Volume 6 / Part 2 — An Elegy to His Soul.
Reading edition
By Niau.1
The shadow of the soul, it goes and comes,
Thou hast my love, my ardent love,
Farewell my soul. 5.
He is gone there to do his mischief,
I have eaten standing perhaps, or without giving thanks,
Look not with indifference upon me.
The person of a mischievous mouth shall perish; 25.
I can tear and break in pieces, 30.
I am tearing and breaking in pieces,
What are his crimes?
A crime respecting fish perhaps,
A crime respecting food perhaps,
A crime respecting cloth perhaps, 40.
A crime respecting a girdle perhaps.
It is thy office to kill him; let him surely die. 45.
Notes in this chapter
Note 1 · Niau was a princely chief of Kauai who was killed in battle. He was termed a kaukaualii, being the son of a high chief, but whose mother wasNote 2 · A soul without a body is thy name,2Note 3 · I feel for thee3 my friend.Note 4 · We two4 shall dwell here stillNote 5 · But I see not that one though he is,5Note 6 · And where hast thou6 gone?Note 7 · Thou hast vanished,7 thou art taking revenge, 10.Note 8 · What is my great offence, O god!8Note 9 · Or these my people have eaten wrongfully.9Note 10 · Yes, that is the offense, O Kaneikawaieola.10Note 11 · O spare; O let me live,11 thy devotee, 15.Note 12 · I call upon thee, O answer12 thou me,Note 13 · O thou god of my body who art in heaven.13Note 14 · O Kane,14 let the lightning flash, let the thunder roar,Note 15 · Let the earth shake.15 20.Note 16 · I am saved; my god has looked upon me,16Note 17 · I am being washed,17 I have escaped the danger.Note 18 · Let the miscreant perish,18 let not the mischievous one succeed,Note 19 · Thou shalt soon be found a mischievous nincompoop,19Note 20 · The mischievous informer,20 the man that steals another’s food21 let him perish.Note 21 · Let Niau be spared in this world.22Note 22 · Pele is the immortal of Hawaii, I of this23 [island].Note 23 · I am bold, I am energetic,24Note 24 · I will throw back upon him his curses.25Note 25 · Let the man die that rises up eating, and the ungodly26 man also.Note 26 · Do thou oppose27 him, listen when he comes forth,Note 27 · Loosen,28 be open to jealousy, 35.Note 28 · Lay open his crimes.29Note 29 · Yes, that was the crime that excited the jealousy of Kahai,30Note 30 · Kahai was jealous, the heaven voiced conch,31 O chief,Note 31 · Whosoever has taken anything32 of mine