The answer of the desolate creature, grateful for Hiiaka's recognition and kind attention, was that pretty mele appropriated by hula folk as the wreath-song, already given (p. 56), which will bear repetition:

Ke lei mai la o Ka-ula i ke kai, e-e! Ke malamalama o Niihau, ua malie. A malie, pa ka Inu-wai. Ke inu mai la na hala o Naue i ke kai. 5 No Naue ka hala, no Puna ka wahine, No ka lua no i Kilauea. [Page 213]

[Translation]

Kaula wreathes her brow with the ocean; Niihau shines forth in the calm. After the calm blows the Inu-wai, And the palms of Naue drink of the salt. 5 From Naue the palm, from Puna the maid, Aye, from the pit of Kilauea.

The hula mu'u-mu'u, literally the dance of the maimed, has long been out of vogue, so that the author has met with but one person, and he not a practitioner of the hula, who has witnessed its performance. This was in Puna, Hawaii; the performance was by women only and was without instrumental accompaniment. The actors were seated in a half-reclining position, or kneeling. Their arms, as if in imitation of a maimed person, were bent at the elbows and doubled up, so that their gestures were made with the upper arms. The mele they cantillated went as follows:

Pii ana a-ama,[402] A-ama kai nui; Kai pua-lena; A-ama, pai-e-a,[403] 5 Naholo i lea laupapa. Popo'i, popo'i, popo'i! Pii mai pipipi,[404] alea-lea; Noho i ka malua kai O-u,[405] o-i kela. 10 Ai ka limu akaha-kaha;[406] Ku e, Kahiki, i ke kai nui! I ke kai pualena a Kane! A ke Akua o ka lua, Ua hiki i kai! 15 Ai humu-humu, E lau, e lau e, Ka opihi[407] koele! Pa i uka, pa i kai, Kahi a ke Akua i pe'e ai. 20 Pe'e oe a nalo loa; Ua nalo na Pele. E hua'i e, hua'i e, hua'i, O Ku ka mahu nui akea![408] Iho i kai o ka Milo-holu;[409] 25 Auau meliana i ka wai o ke Akua. Ke a e, ke a mai la Ke ahi a ka Wahine. E hula e, e hula e, e hula e! E hula mai oukou! 30 Ua noa no Manamana-ia-kalu-e-a, Puili kua, puili alo; Holo i kai, holo i uka, Holo i ka lua o Pele— He Akua ai pohaku no Puna. 35 O Pi,[410] o Pa,[410] uhini mai ana, O Pele i ka lua. A noa!

[Footnote 402: A-ama. An edible black crab. When the surf is high, it climbs up on the rocks.]

[Footnote 403: Pai-e-a. An edible gray crab. The favorite time for taking these crabs is when the high tide or surf forces them to leave the water for protection.]

[Footnote 404: Pipipi. A black seashell (Nerita). With it is often found the alea-lea, a gray shell. These shellfish, like the crabs above mentioned, crawl up the rocks and cliffs during stormy weather.]

[Footnote 405: O-u. A variety of eel that lurks in holes; it is wont to keep its head lifted. The o-i' (same verse) is an eel that snakes about in the shallow water or on the sand at the edge of the water.]

[Footnote 406: Akahakaha. A variety of moss. If one ate of this as he gathered it, the ocean at once became tempestuous.]

[Footnote 407: Opihi. An edible bivalve found in the salt waters of Hawaii. Pele is said to have been very fond of it. There is an old saying, He akua ai opihi o Pele—"Pele is a goddess who eats the opihi." In proof of this statement they point to the huge piles of opihi shells that may be found along the coast of Puna, the middens, no doubt, of the old-time people. Koele was a term applied to the opihi that lives well under water, and therefore are delicate eating. Another meaning given to the word koele—opihi koele,—line 17—is "heaped up."]

[Footnote 408: O Ku ka mahu nui akea. The Hawaiians have come to treat this phrase as one word, an epithet applied to the god Ku. In the author's translation it is treated as an ordinary phrase.]

[Footnote 409: Milo-holu. A grove of milo trees that stood, as some affirm, about that natural basin of warm water in Puna, which the Hawaiians called Wai-wela-wela.]

[Footnote 410: Pi, Pa. These were two imaginary little beings who lived in the crater of Kilauea, and who declared their presence by a tiny shrill piping sound, such, perhaps, as a stick of green wood will make when burning. Pi was active at such times as the fires were retreating, Pa when the fires were rising to a full head.] [Page 214]

[Translation]

Black crabs are climbing, Crabs from the great sea, Sea that is darkling. Black crabs and gray crabs 5 Scuttle o'er the reef-plate. Billows are tumbling and lashing, Beating and surging nigh. Seashells are crawling up; And lurking in holes 10 Are the eels o-u and o-i. But taste the moss akahakaha, Kahiki! how the sea rages! The wild sea of Kane! The pit-god has come to the ocean, 15 All consuming, devouring By heaps the delicate shellfish! Lashing the mount, lashing the sea, Lurking place of the goddess. Pray hide yourself wholly; 20 The Pele women are hidden. Burst forth now! burst forth! Ku with spreading column of smoke! Now down to the grove Milo-holu; Bathe in waters warmed by the goddess. 25 Behold, they burn, behold, they burn! [Page 215] The fires of the goddess burn! Now for the dance, the dance! Bring out the dance made public By Mana-mana-ia-kalu-e-a. 30 Turn about back, turn about face; Advance toward the sea; Advance toward the land, Toward the pit that is Pele's, Portentous consumer of rocks in Puna. 35 Pi and Pa chirp the cricket notes Of Pele at home in her pit. Have done with restraint!

The imagery and language of this mele mark the hula to which it belonged as a performance of strength. [Page 216]



XXIX.—THE HULA KOLANI

For the purpose of this book the rating of any variety of hula must depend not so much on the grace and rhythm of its action on the stage as on the imaginative power and dignity of its poetry. Judgedin this way, the kolani is one of the most interesting and important of the hulas. Its performance seems to have made no attempt at sensationalism, yet it was marked by a peculiar elegance. This must have been due in a measure to the fact that only adepts—olohe—those of the most finished skill in the art of hula, took part in its presentation. It was a hula of gentle, gracious action, acted and sung while the performers kept a sitting position, and was without instrumental accompaniment. The fact that this hula was among the number chosen for presentation before the king (Kamehameha III) while on a tour of Oahu in the year 1846 or 1847 is emphatic testimony as to the esteem in which it was held by the Hawaiians themselves.

The mele that accompanied this hula when performed for the king's entertainment at Waimanalo was the following:

He ua la, he ua, He ua pi'i mai; Noe-noe halau, Halau loa o Lono. 5 O lono oe; Pa-a-a na pali I ka hana a Ikuwa— Poha ko-ele-ele. A Welehu ka malama, 10 Noho i Makali'i; Li'i-li'i ka hana. Aia a e'e-u, He eu ia no ka la hiki. Hiki mai ka Lani, 15 Nauweuwe ka honua, Ka hana a ke ola'i nui: Moe pono ole ko'u po— Na niho ai kalakala, Ka hana a ka Niuhi 20 A mau i ke kai loa. He loa o ka hiki'na. A ua noa, a ua noa. [Page 217]

[Translation]

Lo, the rain, the rain! The rain is approaching; The dance-hall is murky, The great hall of Lono. 5 Listen! its mountain walls Are stunned with the clatter, As when in October, Heaven's thunderbolts shatter. Then follows Welehu, 10 The month of the Pleiads. Scanty the work then done, Save as one's driven. Spur comes with the sun, When day has arisen. 15 Now comes the Heaven-born; The whole land doth shake, As with an earthquake; Sleep quits then my bed: How shall this maw be fed! 20 Great maw of the shark— Eyes that gleam in the dark Of the boundless sea! Rare the king's visits to me. All is free, all is free!

If the author of this Hawaiian idyl sought to adapt its descriptive imagery to the features of any particular landscape, it would almost seem as if he had in view the very region in which Kauikeaouli found himself in the year 1847 as he listened to the mele of this unknown Hawaiian Theocritus. Under the spell of this poem, one is transported to the amphitheater of Mauna-wili, a valley separated from Waimanalo only by a rampart of hills. At one's back are the abrupt walls of Konahuanui; at the right, and encroaching so as almost to shut in the front, stands the knife-edge of Olomana; to the left range the furzy hills of Ulamawao; while directly to the front, looking north, winds the green valley, whose waters, before reaching the ocean, spread out into the fish-ponds and duck swamps of Kailua. It would seem as if this must have been the very picture the idyllic poet had in mind. This smiling, yet rock-walled, amphitheater was the vast dance-hall of Lono—Halau loa o Lono (verse 4)—whose walls were deafened, stunned (pa-a-a, verse 6), by the tumult and uproar of the multitude that always followed in the wake of a king, a multitude whose night-long revels banished sleep: Moe pono ole ko'u po (verse 17). The poet seems to be thinking of this same hungry multitude in verse 18, Na niho ai kalakala, literally the teeth that tear the food; also when he speaks of the Niuhi (verse 19), a mythical shark, the glow of whose eyes was said to be visible [Page 218 for a great distance in the ocean, A mau i ke kai loa (verse 20). Ikuwa, Welehu, Makali'i (verses 7, 9, and 10). These were months in the Hawaiian year corresponding to a part of September, October and November, and a part of December. The Hawaiian year began when the Pleiades (Makali'i) rose at sunset (about November 20), and was divided into twelve lunar months of twenty-nine or thirty days each. The names of the months differed somewhat in the different parts of the group. The month Ikuwa is said to have been named from its being the season of thunderstorms. This does not of itself settle the time of its occurrence, for the reason that in Hawaii the procession of the seasons and the phenomena of weather follow no definite order; that is, though electrical storms occur, there is no definite season of thunderstorms.

Maka-li'i (verse 10) was not only the name of a month and the name applied to the Pleiades, but was also a name given the cool, the rainy, season. The name more commonly given this season was Hooilo. The Makahiki period, continuing four months, occurred at this time of the year. This was a season when the people rested from unnecessary labor and devoted themselves to festivals, games, and special religious observances. Allusion is made to this avoidance of toil in the words Li'ili'i ka hana (verse 11).

One can not fail to perceive a vein of gentle sarcasm cropping up in this idyl, softened, however, by a spirit of honest good feeling. Witness the following: Noe-noe (verse 3), primarily meaning cloudy, conveys also the idea of agreeable coolness and refreshment. Again, while the multitude that follows the king is compared to the ravenous man-eating Niuhi (verse 19), the final remark as to the rarity of the king's visits, He loa o ka hiki'na (verse 21), may be taken not only as a salve to atone for the satire, but as a sly self-gratulation that the affliction is not to be soon repeated. [Page 219]



XXX.—THE HULA KOLEA

There was a peculiar class of hulas named after animals, in each one of which the song-maker developed some characteristic of the animal in a fanciful way, while the actors themselves aimed to portray the animal's movements in a mimetic fashion. To this class belongs the hula kolea.[411] It was a peculiar dance, performed, as an informant asserts, by actors who took the kneeling posture, all being placed in one row and facing in the same direction. There were gestures without stint, arms, heads, and bodies moving in a fashion that seemed to imitate in a far-off way the movements of the bird itself. There was no instrumental accompaniment to the music. The following mele is one that was given with this hula:

Kolea kai piha![412] I aha mai nei? Ku-non[413] mai nei. E aha kakou? 5 E ai kakou.[414] Nohea ka ai?[415] No Kahiki mai.[415] Hiki mai ka Lani,[415] Olina Hawaii, 10 Mala'ela'e ke ala, Nou, e ka Lani. Puili pu ke aloha, Pili me ka'u manu.[416] Ka puana a ka moe? 15 Moe oe a hoolana [Page 220] Ka hali'a i hiki mai; Ooe pu me a'u Noho pu i ka wai aliali. Hai'na ia ka pauna. 20 O ka hua o ke kolea, aia i Kahiki.[417] Hiki mai kou aloha, mae'ele au.

[Footnote 411: The plover.]

[Footnote 412: Kolea kai piha. The kolea is a feeder along the shore, his range limited to a narrower strip as the tide rises. The snare was one of the methods used by the Hawaiians for the capture of this bird. In his efforts to escape when snared he made that futile bobbing motion with his head that must be familiar to every hunter.]

[Footnote 413: Usually the bobbing motion, ku-nou, is the prelude to flight; but the snared bird can do nothing more, a fact which suggests to the poet the nodding and bowing of two lovers when they meet.]

[Footnote 414: E ai kakou. Literally, let us eat. While this figure of speech often has a sensual meaning, it does not necessarily imply grossness. Hawaiian literalness and narrowness of vocabulary is not to be strained to the overthrow of poetical sentiment.]

[Footnote 415: To the question Nohea ka ai?, whence the food? that is, the bird, the poet answers, No Kahiki mai, from Kahiki, from some distant region, the gift of heaven, it may be, as implied in the next line, Hiki mai ka Lani. The coming of the king, or chief, Lani, literally, the heaven-born, with the consummation of the love. Exactly what this connection is no one can say.]

[Footnote 416: In the expression Pili me ka'u manu the poet returns to his figure of a bird as representing a loved one.]

[Footnote 417: O ka hua o ke kolea, aia i Kahiki. In declaring that the egg of the kolea is laid in a foreign land, Kahiki, the poet enigmatizes, basing his thought on some fancied resemblance between the mystery of love and the mystery of the kolea's birth.]

[Translation]

A plover at the full of the sea— What, pray, is it saying to me? It keeps bobbing its noddy. To do what would you counsel? 5 Why, eat its plump body! Whence comes the sweet morsel? From the land of Kahiki. When our sovereign appears, Hawaii gathers for play, 10 Stumble-blocks cleared from the way— Fit rule of the king's highway. Let each one embrace then his love; For me, I'll keep to my dove. Hark now, the signal for bed! 15 Attentive then to love's tread, While a wee bird sings in the soul, My love comes to me heart-whole— Then quaff the waters of bliss. Say what is the key to all this? 20 The plover egg's laid in Kahiki. Your love, when it comes, finds me dumb.

The plover—kolea—is a wayfarer in Hawaii; its nest-home is in distant lands, Kahiki. The Hawaiian poet finds in all this something that reminds him of the spirit of love. [Page 221]



XXXI.—THE HULA MANO

The hula mano, shark-dance, as its name signifies, was a performance that takes class with the hula kolea, already mentioned, as one of the animal dances. But little can be said about the physical features of this hula as a dance, save that the performers took a sitting position, that the action was without sensationalism, and that there was no instrumental accompaniment. The cantillation of the mele was in the distinct and quiet tone and manner which the Hawaiians termed ko'i-honua.

The last and only mention found of its performance in modern times was in the year 1847, during the tour, previously mentioned, which Kamehameha III made about Oahu. The place was the lonely and romantic valley of Waimea, a name already historic from having been the scene of the tragic death of Lieutenant Hergest (of the ship Daedalus) in 1792.

Mele

Auwe! pau au i ka mano nui, e! Lala-keat[418] niho pa-kolu. Pau ka papa-ku o Lono[419] I ka ai ia e ka mano nui, 5 O Niuhi maka ahi, Olapa i ke kai lipo. Ahu e! au-we! A pua ka wili-wili, A nanahu ka mano,[420] [Page 222] 10 Auwe! pau au i ka mano nui! Kai uli, kai ele, Kai popolohua o Kane. A lealea au i ka'u hula, Pau au i ka mano nui!

[Footnote 418: Lala-kea. This proper name, as it seems once to have been, has now become rather the designation of a whole class of man-eating sea-monsters. The Hawaiians worshiped individual sharks as demigods, in the belief that the souls of the departed at death, or even before death, sometimes entered and took possession of them, and that they at times resumed human form. To this class belonged the famous shark Niuhi (verse 5).]

[Footnote 419: Papa-ku o Lono. This was one of the underlying strata of the earth that must be passed before reaching Milu, the hades of the Hawaiians. The cosmogony of the southern Polynesians, according to Mr. Tregear, recognized ten papa, or divisions. "The first division was the earth's surface; the second was the abode of Rongo-ma-tane and Haumia-tiketike; ... the tenth was Meto, or Ameto, or Aweto, wherein the soul of man found utter extinction." (The Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, by Edward Tregear, F.R.G.S., etc., Wellington, New Zealand, 1891.)]

[Footnote 420: Verses 8 and 9 are from an old proverb which the Hawaiians put into the following quatrain:

A pua ka wiliwili, A nanahu ka mano; A pua ka wahine u'i, A nanahu ke kanawai.

[Translation]

When flowers the wiliwili, Then bites the shark; When flowers a young woman. Then bites the law.

The people came to take this old saw seriously and literally, and during the season when the wiliwili (Erythrina monosperma) was clothed in its splendid tufts of brick-red, mothers kept their children from swimming into the deep sea by setting before them the terrors of the shark.]

[Translation]

Song

Alas! I am seized by the shark, great shark! Lala-kea with triple-banked teeth. The stratum of Lono is gone, Torn up by the monster shark, 5 Niuhi with fiery eyes, That flamed in the deep blue sea. Alas! and alas! When flowers the wili-wili tree, That is the time when the shark-god bites. 10 Alas! I am seized by the huge shark! O blue sea, O dark sea, Foam-mottled sea of Kane! What pleasure I took in my dancing! Alas! now consumed by the monster shark!

Who would imagine that a Hawaiian would ever picture the god of love as a shark? As a bird, yes; but as a shark! What a light this fierce idyl casts on the imagination of the people of ancient Hawaii! [Page 223]



XXXII.—THE HULA ILIO

The dog took his part and played his enthusiastic role in the domestic life of every Hawaiian. He did not starve in a fool's paradise, a neglected object of man's superstitious regard, as in Constantinople; nor did he vie with kings and queens in the length and purity of his pedigree, as in England; but in Hawaii he entered with full heart of sympathy into all of man's enterprises, and at his death bequeathed his body a sacrifice to men and gods. It was fitting that the Hawaiian poet should celebrate the dog and his altogether virtuous and altruistic services to mankind. The hula ilio may be considered as part of Hawaii's tribute to man's most faithful friend, the dog.

The hula ilio was a classic performance that demanded of the actors much physical stir; they shifted their position, now sitting, now standing; they moved from place to place; indulged in many gestures, sometimes as if imitating the motions of the dog. This hula has long been out of commission. Like the two animal-hulas previously mentioned, it was performed without the aid of instrumental accompaniment.

The allusions in this mele are to the mythical story that tells of Kane's drinking, revels on the heights about Waipi'o valley; how he and his fellows by the noise of their furious conching disturbed the prayers and rituals of King Liloa and his priests, Kane himself being the chief offender by his blowing on the conch-shell Kihapu, stolen from Liloa's temple of Paka'alana: its recovery by the wit and dramatic action of the gifted dog Puapua-lenalena. (See p. 131.)

Mele

Ku e, nana e! Makole[421] o Ku! Hoolei ia ka lei,[422] I lei no Puapua-lenalena, 5 He lei hinano no Kahili,[423] He wehiwehi no Niho-ku[424] [Page 224] Kaanini ka lani,[425] uwe ka honua: A aoa aku oe; Lohe o Hiwa-uli,[426] 10 Ka milimili a ka lani. Noho opua i ka malamalama Malama ia ka ipu.[427] He hano-wai no Kilioe,[428] Wahine noho pali o Haena. 15 Enaena na ahi o Kilauea,[429] Ka haku pali o Kamohoalii.[430] A noho i Waipi'o, Ka pali kapu a Kane. Moe ole ka po o ke alii, 20 Ke kani mau o Kiha-pu. Ukiuki, uluhua ke alii: Hoouna ka elele;[431] Loaa i Kauai o Mano, Kupueu a Wai-uli me Kahili; 25 A ao aku oe, aoa,[432] aoa a aoa. Hana e o Kaua-hoa,[433] Ka mea ū i o Hanalei, Hu'e'a kaua, moe i ke awakea, [Page 225] Kapae ke kaua o ka hoahanau![434] 30 Hookahi no pua o ka oi; Awili pu me ke kaio'e.[435] I lei no Puapua-lenalena. O ku'u luhi ua hiki iho la, Ka nioi o Paka'a-lana.[436] 35 A lana ka manao, hakuko'i 'loko, Ka hae mau ana a Puapua-lenalena, A hiki i Kuma-kahi,[437] Kahi an i noho ai, A hiki iho la ka elele, 40 Inu i ka awa kau-laau o Puna.[438] Aoa, he, he, hene!

[Footnote 421: Makole. Red-eyed; ophthalmic.]

[Footnote 422: The wreath, lei, is not for the god, but for the dog Puapua-lenalena, the one who in the story recovered the stolen conch, Kiha-pu (verse 20), with which god Kane made night hideous and disturbed the repose of pious King Liloa (Moe ole ka po o ke alii, verse 19).]

[Footnote 423: Kahili. Said to be the foster mother of Puapua-lenalena.]

[Footnote 424: Niho-ku. Literally an upright tooth, was the name of the hill on which lived the old couple who were the foster parents of the dog.]

[Footnote 425: Kaanini ka lani, etc. Portents by which heaven and earth expressed their appreciation of the birth of a new prodigy, the dog Puapua-lenalena.]

[Footnote 426: Hiwa-uli. An epithet applied to the island of Hawaii, perhaps on account of the immense extent of territory on that island that was simply black lava; hiwa, black, was a sacred color. The term uli has reference to its verdancy.]

[Footnote 427: Ipu. Wai-uli, the foster father of the dog, while fishing in a mountain brook, brought up a pebble on his hook; his wife, who was childless and yearned for offspring, kept it in a calabash wrapped in choice tapa. In a year or two it had developed into the wonderful dog, Puapua-lenalena. The calabash was the ipu here mentioned, the same as the hano wai (verse 13), a water-container.]

[Footnote 428: Kilioe. A sorceress who lived at Haena, Kauai, on the steep cliffs that were inaccessible to human foot.]

[Footnote 429: Ena-ena, na ahi o Kilauea. "Hot are the fires of Kilauea." The duplicated word ena-ena, taken in connection with Ha-ena in the previous verse, is a capital instance of a form of assonance, or nonterminal rhyme, much favored and occasionally used by Hawaiian poets of the middle period. From the fact that its use here introduces a break in the logical relation which it is hard to reconcile with unity one may think that the poet was seduced from the straight and narrow way by this opportunity for an indulgence that sacrifices reason to rhyme.]

[Footnote 430: Kamoho-alii. The brother of Pele; his person was so sacred that the flames and smoke of Kilauea dared not invade the bank on which he reposed. The connection of thought between this and the main line of argument is not clear.]

[Footnote 431: Hoouna ka elele. According to one story Liloa dispatched a messenger to bring Puapua-lenalena and his master to Waipi'o to aid him in regaining possession of Kiha-pu.]

[Footnote 432: A ao aku oe, aoa ... This indicated the dog's assent. Puapua-lenalena understood what was said to him, but could make no reply in human speech. When a question was put to him, if he wished to make a negative answer, he would keep silent; but if he wished to express assent to a proposition, he barked and frisked about.]

[Footnote 433: Hana e o Kaua-hoa ... No one has been found who can give a satisfactory explanation of the logical connection existing between the passage here cited and the rest of the poem. It treats of an armed conflict between Kauahoa and his cousin Kawelo, a hero from Oahu, which took place on Kauai. Kauahoa was a retainer and soldier of Ai-kanaka, a king of Kauai. The period was in the reign of King Kakuhihewa, of Oahu. Kawelo invaded Kauai with an armed force and made a proposition to Kauahoa which involved treachery to Kauahoa's liege-lord Ai-kanaka. Kauahoa's answer to this proposition is given in verse 28; Hu'e a kaua, moe i ke awakea!—"Strike home, then sleep at midday!" The sleep at midday was the sleep of death.]

[Footnote 434: Kapae ke kaua o ka hoahanau! This was the reply of Kawelo, urging Kauahoa to set the demands of kinship above those of honor and loyalty to his liege-lord. In the battle that ensued Kauahoa came to his death. The story of Kawelo is full of romance.]

[Footnote 435: Kaio'e. Said to be a choice and beautiful flower found on Kauai. It is not described by Hillebrand.]

[Footnote 436: Ka nioi o Paka'a-lana. The doorsill of the temple, heiau, of Paka'a-lana was made of the exceedingly hard wood nioi. It was to this temple that Puapua-lenalena brought the conch Kiha-pu when he had stolen (recovered) it from god Kane.]

[Footnote 437: Qumukahi. See note c on p. 197.]

[Footnote 438: Awa kau-laau o Puna. It is said that in Puna the birds sometimes planted the awa in the stumps or in the crotches of the trees, and this awa was of the finest quality.]

The author of this mele, apparently under the sanction of his poetic license, uses toward the great god Ku a plainness of speech which to us seems satirical; he speaks of him as makole, red-eyed, the result, no doubt, of his notorious addiction to awa, in which he was not alone among the gods. But it is not at all certain that the Hawaiians looked upon this ophthalmic redness as repulsive or disgraceful. Everything connected with awa had for them a cherished value. In the mele given on p. 130 the cry was, "Kane is drunken with awa!" The two gods Kane and Ku were companions in their revels as well as in nobler adventures. Such a poem as this flashes a strong light into the workings of the Hawaiian mind on the creations of their own imagination, the beings who stood to them as gods; not robbing them of their power, not deposing them from the throne of the universe, perhaps not even penetrating the veil of enchantment and mystery with which the popular regard covered them, at the most perhaps giving them a hold on the affections of the people.

[Translation]

Song

Look forth, god Ku, look forth! Huh! Ku is blear-eyed! Aye, weave now the wreath— A wreath for the dog Pua-lena; 5 A hala plume for Kahili, Choice garlands from Niho-ku. [Page 226] There was a scurry of clouds, earth, groaned; The sound of your baying reached Hawaii the verdant, the pet of the gods; 10 A portent was seen in the heavens. You were kept in a cradle of gourd, Water-gourd of the witch Kilioe, Who haunted the cliffs of Haena— The fiery blasts of the crater 15 Touch not Kamoho-alii's cliff. Your travel reaches Waipi'o, The sacred cliff of god Kane. Sleep fled the bed of the king At the din of the conch Kiha-pu. 20 The king was tormented, depressed; His messenger sped on his way; Found help from Kanai of Mano— The marvelous foster child, By Waiuli, Kahuli, upreared; 25 Your answer, a-o-a, a-o-a!— 'Twas thus Kauahoa made ready betimes, That hero of old Hanalei— "Strike home! then sleep at midday!" "God fend a war between kindred!" 30 One flower all other surpasses; Twine with it a wreath of kai-o'e, A chaplet to crown Pua-lena. My labor now has its reward, The doorsill of Pa-ka'a-lana. 35 My heart leaps up in great cheer; The bay of the dog greets my ear, It reaches East Cape by the sea, Where Puna gave refuge to thee, Till came the king's herald, hot-foot, 40 And quaffed the awa's tree-grown root. A-o-a, a-o-a, he, he, hene!

The problem to be solved by the translator of this peculiar mele is a difficult one. It involves a constant readjustment of the mental standpoint to meet the poet's vagrant fancy, which to us seems to occupy no consistent point of view. If this difficulty arises from the author's own lack of insight, he can at least absolve himself from the charge of negligence and lack of effort to discover the standpoint that shall give unity to the whole composition; and can console himself with the reflection that no native Hawaiian scholar with whom he has conferred has been able to give a key to the solution of this problem. In truth, the native Hawaiian scholars of to-day do not appreciate as we do the necessity of holding fast to one viewpoint. They seem to be willing to accept with gusto any production of their old-time singers, though they may not be able to explain them, and though to us, in whose hearts the songs of the masters ever make music, they may seem empty riddles. [Page 227] The solution of this problem here furnished is based on careful study of the text and of the allusions to tradition and myth that therein abound. Its expression in the translation has rendered necessary occasional slight departures from absolute literalness, and has involved the supplying of certain conjunctive and explanatory words and phrases of which the original, it is true, gives no hint, but without which the text would be meaningless.

One learned Hawaiian with whom the author has enjoyed much conference persists in taking a most discouraging and pessimistic view of this mele. It is gratifying to be able to differ from him in this matter and to be able to sustain one's position by the consenting opinion of other Hawaiians equally accomplished as the learned friend just referred to.

The incidents in the story of Puapua-lenalena alluded to in the mele do not exactly chime with any version of the legend met with. That is not strange. Hawaiian legends of necessity had many variants, especially where, as in this case, the adventures of the hero occurred in part on one and in part on another island. The author's knowledge of this story is derived from various independent sources, mainly from a version given to his brother, Joseph S. Emerson, who took it down from the words of an intelligent Hawaiian youth of Kohala.

English literature, so far as known to the author, does not furnish any example that is exactly comparable to or that will serve as an illustration of this nonterminal rhyme, which abounds in Hawaiian poetry. Perhaps the following will serve the purpose of illustration:

'Twas the swine of Gadara, fattened on mast. The mast-head watch of a ship was the last To see the wild herd careering past,

Or such a combination as this:

He was a mere flat, Yet flattered the girls.

Such artificial productions as these give us but a momentary intellectual entertainment. While the intellectual element in them was not lacking with the Hawaiians, the predominant feeling, no doubt, was a sensuous delight coming from the repetition of a full-throated vowel-combination. [Page 228]



XXXIII.—THE HULA PUA'A

The hula pua'a rounds out the number of animal-dances that have survived the wreck of time, or the memory of which has come down to us. It was a dance in which only the olapa took part without the aid of instrumental accompaniment. Women as well as men were eligible as actors in its performance. The actors put much spirit into the action, beating the chest, flinging their arms in a strenuous fashion, throwing the body into strained attitudes, at times bending so far back as almost to touch the floor. This energy seems to have invaded the song, and the cantillation of the mele is said to have been done in that energetic manner called ai-ha'a.

The hula pua'a seems to have been native to Kauai. The author has not been able to learn of its performance within historic times on any other island.

The student of Hawaiian mythology naturally asks whether the hula pua'a concerned itself with the doings of the mythological hog-deity Kama-pua'a whose amour with Pele was the scandal of Hawaiian mythology. It takes but a superficial reading of the mele to answer this question in the affirmative.

The following mele, or oli more properly, which was used in connection with the hula pua'a, is said to have been the joint production of two women, the daughters of a famous bard named Kana, who was the reputed brother of Limaloa (long-armed), a wonder-working hero who piled up the clouds in imitation of houses and mountains and who produced the mirage:

Oli

Ko'i maka nui,[439] Ike ia na pae moku, Na moku o Mala-la-walu,[440] Ka noho a Ka-maulu-a-niho, 5 Kupuna o Kama-pua'a. [Page 229] Ike ia ka hono a Pii-lani;[441] Ku ka paoa i na mokupuni. Ua puni au ia Pele, Ka u'i noho mau i Kilauea, 10 Anau hewa i ke a o Puna. Keiki kolohe a Ku ame Hina—[442] Hina ka opua, kau i ke olewa, Ke ao pua'a[443] maalo i Haupu. Haku'i ku'u manao e hoi[444] i Kahiki; 15 Pau ole ka'u hoohihi ia Hale-ma'u-ma'u,[445] I ka pali kapu a Ka-moho-alii.[446] Kela kuahiwi a mau a ke ahi. He manao no ko'u e noho pu; Pale 'a mai e ka hilahila, 20 I ka hakukole ia mai e ke Akua wahine Pale oe, pale au, iloko o ka hilahila; A hilahila wale ia iho no e oe; Nau no ia hale i noho.[447] Ka hana ia a ke Ko'i maka nui, 25 Ike ia na pae moku. He hiapo[448] au na Olopana, He hi'i-alo na Ku-ula, Ka mea nana na haka moa; [Page 230] Noho i ka uka o Ka-liu-wa'a;[449] 30 Ku'u wa'a ia ho'i i Kahiki. Pau ia ike ana ia Hawaii, Ka aina a ke Akua i hiki mai ai, I noho malihini ai i na moku o Hawaii. Malihini oe, malihini au, 35 Ko'i maka nui, ike ia na-pae opuaa. A pepelu, a pepelu, a pepelu Ko ia la huelo! pili i ka lemu! Hu! hu! hu! hu! Ka-haku-ma'a-lani[450] kou inoa! 40 A e o mai oe, e Kane-hoa-lani. Ua noa.

[Footnote 439: Ko'i maka nui The word maka, which from the connection here must mean the edge of an ax, is the word generally used to mean an eye. Insistence on their peculiarity leads one to think that there must have been something remarkable about the eyes of Kama-pua'a. One account describes Kama-pua'a as having eight eyes and as many feet. It is said that on one occasion as Kama-pua'a was lying in wait for Pele in a volcanic bubble in the plains of Puna Pele's sisters recognized his presence by the gleam of his eyes. They immediately walled up the only door of exit.]

[Footnote 440: Mala-la-walu. A celebrated king of Maui, said to have been a just ruler, who was slain in battle on Hawaii while making war against Lono-i-ka-makahiki, the rightful ruler of the island. It may be asked if the name is not introduced here because of the word walu (eight) as a reference to Kama-pua'a's eight eyes.]

[Footnote 441: Pi'i-lani. A king of Maui, father-in-law to Umi, the son of Liloa.]

[Footnote 442: Hina. There were several Hinas in Hawaiian mythology and tradition. Olopana, the son of Kamaulu-a-niho (Fornander gives this name as Ka-maunu-a-niho), on his arrival from Kahiki, settled in Koolau and married a woman named Hina. Kama-pua'a is said to be the natural son of Hina by Kahiki-ula, the brother of Olopana. To this Olopana was attributed the heiau of Kawaewae at Kaneohe.]

[Footnote 443: A o pu-a'a. The cloud-cap that often rested on the summit of Haupu, a mountain on Kauai, near Koloa, is said to have resembled the shape of a pig. It was a common saying, "The pig is resting on Haupu."]

[Footnote 444: Ho'i. To return. This argues that, if Kama-pua'a was not originally from Kahiki, he had at least visited there.]

[Footnote 445: Hale-ma'u-ma'u. This was an ancient lava-cone which until within a few years continued to be the most famous fire-lake in the caldera of Kilauea. It was so called, probably, because the roughness of its walls gave it a resemblance to one of those little shelters made from rough ama'u fern such as visitors put up for temporary convenience. The word has not the same pronunciation and is not to be confounded with that other word mau, meaning everlasting.]

[Footnote 446: Kamoho-ali'i. The brother of Pele; in one metamorphosis he took the form of a shark. A high point in the northwest quarter of the wall of Kilauea was considered his special residence and regarded as so sacred that no smoke or flame from the volcano ever touched it. He made his abode chiefly In the earth's underground caverns, through which the sun made its nightly transit from West back to the East. He often retained the orb of the day to warm and illumine his abode. On one such occasion the hero Mawi descended into this region and stole away the sun that his mother Hina might have the benefit of its heat in drying her tapas.]

[Footnote 447: Hale i noho. The word hale, meaning house, is frequently used metaphorically for the human body, especially that of a woman. Pele thus acknowledges her amour with Kama-pua'a.]

[Footnote 448: Hiapo. A firstborn child. Legends are at variance with one another as to the parentage of Kama-pua'a. According to the legend referred to previously, Kama-pua'a was the son of Olopana's wife Hina, his true father being Kahiki-ula, the brother of Olopana. Olopana seems to have treated him as his own son. After Kama-pua'a's robbery of his mother's henroosts, Olopana chased the thief into the mountains and captured him. Kama eventually turned the tables against his benefactor and caused the death of Olopana through the treachery of a priest in a heiau; he was offered up on the altar as a sacrifice.]

[Footnote 449: Ka-liu-wa'a. The bilge of the canoe. This is the name of a deep and narrow valley at Hauula, Koolau, Oahu, and is well worth a visit. Kama-pua'a, hard pressed by the host of his enemies, broke through the multitude that encompassed him on the land side and with his followers escaped up this narrow gorge. When the valley came to an abrupt end before him, and he could retreat no farther, he reared up on his hind legs and scaled the mountain wall; his feet, as he sprang up, scored the precipice with immense hollowed-out grooves or flutings. The Hawaiians call these wa'a from their resemblance to the hollow of a Hawaiian canoe. This feat of the hog-god compelled recognition of Kama-pua'a as a deity; and from that time no one entered Ka-liu-wa'a valley without making an offering to Kama-pua'a.]

[Footnote 450: Ka-haku-ma'a-lani. A name evidently applied to Kama-pua'a.]

[Translation]

Song

Ax of broadest edge I'm hight; The island groups I've visited, Islands of Mala-la-walu, Seat of Ka-maulu-a-niho, 5 Grandam of Kama, the swine-god. I have seen Pi'i-lani's glory, Whose fame spreads over the islands. Enamored was I of Pele; Her beauty holds court at the fire-pit, 10 Given to ravage the plains of Puna. Mischievous son of Ku, and of Hina, Whose cloud-bloom hangs in ether, The pig-shaped cloud that shadows Haupu. An impulse comes to return to Kahiki— 15 The chains of the pit still gall me, The tabu cliff of Ka-moho-alii, The mount that is ever ablaze. I thought to have domiciled with her; Was driven away by mere shame— 20 The shameful abuse of the goddess! Go thou, go I—a truce to the shame. It was your manners that shamed me. Free to you was the house we lived in. These were the deeds of Broad-edged-Ax, 25 Who has seen the whole group of islands. Olopana's firstborn am I, Nursed in the arms of Ku-ula; [Page 231] Hers were the roosts for the gamecocks. The wilds of Ka-liu-wa'a my home, 30 That too my craft back to Kahiki; This my farewell to Hawaii, Land of the God's immigration. Strangers we came to Hawaii; A stranger thou, a stranger I, 35 Called Broad-edged-Ax: I've read the cloud-omens in heaven. It curls, it curls! his tail—it curls! Look, it clings to his buttocks! Faugh, faugh, faugh, faugh, uff! 40 What! Ka-haku-ma'a-lani your name! Answer from heaven, oh Kane! My song it is done!

If one can trust, the statement of the Hawaiian who communicated the above mele, it represents only a portion of the whole composition, the first canto—if we may so term it—having dropped into the limbo of forgetfulness. The author's study of the mele lends no countenance to such a view. Like all Hawaiian poetry, this mele wastes no time with introductory flourishes; it plunges at once in medias res.

Hawaiian mythology figured Pele, the goddess of the volcano, as a creature of passion, capable of many metamorphoses; now a wrinkled hag, asleep in a cave on a rough lava bed, with banked fires and only an occasional blue flame playing about her as symbols of her power; now a creature of terror, riding on a chariot of flame and carrying destruction; and now as a young woman of seductive beauty, as when she sought passionate relations with the handsome prince, Lohiau; but in disposition always jealous, fickle, vengeful.

Kama-pua'a was a demigod of anomalous birth, character, and make-up, sharing the nature and form of a man and of a hog, and assuming either form as suited the occasion. He was said to be the nephew of Olopana, a king of Oahu, whose kindness in acting as his foster father he repaid by the robbery of his henroosts and other unfilial conduct. He lived the lawless life of a marauder and freebooter, not confining his operations to one island, but swimming from one to another as the fit took him. On one occasion, when, the farmers of Waipi'o, whom he had robbed, assembled with arms to bar his retreat and to deal vengeance upon him, he charged upon the multitude, overthrew them with great slaughter, and escaped with his plunder.

Toward Pele Kama-pua'a assumed the attitude of a lover, whose approaches she at one time permitted to her peril. The incident took place in one of the water caves—volcanic bubbles—in Puna, and at the level of the ocean; but when he had the audacity to invade her privacy and call to her as she reposed in her home at Kilauea she repelled his advances and answered his persistence with a fiery onset, from which he [Page 232] fled in terror and discomfiture, not halting until he had put the width of many islands and ocean channels between himself and her.

In seeking an explanation of this myth of Pele, the volcano god and Kama-pua'a, who, on occasion, was a sea-monster, there is no necessity to hark back to the old polemics of Asia. Why not account for this remarkable myth as the statement in terms of passion familiar to all Hawaiians of those impressive natural phenomena that were daily going on before them? The spectacle of the smoking mountain pouring out its fiery streams, overwhelming river and forest, halting not until they had invaded the ocean; the awful turmoil as fire and water came in contact; the quick reprisal as the angry waves overswept the land; then the subsiding and retreat of the ocean to its own limits and the restoration of peace and calm, the fiery mount still unmoved, an apparent victory for the volcanic forces. Was it not this spectacular tournament of the elements that the Hawaiian sought to embody and idealize in his myth of Pele and Kama-pua'a?[451]

[Footnote 451: "The Hawaiian tradition of Pele, the dread goddess of the volcanic fires," says Mr. Fornander, "analogous to the Samoan Fe'e, is probably a local adaptation in aftertimes of an elder myth, half forgotten and much distorted. The contest related in the legend between Pele and Kamapua'a, the eight-eyed monster demigod, indicates, however, a confused knowledge of some ancient strife between religious sects, of which the former represented the worshipers of fire and the latter those with whom water was the principal element worthy of adoration." (Abraham Fornander, The Polynesian Race, pp. 51, 52, Trubner & Co., London.)]

The likeness to be found between the amphibious Kama-pua'a and the hog appeals picturesquely to one's imagination in many ways. The very grossness of the hog enables him becomingly to fill the role of the Beast as a foil to Pele, the Beauty. The hog's rooting snout, that ravages the cultivated fields; his panicky retreat when suddenly disturbed; his valiant charge and stout resistance if cornered; his lowered snout in charge or retreat; his curling tail—how graphically all these features appeal to the imagination in support of the comparison which likens him to a tidal wave. [Page 233]



XXXIV.—THE HULA OHELO

The hula ohelo was a very peculiar ancient dance, in which the actors, of both sexes, took a position almost that of reclining, the body supported horizontally by means of the hand and extended leg of one side, in such a manner that flank and buttock did not rest upon the floor, while the free leg and arm of the opposite side swung in wide gestures, now as if describing the arch of heaven, or sweeping the circle of the horizon, now held straight, now curved like a hook. At times the company, acting in concert, would shift their base of support from the right hand to the left hand, or vice versa. The whole action, though fantastical, was conducted with modesty. There was no instrumental accompaniment; but while performing the gymnastics above described the actors chanted the words of a mele to some Old World tune, the melody and rhythm of which are lost.

A peculiar feature of the training to which pupils were subjected in preparation for this dance was to range them in a circle about a large fire, their feet pointing to the hearth. The theory of this practice was that the heat of the fire suppled the limbs and imparted vivacity to the motions, on the same principle apparently as fire enables one to bend into shape a crooked stick. The word kapuahi, fireplace, in the fourth line of the mele, is undoubtedly an allusion to this practice.

The fact that the climate of the islands, except in the mountains and uplands, is rarely so cold as to make it necessary to gather about a fire seems to argue that the custom of practising this dance about a fireplace must have originated in some land of climate more austere than Hawaii.

It is safe to say that very few kumu-hulas have seen and many have not even heard of the hula ohelo. The author has an authentic account of its production at Ewa in the year 1856, its last performance, so far as he can learn, on the public stage.

Mele

1

Ku, oe ko'u wahi ohelo nei la, auwe, auwe! Maka'u au i kau mea nui wali-wali, wali-wali! Ke hoolewa nei, a lewa la, a lewa nei! Minomino, enaena ka ia la kapuani, kapuahi! 5 Nenea i ka la'i o Kona, o Kona, a o Kona! Ponu malino i ke kai hawana-wana, hawana-wana! He makau na ka lawaia nui, a nui e, a nui la! Ke o-e nei ke aho o ka ipu-holoholona, holoholona! [Page 234] Nana, i ka opua makai e, makai la! 10 Maikai ka hana a Mali'o e, a Mali'o la! Kohu pono ka inu ana i ka wai, a wai e! Auwe, ku oe ko'u wahi ohelo nei la, ohelo nei la!

2

Ki-o lele, ki-o lele, ki-o lele, e! Ke mapu mai nei ke ala, ke ala e! 15 Ua malihini ka hale, ua hiki ia, ua hiki e! Ho'i paoa i ka uka o Manai-ula, ula la, ula e! Maanei oe, e ka makemake e noho malie, ma-li-e! Ka pa kolonahe o ka Unulau mahope, ma-ho-pe! Pe'e oe, a pe'e au, pe'e o ia la, 20 A haawe ke aloha i ke kaona, i ke kaona la! Mo-li-a i ka nahele e, nahele la! E hele oe a manao mai i ka luhi mua, a i-mua! O moe hewa na iwi i ke alanui, alanui. Kaapa Hawaii a ka moku nui, a nui e! 25 Nui mai ke aloha a uwe au, a uwe au. Au-we! pau au i ka mano nui, mano nui! Au-we! pau au i ka mano nui, mano nui!

[Translation]

Song

1

Touched, thou art touched by my gesture, I fear, I fear. I dread your mountain of flesh, of flesh; How it sways, how it sways, it sways! I'm scorched by the heat of this hearth, this hearth. 5 We bask in this summer of Kona, of Kona; Calm mantles the whispering sea, the whispering sea. Lo, the hook of the fisherman great, oh so great! The line hums as it runs from the gourd, from the gourd. Regard the cloud-omens over the sea, the sea. 10 Well skilled in his craft is Mali'o, Mali'o. How grateful now were a draught of water, of water! Pardon! thou art touched by thrust of my leg, of my leg!

2

Forth and return, forth and return, forth and return! Now waft the woodland perfumes, the woodland perfumes. 15 The house ere we entered was tenant-free, quite free. Heart-heavy we turn to the greenwood, the greenwood; This the place, Heart's desire, you should tarry, And feel the soft breath of the Unulau, Unulau— Retirement for you, retirement for me, and for him. 20 We'll give then our heart to this task, this great task, And build in the wildwood a shrine, ay a shrine. You go; forget not the toils we have shared, have shared, Lest your bones lie unblest in the road, in the road. How wearisome, long, the road 'bout Hawaii, great Hawaii! 25 Love carries me off with a rush, and I cry, I cry, Alas, I'm devoured by the shark, great shark!

This is not the first time that a Hawaiian poet has figured love by the monster shark.



[Page 235]



XXXV.—THE HULA KILU

The hula kilu was so called from being used in a sport bearing that name which was much patronized by the alii class of the ancient regime. It was a betting game, or, more strictly, forfeits were pledged, the payment of which was met by the performance of a dance, or by the exaction of kisses and embraces. The satisfaction of these forfeits not infrequently called for liberties and concessions that could not be permitted on the spot or in public, but must wait the opportunity of seclusion. There were, no doubt, times when the conduct of the game was carried to such a pitch of license as to offend decency; but as a rule the outward proprieties were seemingly as well regarded as at an old-fashioned husking bee, when the finding of the "red ear" conferred or imposed the privilege or penalty of exacting or granting the blushing tribute of a kiss. Actual improprieties were not witnessed.

The game of kilu was played in an open matted space that lay between the two divisions of the audience—the women being on one side and the men on the other. Any chief of recognized rank in the papa alii was permitted to join in the game; and kings and queens were not above participating in the pleasures of this sport. Once admitted to the hall or inclosure, all were peers and stood on an equal footing as to the rules and privileges of the game. King nor queen could plead exemption from the forfeits incurred nor deny to another the full exercise of privileges acquired under the rules.

The players, five or more of each sex, having been selected by the president, La anoano ("quiet day"), sat facing each other in the space between the spectators. In front of each player stood a conical block of heavy wood, broad at the base to keep it upright. The kilu, with which the game was played, was an oval, one-sided dish, made by cutting in two an egg-shaped coconut shell. The object of the player was to throw his kilu so that it should travel with a sliding and at the same time a rotary motion across the matted floor and hit the wooden block which stood before the one of his choice on the side opposite. The men and the women took turns in playing. A successful hit entitled the player to claim a kiss from his opponent, a toll which was exacted at once. Success in winning ten points made one the victor in the game, and, according to some, entitled him to claim the larger forfeit, [Page 236] such as was customary in the democratic game of ume. The payment of these extreme forfeits was delayed till a convenient season, or might be commuted—-on grounds of policy, or at the request of the loser, if a king or queen—by an equivalent of land or other valuable possession. Still no fault could be found if the winner insisted on the strict payment of the forfeit.

The game of kilu was often got up as a compliment, a supreme expression of hospitality, to distinguished visitors of rank, thus more than making good the polite phrase of the Spanish don, "all that I have is yours."

The fact that the hula kilu was performed by the alii class, who took great pains and by assiduous practice made themselves proficient that they might be ready to exhibit their accomplishment before the public, was a guarantee that this hula, when performed by them, would be of more than usual grace and vivacity. When performed in the halau as a tabu dance, according to some, the olapa alone took part, and the number of dancers, never very large, was at times limited to one performer. Authorities differ as to whether any musical instrument was used as an accompaniment. From an allusion to this dance met with in an old story it is quite certain that the drum was sometimes used as an accompaniment.

Let us picture to ourselves the scene: A shadowy, flower-scented hall; the elite of some Hawaiian court and their guests, gathered, in accord with old-time practice, to contend in a tournament of wit and grace and skill, vying with one another for the prize of beauty. The president has established order in the assembly; the opposing players have taken their stations, each one seated behind his target-block. The tallykeeper of one side now makes the challenge. "This kilu," says he, "is a love token; the forfeit a kiss." An Apollo of the opposite side joyfully takes up the gauge. His tallykeeper introduces him by name. He plumes himself like a wild bird of gay feather, standing forth in the decorous finery of his rank, girded and flowerbedecked after the manner of the halau, eager to win applause for his party not less than to secure for himself the loving reward of victory. In his hand is the instrument of the play, the kilu; the artillery of love, however, with which he is to assail the heart and warm the imagination of the fair woman opposed to him is the song he shoots from his lips.

The story of the two songs next to be presented is one, and will show us a side of Hawaiian life on which we can not afford entirely to close our eyes. During the stay at Lahaina of Kamehameha, called the Great—whom an informant in this matter always calls "the murderer," in protest against the treacherous assassination of Keoua, which took place at Kawaihae in Kamehameha's very presence—a high chiefess of his court named Kalola engaged in a love affair with a young [Page 237] man of rank named Ka'i-ama. He was much her junior, but this did not prevent his infatuation. Early one morning she rose, leaving him sound asleep, and took canoe for Molokai to serve as one of the escort to the body of her relative, Keola, on the way to its place of sepulture.

Some woman, appreciating the situation, posted to the house and waked the sleeper with the information. Ka'iama hastened to the shore, and as he strained his vision to gain sight of the woman of his infatuation the men at the paddles and the bristling throng on the central platform—the pola—of the craft, vanishing in the twilight, made on his imagination the impression of a hazy mountain thicket floating on the waves, but hiding from view some rare flower. He gave vent to his feelings in song:

Mele

Pua ehu kamalena[452] ka uka o Kapa'a; Luhi-ehu iho la[453] ka pua i Maile-huna; Hele a ha ka iwi[454] a ke Koolau, Ke pua mai i ka maka o ka nahelehele, 5 I hali hoo-muu,[455] hoohalana i Wailua. Pa kahea a Koolau-wahine, O Pua-ke'i, e-e-e-e! He pua laukona[456] ka moe e aloh' ai; O ia moe la, e kaulele hou[457] 10 No ka po i hala aku aku nei. Hoiho kaua a eloelo, e ka hoa, e, A hookahi!

[Translation]

Song

Misty and dim, a bush in the wilds of Kapa'a, The paddlers bend to their work, as the flower-laden Shrub inclines to the earth in Maile-huna; They sway like reeds in the breeze to crack their bones 5 Such the sight as I look at this tossing grove, The rhythmic dip and swing on to Wailua. My call to the witch shall fly with the breeze, Shall be heard at Pua-ke'i, e-he, e-he! The flower-stalk Laukona beguiles man to love, 10 Can bring back the taste of joys once our own, [Page 238] Make real again the hours that are flown. Turn hither, mine own, let's drench us with love— Just for one night!

[Footnote 452: Pua ehu Kamalena (yellow child). This exclamation is descriptive of the man's visual impression on seeing the canoe with its crowd of passengers and paddlers, in the misty light of morning, receding in the distance. The kamalena is a mountain shrub having a yellow flower.]

[Footnote 453: Luhi ehu iho la. Refers to the drooping of a shrub under the weight of its leaves and flowers, a figure applied to the bending of the paddlemen to their work.]

[Footnote 454: Hele a ha ka iwi. An exaggerated figure of speech, referring to the exertions of the men at their paddles (ha, to strain).]

[Footnote 455: I hali hoomu. This refers in a fine spirit of exaggeration to the regular motions of the paddlers.]

[Footnote 456: Pua laukona. A kind of sugar-cane which was prescribed and used by the kahunas as an aphrodisiac.]

[Footnote 457: Kaulele hou. To experience, or to enjoy, again.]

The unchivalrous indiscretion of the youth in publishing the secret of his amour elicited from Kamehameha only the sarcastic remark, "Couldn't he eat his food and keep his mouth shut?" The lady herself took the same view of his action. There was no evasion in her reply; her only reproach was for his childishness in blabbing.

Mele

Kalakalaihi, kaha[458] ka La ma ke kua o Lehua; Lulana iho la ka pihe a ke Akua;[459] Ea mai ka Unulau[460] o Halali'i; Lawe ke Koolau-wahine[461] i ka hoa la, lilo; 5 Hao ka Mikioi[462] i ke kai o Lehua: Puwa-i'a na hoa-makani[463] mai lalo, e-e-e, a. I hoonalonalo i ke aloha, pe'e ma-loko; Ha'i ka wai-maka hanini; I ike aku no i ka uwe ana iho; 10 Pela wale no ka hoa kamalii, e-e, a!

[Translation]

Song

The sun-furrow gleams at the back of Lehua; The King's had his fill of scandal and chaff; The wind-god empties his lungs with a laugh; And the Mikioi tosses the sea at Lehua, 5 As the trade-wind wafts his friend on her way— A congress of airs that ruffles the bay. Hide love 'neath a mask—that's all I would ask. To spill but a tear makes our love-tale appear; He pours out his woe; I've seen it, I know; 10 That's the way with a boy-friend, heigh-ho!

The art of translating from the Hawaiian into the English tongue consists largely in a fitting substitution of generic for specific terms. The Hawaiian, for instance, had at command scores of specific names for the same wind, or for [Page 239] the local modifications that were inflicted upon it by the features of the landscape. One might almost say that every cape and headland imposed a new nomenclature upon the breeze whose direction it influenced. He rarely contented himself with using a broad and comprehensive term when he could match the situation with a special form.

[Footnote 458: The picture of the sun declining, kaha, to the west, its reflected light-track, kala kalaihi, farrowing the ocean with glory, may be taken to be figurative of the loved and beautiful woman, Kalola, speeding on her westward canoe-flight.]

[Footnote 459: Akua. Literally a god, must stand for the king.]

[Footnote 460: Unulau. A special name for the trade-wind.]

[Footnote 461: Koolau-wahine. Likewise another name for the trade-wind, here represented as carrying off the (man's) companion.]

[Footnote 462: Mikioi. An impetuous, gusty wind is represented as lashing the ocean at Lehua, thus picturing the emotional stir attending Kalola's departure.]

[Footnote 463: The words Puwa-i'a na hoa makani, which literally mean that the congress of winds, na hoa makani, have stirred up a commotion, even as a school of fish agitate the surface, of the ocean, puwa-i'a, refer to the scandal caused by Ka'i-ama's conduct.]

The singer restricts her blame to charging her youthful lover with an indiscreet exhibition of childish emotion. The mere display of emotion evinced by the shedding of tears was in itself a laudable action and in good form.

This first reply of the woman to her youthful lover did not by any means exhaust her armament of retaliation. When she next treats of the affair it is with an added touch of sarcasm and yet with a sang-froid that proved it had not unsettled her nerves.

Mele

Ula Kala'e-loa[464] i ka lepo a ka makani; Hoonu'anu'a na pua i Kalama-ula, He hoa i ka la'i a ka manu—[465] Manu ai ia i ka hoa laukona. 5 I keke lau-au'a ia e ka moe; E kuhi ana ia he kanaka e. Oau no keia mai luna a lalo; Huna, ke aloha, pe'e maloko. Ike 'a i ka uwe ana iho. 10 Pela ka hoa kamalii— He uwe wale ke kamalii.

[Translation]

Song

Red glows Kala'e through the wind-blown dust That defiles the flowers of Lama-ula, Outraged by the croak of this bird, That eats of the aphrodisiac cane, 5 And then boasts the privileged bed. He makes me a creature of outlaw: True to myself from crown to foot-sole, My love I've kept sacred, pent up within. He flouts it as common, weeping it forth— 10 That is the way with a child-friend; A child just blubbers at nothing.

[Footnote 464: Kala'e-loa. The full name of the place on Molokai now known as Kala'e.]

[Footnote 465: La'i a ka manu. Some claim this to be a proper name, La'i-a-ka-manu, that of a place near Kala'e. However that may be the poet evidently uses the phrase here in its etymological sense.]

To return to the description of the game, the player, having uttered his vaunt in true knightly fashion, with a dexterous whirl now sends his kilu spinning on its course. If his play is successful and the kilu strikes the target on the other [Page 240] side at which he aims, the audience, who have kept silence till now, break forth in applause, and his tally-keeper proclaims his success in boastful fashion:

Oli

A uweuwe ke ko'e a ke kae; Puehuehu ka la, komo inoino; Kakia, kahe ka ua ilalo.

[Translation]

Now wriggles the worm to its goal; A tousling; a hasty encounter; A grapple; down falls the rain.

It is now the winner's right to cross over and claim his forfeit. The audience deals out applause or derision in unstinted measure; the enthusiasm reaches fever-point when some one makes himself the champion of the game by bringing his score up to ten, the limit. The play is often kept up till morning, to be resumed the following night.[466]

[Footnote 466: The account above given is largely based on David Malo's description of the game kilu. In his confessedly imperfect list of the hulas he does not mention the hula kilu. This hula was, however, included in the list of hulas announced for performance in the programme of King Kalakaua's coronation ceremonies.]

Here also is a mele, which tradition reports to have been cantillated by Hiiaka, the sister of Pele, during her famous kilu contest with the Princess Pele-ula, which took place at Kou—the ancient name for Honolulu—on Hiiaka's voyage of return from Kauai to her sister's court at Kilauea. In this affair Lohiau and Wahineoma'o contended on the side of Hiiaka, while Pele-ula was assisted by her husband, Kou, and by other experts. But on this occasion the dice were cogged; the victory was won not by human skill but by the magical power of Hiiaka, who turned Pele-ula's kilu away from the target each time she threw it, but used her gift to compel it to the mark when the kilu was cast by herself.

Mele

Ku'u noa mai ka makani kuehu-kapa o Kalalau,[467] Mai na pali ku'i[468] o Makua-iki, Ke lawe la i ka haka,[469] a lilo! A lilo o-e, la! 5 Ku'u kane i ka uhu ka'i o Maka-pu'u, Huki iluna ka Lae-o-ka-laau;[470] Oia pali makua-ole[471] olaila. Ohiohi ku ka pali o Ulamao, e-e! A lilo oe, la!

[Footnote 467: Ka-lalau (in the translation by the omission of the article ka, shortened to Lalau). A deep cliff-bound valley on the windward side of Kauai, accessible only at certain times of the year by boats and by a steep mountain trail at its head.]

[Footnote 468: Pali ku'i. Ku'i means literally to join together, to splice or piece out. The cliffs tower one above another like the steps of a stairway.]

[Footnote 469: Haka. A ladder or frame such as was laid across a chasm or set up at an impassable place in a precipitous road. The windward side of Kauai about Kalalau abounded in such places.]

[Footnote 470: Lae-o-ka-laau. The southwest point of Molokai, on which is a light-house.]

[Footnote 471: Makua-ole. Literally fatherless, perhaps meaning remarkable, without peer.]

[Page 241]

[Translation]

Song

Comrade mine in the robe-stripping gusts of Lalau, On the up-piled beetling cliffs of Makua, The ladder... is taken away... it is gone! Your way is cut off, my man! 5 With you I've backed the uhu of Maka-pu'u, Tugging them up the steeps of Point-o'-woods, A cliff that stands fatherless, even as Sheer stands the pali of Ula-mao— And thus... you are lost!

This is but a fragment of the song which Hiiaka pours out in her efforts to calm the fateful storm which she saw piling up along the horizon. The situation was tragic. Hiiaka, daring fate, defying the dragons and monsters of the primeval world, had made the journey to Kauai, had snatched away from death the life of Lohiau and with incredible self-denial was escorting the rare youth to the arms of her sister, whose jealousy she knew to be quick as the lightning, her vengeance hot as the breath of the volcano, and now she saw this featherhead, with monstrous ingratitude, dallying with fate, calling down upon the whole party the doom she alone could appreciate, all for the smile of a siren whose charms attracted him for the moment; but, worst of all, her heart condemned her as a traitress—she loved him.

Hiiaka held the trick-card and she won; by her miraculous power she kept the game in her own hands and foiled the hopes of the lovers.

Mele

Ula ka lani ia Kanaloa,[472] Ula ma'ema'e ke ahi a ke A'e-loa.[473] Pohina iluna i ke ao makani, Naue pu no i ka ilikai o Makahana-loa,[474] 5 Makemake i ka ua lihau.[475] Aohe hana i koe a Ka-wai-loa;[476] Noho a ka li'u-la i ke kula. I kula oe no ka makemake, a hiki iho, I hoa hula no ka la le'ale'a, 10 I noho pu me ka uahi pohina.[477] [Page 242] Hina oe i ka Naulu,[478] noho pu me ka Inuwai.[479] Akahi no a pumehana ka hale, ua hiki oe: Ma'ema'e ka luna i Haupu.[480] Upu ka makemake e ike ia Ka-ala. 15 He ala ka makemake e ike ia Lihu'e;[481] Ku'u uka ia noho ia Halemano.[482] Maanei oe, pale oe, pale au, Hana ne'e ke kikala i ka ha'i keiki. Hai'na ka manao—noho i Waimea, 20 Hoonu'u pu i ka i'a ku o ka aina.[483] E kala oe a kala au a kala ia Ku, Ahuena.[484]

[Footnote 472: Kanaloa. One of the four great gods of the Hawaiians, here represented as playing the part of Phoebus Apollo.]

[Footnote 473: A'e-loa. The name of a wind whose blowing was said to be favorable to the fisherman in this region.]

[Footnote 474: Makahana-loa, A favorite fishing ground. The word ilikai ("skin of the sea") graphically depicts the calm of the region. In the translation the name aforementioned has been shortened to Kahana.]

[Footnote 475: Lihau. A gentle rain that was considered favorable to the work of the fisherman.]

[Footnote 476: Ka-wai-loa. A division of Waialua, here seemingly used to mean the farm.]

[Footnote 477: Uahi pohina. Literally gray-headed smoke. It is said that when studying together the words of the mele the pupils and the kumu would often gather about a fire, while the teacher recited and expounded the text. There is a possible allusion to this in the mention of the smoke.]

[Footnote 478: Naulu. A wind.]

[Footnote 479: Inu-wai. A wind that dried up vegetation, here indicating thirst.]

[Footnote 480: Haupu. A mountain on Kauai, sometimes visible on Oahu in clear weather. (See note c, p. 229, on Haupu.)]

[Footnote 481: Lihu'e. A beautiful and romantic region nestled, as the Hawaiians say, "between the thighs of the mountain," Mount Kaala.]

[Footnote 482: Hale-mano. Literally the multitude of houses; a sylvan region bound to the southwestern flank of the Konahuanui range of mountains, a region of legend and romance, since the coming of the white man given over to the ravage and desolation that follow the free-ranging of cattle and horses, the vaquero, and the abusive use of fire and ax by the woodman.]

[Footnote 483: I'a ku o ka aina. Fish common to a region; in this place it was probably the kala, which word is found in the next line, though in a different sense. Here the expression is doubtless a euphemism for dalliance.]

[Footnote 484: Ku, Ahuena. At Waimea, Oahu, stood two rocks on the opposite bluffs that sentineled the bay. These rocks were said to represent respectively the gods Ku and Ahuena, patrons of the local fishermen.]

[Translation]

Song

Kanaloa tints heaven with a blush, 'Tis the flame of the A'e, pure red, And gray the wind-clouds overhead. We trudge to the waters calm of Kahana— 5 Heaven grant us a favoring shower! The work is all done on the farm. We stay till twilight steals o'er the plain, Then, love-spurred, tramp o'er it again, Have you as partner in holiday dance— 10 We've moiled as one in the gray smoke; Cast down by the Naulu, you thirst. For once the house warms at your coming. How clear glow the heights of yon Haupu! I long for the sight of Ka-ala, 15 And sweet is the thought of Lihu'e, And our mountain retreat, Hale-mano. Here, fenced from each other by tabu, Your graces make sport for the crowd. What then the solution? Let us dwell 20 At Waimea and feast on the fish That swarm in the neighboring sea, With freedom to you and freedom to me, Licensed by Ku and by Ahu-ena. [Page 243] The scene of this idyl is laid in the district of Waialua, Oahu, but the poet gives his imagination free range regardless of the unities. The chief subjects of interest that serve as a trellis about which the human sentiments entwine concern the duties of the fisherman, who is also a farmer; the school for the hula, in which the hero and the heroine are pupils; and lastly an ideal condition of happiness which the lovers look forward to tinder the benevolent dispensation of the gods Ku and Ahuena.

Among the numerous relatives of Pele was one said to be a sister, who was stationed on a bleak sun-burnt promontory in Koolau, Oahu, where she supported a half-starved existence, striving to hold soul and body together by gathering the herbs of the fields, eked out by unsolicited gifts of food contributed by passing travelers. The pathetic plaint given below is ascribed to this goddess.

Mele

Mao wale i ka lani Ka leo o ke Akua pololi. A pololi a moe au O ku'u la pololi, 5 A ola i kou aloha; I na'i pu no i ka waimaka e uwe nei. E uwe kaua, e!

[Translation]

Song

Engulfed ill heaven's abyss Is the cry of the famished god. I sank to the ground from faintness, My day of utter starvation; 5 Was rescued, revived, by your love: Ours a contest of tears sympathetic— Let us pour out together our tears.

The Hawaiian thought it not undignified to express sympathy (aloha-ino) with tears. [Page 244]



XXXVI.—THE HULA HOO-NA-NA

The hula hoo-na-na—to quiet, amuse—was an informal dance, such as was performed without the usual restrictions of tabu that hedged about the set dances of the halau. The occasion of an outdoor festival, an ahaaina or luau, was made the opportunity for the exhibition of this dance. It seems to have been an expression of pure sportiveness and mirth-making, and was therefore performed without sacrifice or religious ceremony. While the king, chiefs, and aialo—courtiers who ate in the king's presence—are sitting with the guests about the festal board, two or three dancers of graceful carriage make a circuit of the place, ambling, capering, gesturing as they go in time to the words of a gay song.

A performance of this sort was witnessed by the author's informant in Honolulu many years ago; the occasion was the giving of a royal luau. There was no musical instrument, the performers were men, and the mele they cantillated went as follows:

A pili, a pili, A pili ka'u manu Ke kepau[485] o ka ulu-laau. Poai a puni, 5 Noho ana i muli-wa'a;[486] Hoonu'u ka momona a ke alii. Eli-eli[487] ke kapu; ua noa. Noa ia wai? Noa ia ka lani. 10 Kau lilua,[488] kaohi ka maku'u E ai ana ka ai a ke alii! Hoonu'u, hoonu'u hoonu'u I ka i'a a ke alii!

[Footnote 485: Kepau. Gum, the bird-lime of the fowler, which was obtained from forest trees, but especially from the ulu, the breadfruit.]

[Footnote 486: Muli-wa'a (muli, a term applied to a younger brother). The idea involved is that of separation by an interval, as a younger brother is separated from his older brother by an interval. Muliwai is an interval of water, a stream. Wa'a, the last part of the above compound word, literally a canoe, is here used tropically to mean the tables, or the dishes, on which the food was spread, they being long and narrow, in the shape of a canoe. The whole term, consequently, refers to the people and the table about which they are seated.]

[Footnote 487: Eli-eli. A word that is found in ancient prayers to emphasize the word kapu or the word noa.]

[Footnote 488: Lilua. To stand erect and act without the restraint usually prescribed in the presence of royalty.]

[Page 245]

[Translation]

She is limed, she is limed, My bird is limed, With the gum of the forest. We make a great circuit, 5 Outskirting the feast. You shall feast on king's bounty: No fear of the tabu, all's free. Free! and By whom? Free by the word of the king. 10 Then a free rein to mirth! Banish the kill-joy Who eats the king's dainties! Feast then till replete With the good king's meat! [Page 246]



XXXVII.—THE HULA ULILI

The hula ulili, also called by the descriptive name kolili—to wave or flutter, as a pennant—was a hula that was not at all times confined to the tabu restrictions of the halau. Like a truant schoolboy, it delighted to break loose from restraint and join the informal pleasurings of the people. Imagine an assembly of men and women in the picturesque illumination given by flaring kukui torches, the men on one side, the women on the other. Husbands and wives, smothering the jealousy instinctive to the human heart, are there by mutual consent—their daughters they leave at home—each one ready to play his part to the finish, with no thought of future recrimination. It was a game of love-forfeits, on the same lines as kilu and ume.

Two men, armed with wands furnished with tufts of gay feathers, pass up and down the files of men and women, waving their decorated staffs, ever and anon indicating with a touch of the wand persons of the opposite sex, who under the rules must pay the forfeit demanded of them. The kissing, of course, goes by favor. The wand-bearers, as they move along, troll an amorous ditty:

Oli

Kii na ka ipo ... Mahele-liele i ka la o Kona![489] O Kona, kai a ke Akua.[490] Elua la, huli ka Wai-opua,[491] 5 Nete i ke kula, Leha iluna o Wai-aloha[492] Kani ka aka a ka ua i ka laau, Hoolaau ana i ke aloha ilaila. Pili la, a pili i ka'u manu— 10 O pili o ka La-hiki-ola. Ola ke kini o-lalo. Hana i ka mea he ipo. A hui e hui la! Hui Koolau-wahine[493] o Pua-ke-i![494]

[Footnote 489: La o Kona. A day of Kona, i.e., of fine weather.]

[Footnote 490: Kai a ke Akua. Sea of the gods, because calm.]

[Footnote 491: Wai-opua. A wind which changed its direction after blowing for a few days from one quarter.]

[Footnote 492: Wai-aloha. The name of a hill. In the translation the author has followed its meaning ("water of love").]

[Footnote 493: Koolau-wahine. The name of a refreshing wind, often mentioned in Hawaiian poetry; here used as a symbol of female affection.]

[Footnote 494: Pua-ke-i. The name of a sharp, bracing wind felt on the windward side of Molokai; used here apparently as a symbol of strong masculine passion.]

[Page 247]

[Translation]

Song

A search for a sweetheart... Sport for a Kona day! Kona, calm sea of the gods. Two days the wind surges; 5 Then, magic of cloud! It veers to the plain, Drinks up the water of love. How gleesome the sound Of rain on the trees, 10 A balm to love's wound! The wand touches, heart-ease! It touches my bird— Touch of life from the sun! Brings health to the million. 15 Ho, now comes the fun! A meeting, a union— The nymph, Koo-lau, And the hero, Ke-i. [Page 248]



XXXVIII.—THE HULA O-NIU

The so-called hula o-niu is not to be classed with the regular dances of the halau. It was rather a popular sport, in which men and women capered about in an informal dance while the players engaged in a competitive game of top-spinning: The instrument of sport was made from the lower pointed half of an oval coconut shell, or from the corresponding part of a small gourd. The sport was conducted in the presence of a mixed gathering of people amid the enthusiasm and boisterous effervescence which betting always greatly stimulated in Hawaii.

The players were divided into two sides of equal number, and each player had before him a plank, slightly hollowed in the center—like the board on which the Hawaiians pounded their poi—to be used as the bed for spinning his top. The naked hand, unaided by whip or string, was used to impart to the rude top a spinning motion and at the same time the necessary projectile force—a balancing of forces that called for nice adjustment, lest the whirling thing reel too far to one side or run wild and fly its smooth bed. Victory was declared and the wager given to the player whose top spun the longest.

The feature that most interests us is the singing, or cantillation, of the oli. In a dance and game of this sort, which the author's informant witnessed at Kahuku, Oahu, in 1844, one contestant on each side, in turn, cantillated an oli during the performance of the game and the dance.

Oli

Ke poha, nei; u'ina la! Kani ole-olei, hau-walaau! Ke wawa Pu'u-hina-hina;[495] Kani ka aka, he-hene na pali, 5 Na pali o Ka-iwi-ku'i.[496] Hanohano, makana i ka Wai-opua.[497] Malihini ka hale, ua hiki mai; Kani ka pahu a Lohiau, A Lohiau-ipo[498] i Haena la. 10 Enaena ke aloha, ke hiki mai; [Page 249] Auau i ka wai a Kanaloa.[499] Nana kaua ia Lima-hull,[500] e. E huli oe a loaa pono Ka ia nei o-niu.

[Footnote 495: Pu'u-hina-hina. A precipitous place on the coast near Haena.]

[Footnote 496: Ka-iwi-ku'i. A high cliff against which the waves dash.]

[Footnote 497: Wai-opua. The name of a pleasant breeze.]

[Footnote 498: Lohiau-ipo. The epithet ipo, sweetheart, dear one, was often affixed to the name of Lohiau, in token, no doubt, of his being distinguished as the object of Pele's passionate regard.]

[Footnote 499: Kanaloa. There is a deep basin, of clear water, almost fluorescent in its sparkle, in one of the arched caves of Haena, which is called the water of Kanaloa—the name of the great God. This is a favorite bathing place.]

[Footnote 500: Lima-huli. The name of a beautiful valley that lies back of Haena.]

[Translation]

Song

The rustle and hum of spinning top, Wild laughter and babel of sound— Hear the roar of the waves at Pu'u-hina! Bursts of derision echoed from cliffs, 5 The cliffs of Ka-iwi-ku'i; And the day is stirred by a breeze. The house swarms with women and men. List! the drum-beat of Lohiau, Lohiau, the lover, prince of Haena— 10 Love glows like an oven at his coming; Then to bathe in the lake of the God. Let us look at the vale Lima-huli, look! Now turn we and study the spinning— That trick we must catch to be winning.

This fragment from antiquity, as the local coloring indicates, finds its setting at Haena, the home of the famous mythological Prince Lohiau, of whom Pele became enamored in her spirit journey. Study of the mele suggests the occasion to have been the feast that was given in celebration of Lohiau's restoration to life and health through the persevering incantations of Hiiaka, Pele's beloved sister. The feast was also Lohiau's farewell to his friends at Haena. At its conclusion Hiiaka started with her charge on the journey which ended with the tragic death of Lohiau at the brink of the volcano. Pele in her jealousy poured out her fire and consumed the man whom she had loved. [Page 250]



XXXIX.—THE HULA KU'I

The account of the Hawaiian hulas would be incomplete if without mention of the hula ku'i. This was an invention, or introduction, of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Its formal, public, appearance dates from the coronation ceremonies of the late King Kalakaua, 1883, when it filled an important place in the programme. Of the 262 hula performances listed for exhibition, some 30 were of the hula ku'i. This is perhaps the most democratic of the hulas, and from the date' of its introduction it sprang at once into public favor. Not many years ago one could witness its extemporaneous performance by nonprofessionals at many an entertainment and festive gathering. Even the school-children took it up and might frequently be seen innocently footing its measures on the streets. (Pl. XXIV.)

The steps and motions of the hula ku'i to the eyes of the author resemble those of some Spanish dances. The rhythm is in common, or double, time. One observes the following motions:

Figure A.—1. A step obliquely forward with the left foot, arms pointing the same way, body inclining to the right. 2. The ball of the left foot (still advanced) gently pressed on the floor; the heel swings back and forth, describing an arc of some 30 or 40 degrees. 8. The left foot is set firmly in the last position, the body inclining to it as the base of support; the right foot is advanced obliquely, and 4, performs the heel-swinging motions above described, arms pointing obliquely to the right.

Figure B.—Hands pressed to the waist, fingers directed forward, thumbs backward, elbows well away from the body; left foot advanced as in figure A, 1, body inclining to the right. 2. The left foot performs the heel-waving motions, as above. 3. Hands in same position, right foot advanced as previously described. 4. The right foot performs the swinging motions previously described—the body inclined to the left.

Figure C.—In this figure, while the hands are pressed as before against the waist, with the elbows thrown well away from the body, the performer sways the pelvis and central axis of the trunk in a circular or elliptical orbit, a movement, which, carried to the extreme, is termed ami.

There are other figures and modifications, which the ingenuity and fancy of performers have introduced into this dance; but this account must suffice.



[Page 251] Given a demand for a pas seul, some pleasing dance combining grace with dexterity, a shake of the foot, a twist of the body, and a wave of the hands, the hula ku'i filled the bill to perfection. The very fact that it belonged by name to the genus hula, giving it, as it were, the smack of forbidden fruit, only added to its attractiveness. It became all the rage among dancing folk, attaining such a vogue as almost to cause a panic among the tribunes and censors of society. Even to one who cares nothing for the hula per se, save as it might be a spectacle out of old Hawaii, or a setting for an old-time song, the innocent grace and Delsartian flexibility of this solo dance, which one can not find in its Keltic or African congeners, associate it in mind with the joy and light-heartedness of man's Arcadian period.

The instruments generally used in the musical accompaniment of the hula ku'i are the guitar, the uku-lele,[501] the taro-patch fiddle,[501] or the mandolin; the piano also lends itself effectively for this purpose; or a combination of these may be used.

The songs that are sung to this dance as a rule belong naturally to later productions of the Hawaiian muse, or to modifications of old poetical compositions. The following mele was originally a namesong (mele-inoa). It was appropriated by the late Princess Kino-iki; and by her it was passed on to Kalani-ana-ole, a fact which should not prejudice our appreciation of its beauty.

Mele

I aloha i ke ko a ka wai, I ka i mai, e, anu kaua. Ua anu na pua o ka laina,[502] Ka wanine noho anu o ke kula. 5 A luna au a o Poli-ahu;[503] Ahu wale kai a o Wai-lua. Lua-ole ka hana a ka makani, A ke Kiu-ke'e[504] a o na pall, Pa iho i ke kai a o Puna— 10 Ko Puna mea ma'a mau ia. Pau ai ko'u lihi hoihoi I ka wai awili me ke kai. Ke ono hou nei ku'u pu'u I ka wai hu'ihu'i o ka uka, [Page 252] 15 Wai hone i ke kumu o ka pali, I malu i ka lau kui-kui.[505] Ke kuhi nei au a he pono Ka ilima lei a ke aloha, Au i kau nui aku ai, 20 I ka nani oi a oia pua.

[Footnote 501: The uku-lele and the taro-patch fiddle are stringed instruments resembling in general appearance the fiddle. They seem to have been introduced into these islands by the Portuguese immigrants who have come in within the last twenty-five years. As with the guitar, the four strings of the uku-lele or the five strings of the taro-patch fiddle are plucked with the finger or thumb.]

[Footnote 502: Na pua o ka laina. The intent of this expression, which seems to have an erotic meaning, may perhaps be inferred from its literal rendering in the translation. It requires a tropical imagination to follow a Hawaiian poem.]

[Footnote 503: Poli-ahu. A place or region on Mauna-kea.]

[Footnote 504: Kiu-ke'e. The name of a wind felt at Nawiliwili, Kauai. The local names for winds differed on the various islands and were multiplied almost without measure: as given in the mythical story of Kama-pua'a, or in the semihistoric tale of Ku-a-Paka'a, they taxed the memories of raconteurs.]

[Footnote 505: Kui-kui. The older name-form of the tree (Aleurites triloba), popularly known by some as the candle-nut tree, from the fact that its oily nuts were used in making torches. Kukui, or tutui, is the name now applied to the tree, also to a torch or lamp. The Samoan language still retains the archaic name tuitui. This is one of the few instances in which the original etymology of a word is retained in Hawaiian poetry.]

[Translation]

Song

How pleasing, when borne by the tide, One says, you and I are a-cold. The buds of the center are chilled Of the woman who shivers on shore. 5 I stood on the height Poli-ahu; The ocean enrobed Wai-lua. Ah, strange are the pranks of the wind, The Kiu-ke'e wind of the pali! It smites now the ocean at Puna— 10 That's always the fashion at Puna. Gone, gone is the last of my love, At this mixture of brine in my drink! My mouth is a-thirst for a draught Of the cold mountain-water, 15 That plays at the foot of the cliff, In the shade of the kui-kui tree. I thought our love-flower, ilima— Oft worn as a garland by you— Still held its color most true. 20 You'd exchange its beauty for rue!

Mele

Kaulana mai nei Pua Lanakila; Olali oe o ke aupuni hui, Nana i koke aku ke kahua, Na ale o ka Pakipika. 5 Lilo i mea ole na enemi; Puuwai hao-kila, he manao paa; Na ka nupepa la i hoike mai. Ua kau Lanakila i ka hanohano, O ka u'i mapela la o Aina-hau; 10 O ko'u hoa ia la e pili ai— I hoa kaaua i ka puuwai, I na kohi kelekele i ka Pu'ukolu. Ina ilaila Pua Komela, Ka u'i kaulana o Aina-pua! 15 O ka pua o ka Lehua me ka Ilima I lei kahiko no ko'u kino, Ka Palai lau-lii me ka Maile, Ke ala e hoene i kou poli. [Page 253]

[Translation]

Song

Fame trumpets your conquests each day, Brave Lily Victoria! Your scepter finds new hearts to sway, Subdues the Pacific's wild waves, 5 Your foes are left stranded ashore, Firm heart as of steel! Dame Rumor tells us with glee Your fortunes wax evermore, Beauty of Aina-hau, 10 Comrade dear to my heart. And what of the hyacinth maid, Nymph of the Flowery Land? I choose the lehua, ilima, As my wreath and emblem of love, 15 The small-leafed fern and the maile— What fragrance exhales from thy breast!

The story that might explain this modern lyric belongs to the gossip of half a century ago. The action hinges about one who is styled Pua Lanakila—literally Flower of Victory. Now there is no flower, indigenous or imported, known by this name to the Hawaiians. It is an allegorical invention of the poet. A study of the name and of its interpretation, Victory, at once suggested to me the probability that it was meant for the Princess Victoria Kamamalu.

As I interpret the story, the lover seems at first to be in a condition of unstable equilibrium, but finally concludes to cleave to the flowers of the soil, the lehua and the ilima (verse 15), the palai and the maile (verse 17), the meaning of which is clear. [Page 254]



XL.—THE OLI

The Hawaiian word mele included all forms of poetical composition. The fact that the mele, in whatever form, was intended for cantillation, or some sort of rhythmical utterance addressed to the ear, has given to this word in modern times a special meaning that covers the idea of song or of singing, thus making it overlap ambiguously into the territory that more properly belongs to the word oli. The oli was in strict sense the lyric utterance of the Hawaiians.

In its most familiar form the Hawaiians—many of whom possessed the gift of improvisation in a remarkable degree—used the oli not only for the songful expression of joy and affection, but as the vehicle of humorous or sarcastic narrative in the entertainment of their comrades. The traveler, as he trudged along under his swaying burden, or as he rested by the wayside, would solace himself and his companions with a pensive improvisation in the form of an oli. Or, sitting about the camp-fire of an evening, without the consolation of the social pipe or bowl, the people of the olden time would keep warm the fire of good-fellowship and cheer by the sing-song chanting of the oli, in which the extemporaneous bard recounted the events of the day and won the laughter and applause of his audience by witty, ofttimes exaggerated, allusions to many a humorous incident that had marked the journey. If a traveler, not knowing the language of the country, noticed his Hawaiian guide and baggage-carriers indulging in mirth while listening to an oli by one of their number, he would probably be right in suspecting himself to be the innocent butt of their merriment.

The lover poured into the ears of his mistress his gentle fancies: the mother stilled her child with some bizarre allegory as she rocked it in her arms; the bard favored by royalty—the poet laureate—amused the idle moments of his chief with some witty improvisation; the alii himself, gifted with the poetic fire, would air his humor or his didactic comments in rhythmic shape—all in the form of the oli.

The dividing line, then, between the oli and those other weightier forms of the mele, the inoa, the kanikau (threnody), the pule, and that unnamed variety of mele in which the poet dealt with historic or mythologic subjects, is to be found almost wholly in the mood of the singer. In truth, the Hawaiians not unfrequently applied the term pule to compositions which we moderns find it hard to bring within our definitions of prayer. For to our understanding the Hawaiian pule often contains neither petition, nor entreaty, nor aspiration, as we measure such things. [Page 255] The oli from, its very name (oli-oli, joyful) conveys the notion of gladness, and therefore of song. It does not often run to such length as the more formal varieties of the mele; it is more likely to be pitched to the key of lyric and unconventional delight, and, as it seems to the writer, more often than other forms attains a gratifying unity by reason of closer adherence to some central thought or mood; albeit, when not so labeled, one might well be at a loss whether in any given case he should term the composition mele or oli.

It may not be entirely without significance that the first and second examples here given come from Kauai, the island which most vividly has retained a memory of the southern lands that were the homes of the people until they came as emigrants to Hawaii.

The story on which this song is founded relates that the comely Pamaho'a was so fond of her husband during his life that at his death she was unwilling to part with his bones. Having cleaned and wrapped them in a bundle, she carried them with her wherever she went. In the indiscretion begotten of her ill-balanced state of mind she committed the mortal offense of entering the royal residence while thus encumbered, where was Kaahumanu, favorite wife of Kamehameha I. The king detailed two constables (ilamuku) to remove the woman and put her to death. When they had reached a safe distance, moved with pity, the men said: "Our orders were to slay; but what hinders you to escape?" The woman took the hint and fled hot-foot.

Oli

Ka wai opua-makani o Wailua,[506] I hulihia e ke kai; Awahia ka lau hau, Ai pala-ka-ha, ka ai o Maka'u-kiu. 5 He kin ka pua kukui, He elele hooholo na ke Koolau;[507] Ke kipaku mai la i ka wa'a—[508] "E holo oe!" Holo newa ka lau maia me ka pua hau, 10 I pili aloha me ka mokila ula i ka wai; Maalo pulelo i ka wai o Malu-aka. He aka kaua makani kaili-hoa; Kaili ino ka lau Malua-kele, Lalau, hopu hewa i ka hoa kanaka;[509] [Page 256] 15 Koe a kau me ka manao iloko. Ke apo wale la no i ke one, I ka uwe wale iho no i Mo'o-mo'o-iki,[510] e! He ike moolelo na ke kuhi wale, Aole ma ka waha mai o kanaka, 20 Hewa, pono ai la hoi au, e ka hoa; Nou ka ke aloha, I lua-ai-ele[511] ai i o, i anei; Ua kuewa i ke ala me ka wai-maka. Aohe wa, ua uku i kou hale— 25 Hewa au, e!