76 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 38 



ITranslation] 



Song 



CANTO I 



Leaf of lehua and noni-tiut, tlie Kona sea, 



Iridescent saffron and red, 



Changeable watered red, peculiar to Kona ; 



Red are the uplands Alaea ; 

 5 Ah, 'tis the flame-red stained robes of women 



Much tossed by caress or desire. 



The weed-tangled water-way shines like a rope of pearls, 



Dew-pearls that droop the coco leaf. 



The hair of the trees, their long locks — 

 10 Lo, they wilt in the heat of Kailua the deep. 



A mat spread out narrow and gray, 



A coigne of land by the sea where the fisher drops hook. 



Now looms the mount Kilohaua — 



Ah, ye wood-shaded heights, ever-lasting your fame ! 

 15 Your tabu is gone ! your holy of holies invaded ! 



Broke down by a stranger ! 



The intricately twisted language of this mele is allegorical, a 

 rope whose strands are inwrought with passion, envy, detraction, and 

 abuse. In translating it one has to choose between the poetic verbal 

 garb and the esoteric meaning which the bard made to lurk beneath 

 the surface. 



Mele 



PALE II 



Kauo pu ka iwa kala-pahe'e, 

 Ka iwa, ka manu o Kaula i ka makani. 

 E ka manu o-ti pani-wai o Lehua, 

 O na manu kapu a Kuhai-moana, 

 5 ^lai hele a luna o Lei-no-ai, 



kolohe, alai mai ka Unu-lau. 

 Puni'a iluna o ka Halau-a-ola ; 



A ola aku i ka luna o Maka-iki-olea, 



1 ka lulu, i ka la'i o kai maio, 



10 Ma ka ha'i-wa 1 ka mole o Lehua la, Le-hi'i-a ! 



() na lehua o Alaka'i ka'u aloha, 



O na lehua iluna o Ko'i-alana ; 



I'a nouoho hooipo me ke kohe-kohe; 



Va auu, maeele i ka ua noe. 

 15 Ua mai oe; kau a'e ka nana laua nei, e-e, 



Na 'lii e o'oni mai nei, e-e ! 



[Translation] 



Snnff 



CANTO II 



The iwa flies heavy to nest in the brush. 



Its haunt on windy Ke-ula. 



The watch-bird, that fends off the rain from Le-hu-a — 



