Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/607

 Laieikawai, 259

in the work of King Kalakaua. After the conclusion of his second voyage, Aiwohikupua returns to Kauai, and at a feast, under the in- toxicating influence of awa, is so imprudent as to reveal his suit to the princess of Paliuli. A young chief of Mana wagers that he will succeed where the other has failed ; but in the end he loses his land, which is restored by Aiwohikupua. The latter now undertakes a third expedition, with the resolution to obtain Laieikawai by force. He is repulsed, however, through the efforts of his own sisters, who are supported by their patron god (familiar demon, as would have been said in the Middle Age), a huge lizard. The frustrated wooer prepares to console himself with Poliahu, and performs expiatory ceremonies in order to release himself from his vow never to wed a lady of the islands. He meets Poliahu, accompanied by mountain goddesses, and as the company of Aiwohikupua suffers from the cold of the upper regions, the bride and her friends remove their white mantles, which has the effect of lowering the snow on the summits.

It has so happened that the birds whom Aiwohukupua had sent as messengers to his inamorata had mistaken their road, and arrived at the house of Hinaikamalama, to whom, as already related, Aiwo- hikupua had lost in the game, and who possessed the right over his person. Enraged at the unfaithfulness of her debtor, this lady makes a visit to Kauai, and at the wedding feast, in a game, becomes the prize of the bridegroom. She then openly declares his perfidy ; Aiwohikupua is discredited, and the angry Poliahu returns to her mountain.

Waka now conceives a plan for uniting her granddaughter to the newly made king of Kauai ; it is arranged that the couple shall meet in the surf, use one surfboard, float on one roller, and touch noses (such contact being symbolic of continued union), after which the great birds of the heroine are to carry the pair to the feather-house in Paliuli. A young libertine, Halaaniani, who has a sister gifted with magic powers, desires the beauty, by the help of the sorceress is able to take the place of the king, and is taken up to the feather- house. The enraged Waka casts off her granddaughter, and turns her attention to the sister who had been left with the priest, Laiclo- helohe, on whose behalf she makes a similar contract with the king of Kauai. The new lover of Laieikawai, not satisfied with one suc- cess, endeavors to obtain also this lady, but is finally foiled. Laiei- kawai retires into obscurity, while the dissolute youth is left to general contempt.

The sisters of Aiwohikupua, who are now devoted to Laieikawai, consider in what manner they can restore their mistress to honor, and determine to wed her to another brother, Kaonohiokala. Now this family is divine, the father living in the moon, while the brother

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