Unwritten Literature of Hawaii Part 16

(Bombastic style)

Haunt of white tropic-bird and big ruffled owl, Up rises the firstborn child of the pali.

He climbs, he climbs, he climbs up aloft, Kaholo-ku'-iwa, the pali of Ha'i.

5 Accomplished now is the steep, The ladder-like series of steps.

Malu-o is left far below.

[Page 68] Pa.s.sed is Ka-maha-la'-wili, The very ridge-pole of the rain-- 10 It's as if the peak cut it in twain-- An arched roof the peak's crest Hale-hale-o-u.

A twisted cord hangs the brook Wai-hilau; Like smoke from roasting bird Ocean's wild dance; The shark-G.o.d is swimming the sea; 15 The rocks leap down at Big-leaf[174] and Flat-leaf--[174]

See the ocean charge 'gainst the cliffs, Thrust snout like rooting boar against Windy-cape, Against Kohola-lele.

[Footnote 169: _Koa'e-kea, Pueo hulu-nui_. Steep declivities, _pali_, on the side of Waipio valley, Hawaii. Instead of inserting these names, which would be meaningless without an explanation, the author has given a literal translation of the names themselves, thus getting a closer insight into the Hawaiian thought.]

[Footnote 170: _A'e_. The precipices rise one above another like the steps of a stairway, climbing, climbing up, though the probable intent of the poet is to represent some one as climbing the ascent.]

[Footnote 171: _Ha'i_. Short for _Ha'ina-kolo;_ a woman about whom there is a story of tragic adventure. Through eating when famished of some berries in an unceremonious way she became distraught and wandered about for many months until discovered by the persistent efforts of her husband. The pali which she climbed was named after her.]

[Footnote 172: _Maka'u-kiu_. The name of a famous huge shark that was regarded with reverential fear.]

[Footnote 173: _Pohaku lele_. In order to determine whether a shark was present, it was the custom, before going into the clear water of some of these coves, to throw rocks into the water in order to disturb the monster and make his presence known.]

[Footnote 174: _Big-leaf_. A literal translation of _Lau-nui_.

_Laupahoehoe_, Flat-leaf.]

MAHELE IV

Hole[175] Waimea i ka ihe a ka makani, Hao mai na ale a ke Ki-pu'u-pu'u;[176]

He laau kala-ihi ia na ke anu, I o'o i ka nahele o Mahiki.[177]

5 Ku aku la oe i ka Malanai[178] a ke Ki-puu-puu; Nolu ka maka o ka oha-wai[179] o Uli; Niniau, eha ka pua o Koaie,[180]

Eha i ke anu ka nahele o Wai-ka-e, A he aloha, e!

10 Aloha Wai-ka, ia'u me he ipo la; Me he ipo la ka maka lena o ke Koo-lau,[181]

Ka pua i ka nahele o Mahule-i-a, E lei hele i ke alo o Moo-lau.[182]

E lau ka huaka'i-hele i ka pali loa; 15 Hele hihiu, puli[183] noho i ka nahele.

O ku'u noho wale iho no i kahua, e-e.

A he aloha, e-e!

O kou aloha ka i hiki mai i o'u nei.

Mahea la ia i nalo iho nei?

This mele, _Hole Waimea_, is also sung in connection with the hula _ipu_.

[Footnote 175: _Hole_. To rasp, to handle rudely, to caress pa.s.sionately. Waimea is a district and village on Hawaii.]

[Footnote 176: _Kipu'u-pu'u_. A cold wind from Mauna-Kea that blows at Waimea.]

[Footnote 177: _Mahiki_. A woodland in Waimea, in mythological times haunted by demons and spooks.]

[Footnote 178: _Mala-nai_. The poetical name of a wind, probably the trade wind; a name much used in Hawaiian sentimental poetry.]

[Footnote 179: _Oha-wai_. A water hole that is filled by dripping; an important source of supply for drinking purposes in certain parts of Hawaii.]

[Footnote 180: _Pua o Koaie_, The koaie is a tree that grows in the wilds, the blossom of which is extremely fragrant. (Not the same as that subspecies of the _koa_ (Acacia koa) which Hillebrand describes and wrongly spells _koaia_. Here a euphemism for the delicate parts.)]

[Footnote 181: _Koolau_, or, full form, _Ko-kao-lau_. Described by Doctor Hillebrand as _Kokolau_, a wrong spelling. It has a pretty yellow flower, a yellow eye--_maka lena_--as the song has it. Here used tropically. (This is the plant whose leaf is sometimes used as a subst.i.tute for tea.)]

[Footnote 182: _Moolau_. An expression used figuratively to mean a woman, more especially her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. The term _Huli-lau_, is also used, in a slang way, to signify the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of a woman, the primitive meaning being a calabash.]

[Footnote 183: _Pili_. To touch; touched. This was the word used in the forfeit-paying love game, _kilu_, when the player made a point by hitting the target of his opponent with his _kilu_. (For further description see p. 235.)]

[Page 69]

The song above given, the translation of which is to follow, belongs to historic times, being ascribed to King Liholiho--Kamehameha II--who died in London July 13, 1824, on his visit to England. It attained great vogue and still holds its popularity with the Hawaiians. The reader will note the comparative effeminacy and sentimentality of the style and the frequent use of euphemisms and double-entendre. The double meaning in a Hawaiian mele will not always be evident to one whose acquaintance with the language is not intimate.

To one who comes to it from excursions in Anglo-Saxon poetry, wandering through its "meadows trim with daisies pied," the sly intent of the Hawaiian, even when pointed out, will, no doubt, seem an inconsequential thing and the demonstration of it an impertinence, if not a fiction to the imagination. Its euphemisms in reality have no baser intent than the euphuisms of Lyly, Ben Jonson, or Shakespeare.

[Translation.]

_Song--Hole Waimea_

PART IV

Love tousled Waimea with, shafts of the wind, While Kipuupuu puffed jealous gusts.

Love is a tree that blights in the cold, But thrives in the woods of Mahiki.

5 Smitten art thou with the blows of love; Luscious the water-drip in the wilds; Wearied and bruised is the flower of Koaie; Stung by the frost the herbage of Wai-ka-e: And this--it is love.

10 Wai-ka, loves me like a sweetheart.

Dear as my heart Koolau's yellow eye, My flower in the tangled wood, Hule-i-a, A travel-wreath to lay on love's breast, A shade to cover my journey's long climb.

15 Love-touched, distraught, mine a wilderness-home; But still do I cherish the old spot, For love--it is love.

Your love visits me even here: Where has it been hiding till now?

PAUKU 2

Kau ka ha-e-a, kau o ka hana wa ele, Ke ala-ula ka makani, Kulu a e ka ua i kou wabi moe.

Palepale i na auwai o lalo; 5 Eli mawaho o ka hale o Koolau, e.

E lau Koolau, he aina ko'e-ko'e; Maka'u i ke anu ka uka o ka Lahuloa.

Loa ia mea, na'u i waiho aku ai.

[Page 70]

[Translation]

STANZA 2

A mackerel sky, time for foul weather; The wind raises the dust-- Thy couch is a-drip with the rain; Open the door, let's trench about the house: 5 Koolau, land of rain, will shoot green leaves.

I dread the cold of the uplands.

An adventure that of long ago.

The poem above given from beginning to end is figurative, a piece of far-fetched, enigmatical symbolism in the lower plane of human nature.

PAUKU 3

Hoe Puna i ka wa'a po-lolo'[184] a ka ino; Ha-uke-uke i ka wa o Koolau: Eha e! eha la!

Eha i ku'i-ku'i o ka Ulu-mano.[185]

5 Hala 'e ka waluahe a ke A'e,[186]