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Article Excerpt
Translator's Introduction
Hawaiian-language newspapers ran from 1834 to 1948, producing more than one hundred thousand newspaper pages. These are a largely untapped resource detailing Hawaiian thought on subjects ranging from international and local events to cultural preservation. A good deal of the news and stories that appeared in the papers were translated from European languages. "Umiumi Uliuli," a translation of an English chapbook version of "Bluebeard," appeared on June 14, 1862, in the newspaper Ka Nupepa Kuokoa. The translation is signed only by the initials J. W. and noted as being "unuhiia no ke Kuokoa"--that is, "translated for the Kuokoa."
"Umiumi Uliuli" was the tenth in a series of at least sixteen fairy tales, which included "The Twelve Brothers," "Cinderella," "Iron Hans," "Snow White," "Beauty and the Beast," "Blue Bird," "Puss in Boots," and "Bluebeard." My article in this issue, "How Blue Is His Beard? An Examination of the 1862 Hawaiian-Language Translation of "Bluebeard," offers a reading of "Umiumi Uliuli."
Some time ago, there lived a certain very rich man. He had numerous beautiful houses. His dishes, they were made of gold and silver; his beds and chairs, they were covered in the highest quality silk; his carriages, they were gilded and polished until they shone. What made this man very peculiar was the blue of his beard; therefore, he was very terrible to look upon, and the women of his area were afraid to be in his company. There was a very distinguished woman who lived in that area, and she had two daughters, both of whom were very beautiful.
Umiumi Uliuli requested of this woman that she give one of her daughters as a wife for him, and it was left to the woman which of her daughters she would give. (1) As for these girls, they often said among themselves that neither of them had the slightest desire to marry Umiumi Uliuli. What they said in public was that neither of them could marry him lest one be deprived of the benefit gained by the other.
The truth of the matter was that neither of them could even think of marrying the man with the blue beard, the reason being that the two of them had heard there were a great number of women he had married before, but no one knew where they had disappeared to.
Because of Umiumi Uliuli's great desire for something that would make them like him, he urged the woman and her daughters, along with some other women, to go to one of his houses in the country, where they would stay and pass a few weeks. At all times they were only engaged in leisure activities: hunting, playing musical instruments, hula, and feasting. Not a single one of them had the slightest thought of sleep, because their nights were dedicated to all sorts of amusements.
In short, their time was lost to pleasure, and the youngest of these daughters began to think that the blue beard, of which she had been quite afraid, was not extremely blue, and the gentleman to whom belonged this beard was actually kind and gracious. After they returned home, this girl said to her mother that she had changed her mind about refusing to take Umiumi Uliuli as a husband. And a short time later, the two of them were married.
One month after their marriage, Umiumi Uliuli said to his wife, "I am leaving you for a few weeks because I have business in the country." He directed his wife to divert herself with amusing activities and have her friends come by as she wished and take care of them, so that her stay would be relaxing until he returned.
This man said, "Here are the keys to the wardrobes. This is the key to the great chest containing the china, which is to be set for the visitors; this is for my safe, the place where I keep all my silver; this key is for the chest in which I keep my gold; and here is the master key to unlock all of the doors; and as for this tiny, little key, this is for the very last room downstairs. I am giving them to you, to open all the doors, and to do with as you wish, except for this last little room; my beloved, don't dare to enter, and don't dare to even insert the key into the lock, even if it were for the entire world. If you don't heed this tiny thing, then you may expect the most dire punishment." She gave her sincere agreement, and he kissed his wife and left.
After Umiumi Uliuli left, the friends of the wife did not wait until they were...
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