Part 2

In every halau stood the _kuahu_, or altar, as the visible temporary abode of the deity, whose presence was at once the inspiration of the performance and the luck-bringer of the enterprise—a rustic frame embowered in greenery. The gathering of the green leaves and other sweet finery of [Page 16] nature for its construction and decoration was a matter of so great importance that it could not be intrusted to any chance assemblage of wild youth who might see fit to take the work in hand. There were formalities that must be observed, songs to be chanted, prayers to be recited. It was necessary to bear in mind that when one deflowered the woods of their fronds of _íe-íe_ and fern or tore the trailing lengths of _maile_—albeit in honor of Laka herself—the body of the goddess was being despoiled, and the despoiling must be done with all tactful grace and etiquette.

It must not be gathered from this that the occasion was made solemn and oppressive with weight of ceremony, as when a temple was erected or as when a tabu chief walked abroad, and all men lay with their mouths in the dust. On the contrary, it was a time of joy and decorous exultation, a time when in prayer-songs and ascriptions of praise the poet ransacked all nature for figures and allusions to be used in caressing the deity.

The following adulatory prayer (_kánaenáe_) in adoration of Laka was recited while gathering the woodland decorations for the altar. It is worthy of preservation for its intrinsic beauty, for the spirit of trustfulness it breathes. We remark the petitions it utters for the growth of tree and shrub, as if Laka had been the alma mater under whose influence all nature budded and rejoiced.

It would seem as if the physical ecstasy of the dance and the sensuous joy of all nature’s finery had breathed their spirit into the aspiration and that the beauty of leaf and flower, all of them familiar forms of the god’s metamorphosis—accessible to their touch and for the regalement of their senses—had brought such nearness and dearness, of affection between goddess and worshiper that all fear was removed.

_He kánaenáe no Laka_

A ke kua-hiwi, i ke kua-lono, Ku ana o Laka i ka mauna; Noho ana o Laka i ke po’o o ka ohu. O Laka kumu hula, 5 Nana i a’e ka wao-kele,[3] Kahi, kahi i moli’a i ka pua’a, I ke po’o pua’a, He pua’a hiwa na Kane.[4] [Page 17] He kane na Laka, 10 Na ka wahine i oni a kelakela i ka lani: I kupu ke a’a i ke kumu, I lau a puka ka mu’o, Ka liko, ka ao i-luna. Kupu ka lala, hua ma ka Hikina; 15 Kupu ka laau ona a Maka-li’i,[5] O Maka-lei,[6] laau kaulana mai ka Po mai.[7] Mai ka Po mai ka oiaio— I ho-i’o i-luna, i o’o i-luna. He luna au e ki’i mai nei ia oe, e Laka, 20 E ho’i ke ko-kua[8] pa-ú; He la uniki[9] e no kaua; Ha-ike-ike[10] o ke Akua; Hoike ka mana o ka Wahine, O Laka, kaikuahine, 25 Wahine a Lono i ka ou-alii.[11] E Lono, e hu’[12] ia mai ka lani me ka honua. Nou okoa Kukulu o Kahiki.[13] Me ke ano-ai[14] i aloha, e! E ola, e!

[Footnote 3: _Wao-kele_. That portion of the mountain forest where grew the monarch trees was called _wao-kele_ or _wao-maukele_.]

[Footnote 4: _Na Kane_. Why was the offering, the black roast porkling, said to be for Kane, who was not a special patron, _au-makúa_, of the hula? The only answer the author has been able to obtain from any Hawaiian is that, though Kane was not a god of the hula, he was a near relative. On reflection, the author can see a propriety in devoting the reeking flesh of the swine to god Kane, while to the sylvan deity, Lâkâ, goddess of the peaceful hula, were devoted the rustic offerings that were the embodiment of her charms. Her image, or token—an uncarved block of wood—was set up in a prominent part of the _kuahu_, and at the close of a performance the wreaths that had been worn by the actors were draped about the image. Thus viewed, there is a delicate propriety and significance in such disposal of the pig.]

[Footnote 5: _Maka-li’i_ (Small eyes). The Pleiades; also the period of six months, including the rainy season, that began some time in October or November and was reckoned from the date when the Pleiades appeared in the East at sunset. _Maka-li’i_ was also the name of a month, by some reckoned as the first month of the year.]

[Footnote 6: _Maka-léi_. The name of a famous mythological tree which had the power of attracting fish. It did not poison, but only bewitched or fascinated them. There were two trees bearing this name, one a male, the other a female, which both grew at a place in Hilo called Pali-uli. One of these, the female, was, according to tradition, carried from its root home to the fish ponds in Kailua, Oahu, for the purpose of attracting fish to the neighboring waters. The enterprise was eminently successful.]

[Footnote 7: _Po_. Literally night; the period in cosmogony when darkness and chaos reigned, before the affairs on earth had become settled under the rule of the gods. Here the word is used to indicate a period of remote mythologic antiquity. The use of the word _Po_ in the following verse reminds one of the French adage, “La nuit porte conseil.”]

[Footnote 8: _Kokúa_. Another form for _kakúa_, to gird on the _pa-ú_. (See _Pa-ú_ song, pp. 51–53.)]

[Footnote 9: _Uníki_. A word not given in the dictionary. The debut of an actor at the hula, after passing the _ai-lolo_ test and graduating from the school of the halau, a critical event.]

[Footnote 10: _Ha-íke-íke_. Equivalent to _ho-íke-íke_, an exhibition, to exhibit.]

[Footnote 11: _Ou-alii_. The Hawaiians seem to have lost the meaning of this word. The author has been at some pains to work it out somewhat conjecturally.]

[Footnote 12: _E Lono, e hu’ ia, mai, etc_. The unelided form of the word _hu’_ would be _hui_. The final _i_ is dropped before the similar vowel of _ia_.]

[Footnote 13: _Kukúlu o Kahíki_. The pillars of Kahiki. The ancient Hawaiians supposed the starry heavens to be a solid dome supported by a wall or vertical construction—_kukulu_—set up along the horizon. That section of the wall that stood over against Kahiki they termed _Kukulu o Kahiki_. Our geographical name Tahiti is of course from Kahiki, though it does not apply to the same region. After the close of what has been termed “the period of intercourse,” which, came probably during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and during which the ancient Hawaiians voyaged to and fro between Hawaii and the lands of the South, geographical ideas became hazy and the term _Kahiki_ came to be applied to any foreign country.]

[Footnote 14: _Áno-ái_. An old form of salutation, answering in general to the more modern word aloha, much used at the present time. _Ano-ai_ seems to have had a shade of meaning more nearly answering to our word “welcome.” This is the first instance the author has met with of its use in poetry.]

[Page 18] [Translation.]

_A Prayer of Adulation to Laka_

In the forests, on the ridges Of the mountains stands Laka; Dwelling in the source of the mists. Laka, mistress of the hula, 5 Has climbed the wooded haunts of the gods, Altars hallowed by the sacrificial swine, The head of the boar, the black boar of Kane. A partner he with Laka; Woman, she by strife gained rank in heaven. 10 That the root may grow from the stem, That the young shoot may put forth and leaf, Pushing up the fresh enfolded bud, The scion-thrust bud and fruit toward the East, Like the tree that bewitches the winter fish, 15 Maka-lei, tree famed from the age of night. Truth is the counsel of night— May it fruit and ripen above. A messenger I bring you, O Laka, To the girding of paû. 20 An opening festa this for thee and me; To show the might of the god, The power of the goddess, Of Laka, the sister, To Lono a wife in the heavenly courts. 25 O Lono, join heaven and earth! Thine alone are the pillars of Kahiki. Warm greeting, beloved one, We hail thee!

The cult of god Lono was milder, more humane, than that of Kane and the other major gods. No human sacrifices were offered on his altars.—The statement in verse 26 accords with the general belief of the Hawaiians that Lono dwelt in foreign parts, _Kukulu o Kahiki_, and that he would some time come to them from across the waters. When Captain Cook arrived in his ships, the Hawaiians worshiped him as the god Lono.

[Illustration: IE-IE (FREYCINETIA ARNOTTI) LEAVES AND FRUIT]

The following song-prayer also is one that was used at the gathering of the greenery in the mountains and during the building of the altar in the halau. When recited in the halau all the pupils took part, and the chorus was a response in which the whole assembly in the halau were expected to join:

_Pule Kuahu no Laka_

Haki pu o ka nahelehele, Haki hana maile o ka wao, [Page 19] Hooulu[15] lei ou, o Laka, e! O Hiiaka[16] ke kaula nana e hooulu na ma’i, 5 A aeae a ulu[17] a noho i kou kuahu, Eia ka pule la, he pule ola, He noi ola nou, e-e!

_Chorus:_ E ola ia makou, aohe hala!

[Translation.]

_Altar-Prayer to Laka_

This spoil and rape of the wildwood, This plucking of wilderness maile— Collect of garlands, Laka, for you. Hiiaka, the prophet, heals our diseases. 5 Enter, possess, inspire your altar; Heed our prayer, ’tis for life; Our petition to you is for life.

_Chorus:_

Give us life, save from transgression!

[Footnote 15: _Hoo-ulu_. This word has a considerable range of meaning, well illustrated in this mele. In its simplest form, _ulu_, it means to grow, to become strong. Joined with the causative _hoo_, as here, it takes on the spiritual meaning of causing to prosper, of inspiring. The word “collect,” used in the translation, has been chosen to express the double sense of gathering the garlands and of devoting them to the goddess as a religious offering. In the fourth verse this word, _hooulu_, is used in the sense of to heal. Compare note _c_.]

[Footnote 16: _Hiiaka_. The youngest sister of Pele, often spoken of as _Hiiaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele_, Hiiaka-of-the-bosom-of-Pele. Why she should be spoken of as capable of healing diseases is not at all clear.]

[Footnote 17: _Ulu_. Here we have the word _ulu_ in its simple, uncombined form, meaning to enter into and inspire.]

The wildwoods of Hawaii furnished in great abundance and variety small poles for the framework of the kuahu, the altar, the holy place of the halau, and sweet-scented leaves and flowers suitable for its decoration. A spirit of fitness, however, limited choice among these to certain species that were deemed acceptable to the goddess because they were reckoned as among her favorite forms of metamorphosis. To go outside this ordained and traditional range would have been an offense, a sacrilege. This critical spirit would have looked with the greatest disfavor on the practice that in modern times has crept in, of bedecking the dancers with garlands of roses, pinks, jessamine, and other nonindigenous flowers, as being utterly repugnant to the traditional spirit of the hula.

Among decorations approved and most highly esteemed stood pre-eminent the fragrant maile (pl. IV) and the star-like fronds and ruddy drupe of the _íe-íe_ (pl. II) and its kindred, the _hála-pépe_ (pl. III); the scarlet pompons of the _lehúa_ (pl. XIII) and _ohi’a_, with the fruit of the latter (the mountain-apple); many varieties of fern, including that splendid parasite, the “bird’s nest fern” [Page 20] (_ekáha_), hailed by the Hawaiians as Mawi’s paddle; to which must be added the commoner leaves and lemon-colored flowers of the native hibiscus, the _hau_, the breadfruit, the native banana and the dracæna (_ti_), plate V; and lastly, richest of all, in the color that became Hawaii’s favorite, the royal yellow _ilíma_ (pl. VI), a flower familiar to the eyes of the tourist to Honolulu.

While deft hands are building and weaving the light framework of the kuahu, binding its parts with strong vines and decorating it with nature’s sumptuous embroidery, the _kumu_, or teacher, under the inspiration of the deity, for whose residence he has prepared himself by long vigil and fasting with fleshly abstinence, having spent the previous night alone in the halau, is chanting or cantillating his adulatory prayers, _kanaenae_—songs of praise they seem to be—to the glorification of the gods and goddesses who are invited to bless the occasion with their presence and inspiration, but especially of that one, Laka, whose bodily presence is symbolized by a rude block of wood arrayed in yellow tapa that is set up on the altar itself. Thus does the kumu sing:

_Pule Kuahu_

Ei’ au e Laka mai uka, E Laka mai kai; O hooulu O ka ilio[18] nana e hae, 5 O ka maile hihi i ka wao, O ka lau-ki[19] lei o ke akua, O na ku’i hauoli O Ha’i-ka-manawa.[20] O Laka oe, 10 O ke akua i ke kuahu nei, la; E ho’i, ho’i mai a noho i kou kuahu!

[Translation.]

_Altar-Prayer_ (to Laka)

Here am I, oh Laka from the mountains, Oh Laka from the shore; Protect us Against the dog that barks;

[Page 21] 5 Reside in the wild-twining maile And the goddess-enwreathing ti. All, the joyful pulses. Of the woman Ha’i-ka-manawa! Thou art Laka, 10 The god of this altar; Return, return, abide in thy shrine!

[Footnote 18: _Ilio nana e hae_. The barking of a dog, the crowing of a cock, the grunting of a pig, the hooting of an owl, or any such sound occurring at the time of a religious solemnity, _aha_, broke the spell of the incantation and vitiated the ceremony. Such an untimely accident was as much deprecated as were the Turk, the Comet, and the Devil by pious Christian souls during the Middle Ages.]

[Footnote 19: _Lau-ki_. The leaf of the _ti_ plant—the same as the _ki_—(Dracæna terminalis), much used as an emblem of divine power, a charm or defense against malign spiritual influences. The kahuna often wore about his neck a fillet of this leaf. The _ti_ leaf was a special emblem of Ha’i-wahine, or of Li’a-wahine. It was much used as a decoration about the halau.]

[Footnote 20: _Ha’i-ka-manawa_. It is conjectured that this is the same as Ha’i-wahine. She was a mythological character, about whom there is a long and tragic story.]

The prayers which the hula folk of old times chanted while gathering the material in the woods or while weaving it into shape in the halau for the construction of a shrine did not form a rigid liturgy; they formed rather a repertory as elastic as the sighing of the breeze, or the songs of the birds whose notes embroidered the pure mountain air. There were many altar-prayers, so that if a prayer came to an end before the work was done the priest had but to begin the recitation of another prayer, or, if the spirit of the occasion so moved him, he would take up again a prayer already repeated, for until the work was entirely accomplished the voice of prayer must continue to be heard.

The _pule_ now to be given seems to be specially suited to that portion of the service which took place in the woods at the gathering of the poles and greenery. It was designed specially for the placating of the little god-folk who from their number were addressed as _Kini o ke Akua_, the multitude of the little gods, and who were the counterparts in old Hawaii of our brownies, elfins, sprites, kobolds, gnomes, and other woodland imps. These creatures, though dwarfish and insignificant in person, were in such numbers—four thousand, forty thousand, four hundred thousand—and were so impatient of any invasion of their territory, so jealous of their prerogatives, so spiteful and revengeful when injured, that it was policy always to keep on the right side of them.

_Pule Kuahu_

E hooulu ana I Kini[21] o ke Akua, Ka lehu o ke Akua, Ka mano o ke Akua, I ka pu-ku’i o ke Akua, 5 I ka lalani Akua, Ia ulu mai o Kane, Ulu o Kanaloa; Ulu ka ohia, lau ka ie-ie; Ulu ke Akua, noho i ke kahua, 10 A a’ea’e, a ulu, a noho kou kuahu. Eia ka pule la, he pule ola.

_Chorus:_

E ola ana oe!

[Footnote 21: _Kini o ke Akua._ See note _d_, p. 24.]

[Page 22]

[Translation.]

_Altar-Prayer_

Invoke we now the four thousand, The myriads four of the nimble, The four hundred thousand elves, The countless host of sprites, 5 Rank upon rank of woodland gods. Pray, Kane, also inspire us; Kanaloa, too, join the assembly. Now grows the _ohi’a_, now leafs _ie-ie_; God enters, resides in the place; 10 He mounts, inspires, abides in the shrine. This is our prayer, our plea this for life!

_Chorus:_

Life shall be thine!

From one point of view these _pule_ are not to be regarded as prayers in the ordinary sense of the word, but rather as song-offerings, verbal bouquets, affectionate sacrifices to the gods.

[Page 23]

III.—THE GODS OF THE HULA.

Of what nature were the gods of the old times, and how did the ancient Hawaiians conceive of them? As of beings having the form, the powers, and the passions of humanity, yet standing above and somewhat apart from men. One sees, as through a mist, darkly, a figure, standing, moving; in shape a plant, a tree or vine-clad stump, a bird, a taloned monster, a rock carved by the fire-queen, a human form, a puff of vapor—and now it has given place to vacancy. It was a goddess, perhaps of the hula. In the solitude of the wilderness one meets a youthful being of pleasing address, of godlike wit, of elusive beauty; the charm of her countenance unspoken authority, her gesture command. She seems one with nature, yet commanding it. Food placed before her remains untasted; the oven, _imu_,[22] in which the fascinated host has heaped his abundance, preparing for a feast, when opened is found empty; the guest of an hour has disappeared. Again it was a goddess, perhaps of the hula. Or, again, a traveler meets a creature of divine beauty, all smiles and loveliness. The infatuated mortal, smitten with hopeless passion, offers blandishments; he finds himself by the roadside embracing a rock. It was a goddess of the hula.

The gods, great and small, superior and inferior, whom the devotees and practitioners of the hula worshiped and sought to placate were many; but the goddess Laka was the one to whom they offered special prayers and sacrifices and to whom they looked as the patron, the _au-makua_,[23] of that institution. It was for her benefit and in her honor that the kuahu was set up, and the wealth of flower and leaf used in its decoration was emblematic of her beauty and glory, a pledge of her bodily presence, the very forms that she, a sylvan deity, was wont to assume when she pleased to manifest herself.

As an additional crutch to the imagination and to emphasize the fact of her real presence on the altar which she had been invoked to occupy as her abode, she was symbolized by an uncarved block of wood from the sacred _lama_[24] tree. This was wrapped in a robe of choice yellow tapa, scented with turmeric, and set conspicuously upon the altar.

[Footnote 22: _Imu_. The Hawaiian oven, which was a hole in the ground lined and arched over with stones.]

[Footnote 23: _Au-makua_. An ancestral god.]

[Footnote 24: _Lama_. A beautiful tree having firm, fine-grained, white wood; used in making sacred inclosures and for other tabu purposes.] [Page 24] Laka was invoked as the god of the maile, the ie-ie, and other wildwood growths before mentioned (pl. II). She was hailed as the “sister, wife, of god Lono,” as “the one who by striving attained favor with the gods of the upper ether;” as “the kumu[25] hula”—head teacher of the Terpsichorean art; “the fount of joy;” “the prophet who brings health to the sick;” “the one whose presence gives life.” In one of the prayers to Laka she is besought to come and take possession of the worshiper, to dwell in him as in a temple, to inspire him in all his parts and faculties—voice, hands, feet, the whole body.

Laka seems to have been a friend, but not a relative, of the numerous Pele family. So far as the author has observed, the fiery goddess is never invited to grace the altar with her presence, nor is her name so much as mentioned in any prayer met with.

To compare the gods of the Hawaiian pantheon with those of classic Greece, the sphere occupied by Laka corresponds most nearly to that filled by Terpsichore and Euterpe, the muses, respectively, of dance and of song. Lono, in one song spoken of as the husband of Laka, had features in common with Apollo.

That other gods, Kane, Ku, Kanaloa,[26] with Lono, Ku-pulupulu,[27] and the whole swarm of godlings that peopled the wildwood, were also invited to favor the performances with their presence can be satisfactorily explained on the ground, first, that all the gods were in a sense members of one family, related to each other by intermarriage, if not by the ties of kinship; and, second, by the patent fact of that great underlying cause of bitterness and strife among immortals as well as mortals, jealousy. It would have been an eruptive occasion of heart-burning and scandal if by any mischance a privileged one should have had occasion to feel slighted; and to have failed in courtesy to that countless host of wilderness imps and godlings, the _Kini Akua_,[28] mischievous and irreverent as the monkeys of India, would indeed have been to tempt a disaster.

While it is true that the testimony of the various _kumu-hula_, teachers of the hula, and devotees of the art of the hula, so far as the author has talked with them, has been overwhelmingly to the effect that Laka was the one and only divine patron of the art known to them, there has been a small number equally ready to assert that there were those who observed the cult of the goddess Kapo and worshiped her [Page 25] as the patron of the hula. The positive testimony of these witnesses must be reckoned as of more weight than the negative testimony of a much larger number, who either have not seen or will not look at the other side of the shield. At any rate, among the prayers before the kuahu, of which there are others yet to be presented, will be found several addressed to Kapo as the divine patron of the hula.

[Footnote 25: The teacher, a leader and priest of the hula. The modern school-master is called _kumu-kula_.]

[Footnote 26: _Kanaloa_. Kane, Ku, Kanaloa, and Lono were the major gods of the Hawaiian pantheon.]

[Footnote 27: _Ku-pulupulu_. A god of the canoe-makers.]

[Footnote 28: _Kini Akua_. A general expression—often used together with the ones that follow—meaning the countless swarms of brownies, elfs, kobolds, sprites, and other godlings (mischievous imps) that peopled the wilderness. _Kini_ means literally 40,000, _lehu_ 400,000, and _mano_ 4,000. See the _Pule Kuahu_—altar-prayer—on page 21. The Hawaiians, curiously enough, did not put the words _mano_, _kini_, and _lehu_ in the order of their numerical value.]