Pele and HiiakaPolynesian MythologyLegend / Oral TraditionHawaiian and EnglishSharePele and Hiiaka 154Emerson - 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›Goes A-SurfingPele and Hiiaka 154ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1Hiiaka's work of healing was now accomplished. She had seen the cold and withered form gain fullness, warmth and color; been cheered by the oö-a-moa, the crowing sigh that came with the inrush of air to the lungs--and now he stood before her in physical perfection. 2The question--asked by Wahine-oma'o--how they were to climb down from their inaccessible position was answered by the sudden appearance of three rainbows that arched themselves conveniently at their feet, and on these, as on ladders, they climbed from the dizzy height to the sleeping village below. Under the priestly guidance of Hiiaka, they all now resorted to the ocean and with the aid of its waters performed the rite of cleansing from the ceremonial defilement that came from the touch of a corpse. With this cleansing each one of them seemed to have a new birth of physical perfection. As they came up out of the water their bodies seemed actually to glow with a fresh and radiant beauty. 3The touch of salt water woke in Lohiau a longing he could not resist. He took his surf-board and, with face to the incoming rollers, made for the open sea. The place was one where he had often sported before, prescriptive custom having in fact set it apart for the exclusive use of the chiefs. 4The "fish"--as the Hawaiians called the Milky way--was already declining in the west and beginning to pale at the approach of a new day, and Lohiau still rode the waves. 5That same night Kahua-nui, Lohiau's sister, woke from her sleep with a start. She went out of doors and, lifting her eyes to the mountain wall, saw a light gleaming in the cave where lay her brother's body. She rubbed her eyes to remove the cobwebs of sleep--yes, there it was, a quivering light, set like an eye in the socket of the mountain wall, and figures moving about. She rushed back into the house where slept her husband and stirred him with her foot. 6"What are you about!" demanded the man. "Do you want to kill me?" 7"Get up; there's a fire burning in the cave, up the mountain. Come!" 8"What crazy fit possesses you," muttered the man as he went out. "To knock my wind out with such a kick!--and there's no fire up there, merely a star sinking in the west. That's all there was to it. Go to bed!" 9The woman was silenced but not convinced. Her sleep continued to be broken. She fancied that she heard a human voice calling to her; yet, on listening, she could distinguish only the moaning of the surf. In her restlessness she wandered forth again and stood in the cool vault of night. The endless monotone of the ocean filled her ears, but it told her nothing new. She sought her bed again and turned her face to the mat in a resolute effort to sleep. She dozed, but the subtle goddess evaded her. Thoughts of her brother floated through her mind, and the booming of the surf now seemed to assume a more intimate tone and by some witchery of the imagination led her out under the winking stars, closer to old Ocean's moan, and made her think: how Lohiau did delight in the surf; what pleasure he took in riding the billows! Thus she murmured to herself. At that moment her straining vision detected an object moving with the waves. "Some man surfing in our tabu waters--yet how can that be? Have not all the men of the village gone over to Niihau? Paoa urged them to go." She moved along the beach. By this time it was dawn. 10"There comes a woman," said Wahine-oma'o. 11"His sister, Kahua-nui," Hiiaka remarked quietly. 12Wahine-oma'o called to her by name and went forward to meet her. 13"Ah, it is you two women," Kahua-nui exclaimed. 14"Where's your husband?" Wahine-oma'o asked. 15"Go and call him; tell him to take his canoe and go over to Niihau and bring Paoa," said Wahine-oma'o. "Lohiau is alive and well. Look, there he comes on the surf-board." 16In a tumult of joy the woman ran to the house and shouted the tidings to her husband. Nakoa-ola, girding his malo about him as he came out of the door, made all speed for the halau; shoved the canoe down the slope of the beach; looked to the lashings of the outrigger; saw that the paddles, bailer and what not were in place; stepped the mast; arranged the sail and the sheet; then, with a final push, he leaped in astern and set his course for Niihau. 17The story of Lohiau's miraculous return to life spread like wild fire until the whole population of the little island of Niihau was buzzing with the wonder. Paoa, in his haste and excitement, neglected the ordinary civilities and failed to invite his visitor to "come in and eat." They took canoe on the instant and were the first to arrive at Haena. 18At sight of Lohiau, whom they found quiet and thoughtful, surrounded by a houseful of people, in conversation with his sister and two women who were strangers, they set up a wailing cry of joy that was chorused by the whole company. 19The great raft of attendants, men and women, round-eyed with wonder, reached Haena in successive arrivals later in the day. First came those who eagerly credited the report of Lohiau's resurrection; scattering along after them, strangers and those who were in any degree skeptical of this great mystery. Each hour saw a bunch of new arrivals, not from Niihau alone but from all parts of Kauai. 20When Kahua-nui and her husband had first wept over Lohiau, embracing and kissing him, uttering their welcome in joyous cries of wailing, they turned to the two women, the strangers, for Lohiau bade them extend their welcome to "these two women who have brought me to life again." 21"Where are they from?" Kahua-nui asked. 22"I know not; I only know they have given me life." 23"It was worth while for my brother to have died to secure two such beautiful women as you," said Kahua-nui as she faced Hiiaka. 24"The other one is more beautiful than we are," Hiiaka answered. 25"Toward the Sunrise," Hiiaka answered. 26"What is the name of the country?" queried Kahua-nui. 27"Who is the woman?" persisted Kahua-nui. 28"I know her." Kahua-nui spoke with lower tone. 29"She it was who sent us to fetch Lohiau. We found him dead. I worked according to my ability--you see, our man is alive again." ‹Previous chapterPele and Hiiaka 153Next chapterPele and Hiiaka 155›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