Unwritten Literature of Hawaii Part 15

He kuahiwi Ka-u e pa ka makani.

Ke alai ia a'e la Ka-u e ke A'e;[165]

20 Ka-u ku ke ehu lepo ke A'e; Ku ke ehu-lepo mai la Ka-u i ka makani.

Makani Kawa hu'a-lepo Ka-u i ke A'e.

[Page 66] Kahiko mau no o Ka-u i ka makani.

Makani ka Lae-ka-ilio i Unu-lau, 25 Kaili-ki'i[166] a ka lua a Kaheahea,[167]

I ka ha'a nawali ia ino.

Ino wa o ka mankani o Kau-na.

Nana aku o ka makani malaila!

O Hono-malino, malino i ka la'i o Kona.

30 He inoa la!

[Footnote 159: _Hi'u-o-lani_. A very blind phrase. Hawaiians disagree as to its meaning. In the author's opinion, it is a word referring to the conjurer's art.]

[Footnote 160: _Ua o Hilo_. Hilo is a very rainy country. The name Hilo seems to be used here as almost a synonym of violent rain. It calls to mind the use of the word Hilo to signify a strong wind:

Pa mai, pa mai, Ka makani a Hilo![168]

Waiho ka ipu iki, Homai ka ipu nui!

[Translation]

Blow, blow, thou wind of Hilo!

Leave the little calabash, Bring on the big one!

[Footnote 161: _Pua-lani_. The name of a deity who took the form of the rosy clouds of morning.]

[Footnote 162: _Mahele ana_. Literally the dividing; an allusion to the fact, it is said, that in Hilo a rain-cloud, or rain-squall, as it came up would often divide and a part of it turn off toward Puna at the cape named Lele-iwi, one-half watering, in the direction of the present town, the land known as Hana-kahi.]

[Footnote 163: _Hana-kahi_. Look at note _f_, p. 60.]

[Footnote 164: _Mauna-ole_. According to one authority this should be Mauna-Hilo. Verses 13, 14, 16, and 17 are difficult of translation. The play on the words _ku a_, standing at, or standing by, and _kua_, the back; also on the word _kowa_, a gulf or strait; and the repet.i.tion of the word _mauna_, mountain--all this is carried to such an extent as to be quite unintelligible to the Anglo-Saxon mind, though full of significance to a Hawaiian.]

[Footnote 165: _A'e_. A strong wind that prevails in Ka-u. The same word also means to step on, to climb. This double-meaning gives the poet opportunity for a euphuistic word-play that was much enjoyed by the Hawaiians. The Hawaiians of the present day are not quite up to this sort of logomachy.]

[Footnote 166: _Kaili-ki'i_. The promontory that shelters the cove _Ka-hewa-hewa_.]

[Footnote 167: _Ka-hea-hea_. The name of the cove _Ka-hewa-hewa_, above mentioned, is here given in a softened form obtained by the elision of the letter _w_.]

[Footnote 168: _Hilo_, or Whiro, as in the Maori, was a great navigator.]

[Translation]

CANTO II

Heaven-magic, fetch a Hilo-pour from heaven!

Morn's cloud-buds, look! they swell in the East.

The rain-cloud parts, Hilo is deluged with rain, The Hilo of King Hana-kahi.

5 Surf breaks, stirs the mire of Pii-lani; 5 The bones of Hilo are broken By the blows of the rain.

Ghostly the rain-scud of Hilo in heaven;

The cloud-forms of Pua-lani grow and thicken.

10 The rain-priest bestirs him now to go forth, Forth to observe the stab and thrust of the rain, The rain that clings to the roof of Hilo.

Hilo, like Puna, stands mountainless; Aye, mountain-free stand Hilo and Puna.

15 Puna 's a gulf 'twixt Ka-u and Hilo; Just leaning her back on Mount Nothing, She sleeps at the feet of Mount Loa.

A mountain-back is Ka-u which the wind strikes, Ka-u, a land much scourged by the A'e.

20 A dust-cloud lifts in Ka-u as one climbs.

A dust-bloom floats, the lift of the wind: 'Tis blasts from mountain-walls piles dust, the A'e.

Ka-u was always tormented with wind.

Cape-of-the-Dog feels Unulau's blasts; 25 They turmoil the cove of Ka-hea-hea, Defying all strength with their violence.

There's a storm when wind blows at Kau-na.

Just look at the tempest there raging!

Hono-malino sleeps sheltered by Kona.

30 A eulogy this of a name.

"What name?" was asked of the old Hawaiian.

"A G.o.d," said he.

"How is that? A mele-inoa celebrates the name and glory of a king, not of a G.o.d."

[Page 67]

His answer was, "The G.o.ds composed the mele; men did not compose it."

Like an old-time geologist, he solved the puzzle of a novel phenomenon by ascribing it to G.o.d.

MAHELE III

(Ai-ha'a)

A Koa'e-kea,[169] i Pueo-hulu-nui,[169]

Neeu a'e la ka makahiapo o ka pali; A a'e, a a'e, a'e[170] la iluna Kaholo-kua-iwa, ka pali o Ha'i.[171]

5 Ha'i a'e la ka pali; Ha-nu'u ka pali; Hala e Malu-o; Hala a'e la Ka-maha-la'a-wili, Ke kaupoku hale a ka ua.

10 Me he mea i uwae'na a'e la ka pali; Me he hale pi'o ka lei na ka manawa o ka pali Halehale-o-u; Me he aho i hilo 'a la ka wai o Wai-hi-lau; Me he uahi pulehu-manu la ke kai o ka auwala hula ana.

Au ana Maka'u-kiu[172] iloko o ke kai; 15 Pohaku lele[173] o Lau-nui, Lau-pahoehoe.

Ka eku'na a ke kai i ka ala o Ka-wai-kapu-- Eku ana, me he pua'a la, ka lae Makani-lele, Koho-la-lele.

[Translation]

CANTO III