Chapter XX: Canto II (2)

[Footnote 435: _Kaio’e_. Said to be a choice and beautiful
flower found on Kauai. It is not described by Hillebrand.]

[Footnote 436: _Ka nioi o Paka’a-lana_. The doorsill of the
temple, _heiau_, of Paka’a-lana was made of the exceedingly
hard wood _nioi_. It was to this temple that Puapua-lenalena
brought the conch Kiha-pú when he had stolen (recovered) it
from god Kane.]

[Footnote 437: _Qumukahi_. See note _c_ on p. 197.]

[Footnote 438: _Awa kau-laau o Puna_. It is said that in Puna
the birds sometimes planted the awa in the stumps or in the
crotches of the trees, and this awa was of the finest
quality.]

The author of this mele, apparently under the sanction of his
poetic license, uses toward the great god Ku a plainness of
speech which to us seems satirical; he speaks of him as
_makole_, red-eyed, the result, no doubt, of his notorious
addiction to awa, in which he was not alone among the gods.
But it is not at all certain that the Hawaiians looked upon
this ophthalmic redness as repulsive or disgraceful.
Everything connected with awa had for them a cherished value.
In the mele given on p. 130 the cry was, “Kane is drunken
with awa!” The two gods Kane and Ku were companions in their
revels as well as in nobler adventures. Such a poem as this
flashes a strong light into the workings of the Hawaiian mind
on the creations of their own imagination, the beings who
stood to them as gods; not robbing them of their power, not
deposing them from the throne of the universe, perhaps not
even penetrating the veil of enchantment and mystery with
which the popular regard covered them, at the most perhaps
giving them a hold on the affections of the people.

[Translation.]

_Song_

Look forth, god Ku, look forth!
Huh! Ku is blear-eyed!
Aye, weave now the wreath—
A wreath for the dog Pua-lena;
5 A hala plume for Kahili,
Choice garlands from Niho-kú.
[Page 226] There was a scurry of clouds, earth groaned;
The sound of your baying reached
Hawaii the verdant, the pet of the gods;
10 A portent was seen in the heavens.
You were kept in a cradle of gourd,
Water-gourd of the witch Kilioe,
Who haunted the cliffs of Haena—
The fiery blasts of the crater
15 Touch not Kamoho-alii’s cliff.
Your travel reaches Waipi’o,
The sacred cliff of god Kane.
Sleep fled the bed of the king
At the din of the conch Kiha-pú.
20 The king was tormented, depressed;
His messenger sped on his way;
Found help from Kauai of Máno—
The marvelous foster child,
By Waiuli, Kahuli, upreared;
25 Your answer, a-o-a, a-o-a!—
’Twas thus Kauahoa made ready betimes,
That hero of old Hanalei—
“Strike home! then sleep at midday!”
“God fend a war between kindred!”
30 One flower all other surpasses;
Twine with it a wreath of kai-o’e,
A chaplet to crown Pua-lena.
My labor now has its reward,
The doorsill of Pa-ka’a-lana.
35 My heart leaps up in great cheer;
The bay of the dog greets my ear,
It reaches East Cape by the sea,
Where Puna gave refuge to thee,
Till came the king’s herald, hot-foot,
40 And quaffed the awa’s tree-grown root.
A-o-a, a-o-a, he, he, hene!

The problem to be solved by the translator of this peculiar
mele is a difficult one. It involves a constant readjustment
of the mental standpoint to meet the poet’s vagrant fancy,
which to us seems to occupy no consistent point of view. If
this difficulty arises from the author’s own lack of insight,
he can at least absolve himself from the charge of negligence
and lack of effort to discover the standpoint that shall give
unity to the whole composition; and can console himself with
the reflection that no native Hawaiian scholar with whom he
has conferred has been able to give a key to the solution of
this problem. In truth, the native Hawaiian scholars of
to-day do not appreciate as we do the necessity of holding
fast to one viewpoint. They seem to be willing to accept with
gusto any production of their old-time singers, though they
may not be able to explain them, and though to us, in whose
hearts the songs of the masters ever make music, they may
seem empty riddles.
[Page 227]
The solution of this problem here furnished is based on
careful study of the text and of the allusions to tradition
and myth that therein abound. Its expression in the
translation has rendered necessary occasional slight
departures from absolute literalness, and has involved the
supplying of certain conjunctive and explanatory words and
phrases of which the original, it is true, gives no hint, but
without which the text would be meaningless.

One learned Hawaiian with whom the author has enjoyed much
conference persists in taking a most discouraging and
pessimistic view of this mele. It is gratifying to be able to
differ from him in this matter and to be able to sustain
one’s position by the consenting opinion of other Hawaiians
equally accomplished as the learned friend just referred to.

The incidents in the story of Puapua-lenalena alluded to in
the mele do not exactly chime with any version of the legend
met with. That is not strange. Hawaiian legends of necessity
had many variants, especially where, as in this case, the
adventures of the hero occurred in part on one and in part on
another island. The author’s knowledge of this story is
derived from various independent sources, mainly from a
version given to his brother, Joseph S. Emerson, who took it
down from the words of an intelligent Hawaiian youth of
Kohala.

English literature, so far as known to the author, does not
furnish any example that is exactly comparable to or that
will serve as an illustration of this nonterminal rhyme,
which abounds in Hawaiian poetry. Perhaps the following will
serve the purpose of illustration:

’Twas the swine of Gadara, fattened on _mast_.
The _mast_-head watch of a ship was the last
To see the wild herd careering past,

Or such a combination as this:

He was a mere _flat_,
Yet _flat_tered the girls.

Such artificial productions as these give us but a momentary
intellectual entertainment. While the intellectual element in
them was not lacking with the Hawaiians, the predominant
feeling, no doubt, was a sensuous delight coming from the
repetition of a full-throated vowel-combination.
[Page 228]

XXXIII.—THE HULA PUA’A

The hula _pua’a_ rounds out the number of animal-dances that
have survived the wreck of time, or the memory of which has
come down to us. It was a dance in which only the olapa took
part without the aid of instrumental accompaniment. Women as
well as men were eligible as actors in its performance. The
actors put much spirit into the action, beating the chest,
flinging their arms in a strenuous fashion, throwing the body
into strained attitudes, at times bending so far back as
almost to touch the floor. This energy seems to have invaded
the song, and the cantillation of the mele is said to have
been done in that energetic manner called _ai-ha’a_.

The hula pua’a seems to have been native to Kauai. The author
has not been able to learn of its performance within historic
times on any other island.

The student of Hawaiian mythology naturally asks whether the
hula pua’a concerned itself with the doings of the
mythological hog-deity Kama-pua’a whose amour with Pele was
the scandal of Hawaiian mythology. It takes but a superficial
reading of the mele to answer this question in the
affirmative.

The following mele, or oli more properly, which was used in
connection with the hula pua’a, is said to have been the
joint production of two women, the daughters of a famous bard
named Kana, who was the reputed brother of Limaloa
(long-armed), a wonder-working hero who piled up the clouds
in imitation of houses and mountains and who produced the
mirage:

_Oli_

Ko’i maka nui,[439]
Ike ia na pae moku,
Na moku o Mala-la-walu,[440]
Ka noho a Ka-maulu-a-niho,
5 Kupuna o Kama-pua’a.
[Page 229] Ike ia ka hono a Pii-lani;[441]
Ku ka paóa i na mokupuni.
Ua puni au ia Pele,
Ka u’i noho mau i Kilauea,
10 Anau hewa i ke a o Puna.
Keiki kolohe a Ku ame Hina—[442]
Hina ka opua, kau i ke olewa,
Ke ao pua’a[443] maalo i Haupu.
Haku’i ku’u manao e hoi[444] i Kahiki;
15 Pau ole ka’u hoohihi ia Hale-ma’u-ma’u,[445]
I ka pali kapu a Ka-moho-alii.[446]
Kela kuahiwi a mau a ke ahi.
He manao no ko’u e noho pu;
Pale ’a mai e ka hilahila,
20 I ka hakukole ia mai e ke Akua wahine
Pale oe, pale au, iloko o ka hilahila;
A hilahila wale ia iho no e oe;
Nau no ia hale i noho.[447]
Ka hana ia a ke Ko’i maka nui,
25 Ike ia na pae moku.
He hiapo[448] au na Olopana,
He hi’i-alo na Ku-ula,
Ka mea nana na haka moa;
[Page 230] Noho i ka uka o Ka-liu-wa’a;[449]
30 Ku’u wa’a ia ho’i i Kahiki.
Pau ia ike ana ia Hawaii,
Ka aina a ke Akua i hiki mai ai,
I noho malihini ai i na moku o Hawaii.
Malihini oe, malihini au,
35 Ko’i maka nui, ike ia na-pae opuaa.
A pepelu, a pepelu, a pepelu
Ko ia la huelo! pili i ka lemu!
Hu! hu! hu! hu!
Ka-haku-ma’a-lani[450] kou inoa!
40 A e o mai oe, e Kane-hoa-lani.
Ua noa.

[Footnote 439: _Ko’i maka nui_ The word _maka_, which from the
connection here must mean the edge of an ax, is the word
generally used to mean an eye. Insistence on their
peculiarity leads one to think that there must have been
something remarkable about the eyes of Kama-pua’a. One
account describes Kama-pua’a as having eight eyes and as many
feet. It is said that on one occasion as Kama-pua’a was lying
in wait for Pele in a volcanic bubble in the plains of Puna
Pele’s sisters recognized his presence by the gleam of his
eyes. They immediately walled up the only door of exit.]

[Footnote 440: _Mala-la-walu_. A celebrated king of Maui, said
to have been a just ruler, who was slain in battle on Hawaii
while making war against Lono-i-ka-makahiki, the rightful
ruler of the island. It may be asked if the name is not
introduced here because of the word _walu_ (eight) as a
reference to Kama-pua’a’s eight eyes.]

[Footnote 441: _Pi’i-lani_. A king of Maui, father-in-law to
Umi, the son of Liloa.]

[Footnote 442: _Hina_. There were several Hinas in Hawaiian
mythology and tradition. Olopana, the son of Kamaulu-a-niho
(Fornander gives this name as Ka-maunu-a-niho), on his
arrival from Kahiki, settled in Koolau and married a woman
named Hina. Kama-pua’a is said to be the natural son of Hina
by Kahiki-ula, the brother of Olopana. To this Olopana was
attributed the heiau of Kawaewae at Kaneohe.]

[Footnote 443: _Ao pu-a’a_. The cloud-cap that often rested on
the summit of Haupu, a mountain on Kauai, near Koloa, is said
to have resembled the shape of a pig. It was a common saying,
“The pig is resting on Haupu.”]

[Footnote 444: _Ho’i_. To return. This argues that, if
Kama-pua’a was not originally from Kahiki, he had at least
visited there.]

[Footnote 445: _Hale-ma’u-ma’u_. This was an ancient lava-cone
which until within a few years continued to be the most
famous fire-lake in the caldera of Kilauea. It was so called,
probably, because the roughness of its walls gave it a
resemblance to one of those little shelters made from rough
_ama’u_ fern such as visitors put up for temporary
convenience. The word has not the same pronunciation and is
not to be confounded with that other word _mau_, meaning
everlasting.]

[Footnote 446: _Kamoho-ali’i_. The brother of Pele; in one
metamorphosis he took the form of a shark. A high point in
the northwest quarter of the wall of Kilauea was considered
his special residence and regarded as so sacred that no smoke
or flame from the volcano ever touched it. He made his abode
chiefly in the earth’s underground caverns, through which the
sun made its nightly transit from West back to the East. He
often retained the orb of the day to warm and illumine his
abode. On one such occasion the hero Mawi descended into this
region and stole away the sun that his mother Hina might have
the benefit of its heat in drying her tapas.]

[Footnote 447: _Hale i noho_. The word _hale_, meaning house,
is frequently used metaphorically for the human body,
especially that of a woman. Pele thus acknowledges her amour
with Kama-pua’a.]

[Footnote 448: _Hiapo_. A firstborn child. Legends are at
variance with one another as to the parentage of Kama-pua’a.
According to the legend referred to previously, Kama-pua’a
was the son of Olopana’s wife Hina, his true father being
Kahiki-ula, the brother of Olopana. Olopana seems to have
treated him as his own son. After Kama-pua’a’s robbery of his
mother’s henroosts, Olopana chased the thief into the
mountains and captured him. Kama eventually turned the tables
against his benefactor and caused the death of Olopana
through the treachery of a priest in a heiau; he was offered
up on the altar as a sacrifice.]

[Footnote 449: _Ka-liu-wa’a_. The bilge of the canoe. This is
the name of a deep and narrow valley at Hauula, Koolau, Oahu,
and is well worth a visit. Kama-pua’a, hard pressed by the
host of his enemies, broke through the multitude that
encompassed him on the land side and with his followers
escaped up this narrow gorge. When the valley came to an
abrupt end before him, and he could retreat no farther, he
reared up on his hind legs and scaled the mountain wall; his
feet, as he sprang up, scored the precipice with immense
hollowed-out grooves or flutings. The Hawaiians call these
_wa’a_ from their resemblance to the hollow of a Hawaiian
canoe. This feat of the hog-god compelled recognition of
Kama-pua’a as a deity; and from that time no one entered
Ka-liu-wa’a valley without making an offering to Kama-pua’a.]

[Footnote 450: _Ka-haku-ma’a-lani._ A name evidently applied to
Kama-pua’a.]

[Translation.]

_Song_

Ax of broadest edge I’m hight;
The island groups I’ve visited,
Islands of Mala-la-walu,
Seat of Ka-maulu-a-niho,
5 Grandam of Kama, the swine-god.
I have seen Pi’i-lani’s glory,
Whose fame spreads over the islands.
Enamored was I of Pele;
Her beauty holds court at the fire-pit,
10 Given to ravage the plains of Puna.
Mischievous son of Ku, and of Hina,
Whose cloud-bloom hangs in ether,
The pig-shaped cloud that shadows Haupu.
An impulse comes to return to Kahiki—
15 The chains of the pit still gall me,
The tabu cliff of Ka-moho-alii,
The mount that is ever ablaze.
I thought to have domiciled with her;
Was driven away by mere shame—
20 The shameful abuse of the goddess!
Go thou, go I—a truce to the shame.
It was your manners that shamed me.
Free to you was the house we lived in.
These were the deeds of Broad-edged-Ax,
25 Who has seen the whole group of islands.
Olopana’s firstborn am I,
Nursed in the arms of Ku-ula;
[Page 231] Hers were the roosts for the gamecocks.
The wilds of Ka-liu-wa’a my home,
30 That too my craft back to Kahiki;
This my farewell to Hawaii,
Land of the God’s immigration.
Strangers we came to Hawaii;
A stranger thou, a stranger I,
35 Called Broad-edged-Ax:
I’ve read the cloud-omens in heaven.
It curls, it curls! his tail—it curls!
Look, it clings to his buttocks!
Faugh, faugh, faugh, faugh, uff!
40 What! Ka-haku-ma’a-lani your name!
Answer from heaven, oh Kane!
My song it is done!

If one can trust, the statement of the Hawaiian who
communicated the above mele, it represents only a portion of
the whole composition, the first canto—if we may so term
it—having dropped into the limbo of forgetfulness. The
author’s study of the mele lends no countenance to such a
view. Like all Hawaiian poetry, this mele wastes no time with
introductory flourishes; it plunges at once in medias res.

Hawaiian mythology figured Pele, the goddess of the volcano,
as a creature of passion, capable of many metamorphoses; now
a wrinkled hag, asleep in a cave on a rough lava bed, with
banked fires and only an occasional blue flame playing about
her as symbols of her power; now a creature of terror, riding
on a chariot of flame and carrying destruction; and now as a
young woman of seductive beauty, as when she sought
passionate relations with the handsome prince, Lohiau; but in
disposition always jealous, fickle, vengeful.

Kama-pua’a was a demigod of anomalous birth, character, and
make-up, sharing the nature and form of a man and of a hog,
and assuming either form as suited the occasion. He was said
to be the nephew of Olopana, a king of Oahu, whose kindness
in acting as his foster father he repaid by the robbery of
his henroosts and other unfilial conduct. He lived the
lawless life of a marauder and freebooter, not confining his
operations to one island, but swimming from one to another as
the fit took him. On one occasion, when the farmers of
Waipi’o, whom he had robbed, assembled with arms to bar his
retreat and to deal vengeance upon him, he charged upon the
multitude, overthrew them with great slaughter, and escaped
with his plunder.

Toward Pele Kama-pua’a assumed the attitude of a lover, whose
approaches she at one time permitted to her peril. The
incident took place in one of the water caves—volcanic
bubbles—in Puna, and at the level of the ocean; but when he
had the audacity to invade her privacy and call to her as she
reposed in her home at Kilauea she repelled his advances and
answered his persistence with a fiery onset, from which he
[Page 232] fled in terror and discomfiture, not halting until he had put
the width of many islands and ocean channels between himself
and her.

In seeking an explanation of this myth of Pele, the volcano
god and Kama-pua’a, who, on occasion, was a sea-monster,
there is no necessity to hark back to the old polemics of
Asia. Why not account for this remarkable myth as the
statement in terms of passion familiar to all Hawaiians of
those impressive natural phenomena that were daily going on
before them? The spectacle of the smoking mountain pouring
out its fiery streams, overwhelming river and forest, halting
not until they had invaded the ocean; the awful turmoil as
fire and water came in contact; the quick reprisal as the
angry waves overswept the land; then the subsiding and
retreat of the ocean to its own limits and the restoration of
peace and calm, the fiery mount still unmoved, an apparent
victory for the volcanic forces. Was it not this spectacular
tournament of the elements that the Hawaiian sought to embody
and idealize in his myth of Pele and Kama-pua’a?[451]

[Footnote 451: “The Hawaiian tradition of _Pele_, the dread
goddess of the volcanic fires,” says Mr. Fornander,
“analogous to the Samoan _Fe’e_, is probably a local
adaptation in aftertimes of an elder myth, half forgotten and
much distorted. The contest related in the legend between
Pele and _Kamapua’a_, the eight-eyed monster demigod,
indicates, however, a confused knowledge of some ancient
strife between religious sects, of which the former
represented the worshipers of fire and the latter those with
whom water was the principal element worthy of adoration.”
(Abraham Fornander, The Polynesian Race, pp. 51, 52, Trubner
& Co., London.)]

The likeness to be found between the amphibious Kama-pua’a
and the hog appeals picturesquely to one’s imagination in
many ways. The very grossness of the hog enables him
becomingly to fill the role of the Beast as a foil to Pele,
the Beauty. The hog’s rooting snout, that ravages the
cultivated fields; his panicky retreat when suddenly
disturbed; his valiant charge and stout resistance if
cornered; his lowered snout in charge or retreat; his curling
tail—how graphically all these features appeal to the
imagination in support of the comparison which likens him to
a tidal wave.
[Page 233]

XXXIV.—THE HULA OHELO

The hula _ohelo_ was a very peculiar ancient dance, in which
the actors, of both sexes, took a position almost that of
reclining, the body supported horizontally by means of the
hand and extended leg of one side, in such a manner that
flank and buttock did not rest upon the floor, while the free
leg and arm of the opposite side swung in wide gestures, now
as if describing the arch of heaven, or sweeping the circle
of the horizon, now held straight, now curved like a hook. At
times the company, acting in concert, would shift their base
of support from the right hand to the left hand, or vice
versa. The whole action, though fantastical, was conducted
with modesty. There was no instrumental accompaniment; but
while performing the gymnastics above described the actors
chanted the words of a mele to some Old World tune, the
melody and rhythm of which are lost.

A peculiar feature of the training to which pupils were
subjected in preparation for this dance was to range them in
a circle about a large fire, their feet pointing to the
hearth. The theory of this practice was that the heat of the
fire suppled the limbs and imparted vivacity to the motions,
on the same principle apparently as fire enables one to bend
into shape a crooked stick. The word _kapuahi_, fireplace, in
the fourth line of the mele, is undoubtedly an allusion to
this practice.

The fact that the climate of the islands, except in the
mountains and uplands, is rarely so cold as to make it
necessary to gather about a fire seems to argue that the
custom of practising this dance about a fireplace must have
originated in some land of climate more austere than Hawaii.

It is safe to say that very few kumu-hulas have seen and many
have not even heard of the hula ohelo. The author has an
authentic account of its production at Ewa in the year 1856,
its last performance, so far as he can learn, on the public
stage.

_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 kapuahi, 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-é nei ke aho o ka ipu-holoholona, holoholona!
[Page 234] Naná 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-ó lele, ki-ó lele, ki-ó 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 manó nui, manó nui!
Au-we! pau au i ka manó nui, manó 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.

[Page 235]

XXXV.—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 class
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-fashioned husking bee, when the finding of the “red ear”
conferred or imposed the privilege or penalty of exacting or
granting the blushing tribute of a kiss. Actual improprieties
were not witnessed.

The game of kilu was played in an open matted space 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 participating 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 sex, having been selected
by the president, _La anoano_ (“quiet day”), sat facing each
other in the space 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 shell. 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 entitled 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, entitled 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 class,
who took great pains and by assiduous 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 assembly; 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 assail 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 assassination 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-áma. 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’iáma hastened
to the shore, 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, vanishing 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 kamaléna[452] ka uka o Kapa’a;
Luhi-ehu iho la[453] ka pua i Maile-húna;
Hele a ha ka iwi[454] a ke Koolau,
Ke puá mai i ka maka o ka nahelehele,
5 I hali hoo-muú,[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’ aí;
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!

[Translation.]

_Song_

Misty and dim, a bush in the wilds of Kapa’a,
The paddlers bend to their work, as the flower-laden
Shrub inclines to the earth in Maile-húna;
They sway like reeds in the breeze to crack their bones
5 Such the sight as I look at this tossing grove,
The rhythmic dip and swing on to Wailua.
My call to the witch shall fly with the breeze,
Shall be heard at Pua-ke’i, e-he, e-he!
The flower-stalk Laukóna beguiles man to love,
10 Can bring back the taste of joys once our own,
[Page 238] Make real again the hours that are flown.
Turn hither, mine own, let’s drench us with love—
Just for one night!

[Footnote 452: _Pua ehu Kamaléna_ (yellow child). This
exclamation is descriptive of the man’s visual impression on
seeing the canoe with its crowd of passengers and paddlers,
in the misty light of morning, receding in the distance. The
kamaléna is a mountain shrub having a yellow flower.]

[Footnote 453: _Luhi ehu iho la_. Refers to the drooping of a
shrub under the weight of its leaves and flowers, a figure
applied to the bending of the paddlemen to their work.]

[Footnote 454: _Hele a ha ka iwi_. An exaggerated figure of
speech, referring to the exertions of the men at their
paddles (_ha_, to strain).]

[Footnote 455: _I hali hoomú_. This refers in a fine spirit of
exaggeration to the regular motions of the paddlers.]

[Footnote 456: _Pua laukona_. A kind of sugar-cane which was
prescribed and used by the kahunas as an aphrodisiac.]

[Footnote 457: _Kaulele hou_. To experience, or to enjoy,
again.]

The unchivalrous indiscretion of the youth in publishing the
secret of his amour elicited from Kamehameha only the
sarcastic remark, “Couldn’t he eat his food and keep his
mouth shut?” The lady herself took the same view of his
action. There was no evasion in her reply; her only reproach
was for his childishness in blabbing.

_Mele_

Kálakálaíhi, kaha[458] ka La ma ke kua o Lehua;
Lulana iho la ka pihe a ke Akua;[459]
Ea mai ka Unulau[460] o Halali’i;
Lawe ke Koolau-wahine[461] i ka hoa la, lilo;
5 Hao ka Mikioi[462] i ke kai o Lehua:
Puwa-i’a na hoa-makani[463] mai lalo, e-e-e, a.
I hoonalonalo i ke aloha, pe’e ma-loko;
Ha’i ka wai-maka hanini;
I ike aku no i ka uwe ana iho;
10 Pelá wale no ka hoa kamalii, e-e, a!

[Translation.]

_Song_

The sun-furrow gleams at the back of Lehua;
The King’s had his fill of scandal and chaff;
The wind-god empties his lungs with a laugh;
And the Mikioi tosses the sea at Lehua,
5 As the trade-wind wafts his friend on her way—
A congress of airs that ruffles the bay.
Hide love ’neath a mask—that’s all I would ask.
To spill but a tear makes our love-tale appear;
He pours out his woe; I’ve seen it, I know;
10 That’s the way with a boy-friend, heigh-ho!

The art of translating from the Hawaiian into the English
tongue consists largely in a fitting substitution of generic
for specific terms. The Hawaiian, for instance, had at
command scores of specific names for the same wind, or for
[Page 239] the local modifications that were inflicted upon it by the
features of the landscape. One might almost say that every
cape and headland imposed a new nomenclature upon the breeze
whose direction it influenced. He rarely contented himself
with using a broad and comprehensive term when he could match
the situation with a special form.

[Footnote 458: The picture of the sun declining, _kaha_, to the
west, its reflected light-track, _kala kalaihi_, farrowing
the ocean with glory, may be taken to be figurative of the
loved and beautiful woman, Kalola, speeding on her westward
canoe-flight.]

[Footnote 459: _Akua_. Literally a god, must stand for the
king.]

[Footnote 460: _Unulau_. A special name for the trade-wind.]

[Footnote 461: _Koolau-wahine_. Likewise another name for the
trade-wind, here represented as carrying off the (man’s)
companion.]

[Footnote 462: _Mikioi_. An impetuous, gusty wind is
represented as lashing the ocean at Lehua, thus picturing the
emotional stir attending Kalola’s departure.]

[Footnote 463: The words _Puwa-i’a na hoa makani_, which
literally mean that the congress of winds, _na hoa makani_,
have stirred up a commotion, even as a school of fish agitate
the surface, of the ocean, _puwa-i’a_, refer to the scandal
caused by Ka’i-ama’s conduct.]

The singer restricts her blame to charging her youthful lover
with an indiscreet exhibition of childish emotion. The mere
display of emotion evinced by the shedding of tears was in
itself a laudable action and in good form.

This first reply of the woman to her youthful lover did not
by any means exhaust her armament of retaliation. When she
next treats of the affair it is with an added touch of
sarcasm and yet with a sang-froid that proved it had not
unsettled her nerves.

_Mele_

Ula Kala’e-loa[464] i ka lepo a ka makani;
Hoonu’anu’a na pua i Kalama-ula,
He hoa i ka la’i a ka manu—[465]
Manu ai ia i ka hoa laukona.
5 I keke lau-au’a ia e ka moe;
E kuhi ana ia he kanaka e.
Oau no keia mai luna a lalo;
Huná, ke aloha, pe’e maloko.
Ike ’a i ka uwe ana iho.
10 Pelá ka hoa kamalii—
He uwe wale ke kamalii.

[Translation.]

_Song_

Red glows Kala’e through the wind-blown dust
That defiles the flowers of Lama-ula,
Outraged by the croak of this bird,
That eats of the aphrodisiac cane,
5 And then boasts the privileged bed.
He makes me a creature of outlaw:
True to myself from crown to foot-sole,
My love I’ve kept sacred, pent up within.
He flouts it as common, weeping it forth—
10 That is the way with a child-friend;
A child just blubbers at nothing.

[Footnote 464: _Kala’e-loa_. The full name of the place on
Molokai now known as Kala’e.]

[Footnote 465: _La’i a ka manu_. Some claim this to be a proper
name, _La’i-a-ka-manu_, that of a place near Kala’e. However
that may be the poet evidently uses the phrase here in its
etymological sense.]

To return to the description of the game, the player, having
uttered his vaunt in true knightly fashion, with a dexterous
whirl now sends his kilu spinning on its course. If his play
is successful and the kilu strikes the target on the other
[Page 240] side at which he aims, the audience, who have kept silence
till now, break forth in applause, and his tally-keeper
proclaims his success in boastful fashion:

_Oli_

A úweuwé ke kó’e a ke kae;
Puehuehu ka la, komo inoino;
Kakía, kahe ka ua ilalo.

[Translation.]

Now wriggles the worm to its goal;
A tousling; a hasty encounter;
A grapple; down falls the rain.

It is now the winner’s right to cross over and claim his
forfeit. The audience deals out applause or derision in
unstinted measure; the enthusiasm reaches fever-point when
some one makes himself the champion of the game by bringing
his score up to ten, the limit. The play is often kept up
till morning, to be resumed the following night.[466]

[Footnote 466: The account above given is largely based on
David Malo’s description of the game kilu. In his confessedly
imperfect list of the hulas he does not mention the hula
kilu. This hula was, however, included in the list of hulas
announced for performance in the programme of King Kalakaua’s
coronation ceremonies.]

Here also is a mele, which tradition reports to have been
cantillated by Hiiaka, the sister of Pele, during her famous
kilu contest with the Princess Pele-ula, which took place at
Kou—the ancient name for Honolulu—on Hiiaka’s voyage of
return from Kauai to her sister’s court at Kilauea. In this
affair Lohiau and Wahineoma’o contended on the side of
Hiiaka, while Pele-ula was assisted by her husband, Kou, and
by other experts. But on this occasion the dice were cogged;
the victory was won not by human skill but by the magical
power of Hiiaka, who turned Pele-ula’s kilu away from the
target each time she threw it, but used her gift to compel it
to the mark when the kilu was cast by herself.

_Mele_

Ku’u noa mai ka makani kuehu-kapa o Kalalau,[467]
Mai na pali ku’i[468] o Makua-iki,
Ke lawe la i ka haka,[469] a lilo!
A lilo o-e, la!
5 Ku’u kane i ka uhu ka’i o Maka-pu’u,
Huki iluna ka Lae-o-ka-laau;[470]
Oia pali makua-ole[471] olaila.
Ohiohi ku ka pali o Ulamao, e-e!
A lilo oe, la!

[Footnote 467: _Ka-lalau_ (in the translation by the omission
of the article _ka_, shortened to _Lalau_). A deep
cliff-bound valley on the windward side of Kauai, accessible
only at certain times of the year by boats and by a steep
mountain trail at its head.]

[Footnote 468: _Pali ku’i_. _Ku’i_ means literally to join
together, to splice or piece out. The cliffs tower one above
another like the steps of a stairway.]

[Footnote 469: _Haka_. A ladder or frame such as was laid
across a chasm or set up at an impassable place in a
precipitous road. The windward side of Kauai about Kalalau
abounded in such places.]

[Footnote 470: _Lae-o-ka-laau_. The southwest point of Molokai,
on which is a light-house.]

[Footnote 471: _Makua-ole_. Literally fatherless, perhaps
meaning remarkable, without peer.]

[Page 241]

[Translation.]

_Song_

Comrade mine in the robe-stripping gusts of Lalau,
On the up-piled beetling cliffs of Makua,
The ladder... is taken away... it is gone!
Your way is cut off, my man!
5 With you I’ve backed the uhu of Maka-pu’u,
Tugging them up the steeps of Point-o’-woods,
A cliff that stands fatherless, even as
Sheer stands the pali of Ula-mao—
And thus... you are lost!

This is but a fragment of the song which Hiiaka pours out in
her efforts to calm the fateful storm which she saw piling up
along the horizon. The situation was tragic. Hiiaka, daring
fate, defying the dragons and monsters of the primeval world,
had made the journey to Kauai, had snatched away from death
the life of Lohiau and with incredible self-denial was
escorting the rare youth to the arms of her sister, whose
jealousy she knew to be quick as the lightning, her vengeance
hot as the breath of the volcano, and now she saw this
featherhead, with monstrous ingratitude, dallying with fate,
calling down upon the whole party the doom she alone could
appreciate, all for the smile of a siren whose charms
attracted him for the moment; but, worst of all, her heart
condemned her as a traitress—she loved him.

Hiiaka held the trick-card and she won; by her miraculous
power she kept the game in her own hands and foiled the hopes
of the lovers.

_Mele_

Ula ka lani ia Kanaloa,[472]
Ula ma’ema’e ke ahi a ke A’e-loa.[473]
Pohina iluna i ke ao makani,
Naue pu no i ka ilikai o Makahana-loa,[474]
5 Makemake i ka ua lihau.[475]
Aohe hana i koe a Ka-wai-loa;[476]
Noho a ka li’u-lá i ke kula.
I kula oe no ka makemake, a hiki iho,
I hoa hula no ka la le’ale’a,
10 I noho pu me ka uahi pohina.[477]
[Page 242] Hina oe i ka Naulu,[478] noho pu me ka Inuwai.[479]
Akahi no a pumehana ka hale, ua hiki oe:
Ma’ema’e ka luna i Haupu.[480]
Upu ka makemake e ike ia Ka-ala.
15 He ala ka makemake e ike ia Lihu’e;[481]
Ku’u uka ia noho ia Halemano.[482]
Maanei oe, pale oe, pale au,
Hana ne’e ke kikala i ka ha’i keiki.
Hai’na ka manao—noho i Waimea,
20 Hoonu’u pu i ka i’a ku o ka aina.[483]
E kala oe a kala au a kala ia Ku, Ahuena.[484]

[Footnote 472: _Kanaloa_. One of the four great gods of the
Hawaiians, here represented as playing the part of Phoebus
Apollo.]

[Footnote 473: _A’e-loa_. The name of a wind whose blowing was
said to be favorable to the fisherman in this region.]

[Footnote 474: _Makahana-loa_, A favorite fishing ground. The
word _ilikai_ (“skin of the sea”) graphically depicts the
calm of the region. In the translation the name
aforementioned has been shortened to Kahana.]

[Footnote 475: _Lihau_. A gentle rain that was considered
favorable to the work of the fisherman.]

[Footnote 476: _Ka-wai-loa_. A division of Waialua, here
seemingly used to mean the farm.]

[Footnote 477: _Uahi pohina_. Literally gray-headed smoke. It
is said that when studying together the words of the mele the
pupils and the kumu would often gather about a fire, while
the teacher recited and expounded the text. There is a
possible allusion to this in the mention of the smoke.]

[Footnote 478: _Naulu_. A wind.]

[Footnote 479: _Inu-wai_. A wind that dried up vegetation, here
indicating thirst.]

[Footnote 480: _Haupu_. A mountain on Kauai, sometimes visible
on Oahu in clear weather. (See note _c_, p. 229, on Haupu.)]

[Footnote 481: _Lihu’e_. A beautiful and romantic region
nestled, as the Hawaiians say, “between the thighs of the
mountain,” Mount Kaala.]

[Footnote 482: _Hale-mano_. Literally the multitude of houses;
a sylvan region bound to the southwestern flank of the
Konahuanui range of mountains, a region of legend and
romance, since the coming of the white man given over to the
ravage and desolation that follow the free-ranging of cattle
and horses, the vaquero, and the abusive use of fire and ax
by the woodman.]

[Footnote 483: _I’a ku o ka aina_. Fish common to a region; in
this place it was probably the kala, which word is found in
the next line, though in a different sense. Here the
expression is doubtless a euphemism for dalliance.]

[Footnote 484: _Ku, Ahuena_. At Waimea, Oahu, stood two rocks
on the opposite bluffs that sentineled the bay. These rocks
were said to represent respectively the gods Ku and Ahuena,
patrons of the local fishermen.]

[Translation.]

_Song_

Kanaloa tints heaven with a blush,
’Tis the flame of the A’e, pure red,
And gray the wind-clouds overhead.
We trudge to the waters calm of Kahana—
5 Heaven grant us a favoring shower!
The work is all done on the farm.
We stay till twilight steals o’er the plain,
Then, love-spurred, tramp o’er it again,
Have you as partner in holiday dance—
10 We’ve moiled as one in the gray smoke;
Cast down by the Naulu, you thirst.
For once the house warms at your coming.
How clear glow the heights of yon Haupu!
I long for the sight of Ka-ala,
15 And sweet is the thought of Lihu’e,
And our mountain retreat, Hale-mano.
Here, fenced from each other by tabu,
Your graces make sport for the crowd.
What then the solution? Let us dwell
20 At Waimea and feast on the fish
That swarm in the neighboring sea,
With freedom to you and freedom to me,
Licensed by Ku and by Ahu-éna.
[Page 243]
The scene of this idyl is laid in the district of Waialua,
Oahu, but the poet gives his imagination free range
regardless of the unities. The chief subjects of interest
that serve as a trellis about which the human sentiments
entwine concern the duties of the fisherman, who is also a
farmer; the school for the hula, in which the hero and the
heroine are pupils; and lastly an ideal condition of
happiness which the lovers look forward to tinder the
benevolent dispensation of the gods Ku and Ahuena.

Among the numerous relatives of Pele was one said to be a
sister, who was stationed on a bleak sun-burnt promontory in
Koolau, Oahu, where she supported a half-starved existence,
striving to hold soul and body together by gathering the
herbs of the fields, eked out by unsolicited gifts of food
contributed by passing travelers. The pathetic plaint given
below is ascribed to this goddess.

_Mele_

Mao wale i ka lani
Ka leo o ke Akua pololi.
A pololi a moe au
O ku’u la pololi,
5 A ola i kou aloha;
I na’i pu no i ka waimaka e uwe nei.
E uwe kaua, e!

[Translation.]

_Song_

Engulfed ill heaven’s abyss
Is the cry of the famished god.
I sank to the ground from faintness,
My day of utter starvation;
5 Was rescued, revived, by your love:
Ours a contest of tears sympathetic—
Let us pour out together our tears.

The Hawaiian thought it not undignified to express sympathy
(_aloha-ino_) with tears.
[Page 244]

XXXVI.—THE HULA HOO-NA-NÁ

The hula _hoo-na-ná_—to quiet, amuse—was an informal dance,
such as was performed without the usual restrictions of tabu
that hedged about the set dances of the halau. The occasion
of an outdoor festival, an _ahaaina_ or _luau_, was made the
opportunity for the exhibition of this dance. It seems to
have been an expression of pure sportiveness and
mirth-making, and was therefore performed without sacrifice
or religious ceremony. While the king, chiefs, and
_aialo_—courtiers who ate in the king’s presence—are
sitting with the guests about the festal board, two or three
dancers of graceful carriage make a circuit of the place,
ambling, capering, gesturing as they go in time to the words
of a gay song.

A performance of this sort was witnessed by the author’s
informant in Honolulu many years ago; the occasion was the
giving of a royal luau. There was no musical instrument, the
performers were men, and the mele they cantillated went as
follows:

A pili, a pili,
A pili ka’u manu
Ke kepau[485] o ka ulu-laau.
Poai a puni,
5 Noho ana i muli-wa’a;[486]
Hoonu’u ka momona a ke alii.
Eli-eli[487] ke kapu; ua noa.
Noa ia wai?
Noa ia ka lani.
10 Kau lilua,[488] kaohi ka maku’u
E ai ana ka ai a ke alii!
Hoonu’u, hoonu’u hoonu’u
I ka i’a a ke alii!

[Footnote 485: _Kepáu._ Gum, the bird-lime of the fowler,
which was obtained from forest trees, but especially from the
_ulu_, the breadfruit.]

[Footnote 486: _Muli-wa’a_ (_muli_, a term applied to a younger
brother). The idea involved is that of separation by an
interval, as a younger brother is separated from his older
brother by an interval. _Muliwai_ is an interval of water, a
stream. _Wa’a_, the last part of the above compound word,
literally a canoe, is here used tropically to mean the
tables, or the dishes, on which the food was spread, they
being long and narrow, in the shape of a canoe. The whole
term, consequently, refers to the people and the table about
which they are seated.]

[Footnote 487: _Eli-eli._ A word that is found in ancient
prayers to emphasize the word _kapu_ or the word _noa_.]

[Footnote 488: _Lilua_. To stand erect and act without the
restraint usually prescribed in the presence of royalty.]

[Page 245]

[Translation.]

She is limed, she is limed,
My bird is limed,
With the gum of the forest.
We make a great circuit,
5 Outskirting the feast.
You shall feast on king’s bounty:
No fear of the tabu, all’s free.
Free! and By whom?
Free by the word of the king.
10 Then a free rein to mirth!
Banish the kill-joy
Who eats the king’s dainties!
Feast then till replete
With the good king’s meat!
[Page 246]

XXXVII.—THE HULA ULILI

The hula _ulili_, also called by the descriptive name
_kolili_—to wave or flutter, as a pennant—was a hula that
was not at all times confined to the tabu restrictions of the
halau. Like a truant schoolboy, it delighted to break loose
from restraint and join the informal pleasurings of the
people. Imagine an assembly of men and women in the
picturesque illumination given by flaring kukui torches, the
men on one side, the women on the other. Husbands and wives,
smothering the jealousy instinctive to the human heart, are
there by mutual consent—their daughters they leave at
home—each one ready to play his part to the finish, with no
thought of future recrimination. It was a game of
love-forfeits, on the same lines as kilu and ume.

Two men, armed with wands furnished with tufts of gay
feathers, pass up and down the files of men and women, waving
their decorated staffs, ever and anon indicating with a touch
of the wand persons of the opposite sex, who under the rules
must pay the forfeit demanded of them. The kissing, of
course, goes by favor. The wand-bearers, as they move along,
troll an amorous ditty:

_Oli_

Kii na ka ipo * * *
Mahele-hele i ka la o Kona![489]
O Kona, kai a ke Akua.[490]
Elua la, huli ka Wai-opua,[491]
5 Nehe i ke kula,
Leha iluna o Wai-aloha[492]
Kani ka aka a ka ua i ka laau,
Hoolaau ana i ke aloha ilaila.
Pili la, a pili i ka’u manu—
10 O pili o ka La-hiki-ola.
Ola ke kini o-lalo.
Hana i ka mea he ipo.
A hui e hui la!
Hui Koolau-wahine[493] o Pua-ke-i![494]

[Footnote 489: _La o Kona_. A day of Kona, i.e., of fine
weather.]

[Footnote 490: _Kai a ke Akua_. Sea of the gods, because calm.]

[Footnote 491: _Wai-opua_. A wind which changed its direction
after blowing for a few days from one quarter.]

[Footnote 492: _Wai-aloha_. The name of a hill. In the
translation the author has followed its meaning (“water of
love”).]

[Footnote 493: _Koolau-wahine_. The name of a refreshing wind,
often mentioned in Hawaiian poetry; here used as a symbol of
female affection.]