n the morning after the battle word was brought to the palace that aa had been found on the field still alive. aelani commanded that he should be taken to the heiau, or temple, to be sacrificed, and that the spearmen should be assembled there to witness the sacred rites. so aa was taken to the heiau, and awaited the coming of aelani and hiwa and kaanaana and the spearmen of kohala.
then aelani’s servants put on him the great mamo that had been the state robe of moi kanes of the blood of wakea and papa time whereof the memory of man ran not to the contrary. it reached from his shoulders to his ankles, and enveloped his whole body. [92] it was made entirely of the yellow feathers of the mamo, and, as the mamo was a small bird, and lived in the mountains, and was wild and scarce, from being constantly hunted, and, moreover, had but few of the sacred feathers, the collection of feathers for that cloak had been the life-work of nine generations of hunters. aelani also wore a helmet of the still more priceless feathers of the oo. the niho palaoa was on his neck, and in his hand he carried spears red with the blood of his enemies.
hiwa wore a mamo like aelani’s, broad and long, extending to her feet, priceless as the crown jewels of england. upon her head was a lei, or wreath of yellow ilima and dark-green maile, and, crowning all, a lei of the fluffy, yellow feathers of the oo, feathers worth many times their weight in gold. kaanaana, too, was richly clad, as became a mighty high-chief. a cloak of yellow and red feathers, only less rare and costly than the mamo, covered him from head to foot, and a yellow and red helmet adorned his head.
before they left the palace hiwa embraced [93] aelani and kaanaana, kissing them and shedding tears, as if she were parting from them forever, so that they greatly wondered, not dreaming of what was in her mind. then, when the chiefs had assembled—all who had the right to stand in presence of the moi—hiwa made a signal that kaanaana should kneel before her. so he kneeled before her, and she, in presence of them all, took the feather lei from her head and twined it around his helmet.
“mighty konohiki,” she said, “thou art greatest of the chiefs, noblest among men, my own and only love, the father of my child. thy rank shall be above all other men not goddess-born, and, in token thereof, thou and the konohikis of thy line shall have the right to deck their helmets with the yellow feathers of the oo as long as the sun shines and water flows. i, hiwa, daughter of the gods, have said it, and my son, the chosen of ku, confirms this royal honor.”
the occasion of the sacrifice was a great one, for aa was of the blood of wakea and papa. never before in the solemn and bloody rites of consecrating a new moi had [94] such an offering been made to ku. the heiau was an immense, irregular, stone parallelogram, open to the sky. the interior was divided into terraces, the upper one paved with flat stones. the south end was an inner court, the most sacred place, corresponding to the holiest of holies of the jews. here were the idols, great and small. here was the high-priest’s station. here the gods were consulted, and their oracles made known. at the entrance to this court was the sacrificial altar of ku.
when aelani and hiwa and kaanaana and the chiefs and warriors had gathered in the temple, and aa, grievously wounded, was brought before the altar where he had long officiated as high-priest, his proud and cruel spirit flashed forth, and he said:—“if i had won the battle i would have gone to kohala and put every man, woman and child to the spear, save aelani and hiwa and kaanaana and all of noble birth, whom i would have kept for the sacrifice; i would have made kohala fat with slaughter; i would have drenched ku’s altar with the blood of the goddess-born. then ku would have had [95] more cause for rejoicing than in the sacrifice of one old man. yet, although my bones will be put to shame, i am content, knowing that ku’s heavy wrath will fall upon my enemies, and that i shall glory in their destruction, and mock them in the other world. if hiwa had been slain when she committed the unpardonable sin against ku his anger might have been appeased; but now that it has been growing these sixteen years, the whole people are doomed, for they are her people and her son’s. behold i, aa, high-priest of ku, proclaim that his implacable wrath rests upon the whole kingdom, and shall eat up its inhabitants. my revenge is sure. therefore i rejoice, and shall return rejoicing to the gods from whom i came!”
as the high-priest ceased speaking kaanaana sprang towards him, crying “aa, you lie! you invented this damning lie as a pretext for slaying the moi wahine! now, in the hour of her triumph, you repeat it to ruin her before gods and men!”
hiwa restrained him with a gesture, and said in a loud, clear voice that all might hear: “aa does not lie. sixteen years ago [96] i forgot the law which almighty ku gave to wakea and papa—the law creating the sacred tabu, which our nation has kept age after age, and i ate of the fruit of which ku has declared, ‘in the day a woman eateth thereof she shall surely die.’”
upon hearing this confession, the high-priest burst into a fierce, mocking laugh, and the spearmen shrank back aghast, and kaanaana hung his head in shame and sorrow.
but hiwa mounted the altar and stood above them, tall, straight and proud, crowned with ilima and maile, clothed with the royal robe that only a moi might wear and live, holding a spear in her hand.
“sixteen years ago,” she said, “i committed the unpardonable sin, and now the hour of my atonement has come. ku spared my life. kneeling under the rainbow, beside my new-born babe, i confessed my sin to him, and bound myself by an irrevocable vow that, if he would let me train the boy to lead the chiefs in battle for his throne, i, hiwa, goddess-queen, with my own royal hand, would shed my sacred blood upon his [97] altar. ku heard the vow, and answered me with thunder from the mountains. he has kept faith with me. now i must keep faith with him, or else his heavy wrath will fall on all i love, on all who follow me. therefore, to save my son, aelani, the pledge from heaven, to save his father, my lover, kaanaana, who is a thousand times dearer to me than life, to save my people, whom i would not have destroyed, i keep my oath and lift the curse of ku.”
with a swift stroke she buried the spear in her own heart.
kaanaana leaped upon the altar, crying: “eternal ku, although i am not goddess-born, i am a great noble. accept my life also in atonement for her sin!” he stabbed himself, and, falling on hiwa, died kissing her dead lips.
then laamaikahiki, wild with grief and rage, thrust aa through the throat. so the high-priest died a pig’s death, and his bones were put to shame.
hiwa’s bones and kaanaana’s were hidden in a cave, at dead of night, by aelani himself, for he would not intrust this pious [98] duty to meaner hands, that touch of mortal might not profane them so long as the world should endure. hiwa had made such atonement, lifting ku’s curse from all the people, that they revered her memory and worshipped her as a goddess even as if she had not committed that great sin.
aloha, hiwa! she was nobler than a goddess-queen, for she was one of god’s noblest creatures—a noble woman. her frailties were those of human nature and of the remote and barbarous land in which she lived. her virtues were those of a brave, generous, and lovable people.
aloha, hiwa! aloha, nui!
