Mai O’olu-eä,[13] i ke ahi[14] a Laka, la.
Mai Puna au, e-e!
TRANSLATION
Bethink you, I come from Puna—
In the power of a triple love.
Girt with the might of Wahine-kapu:
Beware the baleful fires of Laka:
Remember, I come from Puna.
The inner meaning and intent of this highly wrought figurative and allegorical language, which Hiiaka, according to her custom, utters at detached intervals in the form of song, does not lie on the surface, and is furthermore obscured by an untranslatable punning use of the word Puna.
To explain the motive of this song, Hiiaka perceives that Pele-ula and Lohiau, who had once upon a time been lovers, are mutually drawn to each other by a rekindling of the old flame. In the case of Pele-ula the motive of ambition to match her own spiritual power as a makaula—seer—with that of the young woman who comes to her as the plenipotential ambassador of Pele is even stronger than the physical passion. In the kilu now to be performed she sees her opportunity.