Unwritten Literature of Hawaii Part 24

[Footnote 213: _Kau-kau_. Conjectural meaning to point out some one in the audience, as the marionettes often did. People were thus sometimes inveigled in behind the curtain.]

[Footnote 214: _Hala-le_. Said to mean a sop, with which one took up the juice or gravy of food; a choice morsel.]

[Footnote 215: _Ku-pou_. To stoop over, from devotion to one's own pursuits, from modesty, or from shame.]

[Footnote 216: The meaning of this line has been matter for much conjecture. The author has finally adopted the suggestion embodied in the translation here given, which is a somewhat gross reference to the woman's physical charms.]

The following mele for the hula ki'i, in language colored by the same motive, was furnished by an accomplished pract.i.tioner who had traveled far and wide in the practice of her art, having been one of a company of hula dancers that attended the Columbian exposition in Chicago. It was her good [Page 98] fortune also to reach the antipodes in her travels, and it was at Berlin, she says, that she witnessed for the first time the European counterpart of the hula ki'i, the "Punch and Judy" show:

_Mele no ka Hula Ki'i_

E le'e kau-kau, kala le'e; E le'e kau-kau.

E le'e kau-kau, kala le'e.

E lepe kau-kau.

5 E o-ku ana i kai; E u-au ai aku; E u-au ai aku; E u-au ai aku!

E-he-he, e!

[Translation.]

_Song for the Hula Ki'i_

Now for the dance, dance in accord; Prepare for the dance.

Now for the dance, dance in time.

Up, now, with the flag!

5 Step out to the right Step out to the left!

Ha, ha, ha!

This translation is the result of much research, yet its absolute accuracy can not be vouched for. The most learned authorities (_kaka-olelo_) in old Hawaiian lore that have been found by the writer express themselves as greatly puzzled at the exact meaning of the mele just given. Some scholars, no doubt, would dub these nonsense-lines. The author can not consent to any such view. The old Hawaiians were too much in earnest to permit themselves to juggle with words in such fas.h.i.+on. They were fond of mystery and concealment, appreciated a joke, given to slang, but to string a lot of words together without meaning, after the fas.h.i.+on of a college student who delights to relieve his mind by shouting "Upidee, upida," was not their way. "The people of the hula," said one man, "had ways of fun-making peculiar to themselves."

When the hula-dancer who communicated to the author the above song--a very accomplished and intelligent woman--was asked for information that would render possible its proper translation, she replied that her part was only that of a mouthpiece to repeat the words and to make appropriate gestures, _he pono hula wale no_, mere parrot-work. The language, she said, was such "cla.s.sic" Hawaiian as to be beyond her understanding.

[Page 99]

Here, again, is another song in argot, a coin of the same mintage as those just given:

_Mele_

E kau-kau i hale manu, e!

Ike oe i ka lola huluhulu, e?

I ka huluhulu a we'uwe'u, e?

I ka punohu,[217] e, a ka la e kau nei?

5 Walea ka manu i ka wai, e!

I ka wai lohi o ke kini, e!

[Translation]

_Song_

Let's wors.h.i.+p now the bird-cage.

Seest thou the furzy woodland, The s.h.a.g of herb and forest, The low earth-tinting rainbow, 5 Child of the Sun that swings above?

O, happy bird, to drink from the pool, A bliss free to the million!

[Footnote 217: _Punohu_. A compact ma.s.s of clouds, generally lying low in the heavens; a cloud-omen; also a rainbow that lies close to the earth, such as is formed when the sun is high in the heavens.]

This is the language of symbolism. When Venus went about to ensnare Adonis, among her other wiles she warbled to him of mountains, dales, and pleasant fountains.

The mele now presented is of an entirely different character from those that have just preceded. It is said to have been the joint composition of the high chief Keiki-o-ewa of Kauai, at one time the kahu of Prince Moses, and of Kapihe, a distinguished poet--haku-mele--and prophet. (To Kapihe is ascribed the prophetic and oracular utterance, _E iho ana o luna, e pii ana o lalo; e ku ana ka paia; e moe ana kaula; e kau ana kau-huhu--o lani iluna, o honua ilalo_--"The high shall be brought low, the lowly uplifted; the defenses shall stand; the prophet shall lie low; the mountain walls shall abide--heaven above, earth beneath.")

This next poem may be regarded as an epithalamium, the celebration of the mystery and bliss of the wedding night, the _hoao ana_ of a high chief and his high-born _kapu_ sister. The murmur of the breeze, the fury of the winds, the heat of the sun, the sacrificial ovens, all are symbols that set forth the emotions, experiences, and mysteries of the night: [Page 100]

_Mele_

(Ko'ihonua)

O Wanahili[218] ka po loa ia Manu'a,[219]

O ka pu kau kama[220] i Hawaii akea; O ka pu leina[221] kea a Kiha-- O Kiha nui a Pii-lani--[222]

5 O Kauhi kalana-honu'-a-Kama;[223]

O ka maka iolena[224] ke koohaulani i-o!

O kela kanaka hoali mauna,[225]

O Ka Lani ku'i hono i ka moku.[226]

I waihona kapuahi kanaka eha,[227]

10 Ai' i Kauai, i Oahu, i Maui, I Hawaii kahiko o Keawe enaena,[228]

Ke a-a, mai la me ke o-koko, Ke lapa-lapa la i ka makani, Makani kua, he Naulu.[229]

10 Kua ka Wainoa i ka Mikioi, [Page 101] Pu-a ia lalo o Hala-li'i, [230]

Me he alii, alii, la no ka hele i Kekaha, Ka hookiekie i ka li'u-la,[231]

Ka hele i ke alia-lia la, alia!

20 Alia-lia la'a-laau Kekaha.

Ke kaha o Kala-ihi, Wai-o-lono.

Ke olo la ke pihe a ka La, e!

Ke nu la paha i Honua-ula.

[Footnote 218: _Wanahili_. A princess of the mythological period belonging to Puna, Hawaii.]

[Footnote 219: _Manu'a_. A king of Hilo, the son of Kane-hili, famous for his skill in spear-throwing, _maika_-rolling, and all athletic exercises. He was united in marriage, _ho-ao_, to the lovely princess Wanahili. Tradition deals with Manua as a very lovable character.]

[Footnote 220: _Pu kau kama_. The conch (pu) is figured as the herald of fame. _Kau_ is used in the sense of to set on high, in contrast with such a word as _waiho_, to set down. _Kama_ is the word of dignity for children.]

[Footnote 221: _Pu leina_. It is a.s.serted on good authority that the triton (_pu_), when approached in its ocean habitat, will often make sudden and extraordinary leaps in an effort to escape. There is special reference here to the famous conch known in Hawaiian story as _Kiha-pu_. It was credited with supernatural powers as a _kupua_. During the reign of Umi, son of Liloa, it was stolen from the _heiau_ in Waipio valley and came into the hands of G.o.d Kane. In his wild awa-drinking revels the G.o.d terrified Umi and his people by sounding nightly blasts with the conch. The sh.e.l.l was finally restored to King Umi by the superhuman aid of the famous dog Puapua-lena-lena.]

[Footnote 222: _Kiha-nui a Piilani_. Son of Piilani, a king of Maui. He is credited with the formidable engineering work of making a paved road over the mountain palis of Koolau, Maui.]

[Footnote 223: _Kauhi kalana-honu'-a-Kama_. This Kauhi, as his long t.i.tle indicates, was the son of the famous king, Kama-lala-walu, and succeeded his father in the kings.h.i.+p over Maui and, probably, Lanai. Kama-lala-walu had a long and prosperous reign, which ended, however, in disaster. Acting on the erroneous reports of his son Kauhi, whom he had sent to spy out the land, he invaded the kingdom of Lono-i-ka-makahiki on Hawaii, was wounded and defeated in battle, taken prisoner, and offered up as a sacrifice on the altar of Lono's G.o.d, preferring that death, it is said, to the ignominy of release.]

[Footnote 224: _I-olena_. Roving, s.h.i.+fty, l.u.s.tful.]

[Footnote 225: _Kanaka hoali mauna_. Man who moved mountains; an epithet of compliment applied perhaps to Kiha, above mentioned, or to the king mentioned in the next verse, Kekaulike.]

[Footnote 226: _Ku'i hono i ka moku_. Who bound together into one (state) the islands Maui, Molokai, Lanai, and Kahoolawe.

This was, it is said, Kekaulike, the fifth king of Maui after Kama-lala-walu. At his death he was succeeded by Kamehameha-nui--to be distinguished from the Kamehameha of Hawaii--and he in turn by the famous warrior-king Kahekili, who routed the invading army of Kalaniopuu, king of Hawaii, on the sand plains of Wailuku.]

[Footnote 227: _I waihona kapuahi kanaka eha_. This verse presents grammatical difficulties. The word _I_ implies the imperative, a form of request or demand, though that is probably not the intent. It seems to be a means, authorized by poetical license, of ascribing honor and tabu-glory to the name of the person eulogized, who, the context leads the author to think, was Kekaulike. The island names other than that of Maui seem to have been thrown in for poetical effect, as that king, in the opinion of the author, had no power over Kauai, Oahu, or Hawaii. The purpose may have been to a.s.sert that his glory reached to those islands.]