Lohiau, the high chief, said: “O stranger, child of a journey, you speak in riddles. I know Kauai from harbor to clustered hills, and my eyes have never seen any woman like you.”
“Ka!” said Pele, “the place where you did not stop, there I was.”
But Lohiau refused her thought, and asked her to tell truly whence she had come. At last Pele acknowledged that she had come from Puna, Hawaii,—“the place beloved by the sunrise at Haehae.”
The chiefs urged her to join them in a feast, but she refused, saying she had recently eaten [[77]]and was satisfied, but she “was hungry for the hula—the voices and the drum.”
Then Lohiau told her that her welcome was all that he could give. “For me is the island, inland, seaward, and all around Kauai. This is your place. The home you have in Puna you will think you see again in Kauai. The name of my house for you is Ha-laau-ola [Tree of Life].”
Pele replied: “The name of your house is beautiful. My home in Puna is Mauli-ola [Long Life]. I will accept this house of yours.”
Lohiau watched her while he partook of the feast with his chiefs, and she was resting on the couch of mats. He was thinking of her marvellous, restful beauty, as given in the ancient chant known as “Lei Mauna Loa.”
“Lei of Mauna Loa, beautiful to look upon.
The mountain honored by the winds.
Known by the peaceful motion.