Unwritten Literature of Hawaii Part 29

The mele here first presented is said to be an ancient mele that has been modified and adapted to the glorification of that astute politician, genial companion, and pleasure-loving king, Kalakaua.

It was not an uncommon thing for one chief to appropriate the _mele inoa_ of another chief. By subst.i.tuting one name for another, by changing a genealogy, or some such trifle, the skin of the lion, so to speak, could be made to cover with more or less grace and to serve as an apparel of masquerade for the a.s.s, and without interruption so long as there was no lion, or lion's whelp, to do the unmasking.

The poets who composed the mele for a king have been spoken of as "the king's washtubs." Mele inoa were not crown-jewels [Page 117] to be pa.s.sed from one inc.u.mbent of the throne to another. The practice of appropriating the mele inoa composed in honor of another king and of another line was one that grew up with the decadence of honor in times of degeneracy.

_Mele_

O Kalakaua, be inoa, O ka pua mae ole i ka la; Ke pua mai la i ka mauna, I ke kuahiwi o Mauna-kea; 5 Ke a la i Ki-lau-e-a, Malamalama i Wahine-kapu, I ka luna o Uwe-kahuna, I ka pali kapu o Ka-au-e-a.

E a mai ke alii kia-manu; 10 Ua Wahi i ka hulu o ka mamo, Ka pua nani o Hawaii; O Ka-la-kaua, he inoa!

[Translation]

Song

Ka-la-kaua, a great name, A flower not wilted by the sun; It blooms on the mountains, In the forests of Mauna-kea; 5 It burns in Ki-lau-e-a, Illumines the cliff Wahine-kapu, The heights of Uwe-kabuna, The sacred pali of Ka-au-e-a.

s.h.i.+ne forth, king of bird-hunters, 10 Resplendent in plumage of mamo, Bright flower of Hawaii: Ka-la-kaua, the Ill.u.s.trious!

The proper names _Wahine-kapu, Uwe-kahuna_, and _Ka-au-e-a_ in the sixth, seventh, and eighth verses are localities, cliffs, bluffs, precipices, etc., in and about the great caldera of Kilauea, following up the mention (in the fifth verse) of that giant among the world's active volcanoes.

The purpose of the poem seems to be to magnify the prowess of this once famous king as a captivator of the hearts and loving attentions of the fair s.e.x.

_Mele_

Kona kai opua[253] i kala i ka la'i; Opua binano ua i ka malie; Hiolo na wai naoa a ke kehau, [Page 118] Ke' na-u[254] la na kamalii, 5 Ke kaohi la i ke kukuna o ka la; Ku'u la koili i ke kai-- Pumehana wale ia aina!

Aloha wale ke kini o Hoolulu, Aohe lua ia oe ke aloha, 10 O ku'u puni, o ka me' owa.

[Footnote 253: _Opua_ means a distinct cloud-pile, an omen, a weather-sign.]

[Footnote 254: The word _na-u_ refers to a sportive contest involving a trial of lung-power, that was practised by the youth of Kona, Hawaii, as well as of other places. They stood on the sh.o.r.e at sunset, and as the lower limb of the sun touched the ocean horizon each one, having filled his lungs to the utmost, began the utterance of the sound _na-u-u-u-u_, which he must, according to the rules of the game, maintain continuously until the sun had disappeared, a lapse of about two minutes' time. This must be done without taking fresh breath. Anyone inhaling more air into his lungs or intermitting the utterance of the sound was compelled by the umpire to withdraw from the contest and to sit down, while anyone who maintained the droning utterance during the prescribed time was declared victor. It was no mean trial.]

[Translation]

_Song_

The cloud-piles o'er Kona's sea whet my joy, Clouds that drop fain in fair weather.

The cl.u.s.tered dew-pearls shake to the ground; The boys drone out the na-u to the West, 5 Eager for Sol to sink to his rest.

This my day for a plunge in the sea-- The Sun will be warming other sh.o.r.es-- Happy the tribes of that land of calm!

Fathomless, deep is my love 10 To thee, my pa.s.sion, my mate.

The author of this love-song, _mele ipo_, is said to have been Kalola, a widow of Kamehameha I, at a time when she was an old woman; the place was Lahaina, and the occasion an amour between Liholiho (Kamehameha II) and a woman of rank.

The last two verses of the poem have been omitted from the present somewhat free, yet faithful translation, as they do not seem to be of interest or pertinent from our point of view, and there is internal evidence that they were added as an afterthought.

The hulas on the various islands differed somewhat from one another. In general, it may be said that on Kauai they were presented with more spirit and in greater variety than in other parts of the group. The following account will ill.u.s.trate this fact:

About the year 1870 the late Queen Emma made the tour of the island of Kauai, and at some places the hula was performed as a recreation in her honor. The hula ka-laau was thus presented; it was marked, however, by such peculiarities as to make it hardly recognizable as being the same performance as the one elsewhere known by that name. As given on Kauai, both the olapa and the hoopaa took part, as they do on the [Page 119] other islands, but in the Kauai performance the olapa alone handled the two sticks of the xylophone, which in other parts formed the sole instrument of musical accompaniment to this hula. Other striking novelties also were introduced. The olapa held between their toes small sticks with which they beat upon a resonant beam of wood that lay on the floor, thus producing tones of a low pitch. Another departure from the usual style of this hula was that the hoopaa, at the same time, devoted themselves with the right hand to playing upon the pu-niu, the small drum, while with the left they developed the deep ba.s.s of the pahu. The result of this outre combination must have been truly remarkable.

It is a matter of observation that on the island of Kauai both the special features of its spoken language and the character of its myths and legends indicate a closer relations.h.i.+p to the groups of the southern Pacific, to which the Hawaiian people owe their origin, than do those of the other islands of the Hawaiian group.

[Page 120]

XVI.--THE HULA iLI-iLI

The _hula ili-ili_, pebble-dance, was a performance of the cla.s.sical times, in which, according to one who has witnessed it, the olapa alone took part. The dancers held in each hand a couple of pebbles, _ili-ili_--hence the name of the dance--which they managed to clash against each other, after the fas.h.i.+on of castanets, thus producing a rude music of much the same quality as that elicited from the "bones" in our minstrel performances. According to another witness, the drum also was sometimes used in connection with the pebbles as an accompaniment to this hula.

The ili-ili was at times a hula of intensity--that is to say, was acted with that stress of voice and manner which the Hawaiians termed _ai-ha'a_; but it seems to have been more often performed in that quiet natural tone of voice and of manner termed _ko'i-honua_, which may be likened to utterance in low relief.

The author can present only the fragment of a song to ill.u.s.trate this hula:

_Mele_

A lalo maua o Wai-pi'o, Ike i ka nani o Hi'i-lawe.

E lawe mai a oki I na hala o Naue i ke kai, 5 I na lehua lu-lu'u pali; Noho ana lohe i ke kani o ka o-o, Hoolono aku i ka leo o ke kahuli.

[Translation]

_Song_

We twain were lodged in Wai-pi'o, Beheld Hi'i-lawe, the grand.

We brought and cut for our love-wreath The rich hala drupe from Naue's strand, 5 Tufted lehua that waves on the cliff; Then sat and gave ear to song of o-o, Or harked the chirp of the tree-sh.e.l.l.

_Wai-pi'o_, the scene of this idyl, is a valley deep and broad which the elements have scooped out in the windward exposure of Hawaii, and scarce needs mention to Hawaiian [Page 121] tourists. _Hi'i-lawe_ is one of several high waterfalls that leap from the world of clouds into the valley-basin.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 38 PLATE XII [Ill.u.s.tration: PUPU-KANI-OE, POETICALLY STYLED KAHULI HAWAIIAN TREE-Sh.e.l.lS (ACHATINELLA)]

_Kahuli_ is a fanciful name applied to the beautiful and unique genus of tree-sh.e.l.ls (Achatinella), plate XII, that inhabit the Hawaiian woods. The natives are persuaded that these sh.e.l.ls have the power of chirping a song of their own, and the writer has often heard the note which they ascribe to them; but to his ear it was indistinguishable from the piping of the cricket. This is the song that the natives credit to the tree-sh.e.l.ls:

_Mele_

Kahuli aku, Kahuli mai, Kahuli lei ula, Lei akolea.[255]

5 Kolea, kolea,[256]

Ki'i ka wai, Wai akolea.

[Translation]

_Song of the Tree-sh.e.l.l_

Trill a-far, Trill a-near, A dainty song-wreath, Wreath akolea.

5 Kolea, Kolea, Fetch me some dew, Dew from pink akolea.

This little piece of rustic imagination is said to have been used in the hula, but in connection with what dance the author has not been able to learn.

[Footnote 255: The _akolea_ is a fern (by some cla.s.sed as a Polypodium) which, according to Doctor Hillebrand (Flora of the Hawaiian Islands), "sustains its extraordinary length by the circinnate tips which twine round the branches of neighboring shrubs or trees."]

[Footnote 256: _Kolea_. The red-breasted plover.]