The Hawaiian Romance Of Laieikawai Part 41

[Footnote 23: No other intoxicating liquor save _awa_ was known to the early Hawaiians, and this was sacred to the use of chiefs. So high is the percentage of free alcohol in this root that it has become an article of export to Germany for use in drug making. Vancouver, describing the famous Maui chief, Kahekili, says: "His age I suppose must have exceeded 60. He was greatly debilitated and emaciated, and from the color of his skin I judged his feebleness to have been brought on by excessive use of _awa_."]

[Footnote 21: In the Hawaiian form of checkers, called _konane_, the board, _papamu_, is a flat surface of stone or wood, of irregular shape, marked with depressions if of stone, often by bone set in if of wood; these depressions of no definite number, but arranged ordinarily at right angles. The pieces are beach pebbles, coral for white, lava for black. The smallest board in the museum collection holds 96, the largest, of wood, 180 men. The board is set up, leaving one s.p.a.ce empty, and the game is played by jumping, the color remaining longest on the board winning the game. _Konane_ was considered a pastime for chiefs and was accompanied by reckless betting. An old native conducting me up a valley in Kau district, Hawaii, pointed out a series of such evenly set depressions on the flat rock floor of the valley and a.s.sured me that this must once have been a chief's dwelling place.]

[Footnote 25: The _malo_ is a loin cloth 3 or 4 yards long and a foot wide, one end of which pa.s.ses between the legs and fastens in front. The red _malo_ is the chief's badge, and his bodyguard, says Malo, wear the girdle higher than common and belted tight as if ready for instant service. Aiwohikupua evidently travels in disguise as the mere follower of a chief.]

[Footnote 28: In Hawaiian warfare, the biggest boaster was the best man, and to shame an antagonist by taunts was to score success. In the ceremonial boxing contest at the Makahiki festivities for Lono, G.o.d of the boxers, as described by Malo, the "reviling recitative" is part of the program. In the story of _Kawelo_, when his antagonist, punning on his grandfather's name of "c.o.c.k," calls him a "mere chicken that scratches after roaches," Kawelo's sense of disgrace is so keen that he rolls down the hill for shame, but luckily bethinking himself that the c.o.c.k roosts higher than the chief (compare the Arab etiquette that allows none higher than the king), and that out of its feathers, brushes are made which sweep the chief's back, he returns to the charge with a handsome retort which sends his antagonist in ignominious retreat. In the story of Lono, when the nephews of the rival chiefs meet, a sparring contest of wit is set up, depending on the fact that one is short and fat, the other long and lanky, "A little shelf for the rats," jeers the tall one. "Little like the smooth quoit that runs the full course,"

responds the short one, and retorts "Long and lanky, he will go down in the gale like a banana tree." "Like the _ea_ banana that takes long to ripen," is the quick reply. Compare also the derisive chants with which Kuapakaa drives home the chiefs of the six districts of Hawaii who have got his father out of favor, and Lono's taunts against the revolting chiefs of Hawaii.]

[Footnote 27: The idiomatic pa.s.sages "_aohe puko momona o Kohala_,"

etc., and (on page 387) "_e huna oukou i ko oukou mau maka i ke aouli_"

are of doubtful interpretation.]

[Footnote 28: This boast of downing an antagonist with a single blow is ill.u.s.trated in the story of _Kawelo_. His adversary, Kahapaloa, has struck him down and is leaving him for dead. "Strike again, he may revive," urge his supporters. Kahapaloa's refusal is couched in these words:

"He is dead; for it is a blow from the young, The young must kill with a blow Else will the fellow go down to Milu And say Kahapaloa struck frim twice, Thus was the fighter slain."

All Hawaiian stories of demiG.o.ds emphasize the ease of achievement as a sign of divine rather than human capacity.]

CHAPTER V

[Footnote 29: Shaking hands was of foreign introduction and marks one of the several inconsistencies in Haleole's local coloring, of which "the deeds of Venus" is the most glaring. He not only uses such foreign coined words as _wati_, "watch," and _mare_, "marry," but terms which are late Hawaiian, such as the triple canoe, _pukolu_, and provision boat, _pelehu_, said to have been introduced in the reign of Kamehameha I.]

[Footnote 30: Famous Hawaiian boxing teachers kept master strokes in reserve for the pupils, upon whose success depended their own reputation. These strokes were known by name. Compare Kawelo, who before setting out to recapture Kauai sends his wife to secure from his father-in-law the stroke called _wahieloa_. The phrase "_Ka ai a ke k.u.mu i ao oleia ia oukou_" has been translated with a double-punning meaning, literal and figurative, according to the interpretation of the words.

Cold-nose's faith in his girdle parodies the far-fetched dependence upon name signs common to this punning race. The snapping of the end of his loin cloth is a good omen for the success of a stroke named "End-that-sounds"! Even his supporters jeer at him.]

[Footnote 31: Few similes are used in the story. This figure of the "blood of a lamb," the "blow like the whiz of the wind," the _moo_ ploughing the earth with his jaw "like a shovel," a picture of the surf rider--"foam rose on each side of his neck like a boar's tusks," and the appearance of the Sun G.o.d's skin, "like a furnace where iron is melted,"

will, perhaps, cover them all. In each the figure is exact, but ornamental, evidently used to heighten the effect. Images are occasionally elaborated with exact realization of the bodily sensation produced. The rainbow "trembling in the hot rays of the sun" is an example, and those pa.s.sages which convey the lover's sensations--"his heart fainted with love," "thick pressed with thunders of love," or such an image as "the burden of his mind was lifted." Sometimes the image carries the comparison into another field, as in "the windings and twistings of his journey"--a habit of mind well ill.u.s.trated in the occasional proverbs, and in the highly figurative songs.]

[Footnote 32: The Polynesians, like the ancient Hebrews, practiced circ.u.mcision with strict ceremonial observances.]

[Footnote 33: The G.o.ds invoked by Aiwohikupua are not translated with certainty, but they evidently represent such forces of the elements as we see later belong among the family deities of the Aiwohikupua household. Prayer as an invocation to the G.o.ds who are called upon for help is one of the most characteristic features of native ritual, and the termination _amama_, generally accompanied by the finis.h.i.+ng phrases _ua noa_, "it is finished," and _lele wale aku la_, "flown away," is genuine Polynesian. Literally _mama_ means "to chew," but not for the purpose of swallowing like food, but to spit out of the mouth, as in the preparation of _awa_. The term may therefore, authorities say, be connected with the ceremonial chewing of _awa_ in the ritualistic invocations to the G.o.ds. A similar prayer quoted by Gill (Myths and Songs, 120) he ascribes to the antiquity of the story.]

[Footnote 34: The _laau palau_, literally "wood-that-cuts," which Wise translates "war club," has not been identified on Hawaii in the Bishop Museum, but is described from other groups. Gill, from the Hervey Islands, calls it a sharpened digging stick, used also as a weapon. The gigantic dimensions of these sticks and their appellations are emphasized in the hero tales.]

[Footnote 35: The Hawaiian cloak or _kihei_ is a large square, 2 yards in size, made of bark cloth worn over the shoulders and joined by two corners on one side in a knot.]

[Footnote 36: The meaning of the idiomatic boast _he lala kamahele no ka laau ku i ka pali_ is uncertain. I take it to be a punning reference to the Pali family from whom the chief sprang, but it may simply be a way of saying "I am a very high chief." Kamahele is a term applied to a favorite and petted child, as, in later religious apostrophe, to Christ himself.]

CHAPTER VI

[Footnote 37: The _puloulou_ is said to have been introduced by Paao some five hundred years ago, together with the ceremonial taboo of which it is the symbol. Since for a person of low rank to approach a sacred place or person was death to the intruder, it was necessary to guard against accidental offences by the use of a sign. The _puloulou_ consisted of a ball-shaped bundle of white bark cloth attached to the end of a staff. This symbol is to be seen represented upon the Hawaiian coat of arms; and Kalakaua's _puloulou_, a gilded wooden ball on the end of a long staff, is preserved in the Bishop Museum.]

[Footnote 38: Long life was the Polynesian idea of divine blessing. Of Kualii the chanter boasts that he "lived to be carried to battle in a net." The word is _kaikoko_, "to carry on the back in a net," as in the case of old and feeble persons. Polynesian dialects contain a full vocabulary of age terms from infancy to old age.]

[Footnote 39: Chickens were a valuable part of a chief's wealth, since from their feathers were formed the beautiful fly brushes, _kahili_, used to wave over chiefs of rank and carried in ceremonial processions.

The entrance to the rock cave is still shown, at the mouth of Kaliuwaa valley, where Kamapuaa's grandmother shut up her chickens at night, and it was for robbing his uncle's henroost that this rascally pig-G.o.d was chased away from Oahu. This reference is therefore one of many indications that the Laieikawai tale belongs with those of the ancient demiG.o.ds.]

[Footnote 40: Mr. Meheula suggested to me this translation of the idiomatic allusions to the canoe and the coral reef.]

CHAPTER VIII

[Footnote 41: A peculiarly close family relation between brother and sister is reflected in Polynesian tales, as in those of Celtic, Finnish, and Scandinavian countries. Each serves as messenger or go-between for the other in matters of love or revenge, and guards the other's safety by magic arts. Such a condition represents a society in which the family group is closely bound together. For such ill.u.s.trations compare the Fornander stories of _Halemano, Hinaikamalama, Kalanimanuia, Nihoalaki, Kaulanapokii, Pamano_. The character of accomplished sorceress belongs especially to the helpful sister, a woman of the Malio or Kahalaomapuana type, whose art depends upon a life of solitary virginity. She knows spells, she can see what is going on at a distance, and she can restore the dead to life. In the older stories she generally appears in bird form. In more human tales she wins her brother's wishes by strategy.

This is particularly true of the characters in this story, who win their way by wit rather than magic. In this respect the youngest sister of Aiwohikupua should be compared with her prototype, Kaulanapokii, who weaves spells over plants and brings her slain brothers back to life.

Kahalaomapuana never performs any such tasks, but she is pictured as invincible in persuasion; she never fails in sagacity, and is always right and always successful. She is, in fact, the most attractive character in the story. It is rather odd, since modern folk belief is firmly convinced of the power of love spells, that none appear in the recorded stories. All is accomplished by strategy.]

[Footnote 42: For the translation of this dialogue I am indebted, to the late Dr. Alexander, to whose abstract of the story I was fortunate enough to have access.]

CHAPTER X

[Footnote 43: To express the interrelation between brothers and sisters two pairs of kins.h.i.+p terms are used, depending upon the age and s.e.x.

Sisters speak of brothers as _kaikunane_, and brothers of sisters as _kaikuahine_, but within the same s.e.x _kaikuaana_ for the elder and _kaikaina_ for the younger is used. So on page 431 Aiwohikupua deserts his sisters--_kaikuahine_--and the girls lament for their younger sister--_kaikaina_. After their reunion her older sisters--_kaikuaana_ --ask her counsel. Notice, too, that when, on page 423, the brother bids his youngest sister--_kaikuahine opiopio_--stay with "her sisters" he uses the word _kaikuaana_, because he is thinking of her relation to them, not of his own. The word _pokii,_--"little sister"--is an endearing term used to good effect where the younger sister sings--

"I am going back to your little sisters (_me o'u pokii_) To my older sisters (_kaikuaana_) I return."]

[Footnote 44: The line translated "Fed upon the fruit of sin" contains one of those poetic plays upon words so frequent in Polynesian song, so difficult to reproduce in translation. Literally it might read "Sheltering under the great _hala_ tree." But _hala_, also means "sin."

This meaning is therefore caught up and employed in the next line--"is constancy then a sin?"--a repet.i.tion which is lost in translation.

_Malu_, shade, is a doubtful word, which may, according to Andrews, mean "protected," or may stand for "wet and uncomfortable," a doubt evidently depending upon the nature of the case, which adds to the riddling character of the message. In their songs the sisters call up the natural scenery, place names, and childhood experiences of their native home on Kauai. The images used attempt actual description. The slant of the rain, the actual ladder of wood which helps scale the steep footpath up Nualolo Valley (compare _Song of Kualii_, line 269, Lyons' version), the rugged cliffs which are more easily rounded by sea--"swimming 'round the steeps"--picture actual conditions on the island. Notice especially how the song of the youngest sister reiterates the constant theme of the "follow your leader" relation between the brother and his younger sisters. Thus far they have unhesitatingly followed his lead; how, then, can he leave them leaderless? is the plea: first, in their sports at home; next, in this adventure over sea and through the forest; last, in that divine mystery of birth when he first opened the roadway and they, his little sisters, followed after.]

CHAPTER XI

[Footnote 45: This _ti_-leaf trumpet is constructed from the thin, dry, lilylike leaf of the wild _ti_ much as children make whistles out of gra.s.s. It must be recalled that musical instruments were attributed to G.o.ds and awakened wonder and awe in Polynesian minds.]

CHAPTER XII