EMERSON] UNWRITTEN LITERATURE OF HAWAII 53 



Mo' ke kihi, ka uialama ka Hoaka," 

 I apahii ia a poe, 

 40 O awili * o Malu-6. 



He pola ia no ka pa-ii ; 

 E hii ana e Ka-holo-kua-iwa, 

 Ke amo la e Pa-wili-wili 

 I ka pa-u poo kau-poku — '^ 

 45 Kan pokn a hana ke ao, 

 . Kail ilinia o Hala'a-wili, 

 I owili hana haawe. 



Ku-ka'a, olo-ka'a wahie; 

 Ka'a ka opeope, ula ka pali ;<^ 

 50 Uwa kamalii, hookani ka pihe, 



Hookani ka a'o,® a liana pilo ka leo, 

 I ka ma halo i ka pa-ii, 

 I ka pa-ii wai-lehua a Hi'i-lawe f ilnna, 

 Pi'o anneuue a ka ua e ua nei. 



This is a typical Hawaiian poem of the better sort, keyed in a 

 highly imaginative strain. The multitude of specific allusions to 

 topographical names make it difficult to translate it intelligently to 



" Hoaka. The name of the moon in its second day, oi* of the second day of the Ha- 

 waiian month ; a crescent. 



*0 awili o Malu-6. The most direct and evident sense of the word awili is to wrap. 

 It probably means the wrapping of the pa-ti about the loins ; or it may mean the mov- 

 able, shifty action of the pa-fl caused by the lively actions of the dancer. The expression 

 Malti-6 may be taken from the utterance of the king's ilamuku (constable or sheriff) or 

 otlier official, who, in proclaiming a tabu, lield an idol in his arms and at the same time 

 called out Kapu, o-o ! The meaning is that the pa-u, when wrapped about the woman's 

 loins, laid a tabu on tlie woman. The old Hawaiian consulted on the meaning of this 

 passage quoted the following, which illustrates the fondness of his people for endless 

 repetitious and play upon words : , 



Awiliwili i ka hale* o ka lauwlli, e. 



He lauwili ka makani, he Kaua-ula,t 



. I hoapaapa i ka hale o ka lauwili, e: 



[Translation] 



Unstable the house of the shifty man. 



Fickle as the wind Kaua-ula. 



Treachery lurks in the house of Unstable. 



<^ Kaupoku. A variant of the usual form, which is kaupaku, the ridgepole of a house, 

 its apex. The pa-ll when worn takes the shape of a grass house, which has the form of 

 a haystack. 



<* Ula ka pali. Red shows the pali, i. e., the side hill. This is a euphemism for some 

 accident by which the pa-\i has been displaced, and an exposure of the person has 

 taken place, as a result of which the boys scream and even the sea-bird, the a'o^ shrieks 

 itself hoarse. 



« A'o. A sea-bird, whose raucous voice is heard in the air at night at certain seasons. 



t Hi'i-lawe. A celebrated waterfall in Wai-pi'o valley, Hawaii. 



♦Primitive meaning, house ; second, the body as the house of the soul. 



t Kaua-ula. A strong wind that shifted from one point to another, and that blew, often 

 with great violence, at Lahaina, Maui. The above triplet was often quoted by the chiefs 

 of olden time apropos of a person who was fickle in love or residence. As the old book 

 has it, " Tlie double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." (0 ke karidka lolilua ka 

 manao lauwili kona mau aoao a pan.) 



