09-28-2014, 03:10 AM
quote:Yes, really. That's what my elders taught me, and if you question that, here it is in writing:
Originally posted by bluesboy
Really, I didn't get that from the story at all. Did a paragraph get left out?
The Puna Chief Who Boasted
There was once a Puna chief who could talk of nothing but his own district. Wherever he went he boasted of Puna.
"Beautiful Puna," he chanted.
"Its fields and its gardens are shining
Like a mat spread over the hillside
And edged above by the forest."
"Be careful," people warned him. "Remember Pele! That goddess does not like boasting!"
"I fear her not!" the chief answered. "She lives above in the pit, tending her fires. Puna is safe from her evil." And he went on boasting:
"My country is beautiful Puna,
Land where all food plants are growing,
Land where bananas hang heavy,
Where potatoes burst from the earth,
Where sugarcane stalks are the sweetest.
My country is sweet-smelling Puna.
To the seaman who comes near our coast
The winds bear the fragrance of hala.
Birds gather over our trees
Drinking the nectar of blossoms.
My country is beautiful Puna."
A wise kahuna heard these words. "Alas!" he said. "Your boasting has angered Pele. Return to your country. You will find its beauty laid waste."
"Ho!" shouted the chief. "I do not fear your words! No harm can come to Puna!" But for all his shouting the chief was frightened. As quickly as wind and paddle could take him, he returned. He reached a point of land, beached his canoe, climbed a hillside and looked toward his beautiful Puna.
Black smoke hung heavy over all his land. As he looked, wind lifted the smoke and he saw no fertile fields and gardens, but a waste of twisted lava. No flowers bloomed in the forest, only spurts of flame. No fragrance of hala was borne on the wind, but the bitter smell of smoke.
Pele had been angered by the chief's boastful words. Now he knew that no land below her fire pit was safe from her power.
This is also a good link for those who were not raised by kupuna, to help understand (if you really want to) some of our teaching:
http://manoa.hawaii.edu/hawaiiancollecti...php?q=Pele
For what's it is worth. We (kanaka maoli) never question our kupuna. Ever.
JMO.
ETA: Bold by me to prove it is the point of the matter questioned.