The hula ki’i was, perhaps, the nearest approximation made by the Hawaiians to a genuine dramatic performance. Its usual instrument of musical accompaniment was the ipu, previously described. This drumlike object was handled by that division of the performers called the hoopa’a, who sat in full view of the audience manipulating the ipu in a quiet, sentimental manner, similar to that employed in the hula kuolo.
As a sample of the stories illustrated in a performance of the hula ki’i the following may be adduced, the dramatis personae of which are four:
1. Maka-kú: a famous warrior, a rude, strong-handed braggart, as boastful as Ajax.
2. Puapua-kea, a small man, but brave and active.
3. Maile-lau-lii (Small-leafed-maile), a young woman, who becomes the wife of Maka-ku.
4. Maile-Pakaha, the younger sister of Maile-lau-lii, who becomes the wife of Puapua-kea.
Maka-kú, a rude and boastful son of Mars, at heart a bully, if not a coward, is represented as ever aching for a fight, in which his domineering spirit and rough-and-tumble ways for a time gave him the advantage over abler, but more modest, adversaries.
