XXVI.—THE HULA KU’I MOLOKAI
Reading edition
The hula ku’i Molokai was a variety of the Hawaiian dance that originated on the island of Molokai, probably at a later period than what one would call the classic times. Its performance extended to the other islands. The author has information of its exhibition on the island of its name as late as the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The actors, as they might be called, in this hula were arranged in pairs who faced each other and went through motions similar to those of boxing. This action, ku’i, to smite, gave the name to the performance. The limiting word Molokai was added to distinguish it from another still more modern form of dance called ku’i, which will be described later.
While the performers stood and went through with their motions, marching and countermarching, as they are said to have done, they chanted or recited in recitative some song, of which the following is an example. This they did with no instrumental accompaniment:
Mele
He hiwahiwa na ka la’i luahine,
E uwe ana I ke kai pale iliahi.
5
Pomaikai au i kou aloha e noho nei;
Ka haluku wale no ia a ka waimaka,
Me he makamaka puka a la
Ke aloha i ke kanaka,
10
E ho-iloli nei i ku’u nui kino.
Mahea hoi au, a?
Ma ko oe alo no.
[Translation.]
Song
Precious the gift of heart’s-ease, A wreath for the cheerful dame; So dear to my heart is the breeze That murmurs, strip for the ocean. 5Love slaves for wreaths from Kaana. I’m blest in your love that reigns here; It speaks in the fall of a tear— The choicest thing in one’s life, This love for a man by his wife— 10It has power to shake the whole frame. Ah, where am I now? Here, face to your face.
The platitudes of mere sentimentalism, when put into cold print, are not stimulating to the imagination; moods and states of feeling often approaching the morbid, their oral expression needs the reenforcement of voice, tone, countenance, the whole attitude. They are for this reason most difficult of translation and when rendered literally into a foreign speech often become meaningless. The figures employed also, like the watergourds and wine-skins of past generations and of other peoples, no longer appeal to us as familiar objects, but require an effort of the imagination to make them intelligible and vivid to our mental vision. If the translator carries these figures of speech over into his new rendering, they will often demand an explanation on their own account, and will thus fail of their original intent; while if he clothes the thought in some new figure he takes the risk of failing to do justice to the intimate meaning of the original. The force of these remarks will become apparent from an analysis of the prominent figures of speech that occur in the mele.
Mele
He inoa no ka Lani,
No Náhi-éna-éna;
A ka luna o wahine.
Ho’i ka ena a ka makani;
5
Noho ka la’i i ka malino—
Makani ua ha-aó;
Ko ke au i hala, ea.
Wai ola na ke kupa
10
A ka ilio naná,
Hae, nanahu i ke kai;
Ehu kai nána ka pua,
Ka pua o ka iliau,
15
Ka moena we’u-we’u,
I ulana ia e ke A’e,
Ka naku loloa.
Nawai la, e, ke kapu?
20
No Náhi-éna-éna.
Ena na pua i ka wai,
Wai au o Holei.
[Translation.]
Song
A eulogy for the princess, For Náhi-éna-éna a name! Chief among women! She soothes the cold wind with her flame— 5A peace that is mirrored in calm, A wind that sheddeth rain; A tide that flowed long ago; The water-spring of Maná, Life-spring for the people, 10A fount where the lapping dog Barks at the incoming wave, Drifting spray on the bloom Of the sand-sprawling ili-au And the scarlet flower of ohai, 15On the wind-woven mat of wild grass, Long naku, a springy mattress. The spout-horn, Kawelo-hea, Asks, Who of right has the tabu? The princess Náhi-éna-éna! 20The flowers glow in the pool, The bathing pool of Holei!
This mele inoa—name-song or eulogy—was composed in celebration of the lamented princess, Nahienaena, who, before she was misled by evil influences, was a most attractive and promising character. She was the daughter of Keopuolani and younger sister of Kamehameha III, and came to her untimely death in 1836. The name was compounded from the words na, the, áhi, fires, and énaéna, hot, a meaning which furnishes the motive to the mele.