Pele and HiiakaPolynesian MythologyLegend / Oral TraditionHawaiian and EnglishSharePele and Hiiaka 201Emerson - 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 201ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1Kilauea breaks forth: smoke blurs the day; A bitter rain blots out one half the Pit; Heëia is whelmed by a tidal wave;-- Dread day of the fiery Goddess! The face of the cliff is splintered away; The lowlands are littered with fragments; Her besom spares other land, not the park. The screw-palms are rent, the rock-plates shattered; The bowlders grind, the mamanes groan; I hear the pitiful sob of the trees. The tree-gods weep at their change into stone. Man, like the roof-pole, strangles in smoke; Puna chokes with the steam of the Woman; How groan the lehuas of Ka-li'u! A quivering flame enwraps Apua. Mine eyes are blinded at the sight Of the forest-circle of Ho'o-kú; Nahunahu is swallowed up in the rack. Puna, how scarred! by the Goddess ravaged! Olueä's uplands quiver with heat-- What ravage! its rocky strata uptorn; Deep-gullied the canyons, toothed are the cliffs; Like an oven glows the face of the rocks. Now Heaven hurls her forked bolts And bitter thunder-bombs; rocks burst and fly. A crash of splintered echoes breaks the night, Shatters the heavens and rends the earth. My towering cliff is shook like a reed; The trail adown the cliff is wreathed in steam; Mist veils the ragged spurs of lehua-- A reign of terror! flames leap from the Pit; The storm-clouds spread their wings for rain; They rush in column over the plain. The mouth of the demon vomits flame-- A besom-stroke to wooded Kai-mú. Destruction follows before and behind; What terror smites a-far and a-near! 2A brooding horror wraps my soul As the fine rain covers the plain. A spectacle this for the eye of Day! An offering's laid--a pig? a man! Deem'st it a crime to snuggle close in travel? That we gathered flowers in the woods? That we strung them and plaited wreaths? That we hung them about our necks?-- Red blossoms that sting us like fire-- A fire that burns with a devilish flame, Till the blistered skin hangs in rags: And this--is the work of the God! The faithless Woman! Puna sacked! The Park of Lehua all turned to rock! The column of rock moves ever on; Lehuas and palms melt away, As the fire sweeps down to the sea. For Puna's below and Pele above, And Puna's mountain is ever aflame. Oh Puna, land close to my heart! Land ever fore-front to the storm! I weep for thy sorrowful plight! 3"Cowed, and by a boy!" said Pele as her servants, with shame in their faces, slunk away from their unfinished task. "This is no job for women," she continued. "These girls can't stand up before a man--not if he has a smooth face and a shapely leg." 4As she spoke the fire-lake in Hale-ma'u-ma'u took on a ruddier hue, lifted in its cauldron and began to boil furiously, spouting up a score of red fountains. 5"Men, gods, take these fires and pour them upon the man," said Pele, addressing Lono-makua, Ku-pulupulu, Ku-moku-halii, Ku-ala-na-wao, Kupa-ai-ke'e, Ka-poha-kau, Ka-moho-alii, Kane-milo-hai and many others. 6The gods well knew on what perilous ground they stood, with whom they had to deal, the fierceness of Pele's wrath when it was stirred; yet, in their hatred of a great wrong, they moved with one purpose to push back the fires that were threatening Lohiau. With their immortal hands they flung away the embers and masses of flame until the heavens were filled with meteor-fragments. 7Pele's wrath rose to a mighty heat at this act of mutiny and disloyalty and she cursed the whole assembly. "Go," said she, "back to Huli-nu'u whence you came. Let the land on which you stand remain barren and yield no harvest nor any food for mortal or for immortal." 8Now Pele was one of the chief gods on earth. The land was hers. Did she not make it? Her authority extended also to heaven. Did not her flames mount to the zenith? All the gods, even the great gods Ku, Kane, Kanaloa and Lono, depended on her for certain things. When she voyaged from Kahiki to the new land of Hawaii they were constrained to follow her. Not because of any command she laid upon them did they do this, but because such was their inclination. Where Pele was there was food, wealth, the things they had need of. They followed as a dog tags after its master. 9The threat made by Pele was, then, no idle breath. It was a thing of terrible moment--to be stripped of their fat offices and banished to a far-off barren land, a terrible sentence. Some of the gods gave in at once and made their peace with the terrible goddess. Of those who stood firm in their opposition were Ku-moku-hali'i, Ku pulu-pulu, Ku-ala-na-wao, Kupa-ai-ke'e and Ku-mauna. [436] Condemned to banishment, they were indeed in a sorry plight. They found themselves on the instant deprived of their jobs and of their power. Food they had not, nor the means of obtaining it; these were in the possession of Kane and Kanaloa. The ocean was not free to them; it was controlled by Ka-moho-alii. In their extremity they became vagabonds and took to the art of canoe-making. Thus were they enabled to fly to other lands. 10New dispositions having been made and fresh stratagems set on foot, Pele turned loose another deluge of fire, Lono-makua consenting to manage the operation. The fire burst into view at Keaau, from which place it backed up into the region of Ola'a and there divided into two streams, one of which continued on the Hilo side, while the other followed a course farther towards Kau. Lohiau, thus surrounded, would find himself obliged to face Pele's wrath without the possibility of retreat. 11Hiiaka, not fearing for herself but seeing the danger in which her lover was placed, bade him pray; and this was the prayer he offered: 12Popo'i, haki kaiko'o ka lua; Haki ku, Haki kakala, ka ino, Popo'i aku i o'ü o lehua, I Kani-a-hiku, [437] wahine [438] ai lehua, A ka unu [439] kupukupu, a eha ka pohaku I ka uwalu a ke ahi, I ke kaunu a ka Pu'u-lena: [440] Huli ka moku, nakeke ka aina; Kuhala-kai, [441] kuhulukú [442] ka mauna; Pehu ka leo i Pu'ukú-akahi; [443] Hano ka leo i Pu'uku-alua;[443] Aheahe ana i Mauna Kua-loi [444]-- I kauhale a ke Akua. I ke ahu a Ka-hoa-lii. [445] Kahá ka leo o ka ohi'a; Uwé ka leo o ke kai; Huli ke alo o Papa-lau-ahi. Kai ho'onaue hala ko Keaäu; Kai lu lehua ko Pana-ewa; Ke popo'i a'e la i ke ahu a Lono, e. E lono ana no anei? He ho'okuli; He kuli ia nei, he lono ole. ‹Previous chapterPele and Hiiaka 200Next chapterPele and Hiiaka 202›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