CHAPTER IV.

How Halemano Was Restored to Life.—Halemano Seeks to Win His Wife Back.—Engaging in a Kilu Contest is Victorious.—Kamalalawalu Is Supplanted by Kikekaala.

In this chapter we shall see the power of Laenihi and the coming to life again of Halemano. When Laenihi stopped the people from weeping over the death of Halemano, she immediately began her prayer, facing the blue sky, where she saw the spirit of Halemano. Following is the prayer:

I am indeed sitting and weeping for my brother, My brother of the thick groves. Perchance it is your spirit that is in death’s shade, Sitting there in the eyes of those pointed clouds. Hidden by the blue skies is my guide. Alas, I weep for you my beloved one! Thou art my guide of the eight seas. [278] Here am I, your companion. Come back to life, Eat of the food, gird on your loin cloth, for you are restored.

In this prayer recited by Laenihi, life was restored to the body of Halemano in Kohala, Hawaii. At the close of the prayer Laenihi plunged into the sea and swam, in her fish form as it is to this day. It did not take her very long to swim to Kohala, for in a very short time she went ashore at Kauhola and from there started for the home of Halemano. When she arrived she fell on her brother and wept; she remained with him for ten days.

One day Halemano said to Kaaealii and Laenihi: “I am going to learn how to be a fisherman and how to be a farmer, so that my wife will come back to me.” Kaaealii then said to him: “Your wife will never come back to you if you take up those arts.” Halemano then spoke of some other arts and still he was advised not to take them up as means of getting his wife back; finally he chose the art of singing and chanting. At this Laenihi and Kaaealii said: “That will be the art that will restore your wife to you.” Kaaealii then chanted the name of Halemano, which is as follows:

Thou art indeed the women dwellers of the surf line, Sitting on the sunny shore of Ulalana, Looking at the good things of the upper lands, The rain and the cold wind As they fold tightly the covering of ti-leaf. The lovers dwell in the calm of Kioi, For there is no truth in dreams When it confesses what it has heard. For we two have been here and there, For it is your name, Halemano. Answer the call; yes, answer it.

Halemano then began the study of the art of singing and chanting, taking Laamaikahiki as his teacher. After he concluded his education, the usual ceremonies, such as the killing of the pig, was gone through and he was duly declared passed as an expert. Shortly after this the fame of Halemano as a singer and a chanter was carried all around Kohala.

While Halemano was chanting one day, he looked up and saw the top of Haleakala in Maui as it appeared amongst the clouds, like a pointed cloud in the evening, as the other clouds drifted above it. This made him think of the places where he and his wife, Kamalalawalu, had traveled. He was then moved to chant the following lines:

Kaupo, the land where one is pulled up, Pulled up like unto Kahikinui. I was once thought a good deal of, O my love! My companion of the shady trees. For we two once lived on the food from the long speared grass [279] of the wilderness. Alas, O my love! My love from the [land of the] Kaumuku wind, As it comes gliding over the ocean, As it covers the waves of Papawai, For it was the canoe that brought us here. Alas, O my love! My love of the home where we were friendless, Our only friend being our love for one another. It is hooked and it bites to the very inside of the bones. O my love, speak to me!

While Halemano was chanting, Kamalalawalu arrived and she looked in at Halemano. When she saw him, she once more longed to return to him, for he looked very handsome and his chanting was something fine. Halemano too was at this time courting Kikekaala, the daughter of Nunulu. He was one of the high chiefs of the district of Kohala, under Wahilani, who was the king of this portion of Kohala.

A few days after this Kikekaala issued an order which was carried from one end of Kohala to the other, inviting everybody to come to the game of kilu, [280] at Lolehale, the most famous place at the time for exhibitions of this kind. This place is situated on a hill looking to the west, close to Puuonale and Hokukekii. After everybody had come, Halemano was then sent for. Upon his arrival, Kikekaala said to him: “I will make a wager with you. If I beat you in the kilu throwing then you shall belong to me. And if you should beat me, I shall belong to you.” Halemano then said: “The wager is satisfactory.”

As soon as the wager was settled Kikekaala began by throwing the kilu at the mark; but it missed and Halemano picked it up. As he looked and saw Kamalalawalu sitting there in all her beauty and grace, his mind went back to the days when he and his wife lived in Puna; so he chanted a few lines to Kamalalawalu as follows:

A kapu is placed over the roads of Puna by the fire of Laka, [281] For I see its reflection in my eyes. It is like the breadfruit in the lowlands of Kookoolau; I am almost tempted to pick it; Being repelled by shame, I touch it not. Alas, my love! My love from the big sea of Puna Whose waves beat on the sea cliffs. You forget your lover while you went astray in Kaimu, [282] Your mouth was closed, refusing to call. My love of the home where we were friendless, That home to which we had no claim, though I made no complaint, Where I drew warmth from the sun at Maliu. Take heed to my supplications My own, my love!

At the close of the chant of Halemano, he threw the kilu and it hit the mark, whereat the gamekeeper said: “Alas, alas, we count one down!” Halemano again picked up the kilu and held it in his hand; then looked at his wife, whom he saw was not like the other women, being far superior in looks, therefore his eyes were filled with tears, and a great love for his wife came over him as he remembered their walks amidst the hala trees of Puna, and their surf riding at Kaimu; he therefore chanted the following lines:

The sea is cutting down the hala trees of Puna, [283] They stand up like people, Like a multitude in the lowlands of Hilo. The sea is rising by steps to flood Mokuola. [284] Life is once more alive within me for love of you, For anger is a helper to man. As I roamed over the highways friendless, That way and this way, what of me my love? Alas, my own dear love! My companion of the low hanging breadfruit of Kalapana, Of the cold sun that rises at Kumukahi. [285] The love of a wife is indeed above all else, For my temples are burning, And my middle is cold because of your love, And my body is under bonds to her. Come back to me, for this is a Koolau [286] sphere, My love, come back. Come back and let us warm each other with love, The only friend of a land that is friendless.

At the close of this chant by Halemano, he again threw the kilu and it hit the mark, giving him two points. Halemano then took up the kilu and held it in his hand. He then looked at his wife, and when he saw the tears in her eyes his love for her again welled up within him as he remembered how they had lived at Uluomalama in Waiakea, Hilo; so he chanted, while he wiped away the tears with his hand, as follows:

We once lived in Hilo, in our own home, Our home that was in Panaewa. For we had suffered in the home that was not ours, For I had but one friend, myself. The streams of Hilo are innumerable, The high cliffs was the home where we lived. Alas, my love of the lehua blossoms of Mokupane! The lehua blossoms were braided with the hala blossoms, For our love for one another was all we had. The rain only fell at Leleiwi, As it came creeping over the hala trees at Pomaikai, At the place where I was punished through love. Alas, O my love! My love from the leaping cliffs of Piikea; From the waters of Wailuku where the people are carried under, Which we had to go through to get to the many cliffs [287] of Hilo, Those solemn cliffs that are bare of people, Peopled by you and I alone, my love, You, my own love!

At the close of this chant, Halemano again threw the kilu at the mark and hit it, counting him three. He then again picked up the kilu and held it in his hand. Halemano then looked at Kikekaala and noted the difference between her and Kamalalawalu, who was by far more beautiful than all the other women that had gathered there to witness the contest, for the old saying was indeed true that “East Maui is prominent.” Halemano therefore could not help but admire Kamalalawalu, and so he chanted the following lines in her honor:

I am cold and chilly, Let me lie in your bosom, love. We have roamed over Kalena in the uplands of Haleauau, In the cold thickets at Wahiawa. It was during the days of the heavy fog at Kaala, For the cold was brought forth by the dew Together with the fragrance of the kupukupu of Lihue. The false cold is uncovered at Waikoloa For my love was exposed by the tears, As we met at Kalena in Haleauau. [288] O my love, come back to me! The thick groves at Kumanomano Are being trampled by the summer sun; It lingers for the sun of Kaelo and Ikiiki, And for the bunches of awa of Makalii. Love is like a chief, it is prized highly, For it is the screen by night and by day. O my love, come back, For love is like food that cannot be taken!

At the end of this chant Halemano threw the kilu and it hit the mark, counting him four. He then picked up the kilu and held it in his hand as he chanted the following lines:

My lover from the Kalihi rain, where the clothes are bundled up, Where the back is the only sheltered spot; It is being pressed by the Waahila [rain], The rain of my land where women are led away secretly. Search is made to the top of Kaala, The lower end of Pokai [289] is plainly seen. Love looks in from Honouliuli, [290] The dew comes creeping, it is like the wind of Lihue, Like a false gleaming of the sun at Kaena, For it is being destroyed by the Unulau wind from below, Causing coldness within, made so by love of thee, For I love thee, my companion of that parched plain.

Halemano here ceased chanting and threw the kilu again hitting the mark and thus counting five. He took the kilu up and held it in his hand as he chanted the following lines:

As I reported to Kahewahewa, I stood and gazed, then Tears filled my eyes causing me to weep. How beautiful are the hala, native trees of Kahuku, As they are being fanned by the Mikioi wind. I have come from Kuahea. When am I to be contented, O my love? My love, O come back! For love has again entered my heart, For it pains me in my effort to withhold it, My love, O my love, come back!

At this stage Halemano grasped the kilu more firmly as he looked at his wife. Upon seeing her tears, the love within him grew stronger as he was reminded of the calm of Waialua and of the cold dews of Kaala, where they had roamed in days gone by; so he continued with these lines:

When the sea rises at Waialua, One doubles up in sleep at Kalena in Haleauau. There her love comes swimming to me, When I can no more see Lihue, that land that looks to heaven, Believing that over yonder is the sea. O my own love! Kaala stands up majestic; It is a cold head covered with dew, For it is the cold wind that brings fragrance; It is being wafted here by the Waikoloa wind, For Pulee [291] is searching for me. Alas, O my love!

Halemano then threw the kilu and it again hit the mark, counting him six. He then took up the kilu and held it in his hand as he chanted the following lines:

It is the flowers at Halemano that I long for, Partly pecked [292] by the birds, As their fragrance is brought along, Its beauty is there at Malama. For within me I am enlightened, as I sit The secrets within me are seen through love. I am the lover, be compassionate. Alas, O my love! My lover from the cliffs of Koolau, Where the cliffs are above and below the pathway, And love is made a pathway for the tears. O my love, come back!

Halemano then threw the kilu and it again hit the mark, counting him seven. Halemano again took up the kilu and held it in his hand; then he looked at Kikekaala and from her to Kamalalawalu. He then bent forward and wiped away the tears from his face, for his mind went back to the time when they lived in the forests of Moelana in Kakele, Koolaupoko, Oahu; he therefore chanted the following lines:

Koolau is made hot by the children who cry against the cold, My native land, where the sea beats at the back Of my companion who now dwells in the calm, Enjoying the Kanikoo rain of Heeia, That rain that makes the awa leaves of Moelana glitter Like a fatherless child in its playfulness, For it is affecting my body, By its speechless messenger, love. My love, O come, come back!

Halemano continued chanting and throwing the kilu until he had the required number, fifteen, sufficient to win the contest; so Kikekaala lost to Halemano and she became his. [293] The contest was then ended and they prepared to retire, according to the wager. As they were leaving the kilu house, Kamalalawalu stepped in between Kikekaala and Halemano, [294] ready to ask to be forgiven, but Kikekaala pulled Halemano away, saying to Kamalalawalu: “You deserted him and here you are coming after him again. He shall not return to you.” As Kikekaala and Halemano departed, Kamalalawalu stood there weeping; she placed her hands at her back and as the tears flowed down her face, she chanted the following lines:

Koolau is burning with fire, Koolau is burning with the fire of the goddess; It is raging in the uplands of Hamakua, It is being cut up by the wind, Causing anger and hatred, Ill feeling and bad thoughts.

In these lines Kamalalawalu was chanting of her rival Kikekaala, for she had an unbecoming face to look at. The closing lines are in reference to her. Kamalalawalu then continued:

Alas, thou art my bosom companion, my love! My companion of the cold watery home of Hilo. I am from Hilo, from the calabash of Kulukulua, [295] From the arched sands at Waiolama, From the rain that pelts the leaves of the breadfruit of Piihonua; For we live at the breadfruit trees of Malama. Love is shown by the tears, Love is the friend of my companion, My companion of the thick forests of Panaewa, Where you and I have trod without a third party; Our only fellow traveler was my love, The only right we had for living in the uplands of Laa, For my body is sacred to thee, my love. Alas, O my companion, my love! My love of the cold, watery home of Hilo, That friendless home where you and I lived.

When Kamalalawalu ceased chanting, she turned and looked at Halemano. When she did, she saw Kikekaala biting Halemano in the side, so she chanted the following lines:

The bite of a native is a sign of treachery; The stranger laughs, for it is a sign of evil; For you are then surrounded by fine rain from the goddess. I must be your wife and you my husband, My husband of the Kanikani rain of the lehua trees of Makaulele. It is being broken in large pieces at Kumukahi Point, For love has come for the first time this day. Like the mouth of the Ohele stream, it is changeable, For the clouds are gathering in the uplands of Piihonua, O my love of the cold, watery home of Hilo!

At the close of the chant, Kamalalawalu was removed by force by the officers of Kikekaala to some other place. As she was being led away she chanted these lines:

The wind is blowing, it is the Koolauwahine. You will surely see Haili, Haili the plain of lehua entwined by the birds; They are carrying away the awa of Puna that grow on trees, The sweet sounding oo [296] of the forest, Whose sweet notes can be heard at eventide. My companion of the cold, watery home of Hilo, That cold wet home where you and I lived, O my own beloved husband! [297]

At the end of this chant by Kamalalawalu, Kikekaala said to her: “You have no husband because you are a woman who has deserted her husband. I see that you have come back to him, but he will not go back to you.”