The people came to take this old saw seriously and literally, and during the season when the wiliwili (Erythrina monosperma) was clothed in its splendid tufts of brick-red, mothers kept their children from swimming into the deep sea by setting before them the terrors of the shark.] [Translation.] _Song_ Alas! I am seized by the shark, great shark! Lala-kea with triple-banked teeth. The stratum of Lono is gone, Torn up by the monster shark, 5 Niuhi with fiery eyes, That flamed in the deep blue sea. Alas! and alas! When flowers the wili-wili tree, That is the time when the shark-god bites. 10 Alas! I am seized by the huge shark! O blue sea, O dark sea, Foam-mottled sea of Kane! What pleasure I took in my dancing! Alas! now consumed by the monster shark! Who would imagine that a Hawaiian would ever picture the god of love as a shark? As a bird, yes; but as a shark! What a light this fierce idyl casts on the imagination of the people of ancient Hawaii! [Page 223] XXXII.—THE HULA ILÍO The dog took his part and played his enthusiastic rôle in the domestic life of every Hawaiian. He did not starve in a fool’s paradise, a neglected object of man’s superstitious regard, as in Constantinople; nor did he vie with kings and queens in the length and purity of his pedigree, as in England; but in Hawaii he entered with full heart of sympathy into all of man’s enterprises, and at his death bequeathed his body a sacrifice to men and gods. It was fitting that the Hawaiian poet should celebrate the dog and his altogether virtuous and altruistic services to mankind. The hula _ilío_ may be considered as part of Hawaii’s tribute to man’s most faithful friend, the dog. The hula ilío was a classic performance that demanded of the actors much physical stir; they shifted their position, now sitting, now standing; they moved from place to place; indulged in many gestures, sometimes as if imitating the motions of the dog. This hula has long been out of commission. Like the two animal-hulas previously mentioned, it was performed without the aid of instrumental accompaniment.