Unwritten Literature of Hawaii Part 3

[Footnote 28: _Kini Akua_. A general expression--often used together with the ones that follow--meaning the countless swarms of brownies, elfs, kobolds, sprites, and other G.o.dlings (mischievous imps) that peopled the wilderness.

_Kini_ means literally 40,000, _lehu_ 400,000, and _mano_ 4,000. See the _Pule Kuahu_--altar-prayer--on page 21. The Hawaiians, curiously enough, did not put the words _mano_, _kini_, and _lehu_ in the order of their numerical value.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 38 PLATE III HaLA-PePE (DRACaeNA AUREA) ]

Kapo was sister of Pele and the daughter of Haumea.[29] Among other roles played by her, like Laka she was at times a sylvan deity, and it was in the garb of woodland representations that she was wors.h.i.+ped by hula folk. Her forms of activity, corresponding to her different metamorphoses, were numerous, in one of which she was at times "employed by the _kahuna_[30] as a messenger in their black arts, and she is claimed by many as an _aumakua,_" [31]

said to be the sister of Kalai-pahoa, the poison G.o.d.

[Footnote 29: _Haumea_. The ancient G.o.ddess, or ancestor, the sixth in line of descent from Wakea.]

[Footnote 30: _Kahuna._ A sorcerer; with a qualifying adjective it meant a skilled craftsman; _Kahuna-kalai-wa'a_ was a canoe-builder; _kahuna lapaau_ was a medicine-man, a doctor, etc.]

[Footnote 31: The Lesser G.o.ds of Hawaii, a paper by Joseph S.

Emerson, read before the Hawaiian Historical Society, April 7, 1892.]

Unfortunately Kapo had an evil name on account of a propensity which led her at times to commit actions that seem worthy only of a demon of lewdness. This was, however, only the hysteria of a moment, not the settled habit of her life.

On one notable occasion, by diverting the attention of the b.e.s.t.i.a.l pig-G.o.d Kama-pua'a, and by vividly presenting to him a temptation well adapted to his gross nature, she succeeded in enticing him away at a critical moment, and thus rescued her sister Pele at a time when the latter's life was imperiled by an unclean and violent a.s.sault from the swine-G.o.d.

Like Catherine of Russia, who in one mood was the patron of literature and of the arts and sciences and in another mood a very satyr, so the Hawaiian G.o.ddess Kapo seems to have lived a double life whose aims were at cross purposes with one another-now an angel of grace and beauty, now a demon of darkness and l.u.s.t.

Do we not find in this the counterpart of nature's twofold aspect, who presents herself to dependent humanity at one time as an alma mater, the food-giver, a divinity of joy and comfort, at another time as the demon of the storm and earthquake, a plowshare of fiery destruction?

The name of Hiiaka, the sister of Pele, is one often mentioned in the prayers of the hula.

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IV.--SUPPORT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE HULA

In ancient times the hula to a large extent was a creature of royal support, and for good reason. The actors in this inst.i.tution were not producers of life's necessaries. To the _alii_ belonged the land and the sea and all the useful products thereof. Even the jetsam whale-tooth and wreckage sc.r.a.ps of iron that ocean cast up on the sh.o.r.e were claimed by the lord of the land. Everything was the king's. Thus it followed of necessity that the support of the hula must in the end rest upon the alii. As in ancient Rome it was a senator or general, enriched by the spoil of a province, who promoted the sports of the arena, so in ancient Hawaii it was the chief or headman of the district who took the initiative in the promotion of the people's communistic sports and of the hula.

We must not imagine that the hula was a thing only of kings'

courts and chiefish residences. It had another and democratic side. The pa.s.sion for the hula was broadspread. If other agencies failed to meet the demand, there was nothing to prevent a company of enthusiasts from joining themselves together in the pleasures and, it might be, the profits of the hula. Their spokesman--designated as the _po'o-puaa_, from the fact that a pig, or a boar's head, was required of him as an offering at the kuahu--was authorized to secure the services of some expert to be their k.u.mu. But with the hula all roads lead to the king's court.

Let us imagine a scene at the king's residence. The alii, rousing from his sloth and rubbing his eyes, rheumy with debauch and _awa_, overhears remark on the doings of a new company of hula dancers who have come into the neighborhood.

He summons his chief steward.

"What is this new thing of which they babble?" he demands.

"It is nothing, son of heaven," answers the kneeling steward.

"They spoke of a hula. Tell me, what is it?"

"Ah, thou heaven-born (_lani_), it was but a trifle--a new company, young graduates of the halau, have set themselves up as great ones; mere rustics; they have no proper acquaintance with the traditions of the art as taught by the bards of...

your majesty's father. They mouth and twist the old songs all awry, thou son of heaven."

"Enough. I will hear them to-morrow. Send a messenger for this new k.u.mu. Fill again my bowl with awa."

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Thus it comes about that the new hula company gains audience at court and walks the road that, perchance, leads to fortune. Success to the men and women of the hula means not merely applause, in return for the incense of flattery; it means also a shower of substantial favors--food, garments, the smile of royalty, perhaps land--things that make life a festival. If welcome grows cold and it becomes evident that the harvest has been reaped, they move on to fresh woods and pastures new.

To return from this apparent digression, it was at the king's court--if we may extend the courtesy of this phrase to a group of thatched houses--that were gathered the bards and those skilled in song, those in whose memories were stored the mythologies, traditions, genealogies, proverbial wisdom, and poetry that, warmed by emotion, was the stuff from which was spun the songs of the hula. As fire is produced by friction, so it was often by the congress of wits rather than by the flas.h.i.+ng of genius that the songs of the hula were evolved.

The composition and criticism of a poetical pa.s.sage were a matter of high importance, often requiring many suggestions and much consultation. If the poem was to be a _mele-inoa_, a name-song to eulogize some royal or princely scion, it must contain no word of ill-omen. The fate-compelling power of such a word, once shot from the mouth, was beyond recall.

Like the incantation of the sorcerer, the _kahuna anaana_, it meant death to the eulogized one. If not, it recoiled on the life of the singer.

The verbal form once settled, it remained only to stereotype it on the memories of the men and women who const.i.tuted the literary court or conclave. Think not that only thus were poems produced in ancient Hawaii. The great majority of songs were probably the fruit of solitary inspiration, in which the bard poured out his heart like a song-bird, or uttered his lone vision as a seer. The method of poem production in conclave may be termed the official method. It was often done at the command of an alii. So much for the fabrication, the weaving, of a song.

If the composition was intended as a eulogy, it was cantillated ceremoniously before the one it honored; if in antic.i.p.ation of a prince yet unborn, it was daily recited before the mother until the hour of her delivery; and this cantillation published it abroad. If the song was for production in the hula, it lay warm in the mind of the k.u.mu, the master and teacher of the hula, until such time as he had organized his company.

The court of the alii was a vortex that drew in not only the bards and men of lore, but the gay and fas.h.i.+onable rout of pleasure-seekers, the young men and women of shapely form and gracious presence, the sons and daughters of the king's [Page 28] henchmen and favorites; among them, perhaps, the offspring of the king's morganatic alliances and amours--the flower and pick of Hawaii's youth. From these the k.u.mu selected those most fitted by beauty and grace of form, as well as quickness of wit and liveliness of imagination, to take part in the hula.

The performers in the hula were divided into two cla.s.ses, the _olapa_--agile ones--and the _ho'o-paa_--steadfast ones. The role of olapa, as was fitting, was a.s.signed to the young men and young women who could best ill.u.s.trate in their persons the grace and beauty of the human form. It was theirs, sometimes while singing, to move and pose and gesture in the dance; sometimes also to punctuate their song and action with the lighter instruments of music. The role of ho'o-paa, on the other hand, was given to men and women of greater experience and of more maturity. They handled the heavier instruments and played their parts mostly while sitting or kneeling, marking the time with their instrumentation. They also lent their voices to swell the chorus or utter the refrain of certain songs, sometimes taking the lead in the song or bearing its whole burden, while the light-footed olapa gave themselves entirely to the dance. The part of the ho'o-paa was indeed the heavier, the more exacting duty.

Such was the personnel of a hula troupe when first gathered by the hula-master for training and drill in the halau, now become a school for the hula. Among the pupils the k.u.mu was sure to find some old hands at the business, whose presence, like that of veterans in a squad of recruits, was a leaven to inspire the whole company with due respect for the spirit and traditions of the historic inst.i.tution and to breed in the members the patience necessary to bring them to the highest proficiency.

The instruction of the k.u.mu, as we are informed, took a wide range. It dealt in elaborate detail on such matters as accent, inflection, and all that concerns utterance and vocalization. It naturally paid great attention to gesture and pose, att.i.tude and bodily action. That it included comment on the meaning that lay back of the words may be gravely doubted. The average hula dancer of modern times shows great ignorance of the mele he recites, and this is true even of the k.u.mu-hula. His work too often is largely perfunctory, a matter of sound and form, without appeal to the intellect.

It would not be legitimate, however, to conclude from this that ignorance of the meaning was the rule in old times; those were the days when the nation's traditional songs, myths, and lore formed the equipment of every alert and receptive mind, chief or commoner. There was no printed page to while away the hours of idleness. The library was stored in one's memory. The language of the mele, which now has [Page 29] become antiquated, then was familiar speech. For a k.u.mu-hula to have given instruction in the meaning of a song would have been a superfluity, as if one at the present day were to inform a group of well-educated actors and actresses who was Pompey or Julius Caesar.

"Speak the speech, I pray you, as I p.r.o.nounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue." Hamlet's words to the players were, it may be supposed, the substance of the k.u.mu's instructions to the pupils in his halau.

The organization of a hula company was largely democratic.

The k.u.mu--in modern sense, the teacher--was the leader and conductor, responsible for the training and discipline of the company. He was the business manager of the enterprise; the priest, _kahuna_, the leader in the religious exercises, the one who interpreted the will of heaven, especially of the G.o.ds whose favor determined success. He might be called to his position by the choice of the company, appointed by the command of the alii who promoted the enterprise, or self-elected in case the enterprise was his own. He had under him a _kokua k.u.mu_, a deputy, who took charge during his absence.

The _po'o-puaa_ was an officer chosen by the pupils to be their special agent and mouthpiece. He saw to the execution of the k.u.mu's judgments and commands, collected the fines, and exacted the penalties imposed by the k.u.mu. It fell to him to convey to the altar the presents of garlands, awa, and the like that were contributed to the halau.

The _paepae_, also chosen by the pupils, subject to confirmation by the k.u.mu, acted as an a.s.sistant of the po'o-puaa. During the construction of the kuahu the po'o-puaa stood to the right, the paepae at his left. They were in a general sense guardians of the kuahu.

The _ho'o-ulu_ was the guard stationed at the door. He sprinkled with sea-water mixed with turmeric everyone who entered the halau. He also acted as sergeant-at-arms to keep order and remove anyone who made a disturbance. It was his duty each day to place a fresh bowl of awa on the altar of the G.o.ddess (_hanai kuahu_), literally to feed the altar.

In addition to these officials, a hula company naturally required the services of a miscellaneous retinue of stewards, cooks, fishermen, hewers of wood, and drawers of water.

RULES OF CONDUCT AND TABUS

Without a body of rules, a strict penal code, and a firm hand to hold in check the hot bloods of both s.e.xes, it would have been impossible to keep order and to accomplish the business purpose of the organization. The explosive force of pa.s.sion would have made the gathering a signal for the breaking loose of pandemonium. That it did not always so result is a [Page 30] compliment alike to the self-restraint of the people and to the sway that artistic ideals held over their minds, but, above all, to a peculiar system of discipline wisely adapted to the necessities of human nature. It does not seem likely that a Thespian band of our own race would have held their pa.s.sions under equal check if surrounded by the same temptations and given the same opportunities as these Polynesians. It may well be doubted if the bare authority of the k.u.mu would have sufficed to maintain discipline and to keep order, had it not been reenforced by the dread powers of the spirit world in the shape of the _tabu_.

The awful grasp of this law; this repressive force, the tabu, held fast the student from the moment of his entrance into the halau. It denied this pleasure, shut off that innocent indulgence, curtailed liberty in this direction and in that.

The tabu waved before his imagination like a flaming sword, barring approach to the Eden of his strongest propensity.

The rules and discipline of the halau, the school for the hula, from our point of view, were a mixture of shrewd common sense and whimsical superst.i.tion. Under the head of tabus certain articles of food were denied; for instance, the sugar-cane--_ko_--was forbidden. The reason a.s.signed was that if one indulged in it his work as a pract.i.tioner would amount to nothing; in the language of the k.u.mu, _aohe e leo ana kana mau hana_, his work will be a failure. The argument turned on the double meaning of the word _ko_, the first meaning being sugar cane, the second, accomplishment. The Hawaiians were much impressed by such whimsical nominalisms. Yet there is a backing of good sense to the rule. Anyone who has chewed the sweet stalk can testify that for some time thereafter his voice is rough, ill-fitted for singing or elocution.

The strictest propriety and decorum were exacted of the pupils; there must be no license whatever. Even married people during the weeks preceding graduation must observe abstinence toward their partners. The whole power of one's being must be devoted to the pursuit of art.

The rules demanded also the most punctilious personal cleanliness. Above all things, one must avoid contact with a corpse. Such defilement barred one from entrance to the halau until ceremonial cleansing had been performed. The offender must bathe in the ocean; the k.u.mu then aspersed him with holy water, uttered a prayer, ordered a penalty, an offering to the kuahu, and declared the offender clean. This done, he was again received into fellows.h.i.+p at the halau.

The ordinary penalty for a breach of ceremony or an offense against s.e.xual morality was the offering of a baked porkling with awa. Since the introduction of money the penalty has generally been reckoned on a commercial basis; a money fine is imposed. The offering of pork and awa is retained as a concession to tradition.