Unwritten Literature of Hawaii Part 13

I hilahila wale ia no e oe; Nou no ka hale,[129] komo mai maloko.

The lines from, the fourth to the ninth in this stanza (_pauku_) represent a dialogue between two lovers.

[Translation]

STANZA 2

Look now, Waialua, land clothed with ocean-mist-- Its wilderness-cries heaven's ear only hears, The wilderness-G.o.ds of Ku-kani-loko.

Within or without shall we stay, friend, 5 Until we have stilled the motion?

To toss is a sign of impatience.

You hide, hiding as if from shame, I am bashful because of your presence; The house is yours, you've only to enter.

PAUKU 3

(Ko'i-honua)

Paku Kea-au,[130] lulu Wai-akea;[131]

Noho i ka la'i Ioa o Hana-kahi,[132]

O Hilo, i olokea[133] ia, i au la, e, i kai, O Lele-iwi,[134] o Maka-hana-loa.[135]

5 Me he kaele-papa[136] la Hilo, i lalo ka noho.

Kaele[137] wale Hilo i ke alai ia e ka ua.

Oi ka niho o ka ua o Hilo i ka lani; Kua-wa'a-wa'a Hilo eli 'a e ka wai; Kai-koo, haki na nalu, ka ua o Hilo; [Page 61] 10 Ha'i lau-wili mai ka nahele.

Na.n.a.lu, kahe waikahe o Wai-luku; Hohonu Waiau,[138] nalo ke poo o ka lae o Moku-pane;[139]

Wai ulaula o Wai-anue-nue;[140]

Ka-wowo nui i ka wai o Kolo-pule-pule;[141]

15 Halulu i ha-ku'i, ku me he uahi la Ka pua, o ka wai ua o-aka i ka lani.

Eleele Hilo e, pano e, i ka ua; Okakala ka hulu o Hilo i ke anu; Pili-kau[142] mai Hilo ia ua loa.

20 Pali-ku laau ka uka o Haili[143]

Ka lae ohi'a e kope-kope, Me he aha moa la, ka pale pa laau, Ka nahele o Pa-ie-ie,[144]

Ku'u po'e lehua iwaena konu o Mo-kau-lele;[145]

25 Me ka ha'i laau i pu-kaula hala'i i ka ua.

Ke nana ia la e la'i i Hanakahi.

Oni aku Hilo, oni ku'u kai lipo-lipo, A Lele-iwi, ku'u kai ahu mimiki a ka Malua.[146]

Lei kahiko, lei nalu ka poai.

30 Nana Pu'u-eo[147] e! makai ka iwi-honua,[148] e!

Puna-hoa la, ino, ku, ku wau a Wai-akea la.

[Footnote 127: _Olelo_. To speak, to converse; here used figuratively to mean that the place is lonely, has no view of the ocean, looks only to the sky. "Looks that commerce with the sky."]

[Footnote 128: _Ku-kani-loko_. A land in Waialua, Oahu, to which princesses resorted in the olden times at the time of childbirth, that their offspring might have the distinction of being an _alii kapu_, a chief with a tabu.]

[Footnote 129: _Hale_ House; a familiar euphemism of the human body.]

[Footnote 130: _Kea-au_. An _ahu-pua'a_, small division of land, in Puna adjoining Hilo, represented as sheltering Hilo on that side.]

[Footnote 131: _Waiakea_. A river in Hilo, and the land through which it flows.]

[Footnote 132: _Hana-kahi_. A land on the Hamakua side of Hilo, also a king whose name was a synonym for profound peace.]

[Footnote 133: _Olo-kea_. To be invited or pulled many ways at once; distracted.]

[Footnote 134: _Lele-iwi_. A cape on the north side of Hilo.]

[Footnote 135: _Maka-hana-loa_. A cape.]

[Footnote 136: _Kaele-papa_. A large, round, hollowed board on which to pound taro in the making of poi. The poi-board was usually long and oval.]

[Footnote 137: _Kaele_. In this connection the meaning is surrounded, encompa.s.sed by.]

[Footnote 138: _Waiau_. The name given to the stretch of Wailuku river near its mouth.]

[Footnote 139: _Moku-pane_. The cape between the mouth of the Wailuku river and the town of Hilo.]

[Footnote 140: _Wai-anue-nue_. Rainbow falls and the river that makes the leap.]

[Footnote 141: _Kolo-pule-pule_. Another branch of the Wailuku stream.]

[Footnote 142: _Pili-kau_. To hang low, said of a cloud.]

[Footnote 143: _Haili_. A region in the inland, woody, part of Hilo.]

[Footnote 144: _Pa-ieie_. A well-wooded part of Hilo, once much resorted to by bird-hunters; a place celebrated in Hawaiian song.]

[Footnote 145: _Mokau-lele_. A wild, woody region In the interior of Hilo.]

[Footnote 146: _Malua_. Name given to a wind from a northerly or northwesterly direction on several of the islands. The full form is Malua-lua.]

[Footnote 147: _Pu'u-eo_. A village in the Hilo district near Puna.]

[Footnote 148: _Iwi-honua_. Literally a bone of the earth: a projecting rock or a shoal; if in the water, an object to be avoided by the surf-rider. In this connection see note _e_, p. 36.]

[Translation]

STANZA 3

(With distinct utterance)

Kea-au shelters, Waiakea lies in the calm, The deep peace of King Hana-kahi.

Hilo, of many diversions, swims in the ocean, 'Tween Point Lele-iwi and Maka-hana-loa; 5 And the village rests in the bowl, Its border surrounded with rain-- Sharp from the sky the tooth of Hilo's rain.

Trenched is the land, scooped out by the downpour-- Tossed and like gnawing surf is Hilo's rain-- 10 Beach strewn with a tangle of thicket growth; A billowy freshet pours in Wailuku; Swoll'n is Wai-au, flooding the point Moku-pane; And red leaps the water of Anue-nue.

A roar to heaven sends up Kolo-pule, [Page 62] 15 Shaking like thunder, mist rising like smoke.

The rain-cloud unfolds in the heavens; Dark grows Hilo, black with the rain.

The skin of Hilo grows rough from the cold; The storm-cloud hangs low o'er the land.

20 A rampart stand the woods of Haili; Ohi'as thick-set must be brushed aside, To tear one's way, like a covey of fowl, In the wilds of Pa-ie-ie-- Lehua growths mine--heart of Mokau-lele.

25 A breaking, a weaving of boughs, to shield from rain; A look enraptured on Hana-kahi, Sees Hilo astir, the blue ocean tossing Wind-thrown-spray--dear sea--'gainst Point Lele-iwi-- A time-worn foam-wreath to encircle its brow.

30 Look, Pu'u-eo! guard 'gainst the earth-rib!

It's Puna-hoa reef; halt!

At Waiakea halt!