Pele's Revenge
A Hawaii Legend
retold by
S.E. Schlosser
Ohi'a and Lehua loved each other from the moment they first saw each other at a village dance. Ohi'a was a tall strong man with a handsome face and lithe form. He was something of a trickster and was first in all the sports played by all the young men. Lehua was gentle and sweet and as fragile as a flower. Her beauty was the talk of the island, and her father was quite protective of his only child.
When Lehua saw the handsome, bold Ohi'a speaking with her father beside the bonfire, she blushed crimson, unable to take her eyes from the young man. At the same moment, Ohi'a glanced up from his conversation and his mouth dropped open at the sight of the beautiful maiden. He was not even aware that he had stopped speaking right in the middle of his sentence, so overwhelmed was he by the sight of the fair maiden across the fire from him.
Lehua's father nudged the young man, recalling him to his duties as a guest. Ohi'a stuttered and stammered apologies, trying to continue his conversation while keeping one eye on the fair Lehua. Lehua's father was amused by the young man's obvious infatuation with his daughter. He quite liked this bold trickster, and so he offered to introduce Ohi'a to his daughter. The young man almost fell over in his haste as they walked across the clearing to where Lehua stood with her friends.
From that moment, there was no other woman for Ohi'a but Lehua. He had eyes only for her, and courted her with a passion and zeal that swiftly won her heart. Her father gave his only daughter gladly into the keeping of the strong young man, and the young couple lived quite happily for several months in a new home Ohi'a built for his bride.
Then one day the goddess Pele was walking in the forest near the home of the handsome Ohi'a and spied the young man at work. Pele was smitten by him, and went at once to engage him in conversation. Ohi'a spoke politely to the beautiful woman, but did not respond to her advances, which infuriated Pele. She was determined to have this young man for herself, but before she could renew her efforts, Lehua came to the place her young husband was working to bring him his midday meal.
When he saw his lovely wife, Ohi'a's face lit up with love. He dropped everything at once and went to her side, leaving a fuming Pele to stare in jealous rage at the young couple. Dropping her human disguise, the goddess transformed into a raging column of fire and struck Ohi'a down, transforming him into a twisted ugly tree in revenge for spurning her advances.
Lehua fell to her knees beside the twisted tree that had once been her husband. Tears streaming down her lovely face, she begged Pele to turn him back into a man or else turn her into a tree, as she could not bear to be separated from her beloved. But Pele ignored the girl, taking herself up to the cool heights, her anger satisfied. But the gods saw what Pele had done to the innocent lovers and were angry. As Lehua lay weeping in despair, the gods reached down and transformed the girl into a beautiful red flower, which they placed upon the twisted Ohi'a tree, so that she and her beloved husband would never more be apart.
From that day to this, the Ohi'a tree has blossomed with the beautiful red Lehua flowers. While the flowers remain on the tree, the weather remains sunny and fair. But when a flower is plucked from the tree, then heavy rain falls upon the land like tears, for Lehua still cannot bear to be separated from her beloved husband Ohi'a.
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Comments
wow!!!! what a nice story.
i dont find it that scary..
.when 2 people love eachother and they want to reveal how love can be greatful and meaningful up to the last minute.
Posted by: grace | October 10, 2010 05:23 PM
Not really scary but it's sweet. :) I like it! :D
Posted by: Miranda | October 11, 2010 11:23 AM
great!!!!!!so inspiring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 12, 2010 05:15 PM
SweeT
Posted by: koko | October 13, 2010 06:10 AM
that is sweet and sad happy
Posted by: not telling | October 21, 2010 07:36 PM
Brillant
Posted by: Anonymous | October 24, 2010 10:41 PM
yeah i know rite!!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 26, 2010 06:36 PM
Brillant
Posted by: Anonymous | October 27, 2010 10:50 PM
totally brought tears to my eye lol
Posted by: Boyd | October 28, 2010 12:27 PM
well it wasnt scary but it was so sweet and that shows true love
Posted by: anonymus19 | October 30, 2010 07:26 PM
SUPER GOOD
Posted by: nbjhvjhv | October 31, 2010 10:45 AM
that story is so sweet i real love it
Posted by: tamera | November 3, 2010 08:22 AM
this story is really sweet. i love it.
Posted by: aj | November 11, 2010 07:23 PM
That was very beautiful - a little suprising on this page but very pleasing !
Posted by: sheshe | November 11, 2010 08:03 PM
That was so sweet...
Posted by: Anonymous | December 4, 2010 04:38 PM
aWeSoME:)
Posted by: ashley | December 8, 2010 01:27 PM
This is a sweet story but i wonder how old it is???????????????????? heard the story before but a different version.
Posted by: Alysia | January 8, 2011 04:21 PM
Thats cute
Posted by: Sarah | January 9, 2011 02:28 PM
that so cool
Posted by: eddie | January 26, 2011 10:42 AM
love it!
Posted by: Anonymous | February 28, 2011 03:51 PM
Aw, that's a good story
Posted by: Simone | March 20, 2011 05:28 PM
This is a story of true love and sacrifice. This couple loved each other with agape love. This is a term used by the blackfoot tribe to love unconditionally and without judgement. This kind of love is rare in todays world
Posted by: Helen | March 21, 2011 03:14 PM
amazing!!
Posted by: marie | May 6, 2011 10:39 PM
This is soooooooooo cute :)
Posted by: Lynne | May 21, 2011 04:26 PM
LOVE IT! :D
Posted by: Hanna | June 22, 2011 04:31 PM
I thought it was so sweet I love being a hawiian Pele needs an attitude ajustment if I was a god I would take her powers away and turn her into to a tree!!!!!
Posted by: Cassie H | June 23, 2011 01:34 PM
It was a beautiful story, its not scary at all. Its also very sad wat happens to the husband. ;-(
Posted by: Alicia Campa | July 30, 2011 02:46 PM
I think this is the perfect example of undying love. I love it!!! <3
Posted by: Erin | July 31, 2011 03:05 PM
this a good story, but how come it is with the native american myths? i havent found any blackfoot or cheerokee stories tho. wich sucks cuz im blackfoot and cheerokee.
Posted by: mossface | August 15, 2011 01:30 AM
Very nice story!!Very interesting
Posted by: Anonymous | August 19, 2011 10:55 AM