When Kahalaomapuana returned from Kealohilani, from her journey in search of a chief, she related the story of her trip, of its windings and twistings, and all the things she had seen while she was away.
When she recited the charge given her by Kaonohiokala, Laieikawai said to her companions, "O comrades, as Kahalaomapuana tells me the message of your brother and my husband, a strange foreboding weighs upon me, and I am amazed; I supposed him to be a man, a mighty god that! When I think of seeing him, however I may desire it, I am ready to die with fear before he has even come to us."
Her companions answered, "He is no god; he is a man like us, yet in his nature and appearance godlike. He was the first-born of us; he was greatly beloved by our parents; to him was given superhuman powers which we have not, except Kahalaomapuana; only they two were given this power; his taboo rank still remains; therefore, do not fear; when he comes, you will see he is only a man like us."
Now, before Kahalaomapuana's return from Kealohilani, the seer foresaw what was to take place, one month before her return. Then the seer prophesied, in these words: "A blessing descends upon us from the heavens when the nights of full moon come.
"When we hear the thunder peal in dry weather and in wet, then we shall see over the earth rain and lightning, billows swell on the ocean, freshets on the land, land and sea covered thick with fog, fine mist and rain, and the beating of the ocean rain.
"When this passes, on the day of full moon, in the dusk of the early morning, at the time when the sun's rays strike the mountain tops, then the earth shall behold a youth sitting within the eye of the sun, one like the taboo child of my god. Afterwards the earth shall behold a great destruction and shall see all the haughty snatched away out of the land; then we shall be blessed, and our seed."
When his daughters heard the seer's prophecy, they wondered within themselves that he should prophesy at this distance, without knowing anything about their sister's mission for which they waited.
As a prophet it was his privilege to proclaim about Kauai those things which he saw would come to pass.
So, before leaving his daughters, he commanded them and said, "My daughters, I am giving you my instructions before leaving you, not, indeed, for long; but I go to announce those things which I have told you, and shall return hither. Therefore, dwell here in this place, which my god has pointed out to me, and keep yourselves pure until my prophecy is fulfilled."
The prophet went away, as he had determined, and he went into the presence of the chiefs and men of position, at the place where the chiefs were assembled; there he proclaimed what he had seen.
And first he came to Aiwohikupua and said, "From this day, erect flag signals around your dwelling, and bring inside all whom you love.
"For there comes shortly a destruction over the earth; never has any destruction been seen before like this which is to come; never will any come hereafter when this destruction of which I tell is ended.
"Before the coming of the wonder-worker he will give you a sign of destruction, not over all the people of the land, but over you yourself and your people; then the high ones of earth shall lie down before him and your pride shall be taken from you.
"If you listen to my word, then you will be spared from the destruction that is verily to come; therefore, prepare yourselves at once."
And because of the seer's words, he was driven away from before the face of the chief.
Thus he proclaimed to all the chiefs on Kauai, and the chiefs who listened to the seer, they were spared.
He went to Kekalukaluokewa, with his wife and all in their company.
And as he said to Aiwohikupua, so he said to Kekalukaluokewa, and he believed him.
But Waka would not listen, and answered, "If a god is the one to bring destruction, then I have another god to save me and my chiefs."
And at Waka's words the seer turned to the chiefs and said, "Do not listen to your grandmother, for a great destruction is coming over the chiefs. Plant flag signals at once around you, and bring all dear to you inside the signals you have set up, and whoever will not believe me, let them fall in the great day of destruction.
"When that day comes, the old women will lie down before the soles of the feet of that mighty youth, and plead for life, and not get it, because they have disbelieved the words of the prophet."
And because Kekalukaluokewa knew that his former prophecies had been fulfilled, therefore he rejected the old woman's counsel. When the seer left the chief planted flag signals all around the palace and stayed within the protected place as the prophet had commanded.
At the end of his circuit, the seer returned and dwelt with his daughters.
For no other reason than love did the seer go to tell those things which he saw. He had been back one day with his daughters at Honopuwaiakua when Kahalaomapuana arrived, as described in the chapter before.
Ten days after Kahalaomapuana's return from Kealohilani came the first of their brother's promised signs.
So the signs began little by little during five days, and on the sixth day the thunder cracked, the rain poured down, the ocean billows swelled, the land was flooded, the lightning flashed, the mist closed down, the rainbow arched, the colored cloud rose over the ocean.
Then the seer said, "My daughters, the time is come when my prophecy is fulfilled as I declared it to you."
The daughters answered, "This is what we have been whispering about, for first you told us these things while Kahalaomapuana had not yet returned, and since her return she has told us the same thing again."
Said Laieikawai, "I tremble and am astonished, and how can my fear be stilled?"
"Fear not; be not astonished; we shall prosper and become mighty ones among the islands round about; none shall be above us; and you shall rule over the land, and those who have done evil against you shall flee from you and be chiefs no more.
"For this have I followed you persistently through danger and cost and through hard weariness, and I see prosperity for me and for my seed to be mine through you."
One month of bad weather over the land as the last sign; in the early morning when the rays of the sun rose above the mountain, Kaonohiokala was seen sitting within the smoking heat of the sun, right in the middle of the sun's ring, encircled with rainbows and a red mist.
Then the sound of shouting was heard all over Kauai at the sight of the beloved child of Moanalihaikawaokele and Laukieleula, the great high chief of Kahakaekaea and Nuumealani.
Behold! a voice shouting, "The beloved of Hulumaniani! the wonderful prophet! Hulumaniani! Give us life!"
From morning until evening the shouting lasted, until they were hoarse and could only point with their hands and nod their heads, for they were hoarse with shouting for Kaonohiokala.
Now, as Kaonohiokala looked down upon the earth, lo! Laieikawai was clothed in the rainbow garment his sister, Kahalaomapuana, had brought her; then through this sign he recognized Laieikawai as his betrothed wife.
In the dusk of the evening, at the rising of the bright full moon, he entered the prophet's inclosure.
When he came, all his sisters bowed down before him, and the prophet before the Beloved.
And Laieikawai was about to do the same; when, the Beloved sawLaieikawai about to kneel he cried out, "O my wife and ruler! OLaieikawai! do not kneel, we are equals."
"My lord, I am amazed and tremble, and if you desire to take my life, it is well; for never have I met before with anyone so terrible as this!" answered Laieikawai.
"I have not come to take your life, but on my sister's visit to me I gave her a sign for me to know you by and recognize you as my betrothed wife; and therefore have I come to fulfill her mission," so said Kaonohiokala.
When his sisters and the seer heard, then they shouted with joyful voices, "Amen! Amen! Amen! it is finished, flown beyond!". They rose up with joy in their eyes.
Then he called to his sisters, "I take my wife and at this time of the night will come again hither." Then his wife was caught away out of sight of her companions, but the prophet had a glimpse of her being carried on the rainbow to dwell within the moon; there they took in pledge their moments of bliss.
And the next night when the moon shone bright, at the time when its light decreased, a rainbow was let down, fastened to the moon and reaching to the earth; when the moon was directly over Honopuwaiakua, then the chiefs appeared above in the sky in their majesty and stood before the prophet, saying: "Go and summon all the people for ten days to gather together in one place; then I will declare my wrath against those who have done you wrong.
"At the end of ten days, then we shall meet again, and I will tell you what is well for you to do, and my sisters with you."
When these words were ended the seer went away, and when he had departed the five sisters were taken up to dwell with the wife in the shelter of the moon.
On the seer's circuit, according to the command of the Beloved, he did not encounter a single person, for all had gone up to Pihanakalani, the place where it had been predicted that victory should be accomplished.
After ten days the seer returned to Honopuwaiakua; lo! it was deserted.
Then Kaonohiokala met him, and the seer told him about the circuit he had made at the Beloved's command.
Then the prophet was taken up also to dwell in the moon.
And in the morning of the next day, at sunrise, when the hot rays of the sun rose over the mountains,
Then the Beloved began to punish Aiwohikupua and Waka. To Waka he meted out death, and Aiwohikupua was punished by being deprived of all his wealth, to wander like a vagrant over the earth until the end of his days.
At the request of Laieikawai to spare Laielohelohe and her husband, the danger passed them by, and they became rulers over the land thereafter.
Now in the early morning of the day of Aiwohikupua's and Waka's downfall, lo! the multitude assembled at Pihanakalani saw a rainbow let down from the moon to earth, trembling in the hot rays of the sun.
Then, as they all crowded together, the seer and the five girls stood on the ladder way, and Kaonohiokala and Laieikawai apart, and the soles of their feet were like fire. This was the time when Aiwohikupua and Waka fell to the ground, and the seer's prophecy was fulfilled.
When the chief had avenged them upon their enemies, the chief placed Kahalaomapuana as ruler over them and stationed his other sisters over separate islands. And Kekalukaluokewa was chief counsellor under Laielohelohe, and the seer was their companion in council, with the power of chief counsellor.
After all these things were put in order and well established, Laieikawai and her husband were taken on the rainbow to the land within the clouds and dwelt in the husband's home.
In case her sisters should do wrong then, it was Kahalaomapuana's duty to bring word to the chief.
But there was no fault to be found with his sisters until they left this world.
After the marriage of Laieikawai and Kaonohiokala, when his sisters and the seer and Kekalukaluokewa and his wife were well established, after all this had been set in order, they returned to the country in the heavens called Kahakaekaea and dwelt in the taboo house on the borders of Tahiti.
And when she became wife under the marriage bond, all power was given her as a god except that to see hidden things and those obscure deeds which were done at a distance; only her husband had this power.
Before they left Kauai to return to the heavens, a certain agreement was made in their assembly at the government council.
Lo! on that day, the rainbow pathway was let down from Nuumealani and Kaonohiokala and Laieikawai mounted upon that way, and she laid her last commands upon her sisters, the seer, and Laielohelohe; these were her words:
"My companions and our father the prophet, my sister born with me in the womb and your husband, I return according to our agreement! leave you and return to that place where you will not soon come to see me; therefore, live in peace, for each alike has prospered, not one of you lacks fortune. But Kaonohiokala will visit you to look after your welfare."
After these words they were borne away out of sight. And as to her saying Kaonohiokala would come to look after the welfare of her companions, this was the sole source of disturbance in Laieikawai's life with her husband.
While Laieikawai lived at home with her husband it was Kaonohiokala's custom to come down from time to time to look after his sisters' welfare and that of his young wife three times every year.
They had lived perhaps five years under the marriage contract, and about the sixth year of Laieikawai's happy life with her husband, Kaonohiokala fell into sin with Laielohelohe without anyone knowing of his falling into sin.
After Laieikawai had lived three months above, Kaonohiokala went down to look after his sister's welfare, and returned to Laieikawai; so he did until the third year, and after three years of going below to see after his sisters, lo! Laielohelohe was full-grown and her beauty had increased and surpassed that of her sister, Laieikawai's.
Not at this time, however, did Kaonohiokala fall into sin, but his sinful longing had its beginning.
On every trip Kaonohiokala took to do his work below, for four years, lo! Laielohelohe's loveliness grew beyond what he had seen before, and his sinful lust increased mightily, but by his nature as a child of god he persisted in checking his lust; for perhaps a minute the lust flew from him, then it clung to him once more.
In the fifth year, at the end of the first quarter, Kaonohiokala went away to do his work below.
At that time virtue departed far from the mind of Kaonohiokala and he fell into sin.
Now at this time, when he met his sisters, the prophet and hispunaluaand their wife (Laielohelohe), Kaonohiokala began to redistribute the land, so he called a fresh council.
And to carry out his evil purpose, he transferred his sisters to be guards over the land called Kealohilani, and arranged that they should live with Mokukelekahiki and have charge of the land with him.
When some of his sisters saw how much greater the honor was to become chiefs in a land they had never visited, and serve with Mokukelekahiki there, they agreed to consent to their brother's plan.
But Kahalaomapuana would not consent to return to Kealohilani, for she cared more for her former post of honor than to return to Kealohilani.
And in refusing, she spoke to her brother as follows: "My high one, as to your sending us to Kealohilani, let them go and I will remain here, living as you first placed me; for I love the land and the people and am accustomed to the life; and if I stay below here and you above and they between, then all will be well, just as we were born of our mother; for you broke the way, your little sisters followed you, and I stopped it up; that was the end, and so it was."
Now he knew that his youngest sister had spoken well; but because of Kaonohiokala's great desire to get her away so that she would not detect his mischievous doings, therefore he cast lots upon his sisters, and the one upon whom, the lot rested must go back to Kealohilani.
Said Kaonohiokala to his sisters, "Go and pull a grass flower; do not go together, every one by herself, then the oldest return and give it to me, in the order of your birth, and the one who has the longest grass stem, she shall go to Kealohilani."
Every one went separately and returned as they had been told.
The first one went and pulled one about two inches in length, and the second one pulled and broke her flower perhaps three inches and a half; and the third, she pulled her grass stem about two inches long; and the fourth of them, hers was about one inch long; and Kahalaomapuana did not pull the tall flowers, she pulled a very short one, about three feet long hers was, and she cut off half and came back, thinking her grass stem was the shortest.
But in comparing them, the oldest laid hers down before her brother.Kahalaomapuana saw it and was much surprised, so she secretly broke hersinside her clothing; but her brother saw her doing it and said,"Kahalaomapuana, no fooling! leave your grass stem as it is."
The others laid down theirs, but Kahalaomapuana did not show hers; said he, "The lot rests upon you."
Then she begged her brother to draw the lot again; again they drew lots, again the lot rested upon Kahalaomapuana; Kahalaomapuana had nothing left to say, for the lot rested upon her.
Lo! she was sorrowful at separating herself from her own chief-house and the people of the land; darkened was the princess's heart by the unwelcome lot that sent her back to Kealohilani.
And on the day when Kahalaomapuana was to depart for Kealohilani, the rainbow was let down from above the earth.
Then she said to her brother, "Let the pathway of my high one wait ten days, and let the chiefs be gathered together and all the people of the land, that I may show them my great love before you take me away."
When Kaonohiokala saw that his sister's words were well, he granted her wish; then the pathway was taken up again with her brother.
And on the tenth day, the pathway was let down again before the assembly, and Kahalaomapuana mounted upon the ladder way prepared for her and turned with heavy heart, her eyes filled with a flood of tears, the water drops of Kulanihakoi, and said: "O chiefs and people, I am leaving you to return to a land unknown to you; only I and my older sisters have visited it; it was not my wish to go back to this land; but my hand decided my leaving you according to the lot laid by my divine brother. But I know that every one of us has a god, no one is without; now, therefore, do you pray to your god and I will pray to my god, and if our prayer has might, then shall we meet again hereafter. Love to you all, love to the land, we cease and disappear."
Then she caught hold of her garment and held it up to her eyes before the assembly to hide her feeling for the people and the land. And she was borne by the rainbow to the land above the clouds, to Lanikuakaa, the heavens higher up.
The great reason why Kaonohiokala wished to separate Kahalaomapuana in Kealohilani was to hide his evil doings with Laielohelohe, for Kahalaomapuana was the only one who could see things done in secret; and she was a resolute girl, not one to give in. Kaonohiokala thought she might disclose to Moanalihaikawaokele this evil doing; so he got his sister away, and by his supernatural arts he made the lot fall to Kahalaomapuana.
When his sister had gone, about the end of the second quarter of the fifth year, he went away below to carry out his lustful design upon Laielohelohe.
Not just at that time, but he made things right with Kekalukaluokewa by putting him in Kahalaomapuana's place and the seer as his chief counsellor.
Mailehaiwale was made governor on Kauai, Mailekaluhea on Oahu,Mailelaulii on Maui and the other islands, Mailepakaha on Hawaii.
When Kekalukaluokewa became head over the group, then Kaonohiokala sent him to make a tour of the islands and perform the functions of a ruler, and he put Laielohelohe in Kekalukaluokewa's place as his substitute.
And for this reason Kekalukaluokewa took his chief counsellor (the prophet) with him on the circuit.
So Kekalukaluokewa left Pihanakalani and started on the business of visiting the group; the same day Kaonohiokala left those below.
When Kaonohiokala started to return he did not go all the way up, but just watched that day the sailing of Kekalukaluokewa's canoes over the ocean.
Then Kaonohiokala came back down and sought the companionship ofLaielohelohe, but not just then was the sin committed.
When the two met, Kaonohiokala asked Laielohelohe to separate herself from the rest, and at the high chief's command the princess's retainers withdrew.
When Laielohelohe and Kaonohiokala were alone he said, "This is the third year that I have desired you, for your beauty has grown and overshadowed your sister's, Laieikawai's. Now at last my patience no longer avails to turn away my passion from you."
"O my high one," said Laielohelohe, "how can you rid yourself of your passion? And what does my high one see fit to do?"
"Let us know one another," said Kaonohiokala, "this is the only thing to be done for me."
Said Laielohelohe, "We can not touch one another, my high one, for the one who brought me up from the time I was born until I found my husband, he has strictly bound me not to defile my flesh with anyone; and, therefore, my high one, it is his to grant your wish."
When Kaonohiokala heard this, then he had some check to his passion, then he returned to the heavens to his wife, Laieikawai. He had not been ten days there when, he was again thick-pressed by the thunders of his evil lust, and he could not hold out against it.
To ease this passion he was again forced down below to meetLaielohelohe.
And having heard that her guardian who bound her must give his consent, he first sought Kapukaihaoa and asked his consent to the chief's purpose.
So he went first and said to Kapukaihaoa: "I wish to unite myself with Laielohelohe for a time, not to take her away altogether, but to ease my heavy heart of its lust after your foster child; for I first begged my boon of her, but she sent me for your consent, and so I have come to you."
Said Kapukaihaoa: "High one of the highest, I grant your request, my high one; it is well for you to go in to my foster child; for no good has come to me from my charge. It was our strong desire, mine and hers who took care of your wife Laieikawai, that Kekalukaluokewa should be our foster child's husband; very good, but in settling the rule over the islands, the gain has gone to others and I have nothing. For he has given all the islands to your sisters, and I have nothing, the one who provided him with his wife; so it will be well, in order to avoid a second misfortune, that you have the wife for the two of you."
At the end of their secret conference, Kapukaihaoa went with the chief to Laielohelohe.
Said he, "My ward, here is the husband, be ruled by him; heavens above, earth beneath; a solid fortune, nothing can shake its foundation; and look to the one who bore the burden."
Then Laielohelohe dismissed her doubts; and Kaonohiokala tookLaielohelohe and they took their pleasure together.
Three days after, Kaonohiokala returned to Kahakaekaea.
And after he had been some days absent, the pangs of love caught him fast, and changed his usual appearance.
Then on the fourth day of their separation, he told a lie to Laieikawai and said, "This was a strange night for me, I never slept, there was a drumming all night long."
Said Laieikawai, "What was it?"
Said Kaonohiokala, "Perhaps the people below are in trouble."
"Perhaps so," said Laieikawai. "Why not go down and see?"
And at his wife's mere suggestion, in less than no time Kaonohiokala was below in the companionship of Laielohelohe. But Laielohelohe never thought of harm; what was that to her mind!
When they met at the chief's wish. Laielohelohe did not love Kaonohiokala, for the princess did not wish to commit sin with the great chief from the heavens, but to satisfy her guardian's greed.
After perhaps ten days of these evil doings, Kaonohiokala returned above.
Then Laielohelohe's love for Kekalukaluokewa waxed and grew because she had fallen into sin with Kaonohiokala.
One day in the evening Laielohelohe said to Kapukaihaoa, "My good guard and protector, I am sorry for my sin with Kaonohiokala, and love grows within me for Kekalukaluokewa, my husband; good and happy has been our life together, and I sinned not by my own wish, but through your wish alone. What harm had you refused? I referred the matter to you because of your binding me not to keep companionship with anyone; I thought you would keep your oath; not so!"
Said Kapukaihaoa, "I allowed you to be another's because your husband gave me no gifts; for in my very face your husband's gifts were given to others; there I stood, then you were gone. Little he thought of me from whom he got his wife."
Said Laielohelohe to her foster father, "If that is why you have given me over to sin with Kaonohiokala, then you have done very wrong, for you know the rulers over the islands were not appointed by Kekalukaluokewa, but by Kaonohiokala; and therefore to-morrow I will go on board a double canoe and set sail to seek my husband."
That very evening she commanded her retainers, those who guarded the chief's canoe, to get the canoe ready to set sail to seek the husband.
And not wishing to meet Kaonohiokala, she hid inside the country people's houses where he would not come, lest Kaonohiokala should come again and sin with her against her wish; so she fled to the country people's houses, but he did not come until that night when she had left and was out at sea.
When she sailed, she came to Oahu and stayed in the country people's houses. So she journeyed until her meeting with Kekalukaluokewa.
About the time that Laielohelohe was come to Oahu, that next day Kaonohiokala came again to visit Laielohelohe; but on his arrival, no Laielohelohe at the chief's house; he did not question the guard for fear of his suspecting his sin with Laielohelohe. Now Laielohelohe had secretly told the guard of the chief's house why she was going. And failing in his desires he returned above.
The report of his lord's falling into sin had reached the ears of the chief through some of his retainers and he had heard also of Laielohelohe's displeasure.
Now the vagabond, Aiwohikupua, was one of the chief's retainers, he was the one who heard these things. And when he heard Laielohelohe's reason for setting sail to seek her husband, then he said to the palace guard, "If Kaonohiokala returns again, and asks for Laielohelohe, tell him she is ill, then he will not come back, for she would pollute Kaonohiokala and our parents; when the uncleanness is over, then the deeds of Venus may be done."
When Kaonohiokala came again and questioned the guard then he was told as Aiwohikupua had said, and he went back up again.
In Chapter XXXII of this story the reason was told why Laielohelohe went in search of her husband.
Now, she followed him from Kauai to Oahu and to Maui; she came toLahaina, heard Kekalukaluokewa was in Hana, having returned from Hawaii.
She sailed by canoe and came to Honuaula; there they heard that Hinaikamalama was Kekalukaluokewa's wife; the Honuaula people did not know that this was his wife.
When Laielohelohe heard this news, they hurried forward at once and came to Kaupo and Kipahulu. There was substantiated the news they heard first at Honuaula, and there they beached the canoe at Kapohue, left it, went to Waiohonu and heard that Kekalukaluokewa and Hinaikamalama had gone to Kauwiki, and they came to Kauwiki; Kekalukaluokewa and his companion had gone on to Honokalani; many days they had been on the way.
On their arrival at Kauwiki, that afternoon, Laielohelohe asked a native of the place how much farther it was to Honokalani, where Kekalukaluokewa and Hinaikamalama were staying.
Said the native, "You can arrive by sundown."
They went on, accompanied by the natives, and at dusk reached Honokalani; there Laielohelohe sent the natives to see where the chiefs were staying.
The natives went and saw the chiefs drinkingawa, and returned and told them.
Then Laielohelohe sent the natives again to go and see the chiefs, saying, "You go and find out where the chiefs sleep, then return to us."
And at her command, the natives went and found out where the chiefs slept, and returned and told Laielohelohe.
Then for the first time she told the natives that she wasKekalukaluokewa's married wife.
Before Laielohelohe's meeting with Kekalukaluokewa he had heard of her falling into sin with Kaonohiokala; he heard it from one of Kauakahialii's men, the one who became Aiwohikupua's chief counsellor; and, because of that man's hearing about Laielohelohe, he came there to tell Kekalukaluokewa.
When Laielohelohe and her companions came to the house where Kekalukaluokewa was staying, lo! they lay sleeping in the same place under one covering, drunk withawa.
Laielohelohe entered and sat down at their heads, kissed him and wept quietly over him; but the fountain of her tears overflowed when she saw another woman sleeping by her husband, nor did they know this; for they were drunk withawa.
Then Laielohelohe did not stay her anger against Hinaikamalama. So she got between them, pushed Hinaikamalama away, took Kekalukaluokewa and embraced him, and wakened him.
Then Kekalukaluokewa started from his sleep and saw his wife; just then,Hinaikamalama waked suddenly from sleep and saw this strange woman withthem; she ran away from them in a rage, not knowing this wasKekalukaluokewa's wife.
When Kekalukaluokewa saw the anger in Hinaikamalama's eyes as she went, then he said, "O Hinaikamalama, will you run to people with angry eyes? Do not take this woman for a stranger, she is my wedded wife." Then her rage left her and shame and fear took the place of rage.
When Kekalukaluokewa awoke from his drunken sleep and saw his wifeLaielohelohe, they kissed as strangers meet.
Then he said to his wife, "Laielohelohe, I have heard about your falling into sin with our lord, Kaonohiokala, and now this is well for you and him, and well for me to rule under you two; for from him this honor comes, and life and death are with him; if I should object, he would kill me; therefore, whatever our lord wishes it is best for us to obey; it was not for my pleasure that I gave you up, but for fear of death."
Then Laielohelohe said to her husband, "Where are you, husband of my childhood? What you have heard is true, and it is true that I have fallen into sin with the lord of the land, not many times, only twice have we sinned; but, my husband, it was not I who consented to defile my body with our lord, but it was my guardian who permitted the sin; for on the day when you went away, that very day our lord asked me to defile myself; but I did not wish it, therefore I referred my refusal to him; but on his return from above he asked Kapukaihaoa, and so we met twice; and because I did not like it, I hid myself in the country people's houses, and for the same reason have I left the seat appointed me, and have sought you; and when I arrived, I found you with that woman. Therefore we are square; I have nothing to complain of your you have nothing to complain of me; therefore, leave this woman this very night."
Now his wife's words seemed right to her husband; but at Laielohelohe's last request to separate them from their sinful companionship, then was kindled the fire of Hinaikamalama's hot love for Kekalukaluokewa.
Hinaikamalama returned home to Haneoo to live; every day that Hinaikamalama stayed at her chief-house, she was wont to sit at the door of the house and turn her face to Kauwiki, for the hot love that wrapped her about.
One day, as the princess sought to ease the love she bore to Kekalukaluokewa, she climbed Kaiwiopele with her attendants, and sat there with her face turned toward Kauwiki, facing Kahalaoaka, and as the clouds rested there right above Honokalahi then the heart of the princess was benumbed with love for her lover; then she chanted a little song, as follows:
Like a gathering cloud love settles upon me,Thick darkness wraps my heart.A stranger perhaps at the door of the house,My eyes dance.It may be they weep, alas!I shall be weeping for you.As flies the sea spray of Hanualele,Right over the heights of Honokalani.My high one! So it is I feel.
After this song she wept, and seeing her weep, her attendants wept with her.
They sat there until evening, then they returned to the house; her parents and her attendants commanded her to eat, but she had no appetite for food because of her love.
It was the same with Kekalukaluokewa, for when Hinaikamalama left Kekalukaluokewa that night, when Laielohelohe came, the chief was not happy, but he endured it for some days after their separation.
And on the day when Hinaikamalama went up on Kaiwiopele, that same night, he went to Hinaikamalama without Laielohelohe's knowledge, for she was asleep.
While Hinaikamalama lay awake, sleepless for love, enteredKekalukaluokewa, without the knowledge of anyone in the chief's house.
When Kekalukaluokewa came, he went right to the place where the princess slept, took the woman by the head and wakened her.
Then Hinaikamalama's heart leaped with the hope it was her lover; now when she seized him it was in truth the one she had hoped for. Then she called out to the attendants to light the lamps, and at dawn Kekalukaluokewa returned to his true wife, Laielohelohe. After that, Kekalukaluokewa went to Hinaikamalama every night without being seen; ten whole days passed that the two did evil together without the wife knowing it; for in order to carry out her husband's desire Laielohelohe's senses were darkened by the effects ofawa.
One day one of the native-born women of the place felt pity forLaielohelohe, therefore the woman went to visit the princess.
While Kekalukaluokewa was in the fiber-combing house with the men, the woman visited with Laielohelohe, and she said mysteriously, "How is your husband? Does he not struggle and groan sometimes for the woman?"
Said Laielohelohe, "No; all is well with us."
Said the woman again, "It may be he is deceiving you."
"Perhaps so," answered Laielohelohe, "but so far as I see we are living very happily."
Then the woman told her plainly, "Where are you? Our garden patch is right on the edge of the road; my husband gets up to dig in our garden. As he was digging, Kekalukaluokewa came along from Haneoo; my husband thought at once he had been with Hinaikamalama; my husband returned and told me, but I was not sure. On the next night, at moonrise, I got up with my husband, and we went to fish for red fish in the sea at Haneoo; as we came to the edge of the gulch, we saw some one appear above the rise we had just left; then we turned aside and hid; it was Kekalukaluokewa coming; then we followed his footsteps until we came close to Hinaikamalama's house; here Kekalukaluokewa entered. After we had fished and returned to the place where we met him first, we met him going back, and we did not speak to him nor he to us; that is all, and this day Hinaikamalama's own guard told me—my husband's sister she is—ten days the chiefs have been together; that is my secret; and therefore my husband and I took pity on you and I came to tell you."
And at the woman's words, the princess's mind was moved; not at once did she show her rage; but she waited but to make sure. She said to the woman, "No wonder my husband forces me to drinkawaso that when I am asleep under the influence of theawa, he can go; but to-night I will follow him."
That night Kekalukaluokewa again gave her theawa, then she obeyed him, but after she had drunk it all, she went outside the house immediately and threw it up; and afterwards her husband did not know of his wife's guile, and she returned to the house, and Laielohelohe lay down and pretended to sleep.
When Kekalukaluokewa thought that his wife was fast asleep under the effects of theawa, then he started to make his usual visit to Hinaikamalama.
When Laielohelohe saw that he had left her, she arose and followedKekalukaluokewa without being seen.
Thus following, lo! she found her husband with Hinaikamalama.
Then Laielohelohe said to Kekalukaluokewa, when she came to Hinaikamalama's house where they were sleeping, "My husband, you have deceived me; no wonder you compelled me to drinkawa, you had something to do; now I have found you two, I tell you it is not right to endure this any longer. We had best return to Kauai; we must go at once."
Her husband saw that the princess was right; they arose and returned to Honokalani and next day the canoes were hastily prepared to fulfill Laielohelohe's demand, thinking to sail that night; but they did not, for Kekalukaluokewa pretended to be ill, and they postponed going that night. The next day he did the same thing again, so Laielohelohe gave up her love for her husband and returned to Kauai with her canoe, without thinking again of Kekalukaluokewa.
The next day after Laielohelohe reached Kauai after leaving her husband,Kaonohiokala arrived again from Kahakaekaea, and met with Laielohelohe.
Four months passed of their amorous meetings; this long absence of Kaonohiokala's seemed strange to Laieikawai, he had been away four months; and as Laieikawai wondered at the long absence, Kaonohiokala returned.
Laieikawai asked, "Why were you gone four months? You have not done so before."
Said Kaonohiokala, "Laielohelohe has had trouble with her husband; Kekalukaluokewa has taken a stranger to wife, and this is why I was so long away."
Then Laieikawai said to her husband, "Get your wife and bring her up here and let us live together."
Therefore, Kaonohiokala left Laieikawai and went away, as Laieikawai thought, to carry out her command. Not so!
On this journey Kaonohiokala stayed away a year; now Laieikawai did not think her husband's long stay strange, she laid it to Laielohelohe's troubles with Kekalukaluokewa.
Then she longed to see how it was with her sister, so Laieikawai went to her father-in-law and asked, "How can I see how it is with my sister, for I have heard from my husband and high one that Laielohelohe is having trouble with Kekalukaluokewa, and so I have sent Kaonohiokala to fetch the woman and return hither; but he has not come back, and it is a year since he went, so give me power to see to that distant place to know how it is with my relatives."
Then said Moanalihaikawaokele, her father-in-law, "Go home and look for your mother-in-law; if she is asleep, then go into the taboo temple; if you see a gourd plaited with straw and feathers mounted on the edge of the cover, that is the gourd. Do not be afraid of the great birds that stand on either side of the gourd, they are not real birds, only wooden birds; they are plaited with straw and inwrought with feathers. And when you come to where the gourd is standing take off the cover, then put your head into the mouth of the gourd and call out the name of the gourd, 'Laukapalili, Trembling Leaf, give me wisdom.' Then you shall see your sister and all that is happening below. Only when you call do not call in a loud voice; it might resound; your mother-in-law, Laukieleula, might hear, the one who guards the gourd of wisdom."
Laukieleula was wont to watch the gourd of wisdom, at night, and by day she slept.
Very early next morning, at the time when the sun's warmth began to spread over the earth, she went to spy out Laukieleula; she was just asleep.
When she saw she was asleep Laieikawai did as Moanalihaikawaokele had directed, and she went as he had instructed her.
When she came to the gourd, the one called "the gourd of wisdom," she lifted the cover from the gourd and bent her head to the mouth of the gourd, and she called the name of the gourd, then she began to see all that was happening at a distance.
At noon Laieikawai's eyes glanced downward, lo! Kaonohiokala sinned withLaielohelohe.
Then Laieikawai went and told Moanalihaikawaokele about it, saying, "I have employed the power you gave me, but while I was looking my high lord sinned; he did evil with my sister; for the first time I understand why his business takes him so long down below."
Then Moanalihaikawaokele's wrath was kindled, and Laukieleula heard it also, and her parents-in-law went to the gourd—lo! they plainly saw the sin committed as Laieikawai had said.
That day they all came together, Laieikawai and her parents-in-law, to see what to do about Kaonohiokala, and they came to their decision.
Then the pathway was let down from Kahakaekaea and dropped before Kaonohiokala; then Kaonohiokala's heart beat with fear, because the road dropped before him; not for long was Kaonohiokala left to wonder.
Then the air was darkened and it was filled with the cry of wailing spirits and the voice of lamentation—"The divine one has fallen! The divine one has fallen!!" And when the darkness was over, lo! Moanalihaikawaokele and Laukieleula and Laieikawai sat above the rainbow pathway.
And Moanalihaikawaokele said to Kaonohiokala, "You have sinned, O Kaonohiokala, for you have defiled yourself and, therefore, you shall no longer have a place to dwell within Kahakaekaea, and the penalty you shall pay, to become a fearsome thing on the highway and at the doors of houses, and your name is Lapu, Vanity, and for your food you shall eat moths; and thus shall you live and your posterity."
Then was the pathway taken from him through his father's supernatural might. Then they returned to Kahakaekaea.
In this story it is told how Kaonohiokala was the first ghost on these islands, and from his day to this, the ghosts wander from place to place, and they resemble evil spirits in their nature.[76]
On the way back after Kaonohiokala's punishment, they encountered Kahalaomapuana in Kealohilani, and for the first time discovered she was there.
And at this discovery, Kahalaomapuana told the story of her dismissal, as we saw in Chapter XXVII of this story, and at the end Kahalaomapuana was taken to fill Kaonohiokala's place.
At Kahakaekaea, sometimes Laieikawai longed for Laielohelohe, but she could do nothing; often she wept for her sister, and her parents-in-law thought it strange to see Laieikawai's eyes looking as if she had wept.
Moanalihaikawaokele asked the reason for this; then she told him she wept for her sister.
Said Moanalihaikawaokele, "Your sister can not live here with us, for she is defiled with Kaonohiokala; but if you want your sister, then you go and fill Kekalukaluokewa's place." Now Laieikawai readily assented to this plan.
And on the day when Laieikawai was let down, Moanalihaikawaokele said, "Return to your sister and live virgin until your death, and from this time forth your name shall be no longer called Laieikawai, but your name shall be 'The Woman of the Twilight,' and by this name shall all your kin bow down to you and you shall be like a god to them."
And after this command, Moanalihaikawaokele took her, and both together mounted upon the pathway and returned below.
Then, Moanalihaikawaokele said all these things told above, and when he had ended he returned to the heavens and dwelt in the taboo house on the borders of Tahiti.
Then, The Woman of the Twilight placed the government upon the seer; so did Laieikawai, the one called The Woman of the Twilight, and she lived as a god, and to her the seer bowed down and her kindred, according to Moanalihaikawaokele's word to her. And so Laieikawai lived until her death.
And from that time to this she is still worshiped as The Woman of theTwilight.
[Footnote 1: Haleole uses the foreign form for wife,wahine mare, literally "married woman," a relation which in Hawaiian is represented by the verbhoao. A temporary affair of the kind is expressed in Waka's advice to her granddaughter, "O ke kane ia moeia," literally, "the man this to be slept with".]
[Footnote 2: The chief's vow,olelo paa, or "fixed word," to slay all his daughters, would not be regarded as savage by a Polynesian audience, among whom infanticide was commonly practiced. In the early years of the mission on Hawaii, Dibble estimated that two-thirds of the children born perished at the hands of their parents. They were at the slightest provocation strangled or burned alive, often within the house. The powerful Areois society of Tahiti bound its members to slay every child born to them. The chief's preference for a son, however, is not so common, girls being prized as the means to alliances of rank. It is an interesting fact that in the last census the proportion of male and female full-blooded Hawaiians was about equal.]
[Footnote 3: The phrasenalo no hoi na wahi huna, which means literally "conceal the secret parts," has a significance akin to the Hebrew rendering "to cover his nakedness," and probably refers to the duty of a favorite to see that no enemy after death does insult to his patron's body. So the bodies of ancient chiefs are sewed into a kind of bag of fine woven coconut work, preserving the shape of the head and bust, or embalmed and wrapped in many folds of native cloth and hidden away in natural tombs, the secret of whose entrance is intrusted to only one or two followers, whose superstitious dread prevents their revealing the secret, even when offered large bribes. These bodies, if worshiped, may be repossessed by the spirit and act as supernatural guardians of the house. See page 494, where the Kauai chief sets out on his wedding embassy with "the embalmed bodies of his ancestors." Compare, for the service itself, Waka's wish that the Kauai chief might be the one to hide her bones, the prayer of Aiwohikupua's seer that his master might, in return for his lifelong service, "bury his bones"—"e kalua keai mau iwi," and his request of Laieikawai, that she would "leave this trust to your descendants unto the last generation."]
[Footnote 4: Prenatal infanticide,omilomilo, was practiced in various forms throughout Polynesia even in such communities as rejected infanticide after birth. The skeleton of a woman, who evidently died during the operation, is preserved in the Bishop Museum to attest the practice, were not testimony of language and authority conclusive.]
[Footnote 5: Themanini(Tenthis sandvicensis, Street) is a flat-shaped striped fish common in Hawaiian waters. The spawn, calledohua, float in a jellylike mass on the surface of the water. It is considered a great delicacy and must be fished for in the early morning before the sun touches the water and releases the spawn, which instantly begin to feed and lose their rare transparency.]
[Footnote 6: The monthIkuwais variously placed in the calendar year. According to Malo, on Hawaii it corresponds to our October; on Molokai and Maui, to January; on Oahu, to August; on Kauai, to April.]
[Footnote 7: The adoption by their grandparents and hiding away of the twins must be compared with a large number of concealed birth tales in which relatives of superior supernatural power preserve the hero or heroine at birth and train and endow their foster children for a life of adventure. This motive reflects Polynesian custom. Adoption was by no means uncommon among Polynesians, and many a man owed his preservation from death to the fancy of some distant relative who had literally picked him off the rubbish heap to make a pet of. The secret amours of chiefs, too, led, according to Malo (p. 82), to the theme of the high chief's son brought up in disguise, who later proves his rank, a theme as dear to the Polynesian as to romance lovers of other lands.]
[Footnote 8: Theiakoof a canoe are the two arched sticks which hold the outrigger. Thekua iakoare the points at which they are bound to the canoe, or rest upon it, aft and abaft of the canoe.]
[Footnote 9: The verbhookuiiameans literally "cause to be pierced" as with a needle or other sharp instrument.Kuidescribes the act of piercing,hoois the causative prefix,iathe passive particle, which was, in old Hawaiian, commonly attached to the verb as a suffix. The Hawaiian speech expresses much more exactly than our own the delicate distinction between the subject in its active and passive relation to an action, hence the passive is vastly more common. Mr. J.S. Emerson points out to me a classic example of the passive used as an imperative—an old form unknown to-day—in the story of the rock, Lekia, the "pohaku o Lekia" which overlooks the famous Green Lake at Kapoho, Puna. Lekia, the demigod, was attacked by the magician, Kaleikini, and when almost overcome, was encouraged by her mother, who called out, "Pohaku o Lekia, onia a paa"—"be planted firm." This the demigod effected so successfully as never again to be shaken from her position.]
[Footnote 10: Hawaiian challenge stories bring out a strongly felt distinction in the Polynesian mind between these two provinces,maloko a mawaho, "inside and outside" of a house. When the boy Kalapana comes to challenge his oppressor he is told to stay outside; inside is for the chief. "Very well," answers the hero, "I choose the outside; anyone who comes out does so at his peril." So he proves that he has the better of the exclusive company.]
[Footnote 11: In his invocation the man recognizes the two classes of Hawaiian society, chiefs and common people, and names certain distinctive ranks. The commoners are the farming class,hu, makaainu, lopakuakea, lopahoopiliwalereferring to different grades of tenant farmers. Priests and soothsayers are ranked with chiefs, whose households,aialo, are made up of hangers-on of lower rank—courtiers as distinguished from the low-ranking countrymen—makaaina—who remain on the land. Chiefs of the highest rank,niaupio, claim descent within the single family of a high chief. All high-class chiefs must claim parentage at least of a mother of the highest rank; the low chiefs,kaukaualii, rise to rank through marriage (Malo, p. 82). Theohiare perhaps thewohi, high chiefs who are of the highest rank on the father's side and but a step lower on the mother's.]
[Footnote 12: With this judgment of beauty should be compared Fornander's story ofKepakailiula, where "mother's brothers" search for a woman beautiful enough to wed their protegé, but find a flaw in each candidate; and the episode of the match of beauty in the tale ofKalanimanuia.]
[Footnote 13: The building of aheiau, or temple, was a common means of propitiating a deity and winning his help for a cause. Ellis records (1825) that on the journey from Kailua to Kealakekua he passed at least oneheiauto every half mile. The classic instance in Hawaiian history is the building of the great temple of Puukohala at Kawaihae by Kamehamaha, in order to propitiate his war god, and the tolling thither of his rival, Keoua, to present as the first victim upon the altar, a treachery which practically concluded the conquest of Hawaii. Malo (p. 210) describes the "days of consecration of the temple."]
[Footnote 14: The nights of Kane and of Lono follow each other on the 27th and 28th of the month and constitute the days of taboo for the god Kane. Four such taboo seasons occur during the month, each lasting from two to three days and dedicated to the gods Ku, Kanaloa, and Kane, and to Hua at the time of full moon. The night Kukahi names the first night of the taboo for Ku, the highest god of Hawaii.]
[Footnote 15: Bykahoakathe Hawaiians designate "the spirit or soul of a person still living," in distinction from theuhane, which may be the spirit of the dead.Akameans shadow, likeness;akaku, that kind of reflection in the mists which we call the "specter in the brocken."Hoakakumeans "to have a vision," a power which seers possess. Since the spirit may go abroad independently of the body, such romantic shifts as the vision of a dream lover, so magically introduced into more sophisticated romance, are attended with no difficulties of plausibility to a Polynesian mind. It is in a dream that Halemano first sees the beauty of Puna. In a Samoan story (Taylor, I, 98) the sisters catch the image of their brother in a bottle and throw it upon the princess's bathing pool. When the youth turns over at home, the image turns in the water.]
[Footnote 16: The feathers of theoobird (Moho nobilis), with which the princess's house is thatched, are the precious yellow feathers used for the manufacture of cloaks for chiefs of rank. Themamo(Drepanis pacifica) yields feathers of a richer color, but so distributed that they can not be plucked from the living bird. This bird is therefore almost extinct in Hawaiian forests, while theoois fast recovering itself under the present strict hunting laws. Among all the royal capes preserved in the Bishop Museum, only one is made of themamofeathers.]
[Footnote 17: The reference to the temple of Pahauna is one of a number of passages which concern themselves with antiquarian interest. In these and the transition passages the hand of the writer is directly visible.]
[Footnote 18: The whole treatment of the Kauakahialii episode suggests an inthrust. The flute, whose playing won for the chief his first bride, plays no part at all in the wooing of Laieikawai and hence is inconsistently emphasized. Given a widely sung hero like Kauakahialii, whose flute playing is so popularly connected with his love making, and a celebrated heroine like the beauty who dwelt among the birds of Paliuli, and the story-tellers are almost certain to couple their names in a tale, confused as regards the flute, to be sure, but whose classic character is perhaps attested by the grace of the description. The Hebraic form in which the story of the approach of the divine beauty is couched can not escape the reader, and may be compared with the advent of the Sun god later in the story. There is nothing in the content of this story to justify the idea that the chief had lost his first wife, Kailiokalauokekoa, unless it be the fact that he is searching Hawaii for another beauty. Perhaps, like the heroine ofHalemano, the truant wife returns to her husband through jealousy of her rival's attractions. A special relation seems to exist in Hawaiian story between Kauai and the distant Puna on Hawaii, at the two extremes of the island group: it is here thatHalemanofrom Kauai weds the beauty of his dream, and it is a Kauai boy who runs the sled race with Pele in the famous myth ofKalewalo. With the Kauakahialii tale (found inHawaiian Annual, 1907, and Paradise of the Pacific, 1911) compare Grey's New Zealand story (p. 235) of Tu Tanekai and Tiki playing the horn and the pipe to attract Hinemoa, the maiden of Rotorua. In Malo, p. 117, one of the popular stories of this chief is recorded, a tale that resembles Gill's of the spirit meeting of Watea and Papa.]
[Footnote 19: These are all wood birds, in which form Gill tells us (Myths and Songs, p. 35) the gods spoke to man in former times. Henshaw tells us that theoo(Moho nobilis) has "a long shaking note with ventriloquial powers." Thealalais the Hawaiian crow (Corvus hawaiiensis), whose note is higher than in our species. If, as Henshaw says, its range is limited to the dry Kona and Kau sections, the chief could hardly hear its note in the rainy uplands of Puna. But among the forest trees of Puna the crimsonapapane(Himatione sanguinea) still sounds its "sweet monotonous note;" the bright vermillioniiwipolena(Vectiaria coccinea) hunts insects and trills its "sweet continual song;" the "four liquid notes" of the little rufous-patchedelepaio(Eopsaltria sandvicensis), beloved of the canoe builder, is commonly to be heard. Of the birds described in the Laielohelohe series the cluck of thealae(Gallinula sandricensis) I have heard only in low marshes by the sea, and theewaewaikiI am unable to identify. Andrews calls it the cry of a spirit.]
[Footnote 20:Moaulanuiakeameans literally "Great-broad-red-cock," and is the name of Moikeka's house in Tahiti, where he built the temple Lanikeha near a mountain Kapaahu. His son Kila journeys thither to fetch his older brother, and finds it "grand, majestic, lofty, thatched with the feathers of birds, battened with bird bones, timbered withkauilawood." (See Fornander'sKila.)]
[Footnote 21: Compare Gill's story of the first god, Watea, who dreams of a lovely woman and finds that she is Papa, of the underworld, who visits him in dreams to win him as her lover. (Myths and Songs, p. 8.)]
[Footnote 22: In the song the girl is likened to the lovelylehua, blossom, so common to the Puna forests, and the lover's longing to the fiery crater, Kilauea, that lies upon their edge. The wind is the carrier of the vision as it blows over the blossoming forest and scorches its wing across the flaming pit. In theHalemanostory the chief describes his vision as follows: "She is very beautiful. Her eyes and form are perfect. She has long, straight, black hair and she seems to be of high rank, like a princess. Her garment seems scented with thepeleandmahunaof Kauai, her skirt is made of some very light material dyed red. She wears ahalawreath on her head and alehuawreath around her neck."]
[Footnote 23: No other intoxicating liquor saveawawas known to the early Hawaiians, and this was sacred to the use of chiefs. So high is the percentage of free alcohol in this root that it has become an article of export to Germany for use in drug making. Vancouver, describing the famous Maui chief, Kahekili, says: "His age I suppose must have exceeded 60. He was greatly debilitated and emaciated, and from the color of his skin I judged his feebleness to have been brought on by excessive use ofawa."]
[Footnote 21: In the Hawaiian form of checkers, calledkonane, the board,papamu, is a flat surface of stone or wood, of irregular shape, marked with depressions if of stone, often by bone set in if of wood; these depressions of no definite number, but arranged ordinarily at right angles. The pieces are beach pebbles, coral for white, lava for black. The smallest board in the museum collection holds 96, the largest, of wood, 180 men. The board is set up, leaving one space empty, and the game is played by jumping, the color remaining longest on the board winning the game.Konanewas considered a pastime for chiefs and was accompanied by reckless betting. An old native conducting me up a valley in Kau district, Hawaii, pointed out a series of such evenly set depressions on the flat rock floor of the valley and assured me that this must once have been a chief's dwelling place.]
[Footnote 25: Themalois a loin cloth 3 or 4 yards long and a foot wide, one end of which passes between the legs and fastens in front. The redmalois the chief's badge, and his bodyguard, says Malo, wear the girdle higher than common and belted tight as if ready for instant service. Aiwohikupua evidently travels in disguise as the mere follower of a chief.]
[Footnote 28: In Hawaiian warfare, the biggest boaster was the best man, and to shame an antagonist by taunts was to score success. In the ceremonial boxing contest at the Makahiki festivities for Lono, god of the boxers, as described by Malo, the "reviling recitative" is part of the program. In the story ofKawelo, when his antagonist, punning on his grandfather's name of "cock," calls him a "mere chicken that scratches after roaches," Kawelo's sense of disgrace is so keen that he rolls down the hill for shame, but luckily bethinking himself that the cock roosts higher than the chief (compare the Arab etiquette that allows none higher than the king), and that out of its feathers, brushes are made which sweep the chief's back, he returns to the charge with a handsome retort which sends his antagonist in ignominious retreat. In the story of Lono, when the nephews of the rival chiefs meet, a sparring contest of wit is set up, depending on the fact that one is short and fat, the other long and lanky, "A little shelf for the rats," jeers the tall one. "Little like the smooth quoit that runs the full course," responds the short one, and retorts "Long and lanky, he will go down in the gale like a banana tree." "Like theeabanana that takes long to ripen," is the quick reply. Compare also the derisive chants with which Kuapakaa drives home the chiefs of the six districts of Hawaii who have got his father out of favor, and Lono's taunts against the revolting chiefs of Hawaii.]
[Footnote 27: The idiomatic passages "aohe puko momona o Kohala," etc., and (on page 387) "e huna oukou i ko oukou mau maka i ke aouli" are of doubtful interpretation.]
[Footnote 28: This boast of downing an antagonist with a single blow is illustrated in the story ofKawelo. His adversary, Kahapaloa, has struck him down and is leaving him for dead. "Strike again, he may revive," urge his supporters. Kahapaloa's refusal is couched in these words:
"He is dead; for it is a blow from the young,The young must kill with a blowElse will the fellow go down to MiluAnd say Kahapaloa struck frim twice,Thus was the fighter slain."
All Hawaiian stories of demigods emphasize the ease of achievement as a sign of divine rather than human capacity.]