Makua was a farmer of windward O‘ahu, but he was more than that. He was also a kahuna, or priest. He had been trained in Far Kahiki and served the heiau wisely and well.
His son was an earnest young man who worked early and late on the farm and who learned all that his father could teach. But Makua wanted his son to have power and wisdom greater than his own. Again and again he prayed,
“O Kāne, O Kanaloa,
Be my son’s teachers
That he may become
A kahuna, wiser, greater
Than his father.”
Had the gods heard his prayer? Makua wondered.
One day as he prepared the evening meal, Makua heard voices outside his eating house. Two men were coming up the trail. “Aloha!” Makua called to them. “You are welcome. Come in and eat with us.” He set food before the men, ‘awa, poi, bananas, and shellfish from the reef. Then as was his custom he made offering and prayed to Kāne and Kanaloa. After his prayer he and his guests ate and rested.
Darkness was coming as the strangers rose to leave. “Do not go,” Makua begged. “Mats are ready in our sleeping house. The trail is steep and dark. Stay here until the morning.”
“Our way will not be dark,” the strangers answered.
Suddenly Makua knew his guests. “Kāne and Kanaloa!” he whispered.
“Yes. We have heard your prayers. In good time we shall answer them. We shall send a messenger for your son to bring him to our land, where we shall be his teachers. Then he will return, wiser than his father as you have prayed. Be patient for in good time our messenger will come.” Makua’s heart was full of joy.
But the time was long. Years passed, and no messenger appeared. Had the gods forgotten? Makua waited patiently and prayed. There seemed to be no answer to his prayer.
One day as father and son worked in the taro patch they heard the sound of shouting coming faintly from the beach. The young man raised his head to listen. “What is it?” he wondered. “I must go to the beach and learn why people shout.”
“Wait!” said Makua. “Tonight our neighbors will return and we shall hear.”
They did indeed! The neighbors talked excitedly. “A whale!” they said. “A whale has come ashore. Its tail rests on the beach and it lies there quiet, washed by the waves.”
“Dead?” asked Makua’s son.
“We do not know. It is still as in death, yet seems alive. We dare not cut the flesh to take it to the chief.”
“Why was there shouting?”
“Boys climbed upon the whale. They ran the length of the great creature, then plunged into the sea as from a cliff.”
“What glorious sport!” the young man cried. “I am going to the beach tomorrow to see the whale, to run along its length and jump into deep water. Such a chance may never come again!”
But Makua was unwilling. Something seemed to tell him of danger to his son.
Days passed. Each evening neighbors told them of the whale. It still lay quiet as in death. Still men and boys were jumping from its body. “I must see it, Father!” the young man said again.
Makua feared to have him go, yet saw no reason for his fear. “Yes, go, my son,” he said at last. Gladly the young man gathered flowers.
Next morning, decked with the lei which he had made and wearing a new malo, he hurried to the beach. There lay the whale! Makua’s son gazed long and touched the firm sides with his hands. At last he climbed, ran the length of the great beast, and leaped into the sea. Truly it was glorious sport! Again and again, with others, he ran, jumped, and swam back to the beach to run and jump again.
Suddenly there was a shout of warning, “E! Jump! Jump quickly!” Makua’s son seemed to feel an earthquake. The whale was moving. Men jumped this way and that fleeing from it. Only Makua’s son stood for a moment frightened, not knowing what to do. In that moment the whale plunged from the beach and swam more swiftly than a canoe can sail before the wind.
Makua heard wailing voices. Then his neighbors came. “He is gone!” they told Makua. “The whale swam away. Your son was on its back. We saw him clinging there as the whale disappeared.”
“Gone forever!” the father cried. “Oh, I begged him not to go down to the beach. I knew some danger waited there. Auē! Aue!”
For days Makua mourned. Then came a dream. In sleep his gods, Kāne and Kanaloa, stood beside his mats. “Do not mourn,” they said. “At last your prayer is answered. Our messenger came for your son and brought him safely to our land. We are his teachers. After a time he will return to you.”
And so it was. The son returned at last with wisdom and great power. Makua lived to see his boy a very great kahuna, a wise leader. And Makua thanked the gods.
Told by Mary Kawena Pūku‘i