Page:Pele and Hiiaka; a myth from Hawaii (IA pelehiiakamythfr00emeriala).pdf/46

thority, to overcome and subdue all the foes that would surely rise up to oppose and defeat her. With wild gestures they signalled to Hiiaka once more to return.

Hiiaka's answering song, though pointed with blame, gives proof that her own intuitions were not entirely at fault:

A ka luna, i Pu'u-onioni,
Noho ke anaina a ke 'Kua.
Kilohi a' ku'u maka ilalo,
I ka ulu o Wahine-kapu:
He o'ioina Kilauea,
He noho-ana o Papa-lau-ahi, e.
Ke lau-ahi mai la o Pele ia kai o Puna:
Ua one-á, oke-á, kai o Maláma, e.
E málama i ka iki kanaka,
I ka nu'a kanáka;
O kakou no keia ho-akua—
Akua Mo'o-lau, e!
O Mo'o-lau ke ala, e!

TRANSLATION

From the crest of Tremble^[1] Hill
I look on the concourse of gods,
At ease on the gossip-ground,
The seat of Wahine-kapu,
Rest-station to Kilauea,
Its pavement of lava-plate:
Such plates Pele spreads in Puna—
Hot shards, gray sands at Maláma.
Succor and life for small and great!
Be it ours to play the god; our way
Beset by demons four hundred!

The communication between Hiiaka and her sisters had, on their part, been carried on mostly by means of gesture and sign-language. But on this return of Hiiaka the whole family of brothers and sisters were so moved at the thought of the danger to Hiiaka that they spoke out at last and frankly advised Hiiaka to go before Pele and demand of her the gift of spiritual power, mana, that she might be able to meet her enemies on

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1. The wavering of indecision.