[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,
Fiery 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.
The 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;
Malau 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.
Ku 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.
Lo, 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
A Kauai, a ke olewa [332] iluna,
Ka pua lana i kai o Wailua;
Nana mai Pele ilaila;
E waiho aku ana o Aim. [333]
Aloha i ka wai niu o ka aina;
E ala mai ana mokihana,
Wai auau o Hiiaka.
Hoo-paapaa Pele ilaila;
Aohe Kau [334] e ulu ai.
Keehi aku Pele i ka ale kua-loloa,
He onohi no Pele, ka oaka o ka lani, la.
Eli-eli, kau mai!