But when the twelfth child was born—Au-ke-le was his name—his father took him up in his arms, and he promised him all the honor and power and glory that was his, and he promised him the kingship of Ku-ai-he-lani, the Country that Supports the Heavens.
The other children were angry when they saw their father take little Au-ke-le up in his arms, and they were more angry when they heard the promises that were made to him. And the eldest brother, who was the angriest of all, said, “I am the eldest born, and my father never made such promises to me, and he never took me up in his arms and fondled me.” And this brother, who was now a man grown, went from before his father, and his other brothers went with him.
Au-ke-le grew up. His father gave him many of his possessions—feather cloaks, and whale-tooth necklaces, and many sharp and polished weapons. He grew up to be the handsomest of handsome youths, with a body that was straight and faultless. [[46]]One day, knowing that they had gone to play games in a certain house, he went to follow his brothers. But Iku, his father, said to him, “Do not go where your brothers have gone; they are angry with you, and they have always been angry with you, and it may be that they will do some harm to you in that place.” But in spite of the words of his father Au-ke-le followed his brothers. He came to the house where his brothers were, and he shot his arrow into it. One of his brothers took up the arrow and said, “This is not a stranger’s arrow; this is an arrow from our own house; see, it is twisted.” The eldest brother, who was the angriest of all, took up the arrow and broke it to pieces. He sent the others outside to invite Au-ke-le within the house. And Au-ke-le, believing in the kindness of his brothers, and thinking they were going to let him join in their games, came within.
But they had made a plan against him. They laid hold upon him when he came within the house, and, at the words of the eldest brother, they uncovered a pit and they flung Au-ke-le down into it.
In that pit there lived a mo-o whose name was Ka-mo’o-i-na-nea. This mo-o was really Au-ke-le’s grandmother. She had been a mortal woman; but she had transformed herself into a mo-o, and now she lived in that pit, and she devoured any creature that came into it.
The angry brother called out, “Mo-o, Mo-o, here [[47]]is your food; eat it.” Then he went away. But a younger brother who felt kindly to Au-ke-le whispered down, “Do not eat this youth, Mo-o, for he is your own grandson.” The mo-o heard the words of both. She came before Au-ke-le and she signed for him to follow her. He followed, and they came out on the dry sand that was before the ocean.
Then the mo-o spoke to Au-ke-le her grandson. “There is a land beyond this sea,” she said, “a land that I travelled through in my young days before I took on this dragon-form. Very few people live in that land. You must sail to it; living there you will become great and wise.
“The name of that land is Ka-la-ke’e-nui-a-Kane. The mountains are so high that the stars rest upon them. The people who live there are Na-maka-o-Kahai, the Queen, and her four brothers, who take the forms of birds, and two women-servants. The watchers of her land are a dog called Mo-e-la and a great and fierce bird called Ha-lu-lu.
“I will give you things to take with you. Here is a calabash that has a Magic in it. It has an axe in it also that you can use. And here is food that will last for the longest voyage. It is a leaf, but if you put it to your lips it will take away your hunger and your thirst. I give you my skirt of feathers also; the touch of it will bring death to your enemies.” Then his mo-o grandmother left him, and Au-ke-le was upon the sea-shore with a calabash that had Magic in it, [[48]]with the leaves that stayed his hunger and his thirst, and with the skirt of feathers that would destroy his enemies. And he had in his heart the resolve to go to the land that his mo-o grandmother had told him about.
In the meantime Iku-mai-lani, the kind brother, had gone back to his father’s house. Iku asked what had happened to his favorite son. Then Iku-mai-lani, weeping, told his father that the boy had been flung into the pit where the mo-o was and that he feared the mo-o had devoured him as she had devoured others. Then the father and mother of Au-ke-le wept.