BECKWITH] NOTES ON THE TEXT 623 
“For the translation of this dialogue I am indebted to the late Dr. Alex- 
ander, to whose abstract of the story I was fortunate enough to have access. 
CHAPTER X 
“To express the interrelation between brothers and sisters two pairs of 
kinship terms are used, depending upon the age and sex. Sisters speak of 
brothers as kaikunane, and brothers of sisters as kaikuahine, but within the 
same sex kaikuaana for the clder and kaikaina for the younger is used. So 
on page 431 Aiwohikupua deserts his sisters—iaikuahine—and the girls lament 
for their younger sister—kaikaina. After their reunion her older sisters— 
kaikuaana—ask her counsel. Notice, too, that when, on page 423, the brother 
bids his youngest sister—kaikuahine opiopio—stay with “her sisters” he 
uses the word kaikuaana, because he is thinking of her relation to them, not of 
his own. The word pokii—*‘ little sister ’’—is an endearing term used to good 
effect where the younger sister sings— 
“T am going back to your little sisters (me o’u pokii) 
To my older sisters (kaikuaana) I return.” 
“The line translated “Fed upon the fruit of sin” contains one of those 
» poetic plays upon words so frequent in Polynesian song, so difficult to repro- 
duce in translation. Literally it might read “ Sheltering under the great hala 
tree.” But hala also means “sin.” This meaning is therefore caught up and 
employed in the next line—‘ is constancy then a sin?”—a repetition which is 
lost in translation. Malu, shade, is a doubtful word, which may, according to 
Andrews, mean “ protected,’ or may stand for ‘wet and uncomfortable,” a 
doubt evidently depending upon the nature of the case, which adds to the 
riddling character of the message. In their songs the sisters call up the 
natural scenery, place names, and childhood experiences of their native home on 
Kauai. The images used attempt actual description. The slant of the rain, the 
actual ladder of wood which helps scale the steep footpath up Nualolo Valley 
(compare Song of Kualii, line 269, Lyons’ version), the rugged cliffs which 
are more easily rounded by sea— swimming ’round the steeps ’’—picture 
actual conditions on the island. Notice especially how the song of the youngest 
sister reiterates the constant theme of the “follow your leader” relation be- 
tween the brother and his younger sisters. Thus far they have unhesitatingly 
followed his lead; how, then, can he leave them leaderless? is the plea: first, 
in their sports at home; next, in this adventure over sea and through the 
forest; last, in that divine mystery of birth when he first opened the roadway 
and they, his little sisters, followed after. 
CHapter XI 
“This ti-leaf trumpet is constructed from the thin, dry, lilylike leaf of the 
wild ti much as children make whistles out of grass. It must be recalled that 
musical instruments were attributed to gods and awakened wonder and awe in 
Polynesian minds. 
Cuaptrer XII 
“In the story of Kapuaokaoheloai we read that the daughter of the king 
of Kuaihelani, the younger brother of Hina, has a daughter who lives apart 
under a sacred taboo, with a bathing pool in which only virgins can safely bathe, 
and “ministered to by birds.’ Samoan accounts say that the chiefs kept 
