Reading and Listening Practice
This free reading practice is available to both members and non-members of ʻŌlelo Online.
Ke Kono A Pelekāne
In early 1887, an invitation was sent to the Hawaiian Royals, specifically King Kalākaua, inviting them to the 50th Jubilee of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. This reading practice lesson focuses on Chapter One of the book “He Moʻolelo Pōkole” by James W. L. McGuire (1938) titled “Ke Kono a Pelekāne,” meaning in essence “The Invitation sent by Great Britain”.
Listen & Learn
The resources for this lesson include a vocabulary sheet, marked-up PDFs, and audio readings for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced levels.
You can listen as you follow along in the text; you can use the files to practice transcribing Hawaiian; or you can just enjoy listening to a good story in the Hawaiian language!
Following the resources section below, please find the complete chapter text (in Hawaiian) along with a quick English translation (by me) to help you understand the story so far.
Next Steps
Following this chapter is “Ka Haʻalele ʻAna Iā Hawaiʻi” (The Departure From Hawaiʻi) which you will find here.
Downloadable Resources
- PDF Chapter One: “Ke Kono a Pelekāne”
- Vocabulary sheet of new words for “Ke Kono a Pelekāne.”
Reading Practice PDFs
Read-Along Audio Files
Ke Kono A Pelekāne
Ma nā lā mua o ka makahiki 1887, ua loaʻa maila he palapala kono i ka Mōʻī Kalākaua mai ke Aupuni mai ʻo Pelekāne, e kono mai ana e komo pū aku i loko o nā hana hoʻohiwahiwa o ka piha ʻana o nā makahiki he kanalima o ka nohoaliʻi ʻana o ka Mōʻīwahine Victoria ma luna o ka nohoaliʻi o Beretania Nui. I ka wā naʻe i loaʻa mai ai ʻo kēia kono, e noho ana ka Mōʻī Kalākaua a me ke aloaliʻi, a me ka lāhui Hawaiʻi holoʻokoʻa, i loko o ke kanikau no ka Mea Kiʻekiʻe ke Kamāliʻiwahine Miriam Kapili Likelike, (Mrs. A. S. Cleghorn), i hala aku i ka make. No laila, ua hiki ʻole i ka Mōʻī Kalākaua ke hoʻokō kino aku i kēia kono a ke Aupuni ʻo Pelekāne. Akā, ua hoʻoholo koke ihola nō ke Aliʻi, e hoʻouna aku i kāna Aliʻiwahine i aloha nui ʻia, ka Mōʻīwahine Kapiʻolani, i pani hakahaka ma kona wahi, a i hoʻokō ʻia ai hoʻi ke kono a ke Aupuni ʻo Pelekāne. Ua maikaʻi kēia hoʻoponopono ʻana i ka manaʻo o nā aliʻi, a ua lilo nā lā o ka mahina ʻo Pepeluali a me Malaki o ka makahiki 1887 i mau lā hoʻomākaukau no nā wahi pono kino no ka hele ʻana.
Ma kēia huakaʻi a ka Mōʻīwahine Kapiʻolani, ua hoʻouna pū ʻia nō hoʻi ke Kamāliʻiwahine Liliʻuokalani, ka hoʻoilina o ka Nohoaliʻi o Hawaiʻi, i hoahele no ka Mōʻīwahine, a ua hele pū nō hoʻi me kāna kāne, ke kiaʻāina John O. Dominis (Keoni Kamaki), kona (Liliʻuokalani) ukali pilikino ponoʻī. Ua hele pū ma kēia huakaʻi a ka Mōʻīwahine, ka Hon. Curtis Piehu* ʻIaukea, ka Puʻukū a ka Mōʻī, Konela James H. Boyd, a me ka Mea Kākau nei, i poʻe ukali no ka Mōʻīwahine, a me ka wahine mālama kapa o ke aliʻi, ʻo ia hoʻi ʻo Pahupahu. Ma ka ʻaoʻao o ke Kamāliʻiwahine, ua lawe nō hoʻi ʻo ia iā Joseph ʻAeʻa a me Charley *Kaiaiki, i mau kānaka lawelawe nona. ʻO kēia poʻe aʻela a pau i hōʻike ʻia ma luna, mai nā aliʻi, nā ukali, a me ka poʻe lawelawe, ua hala aku i ke ao polohiwa a Kāne, a koe mai e ola nei i kēia lā, ka Hon. Konela Curtis Piehu* ʻIaukea a me ka Mea Kākau.
Aloha nō ia mau lā o nā makahiki he 50 i kūnewa akula!
Translation
The Invitation Sent By Great Britain
In the first days of the year 1887, an invitation was received by King Kalākaua from the Country/Kingdom/Government of England, inviting [us] to be involved in the honorary celebrations on the completion of fifty years of rulership of Queen Victoria on the throne of Great Britain. At the time, however, when this invitation was received, King Kalākaua and his retinue, as well as the whole Hawaiian race, found themselves in the midst of mourning for Her Royal Highness Princess Miriam Kapili Likelike (Mrs. A. S. Cleghorn), who had passed away. It was therefore not possible for King Kalākaua to personally fulfill this invitation of the English Kingdom. But the royal quickly decided to send his beloved chiefess, Queen Kapi‘olani, as a substitute in his place, so that the invitation of the English Kingdom could be fulfilled. The chiefs all thought this solution a good idea, and the days of February and March of the year 1887 became days of preparation for the personal items [needed] for the journey.
On this trip of Queen Kapi‘olani, Princess Lili‘uokalani, the heir to the throne of Hawai‘i, was also sent, as travelling companion for the Queen, and she went along with her husband, governor John O. Dominis (Keoni Kamaki), her (Lili‘uokalani) personal escort. Also on this journey of the Queen was Honorable Curtis Piehu* ‘Iaukea, the treasurer (?) of the King, Colonel James H. Boyd, and this writer, as attendants of the Queen, as well as the woman who took care of the garments of the chiefess, that being Pahupahu. On the side of the Princess, she took Joseph ‘Ae‘a and Charley Kaiaiki* as stewards for herself. All of these people mentioned above, from the chiefs, the attendants, and the escorts and stewards, have all passed along the path of the great dark clouds of Kāne [fig., death], excepting Honorable Colonel Curtis Piehu* ‘Iaukea and the writer, who are still alive today.
O what fond recollection for those days 50 years ago which have passed by so quickly!
translation by Kaliko Trapp
* note that some names have not been modernized in spelling because the exact meaning is not known to the translator.
Aloha kākou! Some of you might ask, “How can one write out that long year number, 1887?”
Here it is: 1887 – ʻumi-kūmāwalu-kanawalu-kūmāhiku (to help you see the pieces)
or ʻumikūmāwalu kanawalukūmāhiku.
ʻUmi = 10 ; walu = 8 ; kanawalu = 80 ; hiku = 7 ;
-kūmā- is what I think of as “going until-[next number]” Aloha!