84 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 38 



Mele 



Ewa, aina kai ula i ka lepo, 



1 ula i ka makani ami Moa'e, 

 Ka niann ula i ka laii ka ai, 



I palahe'a ula i ke kai o Kuhi-S,. 



5 Mai kubi mai oukou e, owau ke kalolie; 

 Aolie na'u, na lakou no a pau. 

 Aohe hewa kekalii keiki a ke kohe. 

 Ei' a'e; oia uo palia la. 

 I louo oukou ia wai, e, ua moe? 



10 Oia liini poai o lakou la palia? 



Ike aku ia ka mau'u hiua-hina — 

 He hina ko'u, he aka mai ko ia la. 

 I aka mai oe i kou la manawa le'a ; 

 A manawa ino, nui mai ka nuku, 



15 Hoomokapn, hoopale mai ka maka, 

 Hoolahui wale mai i a'u nei. 

 E, oia paha ; ae, oia no paba ia. 



[Translation] 

 Song 



Ewa's lagoon is red with dirt — 

 Dust blown by the cool Moa'e, 

 A plumage red on the taro leaf, 

 An ocherous tint in the bay. 



5 Say not in your heart that I am the culin-it. 

 Not I, but they, are at fault. 

 No child of the womb is to blame. 

 There goes, likely he is the one. 

 Who was it blabbed of the bed defiled? 



10 It must have beeu one of that band. 



But look at the rank grass beat down — 

 For my part, I tripped, the other one smiled. 

 You smiled in your hour of pleasure; 

 But now, Avhen ci'ossed, how you scold ! 



15 Avoiding the house, averting the eyes — 

 You make of me a mere stranger. 

 Yes it's probably so, he's the one. 



A poem this full of local color. The plot of the story, as it may be 

 interpreted, rims somewhat as follows : AVhile the man of the house, 

 presumably, is away, it would seem — fishing, perhaps, in the waters 

 of Ewa's " shamrock lagoon " — the mistress sports with a lover. The 

 culprit impudently defends himself Avith chaff and dust-throwing. 

 The hoodlums, one of whom is himself the sinner, have been blab- 

 bing, says he. 



