KU-AHA-ILO was a demon who had no parents. His great effort was to find something to eat--men or any other kind of food. He was a kupua--one who was sometimes an animal and sometimes a man. He was said to be the father of Pele, the goddess of volcanic fires.
Nakula-uka and Nakula-kai were the parents of Hiilei, who was the mother of Ke-au-nini. Nakula-kai told her husband that she was with child. He told her that he was glad, and if it were a boy he would name him, but if a girl she should name the child.
The husband went out fishing, and Nakula-kai went to see her parents, Kahuli and Kakela. The hot sun was rising, so she put leaves over her head and came to the house. Her father was asleep. She told her mother about her condition. Kahuli awoke and turning over shook the land by his motion, i.e., the far-away divine land of Nuu-mea-lani. He asked his daughter why she had come, and when she told him he studied the signs and foretold the birth of a girl who should be named Hina.
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Kahuli's wife questioned his knowledge. He said: "I will prepare awa in a cup, cover it with white kapa, and chant a prayer. I will lift the cover, and if the awa is still there I am at fault. If the awa has disappeared I am correct. It will be proved by the awa disappearing that a girl will be born.
A girl was born, and the grandparents kept the child, calling her Hina. She cried, and the grandmother took her in her arms and sang:
Nakula-kai went down to her home. Her husband returned from fishing. He said he thought another child was born. He had heard the thunder, but no storm. She told him that a boy was born. Nakula-uka named that boy Ke-au-miki (stormy or choppy current). Ten
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days afterward another boy was born. He was named Ke-au-kai (current toward the beach).
These children had no food but awa. Their hair was not cut. They were taken inside a tabu temple and brought up. Nakula-uka and his wife after a long time had another girl named Hiilei (lifted like a lei on the head). The grandparents took the child. She was very beautiful and was kept tabu. Her husband should be either a king or a male kupua of very high birth. When she had grown up she heard noises below her woodland home several times, and she was very curious. She was told, "That comes from the surf-riding."
Hiilei wanted to go down and see. The grandmother said, "Do not go, for it would mean your death." Once more came the noise, and she was told it was "spear-throwing." The girl wanted to know how that was done. The grandparents warned her that there was great danger, saying: "The path is full of trouble. Dragons he beside the way. Ku-aha-ilo, the mo-o [dragon], is travelling through the sky, the clouds, the earth, and the forest. His tongue is thrusting every way to find food. He is almost starved, and now plans to assume his human form and come to Nuu-mea-lani, seeking to find some one for food. You should not go down to the beach of Honua-lewa [the field of sports]."
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But Hiilei was very persistent, so the grandmother at last gave permission, saying: "I will let you go, but here are my commands. You are quite determined to go down, but listen to me. Ku-aha-ilo is very hungry, and is seeking food these days. When you go down to the grove of kukui-trees, there Ku-aha-ilo will await you and you will be afraid that he will catch you. Do not be afraid. Pass that place bravely. Go on the lower side--the valley-side--and you cannot be touched. When that one sees you he will change into his god-body and stand as a mo-o. Do not show that you are afraid. He cannot touch you unless you are afraid and flee. Keep your fear inside and give 'Aloha' and say, 'You are a strangely beautiful one.' The dragon will think you are not afraid. Then that mo-o will take another body. He will become a great caterpillar. Caterpillars will surround you. You must give 'Aloha' and praise. Thus you must do with all the mysterious bodies of Ku-aha-ilo without showing any fear. Then Ku-aha-ilo will become a man and will be your husband."
So the girl went down, dressed gorgeously by the grandmother in a skirt of rainbow colors, flowers of abundant perfumes--nothing about her at fault.
She came to the kukui grove and looked all around, seeing nothing, but passing further along
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she saw a mist rising. A strong wind was coming. The sun was hot in the sky, making her cheeks red like lehua flowers. She went up some high places looking down on the sea. Then she heard footsteps behind her. She looked back and saw a strange body following. She became afraid and trembled, but she remembered the words of her grandmother, and turned and said, "Aloha," and the strange thing went away. She went on and again heard a noise and looked back. A whirlwind was coming swiftly after her. Then there was thunder and lightning.
Hiilei said: "Aloha. Why do you try to make me afraid? Come in your right body, for I know that you are a real man."
Everything passed away. She went on again, but after a few steps she felt an earthquake. Afraid, she sat down. She saw a great thing rising like a cloud twisting and shutting out the sun, moving and writhing--a great white piece of earth in front of a whirlwind.
She was terribly frightened and fell flat on the ground as if dead. Then she heard the spirit of her grandmother calling to her to send away her fear, saying: "This is the one of whom I told you. Don't be afraid." She looked at the cloud, and the white thing became omaomao (green). Resolutely she stood up, shook her rainbow skirt and flowers. The perfumes were scattered
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in the air and she started on. Then the dragons, a multitude, surrounded her, climbing upon her to throw her down. Her skin was creeping, but she remembered her grandmother and said: "Alas, O most beautiful ones, this is the first time I have ever seen you. If my grandmother were here we would take you back to our home and entertain you, and you should be my playmates. But I cannot return, so I must say 'Farewell.'"
Then the dragons disappeared and the caterpillars came into view after she had gone on a little way. The caterpillars' eyes were protruding as they rose up and came against her, but she said, "Aloha."
Then she saw another form of Ku-aha-ilo--a stream of blood flowing like running water. She was more frightened than at any other time, and cried to her grandfather: "E Kahuli, I am afraid! Save my life, O my grandfather!" He did not know she had gone down. He told his wife that he saw Ku-aha-ilo surrounding someone on the path. He went into his temple and prayed:
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Then Kahuli twisted his kapa clothes full of lightning and threw them into the sky. A fierce and heavy rain began to fall. Streams of water rushed toward the place where Hiilei stood fighting with that stream of blood in which the dragon was floating. The blood was all washed away and the dragon became powerless.
Ku-aha-ilo saw that he had failed in all these attempts to terrify Hiilei. His eyes flashed and he opened his mouth. His tongue was thrusting viciously from side to side. His red mouth was like the pit of Pele. His teeth were gnashing, his tail lashing.
Hiilei stood almost paralyzed by fear, but remembered her grandmother. She felt that death was near when she faced this awful body of Ku-aha-ilo. But she hid her fear and called a welcome to this dragon. Then the dragon fell into pieces, which all became nothing. The fragments flew in all directions.
While Hiilei was watching this, all the evil disappeared and a handsome man stood before her. Hiilei asked him gently, "Who are you, and from what place do you come?" He said, "I am a man of this place." "No," said Hiilei, "you are not of this land. My grandparents and I are the only ones. This is our land. From what place do you come?" He replied: "I am truly from the land above the earth, and I have
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come to find a wife for myself. Perhaps you will be my wife." She said that she did not want a husband at that time. She wanted to go down to the sea.
He persuaded her to marry him and then go down and tell her brothers that she had married Ku-aha-ilo. If a boy was born he must be called Ke-au-nini-ula-o-ka-lani (The red, restful current of the heavens). This would be their only child. He gave her signs for the boy, saying, "When the boy says to you, 'Where is my father?' you can tell him, 'Here is the stick or club Kaaona and this malo or girdle Ku-ke-anuenue.' He must take these things and start out to find me." He slowly disappeared, leaving Hiilei alone. She went down to the sea. The people saw her coming, a very beautiful woman, and they shouted a glad welcome.
She went out surf-riding, sported awhile, and then her grandfather came and took her home. After a time came the signs of the birth of a chief. Her son was born and named Ke-au-nini. This was in the land Kuai-he-lani. Kahuli almost turned over. The land was shaken and tossed. This was one of the divine lands from which the ancestors of the Hawaiians came. Pii-moi, a god of the sun, asked Akoa-koa, the coral, "What is the matter with the land?" Akoa-koa replied , "There is a kupua--a being with divine powers--
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being born, with the gifts of Ku-aha-ilo." Pii-moi was said to be below Papaku-lolo, taking care of the foundation of the earth. The brothers were in their temple. Ke-au-kai heard the signs in the leaves and knew that his sister had a child, and proposed to his brother to go over and get the child. The mother had left it on a pile of sugar-cane leaves. They met their sister and asked for the child. Then they took it, wrapped it in a soft kapa and went back to the temple. The temple drum sounded as they came in, beaten by invisible hands.
The boy grew up. The mother after a time wanted to see the child, and went to the temple. She had to wait a little, then the boy came out and said he would soon come to her. She rejoiced to see such a beautiful boy as her Ke-au-nini-ula-o-ka-lani. They talked and rejoiced in their mutual affection, An uncle came and sent her away for a time. The boy returned to the temple, and his uncle told him he could soon go to be with his mother. Then came an evil night and the beating of the spirit drum. A mist covered the land. There was wailing among the menehunes (fairy folk). Ke-au-nini went away covered by the mist, and no one saw him go.
He came to his grandfather's house, saw an old man sleeping and a war-club by the door. He took this club and lifted it to strike the old man,
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but the old man caught the club. The boy dropped it and tried to catch the old man. The old man held him and asked who he was and to what family he belonged. The boy said: "I belong to Kahuli and Kakela, to Nakula-uka and Nakula-kai. I am the son of Ku-aha-ilo and Hiilei. I have been brought up by Ke-au-miki and Ke-au-kai. I seek my mother."
The old man arose, took his drum and beat it. Hiilei and her mother came out to meet the boy. They put sacrifices in their temple for him and chanted to their ancestor-gods:
By and by Ke-au-nini asked his mother, "Where is my father?" She told him: "You have no father in the lands of the earth. He belongs to the atmosphere above. You cannot go to find him. He never told me the path-way to his home. You had better stay with me." He replied: "No I cannot stay here. I must go to find my father." He was very earnest in his purpose.
His mother said: "If you make a mistake, your father will kill you and then eat you and take all your lands. He will destroy the forests and the food plants, and all will be devoured by your father. His kingdom is tabu. If you go, take great care of the gifts, for with these things you
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succeed, but without them you die." She showed him the war-club and the rainbow-girdle, and gave them into his care. The boy took the gifts, kissed his mother, went outside and looked up into the sky.
He saw wonderful things. A long object passed before him, part of which was on the earth, but the top was lost in the clouds. This was Niu-loa-hiki, one of the ancestor-gods of the night. This was a very tall cocoanut-tree, from which the bark of coconuts fell in the shape of boats. He took one of these boats in his hands, saying, "How can I ride in this small canoe? "
He went down to the sea, put the bark boat in the water, got in and sailed away until the land of Nuu-mea-lani was lost. His uncle, Ke-au-kai, saw him going away, and prayed to the aumakuas (ancestral ghost-gods) to guard the boy. The boy heard the soft voice of the far-off surf, and as he listened he saw a girl floating in the surf. He turned his boat and joined her. She told him to go back, or he would be killed. She was Moho-nana, the first-born child of Ku-aha-ilo.
When she learned that this was her half-brother, she told him that her father was sleeping. If he awoke, the boy would be killed.
The boy went to the shore of this strange land. Ku-aha-ilo saw him coming, and breathed out
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the wind of his home against the boy. It was like a black whirlwind rushing to the sea.
The boy went on toward his father's tabu place, up to Kalewa, in the face of the storm. He saw the tail of Ku-aha-ilo sweep around against him to kill him. He began his chants and incantations and struck his war-club on the ground. Lava came out and fire was burning all around him. He could not strike the tail, nor could the tail strike him. Ku-aha-ilo sent many other enemies, but the war-club turned them aside. The earth was shaking, almost turning upside down as it was struck by the war-club. Great openings let lava fires out. Ku-aha-ilo came out of his cave to fight. His mouth was open, his tongue outstretching, his eyes glaring, but the boy was not afraid. He took his club, whirled it in his hand, thinking his father would see it, but his father did not see it. The boy leaped almost inside the mouth and struck with the club up and down, every stroke making an opening for fire.
The father tried to shut his mouth, but the boy leaped to one side and struck the father's head. The blow glanced aside and made a great hole in the earth, which let out fire. The dragon body disappeared and came back in another form, as a torrent of blood. Ke-au-nini thrust it aside.
Then a handsome man stood before him with
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wild eyes, demanding who he was. Ku-aha-ilo had forgotten his son, and the miraculous war-club which he had given to Hiilei, so he began to fight with his hands. Ke-au-nini laid his club down. The father was near the end of his strength, and said, "Let our anger cease, that we may know each other." The boy was very angry and said: "You have treated me cruelly, when I only came to see you and to love you. You would have taken my young life for sacrifice. Now you tell me you belong to the temple of my ancestors in Nuu-mea-lani." Then he caught his father and lifted him up. He tossed him, dizzy and worn out, into the air, and catching the body broke it over his knee. Ku-aha-ilo had killed and eaten all his people, so that no one was left in his land. The boy's sister saw the battle and went away to Ka-lewa-lani (the divine faraway cloud-land).
Ke-au-nini returned on his ocean journey to Nuu-mea-lani. The uncle saw a mist covering the sea and saw the sign of a chief in it, and knew that the boy was not dead, but had killed Ku-aha-ilo. The boy came and greeted them and told the story. He remained some time in the temple and dreamed of a beautiful woman.
The brothers talked about the power of Ke-au-nini who had killed his father, a man without parents, part god and part man. They thought
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he would now kill them. Ke-au-nini became pale and thin and sick, desiring the woman of his dream. Finally he told the brothers to find that woman or he would kill them.
Ke-au-kai told him that he would consult the gods. Then he made a red boat with a red mast and a red sail and told Ke-au-miki to go after Hiilei, their sister.
Hiilei came down to stay with her son while the brothers went away to find the girl. Ke-au-kai (Broad sea-current) said to Ke-au-miki (Chopped-up current): "You sit in front, I behind. Let this be our law. You must not turn back to look at me. You must not speak to me. I must not speak to you, or watch you."
Ke-au-miki went to his place in the boat. The other stood with one foot in the boat and one on the land. He told the boy they would go. If they found a proper girl they would return; if not, they would not come back. They pushed the boat far out to sea by one paddle-stroke. Another stroke and land was out of sight. Swiftly leaped the boat over the ocean.
They saw birds on the island Kaula. One bird flew up. Heavy winds almost upset the boat and filled it with water up to their chins. They caught the paddles, bailing-cups, and loose boards for seats, and held them safe.
The wind increased like a cyclone over them.
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Thus in the storm they floated on the sea. Ke-au-nini by his sorcery saw the swamped canoe. He ran and told his mother. She sent him to the temple to utter incantations:
This chant of Ke-au-nini reached Ke-au-kai, and the wind laid aside its anger. Its strength was made captive and the sea became calm.
The boat came to the surface, and they bailed it out and took their places. Ke-au-kai said to his brother: "What a wonderful one is that boy of ours! We must go to Niihau." They saw birds, met a boat and fisherman, and found Niihau. When the Niihau people saw them coming on a wonderful surf wave, they shouted about the arrival of the strangers. The chief Ka-pali-kala-hale came down as the surf swept the boat inland. He took the visitors to his house and gave gifts of food, kapas, and many other things. Then they went on their way. When they were between Niihau and Kauai, the wind drove the boat back. A whirlwind threw water into the boat, swamping it. It was sinking and all the goods were floating away.
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Ke-au-nini again saw the signs of trouble and chanted:
The sea became calm. The boat was righted and the floating goods were put in. They met canoes and went on a mighty surf wave up the sands of the beach.
The people shouted, "Aloha!" The chiefess of that part of Kauai was surf-riding and heard the people shouting welcome, so she came to land and found the visitors sitting on the sand, resting. She took them to the royal home. All the people of Kauai came together to meet the strangers, making many presents.
The brothers found no maids sufficiently perfect, so they crossed over to Oahu, meeting other trials. At last they went to Hawaii to the place where Haina-kolo lived, a chiefess and a kua (goddess).
This was above Kawaihae. They went to Kohala, seeking the dream-land of Ke-au-nini, and then around to Waipio Valley. There they saw a rainbow resting over the home of a tabu chief, Ka-lua-hine. They landed near the door of the Under-world. This entrance is through a
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cave under water. There they saw the shadow of Milu, the ruler of the dead. Milu's people called out, "Here are men breaking the tabu of the chief." Olopana, a very high chief, heard the shouts while he was in the temple in the valley. He saw the visitors chased by the people, running here and there. Haina-kolo, his sister, was tabu. Watchmen were on the outside of her house. They also saw the two men and the people pursuing, and told Haina-kolo, and she ordered one of the watchmen to go out and say to the strangers, "Oh, run swiftly; run, run, and come inside this temple!" They heard and ran in. The people stopped on the outside of the wall around the house. this was a tabu drum place, and not a temple of safety.
Olopana was in the heiau (temple) Pakaa-lana. Haina-kolo asked who they were. They said they were from Hawaii. She said, "No, you have come from the sea." Hoo-lei-palaoa, one of her watchmen, called, and men came and caught the two strangers, taking them to Olopana, who was very angry because they had come into the temple of his sister. So he ordered his men to take them at once and carry them to a prison house to die on the morrow. He said if the prisoners escaped, the watchmen should die and their bodies be burned in the fire. Toward morning the two prisoners talked together and
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uttered incantations. Ke-au-nini saw by the signs that they were in some trouble and chanted in the ears of the watchmen: "They shall not die. They shall not die."
The watchmen reported to Olopana what they had heard, then returned to watch. The moon was rising and the two prisoners were talking. Ke-au-kai told his brother to look at the moon, saying: "This means life. The cloud passes, morning comes." Ka-au-kai prayed and chanted. The watchmen again reported to Olopana, giving the words of the chant. In this chant the family names were given. Olopana said: "These are the names of my mother's people. My mother is Hina. Her sister is Hiilei. Her brothers are Ke-au-kai and Ke-au-miki. They were all living at Kuai-he-lani. Hina and her husband Ku went away to Waipio. There she had her child, Haina-kolo."
Olopana sent messengers for Hina, who was like the rising moon, giving life, and for her husband Ku, who was at Napoopoo, asking them to come and look at these prisoners. They ran swiftly and arrived by daylight. Hina had been troubled all night. Messengers called: "Awake! Listen to the chant of the prisoners, captured yesterday." And they reported the prayers of Ke-au-kai. Hina arose and went to the heiau (temple) and heard the story of her brothers,
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who came also with the warriors. Olopana heard Hina wailing with her brothers, and was afraid that his mother would kill him because he had treated his visitors so badly. The strangers told her they had come to find a wife for Ke-au-nini. They had looked at the beautiful women of all the islands and had found none except the woman at Waipio. Then they told about the anger of the people, the pursuit, and their entrance into the tabu temple.
Hina commanded Olopana to come before them. He took warriors and chiefs and came over to the temple and stood before his parents. Hina pronounced judgment, saying: "This chief shall live because he sent for me. The chiefs and people who pursued shall die and be cooked in the oven in which they thought to place the strangers."
Ku's warriors captured Olopana's men and took them away prisoners, but Olopana was spared and made welcome by his uncle. And they all feasted together for days. Then the brothers prepared to go after Ke-au-nini.
One man who heard the wailing of the brothers and knew of the coming of Hina went to his house, took his wife and children and ran by way of Hilo to Puna-luu. It was said this man took his calabash to get water at the spring Kauwila, and an owl picked a hole in it and let the water
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out. For this the owl was injured by a stone which was thrown at him, and he told the other birds. They said he was rightly punished for his fault.
The brothers found their red boat, launched it, and bade farewell to the chief's people and lands. They returned to Kuai-he-lani, like a flash of lightning speeding along the coast from south to west. The boy in the temple saw them in their swift boat. He told Hiilei and prepared for their coming. They landed, feasted, and told their story. Then they prepared for their journey to Waipio. Their boat was pulled by fish in place of boatmen, and these disappeared upon arrival at Hawaii. Ke-au-kai went first to meet Olopana, who ran down to see Ke-au-nini and asked how he came. Ke-au-nini said, "There was no wandering, no murmuring, no hunger, no pinched faces."
Then they feasted while over them thunder and lightning played and mist covered the house. Awa was thrown before the spirit of the thunder and they established tabus.
Olopana had trouble with his priests and became angry and wanted to punish them because they did not know how to do their work so well as Ke-au-nini. They could make thunder and lightnings and earthquakes, but Ke-au-nini blew toward the east and something like a
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man appeared in a cloud of dust; he put his right hand in the dust and began to make land. Olopana saw this and thought it was done by the kahunas (priests) and so he forgave them, thinking they had more power than Ke-au-nini. Later he ordered them to be killed and cooked. Olopana asked Ke-au-nini, "Which of the tabu houses do you wish to take as your residence?" Ke-au-nini replied: "My house is the lightning, the bloody sky, or the dark cloud hanging over Kuai-he-lani, down the ridge or extending cape Ke-au-oku, where Ku of Kauhika is, where multitudes of eyes bend low before the gods. The house of my parents--there is where I dwell. You have heard of that place."
Olopana was greatly astonished, bowed his head and thought for a long time, then said: "We will set apart our tabu days for worship, and I will see your tabu place--you in your place and I outside. When you are through your days of tabu you must return and we will live together."
Ke-au-nini raised his eyes and spoke softly to the clouds above him: "O my parents, this my brother-in-law wishes to see our dwelling-place, therefore call Ke-au-kai to send down our tabu dwelling-place."
Ke-au-kai was near him, and said: "We had very many troubles on the ocean in coming after the one whom you want for your wife. You
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aided us to escape; perhaps the old man in the skies will hear you if you call." Then Ke-au-nini turned toward the east:
Then the darkness of evening came, and in the shadows the little people labored in the moonless night. Soon their work was done, the house finished, and a sacred drum placed inside. When the clear sky of the morning rested over, and the sun made visible the fairy home in the early dawn, the People cried out with wonder at the beautiful thing before them. There stood a house of glowing feathers of all colors. Posts
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and rafters of polished bones shone like the ivory teeth of the whale, tinted in the smoke of a fire. Softly swayed the feathered thatch in a gentle breeze, rustling through the surrounding coco-trees. Most beautiful it was, as in the chant of Lilinoe:
"Lifted up, blown by the wind are
The falls down to the sea of Mokuleia."
Ke-au-nini told his brother-in-law, "Oh, my brother, look upon my tabu dwelling-place as you wished."
Olopana was very curious, and asked, "How many people are needed to make a house like this so quickly?" Ke-au-nini laughed and said, "You have seen my people: there are three of us who built this house--I, the chief, and my two friends."
He did not give the names of the little people, Kana-mu and Kana-wa, who were really great multitudes, like the menehunes who made the ditch at Waimea, Kauai. They were the one-night people. All this work was finished while they alone could see clearly to use their magic powers.
Inside the house lay soft mats made from feathers of many birds, and sleeping--couches better than had ever been seen before. Ke-au-nini said to his brother-in-law: "We are now ready
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to have the tabu of our house. My parents will enter with me."
Olopana asked his kahunas if it were right for the parents to stay with the chief during a tabu, under the law of their land. The priests consulted and told Olopana that this was all right. They had no power to forbid. The parents had divine power, so also the boy, both alike, and could dwell together without breaking tabu. Then they said, "If you forbid, you will be landless."
Ke-au-kai and Ke-au-miki entered the house with their young chief. Ke-au-miki beat the sacred drum, announcing the tabu. They poured and drank awa, ate sugar-cane and chanted softly to the rhythm of the drum. Olopana was filled with jealousy because all was hidden from him. He did not know what a drum was. He had only known a time of tabu, but not the secret drum, and the soft chant.
During the ten days' tabu Ke-au-nini did not see his wife, but remained shut in his place. Olopana called for all the people to bring presents. When the tabu was over and the temple door opened, Ke-au-nini and Haina-kolo prepared for the marriage.
All the people came bringing feather mats, food, fish, and awa, which had been growing on a tree. Hamakua sent food and fish; Hilo sent
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olona and feathers; Puna sent mats and awa from the trees; Kau sent kapa; Kona sent red kapas; Kohala sent its wonderful noted sweet potatoes. The young chiefess appeared before all the people, coming from her tabu place, and she saw all the fine presents, and a great coconut-leaf lanai (porch) prepared by her brother. She came there before her parents and brother. They were waiting for Ke-au-nini, who delayed coming. Olopana asked his priests: "Why does the young chief fail to appear? We are all ready for the marriage feast." The priest said to Olopana: "Do you think that you can treat this man as one of us? He is a god on his father's side and also on his mother's. He is very high. It is on his mother's side that you are related. You should go to him with a sacrifice. Take a black pig, a cup of awa, a black chicken, and a coconut. If we do not do these things we shall not know where he is staying, for he is under the care of the gods. Now is the right time to go with the offering. Go quickly. The sun is rising high in the sky."
Olopana quickly gathered the offerings and went away to sacrifice before Ke-au-nini. He called him thus:
He set the pig free and it ran to the feet of Ke-au-nini. The chicken did the same, and the other offerings were laid before the door. Olopana went back. Ke-au-nini and his uncles awoke. He said to them: "Now the tabu is lifted. Now the hour of the marriage has come. We must prepare to go down to the sea. We shall see the sports of this land. Soon we shall meet the priests and the people."
They arose and opened their bundles of kapa, very fine and soft for red malos (girdles) for the uncles. Ke-au-nini put on his malo, called Ke-kea-awe-awe-ula (the red girdle with long ends, shaded in the tints of the rainbow) and his red feather cloak and his red feather helmet, nodding like a bird. His skin, polished and perfumed, shone resplendently. He was most gorgeous in his appearance.
When he went out of his house, thatched with bird feathers and built of polished bones, darkness spread over the sky. The voices of the little fairies, the Kana-mu and Kana-wa were heard. The people in the great coconut lanai were filled with wonder, for they had never seen darkness come in this way. It was like the sun eclipsed. When Ke-au-nini and his companions
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entered the lanai, the darkness passed away and all the people saw them in their splendor. The chiefs opened a way for the three. Ke-au-miki came in first and the people thought he was the husband, but when Ke-au-kai came they said, "This one is more beautiful," and when Ke-au-nini passed before them they fell on their faces, although he had a gauze kapa thrown over him. He passed on between rows of chiefs to the place of marriage. His uncles stepped aside, and then he threw off his thin kapa and the people shouted again and again until the echoes shook the precipices around the valley,
Then Haina-kolo came out of her house near by and was guided to the side of her husband. As she saw him her heart melted and flowed to him like the mingling of floating sea-mosses. Olopana arose and said: "O chiefs and people, I have been asked to come here to the marriage of my sister with one whom she has met in dreams and loved. I agree to this wedding. Our parents approve, and the gods have given their signs. Our chiefess shall belong to the stranger. You shall obey him. I will do as he may direct. They shall now become husband and wife."
The people shouted again and again, saying, "This is the husband of our chiefess." Then began the hookupu. Six districts brought six piles of offerings. There were treasures and
{p. 190}
treasures of all kinds. Then came the wonderful feast of all the people.
The fish companions of Ke-au-nini, who had drawn his boat from Kuai-he-lani, wanted Haina-kolo for themselves. While they were at the feast they found they could not get her, and they grew cold and ashamed and angry. Soon they broke away from the feast. Moi and Uhu ran away to the sea and returned. to their homes. Niu-loa-hiki (a great eel) looked at Ke-au-nini and said: "You are very strange. I thought I should have my reward this day, but the winning has come to you. I am angry, because you are my servant. It is a shame for the chiefs of Hawaii to let you become their ruler." His angry eyes flashed fire, he opened his mouth and started to cry out again, but the people saw him and shouted: "Look, look, there is an eel that comes to the land. He runs and dives into the sea. This eel, Niu-loa-hiki, is more evil than any other of all the family of eels."
Then all the fish ran off angry at this failure and gathered in the sea for consultation. Uhu said he would return at once to Makapuu. He was the Uhu who had the great battle with Kawelo when he was caught in a net. Moi went to the rough water outside the harbor. Kumu-nuiaiake went to Hilo. He was the huge fish with which Limaloa had a great battle when he
{p. 191}
came to visit Hawaii. He was killed by Limaloa. Hou and Awela went wherever they could find a ditch to swim in.
The people feasted on the mullet of Lolakea and the baked dogs of Hilo and the humpbacked mullet of Waiakea and all the sweet things of Hawaii. Then the sports commenced and there was surf-riding, dancing, wrestling, and boxing.
Kawelo-hea, the surf-rider of Kawa in Oahu, was the best surf-rider. Hina-kahua, the child of the battling-places of Kohala, was the best boxer. Pilau-hulu, the noted boy of Olaa, was the best puhenehene-player. Lilinoe was the best konane-player. Luu-kia was the best kilu-player. She was a relative of Haina-kolo.
When the sports were over they returned to the chief's house and slept. Haina-kolo was one who did not closely adhere to the tabu. She ate the tabu things, which were sacred, belonging to the gods, such as bananas and luau. Ke-au-nini had always carefully, from his birth to marriage-day, observed the tabu, but, following the example of his wife, soon laid aside his carefulness, and lived in full disregard of all restraint for a time.
Then Ke-au-nini left Haina-kolo and returned to Kuai-he-lani because dissensions arose between them on account of their wrong-doing.
He did not tell his wife or friends, or even his uncles, but he took his coconut-boat to go back
{p. 192}
to his home secretly. When he was far out in the ocean his sister saw him from her home in Lewa-lani (the blue sky). She sent Kana-ula, her watchman, to go out and guard him and bring him to her. Kana-ula was a strong wind blowing with the black clouds which rise before a storm.
In a little while the watchman saw Ke-au-nini off Kohala, and by his great strength lifted Ke-au-nini and placed him on Kuai-he-lani, where he saw his mother and relatives. Then he went up to Lewa-lani to his sister and dwelt with her to forget his love for Haina-kolo.
Haina-kolo had a great love for her husband, never making any trouble before they separated. Her love for him was burning and full of passion, while she grieved over his disappearance. She soon had a child. The priests living in the heiau (temple), Pakaalana, beat their drums, and all Waipio knew that a chief was born.
Haina-kolo began to go about like one crazed, longing to see the eyes of her husband. She took her child and launched out in the ocean. The boat in which she placed the child was the long husk of a coconut. She held fast to this and swam and floated by its side. When they had gone far out in the sea a great wind swept over them and upon them, driving them far out of sight of all land. She looked only for death. This wind was Kana-ula, and had been sent by
{p. 193}
Moho, who was very angry at the girl for violating the tabu of the gods and eating the things set apart for the gods. This wind was to blow her far away on the ocean until death came.
When Haina-kolo had been blown a little way she prayed and moved her feet, turning toward the place where she had rejoiced with her husband. Then she offered another prayer and began to swim, but was driven out of sight of land. The wind ceased, its anger passed away, and a new land appeared. She swam toward this new land. Lei-makani, the child, saw this land, which was the high place of Ke-ao-lewa, and chanted:
But she went on patiently, swimming by the capes of Kohala, and came near to the places of noted surf and was almost on the land. Moho saw her still swimming and sent another wind-servant, Makani-kona, the south wind, to drive her again out in the ocean. This south wind came like a whirlwind, sweeping and twisting
The sun did not hear the cry from the sea. She called again, using the same words. The sun heard this call of Haina-kolo and went on to the place where Ke-au-nini was staying and called to him, "O Ke-au-nini, your wife is near the cape of Ka-ia."
Moho heard the call. She was playing konane with her brother. She made a noise to confuse the words of the sun, and said to her brother,
{p. 195}
"O ke ku kela, o ka holo keia. Niole ka luna, kopala ka ele, na ke kea kaai." "Take this one up. Let that one move. Take that up slowly. The black is blotted out, the white wins."
Then the sun called again, saying the same words, and Ke-au-nini heard, leaped up and left his sister, and went down to Kuai-he-lani and entered the temple, where he was accustomed to sleep, and fell as one dead. While he was reclining, his spirit left his body and went down to Milu and stayed there a long time.
Haina-kolo was very near the land in the afternoon. Soon they came to the beach. There she dug a little hole for her child and laid him in his little boat in it and went up the path like a crazy person to the top of the high precipices of Ka-hula-anu (the cold dancing) and began to eat fruit growing on the trees. She clothed herself in leaves, then rushed into the forest.
Lei-makani was still floating where his mother had left him, near a place where the servants of Luu-kia went fishing every morning to get the food loved by the chiefs. Two men, Ka-holo-holo-uka and Ka-holo-holo-kai, had come down for Luu-kia, carrying a net, They threw their net over the water and the child floated into it. They thought they had a great fish. They carried the net up on the beach and found the boy. It was a little dark, and hard to see what
{p. 196}
they were catching. One called to the other, "What have we caught this morning?" The other said: "I thought we had a great fish, but this is a child. I will take this child to my home." The other said, "No--This is a fish." So they had a quarrel until the sun rose. Then they went up to the village.
Ka-holo-holo-uka told his wife, "We have a child." Then he told her how they had caught Lei-makani. They talked loudly. This chiefess heard their noisy clamor and asked her servant, "What's the trouble with these noisy ones? " They told her and she wanted that child brought to her, and commanded Maile-lau-lii (Small leaf maile) to go and get it. He took it to Luu-kia, who marked its wonderful beauty. She sent for the fishermen to tell her how they got the child. They told her about the fishing.
She wanted to know who were the parents. They said: "We do not know. This may be the child of Haina-kolo, for we know she has disappeared with her child. She may be dead and this may be her boy."
Luu-kia said, "You two take the child, and I will give the name, Lopa-iki-hele-wale [Going without anything]. Then you care for it until it grows up."
They took the child to the land of Opaeloa, as a good place to bring it up. The fishermen said
{p. 197}
to Luu-kia, "Will you provide food, fish, and clothing?" She said, "Yes." They thought the child would not understand, but it knew all these words. The fisherman and his wife took the child away. Waipio Valley people were surrounded by precipices, but the gods of Waipio watched all the troubles by sending messengers to go over to the upland and follow Haina-kolo.
Ku and Hina and Olopana were burdened by the loss of Haina-kolo and Lei-makani, so they went to the temple at Pakaalana, where the uncles of Ke-au-nini were staying. There they consulted the gods with signs and sorceries.
They sent Ke-au-miki to get some little stones at Kea-au, a place near Haena. His brother said: "Get thirteen stones--seven white and six black. Make them fast in a bundle, so they cannot be lost, then come back by Pana-ewa and get awa which man did not plant, but which was carried by the birds to the trees and planted there. Then return this evening and we will study the signs." Ke-au-miki went up the pali (precipice) and hastened along the top running and leaping and flying over Hamakua to Hilo.
The Hilo palis were nothing to this man as he sped swiftly over the gulches until he came to the Wailuku River guarded by the kupua Pili-a-mo-o, who concealed the path so that none
{p. 198}
could find it until a price was paid. The dragon covered the path with its rough skin.
Ke-au-miki stood looking for a path, but could only see what seemed to be pahoehoe lava. The tail of the dragon was like a kukui-tree-trunk lying in the water. He saw the tail switching and rising up to strike him. Then he knew that this was a kupua. The tail almost struck him on the head. He called to Kahuli in Kuai-he-lani, who sent a mighty wind and hurled aside the waters, caught up the body of the dragon and let it fall, smashing it on the rocks, breaking the beds of lava.
Then Ke-au-miki rushed over the river and up the precipices, speeding along to Pa-ai-ie, where the long ohia point of Pana-ewa is found, then turned toward the sea and went to Haena, to the place where the little stones aala-manu are found. He picked up the stones and ran to Pana-ewa and got the awa hanging on the tree, tied up the awa and stones and hurried back. He crossed the gulch at Konolii and met a man, Lolo-ka-eha, who tried to take the awa away from him. He was a robber. When they carne face to face, Ke-au-miki caught the man with his hand, hurled him over the precipice and killed him. When he saw that this man was dead, he ran as swiftly as the wind until he met a very beautiful woman, Wai-puna-lei. She saw him
{p. 199}
and asked him to be her husband, but he would not stop. He crossed Hilo boundaries to Hamakua, to the place where the trees used for kapa were growing, as the sun was going down over the palis. He came to the temple door and laid down his burden.
Then Ke-au-kai said: "This is my word to all the people: Prepare the awa while I take the little stones, pour awa into a cup: I will cover it up and we will watch the signs. If, while I chant, the bubbles on the awa come to the left side, we will find Haina-kolo. If they go to the right, she is fully lost. Let all the people keep silence; no noise, no running about, no sleeping. Watch all the signs and the clouds in the heavens."
Then he chanted:
The bubbles stood on the right side, and the priest said, "We shall never find Haina-kolo; the gods have gone away." Olopana said: "I am much troubled for my brother and sister, and that child I wanted for the chief of this land. I
{p. 200}
do not understand why these things have come to us."
All the people were silent, weeping softly, but Ke-au-kai and his brother were not troubled, for they knew their chief and wife were in the care of the aumakuas.
When Lei-makani had grown up, Luu-kia took him as her husband. He went surf-riding daily. She was very jealous of Maile, who would often go surf-riding with him. Lei-makani did not care for her, for he knew she was a sister of his mother although she had a child by him. One day, when he went with Maile, Luu-kia was angry and caught that child and killed it by dashing it against a stone.
The servants went down to the beach, waiting for Lei-makani to come to land. Then they told him about the death of his child and their fear for him if he went up to the house with Maile. Lei-makani left his surf-board and went to the house weeping, and found the child's body by the stone. He took a piece of kapa and wrapped it up, carrying the broken body down to a fountain, where he cleansed it and offered chants and incantations until the child became alive. His mother, Haina-kolo, heard the following chants and came to her son, for the voice was carried to her by kupuas who had magic powers. The child's name was Lono-kai. He wrapped it again
{p. 201}
in soft warm kapas and chanted while he washed the child, naming the fountain Kama-ahala, (a child has passed away):
Then the voice of the child was heard in a low moan from the bundle, saying, "Lono-kai-o-lohia [Lono possessed of the Ala spirit] is alive." The father heard the voice and softly uttered another chant:
The voice came again from the kapas, "Lono, the spirit of the sea, is alive." Lei-makani's love for his child was overflowing, and again he uttered an incantation to his own parents:
[1. Pandanus adoratissimus.]
{p. 202}
His heart was heavy with longing for his mother, and the gods of the wind, the wind brothers, took his plaintive love-chant to the ears of Haina-kolo, who had wandered in her insanity, but was now free from her craze and had become herself. She followed that voice over the precipices and valleys to the top of a precipice. Standing there and looking down she saw her child and grandchild below, and she chanted:
{p. 203}
Then she went down the precipice and met her son holding his child in his arms., and wailed:
They waited a little while, until the time when Lono-kai became strong again. Then they went up to the village.
Haina-kolo had run into the forest, her wet pa-u torn off, no clothing left. Her long hair was her cloak, clothing her from head to foot. She wandered until cold, then dressed herself with leaves. As her right senses returned she made warm garments of leaves and ate fruits of the forest. When they came to the village they met the people who knew Haina-kolo. She dwelt there until Lono-kai grew up. He and his father looked like twins, having great resemblance, people told them, to Ke-au-nini. The boy asked, "Where is my grandfather, Ke-au-nini?" Lei-makani said: "I never saw your grandfather. He was very tabu and sacred. He killed his own
{p. 204}
father, Ku-aha-ilo, god of the heavens. I know by my mana [spirit power] that he is with the daughters of Milu." The boy said: "I must go and find him. I will go in my spirit body, leaving this human body. You must not forbid the journey." Ke-au-kai, the priest, said: "You cannot find him unless you learn what to do before you go. Those chiefs of Milu have many sports and games. I tell you these things must be learned before you go into that land. If you are able to win against the spirits of that place you can get your grandfather."
All the chiefs aided the boy to acquire skill in all sports. They went to the fields of Paaohau. Nuanua, the most skilful teacher of hula, taught him to dance. The highest chiefs and chiefesses went with him to help, taking their retinues with them. Lei-makani said: "The knowledge of sports is the means by which you will catch your grandfather. Now be careful. Do not be stingy with food. Give to others and take care of the people."
They went up in a great company, and Haina-kolo wondered at the beauty of the boy, and asked why they were travelling. Lono-kai told them the reason for his journey and desire to see the field of sports.
Nuanua, the hula teacher, sent his assistants to get all kinds of leaves and flowers used in the
{p. 205}
hula, then sent for a black pig to be used as an omen. If it ran to Lono-kai, he would become a good dancer; if not, he would fail. The pig went to him. The priest offered this prayer:
The priest lifted his eyes, and the pig was seen lying at the foot of the boy. Then he commenced teaching the boy the kilu and the first dance. They were thirty days learning the dances, and the boy learned all those his teachers knew.
Then they went around Hawaii, studying the dances. He was told to go back and get all the new ideas and seek the gods to learn their newest dance, for theirs differed from those of his teachers. He was to seek this knowledge in dreams. Lei-makani said: "Your teachers have shown you the slow way; if that is all you know, you will win fame, but not victory. You must learn from the gods." Lono-kai again went to Hamakua with his companions and learned how to play konane, the favorite game of Ke-au-nini. The teacher said, "I have taught you all I know
{p. 206}
inside and outside, as I would not teach the other young chiefs." The boy said to him, "There is one thing more,--give offerings to the gods that they may teach us in our dreams newer and better ways."
So they waited quietly, offering sacrifices. The priests told him to set apart a pig while he made a prayer. If the pig died during the prayer, he would not forget anything learned. The boy laid his right hand on the pig and began to pray:
Then the boy lifted his hand and the pig lay silent in death. Then came thunder shaking the earth, and lightning flashing in flames, and a storm breaking in red rain. Mists came and the shadows
{p. 207}
of the thousands of gods of Ke-au-nini fell upon the boy. The teachers and friends sat in perfect silence for a long time. The storm was beating outside, and the boy was overcome with weariness and wondered at the silence of his friends.
Rainbow colors were about him, and the people were awed by their fears and sat still until evening came. Then the teacher asked the boy if he saw what had been done in the darkness resting over him, and if he could explain to them. The boy said, "I do not understand you; perhaps my teacher can explain."
Nuanua said: "I am growing old and have never seen such things above any one learning the dance. You have come to me modestly, like one of the common people, when I should have gone to you, and now the gods show your worth and power and their favor."
Then he took a piece of wood from the hula altar which was covered with leaves and flowers, and, putting it in a cup of awa, shook it, and looked, and said to the boy: "This is the best I can do for you. Now the gods will take you in their care." Then he poured awa into cups, passing them to all the people as he chanted incantations, all the company clapping their hands. Then they drank. But the boy's cup was drunk by the eepas of Po (gnomes of the
{p. 208}
night). So the company feasted and the night became calm. Lono-kai that night left his friends with Nuanua and journeyed on. He waited some days and then told Lei-makani he thought he was ready. He said: "Yes, I have heard about your success, but I will see what you can do. We will wait another ten days before you go." Then for two days all the people of Waipio brought their offerings. They built a great lanai, and feated {sic}. Lei-makani told the people that he had called them together to see the wonderful power in the sports of the boy. So the boy stood up and chanted:
Ke-au-nini heard this chant, even down in Po, while he was sporting with the eepas of Milu, while his spirit body was with his friend Popo-alaea. He repeated the same chant, and the ghosts all rejoiced and laughed, and Laka leaped to his side and danced before him. They had the same sports as the noted ones on Hawaii. Lono-kai danced in magic power before all the
{p. 209}
people until the time came for him to go along the path of his visions of the night. All omens and signs had been noted and were found to be favorable. One of the old priests told the people to make known their thought about the best path for the young chief, but they were silent. Then Moli-lele, an old priest who had the spirit of the unihipilis resting upon him, said: "I know that there will be many troubles. Cold and fierce winds come over the sea. Low tides come in the morning. The land of Kane-huna-moku rises in the coral surf." He chanted:
The chiefs began to wail, but lightning was in the eyes of the boy and his face was filled with anger at this word of the old priest. Then another priest arose and said: "O chiefs and people, I have seen the path to the Under-world, and it is not right for this young man to go. His body is human and easily captured by the ghosts. He might be safe if he could get the body of the one he seeks. There are fierce guardians of the path who will make war on whoever comes in the flesh."
{p. 210}
Then Kalei, another priest, said: "I know their world. I saw the stars this morning, and they told me that the path was stopped against this chief by broken coral and the bones of the dead. The tabu-children of Hina are swimming in the sea. I will prove the danger by this awa cup. If the bubbles of the awa poured in go to the right, he can go. If to the left, he must stay." This he did uttering incantations, but bubbles covered all the surface.
Then the priests advised the young chief to stay and eat the fat of the land. Then Hae-hae, the great chief, said, "We have come to point out a path, if we can, and to make quiet and peaceful that way into Po." He instituted new omens, and showed that the young chief would be successful, but he would have many difficulties to overcome.
Lono-kai arose and said: "The words of these chiefs were twisted. I will go after the spirit-body of my grandfather, as I have sworn to do. My word is fast. I will go to the land where my grandfather stays."
The priests who had tried to terrify Lono-kai were his enemies, and would oppose his journey, and he wanted them killed, but Lei-makani would not permit it. Ku also quieted him with patient words, and he ceased from anger and told them he must prepare at once to go.
{p. 211}
Lei-makani had a double canoe made ready, and selected a number of strong men to accompany the young chief. Lono-kai would not have any of these men, but went out early in the morning, took a cup of awa to the temple nearby and chanted his genealogical mele.
Thunder and lightning and heavy wind and rain attended his visit to the temple. He returned to his parents and told them to wait for him thirty days. If a mist was over all the land they might wait and watch ten days more, and if the mist continued, another ten, when he would return with thunder and lightning to meet his friends. But if the voices of the sea were strong at Kumukahi, with mist resting on Opaeloa and rain on Puu-o-ka-polei, then he would be dead.
He took his feather cloak and war weapons from his grandparents, and feather helmet, and went out. He bade his parents farewell, took a coconut-husk canoe and went down to the sea. The waves rose high, pounding the face of the coast precipices. Lei-makani ran down to bring Lono-kai back, but according to the proverb he caught the hand of the chiefess who lives in the land of Nowhere. The boy had disappeared.
Out in the sea Lono-kai was tossing in the high waves, passing all the islands, even to the land Niihau. There he met the great watchman
{p. 212}
of Kuai-he-lani called Honu (the turtle). He came quietly near the head. Honu asked, "Where are you going?" Lono-kai said: "You speak as if you alone had the right to the sea. You are a humpbacked turtle; you shall become a great round stone." Then the turtle began to slap its fins on the sea, raising waves high as precipices. Five times forty he struck the sea with mighty force, looking for the destruction of the chief as the waves passed over him. But Lono-kai waited until the turtle became tired, thinking the chief dead. As the waters became calm the chief raised his club and struck the right flapper of the turtle, destroying its power.
Then the left fin beat the sea into foam, but Lono-kai waited and broke that fin also; then he broke the back of the turtle into little pieces and went on his way. Soon the ocean grew fierce again. Huge waves came, and whirlwinds. He saw something red in the great sea--a kupua of the ocean. The name of this enemy was Ea, a great red turtle, who crawled out and asked where he was going. Lono-kai said: "What right have you to question me? Have I questioned your right to go on the sea?"
Ea said: "This is not your place. I will kill you. You shall be food for me to eat. When you are dead I will go and kill the watchman who let you come into this tabu-sea of my chief."
{p. 213}
"Who is your chief?" asked Lono-kai. Ea replied: "Hina-kekai [the calabash for boiling water], the daughter of Pii-moi. Now I will kill you."
Then Ea began to strike the water with his right fin, throwing the water up on all sides in mighty waves, expecting to overthrow Lono-kai and his boat. When he rested to see the result of this battle his fin was on the surface, and the chief struck it and broke it.
Then in another fight, when head and fin were lifted to destroy the boat, Lono-kai struck the neck and broke it, so killing his enemy.
Now he thought all his troubles were over and he could go safely on his way.
But soon there lay before him a new enemy, floating on the sea, a very long thing, like a long stick. He approached and saw that it was like the fin of a shark, but as he came nearer he observed the smooth skin of a long eel. Lifting its head and looking right at him, the eel said: "O, proud man, you are here where you have no business to be. I will mix you with my awa and eat you now." Then he struck at Lono-kai with his tail and hit his eyes and knocked him down, then, thinking Lono-kai was dead, he turned his head to the boat to catch the body, but Lono-kai, leaping up on the head of the eel, holding his boat with one hand and his club with the other, struck the head with the magic club,
{p. 214}
breaking the bones. Fire came out of the broken head, the eel falling into pieces which became islands of fire in the midst of which appeared a very beautiful woman who asked him whence he came, and why.
He told her he was from Hawaii and was going to Kuai-he-lani and would kill her, for he thought she was a mo-o, or dragon-woman. He said, "You tried to kill me, O woman, and now you must stay and become the fire oven of the ocean." He asked her name. She said to him: "This kupua was Waka, the dragon of the rough head, and I have escaped from his body. I want you now for my husband, and I will accompany you on your journey."
Lono-kai told her, "This would not be right, but when I return, if I come this way, you shall be mine." She said, "My ruler will kill me, for 1 have been sent to guard this place." Lono-kai asked, "Who is your ruler?" "Hina-kekai, she will kill me. You belong to the Ku-aha-ilo family, which is a very strong family. Therefore we have been watching for you for our chiefess."
Lono-kai told her to go to his land and wait for him. He would be her husband. She must wait there without fault until his return. Then he went away. Waka did not know whence this chief came, so she went to Oahu and landed at Laiewai. There she awaited her husband.
{p. 215}
Lono-kai went on to the land of Kuai-he-lani, where he landed and hid his boat among the vines on the beach. He went to the temple where the body of his grandfather lay, clean and beautiful in death. He could not see any door or break in the body for the escape of the spirit.
Then he struck the earth with his magic war-club until a great hole opened. He looked down and saw a large house and many people moving around below. He knew that the spirit of his grandfather was there. He went down and looked about, but the people had disappeared. The remains of a great feast were there. He stood at the door looking in, when two men appeared and welcomed him with an "Aloha," and told him he must have come from the land above, for there was no man like him in that place. They advised him to make his path back into that land from whence he had come, for if the king of the Under-world saw him he would be killed. Lono-kai asked, "Who is your king?" They told him, "Milu." "What does he do?" "Our king dances for Popo-alaea and Ke-au-nini." Lono-kai went with the men to see the sports. They tried to persuade him not to go, but he was very obstinate and asked them to hide him. They said, "If we do this and you are discovered we shall be destroyed."
He told them the reason of his coming and
{p. 216}
asked their help, and said when he had his grandfather they could follow him into the Upper-world. They went to a house which was large and beautiful. They entered and saw the chiefs playing kilu. After a long time Lono-kai began to make his presence known. Popo-alaea was winning. Then Ke-au-nini chanted:
Lono-kai chanted the same words as an echo of Ke-au-nini. Silence fell on the group, and Milu cried out: "Who is the disturber of our sport? We must find him and kill him." They began the search, but could not find any one and at last resumed their games. Popo-alaea chanted:
Ke-au-nini sang the same chant. Then Lono-kai echoed it very softly and sweetly. All said this last voice was the best. Milu again caused a search to be made, but found nothing. The two men hid Lono-kai by a post of the house.
The group returned to the sports. Soon Milu changed the game to hula. Ke-au-nini stood up to dance and began his chant:
The people around were striking the spirit drums. Then Lono-kai chanted:
Ke-au-nini could not stand up to dance when he heard the voice of his grandchild, for his love overpowered him. He looked up and saw the form of the young chief leaping into the place prepared for the hula and standing there before the chief. The people rose up in great confusion. Lono-kai caught the spirit of Ke-au-nini and put it in a coconut-shell. He leaped past the ghosts, and ran very swiftly out of the house.
Some of the people saw him lay hands on Ke-au-nini, and cried out: "Oh, the husband of our chiefess! Oh, the husband of our chiefess! He has taken the husband of our chiefess!" But they did not see Lono-kai go out. The two men who had aided Lono-kai went out as soon as he leaped into the hula place, They hurried along the path toward freedom, but Lono-kai soon
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overtook them. Milu called to his people to hasten and capture and kill the one who had stolen Ke-au-nini. They saw the two men with Lono-kai, and pursued rapidly, but could not overtake them. The fugitives were very near the opening to the world above. When Lono-kai saw that the pursuers were almost upon him he whirled his magic war-club and struck the ground, making a great hole into which the spirits fell one over the other.
Lono-kai and the two watchmen went up the cave opening by which he had gone down into the land of Milu. Dawn was breaking as they ran into the temple at Kuai-he-lani, where the body of Ke-au-nini was lying. Lono-kai pushed the spirit into the hollow of the foot and held the foot fast, shaking it until the spirit had gone to the very ends of the body and life had returned.
When Ke-au-nini was fully restored, Lono-kai asked him if he could help restore to their bodies the two spirits who had aided him in escaping. Ke-au-nini evidently did not remember anything of his life in the Under-world, for he did not know these ghosts and thought he had been asleep from the time he entered the temple and fell down in weariness. Lono-kai thought they could not find the bodies, but Ke-au-nini put the ghosts in coconuts and carried them up into the forest to one of his ancestors who knew
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the bodies from which these ghosts had come. Thus they were restored and had a long and happy life in their former home.
Lono-kai told his grandfather they must return to Hawaii to meet all the friends.
For thirty days mists covered Hawaii and there was thunder and lightning and earthquakes. Then Lono-kai said to Ke-au-nini: "To-morrow we must go to Hawaii. We must have the appropriate ceremonies for cleansing and taking food." Ke-au-nini said: "Yes, I have been a long time in the adopted land of Milu, and my eyes are dimmed and my thought is dazed with the dance of the restless spirits of the night. We must wait until I have performed all the cleansing ceremonies, made offerings and incantations. Prayers must be said for my return to life. Then we will go."
They attended to all the temple rites, and the marks of death were washed away. The body was cleansed, the eyes made clear, so strength and joy returned into the body. Then Ke-au-nini said: "I am ready. I see a multitude of birds circling around Kaula. There is evil toward Hawaii."
They again went into the temple and slept until very early the next morning. Then they took their coconut-husk canoes, each holding his own in his hand, and went down to the edge
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of the sea and stood there, each pointing the nose of his boat toward Waipio.
None of the people awoke until they landed. They pulled the boats upon the beach and went to their temple. As they came to the door of the temple, drums beat like rolling thunder. Then the sun arose, the mists all vanished from Hawaii. The people awoke and understood that their chiefs had returned. They ran out of their houses shouting and rejoicing. Olopana commanded the chiefs and the people to prepare all kinds of sweet food and gifts and things for a very great luau. When this was done they feasted sixty days and returned to their homes.
Lei-makani became the ruler of Hawaii. Lono-kai-o-lohia was honored by his father. All of the chiefs in that generation were noted throughout the islands.
It was said that there was a beautiful chiefess of Molokai who wanted to find a young chief of Hawaii for her husband, so she sent her kahu, or guardian, and servants to make the journey while she went back to her sleeping-place and dreamed of a very fine young chief shining like
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the sun and surrounded by all the colors of the rainbow. Then she awoke and found no one, but she loved that spirit-body which she had seen in her dreams, so she arose and went down to the beach and told her guardian to make haste and reach Hawaii that day.
When the kahu heard her call, he put forth all his power and uttered the proper incantations. He sped through the waters like a skimming bird, passed the great precipices near Waipio, and soon after dawn landed on the beautiful beach.
The people had not yet come from their homes for the work of the day. He went up to the village and came near the house of Lei-makani. A watchman asked where he was from and the purpose of his journey. He said: "I am a stranger from Molokai, a messenger from my chiefess, who seeks a husband of high rank equal to her own. She has no one worthy to be her husband."
The Waipio chief said: "We have a splendid young chief, but there is no one his equal in rank and beauty. You could not ask for him."
Then Lei-makani heard the noise and came out and asked about this conversation. His watchman told him that this man was from Molokai.
Lei-makani asked the man to approach. The Molokai chief thought that Lei-makani was the
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handsomest man he had ever seen. Ke-au-kai came out of the temple and looked upon the stranger and asked why he had come.
When he learned that the man sought a husband for his chiefess, he advised him to return lest he should meet death at the hands of the watchman, but the man would not go away.
After a time the chiefs of Waipio came before Lei-makani. The Molokai chief explained his errand, and praised his chiefess, and said that he was willing to be killed and cooked in an oven if she were not as beautiful and of as high rank as he had told them. Lono-kai at that moment entered the assembly, and the stranger cried out: "This man is the husband for my chiefess. Her tabu rank is the same as the tabu rank of this fine young chief. No others in all the islands are like these two. It would be glorious for them to meet." Lono-kai said, "You return at once and make preparation, and I will come in the evening."
The kahu returned to Molokai, but the chiefess saw him coming back alone and became very angry, her eyes flashing with wrath because he had not brought the young chief with him. She screamed out, "Where is the value of your journey, if you return without my husband?"
"Wait a little," the guardian said gently, "until you hear about what I have seen upon {p. 223} Hawaii. I have found the one you wanted. We must get ready to meet your husband, for the young chief is coming here this evening. When you meet, the love of each of you will be great toward the other."
She ordered all Molokai to prepare for a great feast commencing that evening. Messengers ran swiftly, people and chiefs hastened their labors, and by evening vast quantities of food had been prepared.
Lono-kai took his coconut-husk boat and came over the sea like a bird skimming the water.
As the sun sank and the evening shadows fell, the two young people met and delighted in each other's beauty. Then they were married in the midst of all the people of Molokai.
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