Where Mountain Meets Sea: HAWAII'S STORY (1)

Makua Kahiko

•• ━━━━━ •1805• ━━━━━ ••

Before long, the unexpected meeting of England and Hawaiʻi led to a friendship, though not with him himself. His departure led to the arrival of the legend, the god himself, the British Empire. Hawaiʻi had heard countless stories of the man, of his deeds, of conquest, of failure (From American sailors), of reverence and awe.

Hawaiʻi did not know what to make of him, and so her first question to the strange man, after pleasantries exchanged, was, "Are you god or man?"

Britain's response was unexpected and unsettling and so very interesting. Instead of providing a direct answer, he let out a hearty laugh that echoed through the air, leaving Hawaiʻi even more perplexed. His laughter seemed to mock the very idea of the question she had asked as if he found it absurd.

"I am just about as human as you are. No less than that," Britain smiled. The very presence of this strange man, with his fair eyes, light hair, and peculiar attire, was unlike anything she had ever witnessed.

And he was no god? How could this be? His very existence defied what she knew of this world.

When she had spoken to Kauaʻi a me Niʻihau about it all, he shook his head, saying that he did not believe any of them were gods, though they were set apart for a reason. Britain, as he had said, was nothing more than another akua 'āina, land spirit of some far away place Hawaiʻi could never see.

"Why not?" Hawaiʻi asked, frowning.

"Because your place is with your people," Kauaʻi said angrily. "You can't go off running all over the world just because he's something like you."

Before Hawaiʻi could argue with him, tell him that Britain was so very kind and interesting and respectable, he had bowed low before leaving, like he always did before an argument. Makaweli, the sister who knew Kauaʻi best, had only shrugged.

Hawaiʻi didn't like it when people only shrugged.

Hawaiʻi didn't like Britain's language much. She much preferred her own. However, he suggested she learn more English and to widen her vocabulary for the sake of communication and trade.

He told her stories about European countries like France, Russia and Spain. He told her about America, who had gained independence just a few years before, though with a general distaste. Then again, he spoke of most countries with a distaste Hawaiʻi didn't understand.

Stories about victories and battles never ran dry, from wars won easily to the big and bloody battles that he loved to spare her most of the details of. Claims of the Navy's might, which was what he seemed to be proudest of, and how many times he had won against France.

She marvelled at what he had accomplished, so she listened to each story and learnt more and more about the world.

In return, she answered every question he asked, though they were few, and mostly about things of which she thought was common knowledge. The gods she knew, the way the ahupuaʻa system worked, the word Aloha, meaning so many many things.

And the great British Empire listened to her with what she thought to be admiration.

Soon other countries began visiting her home as well, all to be diplomatic and set up trades. They were all very interesting and different.

One of the first to arrive after Britain was France, who sounded so different from anyone Hawaiʻi had ever met. Instead of the pronounced, practised sounding words like Britain or the softly (and rarely) spoken England, France let words flow together like the river that ran by Hawaiʻi's home.