Me ke ano-ai [14] i aloha, e!
E ola, e!
Footnote 3:[ (return) ] Wao-kele. That portion of the mountain forest where grew the monarch trees was called wao-kele or wao-maukele.
Footnote 4:[ (return) ] Na Kane. Why was the offering, the black roast porkling, said to be for Kane, who was not a special patron, au-makúa, of the hula? The only answer the author has been able to obtain from any Hawaiian is that, though Kane was not a god of the hula, he was a near relative. On reflection, the author can see a propriety in devoting the reeking flesh of the swine to god Kane, while to the sylvan deity, Lâkâ, goddess of the peaceful hula, were devoted the rustic offerings that were the embodiment of her charms. Her image, or token—an uncarved block of wood—was set up in a prominent part of the kuahu, and at the close of a performance the wreaths that had been worn by the actors were draped about the image. Thus viewed, there is a delicate propriety and significance in such disposal of the pig.
Footnote 5:[ (return) ] Maka-li’i (Small eyes). The Pleiades; also the period of six months, including the rainy season, that began some time in October or November and was reckoned from the date when the Pleiades appeared in the East at sunset. Maka-li’i was also the name of a month, by some reckoned as the first month of the year.
Footnote 6:[ (return) ] Maka-léi. The name of a famous mythological tree which had the power of attracting fish. It did not poison, but only bewitched or fascinated them. There were two trees bearing this name, one a male, the other a female, which both grew at a place in Hilo called Pali-uli. One of these, the female, was, according to tradition, carried from its root home to the fish ponds in Kailua, Oahu, for the purpose of attracting fish to the neighboring waters. The enterprise was eminently successful.
Footnote 7:[ (return) ] Po. Literally night; the period in cosmogony when darkness and chaos reigned, before the affairs on earth had become settled under the rule of the gods. Here the word is used to indicate a period of remote mythologic antiquity. The use of the word Po in the following verse reminds one of the French adage, “La nuit porte conseil.”
Footnote 8:[ (return) ] Kokúa. Another form for kakúa, to gird on the pa-ú. (See Pa-ú song, pp. 51-53.)
Footnote 9:[ (return) ] Uníki. A word not given in the dictionary. The debut of an actor at the hula, after passing the ai-lolo test and graduating from the school of the halau, a critical event.
Footnote 10:[ (return) ] Ha-íke-íke. Equivalent to ho-íke-íke, an exhibition, to exhibit.