She will use it for all it is worth, not only that she may taste once more the delights offered by this coxcomb, but that she may pluck from the hand of this audacious creature of Pele’s endowment a wreath for her own wearing.
As to Lohiau, that plastic thing, his character, is as clay in the hands of the potter, under Pele-ula’s manipulation. He is all for pleasure. Honor, constancy, ordinary prudence, are not in his purview. Hiiaka’s immediate presence suffices to restrain and guide him; in her absence, his passion, a rudderless bark, is the sport of every wind that blows.
Hiiaka, on arriving at the halau, sat by herself. Lohiau, as she observed, was sitting with Wahine-oma’o and Waikiki. Pele-ula, who was sitting alone on her side of the hall, now showed her hand by sending one of her men, named A’ala, to invite Lohiau to come over and sit with her. At this Hiiaka spoke up: “I will sit by you.”
“So be it, then,” answered Pele-ula. At the same time she muttered to herself, “But she wasn’t invited.”
A’ala, who caught the aside of his mistress, also put in, “It’s Lohiau whom she invites.”
At this Hiiaka bravely laid down the rule, which was the accepted one, that the men and the women should sit on opposite sides of the halau; averring that any other disposition would be sure to breed trouble. Pele-ula could not but agree to this and accordingly, Wahine-oma’o and Waikiki, leaving their seats by Lohiau, came over and sat with Hiiaka and Pele-ula.
When the presiding officer of the game—the la anoano[15]—had called the assembly to order with the well known cry “pu-heo-heo” and it came to the placing of the pahu kilu—short pyramidal blocks of wood—before each one of the players, who sat in two rows facing each other and separated by a considerable interval, Hiiaka objected to the way in which they were placed. A sharp discussion then arose between Pele-ula and Hiiaka, but the younger woman carried the day and won her point.
Lohiau had a great and well-deserved reputation as a skilful champion in the game of kilu. When, therefore, it came his turn to hurl the kilu[16] and send it spinning across the mat with an aim that would make it strike the pahu, which was its target, everybody looked for great things and it was openly predicted that he would win every point.
Lohiau preluded his play with a song:
Ke hele la ka au-hula ana[17] o Ka-lalau;