To Kauai, lifted in ether,
A floating flower at sea off Wailua—
That way Pele turns her gaze,
She’s bidding adieu to Oahu,
5 Loved land of new wine of the palm. 5
There comes a perfumed waft—mokihana—
The bath of the maid Hiiaka.
Scene it was once of Pele’s contention,
Put by for future attention.
10 Her foot now spurns the long-backed wave; 10
The phosphor burns like Pele’s eye,
Or a meteor-flash in the sky.
Finished the prayer, enter, possess!
[Footnote 332: _Olewa_. Said to be the name of a wooded region
high up on the mountain of Kauai. It is here treated as if it
meant the heavens or the blue ether. Its origin is the same
with the word _lewa_, the upper regions of the air.]
[Footnote 333: _O Ahu_. In this instance the article still
finds itself disunited from its substantive. To-day we have
_Oahu_ and _Ola’a_.]
[Footnote 334: _Kau_, The summer; time of warm weather; the
growing season.]
[Page 190]
The incidents and allusions in this mele belong to the story
of Pele’s journey in search of Lohiau, the lover she met in
her dreams, and describe her as about to take flight from
Oahu to Kauai (verse 4).
Hiiaka’s bath, _Wai auau o Hiiaka_ (verse 7), which was the
subject of Pele’s contention (verse 8), was a spring of water
which Pele had planted at Huleia on her arrival from Kahiki.
The ones with whom Pele had the contention were
Kukui-lau-manienie and Kukui-lauhanahana, the daughters of
Lima-loa, the god of the mirage. These two women lived at
Huleia near the spring. Kamapua’a, the swinegod, their
accepted lover, had taken the liberty to remove the spring
from the rocky bed where Pele had planted it to a neighboring
hill. Pele was offended and demanded of the two women:
“Where is my spring of water?”
“Where, indeed, is your spring? You belong to Hawaii. What
have you to do with any spring on Kauai?” was their answer.
“I planted a clean spring here on this rock,” said Pele.
“You have no water here,” they insisted; “your springs are on
Hawaii.”
“If I were not going in search of my husband Lohiau,” said
Pele, “I would set that spring back again in its old place.”
“You haven’t the power to do that,” said they. “The son of
Kahiki-ula (Kama-puaa) moved it over there, and you can’t
undo his action.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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