Pele and Hiiaka—A Myth
33
Such a land is Hilo-pali-ku.
The banks of Wailuku are walls;
The road to its crossing but sand;
Sandy the way at Wai-o-lama.
How cheery the purl of these waters!—
Great Pana-ewa—her parks of lehua,
Scraggy in growth yet scarlet a-top,
Its nectar wrung out by the birds!
Black night covers Puna and Hilo,
A pall from the smoke of my home land!
(By Pana-ewa).
"Here's food for me and mine!
Behold the blaze of the ovens!"
The banks of Wailuku are walls;
The road to its crossing but sand;
Sandy the way at Wai-o-lama.
How cheery the purl of these waters!—
Great Pana-ewa—her parks of lehua,
Scraggy in growth yet scarlet a-top,
Its nectar wrung out by the birds!
Black night covers Puna and Hilo,
A pall from the smoke of my home land!
(By Pana-ewa).
"Here's food for me and mine!
Behold the blaze of the ovens!"
(The last two lines are said to be the utterance of Pana-ewa who feigned to regard the fires as those of his own people, who, in anticipation of an easy victory, had made ready their ovens to receive the bodies of Hiiaka and her party.)
Hiiaka bravely answered Pana-ewa:
O Pana-ewa, ohi'a loloa,
Ohi'a uliuli i ka uä,
I moku pewa ia
E ka laau o kepakepa,
A ka uka i Haili la.
Ilihia, ilihia i ka leo—
He leo wale no, e!
Ohi'a uliuli i ka uä,
I moku pewa ia
E ka laau o kepakepa,
A ka uka i Haili la.
Ilihia, ilihia i ka leo—
He leo wale no, e!
TRANSLATION
Pana-ewa, a tall ohi'a,
The fruit red-ripe in the rain,
Is vilely slashed with the stick
Of the mountaineer.
It stands in upland Haili:
Terrific—the voice is terrific;
Yet it's merely a voice!
The fruit red-ripe in the rain,
Is vilely slashed with the stick
Of the mountaineer.
It stands in upland Haili:
Terrific—the voice is terrific;
Yet it's merely a voice!
"The voice was threatening only because my servants reported that some people were trespassing. That set my tongue agoing about poi - - - and - taro. - - - After all it’s a question of strength. Your valor it is that must win for you a passage through this land of mine."
This was Pana-ewa's ultimatum.
