Unwritten Literature of Hawaii

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

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_Mele_

(Ko'i-honua)

Wela Kahiki, e!
Wela Kahiki, e!
Wela aku la Kahiki;
Ua kaulu-wela ka moku;
[Page 74] 5 Wela ka ulu o Hawaii;
Kakala wela aku la Kahiki ia Olopana,[189]
Ka'u wahi kanaka;
O ka hei kapu[190] o Hana-ka-ulani,[191]
Ka hei kapu a ke alii,
10 Ka hoo-mamao-lani,[192]
Ke kapu o Keawe,[193]
A o Keawe
Ke alii holo, ho-i'a i kai, e-e!

[Footnote 189: _Olopana_. A celebrated king of Waipio valley,
Hawaii, who had to wife the famous beauty, Luukia. Owing to
misfortune, he sailed away to _Kahiki_, taking with him his
wife and his younger brother, Moikeha, who was his
_puna-lua_, settling in a land called _Moa-ula-nui-akea_.
Olopana probably ended his days in his new-found home, but
Moi-keha, heart-sick at the loss of Luukia's favors, came
hack to Hawaii and became the progenitor of a line of
distinguished men, several of whom were famous navigators.
Exactly what incident in the life of Olopana is alluded to in
the sixth and preceding verses, the traditions that narrate
his adventures do not inform us.]

[Footnote 190: _Hei kapu_. An oracle; the place where the high
priest kept himself while consulting the deities of the
_heiau_. It was a small house erected on an elevated platform
of stones, and there he kept himself in seclusion at such
times as he sought to be the recipient of communications from
the gods.]

[Footnote 191: _Hana-ka-ulani_. A name applied to several
_heiau_ (temples). The first one so styled, according to
tradition, was built at Hana, Maui, and another one at
Kaluanui, on Oahu, near the famous valley of Ka-liu-wa'a.
These heiau are said to have been built by the gods in the
misty past soon after landing on these shores. Was it to
celebrate their escape from perils by sea and enemies on
land, or was it in token of thankfulness to gods still higher
than themselves?

The author's informant can not tell whether these followed
the fierce, strict cult of Kane or the milder cult of Lono.]

[Footnote 192: _Hoo-mamao-lani_. An epithet meaning remote in
the heavens, applied to an alii of very high rank.]

[Footnote 193: _Keawe_. This is a name that belonged, to
several kings and a large family of gods--_papa akua_--all of
which gods are said to have come from Kahiki and to have
dated their origin from the _Wa Po_, the twilight of
antiquity. Among the demigods that were called _Keawe_ may be
mentioned: (1) _Keawe-huli_, a prophet and soothsayer. (2)
_Keawe-kilo-pono_, a wise and righteous one, who loved
justice. (3) _Keawe-hula-maemae_. It was his function to
maintain purity and cleanliness; he was a devouring flame
that destroyed rubbish and all foulness. (4)
_Keawe-ula-o-ka-lani_. This was the poetical appellation,
given to the delicate flush of early morning. Apropos of this
the Hawaiians have the following quatrain, which they
consider descriptive not only of morning blush, but also of
the coming in of the reign of the gods:

O Keawe-ula-i-ka-lani,
O Keawe-liko-i-ka-lani,
O Ke'awe-uina-poha-i-Kahiki;
Hikl mai ana o Lono.[Translation]

Keawe-the-red-blush-of-dawn,
Keawe-the-bud-in-the-sky,
Keawe-thunder-burst-at-Kahiki:
Till Lono comes in to reign.

(5) _Keawe-pa-makani_. It was his function to send winds from
_Kukulu-o-Kahiki_, as well as from some other points. (6)
_Keawe-io-io-moa_. This god inspected the ocean tides and
currents, such as _Au-miki_ and _Au-ka_. (7)
_Keawe-i-ka-liko_. He took charge of flowerbuds and tender
shoots, giving them a chance to develop. (8) _Keawe-ulu-pu_.
It was his function to promote the development and fruitage
of plants. (9) _Keawe-lu-pua_. He caused flowers to shed
their petals. (10) _Keawe-opala_. It was his thankless task
to create rubbish and litter by scattering the leaves of the
trees. (11) _Keawe-hulu_, a magician, who could blow a
feather into the air and see it at once become a bird with
power to fly away. (12) _Keawe-nui-ka-ua-o-Hilo_, a sentinel
who stood guard by night and by day to watch over all
creation. (13) _Keawe-pulehu_. He was a thief and served as
[Page 75] cook for the gods. There were gods of evil as well as of good
in this set. (14) _Keawe-oili_. He was gifted with the power
to convey and transfer evil, sickness, misfortune, and death.
(15) _Keawe-kaili_. He was a robber. (16) _Keawe-aihue_. He
was a thief. (17) _Keuwe-mahilo_. He was a beggar. He would
stand round while others were preparing food, doing honest
work, and plead with his eyes. In this way he often obtained
a dole. (18) _Keawe-puni-pua'a_. He was a glutton, very greedy
of pork; he was also called _Keawe-ai-pua'a_. (19)
_Keawe-inoino_. He was a sloven, unclean in all his ways.
(20) _Keawe-ilio_. The only title to renown of this
superhuman creature was his inordinate fondness for the flesh
of the dog. So far none of the superhuman heings mentioned
seemed fitted to the role of the Keawe of the text, who was
passionately fond of the sea. The author had given up in
despair, when one day, on repeating his inquiry in another
quarter, he was rewarded by learning of--(21)
_Keawe-i-na-'kai_. He was a resident of the region about the
southeastern point of Molokai, called _Lae-ka-Ilio_--Cape of
the Dog. He was extravagantly fond of the ocean and allowed
no weather to interfere with the indulgence of his penchant.
An epithet applied to him describes his dominating passion:
_Keawe moe i ke kai o Kohaku_, Keawe who sleeps in (or on)
the sea of Kohaku. It seems probable that this was the Keawe
mentioned in the twelfth and thirteenth lines of the mele.

The appellation _Keawe_ seems to have served as a sort of
Jack among the demigods of the Hawaiian pantheon, on whom was
to be laid the burden of a mongrel host of virtues and vices
that were not assignable to the regular orthodox deities.
Somewhat in the same way do we use the name Jack as a
caption, for a miscellaneous lot of functions, as when we
speak of a "Jack-at-all-trades."]

[Translation]

Song

(Distinct utterance)

Glowing is Kahiki, oh!
Glowing is Kahiki!
Lo, Kahiki is a-blaze,
The whole island a-burning.
5 Scorched is thy scion, Hawaii.
Kahiki shoots flame-tongues at Olopana,
That hero of yours, and priest
Of the oracle Hana-ka-ulani,
The sacred shrine of the king--
10 He is of the upper heavens,
The one inspired by Keawe,
That tabu-famous Keawe,
The king passion-fond of the sea.

_Mele_

PALE I

Lau lehua punoni ula ke kai o Kona,
Ke kai punoni ula i oweo ia;
Wewena ula ke kai la, he kokona;
Ula ia kini i ka uka o Alaea,
5 I hili ahi ula i ke kapa a ka wahine,
I hoeu ia e ka ni'a, e ka hana,
E ka auwai lino mai la a kehau.
He hau hoomoe ka lau o ka niu,
Ke oho o ka laau, lauoho loloa.
10 E loha ana i ka la i o Kailua la, i-u-a,
O ke ku moena ololi a ehu
O ku'u aina kai paeaea.
Ea, hoea iluna o Mauna Kilohana,
Na kaha poohiwi mau no he inoa.
15 Ua noa e, ua pii'a kou wahi kapu, e-e!
I a'e 'a mai e ha'i.

[Page 76]

[Translation]

_Song_

CANTO I

Leaf of lehua and noni-tint, the Kona sea,
Iridescent saffron and red,
Changeable watered red, peculiar to Kona;
Red are the uplands Alaea;
5 All, 'tis the flame-red stained robes of women
Much tossed by caress or desire.
The weed-tangled water-way shines like a rope of pearls,
Dew-pearls that droop the coco leaf,
The hair of the trees, their long locks--
10 Lo, they wilt in the heat of Kailua the deep.
A mat spread out narrow and gray,
A coigne of land by the sea where the fisher drops hook.
Now looms the mount Kilohana--
Ah, ye wood-shaded heights, everlasting your fame!
15 Your tabu is gone! your holy of holies invaded!
Broke down by a stranger!

The intricately twisted language of this mele is allegorical,
a rope whose strands are inwrought with passion, envy,
detraction, and abuse. In translating it one has to choose
between the poetic verbal garb and the esoteric meaning which
the bard made to lurk beneath the surface.

_Mele_

PALE II

Kauo pu ka iwa kala-pahe'e,
Ka iwa, ka manu o Kaula i ka makani.
E ka manu o-u pani-wai o Lehua,
O na manu kapu a Kuhai-moana,
5 Mai hele a luna o Lei-no-ai,
O kolohe, o alai mai ka Unu-lau.
Puni'a iluna o ka Halau-a-ola;
A ola aku i ka luna o Maka-iki-olea,
I ka lulu, i ka la'i o kai maio,
10 Ma ka ha'i-wa, i ka mole o Lehua la, Le-hu-a!
O na lehua o Alaka'i ka'u aloha,
O na lehua iluna o Ko'i-alana;
Ua nonoho hooipo me ke kohe-kohe;
Ua anu, maeele i ka ua noe.
15 Ua mai oe; kau a'e ka nana, laua nei, e-e,
Na 'lii e o'oni mai nei, e-e!

[Translation]

_Song_

CANTO II

The iwa flies heavy to nest in the brush,
Its haunt on windy Ke-ula.
The watch-bird, that fends off the rain from Le-hu-a--
[Page 77] Bird sacred to Ku-hai, the shark-god--
5 Shrieks, "Light not on terrace of Lei-no-ai,
Lest Unu-lau fiercely assail you."
Storm sweeps the cliffs of the islet;
A covert they seek neath the hills,
In the sheltered lee of the gale,
10 The cove at the base of Le-hu-a.
The shady groves there enchant them,
The scarlet plumes of lehua.
Love-dalliance now by the water-reeds,
Till cooled and appeased by the rain-mist.
15 Pour on, thou rain, the two heads press the pillow:
Lo, prince and princess stir in their sleep!

The scene of this mele is laid on one of the little
bird-islands that lie to the northwest of Kauai. The _iwa_
bird, flying heavily to his nesting place in the wiry grass
(_kala-pahee_), symbolizes the flight of a man in his
deep-laden pirogue, abducting the woman of his love. The
screaming sea-birds that warn him off the island, represented
as watch-guards of the shark-god Kuhai-moana (whose reef is
still pointed out), figure the outcries of the parents and
friends of the abducted woman.

After the first passionate outburst (_Puni'a iluna o ka
Halau-a-ola_) things go more smoothly (ola, ...). The
flight to covert from the storm, the cove at the base of
Le-hu-a, the shady groves, the scarlet pompons of the
lehua--the tree and the island have the same name--all these
things are to be interpreted figuratively as emblems of
woman's physical charms and the delights of love-dalliance.

_Mele_

PALE III

(Ai-ha'a)

Ku aku la Kea-au, lele ka makani mawaho,
Ulu-mano, ma ke kaha o Wai-o-lono.
Ua moani lehua a'e la mauka;
Kani lehua iluna o Kupa-koili,
5 I ka o ia i ka lau o ka hala,
Ke poo o ka hala o ke aku'i.
E ku'i e, e ka uwalo.
Loli ka mu'o o ka hala,
A helelei ka pua, a pili ke alanui:
10 Pu ia Pana-ewa, ona-ona i ke ala,
I ka nahele makai o Ka-unu-loa la.
Nani ke kaunu, ke kaunu a ke alii,
He puni ina'i poi na maua.
Ua hala ke Kau a me ka Hoilo,
15 Mailaila mai no ka hana ino.
Ino mai oe, noho malie aku no hoi au;
Hopo o' ka inaina, ka wai, e-e;
Wiwo au, hopohopo iho nei, e-e!
[Page 78]

[Translation]

_Song_

CANTO III

(In turgid style)

A storm, from the sea strikes Ke-au,
Ulu-mano, sweeping across the barrens;
It sniffs the fragrance of upland lehua,
Turns back at Kupa-koili;
5 Sawed by the blows of the palm leaves,
The groves of pandanus in lava shag;
Their fruit he would string 'bout his neck;
Their fruit he finds wilted and crushed,
Mere rubbish to litter the road--
10 Ah, the perfume! Pana-ewa is drunk with the scent;
The breath of it spreads through the groves.
Vainly flares the old king's passion,
Craving a sauce for his meat and mine.
The summer has flown; winter has come:
15 Ah, that is the head of our troubles.
Palsied are you and helpless am I;
You shrink from a plunge in the water;
Alas, poor me! I'm a coward.

The imagery of this mele sets forth the story of the fierce,
but fruitless, love-search of a chief, who is figured by the
_Ulu-mano_, a boisterous wind of Puna, Hawaii. The fragrance
of upland lehua (_moani lehua, a'e la mauka_, verse 3)
typifies the charms of the woman he pursues. The expression
_kani lehua_ (verse 4), literally the sudden ending of a
rain-squall, signifies the man's failure to gain his object.
The lover seeks to string the golden drupe of the pandanus
(_halo_), that he may wear them as a wreath about his neck
(_uwalo_); he is wounded by the teeth of the sword-leaves (_o
ia i ka lau o ka hala_, verse 5). More than this, he meets
powerful, concerted resistance (_ke poo o ka hala o ke
aku'i_, verse 6), offered by the compact groves of pandanus
that grow in the rough lava-shag (_aku'i_), typifying, no
doubt, the resistance made by the friends and retainers of
the woman. After all, he finds, or declares that he finds,
the hala fruit he had sought to gather and to wear as a _lei_
about his neck, to be spoiled, broken, fit only to litter the
road (_loli ka mu'o o ka hala_, verse 8; _A helelei ka'pua, a
pili ke alanui_, verse 9). In spite of his repulse and his
vilification of the woman, his passion, still feeds on the
thought of the one he has lost; her charms intoxicate his
imagination, even as the perfume of the hala bloom bewitches
the air of Pana-ewa (_Pu ia Panaewa, ona-ona i ke ala_, verse
10).

It is difficult to interpret verses 12 to 18 in harmony with
the story as above given. They may be regarded as a
[Page 79] commentary on the passionate episode in the life of the
lover, looked at from the standpoint of old age, at a time
when passion still survives but physical strength is in
abeyance.

As the sugar-boiler can not extract from the stalk the last
grain of sugar, so the author finds it impossible in any
translation to express the full intent of these Hawaiian
mele.

_Mele_

PALE IV

Aole au e hele ka li'u-la o Mana,
Ia wai crape-kanaka[194] o Lima-loa;[195]
A e hoopunipuni ia a'e nei ka malihini;
A mai puni au: lie wai oupe na.
5 He ala-pahi ka li'u-la o Mana;
Ke poloai[196] la i ke Koolau-waline.[197]
Ua ulu mai ka hoaloha i Wailua,
A ua kino-lau[198] Kawelo[199] mahamaha-i'[200]
[Page 80] A ua aona[201] mai nei lio oiwi e.
10 He mea e wale au e noho aku nei la.
Noho.
O ka noho kau a ka mea waiwai;
O kau ka i'a a haawi ia mai.
Oli-oli au ke loaa ia oe.
15 A pela ke ahi o Ka-maile,[202]
He alualu hewa a'e la ka malihini,
Kukuni hewa i ka ili a kau ka uli, e;
Kau ka uli a ka mea aloha, e.

[Footnote 194: _Wai oupe-kanaka_. Man-fooling water; the
mirage.]

[Footnote 195: _Lima-loa_. The long-armed, the god of the
mirage, who made his appearance at Mana, Kauai.]

[Footnote 196: _Poloai_. To converse with, to have dealings
with one.]

[Footnote 197: _Koolau-wahine_. The sea-breeze at Mana. There
is truth as well as poetry in the assertion made in this
verse. The warm moist air, rising from the heated sands of
Mana, did undoubtedly draw in the cool breeze from the
ocean--a fruitful dalliance.]

[Footnote 198: _Kino-lau_. Having many (400) bodies, or
metamorphoses, said of Kawelo.]

[Footnote 199: _Kawelo_. A sorcerer who lived in the region of
Mana. His favorite metamorphosis was into the form of a
shark. Even when in human form he retained the gills of a
fish and had the mouth of a shark at the back of his
shoulders, while to the lower part of his body were attached
the tail and flukes of a shark. To conceal these monstrous
appendages he wore over his shoulders a _kihei_ of kapa and
allowed himself to be seen only while in the sitting posture.
He sometimes took the form of a worm, a moth, a caterpillar,
or a butterfly to escape the hands of his enemies. On land he
generally appeared as a man squatting, after the manner of a
Hawaiian gardener while weeding his garden plot.

The cultivated lands of Kawelo lay alongside the
much-traveled path to the beach where the people of the
neighborhood resorted to bathe, to fish, and to swim in the
ocean. He made a practice of saluting the passers-by and of
asking them, "Whither are you going?" adding the caution,
"Look to it that you are not swallowed head and tail by the
shark; he has not breakfasted yet" (_E akahele oukou o pau
po'o, pau hi'u i ka mano; aohe i paina i kakahiaka o ka
mano_). As soon as the traveler had gone on his way to the
ocean, Kawelo hastened to the sea and there assumed his
shark-form. The tender flesh of children was his favorite
food. The frequent utterance of the same caution, joined to
the great mortality among the children and youth who resorted
to the ocean at this place, caused a panic among the
residents. The parents consulted a soothsayer, who surprised
them with the information that the guilty one was none other
than the innocent-looking farmer, Kawelo. Instructed by the
soothsayer, the people made an immense net of great strength
and having very fine meshes. This they spread in the ocean at
the bathing place. Kawelo, when caught in the net, struggled
fiendishly to break away, but in vain. According to
directions, they flung the body of the monster into an
enormous oven which they had heated to redness, and supplied
with fresh fuel for five times ten days--_elima anahulu_. At
the end of that time there remained only gray ashes. The
prophet had commanded them that when this had been
accomplished they must fill the pit of the oven with dry
dirt; thus doing, the monster would never come to life. They
neglected this precaution. A heavy rain flooded the
country--the superhuman work of the sorcerer--and from the
moistened ashes sprang into being a swarm of lesser sharks.
From them have come the many species of shark that now infest
our ocean.

The house which once was Kawelo's ocean residence is still
pointed out, 7 fathoms deep, a structure regularly built of
rocks.]

[Footnote 200: _Maha-maha i'a_. The gills or fins of a fish
such as marked Kawelo.]

[Footnote 201: _Aona_. A word of doubtful meaning; according
to one it means lucky. That expounder (T---- P----) says it
should, or-might be, _haona_; he instances the phrase _iwi
paou_, in which the word _paoa_ has a similar, but not
identical, form and means lucky bone.]

[Footnote 202: _Ka-maile_. A place on Kauai where prevailed the
custom of throwing firebrands down the lofty precipice of
Nuololo. This amusement made a fine display at night. As the
fire-sticks fell they swayed and drifted in the breeze,
making it difficult for one standing below to premise their
course through the air and to catch one of them before it
struck the ground or the water, that being one of the objects
of the sport. When a visitor had accomplished this feat, he
would sometimes mark his flesh with the burning stick that he
might show the brand to his sweetheart as a token of his
fidelity.]

[Translation]

_Song_

CANTO IV

I will not chase the mirage of Mana,
That man-fooling mist of god Lima-loa,
Which still deceives the stranger--
And came nigh fooling me--the tricksy water!
5 The mirage of Mana, is a fraud; it
Wantons with the witch Koolau.
A friend has turned up at Wailua,
Changeful Kawelo, with gills like a fish,
Has power to bring luck in any queer shape.
10 As a stranger now am I living,
Aye, living.
You flaunt like a person of wealth,
Yours the fish, till it comes to my hook.
I am blest at receiving from you:
15 Like fire-sticks flung at Ka-maile--
The visitor vainly chases the brand:
Fool! he burns his flesh to gain, the red mark,
A sign for the girl he loves, oho!

_Mele_

PALE V

(Ai-ha'a, a he Ko'i-honua paha)

Kauhua Ku, ka Lani, i-loli ka moku;
Hookohi ke kua-koko o ka Lani;
He kua-koko, pu-koko i ka honua;
He kna-koko kapu no ka Lani;
[Page 81] 5 He ko'i ula ana a maku'i i ka ala,
Hoomau ku-wa mahu ia,
Ka maka o ke ahi alii e a nei.
Ko mai ke keiki koko a ka Lani,
Ke keiki he nuuhiwa ia Hitu-kolo,
10 O ke keiki hiapo anuenue, iloko o ka manawa,
O hi ka wai nui o ka nuuhiwa a Ke-opu-o-lani,
O ua alii lani alewa-lewa nei,
E u-lele, e ku nei ma ka lani;
O ka Lani o na mu'o-lau o Liliha,
15 Ka hakina, ka pu'e, ka maka, o Kuhi-hewa a Lola--
Kalola, nana ke keiki laha-laha;
Ua kela, he kela ka pakela
O na pahi'a loa o ka pu likoliko i ka lani
O kakoo hulu manu o o-ulu,
20 O ka hulu o-ku'i lele i ka lani,
O hiapo o ka manu leina a Pokahi,
O Ka-lani-opu'u hou o ka moku,
O na kupuna koikoi o Keoua, o ka Lani Kui-apo-iwa.

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