As my uncle and I drove up the Southern Coast of Kaua'i this past summer, we had the chance to visit Spouting Horn, which the native Hawaiians called Puhi (blowhole). From the lookout point of where Spouting Horn lies, we could hear the waves crash and travel through the rocks, causing a loud thundering roar and hissing sound. Just like any other tourist, we saw it as something beautiful and mesmerizing but it was so much more than a pretty view.
When it comes to legends and mythological tales, it's like reading or watching a disney fairy-tale. There's no real life experience therefore questioning one's beliefs of whether it sounds real or fake. For the most part, I believe that stories are just creative imaginative alternate realities of what we sometimes wish things to be or how we believe they should be.
However, when being told a folklore tale from your culture and being able to travel to the exact place of where that tale is believed to have happened is a cathartic, most exhilarating experience.
For me, being told a Hawaiian legend and getting the chance to experience it up front makes the story come alive and more special than reading or watching any other typical tale. It also makes me feel more connected to my ancestors as well as believing what they believed in.
As I sat across the table at dinner with my aunt, she began to tell of a small tale.
This roaring legend tells of Kaikapu a mo'o (lizard) and a native named Liko. While Liko tried to escape from Kaikapu, he thought it would be smart to fool Kaikapu into following him under the lava shelf beneath the surface of the ocean. In succeeding into luring the mo'o, Liko escaped through the hole at the top of the rocks through the blowhole leaving Kaikapu stuck in the tube that still sits beneath the surface today. From that day forward it is believed that with each burst of ocean water that escapes through the blowhole is the sound of Kaikapu breathing.
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