The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-06-09
THE SONG
Of HAWAII
Creation of the Island
Group.
Tale OF NATIVE MYTHS
Scholarly Work OF liliuokaIani Re-
viewed By Edward Tregear Of
New Zealand.

The following most interesting review
OF THE Creation Song of Hawaii is by
Edward Tregear, Fellow OF the Royal
Historical Society and an editor of the
Journal of the Polynesian Society.
Through the courtesy of the Hawaiian
Historical Society, a copy of the Journal
| for March, 1900. containing the review
has been loaned the Advertiser:
! Among the most treasured volumes on
my shelves is book sent to me years
ago by His late Majesty, Kaiaksua,
King OF Hawaii-htnself the author of
was the effort to preserve. as printed lit
erature alone can by dispersion preserve,
the fast-fading legends embodying the
cosmoBony and mythology of his people
as taught in ancient days, and also pedi-
grees OF high chiefs as sung by the
priests of the Heraldic College. But no
| translation into any European language
! accompanied the book Many an hour |
\ pored over the old verses, catching
strange spd &c slimpses of all sorts of secrets
| things that in other island lore - fuli
1sss.
MYSTICAL ILLUSIONS OF PACIFIC.
However. every Polynesian student
knows how difficult IL is, even for a
scholar accomplished in the particuls r
dialect under consideration, to fully ur-
! derstand the obsolete speech and mysti-
! cal illusions in which the old poetry of
| the Pacific islands abounds No Hawaii
an pundit, no Fernandez or Lorrin An
| crews was at hand from whom help
could be entreated. so, fearing to utterly
fall where much more skiHful men might
stumble. j have abstained from calling
! attention to the poems, except on one
occasion. Light has come from another
direction through the issue by Liliueka-
LAM. ex-Queen OF Hawaii (and patron Of
the Poiynssian Society. of "a translation
OF one OF the principal poems in the
Kings book 1t Is evident. on careful pc
rurdl. tsat even the great scholarship Of
the authorizes has failed TO convey to
the reader the meaning intended In the
original words, but, this is assuredly in
eyitsble from the nature of ths subject
Ii would be perhaps impossible TO make
modern Hawaiian understand without
long explanation what was maant by
illusions whoss real Significance fs hid
den snsR the mist OF centuries 1t Is
certainly quite unAvailfng to attempt to
convey TO Europeans at once the literal
meaning and metaphoricAl reference OF
every alltyion unless each line 10 made
the text of a whole sermon OF eaDiana.
tory notes and almost interminabls COM
mentary. Therefore We must acauif the
writer of any shortcoming in that which
pnrports to be just fair rendering of
ono OF the most 6ifflcult pieces of native
poetry possible to translate and only
cypress deep gratitude for a very success-
ful EFFORT. Although the poem was COM
posed In its present form about A. D.
1900, II ~ dixie all Polynesian seni-relix-
ious chants) merely mosaic OF antiQSe
fragments of ancestral learning. 1t has
some added interest to Englishmsn, be-
cause IL was sung to Captain Cook, when
he. being mistaken by the islanders for
their god Lono Rongo). foolishiy ac-
cepted divine honors. a fact that uiti-
mstely wrought his violent death
PRAYER OF A HIGH CHIEF.
The translation was published In 1897,
but ! have hitherto refrained from re-
viewing IL In this Journal. as hoped
that some HAWAIIAN scholar would give
US the benefit or his local knowledge by
writing n paper on the subject of the
poem. That has apparently not been
done for members of the society, so /
venture to briefly point out some of the
most Interesting portions from the Maori
field of view.
Gent prayer for the dedication of high
chief II commences:
AT the time that turned the heat of the
earth,
At the time when the heavens turned
AT the time when the light of the sun
was subdued
To cause light to break forth.
At the time Of the night OF Makalit
Then began the slime which establish
ed the earth.
The source of deepest darkness;
OF the depth Of darkness. of the depth
of darkness,
OF the darkness OF the sun, in the
depth of night;
1t is night,
SO was night bora"
This gives a reasonably fair vision Of
the world In the ages before men inhab-
tied the earth, and we pass on to the
birth OF the uncrahted gods:
',Kumulipo was born in the night, a male,
foe4e was born in the night, a female
A coral insect Vas born, from which
Sas born perforated coral;
The sarthworm vas born, which gath
cred sarth into mounds;
From " were born worms full of holes.
The stsrfsh wse born, whose children
we're starry etc. etc.
Then follow the names of the .hellh,h
inhabiting the ocean The above name
Of Kumufipo. by which In Hawaii is un-
derstood The Creation would be rem
dered in Maori Tu-muri-po, l. e., stand
ing behind Night" Cor the god behind
orr Po-kere-"Dark Night" In thi, part
OF the song there is a regular metre of
long lines used whilst the names OF the
shellhsh created are recited but II then
changes to six-line stanzas, describing
the birth Of the seaweed and grasses
each weed OF the sea having its equiva-
lent and guardian creature OF the forest
The last three lines of each stanza is
common to all.
SOME OF THE VERSES.
The following is sample of the
verses:
Man by Waiololi; woman by Waiolol.,
The Manauea was born and lived IN the
sea.
Guarded nv the Kalo AaHuea that grew
I'm the forest
night Of night by noises
Through a channel; water IL life TO
trees:
SO the gods may enter, but not man."
AFTER sixteen similar stanzas this part
ends with the very curious verse:
~ husband OF gourd, and vet n god.
t"ndril strengthened by water and
grew
being. produced by earth and spread.
MAZE deafening by the swiftness OF
night. ''io
That filled and kept on filling
OF filing, until filed
To filling. tits full.
And supported the earth, which held
the heaven
on the wing. OF Time: the night is for
kumuiipo (crnation).
'Tis night"
In tho Second Fra -a 49, .ot5 A..