The girl Hiiaka saw the messenger that had been despatched to fetch her, while as yet she was in the dim distance,—it was her nurse, Paú-o-pala'e,—and there came to her a premonition of what it all meant, a vision, a picture, of the trouble that was to come; yet, overmastering her, was a feeling of affection and loyalty for her elder sister. Standing outside the house, that she might better watch the approach of Paú-o-pala'e and be on hand to greet her, she voiced her vision in song:
I ka imu lei lehua o Kua-o-ka-la—
Lehua maka-nou i ke ahi—
A wela e-e, wela la!
Wela i ke ahi au,
A ka Wahine mai ka Lua, e-e!
TRANSLATION
To the garlands heaped at Back-o'-the-sun,
The beauteous lehuas are wilted,
Scorched, burnt up, aye burnt,
Consumed by the fire of the Woman—
The fire that flows from the Pit.
As the messenger, in the vibrating sunlight, thridded her way among the tree clumps and lava-knobs, which now concealed her and now brought her into full view, Hiiaka, with gaze intent to gain such snap-shots of her as these obstructions did not forbid, continued her song:
Ke halihali i ke ala laau,
Honi u ai ke kini i kai o Haena—
Haena aloha!
Ke kau nei ka haili moe;
Kau ka haili moe i ke ahiahi:
He hele ko kakahiaka:
Mana'o hele paha au e-e.
Homai ka ihu a hele a'e au;
Aloha oe a noho iho, e-e!
