The Hawaiian Romance Of Laieikawai Part 23

That night the ten men chosen by the chief went up to destroy the sisters of Aiwohikupua, and the a.s.sistant counsellor made the eleventh in place of the chief counsellor.

At the first dawn they approached Paliuli. Then they heard the humming of the wind in the thicket from the tongue of that great lizard, Kihanuilulumoku, coming for them, but they did not see the creature, so they went on; soon they saw the upper jaw of the lizard hanging right over them; they were just between the lizard's jaws; then the a.s.sistant counsellor leaped quickly back, could not make the distance; it snapped them up; not a messenger was left.

Two days pa.s.sed; there was no one to tell of the disaster to Aiwohikupua's party, and because he wondered why they did not return the chief was angry.

So the chief again chose a party of warriors, twenty of them, from the strongest of his men, to go up and destroy the sisters; and the counsellor appointed an a.s.sistant counsellor to go for him with the men.

Again they went up until they came clear to the place where the first band had disappeared; these also disappeared in the lizard; not a messenger was left.

Again the chief waited; they came not back. The chief again sent a band of forty; all were killed. So it went on until eight times forty warriors had disappeared.

Then Aiwohikupua consulted with his counsellor as to the reason for none of the men who had been sent returning.

Said Aiwohikupua to his counsellor, "How is it that these warriors who are sent do not return?"

Said his counsellor, "It may be when they get to the uplands and see the beauty of the place they remain, and if not, they have all been killed by your sisters."

"How can they be killed by those helpless girls, whom I intended to kill?" So said Aiwohikupua.

And because of the chief's anxiety to know why his warriors did not come back he agreed with his counsellor to send messengers to see what the men were doing.

At the chief's command the counsellor sent the Snipe and the Turnstone, Aiwohikupua's swiftest messengers, to go up and find out the truth about his men.

Not long after they had left they met another man, a bird catcher from the uplands of Olaa;[53] he asked, "Where are you two going?"

The runners said, "We are going up to find out the truth about our people who are living at Paliuli; eight times forty men have been sent--not one returned."

"They are done for," said the bird catcher, "in the great lizard, Kihanuilulumoku; they have not been spared."

When they heard this they kept on going up; not long after they heard the sighing of the wind and the humming of the trees bending back and forth; then they remembered the bird catcher's words, "If the wind hums, that is from the lizard."

They knew then this must be the lizard; they flew in their bird bodies.

They flew high and looked about. There right above them was the upper jaw shutting down upon them, and only by quickness of flight in their bird bodies did they escape.

CHAPTER XVII

As they flew far upward and were lost to sight on high, Snipe and his companion looked down at the lower jaw of the lizard plowing the earth like a shovel, and it was a fearful thing to see. It was plain their fellows must all be dead, and they returned and told Aiwohikupua what they had seen.

Then Kalahumoku, Aiwohikupua's great man-eating dog, was fetched to go and kill the lizard, then to destroy the sisters of Aiwohikupua.

When Kalahumoku, the man-eating dog from Tahiti, came into the presence of his grandchild (Aiwohikupua), "Go up this very day and destroy my sisters," said Aiwohikupua, "and bring Laieikawai."

Before the dog went up to destroy Aiwohikupua's sisters the dog first instructed the chief, and the chiefs under him, and all the men, as follows: "Where are you? While I am away, you watch the uplands. When the clouds rise straight up, if they turn leeward then I have met Kihanuilulumoku and you will know that we have made friends. But if the clouds turn to the windward, there is trouble; I have fought with that lizard. Then pray to your G.o.d, to Lanipipili; if you see the clouds turn, seaward, the lizard is the victor; but when the clouds ascend and turn toward the mountain top, then the lizard has melted away; we have prevailed.[54] Then keep on praying until I return."[55]

After giving his instructions, the dog set out up the mountain, and Aiwohikupua sent with him Snipe and Turnstone as messengers to report the deeds of the dog and the lizard.

When the dog had come close to Paliuli, Kihanuilulumoku was asleep at the time; he was suddenly startled from sleep; he was awakened by the scent of a dog. By that time the lizard was too late for the dog, who went on until he reached the princess's first guardian.

Then the lizard took a sniff, the guardian G.o.d of Paliuli, and recognized Kalahumoku, the marvel of Tahiti; then the lizard lifted his upper jaw to begin the fight with Kalahumoku.

Instantly the dog showed his teeth at the lizard, and the fight began; then the lizard was victor over Kalahumoku and the dog just escaped without ears or tail.

At the beginning of the fight the messengers returned to tell Aiwohikupua of this terrible battle.

When they heard from Snipe and his companion of this battle between the lizard and the dog, Aiwohikupua looked toward the mountain.

As they looked the clouds rose straight up, and no short time after turned seaward, then Aiwohikupua knew that the lizard had prevailed and Aiwohikupua regretted the defeat of their side.

In the evening of the day of the fight between the two marvelous creatures Kalahumoku came limping back exhausted; when the chief looked him over, gone were the ears and tail inside the lizard.

So Aiwohikupua resolved to depart, since they were vanquished. They departed and came to Kauai and told the story of the journey and of the victory of the lizard over them. (This was the third time that Aiwohikupua had been to Paliuli after Laieikawai without fulfilling his mission.)

Having returned to Kauai without Laieikawai, Aiwohikupua gave up thinking about Laieikawai and resolved to carry out the commands of Poliahu.

At this time Aiwohikupua, with his underchiefs and the women of his household, clapped hands in prayer before Lanipipili, his G.o.d, to annul his vow.

And he obtained favor in the presence of his G.o.d, and was released from his sinful vow "not to take any woman of these islands to wife," as has been shown in the former chapters of this story.

After the ceremonies at Kauai, he sent his messengers, the Snipe and the Turnstone, to go and announce before Poliahu the demands of the chief.

In their bird bodies they flew swiftly to Hinaikamalama's home at Hana and came and asked the people of the place, "Where is the woman who is betrothed to the chief of Kauai?"

"She is here," answered the natives of the place.

They went to meet the princess of Hana.

The messengers said to the princess, "We have been sent hither to tell you the command of your betrothed husband. You have three months to prepare for the marriage, and in February, on the night of the seventeenth, the night of Kulu, he will come to meet you, according to the oath between you."

When the princess had heard these words the messengers returned and came to Aiwohikupua.

Asked the chief, "Did you two meet Poliahu?"

"Yes," said the messengers, "we told her, as you commanded, to prepare herself; Poliahu inquired, 'Does he still remember the game of _konane_ between us?'"

"Perhaps so," answered the messengers.

When Aiwohikupua heard the messengers' words he suspected that they had not gone to Poliahu; then Aiwohikupua asked to make sure, "How did you two fly?"

Said they, "We flew past an island, flew on to some long islands--a large, island like the one we first pa.s.sed, two little islands like one long island, and a very little island; we flew along the east coast of that island and came to a house below the hills covered with shade; there we found Poliahu; that was how it was."

Said Aiwohikupua, "You did not find Poliahu; this was Hinaikainalama."

Now for this mistake of the messengers the rage of Aiwohikupua was stirred against his messengers, and they ceased to be among his favorites.