This translation is the result of much research, yet its absolute accuracy can not be vouched for. The most learned authorities (_kaka-olelo_) in old Hawaiian lore that have been found by the writer express themselves as greatly puzzled at the exact meaning of the mele just given. Some scholars, no doubt, would dub these nonsense-lines. The author can not consent to any such view. The old Hawaiians were too much in earnest to permit themselves to juggle with words in such fashion. They were fond of mystery and concealment, appreciated a joke, given to slang, but to string a lot of words together without meaning, after the fashion of a college student who delights to relieve his mind by shouting “Upidee, upida,” was not their way. “The people of the hula,” said one man, “had ways of fun-making peculiar to themselves.” When the hula-dancer who communicated to the author the above song—a very accomplished and intelligent woman—was asked for information that would render possible its proper translation, she replied that her part was only that of a mouthpiece to repeat the words and to make appropriate gestures, _he pono hula wale no_, mere parrot-work. The language, she said, was such “classic” Hawaiian as to be beyond her understanding. [Page 99] Here, again, is another song in argot, a coin of the same mintage as those just given: _Mele_ E kau-kau i hale manu, e! Ike oe i ka lola huluhulu, e? I ka huluhulu a we’uwe’u, e? I ka punohu,[217] e, a ka la e kau nei? 5 Walea ka manu i ka wai, e! I ka wai lohi o ke kini, e! [Translation.] _Song_ Let’s worship now the bird-cage. Seest thou the furzy woodland, The shag of herb and forest, The low earth-tinting rainbow, 5 Child of the Sun that swings above? O, happy bird, to drink from the pool, A bliss free to the million! [Footnote 217: _Punohu_. A compact mass of clouds, generally lying low in the heavens; a cloud-omen; also a rainbow that lies close to the earth, such as is formed when the sun is high in the heavens.] This is the language of symbolism. When Venus went about to ensnare Adonis, among her other wiles she warbled to him of mountains, dales, and pleasant fountains.