KOOLAU THE LEPER
"Because we are sick they take away our liberty. We have obeyed the
law. We have done no wrong. And yet they would put us in prison.
Molokai is a prison. That you know. Niuli, there, his sister was sent
to Molokai seven years ago. He has not seen her since. Nor will he
ever see her. She must stay there until she dies. This is not her will.
It is not Niuli\'s will. It is the will of the white men who rule the land.
And who are these white men?
"We know. We have it from our fathers and our fathers\' fathers.
They came like lambs, speaking softly. Well might they speak softly,
for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours. As I say,
they spoke softly. They were of two kinds. The one kind asked our
permission, our gracious permission, to preach to us the word of God.
The other kind asked our permission, our gracious permission, to trade
with us. That was the beginning. Today all the islands are theirs, all
the land, all the cattle--everything is theirs. They that preached the
word of God and they that preached the word of Rum have fore-gathered
and become great chiefs. They live like kings in houses of many rooms,
with multitudes of servants to care for them. They who had nothing
have everything, and if you, or I, or any Kanaka be hungry, they sneer
and say, \'Well, why don\'t you work? There are the plantations.\'