In these
and the transition passages the hand of the writer is directly visible.]
[Footnote 18: The whole treatment of the Kauakahialii episode suggests an
inthrust. The flute, whose playing won for the chief his first bride, plays
no part at all in the wooing of Laieikawai and hence is inconsistently
emphasized. Given a widely sung hero like Kauakahialii, whose flute playing
is so popularly connected with his love making, and a celebrated heroine
like the beauty who dwelt among the birds of Paliuli, and the story-tellers
are almost certain to couple their names in a tale, confused as regards the
flute, to be sure, but whose classic character is perhaps attested by the
grace of the description. The Hebraic form in which the story of the
approach of the divine beauty is couched can not escape the reader, and may
be compared with the advent of the Sun god later in the story. There is
nothing in the content of this story to justify the idea that the chief had
lost his first wife, Kailiokalauokekoa, unless it be the fact that he is
searching Hawaii for another beauty. Perhaps, like the heroine of
_Halemano_, the truant wife returns to her husband through jealousy of her
rival's attractions.
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