Hawaiian Folk Tales - A Collection of Native Legends by Various
page 41 of 265 (15%)
page 41 of 265 (15%)
|
of Lono's misfortune, Kamakanuiahailono then returned, gathering on
the way the young popolo seeds and its tender leaves in his garment (_kihei_). When he arrived at the place where the wounded man was lying he asked for some salt, which he took and pounded together with the popolo and placed it with a cocoanut covering on the wound. From then till night the flowing of the blood ceased. After two or three weeks had elapsed he again took his departure. While he was leisurely journeying, some one breathing heavily approached him in the rear, and, turning around, there was the chief, and he asked him: "What is it, Lono, and where are you going?" Lono replied, "You healed me; therefore, as soon as you had departed I immediately consulted with my successors, and have resigned my offices to them, so that they will have control over all. As for myself, I followed after you, that you might teach me the art of healing." The _kahuna lapaau_ (medical priest) then said, "Open your mouth." When Lono opened his mouth, the kahuna spat into it, [6] by which he would become proficient in the calling he had chosen, and in which he eventually became, in fact, very skilful. As they travelled, he instructed Lono (on account of the accident to his foot he was called Lonopuha) in the various diseases, and the different medicines for the proper treatment of each. They journeyed through Kau, Puna, and Hilo, thence onward to Hamakua as far as Kukuihaele. Prior to their arrival there, Kamakanuiahailono said to Lonopuha, "It is better that we reside apart, lest your healing practice do not succeed; but you settle elsewhere, so as to gain recognition from your own skill." |
|