Page:Pele and Hiiaka; a myth from Hawaii (IA pelehiiakamythfr00emeriala).pdf/60

Hiiaka accepted the defiance of Pana-ewa by chanting a solemn kahoahoa, which was at once a confident prediction of victory and an appeal to the gods:

Kua loloa Keäau i ka nahele hala;
Kua huluhulu Pana-ewa i ka laau;
Inoino ka maha, ka ohi'a o La'a, e;
Ku kepakepa ka maha o ka laau,
U-á po'ohina i ka wela a ke Akua;
U-a-uahi Puna o ka oloka’a pohaku ia,
I ka huná pa'a ia e ka Wahine.
Nanahu ahi ka ka papa o Olueä;
Momoku ahi Puna, hala i Apua;
Ulu-á ka nahele me ka laau;
Ka ke kahiko ia o Papa-lau-ahi.
Ele-i^[1] kahiko, e Ku-lili-kaua;
Ka ia,^[2] hea^[3] hala o Ka-li'u;
E ne^[4] ka La, ka malama;
Onakaka ka piko^[5] o Hilo i ke one,
I hu-lá^[6] ia aku la e, hulihia i kai.
Ua wawahia, ua nahahá,
Ua he-helelei ka papa i Pua-le'i, e!

TRANSLATION

Long is the reach of Keäau's palms;
Bristly-backed Pana-ewa's woodlands;
Spoiled are the restful groves of La'a;
Ragged and patchy the tree-clumps—
Gray their heads from the ravage of fire.
A blanket of smoke covers Puna—
All paved with the dump from Her stone-yard.
The Goddess' fire bites Olu-eä—
One cinder-heap clean to Apua;

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1. Ele-i. One Hawaiian says this rare word means blue-black, shiny black (J. W. P.); another says it means rich, choice, select (T. J. P.)
2. Ka, to remove, clean up entirely, as in bailing a canoe.
3. Hea, destroyed, flattened out.
4. Ne, an elided poetical form of nele, meaning gone, blotted out.
5. Piko, the navel. The belly, or piko, of a fish was the choicest part. "I ka piko no oe, lihaliha." Eat of the belly and you shall be satiated. (Old saying.)
6. Hu-la. (Notice the accent to distinguish it from hula.) To dig up, as a stone out of the ground.