The Hawaiian Romance Of Laieikawai Part 47

[Footnote 2: Rev. A.O. Forbes's version of this story is printed in Thrum, p. 63. See also Daggett. They differ only in minor detail. Uli's chant of the canoe is used by sorcerers to exorcise the spirits, and Uli is the special G.o.d of the priests who use sorcery.]

4. KAPUNOHU

Kukuipahu and Niulii are chiefs of Kohala when Kapunohu, the great warrior, is born in Kukuipahu. Kanikaa is his G.o.d, and Kanikawi his spear. Insulted by Kukuipahu, he goes to the uplands to test his strength, and sends his spear through 800 _wili-wili_ trees at once. Two men he meets on the way are offered as much land as they can run over in a certain time; thus the upland districts of Pioholowai and Kukuikiikii are formed. Kapunohu makes a conquest of a number of women, before joining Niulii against Kukuipahu. In the battle that follows at Kapaau 3,200 men are killed and trophies taken, and Kukuipahu falls. Kapunohu, armed with Kanikawi, kills Paopele at Lamakee, whose huge war club 4,000 men carry. After this feat he goes to Oahu, where his sister has married Olopana, who is at war with Kakuhihewa. Kapunohu pulls eight patches of taro at one time for food, then joins his brother-in-law and slays Kakuhihewa. Next he wins against Kemano, chief of Kauai, in a throwing contest, spear against sling stone, and becomes ruler over Kauai. His skill in riddles brings him wealth in a tour about Hawaii, but two young men of Kau finally outdo him in a contest of wit.

5. KEPAKAILIULA

When this son of Ku and Hina is born in Keaau, Puna, in the form of an egg, the maternal uncles, Kiinoho and Kiikele, who are chiefs of high rank, steal him away and carry him to live in Paliuli, where in 10 days'

time he becomes a beautiful child; in 40 days he has eyes and skin, as red as the feather cape in which h& is wrapped, and eats nothing but bananas, a bunch at a meal. The foster parents travel about Hawaii to find a bride of matchless beauty for their favorite, and finally choose Makolea, the daughter of Keauhou and Kahaluu, who live in Kona. Thither they take the boy, leaving Paliuli forever, and this place has never since been seen by man. The girl is, however, betrothed to Kakaalaneo, king of Maui, and when her parents discover her amour with Kepakailiula they send her off to her husband, who is a famous spearsman.

Kepakailiula now moves to Kohala and marries the pretty daughter of its king. Two successive nights he slips over to Maui, fools the drunken king, and enjoys his bride. Then he persuades his father-in-law, Kukuipahu, to send a friendly expedition to Maui, which he turns into a war venture, and slays the chief Kakaalaneo and so many men that his father-in-law is obliged to put a stop to the slaughter by running in front of him with his wife in his arms. He then makes Kukuipahu king over Maui and goes on to Oahu, where Kakuhihewa hastens to make peace.

One day when Makolea is out surf riding, messengers of the king of Kauai, Kaikipaananea, steal her away and she becomes this king's wife.

Kepakailiula follows her to Kauai and defeats the king in boxing. One more contest is prepared; the king has two riddles, the failure to answer which will mean death. Only one man knows the answers, Kukaea, the public crier, and he is an outcast who has lived on nothing but filth air his life. Kepakailiula invites him in, feeds, and clothes him.

For this attention, the man reveals the riddles, Kepakailiula answers them correctly, and bakes the king in his own oven. The riddles are:

1. "Plaited all around, plaited to the bottom, leaving an opening.

Answer: A house, thatched all around and leaving a door."

2. "The men that stand, the men that lie down, the men that are folded.

Answer: A house, the timbers that stand, the battens laid down, the gra.s.s and cords folded."

6. KAIPALAOA.

The boy skilled in the art of disputation, or _hoopapa_, lives in Waiakea, Hilo, Hawaii. In the days of Pueonuiokona, king of Kauai, his father, Halepaki, has been killed in a riddling contest with Kalanialiiloa, the taboo chief of Kauai, whose house is almost surrounded by a fence of human bones from the victims he has defeated in this art. Kaipalaoa's mother teaches him all she knows, then his aunt, Kalenaihaleauau, wife of Kukuipahu, trains him until he is an expert. He meets Kalanialiiloa, riddles against all his champions, and defeats them. They are killed, cooked in the oven, and the flesh stripped from their bones. Thus Kaipalaoa avenges his father's death.

7. MOIKEHA.

Olopana and his wife Luukia, during the flood at Waipio, are swept out to sea, and sail, or swim, to Tahiti, where Moikeha is king. Olopana becomes chief counsellor, and Luukia becomes Moikeha's mistress. Mua, who also loves Luukia, sows discord by reporting to her that Moikeha is boasting in public of her favors. She repulses Moikeha and he, out of grief, sails away to Hawaii. The las.h.i.+ng used for water bottles and for the binding of canoes is called the _pauoluukia_ ("skirt of Luukia") because she thus bound herself against the chief's approaches.

Moikeha touches at various points on the islands. At Hilo, Hawaii, he leaves his younger brothers k.u.mukahi and Haehae; at Kohala, his priests Mookini and Kaluawilinae; at Maui, a follower, Honuaula; at Oahu his sisters Makapuu and Makaaoa. With the rest--his foster son Kamahualele, his paddlers Kapahi and Moanaikaiaiwe, Kipunuiaiakamau and his fellow, and two spies, Kaukaukamunolea and his fellow--he reaches Wailua, Kauai, at the beach Kamakaiwa. He has dark reddish hair and a commanding figure, and the king of Kauai's two daughters fall in love with and marry him. He becomes king of Kauai and by them has five sons, Umalehu, Kaialea, Kila, Kekaihawewe, Laukapalala. How his bones are buried first in the cliff of Haena and later removed to Tahiti is told in the story of Kila.[1]

[Footnote 1: See Daggett's account, who places Moikeha's role in the eleventh century.]

8. KILA

Moikeha, wis.h.i.+ng to send a messenger to fetch his oldest son from Tahiti, summons his five sons and tests them to know by a sign which boy to send. The lot falls upon Kila, the youngest. On his journey Kila encounters dangers and calls upon his supernatural relatives. The monsters Keaumiki and Keauka draw him down to the coral beds, but Kakakauhanui saves him. His rat aunt, Kanepohihi, befriends him, and when he goes to his uncle Makalii,[1] who has all the food fastened up in his net, she nibbles the net and the food falls out. At Tahiti he first kills Mua, who caused his father's exile. Then his warriors are matched with the Tahiti champions and he himself faces Makalii, whose club is Naulukohelewalewa. Kila, with the club Kahikikolo stuns his uncle "long enough to cook two ovens of food." The spirits of Moikeha's slain followers appear and join their praises to those of the crowd a.s.sembled, together with ants, birds, pebbles, sh.e.l.ls, gra.s.s, smoke, and thunder. Kila goes to his father's house, Moaulanuiakea, thatched with birds' feathers, and built of _kauila_ wood. All is desolate. The man whom he seeks, Laamaikahiki, is hidden in the temple of Kapaahu. On a strict taboo night Kila conceals himself and, when the brother comes to beat the drum, delivers his message. Kila succeeds in bringing his brother to Hawaii, who later returns to Kahiki from Kahoolawe, hence the name "The road to Tahiti" for the ocean west of that island. When Laamaikahiki revisits Hawaii to get the bones of his father, he brings the _hula_ drum and _kaeke_ flute. Meanwhile Kila has become king, after his father's death. The jealous brothers entice him to Waipio, Hawaii, where they abandon him to slavery. The priest of the temple adopts him.

He gains influence and introduces the tenant system of working a number of days for the landlord, and is beloved for his industry. At the time of famine in the days of Hua,[2] one of his brothers comes to Waipo to get food. Kila has him thrown into prison, but each time he is taken out to be killed, Kila imitates the call of a mud hen and the sacrifice is postponed. Finally the mother and other brothers are summoned, Kila makes himself known, and the mother demands the brothers' death. Kila offers himself as the first to be killed, and reconciliation follows.

Later he goes with Laamaikahiki back to Tahiti to carry their father's bones.

[Footnote 1: Kaulu meets the wizard Makalii in rat form and kills him by carrying him up in the air and letting him drop. Makalii means "little eyes" and refers to a certain mesh of fish net. One form of cat's cradle has this name. It also names the six summer months, the Pleiades, and the trees of plenty planted in Paliuli. "Plenty of fish" seems to be the root idea of the symbol.]

[Footnote 3: Daggett tells the story of _Hua_, priest of Maui.]

9. UMI

The great chief of Hawaii, Liloa, has a son by Piena, named Hakau. On a journey to dedicate the temple of Manini at Kohalalele, Liloa sees Akahiakuleana bathing in the Hoea stream at Kaawikiwiki and falls in love with her. Some authorities claim she was of low birth, others make her a relative of Liloa. He leaves with her the customary tokens by which to recognize his child. When their boy Umi is grown, having quarreled with his supposed father, he takes the tokens and, by his mother's direction, goes to seek Liloa in Waipio valley. Two boys, Omaokamao and Piimaiwaa, whom he meets on the way, accompany him. Umi enters the sacred inclosure of the chief and sits in his father's lap, who, recognizing the trophies, pardons the sacrilege and sending for his G.o.ds, performs certain ceremonies. At his death he wills his lands and men to Hakau, but his G.o.ds and temples to Umi.

Hakau is of a cruel and jealous disposition. Umi is obliged to leave him and go to farming with his two companions and a third, Koi, whom he meets on the way. He marries two girls, but their parents complain that he is lazy and gets no fish. Racing with Paiea at Laupahoehoe, he gets crowded against the rocks. This is a breach of etiquette and he nurses his revenge. Finally, by a rainbow sign and by the fact that a pig offered in sacrifice walks toward Umi, his chiefly blood is proved to the priest Kaoleioku. The priest considers how Umi may win the kingdom away from the unpopular Hakau. Umi studies animal raising and farming.

He builds four large houses, holding 160 men each, and these are filled in no time with men training in the arts of war. A couple of disaffected old men, Nunu and Kakohe, are won over to Umi's cause, and they advise Hakau to prepare for war with Umi. While all the king's men are gone to the forests to get feathers for the war G.o.d, Umi and his followers start, on the day of Olekulua, and on the day of Lono they surprise and kill Hakau and his few attendants, who thought they were men from the outdistricts come with their taxes. So Umi becomes king. Kaoleioku is chief priest, and Nunu and Kakohe are high in authority. The land he divides among his followers, giving Kau to Omaokamau, Hilo to Kaoleioku, Hamakua to Piimaiwaa, Kahala to Koi, Kona to Ehu, and Puna to another friend. To prove how long Umi will hold his kingdom, he is placed 8 fathoms away from a warrior who hurls his spear at the king's middle, using the thrust known as Wahie. Umi wards it off, catches it by the handle and holds it. This is a sign that he will hold his kingdom successfully--"your son, your grandson, your issue, your offspring until the very last of your blood."

Umi now makes a tour of the island for two years. He slays Paiea. He sends Omaokamau to Piilani of Maui to arrange a marriage with Piikea.

After 20 days, Piikea sets sail for Hawaii with a fleet of 400 canoes, and a rainbow "like a feather helmet" stands out at sea signaling her approach. The rest of the story has to do with the adventures of Umi's three warriors, Omaokamau who is right-handed, Koi who is left-handed, and Piimaiwae, who is ambidextrous, during the campaign on Maui, undertaken at Piikea's plea to gain for her brother, Kihapiilani, the rule over Maui. The son and successor of Umi is Keawenuiaumi, father of Lonoikamakahiki.

10. KIHAPILANI

Lonoapii, king of Maui, has two sisters, Piikea, the wife of Umi, and Kihawahine, named for the lizard G.o.d, and a younger brother, Kihapiilani, with whom he quarrels. Kihapiilani nurses his revenge as he plants potatoes in Kula. Later he escapes to Umi in Hawaii, and his sister Piikea persuades her husband to aid his cause with a fleet of war canoes that make a bridge from Kohala to Kauwiki. Hoolae defends the fort at Kauwiki. Umi's greatest warriors, Piimaiwae, Omaokamau, and Koi, attack in vain by day. At night a giant appears and frightens away intruders. One night Piimaiwaa discovers that the giant is only a wooden image called Kawalakii, and knocks it over with his club. Lonoapii is slain and Kihapiilani becomes king. He builds a paved road from Kawaipapa to Kahalaoaka and a sh.e.l.l road on Molokai.

11. PAKAA AND KUAPAKAA[1]

Pakaa, the favorite of Keawenuiaumi, king of Hawaii, regulates the distribution of land, has charge of the king's household, keeps his personal effects, and is sailing master for his double canoe. The king gives him land in the six districts of Hawaii. He owns the paddle, Lapakahoe, and the wooden calabash with netted cover in which are the bones of his mother, Laamaomao, whose voice the winds obey.

Two men, Hookeleiholo and Hookeleipuna, ruin him with the king. So, taking the king's effects, his paddle and calabash, he sails away to Molokai where he marries a high chiefess and has a son, Kuapakaa, named after the king's cracked skin from drinking _awa_. He plants fields in the uplands marked out like the districts of Hawaii, and trains his son in all the lore of Hawaii.

The king dreams that Pakaa reveals to him his residence in Kaula. His love for the man returns and he sets out with a great retinue to seek him. Pakaa foresees the king's arrival and goes to meet him and bring him to land. He conceals his own face under the pretense of fis.h.i.+ng, and leaves the son to question the expedition. First pa.s.s the six canoes of the district chiefs of Hawaii, and Kuapakaa sings a derisive chant for each, calling him by name. Then he inquires their destination and sings a prophecy of storm. The king's sailing masters, priests, and prophets deny the danger, but the boy again and again repeats the warning. He names the winds of all the islands in turn, then calls the names of the king's paddlers. Finally he uncovers the calabash, and the canoes are swamped and the whole party is obliged to come ash.o.r.e. Pakaa brings the king the loin cloth and scented tapa he has had in keeping, prepares his food in the old way, and makes him so comfortable that the king regrets his old servant. The party is weather-bound four months. As they proceed, they carry the boy Kuapakaa with them. He blows up a storm in which the two sailing masters are drowned, and carries the rest of the party safe back to Kawaihae, Kohala. Here the boy is forgotten, but by a great racing feat, in which he wins against his contestants by riding in near sh.o.r.e in the eddy caused by their flying canoes, thus coming to the last stretch unwearied, he gets the lives of his father's last enemies.

Then he makes known to the king his parentage, and Pakaa is returned to all his former honors.

[Footnote 1: This story Fornander calls "the most famous in Hawaiian history."]