Chapter III: Introduction (2)

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 kumu-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 Cæsar.

“Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you,
trippingly on the tongue.” Hamlet’s words to the players
were, it may be supposed, the substance of the kumu’s
instructions to the pupils in his halau.

The organization of a hula company was largely democratic.
The kumu—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
gods 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 kumu_, 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 kumu’s judgments and commands, collected the fines,
and exacted the penalties imposed by the kumu. 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 kumu, acted as an assistant 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 goddess (_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 sexes, it would have
been impossible to keep order and to accomplish the business
purpose of the organization. The explosive force of passion
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
passions 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 kumu 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 superstition. Under the head of tabus
certain articles of food were denied; for instance, the
sugar-cane—_ko_—was forbidden. The reason assigned was that
if one indulged in it his work as a practitioner would amount
to nothing; in the language of the kumu, _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 kumu 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 fellowship at the halau.

The ordinary penalty for a breach of ceremony or an offense
against sexual 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.

[Page 31]

V—CEREMONIES OF GRADUATION; DÉBUT OF A HULA DANCER

CEREMONIES OF GRADUATION

The _ai-lolo_ rite and ceremony marked the consummation of a
pupil’s readiness for graduation from the school of the halau
and his formal entrance into the guild of hula dancers. As
the time drew near, the kumu tightened the reins of
discipline, and for a few days before that event no pupil
might leave the halau save for the most stringent necessity,
and then only with the head muffled (_pulo’u_) to avoid
recognition, and he might engage in no conversation whatever
outside the halau.

The night preceding the day of ai-lolo was devoted to special
services of dance and song. Some time after midnight the
whole company went forth to plunge into the ocean, thus to
purge themselves of any lurking ceremonial impurity. The
progress to the ocean and the return they made in complete
nudity. “Nakedness is the garb of the gods.” On their way to
and from the bath they must not look back, they must not turn
to the right hand or to the left.

The kumu, as the priest, remained at the halau, and as the
procession returned from the ocean he met it at the door and
sprinkled each one (_pikai_) with holy water. Then came
another period of dance and song; and then, having
cantillated a _pule hoonoa_, to lift the tabu, the kumu went
forth to his own ceremonial cleansing bath in the sea. During
his absence his deputy, the _kokua kumu_, took charge of the
halau. When the kumu reached the door on his return, he made
himself known by reciting a _mele wehe puka_, the
conventional password.

Still another exercise of song and dance, and the wearied
pupils are glad to seek repose. Some will not even remove the
short dancing skirts that are girded about them, so eager
are they to snatch an hour of rest; and some lie down with
bracelets and anklets yet unclasped.

At daybreak the kumu rouses the company with the tap of the
drum. After ablutions, before partaking of their simple
breakfast, the company stand before the altar and recite a
tabu-removing prayer, accompanying the cantillation with a
rhythmic tapping of feet and clapping of hands:

_Pule Hoonoa_

Pupu we’uwe’u e, Laka e!
O kona we’uwe’u ke ku nei.
[Page 32] Kaumaha a’e la ia Laka.
O Laka ke akua pule ikaika.
5 Ua ku ka maile a Laka a imua;
Ua lu ka hua[32] o ka maile.
Noa, noa ia’u, ia Kahaula—
Papalua noa.
Noa, a ua noa.
10 Eli-eli kapu! eli-eli noa!
Kapu oukou, ke akua!
Noa makou, ke kanaka´.

[Translation.]

_Tabu-lifting Prayer_

Oh wildwood bouquet, oh Laka!
Hers are the growths that stand here.
Suppliants we to Laka.
The prayer to Laka has power;
5 The maile of Laka stands to the fore.
The maile vine casts now its seeds.
Freedom, there’s freedom to me, Kahaula—
A freedom twofold.
10 Freedom, aye freedom!
A tabu profound, a freedom complete.
Ye gods are still tabu;
We mortals are free.

[Footnote 32: _Lu ka hua_. Casts now its seeds. The maile vine
(pl. IV), one of the goddess’s emblems, casts its seeds,
meaning that the goddess gives the pupils skill and inspires
them.]

At the much-needed repast to which the company now sit down
there may be present a gathering of friends and relatives and
of hula experts, called _olóhe_. Soon the porkling chosen to
be the _ai-lólo_ offering is brought in—a black suckling
without spot or blemish. The kumu holds it down while all the
pupils gather and lay their hands upon his hands; and he
expounds to them the significance of the ceremony. If they
consecrate themselves to the work in hand in sincerity and
with true hearts, memory will be strong and the training, the
knowledge, and the songs that have been intrusted to the
memory will stay. If they are heedless, regardless of their
vows, the songs they have learned will fly away.

The ceremony is long and impressive; many songs are used.
Sometimes, it was claimed, the prayers of the kumu at this
laying on of hands availed to cause the death of the little
animal. On the completion of the ceremony the offering is
taken out and made ready for the oven.

One of the first duties of the day is the dismantling of the
old kuahu, the shrine, and the construction of another from
new materials as a residence for the goddess. While night yet
shadows the earth the attendants and friends of the pupils
[Page 33] have gone up into the mountains to collect the material for
the new shrine. The rustic artists, while engaged in this
loving work of building and weaving the new kuahu, cheer and
inspire one another with joyful songs vociferous with the
praise of Laka. The halau also they decorate afresh, strewing
the floor with clean rushes, until the whole place enthralls
the senses like a bright and fragrant temple.

The kumu now grants special dispensation to the pupils to go
forth that they may make good the results of the neglect of
the person incident to long confinement in the halau. For
days, for weeks, perhaps for months, they have not had full
opportunity to trim hair, nails, or beard, to anoint and
groom themselves. They use this short absence from the hall
also to supply themselves with wreaths of fragrant maile,
crocus-yellow ilima, scarlet-flaming lehua, fern, and what
not.

At the appointed hour the pupils, wreathed and attired like
nymphs and dryads, assemble in the halau, sweet with woodsy
perfumes. At the door they receive aspersion with consecrated
water.

The ai-lolo offering, cooked to a turn—no part raw, no part
cracked or scorched—is brought in from the _imu_, its bearer
sprinkled by the guard at the entrance. The kumu, having
inspected the roast offering and having declared it
ceremonially perfect, gives the signal, and the company break
forth in songs of joy and of adulation to goddess Laka:

_Mele Kuau_

Noho ana Laka I ka ulu wehi-wehi,
Ku ana iluna i Mo’o-helaia,[33]
Ohia-Ku[34] ouna o Mauna-loa.[35]
Aloha mai Kaulana-ula[36] ia’u.
5 Eia ka ula la, he ula leo,[37]
He uku, he modai, he kanaenae,
He alana na’u ia oe.
E Laka e, e maliu mai;
E maliu mai oe, i pono au,
10 A pono au, a pono kaua.

[Footnote 33: _Mo’o-helaia_. A female deity, a _kupua_, who at
death became one of the divinities, _au-makua_, of the hula.
Her name was conferred on the place claimed as her residence,
on Mauna-loa, island of Molokai.]

[Footnote 34: _Ohia-Ku_. Full name _ohia-ku-makua_; a variety
of the ohìa, or lehua (pl. XIII), whose wood was used in
making temple gods. A rough stem of this tree stood on each
side near the _hala-pepe_. (See pl. III, also pp. 19–20.)]

[Footnote 35: _Mauna-loa_. Said to be the mountain of that
name on Molokai, not that on Hawaii.]

[Footnote 36: _Kaulana-ula_. Full form _Kaulana-a-ula_; the
name of a deity belonging to the order, _papa_, of the hula.
Its meaning is explained in the expression _ula leo_, in the
next line.]

[Footnote 37: _Ula leo_. A singing or trilling sound, a
_tinnitus aurium_, a sign that the deity Kaulanaula was
making some communication to the one who heard it.

“By the pricking of my thumbs
Something wicked this way comes.”]

[Page 34]

[Translation.]

_Altar-Prayer_

Laka sits in her shady grove,
Stands on her terrace, at Mo’o-helaia;
Like the tree of God Ku on Mauna-loa.
Kaulana-ula trills in my ear;
5 A whispered suggestion to me,
Lo, an offering, a payment,
A eulogy give I to thee.
O Laka, incline to me!
Have compassion, let it be well—
10 Well with me, well with us both.

There is no stint of prayer-song. While the offering rests on
the kuahu, the joyful service continues:

_Mele Kuahu_

E Laka, e!
Pupu we’uwe’u e, Laka e!
E Laka i ka leo;
E laka i ka loaa;
5 E Laka i ka waiwai;
E Laka i na mea a pau!

[Translation.]

_Altar-Prayer_

O goddess Laka!
O wildwood bouquet, O Laka!
O Laka, queen of the voice!
O Laka, giver of gifts!
5 O Laka, giver of bounty!
O Laka, giver of all things!

At the conclusion of this loving service of worship and song
each member of the troupe removes from his head and neck the
wreaths that had bedecked him, and with them crowns the
image of the goddess until her altar is heaped with the
offerings.

Now comes the pith of the ceremony: the novitiates sit down
to the feast of ai-lolo, theirs the place of honor, at the
head of the table, next the kuahu. The _ho’o-pa’a_, acting
as carver, selects the typical parts—snout, ear-tips, tail,
feet, portions of the vital organs, especially the brain
(_lolo_). This last it is which gives name to the ceremony.
He sets an equal portion before each novitiate. Each one must
eat all that is set before him. It is a mystical rite, a
sacrament; as he eats he consciously partakes of the virtue
of the goddess that is transmitted to himself.
[Page 35]
Meantime the _olohe_ and friends of the novitiates, inspired
with the proper enthusiasm, of the occasion, lift their
voices in joyful cantillations in honor of the goddess,
accompanied with the clapping of hands.

The ceremony now reaches a new stage. The kumu lifts the tabu
by uttering a prayer—always a song—and declares the place
and the feast free, and the whole assembly sit down to enjoy
the bounty that is spread up and down the halau. On this
occasion men and women may eat in common. The only articles
excluded from this feast are _luau_—a food much like
spinach, made by cooking the young and delicate taro
leaf—and the drupe of the _hala_, the pandanus (pl. xviii).

The company sit down to eat and to drink; presently they rise
to dance and sing. The kumu leads in a tabu-lifting,
freedom-giving song and the ceremony of ai-lolo is over. The
pupils have been graduated from the school of the halau; they
are now members of the great guild of hula dancers. The time
has come for them to make their bow to the waiting public
outside, to bid for the favor of the world. This is to be
their “little go;” they will spread their wings for a
greater flight on the morrow.

The kumu with his big drum, and the musicians, the ho’o-pa’a,
pass through the door and take their places outside in the
lanai, where sit the waiting multitude. At the tap of the
drum the group of waiting olapa plume themselves like fine
birds eager to show their feathers; and, as they pass out the
halau door and present themselves to the breathless audience,
into every pose and motion of their gliding, swaying figures
they pour a full tide of emotion in studied and unstudied
effort to captivate the public.

DÉBUT OF A HULA DANCER

The occasion is that of a lifetime; it is their _uniki_,
their debut. The song chosen must rise to the dignity of the
occasion. Let us listen to the song that enthralls the
audience seated in the rushstrown lanai, that we may judge of
its worthiness.

_He Mele-Inoa (no Naihe)_[38]

Ka nalu nui, a ku ka nalu mai Kona,
Ka malo a ka mahiehie,[39]
Ka onaulu-loa,[40] a lele ka’u malo.
[Page 36] O kakai[41] malo hoaka,[42]
5 O ka malo kai,[43] malo o ke alii
E ku, e hume a paa i ka malo.

E ka’ika’i [44] ka la i ka papa o Halepó;[45]
A pae o Halepó i ka nalu.
Ho-e’e i ka nalu mai Kahiki;[46]
10 He nalu Wakea,[47] nalu ho’ohua.[48]
Haki opu’u [49] ka nalu, haki kua-pa.[50]

Ea mai ka makakai [51] he’e-nalu,
Kai he’e kakala [52] o ka moku,
Kai-ká o ka nalu nui,
15 Ka hu’a o ka nalu o Hiki-au.[53]
Kai he’e-nalu i ke awakea.

Ku ka puna, ke ko’a i-uka.
Ka makahá o ka nalu o Kuhihewa.[54]
Ua o ia,[55] nohá ka papa!
20 Noná Maui, nauweuwe,
Nauweuwe, nakelekele.

Nakele ka ili o ka i he’e-kai.
Lalilali ole ka ili o ke akamai;
Kahilihili ke kai a ka he’e-nalu.
25 Ike’a ka nalu nui o Puna, o Hilo.

[Footnote 38: Naihe. A man of strong character, but not a
high chief. He was horn in Kona and resided at Napoopoo. His
mother was Ululani, his father Keawe-a-heulu, who was a
celebrated general and strategist under Kamehameha I.]

[Footnote 39: Mahiehie. A term conferring dignity and
distinction.]

[Footnote 40: Onaulu-loa. A roller of great length and
endurance, one that reaches the shore, in contrast to a
_kakala_.]

[Footnote 41: _Kalai._ An archaic word meaning forty.]

[Footnote 42: _Hoaka._ A crescent; the name of the second day
of the month. The allusion is to the curve (downward) of a
large number (kakai) of malo when hung on a line, the usual
way of keeping such articles.]

[Footnote 43: _Malo kai._ The ocean is sometimes poetically
termed the _malo_ or _pa-á_ of the naked swimmer, or bather.
It covers his nakedness.]

[Footnote 44: _Ka’ika’i._ To lead or to carry; a tropical use
of the word. The sun is described as leading the board.]

[Footnote 45: _Hale-pó._ In the opinion of the author it is
the name of the board. A skilled Hawaiian says it is the name
given the surf of a place at Napoopoo, in Kona, Hawaii. The
action is not located there, but in Puna, it seems to the
author.]

[Footnote 46: _Kahiki._ Tahiti, or any foreign country; a term
of grandiloquence.]

[Footnote 47: _Wakea._ A mythical name, coming early in
Hawaiian genealogies; here used in exaggeration to show the
age of the roller.]

[Footnote 48: _Ho’ohua._ Applied to a roller, one that rolls
on and swells higher.]

[Footnote 49: _Opu’u._ Said of a roller that completes its run
to shore.]

[Footnote 50: _Kua-pá._ Said of a roller as above that dies
at the shore.]

[Footnote 51: _Maka-kai._ The springing-up of the surf after
an interval of quiet.]

[Footnote 52: _Kakála._ Rough, heaped up, one wave overriding
another, a chop sea.]

[Footnote 53: _Hiki-au._ Said to be the name of a temple.]

[Footnote 54: _Kuhihewa._ Full name _Ka-kuhi-hewa_, a
distinguished king of Oahu.]

[Footnote 55: _O iu._ Meaning that the board dug its nose
into the reef or sand.]

[Translation.]

_A Name-Song, a Eulogy_ (for Naihe)

The huge roller, roller that surges from Kona,
Makes loin-cloth fit for a lord;
Far-reaching swell, my malo streams in the wind;
Shape the crescent malo to the loins—
5 The loin-cloth the sea, cloth for king’s girding.
Stand, gird fast the loin-cloth!

[Page 37] Let the sun guide the board Halepó,
Till Halepó lifts on the swell.
It mounts the swell that rolls from Kahiki,
10 From Wakea’s age enrolling.
The roller plumes and ruffles its crest.

Here comes the champion surf-man,
While wave-ridden wave beats the island,
A fringe of mountain-high waves.
15 Spume lashes the Hiki-an altar—A
surf this to ride at noontide.

The coral, horned coral, it sweeps far ashore.
We gaze at the surf of Ka-kuhi-hewa.
The surf-board snags, is shivered;
20 Maui splits with a crash,
Trembles, dissolves into slime.

Glossy the skin of the surf-man;
Undrenched the skin of the expert;
25 Wave-feathers fan the wave-rider.
You’ve seen the grand surf of Puna, of Hilo.

This spirited song, while not a full description of a
surf-riding scene, gives a vivid picture of that noble sport.
The last nine verses have been omitted, as they add neither
to the action nor to the interest.

It seems surprising that the accident spoken of in line 19
should be mentioned; for it is in glaring opposition to the
canons that were usually observed in the composition of a
_mele-inoa._ In the construction of a eulogy the Hawaiians
were not only punctiliously careful to avoid mention of
anything susceptible of sinister interpretation, but they
were superstitiously sensitive to any such unintentional
happening. As already mentioned (p. 27), they believed that
the fate compelling power of a word of ill-omen was
inevitable. If it did not result in the death of the one
eulogized, retributive justice turned the evil influence back
on him who uttered it.

[Page 38]

VI.—THE PASSWORD—THE SONG OF ADMISSION

There prevailed among the practitioners of the hula from one
end of the group to the other a mutual understanding,
amounting almost to a sort of freemasonry, which gave to any
member of the guild the right of free entrance at all times
to the hall, or halau, where a performance was under way.
Admission was conditioned, however, on the utterance of a
password at the door. A snatch of song, an oli, denominated
_mele kahea_, or _mele wehe puka_, was chanted, which, on
being recognized by those within, was answered in the same
language of hyperbole, and the door was opened.

The verbal accuracy of any mele kahea that may be adduced is
at the present day one of the vexed questions among hula
authorities, each hula-master being inclined to maintain that
the version given by another is incorrect. This remark
applies, though in smaller measure, to the whole body of
mele, pule, and oli that makes up the songs and liturgy of
the hula as well as to the traditions that guided the
maestro, or kumu-hula, in the training of his company. The
reasons for these differences of opinion and of test, now
that there is to be a written text, are explained by the
following facts: The devotees and practitioners of the hula
were divided into groups that were separated from one another
by wide intervals of sea and land. They belonged quite likely
to more than one cult, for indeed there were many gods and
_au-makua_ to whom they sacrificed and offered prayers. The
passwords adopted by one generation or by the group of
practitioners on one island might suffer verbal changes in
transmission to a later generation or to a remote island.

Again, it should be remembered that the entire body of
material forming the repertory of the hula—pule, mele, and
oli—was intrusted to the keeping of the memory, without the
aid of letters or, so far as known, of any mnemonic device;
and the human mind, even under the most athletic discipline,
is at best an imperfect conservator of literary form. The
result was what might be expected: as the imagination and
emotions of the minstrel warmed under the inspiration of his
trust, glosses and amendments crept in. These, however,
caused but slight variations in the text. The substance
remains substantially the same.

After carefully weighing the matter, the author can not avoid
the conclusion that jealousy had much to do with the slight
differences now manifest, that one version is as
[Page 39] authoritative as another, and that it would be well for each
kumu-hula to have kept in mind the wise adage that shines
among the sayings of his nation: _Aohe pau ka ike i kau halau
_[56]—“Think not that all of wisdom resides in you
halau.”[57]

[Footnote 56: Sophocles (Antigone, 705) had said the same
thing:[Greek: me nun en ethos pounon en sautô phorei ôs
phes su, kouden allo, tout’ orphôs echein]—“Don’t get this
idea fixed in your head, that what you say, and nothing else,
is right.”]

[Footnote 57: _Halau._ As previously explained, in this
connection _halau_ has a meaning similar to our word
“school,” or “academy,” a place where some art was taught, as
wrestling, boxing, or the hula.]

_Mele Kahea_

Li’u-li’u aloha ia’u,
Ka uka o Koholá-lele,
Ka nahele mauka o Ka-papala [58] la.
Komo, e komo aku hoi au maloko.
5 Mai ho’ohewahewa mai oe ia’u; oau no ia,
Ke ka-nae-nae a ka mea hele,
He leo, e-e,
A he leo wale no, e-e!
Eia ka pu’u nui owaho nei la,
10 He ua, lie ino, he anu, he ko’e-ko’e.
E ku’u aloha, e,
Maloko aku au.

[Translation.]

_Password_

Long, long have I tarried with love
In the uplands of Koholá-lele,
The wildwood above Ka-papala.
To enter, permit me to enter, I pray;
5 Refuse me not recognition; I am he,
A traveler offering mead of praise,
Just a voice,
Only a human voice.
Oh, what I suffer out here,
10 Rain, storm, cold, and wet.
O sweetheart of mine,
Let me come in to you.

[Footnote 58: _Ka-papala._ A verdant region on the
southeastern flank of Mauna-Loa.]

Hear now the answer chanted by voices from within:

_Mele Komo_

Aloha na hale o makou i maka-maka ole,
Ke alanui hele mauka o Pu’u-kahea la, e-e!
Ka-he-a!
E Kahea aku ka pono e komo mai oe iloko nei.
Eia ka pu’u nui o waho nei, he anu.

[Page 40]

[Translation.]

_Song of Welcome_

What love to our cottage-homes, now vacant,
As one climbs the mount of Entreaty!
We call,
We voice the welcome, invite you to enter.
The hill of Affliction out there is the cold.

Another fragment that was sometimes used as a password is the
following bit of song taken from the story of Hiiaka, sister
of Pele. She is journeying with the beautiful Hopoe to fetch
prince Lohiau to the court of Pele. They have come by a steep
and narrow path to the brink of the Wai-lua river, Kauai, at
this point spanned by a single plank. But the bridge is gone,
removed by an ill-tempered naiad (witch) said to have come
from Kahiki, whose name, Wai-lua, is the same as that of the
stream. Hiiaka calls out, demanding that the plank be
restored to its place. Wai-lua does not recognize the deity
in Hiiaka and, sullen, makes no response. At this the goddess
puts forth her strength, and Wai-lua, stripped of her power
and reduced to her true station, that of a _mo’o_, a reptile,
seeks refuge in the caverns beneath the river. Hiiaka betters
the condition of the crossing by sowing it with stepping
stones. The stones remain in evidence to this day.

_Mele Kahea_

Kunihi ka mauna i ka la’i e,
O Wai-ale-ale[59] la i Wai-lua,
Huki a’e la i ka lani
Ka papa au-wai o ka Wai-kini;
5 Alai ia a’e la e Nou-nou,
Nalo ka Ipu-ha’a,
Ka laula mauka o Kapa’a, e!
Mai pa’a i ka leo!
He ole ka hea mai, e!

[Translation.]

Password—Song

Steep stands the mountain in calm,
Profile of Wai-ale-ale at Wai-lua.
Gone the stream-spanning plank of Wai-kini,
Filched away by Nou-nou;
5 Shut off the view of the hill Ipu-ha’a,
And the upland expanse of Ka-pa’a.
Give voice and make answer.
Dead silence—no voice in reply.

In later, in historic times, this visitor, whom we have kept
long waiting at the door, might have voiced his appeal in the
passionate words of this comparatively modern song:

[Footnote 59: _Wai-ale-ale_ (Leaping-water). The central
mountain-mass of Kauai.]
[Page 41]

_Mele Kahea_[60]

Ka uka holo-kia ahi-manu o La’a,[61]
I po-ele i ka uahi, noe ka nahele,
Nohe-nohea i ka makani luhau-pua.
He pua oni ke kanaka—
5 He mea laha ole la oe.
Mai kaua e hea nei;
E hea i ke kanaka e komo maloko,
E hanai ai a hewa[62] ka wa’ha.
Eia no ka uku la, o ka wa’a.[63]

Translation]

_Password—Song_

In the uplands, the darting flame-bird of La’a,
While smoke and mist blur the woodland,
Is keen for the breath of frost-bitten flowers.
A fickle flower is man—
5 A trick this not native to you.
Come thou with her who is calling to thee;
A call to the man to come in
And eat till the mouth is awry.
Lo, this the reward—the canoe.

[Footnote 60: This utterance of passion is said to have been,
the composition of the Princess-Kamamalu, as an address to
Prince William Lunalilo, to whom she was at one time
affianced and would have married, but that King Liholiho
(Kamehameha IV) would not allow the marriage. Thereby hangs a
tragedy.]

[Footnote 61: _La’a_. The region in Hawaii now known as Ola’a
was originally called La’a. The particle _o_ has become fused
with the word.]

[Footnote 62: _Hewa ka waha_. This expression, here tortured
into “(till) the mouth awry,” is difficult of translation. A
skilled Hawaiian scholar suggests, it may mean to change one
from, an enemy to a friend by stopping his mouth with food.]

[Footnote 63: _Wa’a_. Literally a canoe. This is a euphemism
for the human body, a gift often too freely granted. It will
be noted that in the answering mele komo, the song of
admission, the reward promised is more modestly
measured—“Simply the voice.”]

The answer to this appeal for admission was in these words:

_Mele Komo_

E hea i ke kanaka e komo maloko,
E hanai ai a hewa waha;
Eia no ka uku la, o ka leo,
A he leo wale no, e!

[Translation.]

Welcoming-Song

Call to the man to come in,
And eat till the mouth is estopt;
And this the reward, the voice,
Simply the voice.

The cantillation of the _mele komo_: in answer to the
visitor’s petition, meant not only the opening to him of the
halau door, but also his welcome to the life of the halau as
a heart-guest of honor, trebly welcome as the bringer of
fresh tidings from the outside world.
[Page 42]

VII.—WORSHIP AT THE ALTAR OF THE HALAU

The first duty of a visitor on being admitted to the halau
while the tabu was on—that is, during the conduct of a
regular hula—was to do reverence at the kuahu. The
obligations of religion took precedence of all social
etiquette. He reverently approaches the altar, to which all
eyes are turned, and with outstretched hands pours out a
supplication that breathes the aroma of ancient prayer:

_Pule Kuahu_ (no Laka)

O Laka oe,
O ke akua i ke a’a-lii[64] nui.
E Laka mai uka!
E Laka mai kai!
5 O hoo-ulu[65] o Lono,
O ka ilio nana e haehae ke aha,
O ka ie-ie ku i ka wao,
O ka maile hihi i ka nahele,
O ka lau ki-ele[66] ula o ke akua,
10 O na ku’i[67] o Hauoli,
O Ha’i-ka-malama,[68]
Wahine o Kina’u.[69]
Kapo ula[70] o Kina’u.
O Laka oe,
15 O ke akua i ke kuahu nei la, e!
E ho’i, e ho’i a nolao i kou kuahu.
Hoo-ulu ia!

[Footnote 64: _A’a-lii_. A deep-rooted tree, sacred to Laka
or to Kapo.]

[Footnote 65: Hoo-ulu. Literally to make grow; secondarily,
to inspire, to prosper, to bring good luck. This is the
meaning most in mind in modern times, since the hula has
become a commercial venture.]

[Footnote 66: _Ki-ele_. A flowering plant native to the
Hawaiian woods, also cultivated, sacred to Laka, and perhaps
to Kapo. The leaves are said to be pointed and curved like
the beak of the bird _i-iwi_, and the flower has the gorgeous
yellow-red color of that bird.]

[Footnote 67: It has been proposed to amend this verse by
substituting _akua_, for _ku’i_, thus making the idea the
gods of the hula.]

[Footnote 68: _Haí-ka-malama_. An epithet applied to Laka.]

[Footnote 69: _Kina’u_. Said to mean Hiiaka, the sister of
Pele.]

[Footnote 70: _Kapo ula_. Red, _ula_, was the favorite color
of Kapo. The _kahuna anaana_, high priests of sorcery, of the
black art, and of murder, to whom Kapo was at times
procuress, made themselves known as such by the display of a
red flag and the wearing of a red malo.]

[Translation.]

_Altar-Prayer_ (to Laka)

Thou art Laka,
God of the deep-rooted a’a-lii.
O Laka from the mountains,
O Laka from the ocean!
[Page 43] 5 Let Lono bless the service,
Shutting the mouth of the dog,
That breaks the charm with his barking.
Bring the i-e that grows in the wilds,
The maile that twines in the thicket,
10 Red-beaked kiele, leaf of the goddess,
The joyous pulse of the dance
In honor of Ha’i-ka-malama,
Friend of Kina’u,
Red-robed friend of Kina’u.
15 Thou art Laka,
God of this altar here.
Return, return and reside at your altar!
Bring it good luck!

A single prayer may not suffice as the offering at Laka’s
altar. His repertory is full; the visitor begins anew, this
time on a different tack:

_Pule Kuahu_ (no Laka)

Eia ke kuko, ka li’a;
I ka manawa he hiamoe ko’u,
Hoala ana oe,
O oe o Halau-lani,
5 O Hoa-lani,
O Puoho-lani,
Me he manu e hea ana i ka maha lehua
Ku moho kiekie la i-uka.
I-uka ho’i au me Laka
10 A Lea,[71] a Wahie-loa,[72], i ka nahelehele;
He hoa kaana ia no’u,
No kela kuahiwi, kualono hoi.
E Laka, e Laka, e!
E maliu mai!
15 A maliu mai oe pono au,
A a’e mai oe pono au!

[Translation.]

_Altar-Prayer_ (to Laka)

This my wish, my burning desire,
That in the season of slumber
Thy spirit my soul may inspire,
Altar-dweller,
5 Heaven-guest,
Soul-awakener,
Bird from covert calling,
Where forest champions stand.
There roamed I too with Laka,
[Page 44] 10 Of Lea and Loa a wilderness-child;
On ridge, in forest boon companion she
To the heart that throbbed in me.
O Laka, O Laka,
Hark to my call!
15 You approach, it is well;
You possess me, I am blest!

[Footnote 71: _Lea_. The same as Laia, or probably Haumea.]

[Footnote 72: _Wahie loa_. This must be a mistake. Laka the
son of Wahie-loa was a great voyager. His canoe
(_kau-méli-éli_) was built for him by the gods. In it he
sailed to the South to rescue his father’s bones from the
witch who had murdered him. This Laka had his home at
Kipahulu, Maui, and is not to be confounded with Laka,
goddess of the hula.]

In the translation of this pule the author has found it
necessary to depart from the verse arrangement that obtains
in the Hawaiian text.

The religious services of the halau, though inspired by one
motive, were not tied to a single ritual or to one set of
prayers. Prayer marked the beginning and the ending of every
play—that is, of every dance—and of every important event
in the programme of the halau; but there were many prayers
from which the priest might select. After the prayer
specially addressed to Laka the visitor might use a petition
of more general scope. Such is the one now to be given:

He Pule Kuahu (ia Kane ame Kapo); _a he Pule Hoolei_

Kane, hiki a’e, he maláma [73] la luna;
Ha’aha’a, he maláma ia lalo;
Oni-oni,[74] he málama ia ka’u;
He wahine [75] lei, málama ia Kapo;
5 E Kapo nui, hala-hala [76] a i’a;
E Kapo nui, hala-hala [77] a mea,
Ka alihi [78] luna, ka alihi lalo;
E ka poha-kú.[79]
Noho ana Kapo i ka ulu wehi-wehi;
10 Ku ana i Moo-helaia,[80]
Ka ohi’a-Ku iluna o Mauna-loa.
Aloha mai Kaulana-a-ula [81] ia’u;
Eia ka ula la, he ula leo,[82]
He uku, he mohai, he alana,
[Page 45] 15 He kanaenae na’u ia oe, e Kapo ku-lani.
E moe hauna-ike, e hea au, e o mai oe.
Aia la na lehua o Kaana[83]
Ke kui ia mai la e na wahine a lawa
I lei no Kapo—
20 O Kapo, alii nui no ia moku,
Ki’e-ki’e, ha’a-ha’a;
Ka la o ka ike e ike aku ai:
He ike kumu, he ike lono;
He ike pu-awa [84] hiwa,
25 He ike a ke Akua, e!
E Kapo, ho’i!
E ho’i a noho i kou kuahu.
Ho’ulu ia!
Eia ka wai,[85] la,
30 He wai e ola.
E ola nou, e!

[Footnote 73: _Maláma_. Accented on the penult, as here, the
word means to enlighten or a light (same in second verse). In
the third and fourth verses the accent is changed to the
first syllable, and the word here means to preserve, to
foster. These words furnish an example of poetical
word-repetition.]

[Footnote 74: _Onioni._ To squirm, to dodge, to move. The
meaning here seems to be to move with delight.]

[Footnote 75: _Wahine lei._ A reference to _Laka_, the child
of Kapo, who was symbolized by a block of wood on the altar.
(See p. 23.)]

[Footnote 76: _Hala-hala a i’a._ Said to be a certain kind of
fish that was ornamented about its tailend with a band of
bright color; therefore an object of admiration and desire.]

[Footnote 77: _Hala-Hala a mea._ The ending _mea_ is perhaps
taken from the last half of the proper name _Hau-mea_ who was
Kapo’s mother. It belongs to the land, in contrast to the
sea, and seems to be intended to intensify and extend the
meaning of the term previously used. The passage is
difficult. Expert Hawaiians profess their inability to fathom
its meaning.]

[Footnote 78: _Alihi luna._ The line or “stretching cord,”
that runs the length of a net at its top, the _a lalo_ being
the corresponding line at the bottom of the net. The exact
significance of this language complimentary to Kapo can not
be phrased compactly.]

[Footnote 79: _Poha-kú._ The line that runs up and down at the
end of a long net, by which it may be anchored.]

[Footnote 80: _Moo-helaia._ See note a, p. 33.]

[Footnote 81: _Kaulana-a-ula._ See note d, p, 33.]

[Footnote 82: _Ula leo._ See note e, p. 33.]

[Footnote 83: _Kaana._ A place on Mauna-loa, Molokai, where
the lehua greatly flourished. The body of Kapo, it is said,
now lies there in appearance a rock. The same claim is made
for a rock at Wailua, Hana, Maui.]

[Footnote 84: _Pu-awa hiwa (hiwa_, black). A kind of strong
awa. The gentle exhilaration, as well as the deep sleep, of
awa were benefits ascribed to the gods. Awa was an essential
to most complete sacrifices.]

[Footnote 85: _Wai._ Literally water, refers to the bowl of
awa, replenished each day, which set on the altar of the
goddess.]

Verses 9 to 15, inclusive, are almost identical in form with
the first seven verses in the Mele Kuahu addressed to Laka,
given on page 33.

[Translation.]

An _Altar-Prayer_ (to Kane and Kapo): _also a Garland-Prayer,
used while decorating the altar_

Now, Kane, approach, illumine the altar;
Stoop, and enlighten mortals below;
Rejoice in the gifts I have brought.
Wreathed goddess fostered by Kapo—
5 Hail Kapo, of beauty resplendent!
Great Kapo, of sea and land,
The topmost stay of the net,
Its lower stay and anchoring line.
Kapo sits in her darksome covert;
10 On the terrace, at Mo’o-he-laia,
Stands the god-tree of Ku, on Mauna-loa.
God Kaulana-ula twigs now mine ear,
His whispered suggestion to me is
This payment, sacrifice, offering,
15 Tribute of praise to thee, O Kapo divine.
Inspiring spirit in sleep, answer my call.
Behold, of lehua bloom of Kaana
The women are stringing enough
To enwreath goddess Kapo;
20 Kapo, great queen of that island,
Of the high and the low.
The day of revealing shall see what it sees:
[Page 46] A seeing of facts, a sifting of rumors,
An insight won by the black sacred awa,
25 A vision like that of a god!
O Kapo, return!
Return, and abide in your altar!
Make it fruitful!
Lo, here is the water,
30 The water of life!
Hail, now, to thee!

The little god-folk, whom the ancients called Kini
Akua—myriads of gods—and who made the wildwoods and
wilderness their playground, must also be placated. They were
a lawless set of imps; the elfins, brownies, and kobolds of
our fairy world were not “up to them” in wanton deviltry. If
there is to be any luck in the house, it can only be when
they are dissuaded from outbreaking mischief.

The pule next given is a polite invitation to these little
brown men of the woods to honor the occasion with their
presence and to bring good luck at their coming. It is such a
prayer as the visitor might choose to repeat at this time, or
it might be used on other occasions, as at the consecration
of the kuahu:

_He Pule Kuahu_ (no Kini Akua)

E ulu, e ulu, Kini o ke Akua!
Ulu Kane me Kanaloa!
Ulu Ohi’a-lau-koa, me ka Ie-ie!
A’e mai a noho i kou kuahu!
5 Eia ka wai la, he wai e ola.
E ola no, e-e!

[Translation.]

_An Altar-Prayer_ (to the Kini Akua)

Gather, oh gather, ye hosts of godlings!
Come Kane with Kanaloa!
Come leafy Ohi’a and I-e!
Possess me and dwell in your altar!
5 Here’s water, water of life!
Life, give us life!

The visitor, having satisfied his sense of what the occasion
demands, changes his tone from that of cantillation to
ordinary speech, and concludes his worship with a petition
conceived in the spirit of the following prayer:

E ola ia’u, i ka malihini; a pela hoi na kamaaina, ke kumu,
na haumana, ia oe, e Laka. E Laka ia Pohaku i ka wawae. E
Laka i ke kupe’e. E Laka ia Luukia i ka pa-u; e Laka i ke
kuhi; e Laka i ka leo; e Laka i ka lei. E Laka i ke ku ana
imua o ke anaina.
[Page 47]

[Translation.]

Thy blessing, O Laka, on me the stranger, and on the
residents, teacher and pupils. O Laka, give grace to the feet
of Pohaku; and to her bracelets and anklets; comeliness to
the figure and skirt of Luukia. To (each one) give gesture
and voice. O Laka, make beautiful the lei; inspire the
dancers when they stand before the assembly.

At the close of this service of song and prayer the visitor
will turn from the kuahu and exchange salutations and
greetings with his friends in the halau.

The song-prayer “Now, Kane, approach, illumine the altar” (p.
45) calls for remark. It brings up again the question,
previously discussed, whether there were not two distinct
cults of worshipers, the one devoted to Laka, the other to
Kapo. The following facts will throw light on the question.
On either side of the approach to the altar stood,
sentinel-like, a tall stem of hala-pepe, a graceful, slender
column, its head of green sword-leaves and scarlet drupes
making a beautiful picture. (See p. 24.) These are said to
have been the special emblems of the goddess Kapo.

The following account of a conversation the author had with
an old woman, whose youthful days were spent as a hula
dancer, will also help to disentangle the subject and explain
the relation of Kapo to the hula:

“Will you not recite again the prayer you just now uttered,
and slowly, that it may be written down?” the author asked of
her. “Many prayers for the kuahu have been collected, but
this one differs from them all.”

“We Hawaiians,” she answered, “have been taught that these
matters are sacred (_kapu_) and must not be bandied about
from mouth to mouth.”

“Aye, but the time of the tabus has passed. Then, too, in a
sense having been initiated into hula matters, there can be
no impropriety in my dealing with them in a kindly spirit.”

“No harm, of course, will come to you, a _haole_ (foreigner).
The question is how it will affect us.”

“Tell me, were there two different classes of worshipers, one
class devoted to the worship of Laka and another class
devoted to the worship of Kapo?”

“No,” she answered, “Kapo and Laka were one in spirit, though
their names were two.”

“Haumea was the mother of Kapo. Who was her father?”

“Yes, Haumea was the mother, and Kua-ha-ilo [86] was the
father:”

“How about Laka?”

[Footnote 86: _Kua-ha-ilo._ A god of the _kahuna anaana;_
meaning literally to breed maggots in the back.]
[Page 48]
“Laka was the daughter of Kapo. Yet as a patron, of the hula
Laka stands first; she was worshiped at an earlier date than
Kapo; but they are really one.”

Further questioning brought out the explanation that Laka was
not begotten in ordinary generation; she was a sort of
emanation from Kapo. It was as if the goddess should sneeze
and a deity should issue with the breath from her nostrils;
or should wink, and thereby beget spiritual offspring from
the eye, or as if a spirit should issue forth at some
movement of the ear or mouth.

When the old woman’s scruples had been laid to rest, she
repeated slowly for the author’s benefit the pule given on
pages 45 and 46, “Now, Kane, approach,” * * * of which the
first eight lines and much of the last part, to him, were
new.

[Page 49]

VIII.—COSTUME OF THE HULA DANCER

The costume of the hula dancer was much the same for both
sexes, its chief article a simple short skirt about the
waist, the pa-ú. (PL I.)

When the time has come for a dance, the halau becomes one
common dressing room. At a signal from the kumu the work
begins. The putting on of each article of costume is
accompanied by a special song.

First come the _ku-pe’e_, anklets of whale teeth, bone,
shell-work, dog-teeth, fiber-stuffs, and what not. While all
stoop in unison they chant the song of the anklet:

_Mele Ku-pe’e_

Aala kupukupu[87] ka uka o Kane-hoa.[88]
E ho-a![89]
Hoa na lima o ka makani, he Wai-kaloa.[90]
He Wai-kaloa ka makani anu Lihue.
5 Alina[91] lehua i kau ka opua—
Ku’u pua,
Ku’u pua i’ini e ku-i a lei.
Ina ia oe ke lei ’a mai la.

[Translation.]

_Anklet-Song_

Fragrant the grasses of high Kane-hoa.
Bind on the anklets, bind!
Bind with finger deft as the wind
That cools the air of this bower.
5 Lehua bloom pales at my flower,
O sweetheart of mine,
Bud that I’d pluck and wear in my wreath,
If thou wert but a flower!

[Footnote 87: _Kupukupu_. Said to be a fragrant grass.]

[Footnote 88: _Kane-hoa_. Said to be a hill at Kaupo, Maui.
Another person says it is a hill at Lihue, on Oahu. The same
name is often repeated.]

[Footnote 89: _Ho-a_. To bind. An instance of word-repetition,
common in Hawaiian poetry.]

[Footnote 90: _Wai-kaloa_. A cool wind that Wows at Lihue,
Kauai]

[Footnote 91: _Alina_. A scar, or other mark of disfigurement,
a moral blemish. In ancient times lovers inflicted injuries
on themselves to prove devotion.]

The short skirt, _pa-u_, was the most important piece of
attire worn by the Hawaiian female. As an article of daily
wear it represented many stages of evolution beyond the
primitive fig-leaf, being fabricated from a great variety of
[Page 50] materials furnished by the garden of nature. In its simplest
terms the pa-ú was a mere fringe of vegetable fibers. When
placed as the shield of modesty about the loins of a woman of
rank, or when used as the full-dress costume of a dancing
girl on a ceremonious occasion, it took on more elaborate
forms, and was frequently of _tapa_, a fabric the finest
specimens of which would not have shamed the wardrobe of an
empress.

In the costuming of the hula girl the same variety obtained
as in the dress of a woman of rank. Sometimes her pa-ú would
be only a close-set fringe of ribbons stripped from the bark
of the hibiscus (_hau_), the _ti_ leaf or banana fiber, or a
fine rush, strung upon a thong to encircle the waist. In its
most elaborate and formal style the pa-ú consisted of a strip
of fine tapa several yards long and of width to reach nearly
to the knees. It was often delicately tinted or printed, as
to its outer part, with stamped figures. The part of the tapa
skirt thus printed, like the outer, decorative one in a set
of tapa bed-sheets, was termed the _kilohana_.

The pa-ú worn by the danseuse, when of tapa, was often of
such volume as to balloon like the skirt of a coryphée. To
put it on was quite an art, and on that account, if not on
the score of modesty, a portion of the halau was screened
off and devoted to the use of the females as a dressing room,
being known as the _unu-lau-koa_, and to this place they
repaired as soon as the kumu gave the signal for dressing.

The hula pa-ú of the women was worn in addition to that of
daily life; the hula pa-ú of the men, a less pretentious
affair, was worn outside the malo, and in addition to it.

The method of girding on the pa-ú was peculiar. Beginning at
the right hip—some say the left—a free end was allowed to
hang quite to the knee; then, passing across the back,
rounding the left hip, and returning by way of the abdomen to
the starting point, another circuit of the waist was
accomplished; and, a reverse being made, the garment was
secured by passing the bight of the tapa beneath the hanging
folds of the pa-ú from below upward until it slightly
protruded above the border of the garment at the waist. This
second end was thus brought to hang down the hip alongside of
the first free end; an arrangement that produced a most
decorative effect.

The Hawaiians, in their fondness for giving personal names to
inanimate objects, named the two free ends (_apua_) of the
pa-ú respectively _Ku-kápu-úla-ka-láni_ and _Léle-a-mahu’i_.

According to another method, which was simpler and more
commonly employed, the piece was folded sidewise and, being
gathered into pleats, a cord was inserted the length of the
fold. The cord was passed about the waist, knotted at the
hip, and thus held the garment secure.
[Page 51]
While the girls are making their simple toilet and donning
their unique, but scanty, costume, the kumu, aided by others,
soothes the impatience of the audience and stimulates their
imagination by cantillating a mele that sets forth in
grandiloquent imagery the praise of the pa-ú.

_Oli Pa-ú_

Kakua pa-ú, ahu na kikepa![92]
I ka pa-ú noenoe i hooluu’a,
I hookakua ia a paa iluna o ka imu.[93]
Ku ka nu’a[94] o ka pali o ka wai kapu,
5 He kuina[95] pa-ú pali[96] no Kupe-hau,
I holo a paa ia, paa e Hono-kane.[97]

Malama o lilo i ka pa-ú.
Holo ilio la ke ala ka Manú[98] i na pali;
Pali ku kahakó liaka a-i,
10 I ke keiki pa-ú pali a Kau-kini,[99]
I hoonu’anu’a iluna o ka Auwana.[100]

[Page 52] Akahi ke ana, ka luhi i ka pa-ú:
Ka ho-oio i ke kapa-wai,
I na kikepa wai o Apua,[101]
15 I hopu ’a i ka ua noe holo poo-poo,
Me he pa-ú elehiwa wale i na pali.

Ohiohi ka pali, ki ka liko o ka lama,
Mama ula[102] ia ka malua ula,
I hopu a omau ia e ka maino.
20 I[103] ka malo o Umi ku huná mai.
Ike’a ai na maawe wai oloná,[104]
E makili ia nei i Wahilau.[105]
Holo ke oloná, paa ke kapa.

Hu’a lepo ole ka pa-ú;
25 Nani ka o-iwi ma ka maka kilo-hana.[106]
Makalii ka ohe,[107] paa ke kapa.

Opua ke ahi i na pali,
I hookau kalena ia e ka makani,
I kaomi pohaku ia i Wai-manu,
30 I na alá[108] ki-óla-óla;
I na alá, i alá lele
Ia Kane-poha-ka’a.[109]

Paa ia Wai-manu,[110] o-oki Wai-pi’o;
Lalau o Ha’i i ka ohe,
Ia Koa’e-kea,[111] 35
I kauhihi ia ia ohe laulii, ia ohe.
Oki’a a moku, mo’ ke kini,[112]
[Page 53] Mo’ ke kihi, ka maiáma ka Hoaka,[113]
I apahu ia a poe,
40 O awili[114] o Malu-ó.

He pola ia no ka pa-ú;
E hii ana e Ka-holo-kua-iwa,
Ke amo la e Pa-wili-wlli
I ka pa-ú poo kau-poku—[115]
45 Kau poku a hana ke ao,
Kau iluna o Hala’a-wili,
I owili hana haawe.