Unwritten Literature of Hawaii Part 23

O kela wa'a, ke, ke!

O keia wa'a, ke, ke!

Ninau o Mawi[209], ke, ke!

Nawai ka luau'i?[209] ke, ke!

10 Na Wewehi-loa[210], ke, ke! 10 Ua make Wewehi, ke, ke!

Ua ku i ka ihe, ke, ke!

Ma ka puka kahiko[211] ke, ke!

Ka puka a Mawi, ke, ke!

15 Ka lepe, ka lepe, la! 15 Ka lepe, ua hina a uwe!

Ninau ka lepe, la!

Mana-mana lii-lii, Mana-mana heheiao, 20 Ke k.u.mu o ka lepe? 20 Ka lepe hiolo, e?

[Footnote 206: _Punana_. Literally a nest; here a raised couch on the _pola_, which was a sheltered platform in the waist of a double canoe, corresponding to our cabin, for the use of chiefs and other people of distinction.]

[Footnote 207: _Kai-oa_. The paddle-men; here a euphemism.]

[Footnote 208: _Wa'a_. A euphemism for the human body.]

[Footnote 209: _Mawi_. The hero of Polynesian mythology, whose name is usually spelled _Maui_, like the name of the island.

Departure from the usual orthography is made in order to secure phonetic accuracy. The name of the hero is p.r.o.nounced _Mah-wee_, not _Mow-ee_, as is the island. Sir George Gray, of New Zealand, following the usual orthography, has given a very full and interesting account of him in his Polynesian mythology.]

[Footnote 210: _Wewehi-loa_. Another name for _Wahie-loa_, who is said to have been the grandfather of Wewehi. The word _luau'i_ in the previous verse, meaning real father, is an archaic form. Another form is _kua-u'i_.]

[Footnote 211: _Puka kahiko_. A strange story from Hawaiian mythology relates that originally the human anatomy was sadly deficient in that the terminal gate of the _primae viae_ was closed. Mawi applied his common-sense surgery to the repair of the defect and relieved the situation. _Ua olelo ia i kinahi ua hana ia kanaka me ka hemahema no ka nele i ka hou puka ole ia ka okole, a na Mawi i hoopau i keia pilikia mamuli o kana hana akamai. Ua kapa ia keia puka ka puka kahiko._]

[Translation]

_Song_

O Wewehi, la, la!

Wewehi, peerless form, la, la!

Encouched on the pola, la, la!

Bossing the paddlers, la, la!

5 Men of the canoe, la, la! 5 Of that canoe, la, la!

Of this canoe, la, la!

Mawi inquires, la, la!

Who was her grand-sire? la, la!

10 'Twas Wewehi-loa, la, la! 10 Wewehi is dead, la, la!

Wounded with spear, la, la!

The same old wound, la, la!

Wound made by Mawi, la, la!

[Page 96]

15 The flag, lo the flag! 15 The flag weeps at half-mast!

The flag, indeed, asks-- Many, many the flags, A scandal for number.

20 Why are they overturned? 20 Why their banners cast down?

The author has met with several variants to this mele, which do not greatly change its character. In one of these variants the following changes are to be noted:

Line 4. Pikaka[212] e ka luna, ke, ke!

Line 5. Ka luna o ka hale, ke, ke!

Line 8. Ka puka o ka hale, a ke, ke!

Line 9. E noho i anei, a ke, ke!

To attempt a translation of these lines which are unadulterated slang:

Line 4. The roof is a-dry, la, la!

Line 5. The roof of the house, la, la!

Line 8. The door of the house, la, la!

Line 9. Turn in this way, la, la!

[Footnote 212: _Pikaka_ (full form _pikakao_). Dried up, juiceless.]

The one who supplied the above lines expressed inability to understand their meaning, averring that they are "cla.s.sical Hawaiian," meaning, doubtless, that they are archaic slang.

As to the ninth line, the practice of "sitting in the door"

seems to have been the fas.h.i.+on with such folk as far back as the time of Solomon.

Let us picture this princess of Maui, this granddaughter of Wahieloa, Wewehi, as a Helen, with all of Helen's frailty, a flirt-errant, luxurious in life, quickly deserting one lover for the arms of another; yet withal of such humanity and kindness of fascination that, at her death, or absence, all things mourned her--not as Lycidas was mourned:

"With cowslips wan that hang the pensive head, .............................................

And daffodillies fill their cups with tears,"

but in some rude pagan fas.h.i.+on; all of which is wrought out and symbolized in the mele with such imagery as is native to the mind of the savage.

The attentive reader will not need be told that, as in many another piece out of Hawaii's old-time legends, the path through this song is beset with euphuistic stumbling blocks.

The purpose of language, says Talleyrand, is to conceal thought. The veil in this case is quite gauzy.

The language of the following song for the marionette dance, hula ki'i, as in the one previously given, is mostly of that [Page 97] kind which the Hawaiians term _olelo kapekepeke_, or _olelo huna_, s.h.i.+fty talk, or secret talk. We might call it slang, though, it is not slang in the exact sense in which we use that word, applying it to the improvised counters of thought that gain currency in our daily speech until they find admission to the forum, the platform, and the dictionary. It is rather a cipher-speech, a method of concealing one's meaning from all but the initiated, of which the Hawaiian, whether alii or commoner, was very fond. The people of the hula were famous for this sort of accomplishment and prided themselves not a little in it as an effectual means of giving appropriate flavor and gusto to their performances.

_Mele_

Ele-ele kau-kau;[213]

Ka hala-le,[214] e kau-kau, Ka e-ele ihi, Ele ihi, ele a, 5 Ka e-ele ku-pou;[215]

Ku-pou.

Ka hala, e![216]

[Translation]

_Song_

Point to a dark one, Point to a dainty piece, A delicate morsel she!

Very choice, very hot!

5 She that stoops over-- Aye stoops!

Lo, the hala fruit!

The translation has to be based largely on conjecture. The author of this bit of fun-making, which is couched in old-time slang, died without making known the key to his cipher, and no one whom the present writer has met with is able to unravel its full meaning.