Not far from the summit of Hualalai, on the island of Hawaii, in the cave on the southern side of the ridge1, lived Hina and her son, the kupua, or demigod, Hiku. All his life long as a child and a youth, Hiku had lived alone with his mother on this mountain summit, and had never once been permitted to descend2 to the plains below to see the abodes4 of men and to learn of their ways. From time to time, his quick ear had caught the sound of the distant hula (drum) and the voices of the gay merrymakers. Often had he wished to see the fair forms of those who danced and sang in those far-off cocoanut groves5. But his mother, more experienced in the ways of the world, had never given her consent. Now, at length, he felt that he was a man, and as the sounds of mirth arose on his ears, again he asked his mother to let him go for himself and mingle6 with the people on the shore. His mother, seeing that his mind was made up to go, reluctantly gave her consent and warned him not to stay too long, but to return in good time. So, taking in his hand his faithful arrow, Pua Ne, which he always carried, he started off. [44]
This arrow was a sort of talisman7, possessed8 of marvellous powers, among which were the ability to answer his call and by its flight to direct his journey.
Thus he descended9 over the rough clinker lava10 and through the groves of koa that cover the southwestern flank of the mountain, until, nearing its base, he stood on a distant hill; and consulting his arrow, he shot it far into the air, watching its bird-like flight until it struck on a distant hill above Kailua. To this hill he rapidly directed his steps, and, picking up his arrow in due time, he again shot it into the air. The second flight landed the arrow near the coast of Holualoa, some six or eight miles south of Kailua. It struck on a barren waste of pahoehoe, or lava rock, beside the waterhole of Waikalai, known also as the Wai a Hiku (Water of Hiku), where to this day all the people of that vicinity go to get their water for man and beast.
Here he quenched11 his thirst, and nearing the village of Holualoa, again shot the arrow, which, instinct with life, entered the courtyard of the alii or chief, of Kona, and from among the women who were there singled out the fair princess Kawelu, and landed at her feet. Seeing the noble bearing of Hiku as he approached to claim his arrow, she stealthily hid it and challenged him to find it. Then Hiku called to the arrow, “Pua ne! Pua ne!” and the arrow replied, “Ne!” thus revealing its hiding-place.
This exploit with the arrow and the remarkable12 grace and personal beauty of the young man quite won the heart of the princess, and she was soon possessed [45]by a strong passion for him, and determined13 to make him her husband.
With her wily arts she detained him for several days at her home, and when at last he was about to start for the mountain, she shut him up in the house and thus detained him by force. But the words of his mother, warning him not to remain too long, came to his mind, and he determined to break away from his prison. So he climbed up to the roof, and removing a portion of the thatch14, made his escape.
When his flight was discovered by Kawelu, the infatuated girl was distracted with grief. Refusing to be comforted, she tasted no food, and ere many days had passed was quite dead. Messengers were despatched who brought back the unhappy Hiku, author of all this sorrow. Bitterly he wept over the corpse16 of his beloved, but it was now too late; the spirit had departed to the nether17 world, ruled over by Milu. And now, stung by the reproaches of her kindred and friends for his desertion, and urged on by his real love for the fair one, he resolved to attempt the perilous18 descent into the nether world and, if possible, to bring her spirit back.
With the assistance of her friends, he collected from the mountain slope a great quantity of the kowali, or convolvulus vine. He also prepared a hollow cocoanut shell, splitting it into two closely fitting parts. Then anointing himself with a mixture of rancid cocoanut and kukui oil, which gave him a very strong corpse-like odor, he started with his companions in the well-loaded canoes for a point in the sea where the sky comes down to meet the water. [46]
Arrived at the spot, he directed his comrades to lower him into the abyss called by the Hawaiians the Lua o Milu. Taking with him his cocoanut-shell and seating himself astride of the cross-stick of the swing, or kowali, he was quickly lowered down by the long rope of kowali vines held by his friends in the canoe above.
Soon he entered the great cavern19 where the shades of the departed were gathered together. As he came among them, their curiosity was aroused to learn who he was. And he heard many remarks, such as “Whew! what an odor this corpse emits!” “He must have been long dead.” He had rather overdone20 the matter of the rancid oil. Even Milu himself, as he sat on the bank watching the crowd, was completely deceived by the stratagem21, for otherwise he never would have permitted this bold descent of a living man into his gloomy abode3.
The Hawaiian swing, it should be remarked, unlike ours, has but one rope supporting the cross-stick on which the person is seated. Hiku and his swing attracted considerable attention from the lookers-on. One shade in particular watched him most intently; it was his sweetheart, Kawelu. A mutual22 recognition took place, and with the permission of Milu she darted23 up to him and swung with him on the kowali. But even she had to avert24 her face on account of his corpse-like odor. As they were enjoying together this favorite Hawaiian pastime of lele kowali, by a preconcerted signal the friends above were informed of the success of his ruse25 and were now rapidly drawing them up. [47]At first she was too much absorbed in the sport to notice this. When at length her attention was aroused by seeing the great distance of those beneath her, like a butterfly she was about to flit away, when the crafty26 Hiku, who was ever on the alert, clapped the cocoanut-shells together, imprisoning27 her within them, and was then quickly drawn28 up to the canoes above.
With their precious burden, they returned to the shores of Holualoa, where Hiku landed and at once repaired to the house where still lay the body of his beloved. Kneeling by its side, he made a hole in the great toe of the left foot, into which with great difficulty he forced the reluctant spirit, and in spite of its desperate struggles he tied up the wound so that it could not escape from the cold, clammy flesh in which it was now imprisoned29. Then he began to lomilomi, or rub and chafe30 the foot, working the spirit further and further up the limb.
Gradually, as the heart was reached, the blood began once more to flow through the body, the chest began gently to heave with the breath of life, and soon the spirit gazed out through the eyes. Kawelu was now restored to consciousness, and seeing her beloved Hiku bending tenderly over her, she opened her lips and said: “How could you be so cruel as to leave me?”
All remembrance of the Lua o Milu and of her meeting him there had disappeared, and she took up the thread of consciousness just where she had left it a few days before at death. Great joy filled the hearts of the people of Holualoa as they welcomed back to [48]their midst the fair Kawelu and the hero, Hiku, from whom she was no more to be separated.
Location of the Lua o Milu
In the myth of Hiku and Kawelu, the entrance to the Lua o Milu is placed out to sea opposite Holualoa and a few miles south of Kailua. But the more usual account of the natives is, that it was situated31 at the mouth of the great valley of Waipio, in a place called Keoni, where the sands have long since covered up and concealed32 from view this passage from the upper to the nether world.
Every year, so it is told, the procession of ghosts called by the natives Oio, marches in solemn state down the Mahiki road, and at this point enters the Lua o Milu. A man, recently living in Waimea, of the best reputation for veracity33, stated that about thirty or more years ago, he actually saw this ghostly company. He was walking up this road in the evening, when he saw at a distance the Oio appear, and knowing that should they encounter him his death would be inevitable34, he discreetly35 hid himself behind a tree and, trembling with fear, gazed in silence at the dread36 spectacle. There was Kamehameha, the conqueror37, with all his chiefs and warriors38 in military array, thousands of heroes who had won renown39 in the olden time. Though all were silent as the grave, they kept perfect step as they marched along, and passing through the woods down to Waipio, disappeared from his view. [49]
“The valley of Waipio is a place frequently celebrated41 in the songs and traditions of Hawaii, as having been the abode of Akea and Milu, the first kings of the island....
“Some said that the souls of the departed went to the Po (place of night), and were annihilated42 or eaten by the gods there. Others said that some went to the regions of Akea and Milu. Akea (Wakea), they said, was the first king of Hawaii. At the expiration43 of his reign44, which terminated with his life at Waipio, where we then were, he descended to a region far below, called Kapapahanaumoku (the island bearing rock or stratum), and founded a kingdom there. Milu, who was his successor, and reigned45 in Hamakua, descended, when he died, to Akea and shared the government of the place with him. Their land is a place of darkness; their food lizards46 and butterflies. There are several streams of water, of which they drink, and some said that there were large kahilis and wide-spreading kou trees, beneath which they reclined.”1
“They had some very indistinct notion of a future state of happiness and of misery47. They said that, after death, the ghost went first to the region of Wakea, the name of their first reputed progenitor48, and if it had observed the religious rites49 and ceremonies, was entertained and allowed to remain there. That was a place of houses, comforts, and pleasures. [50]If the soul had failed to be religious, it found no one there to entertain it, and was forced to take a desperate leap into a place of misery below, called Milu.
“There were several precipices50, from the verge51 of which the unhappy ghosts were supposed to take the leap into the region of woe52; three in particular, one at the northern extremity53 of Hawaii, one at the western termination of Maui, and the third at the northern point of Oahu.”2
Near the northwest point of Oahu is a rock called Leina Kauhane, where the souls of the dead descended into Hades. In New Zealand the same term, “Reinga” (the leaping place), is applied54 to the North Cape15. The Marquesans have a similar belief in regard to the northermost island of their group, and apply the same term, “Reinga,” to their Avernus. [51]
1 Ellis’s “Polynesian Researches,” pp. 365–7.
2 Dibble’s History, p. 99.
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1
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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abodes
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| 住所( abode的名词复数 )； 公寓； （在某地的）暂住； 逗留 | |
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groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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talisman
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| n.避邪物，护身符 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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quenched
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| 解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却 | |
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12
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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thatch
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| vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部；n.茅草(屋) | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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nether
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| adj.下部的，下面的；n.阴间；下层社会 | |
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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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overdone
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| v.做得过分( overdo的过去分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度 | |
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stratagem
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| n.诡计，计谋 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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ruse
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| n.诡计，计策；诡计 | |
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crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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imprisoning
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| v.下狱，监禁( imprison的现在分词 ) | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30
chafe
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| v.擦伤；冲洗；惹怒 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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veracity
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| n.诚实 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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35
discreetly
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| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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39
renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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41
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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42
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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43
expiration
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| n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物 | |
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44
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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45
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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46
lizards
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| n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 ) | |
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47
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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48
progenitor
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| n.祖先，先驱 | |
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49
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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50
precipices
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| n.悬崖，峭壁( precipice的名词复数 ) | |
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51
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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52
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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53
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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54
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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