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
That night, after Namakaokahai had retired to their sleeping house,
Aukelenuiaiku and his brothers-in-law went into another house and there
he was given his lessons in the art of flying. They first taught him
how to jump and how to fly to certain places; then they asked him to
jump to the top of a shelf. After he was successful in this he was
requested to jump to the top roof batten of the house. Aukelenuiaiku
then jumped and held it for a while, then fell to the floor. In this
falling, Namakaokahai heard it, and she got up and came to her
brothers’ house, and asked them: “What are you doing?” “We are learning
how to box.” “What is that?” “It is played this way. Kanemoe stands up
like this on this side, and Kaneapua stands up on that side; then they
strike at each other, and the one who gets hit real hard falls to the
floor. That was the noise you heard.” When Namakaokahai heard this she
said: “I see that my husband has some good thing hidden that he has not
shown me. How mysterious you are!” After this Namakaokahai returned to
her own house. After she disappeared, Aukelenuiaiku again made another
attempt to reach the top batten, but again he was unsuccessful and he
fell to the floor. Namakaokahai again heard this and she came to her
brothers’ house and asked them: “I believe you are teaching my husband
how to fly.” “No, we are wrestling.” “How is that done?” “One stands up
on this side, and one on the other side; they then take ahold of one
another and each tries to throw the other down. The one who is thrown
down made the noise you heard.” Because of this satisfactory reply
Namakaokahai again retired to their house. After she was gone,
Aukelenuiaiku again made another attempt and this time he was
successful. He next came out and flew to the top of the house, and in
this he was again successful. From the roof Aukelenuiaiku flew up into
the sky, and he went so high that his brothers-in-law were unable to
see him. After a while Aukelenuiaiku returned to the ground and his
brothers-in-law said to him: “Yes, you know how to fly now.”
When Aukelenuiaiku found that he was able to fly he was then in
possession of all the powers held by his wife. After this the two lived
on in peace and they never went out of sight of each other; they were
indeed a loving couple. It also became apparent that Namakaokahai, his
god-wife, was with child. Before its birth, however, Namakaokahai made
known to her husband the name of the child: it was
Kauwilanuimakehaikalani [83] (the lightning which we see in a
rain-storm). Aukelenuiaiku, however, wished to have the child called
after the name of his god Lonoikoualii.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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