Читать книгу Unwritten Literature of Hawaii: The Sacred Songs of the Hula - Nathaniel Bright Emerson - Страница 32

Password--Song

In the uplands, the darting flame-bird of La'a,

While smoke and mist blur the woodland,

Is keen for the breath of frost-bitten flowers.

A fickle flower is man--

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A trick this not native to you.

Come thou with her who is calling to thee;

A call to the man to come in

And eat till the mouth is awry.

Lo, this the reward--the canoe.

Footnote 60:(return) This utterance of passion is said to have been, the composition of the Princess-Kamamalu, as an address to Prince William Lunalilo, to whom she was at one time affianced and would have married, but that King Lihohho (Kamehameha IV) would not allow the marriage. Thereby hangs a tragedy.

Footnote 61:(return) La'a. The region in Hawaii now known as Ola'a was originally called La'a. The particle o has become fused with the word.

Footnote 62:(return) Hewa ka waha. This expression, here tortured, into "(till) the mouth awry," is difficult of translation. A skilled Hawaiian scholar suggests, it may mean to change one from, an enemy to a friend by stopping his mouth with food.

Footnote 63:(return) Wa'a. Literally a canoe. This is a euphemism for the human body, a gift often too freely granted. It will be noted that in the answering mele komo, the song of admission, the reward promised is more modestly measured--"Simply the voice."

The answer to this appeal for admission was in these words:

Mele Komo

E hea i ke kanaka e komo maloko,

E hanai ai a hewa waha;

Eia no ka uku la, o ka leo,

A he leo wale no, e!