128 BUREAU or AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 38 



Pule Hoo-noa no Laica 



Pnpn we'n-we'ii " e, Liika e, 

 O kona we'ii-we'ii e ku-wa ; * 

 O Ku-ka-ohia-Laka,^ e; 

 Laiia me Ku-pulu-pulu ; ^ 

 5 Ka Lehua me ke Koa lau-lii ; 

 O ka Lama me Mokn-halii, 

 Ku-i-kii-i ® me ka Hala-pepe; 

 Lakou me Lau-ka-ie-ie, 

 Ka Palai me Maile-lau-lii. 

 10 Noa, noa i koii kuabu ; 

 Noa, noa ia oe, Laka ; 

 Pa-pa-lua noa ! 



[Translation] 



Tahu-lifting I'ratjcr {to Laka) 



Oh wildwoocl bouquet, O Laka ! 

 Set ber greenwood leaves in order due; 

 And Ku, god of Obia-La-ka, 

 He and Ku, tbe sbaggy, 

 5 Lebua witb small-leafed Koa, 

 And Lama and Moku-bali'i, 

 Ku-i-ku-i and Hala-pe-pe; 

 And witb tliese leafy I-e-i-e, 

 Fern and small-leafed Maile. 

 10 Free, tbe altar is free ! 



Free tbrougb you, Laka, 

 Doubly free ! 



But even noAA% when the tabu has been removed and the assembly 

 is supj)osed to have assumed an informal character, before they may 

 indulge themselves in informalities, there remains to be chanted a 

 dismissing prayer, pule hookuhi, in which all voices must join : 



« Putm we'u-ice'u. A bouquet. The reference is to the wreaths and floral decorations 

 that bedeclied the altar, and that were not only offerings to the goddess, but symliols 

 of the diverse forms in which she manifested herself. At the conclusion of a perform- 

 ance the players laid upon the altar the garlands they themselves had worn. These were 

 in addition to those which were placed there before the play began. 



'' Ku-tra. It has cost much time and trouble to dig out the meaning of this word. 

 The fundamental notion is that contained in its two parts, ku, to stand, and ira, an 

 interval or space, the whole meaning to arrange or set in orderly intervals. 



" La-ka. A Tahitian name for the tree which in Hawaii is called Ichua, or oliki. 

 In verse 3 the Hawaiian name ohia and the Tahitian lakd (accented on the final 

 syllal)le, thus distinguishing it from the name of the goddess Ldka, with which it has 

 no discoverable connection) are combined in one form as an appellation of the god 

 Ku — ku-ka-ohia-Lakd. This is a notable instance of the survival of a word as a 

 sacred epithet in a liturgy, which otherwise had been lost to the language. 



<* Ku-pulu-pulu. Ku, the fuzzy or shaggy, a deity much worshiped by canoe-makers, 

 represented as having the figure of an old man with a long beard. In the sixth verse 

 the full form of the god's name here given as Moku-fia-U'i would be Ku-moku-hali'i, the 

 last part being an epithet applied to Ku working in another capacity. Moku-hali'i is the 

 one who bedecks the island. His special emblem, as here implied, was the latua, a 

 beautiful tree, whose wood was formerly used in making certain sacred inclosures. 

 From this comes the proper name Palanui, one of the districts of Honolulu. 



" Ki'i-i-kii-i. The same as the tree now called ku-ku-i, the tree whose nuts were used 

 as candles and flambeaus. The Samoan name of the same tree is tu-i-tu-i. 



