let form, together
with several other romances culled from Hawaiian journals, as the
initial volumes of a series of Hawaiian reprints, a venture which ended
in financial failure.[3] The romance of _Laieikawai_ therefore remains
the sole piece of Hawaiian, imaginative writing to reach book form. Not
only this, but it represents the single composition of a Polynesian mind
working upon the material of an old legend and eager to create a genuine
national literature. As such it claims a kind of classic interest.

The language, although retaining many old words unfamiliar to the
Hawaiian of to-day, and proverbs and expressions whose meaning is now
doubtful, is that employed since the time of the reduction of the speech
to writing in 1820, and is easily read at the present day. Andrews
incorporated the vocabulary of this romance into his dictionary, and in
only a few cases is his interpretation to be questioned. The songs,
though highly figurative, present few difficulties. So far as the
meaning is concerned, therefore, the translation is sufficiently
accurate. But as regards style the problem is much more difficult. To
convey not only the meaning but exactly the Hawaiian way of seeing
things, in such form as to get the spirit of the original, is hardly
possible to our language. The brevity of primitive speech must be
sacrificed, thus accentuating the tedious repetition of detail--a trait
sufficiently characteristic of Hawaiian story-telling. Then, too, common
words for which we have but one form, in the original employ a variety
of synonyms. "Say" and "see" are conspicuous examples. Other words
identical in form convey to the Polynesian mind a variety of ideas
according to the connection in which they are used--a play upon words
impossible to translate in a foreign idiom. Again, certain relations
that the Polynesian conceives with exactness, like those of direction
and the relation of the person addressed to the group referred to, are
foreign to our own idiom; others, like that of time, which we have more
fully developed, the Polynesian recognizes but feebly. In face of these
difficulties the translator has reluctantly foregone any effort to
heighten the charm of the strange tale by using a fictitious idiom or by
condensing and invigorating its deliberation. Haleole wrote his tale
painstakingly, at times dramatically, but for the most part concerned
for its historic interest. We gather from his own statement and from the
brea