Читать книгу Unwritten Literature of Hawaii: The Sacred Songs of the Hula - Nathaniel Bright Emerson - Страница 15

Altar-Prayer (to Laka)

Here am I, oh Laka from the mountains,

Oh Laka from the shore;

Protect us

Against the dog that barks;

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Reside in the wild-twining maile

And the goddess-enwreathing ti.

All, the joyful pulses.

Of the woman Ha'i-ka-manawa!

Thou art Laka,

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The god of this altar;

Return, return, abide in thy shrine!

Footnote 18:(return) Ilio nana e hae. The barking of a dog, the crowing of a cock, the grunting of a pig, the hooting of an owl, or any such sound occurring at the time of a religious solemnity, aha, broke the spell of the incantation and vitiated the ceremony. Such an untimely accident was as much deprecated as were the Turk, the Comet, and the Devil by pious Christian souls during the Middle Ages.

Footnote 19:(return) Lau-ki. The leaf of the ti plant--the same as the ki--(Dracæna terminalis), much used as an emblem of divine power, a charm or defense against malign spiritual influences. The kahuna often wore about his neck a fillet of this leaf. The ti leaf was a special emblem of Ha'i-wahine, or of Li'a-wahine. It was much used as a decoration about the halau.

Footnote 20:(return) Ha'i-ka-manawa. It is conjectured that this is the same as Ha'i-wahine. She was a mythological character, about whom there is a long and tragic story.

The prayers which the hula folk of old times chanted while gathering the material in the woods or while weaving it into shape in the halau for the construction of a shrine did not form a rigid liturgy; they formed rather a repertory as elastic as the sighing of the breeze, or the songs of the birds whose notes embroidered the pure mountain air. There were many altar-prayers, so that if a prayer came to an end before the work was done the priest had but to begin the recitation of another prayer, or, if the spirit of the occasion so moved him, he would take up again a prayer already repeated, for until the work was entirely accomplished the voice of prayer must continue to be heard.

The pule now to be given seems to be specially suited to that portion of the service which took place in the woods at the gathering of the poles and greenery. It was designed specially for the placating of the little god-folk who from their number were addressed as Kini o ke Akua, the multitude of the little gods, and who were the counterparts in old Hawaii of our brownies, elfins, sprites, kobolds, gnomes, and other woodland imps. These creatures, though dwarfish and insignificant in person, were in such numbers--four thousand, forty thousand, four hundred thousand--and were so impatient of any invasion of their territory, so jealous of their prerogatives, so spiteful and revengeful when injured, that it was policy always to keep on the right side of them.

Pule Kuahu

E hooulu ana I Kini ²¹ o ke Akua,

Ka lehu o ke Akua,

Ka mano o ke Akua,

I ka pu-ku'i o ke Akua,

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I ka lalani Akua,

Ia ulu mai o Kane,

Ulu o Kanaloa;

Ulu ka ohia, lau ka ie-ie;

Ulu ke Akua, noho i ke kahua,

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A a'ea'e, a ulu, a noho kou kuahu.

Eia ka pule la, he pule ola.

Chorus:

E ola ana oe!

Footnote 21:(return) Kini o ke Akua. See note d, p. 24.