In the fish pond there were many kinds of silver fish. Lau-kia-manu uttered a spell, and caused them all to disappear a minute after she had seen them swimming about. Still she stayed near, dragging herself here and there about the sea-shore. And [[126]]while she was there, messengers came to bring from the Queen’s pond silver fish for the Queen.
There was not a single fish in the pond. When the messengers saw this, they accused the old woman who was near by of having taken the fish out of the pond. She made no reply to them. Then nothing would do the messengers but to take her before the Queen and charge her with having stolen the silver fish out of her pond.
So they brought her before the Queen. “There is not a single fish in your pond,” they said, “and we found this old woman near it, going up and down.” The Queen said, “Nothing will happen to you, old woman, if you will take as your name the name of my sickness.” The old woman said that she would do that. Then the Queen named her Li-pe-wa-le, the name of the Queen’s sickness; she let her stay in the house, and she gave her food.
So Lau-kia-manu became known as Li-pe-wa-le. In the Queen’s house she did menial tasks. And into the house came the Prince who was to wed the Queen. He was Ula. Once when she was lying on her mat asleep, Ula came and kissed Lau-kia-manu. She wakened up and cried out, “Who is kissing me?” The Queen heard her voice and said, “What is it, Li-pe-wa-le?” Lau-kia-manu made no answer. We can see by what Ula did that he knew his sweetheart of Ku-ai-he-lani in spite of her being transformed into an old woman. [[127]]
One day the Queen went down to the sea-shore to bathe. She bade Li-pe-wa-le stay within the house and decorate a dress that she was to wear. Li-pe-wa-le did as she was ordered. But she worked so quickly on the dress that she had it all done very soon, and she was able to follow the Queen and her attendants down to the sea-shore. And on her way she caused herself to be transformed back into her own shape, with her own beauty. She passed the others by; she bathed near where the Queen bathed, and the Queen and all her attendants were able to look upon her. Then she dressed herself and hurried away.
They all hurried after her; the Queen was angry that one who was more beautiful than she was should be in her country. Lau-kia-manu went more quickly than they did, and when they came to the Queen’s house she had already transformed herself, and the only one they saw there was Li-pe-wa-le, the old and withered woman.
That night the Queen and her attendants and Ula the Prince went to dance in a house that the Queen had built. She put on her beautiful wreaths with the dress that Li-pe-wa-le had decorated for her. But she ordered Li-pe-wa-le to stay within the house and decorate another dress.
There she stayed, and the sounds of the music and the dancing came to her. And then the girl went [[128]]without. She looked over to the house where the dance was going on, and she uttered this charm:
“Ye forty thousand gods,
Ye four hundred thousand gods,