hiiaka, having thus far, as it would seem, journeyed along the western coast of hawaii, now loops back in her course and travels in the direction of hilo by the way of hamakua, for the seeming purpose of completing her work of extermination. like a wise general, she would leave no enemies in her rear.
when they came into the neighborhood of wahine-oma’o’s home, that girl spoke up and said, “i think we had better take another road. if we keep to this one, which passes by my door, my parents, who will be watching for me, will see me and will want me to remain with them.” this she said by reason of her great desire to continue in hiiaka’s company. true enough, when they caught sight of her old home, there sat her mother puna-hoa and her father kai-pala-oa. [56]
“there they sit,” said the girl. “if they recognize me they will want to keep me.”
hiiaka bade wahine-oma’o fall in behind her, hunch her shoulders, bend forward her head and walk with short infirm steps in imitation of an old woman. hiiaka, on coming close to the old people, using the language of song, asked directions as to the road:
e puna-hoa i kai-pala-oa,
i na maka o nana-kilo ma
e nonoho mai la, e.
auhea ka ala, e?
translation
o puna-hoa and kai-pala-oa,
you with the clear-scanning eyes,
sitting at rest before me,
point me out now the road.
“the road is plain enough; you are taking the right way.… we are looking at that young woman of your party—she has such a strong resemblance to our missing daughter, save her way of shuffling and holding her head.”
on reaching the outskirts of the village of hilo, hiiaka found a rickety foot-bridge, consisting of a single narrow and wobbly plank, liable to turn at every step and precipitate the passenger into the tumbling waters below—and this was the only passage across the rocky chasm of the wai-luku1 river. this precarious crossing was the work of two sorcerers, degenerate nondescripts, who had the audacity to levy toll for the use of their bridge, in default of which the traveler suddenly found himself precipitated into the raging water. by virtue of their necromantic powers, they had the presumption to claim spiritual kinship with hiiaka, a bond the woman could not absolutely repudiate.
“here comes our mo’o-puna,”2 called out pili-a-mo’o to his companion.
“well, what of it? she will have to pay her fare the same as anyone else,” replied noho-a-mo’o. “only on that condition shall she cross by our bridge.”
on hiiaka’s attempting to cross without paying toll, the two [57]sorcerers would, following their own practice, have disarranged the treacherous plank and precipitated her and her party into the raging stream.
“well said,” noho-a-mo’o replied; “provided she will consent to it.”
hiiaka now called to them in the language of song:
kahuli-huli,3 e-e,
ka papa o wai-luku!
kahuli o apua,
ha’a mai o mau-kele:
he ole ke kaha kuai ai, e-e!
homai ka ai,
homai ho’i ka ai, e-e!
i ai’na aku ho’i, e-e!
translation
cranky, cranky the bridge,
bridge across the wai-luku!
upset is apua;
maukele declares that
the barter of food is naught.
give us then of your food;
give us something to eat;
let us partake of your meat.
to this unusual demand they replied, “indeed, do you imagine we will do any such thing as that? it is not for us to give to you; you must give us the fare before you cross on our bridge. we don’t give away things for nothing.”
hiiaka replied by repeating her request in nearly the same words:
ka-huli-huli, e-e,
ka papa o wai-luku.
he ole ke kaha kuai i’a, e! [58]
ho-mai ka i’a;
ho-mai ana, ho’i, ka i’a,
i ai’na aku, ho’i, e-e!
translation
unstable the bridge,
bridge that spans the wai-luku.
this barter of fish is a fraud.
give us of your fish;
grant us kindly some meat;
give us something to eat.
hiiaka repeated her demands in varying form with no other effect than to make the toll-keepers more stubborn in their ridiculous demands. not even when hiiaka, as if to cap the climax of their absurdity, ended her demand with this ironical request:
ho-mai, ho’i, ka wai, e;
i inu ia aku, ho’i, e!!
translation
give us of this water,
give us water to drink!
hiiaka now openly denounced the two sorcerers as being simply mo’o in disguise, entirely wanting in those generous feelings that belong to godhood. “these creatures are simply mo’o. if i attack them, they will run for their lives.”
the people, failing to recognize hiiaka as their deliverer, spiritless from long habituation to the fraudulent dominion of these imposters, fearful also of their vengeance, stoutly opposed hiiaka, affirming that pili-a-mo’o and noho-a-mo’o were gods in reality, having great power and capable of doing many wonderful things. they declared their readiness to back their opinion with their property, yes, with their lives. they were at length persuaded, however, to accept as decisive the test proposed by hiiaka, namely, that, if they fled when attacked, they should cease to be regarded as gods and should be dealt with as imposters. [59]
true to hiiaka’s prediction, the mo’o, in abject fear, turned and fled for their lives at her first threatening move and she now called upon the people to pursue and destroy them:
kaumaha ka a? o hilo i ka lehua
mai ka nuku-o-ka-manu4 a puna-hoa, e.
hoa ia iho la kau kanáka,
i pa’a, o pahe’e auane’i;
hina i ka lua-kanáka.
he kanáka! he mau akua, e!
translation
the neck of hilo is heavy,
weighted with wreaths of lehua
from bird-beak clean down to the feet.
catch and bind these robbers of men;
bind them fast, lest they slip through your hands
and escape to the robber-pit—
these mortals, who call themselves gods!
the meaning of the figure in the first two verses, though obscure, seems to be that hilo, so rich in natural beauty, is by that very fact robbed of the energy to defend herself and cast off the incubus that oppresses her.
as the creatures fled from hiiaka’s pursuit, their human disguise fell from them and their real character as mo’o was evident.
“we’ve committed a great blunder,” said pili-a-mo’o to his mate. “it looks as if she meant to kill us. let us apologize for our mistake and conciliate her with fair words.”
noho-a-mo’o agreed to this and, turning to hiiaka, made this wheedling speech:
kupu maikai a’e la
ka wahine o ka lua;
u? ia iho la e ka ua,
a kilinahe ka maka o ka lehua ma-uka.
ma-uka oe e hele ai,
ma ka hoauau wai.
e waiho ke ala no maua,
no na kupuna, e.
[60]
translation
she has grown a fine figure,
our girl from the fire-pit.
the plentiful rain has made bright
this bud of upland lehua.
pray choose your road farther inland;
that way will offer good fordage—
this road leave to your ancient kin.
hiiaka spared not, but pursued them to their cavernous rock-heaps in which they thought to hide themselves, and, having seized them, rent them asunder jaw from jaw. thus did hiiaka add one more to the score of her victories in the extermination of the mo’o.
1wai-luku, water of destruction. ↑
2mo’o-puna, a grandchild, nephew or niece. ↑
3kahuli-huli. kahuli, or its intensive, kahuli-huli, primarily means to upset, to overturn. a secondary meaning, much employed in the argot of hula folk, is to hand over, to pass this way; as when one guest at table might say to a neighbor, “hand me the salt (if you please).” ↑
4nuku-o-ka-manu, literally, the beak of the bird; said to be a cape in the neighborhood of hilo.
