The Story of Hawaii (Illustrated Edition). Fowke Gerard

      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 fashion. 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 fashion 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 "classic" Hawaiian as to be beyond her understanding. 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?

      Walea ka manu i ka wai, e!

      I ka wai lohi o ke kini, e!

      [Translation]

       Song

      Let's worship now the bird-cage.

      Seest thou the furzy woodland,

      The shag of herb and forest,

      The low earth-tinting rainbow,

      Child of the Sun that swings above?

      O, happy bird, to drink from the pool,

      A bliss free to the million!

      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 hoáo 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:

       Mele

      (Ko'ihonua)

O Wanahili²¹⁸ ka po loa ia Manu'a,²¹⁹

O ka pu kau kama²²⁰ i Hawaii akea;

O ka pu leina²²¹ kea a Kiha--

O Kiha nui a Pii-lani--²²²

O Kauhi kalana-honu'-a-Kama;²²³

O ka maka iolena²²⁴ ke koohaulani i-ó!

O kela kanaka hoali mauna,²²⁵

O Ka Lani ku'i hono i ka moku.²²⁶

I waihona kapuahi kanaka ehá,²²⁷

      Ai' i Kauai, i Oahu, i Maui,

I Hawaii kahiko o Keawe enaena,²²⁸

      Ke a-á, mai la me ke o-koko,

      Ke lapa-lapa la i ka makani,

Makani kua, he Naulu.²²⁹

      Kua ka Wainoa i ka Mikioi,

Pu-á 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!

      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.

      [Translation]

       Song

      (Distinct utterance)

      Wanahili bides the whole night with Manu'a,

      By trumpet hailed through broad Hawaii,

      By the white vaulting conch of Kiha--

      Great Kiha, offspring of Pii-lani,

      Father of eight-branched Kama-lala-walu

      The far-roaming eye now sparkles with joy,

      Whose energy erstwhile shook mountains,

      The king who firm-bound the isles in one state,

      His glory, symboled by four human altars,

      Reaches Kauai, Oahu, Maui,

      Hawaii the eld of Keawe,

      Whose tabu, burning with blood-red blaze,

      Shoots flame-tongues that leap with the wind,

      The breeze from the mountain, the Naulu.

      Waihoa humps its back, while cold Mikioi

      Blows fierce and swift across Hala-li'i.

      It vaunts like a king at Kekaha,

      Flaunting itself in the sun's heat,

      And lifts itself up in mirage,

      Ghost-forms of woods and trees in Kekaha--

      Sweeping o'er waste Kala-ihi, Water-of-Lono;

      While the sun shoots forth its fierce rays--

      Its heat, perchance, reaches to Honua-ula.

      The mele next given takes its local color from Kauai and brings vividly to mind the experiences of one who has climbed the mountain walls pali, that buffet the winds of its