Pili and Noho
Hiiaka remembered that there were two dragons in the river Wailuku, a river of swift cascades and beautiful waterfalls near Hilo, so she turned back filled with the wish to destroy them and free the people from that danger.
At the place where the people crossed the river were two things which looked like large, flat logs tossing in the water. Any person wishing to cross the river would lay fish, sweet potatoes, and other kinds of food on the logs. When these things disappeared the logs would act sometimes as a bridge and sometimes as a boat, taking those who had given presents across the river. These [[121]]logs were the great tongues of the dragons Pili-a-moo and Noho-a-moo, i.e., the dragon Pili and the dragon Noho.
Hiiaka and her two companions came to the river side. The travellers called for an open way across.
One dragon said to the other, “Here comes one of our family.”
The other said: “What of that? She can cross if she pays. If she does not give our price, she shall not go over in this place.”
Hiiaka ordered the dragons to prepare her way, but they refused. Then she taunted them as slaves, ordering them to bring vegetable food and fish. The dragons became angry and thrashed the water into whirlpools, trying to catch the travellers and pull them into the river. The people from far and near gathered to the place of this strange conflict.
A chief laughed at Hiiaka, saying, “These are dragon-gods, and yet you dispute with them!”
Hiiaka said, “Yes, they are dragon-gods, but when I attack them they will die.”
The chief offered to make any bet desired that she could not injure the dragons.
Hiiaka said, “I have no property, but I wager my body, my life, against your property that the dragons die.”
Then began a great conflict along the banks [[122]]and in the swift waters. Hiiaka struck the dragons with her magic skirt in which was concealed the divine power of lightning. They tried to escape, but Hiiaka struck again and again and killed them, changing the bodies into blocks of stone. Then she called the chief, saying, “I have made the way safe for your people and you; I give back your property and the land of the dragons.”
Hiiaka and her friends turned north again and hastened to Waipio Valley to catch Mahiki—the demon of the whirlwind. He ran down to meet her and threw dust all over them, then fled inland to the mountains. Hiiaka chanted:
“I am above Waipio,
My eyes look sharply down.
I have gone along the path
By the sea of Makaukiu,
Full flowing like the surf.
I have seen Mahiki,
I have seen that he is evil,
Evil, very evil indeed.”