192 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [boll. 38 



15 O ka Moa'e-kii. 



Lele iia, lele kawa ! * 



Lele aku, lele mai ! 



Lele o-6,^ o-6 lele ; ^ 



Lele opnlii,'^ lele; 

 20 Lele o Kaiiua/ kjilia oe. 



E Hiiaka e, ku ! 



[Translation] 

 Song 



At Wailna stands tlie main house-post; 



This oracle harks to wild voices, 



Tumult and clamor, O Ulu-po ; 



It utters no voice to entreaty. 

 5 Alas for the prophet that's dumh ! 



But there drifts the incense of hala. 



Maml sees the rain-whirl of Eleao. 



The robe of Ka-ti sways in the wind. 



That dashes the waves 'gainst the sea-wall, 

 10 At Honu-apo, windy Ka-ti ; 



The Pai-ha'a palms strive with the gale. 



Such weather is grievous to you : 



The sea-scud is flying. 



Fly little i-ao, O fly 

 15 With the breeze Koolau ! 



Fly with the Moa'e-ku ! 



Look at the rain-mist fly ! 



Leap with the cataract, lea^) ! 



Plunge, now here, now there ! 

 20 Feet foremost, head foremost ; 



Leap with a glance and a glide ! 



Kauna opens the dance; yon win. 



Rise, Hiiaka, arise I 



The meaning of this mele centers about a phenomenon that is said 

 to have been observed at Ka-ipii-ha'a, near Waikia, on Kauai. To 

 one standing on a knoll near the two cliffs Ikuwa and Mahoena 

 (verse 5) there came, it is said, an echo from the murmur and clamor 

 of the ocean and the moan of the wind, a confused mingling of na- 

 ture's voices. The listener, however, got no echoing answer to his 

 own call. 



The mele does not stick to the unities as w^e understand them. The 

 poets of old Hawaii felt at liberty to run to the ends of their earth ; 

 and the auditor must allow his imagination to be transported sud- 

 denlv from one island to another: in this case, first from Wailua to 



'^ Lele kawa. To jump in sport from a height into the water. 



'' Lele 0-6. To leap feet first into the water. 



•^ 0-6 lele. To dive head first into the water. 



(1 Lele opiihi. The same as imhi'a, to leap obliquely into the water from a height, bend- 

 ing oneself so that the feet come first to the surface. 



« Kaiiud. A woman of Ka-u celebrated for her skill in the hula, also the name of a 

 cape that reaches out into the stormy ocean. 



