LAIEIKAWAI:  “Bah!  I will not marry him!  No matter who comes I will not sleep with him.  Do not force Aiwohikupua on me again.”

When Aiwohikupua heard this fresh refusal from Laieikawai, his counsellor said, “My lord, it is useless!  There is nothing more to be done except one thing; better put off trying the youngest sister and, if she is refused, my going myself, since we have heard her vehement refusal and the sharp chiding she gave her grandmother.  And now I have only one thing to advise; it is for me to speak and for you to decide.”

“Advise away,” said Aiwohikupua, “If it seems good, I will consent; but if not, I will refuse.”

“Let us go to the grandmother,” said his counsellor, “and ask her; maybe we can get the consent from her.”

Said Aiwohikupua, “There is nothing left to be done; it is over; only one word more—­our sisters, let them stay here in the jungle, for they are worthless.”

Then Aiwohikupua said to his sisters, “You are to stay here; my cherished hope has failed in bringing you here; the forest is your dwelling hereafter.”  It was then pretty near dawn.

At Aiwohikupua’s words all the sisters bowed their heads and wailed.

When Aiwohikupua and his companion started to go, Kahalaomapuana, the youngest sister, called out, “O you two there!  Wait!  Had we known in Kauai that you were bringing us to leave us in this place, we would never have come.  It is only fair that I, too, should have had a chance to win Laieikawai, and had I failed then you would have a right to leave me; we are all together, the guilty with the guiltless; you know me well, I have gained all your wishes.”

When Aiwohikupua heard his youngest sister, he felt himself to blame.

Aiwohikupua called to his sister, “You shall come with me; your older sisters must stay here.”

“I will not go,” answered the youngest sister, “unless we all go together, only then will I go home.”

CHAPTER X

At these words of his youngest sister[43] Aiwohikupua said, “Stay here, then, with your sisters and go with them wherever you wish, but I am going home.”

Aiwohikupua turned to go, and as the two were still on the way, sang the song of Mailehaiwale, as follows: 

  My divine brother,
  My heart’s highest,
  Go and look
  Into the eyes of our parents, say
  We abide here,
  Fed upon the fruit of sin.[44]
  Is constancy perhaps a sin?

Aiwohikupua turned and looked back at his younger sisters and said, “Constancy is not a sin; haven’t I told you that I leave you because you are worthless?  If you had gained for me my desire you would not have to stay here; that was what you were brought here for.”  The two turned and went on and did not listen to the sisters any longer.

When Aiwohikupua and his companion had departed, the sisters conferred together and agreed to follow him, thinking he could be pacified.