Page:Pele and Hiiaka; a myth from Hawaii (IA pelehiiakamythfr00emeriala).pdf/64

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38
PELE AND HIIAKA—A MYTH
O Ilio-ehu,[1] o Ilio-mea,[2] o ka lani;
O Ku-ke-ao-iki,[3] o Ku-ke-ao-poko,[4]
O Ku-ke-ao-loa[5] o ka lani;
O Ku-ke-ao-awihiwihi[6] ula o ka lani;
Ua ka ua, kahi wai, a na hoalii;[7]
O nei ka pali ma Ko-wawá;[8]
O Kupina'e,[9] o Ku-wawá;
O Ku-haili-moe;[10]
O Ha'iha'i-lau-ahea;[11]
O Mau-a-ke-alii-hea;[12]
Kánaka[13] loloa o ka mauna—
O Ku-pulupulu[14] i ka nahele,
O na Akua mai ka wao kele;
O Kuli-pe'e-nui[15] ai ahua;
O Kiké-alana;[16]
O Ka-uahi-noe-lehua;
O ke Kahuna i ka puoko[17] o ke ahi;


  1. Ilio-ehu, literally, a white dog.
  2. Ilio-mea, literally, a dog—cloud—of a warm pinkish hue.
  3. Ku-ke-ao-iki, Ao-iki, small clouds that stand ranged about the horizon.
  4. Ao-poko, a short cloud, in contrast with ao-loa.—J. H.
  5. Ao-loa, long clouds—stratus?—such as are seen along the horizon.
  6. Ao-awihiwihi-ula, a cloud-pile having a pinkish, or ruddy, tint.
  7. Hoalii, the relatives of Hiiaka.
  8. Ko-wawa, a notched pali that formed part of the wall enclosing the caldera of Kilauea—on its Kau side.
  9. Kupina'e, echo, hero personified and endowed with the attributes of a superhuman being.
  10. Ku-haili-moe, one of the forms, or characters, of god Ku, representing him as a smoother and beautifier of the landscape.
  11. Ha'iha'i-lau-ahea, a goddess who had to do with the flame of fire. Her share in the care of a fire, or, perhaps, of Pele's peculiar fire, seems to have been confined to the base of the flame.
  12. Mau-a-ke-alii-hea, a being who had special charge of the flame-tip.
  13. Kanaka loloa o ka mauna, this included Ku-pulupulu and his fellows.
  14. Ku-pulupulu, described as a hairy being, the chief god of canoe-makers, who had his residence in the wildwoods.
  15. Kuli-pe'e-nui. This much-used term is the embodiment in a word of the wild, lumbering, progress of a lava-flow, or lava-tongue. Translating the figure into words, my imagination pictures a huge, shapeless monster, hideous as Caliban drunk, wallowing, sprawling, stumbling along on swollen disjointed knees—a picture of uncouth desolation.
  16. Kike-alana, the formulation in a word of the rending and crashing sounds—rock smiting rock—made by a lava-flow.
  17. Kahuna i ka, puoko o ke ahi. The word Kahuna is used here where the word akua or kupua would seem to have served the purpose of the meaning, which, as I take it, is the spirit, or genius, of flame.