Ka
Mo‘olelo o ka ‘O‘opu
Wahi a kahiko ‘o ka ‘ohana mo‘o ka ‘ohana o kekahi o nā
holoholona Hawai‘i ‘o ia ho‘i ka ‘o‘opu a me ka ‘īlio ‘ehu;
pēlā pū me nā ‘ehu wahine. ‘O ka mo‘o ka ‘aumakua ma kekahi
o nā ‘ohana Hawai’i no laila ma ia mau ‘ohana pāpā ‘ia ka
‘ai ‘o‘opu.
I kekahi lā i hele aku ai ‘o Kahīnano i
kahi lokowai e lawai‘a ‘o‘opu no ka ‘āina ahiahi. Ma hope
pono o ka unahi, kua‘i, a kāpī ‘ana o ua i‘a lā āna i hele
ai i ka pūhala no ka ‘ohi‘ohi lauhala no ka ‘ulana moena,
ma muli o ka hiki koke ‘ana mai o ka lā ho‘okupu ali‘i.
Ua hiki akula ka lā kau i kona ho‘i ‘ana
i ka hale. I ke kokoke ‘ana aku i ka hale, nāna i kiu aku
i wahine ‘ehu e ‘imi ana no kekahi mea. I kēlā manawa kēia
manawa ki‘ei akula ka wahine ma ‘ō a ma ‘ane’i; ma lalo ho‘i
o nā ululā‘au, ma lalo iho o nā kumu lā‘au, a puni ala o ka
hale. Uluhua ka wahine i ka nānā ‘ana aku a ‘o kona huli akula
no ia i kahi lokowai me ka ho‘ōho a‘ela nō penei: “ ‘O Kāni‘o!”
“Eia nō au ma ‘ane‘i,” i pane maila ke kāni‘o
i loko o ko Kahīnano hale me ka lele pū a’ela mai loko a‘e
o ka ‘umeke a ‘o kona holo akula no ia i ka lokowai.
“ ‘O Nākea!” i kāhea aku ka wahine, a pane
koke ka nākea me ka ho‘i akula pū i ka lokowai.
“‘O ‘Ailehua! ‘O ‘Apohā! ‘O Nāpili! ‘O Hinana!”
i ho‘ōho akula ka wahine a pane lākou pākahi i ka inoa pono‘ī.
I ka puka ‘ana aku o nā ‘o‘opu pākahi mai
ka hale aku, na Kahīnano i ‘ike kohu mo‘o ka nānā ‘ana o nā
wāwae o ua mau ‘o‘opu lā. Me ka maka‘u ‘ana i ho‘ohiki ai
‘a‘ole loa ana e ‘ai hou ai i ka ‘o‘opu.
Ma o ia mo‘olelo i ‘ike ‘ia ka
pili ma waena o ka ‘o‘opu a me ka mo‘o. Inā hānau ‘ia ka ‘o‘opu
ma ka ‘ohana kanaka, wahi a kahiko, he mo‘o ia ‘oiai he i‘a
wale nō ia. Ma hope wale mai o ka hiki ‘ana mai o ka po‘e
Mikioneli i pau ai ke kapu ma ka ‘ai ‘o‘opu.
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The
Story of the ‘O‘opu
Our people believed
that the mo‘o or lizard family, was also family to some other
Hawaiian animals such as the ‘o‘opu, or goby fish, the ‘īlio
‘ehu, or brindled dog; as well as the ‘ehu wahine, or mermaids.
The mo‘o was the ‘aumakua (ancestral guardian) of some Hawaiian
families, therefore eating ‘o‘opu was forbidden in these families.
One day a woman named
Kahīnano went out fishing for ‘o‘opu in a nearby pond for
her dinner meal. After scaling, gutting, and salting the fish
she left the house to gather pandanus leaves to weave mats
for the upcoming ho‘okupu day.
She arrived home as
the sun was setting. As she neared the house she spied upon
an ‘ehu woman, a mermaid peering about; under the shrubbery,
under the trees, and around her home. Discouraged, the woman
turned toward the pond and shouted in a loud voice: “‘O Kāni’o!
“
“Here I am,” answered
the kāni’o from inside of Kahīnano’s house as he jumped out
of the calabash and ran towards the pond.
“‘O Nakea! “ called
the wahine, and the nākea answered quickly also returning
to the pond.
“‘O ‘Ailehua! ‘O ‘Apohā!
‘O Nāpili! ‘O Hinana!” shouted the wahine and each one of
them answered as their name was called.
As each of the ‘o‘opu
came out from the house, Kahīnano could see that their legs
and feet resembled those of a mo‘o, a lizard. Frightened,
she promised never to eat ‘o‘opu again.
The relationship
between the ‘o‘opu and the mo‘o family can be seen through
this story. If an ‘o‘opu was born into a human family it was
believed by our ancestors to be an ‘aumakua of the mo‘o family
even though it was “just a fish”. After the arrival of the
missionaries, the kapu on eating ‘o‘opu was no longer observed.
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