Unwritten Literature of Hawaii Part 17

Ku iho i ku'i-ku'i a ka Ho-li'o;[187]

Hana ne'e ke kikala o ko Hilo Khii.

Ho'i lu'u-lu'u i ke one o Hana-kahi,[188]

I ka po-lolo' ua wahine o ka lua: 10 Mai ka lua no, e!

[Translation]

STANZA 3

Puna plies paddle night-long in the storm; Is set back by a s.h.i.+ft in the weather, Feels hurt and disgruntled; Dismayed at slap after slap of the squalls; 5 Is struck with eight blows of Typhoon; Then smit with the lash of the North wind.

Sad, he turns back to Hilo's sand-beach: He'll shake the town with a scandal-- The night-long storm with the hag of the pit, 10 Hag from Gehenna!

[Footnote 184: _Po-lolo_. A secret word, like a cipher, made up for the occasion and compounded of two words, _po_, night, and _loloa_, long, the final _a_, of _loloa_ being dropped.

This form of speech was called _kepakepa_, and was much used by the Hawaiians in old times.]

[Footnote 185: _Ulu-mano_. A violent wind which blows by night only on the western side of Hawaii. Kamehameha with a company of men was once wrecked by this wind off Nawawa; a whole village was burned to light them ash.o.r.e. (Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language, by Lorrin Andrews.)]

[Footnote 186: _Walu-ihe a ke A'e_. The _A'e_ is a violent wind that is described as blowing from different points of the compa.s.s in succession; a circular storm. _Walu-ihe_--eight spears--was a name applied to this same wind during a certain portion of its circuitous range, covering at least eight different points, as observed by the Hawaiians. It was well fitted, therefore, to serve as a figure descriptive of eight different lovers, who follow each other in quick succession, in the favors of the same wanton.]

[Footnote 187: _Ho-Wo_ The name of a wind, but of an entirely different character from those above mentioned.]

[Footnote 188: _Hana-kahi_. (See note _f_, p. 60.)]

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This is not a line-for-line translation; that the author found infeasible. Line 8 of the English represents line 7 of the Hawaiian. Given more literally, it might be, "He'll shake the b.u.t.tocks of Hilo's forty thousand."

The metaphor of this song is disjointed, but hot with the primeval pa.s.sions of humanity.

PAUKU 4

Ho-ina-inau mea ipo i ka nahele; Haa-kokoe ana ka maka i ka Moani, I ka ike i na pua i hoomahie 'Iuna; Ua hi-hi-hina wale i ka moe awakea.

5 Ka ino' ua poina ia Mali'o.

Aia ka i Pua-lei o Ha'o.

I Puna no ka waihona o ka makani; Kaela ka malama ana a ka Pu'u-lena, I kahi mea ho-aloha-loha, e!

10 E aloha, e!

[Translation]

STANZA 4

Love is at play in the grove, A jealous swain glares fierce At the flowers tying love-knots, Lying wilted at noon-tide.

5 So you've forgotten Mali'o, Turned to the flower of Puna-- Puna, the cave of s.h.i.+fty winds.

Long have I cherished this blossom, A treasure hid in my heart!

10 Oh, sweetheart!

The following account is taken from the Polynesian Researches of the Rev. William Ellis, the well-known English missionary, who visited these islands in the years 1822 and 1823, and whose recorded observations have been of the highest value in preserving a knowledge of the inst.i.tutions of ancient Hawaii.

In the afternoon, a party of strolling musicians and dancers arrived at Kairua. About four o'clock they came, followed by crowds of people, and arranged themselves on a fine sandy beach in front of one of the governor's houses, where they exhibited a native dance, called _hura araapapa_.

The five musicians first seated themselves in a line on the ground, and spread a piece of folded cloth on the sand before them. Their instrument was a large calabash, or rather two, one of an oval shape about three feet high, the other perfectly round, very neatly fastened to it, having also an aperture about three inches in diameter at the top. Each musician held his instrument before him with both hands, and produced his music by striking it on the ground, where he had laid a piece of cloth, and beating it with his fingers, or the palms of his hands. As soon as they began to sound their calabashes, the dancer, a young man about the middle stature, advanced through the opening crowd.

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His jet-black hair hung in loose and flowing ringlets on his naked shoulders; his necklace was made of a vast number of strings of nicely braided human hair, tied together behind, while a _paraoa_ (an ornament made of a whale's tooth) hung pendent from it on his breast; his wrists were ornamented with bracelets formed of polished tusks of the hog, and his ankles with loose buskins, thickly set with dog's teeth, the rattle of which, during the dance, kept time with the music of the calabash drum. A beautiful yellow tapa was tastefully fastened round his loins, reaching to his knees. He began his dance in front of the musicians, and moved forward and backwards, across the area, occasionally chanting the achievements of former kings of Hawaii. The governor sat at the end of the ring, opposite to the musicians, and appeared gratified with the performance, which continued until the evening. (Vol. IV, 100-101, London, Fisher, Son & Jackson, 1831.)

NOTE BY THE AUTHOR.--At the time of Mr. Ellis' visit to Hawaii the orthography of the Hawaiian language was still in a formative stage, and it is said that his counsels had influence in shaping it. His use of _r_ instead of _l_ in the words _hula, alaapapa_, and _palaoa_ may, therefore, be ascribed to the fact of his previous acquaintance with the dialects of southern Polynesia, in which the sound of _r_ to a large extent subst.i.tutes that of _l_, and to the probability that for that reason his ear was already attuned to the prevailing southern fas.h.i.+on, and his judgment prepossessed in that direction.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE VII IPU HULA, GOURD DRUM]

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X.--THE HULA PA-iPU, OR KUoLO

The _pa-ipu_, called also the _kuolo_, was a hula of dignified character, in which all the performers maintained the kneeling position and accompanied their songs with the solemn tones of the _ipu_ (pl. vii), with which each one was provided. The proper handling of this drumlike instrument in concert with the cantillation of the mele made such demands upon the artist, who was both singer and instrumentalist, that only persons of the most approved skill and experience were chosen to take part in the performance of this hula.

The manner of treating the ipu in this hula differed somewhat from that employed in the ala'a-papa, being subdued and quiet in that, whereas in the pa-ipu it was at times marked with great vigor and demonstrativeness, so that in moments of excitement and for the expression of pa.s.sion, fierce joy, or grief the ipu might be lifted on high and wildly brandished.

It thus made good its t.i.tle as the most important instrument of the Hawaiian orchestra.

In the pa-ipu, as in the hulas generally, while the actors were sometimes grouped according to s.e.x, they were quite as often distributed indiscriminately, the place for the leader, the k.u.mu, being the center.

The vigor that marks the literary style of the mele now given stamps it as belonging to the archaic period, which closed in the early part of the eighteenth century, that century which saw the white man make his advent in Hawaii. The poem deals apparently with an incident in one of the migrations such as took place during the period of intercourse between the North and the South Pacific. This was a time of great stir and contention, a time when there was much paddling and sailing about and canoe-fleets, often manned by warriors, traversed the great ocean in every direction. It was then that Hawaii received many colonists from the archipelagoes that lie to the southward.

_Mele_

(Ko'i-honua)

Wela Kahiki, e!

Wela Kahiki, e!

Wela aku la Kahiki; Ua kaulu-wela ka moku; [Page 74] 5 Wela ka ulu o Hawaii; Kakala wela aku la Kahiki ia Olopana,[189]

Ka'u wahi kanaka; O ka hei kapu[190] o Hana-ka-ulani,[191]

Ka hei kapu a ke alii, 10 Ka hoo-mamao-lani,[192]

Ke kapu o Keawe,[193]

A o Keawe Ke alii holo, ho-i'a i kai, e-e!

[Footnote 189: _Olopana_. A celebrated king of Waipio valley, Hawaii, who had to wife the famous beauty, Luukia. Owing to misfortune, he sailed away to _Kahiki_, taking with him his wife and his younger brother, Moikeha, who was his _puna-lua_, settling in a land called _Moa-ula-nui-akea_.

Olopana probably ended his days in his new-found home, but Moi-keha, heart-sick at the loss of Luukia's favors, came hack to Hawaii and became the progenitor of a line of distinguished men, several of whom were famous navigators.

Exactly what incident in the life of Olopana is alluded to in the sixth and preceding verses, the traditions that narrate his adventures do not inform us.]

[Footnote 190: _Hei kapu_. An oracle; the place where the high priest kept himself while consulting the deities of the _heiau_. It was a small house erected on an elevated platform of stones, and there he kept himself in seclusion at such times as he sought to be the recipient of communications from the G.o.ds.]

[Footnote 191: _Hana-ka-ulani_. A name applied to several _heiau_ (temples). The first one so styled, according to tradition, was built at Hana, Maui, and another one at Kaluanui, on Oahu, near the famous valley of Ka-liu-wa'a.

These heiau are said to have been built by the G.o.ds in the misty past soon after landing on these sh.o.r.es. Was it to celebrate their escape from perils by sea and enemies on land, or was it in token of thankfulness to G.o.ds still higher than themselves?

The author's informant can not tell whether these followed the fierce, strict cult of Kane or the milder cult of Lono.]

[Footnote 192: _Hoo-mamao-lani_. An epithet meaning remote in the heavens, applied to an alii of very high rank.]

[Footnote 193: _Keawe_. This is a name that belonged, to several kings and a large family of G.o.ds--_papa akua_--all of which G.o.ds are said to have come from Kahiki and to have dated their origin from the _Wa Po_, the twilight of antiquity. Among the demiG.o.ds that were called _Keawe_ may be mentioned: (1) _Keawe-huli_, a prophet and soothsayer. (2) _Keawe-kilo-pono_, a wise and righteous one, who loved justice. (3) _Keawe-hula-maemae_. It was his function to maintain purity and cleanliness; he was a devouring flame that destroyed rubbish and all foulness. (4) _Keawe-ula-o-ka-lani_. This was the poetical appellation, given to the delicate flush of early morning. Apropos of this the Hawaiians have the following quatrain, which they consider descriptive not only of morning blush, but also of the coming in of the reign of the G.o.ds: