Rice — Hazcaiian Legends 93 



KAN A 



A LEGEND OF HAWAII 



Kana was the grandson of Uli, the supernatural womaB who was mar- 

 ried to the god Ku. UH was born in Hilo. One of her brothers, Manua, 

 hved in the underworld. Another brother, Wakea, had his home in the 

 land where all the islands were born. They were all very high chiefs. 



To Uli and Ku was born a very beautiful child whom they called 

 Haka-lani-leo, the Listener-to-the-Heavenly- Voice. As Haka-lani-leo grew 

 older, she became the most beautiful woman of her time. Her skin was 

 like the sun as it rises, or like the feathers of the iiiaiiio. 



Haka-lani-leo married Ha'ka, King of Hilo, and to this union twelve 

 sons were born. Eleven of these children possessed supernatural powers. 

 Ten of them were ten feet tall. The eleventh son, Niheu, was much 

 shorter than his brothers, being only five feet in height. Great wisdom was 

 given to him. He could count even the hairs of his head. 



These boys liked to test their strength by trying to lift a large ulua, 

 ten fathoms and a yard long, that lived in the pond at Waiakea. Each boy 

 would try to lift this fish to his shoulder. None succeeded but the small 

 Niheu. 



The twelfth and )oungest son of Haka-lani-leo, Kana, came into the 

 world in the form of a piece of rope and was at once thrown into the pig 

 pen. The spirit of this child went to his grandmother, Uli, and begged 

 her to save him. Uli departed at once for Hilo. 



When the people saw her coming they called, "There comes the old 

 woman, Uli. What brings her here? She has never come when her other 

 grandsons were born." 



As soon as Uli reached her daughter's home she asked, "Where is 

 the little stranger that has come?" 



"No stranger has come. We saw only a piece of rope which we threw 

 into the pig pen," someone answered. "What do you want it for?" 



Uli was led to the spot where the rope had been thrown. A pig was 

 just about to devour this strange looking object, but Uli picked it up and 

 placed it in her calabash. When she reached her home she put the piece 

 of rope into a calabash of water, saying, "It will never do if you come 

 forth from the water with a pig"s snout." 



Uli watched the water closely and when she saw a snout appearing she 

 quickly placed the rope in another calabash of water and soon a child 

 appeared. 



