XXIV—THE HULA PELE
Reading edition
The Hawaiian drama could lay hold of no worthier theme than that offered by the story of Pele. In this epic we find the natural and the supernatural, the everyday events of nature and the sublime phenomena of nature’s wonderland, so interwoven as to make a story rich in strong human and deific coloring. It is true that the genius of the Hawaiian was not equal to the task of assembling the dissevered parts and of combining into artistic unity the materials his own imagination had spun. This very fact, however, brings us so much nearer to the inner workshop of the Hawaiian mind.
The story of Pele is so long and complicated that only a brief abstract of it can be offered now:
Pele, the goddess of the volcano, in her dreams and wanderings in spirit-form, met and loved the handsome Prince Lohiau. She would not be satisfied with mere spiritual intercourse; she demanded the sacrament of bodily presence. Who should be the ambassador to bring the youth from his distant home on Kauai? She begged her grown-up sisters to attempt the task. They foresaw the peril and declined the thankless undertaking. Hiiaka, the youngest and most affectionate, accepted the mission; but, knowing her sister’s evil temper, strove to obtain from Pele a guaranty that her own forests and the life of her bosom friend Hopoe should be safeguarded during her absence.
Hiiaka was accompanied by Wahine-oma’o—the woman in green—a woman as beautiful as herself. After many adventures they arrived at Haena and found Lohiau dead and in his sepulchre, a sacrifice to the jealousy of Pele. They entered the cave, and after ten days of prayer and incantation Hiiaka had the satisfaction of seeing the body of Lohiau warmed and animated by the reentrance of the spirit; and the company, now of three, soon started on the return to Kilauea.
The time consumed by Hiiaka in her going and doing and returning had been so long that Pele was moved to unreasonable jealousy and, regardless of her promise to her faithful sister, she devastated with fire the forest parks of Hiiaka and sacrificed the life of Hiiaka’s bosom friend, the innocent and beautiful Hopoe.
Hiiaka and Lohiau, on their arrival at Kilauea, seated themselves on its ferny brink, and there, in the open view of Pele’s court, Hiiaka, in resentment at the broken faith of her sister and in defiance of her power, invited and received from Lohiau the kisses and dalliance which up to that time she had repelled. Pele, in a frenzy of passion, overwhelmed her errant lover, Lohiau, with fire, turned his body into a pillar of rock, and convulsed earth and sea. Only through the intervention of the benevolent peacemaking god Kane was the order of the world saved from utter ruin.
The ancient Hawaiians naturally regarded the Pele hula with special reverence by reason of its mythological importance, and they selected it for performance on occasions of gravity as a means of honoring the kings and alii of the land. They would have considered its presentation on common occasions, or in a spirit of levity, as a great impropriety.
In ancient times the performance of the hula Pele, like that of all other plays, was prefaced with prayer and sacrifice. The offering customarily used in the service of this hula consisted of salt crystals and of luau made from the delicate unrolled taro leaf. This was the gift demanded of every pupil seeking admission to the school of the hula, being looked upon as an offering specially acceptable to Pele, the patron of this hula. In the performance of the sacrifice teacher and pupil approached and stood reverently before the kuahu while the former recited a mele, which was a prayer to the goddess. The pupil ate the luau, the teacher placed the package of salt on the altar, and the service was complete.
Both olapa and hoopaa took part in the performance of this hula. There was little or no moving about, but the olapa did at times sink down to a kneeling position. The performance was without instrumental accompaniment, but with abundant appropriate gestures. The subjects treated of were of such dignity and interest as to require no extraneous embellishment.
Perusal of the mele which follows will show that the story of Pele dated back of her arrival in this group:
He Oli-O ka mele mua keia o ka, hula Pele
Mai Kahiki ka wahine, o Pele, Mai ka aina i Pola-pola, Mai ka punohu ula a Kane, Mai ke ao lalapa i ka lani, 5Mai ka opua lapa i Kahiki. Lapa-ku i Hawaii ka wahine, o Pele; Kalai i ka wa’a Houna-i-a-kea, Kou wa’a, e Ka-moho-alii. I apo’a ka moku i pa’a; 10Ua hoa ka wa’a o ke Akua, Ka wa’a o Kane-kalai-honua. Holo mai ke au, a’ea’e Pele-honua-mea; A’ea’e ka Lani, ai-puni’a i ka moku; A’ea’e Kini o ke Akua, 15Noho a’e o Malau. Ua ka ia ka liu o ka wa’a. Ia wai ka hope, ka uli o ka wa’a, e ne hoa ’lii? Ia Pele-honua-mea. A’ea’e kai hoe oluna o ka wa’a. 20O Ku ma, laua o Lono, Noho i ka honua aina, Kau aku i hoolewa moku. Hiiaka, noiau, he akua, Ku ae, hele a noho i ka hale o Pele. 25Huahua’i Kahiki, lapa uila, e Pele. E hua’i, e!
[Translation.]
A Song—The first song of the hula Pele
From Kahiki came the woman, Pele, From the land of Pola-pola, From the red cloud of Kane, 5Fiery cloud-pile in Kahiki. Eager desire for Hawaii seized the woman, Pele; She carved the canoe, Honna-i-a-kea, Your canoe, O Ka-moho-alii. They push the work on the craft to completion. 10The lashings of the god’s canoe are done, The canoe of Kane, the world-maker. The tides swirl, Pele-honua-mea o’ermounts them; The god rides the waves, sails about the island; The host of little gods ride the billows; 15Malau takes his seat; One bales out the bilge of the craft. Who shall sit astern, be steersman, O, princes? Pele of the yellow earth. The splash of the paddles dashes o’er the canoe. 20xKu and his fellow, Lono, Disembark on solid land; They alight on a shoal. Hiiaka, the wise one, a god, Stands up, goes to stay at the house of Pele. 25Lo, an eruption in Kahiki! A flashing of lightning, O Pele! Belch forth, O Pele!
Tradition has it that Pele was expelled from Kahiki by her brothers because of insubordination, disobedience, and disrespect to their mother, Honua-mea, sacred land. (If Pele in Kahiki conducted herself as she has done in Hawaii, rending and scorching the bosom of mother earth—Honua-Mea—it is not to be wondered that her brothers were anxious to get rid of her.) She voyaged north. Her first stop was at the little island of Ka-ula, belonging to the Hawaiian group. She tunneled into the earth, but the ocean poured in and put a stop to her work. She had the same experience on Lehua, on Kiihau, and on the large island of Kauai. She then moved on to Oahu, hoping for better results; but though she tried both sides of the island, first mount Ka-ala—the fragrant—and then Konahuanui, she still found the conditions unsatisfactory. She passed on to Molokai, thence to Lanai, and to West Maui, and East Maui, at which last place she dug the immense pit of Hale-a-ka-la; but everywhere she was unsuccessful. Still journeying east and south, she crossed the wide Ale-nui-haha channel and came to Hawaii, and, after exploring in all directions, she was satisfied to make her home at Kilauea. Here is (ka piko o ka honua) the navel of the earth. Apropos of this effort of Pele to make a fire-pit for herself, see the song for the hula kuolo (p. 86), “A pit lies (far) to the east.”
Mele
Ka pua lana i kai o Wailua;
Nana mai Pele ilaila;
5
Aloha i ka wai niu o ka aina;
E ala mai ana mokihana,
Wai auau o Hiiaka.
Hoo-paapaa Pele ilaila;
10
Keehi aku Pele i ka ale kua-loloa,
He onohi no Pele, ka oaka o ka lani, la.
Eli-eli, kau mai!
[Translation.]
Song
To Kauai, lifted in ether, A floating flower at sea off Wailua— That way Pele turns her gaze, She’s bidding adieu to Oahu, 5Loved land of new wine of the palm. 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. 10Her foot now spurns the long-backed wave; The phosphor burns like Pele’s eye, Or a meteor-flash in the sky. Finished the prayer, enter, possess!
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.”
The eye of Pele, He onohi no Pele (verse 11), is the phosphorescence which Pele’s footfall stirs to activity in the ocean.
The formal ending of this mele, Elieli, kau mai, is often found at the close of a mele in the hula Pele, and marks it as to all intents and purposes a prayer.
E waiho aku ana, o Ahu (verse 4). This is an instance of the separation of the article o from the substantive Ahu, to which it becomes joined to form the proper name of the island now called Oahu.
Mele
Ke amo la ke ko’i ke akua la i-uka;
Haki nu’a-nu’a mai ka nalu mai Kahiki,
Kanaka hea i ka lakou puaa kanu;
5
He wahine kui lei lehua i uka o Olaa,
Ku’u moku lehua i ke alo o He-eia.
Komo i ka lau-ki,
A’e-a’e a noho.
10
Eia makou, kou lau kaula la.
Eli-eli, kau mai!
[Translation.]
Song
They bear the god’s ax up the mountain; Trampling the mire, like waves from Kahiki That beat on the front of Kilauea. The people with offerings lift up a prayer; 5A woman strings wreaths in Olaa— Lehua grove mine bord’ring He-eia. And now Kukuena, mother god, Covers her loins with a pa-ú of ti leaf; She mounts the altar; she sits. 10Behold us, your conclave of priests. Enter in, possess us!
Mele
Ka ipu hoolono i ka uwalo,
Ka wawa nui, e Ulupo.
Aole uwalo mai, e.
5
Aloha nui o Ikuwa, Mahoena.
Ke lele la ka makawao o ka hinalo.
Aia i Maná ka oka’i o ka ua o Eleao;
Ke puhi a’e la ka ale kumupali o Ka-ú, Honuapo;
10
Ke hakoko ka niu o Paiaha’a i ka makani.
Uki-uki oukou:
Ke lele la ke kai;
O ka makani Koolau-wahine,
15
O ka Moa’e-ku.
Lele aku, lele mai!
20
E Hiiaka e, ku!
[Translation.]
Song
At Wailua stands the main house-post; This oracle harks to wild voices, Tumult and clamor, O Ulu-po; It utters no voice to entreaty. 5Alas for the prophet that’s dumb! But there drifts the incense of hala. Maná sees the rain-whirl of Eleao. The robe of Ka-ú sways in the wind, That dashes the waves ’gainst the sea-wall, 10At Honu-apo, windy Ka-ú; The Pai-ha’a palms strive with the gale. Such weather is grievous to you: The sea-scud is flying. My little i-ao, O fly 15With the breeze Koolau! Fly with the Moa’e-ku! Look at the rain-mist fly! Leap with the cataract, leap! Plunge, now here, now there! 20Feet foremost, head foremost; Leap with a glance and a glide! Kauná, opens the dance; you win. Rise, Hiiaka, arise!
The meaning of this mele centers about a phenomenon that is said to have been observed at Ka-ipu-ha’a, near Wailua, on Kauai. To one standing on a knoll near the two cliffs Ikuwa and Mahoena (verse 5) there came, it is said, an echo from the murmur and clamor of the ocean and the moan of the wind, a confused mingling of nature’s voices. The listener, however, got no echoing answer to his own call.
The mele does not stick to the unities as we understand them. The poets of old Hawaii felt at liberty to run to the ends of their earth; and the auditor must allow his imagination to be transported suddenly from one island to another; in this case, first from Wailua to Maná on the same island, where he is shown the procession of whirling rain clouds of Eleao (verse 7). Thence the poet carries him to Honuapo, Hawaii, and shows him the waves dashing against the ocean-walls and the clashing of the palm-fronds of Paiaha’a in the wind.
The scene shifts back to Kauai, and one stands with the poet looking down on a piece of ocean where the people are wont to disport themselves. (Maka-iwa, not far from Ka-ipu-ha’a, is said to be such a place.) Verses 12 to 19 in the Hawaiian (13 to 21 in the translation) describe the spirited scene.
It is somewhat difficult to determine whether the Kauná mentioned in the next poem is the name of the woman or of the stormy cape. In the mind of a Hawaiian poet the inanimate and the animate are often tied so closely together in thought and in speech as to make it hard to decide which is intended.
Mele
Ike ia Kauná-wahine, Makani Ka-ú, He umauma i pa ia e ka Moa’e, E ka makani o-maka o Unulau. Lau ka wahine kaili-pua o Paía, 5Alualu puhala o ka Milo-pae-kanáka, e-e-e-e! He kanáka ke koa no ka ehu ahiahi, O ia nei ko ka ehu kakahiaka— O maua no, me ka makua o makou. Ua ike ’a!
[Translation.]
Song
Behold Kauná, that sprite of windy Ka-ú, Whose bosom is slapped by the Moa’e-kú, And that eye-smiting wind Unulaú— Women by hundreds filch the bloom 5Of Paía, hunt fruit of the hala, a-ha! That one was the gallant, at evening, This one the hero of love, in the morning— ’Twas our guardian I had for companion. Now you see it, a-ha!
This mele, based on a story of amorous rivalry, relates to a contest which arose between two young women of rank regarding the favors of that famous warrior and general of Kamehameha, Kalaimoku, whom the successful intrigante described as ka makua o makou (verse 8), our father, i.e., our guardian. The point of view is that of the victorious intrigante, and in speaking of her defeated rival she uses the ironical language of the sixth verse, He kanáka ke koa no ka ehu ahiahi meaning that her opponent’s chance of success faded with the evening twilight, whereas her own success was crowned with the glow of morning, O ia neí ko ka ehu kakahiaka (verse 7). The epithet kanáka hints ironically that her rival is of lower rank than herself, though in reality the rank of her rival may have been superior to her own.
The language, as pointed out by the author’s informant, is marked with an elegance that stamps it as the product of a courtly circle.
Mele
E oe mauna i ka ohu,
Kahá, ka leo o ka ohi’a;
Auwe! make au i ke ahi a mau
5
A papa enaena, wai hau,
O pepe ka muimui:
O kiele[348] i na ulu[348]
10
Ka makahá kai kea
Ka makaha kai kea!
Eli-eli, kau mai.
[Translation.]
Song
Ho! mountain of vapor-puffs, Now groans the mountain-apple tree. Alas! I burn in this deathless flame, That is fed by the woman who snores 5On a lava plate, now hot, now cold; Now ’tis a canoe full-rigged for sea; There are seats at the bow, amidships, abaft; Baggage and men—all is aboard. And now the powerful thrust of the paddle, 10Making mighty swirl of wat’ry yeast, As of Nihéu, the mischief-maker— A mighty swirl of the yeasty wave. In heavea’s name, come aboard!
After the death of Lohiau, his best friend, Paoa, came before Pele determined to invite death by pouring out the vials of his wrath on the head of the goddess. The sisters of Pele sought to avert the impending tragedy and persuaded him to soften his language and to forego mere abuse. Paoa, a consummate actor, by his dancing, which has been perpetuated in the hula Pele, and by his skillfully-worded prayer-songs, one of which is given above, not only appeased Pele, but won her.
The piece next appearing is also a song that was a prayer, and seems to have been uttered by the same mouth that, groaned forth the one given above.
It does not seem necessary to take the language of the mele literally. The sufferings that the person in the mele describes in the first person, it seems to the author, may be those of his friend Lohiau; and the first person is used for literary effect.
Mele 350
Aole e mao ka ohu:
Auwe! make au i ke ahi a mau
A ka wahine moe naná,
A papa ena-ena,
5
A wa’a kau-hí.
Ilaila pepe mua me pepe waena,
O pepe ka mu’imu’i,
O lei’na kiele,
10
Ka maka kakahi kea
O Niheu kolohe—
Ka maka kaha-kai kea.
Eli-eli, kau mai!
[Translation.]
Song
Alas, there’s no stay to the smoke; I must die mid the quenchless flame— Deed of the hag who snores in her sleep, Bedded on lava plate oven-hot. 5Now it takes the shape of canoe; Seats at the bow and amidships, And the steersman sitting astern; Their stroke stirs the ocean to foam— The myth-craft, Kau-meli-eli! 10Now look, the white gleam of an eye— It is Nihéu, the turbulent one— An eye like the white sandy shore. Amen, possess me!
The mele now to be given has the form of a serenade. Etiquette forbade anyone to wake the king by rude touch, but it was permissible for a near relative to touch his feet. When the exigencies of business made it necessary for a messenger, a herald, or a courtier to disturb the sleeping monarch, he took his station at the king’s feet and recited a serenade such as this:
Mele Hoala (no ka Hula Pele)
E ala, e Kahiki-moe; [352]
E ala, e ke apapa lani.[353]
5
E ala oe!
E ala, ua ao, ua malamalama.
10
Ka lae makani o’Anahenahe la, e-e!
E ala oe!
E ala, ua ao, ua malamalama;
15
Ke o a’e la ke kukuna o ka La i lea ili o ke kai;
E hoaikane ana me Makanoni;
Ka papa o Apua, ua lohi i ka La.
E ala oe!
20
E ala, ua ao, ua malamalama;
Ke kau aku la ka La i Kawaihoa:
Ke kolii aku la ka La i ka ili o ke kai;
Ke anai mai la ka iwa auai-maka o Lei-no-ai,
I ka lima o Maka-iki-olea,
25
I ka poll wale o Leliua la.
E ala oe!
[Translation.]
Song
Awake now, Kahiki-ku; Awake now, Kahiki-moe; Awake, ye gods of lower grade; Awake, ye gods of heavenly rank. 5A serenade to thee, O king. Awake thee! Awake, it is day, it is light; The Day-god his arrows is shooting, Unulau his eye far-flashing, 10Canoe-men from Uku-me-hame Are astir to weather the windy cape, The boat-baffling cape, Papa-wai, And the boisterous A-nahe-nahe. Awake thee! 15Awake, day is come and the light; The sun-rays stab the skin of the deep; It pursues, as did god Kumu-kahi To companion with god Maka-noni; The plain of Apua quivers with heat. 20Awake thee! Awake, ’tis day, ’tis light; The sun stands over Waihoa, Afloat on the breast of ocean; The iwa of Leinoai is preening 25On the cliff Maka-iki-olea. On the breast of naked Lehua. Awake thee! awake!
The following is a prayer said to have been used at the time of awa-drinking. When given in the hula, the author is informed, its recitation was accompanied by the sound of the drum.
He Pule no Pele
PALE I
O Pele la ko’u akua:
Miha ka lani, miha ka honua.
Awa iku, awa lani;
Kai awaawa, ka awa nui a Hiiaka,
5
He awa kapu no na wahine.
E kapu!
Ka’i kapu kou awa, e Pele a Honua-mea;
E kala, e Haumea wahine,
10
O ka wahine i Kilauea,
Nana i eli a hohonu ka lua
O Mau-wahine, o Kupu-ena,
O na wahine i ka inu-hana awa.
PALE II
15
I kama’a-ma’a la i ka pua-lei;
E loa ka wai apua,
Hoopuka aku i Puu-lena,
Aina a ke Akua i noho ai.
20
Kanaenae a ke Akua malihini;[362]
O ka’u wale iho la no ia, o ka leo,
He leo wale no, e-e!
E ho-i!
Eia ka ai!
[Translation.]
A Prayer to Pele
CANTO I
Lo, Pele’s the god of my choice: Let heaven and earth in silence wait Here is awa, potent, sacred, Bitter sea, great Hiiaka’s root; 5’Twas cut at Mauli-ola— Awa to the women forbidden, Let it tabu be! Exact be the rite of your awa, O Pele of the sacred land. 10Proclaim it, mother. Haumea, Of the goddess of Kilauea; She who dug the pit world-deep, And Mau-wahine and Kupu-ena, Who prepare the awa for drink. 15A health to the stranger gods!
CANTO II
Bedeck now the board for the feast; Fill up the last bowl to the brim; Then pour a draught in the sun-cave Shall flow to the mellow haze, 20That tints the land of the gods. All hail to the stranger gods! This my offering, simply a voice, Only a welcoming voice. Turn in! 25Lo, the feast!
This prayer, though presented in two parts or cantos, is really one, its purpose being to offer a welcome, kanaenae, to the feast and ceremony to the gods who had a right to expect that courtesy.
One more mele of the number specially used in the hula Pele:
Mele
Nou paha e, ka inoa
E ka’i-ka’i ku ana,
A kau i ka nuku.
E hapa-hapai a’e;
5
A pa i ke kihi
O Ki-lau-é-a.
Ilaila ku’u kama,
Hookomo a’e iloko
10
A ma-ú na pu’u
E óla-olá, nei.
E Pele, e Pele!
15
E Pele, e Pele!
Huai’na! huai’na!
Ku ia ka lani,
Pae a huila!
[Translation.]
Song
Yours, doubtless, this name. Which people are toasting With loudest acclaim. Now raise it, aye raise it, 5Till it reaches the niches Of Kí-lau-é-a. Enshrined is there my kinsman, Kú-núi-akéa. Then give it a place 10In the temple of Pele; And a bowl for the throats That are croaking with thirst. Knock-kneed eater of land, O Pele, god Pele! 15O Pele, god Pele! Burst forth now! burst forth! Launch a bolt from the sky! Let thy lightnings fly: