Mikihala Mahi
Ma'alea, Maui, Hawai'i
20/X/01

Wā ‘Akahi

‘Ōlepe
Ke Keiki

Hānau ka Pāpaua,
‘o ka ‘Ōlepe kāna keiki, puka

First Epic

‘Ōlepe
The Child

The Pāpaua gives birth,
the ‘Ōlepe emerges

No ka ‘ōlepe a me ka Momi

Na Keonaona Kapuni-Reynolds

E noho ana ma ka nāhelehele kekahi ‘ohana ‘ilihune. I nā lā a pau, iho ka makua kāne i kai e lawai‘a ai i ka i‘a. I kekahi o kēia mau lā, ua loa‘a iā ia kekahi i‘a ho‘okalakupua a ma loko o ia i‘a e hiamoe mālie ana kekahi kaikamahine ‘ōpiopio. Ua piha kona na‘au i ke aloha no kēia kaikamahine no laila ua ho‘i ‘o ia iā ia i kona hale. Ma ia hale ho‘okahi e noho ana kāna keiki kāne pono‘ī a me ka hese i ho‘oma‘ema‘e i ka hale. ‘A‘ohe o ko ka makua kāne ‘ike no ke ‘ano hese o kona wahi kōkua a hā‘awi wale aku ‘o ia i ke keiki i ka hese me ka mana‘o e mālama ana ka hese i ke keiki. ‘A‘ohe mālama iki. I ko ka hese ‘ike mua i kēia kaikamahine, ua pi‘i ka lili i loko ona a ua ‘ike ‘o ia he ‘ano kupanaha ko kēia kaikamahine no laila, ua ho‘oholo ka hese e ho‘omake i ke kaikamahine.

I ia mau lā e pili ana ke kaikamahine a me ke keiki kāne a ua holo lāua i ‘ō a i ‘ane‘i pēlā pū me ka pā‘ani ‘ana a pō ke ao. Nui ke aloha ma waena o lāua a i kekahi pō, i ke kaikamahine e hiamoe ana, ua ala mai ke keiki kāne i nā leo hāwanawana, lohe akula ‘o ia i ka hese e wala‘au ana iā ia iho me kēia, “Ke kani ka moa kuakahi e ho‘omākaukau au i ka wai wela, a kualua ka moa a wela ka wai e ki‘i au i ia kaikamahine a kiloi i ke ahi i kupa na‘u e ‘ai ai.” A lohe ke keiki kāne i kēia, ho‘āla aku ‘o ia i ke kaikamahine a ha‘i aku iā ia i kona mea i lohe ai.

I ia pō ua ho‘oholo lāua e ha‘alele i ka hale i ke kani mua o ka moa a pēlā kā lāua hana. Holo lāua i kahakai, eia na‘e ua ‘ike ka hese i ko lāua holo ‘ana a ho‘ā‘o ‘o ia e loa‘a aku iā lāua. I ko lāua hiki ana i kai, ua loli ke kaikamahine i momi a ‘o ke keiki kāne i ‘ōlepe, a mālama ‘ia ke kaikamahine e ke keiki kāne.

I ko ka hese ‘ike ‘ana i kēia momi nunui e mālamalama ana ma ke kai, ua pi‘i ka makemake i loko ona nō ia mea no laila lele ‘o ia i loko o ke kai a make ma muli o kona hiki ‘ole ke ‘au‘au. Pīpī holo ka‘ao.

The Oyster and the Pearl

By Keonaona Kapuni-Reynolds

Once upon a time a poor family was living in the forest. Everyday the father would go down to sea and fish. On one occasion he caught an enchanted fish and inside of the fish was sleeping a little girl. His heart was immediately filled with love for this girl and he took her home with him. In this one house lived his son and a witch who cleaned the house. The father didn’t know that this helper was a witch and he gave the girl to the witch thinking that she would take care of the baby. She didn’t care for it at all. When the witch first saw the girl, she became jealous because she knew the girl had something special, so she decided to kill the girl.

At that time the girl was becoming attached to the boy and they ran around and played together all over the place until sunset. There was lots of love between them and at night, as the girl was sleeping, the boy woke up to whispering voices. He heard the witch talking to herself, “When the cock first crows I will prepare the hot water, when the crows twice the water will be hot and I will get the girl and throw her in the fire to make a soup for myself to eat.” When the boy heard this he quickly woke up the girl and told her what he heard.

That night they decided to leave the house at the cock’s first crow and that is what they did. They ran to the beach, however the witch saw them run and she tried to get them. When they reached the beach, the girl changed herself into a pearl and the boy into an oyster, and the boy took care of the girl.

When the witch saw the big pearl shinning in the sea, she desired it so much that she jumped into the sea and died because she didn’t know how to swim. The end.

He Hānau no ke Ali‘i, no Kaleleokalani

Mai loko mai ‘o He Lei No ‘Emalani, na Puakea Nolgemeir

No ka wai o Kuaikua nā ali‘i!
I hānau nō i Kūkaniloko,
‘O Wahiawā ka piko, ‘o Waimalu ke ēwe,
I Halemano ke ‘a‘a, ka ‘ina‘ina, ke kuakoko o Manuia,
He po‘e ali‘i no ka wehi pali o uka,
He mau ali‘i maka kēhau no Līhu‘e,
He po‘o lāhea i ka uahi kukui,
He pu‘u nanahu mahiki no Ha‘o,
No laila ‘o Mā‘ilikūkahiakalonaiki,
He kini lawai‘a no ka i‘a hāmau leo,
A pane a‘e ka leo makani iā ia,
A hiki mai ka makani, he Moa‘e,
He makani lū lehua ia no ‘Ewa,
Na ‘Ewauli, ‘Ewaala‘akona ke ali‘i,
‘Ae.

He Hānau no ke Ali‘i, no Kaleleokalani

From He Lei No ‘Emalani, by Puakea Nolgemeir

From the waters of Kuaikua come the chiefs
Born, indeed, at Kūkaniloko
Wahiawā is the piko, Waimalu the afterbirth.
At Halemano is the placenta, Manuia the great travail
Chiefly ones of the cliffside verdure above
Misty-eyed chiefly ones from Līhu‘e
Heads reeking from the smoke of kukui
A mound of ceremonial charcoal from Ha‘o
From there comes Mā‘ilikūkahiakalonaiki
A multitude of fishermen for the silent fish
And the voice of the wind responds to him
And the wind appears, a Moa‘e breeze
A wind that scatters the lehua of ‘Ewa district
Of ‘Ewauli, ‘Ewala‘akona is the chief
Yes.