“Pua ka wiliwili nanahu ka mano…” “When the wiliwili tree blooms, the sharks bite….” (“A beautiful woman attracts young men – sharks – who become fierce rivals over her.”)

– ‘Olelo No‘eau, Proverb 2701

La‘ieikawai by S.N. Haleole tells the story of the wooing of a young native chiefess of great beauty and high rank, her fall from grace, and her final deification among the gods. The story was serialized in Hawaiian in 1862-1863 in Ka Nupepa Kuokoa and published as a book in 1863. This edition is a modernized version of the classic Martha W. Beckwith translation, first published in 1919. Edited by Dennis Kawaharada, Richard Hamasaki, and Esther Mookini.

ISBN-13: 978-1516995226. 144 pages. $12.95.

Available from Amazon.com. (Out of Print at UH Press)