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
Because of this ill treatment by his elder brother, showing no love or
respect for him, Kihapiilani got up and secretly ran away to Kalaniwai,
a place in Makawao. While there he met a woman belonging to the place
and they were united and lived as husband and wife. The people of the
place, however, did not know that this was Kihapiilani, the chief, but
took him to be a man from the country. While living with his wife’s
parents he was often spoken of as a lazy fellow, spending his time
sleeping instead of going out to work. When Kihapiilani heard his
wife’s parents speak of him as being a lazy fellow, he got up and went
down to get potato stalks in the lowlands of Kaluaama at Haiku. Upon
his arrival at this place, an old man by the name of Kukuiokaaulani saw
him and recognized him as of high rank; so he said to his companion,
another old man: “Say, that man that is coming down is either a chief
or a priest.” After a while he again remarked: “It must be a chief. If
there was but one rainbow, then it would be a priest; [190] but since
there are two it must surely be a chief.” The two finally decided that
the person was a chief, for the fact of the disappearance of
Kihapiilani was well known. The two old men then waited for the
approach of the stranger. As soon as he came up to them they greeted
him, saying: “Our salutation to the chief.” Kihapiilani then admonished
them, saying: “Be quiet. Since you two have recognized me you must not
reveal my identity.”
After this Kihapiilani continued on his way until he came to Kaluaama,
where a large patch of sweet potatoes was growing. Kihapiilani then
proceeded to pick a quantity of stalks, taking and breaking them from
the vines, leaving the hills bare. While he was thus busily picking
stalks the owner of the patch arrived, and upon seeing what Kihapiilani
was doing he came up to him and began beating him with a stick, but
Kihapiilani paid no attention to his beating but kept on picking
stalks. After he had picked a quantity sufficient for his purpose he
tied them into a large pack, placed the pack on to his back and started
for the uplands of Kalaniwai.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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