He Kaao no Kulepe

Legend of Kulepe.

Kulepe was a great deceiver and in all he said he showed great cunning. He was also a great thinker. Kulepe was of Oahu and lived in the time when Peleioholani was king. Halakii was the wife of Peleioholani, and Kaneaiai was the name given to the king’s double canoe. Kulepe once upon a time set out from Oahu and landed at Kalaupapa in Molokai and proceeded to the first house seen by him, where he found the people eating with their heads bowed down, and who never looked up to see who the stranger was. Kulepe was hungry and this was the reason why he called at this house. After standing by the door for some time he looked in and then remarked:

He kanaka akamai loa o Kulepe i ka hoopunipuni me na olelo maalea, kanaka noonoo ma ka olelo ana. No Oahu nei o Kulepe, o Peleioholani ke ’lii ia wa, o Halakii ka wahine a Peleioholani, o Kaneaiai na waa o Peleioholani. Holo aku la o Kulepe mai Oahu aku nei a pae ma Kalaupapa i Molokai, hele aku la ia a hiki i ka hale, e ai ana kanaka me ke kulou o na poo i lalo, aohe ea i luna. He pololi ko Kulepe e hele nei, ku iho la keia ma ka puka, kiei aku la i loko o ka hale, a olelo iho la:

How fondly I now remember the food
Of our king, Peleioholani,
Of which I could greedily partake
As I sat on the canoe, Kaneaiai,
With my wife Halakii.

Aloha mai la ka hoi ka mea ai
A ko makou alii o Peleioholani,
E hoonuuu, e nuu, e nuunuu iho ai,
E noho iho ai i luna o na waa o Kaneaiai,
Me kuu wahine o Halakii.

At this the people without raising their heads said: “Is Peleioholani then your king?” “Yes,” answered Kulepe, and continuing he said: “He is the king and we are his soldiers.”

I aku na kanaka o ka hale: “O kou alii ka o Peleioholani?” Ae aku o Kulepe: “Ae, oia ke ’lii o makou na koa.”

After a while Kulepe again called out: (He did this with the hope of being able to get the people to invite him to sit down with them and take some food, without asking outright for the food.)

Kahea hou o Kulepe, oia wale iho no keia olelo nei, e ake ana o ke kahea ia mai e ai.

Say, Molokai, raise up your paddles.
When you look down, the darkness you see is pili grass,
And the black things, the heads of the people.

E Molokai e, i luna ka hoe,
Nana iho, ehuehu he pili ia,
Uliuli iho he poo ia no ke kanaka.

These words of Kulepe were meant for themselves, on account of the way they gormandized the food and fish; of the fingers dipping the poi and raising them aloft, while the dishes were loaded with fish, that only the dark color of the hair was manifest as their heads were bowed, and of their eating and then whistling. These were his words of comparison:

O keia mau olelo a Kulepe, no lakou la, i ka hoonuu i ka ai me ka ia, i ka miki o na lima i luna e wala ai i ka poi, i ka kuaehu o na pa i ka ia, i ka uliuli o na poo i ke kulou i lalo, i ka ai a hoe iho, pela kai nei mau olelo hoopilipili:

As I stepped out I stood on the wet sand,
While they stood on the dry sand.
As I stood on the dry sand,
They stood on the pohuehue vines.
While in youth there is no fear,
I have, however, felt it in youth,
That the forehead will tell of a sour temper,
That the nose will tell of a dry temper,
That the end of most things is usually made of the hau.
As he poked into it
I tore it off into strips like a pandanus leaf.
The sound traveled to heaven like thunder,
It shook the earth like an earthquake,
It flew and hit a wave
Like a flying-fish in its flight.
I was thus seen by Kamanuiki,
Eating in full disregard of the kapu like Keakahiwa.
Beware there, within, for it is Kulepe,
The man without fear,
The one like unto Puhali in strength.
By my name alone those in the uplands are fearful.

Oili iho la au, ku ana i ka one maka,
Ku ana lakou la i ke one maloo,
A ke one maloo wau,
Ku ana lakou la i ka pohuehue,
A oi hopo kela ui,
Ike no wau i ka ane o,
He mea aaka ka, ka lae,
He mea mimino ka ihu,
He mea hau ka piko.
E o iho ana kela,
E koe lauhala ae ana au.
Nu aku ana i ka lani me he hekili la,
Nei aku la i ka honua me he olai la,
Lele aku la a pa i ka puukai,
Me he malolo la ka oili.
Ikea mai la au e Kamanuiki,
Ainoa a Keakahiwa.
E ao o loko, o Kulepe na,
He kanaka koa,
O ka waihona laau na a Puhali.
I kuu inoa no makau o uka.

At the end of this begging chant by Kulepe, those within invited him to enter; so he went in and took some food. The fellow, however, had never lived with Peleioholani, neither was he a soldier. He had not even lived anywhere near the king; but through his great cunning he pretended that he had so as to get something to eat. He was indeed artful. Very few people in these islands can compare with him.

Ma keia olelo pahapaha a Kulepe, kahea mai o loko o ka hale e ai, komo aku la o Kulepe ai iho la. Aole keia kanaka i noho pu me Peleioholani, aole no he koa, aole no i pilipili alii aku, aka, ua lawe mai oia ma kana mau olelo maalea, i mea e loaa ai ka ai iaia, loaa io no hoi, noonoo maoli. Kakaikahi ka poe e like me ia o keia mau mokupuni.