The Royal Hunchback

The Legends and Myths of Hawaiʻi - The Fables and Folk-Lore of a Strange People

A chief from a southern province seeks an audience in the palace of Kanipahu, the king of the island of Hawaiʻi. Wronged by one of the kingʻs military advisors, Chief Kamaiole kills the man once he is in the presence of the sovereign. He escapes and begins a campaign of revenge that eventually ousts Kanipahu from the throne. The king is exiled to Molokaʻi and replaced by his challenger. But the cruel reign of Kamaiole extracts a toll from the Hawaiian people. The high priest of the island crosses the ocean determined to convince Kanipahu to lead the amassing rebel armies, but instead finds a broken man whose body has succumbed to the years of toil in the fields. Is a long-standing blood debt powerful enough to make a commoner a king again?

Preserved over the centuries by oral tradition, King David Kalākaua captured this story of duty and honor in his book The Legends and Myths of Hawai'i.

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