14
PELE AND HIIAKA—A MYTH
ing trouble, as it were, and, standing in the road at Mokau-lele, she sang:
He uä kui lehua ko Pana-ewa;
He uä ma kai kui hala ko Puna, e!
Aloha e, aloha wale Koloa, e-e!
Na mau’u i moe o Malei.
He uä ma kai kui hala ko Puna, e!
Aloha e, aloha wale Koloa, e-e!
Na mau’u i moe o Malei.
TRANSLATION
Pana-ewa's rain beats down the lehuas,
A rain by the sea smites the halas of Puna.
My love, my pity go out to Koloa;—
Her fare, wilted herbs at Malei.
A rain by the sea smites the halas of Puna.
My love, my pity go out to Koloa;—
Her fare, wilted herbs at Malei.
Hiiaka—true poet that she was, and alive to every colorable aspect of nature—as she trudged on her way, came upon a sight that touched her imagination; two birds were sipping together in loving content of the water that had collected in the crotch of a tree, in which also was growing an awa plant.—Such nature-planted awa was famed as being the most toxic of any produced in Puna.—Her poetic mind found in the incident something that was in harmony with her own mood, and she wove it into a song:
O ka manu múkimukí,
Ale lehua a ka manu,
O ka awa ili lena
I ka uka o Ka-li'u;
O ka manu ha'iha'i lau awa o Puna:—
Aia i ka laau ka awa ona o Puna,
O Puna, ho'i, e-e!
Ale lehua a ka manu,
O ka awa ili lena
I ka uka o Ka-li'u;
O ka manu ha'iha'i lau awa o Puna:—
Aia i ka laau ka awa ona o Puna,
O Puna, ho'i, e-e!
TRANSLATION
O bird that sips with delight
the nectar-bloom of lehua,
Tasting the yellow-barked awa
That climbs in Ka-liu's uplands;
O bird that brews from this leafage
Puna's bitter-sweet awa draught;—
Puna's potentest awa grows
Aloft in the crotch of a tree;—
Most potent this awa of Puna!
the nectar-bloom of lehua,
Tasting the yellow-barked awa
That climbs in Ka-liu's uplands;
O bird that brews from this leafage
Puna's bitter-sweet awa draught;—
Puna's potentest awa grows
Aloft in the crotch of a tree;—
Most potent this awa of Puna!
