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
After the ocean, Namakaokahai changed herself into a terrible fire and
the land was enveloped in flame, covering the whole surface as far as
the eye could see. Aukelenuiaiku was entirely surrounded by the fire,
in the midst of which he saw his wife and heard her asking him, saying:
“What are you doing, Aukelenuiaiku?” He replied: “I am still admiring
your great powers and the fire.”
These three things, the cliff, the ocean and the fire were the three
supernatural bodies of Namakaokahai, and she gave to her husband the
power to change himself into these three different things. She,
however, did not reveal her fourth form and power, the power to fly
through space. The reason why she did not reveal this fourth power to
her husband and did not wish him to possess it, was because she was
afraid that he might take it into his mind to fly away and deprive her
of him, so she thought she would keep this power to herself. [81] The
brothers, however, did not approve of this, and decided to teach their
brother-in-law secretly how to acquire this power. [82]
CHAPTER X.
HOW THE BROTHERS-IN-LAW OF AUKELENUIAIKU SECRETLY TAUGHT HIM TO FLY.
We will here see how the four brothers-in-law of Aukelenuiaiku gave him
the power to fly, in payment for the offerings made by him to the gods.
Some time after this his brothers-in-law said to him: “Today you will
realize the blessings of the deity.” After a while he was asked: “Say,
has your wife given you the power to change yourself into different
forms?” Aukelenuiaiku replied: “Yes.” “What different forms did she
give you?” “The power to change into a cliff, into an ocean, and into
fire.” The brothers-in-law replied: “Then she has not given you all her
powers. She has kept to herself the power to fly.” “Yes, my wife has
reserved that; she did not give it to me.” The brothers-in-law
continued, saying: “It is because your wife thought you might fly off
and never come back again. That is the reason why she has kept this
power from you.” After this the brothers-in-law said to Aukelenuiaiku:
“Let us teach you how to get this flying power of your wife, so that
you may be able to possess it. But you must not tell your wife of
this.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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