The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-06-09

of the names of every known fish, a Pc
culiar thing may toe noted. rage In Poly
rhyme or allftsrate the names In each
line. e e.:
THE Mana was born, the Mana was
born in the sea and swan,
The Make was born. the Make was
born in the sea and swami
The Napa was born, the Nala was
born I'm the sea and swam,
The Pala was born, the Kala was
born In the sea and swam
The Paka was born. the Papa was
born IN the sea-, etc. etc.
The the rhythm aItone and the veAe
becomes sdx-lined, as In the recital Of the
events OF the First Era, and With the
the, things created, viz, that for each
ocSaA dweller there ia a tree or shrub. er
virH, some forest-growing thing provided.
The refrain has also slightly changed
MAN by Waiololi, woman by Waiolola,
The Pahal was born in the sea;
Guarded by the Eauhau that grew in
the forest.
a night of flight by noises
Through a Shannel; salt water Il life
TO fish,
So the gods may enter, but not man"
The creation of the fishes being contln-
ued through sixteen stanzas and an cpl.
loguc.
OF THE THIRD ERA.
The Third Era is thus announced:
iiC 90 thC iudu anu Snt the woman.
The man that was born in the dark
And the woman wa. born In the age OF
bubbles.
The waters spread. the MOUNTAINS
spread,
The Poniu grew tall with advancing
time,
The Hahn grew and had nine leaves,
And the Palai (fern) sprout that shot
forth leaves of high chiefs,
Brought forth Poeleele Darkness) a
Who lives with PohaKa Bubhl9s,- a
woman
And brought forth generations of Haha
(kalo or taro tops).
The Haha was born"
Lest the ancient poet should be sus-
pected of any Intentional rudeness to
women in saying that while the man
was born in the dark age woman was
born in the age of bubbles, 1t should not
be understood that the man spoken OF
was human being or the woman either
principles, since several eras have yet to
be passed through before We arrive a,
the birth of the real genus homo.
After the preamble above We pass OF
to the creation Of insects and then IL
birds, land-birds first by name then the
birds of the ocean.
The general list concluded, We get again
10 the six-line StanZas, and here each OF
the sea-blrds created ha4 q land-brd to
guard it.
Man by Waiolon, woman by waiolola.
The Hehe was born and lived on the
Guarded by the Meme that lived in the
a night of fight by noises.
Eggs and 10 are life to birds,
So the gods may enter, but not man
| do not know what is the meaning OF
10 mere; 1t may mean merely 10, flesh, -
maori, kfko) or be = reference to the
god 10 as spirit" in the Maori mythol-
Ogy-
The Fourth. Fifth and Sixth Eras ap-
pear to have been devoted TO the birth
OF monsters of the deep and of such
small mammals as rats and mice.
THE BAT AND THE DOG.
In the Seventh Era the dog and the
Ia appear. but are very curiously and
mystically alluded to:
over the mountains silerce reigns-
The silence of night that has moved
away.
The silence of night filled with people.
And the siiehce of night of dispensing
lis fearful the steps and narrow trails
lis fearful the amount eaten and life:
lis fearful the night past and gone
The awful stiffness of the night that
came
The night that went by and brought
forth an offspring,
That offspring a dog
a yellow dog, tiny dog,
A dog without hair. sent by the gods
A dog sent for sacrifice.
specklsd bird was first sacrificed,
Else he'd repent for having no hair
Else he'd repent for having no covering
And go naked on the road to MaIama:
The easiest path for children.
From great to small
From tall to short,
He Is equal to the blowing breeze
The younger brother of the god
IRON which sprans the god OF the bats
The hairy bats.
Sprang the bat With many claws
Sprapg the bat and moved away
That the rising surf might give it birth.
lis night"
The above is good example in favor
or my previous remark how impossible IL
IS TO preserve the sense of the poet in a
direct translation, and how necessary a
fun commentary would be to make the
reader undArstand. / may point out that
mo allusion Is the victim of sacrifice be-
ing prejudiced by improper rites. and
thus sent naked on the road to MaIa-
ma, is probably reference to the spir-
II o. pain to heaven; as Malama is. In some
IS the Kingdom of Moonlight. where Hi
ma, the Moon-goddess, reigns, and is full
of all innocent delights
AS the Seventh Era ended it was still
neht, out WITH the opening of the Eighth
Era the day appears, and we are also in
troduced TO some of the gods
Iney are called men and women but
are all well known in Polynesia except
l4alIal, whose name seems only preserved
in Hawaii.
eThe Maori names are given in brsck-
et.)
+ Lailai was born a woman.
Xii (TikD was born a man
Kane CTanel god was born:
kanaloa (Tangaroa) was born q god
the great Octopus.
'Tis day.
LAILAI ON THE NIGHT.
'Lailai of the distant night, Lailai the
woman, appears as a very shadowy fig
ure, and II seems impossible to under
stand what power she is intended to rep
resent. She il indeed to be described best
in the line. This woman vaS from q
race OF illusions (myth" and is evident
~ some CosDic goddess. probably the
iTnpersonation Of the Eternal Feminine
In Nature. With the Eleventh Era com
nnences the prodigious pedigree of the
Kings OF Hawaii, one that would make
tne Hebrew priest or Raipoot noble hide
ms diminished head, for it includes celes-
tlai beings for many generations. 1t
gives In this era alone about 740 genera
tions tabout $500 years., recording the
name OF each male with that Of his wife
a wonderful monument to the powers of
tne human memory in recital IL nothing
else The only thing that / have partic,i.