CHAPTER XXXVI
PAOA SEEKS OUT THE BODY OF HIS DEAD FRIEND LOHIAU
Under the lead of his spiritual guide, Paoa arrived that day at Kilauea and, standing at the brink of the great caldera, he saw the figure of Lohiau beckoning to him as it stood on a heap of volcanic debris. The wraith dissolved into nothingness as he approached the spot; but there lay a figure in stone having the semblance of a man. It was more an act of divination than the exercise of ordinary judgment that told him this was the body of Lohiau. "I thought you had summoned me to take home your living body, my friend!" was his exclamation. His voice was broken with emotion as he poured out his lament:
Mau a'alina oe mauka o Ka-la-ke-ahi; Ma Puna ka huli mai ana; Ka ua a Makali'i, Ke ua la i Laau, I Kaú, i Ka-hihi, i Ka-pe'a, I ke wao a ke akua. Eia ho'i au la, o ka Maka-o-ke-ahi; Aole ho'i na la o ka Lawa-kua, Ke Koolau la, e, aloha! Aloha ku'u hoa i ka ua anu lipoa, Hu'ihu'i, ko'eko'e, kaoü: He ahi ke kapa o kaua e mehana ai, E lala ai kaua i Oma'o-lala; I pili wale, i ha'alele la, e. Ha'alele i Wailua na hoa aloha-- O Puna, aina aloha, O Puna, i Kaua'i.
TRANSLATION
Thou bundle of scars from a fiery day, 'Twas at Puna our journey began, With a dash of rain in the summer; Rain again when we entered the woods, Rain, too, in Kaú, in the jungle, In the forest-haunts of the gods, Rain at each crossing of road and path:-- Here stand I, with fire in my eye: Our days of communion are gone; You've bidden adieu to Ko'olau: Hail now to my mate of the gloomy rain-- When wet and cold and chilled to the bone, Our garment of warmth the blazing hearth; Then basked we at Oma'o-lala, Haunting the place, then tearing away. E'en so you tore away from your friends, Those friends of Wailua, of Puna-- That dear land of Puna, Kaua'i!
(Here is another version of the eloquent prayer of Paoa; furnished by Poepoe, who obtained it from Rev. Pa'aluhi):
O mau a'alina oe, O mau kakala ke ahi. Ma Puna ka hiki'na mai A ka ua makali'i, Ka ua a'ala ai laau, I ka hiki, i ka pa'a, I ke ahu a ke Akua. Eia ho'i au, la. O ka maka o ke ahi; Aole ho'i na la, O ka lawakua [470] a ke Koolau. E, aloha o'u hoa, I ka ua a ka lipoa, [471] Lihau anu, ko'eko'e, ka-o-ú-- He ahi ke kapa e mehana ai, E lála [472] ai kaua i Oma'o-lala. [473] I pili wale, i ha'alele la, e. Ha'alele i Puna na hoaloha, e, Ka aina i ka houpu a Kane [474] He aikane ka mea aloha, e He-e!
TRANSLATION
You've encased him tight in a lava shell, Scorched him with tongues of flame. Puna, the place of thy landing, First impact of winter rain-- Sweet rain, feeding the perfume, Drunk by vine and firm-rooted tree-- The wilderness-robe of the gods. Here am I, too, eye-flash of flame; As for them, no friends they of mine: Companions mine of the stormy coast, My love goes forth to my toil-mate Of the mist, cold rain and driving storm; A blazing hearth our garment then, And to bask in the sun at Oma'o-lála. Those seeming friends, they went with us, And then, they left us in Puna-- Land dear to the heart of Kane: Who eats of your soul is your true friend. Woe is me, woe is me!
Hiiaka, not yet come back from her adventures in the underworld, heard this lament of Paoa and wondered at his performance--that he, a handsome man, should be standing out in the open with not even a malo about his loins to hide his nakedness, "I wonder what is his name," she said aloud.
Paoa, intent on supersensual things, heard the wondering words of Hiiaka and responded to them:
Hulihia ke au, pe'a ilalo i Akea; Hulihia ka mole o ka honua; Hulihia ka ale ula, ka ale lani, I ka puko'a, ka a'aka, [475] ke ahua, Ka ale po'i, e, i ka moku. Nawele ke ahi, e, a i Kahiki; Nawele ka maka o Hina-ulu-ohi'a. [476] Wela ka lani, kau kahaeä; [477] Wahi'a ka lani, uli-pa'a ka lani; Eleele ka lau o Ka-hoa-li'i; Ka pohaku kuku'i o ka Ho'oilo; Nahá mai Ku-lani-ha-ko'i; [478] Ke ha'a-lokuloku nei ka ua; Ke nei nei ke ola'i; Ke ikuwá mai la i uka. Ke o'oki la i ka piko o ka hale, A mo' ka piko i Eleuä, [479] i Eleaö: Ka wai e ha'a Kula-manu, [480] Ka nahele o Ke-hua, I loa i ke kula o Ho'o-kula-manu. E Pele, e wahi'a [481] ka lani; E Pele e, ka wahine ai laau o Puna, Ke ai holoholo la i ka papa o Hopoe; Pau a'e la Ku-lili-ka-ua [482] Ka nahele makai o Keäau, A ka mahu a ka Wahine, Ka uahi keä i uka, Ke ai la i Pohaku-loa, [483] I ke ala a Lau-ahea; [484] He wawaka ka huila o ka lani. E Ku-kuena [485] e, na'u ho'i e noho Ka la puka i Ha'eha'e. O ka luna o Uwé-kahuna; O ka uwahi hauna-laau; O ke po'o ku i ka pohaku; O ka alá kani koele; A ka nakolo i ka nei. Ma'alili ole ai ua 'kua ai i ke a; Nakeke ka niho o Pele i Kilauea; Pohaku wai ku kihikihi, [486] Ku hiwa ai i ka maka o ka pohaku-- Pohaku ai-wawae o Malama; Hopo aku ka haka'i hele i ka la. Pi'i a ka wai i uka, Moana ai wai a ka Olohe; [487] Kawa lele ai Kilauea; Hohonu ai ka lua i uka, Kapuahi ku-ku-ku. Nau ke ku'i o ke Akua; Holo ka paku'i, lahe'a i na moku. Nou ka lili, no ke Akua: Lili'a i uka, lili'a i kai-- O ka lili kepa i o kipi-kipi. O haele a Mauna Pu'u-kuolo A ka ehu o lalo Paú mahana ai ka Wai-welawela. E Ku e, ke'ehia, ke'ehia ka pae opua; Hina ololo i Ulu-nui: Hina aku la, palala ke ao-- He ao omea a Ulu-lani. Ke wela nei ka La; Ke kau nei ka malu hekili iluna: Ku'i, naue ka leo o ka opua, e-- Opua ai laau la; A ka luna i Moku-aweo-weo Hua'i Pele i ona kino; Lawe ka ua la, lawe ke kaupu e: Opiopi kai a ke Akua; Kuahiwi haoä [488] i Kaú i waena. Ho'po mai la Puna i ka uwahi a ke Akua; Poá ino no ka pua e lu ia nei. Pau ku'u kino lehua a i kai o Puna: Hao'e Puna, koele ka papa; O ka uwahi na'e ke ike'a nei. Kai-ko'o ka lua, kahuli ko'o ka lani Ke Akua ai lehua o Puna, Nana i ai iho la Hawaii kua uli: Wahi'a ka lani; ne'e Hiiaka-i-ka-ale-i; [489] Ne'e Hiiaka-i-ka-ale-moe; O Hiiaka-pa'i-kauhale; Hiiaka-i-ka-pua-enaena; [490] Hiiaka-i-ka-pua-lau-i; O Hiiaka-noho-lae; [491] Hiiaka-wawahi-lani; Hiiaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele, Halanalana waimaka e hanini nei; Wela mai ka maka o ka ulu o Ho'olono, e. Ho'olono au o Ho'olei'a. O Ho'olei'a au; o Kalei (au) a Paoa; O Paoa au la, i lono oe.
TRANSLATION
The world is convulsed: the earth-plates sink To the nether domain of Wakea; Earth's rooted foundations are broken; Flame-billows lift their heads to the sky; The ocean-caves and reefs, the peopled land And the circle of island coast Are whelmed in one common disaster: The gleam of it reaches Kahiki:-- Such blush encircles the pale apple's eye. Heaven's blotted out, the whole sky darkened; Hoali'i's cliffs are shadowed with gloom. Now bellows the thunder of Winter; Ku-lani-ha-ko'i's banks are broken; Down pours a pitiless deluge of rain; There's rumble and groan of the earthquake, The reverberant roar of thunder, The roof-stripping swoop of the tempest. Tearing the thatch over Ele-uä, Tearing the thatch over Ele-ao. The freshet makes home for the water-fowl, Flooding the thickets at Kehau, The wide-spread waters of Kula-manu. O Pele, fold back the curtains of heaven; Thou Woman, consumer of Puna woods, Swift thy foray in Hopoe's fields: The land of contending rains is wiped out, And the lands that border Keäau. Up springs the steam from her caldron, A white cloudy mountain of smoke: She's consuming the bowlders of Long-rock, The treacherous paths of Lau-ahea. A flash of lightning rends the sky! O Ku-kuena, 'tis for you to dwell In the flaming Eastern Gate of the Sun. The plateau of Uwé-kahuna Breathes the reek of burning woods; There's pelting of heads with falling stones And loud the clang of the smitten plain, Confused with the groan of the earthquake. Yet this cools not the rock-eater's rage: The Goddess grinds her teeth in the Pit. Lo, tilted rock-plates melt like snow-- Black faces that shine like a mirror-- Sharp edges that bite the foot of a man, The traveler's dread in the glare of the sun. [492] The fire-flood swells in the upland-- A robber-flood--it dries up the streams. Here's cliff for god's jumping, when wild their sport; Deep the basin below, and boiling hot. The Goddess gnashes her teeth and the reek Of her breath flies to the farthest shore. Thine was the fault, O Goddess, thine, a Jealous passion at all times and places-- The snap and spring of a surly dog. Let your gnashing range to its limit, Till it reaches the fringe of your skirt, Your hot paü at Wai-welawela. Trample down, O Ku, these ominous clouds; Let them sag and fall at Ulu-nui. They flatten, they break; look, they spread. White loom, now, the clouds of Ulu-lani; Fierce blazes the Sun, and Thunder Unrolls his black curtains on high. Then bellows his voice from the cloud-- The ominous cloud that swallows the trees. From the crest of Moku-aweö Pele pours out her body, her self-- A turmoil of rain and of sea-fowl. Now boils the lake of the Goddess: In Ka-ú an oasis-park remains; Her smoke covers Puna with night. What a robbery this, to crush the flowers! My bodily self, my lehuas, gone! My precious lehuas, clean down to Puna! And Puna--the land is trenched and seared! The smoke that o'erhangs it, that I can see. High surf in the Pit, turmoiling the sky-- The god who ate Puna's Lehuas, She 'twas laid waste green-robed Hawaii. The heavens--let them rend, Hiiaka! Plunge you in the wild tossing sea; And you, who delight in the calm sea; Hiiaka, thou thatcher of towns, Hiiaka, soul of the flame-bud; Hiiaka, emblemed in ti-bud; Hiiaka, who dwells on the headland; Hiiaka, who parts heaven's curtains; Hiiaka--of Pele's own heart! These tears well from eyes hot with weeping, The eyes of this scion, this herald: I proclaim that he's outcast and exiled. 'Tis I, Paoä announce this: He speaks what is ment for your ear!
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