EMBESON] UNWRITTEN LITERATURE OF HAWAII 95 



5 Oluua ka wa'a," ke, ke! 

 O kela wa'a, ke, ke! 

 O keia wa'a, ke, ke! 



Ninau o Mawi,^ ke, ke ! 

 Nawai ka luaii'i ? '' ke, ke ! 

 30 Na Wewehi-loa,c ^e, ke! 



Ua make Wewelii, ke, ke! 

 Ua ku i ka ilie, ke, ke ! 

 Ma ka puka kaliiko,** ke. ke ! 

 Ka puka a Mawi, ke, ke! 



15 Ka lepe, ka lepe, la ! 



Ka lepe, ua hina a uwe! 



Ninau ka lepe, la ! 



Mana-maua lii-lii, 



Mana-maua helieiao, 

 20 Ke kumu o ka lepe? 



Ka lepe hiolo, e? 



[Translation] 



Song 



O Wewelii, la, la ! 

 Wewehi, peerless form, la, la ! 

 Encouclied on the pola, la, la ! 

 Bossing the paddlers, la, la ! 

 5 Men of the canoe, la, la ! 

 Of that canoe, la, la ! 



Of this canoe, la, la ! 

 Mawi inquires, la, la ! 

 Who was her grand-sire? la, la! 

 10 'Twas Wewehi-loa, la, la ! 

 Wewehi is dead, la, la ! 

 Wounded with spear, la, la ! 

 The same old wound, la, la ! 

 Wound made by Mawi, la, la ! 



" Wa'a. A euphemism for the human body. 



''Mawi. The hero of I'olynesian mythology, whose name is usually spelled Maui, like 

 the name of the island. Departure from the usual orthography is made in order to 

 secure phonetic accuracy. The name of the hero is pronounced Mdh-icee, not Mow-ee, as 

 is the island. Sir George Gray, of New Zealand, following the usual orthography, has 

 given a very full and interesting account of him in his Polynesian mythology. 



" Wewehi-loa. Another name for Wahie-loa, who is said to have been the grandfather 

 of Wewehi. The word luau'i in the previous verse, meaning real father, is an archaic 

 form. Another form is kua-u'i. 



<^ Puka kahiko. A strange story from Hawaiian mythology relates that originally the 

 human anatomy was sadly deficient in that the terminal gate of the priww vice was closed. 

 Mawi applied his common-sense surgery to the repair of the defect and relieved the situa- 

 tion. Ua olelo ia i kinohi «« liana ia kanaka me ka hemahema no ka nele i ka hou puka 

 ole ia ka okole, a na Mawi i hoopau i keia pilikia mamuli o kana hana akamai. Ua kapa 

 ia keia puka ka puka kaldko. 



