Unwritten Literature of Hawaii Part 59

[Footnote 504: _Kiu-ke'e_. The name of a wind felt at Nawiliwili, Kauai. The local names for winds differed on the various islands and were multiplied almost without measure: as given in the mythical story of Kama-pua'a, or in the semihistoric tale of Ku-a-Paka'a, they taxed the memories of raconteurs.]

[Footnote 505: _Kui-kui._ The older name-form of the tree (Aleurites triloba), popularly known by some as the candle-nut tree, from the fact that its oily nuts were used in making torches. _Kukui_, or _tutui_, is the name now applied to the tree, also to a torch or lamp. The Samoan language still retains the archaic name _tuitui_. This is one of the few instances in which the original etymology of a word is retained in Hawaiian poetry.]

[Translation]

_Song_

How pleasing, when borne by the tide, One says, you and I are a-cold.

The buds of the center are chilled Of the woman who shivers on sh.o.r.e.

5 I stood on the height Poli-ahu; The ocean enrobed Wai-lua.

Ah, strange are the pranks of the wind, The Kiu-ke'e wind of the pali!

It smites now the ocean at Puna-- 10 That's always the fashion at Puna.

Gone, gone is the last of my love, At this mixture of brine in my drink!

My mouth is a-thirst for a draught Of the cold mountain-water, 15 That plays at the foot of the cliff, In the shade of the kui-kui tree.

I thought our love-flower, ilima-- Oft worn as a garland by you-- Still held its color most true.

20 You'd exchange its beauty for rue!

_Mele_

Kaulana mai nei Pua Lanakila; Olali oe o ke aupuni hui, Nana i koke aku ke kahua, Na ale o ka Pakipika.

5 Lilo i mea ole na enemi; Puuwai hao-kila, he manao paa; Na ka nupepa la i hoike mai.

Ua kau Lanakila i ka hanohano, O ka u'i mapela la o Aina-hau; 10 O ko'u hoa ia la e pili ai-- I hoa kaaua i ka puuwai, I na kohi kelekele i ka Pu'ukolu.

Ina ilaila Pua Komela, Ka u'i kaulana o Aina-pua!

15 O ka pua o ka Lehua me ka Ilima I lei kahiko no ko'u kino, Ka Palai lau-lii me ka Maile, Ke ala e hoene i kou poli.

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[Translation]

_Song_

Fame trumpets your conquests each day, Brave Lily Victoria!

Your scepter finds new hearts to sway, Subdues the Pacific's wild waves, 5 Your foes are left stranded ash.o.r.e, Firm heart as of steel!

Dame Rumor tells us with glee Your fortunes wax evermore, Beauty of Aina-hau, 10 Comrade dear to my heart.

And what of the hyacinth maid, Nymph of the Flowery Land?

I choose the lehua, ilima, As my wreath and emblem of love, 15 The small-leafed fern and the maile-- What fragrance exhales from thy breast!

The story that might explain this modern lyric belongs to the gossip of half a century ago. The action hinges about one who is styled Pua Lanakila--literally Flower of Victory. Now there is no flower, indigenous or imported, known by this name to the Hawaiians. It is an allegorical invention of the poet. A study of the name and of its interpretation, Victory, at once suggested to me the probability that it was meant for the Princess Victoria Kamamalu.

As I interpret the story, the lover seems at first to be in a condition of unstable equilibrium, but finally concludes to cleave to the flowers of the soil, the _lehua_ and the _ilima_ (verse 15), the _palai_ and the _maile_ (verse 17), the meaning of which is clear.

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XL.--THE OLI

The Hawaiian word _mele_ included all forms of poetical composition. The fact that the mele, in whatever form, was intended for cantillation, or some sort of rhythmical utterance addressed to the ear, has given to this word in modern times a special meaning that covers the idea of song or of singing, thus making it overlap ambiguously into the territory that more properly belongs to the word _oli_. The oli was in strict sense the lyric utterance of the Hawaiians.

In its most familiar form the Hawaiians--many of whom possessed the gift of improvisation in a remarkable degree--used the oli not only for the songful expression of joy and affection, but as the vehicle of humorous or sarcastic narrative in the entertainment of their comrades.

The traveler, as he trudged along under his swaying burden, or as he rested by the wayside, would solace himself and his companions with a pensive improvisation in the form of an oli. Or, sitting about the camp-fire of an evening, without the consolation of the social pipe or bowl, the people of the olden time would keep warm the fire of good-fellowship and cheer by the sing-song chanting of the oli, in which the extemporaneous bard recounted the events of the day and won the laughter and applause of his audience by witty, ofttimes exaggerated, allusions to many a humorous incident that had marked the journey. If a traveler, not knowing the language of the country, noticed his Hawaiian guide and baggage-carriers indulging in mirth while listening to an oli by one of their number, he would probably be right in suspecting himself to be the innocent b.u.t.t of their merriment.

The lover poured into the ears of his mistress his gentle fancies: the mother stilled her child with some bizarre allegory as she rocked it in her arms; the bard favored by royalty--the poet laureate--amused the idle moments of his chief with some witty improvisation; the alii himself, gifted with the poetic fire, would air his humor or his didactic comments in rhythmic shape--all in the form of the oli.

The dividing line, then, between the oli and those other weightier forms of the mele, the _inoa_, the _kanikau_ (threnody), the _pule_, and that unnamed variety of mele in which the poet dealt with historic or mythologic subjects, is to be found almost wholly in the mood of the singer. In truth, the Hawaiians not unfrequently applied the term pule to compositions which we moderns find it hard to bring within our definitions of prayer. For to our understanding the Hawaiian pule often contains neither pet.i.tion, nor entreaty, nor aspiration, as we measure such things.

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The oli from, its very name (_oli-oli_, joyful) conveys the notion of gladness, and therefore of song. It does not often run to such length as the more formal varieties of the mele; it is more likely to be pitched to the key of lyric and unconventional delight, and, as it seems to the writer, more often than other forms attains a gratifying unity by reason of closer adherence to some central thought or mood; albeit, when not so labeled, one might well be at a loss whether in any given case he should term the composition mele or oli.

It may not be entirely without significance that the first and second examples here given come from Kauai, the island which most vividly has retained a memory of the southern lands that were the homes of the people until they came as emigrants to Hawaii.

The story on which this song is founded relates that the comely Pamaho'a was so fond of her husband during his life that at his death she was unwilling to part with his bones.

Having cleaned and wrapped them in a bundle, she carried them with her wherever she went. In the indiscretion begotten of her ill-balanced state of mind she committed the mortal offense of entering the royal residence while thus enc.u.mbered, where was Kaahumanu, favorite wife of Kamehameha I. The king detailed two constables (_ilamuku_) to remove the woman and put her to death. When they had reached a safe distance, moved with pity, the men said: "Our orders were to slay; but what hinders you to escape?" The woman took the hint and fled hot-foot.

_Oli_

Ka wai opua-makani o Wailua,[506]

I hulihia e ke kai; Awahia ka lau hau, Ai pala-ka-ha, ka ai o Maka'u-kiu.

5 He kin ka pua kukui, He elele hooholo na ke Koolau;[507]

Ke kipaku mai la i ka wa'a--[508]

"E holo oe!"

Holo newa ka lau maia me ka pua hau, 10 I pili aloha me ka mokila ula i ka wai; Maalo pulelo i ka wai o Malu-aka.

He aka kaua makani kaili-hoa; Kaili ino ka lau Malua-kele, Lalau, hopu hewa i ka hoa kanaka;[509]

[Page 256] 15 Koe a kau me ka manao iloko.

Ke apo wale la no i ke one, I ka uwe wale iho no i Mo'o-mo'o-iki,[510] e!

He ike moolelo na ke kuhi wale, Aole ma ka waha mai o kanaka, 20 Hewa, pono ai la hoi au, e ka hoa; Nou ka ke aloha, I lua-ai-ele[511] ai i o, i anei; Ua kuewa i ke ala me ka wai-maka.

Aohe wa, ua uku i kou hale-- 25 Hewa au, e!

[Footnote 506: The scene is laid in the region about the _Wailua_, a river on Kauai. This stream, tossed with waves driven up from the sea, represents figuratively the disturbance of the woman's mind at the coming of the officers.]

[Footnote 507: _Koolau_. The name of a wind; stands for the messengers of the king, whose instructions were to expel (_kipaku_, verse 7) and then to slay.]

[Footnote 508: _Wa'a_. Literally canoe; stands for the woman herself.]

[Footnote 509: _Hoa kanaka_. Human companion; is an allusion to the bundle of her husband's bones which she carries with her, but which are torn away and lost in the flood.]

[Footnote 510: _Mo'o-mo'o-iki_. A land at Wailua, Kauai.]

[Footnote 511: _Lua-ai-ele_. To carry about with one a sorrow.]

[Translation]

_Song_

The wind-beaten stream of Wailua Is tossed into waves from the sea; Salt-drenched are the leaves of the hau, The stalks of the taro all rotted-- 5 'Twas the crop of Maka'u-kiu, The flowers of kukui are a telltale, A messenger sped by the gale To warn the canoe to depart.

Pray you depart!

10 Hot-foot, she's off with her pack-- A bundle red-stained with the mud-- And ghost-swift she b.r.e.a.s.t.s Malu-aka.

Quest follows like smoke--lost is her companion; Fierce the wind plucks at the leaves, 15 Grabs--by mistake--her burden, the man.

Despairing, she falls to the earth, And, hugging the hillock of sand, Sobs out her soul on the beach Mo-mo-iki.