Unwritten Literature of Hawaii Part 22

Night, it is night O'er Puna and Hilo!

20 Night from the smoke of my land!

For the people salvation!

But the land is on fire!

The Hawaiian who furnished the meles which, in their translated forms, are designated as canto I, canto II, and so on, spoke of them as _pale_, and, following his nomenclature, the term has been retained, though more intimate acquaintance with the meles and with the term has shown that the nearest English synonym to correspond with pale would be the word division. Still, perhaps with a mistaken tenderness for the word, the author has retained the caption Canto, as a sort of nodding recognition of the old Hawaiian's term--division of a poem. No idea is entertained that the five _pale_ above given were composed by the same bard, or that they represent productions from the same individual standpoint. They do, however, breathe a spirit much in common; so that when the old Hawaiian insisted that they are so far related to one another as to form a natural series for recitation in the hula, being species of the same genus, as it were, he was not far from the truth. The man's idea seemed to be that they were so closely related that, like beads of harmonious colors and shapes, they might be strung on the same thread without producing a dissonance.

Of these five poems, or _pale_ (pah-lay), numbers I, II, and IV were uttered in a natural tone of voice, termed _kawele_, otherwise termed _ko'i-honua_. The purpose of this style of recitation was to adapt the tone to the necessities of the [Page 90] aged when their ears no longer heard distinctly. It would require an audiphone to ill.u.s.trate perfectly the difference between this method of p.r.o.nunciation and the _ai-ha'a_, which was employed in the recitation of cantos III and V. The _ai-ha'a_ was given in a strained and guttural tone.

The poetical reciter and cantillator, whether in the halau or in the king's court, was wont to heighten the oratorical effect of his recitation by certain crude devices, the most marked of which was that of choking the voice down, as it were, into the throat, and there letting it strain and growl like a hungry lion. This was the ai-ha'a, whose organic function was the expression of the underground pa.s.sions of the soul.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 33 PLATE VIII MAILE PAKAHA NIHI-AU-MOE MARIONETTES]

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XI.--THE HULA KI'I

I was not a little surprised when I learned that the ancient hula repertory of the Hawaiians included a performance with marionettes, _ki'i_, dressed up to represent human beings.

But before accepting the hula _ki'i_ as a product indigenous to Hawaii, I asked myself: Might not this be a performance in imitation of the Punch-and-Judy show familiar to Europe and America?

After careful study of the question no evidence was found, other than what might be inferred from general resemblance, for the theory of adoption from a European or American origin. On the contrary, the words used as an accompaniment to the play agree with report and tradition, and bear convincing evidence in form, and matter to a Hawaiian antiquity. That is not to say, however, that in the use of marionettes the Hawaiians did not hark back to their ancestral homes in the southern sea or to a remoter past in Asia.

The six marionettes, _ki'i_ (pls. VIII and IX), in the writer's possession were obtained from a distinguished k.u.mu-hula, who received them by inheritance, as it were, from his brother. "He gave them to me," said he, "with these words,' Take care of these things, and when the time comes, after my death, that the king wants you to perform before him, be ready to fulfill his desire.'"

It was in the reign of Kamehameha III that they came into the hands of the elder brother, who was then and continued to be the royal hula-master until his death. These ki'i have therefore figured in performances that have been graced by the presence of King Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) and his queen, Kalama, and by his successors since then down to the times of Kalakaua. At the so-called "jubilee," the anniversary of Kalakaua's fiftieth birthday, these marionettes were very much in evidence.

The make-up and style of these ki'i are so similar that a description of one will serve for all six. This marionette represents the figure of a man, and was named _Maka-ku_ (pl.

IX). The head is carved out of some soft wood--either kukui or wiliwili---which is covered, as to the hairy scalp, with a dark woven fabric much like broadcloth. It is encircled at the level of the forehead with a broad band of gilt braid, as if to ape the style of a soldier. The median line from the forehead over the vertex to the back-head is crested with the _mahiole_ ridge. This, taken in connection with the [Page 92] encircling gilt band, gives to the head a warlike appearance, somewhat as if it were armed with the cla.s.sical helmet, the Hawaiian name for which is _mahi-ole_. The crest of the ridge and its points of junction with the forehead and back-head are decorated with fillets of wool dyed of a reddish color, in apparent imitation of the _mamo_ or _o-o_, the birds whose feathers were used in decorating helmets, cloaks, and other regalia. The features are carved with some attempt at fidelity. The eyes are set with mother-of-pearl.

The figure is of about one-third life size, and was originally draped, the author was told, in a loose robe, _holoku_ of tapa cloth of the sort known as _mahuna_, which is quite thin. This piece of tapa is perforated at short intervals with small holes, _kiko'i_. It is also stained with the juice from the bark of the root of the kukui tree, which imparts a color like that of copper, and makes the Hawaiians cla.s.s it as _pa'ikukui_. A portion of its former, its original, apparel has been secured.

The image is now robed in a holoku of yellow cotton, beneath which is an underskirt of striped silk in green and white.

The arms are loosely jointed to the body.

The performer in the hula, who stood behind a screen, by insinuating his hands under the clothing of the marionette, could impart to it such movements as were called for by the action of the play, while at the same time he repeated the words of his part, words supposed to be uttered by the marionette.

The hula ki'i was, perhaps, the nearest approximation made by the Hawaiians to a genuine dramatic performance. Its usual instrument of musical accompaniment was the ipu, previously described. This drumlike object was handled by that division of the performers called the hoopa'a, who sat in full view of the audience manipulating the ipu in a quiet, sentimental manner, similar to that employed in the hula kuolo.

As a sample of the stories ill.u.s.trated in a performance of the hula ki'i the following may be adduced, the dramatis personae of which are four:

1. _Maka-ku_: a famous warrior, a rude, strong-handed braggart, as boastful as Ajax.

2. _Puapua-kea_, a small man, but brave and active.

3. _Maile-lau-lii_ (Small-leafed-maile), a young woman, who becomes the wife of Maka-ku.

4. _Maile-Pakaha_, the younger sister of Maile-lau-lii, who becomes the wife of Puapua-kea.

Maka-ku, a rude and boastful son of Mars, at heart a bully, if not a coward, is represented as ever aching for a fight, in which his domineering spirit and rough-and-tumble ways for a time gave him the advantage over abler, but more modest, adversaries.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY, BULLETIN 38 PLATE IX MARIONETTE, MAKA-Ku]

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Puapuakea, a man of genuine courage, hearing of the boastful achievements of Maka-ku, seeks him out and challenges him.

At the first contest they fought with javelins, _ihe_, each one taking his turn according to lot in casting his javelins to the full tale of the prescribed number; after which the other contestant did the same. Neither was victorious.

Next they fought with slings, each one having the right to sling forty stones at the other. In this conflict also neither one of them got the better of the other. The next trial was with stone-throwing. The result was still the same.

Now it was for them to try the cla.s.sical Hawaiian game of _lua_. This was a strenuous form of contest that has many features in common with the panathlion of the ancient h.e.l.lenes, some points in common with boxing, and still more, perhaps, partakes of the character of the grand art of combat, wrestling. Since becoming acquainted with the fine j.a.panese art of _jiu-jitsu_, the author recognizes certain methods that were shared by them both. But to all of these it added the wild privileges of choking, bone-breaking, dislocating, eye-gouging, and the infliction of tortures and grips unmentionable and disreputable. At first the conflict was in suspense, victory favoring neither party; but as the contest went on Puapuakea showed a slight superiority, and at the finish he had bettered Maka-ku by three points, or _ai_[205], as the Hawaiians uniquely term it.

[Footnote 205: _Ai_, literally a food, a course.]

The sisters, Maile-lau-lii and Maile-pakaha, who had been interested spectators of the contest, conceived a pa.s.sionate liking for the two warriors and laid their plans in concert to capture them for themselves. Fortunately their preferences were not in conflict. Maile-lau-lii set her affections on Maka-ku, while the younger sister devoted herself to Pua-pua-kea.

The two men had previously allowed their fancies to range abroad at pleasure; but from this time they centered their hearts on these two Mailes and settled down to regular married life.

Interest in the actual performance of the hula ki'i was stimulated by a resort to byplay and buffoonery. One of the marionettes, for instance, points to some one in the audience; whereupon one of the _hoopaa_ asks, "What do you want?" The marionette persists in its pointing. At length the interlocutor, as if divining the marionette's wish, says: "Ah, you want So-and-so." At this the marionette nods a.s.sent, and the hoopaa asks again, "Do you wish him to come to you?"

The marionette expresses its delight and approval by nods and gestures, to the immense satisfaction of the audience, who join in derisive laughter at the expense of the person held up to ridicule.

Besides the marionettes already named among the characters found in the different hula-plays of the hula ki'i, the [Page 94] author has heard mention of the following marionettes: _Ku, Kini-ki'i, Hoo-lehelehe-ki'i, Ki'i-ki'i_, and _Nihi-aumoe_.

Nihi-aumoe was a man without the inc.u.mbrance of a wife, an expert in the arts of intrigue and seduction. Nihi-aumoe is a word of very suggestive meaning, to walk softly at midnight.

In Judge Andrews's dictionary are found the following pertinent Hawaiian verses apropos of the word _nihi_:

E hoopono ka hele i ka uka o Puna; E _nihi_ ka hele, mai hoolawehala, Mai noho a ako i ka pua, o hewa, O inaina ke Akua, paa ke alanui, Aole ou ala e hiki aku ai.

[Translation]

Look to your ways in upland Puna; Walk softly, commit no offense; Dally not, nor pluck the flower sin; Lest G.o.d in anger bar the road, And you find no way of escape.

The marionette Ki'i-ki'i was a strenuous little fellow, an _ilamuku_, a marshal, or constable of the king. It was his duty to carry out with unrelenting rigor the commands of the alii, whether they bade him take possession of a taro patch, set fire to a house, or to steal upon a man at dead of night and dash out his brains while he slept.

Referring to the ill.u.s.trations (pl. VIII), a judge of human nature can almost read the character of the libertine Nihi-aumoe written in his features--the flattened vertex, indicative of lacking reverence and fear, the ruffian strength of the broad face; and if one could observe the reverse of the picture he would note the flattened back-head, a feature that marks a large number of Hawaiian crania.

The songs that were cantillated to the hula ki'i express in some degree the peculiar libertinism of this hula, which differed from all others by many removes. They may be characterized as gossipy, sarcastic, ironical, scandal-mongering, dealing in satire, abuse, hitting right and left at social and personal vices--a cheese of rank flavor that is not to be partaken of too freely. It might be compared to the vaudeville in opera or to the genre picture in art.

_Mele_

E Wewehi, ke, ke!

Wewehi oiwi, ke, ke!

Punana[206] i ka luna, ke, ke!

Hoonoho kai-oa[207] ke, ke!

[Page 95] 5 Oluna ka wa'a[208], ke, ke!