What pleasure I took in my dancing!
Alas! now consumed by the monster shark!
Who would imagine that a Hawaiian would ever picture the god of love as a shark? As a bird, yes; but as a shark! What a light this fierce idyl casts on the imagination of the people of ancient Hawaii!
XXXII.—THE HULA ILÍO
The dog took his part and played his enthusiastic rôle in the domestic life of every Hawaiian. He did not starve in a fool’s paradise, a neglected object of man’s superstitious regard, as in Constantinople; nor did he vie with kings and queens in the length and purity of his pedigree, as in England; but in Hawaii he entered with full heart of sympathy into all of man’s enterprises, and at his death bequeathed his body a sacrifice to men and gods. It was fitting that the Hawaiian poet should celebrate the dog and his altogether virtuous and altruistic services to mankind. The hula ilío may be considered as part of Hawaii’s tribute to man’s most faithful friend, the dog.
The hula ilío was a classic performance that demanded of the actors much physical stir; they shifted their position, now sitting, now standing; they moved from place to place; indulged in many gestures, sometimes as if imitating the motions of the dog. This hula has long been out of commission. Like the two animal-hulas previously mentioned, it was performed without the aid of instrumental accompaniment.
The allusions in this mele are to the mythical story that tells of Kane’s drinking, revels on the heights about Waipi’o valley; how he and his fellows by the noise of their furious conching disturbed the prayers and rituals of King Liloa and his priests, Kane himself being the chief offender by his blowing on the conch-shell Kihapú, stolen from Liloa’s temple of Paka’alana: its recovery by the wit and dramatic action of the gifted dog Puapua-lenalena. (See p. 131.)
Mele
Ku e, naná e!