E. TRICKSTER STORIES
1. THEFTS
IWA
At Keaau, Puna, lives Keaau, who catches squid by means of two famous leho shells, Kalokuna, which the squid follow into the canoe. Umi, the king, hears about them and demands them. Keaau, mourning their loss, seeks some one clever enough to steal them back from Umi. He is directed to a grove of kukui trees between Mokapu Point and Bird Island, on Oahu, where lives Kukui and his thieving son Iwa. This child, "while yet in his mother's womb used to go out stealing." He was the greatest thief of his day. Keaau engages his services and they start out. With one dip of Iwa's paddle, Kapahi, they are at the next island. So they go until they find Umi fishing off Kailua, Hawaii. Iwa swims 3 miles under water, steals the shells, and fastens the hooks to the coral at the bottom of the sea 400 fathoms below. Later, Iwa steals back the shells from Keaau for Umi.
Iwa's next feat is the stealing of Umi's ax, Waipu, which is kept under strict taboo in the temple of Pakaalana, in Waipio, on Hawaii. It hangs on a rope whose ends are fastened to the necks of two old women. A crier runs back and forth without the temple to proclaim the taboo. Iwa takes the place of the crier, persuades the old women to let him touch the ax, and escapes with it.
Umi arranges a contest to prove who is the champion thief. Iwa is pitted against the six champions from each of the six districts of Hawaii. The test is to see which can fill a house fullest in a single night. The six thieves go to work, but Iwa sleeps until cockcrow, when he rises and steals all the things out of the other thieves' house. He also steals sleeping men, women, and children from the king's own house to fill his own. The championship is his, and the other six thieves are killed.