[Footnote 29: Shaking hands was of foreign introduction and marks one of the several inconsistencies in Haleole's local coloring, of which "the deeds of Venus" is the most glaring. He not only uses such foreign coined words aswati, "watch," andmare, "marry," but terms which are late Hawaiian, such as the triple canoe,pukolu, and provision boat,pelehu, said to have been introduced in the reign of Kaméhaméha I.]
[Footnote 30: Famous Hawaiian boxing teachers kept master strokes in reserve for the pupils, upon whose success depended their own reputation. These strokes were known by name. Compare Kawelo, who before setting out to recapture Kauai sends his wife to secure from his father-in-law the stroke calledwahieloa. The phrase "Ka ai a ke kumu i ao oleia ia oukou" has been translated with a double-punning meaning, literal and figurative, according to the interpretation of the words. Cold-nose's faith in his girdle parodies the far-fetched dependence upon name signs common to this punning race. The snapping of the end of his loin cloth is a good omen for the success of a stroke named "End-that-sounds"! Even his supporters jeer at him.]
[Footnote 31: Few similes are used in the story. This figure of the "blood of a lamb," the "blow like the whiz of the wind," themooploughing the earth with his jaw "like a shovel," a picture of the surf rider—"foam rose on each side of his neck like a boar's tusks," and the appearance of the Sun god's skin, "like a furnace where iron is melted," will, perhaps, cover them all. In each the figure is exact, but ornamental, evidently used to heighten the effect. Images are occasionally elaborated with exact realization of the bodily sensation produced. The rainbow "trembling in the hot rays of the sun" is an example, and those passages which convey the lover's sensations—"his heart fainted with love," "thick pressed with thunders of love," or such an image as "the burden of his mind was lifted." Sometimes the image carries the comparison into another field, as in "the windings and twistings of his journey"—a habit of mind well illustrated in the occasional proverbs, and in the highly figurative songs.]
[Footnote 32: The Polynesians, like the ancient Hebrews, practiced circumcision with strict ceremonial observances.]
[Footnote 33: The gods invoked by Aiwohikupua are not translated with certainty, but they evidently represent such forces of the elements as we see later belong among the family deities of the Aiwohikupua household. Prayer as an invocation to the gods who are called upon for help is one of the most characteristic features of native ritual, and the terminationamama, generally accompanied by the finishing phrasesua noa, "it is finished," andlele wale aku la, "flown away," is genuine Polynesian. Literallymamameans "to chew," but not for the purpose of swallowing like food, but to spit out of the mouth, as in the preparation ofawa. The term may therefore, authorities say, be connected with the ceremonial chewing ofawain the ritualistic invocations to the gods. A similar prayer quoted by Gill (Myths and Songs, 120) he ascribes to the antiquity of the story.]
[Footnote 34: Thelaau palau, literally "wood-that-cuts," which Wise translates "war club," has not been identified on Hawaii in the Bishop Museum, but is described from other groups. Gill, from the Hervey Islands, calls it a sharpened digging stick, used also as a weapon. The gigantic dimensions of these sticks and their appellations are emphasized in the hero tales.]
[Footnote 35: The Hawaiian cloak orkiheiis a large square, 2 yards in size, made of bark cloth worn over the shoulders and joined by two corners on one side in a knot.]
[Footnote 36: The meaning of the idiomatic boasthe lala kamahele no ka laau ku i ka paliis uncertain. I take it to be a punning reference to the Pali family from whom the chief sprang, but it may simply be a way of saying "I am a very high chief." Kamahele is a term applied to a favorite and petted child, as, in later religious apostrophe, to Christ himself.]
[Footnote 37: Thepuloulouis said to have been introduced by Paao some five hundred years ago, together with the ceremonial taboo of which it is the symbol. Since for a person of low rank to approach a sacred place or person was death to the intruder, it was necessary to guard against accidental offences by the use of a sign. Thepuloulouconsisted of a ball-shaped bundle of white bark cloth attached to the end of a staff. This symbol is to be seen represented upon the Hawaiian coat of arms; and Kalakaua'spuloulou, a gilded wooden ball on the end of a long staff, is preserved in the Bishop Museum.]
[Footnote 38: Long life was the Polynesian idea of divine blessing. Of Kualii the chanter boasts that he "lived to be carried to battle in a net." The word iskaikoko, "to carry on the back in a net," as in the case of old and feeble persons. Polynesian dialects contain a full vocabulary of age terms from infancy to old age.]
[Footnote 39: Chickens were a valuable part of a chief's wealth, since from their feathers were formed the beautiful fly brushes,kahili, used to wave over chiefs of rank and carried in ceremonial processions. The entrance to the rock cave is still shown, at the mouth of Kaliuwaa valley, where Kamapuaa's grandmother shut up her chickens at night, and it was for robbing his uncle's henroost that this rascally pig-god was chased away from Oahu. This reference is therefore one of many indications that the Laieikawai tale belongs with those of the ancient demigods.]
[Footnote 40: Mr. Meheula suggested to me this translation of the idiomatic allusions to the canoe and the coral reef.]
[Footnote 41: A peculiarly close family relation between brother and sister is reflected in Polynesian tales, as in those of Celtic, Finnish, and Scandinavian countries. Each serves as messenger or go-between for the other in matters of love or revenge, and guards the other's safety by magic arts. Such a condition represents a society in which the family group is closely bound together. For such illustrations compare the Fornander stories ofHalemano, Hinaikamalama, Kalanimanuia, Nihoalaki, Kaulanapokii, Pamano. The character of accomplished sorceress belongs especially to the helpful sister, a woman of the Malio or Kahalaomapuana type, whose art depends upon a life of solitary virginity. She knows spells, she can see what is going on at a distance, and she can restore the dead to life. In the older stories she generally appears in bird form. In more human tales she wins her brother's wishes by strategy. This is particularly true of the characters in this story, who win their way by wit rather than magic. In this respect the youngest sister of Aiwohikupua should be compared with her prototype, Kaulanapokii, who weaves spells over plants and brings her slain brothers back to life. Kahalaomapuana never performs any such tasks, but she is pictured as invincible in persuasion; she never fails in sagacity, and is always right and always successful. She is, in fact, the most attractive character in the story. It is rather odd, since modern folk belief is firmly convinced of the power of love spells, that none appear in the recorded stories. All is accomplished by strategy.]
[Footnote 42: For the translation of this dialogue I am indebted, to the late Dr. Alexander, to whose abstract of the story I was fortunate enough to have access.]
[Footnote 43: To express the interrelation between brothers and sisters two pairs of kinship terms are used, depending upon the age and sex. Sisters speak of brothers askaikunane, and brothers of sisters askaikuahine, but within the same sexkaikuaanafor the elder andkaikainafor the younger is used. So on page 431 Aiwohikupua deserts his sisters—kaikuahine—and the girls lament for their younger sister—kaikaina. After their reunion her older sisters—kaikuaana—ask her counsel. Notice, too, that when, on page 423, the brother bids his youngest sister—kaikuahine opiopio—stay with "her sisters" he uses the wordkaikuaana, because he is thinking of her relation to them, not of his own. The wordpokii,—"little sister"—is an endearing term used to good effect where the younger sister sings—
"I am going back to your little sisters (me o'u pokii)To my older sisters (kaikuaana) I return."]
[Footnote 44: The line translated "Fed upon the fruit of sin" contains one of those poetic plays upon words so frequent in Polynesian song, so difficult to reproduce in translation. Literally it might read "Sheltering under the greathalatree." Buthala, also means "sin." This meaning is therefore caught up and employed in the next line—"is constancy then a sin?"—a repetition which is lost in translation.Malu, shade, is a doubtful word, which may, according to Andrews, mean "protected," or may stand for "wet and uncomfortable," a doubt evidently depending upon the nature of the case, which adds to the riddling character of the message. In their songs the sisters call up the natural scenery, place names, and childhood experiences of their native home on Kauai. The images used attempt actual description. The slant of the rain, the actual ladder of wood which helps scale the steep footpath up Nualolo Valley (compareSong of Kualii, line 269, Lyons' version), the rugged cliffs which are more easily rounded by sea—"swimming 'round the steeps"—picture actual conditions on the island. Notice especially how the song of the youngest sister reiterates the constant theme of the "follow your leader" relation between the brother and his younger sisters. Thus far they have unhesitatingly followed his lead; how, then, can he leave them leaderless? is the plea: first, in their sports at home; next, in this adventure over sea and through the forest; last, in that divine mystery of birth when he first opened the roadway and they, his little sisters, followed after.]
[Footnote 45: Thisti-leaf trumpet is constructed from the thin, dry, lilylike leaf of the wildtimuch as children make whistles out of grass. It must be recalled that musical instruments were attributed to gods and awakened wonder and awe in Polynesian minds.]
[Footnote 46: In the story ofKapuaokaoheloaiwe read that the daughter of the king of Kuaihelani, the younger brother of Hina, has a daughter who lives apart under a sacred taboo, with a bathing pool in which only virgins can safely bathe, and "ministered to by birds." Samoan accounts say that the chiefs kept tame birds in their houses as pets, which fluttered freely about the rafters. A stranger unaccustomed to such a sight might find in it something wonderful and hence supernatural.]
[Footnote 47: A strict taboo between man and woman forbade eating together on ordinary occasions. Such were the taboo restrictions that a well-regulated, household must set up at least six separate houses: a temple for the household gods,heiau; an eating house for the men,hale mua, which was taboo to the women; and four houses especially for the women—the living house,hale noa, which the husband might enter; the eating house,hale aina; the house of retirement at certain periods, which was taboo for the husband,hale pea; and thekua, where she beat out tapa. The food also must be cooked in two separate ovens and prepared separately in different food vessels.]
[Footnote 48: The place of surf riding in Hawaiian song and story reflects its popularity as a sport. It inspires chants to charm the sea into good surfing—an end also attained by lashing the water with the convolvulus vine of the sea beach; forms the background for many an amorous or competitive adventure; and leaves a number of words in the language descriptive of the surfing technique or of the surf itself at particular localities famous for the sport, as, for example, the "Makaiwa crest" in Moikeha's chant, or the "Huia" of this story. Three kinds of surfing are indulged in—riding the crest in a canoe, calledpa ka waa; standing or lying flat upon a board, which is cut long, rounded at the front end and square at the back, with slightly convex surfaces, and highly polished; and, most difficult feat of all, riding the wave without support, body submerged and head and shoulders erect. The sport begins out where the high waves form. The foundation of the wave,honua, the crest side,muku, and the rear,lala, are all distinguished. The art of the surfer lies in catching the crest by active paddling and then allowing it to bear him in swift as a race horse to thehua, where the wave breaks near the beach. All swimmers know that three or four high waves follow in succession. As the first of these, called thekulana, is generally "a high crest which rolls in from end to end of the beach and falls over bodily," the surfer seldom takes it, but waits for theohuoropuu, which is "low, smooth and strong." For other details, see the article by a Hawaiian from Kona, published in theHawaiian Annual, 1896, page 106.]
[Footnote 49:Honi, to kiss, means to "touch" or "smell," and describes the Polynesian embrace, which is performed by rubbing noses. Williams (I, 152) describes it as "one smelling the other with a strong sniff."]
[Footnote 50: The abrupt entrance of the greatmoo, as of its disappearance later in the story, is evidently due to the humanized and patched-together form in which we get the old romance. Themoois the animal form which the god takes who serves Aiwohikupua's sisters, and represents the helpful beast of Polynesian folk tale, whose appearance is a natural result of the transformation power ascribed to the true demigod, orkupua, in the wilder mythical tales. The myths of the coming of themooto Hawaii in the days of the gods, and of their subjection by Hiiaka, sister of Pele, are recounted in Westervelt's "Legends of Honolulu" and in Emerson's "Pele and Hiiaka." Malo (p. 114) places Waka also among the lizard gods. These gods seem to have been connected] with the coming of the Pali family to Hawaii as recounted in Liliuokalani's "Song of Creation" and in Malo, page 20. The ritual of the god Lono, whose priests are inferior to those of Ku, is called that of "Paliku" (Malo, 210), a name also applied to the northern part of Hilo district on Hawaii with which this story deals. The name means "vertical precipice," according to Emerson, and refers to the rending by earthquakes. In fact, the description in this story of the approach of the great lizard, as well as his name—the wordkihareferring to the writhing convulsions of the body preparatory to sneezing—identify the monster with the earthquakes so common to the Puna and Hilo districts of Hawaii, which border upon the active volcano, Kilauea. Natives say that a great lizard is the guardian spirit oraumakuaof this section. At Kalapana is a pool of brackish water in which, they assert, lies the tail of amoowhose head is to be seen at the bottom of a pool a mile and a half distant, at Punaluu; and bathers in this latter place always dive and touch the head in order to avert harm. As the lizard guardians of folk tale are to be found "at the bottom of a pit" (see Fornander's story ofAukele), so the little gecko of Hawaii make their homes in cracks along cuts in thepali, and the natives fear to harm their eggs lest they "fall off a precipice" according to popular belief. When we consider the ready contractility of Polynesian demigods, the size of the monster dragons of the fabulous tales is no difficulty in the way of their identification with these tiny creatures, the largest of which found on Hawaii is 144 millimeters. By a plausible analogy, then, the earthquake which rends the earth is attributed to the god who clothes himself in the form of a lizard; still further, such a convulsion of nature may have been used to figure the arrival of some warlike band who peopled Hawaii, perhaps settling in this very Hilo region and forcing their cult upon the older form of worship.
[Footnote 51: Theieievine and the sweet-scented fern are, like themailevine, common in the Olaa forests, and are considered sacred plants dedicated to ceremonial purposes.]
[Footnote 52: The fight between twokupua, one in lizard form, the other in the form of a dog, occurs in Hawaiian story. Again, when Wahanui goes to Tahiti he touches a land where men are gathering coral for the food of the dead. This island takes the form of a dog to frighten travelers, and is named Kanehunamoku.]
[Footnote 53: The season for the bird catcher,kanaka kia manu, lay between March and May, when thelehuaflowers were in bloom in the upland forest, where the birds of bright plumage congregated, especially the honey eaters, with their long-curved bill, shaped like an insect's proboscis. He armed himself with gum, snares of twisted fiber, and tough wooden spears shaped like long fishing poles, which were thekia manu. Having laid his snare and spread it with gum, he tolled the birds to it by decorating it with honey flowers or even transplanting a strange tree to attract their curiosity; he imitated the exact note of the bird he wished to trap or used a tamed bird in a cage as a decoy. All these practical devices must be accompanied by prayer. Emerson translates the following bird charm:
Na aumakua i ka Po,Na aumakua i ka Ao,Ia Kane i ka Po,Ia Kanaloa i ka Po,Ia Hoomeha i ka Po,I ko'u mau kapuna a pau loa i ka Po.
Spirits of darkness primeval,Spirits of light,To Kane the eternal,To Kanaloa the eternal,To Hoomeha the eternal,To all my ancestors from eternity.
Ia Ku-huluhulumanu i ka Po,Ia pale i ka Po,A puka i ke Ao,Owau, o Eleele, ka mea iaia ka mana,Homai he iki,Homai he loaa nui,Pii oukou a ke kuahiwi,A ke kualono,Ho'a mai oukou i ka manu a pau,Hooili oukou iluna o ke kepau kahi e pili ni,Amama! Ua noa.
To Kuhuluhulumanu, the eternal.That you may banish the darkness.That we may enter the light.To me, Eleele, give divine power.Give intelligence.Give great success.Climb to the wooded mountains.To the mountain ridges.Gather all the birds.Bring them to my gum to be held fast.Amen, it is finished.]
[Footnote 54: For the cloud sign compare the story of Kualii's battles and in Westervelt'sLepeamoa(Legends of Honolulu, p. 217), the fight with the water monster.]
[Footnote 55: Of Hawaiians at prayer Dibble says: "The people were in the habit of praying every morning to the gods, clapping their hands as they muttered a set form of words in a singsong voice."]
[Footnote 56: The three mountain domes of Hawaii rise from 13,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea, and the two highest are in the wintertime often capped with snow.]
[Footnote 57: The games ofkiluandume, which furnished the popular evening entertainment of chiefs, were in form much like our "Spin the plate" and "Forfeits."Kiluwas played with "a funnel-shaped toy fashioned from the upper portion of a drinking gourd, adorned with thepaweheornamentation characteristic of Niihau calabashes." The player must spin the gourd in such a way as to hit the stake set up for his side. Each hit counted 5, 40 scoring a game. Each player sang a song before trying his hand, and the forfeit of ahuladance was exacted for a miss, the successful spinner claiming for his forfeit the favor of one of the women on the other side.Umewas merely a method of choosing partners by the master of ceremonies touching with a wand, called themaile, the couple selected for the forfeit, while he sang a jesting song. The sudden personal turn at the close of many of theolimay perhaps be accounted for by their composition for this game. Thekaekedance is that form ofhulain which the beat is made on akaekeekeinstrument, a hollow bamboo cylinder struck upon the ground with a clear hollow sound, said to have been introduced by Laamaikahiki, the son of Moikeha, from Tahiti.]
[Footnote 58: In the story of Kauakahialii, his home at Pihanakalani is located in the mountains of Kauai back of the ridge Kuamoo, where, in spite of its inland position, he possesses a fishpond well stocked with fish.]
[Footnote 59: The Hawaiian custom of group marriages between brothers or sisters is clearly brought out in this and other passages in the story. "Guard our wife"—Ka wahine a kaua—says the Kauai chief to his comrade, "she belongs to us two"—ia ia kaua. The sisters of Aiwohikupua call their mistress's husband "our husband"—ka kakou kane. So Laieikawai's younger sister is called the "young wife"—wahine opio—of Laieikawai's husband, and her husband is called hispunalua, which is a term used between friends who have wives in common, or women who have common husbands.]
[Footnote 60: The Hawaiian flute is believed to be of ancient origin. It is made of a bamboo joint pierced with holes and blown through the nose while the right hand plays the stops. The range is said to comprise five notes. The name Kanikawi means "changing sound" and is the same as that given to Kaponohu's supernatural spear.]
[Footnote 61: At the accession of a new chief in Hawaii the land is redistributed among his followers.]
[Footnote 62: The names of Malio and Halaaniani are still to be found in Puna. Ellis (1825) notes the name Malio as one of three hills (evidently transformed demigods), which, according to tradition, joined at the base to block an immense flow of lava at Pualaa, Puna. Off the coast between Kalapana and Kahawalea lies a rock shaped like a headless human form and called Halaaniani, although its legend retains no trace of the Puna rascal.]
[Footnote 63: Thehuiais a specially high wave formed by the meeting of two crests, and is said to be characteristic of the surf at Kaipalaoa, Hawaii.]
[Footnote 64: Kumukahi is a bold cape of black lava on the extreme easterly point of the group. Beyond this cape stretches the limitless, landless Pacific. Against its fissured sides seethes and booms the swell from the ocean, in a dash of foaming spray. Piles of rocks mark the visits of chiefs to this sacred spot, and tombs of the dead abut upon its level heights. A visitor to this spot sees a magnificent horizon circling the wide heavens, hears the constant boom of the tides pulling across the measureless waters. It is one of the noteworthy places of Puna, often sung in ancient lays.]
[Footnote 65: The name of Laieikawai occurs in no old chants with which I am familiar. But in the story ofUmi, the mother of his wife, Piikea, is called Laielohelohe. She is wife of Piilani and has four children who "have possession on the edge of the tabu," of whom Piikea is the first-born, and the famous rival chiefs of Maui, Lonopili, and Kihapiilani, are the next two; the last is Kalanilonoakea, who is described in the chant quoted by Fornander as white-skinned and wearing a white loin cloth. Umi's wife is traditionally descended from the Spaniards wrecked on the coast of Hawaii (see Lesson). The "Song of Creation" repeats the same genealogy and calls Laielohelohe the daughter of Keleanuinohoonaapiapi. In the "ninth era" of the same song Lohelohe is "the last one born of Lailai" and is "a woman of dark skin," who lived in Nuumealani.]
[Footnote 66: To preserve the umbilical cord in order to lengthen the life of a child was one of the first duties of a guardian. J.S. Emerson says that thepikowas saved in a bottle or salted and wrapped in tapa until a suitable time came to deposit it in some sacred place. Such a depository was to be found on Oahu, according to Westervelt, in two rocks in the Nuuanu valley, the transformedmoowomen, Hauola and Haupuu. In Hawaii, in Puna district, on the north and south boundaries of Apuki, lie two smooth lava mounds whose surfaces are marked with cup hollows curiously ringed. Pictographs cover other surfaces. These are named Puuloa and Puumahawalea, or "Hill of long life" and "Hill that brings together with rejoicing," and the natives tell me that within their own lifetime pilgrimages have been made to this spot to deposit thepikowithin some hollow, cover it with a stone, and thus insure long life to the newborn infant.]
[Footnote 67: More than 470 species of land snails of a single genus,Achatinella, are to be found in the mountains of Hawaii, a fact of marked interest to science in observing environmental effect upon the differentiation of species. One of these the natives callpupu kani oior "shrill voiced snail," averring that a certain cricketlike chirp that rings through the stillness of the almost insectless valleys is the voice of this particular species. Emerson says that the namekahuliis applied to the land snail to describe the peculiar tilting motion as the snail crawls first to one side and then to the other of the leaf. He quotes a little song that runs:
Kahuli aku, kahuli mai,Kahuli lei ula, lei akolea.Kolea, kolea, e kii ka wai,Wai akolea.
Tilting this way and thatTilts the red fern-plume.Plover, plover, bring me dew,Dew from the fern-plume.]
[Footnote 68: This incident is unsatisfactorily treated. We never know how Waka circumvented Malio and restored her grandchild to the husband designed for her. The whole thing sounds like a dramatic innovation with farcical import, which appeared in the tale without motivation for the reason that it had none in its inception. The oral narrator is rather an actor than a composer; he may have introduced this episode as a surprise, and its success as farce perpetuated it as romance.]
[Footnote 69: This episode of the storm is another inconsistency in the story. The storm signs belong to the gods of Aiwohikupua and his brother, the Sun god, not to Laieikawai, and were certainly not hers when Waka deserted her. If they were given her for protection by Kahalaomapuana or through the influence of the seer with the Kauai family, the story-teller does not inform us of the fact.]
[Footnote 70: Thepa-uis a woman's main garment, and consists of five thicknesses of bark cloth 4 yards long and 3 or 4 feet wide, the outer printed in colors, and worn wrapped about the loins, reaching the knees.]
[Footnote 71: In mythical quest stories the hero or heroine seeks, by proving his relationship, generally on the mother's side, to gain the favor of the supernatural guardian of whatever treasure he seeks. By breaking down the taboo he proclaims his rank, and by forcing the attention of the relative before the angry god (or chief) has a chance to kill him (compare the story ofKalaniamanuia, where the father recognizes too late the son whom he has slain), he gains time to reveal himself. In this episode the father's beard is, like the locks of Dionysus in Euripides' line, dedicated to the god, hence to seize it was a supreme act of lawlessness.]
[Footnote 72: According to the old Polynesian system of age groups, the "mother's brother" bears the relation to the child ofmakuaequally with his real parents. Kahalaomapuana says to her father:
"I am your child (kama),The child of Laukieleula,The child of Mokukelekahiki,The child of Kaeloikamalama."
thus claiming rank from all four sources. Owing to inbreeding and this multiple method of inheriting title, Polynesian children may be of higher rank than either parent. The form of colloquy which follows each encounter (compare Kila's journey to Tahiti) is merely the customary salutation in meeting a stranger, according to Hawaiian etiquette.]
[Footnote 73: The name Laukieleula means "Red-kiele-leaf." The kiele, Andrews says, is "a sweet-scented flower growing in the forest," and is identified by some natives with the gardenia, of which there are two varieties native in Hawaii; but the form does not occur in any chants with which I am familiar. It is probably selected to express the idea of fragrance, which seems to be thekupuaproperty of the mother's side of the family. It is the rareness of fragrant plants indigenous to the islands, coupled with sensuous delight in odor, which gives to perfume the attributes of deity, and to those few varieties which possess distinct scent like themaileandhala, a conspicuous place in religious ceremonial.
The name of Moanalihaikawaokele, on the other hand, appears in the "Songof Creation," in the eighth era where the generations of Uli are sung.In the time of calm is born the woman Lailai, and after her the godsKii, Kane, and Kanaloa, and it is day. Then
"The drums are born,Called Moanaliha,Kawaomaaukele came next,The last was Kupololiilialiimuaoloipo,A man of long life and very high rank."
There follow 34 pages devoted to the history and generations of this family before the death of this last chief is recorded. Now it is clear that out of the first two names, Moanaliha and Kawao(maau)kele, is compounded that of the storm god. This would place him in the era of the gods as the father of Ku and ancestor of the Uli line.]
[Footnote 74: The story of the slaying of Halulu in the legend ofAukelenuiaikuis a close parallel to the Indian account of the adventure with the thunder bird. (See Matthews's "Navajo legends.") The thunder bird is often mentioned in Hawaiian chants. In the "Song of Creation" the last stanza of the third or bird era points out
"—the leaping point of the bird Halulu, Of Kiwaa, the bird of many notes, And of those birds that fly close together and shade the sun."]
[Footnote 75: The divine approach marked by thunder and lightning, shaken by earthquake and storm, indicates thekupuabodies in which the Sun god travels in his descent to earth. There are many parallels to be found in the folk stories. When the sister of Halemano sets out to woo the beauty of Puna she says: "When the lightning flashes, I am at Maui; when it thunders I am at Kohala; when the earth quakes, at Hamakua; when freshets stain the streams red, I am at Puna." When Hoamakeikekula, the beauty of Kohala, weds, "thunder was heard, lightning flashed, rain came down in torrents, hills were covered with fog; for ten days mist covered the earth." When Uweuwelekehau, son of Ku and Hula, is born "thunder, lightning, earthquake, water, floods and rain" attend his birth. In Aukelenuiaiku, when the wife of Makalii comes out of her house her beauty overshadows the rays of the sun, "darkness covered the land, the red rain, fog, and fine rain followed each other, then freshets flowed and lightning played in the heavens; after this the form of the woman, was seen coming along over the tips of the fingers of her servants, in all her beauty, the sun shone at her back and the rainbow was as though it were her footstool." In the prayer to the god Lono, quoted by Fornander, II, 352, we read:
"These are the sacred signs of the assembly;Bursting forth is the voice of the thunder;Striking are the rays of the lightning;Shaking the earth is the earthquake;Coming is the dark cloud and the rainbow;Wildly comes the rain and the wind;Whirlwinds sweep over the earth;Rolling down are the rocks of the ravines;The red mountain streams are rushing to the sea;Here the waterspouts;Tumbled about are the clustering clouds of heaven;Gushing forth are the springs of the mountains."]
[Footnote 75: Kaonohiokala, Mr. Emerson tells me, is the name of one of the evil spirits invoked by the priest in the art ofpo'iuhaneor "soul-catching." The spirit is sent by the priest to entice the soul of an enemy while its owner sleeps, in order that he may catch it in a coconut gourd and crush it to death between his hands. "Lapu lapuwale" is the Hawaiian rendering of Solomon's ejaculation "Vanity of vanities!"]
[Illustration: A NATIVE GRASS HOUSE OF THE HUMBLER CLASS (HENSHAW)]
I. SONG of CREATION, as translated by Liliuokalani
II. CHANTS RELATING THE ORIGIN OF THE GROUP:From the Fornander manuscript:
A. KahakuikamoanaB. PakuiC. KamahualeleD. OpukahonuaE. KukailaniF. Kualii
III. HAWAIIAN FOLKTALES, ROMANCES, OR MOOLELO:From the Fornander manuscript:
A. Hero tales primarily of Oahu and Kauai
1. Aukelenuiaiku2. Hinaaikamalama3. Kaulu4. Palila5. Aiai6. Puniaiki7. Pikoiakaalala8. Kawelo9. Kualii10. Opelemoemoe11. Kalelealuaka
B. Hero tales primarily of Hawaii
1. Wahanui2. Kamapuaa3. Kana4. Kapunohu5. Kepakailiula6. Kaipalaoa7. Moikeha8. Kila9. Umi10. Kihapiilani (of Maui)11. Pakaa and Kuapakaa12. Kalaepuni13. Kalaehina14. Lonoikamakahiki15. Keaweikekahialii (an incident)16. Kekuhaupio (an incident)
C. Love stories
1. Halemano 2. Uweuwelekehau 3. Laukiamanuikahiki 4. Hoamakeikekula 5. Kapunokaoheloai
D. Ghost stories and tales of men brought to life1. Oahu stories
KahalaopunaKalanimanuiaPumaiaNihoalaki
2. Maui stories
EleioPamano
3. Hawaii stories
KaulanapokiiPupuhuluenaHiku and Kawelu
E. Trickster stories
1. Thefts
IwaManiniholokuauaPupualenalena
2. Contests with spirits
Kaululaau (see Eleio)LepeHanaaumoePuniaWakaina
3. Stories of modern cunning
KulepeKawaunuiaolaMaiauhaalenalenaupenaWaawaaikinaaupo and WaawaaikinaanaoKuauamoa
The "account of the creation of the world according to Hawaiian tradition" is said to celebrate Lonoikamakahiki, also called Kaiimamao, who was the father of Kalaniopuu, king of Hawaii at the time of Cook's visit. The song was "composed by Keaulumoku in 1700" and handed down by the chanters of the royal line since that day. It was translated by "Liliuokalani of Hawaii" in 1895-1897, and published in Boston, 1897.
From the Sea-bottom (?) (the male) and Darkness (the female) are born the coral insect, the starfish, sea urchin, and the shellfish. Next seaweed and grasses are born. Meanwhile land has arisen, and in the next era fishes of the sea and plants of the forest appear. Next are born the generations of insects and birds; after these the reptiles—all the "rolling, clinging" creatures. In the fifth era is born a creature half pig, half man; the races of men also appear (?). In the sixth come the rats; in the seventh, dogs and bats; in the eighth is born the woman Lailai (calmness), the man Kii, and the gods Kane and "the great octopus" Kanaloa. Lailai flies to heaven, rests upon "the boughs of theaoatree in Nuumealani," and bears the earth. She weds Kii and begets a generation of gods and demigods.
In the course of these appear Wakea and his three wives, Haumea, Papa, and Hoohokukalani. Wakea, becoming unfaithful to Papa, changes the feast days and establishes the taboo. Later the stars are hung in the heavens. Wakea seeks in the sea for "seeds from Hina," with which to strew the heavens. Hina floats up from the bottom of the sea and bears sea creatures and volcanic rocks. Haumea, a stranger of high rank from Kuaihelani at Paliuli, marries her own sons and grandsons. To her line belong Waolena and his wife Mafuie, whose grandchild, Maui, is born in the shape of a fowl. The brothers of his mother, Hina, are angry and fight Maui, but are thrown. They send him to fetch a branch from the sacredawabush; this, too, he achieves. He desires to learn the art of fishing, and his mother gives him a hook and line with which he catches "the royal fish Pimoe." He "scratches the eight eyes" of the bat who abducts Hina. He nooses the sun and so wins summer. He conquers (?) Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, and Oahu. From him descends "the only high chief of the island."
This famous priest chants the history of "the row of islands from Nuumea; the group of islands from the entrance to Kahiki." First Hawaii is born, "out of darkness," then Maui, then Molokai "of royal lineage." Lanai is a foster child, Kahoolawe a foundling, of whose afterbirth is formed the rock island Molokini. Oahu and Kauai have the same mother but different fathers. Another pair bear the triplets, the islets Niihau, Kaulu, and Nihoa.
According to this high priest and historian of Kamehameha I, from Wakea and Papa are born Kahikiku, Kahikimoe ("the foundation stones," "the stones of heaven"), Hawaii, and Maui. While Papa is on a visit to Kahiki, Wakea takes another wife and begets Lanai, then takes Hina to wife and begets Molokai. The plover tells Papa on her return, and she in revenge bears to Lua the child Oahu. After this she returns to Wakea and bears Kauai and its neighboring islets.
The foster son of Moikeha accompanies this chief on the journey to Hawaii and Kauai. On sighting land at Hawaii he chants a song in honor of his chief in which he calls Hawaii a "man," "child of Kahiki," and "royal offspring from Kapaahu."
This man with his two brothers and a woman peopled Hawaii 95 generations before Kamehameha. According to his chant, the islands are fished up from Kapaahu by Kapuheeuanui, who brings up one piece of coral after another, and, offering sacrifices and prayers to each, throws it back into the ocean, so creating in succession Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, and the rest of the islands of the group.
A powerful priest, 75 generations from Opukahonua, on the occasion of the sacrifice in the temple of the rebel Iwikauikana by Kenaloakuaana, king of Maui, chants the genealogies, dividing them into the time from the migration from Kahiki to Pili, Pili to Wakea, Wakea to Waia, and Waia to Liloa.
The song of Kualii was composed about 1700 to celebrate the royal conqueror of Oahu. It opens with an obscure allusion to the fishing up by Maui from the hill Kauwiki, of the island of Hawaii, out of the bottom of the sea, and the fetching of the gods Kane and Kanaloa, Kauakahi and Maliu, to these islands.
The eleventh child of Iku and Kapapaiakea in Kuaihelani is his father's favorite, and to him Iku wills his rank and his kingdom. The brothers are jealous and seek to kill him. They go through the Hawaiian group to compete in boxing and wrestling, defeat Kealohikikaupea, the strong man of Kauai; Kaikipaananea, Kupukupukehaikalani, and Kupukupukehaiaiku, three strong men of Oahu, and King Kakaalaneo of Maui; but are afraid when they hear of Kepakailiula, the strong man of Hawaii, and return to Kuaihelani.
Aukelenuiaiku has grown straight and faultless. "His skin is like the ripe banana and his eyeballs like the blood of the banana as it first appears." He wants to join his brothers in a wrestling match, but is forbidden by the father, who fears their jealousy. He steals away and shoots an arrow into their midst; it is a twisted arrow, theirs are jointed. The brothers are angry, but when one of them strikes the lad, his own arm is broken. The younger brother takes up each one in turn and throws him into the sea. The brothers pretend friendship and invite him into the house, but only to throw him into the pit Kamooinanea, where lives the lizard grandmother who devours men. She saves her grandchild and instructs him how to reach the queen, Namakaokahai. For the journey she furnishes him with a box for his god, Lonoikoualii; a leaf,laukahi, to satisfy his hunger; an ax and a knife; her own tail, in which lies the strength of her body; and her feather skirt andkahili, by shaking which he can reduce his enemies to ashes.
When his brothers see him return safe from the pit they determine to flee to foreign lands. They make one more attempt to kill him by shutting him into a water hole, but one soft-hearted brother lets him out. The hero then persuades the brothers to let him accompany them. On the way he feeds them with "food and meat" from his club, Kaiwakaapu. They sail eight months, touch at Holaniku, where they getawa, sugar cane, bananas, and coconuts, and arrive in four months more at Lalakeenuiakane, the land of Queen Namakaokahai. The queen is guarded by four brothers in bird form, Kanemoe, Kaneapua, Leapua and Kahaumana, by two maid servants in animal form, and by a dog, Moela. The whole party is reduced to ashes at the shaking of the queen's skirt, except the hero, who escapes and by his good looks and quick wit wins the friendship of the queen's maids and her brothers. When he approaches the queen he must encounter certain tests. The dog he turns into ashes; to befriend him the maids run away and the bird brothers transform themselves into a rock, a log, a coral rock, and a hard blue rock, in order to hide themselves. He escapes poisoned food set before him. Then he worships each one by name, and they are astounded at his knowledge. The queen therefore takes him as her husband. She is part human, part divine; the moon is her grandfather, the thunder-and-lightning-bolt is her uncle. Aukelanuiaiku must know her taboos, eat where she bids him, not come to her unless she leads him in.
The bird Halulu with feathers on her forehead, called Hinawaikolii, who is the queen's cousin, carries the hero away to her nest in the cliff, but he kills her with his ax, and her mate, Kiwaha, lets him down on a rainbow.
The two live happily. Their first child is to be called Kauwilanuimakehaikalani, "the lightning seen in a rainstorm," and for him sugar cane, potato, banana and taro are tabooed. The queen can return to life if cut to pieces; can turn herself into a cliff, a roaring fire, and a great ocean; and has the power of flight. All her tricks the queen and her brothers teach to the hero. Then she sends him with her brothers to meet her relatives. He goes ahead of his guides, encounters Kuwahailo, who sends against him two bolts of fire, Kukuena and Mahuia, and two thunder rocks, Ikuwa and Welehu, all of which he wards off like a puff of wind. Next they meet Makalii and his wife, the beautiful Malanaikuaheahea.
The next adventure is after the water of life with which to restore the brothers to life. The first trip is unsuccessful. Instead of flying in a straight line between the sky (lewa) and space (nenelu—literally, mud) the hero falls into space and is obliged to cling to the moon for support. Meanwhile his wife thinks him dead and has summoned Night, Day, Sun, Stars, Thunder, Rainbow, Lightning, Water-spout, Fog, Fine rain, etc., to mourn for him. Then, through her supernatural knowledge she hears him declare to the moon, her grandfather, Kaukihikamalama, his birth and ancestry, and learns for the first time that they are related. On the next trip he reaches a deep pit, at the bottom of which is the well of everlasting life, the property of Kamohoalii. It is guarded by two maternal uncles of the hero, Kanenaiau and Hawewe and a maternal aunt, Luahinekaikapu, the sister of the lizard grandmother, who is blind. The hero steals the bananas she is roasting, dodges her anger, and restores her sight. She paints up his hands to look like Kamohoalii's and the guards at the well hand him the gourd Huawaiakaula with its string network called Paleaikaahalanalana. The rustling of thelamatrees, thelouloupalms and the bamboo, as Aukelenuiaiku retreats, wakens Kamohoalii, who pursues; but with a start of one year and six months, the hero can not be overtaken.
The brothers are restored to life and the hero hands over to them his wife and kingdom and lives humbly. When he woos Pele and Hiiaka, his wife drives them over seas until they come to Maunaloa, Hawaii. Then the brothers leave for Kuaihelani, and Aukelenuiaiku desires also to see his native land again. There he finds the lizard grandmother overgrown with coral and his parents gone to Kauai.
[Footnote 1: Compare Westervelt's Gods and Ghosts, p. 66.]
Kaiuli and Kaikea are gods who change intoPaoofish and live in the bottom of the sea in Kahikihonuakele. They have two children, the girl Hinaluaikoa and the boy Kukeapua. These two have 10 children, Hinaakeahi, Hinaaimalama, Hinapaleaoana, Hinaluaimoa, all girls, Iheihe, a boy, Moahelehaku, Kiimaluhaku, and Kanikaea, girls, and the boys Kipapalaula and Luaehu. As Hinaaikamalama is the most beautiful she is placed under strict taboo under guard of her brother Kipapalaula. He is banished for neglect of duty, crawls through a crack at Kawaluna at the edge of the great ocean. The king treats him kindly, hence he returns and gets his sister to be the king's wife. In her calabash, called Kipapalaulu, she carries the moon for food and the stars for fish.
King Konikonia and Hinaaikamalama have 10 children, the youngest of whom, the boy Maikoha, is found to be guilty of sacrilege and banished. He goes to Kaupo and changes into thewaukeplant. His sisters coming in search of him, land at Oahu and turn into fish ponds—Kaihuopalaai into Kapapaapuhi pond at Ewa; Kaihukoa into Kaena at Waianae; Kawailoa into Ihukoko at Waialua, and Ihukuuna into Laniloa at Laie. Kaneaukai, their brother, comes to look for them in the form of a log. It drifts ashore at Kealia, Waialua, changes into a man, and becomes fish god for two old men at Kapaeloa.[1]
[Footnote 1: The rock called Kaneaukai, "Man-floating-on-the-sea," on the shore below Waimea, Oahu, is still worshiped with offerings. The local story tells how two old men fish up the same rock three times. Then they say, "It is a god," and, in spite of the weight of the rock, carry it inshore and place it where it now stands and make it their fish god. Thrum tells this, story, p. 250.]