[Translation.]
Song
Come now, Manono,
Come, Manono, I say;
Take up the burden;
Through groves of pandanus
And wild stag-horn fern,
Wearisome fern, lies our way.
Arrived at the hill-top,
We’ll smooth out the nest,
That we may snug close.
Turn now to me, dear,
While we rest here.
Make we a little nest,
That we may draw near.
This way your face, dear,
While, we rest here.
Rest thou and I here,
Near the warm, warm water
And the smooth lava-plate
Of Mau-kele.
Rest thou and I here.
By the water so warm,
And the lava-plate smooth
Of Mau-kele.
Little by little
Your thoughts will be mine.
Little by little
Your thoughts I’ll divine.
Manono was the name of the brave woman, wife of Ke-kua-o-kalani, who fell in the battle of Kuamo’o, in Kona, Hawaii, in 1819, fighting by the side of her husband. They died in support of the cause of law and order, of religion and tabu, the cause of the conservative party in Hawaii, as opposed to license and the abolition of all restraint.
The uluhe (verses 5, 6) is the stag-horn fern, which forms a matted growth most obstructive to woodland travel.
The burden Manono is asked to bear, what else is it but the burden of life, in this case lightened by love?
Whether there is any connection between the name of the hula—breast-beating—and the expression, in the first verse of the following mele is more than the author can say.
Mele
Ka-hipa [383], na waiu olewa,
Lele ana, ku ka mahiki akea;
Keké ka niho o Laui-wahine [384];
Opi ke a lalo, ke a luna.
A hoi aku au i Lihue,
Kana aku ia Ewa;
E au ana o Miko-lo-lóu, [385]
A pahú ka naau no Pa-pi’-o [386].
A pa’a ka mano.
Hopu i ka lima.
Ai pakahi, e, i ka nahele, [387]
Alawa a’e na ulu kani o Leiwalo.
E noho ana Kolea-kani [388]
Ka pii’na i ka Uwa-lua;
Oha-ohá, lei i ka makani.
Footnote 383:[ (return) ] Ka-hipa. Said to be the name of a mythological character, now applied to a place in Kahuku where the mountains present the form of two female breasts.
Footnote 384:[ (return) ] Lani-wahine. A benignant mo’o, or water-nymph, sometimes taking the form of a woman, that is said to have haunted the lagoon of Uko’a, Waialua, Oahu. There is a long story about her.
Footnote 385:[ (return) ] Miko-lo-lóu. A famous man-eating shark-god whose home was in the waters of Hana, Maui. He visited Oahu and was hospitably received by Ka-ahu-pahau and Ka-hi’u-ká, sharks of the Ewa lagoons, who had a human ancestry and were on friendly terms with their kindred. Miko-lo-lóu, when his hosts denied him human flesh, helped himself. In the conflict that rose the Ewa sharks joined with their human relatives and friends on land to put an end to Miko-lo-lóu. After a fearful contest they took him and reduced his body to ashes. A dog, however, snatched and ate a portion—some say the tongue, some the tail—and another part fell into the water. This was reanimated by the spirit of the dead shark and grew to be a monster of the same size and power as the one deceased. Miko-lo-lóu now gathered his friends and allies from all the waters and made war against the Ewa sharks, but was routed.
Footnote 386:[ (return) ] Pa-pi’-o. A shark of moderate size, but of great activity, that fought against Mlko-lo-lóu. It entered his enormous mouth, passed down into his stomach, and there played havoc with the monster, eating its way out.
Footnote 387:[ (return) ] Ai pakahi, e, i ka nahele. The company represented by the poet to be journeying pass through an uninhabited region barren of food. The poet calls upon them to satisfy their hunger by eating of the edible wild herbs—they abound everywhere in Hawaii—at the same time representing them as casting longing glances on the breadfruit trees of Leiwalo. This was a grove in the lower levels of Ewa that still survives.
Footnote 388:[ (return) ] Kolea-kani. A female kupua—witch she might be called now—that had the form of a plover. She looked after the thirsty ones who passed along the road, and benevolently showed them where to find water. By her example the people of the district are said to have been induced to give refreshment to travelers who went that way.