HIIAKA LEARNS OF THE DEATH OF LOHIAU
With a nice feeling of etiquette, Hiiaka's hosts allowed the day of her
arrival to pass with no inquiry as to the purpose of her visit. But
on the morning of the morrow Malae-ha'a-koa asked the question that
put himself in sympathetic touch with his guests.
"I have come to escort Lohiau as a lover to the bed of Pele,"
said Hiiaka.
"Lohiau has been dead many days," they both exclaimed. "He took
his own life out of a passionate infatuation for one of the Hono-pú
[264] women."
"Let that be as it may," Hiiaka answered; "I will go and see for
myself."
Now Kahua-nui, the sister of Lohiau, had laid his body to rest in a
sepulcher close to her own residence; but on examination the place
was found to be empty. It was evident that the body had been spirited
away. Hiiaka, turning her gaze to the mountain, discerned a ghostly
form standing at the mouth of a cave. It was the ghost of Lohiau. In
an effort to soothe and attract him, Hiiaka, with arms extended and
face uplifted, in passionate utterance gave vent to her emotions:
Ku'u kane i ka pali o Haena,
Mai na aina pali a pau loa,
Mai Hoolulu no a Poli-hale la;
Ku'u kane ho'i, e-e!
TRANSLATION
At last, my dear man, at last,
On this rugged cliff of Haena!
I have searched the whole mountain side,
From Ho'o-lulu's booming fall
To Poli-hale's buttressed flank.
I have found thee at last, my man!
Again she scanned the lineaments of the shadowy form if she might find
there the picture her mind had imaged. At second view, the ghostly
unreality of the tenuous image so greatly shocked her imagination by
its contrast to her ideal of a true flesh-and-blood lover, that she
amended her first utterance:
Aole a'e nei ke kane,
He hoa pili no ke ahiahi,
He hoa kaunu no ke aumoe,
No ka waena po loloa
O ke hooilo, la:
Ku'u kane ho'i, e-e!
TRANSLATION
This, surely, is not the lover
To cling to one in the twilight,
To fondle in the midnight watch
Of a long, long, wint'ry night.
Where, oh where art thou, my man?
A creepy thrill came over Hiiaka as she saw the bloodless lips open
and heard these answering words from the mouth of the weird object
that stood on the pali wall:
Ku'u wahine, e-e!
Hoohewahewa oe ia'u, la.
Eia au la i Ka-lalau, e-e;
I ka pali au o Hoo-lulu, la;
Ku'u wahine ho'i, e-e!
TRANSLATION
Alas, my woman, alas!
You wail in soul-recognition.
I was yonder at Ka-lalau,
Or some time perched at Ho'o-lulu.
Surely thou art the woman, thou!
With the desire to soothe the bewildered soul Hiiaka again spoke:
Ku'u kane i ka makani Kilihau, [265] Kili-opu, [266]
Ke pu'e [267] ka wai o ka mauna;
He mauna pali no Ka-lalau
A maua e hele ai--
Me oe, me ke kane la, ku'u kane,
Ku'u kane o ka wa po wale,
O ku'u wa iluna o ke alo la--
Ku'u kane ho-i, e!
TRANSLATION
My man of the wind-driven mist,
Or rain that plunges clean as a diver,
What time the mountain stream runs cold
Adown the steps at Ka-lalau--
Where we shall ere long climb together,
With you, my friend, with you,
Companion of the pitchy night,
When heavenward turns my face--
Thou art, indeed, my man.
A moment's pause and she resumed:
E ku'u kane, e-e,
He leo e wale ho'i kou,
He leo no ka hanehane, [268]
No ka pololei [269] kani kau mauna o uka la;
Ku'u kane ho'i, e-e!
TRANSLATION
Alas, my man, alas!
How altered is your voice,
Changed to the trilling note
Of the plaintive Pololei
That trills on the mountain ridge:
Yet thou art, indeed, my man!
Kahua-nui was greatly moved when she heard the words of Hiiaka and
said, with emotion, "It is evident you loved my brother, that handsome
fellow--dead! If only the woman had been like you! What a pity that
he should have wasted himself on such a good-for-nothing!"
"Tell me, pray, where did you lay your brother's body?" asked Hiiaka.
"Yonder," said she, pointing to a grass house. "Lima-loa, who hails
from Kauna-lewa, in Mana, bound on the thatch. That job completed,
he went away with all the men of the place to bewail him. We two women
alone remain to keep watch over him. There he lies and we stand guard
over his sepulcher."
Then Hiiaka, girding herself with her divine attributes as a goddess of
Kilauea--the power which, on occasion, availed to flood the plains of
Puna with sounding plates of pahoehoe, or to heap up the rugged aä at
Maukele--reached into the sepulcher in search of Lohiau's body. But
it was not there. It had been stolen away by the two mo'o-witches
(Kilioe and Ka-lana-mai-nu'u) and lodged in a cave high up in the
inaccessible mountain side.
The emotions of Hiiaka at this turn of events found expression in song:
A Lima-loa [270] i ke kaha
O Kauna-lewa ho'i e-e:
Ako Mana i ka hale ohai--
Aina ko hele la, e-e,--
Hoopunipuni i ka malihini:
Puni ho'i au, e-e!
TRANSLATION
The deed this of Lima-loa,
That wonder-monger who works
In the barren land of Maná;
Who roofs Maná with ohai--
One there munches cane as he plods.
His to deceive the stranger;
I'm the victim of his deceit!
Hiiaka, at the mention of Lima-loa and the part he had taken
in constructing the house that served as a sepulcher for Lohiau,
jumped to the conclusion that he had been the body-snatcher of
Lohiau. Kahuanui strongly dissented from this view. "There can be no
doubt," said she, "that my brother's body lies in that sepulcher at
this very moment. That is the reason for my keeping guard over the
place. But why stand we here? Let us go to my home."
As Hiiaka went with her she again had sight of the ghost-form of Lohiau
standing in the door of the cavern, and she addressed to him this mele:
Ako nanani maka i Wawae-nohu, [271] e-e;
Me he nanai hale la Ka-ula i ke kai;
Ke amo a'e la i ka lima o Kaunu-lau, e-e;
Ke hoa la i ke kua o Lei-no-ai--
He ai aloha na olua, e-e!
TRANSLATION
His airy phantoms queer the eye
At Wawae-nohu, and yon islet
Ka-ula, like a lanai, looms at sea;
While lifts the hand of Kauna-la'a
To smite the back of Lei-no-ai:
The sight enchants you twain.
Hiiaka paused for a moment and then continued in a reflective mood:
O Ka-ula nui ka i akaka,
Ua po Ka-halau-a-ola [272] i ka noe;
O ka manu na'e ke lele nei
Kai luna o Wa'a-hila, la;
Ke noho la i Lei-no-ai:
He ai aloha keia ia oe la, e-e!
TRANSLATION
Famous Ka-ula looms crystal clear;
Misty and dark the Temple of Health:
Yet the birds keep flying around
And about the hill Wa'a-hila.
They settle at Lei-no-ai,
A sight most pleasing to you.
Hiiaka now perceived two female figures squatted at the entrance of
the cavern, which they had carefully blocked and were guarding. These
were the creatures that had stolen away the body of Lohiau. She at once
raised her voice and addressed them with this threatening language:
E Aka, e Kilioe-i-ka-pua, e-e!
Na wahine kapa ole e nene'e wale nei
I ka hapapa ku'i opihi,
O ka luna i Hala-aniani, [273] la;
Na wahine kapa ole.
TRANSLATION
Ah!--Aka, and you Kilioë,
Dowered with flowerlike beauty,
You women with naked bodies,
Who sometime flit o'er the reef-plates,
Now squat over Hala-aniani!
You shameless, you naked ones!
The magic of these words worked their death-purpose. The way to the
sepulchral cave was now unobstructed. As they came, however, to the
base of the cliff, they found that the ladder had been removed--the
mischievous work of the witches. Wahine-oma'o was aghast. "There is
no ladder for us to climb up by," said the woman.
"Turn your face to the cliff," was Hiiaka's answer.
The girl did so and used her best efforts to climb the mountain
wall. The day was far spent and darkness would soon come on. Thereupon
Hiiaka invoked the Sun, bidding it stand still at the mouth of the
river Hea:
E Kini, e hiki i Kauai, i kou aina;
O koa maka-iwa [274] o Halawa, [275]
Paia Kona i ou kino,
Akua nui o Hiiaka, la.
Hiki e, pi'i e, iho e!
E kau i ka muli o Hea; [276]
Kau malie oe, e ka La!
TRANSLATION
Come to your land to Kauai, ye hosts!
Ye warrior-gods, keen eyes of pearl!
Put forth your strength, O Kona--
The mighty goddess Hiiaka!
I bid you rise, climb, and descend!
Now stay your flight, O Day!
Stand still, O Sun, o'er Hea's water!