XXIV
LEPE-A-MOA
The Chicken-Girl of Palama
Strange things are sometimes imagined in the Hawaiian legends of ancient time. The story of Lepe-a-moa is an illustration of the blending of the Hawaiian idea of supernatural things with the deeds of every-day life. It is one of those old legends handed down by native bards through generations, whose first scenes lie on the island of Kauai, but change to Oahu.
HAT AND MAT MAKER
Keahua was one of the royal chiefs of Kauai. Apparently he was the highest chief on the island, but it was in the days when men were few and high chiefs and gods were many. He had spent his boyhood on the rich lands of Wailua, Kauai, and from there had crossed the deep channel to Oahu and had come to the home of the chiefess Kapalama after her beautiful daughter Kauhao, to take her to Kauai as his wife. But soon after his return one of the kupua gods became angry with him. A kupua was a god having a double body, sometimes appearing as a man and sometimes [[205]]as an animal. The animal body always possessed supernatural powers.