[Footnote 43: To express the interrelation between brothers and sisters
two pairs of kinship terms are used, depending upon the age and sex.
Sisters speak of brothers as _kaikunane_, and brothers of sisters as
_kaikuahine_, but within the same sex _kaikuaana_ for the elder and
_kaikaina_ for the younger is used. So on page 431 Aiwohikupua deserts
his sisters--_kaikuahine_--and the girls lament for their younger
sister--_kaikaina_. After their reunion her older sisters--_kaikuaana_
--ask her counsel. Notice, too, that when, on page 423, the brother bids
his youngest sister--_kaikuahine opiopio_--stay with "her sisters" he uses
the word _kaikuaana_, because he is thinking of her relation to them, not
of his own. The word _pokii,_--"little sister"--is an endearing term used
to good effect where the younger sister sings--
"I am going back to your little sisters (_me o'u pokii_)
To my older sisters (_kaikuaana_) I return."]
[Footnote 44: The line translated "Fed upon the fruit of sin" contains
one of those poetic plays upon words so frequent in Polynesian song, so
difficult to reproduce in translation. Literally it might read
"Sheltering under the great _hala_ tree." But _hala_, also means "sin."
This meaning is therefore caught up and employed in the next line--"is
constancy then a sin?"--a repetition which is lost in translation.
_Malu_, shade, is a doubtful word, which may, according to Andrews, mean
"protected," or may stand for "wet and uncomfortable," a doubt evidently
depending upon the nature of the case, which adds to the riddling
character of the message. In their songs the sisters call up the natural
scenery, place names, and childhood experiences of their native home on
Kauai. The images used attempt actual description. The slant of the
rain, the actual ladder of wood which helps scale the steep footpath up
Nualolo Valley (compare _Song of Kualii_, line 269, Lyons' version), the
rugged cliffs which are more easily rounded by sea--"swimming 'round the
steeps"--picture actual conditions on the island. Notice especially how
the song of the youngest sister reiterates the constant theme of the
"follow your leader" relation between the brother and his younger
sisters. Thus far they have unhesitatingly followed his lead; how, then,
can he leave them leaderless? is the plea: first, in their sports at
home; next, in this adventure over sea and through the forest; last, in
that divine mystery of birth when he first opened the roadway and they,
his little sisters, followed after.]