Love carries me off with a rush, and I cry, I cry,
Alas, I’m devoured by the shark, great shark!
This is not the first time that a Hawaiian poet has figured love by the monster shark.
XXXV.—THE HULA KILU
The hula kilu was so called from being used in a sport bearing that name which was much patronized by the alii class of the ancient regime. It was a betting game, or, more strictly, forfeits were pledged, the payment of which was met by the performance of a dance, or by the exaction of kisses and embraces. The satisfaction of these forfeits not infrequently called for liberties and concessions that could not be permitted on the spot or in public, but must wait the opportunity of seclusion. There were, no doubt, times when the conduct of the game was carried to such a pitch of license as to offend decency; but as a rule the outward proprieties were seemingly as well regarded as at an old-fashioned husking bee, when the finding of the “red ear” conferred or imposed the privilege or penalty of exacting or granting the blushing tribute of a kiss. Actual improprieties were not witnessed.
The game of kilu was played in an open matted space that lay between the two divisions of the audience—the women being on one side and the men on the other. Any chief of recognized rank in the papa alii was permitted to join in the game; and kings and queens were not above participating in the pleasures of this sport. Once admitted to the hall or inclosure, all were peers and stood on an equal footing as to the rules and privileges of the game. King nor queen could plead exemption from the forfeits incurred nor deny to another the full exercise of privileges acquired under the rules.
The players, five or more of each sex, having been selected by the president, La anoano (“quiet day”), sat facing each other in the space between the spectators. In front of each player stood a conical block of heavy wood, broad at the base to keep it upright. The kilu, with which the game was played, was an oval, one-sided dish, made by cutting in two an egg-shaped coconut shell. The object of the player was to throw his kilu so that it should travel with a sliding and at the same time a rotary motion across the matted floor and hit the wooden block which stood before the one of his choice on the side opposite. The men and the women took turns in playing. A successful hit entitled the player to claim a kiss from his opponent, a toll which was exacted at once. Success in winning ten points made one the victor in the game, and, according to some, entitled him to claim the larger forfeit, such as was customary in the democratic game of ume. The payment of these extreme forfeits was delayed till a convenient season, or might be commuted—on grounds of policy, or at the request of the loser, if a king or queen—by an equivalent of land or other valuable possession. Still no fault could be found if the winner insisted on the strict payment of the forfeit.