In the misty past of the Hawaiian Islands a king was very, very ill. All his friends thought that he was going to die. The family came together in the enclosure around the house where the sick man lay. Three sons were wailing sorely because of their heavy grief.
An old man, a stranger, passing by asked them the cause of the trouble. One of the young men replied, “Our father lies in that house very near death.”
The old man looked over the wall upon the young men and said slowly: “I have heard of something which would make your father well. He must drink of the water of life of Ka-ne. But this is very hard to find and difficult to get.”
The old man disappeared, but the eldest son said, “I shall not fail to find this water of life, and I shall be my father’s favorite and shall [[45]]have the kingdom.” He ran to his father for permission to go and find this water of life.
The old king said: “No, there are many difficulties and even death in the way. It is better to die here.” The young prince urged his father to let him try, and at last received permission.
The prince, taking his water calabash, hastened away. As he went along a path through the forest, suddenly an ugly little man, a dwarf (an a-a), appeared in his path and called out, “Where are you going that you are in such a hurry?” The prince answered roughly: “Is this your business? I have nothing to say to you.” He pushed the little man aside and ran on.
The dwarf was very angry and determined to punish the rough speaker, so he made the path twist and turn and grow narrow before the traveller. The further the prince ran, the more bewildered he was, and the more narrow became the way, and thicker and thicker were the trees and vines and ferns through which the path wound. At last he fell to the earth, crawling and fighting against the tangled masses of ferns and the clinging tendrils of the vines of the land of fairies and gnomes. They twined themselves around him and tied him tight with living coils, and finally he lay like one who was dead.
For a long time the family waited and at last came to the conclusion that he had been overcome [[46]]by some difficulty. The second son said that he would go and find that water of life, so taking his water calabash he ran swiftly along the path which his brother had taken. His thought was also the selfish one, that he might succeed where his brother had failed and so win the kingdom.
As he ran along he met the same little man, who was the king of the fairies although he appeared as a dwarf. The little man called out, “Where are you going in such a hurry?”
The prince spoke roughly, pushed him out of the way, and rushed on. Soon he also was caught in the tangled woods and held fast like one who was dead.