikawi, their sacred flute, according to

Kauakahialii's command:

"My husband, here is the flute; guard it; it is a wonderful flute;

whatever things you desire it can do; if you go to get the wife your

friend charged you to, this will be the means of your meeting. You must

guard it forever; wherever you go to dwell, never leave the flute at

all, for you well know what your friend did when you two came to get me

when I was almost dead for love of your friend. It was this flute that

saved me from the other side of the grave; therefore, listen and guard

well my sayings."

CHAPTER XX

After Kailiokalauokekoa's death, the chief's house and all things else

became Kekalukaluokewa's, and he portioned out the land[61] and set up

his court.

After apportioning the land and setting up his court, Kekalukaluokewa

bethought him of his friend's charge concerning Laieikawai.

Then he commanded his counsellor to make ready 4,000 canoes for the

journey to Hawaii after a wife, according to the custom of a chief.

When the chief's command was carried out, the chief took two favorites,

a suitable retinue of chiefs, and all the embalmed bodies of his

ancestors.

In the month called "the first twin," when the sea was calm, they left

Kauai and came to Hawaii. Many days passed on the voyage.

As they sailed, they arrived in the early morning at Makahanaloa in

Hilo. Then said the man who had seen Laieikawai before to the chief,

"See that rainbow arching over the uplands; that is Paliuli, where I

found her." Now the rain was sweeping Hilo at the time when they came to

Makahanaloa.

At the man's words, the chief answered, "I will wait before believing

that a sign for Laieikawai; for the rainbow is common in rainy weather;

so, my proposal is, let us anchor the canoes and wait until the rain has

cleared, then if the rainbow remains when there is no rain, it must be a

sign for Laieikawai." The chief's proposal was the same as

Aiwohikupua's.

So they remained there as the chief desired. In ten days and two it

cleared over Hilo, and the country was plainly visible.

In the early morning of the twelfth day the chief went out of the house,

and lo! the rainbow persisted as before; a little later in the day the

rainbow was at the seacoast of Keaau; Laieikawai had gone to the coast

(as in the narrative before of Aiwohikupua's story).

That day there was no longer any doubt of the sign, and they sailed and

came to Keaau. When they arrived, Laieikawai had gone up to Paliuli.

When they arrived the people crowded to see Kekalukaluokewa and

exclaimed, "Kauai for handsome men!"

On the day when Kekalukaluokewa sailed and came to Keaau, Waka foresaw

this Kekalukaluokewa.

Said Waka to her grandchild, "Do not go again to the coast, for

Kekalukaluokewa has come to Keaau to get you for his wife. Kauakahialii

is dead, and has charged his favorite to take you to wife; therefore

this is your husband. If you accept this man you will rule the island,

surely preserve these bones. Therefore wait up here four days, then go

down, and if you like him, then return and tell me your pleasure."

So Laieikawai waited four days as her grandmother commanded.

In the early morning of the fourth day of retirement, she arose and went

down with her hunchbacked attendant to Keaau.

When she arrived close to the village, lo! Kekalukaluokewa was already

out surf riding; three youths rose in the surf, the chief and his

favorites.

As Laieikawai and her companion spied out for Kekalukaluokewa, they did

not know which man the grandmother wanted.

Said Laieikawai to her nurse, "How are we to know the man whom my

grandmother said was here?"

Her nurse said, "Better wait until they are through surfing, and the one

who comes back without a board, he is the chief."

So they sat and waited.

Then, the surf riding ended and the surfers came back to shore.

Then they saw some men carrying the boards of the favorites, but the

chief's board the favorites bore on their shoulders, and Kekalukaluokewa

came without anything. So Laieikawai looked upon her husband.

When they had seen what they had come for, they returned to Paliuli and

told their grandmother what they had seen.

Asked the grandmother, "Were you pleased with the man?"

"Yes," answered Laieikawai.

Said Waka, "To-morrow at daybreak Kekalukaluokewa goes surfing alone; at

that time I will cover all the land of Puna with a mist, and in this

mist I will send you on the wings of birds to meet Kekalukaluokewa

without your being seen. When the mist clears, then all shall see you

riding on the wave with Kekalukaluokewa; that is the time to give a kiss

to the Kauai youth. So when you go out of the house, speak no word to

anyone, man or woman, until you have given a kiss to Kekalukaluokewa,

then you may speak to the others. After the surf riding, then I will

send the birds and a mist over the land; that is the time for you to

return with your husband to your house, become one flesh according to

your wish."

When all this had been told Laieikawai, she returned to the chief-house

with her nurse.

Afterward, when they were in the house, she sent her nurse to bring

Mailehaiwale, Mailekaluhea, Mailelaulii, Mailepakaha, and

Kahalaomapuana, her counsellors, as they had agreed.

When the counsellors came, her body guard, Laieikawai said, "Where are

you, my comrades? I have taken counsel with our grandmother about my

marriage, so I sent my nurse to bring you, as we agreed when we met

here. My grandmother wishes Kekalukaluokewa to be my husband. What do

you say? What you all agree, I will do. If you consent, well; if not, it

shall be just as you think." Kahalaomapuana said, "It is well; marry him

as your grandmother wishes; not a word from us. Only when you marry a

husband do not forsake us, as we have agreed; where you go, let us go

with you; if you are in trouble, we will share it."

"I will not forsake you," said Laieikawai.

Now we have seen in former chapters, in the story of Hauailiki and the

story of Aiwohikupua's second trip to Hawaii, that it was customary for

Laieikawai to go down to Keaau, and it was the same when Kekalukaluokewa

came to Hawaii.

Every time Laieikawai came to Keaau the youth Halaaniani saw her without

knowing where she came from; from that time the wicked purpose never

left his mind to win Laieikawai, but he was ashamed to approach her and

never spoke to her.

As to this Halaaniani, he was Malio's brother, a youth famous throughout

Puna for his good looks, but a profligate fellow.

During the four days of Laieikawai's retirement Halaaniani brooded

jealously over her absence. She came no more to Keaau.

In the village he heard that Laieikawai was to be Kekalukaluokewa's.

Then quickly he went to consult his sister, to Malio.[62]

Said her brother, "Malio, I have come to you to gain my desire. All

those days I was absent I was at Keaau to behold a certain beautiful

woman, for my passion forced me to go again and again to see this woman.

To-day I heard that to-morrow she is to be the chief's of Kauai;

therefore let us exert all our arts over her to win her to me."

Said his sister, "She is no other than Waka's grandchild, Laieikawai,

whom the grandmother has given to the great chief of Kauai; to-morrow is

the marriage. Therefore, as you desire, go home, and in the dark of

evening return, and we will sleep here on the mountain; that is the time

for us to determine whether you lose or win."

According to Malio's directions to her brother, Halaaniani returned to

his house at Kula.

He came at the time his sister had commanded.

Before they slept, Malio said to Halaaniani, "If you get a dream when

you sleep, tell it to me, and I will do the same."

They slept until toward morning. Halaaniani awoke, he could not sleep,

and Malio awoke at the same time.

CHAPTER XXI

Malio asked Halaaniani, "What did you dream?"

Said Halaaniani, "I dreamed nothing, as I slept I knew nothing, had not

the least dream until I awoke just now."

Halaaniani asked his sister, "How was it with you?"

Said his sister, "I had a dream; as we slept we went into the thicket;

you slept in your hollow tree and I in mine; my spirit saw a little bird

building its nest; when it was completed the bird whose the nest was

flew away out of sight. And by-and-by another bird flew hither and sat

upon the nest, but I saw not that bird come again whose the nest was."

Asked Halaaniani of the dream, "What is the meaning of this dream?"

His sister told him the true meaning of the dream. "You will prosper;

for the first bird whose the nest was, that is Kekalukaluokewa, and the

nest, that is Laieikawai, and the last bird who sat in the nest, that is

you. Therefore this very morning the woman shall be yours. When Waka

sends Laieikawai on the wings of the birds for the marriage with

Kekalukaluokewa, mist and fog will cover the land; when it clears, then

you three will appear riding on the crest of the wave, then you shall

see that I have power to veil Waka's face from seeing what I am doing

for you; so let us arise and get near to the place where Laieikawai

weds."

After Malio's explanation of the dream was ended they went right to the

place where the others were.

Now Malio had power to do supernatural deeds; it was to secure this

power that she lived apart.

When they came to Keaau they saw Kekalukaluokewa swimming out for surf

riding.

Malio said to Halaaniani, "You listen to me! When you get on the back of

the wave and glide along with the breaker, do not ride--lose the wave;

this for four waves; and the fifth wave, this is their last. Maybe they

will wonder at your not riding ashore and ask the reason, then you

answer you are not accustomed to surfing on the short waves, and when

they ask you what long waves you surf on say on the _Huia_.[63] If they

pay no attention to you, and prepare to ride in on their last wave, as

they ride you must seize hold of Laieikawai's feet while Kekalukaluokewa

rides in alone. When you have the woman, carry her far out to sea; look

over to the coast where Kumukahi[64] swims in the billows, then this is

the place for surfing; then pray in my name and I will send a wave over

you; this is the wave you want; it is yours."

While they were talking Waka covered the land with a mist. Then the

thunder pealed and there was Laieikawai on the crest of the wave. This

was Waka's work. Again the thunder pealed a second peal. This was

Malio's work. When the mist cleared three persons floated on the crest

of the wave, and this was a surprise to the onlookers.

As Waka had commanded her grandchild, "speak to no one until you have

kissed Kekalukaluokewa, then speak to others," the grandchild obeyed her

command.

While they rode the surf not one word was heard between them.

As they stood on the first wave Kekalukaluokewa said, "Let us ride."

Then they lay resting upon their boards; Halaaniani let his drop back,

the other two rode in; then it was that Laieikawai and Kekalukaluokewa

kissed as the grandmother had directed.

Three waves they rode, three times they went ashore, and three times

Halaaniani dropped back.

At the fourth wave, for the first time Laieikawai questioned Halaaniani:

"Why do you not ride? This is the fourth wave you have not ridden; what

is your reason for not riding?"

"Because I am not used to the short waves," said Halaaniani, "the long

wave is mine."

He spoke as his sister had directed.

The fifth wave, this was the last for Laieikawai and Kekalukaluokewa.

As Kekalukaluokewa and Laieikawai lay resting on the wave, Halaaniani

caught Laieikawai by the soles of her feet and got his arm around her,

and Laieikawai's surf board was lost. Kekalukaluokewa rode in alone and

landed on the dry beach.

When Laieikawai was in Halaaniani's arms she said, "This is strange! my

board is gone."

Said Halaaniani, "Your board is all right, woman; a man will bring it

back."

While they were speaking Laieikawai's surf board floated to where they

were.

Said Laieikawai to Halaaniani, "Where is your wave that you have kept me

back here for?"

At this question of the princess they swam, and while they swam

Halaaniani bade the princess, "As we swim do not look back, face ahead;

when my crest is here, then I will tell you."

They swam, and after a long time Laieikawai began to wonder; then she

said, "This is a strange wave, man! We are swimming out where there are

no waves at all; we are in the deep ocean; a wave here would be strange;

there are only swells out here."

Said Halaaniani, "You listen well; at my first word to you there will be

something for us."

Laieikawai listened for the word of her surfing comrade.

They swam until Halaaniani thought they could get the crest, then

Halaaniani said to his surfing comrade, "Look toward the coast."

Laieikawai replied, "The land has vanished, Kumukahi comes bobbing on

the wave."

"This is our crest," said Halaaniani. "I warn you when the first wave

breaks, do not ride that wave, or the second; the third wave is ours.

When the wave breaks and scatters, keep on, do not leave the board which

keeps you floating; if you leave the board, then you will not see me

again."

At the close of this speech Halaaniani prayed to their god in the name

of his sister, as Malio had directed.

Halaaniani was half through his prayer; a crest arose; he finished the

prayer to the amen; again a crest arose, the second this; not long after

another wave swelled.

This time Halaaniani called out, "Let us ride."

Then Laieikawai quickly lay down on the board and with Halaaniani's help

rode toward the shore.

Now, when Laieikawai was deep under the wave, the crest broke finely;

Laieikawai glanced about to see how things were; Halaaniani was not with

her. Laieikawai looked again; Halaaniani with great dexterity was

resting on the very tip of the wave. That was when Laieikawai began to

give way to Halaaniani.

Waka saw them returning from surf riding and supposed Laieikawai's

companion was Kekalukaluokewa.

Malio, the sister of Halaaniani, as is seen in the story of her life,

can do many marvelous things, and in Chapters XXII and XXIII you will

see what great deeds she had power to perform.

CHAPTER XXII

While Laieikawai was surfing ashore with Halaaniani, Waka's

supernatural gift was overshadowed by Malio's superior skill, and she

did not see what was being done to her grandchild.

Just as Laieikawai came to land, Waka sent the birds in the mist, and

when the mist passed off only the surf boards remained; Laieikawai was

with Halaaniani in her house up at Paliuli. There Halaaniani took

Laieikawai to wife.

The night passed, day came, and it was midday; Waka thought this

strange, for before sending her grandchild to meet Kekalukaluokewa she

had said to her:

"Go, to-day, and meet Kekalukaluokewa, then return to the uplands, you

two, and after your flesh has become defiled come to me; I will take

care of you until the pollution is past." Now, this was the custom with

a favorite daughter.

Because Waka was surprised, at midday of the second day after Laieikawai

joined Halaaniani, the grandmother went to look after her grandchild.

When the grandmother came to them, they were both fast asleep, like new

lovers, as if the nights were the time for waking.

As Laieikawai lay asleep, her grandmother looked and saw that the man

sleeping with her grandchild was not the one she had chosen for her.

Then Waka wakened the grandchild, and when she awoke the grandmother

asked, "Who is this?"

Answered the grandchild, "Kekalukaluokewa, of course."

Said the grandmother in a rage, "This is no Kekalukaluokewa; this is

Halaaniani, the brother of Malio. Therefore, I give you my oath never to

see your face again, my grandchild, from this time until I die, for you

have disobeyed me. I thought to hide you away until you could care for

me. But now, live with your husband for the future; keep your beauty,

your supernatural power is yours no longer; that you must look for from

your husband; work with your own hands; let your husband be your fortune

and your pride."

After this Waka made ready to build another house like that she had

built for Laieikawai. And by Waka's art the house was speedily

completed.

When the house was ready, Waka went herself to meet Kekalukaluokewa in

person, for her heart yearned with love for Kakalukaluokewa.

When Waka reached Kekalukaluokewa's place, she clasped his feet and

said, with sorrowful heart: "Great is my grief and my love for you, O

chief, for I desired you for my grandchild as the man to save these

bones. I thought my grandchild was a good girl, not so! I saw her

sleeping with Halaaniani, not the man I had chosen for her. Therefore, I

come to beseech you to give me a canoe and men also, and I will go and

get the foster child of Kapukaihaoa, Laielohelohe,[66] who is like

Laieikawai, for they are twins."

And for this journey Kekalukaluokewa gave a double canoe with men and

all the equipment.

Before Waka went after Laielohelohe she commanded Kekalukaluokewa as

follows: "I shall be gone three times ten days and three days over, then

I shall return. Keep watch, and if the mist rises on the ocean, then you

will know that I am returning with your wife, then purify yourself for

two days before the marriage."

According to her determination, Waka sailed to Oahu, where the canoes

landed at Honouliuli and Waka saw the rainbow arching up at Wahiawa.

She took a little pig to sacrifice before Kapukaihaoa, the priest who

took care of Laielohelohe, and went up thither.

Waka went up and reached Kukaniloko; she draw near the place where

Laielohelohe was hidden, held the pig out to the priest and prayed, and

came to the amen, then she let the pig go.

The priest asked, "Why do you bring me the pig? What can I do for you?"

Said Waka, "My foster child has sinned, she is not a good girl; I wished

to have the chief of Kauai for her husband, but she would not listen to

me, she became Halaaniani's; therefore, I come to take your foster child

to be the wife of Kekalukaluokewa, the chief of Kauai. We two shall be

provided for, he will preserve our bones in the days of our old age

until we die, and when that chief is ours my foster child will be

supplanted, and she will realize how she has sinned."

Said Kapukaihaoa, "The pig is well, therefore I give you my foster child

to care for, and if you succeed well, and I hear of your prosperity,

then I will come to seek you."

Then Waka entered with Kapukaihaoa the taboo place where Laielohelohe

was hidden; Waka waited and the priest went still farther into the place

and brought her to Waka, then Waka knelt before Laielohelohe and did her

reverence.

On the day when Laielohelohe went on board the canoe, then the priest

took his foster child's umbilical cord[66] and wore it about his neck.

But he did not sorrow for Laielohelohe, thinking how good fortune had

come to her.

From the time Laielohelohe was taken on board, not one of the paddlers

had the least glimpse of her until they came to Hawaii.

Kekalukaluokewa waited during the time appointed.

The next day, in the early morning, when the chief awoke from sleep, he

saw the sign which Waka had promised, for there was the colored cloud on

the ocean.

Kekalukaluokewa prepared for Laielohelohe's arrival, expecting to see

her first at that time. Not so!

In the afternoon, when the double canoes came in sight, all the people

crowded to the landing place to see the chief, thinking she would come

ashore and meet her husband.

When the canoe approached the shore, then fog and mist covered the land

from Paliuli to the sea.

Then Laielohelohe and Waka were borne under cover of the mist on the

birds to Paliuli, and Laielohelohe was placed in the house prepared for

her and stayed there until Halaaniani took her.

Three days was Waka at Paliuli after returning from Oahu. Then she came

down with Kekalukaluokewa for the marriage of the chiefs.

Then Waka came to Kekalukaluokewa and said, "Your wife has come, so

prepare yourself in forty days; summon all the people to assemble at the

place where you two shall meet; make a _kilu_ shelter; there disgrace

Laieikawai, that she may see what wrong she has done."

At the time when Waka took away her supernatural protection from

Laieikawai, Aiwohikupua's sisters took counsel as to what they had

better do; and they agreed upon what they should say to Laieikawai.

Kahalaomapuana came to Laieikawai, and she said: "We became your

bodyguard while Waka still protected you; now she has removed her

guardianship and left you. Therefore, as we agreed in former days,

'Adversity to one is adversity to all;' now that you are in trouble, we

will share your trouble. As we will not forsake you, so do not you

forsake us until our death; this is what we have agreed."

When Laieikawai heard these words her tears fell for love of her

comrades, and she said, "I supposed you would forsake me when fortune

was taken from me; not so! What does it matter! Should fortune come to

me hereafter, then I will place you far above myself."

Halaaniani and Laieikawai lived as man and wife and Aiwohikupua's

sisters acted as her servants.

Perhaps the fourth month of their union, one day at noon when Halaaniani

opened the door and went outside the house, he saw Laielohelohe going

out of her taboo house. Then once more longing seized Halaaniani.

He returned with his mind fixed upon doing a mischief to the girl,

determined to get her and pollute her.

As he was at that time living on good terms with Laieikawai, Halaaniani

sought some pretext for parting from Laieikawai in order to carry out

his purpose.

That night Halaaniani deceived Laieikawai, saying, "Ever since we have

lived up here, my delight in surf riding has never ceased; at noon the

longing seizes me; it is the same every day; so I propose to-morrow we

go down to Keaau surf riding, and return here."

The wife agreed.

Early in the morning Laieikawai sought her counsellors, the sisters of

Aiwohikupua, and told them what the husband had proposed that night, and

this pleased her counsellors.

Laieikawai said to them, "We two are going to the sea, as our husband

wishes. You wait; do not be anxious if ten days pass and our husband has

not had enough of the sport of surf riding; but if more than ten days

pass, some evil has befallen us; then come to my help."

They departed and came to a place just above Keaau; then Halaaniani

began to make trouble for Laieikawai, saying, "You go ahead to the coast

and I will go up and see your sister-in-law, Malio, and return. And if

you wait for me until day follows night, and night again that day, and,

again the day succeeds the night, then you will know that I am dead;

then marry another husband."

This proposal of her husband's did not please the wife, and she proposed

their going up together, but the slippery fellow used all his cunning,

and she was deceived.

Halaaniani left her. Laieikawai went on to Keaau, and at a place not

close to Kekalukaluokewa, there she remained; and night fell, and the

husband did not return; day came, and he did not return. She waited that

day until night; it was no better; then she thought her husband was

dead, and she began to pour out her grief.

CHAPTER XXIII

Very heavy hearted was Laieikawai at her husband's death, so she mourned

ten days and two (twelve days) for love of him.

While Laieikawai mourned, her counsellors wondered, for Laieikawai had

given them her charge before going to Keaau.

"Wait for me ten days, and should I not return," she had bidden them as

told in Chapter XXII; so clearly she was in trouble.

And the time having passed which Laieikawai charged her companions to

wait, Aiwohikupua's sisters awoke early in the morning of the twelfth

day and went to look after their comrade.

They went to Keaau, and as they approached and Laieikawai spied her

counsellors she poured out her grief with wailing.

Now her counsellors marveled at her wailing and remembered her saying

"some evil has befallen"; at her wailing and at her gestures of

distress, for Laieikawai was kneeling on the ground with one hand

clapped across her back and the other at her forehead, and she wailed

aloud as follows:

O you who come to me--alas!

Here I am,

My heart is trembling,

There is a rushing at my heart for love.

Because the man is gone--my close companion!

He has departed.

He has departed, my lehua blossom, spicy kookoolau,

With his soft pantings,

Tremulous, thick gaspings,

Proud flower of my heart,

Behold--alas!

Behold me desolate--

The first faint fear branches and grows--I can not bear it!

My heart is darkened

With love.

Alas, my husband!

When her companions heard Laieikawai wailing, they all wailed with her.

After their lament, said Kahalaomapuana, "This is a strange way to cry;

you open your mouth wide, but no tears run; you seem to be dried up, as

if the tears were shut off."

Said the sisters, "What do you mean?"

Kahalaomapuana replied, "As if there were nothing the matter with our

husband."

Said Laieikawai, "He is dead, for on the way down, just above here, he

said, 'You go ahead and I will go up and see your sister-in-law, and if

you wait for me until day follows night and night day and day again that

night, then I am dead,' so he charged me. I waited here; the appointed

time passed; I thought he was dead; here I stayed until you came and

found me wailing."

Said Kahalaomapuana, "He is not dead; wait a day; stop wailing!"

Because of Kahalaomapuana's words they waited four days, but nothing

happened. Then Laieikawai began to wail again until evening of the

third day, and this night, at dawn, for the first time she fell asleep.

Just as sleep came to her Halaaniani stood before her with another

woman, and Laieikawai started up, and it was only a dream!

At the same time Mailehaiwale had a vision. She awoke and told her dream

to Mailelaulii and Mailekaluhea.

As they were talking about it Laieikawai awoke and told her dream.

Said Mailelaulii, "We are just talking of Mailehaiwale's dream."

As they discussed the dreams Kahalaomapuana awoke from sleep and asked

what they were talking about.

Mailehaiwale told the dream that had come to her: "It was up at Paliuli,

Halaaniani came and took you, Kahalaomapuana, and you two went away

somewhere; my spirit stood and watched you, and the excitement awoke

me."

Laieikawai also told her dream, and Kahalaomapuana said, "Halaaniani is

not dead; we will wait; do not weep; waste no tears."

Then Laieikawai stopped wailing, and they returned to Paliuli.

At this place we shall tell of Halaaniani, and here we shall see his

clever trickery.

When Halaaniani told Laieikawai he was going up to see Malio, this was

in order to get away from her after giving her his commands.

The fellow went up and met Malio. His sister asked. "What have you come

up here for?"

Said Halaaniani, "I have come up here to you once more to show you what

I desire; for I have again seen a beautiful woman with a face like

Laieikawai's.

"Yesterday morning when I went outside my house I saw this young girl

with the lovely face; then a great longing took possession of me.

"And because I remembered that you were the one who fulfilled my wishes,

therefore I have come up here again."

Said Malio to her brother, "That is Laielohelohe, another of Waka's

grandchildren; she is betrothed to Kekalukaluokewa, to be his wife.

Therefore go and watch the girl's house without being seen for four

days, and see what she does; then come back and tell me; then I will

send you to seduce the girl. I can not do it by my power, for they are

two."

At these words of Malio, Halaaniani went to spy outside of

Laielohelohe's house without being seen; almost twice ten days he lay in

wait; then he saw Laielohelohe stringing _lehua_ blossoms. He came

repeatedly many days; there she was stringing _lehua_ blossoms.

Halaaniani returned to his sister as he had been directed, and told her

what he had seen of Laielohelohe.

When Malio heard the story she told her brother what to do to win

Laielohelohe, and said to Halaaniani, "Go now, and in the middle of the

night come up here to me, and we two will go to Laielohelohe's place."

Halaaniani went away, and close to the appointed time, then he arose and

joined his sister. His sister took a _ti_-leaf trumpet and went with her

brother, and came close to the place where Laielohelohe was wont to

string _lehua_ blossoms.

Then Malio said to Halaaniani, "You climb up in the _lehua_ tree where

you can see Laielohelohe, and there you stay. Listen to me play on the

_ti_-leaf trumpet; when I have blown five times, if you see her turn her

eyes to the place where the sound comes from, then we shall surely win,

but if she does not look toward where I am playing, then we shall not

win to-day."

As they were speaking there was a crackling in the bushes at the place

where Laielohelohe strung _lehua_ blossoms, and when they looked, there

was Laielohelohe breaking _lehua_ blossoms.

Then Halaaniani climbed up the trunk of a tree and kept watch. When he

was up the tree, Malio's trumpet sounded, again it sounded a second

time, so on until the fifth time, but Halaaniani did not see the girl

turn her eyes or listen to the sound.

Malio waited for Halaaniani to return and tell what he had seen, but as

he did not return, Malio again blew on the trumpet five times; still

Halaaniani did not see Laielohelohe pay the least attention until she

went away altogether.

Halaaniani came back and told his sister, and his sister said, "We have

not won her with the trumpet; shall we try my nose flute?"

The two returned home, and very early in the morning, they came again to

the same place where they had lain in ambush before.

No sooner were they arrived than Laielohelohe arrived also at her

customary station. Malio had already instructed her brother, as

follows:

"Take _lehua_ flowers, bind them into a cluster, when you hear me

playing the nose flute, then drop the bunch of flowers right over her;

maybe she will be curious about this."

Halaaniani climbed the tree right over where Laielohelohe was wont to

sit. Just as Malio's nose flute sounded, Halaaniani dropped the bunch of

_lehua_ flowers down from the tree, and it fell directly in front of

Laielohelohe. Then Laielohelohe turned her eyes right upward, saying,

"If you are a man who has sent me this gift and this music of the flute,

then you are mine: if you are a woman, then you shall be my intimate

friend."

When Halaaniani heard this speech, he waited not a moment to descend and

join his sister.

To Malio's question he told her what he had seen.

Said Malio to Halaaniani, "We will go home and early in the morning come

here again, then we shall find out her intentions."

They went home and returned early in the morning. When they had taken

their stations, Laielohelohe came as usual to string _lehua_ blossoms.

Then Malio sounded the flute, as Laielohelohe began to snip the _lehua_

blossoms, and she stopped, for her attention was attracted to the music.

Three times Malio sounded the nose flute.

Then said Laielohelohe, "If you are a woman who sounds the flute, then

let us two kiss."

At Laielohelohe's words, Malio approached Laielohelohe and the girl saw

her, and she was a stranger to Laielohelohe's eyes.

Then she started to kiss her.

And as the girl was about to give the promised kiss, Malio said, "Let

our kiss wait, first give my brother a kiss; when you two have done,

then we will kiss."

Then said Laielohelohe, "You and your brother may go away, do not bring

him into my presence; you both go back to your own place and do not come

here again. For it was only you I promised to greet with a kiss, no one

else; should I do as you desire, I should disobey my good guardian's

command."

When Malio heard this she returned to her brother and said, "We have

failed to-day, but I will try my supernatural arts to fulfill your

desire."

They went back to the house, then she directed Halaaniani to go and spy

upon Laieikawai.

When Halaaniani came to Keaau as his sister directed, he neither saw nor

heard of Laieikawai.

CHAPTER XXIV

On his arrival there, Halaaniani heard there was to be a great day for

Kakalukaluokewa, a day of celebration for the marriage of Laielohelohe

with Kekalukaluokewa. And when he had carefully noted the day for the

chief's wedding feast he returned and told his sister this thing.

When Malio heard it she said to her brother, "On the marriage day of

Kekalukaluokewa with Laielohelohe, on that day Laielohelohe shall be

yours."

Now Aiwohikupua's sisters were wont to go down to the sea at Keaau to

keep watch for their husband, to make sure if he were dead or not.

As Aiwohikupua's sisters were on the way to Keaau, they heard of the

festival for Kekalukaluokewa and Laielohelohe.

When the great day drew near, Waka went down from Paliuli to meet

Kekalukaluokewa, and Waka said to Kekalukaluokewa: "To-morrow at sunrise

call together all the people and the chiefs of the household to the

place prepared for the celebration; there let all be assembled. Then go

and show yourself first among them and near midday return to your house

until day declines, then I will send a mist to cover the land, and the

place where the people are assembled.

"When the mist begins to close down over the land, then wait until you

hear the birds singing and they cease; wait again until you hear the

birds singing and they cease.

"And after that I will lift the mist over the land. Then you will see up

to Paliuli where the cloud rises and covers the mountain top, then the

mist will fall again as before.

"Wait this time until you hear the cry of the _alae_ bird, and the

_ewaewaiki_ calling; then come out of the house and stand before the

assembly.

"Wait, and when the _oo_ birds call and cease, then I am prepared to

send Laielohelohe.

"When the voice of the _iiwipolena_ sounds, your wife is on the left

side of the place of meeting. Soon after this, you will hear the land

snails[67] singing, then do you two meet apart from the assembly.

"And when you two meet, a single peal of thunder will crash, the earth

tremble, the whole place of assembly shall shake. Then I will send you

two on the birds, the clouds and mist shall rise, and there will be you

two resting upon the birds in all your splendor. Then comes Laieikawai's

disgrace, when she sees her shame and goes off afoot like a captive

slave."

After all this was arranged, Waka returned to Paliuli.

Already has Halaaniani's expedition been described to look after his

wife Laieikawai at Keaau, and already has it been told how he heard of

the marriage celebration of Kekalukaluokewa and Laielohelohe.

On the day when Waka went to Keaau to meet Kekalukaluokewa, as we have

seen above,

On that very day, Malio told Halaaniani to get ready to go down to the

festival, saying: "To-morrow, at the marriage celebration of

Kekalukaluokewa and Laielohelohe, then Laielohelohe shall be yours. For

them shall crash the thunder, but when the clouds and mist clear away,

then all present at the place of meeting shall behold you and

Laielohelohe resting together upon the wings of birds."

Early in the morning of the next day, the day of the chief's marriage

celebration, Kihanuilulumoku was summoned into the presence of

Aiwohikupua's sisters, the servants who guarded Laieikawai.

When the lizard came, Kahalaomapuana said, "You have been summoned to

take us down to the sea at Keaau to see Kekalukaluokewa's wedding feast.

Be ready to take us down soon after the sun begins to decline."

Kihanuilulumoku went away until the time appointed, then he came to

them.

And as the lizard started to come into his mistress's presence, lo! the

land was veiled thick with mist up there at Paliuli, and all around, but

Kihanuilulumoku did not hurry to his mistresses, for he knew when the

chiefs' meeting was to take place.

When Kekalukaluokewa saw this mist begin to descend over the land, then

he remembered Waka's charge.

He waited for the remaining signs. After hearing the voices of the

_ewaewaiki_ and the land shells, then Kekalukaluokewa came out of his

house and stood apart from the assembly.

Just at that moment, Kihanuilulumoku stuck out his tongue as a seat for

Laieikawai and Aiwohikupua's sisters.

And when the voice of the thunder crashed, clouds and mist covered the

land, and when it cleared, the place of meeting was to be seen; and

there were Laielohelohe and Halaaniani resting upon the birds.

Then also were seen Laieikawai and Aiwohikupua's sisters seated upon the

tongue of Kihanuilulumoku, the great lizard of Paliuli.

Now they arrived at the same instant as those for whom the day was

celebrated; lo! Laieikawai saw that Halaaniani was not dead, and she

remembered Kahalaomapuana's prediction.

When Kekalukaluokewa saw Halaaniani and Laielohelohe resting on the

birds, he thought he had lost Laielohelohe.

So Kekalukaluokewa went up to Paliuli to tell Waka.

And Kekalukaluokewa told Waka all these things, saying: "Halaaniani got

Laielohelohe; there she was at the time set, she and Halaaniani seated

together!"

Said Waka, "He shall never get her; but let us go down and I will get

close to the place of meeting; if she has given Halaaniani a kiss, the

thing which I forbade her to grant, for to you alone is my grandchild's

kiss devoted--if she has defiled herself with him, then we lose the

wife, then take me to my grave without pity. But if she has harkened to

my command not to trust anyone else; not even to open her lips to

Halaaniani, then she is your wife, if my grandchild has harkened to my

command."

As they approached, Waka sent the clouds and mist over the assembly, and

they could not distinguish one from another.

Then Waka sent Kekalukaluokewa upon the birds, and when the clouds

cleared, lo! Laielohelohe and Kekalukaluokewa sat together upon the

birds. Then the congregation shouted all about the place of assembly:

"The marriage of the chiefs! The marriage of the chiefs!"[68]

When Waka heard the sound of shouting, then Waka came into the presence

of the assembly and stood in the midst of the congregation and taunted

Laieikawai.

When Laieikawai heard Waka's taunts, her heart smarted and the hearts of

every one of Aiwohikupua's sisters with her; then Kihanuilulumoku bore

them back on his tongue to dwell in the uplands of Olaa; thus did

Laieikawai begin to burn with shame at Waka's words, and she and her

companions went away together.

On that day, Kekalukaluokewa wedded Laielohelohe, and they went up to

the uplands of Paliuli until their return to Kauai. And Halaaniani

became a vagabond; nothing more remains to be said about him.

And when the chief resolved to return to Kauai, he took his wife and

their grandmother to Kauai, and the men together with them.

When they were ready to return, they left Keaau, went first to

Honouliuli on Oahu and there took Kapukaihaoa with them to Kauai; and

they went to Kauai, to Pihanakalani, and turned over the rule over the

land and its divisions to Kapukaihaoa, and Waka was made the third heir

to the chief's seat.

At this place let us tell of Laieikawai and her meeting with the

prophet, Hulumaniani.

Laieikawai was at Olaa as beautiful as ever, but the art of resting on

the wings of birds was taken away from her; nevertheless some of her

former power remained and the signs of her chiefly rank, according to

the authority the sisters of Aiwohikupua had over the lizard.

CHAPTER XXV

When Laieikawai returned from Keaau after Waka had disgraced her, and

dwelt at Olaa, then Aiwohikupua's sisters consulted how to comfort the

heavy heart of the princess, Laieikawai, for her shame at Waka's

reproaches.

They went and told Laieikawai their decision, saying:

"O princess of peace, we have agreed upon something to relieve your

burden of shame, for not you alone bear the burden; all of us share your

trouble.

"Therefore, princess, we beseech you, best ease your heart of sorrow;

good fortune shall be yours hereafter.

"We have agreed here to share your fortune; our younger sister has

consented to go and get Kaonohiokala for your husband, the boy chief who

dwells in the taboo house at the borders of Tahiti, a brother of ours,

through whom Aiwohikupua gained the rank of chief.

"If you will consent to your brother being fetched, then we shall win

greater honor than was ours before, and you will become a sacred person

of great dignity so that you can not associate with us; now this is what

we have thought of; you consent, then your reproach is lifted, Waka is

put to shame."

Said Laieikawai, "Indeed I would consent to ease my burden of shame,

only one thing I will not consent to--my becoming your brother's wife;

for you say he is a taboo chief, and if we should be united, I should

not see you again, so high a chief is he, and this I should regret

exceedingly, our friendship together."

Said her companions, "Do not think of us; consider your grandmother's

taunts; when her reproach is lifted, then we are happy, for we think

first of you."

And for this reason Laieikawai gave her consent.

Then Kahalaomapuana left directions with Laieikawai and her sisters,

saying: "I go to get our brother as husband for the princess; your duty

is to take good care of our mistress; wherever she goes, there you go,

whatever she wishes, that is yours to fulfill; but let her body be kept

pure until I return with our brother."

After saying all this, Kahalaomapuana left her sisters and was borne on

the back of the big lizard Kihanuilulumoku and went to fetch

Kaonohiokala.

At this place we will leave off speaking of this journey; we must tell

about Laieikawai and her meeting with the prophet who followed her from

Kauai hither, as related in the first two chapters of this story.

After Kahalaomapuana left her sisters, the desire grew within

Laieikawai's mind to travel around Hawaii.

So her companions carried out the chief's wish and they set out to

travel around about Hawaii.

On the princess's journey around Hawaii they went first to Kau, then

Kona, until they reached Kaiopae in Kohala, on the right-hand side of

Kawaihae, about five miles distant; there they stayed several days for

the princess to rest.

During the days they were there the seer saw the rainbow arching over

the sea as if right at Kawaihae. The uplands of Ouli at Waimea was the

place the seer looked from.

For in former chapters it has been told how the seer came to Hilo, to

Kaiwilahilahi, and lived there some years waiting for the sign he was

seeking.

But when it did not come to the seer as he waited for the sign he was

seeking, then he waited and sought no longer for the sign he had

followed from Kauai to this place.

So he left Hilo, intending to go all the way back to Kauai, and he set

out. On his return, he did not leave the offerings which he had brought

from Kauai thither, the pig and the cock.

When he reached Waimea, at Ouli, there he saw the rainbow arching over

the sea at Kawaihae.

And the seer was so weary he was not quick to recognize the rainbow, but

he stayed there, and on the next day he did not see the sign again.

Next day the seer left the place, the very day when Laieikawai's party

left Kaiopae, and came back above Kahuwa and stopped at Moolau.

When the seer reached Puuloa from Waimea, he saw the rainbow arching

over Moolau; then the seer began to wonder, "Can that be the sign I came

to seek?"

The seer kept right on up to the summit of Palalahuakii. There he saw

the rainbow plainly and recognized it, and knew it was the sign he was

seeking.

Then he prayed to his god to interpret the rainbow to him, but his god

did not answer his prayer.

The seer left that place, went to Waika and stayed there, for it was

then dark.

In the early morning, lo! the rainbow arched over the sea at Kaiopae,

for Laieikawai had gone back there.

Then the seer went away to the place where he had seen the rainbow, and,

approaching, he saw Laieikawai plainly, strolling along the sea beach. A

strange sight the beautiful woman was, and there, directly above the

girl, the rainbow bent.

Then the seer prayed to his god to show him whether this woman was the

one he was seeking or not, but he got no answer that day. Therefore, the

seer did not lay down his offering before Laieikawai. The seer returned

and stayed above Waika.

The next day the seer left the place, went to Lamaloloa and remained

there. Then he went repeatedly into the temple of Pahauna and there

prayed unceasingly to his god. After a number of days at Moolau,

Laieikawai and her companions left that place.

They came and stayed at Puakea and, because the people of the place were

surf riding, gladly remained.

The next day at noon, when the sun shone clear over the land, the

prophet went outside the temple after his prayer.

Lo! he saw the rainbow bending over the sea at Puakea, and he went away

thither, and saw the same girl whom he had seen before at Kaiopae.

So he fell back to a distance to pray again to his god to show him if

this was the one he was seeking, but he got no answer that day; and,

because his god did not answer his petition, he almost swore at his god,

but still he persevered.

He approached the place where Laieikawai and her sisters were sitting.

The seer was greatly disturbed at seeing Laieikawai, and when he had

reached the spot, he asked Laieikawai and her companions, "Why do you

sit here? Why do you not go surfing with the natives of the place?"

The princess answered, "We can not go; it is better to watch the

others."

The seer asked again, "What are you doing here?"

"We are sitting here, waiting for a canoe to carry us to Maui, Molokai,

Oahu, and to Kauai, then we shall set sail," so they answered.

To this the seer replied, "If you are going to Kauai, then here is my

canoe, a canoe without pay."

Said Laieikawai, "If we go on board your canoe, do you require anything

of us?"

The seer answered, "Where are you? Do not suppose I have asked you on

board my canoe in order to defile you; but my wish is to take you all as

my daughters; such daughters as you can make my name famous, for my name

will live in the saying, 'The daughters of Hulumaniani,' so my name

shall live; is not this enough to desire?"

Then the seer sought a canoe and found a double canoe with men to man

it.

Early in the morning of the next day they went on board the canoe and

sailed and rested at Honuaula on Maui, and from there to Lahaina, and

the next day to Molokai; they left Molokai, went to Laie, Koolauloa, and

stayed there some days.

On the day of their arrival at Laie, that night, Laieikawai said to her

companions and to her foster father:

"I have heard from my grandmother that this is my birthplace; we were

twins, and because our father had killed the first children our mother

bore, because they were girls, when we also were born girls, then I was

hidden within a pool of water; there I was brought up by my grandmother.

"And my twin, the priest guarded her, and because the priest who guarded

my companion saw the prophet who had come here from Kauai to see us,

therefore the priest commanded my grandmother to flee far away; and this

was why I was carried away to Paliuli and why we met there."

CHAPTER XXVI

When the seer heard this story the seer saw plainly that this was the

very one he sought. But in order to make sure, the seer withdrew to a

distance and prayed to his god to confirm the girl's story.

After praying he came back and went to sleep, and as he slept the seer

received the assurance in a vision from his god, saying, "The time has

come to fulfill your wishes, to free you from the weariness of your long

search. She is here--the one who told you her story; this is the one you

are seeking.

"Therefore arise and take the offering you have prepared and lay it

before her, having blessed her in the name of your god.

"This done, linger not; carry them at once to Kauai, this very night,

and let them dwell on the cliffs of Haena in the uplands of

Honopuwaiakua."

At this the seer awoke from his dream; he arose and brought the pig and

the cock and held them out to Laieikawai, saying, "Blessed am I, my

mistress, that my god has shown you to me, for long have I followed you

to win a blessing from you.

"And therefore I beseech you to guard these bones under your special

favor, my mistress, and to leave this trust to your descendants unto the

last generation."

Laieikawai answered, "Father, the time of my prosperity has passed, for

Waka has taken her favor from me; but hereafter I shall win honor beyond

my former honor and glory; then you shall also rise to prosperity with

us."

And after these things the prophet did as his god commanded--sailed that

night and dwelt in the place commanded.

Many days the seer lived here with his daughter above Honopuwaiakua. At

one time the seer made one of his customary journeys.

As he traveled in his character as seer he came to Wailua. Lo! all the

virgin daughters of Kauai were gathered together, all of the rank of

chief with the girls of well-to-do families, at the command of

Aiwohikupua to bring the virgins before the chief, the one who pleased

the chief to become the wife of Aiwohikupua.

When the seer came within the crowd, lo! the maidens were assembled in

one place before the chief.

The seer asked some one in the crowd, "What is this assembly for and

why are all these maidens standing in a circle before the chief?"

He was told, "All the virgins have been summoned by the chief's command,

and the two who please Aiwohikupua, these he will take for his wives in

place of Poliahu and Hinaikamalama, and their parents are to be clothed

in feather cloaks."

Then the seer stood before the chiefs and all the assembly and cried in

a loud voice:

"O chiefs, it is a wise and good thing for the chief to take whichever

one of these virgins pleases him, but not one of these can fill the loss

of Poliahu and Hinaikamalama.

"If any one of these virgins here could compare in beauty with the left

leg of my daughters, then she would be worth it. These are pretty

enough, but not like my daughters."

Said Aiwohikupua in an angry voice, "When did we ever know that you had

daughters!"

And those who had brought their daughters before the chief looked upon

the seer as an enemy.

And to the chief's angry words the seer replied, "Did I not seek

diligently and alone for a ruler over all these islands? And this lord

of the land, she is my daughter, and my other daughters, they are my

lord's sisters.

"Should my daughter come hither and stand upon the sea, the ocean would

be in tumult; if on land, the wind would blow, the sun be darkened, the

rain fall, the thunder crash, the lightning flash, the mountain tremble,

the land would be flooded, the ocean reddened, at the coming of my

daughter and lord."

And the seer's words spread, fear through the assembly. But those whose

virgin daughters were present were not pleased.

They strongly urged the chief, therefore, to bind him within the house

of detention, the prison house, where the chief's enemies were wont to

be imprisoned.

Through the persistence of his enemies, it was decided to make the seer

fast within that place and let him stay there until he died.

On the day of his imprisonment, that night at dawn, he prayed to his

god. And at early daybreak the door of the house was opened for him and

he went out without being seen.

In the morning the chief sent the executioner to go and see how the

prophet fared in prison.

When the executioner came to the outside of the prison, he called with a

loud voice:

"O Hulumaniani! O Hulumaniani! Prophet of God! How are you? Are you

dead?" Three times the executioner called, but heard not a sound from

within.

The executioner returned to the chief and said, "The prophet is dead."

Then the chief commanded the head man of the temple to make ready for

the day of sacrifice and flay the prophet on the place of sacrifice

before the altar.

Now the seer heard this command from some distance away, and in the

night he took a banana plant covered with _tapa_ like a human figure and

put it inside the place where he had been imprisoned, and went back and

joined his daughters and told them all about his troubles.

And near the day of sacrifice at the temple, the seer took Laieikawai

and her companions on board of the double canoe.

In the very early morning of the day of sacrifice at the temple the man

was to be brought for sacrifice, and when the head men of the temple

entered the prison, lo! the body was tightly wrapped up, and it was

brought and laid within the temple.

And close to the hour when the man was to be laid upon the altar all the

people assembled and the chief with them; and the chief went up on the

high place, the banana plant was brought and laid directly under the

altar.

Said the chief to his head men, "Unwrap the _tapa_ from the body and

place it upon the altar prepared for it."

When it was unwrapped there was a banana plant inside, not the prophet,

as was expected. "This is a banana plant! Where is the prophet?"

exclaimed the chief.

Great was the chief's anger against the keeper of the prison where the

prophet was confined.

Then all the keepers were called to trial. While the chief's keepers

were being examined, the seer arrived with his daughters in a double

canoe and floated outside the mouth of the inlet.

The seer stood on one canoe and Aiwohikupua's sisters on the other, and

Laieikawai stood on the high seat between, under the symbols of a taboo

chief.

As they stood there with Laieikawai, the wind blew, the sun was

darkened, the sea grew rough, the ocean was reddened, the streams went

back and stopped at their sources, no water flowed into the sea.[69]

After this the seer took Laieikawai's skirt[70] and laid it down on the

land; then the thunder crashed, the temple fell, the altar crumbled.

After all these signs had been displayed, Aiwohikupua and the others saw

Laieikawai standing above the canoes under the symbol of a taboo chief.

Then the assembly shouted aloud, "O the beautiful woman! O the beautiful

woman! How stately she stands!"

Then the men ran in flocks from the land down to the sea beach; one

trampled on another in order to see.

Then the seer called out to Aiwohikupua, "Your keepers are not guilty;

not by their means was I freed from prison, but by my god, who has saved

me from many perils; and this is my lord.

"I spoke truly; this is my daughter, my lord, whom I went to seek, my

preserver."

And when Aiwohikupua looked upon Laieikawai his heart trembled, and he

fell to the ground as if dead.

When the chief recovered he commanded his head man to bring the seer and

his daughter to fill the place of Poliahu and Hinaikamalama.

The head man went and called out to the seer on the canoe and told him

the chief's word.

When the seer heard it he said to the head man, "Return and tell the

chief, my lord indeed, that my lordly daughter shall never become his

wife; she is chief over all the islands."

The head man went away; the seer, too, went away with his daughters, nor

was he seen again after that at Wailua; they returned and dwelt at

Honopuwaiakua.

CHAPTER XXVII

In this chapter we will tell how Kahalaomapuana went to get

Kaonohiokala, the Eyeball-of-the-Sun, the betrothed husband of

Laieikawai, and of her return.

After Kahalaomapuana had laid her commands upon her sisters she made

preparation for the journey.

At the rising of the sun Kahalaomapuana entered inside Kihanuilulumoku

and swam through the ocean and came to The Shining Heavens; in four

months and ten days they reached Kealohilani.

When they arrived they did not see Mokukelekahiki, the guard who watches

over Kaonohiokala's wealth, his chief counsellor in The Shining Heavens;

twice ten days they waited for Mokukelekahiki to return from his garden

patch.

Mokukelekahiki returned while the lizard was asleep inside the house;

the head alone filled that great house of Mokukelekahiki's, the body and

tail of the lizard were still in the sea.

A terrible sight to Mokukelekahiki to see that lizard; he flew away up

to Nuumealani, the Raised Place in the Heavens; there was

Kaeloikamalama, the magician who closes the door of the taboo house on

the borders of Tahiti, where Kaonohiokala was hidden.

Mokukelekahiki told Kaeloikamalama how he had seen the lizard. Then

Kaeloikamalama flew down with Mokukelekahiki from the heights of

Nuumealani, the land in the air.

As Mokukelekahiki and his companion approached the house where the

lizard was sleeping, then said Kihanuilulumoku to Kahalaomapuana, "When

those men get here who are flying toward us, then I will throw you out

and land you on Kaeloikamalama's neck, and when he questions you, then

tell him you are a child of theirs, and when he asks what our journey is

for, then tell him."

Not long after, Mokukelekahiki and Kaeloikamalama thundered at the door

of the house.

When the lizard looked, there stood Kaeloikamalama with the digging

spade called Kapahaelihonua, The Knife-that-cuts-the-earth, twenty

fathoms its length, four men to span it. Thought the lizard, "A

slaughterer this." There was Kaeloikamalama swinging the digging spade

in his fingers.

Then Kihanuilulumoku lifted his tail out of the water, the sea swelled,

the waves overwhelmed the cliffs from their foundations as high waves

sweep the coast in February; the spume of the sea rose high, the sun was

darkened, white sand was flung on the shore.

Then fear fell upon Kaeloikamalama and his companion, and they started

to run away from before the face of the lizard.

Then Kihanuilulumoku threw out Kahalaomapuana, and she fell upon

Kaeloikamalama's neck.[71]

Kaeloikamalama asked, "Whose child are you?"

Said Kahalaomapuana, "The child of Mokuekelekahiki, of Kaeloikamalama,

of the magicians who guard the taboo house on the borders of

Tahiti."[72]

The two asked, "On what journey, my child, do you come hither?"

Kahalaomapuana answered, "A journey to seek one from the heavens."

Again they asked, "To seek what one from the heavens?"

"Kaonohiokala," replied Kahalaomapuana, "the high taboo one of

Kaeloikamalama and Mokukelekahiki."

Again they asked, "Kaonohiokala found, what is he to do?"

Said Kahalaomapuana, "To be husband to the princess of broad Hawaii, to

Laieikawai, our mistress."

Again they asked, "Who are you?"

She told them, "Kahalaomapuana, the youngest daughter of

Moanalihaikawaokele and Laukieleula."[73]

When Mokukelekahiki and Kaeloikamalama heard she was their own child,

then they released her from Kaeloikamalama's neck and kissed their

daughter.

For Mokukelekahiki and Kaeloikamalama were brothers of Laukieleula,

Aiwohikupua's mother.

Said Kaeloikamalama, "We will show you the road, then you shall ascend."

For ten days they journeyed before they reached the place to go up;

Kaeloikamalama called out, "O Lanalananuiaimakua! Great ancestral

spider. Let down the road here for me to go up!! There is trouble

below!!!"

Not long after, Great ancestral spider let down a spider-web that made a

network in the air.

Then Kaeloikamalama instructed her, saying, "Here is your way, ascend to

the top, and you will see a house standing alone in a garden patch;

there is Moanalihaikawaokele; the country is Kahakaekaea.

"When you see an old man with long gray hair, that is

Moanalihaikawaokele; if he is sitting up, don't be hasty; should he spy

you first, you will die, he will not listen to you, he will take you for

another.

"Wait until he is asleep; should he turn his face down he is not asleep,

but when you see him with the face turned up, he is really asleep; then

approach not the windward, go to the leeward, and sit upon his breast,

holding tight to his beard, then call out:

"O Moanalihaikawaokele--O!

Here am I--your child,

Child of Laukieleula,

Child of Mokukelekahiki,

Child of Kaeloikamalama,

The brothers of my mother,

Mother, mother,

Of me and my older sisters

And my brother, Aiwohikupua,

Grant me the sight, the long sight, the deep sight,

Release the one in the heavens,

My brother and lord,

Awake! Arise!

"So you must call to him, and if he questions you, then, tell him

about your journey here.

"On the way up, if fine rain covers you, that is your mother's doings;

if cold comes, do not be afraid. Keep on up; and if you smell a

fragrance, that too is your mother's, it is her fragrance, then all is

well, you are almost to the top; keep on up, and if the sun's rays

pierce and the heat strikes you, do not fear when you feel the sun's hot

breath; try to bear it and you will enter the shadow of the moon; then

you will not die, you have entered Kahakaekaea."

When they had finished talking, Kahalaomapuana climbed up, and in the

evening she was covered with fine rain; this she thought was her

father's doings; at night until dawn she smelled the fragrance of the

_kiele_ plant; this she thought was her mother's art; from dawn until

the sun was high she was in the heat of the sun, she thought this was

her brother's doing.

Then she longed to reach the shadow of the moon, and at evening she came

into the shadow of the moon; she knew then that she had entered the land

called Kahakaekaea.

She saw the big house standing, it was then night. She approached to the

leeward; lo! Moanalihaikawaokele was still awake; she waited at a

distance for him to go to sleep, as Kaeloikamalama had instructed her.

Still Moanalihaikawaokele did not sleep.

When at dawn she went, Moanalihaikawaokele's face was turned upwards,

she knew he was asleep; she ran quickly and seized her father's beard

and called to him in the words taught her by Kaeloikamalama, as shown

above.

Moanalihaikawaokele awoke; his beard, the place where his strength lay,

was held fast; he struggled to free himself; Kahalaomapuana held the

beard tight; he kept on twisting here and there until his breath was

exhausted.

He asked, "Whose child are you?"

Said she, "Yours."

Again he asked, "Mine by whom?"

She answered, "Yours by Laukieleula."

Again he asked, "Who are you?"

"It is Kahalaomapuana."

Said the father, "Let go my beard; you are indeed my child."

She let go, and the father arose and set her upon his lap and wailed,

and when he had ended wailing, the father asked, "On what journey do you

come hither?"

"A journey to seek one from the heavens," answered Kahalaomapuana.

"To seek what one from the heavens?"

"Kaonohiokala," the girl answered.

"The high one found, what is he to do?"

Said Kahalaomapuana, "I have come to get my brother and lord to be the

husband to the princess of broad Hawaii, to Laieikawai, our royal

friend, the one who protects us."

She related all that her brother had done, and their friend.

Said Moanalihaikawaokele, "The consent is not mine to give, your mother

is the only one to grant it, the one who has charge of the chief; she

lives there in the taboo place prohibited to me. When your mother is

unclean, she returns to me, and when her days of uncleanness are over,

then she leaves me, she goes back to the chief.

"Therefore, wait until the time comes when your mother returns, then

tell her on what journey you have come hither."

They waited seven days; it was Laukieleula's time of uncleanness.

Said Moanalihaikawaokele, "It is almost time for your mother to come, so

to-night, get to the taboo house first and sleep there; in the early

morning when she comes, you will be sleeping in the house; there is no

place for her to go to get away from you, because she is unclean. If she

questions you, tell her exactly what you have told me."

That night Moanalihaikawaokele sent Kahalaomapuana into the house set

apart for women.

CHAPTER XXVIII

Very early in the morning came Laukieleula; when she saw someone

sleeping there, she could not go away because she was unclean and that

house was the only one open to her. "Who are you, lawless one,

mischief-maker, who have entered my taboo house, the place prohibited to

any other?" So spoke the mistress of the house.

Said the stranger, "I am Kahalaomapuana, the last fruit of your womb."

Said the mother, "Alas! my ruler, return to your father. I can not see

you, for my days of uncleanness have come; when they are ended, we will

visit together a little, then go."

So Kahalaomapuana went back to Moanalihaikawaokele; the father asked,

"How was it?"

The daughter said, "She told me to return to you until her days of

uncleanness were ended, then she would come to see me."

Three days the two stayed there; close to the time when Laukieleula's

uncleanness would end, Moanalihaikawaokele said to his daughter, "Come!

for your mother's days are almost ended; to-morrow, early in the morning

before daylight, go and sit by the water hole where she washes herself;

do not show yourself, and when she jumps into the pool and dives under

the water, then run and bring hither her skirt and her polluted clothes;

when she has bathed and returns for the clothes, they will be gone; then

she will think that I have taken them; when she comes to the house, then

you can get what you wish.

"If you two weep and cease weeping and she asks you if I have taken her

clothes, then tell her you have them, and she will be ashamed and shrink

from you because she has defiled you; then she will have nothing great

enough to recompense you for your defilement, only one thing will be

great enough, to get you the high one; then when she asks you what you

desire, tell her; then you shall see your brother; we shall both see

him, for I see him only once a year; he peeps out and disappears."

At the time the father had said, the daughter arose very early in the

morning before daylight, and went as her father had directed.

When she arrived, she hid close to the water hole; not long after, the

mother came, took off her polluted clothes and sprang into the water.

Then the girl took the things as directed and returned to her father.

She had not been there long; the mother came in a rage;

Moanalihaikawaokele absented himself and only the daughter remained in

the house.

"O Moanalihaikawaokele, give me back my polluted clothes, let me take

them to wash in the water." No answer; three times she called, not once

an answer; she peeped into the house where Kahalaomapuana lay sleeping,

her head covered with a clean piece of _tapa_.

She called, "O Moanalihaikawaokele, give me back my polluted skirt; let

me take it to wash in the water."

Then Kahalaomapuana started up as if she had been asleep and said to her

mother, "My mother and ruler, he has gone; only I am in the house; that

polluted skirt of yours, here it is."

"Alas! my ruler. I shrink with fear of evil for you, because you have

guarded my skirt that was polluted; what recompense is there for the

evil I fear for you, my ruler?"

She embraced the girl and wailed out the words in the line above.

When she had ceased wailing, the mother asked, "On what journey do you

come hither to us?"

"I come to get my older brother for a husband for our friend, the

princess of the great broad land of Hawaii, Laieikawai, our protector

when we were lovelessly deserted by our older brother; therefore we are

ashamed; we have no way to repay the princess for her protection; and

for this reason permit me and my princely brother to go down below and

bring Laieikawai up here." These were Kahalaomapuana's words to her

mother.

The mother said, "I grant it in recompense for your guarding my polluted

garment.

"If anyone else had come to get him, I would not have consented; since

you come in person, I will not keep him back.

"Indeed, your brother has said that you are the one he loves best and

thinks the most of; so let us go up and see your brother.

"Now you wait here; let me call the bird guardian of you two, who will

bear us to the taboo house at the borders of Tahiti."

Then the mother called:

O Halulu at the edge of the light,

The bird who covers the sun,

The heat returns to Kealohilani.

The bird who stops up the rain,

The stream-heads are dry of Nuumealani.

The bird who holds back the clouds above,

The painted clouds move across the ocean,

The islands are flooded,

Kahakaekaea trembles,

The heavens flood not the earth.

O the lawless ones, the mischief makers!

O Mokukelekahiki!

O Kaeloikamalama!

The lawless ones who close the taboo house at the borders of Tahiti,

Here is one from the heavens, a child of yours,

Come and receive her, take her above to Awakea, the noonday.

Then that bird[71] drooped its wings down and its body remained aloft,

then Laukieleula and Kahalaomapuana rested upon the bird's wings and it

flew and came to Awakea, the Noonday, the one who opens the door of the

sun where Kaonohiokala lived.

At the time they arrived, the entrance to the chief's house was blocked

by thunderclouds.

Then Laukieleula ordered Noonday, "Open the way to the chief's place!"

Then Noonday put forth her heat and the clouds melted before her; lo!

the chief appeared sleeping right in the eye of the sun in the fire of

its intensest heat, so he was named after this custom The Eye of the

Sun.

Then Laukieleula seized hold of one of the sun's rays and held it. Then

the chief awoke.

When Kohalaomapuana looked upon her brother his eyes were like lightning

and his skin all over his body was like the heat, of the furnace where

iron is melted.

Laukieleula cried out, "O my heavenly one, here is your sister,

Kahalaomapuana, the one you love best, here she is come to seek you."

When Kaonohiokala heard he awoke from sleep and signed with his eyes to

Laukieleula to call the guards of the shade. She called:

O big bright moon,

O moving cloud of Kaialea,

Guards of the shadows, present yourselves before the chief.

Then the guards of the shade came and stood before the chief. Lo! the

heat of the sun left the chief.

When the shadows came over the place where the chief lay, then he called

his sister, and went to her, and wept over her, for his heart fainted

with love for his youngest sister, and long had been the days of their

separation.

When their wailing was ended he asked, "Whose child are you?"

Said the sister, "Mokukelekahiki's, Kaeloikamalama's,

Moanalihaikawaokele's through Laukieleula."

Again the brother asked, "What is your journey for?"

Then she told him the same thing she had told the mother.

When the chief heard these things, he turned to their mother and asked,

"Laukieleula, do you consent to my going to get the one whom she speaks

of for my wife?"

"I have already given you, as she requested me; if anyone else had

brought her to get you, if she had not come to us two, she might have

stayed below; grant your little sister's request, for you first opened

the pathway, she closed it; no one came before, none after her." Thus

the mother.

After this answer Kaonohiokala asked further about her sisters and her

brother.

Then said Kahalaomapuana, "My brother has not done right; he has opposed

our living with this woman whom I am come to get you for. When he first

went to woo this woman he came back again after us; we went with him and

came to the woman's house, the princess of whom I speak. That night we

went to the uplands; in the midst of the forest there she dwelt with her

grandmother. We stood outside and looked at the workmanship of

Laieikawai's house, inwrought with the yellow feathers of the _oo_ bird.

"Mailehaiwale went to woo her, gained nothing, the woman refused;

Mailekaluhea went, gained nothing at all; Mailelaulii went, gained

nothing at all; Mailepakaha went, gained nothing at all; she refused

them all; I remained, I never went to woo her; he went away in a rage

leaving us in the jungle.

"When he left us, we followed; our brother's rage waxed as if we had

denied his wish.

"Then it was we returned to where he left us, and the princess protected

us, until I left to come hither; that is how we live."

When Kaonohiokala heard this story, he was angry. Then he said to

Kahalaomapuana, "Return to your sisters and to your friend, the

princess; my wife she shall be; wait, and when the rain falls and floods

the land, I am still here.

"When the ocean billows swell and the surf throws white sand on the

shore, I am still here; when the wind whips the air and for ten days

lies calm, when thunder peals without rain, then I am at Kahakaekaea.

"When the dry thunder peals again, then ceases, I have left the taboo

house at the borders of Tahiti. I am at Kealohilani, my divine body is

laid aside, only the nature of a taboo chief remains, and I am become a

human being like you.

"After this, hearken, and when the thunder rolls, the rain pours down,

the ocean swells, the land is flooded, the lightning flashes, a mist

overhangs, a rainbow arches, a colored cloud rises on the ocean, for one

month bad weather closes down,[75] when the storm clears, there I am

behind the mountain in the shadow of the dawn.

"Wait here and at daybreak, when I leave the summit of the mountain,

then you shall see me sitting within the sun in the center of its ring

of light, encircled by the rainbow of a chief.

"Still we shall not yet meet; our meeting shall be in the dusk of

evening, when the moon rises on the night of full moon; then I will meet

my wife.

"After our marriage, then I will bring destruction over the earth upon

those who have done you wrong.

"Therefore, take a sign for Laieikawai, a rainbow; thus shall I know my

wife."

These words ended, she returned by the same way that she had climbed up,

and within one month found Kihanuilulumoku and told all briefly, "We are

all right; we have prospered."

She entered into Kihanuilulumoku and swam over the ocean; as many days

as they were in going, so many were they in returning.

They came to Olaa. Laieikawai and her companions were gone; the lizard

smelled all about Hawaii; nothing. They went to Maui; the lizard smelled

about; not a trace.

He sniffed about Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai. Just the same. They came to

Kauai; the lizard sniffed about the coast, found nothing; sniffed

inland; there they were, living at Honopuwaiakua, and Kihanuilulumoku

threw forth Kahalaomapuana.

The princess and her sisters saw her and rejoiced, but a stranger to the

seer was this younger sister, and he was terrified at sight of the

lizard; but because he was a prophet, he stilled his fear.

Eleven months, ten days, and four days over it was since Kahalaomapuana

left Laieikawai and her companions until their return from

The-shining-heavens.

CHAPTER XXIX

When Kahalaomapuana returned from Kealohilani, from her journey in

search of a chief, she related the story of her trip, of its windings

and twistings, and all the things she had seen while she was away.

When she recited the charge given her by Kaonohiokala, Laieikawai said

to her companions, "O comrades, as Kahalaomapuana tells me the message

of your brother and my husband, a strange foreboding weighs upon me, and

I am amazed; I supposed him to be a man, a mighty god that! When I think

of seeing him, however I may desire it, I am ready to die with fear

before he has even come to us."

Her companions answered, "He is no god; he is a man like us, yet in his

nature and appearance godlike. He was the first-born of us; he was

greatly beloved by our parents; to him was given superhuman powers which

we have not, except Kahalaomapuana; only they two were given this power;

his taboo rank still remains; therefore, do not fear; when he comes, you

will see he is only a man like us."

Now, before Kahalaomapuana's return from Kealohilani, the seer foresaw

what was to take place, one month before her return. Then the seer

prophesied, in these words: "A blessing descends upon us from the

heavens when the nights of full moon come.

"When we hear the thunder peal in dry weather and in wet, then we shall

see over the earth rain and lightning, billows swell on the ocean,

freshets on the land, land and sea covered thick with fog, fine mist and

rain, and the beating of the ocean rain.

"When this passes, on the day of full moon, in the dusk of the early

morning, at the time when the sun's rays strike the mountain tops, then

the earth shall behold a youth sitting within the eye of the sun, one

like the taboo child of my god. Afterwards the earth shall behold a

great destruction and shall see all the haughty snatched away out of the

land; then we shall be blessed, and our seed."

When his daughters heard the seer's prophecy, they wondered within

themselves that he should prophesy at this distance, without knowing

anything about their sister's mission for which they waited.

As a prophet it was his privilege to proclaim about Kauai those things

which he saw would come to pass.

So, before leaving his daughters, he commanded them and said, "My

daughters, I am giving you my instructions before leaving you, not,

indeed, for long; but I go to announce those things which I have told

you, and shall return hither. Therefore, dwell here in this place, which

my god has pointed out to me, and keep yourselves pure until my prophecy

is fulfilled."

The prophet went away, as he had determined, and he went into the

presence of the chiefs and men of position, at the place where the

chiefs were assembled; there he proclaimed what he had seen.

And first he came to Aiwohikupua and said, "From this day, erect flag

signals around your dwelling, and bring inside all whom you love.

"For there comes shortly a destruction over the earth; never has any

destruction been seen before like this which is to come; never will any

come hereafter when this destruction of which I tell is ended.

"Before the coming of the wonder-worker he will give you a sign of

destruction, not over all the people of the land, but over you yourself

and your people; then the high ones of earth shall lie down before him

and your pride shall be taken from you.

"If you listen to my word, then you will be spared from the destruction

that is verily to come; therefore, prepare yourselves at once."

And because of the seer's words, he was driven away from before the

face of the chief.

Thus he proclaimed to all the chiefs on Kauai, and the chiefs who

listened to the seer, they were spared.

He went to Kekalukaluokewa, with his wife and all in their company.

And as he said to Aiwohikupua, so he said to Kekalukaluokewa, and he

believed him.

But Waka would not listen, and answered, "If a god is the one to bring

destruction, then I have another god to save me and my chiefs."

And at Waka's words the seer turned to the chiefs and said, "Do not

listen to your grandmother, for a great destruction is coming over the

chiefs. Plant flag signals at once around you, and bring all dear to you

inside the signals you have set up, and whoever will not believe me, let

them fall in the great day of destruction.

"When that day comes, the old women will lie down before the soles of

the feet of that mighty youth, and plead for life, and not get it,

because they have disbelieved the words of the prophet."

And because Kekalukaluokewa knew that his former prophecies had been

fulfilled, therefore he rejected the old woman's counsel. When the seer

left the chief planted flag signals all around the palace and stayed

within the protected place as the prophet had commanded.

At the end of his circuit, the seer returned and dwelt with his

daughters.

For no other reason than love did the seer go to tell those things which

he saw. He had been back one day with his daughters at Honopuwaiakua

when Kahalaomapuana arrived, as described in the chapter before.

CHAPTER XXX

Ten days after Kahalaomapuana's return from Kealohilani came the first

of their brother's promised signs.

So the signs began little by little during five days, and on the sixth

day the thunder cracked, the rain poured down, the ocean billows

swelled, the land was flooded, the lightning flashed, the mist closed

down, the rainbow arched, the colored cloud rose over the ocean.

Then the seer said, "My daughters, the time is come when my prophecy is

fulfilled as I declared it to you."

The daughters answered, "This is what we have been whispering about, for

first you told us these things while Kahalaomapuana had not yet

returned, and since her return she has told us the same thing again."

Said Laieikawai, "I tremble and am astonished, and how can my fear be

stilled?"

"Fear not; be not astonished; we shall prosper and become mighty ones

among the islands round about; none shall be above us; and you shall

rule over the land, and those who have done evil against you shall flee

from you and be chiefs no more.

"For this have I followed you persistently through danger and cost and

through hard weariness, and I see prosperity for me and for my seed to

be mine through you."

One month of bad weather over the land as the last sign; in the early

morning when the rays of the sun rose above the mountain, Kaonohiokala

was seen sitting within the smoking heat of the sun, right in the middle

of the sun's ring, encircled with rainbows and a red mist.

Then the sound of shouting was heard all over Kauai at the sight of the

beloved child of Moanalihaikawaokele and Laukieleula, the great high

chief of Kahakaekaea and Nuumealani.

Behold! a voice shouting, "The beloved of Hulumaniani! the wonderful

prophet! Hulumaniani! Give us life!"

From morning until evening the shouting lasted, until they were hoarse

and could only point with their hands and nod their heads, for they were

hoarse with shouting for Kaonohiokala.

Now, as Kaonohiokala looked down upon the earth, lo! Laieikawai was

clothed in the rainbow garment his sister, Kahalaomapuana, had brought

her; then through this sign he recognized Laieikawai as his betrothed

wife.

In the dusk of the evening, at the rising of the bright full moon, he

entered the prophet's inclosure.

When he came, all his sisters bowed down before him, and the prophet

before the Beloved.

And Laieikawai was about to do the same; when, the Beloved saw

Laieikawai about to kneel he cried out, "O my wife and ruler! O

Laieikawai! do not kneel, we are equals."

"My lord, I am amazed and tremble, and if you desire to take my life, it

is well; for never have I met before with anyone so terrible as this!"

answered Laieikawai.

"I have not come to take your life, but on my sister's visit to me I

gave her a sign for me to know you by and recognize you as my betrothed

wife; and therefore have I come to fulfill her mission," so said

Kaonohiokala.

When his sisters and the seer heard, then they shouted with joyful

voices, "Amen! Amen! Amen! it is finished, flown beyond!". They rose up

with joy in their eyes.

Then he called to his sisters, "I take my wife and at this time of the

night will come again hither." Then his wife was caught away out of

sight of her companions, but the prophet had a glimpse of her being

carried on the rainbow to dwell within the moon; there they took in

pledge their moments of bliss.

And the next night when the moon shone bright, at the time when its

light decreased, a rainbow was let down, fastened to the moon and

reaching to the earth; when the moon was directly over Honopuwaiakua,

then the chiefs appeared above in the sky in their majesty and stood

before the prophet, saying: "Go and summon all the people for ten days

to gather together in one place; then I will declare my wrath against

those who have done you wrong.

"At the end of ten days, then we shall meet again, and I will tell you

what is well for you to do, and my sisters with you."

When these words were ended the seer went away, and when he had departed

the five sisters were taken up to dwell with the wife in the shelter of

the moon.

On the seer's circuit, according to the command of the Beloved, he did

not encounter a single person, for all had gone up to Pihanakalani, the

place where it had been predicted that victory should be accomplished.

After ten days the seer returned to Honopuwaiakua; lo! it was deserted.

Then Kaonohiokala met him, and the seer told him about the circuit he

had made at the Beloved's command.

Then the prophet was taken up also to dwell in the moon.

And in the morning of the next day, at sunrise, when the hot rays of the

sun rose over the mountains,

Then the Beloved began to punish Aiwohikupua and Waka. To Waka he meted

out death, and Aiwohikupua was punished by being deprived of all his

wealth, to wander like a vagrant over the earth until the end of his

days.

At the request of Laieikawai to spare Laielohelohe and her husband, the

danger passed them by, and they became rulers over the land thereafter.

Now in the early morning of the day of Aiwohikupua's and Waka's

downfall, lo! the multitude assembled at Pihanakalani saw a rainbow let

down from the moon to earth, trembling in the hot rays of the sun.

Then, as they all crowded together, the seer and the five girls stood on

the ladder way, and Kaonohiokala and Laieikawai apart, and the soles of

their feet were like fire. This was the time when Aiwohikupua and Waka

fell to the ground, and the seer's prophecy was fulfilled.

When the chief had avenged them upon their enemies, the chief placed

Kahalaomapuana as ruler over them and stationed his other sisters over

separate islands. And Kekalukaluokewa was chief counsellor under

Laielohelohe, and the seer was their companion in council, with the

power of chief counsellor.

After all these things were put in order and well established,

Laieikawai and her husband were taken on the rainbow to the land within

the clouds and dwelt in the husband's home.

In case her sisters should do wrong then, it was Kahalaomapuana's duty

to bring word to the chief.

But there was no fault to be found with his sisters until they left this

world.

CHAPTER XXXI

After the marriage of Laieikawai and Kaonohiokala, when his sisters and

the seer and Kekalukaluokewa and his wife were well established, after

all this had been set in order, they returned to the country in the

heavens called Kahakaekaea and dwelt in the taboo house on the borders

of Tahiti.

And when she became wife under the marriage bond, all power was given

her as a god except that to see hidden things and those obscure deeds

which were done at a distance; only her husband had this power.

Before they left Kauai to return to the heavens, a certain agreement was

made in their assembly at the government council.

Lo! on that day, the rainbow pathway was let down from Nuumealani and

Kaonohiokala and Laieikawai mounted upon that way, and she laid her

last commands upon her sisters, the seer, and Laielohelohe; these were

her words:

"My companions and our father the prophet, my sister born with me in the

womb and your husband, I return according to our agreement! leave you

and return to that place where you will not soon come to see me;

therefore, live in peace, for each alike has prospered, not one of you

lacks fortune. But Kaonohiokala will visit you to look after your

welfare."

After these words they were borne away out of sight. And as to her

saying Kaonohiokala would come to look after the welfare of her

companions, this was the sole source of disturbance in Laieikawai's life

with her husband.

While Laieikawai lived at home with her husband it was Kaonohiokala's

custom to come down from time to time to look after his sisters' welfare

and that of his young wife three times every year.

They had lived perhaps five years under the marriage contract, and about

the sixth year of Laieikawai's happy life with her husband, Kaonohiokala

fell into sin with Laielohelohe without anyone knowing of his falling

into sin.

After Laieikawai had lived three months above, Kaonohiokala went down to

look after his sister's welfare, and returned to Laieikawai; so he did

until the third year, and after three years of going below to see after

his sisters, lo! Laielohelohe was full-grown and her beauty had

increased and surpassed that of her sister, Laieikawai's.

Not at this time, however, did Kaonohiokala fall into sin, but his

sinful longing had its beginning.

On every trip Kaonohiokala took to do his work below, for four years,

lo! Laielohelohe's loveliness grew beyond what he had seen before, and

his sinful lust increased mightily, but by his nature as a child of god

he persisted in checking his lust; for perhaps a minute the lust flew

from him, then it clung to him once more.

In the fifth year, at the end of the first quarter, Kaonohiokala went

away to do his work below.

At that time virtue departed far from the mind of Kaonohiokala and he

fell into sin.

Now at this time, when he met his sisters, the prophet and his _punalua_

and their wife (Laielohelohe), Kaonohiokala began to redistribute the

land, so he called a fresh council.

And to carry out his evil purpose, he transferred his sisters to be

guards over the land called Kealohilani, and arranged that they should

live with Mokukelekahiki and have charge of the land with him.

When some of his sisters saw how much greater the honor was to become

chiefs in a land they had never visited, and serve with Mokukelekahiki

there, they agreed to consent to their brother's plan.

But Kahalaomapuana would not consent to return to Kealohilani, for she

cared more for her former post of honor than to return to Kealohilani.

And in refusing, she spoke to her brother as follows: "My high one, as

to your sending us to Kealohilani, let them go and I will remain here,

living as you first placed me; for I love the land and the people and am

accustomed to the life; and if I stay below here and you above and they

between, then all will be well, just as we were born of our mother; for

you broke the way, your little sisters followed you, and I stopped it

up; that was the end, and so it was."

Now he knew that his youngest sister had spoken well; but because of

Kaonohiokala's great desire to get her away so that she would not detect

his mischievous doings, therefore he cast lots upon his sisters, and the

one upon whom, the lot rested must go back to Kealohilani.

Said Kaonohiokala to his sisters, "Go and pull a grass flower; do not go

together, every one by herself, then the oldest return and give it to

me, in the order of your birth, and the one who has the longest grass

stem, she shall go to Kealohilani."

Every one went separately and returned as they had been told.

The first one went and pulled one about two inches in length, and the

second one pulled and broke her flower perhaps three inches and a half;

and the third, she pulled her grass stem about two inches long; and the

fourth of them, hers was about one inch long; and Kahalaomapuana did not

pull the tall flowers, she pulled a very short one, about three feet

long hers was, and she cut off half and came back, thinking her grass

stem was the shortest.

But in comparing them, the oldest laid hers down before her brother.

Kahalaomapuana saw it and was much surprised, so she secretly broke hers

inside her clothing; but her brother saw her doing it and said,

"Kahalaomapuana, no fooling! leave your grass stem as it is."

The others laid down theirs, but Kahalaomapuana did not show hers; said

he, "The lot rests upon you."

Then she begged her brother to draw the lot again; again they drew lots,

again the lot rested upon Kahalaomapuana; Kahalaomapuana had nothing

left to say, for the lot rested upon her.

Lo! she was sorrowful at separating herself from her own chief-house

and the people of the land; darkened was the princess's heart by the

unwelcome lot that sent her back to Kealohilani.

And on the day when Kahalaomapuana was to depart for Kealohilani, the

rainbow was let down from above the earth.

Then she said to her brother, "Let the pathway of my high one wait ten

days, and let the chiefs be gathered together and all the people of the

land, that I may show them my great love before you take me away."

When Kaonohiokala saw that his sister's words were well, he granted her

wish; then the pathway was taken up again with her brother.

And on the tenth day, the pathway was let down again before the

assembly, and Kahalaomapuana mounted upon the ladder way prepared for

her and turned with heavy heart, her eyes filled with a flood of tears,

the water drops of Kulanihakoi, and said: "O chiefs and people, I am

leaving you to return to a land unknown to you; only I and my older

sisters have visited it; it was not my wish to go back to this land; but

my hand decided my leaving you according to the lot laid by my divine

brother. But I know that every one of us has a god, no one is without;

now, therefore, do you pray to your god and I will pray to my god, and

if our prayer has might, then shall we meet again hereafter. Love to you

all, love to the land, we cease and disappear."

Then she caught hold of her garment and held it up to her eyes before

the assembly to hide her feeling for the people and the land. And she

was borne by the rainbow to the land above the clouds, to Lanikuakaa,

the heavens higher up.

The great reason why Kaonohiokala wished to separate Kahalaomapuana in

Kealohilani was to hide his evil doings with Laielohelohe, for

Kahalaomapuana was the only one who could see things done in secret; and

she was a resolute girl, not one to give in. Kaonohiokala thought she

might disclose to Moanalihaikawaokele this evil doing; so he got his

sister away, and by his supernatural arts he made the lot fall to

Kahalaomapuana.

When his sister had gone, about the end of the second quarter of the

fifth year, he went away below to carry out his lustful design upon

Laielohelohe.

Not just at that time, but he made things right with Kekalukaluokewa by

putting him in Kahalaomapuana's place and the seer as his chief

counsellor.

Mailehaiwale was made governor on Kauai, Mailekaluhea on Oahu,

Mailelaulii on Maui and the other islands, Mailepakaha on Hawaii.

CHAPTER XXXII

When Kekalukaluokewa became head over the group, then Kaonohiokala sent

him to make a tour of the islands and perform the functions of a ruler,

and he put Laielohelohe in Kekalukaluokewa's place as his substitute.

And for this reason Kekalukaluokewa took his chief counsellor (the

prophet) with him on the circuit.

So Kekalukaluokewa left Pihanakalani and started on the business of

visiting the group; the same day Kaonohiokala left those below.

When Kaonohiokala started to return he did not go all the way up, but

just watched that day the sailing of Kekalukaluokewa's canoes over the

ocean.

Then Kaonohiokala came back down and sought the companionship of

Laielohelohe, but not just then was the sin committed.

When the two met, Kaonohiokala asked Laielohelohe to separate herself

from the rest, and at the high chief's command the princess's retainers

withdrew.

When Laielohelohe and Kaonohiokala were alone he said, "This is the

third year that I have desired you, for your beauty has grown and

overshadowed your sister's, Laieikawai's. Now at last my patience no

longer avails to turn away my passion from you."

"O my high one," said Laielohelohe, "how can you rid yourself of your

passion? And what does my high one see fit to do?"

"Let us know one another," said Kaonohiokala, "this is the only thing

to be done for me."

Said Laielohelohe, "We can not touch one another, my high one, for the

one who brought me up from the time I was born until I found my husband,

he has strictly bound me not to defile my flesh with anyone; and,

therefore, my high one, it is his to grant your wish."

When Kaonohiokala heard this, then he had some check to his passion,

then he returned to the heavens to his wife, Laieikawai. He had not been

ten days there when, he was again thick-pressed by the thunders of his

evil lust, and he could not hold out against it.

To ease this passion he was again forced down below to meet

Laielohelohe.

And having heard that her guardian who bound her must give his consent,

he first sought Kapukaihaoa and asked his consent to the chief's

purpose.

So he went first and said to Kapukaihaoa: "I wish to unite myself with

Laielohelohe for a time, not to take her away altogether, but to ease my

heavy heart of its lust after your foster child; for I first begged my

boon of her, but she sent me for your consent, and so I have come to

you."

Said Kapukaihaoa: "High one of the highest, I grant your request, my

high one; it is well for you to go in to my foster child; for no good

has come to me from my charge. It was our strong desire, mine and hers

who took care of your wife Laieikawai, that Kekalukaluokewa should be

our foster child's husband; very good, but in settling the rule over the

islands, the gain has gone to others and I have nothing. For he has

given all the islands to your sisters, and I have nothing, the one who

provided him with his wife; so it will be well, in order to avoid a

second misfortune, that you have the wife for the two of you."

At the end of their secret conference, Kapukaihaoa went with the chief

to Laielohelohe.

Said he, "My ward, here is the husband, be ruled by him; heavens above,

earth beneath; a solid fortune, nothing can shake its foundation; and

look to the one who bore the burden."

Then Laielohelohe dismissed her doubts; and Kaonohiokala took

Laielohelohe and they took their pleasure together.

Three days after, Kaonohiokala returned to Kahakaekaea.

And after he had been some days absent, the pangs of love caught him

fast, and changed his usual appearance.

Then on the fourth day of their separation, he told a lie to Laieikawai

and said, "This was a strange night for me, I never slept, there was a

drumming all night long."

Said Laieikawai, "What was it?"

Said Kaonohiokala, "Perhaps the people below are in trouble."

"Perhaps so," said Laieikawai. "Why not go down and see?"

And at his wife's mere suggestion, in less than no time Kaonohiokala was

below in the companionship of Laielohelohe. But Laielohelohe never

thought of harm; what was that to her mind!

When they met at the chief's wish. Laielohelohe did not love

Kaonohiokala, for the princess did not wish to commit sin with the great

chief from the heavens, but to satisfy her guardian's greed.

After perhaps ten days of these evil doings, Kaonohiokala returned

above.

Then Laielohelohe's love for Kekalukaluokewa waxed and grew because she

had fallen into sin with Kaonohiokala.

One day in the evening Laielohelohe said to Kapukaihaoa, "My good guard

and protector, I am sorry for my sin with Kaonohiokala, and love grows

within me for Kekalukaluokewa, my husband; good and happy has been our

life together, and I sinned not by my own wish, but through your wish

alone. What harm had you refused? I referred the matter to you because

of your binding me not to keep companionship with anyone; I thought you

would keep your oath; not so!"

Said Kapukaihaoa, "I allowed you to be another's because your husband

gave me no gifts; for in my very face your husband's gifts were given to

others; there I stood, then you were gone. Little he thought of me from

whom he got his wife."

Said Laielohelohe to her foster father, "If that is why you have given

me over to sin with Kaonohiokala, then you have done very wrong, for you

know the rulers over the islands were not appointed by Kekalukaluokewa,

but by Kaonohiokala; and therefore to-morrow I will go on board a double

canoe and set sail to seek my husband."

That very evening she commanded her retainers, those who guarded the

chief's canoe, to get the canoe ready to set sail to seek the husband.

And not wishing to meet Kaonohiokala, she hid inside the country

people's houses where he would not come, lest Kaonohiokala should come

again and sin with her against her wish; so she fled to the country

people's houses, but he did not come until that night when she had left

and was out at sea.

When she sailed, she came to Oahu and stayed in the country people's

houses. So she journeyed until her meeting with Kekalukaluokewa.

About the time that Laielohelohe was come to Oahu, that next day

Kaonohiokala came again to visit Laielohelohe; but on his arrival, no

Laielohelohe at the chief's house; he did not question the guard for

fear of his suspecting his sin with Laielohelohe. Now Laielohelohe had

secretly told the guard of the chief's house why she was going. And

failing in his desires he returned above.

The report of his lord's falling into sin had reached the ears of the

chief through some of his retainers and he had heard also of

Laielohelohe's displeasure.

Now the vagabond, Aiwohikupua, was one of the chief's retainers, he was

the one who heard these things. And when he heard Laielohelohe's reason

for setting sail to seek her husband, then he said to the palace guard,

"If Kaonohiokala returns again, and asks for Laielohelohe, tell him she

is ill, then he will not come back, for she would pollute Kaonohiokala

and our parents; when the uncleanness is over, then the deeds of Venus

may be done."

When Kaonohiokala came again and questioned the guard then he was told

as Aiwohikupua had said, and he went back up again.

CHAPTER XXXIII

In Chapter XXXII of this story the reason was told why Laielohelohe went

in search of her husband.

Now, she followed him from Kauai to Oahu and to Maui; she came to

Lahaina, heard Kekalukaluokewa was in Hana, having returned from Hawaii.

She sailed by canoe and came to Honuaula; there they heard that

Hinaikamalama was Kekalukaluokewa's wife; the Honuaula people did not

know that this was his wife.

When Laielohelohe heard this news, they hurried forward at once and

came to Kaupo and Kipahulu. There was substantiated the news they heard

first at Honuaula, and there they beached the canoe at Kapohue, left it,

went to Waiohonu and heard that Kekalukaluokewa and Hinaikamalama had

gone to Kauwiki, and they came to Kauwiki; Kekalukaluokewa and his

companion had gone on to Honokalani; many days they had been on the way.

On their arrival at Kauwiki, that afternoon, Laielohelohe asked a native

of the place how much farther it was to Honokalani, where

Kekalukaluokewa and Hinaikamalama were staying.

Said the native, "You can arrive by sundown."

They went on, accompanied by the natives, and at dusk reached

Honokalani; there Laielohelohe sent the natives to see where the chiefs

were staying.

The natives went and saw the chiefs drinking _awa_, and returned and

told them.

Then Laielohelohe sent the natives again to go and see the chiefs,

saying, "You go and find out where the chiefs sleep, then return to us."

And at her command, the natives went and found out where the chiefs

slept, and returned and told Laielohelohe.

Then for the first time she told the natives that she was

Kekalukaluokewa's married wife.

Before Laielohelohe's meeting with Kekalukaluokewa he had heard of her

falling into sin with Kaonohiokala; he heard it from one of

Kauakahialii's men, the one who became Aiwohikupua's chief counsellor;

and, because of that man's hearing about Laielohelohe, he came there to

tell Kekalukaluokewa.

When Laielohelohe and her companions came to the house where

Kekalukaluokewa was staying, lo! they lay sleeping in the same place

under one covering, drunk with _awa_.

Laielohelohe entered and sat down at their heads, kissed him and wept

quietly over him; but the fountain of her tears overflowed when she saw

another woman sleeping by her husband, nor did they know this; for they

were drunk with _awa_.

Then Laielohelohe did not stay her anger against Hinaikamalama. So she

got between them, pushed Hinaikamalama away, took Kekalukaluokewa and

embraced him, and wakened him.

Then Kekalukaluokewa started from his sleep and saw his wife; just then,

Hinaikamalama waked suddenly from sleep and saw this strange woman with

them; she ran away from them in a rage, not knowing this was

Kekalukaluokewa's wife.

When Kekalukaluokewa saw the anger in Hinaikamalama's eyes as she went,

then he said, "O Hinaikamalama, will you run to people with angry eyes?

Do not take this woman for a stranger, she is my wedded wife." Then her

rage left her and shame and fear took the place of rage.

When Kekalukaluokewa awoke from his drunken sleep and saw his wife

Laielohelohe, they kissed as strangers meet.

Then he said to his wife, "Laielohelohe, I have heard about your falling

into sin with our lord, Kaonohiokala, and now this is well for you and

him, and well for me to rule under you two; for from him this honor

comes, and life and death are with him; if I should object, he would

kill me; therefore, whatever our lord wishes it is best for us to obey;

it was not for my pleasure that I gave you up, but for fear of death."

Then Laielohelohe said to her husband, "Where are you, husband of my

childhood? What you have heard is true, and it is true that I have

fallen into sin with the lord of the land, not many times, only twice

have we sinned; but, my husband, it was not I who consented to defile my

body with our lord, but it was my guardian who permitted the sin; for on

the day when you went away, that very day our lord asked me to defile

myself; but I did not wish it, therefore I referred my refusal to him;

but on his return from above he asked Kapukaihaoa, and so we met twice;

and because I did not like it, I hid myself in the country people's

houses, and for the same reason have I left the seat appointed me, and

have sought you; and when I arrived, I found you with that woman.

Therefore we are square; I have nothing to complain of your you have

nothing to complain of me; therefore, leave this woman this very night."

Now his wife's words seemed right to her husband; but at Laielohelohe's

last request to separate them from their sinful companionship, then was

kindled the fire of Hinaikamalama's hot love for Kekalukaluokewa.

Hinaikamalama returned home to Haneoo to live; every day that

Hinaikamalama stayed at her chief-house, she was wont to sit at the door

of the house and turn her face to Kauwiki, for the hot love that wrapped

her about.

One day, as the princess sought to ease the love she bore to

Kekalukaluokewa, she climbed Kaiwiopele with her attendants, and sat

there with her face turned toward Kauwiki, facing Kahalaoaka, and as the

clouds rested there right above Honokalahi then the heart of the

princess was benumbed with love for her lover; then she chanted a little

song, as follows:

Like a gathering cloud love settles upon me,

Thick darkness wraps my heart.

A stranger perhaps at the door of the house,

My eyes dance.

It may be they weep, alas!

I shall be weeping for you.

As flies the sea spray of Hanualele,

Right over the heights of Honokalani.

My high one! So it is I feel.

After this song she wept, and seeing her weep, her attendants wept with

her.

They sat there until evening, then they returned to the house; her

parents and her attendants commanded her to eat, but she had no appetite

for food because of her love.

It was the same with Kekalukaluokewa, for when Hinaikamalama left

Kekalukaluokewa that night, when Laielohelohe came, the chief was not

happy, but he endured it for some days after their separation.

And on the day when Hinaikamalama went up on Kaiwiopele, that same

night, he went to Hinaikamalama without Laielohelohe's knowledge, for

she was asleep.

While Hinaikamalama lay awake, sleepless for love, entered

Kekalukaluokewa, without the knowledge of anyone in the chief's house.

When Kekalukaluokewa came, he went right to the place where the princess

slept, took the woman by the head and wakened her.

Then Hinaikamalama's heart leaped with the hope it was her lover; now

when she seized him it was in truth the one she had hoped for. Then she

called out to the attendants to light the lamps, and at dawn

Kekalukaluokewa returned to his true wife, Laielohelohe. After that,

Kekalukaluokewa went to Hinaikamalama every night without being seen;

ten whole days passed that the two did evil together without the wife

knowing it; for in order to carry out her husband's desire

Laielohelohe's senses were darkened by the effects of _awa_.

One day one of the native-born women of the place felt pity for

Laielohelohe, therefore the woman went to visit the princess.

While Kekalukaluokewa was in the fiber-combing house with the men, the

woman visited with Laielohelohe, and she said mysteriously, "How is your

husband? Does he not struggle and groan sometimes for the woman?"

Said Laielohelohe, "No; all is well with us."

Said the woman again, "It may be he is deceiving you."

"Perhaps so," answered Laielohelohe, "but so far as I see we are living

very happily."

Then the woman told her plainly, "Where are you? Our garden patch is

right on the edge of the road; my husband gets up to dig in our garden.

As he was digging, Kekalukaluokewa came along from Haneoo; my husband

thought at once he had been with Hinaikamalama; my husband returned and

told me, but I was not sure. On the next night, at moonrise, I got up

with my husband, and we went to fish for red fish in the sea at Haneoo;

as we came to the edge of the gulch, we saw some one appear above the

rise we had just left; then we turned aside and hid; it was

Kekalukaluokewa coming; then we followed his footsteps until we came

close to Hinaikamalama's house; here Kekalukaluokewa entered. After we

had fished and returned to the place where we met him first, we met him

going back, and we did not speak to him nor he to us; that is all, and

this day Hinaikamalama's own guard told me--my husband's sister she

is--ten days the chiefs have been together; that is my secret; and

therefore my husband and I took pity on you and I came to tell you."

CHAPTER XXXIV

And at the woman's words, the princess's mind was moved; not at once did

she show her rage; but she waited but to make sure. She said to the

woman, "No wonder my husband forces me to drink _awa_ so that when I am

asleep under the influence of the _awa_, he can go; but to-night I will

follow him."

That night Kekalukaluokewa again gave her the _awa_, then she obeyed

him, but after she had drunk it all, she went outside the house

immediately and threw it up; and afterwards her husband did not know of

his wife's guile, and she returned to the house, and Laielohelohe lay

down and pretended to sleep.

When Kekalukaluokewa thought that his wife was fast asleep under the

effects of the _awa_, then he started to make his usual visit to

Hinaikamalama.

When Laielohelohe saw that he had left her, she arose and followed

Kekalukaluokewa without being seen.

Thus following, lo! she found her husband with Hinaikamalama.

Then Laielohelohe said to Kekalukaluokewa, when she came to

Hinaikamalama's house where they were sleeping, "My husband, you have

deceived me; no wonder you compelled me to drink _awa_, you had

something to do; now I have found you two, I tell you it is not right to

endure this any longer. We had best return to Kauai; we must go at

once."

Her husband saw that the princess was right; they arose and returned to

Honokalani and next day the canoes were hastily prepared to fulfill

Laielohelohe's demand, thinking to sail that night; but they did not,

for Kekalukaluokewa pretended to be ill, and they postponed going that

night. The next day he did the same thing again, so Laielohelohe gave up

her love for her husband and returned to Kauai with her canoe, without

thinking again of Kekalukaluokewa.

The next day after Laielohelohe reached Kauai after leaving her husband,

Kaonohiokala arrived again from Kahakaekaea, and met with Laielohelohe.

Four months passed of their amorous meetings; this long absence of

Kaonohiokala's seemed strange to Laieikawai, he had been away four

months; and as Laieikawai wondered at the long absence, Kaonohiokala

returned.

Laieikawai asked, "Why were you gone four months? You have not done so

before."

Said Kaonohiokala, "Laielohelohe has had trouble with her husband;

Kekalukaluokewa has taken a stranger to wife, and this is why I was so

long away."

Then Laieikawai said to her husband, "Get your wife and bring her up

here and let us live together."

Therefore, Kaonohiokala left Laieikawai and went away, as Laieikawai

thought, to carry out her command. Not so!

On this journey Kaonohiokala stayed away a year; now Laieikawai did not

think her husband's long stay strange, she laid it to Laielohelohe's

troubles with Kekalukaluokewa.

Then she longed to see how it was with her sister, so Laieikawai went to

her father-in-law and asked, "How can I see how it is with my sister,

for I have heard from my husband and high one that Laielohelohe is

having trouble with Kekalukaluokewa, and so I have sent Kaonohiokala to

fetch the woman and return hither; but he has not come back, and it is a

year since he went, so give me power to see to that distant place to

know how it is with my relatives."

Then said Moanalihaikawaokele, her father-in-law, "Go home and look for

your mother-in-law; if she is asleep, then go into the taboo temple; if

you see a gourd plaited with straw and feathers mounted on the edge of

the cover, that is the gourd. Do not be afraid of the great birds that

stand on either side of the gourd, they are not real birds, only wooden

birds; they are plaited with straw and inwrought with feathers. And when

you come to where the gourd is standing take off the cover, then put

your head into the mouth of the gourd and call out the name of the

gourd, 'Laukapalili, Trembling Leaf, give me wisdom.' Then you shall see

your sister and all that is happening below. Only when you call do not

call in a loud voice; it might resound; your mother-in-law, Laukieleula,

might hear, the one who guards the gourd of wisdom."

Laukieleula was wont to watch the gourd of wisdom, at night, and by day

she slept.

Very early next morning, at the time when the sun's warmth began to

spread over the earth, she went to spy out Laukieleula; she was just

asleep.

When she saw she was asleep Laieikawai did as Moanalihaikawaokele had

directed, and she went as he had instructed her.

When she came to the gourd, the one called "the gourd of wisdom," she

lifted the cover from the gourd and bent her head to the mouth of the

gourd, and she called the name of the gourd, then she began to see all

that was happening at a distance.

At noon Laieikawai's eyes glanced downward, lo! Kaonohiokala sinned with

Laielohelohe.

Then Laieikawai went and told Moanalihaikawaokele about it, saying, "I

have employed the power you gave me, but while I was looking my high

lord sinned; he did evil with my sister; for the first time I understand

why his business takes him so long down below."

Then Moanalihaikawaokele's wrath was kindled, and Laukieleula heard it

also, and her parents-in-law went to the gourd--lo! they plainly saw the

sin committed as Laieikawai had said.

That day they all came together, Laieikawai and her parents-in-law, to

see what to do about Kaonohiokala, and they came to their decision.

Then the pathway was let down from Kahakaekaea and dropped before

Kaonohiokala; then Kaonohiokala's heart beat with fear, because the road

dropped before him; not for long was Kaonohiokala left to wonder.

Then the air was darkened and it was filled with the cry of wailing

spirits and the voice of lamentation--"The divine one has fallen! The

divine one has fallen!!" And when the darkness was over, lo!

Moanalihaikawaokele and Laukieleula and Laieikawai sat above the rainbow

pathway.

And Moanalihaikawaokele said to Kaonohiokala, "You have sinned, O

Kaonohiokala, for you have defiled yourself and, therefore, you shall no

longer have a place to dwell within Kahakaekaea, and the penalty you

shall pay, to become a fearsome thing on the highway and at the doors of

houses, and your name is Lapu, Vanity, and for your food you shall eat

moths; and thus shall you live and your posterity."

Then was the pathway taken from him through his father's supernatural

might. Then they returned to Kahakaekaea.

In this story it is told how Kaonohiokala was the first ghost on these

islands, and from his day to this, the ghosts wander from place to

place, and they resemble evil spirits in their nature.[76]

On the way back after Kaonohiokala's punishment, they encountered

Kahalaomapuana in Kealohilani, and for the first time discovered she was

there.

And at this discovery, Kahalaomapuana told the story of her dismissal,

as we saw in Chapter XXVII of this story, and at the end Kahalaomapuana

was taken to fill Kaonohiokala's place.

At Kahakaekaea, sometimes Laieikawai longed for Laielohelohe, but she

could do nothing; often she wept for her sister, and her parents-in-law

thought it strange to see Laieikawai's eyes looking as if she had wept.

Moanalihaikawaokele asked the reason for this; then she told him she

wept for her sister.

Said Moanalihaikawaokele, "Your sister can not live here with us, for

she is defiled with Kaonohiokala; but if you want your sister, then you

go and fill Kekalukaluokewa's place." Now Laieikawai readily assented to

this plan.

And on the day when Laieikawai was let down, Moanalihaikawaokele said,

"Return to your sister and live virgin until your death, and from this

time forth your name shall be no longer called Laieikawai, but your name

shall be 'The Woman of the Twilight,' and by this name shall all your

kin bow down to you and you shall be like a god to them."

And after this command, Moanalihaikawaokele took her, and both together

mounted upon the pathway and returned below.

Then, Moanalihaikawaokele said all these things told above, and when he

had ended he returned to the heavens and dwelt in the taboo house on the

borders of Tahiti.

Then, The Woman of the Twilight placed the government upon the seer; so

did Laieikawai, the one called The Woman of the Twilight, and she lived

as a god, and to her the seer bowed down and her kindred, according to

Moanalihaikawaokele's word to her. And so Laieikawai lived until her

death.

And from that time to this she is still worshiped as The Woman of the

Twilight.

(THE END)

NOTES ON THE TEXT

CHAPTER I

[Footnote 1: Haleole uses the foreign form for wife, _wahine mare_,

literally "married woman," a relation which in Hawaiian is represented

by the verb _hoao_. A temporary affair of the kind is expressed in

Waka's advice to her granddaughter, "_O ke kane ia moeia_," literally,

"the man this to be slept with".]

[Footnote 2: The chief's vow, _olelo paa_, or "fixed word," to slay all

his daughters, would not be regarded as savage by a Polynesian audience,

among whom infanticide was commonly practiced. In the early years of the

mission on Hawaii, Dibble estimated that two-thirds of the children born

perished at the hands of their parents. They were at the slightest

provocation strangled or burned alive, often within the house. The

powerful Areois society of Tahiti bound its members to slay every child

born to them. The chief's preference for a son, however, is not so

common, girls being prized as the means to alliances of rank. It is an

interesting fact that in the last census the proportion of male and

female full-blooded Hawaiians was about equal.]

[Footnote 3: The phrase _nalo no hoi na wahi huna_, which means literally

"conceal the secret parts," has a significance akin to the Hebrew rendering

"to cover his nakedness," and probably refers to the duty of a favorite to

see that no enemy after death does insult to his patron's body. So the

bodies of ancient chiefs are sewed into a kind of bag of fine woven coconut

work, preserving the shape of the head and bust, or embalmed and wrapped in

many folds of native cloth and hidden away in natural tombs, the secret of

whose entrance is intrusted to only one or two followers, whose

superstitious dread prevents their revealing the secret, even when offered

large bribes. These bodies, if worshiped, may be repossessed by the spirit

and act as supernatural guardians of the house. See page 494, where the

Kauai chief sets out on his wedding embassy with "the embalmed bodies of

his ancestors." Compare, for the service itself, Waka's wish that the Kauai

chief might be the one to hide her bones, the prayer of Aiwohikupua's seer

that his master might, in return for his lifelong service, "bury his

bones"--"_e kalua keai mau iwi_," and his request of Laieikawai, that she

would "leave this trust to your descendants unto the last generation."]

[Footnote 4: Prenatal infanticide, _omilomilo_, was practiced in various

forms throughout Polynesia even in such communities as rejected

infanticide after birth. The skeleton of a woman, who evidently died

during the operation, is preserved in the Bishop Museum to attest the

practice, were not testimony of language and authority conclusive.]

[Footnote 5: The _manini_ (_Tenthis sandvicensis_, Street) is a

flat-shaped striped fish common in Hawaiian waters. The spawn, called

_ohua_, float in a jellylike mass on the surface of the water. It is

considered a great delicacy and must be fished for in the early morning

before the sun touches the water and releases the spawn, which instantly

begin to feed and lose their rare transparency.]

[Footnote 6: The month _Ikuwa_ is variously placed in the calendar year.

According to Malo, on Hawaii it corresponds to our October; on Molokai

and Maui, to January; on Oahu, to August; on Kauai, to April.]

[Footnote 7: The adoption by their grandparents and hiding away of the

twins must be compared with a large number of concealed birth tales in

which relatives of superior supernatural power preserve the hero or

heroine at birth and train and endow their foster children for a life of

adventure. This motive reflects Polynesian custom. Adoption was by no

means uncommon among Polynesians, and many a man owed his preservation

from death to the fancy of some distant relative who had literally

picked him off the rubbish heap to make a pet of. The secret amours of

chiefs, too, led, according to Malo (p. 82), to the theme of the high

chief's son brought up in disguise, who later proves his rank, a theme

as dear to the Polynesian as to romance lovers of other lands.]