THE GOD AT WORK IN THE HILLS.
FROM THE PAINTING BY A. W. EMERSON
Hiiaka’s play this time as before was a marvellous show of skill. The kilu seemed possessed with an instinct of attraction for the block that stood as her target. Like a bee that has found a rich honey-flower it returned again and yet again, as if to drain the last particle of sweetness.
Before venturing on his last play, Lohiau discarded the kilu he had been using and chose another, thinking thus to change his luck. He also changed the style of his song, adopting the more sensuous form called ami honua,[24] or ku’u pau:
Ke lei mai la Ka-ula i ke kai, e;
Ka malamalama o Niihau i ka malie.
A malama ke kaao o kou aloha—
Kou aloha ho’i, e-e!
In the first line of this little song, Lohiau, skilfully playing on the name Pele-ula, which he turns into Ka-ula, under the figure of the ocean tossing about that little island, banters the woman for her display of passion. In the second line, using a similar word-play, by which he turns his own name into Niihau, he contrasts the calm of the latter island with the agitation of the former.