EMERSON] UNWRITTEN LITERATURE OF HAWAII 47 



[Translation] 



Tliy blessing, O Laka, on uie the stranger, and on the residents, teacher and 

 liupils. O Lalva, give grace to the feet of Pohaliu ; and to her bracelets and 

 aulvlets; comeliness to the figure and skirt of Lnnkia. To (each one) give 

 gesture and voice. O Laka, make beautiful the lei ; inspire the dancers when 

 they stand before the assembly. 



At the close of this service of song and prayer the visitor will 

 turn from the knahu and exchange salutations and greetings with 

 his friends in the halau. 



The song-pra3'er " Now, Kane, approach, illumine the altar " 

 (p. 45) calls for remark. It brings up again the question, previously 

 discussed, whether there were not two distinct cvdts of worshipers, 

 the one devoted to Laka, the other to Kapo. The following facts 

 will throw light on the question. On either side of the approach to 

 the altar stood, sentinel-like, a tall stem of hala-pepe, a graceful, 

 slender column, its head of green sword-leaves and scarlet drupes 

 making a beautiful picture. (See p. 24.) These are said to have 

 been the special emblems of the goddess Kapo. 



The following account of a conversation the author had with an 

 old woman, whose youthful daj^s were spent as a hula dancer, will 

 also help to disentangle the subject and explain the relation of Kapo 

 to the hula : 



" Will you not recite again the prayer you just now uttered, and 

 slowly, that it may be written down? " the author asked of her. 

 " Many prayers for the kuahu have been collected, but this one ditfers 

 from them all." 



" We Hawaiians," she answered, " have been taught that these 

 matters are sacred (kajni) and must not be bandied about from mouth 

 to mouth." 



"Aye, but the time of the tabus has passed. Then, too, in a sense 

 having been initiated into hula matters, there can be no impropriety 

 in my dealing with them in a kindly spirit." 



" No harm, of course, will come to you, a haole (foreigner). The 

 question is how it will affect us." 



" Tell me, were there two different classes of worshipers, one 

 class devoted to the worship of Laka and another class devoted to 

 the worship of Kapo ? " 



" No," she answered, " Kapo and Laka were one in spirit, though 

 their names were two." 



" Haumea was the mother of Kapo. Who was her father ? " 



" Yes, Haumea was the mother, and Kua-ha-ilo " was the father." 



" How about Laka ? " 



"Kua-ha-ilo. A god of the kahuna anaaita ; meaning literally to breed maggots in the 

 back. 



