Unwritten Literature of Hawaii Part 54

_Mele_

1

Ku, oe ko'u wahi ohelo nei la, auwe, auwe!

Maka'u au i kau mea nui wali-wali, wali-wali!

Ke hoolewa nei, a lewa la, a lewa nei!

Minomino, enaena ka ia la kapuani, kapuahi!

5 Nenea i ka la'i o Kona, o Kona, a o Kona!

Ponu malino i ke kai hawana-wana, hawana-wana!

He makau na ka lawaia nui, a nui e, a nui la!

Ke o-e nei ke aho o ka ipu-holoholona, holoholona!

[Page 234] Nana, i ka opua makai e, makai la!

10 Maikai ka hana a Mali'o e, a Mali'o la!

Kohu pono ka inu ana i ka wai, a wai e!

Auwe, ku oe ko'u wahi ohelo nei la, ohelo nei la!

2

Ki-o lele, ki-o lele, ki-o lele, e!

Ke mapu mai nei ke ala, ke ala e!

15 Ua malihini ka hale, ua hiki ia, ua hiki e!

Ho'i paoa i ka uka o Manai-ula, ula la, ula e!

Maanei oe, e ka makemake e noho malie, ma-li-e!

Ka pa kolonahe o ka Unulau mahope, ma-ho-pe!

Pe'e oe, a pe'e au, pe'e o ia la, 20 A haawe ke aloha i ke kaona, i ke kaona la!

Mo-li-a i ka nahele e, nahele la!

E hele oe a manao mai i ka luhi mua, a i-mua!

O moe hewa na iwi i ke alanui, alanui.

Kaapa Hawaii a ka moku nui, a nui e!

25 Nui mai ke aloha a uwe au, a uwe au.

Au-we! pau au i ka mano nui, mano nui!

Au-we! pau au i ka mano nui, mano nui!

[Translation]

_Song_

1

Touched, thou art touched by my gesture, I fear, I fear.

I dread your mountain of flesh, of flesh; How it sways, how it sways, it sways!

I'm scorched by the heat of this hearth, this hearth.

5 We bask in this summer of Kona, of Kona; Calm mantles the whispering sea, the whispering sea.

Lo, the hook of the fisherman great, oh so great!

The line hums as it runs from the gourd, from the gourd.

Regard the cloud-omens over the sea, the sea.

10 Well skilled in his craft is Mali'o, Mali'o.

How grateful now were a draught of water, of water!

Pardon! thou art touched by thrust of my leg, of my leg!

2

Forth and return, forth and return, forth and return!

Now waft the woodland perfumes, the woodland perfumes.

15 The house ere we entered was tenant-free, quite free.

Heart-heavy we turn to the greenwood, the greenwood; This the place, Heart's desire, you should tarry, And feel the soft breath of the Unulau, Unulau-- Retirement for you, retirement for me, and for him.

20 We'll give then our heart to this task, this great task, And build in the wildwood a shrine, ay a shrine.

You go; forget not the toils we have shared, have shared, Lest your bones lie unblest in the road, in the road.

How wearisome, long, the road 'bout Hawaii, great Hawaii!

25 Love carries me off with a rush, and I cry, I cry, Alas, I'm devoured by the shark, great shark!

This is not the first time that a Hawaiian poet has figured love by the monster shark.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 38 PLATE XXIII HINANO HALA MALE FLOWER OF THE PANDa.n.u.s ODORATISSIMUS]

[Page 235]

x.x.xV.--THE HULA KILU

The hula _kilu_ was so called from being used in a sport bearing that name which was much patronized by the alii cla.s.s of the ancient regime. It was a betting game, or, more strictly, forfeits were pledged, the payment of which was met by the performance of a dance, or by the exaction of kisses and embraces. The satisfaction of these forfeits not infrequently called for liberties and concessions that could not be permitted on the spot or in public, but must wait the opportunity of seclusion. There were, no doubt, times when the conduct of the game was carried to such a pitch of license as to offend decency; but as a rule the outward proprieties were seemingly as well regarded as at an old-fas.h.i.+oned husking bee, when the finding of the "red ear"

conferred or imposed the privilege or penalty of exacting or granting the blus.h.i.+ng tribute of a kiss. Actual improprieties were not witnessed.

The game of kilu was played in an open matted s.p.a.ce that lay between the two divisions of the audience--the women being on one side and the men on the other. Any chief of recognized rank in the _papa alii_ was permitted to join in the game; and kings and queens were not above partic.i.p.ating in the pleasures of this sport. Once admitted to the hall or inclosure, all were peers and stood on an equal footing as to the rules and privileges of the game. King nor queen could plead exemption from the forfeits incurred nor deny to another the full exercise of privileges acquired under the rules.

The players, five or more of each s.e.x, having been selected by the president, _La anoano_ ("quiet day"), sat facing each other in the s.p.a.ce between the spectators. In front of each player stood a conical block of heavy wood, broad at the base to keep it upright. The kilu, with which the game was played, was an oval, one-sided dish, made by cutting in two an egg-shaped coconut sh.e.l.l. The object of the player was to throw his kilu so that it should travel with a sliding and at the same time a rotary motion across the matted floor and hit the wooden block which stood before the one of his choice on the side opposite. The men and the women took turns in playing. A successful hit ent.i.tled the player to claim a kiss from his opponent, a toll which was exacted at once. Success in winning ten points made one the victor in the game, and, according to some, ent.i.tled him to claim the larger forfeit, [Page 236] such as was customary in the democratic game of _ume_. The payment of these extreme forfeits was delayed till a convenient season, or might be commuted---on grounds of policy, or at the request of the loser, if a king or queen--by an equivalent of land or other valuable possession.

Still no fault could be found if the winner insisted on the strict payment of the forfeit.

The game of kilu was often got up as a compliment, a supreme expression of hospitality, to distinguished visitors of rank, thus more than making good the polite phrase of the Spanish don, "all that I have is yours."

The fact that the hula kilu was performed by the alii cla.s.s, who took great pains and by a.s.siduous practice made themselves proficient that they might be ready to exhibit their accomplishment before the public, was a guarantee that this hula, when performed by them, would be of more than usual grace and vivacity. When performed in the halau as a tabu dance, according to some, the olapa alone took part, and the number of dancers, never very large, was at times limited to one performer. Authorities differ as to whether any musical instrument was used as an accompaniment. From an allusion to this dance met with in an old story it is quite certain that the drum was sometimes used as an accompaniment.

Let us picture to ourselves the scene: A shadowy, flower-scented hall; the elite of some Hawaiian court and their guests, gathered, in accord with old-time practice, to contend in a tournament of wit and grace and skill, vying with one another for the prize of beauty. The president has established order in the a.s.sembly; the opposing players have taken their stations, each one seated behind his target-block. The tallykeeper of one side now makes the challenge. "This kilu," says he, "is a love token; the forfeit a kiss." An Apollo of the opposite side joyfully takes up the gauge. His tallykeeper introduces him by name.

He plumes himself like a wild bird of gay feather, standing forth in the decorous finery of his rank, girded and flowerbedecked after the manner of the halau, eager to win applause for his party not less than to secure for himself the loving reward of victory. In his hand is the instrument of the play, the kilu; the artillery of love, however, with which he is to a.s.sail the heart and warm the imagination of the fair woman opposed to him is the song he shoots from his lips.

The story of the two songs next to be presented is one, and will show us a side of Hawaiian life on which we can not afford entirely to close our eyes. During the stay at Lahaina of Kamehameha, called the Great--whom an informant in this matter always calls "the murderer," in protest against the treacherous a.s.sa.s.sination of Keoua, which took place at Kawaihae in Kamehameha's very presence--a high chiefess of his court named Kalola engaged in a love affair with a young [Page 237] man of rank named Ka'i-ama. He was much her junior, but this did not prevent his infatuation. Early one morning she rose, leaving him sound asleep, and took canoe for Molokai to serve as one of the escort to the body of her relative, Keola, on the way to its place of sepulture.

Some woman, appreciating the situation, posted to the house and waked the sleeper with the information. Ka'iama hastened to the sh.o.r.e, and as he strained his vision to gain sight of the woman of his infatuation the men at the paddles and the bristling throng on the central platform--the _pola_--of the craft, vanis.h.i.+ng in the twilight, made on his imagination the impression of a hazy mountain thicket floating on the waves, but hiding from view some rare flower. He gave vent to his feelings in song:

_Mele_

Pua ehu kamalena[452] ka uka o Kapa'a; Luhi-ehu iho la[453] ka pua i Maile-huna; Hele a ha ka iwi[454] a ke Koolau, Ke pua mai i ka maka o ka nahelehele, 5 I hali hoo-muu,[455] hoohalana i Wailua.

Pa kahea a Koolau-wahine, O Pua-ke'i, e-e-e-e!

He pua laukona[456] ka moe e aloh' ai; O ia moe la, e kaulele hou[457]

10 No ka po i hala aku aku nei.

Hoiho kaua a eloelo, e ka hoa, e, A hookahi!