Page:Pele and Hiiaka; a myth from Hawaii (IA pelehiiakamythfr00emeriala).pdf/104

The woman Wai-hinano replied to Hiiaka with great spirit and temper:

Aole e make ku'u alii ia oe:
Ke hoole mai nei na 'kua wahine o ia nei,
O Ha-pu'u,^[1] laua o Ka-lei-hau-ola,^[1]
O na 'kua nana i lapu Hawaii a puni:
Oia ho'i ka i a ke Akua:
Ke hoole mai nei, aole e make!

TRANSLATION

My king shall not die by your arts:
His witch-gods deny you the power—
Ha-pu'u and Ka-lei-hau-ola;—
They peopled Hawaii with ghosts:
The voice of the gods, the king's gods,
Declares that he shall not die!

The situation was peculiar: while Ka-ula-hea (in the narrative sometimes called Ole-pau) lay asleep, his second soul, kino wailua, deserting its post of duty as life-guard over the bodily tenement, had stolen away in pursuit of its own pleasures. It was this very kino wailua that Hiiaka had seen flanking her own route, as it flitted through the fields, and which she had caught and now held fast in her hand like a fluttering moth, a hostage answerable for his misbehaviour and disregard of the rites of hospitality. Its possession gave Hiiaka complete power over the life of the king. It was no empty vaunt when Hiiaka again declared in song:

Aohe kala i make ai;
Ua pu-á ia na iwi;
Ua akua^[2] ka ai a ka ilo!

TRANSLATION

King death has gripped him ere this;
His bones already are bundled;
The worms—they batten like gods!

While Wai-hinano was listening to these awful words of

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1. Female deities of necromancy.
2. Akua, literally, a god, or godlike, i.e., in an awe-inspiring manner.