Unwritten Literature of Hawaii Part 18

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 G.o.d 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 G.o.ds. There were G.o.ds 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 t.i.tle 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 pa.s.sionately 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 pa.s.sion: _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 demiG.o.ds of the Hawaiian pantheon, on whom was to be laid the burden of a mongrel host of virtues and vices that were not a.s.signable 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 pa.s.sion-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 s.h.i.+nes 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 pa.s.sion, 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-G.o.d-- 5 Shrieks, "Light not on terrace of Lei-no-ai, Lest Unu-lau fiercely a.s.sail 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 gra.s.s (_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-G.o.d Kuhai-moana (whose reef is still pointed out), figure the outcries of the parents and friends of the abducted woman.

After the first pa.s.sionate 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_