Research source

Then the darkness of evening came, and in the shadows the little people labored in the moonless night

Date of account: Published 1915
Source: Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology) Collected and Translated from the Hawaiian
Reference: Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology) Collected and Translated from the Hawaiian · selected passage 104
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-25

Record summary

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

Then the darkness of evening came, and in the shadows the little people labored in the moonless night. Soon their work was done, the house finished, and a sacred drum placed inside. When the clear sky of the morning rested over, and the sun made visible the fairy home in the early dawn, the people cried out with wonder at the beautiful thing before them. There stood a house of glowing feathers of all colors. Posts and rafters of polished bones shone like the ivory teeth of the whale, tinted in the smoke of a fire. Softly swayed the feathered thatch in a gentle breeze, rustling through the surrounding cocoa-trees. Most beautiful it was, as in the chant of Lilinoe:

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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