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Walter E. Traprock - The Cruise of the Kawa
O tefi tapu, O eio hoki
Hoio-hooio ona haasi tui.
This was set to a slow five-eighths rhythm. A crude translation of the words, lacking entirely the
onomatopoetic quality of the original goes something like this:
Stay, O stay, Moon in your ascending!
Daughter of Pearl and Coral to the Moon up-goes,
Stay, O stay, Moon with light unending,
Coral, Pearl and Moonlight, guard them from falling cocoanuts.
I should stand convicted of ingratitude if I did not here and now pay tribute to the sound common-sense
of Captain Triplett at whose instigation we had embarked upon this our great adventure. As Triplett had
predicted, ere a few days had passed we found awakening within us the fires of ambition which had sunk
lower and lower in our breasts during our two weeks of carousing. We were now responsible married
men. We wanted to do something to take our places in the community.
I began to scribble furtively on the back of an old manuscript - the book of an operetta I had once written,
a musical version of Les Miserables called "Jumping Jean," in reference to which one of the New
York producers, Dillingham, I think, wrote me: "You have out-Hugo-ed Hugo; this is more miserable
than Les Miserables itself!" I noticed also that Swank began to use his atelier jargon of "tonal
values" and "integrity of line," while Whinney showed up one morning in the village circle with a
splendid blossom of the bladder-campion (Silene latifolia) pinned to the center of his helmet.
It was doubtless this renaissance of mental activity that reminded us of the Kawa and of William Henry
Thomas. Great heavens, what would he think of us? Here nearly a month had elapsed, we were mostly
married and had never given him a thought. We were filled with compunction. On top of this Triplett
came to us with the announcement that Baahaabaa had informed him that we might expect a big wind
about this time. Remembering what we had been through the Captain was worried about our tight little
craft.
"He allows," said Triplett, jerking his thumb at the chief, "that we orter git the Tree-with-Wings in out'er
the wet. The question is, where be she?"
I explained our anxieties to Ablutiluti who, after a glance at Moolitonu's diagrammatic shoulder blades,
immediately set out along a winding path to the shore. I was surprised at the shortness of the distance. A
half-hour's walk brought us to the beach and there lay the Kawa as handy as you please. She had been
considerably tidied up since our departure. Our blanket-sail had been stowed and between the
dingey-oars, which were rigged fore-and-aft, stretched a rope of eva-eva from which, to our
surprise, hung an undershirt and a dainty feminine rigolo. But no sign of William Henry Thomas.
In vain we shouted, "Kawa ahoy!" and hurled lumps of coral. All was mysteriously quiet.
Triplett finally pulled out his Colt and, being a dead shot, drilled the undershirt through the second
button. This had the desired effect. Our crew almost immediately appeared on deck and shouted
peevishly, "Hey there, quit it."
I will not repeat what we said in reply as this is a book for the home, but it had a surprising result.
"Is that so?" yelled William Henry Thomas and proceeded to step jauntily over the rail and
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