Here is a post relaying the story of the mischievous Kaululāʻau from old Hawaiian mythology. E nanea, Enjoy!
[When this post was made, it was originally published around Halloween time]
Kaululāʻau was the son of the king of Maui and a high chieftess. As he grew, the boy became more and more kolohe [mischievous]. He was known for picking every ʻulu [breadfruit] from every tree he could find, leaving the island almost barren of the fruit. The king, his father, angry at these actions and the young man's unending kolohe behavior, banished Kaululāʻau to the neighboring island of Lānaʻi - an island infested with man-eating akua and lapu [spirits and ghosts].
Proximity of Maui [right] and Lānaʻi [left]
After arriving, Kaululāʻau's ʻaumakua [household god] appeared to him, advising him to stay the night in a specific cave. Kaululāʻau did as was told of him. The following day, several malicious akua inquired where he slept last night. Being the kolohe that he was, Kaululāʻau lied and said he slept in some thistles and he'll be sleeping there again tonight. This scene repeated night after night, the akua unable to find him at night and Kaululāʻau lying about where he was and where he'll be sleeping the subsequent night. This happened so much that the akua exhausted themselves to death looking for Kaululāʻau, thus ridding the island of Lānaʻi of the akua.
Eventually, Kaululāʻau's parents (the royalty of Maui) spotted his campfire afar from their island of Maui. Upon this discovery of their son's survival, they brought Kaululāʻau back home and made him a prince.
Pau!
I'm not the best storyteller, so below, after the vocab section, are the much-better-told short stories about Kaululāʻau!
Hua ʻōlelo:
- Kolohe = mischievous, rascal (this is a common word to learn at the beginning of a Hawaiian class, which suggests this trait [the trickster, prankster] was common in mythology)
- ʻulu = breadfruit (note the inclusion of this word in the name Kaululāʻau)
- Akua = God; spirit
- Lapu = ghost
- ʻaumakua = household god, family protector
- Pau = done, finished
Also, some stories translate "akua" and "lapu" as goblins or other types of monsters.
Here is my blog post about two types of Hawaiian ghosts: the ʻaumakua and the lapu.
SOURCES:
Story (page 486, PDF page 562):
Story (PDF page 11):
Details about how Kaululāʻau killed akua:
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