RELATING TO KAUAHOA.—KAWELO FEARS TO ATTACK HIM.—SEEKS TO WIN HIM BY A
CHANT.—KAUAHOA REPLIES.
Kauahoa was the most noted of Aikanaka’s warriors in size and stature,
and it was this warrior that caused the cold perspiration to ooze out
of the body of Kawelo and for a moment fear entered his breast, for
Kauahoa was indeed good to look upon and was a grand warrior to behold.
When Aikanaka was telling of the death of Kahakaloa by Kawelo, Kauahoa
heard it, and he took up his war club, called Kahehumakua, a first
growth koa tree from Kahihikolo, and proceeded on down the hill. (It is
said that this war club, Kahehumakua, was a very large one, for it was
nothing else but a tree with its branches and leaves still on; and when
carried by Kauahoa, the birds would perch and sing in it.)
When Kawelo saw Kauahoa coming down the hill and saw how large he was,
casting a large shadow because of his great height, he began to have
some fear of his chances. When Kauahoa arrived in the presence of
Kawelo, Kawelo picked up his club and took his stand by the side of
Kanewahineikiaoha, his wife, to the right of Kauahoa; his brother stood
to the left of Kauahoa, and his adopted sons stood behind. As Kawelo
stood up with his war club, which was ten fathoms in length, the club
with one end on the ground only could reach to the middle of Kauahoa,
showing that Kauahoa was about twenty fathoms in height. [54] In
standing thus, Kawelo was almost overcome with fear of Kauahoa, for
Kawelo was only educated in two ways of fighting with the war club; the
stroke from the ground upwards and the one from above downwards. He was
not taught in the side strokes. Therefore, Kawelo began to study how to
overcome his opponent, but for a time he was undecided what to do,
which made him very uncertain of the outcome. This studying took him
some time and gradually his fears began to vanish, as he decided to
fight until death ended the battle.
After the fear had disappeared, he began to take pity on his opponent;
he remembered of their childhood days and of their lord and king
Aikanaka, so he chanted a mele of love, hoping in this way to put the
matter of their fighting or not up to Kauahoa. Following is the chant:
Swollen and enlarged is the moss of Hanalei,
Swollen is the moss in the eyes of the pointed clouds.
The hand is uselessly broken in a mock fight between children,
For the main fight is yet to come,
Like the letting down of nets in a deep sea,
When the pride of Hanalei [55] is met.
Thou art but a mere bud, he is a full grown cock,
For the sea is ceaseless in its beating.
Kauahoa, the pride of Hanalei, is here;
Kamalama, the pride of Kualoa, is risen;
Kawelo, the pride of Waikiki, is risen;
Kaelehapuna, the pride of Ewa, is risen;
Kalaumeki, the pride of Waianae, is risen. [56]
Let us then cease fighting and rest in the noon of the day.
Put away the fighting, my brother,
And leave me, your own kindred,
For these are not the days for me to make myself known. [57]
My companion in childhood’s wanderings,
My companion in stringing the lehua blossoms of Waikaee,
Where you and I as boys did string them,
A wreath for our older brother and lord. [58]
Say, Kanewahineikiaoha, [59]
Throw up your pikoi [60]
To the top, to the very top,
To the ridgepole of Hanalei.
Arise thou, Hanalei.
As soon as Kanewahineikiaoha heard the order of Kawelo in his chant, to
throw up the pikoi, she immediately threw it up, and Kawelo heard the
noise of the ball as it entangled in the top of the club. Kawelo then
looked up, and, when he saw that the pikoi was tangled, he continued
chanting:
Hanalei, the cold land, the wet land,
The land where the end is.
For Kauahoa, the stalwart youth of Hanalei, is here.
Kauahoa replied: “This club will never spare you in the day of battle.
You have slain our men so that there are none left; how can you then
expect this club to spare you? As it has been your deal, you can see
the result; and when it will be my deal, I will see the result.”
In this reply by Kauahoa, Kawelo was filled with a great fear, but when
his mind went back to their childhood days and remembered how his kite
got tangled up with Kauahoa’s kite and how Kauahoa’s kite broke away,
and how Kauahoa was afraid to fight him, he made up his mind that he
would again be the master this day; [61] so he again chanted to Kauahoa
as follows:
Hanalei, the land of rain,
The cold land, the wet land,
The land where the end is.
Sitting there, delaying there,
For the anger of Honokoa is reviling.
At the cliff of Kalehuawehe
Where the lama and wiliwili [62] bloom,
Where the rain sweeps on the outside of Mamalahoa.
Kauahoa, the stalwart youth of Hanalei,
The person of whom Kamalama is afraid, Kauahoa,
For he is indeed large.
He is the largest man
Of Kauai, Kauahoa.