Oh Hiiaka of Pele’s heart,
Life to thee, and life to dear Lohiau—
Soul plucked by thee from death at Keé,
Death in the cliff Keé, at Haena.
Pele, in the retirement of her gloomy cavern, was quite out of the range of Paoa’s eye-shot, but his voice rang in her ears distinctly. “What a handsome man is that standing on the edge of the cliff at Akani-kolea!” exclaimed Pele’s women, unable to repress their admiration.
“Call to him and invite him to come down here where we can talk together,” said Pele. “Way up there on the pali wall—that’s no place for us to talk and become acquainted with each other. Tell him to come down here and we’ll discuss matters great and small, look upon the large stem and the small stem; see one another face to face; learn each other’s heart’s desire.”[1]
For all her fine words. Pele did not at once come forward and meet her visitor face to face. She lay unrecognized in her stygian boudoir, to all appearance a withered hag.
Paoa, well versed in the wiles of Woman, adept in the logomachies and etiquettes of court-life, was quite put to his trumps and found it necessary to summon all his diplomacy and exercise all his power of self-command in dealing with the shrewd and attractive women that surrounded him. It was evident to the watchful eye of our heroine—Hiiaka—that he was dangerously attracted by the voluptuous beauty of her sister, Hiiaka-of-the-waves. In the persistent silence of Pele, upon her fell the leading part of the conversation with Paoa:
“What might be the purpose of your pilgrimage?” she asked.
“I come in answer to the call of my friend, Lohiau.”