THE SACRIFICE
IN the morning after the battle word was brought to the palace that Aa
had been found on the field still alive. Aelani commanded that he
should be taken to the _heiau_, or temple, to be sacrificed, and that
the spearmen should be assembled there to witness the sacred rites. So
Aa was taken to the _heiau_, and awaited the coming of Aelani and Hiwa
and Kaanaana and the spearmen of Kohala.
Then Aelani's servants put on him the great _mamo_ that had been the
state robe of _moi kanes_ of the blood of Wakea and Papa time whereof
the memory of man ran not to the contrary. It reached from his
shoulders to his ankles, and enveloped his whole body. It was made
entirely of the yellow feathers of the _mamo_, and, as the _mamo_ was
a small bird, and lived in the mountains, and was wild and scarce,
from being constantly hunted, and, moreover, had but few of the sacred
feathers, the collection of feathers for that cloak had been the
life-work of nine generations of hunters. Aelani also wore a helmet of
the still more priceless feathers of the _oo_. The _niho palaoa_ was
on his neck, and in his hand he carried spears red with the blood of
his enemies.
Hiwa wore a _mamo_ like Aelani's, broad and long, extending to her
feet, priceless as the crown jewels of England. Upon her head was a
_lei_, or wreath of yellow _ilima_ and dark-green _maile_, and,
crowning all, a _lei_ of the fluffy, yellow feathers of the _oo_,
feathers worth many times their weight in gold. Kaanaana, too, was
richly clad, as became a mighty high-chief. A cloak of yellow and red
feathers, only less rare and costly than the _mamo_, covered him from
head to foot, and a yellow and red helmet adorned his head.
Before they left the palace Hiwa embraced Aelani and Kaanaana,
kissing them and shedding tears, as if she were parting from them
forever, so that they greatly wondered, not dreaming of what was in
her mind. Then, when the chiefs had assembled--all who had the right
to stand in presence of the _moi_--Hiwa made a signal that Kaanaana
should kneel before her. So he kneeled before her, and she, in
presence of them all, took the feather _lei_ from her head and twined
it around his helmet.
"Mighty _konohiki_," she said, "thou art greatest of the chiefs,
noblest among men, my own and only love, the father of my child. Thy
rank shall be above all other men not goddess-born, and, in token
thereof, thou and the _konohikis_ of thy line shall have the right to
deck their helmets with the yellow feathers of the _oo_ as long as the
sun shines and water flows. I, Hiwa, daughter of the gods, have said
it, and my son, The Chosen of Ku, confirms this royal honor."
The occasion of the sacrifice was a great one, for Aa was of the blood
of Wakea and Papa. Never before in the solemn and bloody rites of
consecrating a new _moi_ had such an offering been made to Ku. The
_heiau_ was an immense, irregular, stone parallelogram, open to the
sky. The interior was divided into terraces, the upper one paved with
flat stones. The south end was an inner court, the most sacred place,
corresponding to the Holiest of Holies of the Jews. Here were the
idols, great and small. Here was the high-priest's station. Here the
gods were consulted, and their oracles made known. At the entrance to
this court was the sacrificial altar of Ku.
When Aelani and Hiwa and Kaanaana and the chiefs and warriors had
gathered in the temple, and Aa, grievously wounded, was brought before
the altar where he had long officiated as high-priest, his proud and
cruel spirit flashed forth, and he said:--"If I had won the battle I
would have gone to Kohala and put every man, woman and child to the
spear, save Aelani and Hiwa and Kaanaana and all of noble birth, whom
I would have kept for the sacrifice; I would have made Kohala fat with
slaughter; I would have drenched Ku's altar with the blood of the
goddess-born. Then Ku would have had more cause for rejoicing than in
the sacrifice of one old man. Yet, although my bones will be put to
shame, I am content, knowing that Ku's heavy wrath will fall upon my
enemies, and that I shall glory in their destruction, and mock them in
the other world. If Hiwa had been slain when she committed the
unpardonable sin against Ku his anger might have been appeased; but
now that it has been growing these sixteen years, the whole people are
doomed, for they are her people and her son's. Behold I, Aa,
high-priest of Ku, proclaim that his implacable wrath rests upon the
whole kingdom, and shall eat up its inhabitants. My revenge is sure.
Therefore I rejoice, and shall return rejoicing to the gods from whom
I came!"
As the high-priest ceased speaking Kaanaana sprang towards him, crying
"Aa, you lie! You invented this damning lie as a pretext for slaying
the _moi wahine_! Now, in the hour of her triumph, you repeat it to
ruin her before gods and men!"
Hiwa restrained him with a gesture, and said in a loud, clear voice
that all might hear: "Aa does not lie. Sixteen years ago I forgot the
law which almighty Ku gave to Wakea and Papa--the law creating the
sacred _tabu_, which our nation has kept age after age, and I ate of
the fruit of which Ku has declared, 'In the day a woman eateth thereof
she shall surely die.'"
Upon hearing this confession, the high-priest burst into a fierce,
mocking laugh, and the spearmen shrank back aghast, and Kaanaana hung
his head in shame and sorrow.
But Hiwa mounted the altar and stood above them, tall, straight and
proud, crowned with _ilima_ and _maile_, clothed with the royal robe
that only a _moi_ might wear and live, holding a spear in her hand.
"Sixteen years ago," she said, "I committed the unpardonable sin, and
now the hour of my atonement has come. Ku spared my life. Kneeling
under the rainbow, beside my new-born babe, I confessed my sin to him,
and bound myself by an irrevocable vow that, if he would let me train
the boy to lead the chiefs in battle for his throne, I, Hiwa,
goddess-queen, with my own royal hand, would shed my sacred blood upon
his altar. Ku heard the vow, and answered me with thunder from the
mountains. He has kept faith with me. Now I must keep faith with him,
or else his heavy wrath will fall on all I love, on all who follow me.
Therefore, to save my son, Aelani, The Pledge from Heaven, to save his
father, my lover, Kaanaana, who is a thousand times dearer to me than
life, to save my people, whom I would not have destroyed, I keep my
oath and lift the curse of Ku."
With a swift stroke she buried the spear in her own heart.
Kaanaana leaped upon the altar, crying: "Eternal Ku, although I am not
goddess-born, I am a great noble. Accept my life also in atonement for
her sin!" He stabbed himself, and, falling on Hiwa, died kissing her
dead lips.
Then Laamaikahiki, wild with grief and rage, thrust Aa through the
throat. So the high-priest died a pig's death, and his bones were put
to shame.
Hiwa's bones and Kaanaana's were hidden in a cave, at dead of night,
by Aelani himself, for he would not intrust this pious duty to meaner
hands, that touch of mortal might not profane them so long as the
world should endure. Hiwa had made such atonement, lifting Ku's curse
from all the people, that they revered her memory and worshipped her
as a goddess even as if she had not committed that great sin.
_Aloha_, Hiwa! She was nobler than a goddess-queen, for she was one of
God's noblest creatures--a noble woman. Her frailties were those of
human nature and of the remote and barbarous land in which she lived.
Her virtues were those of a brave, generous, and lovable people.
_Aloha_, Hiwa! _Aloha, nui!_
GLOSSARY
THE spelling of Hawaiian words is in the main phonetic, according to
what is known as the continental method, with the limitation that
there are only twelve letters, instead of twenty-six, in the alphabet.
Hiwa, for example, is pronounced, approximately, Hé-vä, and Aelani,
I-lä´-ny.
The following rules for pronunciation are taken from Prof. William D.
Alexander's _Brief History of the Hawaiian People_:
The original Hawaiian alphabet, adopted by the first missionaries,
contained but twelve letters, five of which were vowels, and seven
consonants, viz.: _a_, _e_, _i_, _o_, _u_, _h_, _k_, _l_, _m_, _n_,
_p_, and _w_. The number of distinct sounds are about sixteen.
No distinction was formerly made between the sounds of _k_ and _t_, or
between those of _l_ and _r_. In poetry, however, the sound of _t_ was
preferred to that of _k_. The letter _w_ generally sounds like _v_
between the penult and the final syllable of a word.
_A_ is sounded as in f_a_ther, _e_ as in th_e_y, _i_ as in mar_i_ne,
_o_ as in n_o_te, _u_ as in r_u_le, or as _oo_ in m_oo_n.
_Ai_, when sounded as a diphthong, resembles the English _ay_, and
_au_, the English _ou_ in l_ou_d.
Besides the sounds mentioned above, there is in many words a guttural
break between two vowels, which is represented by an apostrophe in a
few common words, to distinguish their meaning, as Kina'u.
Every word and every syllable must end in a vowel, and no two
consonants occur without a vowel sound between them.
The accent of about five-sixths of the words in the language is on the
penult. A few of the proper names are accented on the final syllable,
as Paki´, Kiwalao´ and Namakeha´.
Aa--the word has a variety of meanings, among which are a spiteful
person, a raging flame, a rock of rough broken lava.
Ae, keike--yes, child.
Aelani--the pledge from heaven, a promise from the skies. Lani,
heavenly, heaven-born, is a common termination of the names of
Hawaiian men and women, especially those of exalted rank.
Ahupuaa--a large tract of land under the control of a single person, a
lordship.
Aialo--those who eat at the king's court.
Akela--a berry much like the American raspberry.
Alii-niaupio, tabu moi wahine--freely translated, goddess-queen, a
female sovereign of divine or semi-divine lineage, unapproachable,
sacred, absolute.
Aloha--Aloha, more appropriately, perhaps, than any other one word,
may be taken as typical of the Hawaiian race. It is the first native
word the stranger learns, the common salutation on the street, and the
last he hears at parting. It signifies kindly feeling, good-will. It
is also used to express love.
Aloha nui--great good-will.
Au-we--an exclamation of sorrow, a wailing cry, alas.
Awa--an intoxicating liquor made from the roots of a plant of the same
name. It is very stupefying, and, when drunk to excess, causes the
skin to turn a dirty-brown color, and to crack and flake off.
Eaeakai--the word, sometimes used as a proper noun, means, covered
with the spray of the sea.
E moe o--the customary exclamation or command to lie prostrate on the
approach of royalty.
Haleakala--the House of the Sun, an extinct volcano ten thousand feet
high on the Island of Maui. Its crater, over thirty miles in
circumference and two thousand feet deep, is the largest in the world.
Hamakua--the name of a district in the northern part of the Island of
Hawaii.
Haole--a foreigner. The term is applied to white persons, whether of
Hawaiian or foreign birth, and is not often used in speaking of
Asiatics.
Hawaii--the large island, twice the size of all the others combined,
from which the group takes it name. It is the second in industrial and
commercial importance, and probably the first in undeveloped
resources.
Heiau--a temple.
Hilo--the name of two districts, North and South Hilo, on the
northeastern side of the Island of Hawaii and of the chief town of the
island; also of the first night in which the new moon can be seen, as
it is like a twisted thread (from the verb to twist, to spin, to
turn). The new moon, a crescent, indicates the outline of Hilo Bay.
Hiwa--the precious one.
Hula hula--a dance, dancers, dancing, and music. The Hawaiian hula is
not necessarily immodest, but certain lascivious hulas have won a
world-wide and unenviable notoriety.
Ihe--a war-club.
Ii--a word that has a variety of meanings, among which are: a selfish
person, a cruel person, a sour person, a collection of small things.
It is often used as a proper noun, as is also the single vowel, _I_.
Repeated three times it forms another word--iii.
Ilima--a shrub which bears beautiful green and yellow flowers; also,
the flowers.
Iiwi--a small red bird.
Kaanaana--the name of a man or woman, quite common.
Kahiki--foreign parts.
Kahlooawe--One of the smaller islands.
Kahuna--a witch-doctor or sorcerer; also, at the present time, a
native quack.
Kanaka-wale--a landless freeman.
Kanaloa--one of the gods, Kane's younger brother.
Kane--a male, applied equally to human beings and animals; also, the
name of one of the great gods.
Kanehoalani--the god of the sky.
Kanehulikoa--the god of the sea.
Kaukihi--a small boat, a single dug-out.
Keike--a child.
Kihei--a mantle or cloak.
Kini akua--elves.
Koa--a hard wood in great demand on account of the beautiful finish
which it takes.
Kohala--North and South Kohala, the two northern districts in the
Island of Hawaii.
Konohiki--a great landholder under the _moi_, virtually a feudal lord.
Ku--the name of the fiercest and most cruel of the ancient gods.
Kukailimoke--the god of war.
Kukuihaele--the high land adjoining the southeast of Waipio Valley.
Kuleana--a small holding of land.
Kupua--a demi-god.
Lanai--the name of one of the smaller islands, literally, The Hump,
from its shape; the name is applied to a veranda.
Lawalu--fish or meat wrapped in _ti_ leaves, and cooked on coals or
hot stones.
Lei--a wreath.
Lilii--usually spelled Liilii, little one, small, often added to a
name to indicate youth, or as a term of affection.
Lolo--idiotic, a fool.
Lono--the mildest and most benevolent of the Hawaiian deities. The
tradition was that he taught peace and good-will, and inaugurated a
golden age, and that, when he went away, he promised to return some
time. When Captain Cook discovered the islands in 1778 the natives
welcomed him as the long-expected Lono.
Maile--a beautiful dark green odoriferous vine, _alyxia olive-formia_.
Makai--towards the sea. In the Hawaiian Islands one rarely hears the
words north, south, east or west, in any reference to locality or
direction. It is _makai_, towards the sea, _mauka_, away from the sea,
or to windward, or to leeward, or the direction is designated by
another place, as, for example, Chicago is New York of the Rocky
Mountains, and Denver is San Francisco of St. Paul.
Malo--the loin-cloth formerly worn by men.
Mamo--a small bird with yellow feathers, formerly sacred to royalty.
Hence a garment made of its yellow feathers. The bird is nearly or
quite extinct, and the ancient robes that have been preserved have
fabulous values.
Manao--what one thinks or advises, an opinion.
Manoa--the name of a beautiful valley in the suburbs of Honolulu;
also, of an ancient or legendary princess.
Mauna Kea--the White Mountain, from the snow that covers its summit a
great part of the year. It is 13,805 feet in height.
Mauna Loa--the Long Mountain, a great volcano, 13,675 feet high. The
last eruption was in July, 1899.
Mele--a poem, a song, a hymn, a chant; in particular, the epics of the
race, committed to memory and transmitted from generation to
generation. Some of these epics are supposed to be hundreds of years
old, and are almost as unlike modern Hawaiian as Chaucer is unlike
modern English.
Milu--the god of the lower world.
Moi--a sovereign in whom is supreme authority, applied to gods and
monarchs descended from the gods; but the title was continued during
the half century and more that the Hawaiian government was a
constitutional monarchy.
Mokuhalii--the name of the god of sharks. On Hawaii, he was known as
Ukanipo.
Newa--a feather-helmet.
Niho palaoa--a whale-tooth ornament worn only by persons of high rank.
Niulii--the southeast corner of North Kohala, adjoining the Hamakua
mountains.
Ohelo--a reddish-brown berry similar to the whortleberry.
Ohia--a deciduous fruit, something like an apple, but less nutritious
and more juicy.
Olona--a native shrub with the qualities of hemp or flax.
Oo--a small black bird with tufts of yellow feathers, sacred like the
_mamo_.
Papa--a goddess, wife of Wakea.
Papaakahi--the first of all, the highest in rank.
Pau--stop, hold your tongue, that is all, the end.
Pau--the ordinary female garment of ancient times, _tapa_ cloth wound
round the waist, and reaching to the knees.
Pele--the goddess of volcanoes.
Poha--a berry from which a delicious jam is made.
Poi--a paste made from _taro_. It is to Hawaiians what wheat is to
Europeans, and rice to Chinamen.
Polulu--a short spear.
Puka--a hole, an entrance.
Puna--the name of a district at the eastern end of the Island of
Hawaii.
Puuhonua--a city of refuge.
Tabu--prohibited, forbidden, sacred, devoted to the gods, the _moi_ or
the chiefs. The _tabu_, also spelled _kapu_, was the controlling
feature of the ancient religion. It was oppressive to the last degree,
and was mercilessly enforced by superstitious terror and the death
penalty. After the discovery by Captain Cook, it gradually lost its
hold on rulers, priesthood, and people. It was officially abolished in
1819, a few months before the arrival of the first missionaries.
Tapa--a cloth made from the beaten bark of the wauki, or mamaki, or
paper-mulberry or other trees; hence, any garment made of _tapa_. Also
spelled _kapa_.
"Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono."
(The life of the land is preserved by righteousness.) The national
motto inscribed on the Hawaiian coat-of-arms. It is, of course, of
comparatively recent date, and of missionary origin.
"Ue, ue! Ua make kuu alii!
Ue, ue! Ua make kuu alii!"
(Alas! Dead is the chief!
Alas! Dead is the chief!)
The first lines of an old dirge.
Ukeke--a rude musical instrument, something like a guitar.
Ukanipo--one of the names of the shark-god.
Ulua--an excellent table-fish, very active.
Umu--an oven, a place for baking food.
Wahine--a female; the word used to designate the female sex whether of
human beings or animals.
Waipio--the arc of water, the name of a picturesque and beautiful
valley among the Hamakua mountains, derived from the waterfall. It was
a royal residence for centuries, and has been the scene of many
battles.
Wakea--a god prominent in Hawaiian mythology, the husband of Papa.
According to some legends, Wakea and Papa were the parents of the
human race, or, at least, the Polynesian branch of it; according to
other legends their descendants were divine, demi-gods and
demi-goddesses, like Hiwa.
Wiki wiki--hurry up.
PAU
Transcriber's Note
On the assumption of printer errors, the following amendments have
been made:
Page 4--bated amended to baited--... and baited his turtle-shell
hook ...
Page 10--forfit amended to forfeit--... and my life is forfeit;
...
Page 14--awa italicised--"spends his nights drinking _awa_, ..."
Page 47--chiefessess amended to chiefesses--She told him of the
high chiefs and chiefesses, ...
Page 71--Keiki amended to Keike--"_Keike_," said Hiwa, "this is
your father...."
Page 86--accomodations amended to accommodations--... some of
them very large and with accommodations ...
Page 101--drank amended to drunk--... and, when drunk to excess,
causes the skin ...
End of Project Gutenberg's Hiwa: A Tale of Ancient Hawaii, by Edmund P. Dole