Unwritten Literature of Hawaii

N >> Nathaniel Bright Emerson >> Unwritten Literature of Hawaii

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[Translation]

_Song_

Ho! mountain of vapor-puffs,
Now groans the mountain-apple tree.
Alas! I burn in this deathless flame,
That is fed by the woman who snores
5 On a lava plate, now hot, now cold;
Now 'tis a canoe full-rigged for sea;
There are seats at the bow, amidships, abaft;
Baggage and men--all is aboard.

And now the powerful thrust of the paddle,
[Page 195] 10 Making mighty swirl of wat'ry yeast,
As of Niheu, the mischief-maker--
A mighty swirl of the yeasty wave.
In heavea's name, come aboard!

[Footnote 346: Pele is often spoken of as _ka luahine_, the old
woman; but she frequently used her power of transformation to
appear as a young woman of alluring beauty.]

[Footnote 347: Lava poured out in plates and folds and coils
resembles many diverse things, among others the canoe, _wa'a_
here characterized as complete in its appointments and ready
for launching, _kauhi_. The words are subtly intended, no
doubt, to convey the thought of Pele's readiness to launch on
the voyage of matrimony.]

[Footnote 348: _Pepe_, a seat; _kiele_, to paddle; and _ulu_, a
shortened form of the old word _oulu_, meaning a paddle, are
archaisms now obsolete.]

[Footnote 349: Niheu. One of the mythological heroes of an
old-time adventure, in which his elder brother Kana, who had
the form of a long rope, played the principal part. This one
enterprise of their life in which they joined forces was for
the rescue of their mother, Hina, who had been kidnaped by a
marauding chief and carried from her home in Hilo to the bold
headland of Haupu, Molokai. Niheu is generally stigmatized as
_kolohe_ (verse 11), mischievous, for no other reason
apparently than that he was an active spirit, full of
courage, given to adventure and heaven-defying audacities,
such as put the Polynesian Mawi and the Greek Prometheus in
bad odor with the gods of their times. One of these offensive
actions was Niheu's theft of a certain _ulu_, breadfruit,
which one of the gods rolled with a noise like that of
thunder in the underground caverns of the southern regions of
the world. Niheu is represented as a great sport, an athlete,
skilled in all the games of his people. The worst that could
be said of him was that he had small regard for other
people's rights and that he was slow to pay his debts of
honor.]

[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
BULLETIN 38 PLATE XXI
PALA-PALAI FERNS]

After the death of Lohiau, his best friend, Paoa, came before
Pele determined to invite death by pouring out the vials of
his wrath on the head of the goddess. The sisters of Pele
sought to avert the impending tragedy and persuaded him to
soften his language and to forego mere abuse. Paoa, a
consummate actor, by his dancing, which has been perpetuated
in the hula Pele, and by his skillfully-worded prayer-songs,
one of which is given above, not only appeased Pele, but won
her.

The piece next appearing is also a song that was a prayer,
and seems to have been uttered by the same mouth that,
groaned forth the one given above.

It does not seem necessary to take the language of the mele
literally. The sufferings that the person in the mele
describes in the first person, it seems to the author, may be
those of his friend Lohiau; and the first person is used for
literary effect.

_Mele[350]_

Aole e mao ka ohu:
Auwe! make au i ke ahi a mau
A ka wahine moe nana,
A papa ena-ena,
5 A wa'a kau-hi.
Ilaila pepe mua me pepe waena,
O pepe ka mu'imu'i,
O lei'na kiele,
Kau-meli-eli: [351]
10 Ka maka kakahi kea
O Niheu kolohe--
Ka maka kaha-kai kea.
Eli-eli, kau mai!

[Translation]

_Song_

Alas, there's no stay to the smoke;
I must die mid the quenchless flame--
Deed of the hag who snores in her sleep,
Bedded on lava plate oven-hot.
5 Now it takes the shape of canoe;
[Page 196] Seats at the bow and amidships,
And the steersman sitting astern;
Their stroke stirs the ocean to foam--
The myth-craft, Kau-meli-eli!
10 Now look, the white gleam of an eye--
It is Niheu, the turbulent one--
An eye like the white sandy shore.
Amen, possess me!

[Footnote 350: The remarks on pp. 194 and 195 regarding the mele
on p. 194 are mostly applicable to this mele.]

[Footnote 351: _Kau-meli-eli_. The name of the double canoe
which brought a company of the gods from the lands of the
South--Kukulu o Kahiki--to Hawaii. Hawaiian myths refer to
several migrations of the gods to Hawaii; one of them is that
described in the mele given on p. 187, the first mele in this
chapter.]

The mele now to be given has the form of a serenade.
Etiquette forbade anyone to wake the king by rude touch, but
it was permissible for a near relative to touch his feet.
When the exigencies of business made it necessary for a
messenger, a herald, or a courtier to disturb the sleeping
monarch, he took his station at the king's feet and recited a
serenade such as this:

_Mele Hoala _(no ka Hula Pele)

E ala, e Kahiki-ku;[352]
E ala, e Kahiki-moe; [352]
E ala, e ke apapa nu'u;[353]
E ala, e ke apapa lani.[353]
5 Eia ka hoala nou, e ka lani[354] la, e-e!
E ala oe!

E ala, ua ao, ua malamalama.
Aia o Kape'a ma,[355] la, i-luna;
Ua hiki mai ka maka o Unulau; [356]
[Page 197] 10 Ke hoolale mai la ke kupa holowa'a o Ukumehame,[357]
Ka lae makaui kaohi-wa'a o Papawai,[358]
Ka lae makani o'Anahenahe la, e-e!
E ala oe!

E ala, ua ao, ua malamalama;
15 Ke o a'e la ke kukuna o ka La i lea ili o ke kai;
Ke hahai a'e la, e like me Kumukahi [359]
E hoaikane ana me Makanoni;
Ka papa o Apua, ua lohi i ka La.
E ala oe!

20 E ala, ua ao, ua malamalama;
Ke kau aku la ka La i Kawaihoa:
Ke kolii aku la ka La i ka ili o ke kai;
Ke anai mai la ka iwa auai-maka o Lei-no-ai,
I ka lima o Maka-iki-olea,
25 I ka poll wale o Leliua la.
E ala oe!

[Footnote 352: Hawaiians conceived of the dome of heaven as a
solid structure supported by walls that rested on the earth's
plain. Different names were given to different sections of
the wall. _Kahiki-ku_ and _Kahiki-moe_ were names applied to
certain of these sections. It would, however, be too much, to
expect any Hawaiian, however intelligent and well versed in
old lore, to indicate the location of these regions.]

[Footnote 353: The words _apapa nu'u_ and _apapa lani_, which
convey to the mind of the author the picture of a series of
terraced plains or steppes--no doubt the original
meaning--here mean a family or order of gods, not of the
highest rank, at or near the head of which stood Pele.
Apropos of this subject the following lines have been quoted:

Hanau ke apapa nu'u:
Hanau ke apapa lani;
Hanau Pele, ka hihi'o na lani.

[Translation]

Begotten were the gods of graded rank;
Begotten were the gods of heavenly rank;
Begotten was Pele, quintessence of heaven.

This same expression was sometimes used to mean an order of
chiefs, _alii. Apapa lani_ was also used to mean the highest
order of gods, _Ku, Kane, Kanaloa, Lono_. The kings also were
gods, for which reason this expression at times applied to
the alii of highest rank, those, for instance, who inherited
the rank of _niau-pi'o_ or of _wohi._]

[Footnote 354: _Lani_. Originally the heavens, came to mean
king, chief, _alii_.]

[Footnote 355: There is a difference of opinion as to the
meaning of _Kape'a ma_. After hearing diverse opinions the
author concludes that it refers to the rays of the sun that
precede its rising--a Greek idea.]

[Footnote 356: _Unulau_. A name for the trade-wind which, owing
to the conformation of the land, often sweeps down with great
force through the deep valleys that seam the mountains of
west Maui between Lahaina and Maalaea bay; such a wind squall
was called a _mumuku_.]

[Footnote 357: _Ukumehame_. The name of a deep valley on west
Maui in the region above described.]

[Footnote 358: _Papawai_. The principal cape on west Maui
between Lahaina and Maalaea bay.]

[Footnote 359: _Kumu-kahi_. A cape in Puna, the easternmost
part of Hawaii; by some said to be the sun's wife, and the
object of his eager pursuit after coming out of his eastern
gate Ha'eha'e. The name was also applied to a pillar of stone
that was planted on the northern border of this cape.
Standing opposite to it, on the southern side, was the
monolith Makanoni. In summer the sun in its northern
excursion inclined, as the Hawaiians noted, to the side of
Kumukahi, while in the season of cool weather, called
Makalii, it swung in the opposite direction and passed over
to Makanoni. The people of Puna accordingly said, "The sun
has passed over to Makanoni," or "The sun has passed over to
Kumukahi," as the case might be. These two pillars are said
to be of such a form as to suggest the thought that they are
phallic emblems, and this conjecture is strengthened by
consideration of the tabus connected with them and of the
religious ceremonies peformed before them. The Hawaiians
speak of them as _pohaku eho_, which, the author believes,
is the name given to a phallus, and describe them as plain
uncarved pillars.

These stones were set up in very ancient times and are said
to have been tabu to women at the times of their infirmity.
If a woman climbed upon them at such a period or even set
foot upon the platform on which one of them stood she was put
to death. Another stringent tabu forbade anyone to perform an
office of nature while his face was turned toward one of
these pillars.

The language of the mele, _Ke hahai ae la e like me Kumukahi_
(verse 16), implies that the sun chased after Kumukahi.
Apropos of this is the following quotation from an article on
the phallus in Chambers's Encyclopedia: "The common myth
concerning it [the phallus] was the story of some god
deprived of his power of generation--an allusion to the sun,
which in autumn loses its fructifying influence."

In modern times there seems to have grown up a curious
mixture of traditions about these two stones, in which the
old have become overlaid with new superstitions; and these
last in turn seem to be dying out. They are now vaguely
remembered as relics of old demigods, petrified forms of
ancient _kupua_.[360] Fishermen, it is said, not long ago
offered sacrifices to them, hoping thus to purchase good
luck. Any offense against them, such as that by women, above
mentioned, or by men, was atoned for by offering before these
ancient monuments the first fish that came to the fisherman's
hook or net.

Mention of the name Kumu-kahi to a Hawaiian versed in ancient
lore called up to his memory the name of Pala-moa as his
associate. The account this old man gave of them was that
they were demigods much worshiped and feared for their power
and malignity. They were reputed to be cannibals on the sly,
and, though generally appearing in human form, were capable
of various metamorphoses, thus eluding detection. They were
believed to have the power of taking possession of men
through spiritual obsession, as a result of which the
obsessed ones were enabled to heal sickness as well as to
cause it, to reveal secrets, and to Inflict death, thus
terrifying people beyond measure. The names of these, two
demigods, especially that of Palamoa, are to this day
appealed to by practitioners of the black arts.]

[Footnote 360: The Hawaiian alphabet had no letter _s_. The
Hawaiians indicated the plural by prefixing the particle
_na_.]

[Page 198]

[Translation]

_Song_

Awake now, Kahiki-ku;
Awake now, Kahiki-moe;
Awake, ye gods of lower grade;
Awake, ye gods of heavenly rank.
5 A serenade to thee, O king.
Awake thee!

Awake, it is day, it is light;
The Day-god his arrows is shooting,
Unulau his eye far-flashing,
10 Canoe-men from Uku-me-hame
Are astir to weather the windy cape,
The boat-baffling cape, Papa-wai,
And the boisterous A-nahe-nahe.
Awake thee!

15 Awake, day is come and the light;
The sun-rays stab the skin of the deep;
It pursues, as did god Kumu-kahi
To companion with god Maka-noni;
The plain of Apua quivers with heat.
20 Awake thee!

Awake, 'tis day, 'tis light;
The sun stands over Waihoa,
Afloat on the breast of ocean;
The iwa of Leinoai is preening
25 On the cliff Maka-iki-olea.
On the breast of naked Lehua.
Awake thee! awake!

The following is a prayer said to have been used at the time
of awa-drinking. When given in the hula, the author is
informed, its recitation was accompanied by the sound of the
drum.

_He Pule no Pele_

PALE I

O Pele la ko'u akua:
Miha ka lani, miha ka honua.
Awa iku, awa lani;
Kai awaawa, ka awa nui a Hiiaka,
5 I kua i Mauli-ola;[361]
He awa kapu no na wahine.
E kapu!

Ka'i kapu kou awa, e Pele a Honua-mea;
E kala, e Haumea wahine,
10 O ka wahine i Kilauea,
Nana i eli a hohonu ka lua
O Mau-wahine, o Kupu-ena,
O na wahine i ka inu-hana awa.
E ola na 'kua malihini![362]

PALE II

15 I kama'a-ma'a la i ka pua-lei;
E loa ka wai apua,
Ka pii'na i Ku-ka-la-ula;[363]
Hoopuka aku i Puu-lena,
Aina a ke Akua i noho ai.

[Page 199] 20 Kanaenae a ke Akua malihini;[362]
O ka'u wale iho la no ia, o ka leo,
He leo wale no, e-e!
E ho-i!
Eia ka ai!

[Footnote 361: _Maull-ola_. A god of health; perhaps also the
name of a place. The same word also was applied to the breath
of life, or to the physician's power of healing. In the Maori
tongue the word _mauri_, corresponding to _mauli_, means
life, the seat of life. In Samoan the word _mauli_ means
heart. "Sneeze, living heart" (_Tihe mauri ora_), says the
Maori mother to her infant when it sneezes. For this bit of
Maori lore acknowledgment is due to Mr. S. Percy Smith, of
New Zealand.]

[Footnote 362: According to one authority, at the close of the
first canto the stranger gods--_akua malihini_--who consisted
of that multitude of godlings called the _Kini Akua_, took
their departure from the ceremony, since they did not belong
to the Pele family. Internal evidence, however, the study of
the prayer itself in its two parts, leads the writer to
disagree with this authority. Other Hawaiians of equally
deliberate judgment support him in this opinion. The
etiquette connected with ceremonious awa-drinking, which the
Samoans of to-day still maintain in full form, long ago died
out in Hawaii. This etiquette may never have been cultivated
here to the same degree as in its home, Samoa; but this poem
is evidence that the ancient Hawaiians paid greater attention
to it than they of modern times. The reason for this decline
of ceremony must be sought for in the mental and esthetic
make-up of the Hawaiian people; it was not due to any lack of
fondness in the Hawaiian for awa as a beverage or as an
intoxicant. It is no help to beg the question by ascribing
the decline of this etiquette to the influence of social
custom. To do so would but add one more link to the chain
that binds cause to effect. The Hawaiian mind was not
favorable to the observance of this sort of etiquette; it did
not afford a soil fitted to nourish such an artificial
growth.]

[Footnote 363: The meaning of the word _Ku-ka-la-ula_ presented
great difficulty and defied all attempts at translation until
the suggestion was made by a bright Hawaiian, which was
adopted with satisfaction, that it probably referred to that
state of dreamy mental exaltation which comes with
awa-intoxication. This condition, like that of frenzy, of
madness, and of idiocy, the Hawaiian regarded as a divine
possession.]

[Translation]

_A Prayer to Pele_

CANTO I

Lo, Pele's the god of my choice:
Let heaven and earth in silence wait
Here is awa, potent, sacred,
Bitter sea, great Hiiaka's root;
5 'Twas cut at Mauli-ola--
Awa to the women forbidden,
Let it tabu be!
Exact be the rite of your awa,
O Pele of the sacred land.

[Page 200] 10 Proclaim it, mother. Haumea,
Of the goddess of Kilauea;
She who dug the pit world-deep,
And Mau-wahine and Kupu-ena,
Who prepare the awa for drink.
15 A health to the stranger gods!

CANTO II

Bedeck now the board for the feast;
Fill up the last bowl to the brim;
Then pour a draught in the sun-cave
Shall flow to the mellow haze,
20 That tints the land of the gods.

All hail to the stranger gods!
This my offering, simply a voice,
Only a welcoming voice.
Turn in!
25 Lo, the feast!

This prayer, though presented in two parts or cantos, is
really one, its purpose being to offer a welcome, _kanaenae_,
to the feast and ceremony to the gods who had a right to
expect that courtesy.

One more mele of the number specially used in the hula Pele:

_Mele_

Nou paha e, ka inoa
E ka'i-ka'i ku ana,
A kau i ka nuku.
E hapa-hapai a'e;
5 A pa i ke kihi
O Ki-lau-e-a.
Ilaila ku'u kama,
O Ku-nui-akea.[364]
Hookomo a'e iloko
10 A o Hale-ma'u-ma'u;[365]
A ma-u na pu'u
E ola-ola, nei.
E kulipe'e nui ai-ahua.[366]
E Pele, e Pele!
15 E Pele, e Pele!
Huai'na! huai'na!
Ku ia ka lani,
Pae a huila!

[Footnote 364: Kalakaua, for whom all these fine words are
intended, could no more claim kinship with Ku-nui-akea, the
son of Kau-i-ke-aouli, than with Julius Caesar.]

[Footnote 365: _Hale-mau-mau_. Used figuratively of the mouth,
whose hairy fringe--moustache and beard--gives it a fancied
resemblance to the rough lava pit where Pele dwelt. The
figure, to us no doubt obscure, conveyed to the Hawaiian the
idea of trumpeting the name and making it famous.]

[Footnote 366: _E kuli-pe'e nui ai-ahua_. Pele is here figured
as an old, infirm woman, crouching and crawling along; a
character and attitude ascribed to her, no doubt, from the
fancied resemblance of a lava flow, which, when in the form
of _a-a_, rolls and tumbles along over the surface of the
ground in a manner suggestive of the motions and attitude of
a palsied crone.]
[Page 201]

[Translation]

_Song_

Yours, doubtless, this name.
Which people are toasting
With loudest acclaim.
Now raise it, aye raise it,
5 Till it reaches the niches
Of Ki-lau-e-a.
Enshrined is there my kinsman,
Ku-nui-akea.
Then give it a place
10 In the temple of Pele;
And a bowl for the throats
That are croaking with thirst.
Knock-kneed eater of land,
O Pele, god Pele!
15 O Pele, god Pele!
Burst forth now! burst forth!
Launch a bolt from the sky!
Let thy lightnings fly:

When this poem[367] first came into the author's hands, though
attracted by its classic form and vigorous style, he could
not avoid being repelled by an evident grossness. An old
Hawaiian, to whom he stated his objections, assured him that
the mele was innocent of all bad intent, and when the
offensive word was pointed out he protested that it was an
interloper. The substitution of the right word showed that
the man was correct. The offense was at once removed. This
set the whole poem in a new light and it is presented with
satisfaction. The mele is properly a name-song, _mele-inoa_.
The poet represents some one as lifting a name to his mouth
for praise and adulation. He tells him to take it to
Kilauea--that it may reecho, doubtless, from the walls of the
crater.

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