[Translation.]
STANZA 5
From mountain retreat and root-woven ladder
Mine eye looks down on goddess Moana-Lehua;
I beg of the Sea, Be thou calm;
Would there might stand on thy shore a lehua—
Lehua-tree tall of Ho-poe.
The lehua is fearful of man;
It leaves him to walk on the ground below,
To walk the ground far below.
The pebbles at Ke’-au grind in the surf.
The sea at Ke’-au shouts to Puna’s palms,
“Fierce is the sea of Puna.”
Move hither, snug close, companion mine;
You lie so aloof over there.
Oh what a bad fellow is cold!
’Tis as if we were out on the wold;
Our bodies so clammy and chill, friend!
The last five verses, which sound like a love song, may possibly be a modern addition to this old poem. The sentiment they contain is comparable to that expressed in the Song of Welcome on page 39:
Eia ka pu’u nui o waho nei, he anu.
The hill of Affliction out there is the cold.
MAHELE-HELE II
Hi’u-o-lani, [159] kii ka ua o Hilo [160] i ka lani;
Ke hookiikii mai la ke ao o Pua-lani; [161]]
O mahele ana, [162] pulu Hilo i ka ua—
O Hilo Hana-kahi. [163]
Ha’i ka nalu, wai kaka lepo o Pii-lani;
Hai’na ka iwi o Hilo,
I ke ku ia e ka wai.
Oni’o lele a ka ua o Hilo i ka lanu
Ke hookiikii mai la ke ao o Pua-lani,
Ke holuholu a’e la e puka,
Puka e nana ke kiki a ka ua,
Ka nonoho a ka ua i ka hale o Hilo.
Like Hilo me Puna ke ku a mauna-ole [164]
He ole ke ku a mauna Hilo me Puna.
He kowa Puna mawaena Hilo me Ka-ú;
Ke pili wale la i ke kua i mauna-ole;
Pili hoohaha i ke kua o Mauna-loa.
He kuahiwi Ka-ú e pa ka makani.
Ke alai ia a’e la Ka-ú e ke A’e; [165]
Ka-u ku ke ehu lepo ke A’e;
Ku ke ehu-lepo mai la Ka-ú i ka makani.
Makani Kawa hu’a-lepo Ka-ú i ke A’e.
Kahiko mau no o Ka-ú i ka makani.
Makani ka Lae-ka-ilio i Unu-lau,
Kaili-ki’i [166] a ka lua a Kaheahea, [167]
I ka ha’a nawali ia ino.
Ino wa o ka mankani o Kau-ná.
Nana aku o ka makani malaila!
O Hono-malino, malino i ka la’i o Kona.
He inoa la!
Footnote 159:[ (return) ] Hi’u-o-lani. A very blind phrase. Hawaiians disagree as to its meaning. In the author’s opinion, it is a word referring to the conjurer’s art.
Footnote 160:[ (return) ] Ua o Hilo. Hilo is a very rainy country. The name Hilo seems to be used here as almost a synonym of violent rain. It calls to mind the use of the word Hilo to signify a strong wind:
Pa mai, pa mai,
Ka makani a Hilo! [168]
Waiho ka ipu iki,
Homai ka ipu nui!
[Translation.]
Blow, blow, thou wind of Hilo!
Leave the little calabash,
Bring on the big one!
Footnote 161:[ (return) ] Pua-lani. The name of a deity who took the form of the rosy clouds of morning.
Footnote 162:[ (return) ] Mahele ana. Literally the dividing; an allusion to the fact, it is said, that in Hilo a rain-cloud, or rain-squall, as it came up would often divide and a part of it turn off toward Puna at the cape named Lele-iwi, one-half watering, in the direction of the present town, the land known as Hana-kahi.
Footnote 163:[ (return) ] Hana-kahi. Look at note f, p. 60.
Footnote 164:[ (return) ] Mauna-ole. According to one authority this should be Mauna-Hilo. Verses 13, 14, 16, and 17 are difficult of translation. The play on the words ku a, standing at, or standing by, and kua, the back; also on the word kowa, a gulf or strait; and the repetition of the word mauna, mountain—all this is carried to such an extent as to be quite unintelligible to the Anglo-Saxon mind, though full of significance to a Hawaiian.
Footnote 165:[ (return) ] A’e. A strong wind that prevails in Ka-u. The same word also means to step on, to climb. This double-meaning gives the poet opportunity for a euphuistic word-play that was much enjoyed by the Hawaiians. The Hawaiians of the present day are not quite up to this sort of logomachy.
Footnote 166:[ (return) ] Kaili-ki’i. The promontory that shelters the cove Ka-hewa-hewa.
Footnote 167:[ (return) ] Ka-hea-hea. The name of the cove Ka-hewa-hewa, above mentioned, is here given in a softened form obtained by the elision of the letter w.
Footnote 168:[ (return) ] Hilo, or Whiro, as in the Maori, was a great navigator.