Pele and Hiiaka: A Myth From Hawaii

6Uwa’u, a sea-bird, a gull. ↑

7Nene-le’a, a place near Ka-ena point, close to Pohaku o Kaua’i. ↑

8Koa’e, the tropic-bird, or bosen-bird. ↑

9Ka-ieie, the channel between Oahu and Kauai. ↑

10Ka-peku. The word kapeku, at the beginning of verse 13, means, I am told, querulous. ↑

11Ho’o-ilo, or Ho-ilo, the cool or rainy season of the year, covering six months according to the Hawaiians. There was no such month (mahina) as Ho’o-ilo, or Ho-ilo. ↑

12Ka-hulu-manu. The kai o Ka-hulu-manu is, as reported to me by a well-informed Hawaiian, a flood that submerged the land in mythological times, distinct from Kai-a-ka-hina-alii. ↑

13Hoohaehae, to chase, to irritate, to tease. ↑

14Lae-o-ka-laau, (literally, Cape of the Trees), the south-western cape of Moloka’i, on which the United States have established a first-class lighthouse. ↑

15Kihe, to sneeze; to spatter; to wet with spray. ↑

16Wawalu, a cove. ↑

17Owaewae, gullied. This is an instance of the adjective being placed before its noun. ↑

18Huna i ka wai. The people of the region concealed the holes where water dripped, as it was very scarce. ↑

19Muli-wai, literally a river, a poetical exaggeration. ↑

20Wa’a-wa’a, simple-minded; unsophisticated; “green;” the name of two youths mentioned in tradition, one of whom committed blunder after blunder from his soft-hearted stupidity. ↑

21Pohaku o Kaua’i. The most audacious terrestrial undertaking of the demigod Mawi was his attempt to rearrange the islands of the group and assemble them into one solid mass. Having chosen his station at Kaena Point, the western extremity of Oahu, from which the island of Kaua’i is clearly visible on a bright day, he cast his wonderful hook, Mana-ia-ka-lani, far out into the ocean that it might engage itself in the foundations of Kaua’i. When he felt that it had taken a good hold, he gave a mighty tug at the line. A huge bowlder, the Pohaku o Kaua’i, fell at his feet. The mystic hook, having freed itself from its entanglement, dropped into Palolo Valley and hollowed out the crater, that is its grave. This failure to move the whole mass of the island argues no engineering miscalculation on Mawi’s part. It was due to the underhand working of spiritual forces. Had Mawi been more politic, more observant of spiritual etiquette, more diplomatic in his dealings with the heavenly powers, his ambitious plans would, no doubt, have met with better success. ↑