Kûwili ( Stand Entwined) - Kaleiepu
Aia i Kûwili `eâ
O Kanaueue


E naue kaua `ea
I ka `ai ho`opau


Holu a ka lau nui `eâ
`O ko`u hoa `ia


Noho ana me a`u `eâ
E holu ana me `ia la


Aia i Kailina `eâ
I uka Kahauwiki


Ho a`e kaua `eâ
Kai a’o Halehai


`A`ole no nau `eâ
Na ka manu i Hele le`a


Aha le`ale`a maka `eâ
Noho ka `ino i loko


Ha`ina ka puana `eâ
Kai a`o Hale hai

 

There at Interwoven
Rotation


We rotate and
Do it till finished


Slide in and out of the coco frond
Of my companion


Staying with me
Sliding in and out with that one


There is Kailina
Mauka is small hau tree


We two make soft
The one of Hiring House


Not for me
Belongs to the bird at Go-Happy


When pleasing the appearance
Ugliness stays inside


Tell the theme
The one of Hiring House

 

Source: Noble’s "Hawaiian Hulas" - Kûwili was the red-light district of Honolulu makai (towards the ocean) of Nimitz highway, bordering Leleo and Iwilei. Verse 1, stanza 2, Kanaueue (rotating of the hips) was the name of a fish pond at Kûwili. Verse 5, stanza 2, mauka is the direction towards the mountains. Kahauwiki is the area where Fort Shafter is located. Hale is sometimes used to describe a woman. The whaling industry was credited with establishing prostitution in the 1800’s. The notorious house of prostitution, or Hale Le`a, called the Iwilei Stockade was eventually shut down by the legislature in 1916. Copyright 1934,62 Miller Music Corp. Recorded by Moana Chang "Boat Days in Hawai`i" CD. Translated by Kini Sullivan