THE VOYAGE TO MAUI
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Emerson, Nathaniel Bright
Hiiaka replied to her kahu’s mele in these words:
A noho ana,
E na hoaiku,
E na hoa haele,
I uka o Ka-li’u-la,
I Moe-awakea.
TRANSLATION
Kinsmen, allies, travel-mates,
You rest in upland Ka-li’u;
There taste you midday repose.
Perhaps it was that Hiiaka failed to manifest in her carriage and department the dignity and tabu that hedges in an alii or an akua; perhaps the rough hearted Pi’i-ke-a-nui, sailor-fashion, deemed himself outside the realm of honor which rules on land. However that might be, as Hiiaka lay decently covered against the cold wind that drew down the flank of Hale-a-ka-la, this rude fellow, regardless of every punctilio, stole up to Hiiaka and repeated his former attempt. Hiiaka caught his hand in mid air and administered this rebuke:
O Ka-uwiki, mauna ki’eki’e,
Huki a’e la a pa i ka lani:
He po’o-hiwi no kai halulu;
Au ana Moku-hano i ke kai—
He maka no Hana,
O maka kilo i’a.
O kou maka kunou, a,
Ua hopu-hia.
TRANSLATION
Ka-uwiki, famous in story,
While buffeting ocean’s blows,
Aspires to commerce with heaven.
Moku-hano’s palms, that float
Like a boat in the water,
Are watchful eyes to Hana,
Alert for the passing school:
Your wanton vagrant eye
Is caught in the very act.
The canoe grated on the shingly beach. The two young women, rejoiced to be free at last from the enforced proximity of ship-board, sprang ashore and with speedy steps put a distance between themselves and the canoe-house. “That’s right,” called out the steersman. “Make haste to find a bath. We’ll join you in a short time.”