The Rainbow Maiden

Hawaii is the land of rainbows, where every day is a rainbow day. The tropical sun and misty mountain clouds conspire to create this magic.

Ka-hala-o-puna was the rainbow child, whose parents were the wind and rain. She grew up in the Manoa valley where, as the sunlight touched the misty rain and the wind lightly fluttered, a thousand rainbows bloomed.

Known among the Hawaiians as the rainbow maiden, Kahala flitted across the rocks, raindrops and wind, painting rainbows with her feet. Kahala, with her glowing face and delicate beauty, had many suitors. Among them were Kauhi, chief of the Waikikis, and Mahana, chief of the Kamoilili.

Now, Kauhi, whose family claimed to be descendants of Kamohoalii, the shark god, was a cruel and wicked man. Kahala made it very clear that she had no wish to marry him but he would not take a no for an answer.

If the rainbow maiden would not marry him, no other man would have that good fortune, Kauhi decided. So he secretly had her killed and buried her where no one would find her.

But Kahala had a guardian god, Pueo the owl, who unearthed her grave with his talons and restored her spirit to her body. When Kauhi found out, he killed her once again and buried her but the owl found her body this time too.

This happened many times—Kauhi killed the rainbow maiden and Pueo rescued her again and again. Angry at the owl for not giving up, Kauhi buried her deep, deep down under the roots of a large koa tree. Pueo, the owl god, scratched and tugged until his claws bled but the roots were too strong and too many. Finally, he gave up. Too much time had passed and her spirit would, by now, have descended to Po, the underworld, he thought sadly and flew away.

But what he did not know was that Kahala’s spirit had not given up yet. She wandered around looking for someone who could restore her to her body. It was then that she came upon the noble Mahana, the Kamoilili chief who had wished to marry her.

Mahana had loved her dearly and hence, could feel her spirit’s presence. She led him to where her body lay buried under the koa tree. Seeing the ground disturbed, Mahana dug up the earth and found her body. Although she lay lifeless, Mahana carried her away to his home hoping to restore her back to life with the help of his elder brother who was a kahuna, a witch doctor.

The kahuna tried very hard but could not get her spirit to enter the body. So he invoked two spirit sisters who were their family guardians. The sisters found Kahala’s spirit, lonely and wandering. They coaxed it to enter the body through the feet, while the kahuna uttered magic chants to restore her life.

Kahala was soon brought back to life, much to the delight of Mahana, who nursed her back to health and her original beauty.

As Kahala recovered in his home, Mahana, the chief of the Kamoilili, was worried that Kauhi would sooner or later find out that she was alive and try to harm her.

The only way to settle the matter was to confront him, he thought. So he began frequenting the usual haunts of the Waikiki chief—gambling dens and drinking houses. One day, he managed to taunt him into admitting that he had indeed killed the rainbow maiden.

‘But, I tell you, Ka-hala-o-puna is alive and well in my home!’ declared Mahana.

‘It can’t be! I’ve buried her deep down where no one can save her. Anyone who claims to be the rainbow maiden is an imposter!’ challenged Kauhi.

‘I can prove otherwise,’ said Mahana, who had been waiting for exactly this.

‘Go ahead and prove it then. Bring the rainbow maiden before the mountain god Akaaka and all the chiefs. We’ll see who’s lying,’ said Kauhi. ‘If you are proved wrong, you’ll be baked alive in the imu, the oven.’

‘If not?’ asked Mahana with a smile.

‘Then you can bake me in the oven,’ said Kauhi, his brow darkening with anger. He was not used to being challenged, for none dared oppose him.

However, Kauhi was not taking any chances. He consulted the kahunas in his family and it was generally agreed that they would test the girl to see if she was a ghost. ‘If it is a wayward spirit, we’ll invoke Milu, the god of the underworld, to come and take it back to where it belongs,’ they said.

They instructed Kauhi to spread the tender leaves of the ape plant where the maiden would walk. ‘Only a human can walk over them and bruise them while if a spirit walks upon them, they will be left undisturbed,’ they told him.

On the day of the judgement, all the chiefs gathered in one place with Akaaka, the mountain god, presiding. Akaaka also happened to be Ka-hala-o-puna’s grandfather and he alone could be the best judge.

A large imu was placed in the centre for the sacrifice. Kahala made her way to the spot, accompanied by the two spirit sisters. Seeing the path strewn with ape leaves, the sisters knew it was a test. They didn’t want to leave her side in case this aroused suspicion.

So they whispered in her ear, ‘Kahala, make sure to bruise the leaves on either side of your feet too, or we’ll be caught.’

Kahala walked up to the chiefs slowly, all the while bruising and damaging the leaves. She had passed the test and was recognized as the divine child born of rain and wind. But Kauhi’s chief kahuna intervened: ‘There is a spirit’s presence here, I can feel it! I demand another test. Bring a calabash filled with water and I’ll show you the spirit!’

It was believed that the face one saw reflected in a calabash of water was that of a spirit. So a vessel was brought in filled with water and placed before the kahuna.

In his eagerness to catch the spirit, the kahuna forgot about his own spirit self and leaned over the water. There reflected was his own spirit, which escaped his body to briefly bathe in the waters. Before he could leap back into his own body, Akaaka leaped forward and, putting his hands into the water, crushed the spirit with his mighty hands. The evil kahuna lay dead beside the calabash.

As for Kauhi, he had lost his wager and was burnt in the imu. And finally, goodness prevailed and Kahala, the rainbow maiden, was married to Mahana, the Kamoilili chief.