"Thou, Pélé, lettest him go for very contempt; thou gavest up the prey from thy fingers willingly.
"For such as her, a law is laid down.
"Victim for victim: life for life: whoever snatches an offering from Pélé, himself must satisfy the wrath of the goddess.
"Were it not so, thou wouldst deluge the land with lava; thou wouldst swallow the towns in the jaws of earthquakes: thou wouldst lick up the cane-fields with red tongues of fire.
"Thy son, Maloka, thy favourite, the humpbacked, he cried aloud to his mother for the maiden in marriage.
"'Give me this girl, he cried aloud, Oh Pélé: give me this maiden who snatched away thy victim.'
"Thou, Pélé, madest answer: 'My son, I give her thee.' Thou didst turn uneasily in thy flaming home, and threaten the Hawaiians with a deadly vengeance.
"See, we bring her: and we give her to Maloka; willingly, of her own accord, the maiden comes: on Maloka's night, arrayed as a bride in snow-white raiment, eager for her fate.
"Come forward, attendants!"
The bridesmaids, in their wreaths and garlands, stepped forward. I listened, horror-struck.