Fornander collection of Hawaiian antiquities and folk-lore, Volume 1 (of 3) : $b The Hawaiians' account of the formation of their islands and origin of their race, with the traditions of their migrations, etc., as gathered from original sources
History
Fornander collection of Hawaiian antiquities and folk-lore, Volume 1 (of 3) : $b The Hawaiians' account of the formation of their islands and origin of their race, with the traditions of their migrations, etc., as gathered from original sources
Folklore -- Hawaii; Hawaii -- Social life and customs; Hawaiian language -- Texts; Legends -- Hawaii
Hua-a was the king of Puna, but it was conquered by Umi and his adopted
sons, Piimaiwaa, Omaokamau and Koi, the daring youths and famous
generals and also noted ministers during Umi-a-Liloa’s administration
of the government of Hawaii. So, after the death of Hua-a by Piimaiwaa,
on the battlefield of Kuolo, in Keaau, Puna became the possession of
Umi-a-Liloa.
Imaikalani was the king of Kau. He was blind and was famous for his
strength and skill in warfare, whereby several chiefs were killed by
him in battle. He had a left thrust and a right thrust which were
terrible, and if he threw a long spear to the right or to the left hand
there was a roaring as of thunder, and flashes as of lightning, and a
rumbling sound as of an earthquake; and if he twirled his spear at his
back the dust arose in volumes as whirlwinds. Umi-a-Liloa was afraid of
Imaikalani, who was a blind man and could not at all see with his eyes,
but his hearing was acute. He had two wild duck watchers which reported
to him the appearance of any one either from the front or from the
rear, or from the sides, whichever way the voices of the birds
indicated. In former times, when Imaikalani was not blind and Kau was
not in the possession of Umi, there was war for a long time. Umi
therefore went into the mountains and made secret raids on Imaikalani,
and on the chiefs of Kona, so that he became famous as the mountain
rover of Hawaii, and the mountains were familiar to him for the waging
of wars. But when Imaikalani became blind they were constantly at war
with each other. Imaikalani was never in subjection to Umi.
Piimaiwaa sought in various ways to learn the source of Imaikalani’s
great strength, and the skill with which he threw the long spear with
such unerring aim, and the stroke of his war club that would rip one
open from head to buttocks. Piimaiwaa discovered the source of
Imaikalani’s skill and the daring bravery of this blind man to be by
means of the wild ducks hovering above, for when the birds made a noise
and the blind man heard it, either in front, or behind, or on the
sides, then he (the blind man) would say: “There is a man behind.” The
men leading him on both sides said: “Yes, there is a man.” “Where does
he hold his club?” “In front.” It was plain that it was a war club. “Is
he near?” “Yes.” The blind man suddenly threw his own club which
cleaved the man from head to buttocks. When the man appeared the birds
warned. “Where is his club?” “It is on the right-hand side.” “It is a
left thrust then that will strike him.” When the man made a strike it
missed, but the thrust made by the blind man took effect from the head
to the waist.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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