HIIAKA EXPERIENCES KOOLAU WEATHER
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Emerson, Nathaniel Bright
Pele, O Pele of the sacred land,
And thou, O Mother Haumea;
Thou Woman of Kilauea,
Fire-goddess who dug the Pit deep;
Niece to Ma-ú, Maka-li’i’s wife;
Own child of heavenly Haumea;
And thou Kukuena, that rules
In the rite of toothing the awa—
A brew that is fit for the gods—
Love-offering this of the stranger god,
Denied, alas, the road through upland
Ka-ú and the lowlands of Puna,
To Ka-ma’a and the bird-limed tree—
Sure route to the potent root of Apua—
The up-road to Ku-ka-la-ula,
Thence leading to Sulphur-hill:
Land where the gods did once dwell!
A laud this, voiced by the stranger god.
At the conclusion of this kanaenae Kauhi said to Hiiaka, “If you are the woman that consumes the forests of Puna, when you travel I will go with you.” (“Ina ooe ka wahine ai laau o Puna, ooe hele, oau hele.”)
Hiiaka did not wish to offend the aggrieved deity; at the same time she could not consent to his proposition. In this dilemma she did her best to soothe his feelings and reconcile him to his lot:
Ku’u Akua i ka hale hau,
Hale kanáka ole,
E noho i ke kai o Ma’a-kua,
Alae ia e ke ki ohuohu, e!
Pene’i wale no ka iki Akua.
Auwe, ku’u Akua, e!
TRANSLATION
My god of the chilly mansion,—
A house without human tenant,—
Abide yet the blasts of the sea,
The slap of the broad leafy ti.
Such the advice of a lesser god:
My tender farewell this to Thee.
Kauhi was indignant at this evasive dismissal of his entreaty. The thought that Hiiaka should countenance his perpetual imprisonment in the bleak cliff filled him with rage. With a mighty effort he lifted himself and tore away the covering of tree-roots, earth and rocks that embraced him until he came to a crouching position. That was the limit of his power: he could do no more. A stony form in the mountain wall of Kahana, resembling the shape of a man on all-fours, remains to vouch for the truth of this legend.
HALEMAUMAU—THE LAKE OF FIRE
Source notes
1Ua poai-hale, a rain that whisked about on all sides of a house. ↑
2Moko-li’i (little snake), compound of moko, archaic form of mo’o, and li’i. ↑
3I-maka, a watch-tower. (This is a new word, not in the dictionary.) ↑
4Ha-lawa-lawa, zigzag. ↑
5Ololo-e, out of line; out of order; irregular. See ololo, in Andrews’ Hawaiian Dictionary. Keke’e, halawalawa and ololo-e have the same generic meaning. ↑