lohiau comes to himself—his death—the threat of paoa
when lohiau came to himself, as from a dream, he looked for the woman who had lain at his side, but her place was vacant and cold. he went out into the open air, but she was nowhere to be found, and he turned back into the empty house.
lohiau’s stay with pele in the sleeping house had prolonged itself beyond all reason and his friends became concerned about him; and as night after night and day after day passed and they neither saw nor heard anything of him, their concern grew into alarm. yet no one dared enter the house. lohiau’s sister, however, made it her business to investigate. opening the door of the house, she entered, and, lo, there hung the body of her brother, suspended from a rafter, his malo about his neck. life had been gone for many hours and the body was cold. her screams brought to her aid a group of lohiau’s friends who at once lifted their voices in unison with hers, bewailing their chief’s death and denouncing the woman who had been with him as the guilty cause. [9]
paoa was the most outspoken in his imprecations. stripping off his malo, he stood forth in the garb of nature and declared he would not resume his loin cloth until he had sought out the woman and humiliated her by the grossest of insults. “i will not gird my loins with a malo until i have kindled a fire in pele’s face, pounded her face as one pounds a taro, consumed her very eyes.” this was the savage oath with which paoa pledged his determination to avenge the death of his friend, his chief, lohiau. with universal wailing, amid the waving of kahilis, with tender care and the observance of all due rites, his people anointed the dear body of their chief with perfumed oil, wrapped it in scented robes of choicest tapa, and laid it to rest in the sepulcher.
the favorite dog of lohiau, who was greatly attached to his master, took his station at the grave and would not be persuaded to leave. poha-kau, a cousin of pele,—himself a kupua and possessed of superhuman powers,—having journeyed from hawaii to haena, found the faithful creature keeping his lonely vigil at the grave and he brought the dog with him to pele.
“your man is dead; lohiau is dead,” said he. “but this animal—do you recognize him?—i found watching by the grave in haena.”
“yes, that is the dog i saw with lohiau,” answered pele; and she hid the dog away in her secret place.
