Pele and HiiakaPolynesian MythologyLegend / Oral TraditionHawaiian and EnglishSharePele and Hiiaka 217Emerson - 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 217ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1There's turmoil and heaving of strata In the land She claimed for her own. Kahiki was land at the dawn of time, A land by Haumea mixed and tempered; Then She spread out Kahiki-ku; She kindled her fires; the flames leapt high. The Goddess covers her footprints-- The foot-marks of Goddess Pele-- She treads the path of the heavens; Swoops down and lands at Polapola. She dwells in the level island plain. Down fall the pillars of Kakihi; The wind topples over the ruins; Down tumble the sun-kissing clouds; Down sinks the blood-red eye of Heaven And big-bellied clouds that loom at sea. Pele heaves in sight at Nihoa-- That limpet stuck to Lehua's base. From famed Kaua'i to Oahu; Thence on to Mother Hina's isle; To Lana'i of Kanaloa; To Mani and, last, to Hawaii: This the route of the Woman--Pele. Then she rubs her fire-sticks to a blaze: Up flames her touchwood, kindling the heavens. Earth sees the flash of lightning, hears the boom Of thunder echoed by mountain walls-- Rocks flung in space bombard the day, Shaking the mountain to its base. The firmament sags, clings to the earth; Hawaii is lost in Her smoke, At the passion-heat of the Goddess. Down clatters the rain from the sky-- A damper this to the Goddess' fires; It rouses the wrath of Pele. Keep silence! retort not! never a word! 'Tis the voice of Pele; she's my God. The wind veers; there's far-off corruscation; The thunder wrenches heaven's gates; A sobbing of rain in the mountains, The crash of thunder and earthquake; 2Old tabus take flight to the ocean. Now starts up the Earth-shaker Kane, And Kane, the whirl-wind-breeder-- A tempest-whirl, o'er mountain and sea; A tempest-whirl, in heaven and on earth; A tempest-whirl, sodden with rain, The atheist and the skeptic, The scorner and unbeliever-- Powers of the under-world and the air.-- The hero Mano-ka-lani-pó, His emblem a feathery wreath-- Plume from the bird that spies and tattles, From the bird that makes proclamation, Declaring the might, the power, of my God; Out here, in the open, declare it. Proclaim the edict of silence-- A short way, a true way, this way Of Kane, of Kanaloa-- Compact this and bind in one bundle; Let Ocean then swallow the rest. A jealous flame is Pele's back: That is the law of Pele, of my God! 3This pule, which I have heard spoken of as ka pule kanawai--from the use of the word kanawai in the last part of the mele, dates back, it is said, to the time of Paao, the priest and chief who came to Hawaii from Samoa in the remote ages. Paoa's argument--if he can be said to have had any--seems to be that Pele should cast away, throw into the ocean, the lumber of old laws and tabus and start afresh. 4Before leaving the subject--the consideration of the mele--I must mention, apropos of the expression pahu kapu a ka leo, in verse 54, an incident related to me by a Hawaiian friend (J. M. P.). He says that when he was a boy, his mother, when a thunder-storm arose, would often say to him, "keep silence! that's Kane-hekili." In Kahuku, island of Oahu, at a place not far from the sugar-mill, is a cave, known as Keana. In former times this cave was the home where lived a mother and her two sons. One day, having occasion to journey to a distance, she left them with this injunction, "If during my absence you hear the sound of thunder, keep still, make no disturbance, don't utter a word. If you do it will be your death." During her absence, there sprang up a violent storm of thunder and lightning, and the young lads made an outcry of alarm. Thereupon a thunderbolt struck them dead, turning their bodies into stone. Two pillar-shaped stones standing at the mouth of the cave are to this day pointed out in confirmation of the truth of the legend. 5As Paoa concluded his prayer-song the eyes of the whole company were turned upon him, and on the lips of them all was the question, "Was she then your God?" 6"She is my God," he answered, "and my ancestors from the earliest times have worshipped her." ... Then, turning his eyes about him, as if to survey the land, he continued, "If this were my land, as is Kaua'i, there would be no lack of good and wholesome food-provision, and that of all kinds. Things are different here ... I am a stranger in this land." 7On hearing these words, which had in them the sting of truth, for poison had been mixed with some of the food, the women stealthily hid away certain dishes and substituted for them others. 8At the conclusion of the repast the women who had been in attendance brought him a girdle delicately embroidered with fibers from the coconut that he might be suitably appareled for his interview with the woman Pele. "You will find," they said, "that Pele is in reality a woman of wonderful beauty.... In order to win her, however, you will need to use all your arts of fascination ... and your caution as well. Make hot love to her, but, look out! don't let your fancy lead you to smile upon any other beauty." 9Pele at first kept Paoa at a distance and, with deep subtlety, said to him, "Here are beautiful women--women more beautiful than I--take one of them." 10Paoa, well schooled in courtly etiquette and logomachy, was not tripped up by any such snare as Pele laid for him. He stood his ground and faced the god as an equal. 11As Pele contemplated Paoa it dawned upon her that here stood a man, a being of gracious power, one who combined in himself qualities--attractions--she had never before seen materially embodied in the human form. The woman in Pele laid aside the god--the akua--and came to the front. All thought of bantering talk and word-play slunk away: her whole being was sobered and lifted up. The change in her outward, physical appearance kept pace with the inward: the rough armor that had beset her like the prongs of horned coral, both without and within, melted and dropped away; the haglike wrinkles ceased to furrow her profile. Her whole physical being took on the type of womanly perfection. 12And what of Paoa, the man who had come with heart full of bitterness, determined on revenge? He was conquered, overwhelmed. 13Their meeting was that of lovers, who stood abashed in each other's presence. Pele's beauty and charm were like that of a young bride coming to the nuptial couch.... 14The dalliance and love-making of Pele and Paoa was a honeymoon that continued for three days and three nights. By virtue of this mysterious union with the goddess, Paoa acquitted himself of a ceremonial duty, as it were, and thus gained Pele's dispensation from further obligations to her bed and the liberty of exercising free choice among all the beautiful women that thronged Pele's court. It was there he made his abode until the time for his return to his own Kaua'i. ‹Previous chapterPele and Hiiaka 216Next chapterPele and Hiiaka 218›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