It must not be gathered from this that the occasion was made solemn and oppressive with weight of ceremony, as when a temple was erected or as when a tabu chief walked abroad, and all men lay with their mouths in the dust. On the contrary, it was a time of joy and decorous exultation, a time when in prayer-songs and ascriptions of praise the poet ransacked all nature for figures and allusions to be used in caressing the deity.

The following adulatory prayer (kánaenáe) in adoration of Laka was recited while gathering the woodland decorations for the altar. It is worthy of preservation for its intrinsic beauty, for the spirit of trustfulness it breathes. We remark the petitions it utters for the growth of tree and shrub, as if Laka had been the alma mater under whose influence all nature budded and rejoiced.

It would seem as if the physical ecstasy of the dance and the sensuous joy of all nature’s finery had breathed their spirit into the aspiration and that the beauty of leaf and flower, all of them familiar forms of the god’s metamorphosis—accessible to their touch and for the regalement of their senses—had brought such nearness and dearness, of affection between goddess and worshiper that all fear was removed.

He kánaenáe no Laka

A ke kua-hiwi, i ke kua-lono, Ku ana o Laka i ka mauna; Noho ana o Laka i ke po’o o ka ohu. O Laka kumu hula, 5 Nana i a’e ka wao-kele,[3] Kahi, kahi i moli’a i ka pua’a, I ke po’o pua’a, He pua’a hiwa na Kane.[4] [Page 17] He kane na Laka, 10 Na ka wahine i oni a kelakela i ka lani: I kupu ke a’a i ke kumu, I lau a puka ka mu’o, Ka liko, ka ao i-luna. Kupu ka lala, hua ma ka Hikina; 15 Kupu ka laau ona a Maka-li’i,[5] O Maka-lei,[6] laau kaulana mai ka Po mai.[7] Mai ka Po mai ka oiaio— I ho-i’o i-luna, i o’o i-luna. He luna au e ki’i mai nei ia oe, e Laka, 20 E ho’i ke ko-kua[8] pa-ú; He la uniki[9] e no kaua; Ha-ike-ike[10] o ke Akua; Hoike ka mana o ka Wahine, O Laka, kaikuahine, 25 Wahine a Lono i ka ou-alii.[11] E Lono, e hu’[12] ia mai ka lani me ka honua. Nou okoa Kukulu o Kahiki.[13] Me ke ano-ai[14] i aloha, e! E ola, e!

[Footnote 3: Wao-kele. That portion of the mountain forest where grew the monarch trees was called wao-kele or wao-maukele.]

[Footnote 4: Na Kane. Why was the offering, the black roast porkling, said to be for Kane, who was not a special patron, au-makúa, of the hula? The only answer the author has been able to obtain from any Hawaiian is that, though Kane was not a god of the hula, he was a near relative. On reflection, the author can see a propriety in devoting the reeking flesh of the swine to god Kane, while to the sylvan deity, Lâkâ, goddess of the peaceful hula, were devoted the rustic offerings that were the embodiment of her charms. Her image, or token—an uncarved block of wood—was set up in a prominent part of the kuahu, and at the close of a performance the wreaths that had been worn by the actors were draped about the image. Thus viewed, there is a delicate propriety and significance in such disposal of the pig.]

[Footnote 5: Maka-li’i (Small eyes). The Pleiades; also the period of six months, including the rainy season, that began some time in October or November and was reckoned from the date when the Pleiades appeared in the East at sunset. Maka-li’i was also the name of a month, by some reckoned as the first month of the year.]

[Footnote 6: Maka-léi. The name of a famous mythological tree which had the power of attracting fish. It did not poison, but only bewitched or fascinated them. There were two trees bearing this name, one a male, the other a female, which both grew at a place in Hilo called Pali-uli. One of these, the female, was, according to tradition, carried from its root home to the fish ponds in Kailua, Oahu, for the purpose of attracting fish to the neighboring waters. The enterprise was eminently successful.]

[Footnote 7: Po. Literally night; the period in cosmogony when darkness and chaos reigned, before the affairs on earth had become settled under the rule of the gods. Here the word is used to indicate a period of remote mythologic antiquity. The use of the word Po in the following verse reminds one of the French adage, “La nuit porte conseil.”]

[Footnote 8: Kokúa. Another form for kakúa, to gird on the pa-ú. (See Pa-ú song, pp. 51–53.)]

[Footnote 9: Uníki. A word not given in the dictionary. The debut of an actor at the hula, after passing the ai-lolo test and graduating from the school of the halau, a critical event.]

[Footnote 10: Ha-íke-íke. Equivalent to ho-íke-íke, an exhibition, to exhibit.]

[Footnote 11: Ou-alii. The Hawaiians seem to have lost the meaning of this word. The author has been at some pains to work it out somewhat conjecturally.]

[Footnote 12: E Lono, e hu’ ia, mai, etc. The unelided form of the word hu’ would be hui. The final i is dropped before the similar vowel of ia.]

[Footnote 13: Kukúlu o Kahíki. The pillars of Kahiki. The ancient Hawaiians supposed the starry heavens to be a solid dome supported by a wall or vertical construction—kukulu—set up along the horizon. That section of the wall that stood over against Kahiki they termed Kukulu o Kahiki. Our geographical name Tahiti is of course from Kahiki, though it does not apply to the same region. After the close of what has been termed “the period of intercourse,” which, came probably during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and during which the ancient Hawaiians voyaged to and fro between Hawaii and the lands of the South, geographical ideas became hazy and the term Kahiki came to be applied to any foreign country.]

[Footnote 14: Áno-ái. An old form of salutation, answering in general to the more modern word aloha, much used at the present time. Ano-ai seems to have had a shade of meaning more nearly answering to our word “welcome.” This is the first instance the author has met with of its use in poetry.]

[Page 18] [Translation.]

A Prayer of Adulation to Laka

In the forests, on the ridges Of the mountains stands Laka; Dwelling in the source of the mists. Laka, mistress of the hula, 5 Has climbed the wooded haunts of the gods, Altars hallowed by the sacrificial swine, The head of the boar, the black boar of Kane. A partner he with Laka; Woman, she by strife gained rank in heaven. 10 That the root may grow from the stem, That the young shoot may put forth and leaf, Pushing up the fresh enfolded bud, The scion-thrust bud and fruit toward the East, Like the tree that bewitches the winter fish, 15 Maka-lei, tree famed from the age of night. Truth is the counsel of night— May it fruit and ripen above. A messenger I bring you, O Laka, To the girding of paû. 20 An opening festa this for thee and me; To show the might of the god, The power of the goddess, Of Laka, the sister, To Lono a wife in the heavenly courts. 25 O Lono, join heaven and earth! Thine alone are the pillars of Kahiki. Warm greeting, beloved one, We hail thee!

The cult of god Lono was milder, more humane, than that of Kane and the other major gods. No human sacrifices were offered on his altars.—The statement in verse 26 accords with the general belief of the Hawaiians that Lono dwelt in foreign parts, Kukulu o Kahiki, and that he would some time come to them from across the waters. When Captain Cook arrived in his ships, the Hawaiians worshiped him as the god Lono.

The following song-prayer also is one that was used at the gathering of the greenery in the mountains and during the building of the altar in the halau. When recited in the halau all the pupils took part, and the chorus was a response in which the whole assembly in the halau were expected to join:

Pule Kuahu no Laka

Haki pu o ka nahelehele, Haki hana maile o ka wao, [Page 19] Hooulu[15] lei ou, o Laka, e! O Hiiaka[16] ke kaula nana e hooulu na ma’i, 5 A aeae a ulu[17] a noho i kou kuahu, Eia ka pule la, he pule ola, He noi ola nou, e-e!

Chorus: E ola ia makou, aohe hala!

[Translation.]

Altar-Prayer to Laka

This spoil and rape of the wildwood, This plucking of wilderness maile— Collect of garlands, Laka, for you. Hiiaka, the prophet, heals our diseases. 5 Enter, possess, inspire your altar; Heed our prayer, ’tis for life; Our petition to you is for life.

Chorus:

Give us life, save from transgression!

[Footnote 15: Hoo-ulu. This word has a considerable range of meaning, well illustrated in this mele. In its simplest form, ulu, it means to grow, to become strong. Joined with the causative hoo, as here, it takes on the spiritual meaning of causing to prosper, of inspiring. The word “collect,” used in the translation, has been chosen to express the double sense of gathering the garlands and of devoting them to the goddess as a religious offering. In the fourth verse this word, hooulu, is used in the sense of to heal. Compare note c.]

[Footnote 16: Hiiaka. The youngest sister of Pele, often spoken of as Hiiaka-i-ka-poli-o-Pele, Hiiaka-of-the-bosom-of-Pele. Why she should be spoken of as capable of healing diseases is not at all clear.]

[Footnote 17: Ulu. Here we have the word ulu in its simple, uncombined form, meaning to enter into and inspire.]