Pele and HiiakaPolynesian MythologyLegend / Oral TraditionHawaiian and EnglishSharePele and Hiiaka 216Emerson - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableEmersonLanguageEnglishEspañol‹Pele and Hiiaka 1Pele and Hiiaka 2Pele and Hiiaka 3Pele and Hiiaka 4Pele and Hiiaka 5Pele and Hiiaka 6Pele and Hiiaka 7Pele and Hiiaka 8Pele and Hiiaka 9Pele and Hiiaka 10Pele and Hiiaka 11Pele and Hiiaka 12Pele and Hiiaka 13Pele and Hiiaka 14Pele and Hiiaka 15Pele and Hiiaka 16Pele and Hiiaka 17Pele and Hiiaka 18Pele and Hiiaka 19Pele and Hiiaka 20Pele and Hiiaka 21Pele and Hiiaka 22Pele and Hiiaka 23Pele and Hiiaka 24Pele and Hiiaka 25Pele and Hiiaka 26Pele and Hiiaka 27Pele and Hiiaka 28Pele and Hiiaka 29Pele and Hiiaka 30Pele and Hiiaka 31Pele and Hiiaka 32Pele and Hiiaka 33Pele and Hiiaka 34Pele and Hiiaka 35Pele and Hiiaka 36Pele and Hiiaka 37Pele and Hiiaka 38Pele and Hiiaka 39Pele and Hiiaka 40Pele and Hiiaka 41Pele and Hiiaka 42Pele and Hiiaka 43Pele and Hiiaka 44Pele and Hiiaka 45Pele and Hiiaka 46Pele and Hiiaka 47Pele and Hiiaka 48Pele and Hiiaka 49Pele and Hiiaka 50Pele and Hiiaka 51Pele and Hiiaka 52Pele and Hiiaka 53Pele and Hiiaka 54Pele and Hiiaka 55Pele and Hiiaka 56Pele and Hiiaka 57Pele and Hiiaka 58Pele and Hiiaka 59Pele and Hiiaka 60Pele and Hiiaka 61Pele and Hiiaka 62Pele and Hiiaka 63Pele and Hiiaka 64Pele and Hiiaka 65Pele and Hiiaka 66Pele and Hiiaka 67Pele and Hiiaka 68Pele and Hiiaka 69Pele and Hiiaka 70Pele and Hiiaka 71Pele and Hiiaka 72Pele and Hiiaka 73Pele and Hiiaka 74Pele and Hiiaka 75Pele and Hiiaka 76Pele and Hiiaka 77Pele and Hiiaka 78Pele and Hiiaka 79Pele and Hiiaka 80Pele and Hiiaka 81Pele and Hiiaka 82Pele and Hiiaka 83Pele and Hiiaka 84Pele and Hiiaka 85Pele and Hiiaka 86Pele and Hiiaka 87Pele and Hiiaka 88Pele and Hiiaka 89Pele and Hiiaka 90Pele and Hiiaka 91Pele and Hiiaka 92Pele and Hiiaka 93Pele and Hiiaka 94Pele and Hiiaka 95Pele and Hiiaka 96Pele and Hiiaka 97Pele and Hiiaka 98Pele and Hiiaka 99Pele and Hiiaka 100Pele and Hiiaka 101Pele and Hiiaka 102Pele and Hiiaka 103Pele and Hiiaka 104Pele and Hiiaka 105Pele and Hiiaka 106Pele and Hiiaka 107Pele and Hiiaka 108Pele and Hiiaka 109Pele and Hiiaka 110Pele and Hiiaka 111Pele and Hiiaka 112Pele and Hiiaka 113Pele and Hiiaka 114Pele and Hiiaka 115Pele and Hiiaka 116Pele and Hiiaka 117Pele and Hiiaka 118Pele and Hiiaka 119Pele and Hiiaka 120Pele and Hiiaka 121Pele and Hiiaka 122Pele and Hiiaka 123Pele and Hiiaka 124Pele and Hiiaka 125Pele and Hiiaka 126Pele and Hiiaka 127Pele and Hiiaka 128Pele and Hiiaka 129Pele and Hiiaka 130Pele and Hiiaka 131Pele and Hiiaka 132Pele and Hiiaka 133Pele and Hiiaka 134Pele and Hiiaka 135Pele and Hiiaka 136Pele and Hiiaka 137Pele and Hiiaka 138Pele and Hiiaka 139Pele and Hiiaka 140Pele and Hiiaka 141Pele and Hiiaka 142Pele and Hiiaka 143Pele and Hiiaka 144Pele and Hiiaka 145Pele and Hiiaka 146Pele and Hiiaka 147Pele and Hiiaka 148Pele and Hiiaka 149Pele and Hiiaka 150Pele and Hiiaka 151Pele and Hiiaka 152Pele and Hiiaka 153Pele and Hiiaka 154Pele and Hiiaka 155Pele and Hiiaka 156Pele and Hiiaka 157Pele and Hiiaka 158Pele and Hiiaka 159Pele and Hiiaka 160Pele and Hiiaka 161Pele and Hiiaka 162Pele and Hiiaka 163Pele and Hiiaka 164Pele and Hiiaka 165Pele and Hiiaka 166Pele and Hiiaka 167Pele and Hiiaka 168Pele and Hiiaka 169Pele and Hiiaka 170Pele and Hiiaka 171Pele and Hiiaka 172Pele and Hiiaka 173Pele and Hiiaka 174Pele and Hiiaka 175Pele and Hiiaka 176Pele and Hiiaka 177Pele and Hiiaka 178Pele and Hiiaka 179Pele and Hiiaka 180Pele and Hiiaka 181Pele and Hiiaka 182Pele and Hiiaka 183Pele and Hiiaka 184Pele and Hiiaka 185Pele and Hiiaka 186Pele and Hiiaka 187Pele and Hiiaka 188Pele and Hiiaka 189Pele and Hiiaka 190Pele and Hiiaka 191Pele and Hiiaka 192Pele and Hiiaka 193Pele and Hiiaka 194Pele and Hiiaka 195Pele and Hiiaka 196Pele and Hiiaka 197Pele and Hiiaka 198Pele and Hiiaka 199Pele and Hiiaka 200Pele and Hiiaka 201Pele and Hiiaka 202Pele and Hiiaka 203Pele and Hiiaka 204Pele and Hiiaka 205Pele and Hiiaka 206Pele and Hiiaka 207Pele and Hiiaka 208Pele and Hiiaka 209Pele and Hiiaka 210Pele and Hiiaka 211Pele and Hiiaka 212Pele and Hiiaka 213Pele and Hiiaka 214Pele and Hiiaka 215Pele and Hiiaka 216Pele and Hiiaka 217Pele and Hiiaka 218Pele and Hiiaka 219Pele and Hiiaka 220›TranslationPele and Hiiaka 216ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1Destruction and turmoil in the Pit: The fires of the Woman have done it-- Consuming the forests of Ku-lili-- Fires that boil from the depths of the Pit, Shaking the stone-plates till they rattle. It's furnace-hot in that House-of-fern, But there's shelter at Ka-au-eä. Oh Hiiaka of Pele's heart, Life to thee, and life to dear Lohiau-- Soul plucked by thee from death at Keé, Death in the cliff Keé, at Haena. 2Pele, in the retirement of her gloomy cavern, was quite out of the range of Paoa's eye-shot, but his voice rang in her ears distinctly. "What a handsome man is that standing on the edge of the cliff at Akani-kolea!" exclaimed Pele's women, unable to repress their admiration. 3"Call to him and invite him to come down here where we can talk together," said Pele. "Way up there on the pali wall--that's no place for us to talk and become acquainted with each other. Tell him to come down here and we'll discuss matters great and small, look upon the large stem and the small stem; see one another face to face; learn each other's heart's desire." [493] 4For all her fine words. Pele did not at once come forward and meet her visitor face to face. She lay unrecognized in her stygian boudoir, to all appearance a withered hag. 5Paoa, well versed in the wiles of Woman, adept in the logomachies and etiquettes of court-life, was quite put to his trumps and found it necessary to summon all his diplomacy and exercise all his power of self-command in dealing with the shrewd and attractive women that surrounded him. It was evident to the watchful eye of our heroine--Hiiaka--that he was dangerously attracted by the voluptuous beauty of her sister, Hiiaka-of-the-waves. In the persistent silence of Pele, upon her fell the leading part of the conversation with Paoa: 6"What might be the purpose of your pilgrimage?" she asked. 7"I come in answer to the call of my friend, Lohiau." 8"But Lohiau is dead," chorused the women. 9"Yes, dead! And what was the cause of his death?" 10"He kissed Hiiaka," the woman answered. 11"Pele." Her voice sank to a whisper, and the name she uttered was to be made out, or guessed at, rather by a study of the protruding lips and the sympathetic arching of the brow than by any sound emitted. Her eyes also made a half-turn in the direction of Pele's cave. 12"He came to Hawaii in the expectation that Pele would be his life." Paoa spoke with thoughtful deliberation. "How came it about that she should cause his death?" ... After a moment's pause, he continued: "He tasted death once at Haena and, now, again, here, on this barren ... a second death, and through the wrath of Pele!" 13Pele roused herself at this and spoke up: "What is that you say? that Lohiau died at Haena?" 14"Yes, he tasted of death there," Paoa answered firmly. 15"How, then, did he become alive again?" asked Pele sharply. 16"Hiiaka, she treated him, and by her gracious skill and power brought his soul and body together again. That done, they sailed away for Hawaii." 17The eyes of Pele were literally, as well as metaphorically, opened. She turned herself about and, in a lowered voice, with a show of astonishment, for the first time, addressed Hiiaka: "Is this true, that you worked over Lohiau and restored him to life?" 18"It is true, and it is also true that, not until you had put to death Hopoe, did I bestow any dalliance or caress of love upon Lohiau." 19Hiiaka's expression as she faced Pele was such as might have sat upon the countenance of a judge passing sentence on a confessed criminal at the bar. 20Pele sat impenetrable, sphinxlike, deep in her own labyrinthine philosophy of the obligations due to a social autocrat and a goddess. 21Paoa broke the silence: "Shall not Lohiau, then, live again?" 22"Go back to Haena," said Pele, "and when you hear that Lohiau lives again, then will be the time for you to come and take him home." 23"That would be well, then," said Paoa. 24A spell of confusion, of enchantment, seemed now to fall upon the man whilom so boastful. "But where is Pele?" he asked, looking from face to face. 25"That is Pele," said the goddess, pointing to her sister Wave (Hiiaka-i-ka-ale-i). 26"I have a sign by which I may know Pele; let me apply the test to these women," said Paoa. 27The company could but agree to this; whereupon, beginning with Wave, he took each one of them in turn by the hand, carrying it to his cheek, the better to test its warmth, holding the hollow to his ear to catch any murmur that might reverberate from it. Each hand he found to be only of natural heat. Turning, then, to Pele herself, he proposed to inspect her hand. At this the goddess drew back. 28"If none of these beautiful women is Pele, how can you think that a wrinkled old woman like me is the divine and beautiful Pele?" 29Paoa insisted and Pele had to consent. He reached out and took her hand and, on the instant, dropped it; it was burning hot. 30Paoa stood in awed silence before the goddess. Resentment and thoughts of revenge, like evil birds, had taken flight. 31At Pele's command, the women led him away to take refreshment in the sacred dining hall of Mauli-ola. Before seating himself, Paoa uttered this memorable pule, a mele that has drifted down to us from the wa po: 32Hulihia ke au, ka papa honua o kona moku; Hulihia, kulia mai ka moku o Kahiki-- Aina no Kahiki i ka la kahi, Aina ho'owali'a e Haumea: Ho-omoe aku la Kahiki-ku, Kulapa mai ka ulu wela, o mai ke ahi. Keehi aku la no e nalo [494] kapua'i, e-- Kapua'i akua no Pele. Ke ke'ekeehi wale la no i ka lani; Haule, u'ina i Polapola; Noho i ka lau ha'a o ka moku. Hina Kukulu o Kahiki; Hina ka omuku i ka makani; Hina ka pae opua ki'i ke ao; Hina ka onohi ula [495] i ka lani; Kanewenewe opua i ke kai. Eä mai ana ma Nihoa, Ma ka mole mai o Lehua, Mai Kaua'i nui a Oahu, a Moloka'i, Lana'i a Kanaloa, mai Maui a Hawaii, Ka Wahine--o Pele--i hi'a i kana ahi A á pulupulu, kukuni, wela ka lani: He uwila ku'i no ka honua; Hekili pa'apa'ina i ke ao; Pohaku puoho, lele iluna; Opa'ipa'i wale ka Mauna; Pipili ka lani, pa'a iä moku. Nalo Hawaii i ka uahi a ka Wahine, I ka lili a ke Akua. Oliliku ka ua mai ka lani; Lili ana ho'i i kana ahi; Lili ana ho'i Pele Hama-hamau ka leo, mai pane! Eia Pele, ko'u Akua! Ke lauwili nei ka makani; Hoanoano mai ana na eho lapa uwila; Hekili wawahi ka lani; Ku loloku ka ua i uka; Ku'i ka hekili, nei ke ola'i; Lele kapu i kai. [496] Hiki lele ai i lalo o Kane-lu-honua. O Kane-pua-hiöhiö, wili,-- Wili ia i uka, wili ia i kai; Wili ia i luna, wili ia i lalo; Wili ia i ka uä, I ka hoöle akua, hoöle mana-- [497] Ka ho'o-malau, [498] e, ka ho'o-maloka; [499] Ke A-papa-nu'u, [500] ke A-papa-lani. 33[501] O Mano-ka-lani-po, [502] o ke aka lei-hulu-- Hulu o manu kiü, o manu ahiahi; O manu aha'i lono:-- Ha'ina a'e ana ka mana o ko'u Akua Iwaho nei la, e; ha'ina ho'i! Kukulu ka pahu kapu a ka leo: [503] He ala [504] hele, he ala muku, No Kane, laua o Kanaloa; He ki [505] ho'iho'i kanawai; He kai [506] oki'a kanawai; He kua [507] a kanawai -- No Pele, no ko'u Akua, la! ‹Previous chapterPele and Hiiaka 215Next chapterPele and Hiiaka 217›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the United States via Project Gutenberg