racterized as gossipy, sarcastic, ironical,
scandal-mongering, dealing in satire, abuse, hitting right
and left at social and personal vices--a cheese of rank
flavor that is not to be partaken of too freely. It might be
compared to the vaudeville in opera or to the genre picture
in art.

_Mele_

E Wewehi, ke, ke!
Wewehi oiwi, ke, ke!
Punana[206] i ka luna, ke, ke!
Hoonoho kai-oa[207] ke, ke!
[Page 95] 5 Oluna ka wa'a[208], ke, ke!
O kela wa'a, ke, ke!
O keia wa'a, ke, ke!
Ninau o Mawi[209], ke, ke!
Nawai ka luau'i?[209] ke, ke!
10 Na Wewehi-loa[210], ke, ke! 10
Ua make Wewehi, ke, ke!
Ua ku i ka ihe, ke, ke!
Ma ka puka kahiko[211] ke, ke!
Ka puka a Mawi, ke, ke!

15 Ka lepe, ka lepe, la! 15
Ka lepe, ua hina a uwe!
Ninau ka lepe, la!
Mana-mana lii-lii,
Mana-mana heheiao,
20 Ke kumu o ka lepe? 20
Ka lepe hiolo, e?

[Footnote 206: _Punana_. Literally a nest; here a raised couch
on the _pola_, which was a sheltered platform in the waist of
a double canoe, corresponding to our cabin, for the use of
chiefs and other people of distinction.]

[Footnote 207: _Kai-oa_. The paddle-men; here a euphemism.]

[Footnote 208: _Wa'a_. A euphemism for the human body.]

[Footnote 209: _Mawi_. The hero of Polynesian mythology, whose
name is usually spelled _Maui_, like the name of the island.
Departure from the usual orthography is made in order to
secure phonetic accuracy. The name of the hero is pronounced
_Mah-wee_, not _Mow-ee_, as is the island. Sir George Gray,
of New Zealand, following the usual orthography, has given a
very full and interesting account of him in his Polynesian
mythology.]

[Footnote 210: _Wewehi-loa_. Another name for _Wahie-loa_, who
is said to have been the grandfather of Wewehi. The word
_luau'i_ in the previous verse, meaning real father, is an
archaic form. Another form is _kua-u'i_.]

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