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
While she was weeping and chanting the mele, Aukelenuiaiku was still
flying. On this return flight he got tangled in the lama trees and the
sound of the broken lama was carried below to the ears of Kamohoalii.
When Kamohoalii heard the sound he woke up from his sleep and listened,
trying to ascertain the cause of the sound, but after listening for two
months no further sound reached him there below. Aukelenuiaiku on the
other hand continued on with his flight until he again got tangled up
with the loulu palm leaves, and again the sound was carried down below
to Kamohoalii. After getting out of the loulu grove he continued on
with his flight until he got into the bamboo grove, and the sound of
the breaking of the bamboo was carried down to Kamohoalii. By this time
Aukelenuiaiku had reached the top of the hole.
We will here pause for a moment in speaking of Aukelenuiaiku and let us
take up Kamohoalii. When Aukelenuiaiku entered the lama grove and he
became entangled with the trees, the sound of the breaking lama was
carried to the ears of Kamohoalii, but not being certain as to the
direction from which the sound came, he listened for two months. At the
end of the two months he heard the sound of the breaking of the loulu
palm leaves, so Kamohoalii knew that the person who had entered these
groves was traveling from the bottom of the hole upwards. This he was
quite sure, because the sound of the loulu palm leaves was like the
sound of thunder; the lama was like the sound of a shell, and the sound
of the bamboo was like the beating of the waves against a cliff. By
these different sounds and the rotation in which they sounded,
Kamohoalii was able to know that the person was on his way out of the
hole. Therefore he enquired of those who were guarding the water-gourd,
Huawaiakaula: “Where is the water-gourd and the net outside of the
gourd?” The guard replied: “You came and took it some time ago.”
Kamohoalii then said to them: “I did not come for it.”
After this Kamohoalii flew up until he met Kuemanu, one of the guards
on the way up, and asked him: “Have you seen the mischievous man?”
Kuemanu replied: “I saw him coming up from below; he is your cousin
Aukelenuiaiku, who came for the water of life of Kane for his nephew
and older brothers.” When Kamohoalii heard this, he said: “He is a
wicked fellow. That is not the proper thing for a cousin to do; he
should have come and seen me on the matter, and not steal it. I don’t
blame him for taking the water of life, but he has ill-used our
grandmother, Huawaiakaula, and our grandfather Paleaikalanalana.” This
was because Aukelenuiaiku had broken off the neck of the water gourd,
and also pulled to pieces the network of strings that served as the
covering.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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