Nuhou, Volume I, Number 12, 20 January 1874 — Untitled [ARTICLE]

The"Arabis,n Nights Entertaiments M Havc afforded mueli deligbt to tbc Wost as to the East, aiui ,tliey are l'av more faiuiliar in tne parlors of Eurcjpe anel Ameiiea tlian in tlie teots ofArabia. The innocent mventioiis of Sclieljezerade are tittcd to eliavm every raee, and tbe youth oFcvery land wlll bc pleased to foliow the good humored Caliph in his noeiianal ranib)es through the £>ti£eb oflvjgdad or travel \vitli Sinbad in sympathy \vith bis extraordlnary adventures, We believe that Hawaiians woulel delight in eueh stories. We have had a good opporturiity to observe the they took in the fairy tale of Cinderella; tlipy rejoieed in the good fortunc of the heroine, arid cvidently felt 110 disappointment at mt finding iiieretrieious exeitcment in the etory. TherefOre we believe if, as thc editor of the Gazetlc statcs in hie iesue of the 10th he has publiehed a iorrect tranelation of the story, of the fjamous yAra-biari'.Nights * £ whieh has lieen read over by a earcful Ilawaiian scholar|beforc puWieaHon, and thc proofe revieed by fche |iativc cditor," he has made a aio«?t iwteresting and innoeuou? contribntion to tlie literature of the Hawaiian people, who are in thek ciylized sadlv without the meane of rational amusement. Bufc we a t re «pmpelled to say» that the editor of thc Minigterifil Organ m malving the a?ovc Btatemont, has given uttevanee to abase and willful faJeehood. | In the eo-called Arabian etory> namcd Eoluana Lo, published by the editor of the Ga:a\ r c in thc native ncwspaper entitled the Kuosoa t in all of |ihat portion publi6hcd durin£ the paet ycar, whieh we havc examined, therc U uot a \eetsgc of any characicr or incidcnt l>clougiug to tlic li Araluan Nigbtt* lt is a jumbie of the moet stupid nunglcd with the gro6Best obi>ccnities . The moet prosninent ohi\ractcr6 or creatures of th) s *torj are a sor: of aiul a feinalc deer, who can'movc thrOugh the aii*, at\d who have impuro iu thc cloudt?. This mau-shecp or llipa hie wahiue dia* or shcdeer with a I/o' Walena v>r Lord Wam % U. Thc deer gives bitilt to a son, N\lio U thc chicT hcro of thc etory, aud he is mu!tiu\lly elaimcd by Hipa and Lo he takes }\ name from both, aud i*? callcd 1.0 llim or S!iccp, I!c ie a hand- ! _

some and Btrong human fhe csceptJorj of his forehead and noee wliieli resemble tnoee of a eheep. Xhiß Lo Hipa ie like all hcrof* in yMlve In?ention engage<l in little elpe ex<k'pt erotlc adventure, He movee throngti the deptLf? of the eea, or the air, all the f?ame s He has a laeomou? dream, and goeß In quofft'of the injpnre n??ooiato of hie eleep. Ile passes through kingdc=ujs r,{ lione and other hea6tB,. ( and crcature? in tle air. Tbere are ten ]qngdoiws thut ai.e *lu\ply noted for the erooked teeth of its crcatnres \ nine kiDgdomsf of ieft handed ; i;ir.e k!rjgdoms of rig!it handed folke. and other 6ort3 of kingdomEj imti! he arrives at tlie fifty-seeond kingdom, whieh ie ruled over bv fi f|uecn cal!ed Melevila ur Meh'ille, whom !ie reCogni/.05 as thc person he encountered in jus njiety;di i eaui. Aii«J now commences a most filthy aeeoiUU of eulaeīou? adventure with this queen Mekille and her fcmale companions, There are spripg-l>eds introduced into these incomprehen?ihlc skyey iegion6« aau Ujō n)Oot 6i»ooking s{a(emen(is aio In this connection. ' And thue obsceuity most plainly btated h introduecd t!iroughout this villainous storyj eliilme,] £Q«solemnly» and eo positively to be īdentlcal wHh thc ** Arabian Nights Entertainmpnt*?. V TI er<: cajj be no plea of ignorauce in rega;rd t-> thc [ aVliealion of this story. : The publis!ier bon, in this country ; and -as he ?ny?j he i? by well-versed Ilawaiian i-oholars. It impjt=.-ihV that ho could *ōvcrlook so mueh ; ab-jmination _ but he lbund liis intcrcst in thp publicati ?:j. Fricnds cautioncd liim in re?peet to this Hooiān a Lo, but his ieply signi£ed thai it t,elped him to .his circulation of five Uioiuanel. ln every r:ative j family tliis sto.ry r»as been rcadj and tl.c purlTying influcnce'of thc Gospcl of Jesus has heen rc:> dcred utterly nugatory anioii- a na;rtīallv rer.>; r:ed aud eivili2ed people by this duijnnab!e proj.agandism of most beastly Imaginatiyn. But this is not all. Our Ilawaikm lileiaioie , has bcen i; enviched " by anothcr , the pander, v*lio claims that Ui> tli| £ī line?t $pe\ : | ineu of pure lla>vaiian literature ,in j aud Is entitled | ! This story uiay luwe somc quallty •* j:unty |fur the philologist; but for the tyro iu Chrisui auity, for the simple youth just issulog from- tLe |debaBing naturalness of satagcry it is ' the most impin-e» and the most !?nnudly uas v k y I production that ever from the of ar-y S country. The filthy sh\tements of Jvu onal Cata!i lue, or e?en of Brantome, uothiu& eouipare4to this gsbble of «sexual adVen?urv # whie!: ! wae ded?cftt(Hl to a certi\in *>cTety ts Ka Ahaliu: | Kuokoa, ft the enlightetunent of the 11-uwt\iīi\n | peopie kokua ika na&uao oko Hawaii nei hiEui")? by tlieir frieud (uiakamaka) 11. M. . Whitueyi" publi>hcr of (lie f :; tuiva loke 1 1 | Tbisisa work of 214 ; i\ud Kt us scc ; what tbero i8 in H for the <c euligbteumeut " of ■ the llawaiiau people. In tī;e it , tbat tbls is an \vccoui3t of $ome of U,ie |daughter§ of Hawaii, *hosc e!oi}y will luauee iHawaikne to pp&me a lotlu£ meuiory of t!ielr au\i of iheu' n*Uive lv\nd; i\nd thc puolidicr appcals iu eouelui-iou to tlie, LW'ple of 4tfCt to weleome the TTomau of tho 'TwLii>ht (K;;wa«ioeokt\linla) with tbe ardent !ove of thellawaiian heart, ( <l aloha o fcx puu^il _ i. i Now follo\v us Chndiau rv\\dpt\ if you oau, becft\t?e our heart is slcl of \v!iat W®4iōg ihrough ]&tety, Tt\e story be£ins wlt!; anaoooum of infaDtickte» the ef scTcr&l . a* Ūk (\Ulwc weuki ouly luwe mle ebilam\ presei\od 4 but j t\\ius. L&!cLx

v,ai mu\ are prc6crved bj a priest. lhey ni;c oaeh lakon eai'e of by two old women wiio liavo somc l'aiiy ppwei , 5 of flying on the backs of birdriandof eoiumanding thecleuicnts, »Soon the girls are suljject: to intrigucs for the poeeeeaioii of their pcrsons. The old women act aa procuresses fbr sevcral per«ong. Oue is to possessLaiekawai } but another youtli aided by a eunning woman contrivcs to steal the prize. and in the sea upon a surf boat thc Buccessful youth accomplishes his purposc. (See from page 127 to 133.) This hero ihen aseays to possess the twin sister Laielohelohe,—and the tvvo sisters during the story and. i.uany other women are bandied about from 111 an to man like as in animal intercourse in a fbld or pen. At pag©-i73 and cpntinued in ehapter 20 we find a most abominable statement in respect to getting an ināuenee over a woman. At page 167 we have an account of a mangiving his woman to another with vile particuiars. At page 203 we find a jealous woman interrupting the embraee of her husband wlth another womaii. And so on at pages 204, 206 and 210 there are statements that are an outrage on all deeent 3 Christian or civilized thought. Thc philologist may be : assisted in his study of languages by such a book, but to publish it for the perusal of the youfch of the eountry is a erime that ought not to go unpunished. But we are satisfied thafe it cannofc mueh value for the philologist, as it is evidently a modern production and full of modern ideas, At page 200, the hero who has persuaded a woman to his wish after a period oi physieal purifieation, says then will be done the work of the star of Venus. "Aia no a pau ka haumia, alaila hana aku ma ka hana o ka hoku o Venuka.") And the talk about " minutes and houi'a,'' and our divisions of, time, show plainly that the story is a mere dirty of this day and time, like Hohiana Lo. publaßher supposes that there may be a httle 44 indecorous language • 77 but so far as language is concerned we see no improprietiee,—not a single bad " word. As Ue says in his prefaee the language quite pure, (huaolelo maikai wale ;) but the whole tenor of the story is a tissue of infanticide, ineest, interehange of wo*ien, and promiscuous intercourse, as though the story related ( to the actions of a herd of goats. There is not a hint of any yirtue set fbrth,—not the faintest; suspieion of any idea of ehastity, and libidinous aehievement and cireumvention seem to be the only purpose of the creatures of the story. The publication of these two stories so hryariably beastly in their whole tenor, is a eurse to this race. Of what avail ean be the ināuenee of the Gospēl that ineuleates the virtue of ehastity ? when unbridled appetite is so merqtriciously set forth, and stroiigly recommended to Hawaiian perusal by the son of a pioneer missionarj father, and euBtained by the sanction and approval of a religious Bodj? And why labor to translate and distribute the Word of a pure God, when you spread over the land, at the same time, the filth of heathen imagmation ?