the gods come to lohiau’s feast
under the direction of kahua-nui—the woman to whom belonged the executive mind—proclamation was made throughout the land, in the name of lohiau, commanding all the people to collect the necessary food and material in preparation for a great feast, that they might celebrate properly lohiau’s return to life.
it was to be an occasion of unparalleled interest and importance: a chief, famed for his manly beauty and popular talents, rescued from the grave; the magician who had accomplished this marvel, a woman of surpassing beauty; an old-time feast, with its lavish profusion; the hula, with its lyric and epic thrills: a combination of attractions that appealed to every taste, whether of sage, epicure, frivolous dilettante or dull-witted peasant, it was sure to be the event of a lifetime. all were invited and all came.
the halau in which the people assembled was a temple of flora, or rather of her polynesian sister láka. at the request of hiiaka, whose every wish was law, one half of the hall was screened off by a rustic partition as a special feasting hall for the gods. “my relatives,” said hiiaka, “are numerous.”
in this part of the halau were laid the sacrificial viands for the supply of an immense host. having commanded silence, hiaaka, after the manner of prayer, invited the attendance of the gods. a hush fell upon the assembly; the air was stirred by the fanning of many wings. no speech, no human voice, only the gentle clash of wooden dishes, the rustle of leaves, the gurgle of deep potations and the subdued sounds of gustation came from the place into which no human foot or eye dared intrude. at the conclusion of the affair, when hiiaka, in priestly fashion, had pronounced the absolving word noa and the stewards were again at liberty to enter the precinct where the immortals had just now celebrated their symposium, it seemed, at first glance, as if nothing had been touched. the leafy bundles of fish and fowl and meat remained unopened, but they proved to be empty; the coconuts, unbroken, were yet devoid of meat; the bananas were found to be but hollow skins. the substance, the essence, had been filched away by some inscrutable power. this was the ai inoino—consumption to the last morsel—practiced by the gods. [156]
it was a solemn affair, after all, this parting feast, at which, in spite of the babel of voices, weighty affairs had to be settled. malae-ha’a-koa published the fact that the beautiful woman who sat in their mist was hiiaka, the sister of pele; that her art had captured the unhappy flitting ghost of lohiau, restored it to its renovated and matchless form and that, in fulfillment of her errand, she was about to lead him away with her to be the bed-mate of the goddess who ruled the volcano.
paoa—he whose tempestuous nature had not long ago sworn vengeance against the author of lohiau’s taking-off—now spoke up and declared his purpose to go with his master on this his new and strange adventure. lohiau restrained him.
“i go with these two women. if i die—so be it—’twere a glorious end,—with these two who rescued me from the grave and brought me back to the delights of your society. if i live and make my abode on hawaii, it will be for you to come and share the blessings of my new home.” then, addressing himself specially to paoa, “you will remain here, as my deputy, ruling over the land. if my adventure fares well, i will come and fetch you—if … ill, your coming would not advantage.… you shall stay here.”
