► Paradise Gained and Lost - 5: Rearing Kepakailiula

The Saturday Star-Bulletin, Honolulu, T.H., January 12, 1957 - Tales about Hawaii, Clarice B. Taylor   

     Kepakailiula (the red skinned person) whom the brothers at once called "Ke-paka" was a beautiful child.

     Kiinoho quickly rewrapped the baby in his feather cape and left the child for 40 days and nights beside the fireplace. (The Hawaiian fireplace was a hole in the ground - "puka" - with rocks around it.)

      When he reopened the feather cape, the child had grown into a beautiful boy. He had red skin, red eyes, a straight back, open face, no deformities and no pimples.

     Kiinoho called to his brother Kiihele to look upon "our son."

A RAINBOW
     Kiihele noted that a rainbow stood stood over their house when Kiinoho called to him. The rainbow matched in beauty the fires which glowed from Kilauea volcano - fires made by the goddess Pele.

Kilauea Volcano eruption 
and lava flow

     Keiki a kaua (our son) grew up on a diet of bananas. As a small boy he ate a bunch of bananas for each meal.

     Time flew by for the brothers Kiinoho and Kiihele as they watched the boy grow into sturdy manhood.

     One day they looked at their son and realized that he was a man. Kiinoho said to Kiihele,

     "You must look for a suitable wife for Kepaka."

     Kiihele gladly went on his errand. He traveled about the Island searching out each woman or girls said to be a beauty.

     He was sadly disappointed during the first days of his search. Each beauty had a fault of some kind.

     It was not until he reached Kona that Kiihele found a girl as beautiful and perfect as the full moon.

     He made an agreement with her parents and quickly returned to Paliuli to tell he brother and Kepaka of the charming Makolea.

ALL PREPARED
     Kiinoho had prepared everything for the wedding. When Kiihele returned, the three were able to set out for Kona within two days time.

     Those two days were spent in saying goodbye to all the loved things in Paliuli.

     When the three set out, with Kepaka wrapped in his fine feather cape, Kiinoho said a prayer to the gods asking them to care for Paliuli.

     Upon their departure, the gods "closed up" Paliuli with a great mist and no mortal has ever found it since.

He Mana'o...

This segment of the story intrigues me! What was the author trying to convey in this story/version? There didn't seem to be an obvious plot or point. As a reader, I was left in suspense.The girl mentioned in the story was named "Makolea." I would have liked to know more about her. Being that there is no reference title at the end of the story to another segment, I assume this segment was the last and concludes the "tale."

► Paradise Gained and Lost - 4: Kepakailiula

Honolulu Star Bulletin. Tuesday, January 11, 1957 - Tales about Hawaii, Clarice B. Taylor   

     One day a terrible craving to travel about the Island possessed Kiihele (the traveler).

     Luxuriant life in the paradise Paliuli had suddenly become an awful bore to him and he said to his brother Kiinoho (the stay at home):

     "How queer of us to care for all these things - the pigs, the chickens, the dogs, and all the fine fruits!

     "Who is going to eat them?"

STIRS FROM REST

Ohia Lehua

     Kiinoho stirred from his rest under the ohia tree, looked about at the farm and said:

     "Our son Kepakailiuli (the red-skinned person). Let us go and bring him here."

     "Who is Kepaka?" asked Kiihele, glad to be on the move.

     "Oh, he is our sister Hina's first child. He should be born by this time and we will ask her to allow us to bring the boy to our home in paradise where we may rear him in suitable style."

     The brothers had no difficulty finding their way out of Paliuli down to the fishing village Keaau, where their family lived with their sister Hina and her husband Ku.

GREETINGS EXCHANGED
     Greetings were exchanged with wailing as the family welcomed the brothers. When it had ended, Kiinoho said to Hina:

     "We have come for your son Kepaka to take hime back to Paliuli with us where we will rear him as our son."

     Hina made no protest. It was a custom in all Hawaiian families and in the families of the gods to give the first born son to the elder males in the family for them to rear.

     She handed the brothers a feather cape.

AN EGG
     Kiinoho unwrapped it carefully and found it enclosed an egg.

     Kiinoho rewrapped the egg, looked at his brother and the two began their journey back to Paliuli.

     When they had reached home, Kiinoho deposited the egg in its feather cape close to the fireplace. he sat beside it praying for 10 days.

     He opened the cape and found the egg had broken and revealed a beautiful infant boy with red skin.

NEXT: Rearing Kepaka 

He Mana'o...
Punctuation style is surely different to 21st century punctuation. It drives me pupule sometimes. There are also two sentences that made me question them to be type-errors (I didn't specifically reference it as it might not be evident to other readers). Still I remain diligent in leaving the work as-is. Keaau is an area in Puna, Hawaii Island, that I frequent often. This story has me curious about some of the names of its characters, Paliuli's whereabouts and the mention of Keaau being a fishing village. I have lived on Hawaii Island for only 10 years and the Keaau as it is known today does not evidence the area to have been a fishing village. I'm looking forward to researching that possibility. If anyone would like to share their knowledge about Kea'au, please feel free to post in the comment box.