EMERSON] UNWRITTEN LITERATURE OF HAWAII 241 



[Translation] 



Song , 



Comrade miue iu the robe-stripplug s'l^ts of Lalau, 

 On the up-piled beetling cliffs of Makua, 

 The ladder * * * is taken away * * * it is gone ! 

 Your way is cut off, my man ! 

 5 With you I've backed the uhu of Maka-i)u'u, 



Tugging them up the steeps of Point-o'-woods, 

 A cliff that stands fatherless, even as 

 Sheer stands the pali of Ula-mao — 

 And thus * * * you are lost ! 



This is but a fragment of the song which Hiiaka pours out in her 

 efforts to calm the fateful storm which she saw piling up along the 

 horizon. The situation was tragic. Hiiaka, daring fate, defying the 

 dragons and monsters of the primeval world, had made the journey 

 to Kauai, had snatched away from death the life of Lohiau and with 

 incredible self-denial was escorting the rare youth to the arms of her 

 sister, whose jealousy she knew to be quick as the lightning, her ven- 

 geance hot as the breath of the volcano, and now she saw this feather- 

 head, with monstrous ingratitude, dallying with fate, calling down 

 upon the whole party the doom she alone could appreciate, all for the 

 smile of a siren whose charms attracted him for the moment ; but, 

 worst of all, her heart condemned her as a traitress: — she loved him. 



Hiiaka held the trick-card and she won ; bj^ her miraculous power 

 she kept the game in her own hands and foiled the hopes of the lovers. 



Melc 



I'la ka laiil ia Kanaloa." 

 Ula ma'eiiia'e ke ahi a ke A'e-loa.'' 

 Pohiua iluna 1 ke ao makani, 

 Naue itu no i ka ilikai o Makahana-loa," 

 5 Makemake i ka ua lihau.<* 



Aohe hana i koe a Ka-wai-loa ; ^ 

 Noho a ka li'u-la i ke kula. 

 I kula oe no ka makemake, a hiki iho, 

 I hoa hula no ka la le'ale'a, 

 10 I noho pu me ka uahi pohina.'^ 



" Kanaloa. One of the four great gods of the Hawaiians, here represented as playing 

 the part of Phoebus Apollo. 



'' A'e-loa. The name of a wind whose Mowing was said (o be favorable to the fisher- 

 man In this region. 



<' Makahana-loa. A favorite fishing ground. The word ilikai ("skin of the sea") 

 graphically depicts the calm of the region. In the translation the name aforementioned 

 has been shortened to Kahana. 



* Lihau. A gentle rain that was considered favorable to the work of the fisherman. 

 «■ Ka-ivat-loa. A division of Waialua, here seemingly used to mean the farm. 



' Uahi pohina. Literally gray-headed smoke. It is said that when studying together 

 the words of the mele the pupils and the kumu would often gather about a fii'e, whib* 

 the teacher recited and expounded the text. There is a possible allusion to this in the 

 mention of the smoke. 



• 25352— Bull. 38—09 16 



