The Traditional Literature of Hawaii - Sacred Songs of the Hula. Nathaniel Bright Emerson
daybreak the kumu rouses the company with the tap of the drum. After ablutions, before partaking of their simple breakfast, the company stand before the altar and recite a tabu-removing prayer, accompanying the cantillation with a rhythmic tapping of feet and clapping of hands:
Pule Hoonoa
Pupu we'uwe'u e, Laka e!
O kona we'uwe'u ke ku nei.
Kaumaha a'e la ia Laka.
O Laka ke akua pule ikaika.
5
Ua ku ka maile a Laka a imua;
Ua lu ka liua 32 o ka maile.
Noa, noa ia'u, ia Kahaula--
Papalua noa.
Noa, a ua noa.
10
Eli-eli kapu! eli-eli noa!
Kapu oukou, ke akua!
Noa makou, ke kanaka'.
[Translation]
Tabu-lifting Prayer
Oh wildwood bouquet, oh Laka!
Hers are the growths that stand here.
Suppliants we to Laka.
The prayer to Laka has power;
5
The maile of Laka stands to the fore.
The maile vine casts now its seeds.
Freedom, there's freedom to me, Kahaula--
A freedom twofold.
Freedom, aye freedom!
10
A tabu profound, a freedom complete.
Ye gods are still tabu;
We mortals are free.
At the much-needed repast to which the company now sit down there may be present a gathering of friends and relatives and of hula experts, called olóhe. Soon the porkling chosen to be the ai-lólo offering is brought in--a black suckling without spot or blemish. The kumu holds it down while all the pupils gather and lay their hands upon his hands; and he expounds to them the significance of the ceremony. If they consecrate themselves to the work in hand in sincerity and with true hearts, memory will be strong and the training, the knowledge, and the songs that have been intrusted to the memory will stay. If they are heedless, regardless of their vows, the songs they have learned will fly away.
The ceremony is long and impressive; many songs are used. Sometimes, it was claimed, the prayers of the kumu at this laying on of hands availed to cause the death of the little animal. On the completion of the ceremony the offering is taken out and made ready for the oven.
One of the first duties of the day is the dismantling of the old kuahu, the shrine, and the construction of another from new materials as a residence for the goddess. While night yet shadows the earth the attendants and friends of the pupils have gone up into the mountains to collect the material for the new shrine. The rustic artists, while engaged in this loving work of building and weaving the new kuahu, cheer and inspire one another with joyful songs vociferous with the praise of Laka. The halau also they decorate afresh, strewing the floor with clean rushes, until the whole place enthralls the senses like a bright and fragrant temple.
The kumu now grants special dispensation to the pupils to go forth that they may make good the results of the neglect of the person incident to long confinement in the halau. For days, for weeks, perhaps for months, they have not had full opportunity to trim hair, nails, or beard, to anoint and groom themselves. They use this short absence from the hall also to supply themselves with wreaths of fragrant maile, crocus-yellow ilima, scarlet-flaming Jehua, fern, and what not.
At the appointed hour the pupils, wreathed and attired like nymphs and dryads, assemble in the halau, sweet with woodsy perfumes. At the door they receive aspersion with consecrated water.
The ai-lolo offering, cooked to a turn--no part raw, no part cracked or scorched--is brought in from the imu, its bearer sprinkled by the guard at the entrance. The kumu, having inspected the roast offering and having declared it ceremonially perfect, gives the signal, and the company break forth in songs of joy and of adulation to goddess Laka:
Mele Kuau
Noho ana Laka I ka ulu wehi-wehi,
Ku ana iluna I Mo'o-helaia, 33
Ohia-Ku 34 ouna o Mauna-loa. 35
Aloha mai Kaulana-ula 36 ia'u.
5
Eia ka ula la, he ula leo, 37
He uku, he modai, he kanaenae,
He alana na'u ia oe.
E Laka e, e maliu mai;
E maliu mai oe, i pono au,
10
A pono au, a pono kaua.
[Translation]
Altar-Prayer
Laka sits in her shady grove,
Stands on her terrace, at Mo'o-helaia;
Like the tree of God Ku on Mauna-loa.
Kaulana-ula trills in my ear;
5
A whispered suggestion to me,
Lo, an offering, a payment,
A eulogy give I to thee.
O Laka, incline to me!
Have compassion, let it be well--
10
Well with me, well with us both.
There is no stint of prayer-song. While the offering rests on the Imahu, the Joyful service continues:
Mele Kualiu
E Laka, e!
Pupu we'uwe'u e, Laka e!
E Laka i ka leo;
E laka i ka loaa;
5
E Laka i ka waiwai;
E Laka i na mea a pau!
[Translation]
Altar-Prayer
O goddess Laka!
O wildwood bouquet, O Laka!
O Laka, queen of the voice!
O Laka, giver of gifts!
5
O Laka, giver of bounty!
O Laka, giver of all things!
At the conclusion of this loving service of worship and song each member of the troupe removes from his head and neck the wreaths that had bedecked him, and with them crowns the image of the goddess until her altar is heaped with the