Unwritten Literature of Hawaii

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

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[Footnote 367: It is said to ue the work of a hula-master, now
some years dead, by the name of Namakeelua.]
[Page 202]

XXV.--THE HULA PA'I-UMAUMA

The hula _pa'i-umauma_--chest-beating hula--called also hula
_Pa-lani_,[368] was an energetic dance, in which the actors, who
were also the singers, maintained a kneeling position, with
the buttocks at times resting on the heels. In spite of the
restrictions imposed by this attitude, they managed to put a
spirited action into the performance; there were vigorous
gestures, a frequent smiting of the chest with the open hand,
and a strenuous movement of the pelvis and lower part of the
body called _ami_. This consisted of rhythmic motions,
sidewise, backward, forward, and in a circular or elliptical
orbit, all of which was done with the precision worthy of an
acrobat, an accomplishment attained only after long practice.
It was a hula of classic celebrity, and was performed without
the accompaniment of instrumental music.

[Footnote 368: _Palani_, French, so called at Moanalua because
a woman who was its chief exponent was a Catholic, one of the
"poe Palani." Much odium has been laid to the charge of the
hula on account of the supposed indecency of the motion
termed _ami_. There can be no doubt that the ami was at times
used to represent actions unfit for public view, and so far
the blame is just. But the ami did not necessarily nor always
represent obscenity, and to this extent the hula has been
unjustly maligned.]

In the mele now to be given the poet calls up a succession of
pictures by imagining himself in one scenic position after
another, beginning at Hilo and passing in order from one
island to another--omitting, however, Maui--until he finds
himself at Kilauea, an historic and traditionally interesting
place on the windward coast of the garden-island, Kauai. The
order of travel followed by the poet forbids the supposition
that the Kilauea mentioned is the great caldera of the
volcano on Hawaii in which Pele had her seat.

It is useless to regret that the poet did not permit his muse
to tarry by the way long enough to give us something more
than a single eyeshot at the quickly shifting scenes which
unrolled themselves before him, that so he might have given
us further reminiscence of the lands over which his Pegasus
bore him. Such completeness of view, however, is alien to the
poesy of Hawaii.
[Page 203]

_Mele_

A Hilo au e, hoolulu ka lehua[369];
A Wai-luku la, i ka Lua-kanaka[370];
A Lele-iwi[371] la, au i ke kai;
A Pana-ewa[372], i ka ulu-lehna;
5 A Ha-ili[373], i ke kula-manu;
A Mologai, i ke ala-kahi,
Ke kula o Kala'e[374] wela i ka la;
Mauna-loa[375] la, Ka-lua-ko'i[376], e;
Na hala o Nihoa[377], he mapuna la;
10 A Ko'i-ahi[378] au, ka maile lau-lu la;
A Makua[379] la, i ke one opio-pio[380],
E holu ana ke kai o-lalo;
He wahine a-po'i-po'i[381] e noho ana,
A Kilauea[382], i ke awa ula.

[Translation]

_Song_

At Hilo I rendezvoused with, the lehua;
By the Wailuku stream, near the robber-den;
Off cape Lele-iwi I swam in the ocean;
At Pana-ewa, mid groves of lehua;
5 At Ha-ili, a forest of flocking birds.
On Molokai I travel its one highway;
I saw the plain of Kala'e quiver with heat,
And beheld the ax-quarries of Mauna-loa.
Ah, the perfume Nihoa's pandanus exhales!
10 Ko'i-ahi, home of the small-leafed maile;
And now at Makua, lo, its virgin sand,
While ocean surges and scours on below.
Lo, a woman crouched on the shore by the sea,
In the brick-red bowl, Kilauea's bay.

[Footnote 369: _Lehua._ A tree that produces the tufted scarlet
flower that is sacred to the goddess of the hula, Laka.]

[Footnote 370: _Lua-kanaka._ A deep and dangerous crossing at
the Wailuku river, which is said to have been the cause of
death by drowning of very many. Another story is that it was
once the hiding place of robbers.]

[Footnote 371: _Lele-iwi._ The name of a cape at Hilo, near the
mouth of the Wai-luku river;--water of destruction.]

[Footnote 372: _Pana-ewa._ A forest region in Ola'a much
mentioned in myth and poetry.]

[Footnote 373: _Haili._ A region in Ola'a, a famous: resort for
bird-catchers.]

[Footnote 374: _Ka-la'e._ A beautiful place in the uplands back
of Kaunakakai, on Molokai.]

[Footnote 375: _Mauna-loa._ The mountain in the western part of
Molokai.]

[Footnote 376: _Ka-lua-ko'i._ A place on this same Mauna-loa
where was quarried stone suitable for making the Hawaiian
ax.]

[Footnote 377: _Nihoa._ A small land near Kalaupapa, Molokai,
where was a grove of fine pandanus trees.]

[Footnote 378: _Ko'i-ahi._ A small valley in the district of
Waianae, Oahu, where was the home of the small-leafed maile.]

[Footnote 379: _Makua._ A valley in Waianae.]

[Footnote 380: _One opio-pio._ Sand freshly smoothed by an
ocean wave.]

[Footnote 381: _Apo'i-po'i._ To crouch for the purpose,
perhaps, of screening oneself from view, as one, for
instance, who is naked and desires to escape observation.]

[Footnote 382: _Kilauea._ There is some doubt whether this is
the Kilauea on Kauai or a little place of the same name near
cape Kaeua, the westernmost point of Oahu.]
[Page 204]
In the next mele to be given it is evident that, though the
motive is clearly Hawaiian, it has lost something of the
rugged simplicity and impersonality that belonged to the most
archaic style, and that it has taken on the sentimentality of
a later period.

_Mele_

E Manono la, e-a,
E Manono la, e-a,
Kau ka ope-ope;
Ka ulu hala la, e-a,
5 Ka uluhe la, e-a.
Ka uluhe la, e-a,
A hiki Pu'u-nana,
Hali'i punana
No huli mai.

10 Hull mai o-e la;
Moe kaua;
Hali'i punana
No hull mai.
Hull mai o-e la;
15 Moe kaua;
Moe aku kaua;
O ka wai welawela,
O ka papa lohi
O Mau-kele;

20 Moe aku kaua;
O ka wai welawela,
O ka papa lohi
O Mau-kele.
A kele, a kele
25 Kou manao la, e-a;
A kele, a kele
Kou manao la, e-a.

[Translation]

_Song_

Come now, Manono,
Come, Manono, I say;
Take up the burden;
Through groves of pandanus
5 And wild stag-horn fern,
Wearisome fern, lies our way.
Arrived at the hill-top,
We'll smooth out the nest,
That we may snug close.

10 Turn now to me, dear,
While we rest here.
Make we a little nest,
That we may draw near.
This way your face, dear,
[Page 205] 15 While, we rest here.
Rest thou and I here,
Near the warm, warm water
And the smooth lava-plate
Of Mau-kele.

20 Rest thou and I here.
By the water so warm,
And the lava-plate smooth
Of Mau-kele.
Little by little
25 Your thoughts will be mine.
Little by little
Your thoughts I'll divine.

Manono was the name of the brave woman, wife of
Ke-kua-o-kalani, who fell in the battle of Kuamo'o, in Kona,
Hawaii, in 1819, fighting by the side of her husband. They
died in support of the cause of law and order, of religion
and tabu, the cause of the conservative party in Hawaii, as
opposed to license and the abolition of all restraint.

The _uluhe_ (verses 5, 6) is the stag-horn fern, which forms
a matted growth most obstructive to woodland travel.

The burden Manono is asked to bear, what else is it but the
burden of life, in this case lightened by love?

Whether there is any connection between the name of the
hula--breast-beating--and the expression, in the first verse
of the following mele is more than the author can say.

_Mele_

Ka-hipa[383], na waiu olewa,
Lele ana, ku ka mahiki akea;
Keke ka niho o Laui-wahine[384];
Opi ke a lalo, ke a luna.
5 A hoi aku au i Lihue,
Kana aku ia Ewa;
E au ana o Miko-lo-lou,[385]
[Page 206] A pahu ka naau no Pa-pi'-o[386].
A pa'a ka mano.
10 Hopu i ka lima.
Ai pakahi, e, i ka nahele,[387]
Alawa a'e na ulu kani o Leiwalo.
E noho ana Kolea-kani[388]
Ka pii'na i ka Uwa-lua;
15 Oha-oha, lei i ka makani.

[Footnote 383: _Ka-hipa_. Said to be the name of a mythological
character, now applied to a place in Kahuku where the
mountains present the form of two female breasts.]

[Footnote 384: _Lani-wahine_. A benignant _mo'o_, or
water-nymph, sometimes taking the form of a woman, that is
said to have haunted the lagoon of Uko'a, Waialua, Oahu.
There is a long story about her.]

[Footnote 385: _Miko-lo-lou_. A famous man-eating shark-god
whose home was in the waters of Hana, Maui. He visited Oahu
and was hospitably received by Ka-ahu-pahau and Ka-hi'u-ka,
sharks of the Ewa lagoons, who had a human ancestry and were
on friendly terms with their kindred. Miko-lo-lou, when his
hosts denied him human flesh, helped himself. In the conflict
that rose the Ewa sharks joined with their human relatives
and friends on land to put an end to Miko-lo-lou. After a
fearful contest they took him and reduced his body to ashes.
A dog, however, snatched and ate a portion--some say the
tongue, some the tail--and another part fell into the water.
This was reanimated by the spirit of the dead shark and grew
to be a monster of the same size and power as the one
deceased. Miko-lo-lou now gathered his friends and allies
from all the waters and made war against the Ewa sharks, but
was routed.]

[Footnote 386: _Pa-pi'-o_. A shark of moderate size, but of
great activity, that fought against Mlko-lo-lou. It entered
his enormous mouth, passed down into his stomach, and there
played havoc with the monster, eating its way out.]

[Footnote 387: _Ai pakahi, e, i ka nahele_. The company
represented by the poet to be journeying pass through an
uninhabited region barren of food. The poet calls upon them
to satisfy their Imnger by eating of the edible wild
herbs--they abound everywhere in Hawaii--at the same time
representing them as casting longing glances on the
breadfruit trees of Leiwalo. This was a grove in the lower
levels of Ewa that still survives.]

[Footnote 388: _Kolea-kani_. A female _kupua_--witch she might
be called now--that had the form of a plover. She looked
after the thirsty ones who passed along the road, and
benevolently showed them where to find water. By her example
the people of the district are said to have been induced to
give refreshment to travelers who went that way.]

[Translation]

_Song_

'Tis Kahipa, with, pendulous breasts;
How they swing to and fro, see-saw!
The teeth of Lani-wahine gape--
A truce to upper and lower jaw!
5 From Lihue we look upon Ewa;
There swam the monster, Miko-lo-lou,
His bowels torn out by Pa-pi'-o.
The shark was caught in grip of the hand.
Let each one stay himself with wild herbs,
And for comfort turn his hungry eyes
10 To the rustling trees of Lei-walo.
Hark! the whistling-plover--her old-time seat,
As one climbs the hill from Echo-glen,
And cools his brow in the breeze.

The thread of interest that holds together the separate
pictures composing this mele is slight. It will, perhaps,
give to the whole a more definite meaning if we recognize
that it is made up of snapshots at various objects and
localities that presented themselves to one passing along the
old road from Kahuku, on Oahu, to the high land which gave
the tired traveler his first distant view of Honolulu before
he entered the winding canyon of Moana-lua.
[Page 207]

XXVI.--THE HULA KU'I MOLOKAI

The hula _ku'i Molokai_ was a variety of the Hawaiian dance
that originated on the island of Molokai, probably at a later
period than what one would call the classic times. Its
performance extended to the other islands. The author has
information of its exhibition on the island of its name as
late as the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The
actors, as they might be called, in this hula were arranged
in pairs who faced each other and went through motions
similar to those of boxing. This action, _ku'i_, to smite,
gave the name to the performance. The limiting word Molokai
was added to distinguish it from another still more modern
form of dance called _ku'i_, which will be described later.

While the performers stood and went through with their
motions, marching and countermarching, as they are said to
have done, they chanted or recited in recitative some song,
of which the following is an example. This they did with no
instrumental accompaniment:

_Mele_

He ala kai olohia,[389]
He hiwahiwa na ka la'i luahine,
He me' aloha na'u ka makani hauai-loli,[390]
E uwe ana I ke kai pale iliahi.
5 Kauwa ke aloha i na lehua o Kaana.[391]
Pomaikai au i kou aloha e noho nei;
Ka haluku wale no ia a ka waimaka,
Me he makamaka puka a la
Ke aloha i ke kanaka,
10 E ho-iloli nei i ku'u nui kino.
Mahea hoi au, a?
Ma ko oe alo no.

[Footnote 389: _Kai olohia_. A calm and tranquil sea. This
expression has gained a poetic vogue that almost makes it
pass current as a single word, meaning tranquillity, calmness
of mind. As thus explained, it is here translated by the
expression "heart's-ease."]

[Footnote 390: _Makani hanai-loli_. A wind so gentle as not to
prevent the beche de mer _loli_ sea-anemones, and other
marine slugs from coming out of their holes to feed. A
similar figure is used in the next line in the expression
_kai pale iliahi_. The thought is that the calmness of the
ocean invites one to strip and plunge in for a bath.]

[Footnote 391: _Kauwa ke aloha i na lehua o Kaana_. Kaana is
said to be a hill on the road from Keaau to Olaa, a spot
where travelers were wont to rest and where they not
infrequently made up wreaths of the scarlet lehua bloom which
there abounded. It took a large number of lehua flowers to
suffice for a wreath, and to bind them securely to the fillet
that made them a garland was a work demanding not only
artistic skill hut time and patience. If a weary traveler,
halting at Kaana, employed his time of rest in plaiting
flowers into a wreath for some loved one, there would be
truth as well as poetry in the saying, "Love slaves for the
lehuas of Kaana."]
[Page 208]
[Translation]

_Song_

Precious the gift of heart's-ease,
A wreath for the cheerful dame;
So dear to my heart is the breeze
That murmurs, strip for the ocean.
5 Love slaves for wreaths from Kaana.
I'm blest in your love that reigns here;
It speaks in the fall of a tear--
The choicest thing in one's life,
This love for a man by his wife--
10 It has power to shake the whole frame.
Ah, where am I now?
Here, face to your face.

The platitudes of mere sentimentalism, when put into cold
print, are not stimulating to the imagination; moods and
states of feeling often approaching the morbid, their oral
expression needs the reenforcement of voice, tone,
countenance, the whole attitude. They are for this reason
most difficult of translation and when rendered literally
into a foreign speech often become meaningless. The figures
employed also, like the watergourds and wine-skins of past
generations and of other peoples, no longer appeal to us as
familiar objects, but require an effort of the imagination to
make them intelligible and vivid to our mental vision. If the
translator carries these figures of speech over into his new
rendering, they will often demand an explanation on their own
account, and will thus fail of their original intent; while
if he clothes the thought in some new figure he takes the
risk of failing to do justice to the intimate meaning of the
original. The force of these remarks will become apparent
from an analysis of the prominent figures of speech that
occur in the mele.

_Mele_

He inoa no ka Lani,
No Nahi-ena-ena;
A ka luna o wahine.
Ho'i ka ena a ka makani;
5 Noho ka la'i i ka malino--
Makani ua ha-ao;
Ko ke au i hala, ea.
Punawai o Mana,[392]
Wai ola na ke kupa
10 A ka ilio nana,
Hae, nanahu i ke kai;
Ehu kai nana ka pua,
Ka pua o ka iliau,
[Page 209] Ka ohai o Mapepe,[393]
15 Ka moena we'u-we'u,
I ulana ia e ke A'e,
Ka naku loloa.
Hea mai o Kawelo-hea,[394]
Nawai la, e, ke kapu?
20 No Nahi-ena-ena.
Ena na pua i ka wai,
Wai au o Holei.

[Footnote 392: _Punaurai o Mana_. A spring of water at Honuapo,
Hawaii, which bubbled up at such a level that the ocean
covered it at high tide.]

[Footnote 393: _Ka ohai o Mapepe_. A beautiful flowering
shrub, also spoken of as _ka ohai o Papi'o-huli_, said to
have been brought from Kahiki by Namaka-o-kaha'i.]

[Footnote 394: _Kawelo-hea_. A blowhole or spouting horn, also
at Honuapo, through which the ocean at certain times sent up
a column of spray or of water. After the volcanic disturbance
of 1868 this spouting horn ceased action. The rending force
of the earthquakes must have broken up and choked the
subterranean channel through which the ocean had forced its
way.]

[Translation]

_Song_

A eulogy for the princess,
For Nahi-ena-ena a name!
Chief among women!
She soothes the cold wind with her flame--
5 A peace that is mirrored in calm,
A wind that sheddeth rain;
A tide that flowed long ago;
The water-spring of Mana,
Life-spring for the people,
10 A fount where the lapping dog
Barks at the incoming wave,
Drifting spray on the bloom
Of the sand-sprawling ili-au
And the scarlet flower of ohai,
15 On the wind-woven mat of wild grass,
Long naku, a springy mattress.
The spout-horn, Kawelo-hea,
Asks, Who of right has the tabu?
The princess Nahi-ena-ena!
20 The flowers glow in the pool,
The bathing pool of Holei!

This mele inoa--name-song or eulogy--was composed in
celebration of the lamented princess, Nahienaena, who, before
she was misled by evil influences, was a most attractive and
promising character. She was the daughter of Keopuolani and
younger sister of Kamehameha III, and came to her untimely
death in 1836. The name was compounded from the words _na_,
the, _ahi_, fires, and _enaena_, hot, a meaning which
furnishes the motive to the mele.
[Page 210]

XXVII.--THE HULA KIELEI

The hula _ki-e-lei_, or _ki-le-lei_, was a performance of
Hawaii's classic times, and finds mention as such in the
professedly imperfect list of hulas given by the historian
David Malo.[395] It was marked by strenuous bodily action,
gestures with feet and hands, and that vigorous exercise of
the pelvis and body termed _ami_, the chief feature of which
was a rotation of the pelvis in circles and ellipses, which
is not to be regarded as an effort to portray sexual
attitudes. It was a performance in which the whole company
stood and chanted the mele without instrumental
accompaniment.

[Footnote 395: Hawaiian Antiquities, by David Malo; translated
by N.B. Emerson, A.M., M.D. Honolulu, the Hawaiian Gazette
Company (Limited), 1903.]

The sacrifice offered at the kuahu in connection with the
production of this hula consisted of a black pig, a cock of
the color termed ula-hiwa--black pointed with red--a white
hen, and awa. According to some authorities the offerings
deemed appropriate for the sacrifice that accompanied each
hula varied with the hula, but was definitely established for
each variety of hula. The author's studies, however, lead him
to conclude that, whatever may have been the original demands
of the gods, in the long run they were not overparticular and
were not only willing to put up with, but were well pleased
so long as the offering contained, good pork or fish and
strong awa.

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