la--pule, mele, and
oli--was intrusted to the keeping of the memory, without the
aid of letters or, so far as known, of any mnemonic device;
and the human mind, even under the most athletic discipline,
is at best an imperfect conservator of literary form. The
result was what might be expected: as the imagination and
emotions of the minstrel warmed under the inspiration of his
trust, glosses and amendments crept in. These, however,
caused but slight variations in the text. The substance
remains substantially the same.

After carefully weighing the matter, the author can not avoid
the conclusion that jealousy had much to do with the slight
differences now manifest, that one version is as
[Page 39] authoritative as another, and that it would be well for each
kumu-hula to have kept in mind the wise adage that shines
among the sayings of his nation: _Aohe pau ka ike i kau halau
_[56]--" Think not that all of wisdom resides in your
halau."[57]

[Footnote 56: Sophocles (Antigone, 705) had said the same
thing:[Greek: me nun en ethos pounon en sauto phorei os
phes su, kouden allo, tout' orphos echein]--"Don't get this
idea fixed in your head, that what you say, and nothing else,
is right."]

[Footnote 57: _Hatoa._ As previously explained, in this
connection _halau_ has a meaning similar to our word
"school," or "academy," a place where some art was taught, as
wrestling, boxing, or the hula.]

_Mele Kahea_

Li'u-li'u aloha ia'u,
Ka uka o Kohola-lele,
Ka nahele mauka o Ka-papala [58] la.
Komo, e komo aku hoi an maloko.
5 Mai ho'ohewahewa mai oe ia'u; oau no ia,
Ke ka-nae-nae a ka mea hele,
He leo, e-e,
A he leo wale no, e-e!
Eia ka pu'u nui owaho nei la,
10 He ua, lie ino, he anu, he ko'e-ko'e.
E ku'u aloha, e,
Maloko aku au.

[Translation.]

_Password_

Long, long have I tarried with love
In the uplands of Kohola-lele,
The wildwood