| 2 | ʻAʻa i ka hula, waiho ka hilahila i ka hale. | When one wants to dance the hula, bashfulness should be left at home. |
| | [Also expressed Aʻo i ka hula,....] |
| 3 | A ʻai ka manu i luna. | The birds feed above. |
| | [An attractive person is compared to a flower-laden tree that attracts birds.] |
| 5 | Aʻeaʻe mōhala i luna o ke kukui. | Whiteness unfolds on the kukui trees. |
| | [Used in reference to a person who grays, comparing him to a blooming kukui tree laden with white flowers.] |
| 6 | ʻĀhaʻi akula i ka welowelo. | Took off into the breeze. |
| | [Rose in triumph, as a kite rises into the sky; hastened away with great speed.] |
| 7 | ʻĀhaʻi lā i ka pupuhi. | Away like a gust [of wind]. |
| | [Travel with the speed of wind.] |
| 14 | Ahu ka hoka i Kapākai. | A heap of disappointment at Kapākai. |
| | [Fooled and left stranded. In ancient times, two fishermen sailed from Kapākai, a small canoe landing between ʻUpolu Point and the heiau of Moʻokini in Kohala. As they were about to leave for Maui, a stranger asked permission to accompany them, and it was granted. Late that night one of the fishermen signaled to the other to toss the passenger overboard because he was doing nothing to help with the canoe. The passenger guessed what they were up to and cried, “Oh! I forgot my cowry sinkers at the canoe landing.” Cowry sinkers were valuable, so they turned about and retumed to Kapākai. Upon landing, the passenger leaped ashore. When asked where the sinkers were, he pointed to two half-buried rocks nearby. The fishermen were disappointed (hoka) in not obtaining the coveted cowry sinkers. In another version the saying originated at the birth of Kamehameha I on a canoe. At the landing at Kapākai his mother pretended illness, whieh drew attention to herself and gave Naeʻole the opportunity to seize the newborn baby and flee with him into hiding.] |
| 16 | Ahu kāpeku i ka nalu o Puhili. | Much thrashing about in the surf of Puhili. |
| | [Signifying an abundance of food. Thrashing about in the water drives fish into the nets.] |
| 18 | Ahu kupanaha ka lā i Mānā. | Peculiar is the action of the sun in Mānā. |
| | [Said of a delusion. Mānā, Kauaʻi, is a place where mirages were once seen.] |
| 19 | Ahulau ka Piʻipiʻi i Kakanilua. | A slaughter of the Piʻipiʻi at Kakanilua. |
| | [In the battle between Kahekili of Maui and Kalaniʻōpuʻu of Hawaiʻi, on the sand dunes of Wailuku, Maui, there was a great slaughter of Hawaiʻi warriors who were called the Piʻipiʻi. Any great slaughter might be compared to the slaughter of the Piʻipiʻi.] |
| 23 | Aia a kau ka iʻa i ka waʻa, manaʻo ke ola. | One can think of life after the fish is in the canoe. |
| | [Before one feels elated and makes plans he should first secure his “fish.”] |
| 24 | Aia akula i kula panoa wai ʻole. | Gone to the dry, waterless plain. |
| | [Gone where one may find himself stranded or deserted.] |
| 25 | Aia akula nō i Kiʻilau. | He is gone to Kiʻilau. |
| | [Said of senseless chatter, aimless talk. A play on kiʻi (fetch) and lau (many), meaning to fetch much; that is, to fetch a lot to talk about. Kiʻilau is a place in ʻEwa, Oʻahu.] |
| 26 | Aia akula paha i Kiolakaʻa. | Perhaps it is gone to Kiolakaʻa. |
| | [Gone to the place of thrown-away things. Used when something is thrown away and later wanted. A play on kiola, to throw away. Kiolakaʻa is a place in Kaʻū.] |
| 27 | Aia akula paha i Waikīkī i ka ʻimi ʻahuʻawa. | Perhaps gone to Waikīkī to seek the ʻahuʻawa sedge. |
| | [Gone where disappointment is met. A play on ahu (heap) and ʻawa (sour).] |
| 28 | Aia aku nei paha i Kaiholena. | Perhaps gone to Kaiholena. |
| | [Perhaps gone to loaf somewhere. A play on lena (lazy).] |
| 29 | Aia anei ka maka i ke kua o ʻike ʻole iho? | Are the eyes on the back that one cannot see what is being done? |
| | [Said of one who declares that he doesn’t know how to do a certain thing and perhaps will not be able to learn.] |
| 32 | Aia a pohā ka leo o ka ʻaʻo, kāpule ke momona o ka ʻuwaʻu i ka puapua. | When the ʻaʻo birds’ voices are distinctly heard, the ʻuwaʻu birds are fat even to the very tails. |
| | [The ʻao bird was not heard during the nesting season. When the fledglings emerged and their cries were heard, the season had come when young ʻuwaʻu were best for eating, and the people went to snare them.] |
| 33 | Aia a wela ke poʻo o ke keiki i ka lā. | When the head of the child is warmed by the sun. |
| | [When he is old enough to toddle or creep by himself into the sunlight.] |
| 34 | Aia a wini kākala, a ʻula ka lepe o ka moa, a laila kau i ka haka. | When the spur is sharp and the comb red, then shall the cock rest on a perch. |
| | [When a boy becomes a man, then shall he take a mate.] |
| 36 | Aia i Hiʻikua; i Hiʻialo. | Is borne on the back; is borne in the arms. |
| | [When one has gone to a far place where he cannot be seen by loved ones, he is said to be in Hiʻikua; and when one is where he can be seen daily, he is said to be in Hiʻialo. Also said of a favorite child, who is carried in the arms or on the back. Also said of the ʻaumākua.] |
| 37 | Aia i Hilo ʻo Alanaio; aia i Puna ʻo Kapoho; aia i Laupāhoehoe ʻo Ulekiʻi. | In Hilo is Alanaio; in Puna is Kapoho; in Laupāhoehoe is Ulekii. |
| | [A vulgar play on place names, calling attention to private parts, which are omens of disappointment when seen in dreams. An expression of contempt for one who brings bad luck. Alanaio (Way-of-the-pinworm), the anus, is in Hilo; Kapoho (The Container), the vagina, is in Puna; and Ulekiʻi (Rigid Penis) is in Laupāhoehoe.] |
| 38 | Aia i ka huki nehu, ka iʻa kaulana o ka ʻāina. | Gone to haul in the nehu, the well-known fish of the land. |
| | [Gone to get nehu for bait. Gone to get her man; that is, gone to get the bait that will get him.] |
| 39 | Aia i ka huki ulua. | Gone to haul ulua fish. |
| | [Gone to get her man. The ulua fish signifies a man.] |
| 40 | Aia i ka mole kamaliʻi, ʻaʻohe i oʻo ka iwi. | Still rooted in childhood when the bones have not matured. |
| | [Said of a person who is still a child, either physically or mentally.] |
| 41 | Aia i ka mole o Lehua. | At the taproot of Lehua. |
| | [Said of one who is out of sight for a long time, neither seen nor heard of. Lehua is an island beyond Niʻihau.] |
| 42 | Aia i ka ʻōpua ke ola: he ola nui, he ola laulā, he ola hohonu, he ola kiʻekiʻe. | Life is in the clouds: great life, broad life, deep life, elevated Iife. |
| | [The reader of omens knows by their shape and color whether clouds promise rain and prosperity, or warn of disaster.] |
| 43 | Aia i Kaʻū i Kaʻaluʻalu. | There in Kaʻū is a place named Kaʻalu alu. |
| | [When seen from the ocean, Kaʻaluʻalu appears creased. This saying is applied jokingly to the wrinkles of a person, or to wrinkled clothing.] |
| 44 | Aia i Keaʻā. | He is in Keaʻā. |
| | [A Kaʻū saying applied to a wilfully inattentive person who hears no more than a deaf-mute. A play on aʻā.] |
| 45 | Aia i ke au a ka hewahewa. | Gone on a crazy current. |
| | [Gone on his own wandering way.] |
| 46 | Aia i Kohala, i Puehuehu. | Gone to Kohala, to Puehuehu. |
| | [Nothing more is left. Used about someone who has lost everything. A play on puehu (to scatter like fine dust). Also expressed Hoʻi i Kohala i Puehuehu.] |
| 47 | Aia i Kōloa. | Is at Kōloa. |
| | [A play on kō (drawn) and loa (long)— drawn a long way under. Drunk.] |
| 48 | Aia i Kona i Honalo. | It is in Kona, in Honalo. |
| | [A play on nalo (lost). You’ve lost it and it is gone.] |
| 49 | Aia i kula i ka ʻalaʻalapūloa. | Gone on the plain to gather ʻalaʻalapūloa. |
| | [Gone on a wild goose chase. A play on ʻalaʻala (octopus liver), meaning nothing worthwhile. ʻAlaʻalapūloa is another name for the weed commonly known as ʻuhaloa.] |
| 50 | Aia i luna o ʻUalakaʻa. | He is up on ʻUalakaʻa. |
| | [A play on ʻUala-kaʻa (Rolling-potato-hill). Said of one who, like a rolling potato, has nothing to hold fast to. The hill was said to have been named for a sweet potato that broke loose from its vine on a field above and rolled down to a field below in Mānoa.] |
| 51 | Aia i Pāʻula ka waha o nei kauwā; aia i Alanaio ka waha o nei kauwā; aia i Paukū-nui ka waha o nei kauā. | The mouth of this slave is at Pāʻula; the mouth of this slave is at Alanaio; the mouth of this slave is at Paukū-nui. |
| | [An insulting saying. It began when Keawe, ruler of Hawaiʻi, went on a visit to Kauaʻi and while in a crowd of chiefs silently broke wind. None knew the source, but it was Keawe’s servant who made this insulting remark. Pāʻula (Red Dish) signifies that the rectal opening shows red; Alanaio (Way-of-the-pinworm) also refers to the anus; and Paukū-nui (Large Segments) refers to large stools. Hence, a red, worm-infested anus that produces large stools. It was not until Keawe returned to Hawaiʻi that his servant learned that his own chief had been the culprit. Pāʻula, Paukū-nui, and Alanaio are place names in Hilo.] |
| 52 | Aia ka ʻike iā Polihua a lei i ka mānewanewa. | One proves a visit to Polihua by wearing a lei of mānewanewa. |
| | [A person proves his visit to a place by bringing back something native to the area. Refers to Polihua, Lānaʻi.] |
| 53 | Aia ka ʻoʻoleʻa o ka pāpaʻi i ka niho. | The strength of the crab is in the claw. |
| | [All noise but no action. Said of one who makes threats but doesn’t carry them out.] |
| 54 | Aia ka puʻu nui i ke alo. | A big hill stands right before him. |
| | [He has a problem.] |
| 55 | Aia ka wai i ka maka o ka ʻōpua. | Water is in the face of the ʻōpua clouds. |
| | [In Kona, when the ʻōpua clouds appear in the morning, it’s a sign that rain is to be expected.] |
| 56 | Aia kēkē nā hulu o ka umauma hoʻi ke kōlea i Kahiki e hānau ai. | When the feathers on the breast darken [because of fatness] the plover goes back to Kahiki to breed. |
| | [A person comes here, grows prosperous, and goes away without a thought to the source of his prosperity.] |
| 57 | Aia ke ola i ka hana. | Life is in labor. |
| | [Labor produces what is needed.] |
| 58 | Aia ke ola i Kahiki. | Life is in Kahiki. |
| | [Life and prosperity are in the care of the gods, and the gods are said to reside in Kahiki.] |
| 59 | Aia ke ola i ka ihu o ka lio. | Life is where the horse’s nose points. |
| | [The scent of food leads one toward sustenance.] |
| 60 | Aia ke ola i ka waha; aia ka make i ka waha. | Life is in the mouth; death is in ihe mouth. |
| | [Spoken words can enliven; spoken words can destroy.] |
| 61 | Aia kinaina i Kahiki. | The snuffing out of the light is up to Kahiki. |
| | [The ending of a human life is decided by the gods, whose dwelling is in realms far away.] |
| 62 | Aia ko kāne i ka lawaiʻa, hoʻi mai he ʻōpeʻa ka iʻa. | Your husband has gone fishing and returns with bats for meat. |
| | [This saying comes from a children’s chant of amusement for coaxing a sea animal to crawl from its shell.] |
| 64 | ʻAi a manō, ʻaʻohe nānā i kumu pali. | When the shark eats, he never troubles to look toward the foot of the cliff. |
| | [Said of a person who eats voraciously with no thought of those who provided the food, shows no appreciation for what has been done for him, nor has a care for the morrow.] |
| 65 | Aia me Milu, kēlā mea i lalo lilo loa. | Is with Milu, that person away down helow. |
| | [Dead. Milu is the god of the underworld.] |
| 67 | Aia nō i ka mea e mele ana. | Let the singer select the song. |
| | [Let him think for himself.] |
| 68 | Aia nō i ke au a ka wāwae. | Whichever current the feet go in. |
| | [It was felt that discussing any business such as fishing or birdcatching before-hand results in failure.] |
| 69 | Aia nō i ke kō a ke au. | Whichever way the current goes. |
| | [Time will tell.] |
| 70 | "Aia nō i ʻō," wahi ʻo Pahia. | “Yet to come,” says Pahia. |
| | [To be returned in kind later. Pahia, an honest, kindly native of Hilo, always noticed what was given him and always said in gratitude, “Yet to come, says Pahia,” meaning that he would respond in kind. People noticed that when he was given pork, he gave pork in return, and he served fish to those from whom he received fish. His friends and their friends learned to say, “ʻYet to come,’ says Pahia,” when they intended to return a kind favor.] |
| 71 | Aia nō ka pono — o ka hoʻohuli i ka lima i lalo, ʻaʻole o ka hoʻohuli i luna. | That is what it should be — to turn the hands palms down, not palms up. |
| | [No one can work with the palms of his hands turned up. When a person is always busy, he is said to keep his palms down.] |
| 72 | Aia nō ka pua i luna. | The flower is still on the tree. |
| | [A compliment to an elderly woman. Her beauty still remains.] |
| 73 | Aia nō ke ea i ka puka ihu. | The breath is still in the nostrils. |
| | [A facetious reply when someone asks how a friend or relative is.] |
| 79 | ʻĀina i ka houpo o Kāne. | Land on the bosom of Kāne. |
| | [Puna, Hawaiʻi. It is said that before Pele migrated there from Kahiki, no place in the islands was more beautiful than Puna.] |
| 80 | ʻĀina koi ʻula i ka lepo. | Land reddened by the rising dust. |
| | [Said of ʻEwa, Oʻahu.] |
| 81 | ʻAina kō kiola wale ʻia i ka nahele. | Sugar-cane trash thrown in the wilderness. |
| | [A derogatory expression applied to a person of no consequence.] |
| 82 | ʻAi nō i ka ʻape he maneʻo no ko ka nuku. | He who eats ʻape is bound to have his mouth itch. |
| | [He who indulges in something harmful will surely reap the result.] |
| 83 | ʻAi nō i kalo moʻa. | One can eat cooked taro. |
| | [The work is done; one can sit at ease and enjoy himself.] |
| 84 | ʻAi nō ka ʻīlio i kona luaʻi. | A dog eats his own vomit. |
| | [Said of one who says nasty things of others and then has those very things happen to himself.] |
| 85 | ʻAi nō ka ʻiole a haʻalele i kona kūkae. | A rat eats, then leaves its droppings. |
| | [Said of an ungrateful person.] |
| 86 | ʻAi nō ke kōlea a momona hoʻi i Kahiki. | The plover eats until fat, then returns to the land from which it came. |
| | [Said of a foreigner who comes to Hawaiʻi, makes money, and departs to his homeland to enjoy his wealth.] |
| 91 | ʻAkahi au a ʻike i ka ʻino o Hilo. | It is the first time I have seen a Hilo storm. |
| | [For the first time I have met with evil people who wish to harm me.] |
| 92 | ʻAkahi hoʻi kuʻu ʻono i ka uhu kāʻalo i kuʻu maka. | Now I long for the uhu fish that passes before my eyes. |
| | [How I would like that handsome fellow for a sweetheart. The uhu is a bright-colored fish, beautiful to look at, and tasty.] |
| 100 | Ako ʻē ka hale a paʻa, a i ke komo ʻana mai o ka hoʻoilo, ʻaʻole e kulu i ka ua o Hilinehu. | Thatch the house beforehand so when winter comes it will not leak in the shower of Hilinehu. |
| | [Do not procrastinate; make preparations for the future now.] |
| 101 | ʻĀko Nuʻuanu i ka hālau loa a ka makani; ʻāko Mānoa i ka hale a ke ʻehu. | Gathered in Nuuanu is the longhouse of the wind; gathered in Mānoa is the house of rainy sprays. |
| 109 | ʻAle mai ke aloha kau i ka maka. | Love comes like a billow and rests before the eyes. |
| | [Said of an overwhelming love that leaves a constant yearning, with the image of one’s affections ever before one.] |
| 114 | ʻĀluka ka ʻina i kai o Kamaʻole. | Thick with sea urchins in the sea of Kamaʻole. |
| | [Applied to a person laden with somebody else’s work. A chief was once traveling along the beach at Kamaʻole, Kula, Maui. A woman, not recognizing him as a chief, asked him to carry her bundle of sea urchins, which he did. Other women came along and did likewise until the chief was loaded with them.] |
| 115 | Alu ka pule i Hakalau. | Concentrate your prayers on Hakalau. |
| | [Whenever concentration and united effort are required, this saying is used. A sorcerer at Hakalau once created havoc in his own and other neighborhoods. Many attempts to counter-pray him failed until a visiting kahuna suggested that all of the others band together to concentrate on the common enemy. This time they succeeded.] |
| 120 | Anu hewa i ka pō, he kuʻuna iʻa ʻole. | Feeling the cold air of the night was all in vain; no fish was caught in the net. |
| | [A wasted effort.] |
| 121 | A nui mai ke kai o Waialua, moe pupuʻu o Kalena i Haleʻauʻau. | When the sea is rough at Waialua, Kalena curls up to sleep in Haleʻauʻau. |
| | [Applied to a person who prefers to sleep instead of doing chores. A play on lena (lazy), in Kalena, who was a fisherman, and hale (house) in Haleʻauʻau.] |
| 123 | Anu ʻo ʻEwa i ka iʻa hāmau leo e. E hāmau! | ʻEwa is made cold by the fish that silences the voice. Hush! |
| | [A warning to keep still. First uttered by Hiʻiaka to her friend Wahineʻomaʻo to warn her not to speak to Lohiʻau while they were in a canoe near ʻEwa.] |
| 129 | ʻAʻohe ʻauwaʻa paʻa i ka hālau i ka mālie. | No canoes remain in the sheds in calm weather. |
| | [Everybody goes fishing in good weather. Also used when people turn out in great numbers to share in work or play.] |
| 137 | ʻAʻohe hala ʻula i ka pō. | No hala fruit shows its color in the darkness of night. |
| | [Beauty must be seen to be enjoyed.] |
| 138 | ʻAʻohe hale i piha i ka hoihoi; hāʻawi mai a lawe aku nō. | No house has a perpetual welcome; it is given and it is taken away. |
| | [A warning not to wear out one’s welcome.] |
| 139 | ʻAʻohe hana a Kauhikoa; ua kau ka waʻa i ke ʻaki. | Kauhikoa has nothing more to do; his canoe is resting on the block. |
| | [His work is all done.] |
| 140 | ʻAʻohe hana a Kauhikoa, ua kau ke poʻo i ka uluna. | Kauhikoa has nothing more to do but rest his head on the pillow. |
| | [Everything is done and one can take his ease. Kauhikoa, a native of Kohala, was a clever person who could quickly accomplish what others would take months to do.] |
| 141 | ʻAʻohe hana i nele i ka uku. | No deed lacks a reward. |
| | [Every deed, good or bad, receives its just reward.] |
| 143 | ʻAʻohe hua o ka maiʻa i ka lā hoʻokahi. | Bananas do not fruit in a single day. |
| | [A retort to an impatient person.] |
| 144 | ʻAʻohe hua waiho i Kahiki. | Not even the eggs should be left in Kahiki. |
| | [Used when inviting all to come — even the little children are welcome. Also, bring everything and leave nothing.] |
| 146 | ʻAʻohe i hiki i Hakalauʻai, pae ʻē i Keolewa. | Hakalauʻai was never reached, for he landed at Keolewa instead. |
| | [Before one could receive sufficient food for all his requirements, he found his efforts suspended. A play on Haka-lau-ʻai (Rack-for-much-food) and Ke-olewa (Suspend-in-space).] |
| 148 | ʻAʻohe ʻike wale iho iā Maliʻo, i ka huhuki laweau a Uwēkahuna. | Malio is not recognized because Uwēkahuna is drawing her away. |
| | [Said of one who refuses to recognize old friends and associates or is snubbed by friends because they have interests elsewhere. Maliʻo was a mythical woman of Puna whom Pele once snubbed. Uwēkahuna is the bluff overlooking the crater of Kīlauea.] |
| 149 | ʻAʻohe ʻike wale iho i ke kinikini o Kolokini, i ka wawalo o ke kai o Kahalahala. | [He] does not deign to recognize the multitude of Kolokini, nor the roaring of the sea of Kahalahala. |
| | [Said of a person who deliberately refuses to recognize kith or kin and goes about with a haughty air.] |
| 150 | ʻAʻohe i maneʻo iho ke kumu pepeiao i kau hīmeni. | Even the base of the ear isn’t tickled by your song. |
| | [A rude remark to one whose song or story is not appealing.] |
| 152 | ʻAʻohe i nalo ka ʻulaʻula o ka lepo, loaʻa hou nō ka wahine. | The redness of the earth hasnt even vanished when a new wife is obtained. |
| | [Said in scorn of a person who takes a new mate shortly after the death of the old one.] |
| 154 | ʻAʻohe i pala ke kope. | The coffee berries arent ripe yet. |
| | [Said to or about a child who is not old enough to attract the opposite sex.] |
| 155 | ʻAʻohe ipu ʻōpio e ʻole ka mimino i ka lā. | No immature gourd can withstand withering in the sun [without care]. |
| | [No child can get along without adult supervision.] |
| 157 | ʻAʻohe kahe o ka hou i ka ʻōʻō kōhi paʻōʻō a kamaliʻi. | With the digging implement used by children to dig up leftover potatoes, no perspiration is shed. |
| | [Said of a task requiring little effort.] |
| 159 | ʻAʻohe kanaka i ʻeha ʻole i ke aloha. | Nobody has ever missed feeling the pang of love. |
| 160 | ʻAʻohe kanaka kū ākiʻi i ke alo o nā aliʻi. | No idleness or standing about with hands on hips in the presence of chiefs. |
| 161 | ʻAʻohe kanaka o kauhale, aia i Mānā, ua haohia i ka iʻa iki. | No one is at home, for all have gone to Mānā, attracted there by small fishes. |
| | [Said of one who is distracted by an insignificant matter or goes away on any excuse.] |
| 164 | ʻAʻohe kio pōhaku nalo i ke alo pali. | On the slope of a cliff, not one jutting rock is hidden from sight. |
| | [All is distinctly seen or known; there isn’t any use in being secretive or finding a place to hide.] |
| 166 | ʻAʻohe komo o kā haʻi puaʻa ke paʻa i ka pā. | Other people’s pigs would not come in if the fence were kept in good repair. |
| | [Be prepared always, and you’ll find yourself free of trouble. Also, evil influence cannot enter when one keeps his own mental realm fortified from within.] |
| 169 | ʻAʻohe lele ka nalo i kamaliʻi. | A fly isn’t made to depart by children. |
| | [Said in derision of a person who has no more sense than a child.] |
| 170 | ʻAʻohe lihi i ka pāpaʻa. | Absolutely burned to a crust. |
| | [Completely destroyed.] |
| 171 | ʻAʻohe lihi ʻike aku i ka nani o Punahoa. | Hasn’t known the beauty of Punahoa. |
| | [Used when the charms of a person or place are unknown. Punahoa is an unusually attractive place.] |
| 173 | ʻAʻohe loaʻa i ka noho wale. | Nothing is gained by idleness. |
| 174 | ʻAʻohe loa i ka hana a ke aloha. | Distance is ignored by love. |
| 175 | ʻAʻohe loa i ka leo. | A command [of a chief] disregards distance. |
| | [Distance means nothing when the chief gives his command. First said by Hiʻiaka to her sister Kapo in a chant.] |
| 176 | ʻAʻohe loea i ka wai ʻōpae. | It is no feat to catch shrimps in a freshet. |
| | [You don’t need experience to do that job. Shrimps were often taken in great numbers by means of wicker platforms placed across mountain streams. In time of freshets they would be swept onto these platforms and gathered.] |
| 177 | ʻAʻohe lokomaikaʻi i nele i ka pānaʻi. | No kind deed has ever lacked its reward. |
| 178 | ʻAʻohe lolena i ka wai ʻōpae. | There must he no slackness when one gathers shrimp in time of a freshet. |
| | [Let there be no slackers when there is work to be done. Lazy people don’t get anywhere.] |
| 180 | ʻAʻohe mālama pau i ka ʻiole. | No one who takes care of his possessions has ever found them eaten by rats. |
| | [When one takes care of his goods he will not suffer losses.] |
| 181 | ʻAʻohe ma mua, ʻaʻohe ma hope, ʻaʻohe i ka ʻākau, ʻaʻohe i ka hema. | Nothing before, nothing behind, nothing at the right, nothing at the left. |
| | [Utter, absolute poverty.] |
| 182 | ʻAʻohe māna ʻai loaʻa i ka mea make. | Not even a mouthful of food can be obtained from the dead. |
| | [Consider the living, who may be kindly host or friend.] |
| 183 | ʻAʻohe manu noho i ka lipo e pakele i ke kāpiʻo. | No bird of the deep forest can escape his snare. |
| | [Said of a person who can win the love of anyone he chooses.] |
| 188 | ʻAʻohe mea make i ka hewa; make nō i ka mihi ʻole. | No one has ever died for the mistakes he has made; only because he didn’t repent. |
| | [Urges repentance to one’s aumākua. Later came to include the idea of repentance before the Christian God.] |
| 190 | ʻAʻohe mea nāna e paʻi i ke poʻo. | No one to slap his head. |
| | [He has no equal in his accomplishments.] |
| 193 | ʻAʻohe nānā i ko lalo ʻai i ke pāpaʻa; e nānā i ko luna o ahulu. | Never mind if the food underneath burns; see that the food at the top is not half-cooked. |
| | [Never mind the commoners; pay attention to the chiefs.] |
| 194 | ʻAʻohe nao ʻai i ka pāpaʻa. | Nothing at all but burnt food to eat. |
| | [A terrible situation.] |
| 197 | ʻAʻohe o kahi nānā o luna o ka pali; iho mai a lalo nei; ʻike i ke au nui ke au iki, he alo a he alo. | The top of the cliff isnt the place to look at us; come down here and learn of the big and little current, face to face. |
| | [Learn the details. Also, an invitation to discuss something. Said by Pele to Pāʻoa when he came to seek the lava-encased remains of his friend Lohiʻau.] |
| 198 | ʻAʻohe ola o ka ʻāina i ke aliʻi haipule ʻole. | The land cannot live under an irreligious chief. |
| 203 | ʻAʻohe pau ka ʻike i ka hālau hoʻokahi. | All knowledge is not taught in the same school. |
| | [One can learn from many sources.] |
| 204 | ʻAʻohe pilipili ʻāina wale mai, aia ka iʻa i ke kai. | The fish remain at sea and come nowhere near the shore. |
| | [Said of a person who avoids his friends or relatives.] |
| 213 | ʻAʻohe ʻulu e loaʻa i ka pōkole o ka lou. | No breadfruit can be reached when the picking stick is too short. |
| | [There is no success without preparation.] |
| 215 | ʻAʻohe umu moʻa i ka makani. | No umu can be made to cook anything by the wind. |
| | [Talk will not get the umu lighted and the food cooked. This saying originated in Olowalu, Maui, where it was very windy and hard to light an umu.] |
| 218 | Aʻo i ka hoʻopunipuni, aʻo aku nō i ka ʻaihue. | Learn to lie and the next thing will be to steal. |
| 219 | Aʻo i ke koa, e aʻo nō i ka holo. | When one learns to be a warrior, one must also learn to run. |
| | [It is no disgrace to run when there is danger of being destroyed; perhaps there may be another day when one can fight and win.] |
| 220 | ʻAʻole, ʻaʻole i pau koʻu loa. | No, my height is not reached. |
| | [A remark made when there is a reference to killing by sorcery. While drowning a victim to be offered as a sacrifice, the kahuna who did the drowning held his victim down as he repeated, “No, my height is not reached,” meaning that the water covers only the victim, who was advised to “Moe mālie i ke kai o ko haku’ (“Lie still in the sea of your lord”), meaning “Don’t struggle because you are bound to die.”] |
| 223 | ʻAʻole e kū ka ikaika i kēia pākela nui; ke pōʻai mai nei ka ʻohu ma uka, ma kai, ma ʻō a ma ʻaneʻi. | One cannot show his strength against such odds; the rain clouds are circling from the upland, the lowland, and from all sides. |
| | [Said by Maheleana, a warrior of Kualiʻi, when he saw his small company surrounded by the enemy.] |
| 226 | ʻAʻole hiki i ka iʻa liʻiliʻi ke ale i ka iʻa nui. | A small fish cannot swallow a big one. |
| | [A commoner cannot do anything to a chief.] |
| 227 | ʻAʻole i ʻenaʻena ka imu i ka māmane me ka ʻūlei, i ʻenaʻena i ka laʻolaʻo. | The imu is not heated by māmane and ʻūlei wood alone, but also by the kindling. |
| | [To be powerful, a ruler must have the loyalty of the common people as well as the chiefs.] |
| 228 | ʻAʻole i keʻehi kapuaʻi i ke one o Hauiki. | Has not set foot on the sands of Hauiki. |
| | [One does not know much about a place until one has been there.] |
| 229 | ʻAʻole make ka waʻa i ka ʻale o waho, aia no i ka ʻale o loko. | A canoe is not swamped by the billows of the ocean, but by the billows near the land. |
| | [Trouble often comes from one’s own people rather than from outsiders.] |
| 230 | ʻAʻole nō i ʻike ke kanaka i nā nani o kona wahi i hānau ʻia ai. | A person doesn’t see all the beauties of his birthplace. |
| | [One doesn’t see how beautiful his birthplace is until he goes away from home.] |
| 233 | ʻĀpiki Puna i Leleʻapiki, ke nānā lā i Nānāwale. | Puna is concerned at Leleʻapiki and looks about at Nānāwale. |
| | [The people are but followers and obedient to their rulers. The people of Puna were not anxious to go to war when a battle was declared between Kiwalaʻō and Kamehameha; it was the will of their chief. Lele-ʻapiki (Tricky-leap) and Nānā-wale (Just-looking) are places in Puna.] |
| 234 | ʻAu ana ka Lae o Maunauna i ka ʻino. | Point Maunauna swims in the storm. |
| | [Said of a courageous person who withstands the storm of life. Point Maunauna (Battered) is at Waimea, Oʻahu, where high seas are common.] |
| 235 | ʻAuhea nō hoʻi kou kanaka uʻi a ʻimi ʻoe i wahine nāu? | Why is it that you do not show how handsome you are by seeking your own woman ? |
| | [A woman might say, under the same circumstances, “ʻAuhea nō hoʻi kou wahine uʻi a ʻimi ʻoe i kāne nau?’] |
| 236 | ʻAu i ke kai loa. | Swims the distant seas. |
| | [Said of one who travels afar.] |
| 237 | ʻAu i ke kai me he manu ala. | Cross the sea as a bird. |
| | [To sail across the sea. Also applied to a hill that juts out into the sea or is seen from far out at sea.] |
| 238 | ʻAukuʻu hāpapa i ka haʻi loko. | Heron groping in somebody else’s fishpond. |
| | [A man groping for somebody else’s woman.] |
| 242 | ʻAu umauma o Hilo i ka wai. | Hilo has breasted the water. |
| | [To weather the storm. The district of Hilo had many gulches and streams and was difficult to cross.] |
| 248 | E aha ʻia ana o Hakipuʻu i ka palaoa lāwalu ʻono a Kaʻehu? | What is happening to Hakipuu, with dough cooked in ti leaves, of which Kaehu is so fond? |
| | [This is a line of a chant composed by Kaʻehu, a poet and hula instructor from Kauaʻi. It refers to a part-white woman with whom he flirted. Used in humor when referring to Hakipuʻu, a place on the windward side of Oʻahu.] |
| 249 | E aho ka make i ke kaua, he nui nā moepuʻu. | Better to die in battle where one will have companions in death. |
| | [Uttered by Kaʻeokulani, a chief of Maui.] |
| 250 | E ʻai ana ʻoe i ka poi paua o Keaiwa. | Now you are eating poi made from the paua taro of Keaiwa. |
| | [A boast from the district of Kaʻū: “Now you are seeing the very best that we have.” Also used to say, “Now you will find out how fine a girl (or boy) can be in making love.” The paua was the best taro in Kaʻū and the only variety that grew on the plains.] |
| 251 | E ʻai i ka mea i loaʻa. | What you have, eat. |
| | [Be satisfied with what you have.] |
| 252 | E ʻai i kekahi, e kāpī kekahi. | Eat some, salt some. |
| | [Said to young people: Eat some now and save some for another time.] |
| 253 | E akahele i ka mamo a ʻĪ, o kolo mai ka mole uaua. | Beware the descendant of ʻĪ, lest the tough roots crawl forth. |
| | [A warning uttered by Palena, a chief of Kohala, who saw Kuaʻana-a-ʻĪ cruelly treated by the chiefs of Kona. Kuaʻana later went to see the people of his mother, Hoʻoleialiʻi, in Hāna, and to help the chiefs of Hilo in fighting those of Kona.] |
| 255 | E ake ana e inu i ka wai hū o Koʻolihilihi. | Eager to drink of the gushing spring of Koʻolihilihi. |
| | [Eager to make love. Koʻolihilihi (Prop-eyelashes) is a spring in Puna. When royal visitors were expected, the people attached lehua blossoms to the makaloa sedge that grew around the spring so that when their guests stooped to drink, the lehua fringes touched their cheeks and eyelashes. The last person for whom the spring was bedecked was Keohokalole, mother of Liliʻuokalani.] |
| 256 | ʻEā! Ke kau mai nei ke ao panopano i uka. E ua mai ana paha. | Say! A black cloud appears in the upland. Perhaps it is going to rain. |
| | [A favorite joke uttered when a black-skinned person is seen.] |
| 259 | E ala, e hoa i ka malo. | Get up and gird your loincloth. |
| | [A call to rise and get to work.] |
| 262 | E aʻo i ka hana o pā i ka leo o ka makua hūnōai. | Learn to work lest you be struck by the voice of the parent-in-law. |
| | [Advice to a son or daughter before marriage.] |
| 264 | E ao, o kā i ka waha. | Watch out lest it smite the mouth. |
| | [A warning not to be too free in using rude and insulting words toward others lest someday one must take them back. Also, things said of others may happen to the person who says them.] |
| 267 | E ʻau mālie i ke kai pāpaʻu, o pakī ka wai a pula ka maka. | Swim quietly in shallow water lest it splash into the eyes. |
| | [A cautioning to go carefully where one isn’t sure of conditions.] |
| 270 | ʻEha ana ʻoe lā i ka makani kuʻi o ka Ulumano. | You will he hurt by the pounding of the Ulumano breeze. |
| | [One is hurt by the sharp words spoken. This is a line from an old chant.] |
| 271 | E hahai ana nō ke kolekole i kahi nui a ka wahie, a e hahai ana no ke ʻino i kahi nui o ka paʻakai. | Underdone meat follows along even where wood is plentiful, and decomposition follows along even where much salt is found. |
| | [Even where good is found, evil creeps in.] |
| 272 | ʻEha i ka ʻeha lima ʻole a ke aloha. | He is smitten by love, with a pain administered without hands. |
| | [He is deeply in love.] |
| 277 | E hea i ke kanaka e komo ma loko e hānai ai a hewa ka waha. | Call to the person to enter; feed him until he can take no more. |
| | [Originally a reply to a password into a hula school. Used later in songs and in speech to extend hospitality.] |
| 278 | E hele aku ana i ka māla a Kamehameha, o Kuahewa. | The proportion is reaching the size of Kuahewa, Kamehameha’s food patch. |
| | [The project is becoming too big. Kamehameha’s food patch was so huge that one border could not be seen from the other.] |
| 279 | E hele ana i ka ʻauwaeʻāina o lākou nei. | Going with them to look over the best in their land. |
| | [Hawaiians didn’t like to be questioned as to where they were going and would sometimes give this answer. Paʻe was a moʻo woman who often assumed the form of a dog and went wherever she willed. One day, while disguised as a dog, she was caught by some men who didn’t know of her supernatural powers, and they roasted her. This roasted dog was to be a gift to their chief’s wife and was put in a calabash, covered with a carrying net, and carried up the pali. Just below the Nuʻuanu Pali, the men saw a pretty woman sitting at the edge of a pool. She called, “Oh Paʻe, where are you going?” From out of the calabash leaped the dog, well and whole, who answered, “I am going with them to look over the best in their land.” The men fled in terror, leaving Paʻe behind with the other woman, who was a moʻo relative.] |
| 280 | E hele ka ʻelemakule, ka luahine, a me nā kamaliʻi a moe i ke ala ʻaʻohe mea nāna e hoʻopilikia. | Let the old men, the old women, and the children go and sleep on the wayside; let them not be molested. |
| | [Said by Kamehameha I.] |
| 283 | E hoʻāʻo nō i pau kuhihewa. | Try it and rid yourself of illusions. |
| 284 | E hoʻi e peʻe i ke ōpū weuweu me he moho lā. E ao o haʻi ka pua o ka mauʻu iā ʻoe. | Go back and hide among the clumps of grass like the wingless rail. Be careful not to break even a blade of grass. |
| | [Retum to the country to live a humble life and leave no trace to be noticed and followed. So said the chief Keliʻiwahamana to his daughter when he was dying. Later used as advice to a young person not to be aggressive or show off.] |
| 286 | E hoʻi ka waʻa; mai hoʻopaʻa aku i ka ʻino. | Make the canoe go back; do not insist on heading into a storm. |
| | [A plea not to do something or associate with someone that will lead to serious trouble.] |
| 291 | E hoʻōki i ka hoʻina wale o hōʻino ʻia mai ke kumu. | One should never go home without [some knowledge] lest his teacher be criticized. |
| 292 | E hoʻomanaʻo i ka lua o ka ʻōhiki. | Remember the hole dug by the sand crab. |
| | [A vulgar expression. A woman may be petite but she can be sexually “deep.”] |
| 293 | E hoʻopiha i ka lua o ka inaina. | Fill the pit of wrath. |
| | [Fill the stomach.] |
| 294 | E hoʻopiha i ka mākālua i hakahaka. | Fill the hole from which the plant has been removed. |
| | [Find someone to replace one who has gone away or died.] |
| 298 | E huʻe mai ʻoe i ke koaiʻe o Makawao! | Try uprooting the koaiʻe tree of Makawao! |
| | [I defy you to tackle a lad of Makawao! A boast from a native of Makawao, Maui.] |
| 299 | E hume i ka malo, e hoʻokala i ka ihe. | Gird the loincloth, sharpen the spear. |
| | [A call to prepare for war or to prepare for the project at hand.] |
| 307 | Eia ʻo Kuʻiʻaki me Huanu ke hana nei i ka lāua hana o ka ʻohi ʻiʻo pūpū. | Here are Kuʻiʻaki and Huanu doing their work gathering shellfish. |
| | [An intense cold. A play on Kuʻi-ʻaki (Gritting-the-molars) and Hu-anu (Overflowing-cold). Huanu is Hawaiian for Juan.] |
| 308 | Eia ua lani a Hāloa i pili ai ka hanu i ke kapu. | Here is a chief descended from Hāloa, whose kapu makes one hold his breath in dread. |
| | [A compliment to a chief. To be able to trace descent from Hāloa, an ancient chief, was to be of very high rank from remote antiquity.] |
| 309 | E ʻike ana ʻoe i ke liʻi nui o Oʻahu, o Kakuhihewa. | You will meet with the great chief of Oʻahu, Kakuhihewa. |
| | [You shall find out how wrong you are. A play on kuhihewa (erroneous).] |
| 310 | E ʻike i ka hoa kanaka, o kipa hewa ke aloha i ka ʻīlio. | Recognize your fellow man lest your love be wasted on a dog. |
| | [Love man above animals.] |
| 311 | E ʻimi i ke ola ma waho. | Seek life outside. |
| | [Consult a kahuna to see what is causing the delay in healing. Said when a person lies sick, and recovery is slow.] |
| 312 | E ʻimi wale nō i ka lua o ka ʻuwaʻu ʻaʻole e loaʻa. | Seek as you will the burrow of the ʻuwaʻu, it cannot be found. |
| | [A boast of one’s skill in lua fighting, of the depth of one’s knowledge, or of a skill that isn’t easily acquired. A play on lua, a burrow, a pit, or an art of fighting. The burrow of the ʻuwaʻu bird is often deep. Birdcatchers inserted a piece of aerial root of the ʻieʻie, gummed at one end, to catch the fledglings.] |
| 313 | E kā i ka pōhuehue. | Smite with the pōhuehue. |
| | [Do harm to another in order to destroy him.] |
| 314 | E kalani e, kiʻi mai i ka iʻa, ua komo i ka mākāhā! | O heavenly one, come and get the fish for it has entered the sluice gate! |
| | [Used by one who has his hands full and needs help quickly. In a battle, Ahia caught Kameʻeiamoku and lifted him with the intention of dashing him to the ground. Kameʻeiamoku twisted himself about, grasped Ahia by the calf of the leg and held fast so that it was impossible for him to run. Seeing Kamehameha a short distance away, Kameʻeiamoku called to him to come and take the fish. Thus was Ahia killed.] |
| 315 | E kāmau iho i ka hoe a pae aku i ke kula. | Dip in the paddle till you reach the shore. |
| | [Keep dipping your finger into the poi until you’ve had your fill.] |
| 316 | E kanu i ka huli ʻoi hāʻule ka ua. | Plant the taro stalks while there is rain. |
| | [Do your work when opportunity affords.] |
| 317 | E kanu mea ʻai o nānā keiki i ka haʻi. | Plant edible food plants lest your children look with longing at someone else’s. |
| 318 | E Kaululāʻau, ʻakahi nō pō i pipili ai nā maka. | O Kaululāʻau, it is the first night that the eyelids have stuck so. |
| | [Used in derision of one who doesn’t use his eyes. Kaululāʻau was a Maui chief who, because of his mischief, was banished to the island of Lānaʻi by his father. There he destroyed the evil inhabitants of that island by applying gum to their eyelids after they had fallen asleep.] |
| 319 | E kaupē aku nō i ka hoe a kō mai. | Put forward the paddle and draw it back. |
| | [Go on with the task that is started and finish it.] |
| 320 | E keʻekeʻehi kūlana i paʻa. ʻO ʻoe hoʻokahi, ʻo wau hoʻokahi, kū mai i mua. | Take a firm stand. You, by yourself, and I, by myself, let us step forth. |
| | [A challenge to one to step out of a crowd and fight man to man.] |
| 321 | E kipi ana lākou nei. ʻAʻole naʻe ʻo lākou ponoʻī akā ʻo kā lākou mau keiki me nā moʻopuna. ʻO ke aliʻi e ola ana i ia wā e kū ʻōlohelohe ana ia, a ʻo ke aupuni e kūkulu ʻia aku ana, ʻo ia ke aupuni paʻa o Hawaiʻi nei. | These people [the missionaries] are going to rebel; not they themselves, but their children and grandchildren. The ruler at that time will be stripped of power, and the government established then will be the permanent government of Hawaiʻi. |
| | [Prophesied by David Malo.] |
| 322 | E kolo ana nō ke ēwe i ke ēwe. | The rootlet will creep toward the rootlets. |
| | [Of the same origin, kinfolk will seek and love each other.] |
| 323 | E kuahui like i ka hana. | Let everybody pitch in and work together. |
| 324 | E kuhi aku ana i Kuhiau. | Pointing out Kuhiau. |
| | [You are making a mistake in your ideas. A play on kuhi (to point, to be mistaken). Kuhiau is a place on Kauaʻi.] |
| 325 | E kuhikuhi pono i nā au iki a me nā au nui o ka ʻike. | Instruct well in the little and the large currents of knowledge. |
| | [In teaching, do it well; the small details are as important as the large ones.] |
| 327 | E lauhoe mai nā waʻa; i ke kā, i ka hoe; i ka hoe, i ke kā; pae aku i ka ʻāina. | Everybody paddle the canoes together; bail and paddle, paddle and bail, and the shore is reached. |
| | [Pitch in with a will, everybody, and the work is quickly done.] |
| 328 | E lawe i ke aʻo a mālama, a e ʻoi mau ka naʻauao. | He who takes his teachings and applies them increases his knowledge. |
| 329 | E lawe i ke ō, he hinana ka iʻa kuhi lima. | Take vegetable food; the hinana is a fish that can be caught in the hand. |
| | [A suggestion to take taro, poi, potato, or breadfruit along on the journey and not worry about meats, which can be found along the way. First uttered by Pele in a chant about the winds of Kauaʻi.] |
| 330 | ʻEleʻele Hilo, panopano i ka ua. | Dark is Hilo, clouded with the rain. |
| | [Hilo is always rainy.] |
| 332 | E lei kau, e lei hoʻoilo i ke aloha. | Love is worn like a wreath through the summers and the winters. |
| | [Love is everlasting.] |
| 333 | E lei nō au i ko aloha. | I will wear your love as a wreath. |
| | [I will cherish your love as a beautiful adornment.] |
| 334 | E Lēkia e, ʻonia i paʻa. | O Lēkia, move that you may hold fast. |
| | [Make a move to give yourself a secure holel. Lēkia and Pōhaku-o-Hanalei are stones in Puna. When the demigod Kaleikini came to the district, he dug around Lēkia with the intention of toppling it off the hill. Before he could uproot it, he got hungry and departed. It was then that the other stone, Pōhaku-o-Hanalei, cried out, “E Lēkia e, ʻonia i paʻa.” Lēkia moved downward and held fast. Kaleikini tried in vain after that and was unable to remove Lēkia.] |
| 337 | ʻElemakule kamaʻole moe i ke ala. | An oldster who has never reared children sleeps by the roadside. |
| | [Caring for and rearing children results in being cared for in old age.] |
| 342 | ʻEloʻelo i ka wai o Kulanihākoʻi. | Drenched by the water of Kulanihākoʻi. |
| | [Said of a heavy downpour. Kulanihākoʻi is the name of a mythical pond in the sky.] |
| 343 | ʻElo ke kuāua o Ualoa; puaʻi i ka lani, kū kele ke one. | Drenching is the shower of Ualoa; the heavens overflow to soak the sands. |
| | [Very wet weather. A play on ua (rain) and loa (very much). Ualoa is a place name.] |
| 344 | E mālama i ka iki kanaka, i ka nuʻa kanaka. O kākou nō kēia hoʻākua. | Take care of the insignificant and the great man. That is the duty of us gods. |
| | [Said by Hiʻiaka to Pele in a chant before she departed for Kauaʻi to seek Lohiʻau.] |
| 345 | E mālama i ka leo o ke aliʻi, o hāʻule wale i ka weuweu. | Take care of the chief’s voice, lest it drop among the grass. |
| | [Heed the chief’s voice; do not ignore his commands.] |
| 346 | E mālama i ka mākua, he mea laha ʻole; ʻo ke kāne he loaʻa i ka lā hoʻokahi. | Take care of parents for they are choice; a husband can he found in a day. |
| | [Parents should be cared for, for when they are gone, there are none to replace them. One can marry again and again.] |
| 347 | E mālama i ka mākua, o hoʻomakua auaneʻi i ka haʻi. | Take care of [your] parents lest [the day come when] you will be caring for someone else’s. |
| | [Mākua includes all relatives of the parents’ generation, including their siblings and cousins.] |
| 348 | E mālama i ka ʻōlelo, i kuleana e kipa mai ai. | Remember the invitation, for it gives you the privilege of coming here. |
| | [A person feels welcome when accepting an invitation and friendly promises.] |
| 349 | E mālama o loaʻa i ka niho. | Be careful or you’ll be caught by the teeth. |
| | [A warning to watch out lest one become a victim of sorcery. A person who practices sorcery is said to have teeth; that is, his sorcery “bites.”] |
| 350 | E mālama o pā i ka leo. | Be careful lest you he struck by the voice. |
| | [Be careful not to do something that will lead to a scolding.] |
| 351 | E mānalo ka hala o ke kanaka i ka imu o ka puaʻa. | The wrongs done by man are atoned for by a pig in the imu. |
| | [When a person has committed a wrong against others or against the gods, he makes an offering of a hog with prayers of forgiveness.] |
| 352 | E manaʻo aʻe ana e lei i ka lehua o Mokaulele. | A wish to wear the lehua of Mokaulele in a lei. |
| | [A wish to win the maiden. Lei symbolizes sweetheart, and lehua, a pretty girl.] |
| 353 | E moni i ke koko o ka inaina, ʻumi ka hanu o ka hoʻomanawanui. | Swallow the blood of wrath and hold the breath of patience. |
| 355 | E naʻi wale nō ʻoukou i koʻu pono, ʻaʻole e pau. | You can seek out all the benefits I have produced and find them without number. |
| | [Said by Kamehameha I when he was dying.] |
| 356 | E nānā ana i ka ʻopua o ka ʻāina. | Observing the horizon clouds of the land. |
| | [Seeking to discover future events by observing the cloud omens.] |
| 357 | E nānā mai a uhi kapa ʻeleʻele ia Maui, a kau ka puaʻa i ka nuku, kiʻi mai i ka ʻāina a lawe aku. | Watch until the black tapa cloth covers Maui and the sacrificial hog is offered, then come and take the land. |
| | [Said by Kahekili, ruler of Maui, to a messenger sent by Kamehameha I with a question whether to have war or peace. Kahekili sent back this answer — “Wait until I am dead and all the rites performed, then invade and take the island of Maui.”] |
| 360 | E nihi ka helena i ka uka o Puna; mai pūlale i ka ʻike a ka maka. | Go quietly in the upland of Puna; do not let anything you see excite you. |
| | [Watch your step and don’t let the things you see lead you into trouble. There is an abundance of flowers and berries in the uplands of Puna and it is thought that picking any on the trip up to the volcano will result in being caught in heavy rains; the picking is left until the return trip. Also said to loved ones to imply, “Go carefully and be mindful.”] |
| 361 | E noho iho i ke ōpū weuweu, mai hoʻokiʻekiʻe. | Remain among the clumps of grasses and do not elevate yourself. |
| | [Do not put on airs, show off, or assume an attitude of superiority.] |
| 363 | E nui ke aho, e kuʻu keiki, a moe i ke kai, no ke kai lā hoʻi ka ʻāina. | Take a deep breath, my son, and lay yourself in the sea, for then the land shall belong to the sea. |
| | [Uttered by the priest Kaʻopulupulu at Waiʻanae. Weary with the cruelty and injustice of Kahāhana, chief of Oʻahu, Kaʻopulupulu walked with his son to Waiʻanae, where he told his son to throw himself into the sea. The boy obeyed, and there died. Kaʻopulupulu was later slain and taken to Waikīkī where he was laid on the sacrificial altar at Helumoa.] |
| 364 | E ola au i ke akua. | May I live by God. |
| | [An oath. God is witness that one is not guilty of the misdeed of which he is accused.] |
| 366 | E, ʻolohaka! I ke ʻehu nō o ka lāʻau pālau, kulana; hākālia nō a pāpā lāʻau aku o ka make nō ia. | Say! The person is hollow. With just the passing breeze of a brandished club, he falls. As soon as a spear touches him, he dies. |
| | [Said by Pupukea, a chief of Kaʻū, of Makakuikalani, chief of Maui, in an exchange of insults. Later commonly used to refer to weaklings.] |
| 367 | E ʻoluʻolu i ka mea i loaʻa. | Be contented with what one has. |
| 370 | E pale lauʻī i ko akua ke hiki aku i Kona. | Place a shield of ti leaves before your god when you arrive in Kona. |
| | [A message sent by Kaʻahumanu to Liholiho requesting him to free the kapu of his god Kūkāʻilimoku. Kaʻahumanu was at that time striving to abolish the kapu system.] |
| 374 | E pule wale nō i ka lā o ka make, ʻaʻole e ola. | Prayers uttered on the day of death will not save one. |
| | [Said by Lohiʻau to Hiʻiaka.] |
| 377 | E puʻu auaneʻi ka lae i ka ua o Kawaupuʻu, i ka hoʻopaʻa a ka hōʻakamai. | The forehead is likely to be lumped by the rain of Kawaupuu if one insists on being a smarty. |
| | [A warning not to get cocky or smart lest one be hurt. A play on puʻu (lump).] |
| 378 | E uhaʻi i ka maka o ka ihe. | Break off the point of the spear. |
| | [Cease warfare and resume friendly relations.] |
| 379 | E uhi ana ka wā i hala i nā mea i hala. | Passing time obscures the past. |
| 381 | ʻEu kōlea i kona puapua; ʻeu ke kanaka i kona hanu. | A plover stirs its tail; a man stirs because of the breath within. |
| | [Said by Kaʻiana, who led an army in battle under Kamehameha I. When the Puna fighters refused to battle against Keouakuahuʻula because of the close kinship between their own district and Kaʻū, Kaʻiana said this to urge them to think of themselves and their own lives. Encouraged, the warriors resumed fīghting and won the victory for Kamehameha.] |
| 382 | E uku ʻia ke kanaka kiʻi lāʻau, he luhi kona i ka hele ʻana. | The man who goes to fetch medicinal herbs is to be paid — the trip he makes is labor. |
| | [The person sent by the kahuna to gather herbs for a patient’s medicine was always paid by the patient’s family. If they faiied to pay, and the gatherer grumbled, the medicine would do no good. A person who was paid couldn’t grumble without hurting himself.] |
| 384 | E waikahi ka pono i mānalo. | It is well to be united in thought that all may have peace. |
| 388 | E wehe i ka umauma i ākea. | Open out the chest that it may be spacious. |
| | [Be generous and kind to all.] |
| 389 | Haʻahaʻa haka, pau i ka ʻīlio. | The contents of a low shelf can he stolen by dogs. |
| | [Things carelessly left about can be stolen. First said by Kamalalawalu to Lonoikamakahiki in making fun of the short stature of the latter’s half-brother and chief steward, Pupukea.] |
| 391 | Haʻa ka wai o Kemamo i ka mālie. | The water of Kemamo dances in calm weather. |
| | [Said humorously of the swish of ladies’ dresses as they walk along.] |
| 392 | Hāʻaleʻale i ka puʻuwai. | A heart full to the brim [with love]. |
| 393 | Hāʻale i ka wai a ka manu. | The rippling water where birds gather. |
| | [A beautiful person. The rippling water denotes a quiet, peaceful nature which attracts others.] |
| 394 | Haʻalele ʻia i muliwaʻa. | Left on the very last canoe. |
| | [Said of one who is left behind.] |
| 395 | Haʻalele i ka lā ka mea mahana. | Has left the warmth of the sun. |
| | [Has died.] |
| 396 | Haʻalele i ka ʻulaʻula waiwai a koho i ka ʻulaʻula waiwai ʻole. | Leaves the valuable red and chooses the worthless red. |
| | [Said of one who rejects a suitor of rank in favor of one of lesser station.] |
| 397 | Haʻalele i Puna nā hoaloha ʻē. | Left in Puna are the friends. |
| | [Said of one who has deserted his friends. Originally said of Hiʻiaka when she left Puna.] |
| 398 | Haʻalele koa waʻa i koa kanaka. | Thc koa canoe has departed leaving the warriors behind. |
| | [Said when a canoe goes off and leaves the people behind, either in the water or on land.] |
| 400 | Haʻalele wale iho nō i ke kula o Pūʻula. | For no reason he leaves the plain of Pūʻula. |
| | [He goes off in a huff for no reason at all. A play on puʻu, or puʻu ka nuku (to pout). Pūʻula is a place in Puna, Hawaiʻi.] |
| 401 | Hāʻawe i ke kua; hiʻi i ke alo. | A burden on the back; a babe in the arms. |
| | [Said of a hard-working woman who carries a load on her back and a baby in her arms.] |
| 405 | Hahai nō ka ua i ka ululāʻau. | Rains always follow the forest. |
| | [The rains are attracted to forest trees. Knowing this, Hawaiians hewed only the trees that were needed.] |
| 408 | Haiamū ka manu i ka pua o ka māmane. | The birds gather ahout the māmane blossom. |
| | [Said of one who is very popular with the opposite sex.] |
| 409 | Haʻi ʻē nā pua i ke kula. | The flowers of the field look coy and coquettish. |
| | [Said of a young person who wears a coquettish look when in the presence of one who rouses interest.] |
| 411 | Hāiki Kaʻula i ka hoʻokē a nā manu. | There isn’t room enough on the island of Kaʻula, for the birds are crowding. |
| | [It is overcrowded. Kaʻula is a bird-inhabited island beyond Niʻihau.] |
| 414 | Hakanū i nā luina Rusini. | Struck dumb in the presence of the Russian sailors. |
| | [Speechless with awe. When the early Russian ships came, some of the Hawaiians observed them in awed silence.] |
| 419 | Hala i Kauaʻi i Kalalau. | Gone to Kalalau, on Kauaʻi. |
| | [Said of one who is off-course mentally or is off gadding somewhere; a blunderer. A play on lalau (to go astray).] |
| 420 | Hala i ke ala hoʻi ʻole mai. | Gone on the road from which there is no returning. |
| | [Death.] |
| 421 | Hala i ke ala koʻiʻula a Kāne. | Gone on the sacred red trail of Kāne. |
| | [Death.] |
| 422 | Hala i ke ala polihua a Kāne. | Gone on the trail to the bosom of Kāne. |
| | [Death.] |
| 424 | Hala ka Puʻulena aia i Hilo ua ʻimi akula iā Papalauahi. | The Puʻulena breeze is gone to Hilo in search of Papalauahi. |
| | [Said of one who has gone away or of one who finds himself too late to do anything.] |
| 426 | Halakau ka inanu i ka lāʻau. | The bird perches way up high in the tree. |
| | [Said of a man or woman who is not easily ensnared.] |
| 430 | Hālau Lahaina, malu i ka ʻulu. | Lahaina is like a large house shaded by breadfruit trees. |
| 439 | Hāmākua i ka wakawaka. | Irregular and rough Hāmākua. |
| | [Praise of Hāmākua, a district of gulches and valleys.] |
| 440 | Hāmākua i ke ala ʻūlili. | Hāmākua of the steep trails. |
| | [Praise of Hāmākua, a land of precipices and gulches where the old trails were often steep and difficult to travel on.] |
| 444 | Hamohamo i ke kualā o Puna. | Pats the dorsal fin of Puna. |
| | [Said of one who is verbally ambitious but does nothing to attain his goal, or of one who is full of flattery and false promises.] |
| 445 | Hana a ke kama ʻole, hele ʻopeʻope i ke ala loa. | A person who has not raised a child may go along with his bundles on the road. |
| | [Said of an aged person who has no one to care for him. Had he troubled to rear children they could take care of him when he was old.] |
| 448 | Hana Hilo i ka poʻi a ka ua. | Hilo works on the lid of the rain. |
| | [Refers to the constant showers typical of Hilo district on Hawaiʻi. This is the first line of a chant.] |
| 449 | Hānai ʻia i ka ʻiao. | Fed with ʻiao fish. |
| | [One is given small gifts to interest him until, like the deep-sea fish, he takes the hook and is landed. The ʻiao is a small fish used as a bait for large, deep-sea fish.] |
| 450 | Hānai ʻia i ka poli o ka lima. | Fed in the palm of the hand. |
| | [Said of a child reared with constant attention.] |
| 451 | Hāna i ka iʻa iki. | Hāna of the little fish. |
| | [Believing slanderous tales about Kuʻula and his wife, Hinahele, the ruling chief of Hāna ordered them destroyed. Having mana over the fish of the sea, the two caused a scarcity until their son ʻAiʻai brought them back to life. Kuʻula and Hinahele were worshipped as deities by fishermen.] |
| 452 | Hānai holoholona, ʻaʻohe lohe i ka ʻohumu. | Feed animals and no complaints are heard. |
| | [A retort by one who is criticized for raising animals instead of children.] |
| 454 | Hana ʻino i ka ke kino ʻelemakule a hoʻomakua aku i ka haʻi. | Mistreat your own oldsters and the day may come when youll be caringfor someone else’s. |
| | [Said to a rude or ungrateful child. You should think of your own elder first, while he is alive, lest after his death you must take care of someone who had no part in rearing you.] |
| 459 | Hana ka uluna i ka paka ua. | Prepare the pillow when the raindrops appear. |
| | [Get ready for a period of rest. When a storm came, farming and fishing were suspended and the worker remained at home, either resting or doing little chores.] |
| 461 | Hana mai nō a kā mai nō i ka ʻino. | He does for us, then he strikes us with evil. |
| | [Said of a kahuna who helps to heal and then, annoyed with the patient or patient’s family, asks the ʻaumakua to return the sickness.] |
| 463 | Hananeʻe ke kīkala o ko Hilo kini; hoʻi luʻuluʻu i ke one o Hanakahi. | The hips of Hilo’s multitude were sagging as they returned, laden, to Hanakahi. |
| | [Used to express the weight of grief, or to mean that a person has a heavy load to carry. Lines from a chant entitled, “Hoe Puna i ka Waʻa.”] |
| 464 | Hānau ʻia i ka pō Lāʻau, lāʻau nā iwi, he koa. | Born was he on a Lāʻau night for his bones are hard and he is fearless. |
| | [Said of a bold, fearless person. Lāʻau nights are a group of nights in the lunar month. The days following each of these nights are believed to be good for planting trees.] |
| 465 | Hānau ʻia i Kaulua, he koa wiwo ʻole. | Born in Kaulua, a warrior brave is he. |
| | [Said of one born in the month of Kaulua.] |
| 467 | Hānau ke aliʻi i loko o Holoholokū, he aliʻi nui; hānau ke kanaka i loko o Holoholokū, he aliʻi nō; hānau ke aliʻi ma waho aʻe o Holoholokū, ʻaʻohe aliʻi, he kanaka ia. | The child of a chief born in Holoholokū is a high chief; the child of a commoner born in Holoholokū is a chief; the child of a chief born outside of the borders of Holoholokū is a commoner. |
| | [Holoholokū, sacred birthplace of the chiefs, is in Wailua, Kauaʻi.] |
| 471 | Hanohano Paliuli i ka ua noe. | Majestic is Paliuli in the misty rain. |
| | [An expression of admiration for a person. Paliuli is a mythical place in the mountain region back of the Panaʻewa forest, Hawaiʻi.] |
| 473 | Hanuʻu ke kai i Mokuola. | The sea recedes at Mokuola. |
| | [Now is the opportune time to venture forth. Mokuola, now known as Coconut Island, is a small island in Hilo Bay believed to have curative influences. The sick who swam around it recovered, and a person who could swim around it three times under water would have a long life. When the sea receded, one could swim part way around with little effort.] |
| 474 | Haoʻe nā ʻale o Hōpoe i ka ʻino. | The billows of Hōpoe rise in the storm. |
| | [His anger is mounting. Hōpoe, Puna, has notoriously high seas.] |
| 478 | Hao mai ka makani kuakea ka moana; hao mai ke kai kū ke koʻa i uka. | When the gales blow, the sea is white-backed; when the sea rises, corals are washed ashore. |
| | [Said of the rise of temper.] |
| 479 | Hao nā kēpā o Līhuʻe i ke anu. | The spurs of Līhue dig in with cold. |
| | [Lihuʻe, Oʻahu, often gets very cold.] |
| 482 | Hāpai kiʻekiʻe i ke aka o ʻAina-kō, kewekewe i ke ālia o Malaekoa. | Lified high is the shadow of ʻAina-kō, making crooked patterns on the salt-encrusted land of Malaekoa. |
| | [It is applied to a conceited, proud, and self-centered person.] |
| 483 | Hāpala ʻia aʻela i ka hāwena. | Daubed with lime. |
| | [His hair may be gray, as one whose hair is bleached with lime, but he has no more wisdom than an inexperienced youth.] |
| 487 | Haʻu ka makani, hāʻule ke onaona, pili i ka mauʻu. | When the wind puffs, the fragrant blossoms fall upon the grass. |
| | [When there is an explosion of wrath, people quail before it.] |
| 488 | Haʻu ka waha i ka makani. | The mouth puffs at the wind. |
| | [Loud talk. Like the braying of an ass.] |
| 489 | Hāʻule i ka hope waʻa. | Left in the aft of the canoe. |
| | [Said of one who comes last or is tardy.] |
| 490 | Hāʻulelau i Kalalau, ʻo Lūaliʻi lā i Kauliʻiliʻi. | Hāʻulelau is at Kalalau, and Lūalii is at Kauliʻiliʻi. |
| | [Such a scattering all over the place, like fallen leaves, with bits and pieces all strewn about. A play on haule-lau (fallen leaves), kalalau (wander around), lū-aliʻi (scatter in pieces), and kau-liʻiliʻi (a little here and a little there).] |
| 491 | Hāʻule nō i kāna ʻauwaha i ʻeli ai. | Fell into the ditch that he himself dug. |
| | [Caught in his own trap.] |
| 493 | Haunaele ʻEwa i ka Moaʻe. | ʻEwa is disturbed by the Moaʻe wind. |
| | [Used about something disturbing, like a violent argument. When the people of ʻEwa went to gather the pipi (pearl oyster), they did so in silence, for if they spoke, a Moaʻe breeze would suddenly blow across the water, rippling it, and the oysters would disappear.] |
| 496 | Hāʻupu mauna kilohana i ka laʻi. | Hāʻupu, a mountain outstanding in the calm. |
| | [Said of a person of outstanding achievement. Also used in praise of Hāʻupu, Kauaʻi.] |
| 500 | Hawahawa ka lima i ka haʻi kūkae. | The hand is only soiled by the excreta of others. |
| | [Sometimes said when an adopted child proves ungrateful or is taken away by its own parents. All one gets are soiled hands.] |
| 505 | Hāwele kīlau i ka lemu, ʻāhaʻi ka puaʻa i ka waha; ke hele nei ʻo Poʻokea. | Draw the fine loincloth under the buttocks; the pork finds its way into the mouth; Poʻokea now departs. |
| | [Poʻokea was a very clever thief during the reign of Kahekili of Maui. Whenever he eluded his pursuers, this was his favorite boast. Any reference to one as being a descendant or relative of Poʻokea implies that he is a thief who steals and runs.] |
| 508 | He aha aku nei kau i Konahuanui? | What were you at Konahuanui for? |
| | [To dream of seeing the private parts exposed is a sign that there will be no luck on the following day.] |
| 509 | He aha ka hala i kapuhia ai ka leo, i hoʻokuli mai ai? | What was the wrong that forbade the voice, that caused the deafness? |
| | [What causes you to refuse to speak or listen to me?] |
| 514 | Hea ʻia mai kēia kanaka, malia he inoa i loaʻa iā ʻoe. | Call an invitation to this person, perhaps you know the name. |
| | [A request to be called into someone’s home, usually uttered by a passing relative or friend who would like to pause and rest but is not sure that he is recognized by the others.] |
| 525 | He ʻalaʻihi kalaloa e pau ai nā lima i ke ʻekeʻeke. | An ʻalaʻihi kalaloa fish that makes one draw back his hands. |
| | [A person that is not to be trifled with. The ʻalaihi have spiny fins that can pierce the hands.] |
| 528 | He ʻalā makahinu i ke alo o ke aliʻi. | A shiny stone in the presence of a chief. |
| | [A person who assumes a bright or vivacious look in hypocrisy. A play on maka (eye) and hinu (bright).] |
| 545 | He ʻaʻo ka manu noho i ka lua, ʻaʻole e loaʻa i ka lima ke nao aku. | It is an ʻaʻo, a bird that lives in a burrow and cannot he caught even when the arm is thrust into the hole. |
| | [Said of a person who is too smart to be caught.] |
| 551 | He ʻaumakua hoʻoluhi, hōʻapaʻapa i ke kahuna. | An ʻaumakua that does not help is a burden to the kahuna. |
| 575 | He hiʻi alo ua milimili ʻia i ke alo, ua hāʻawe ʻia ma ke kua, ua lei ʻia ma ka ʻāʻī. | A beloved one, fondled in the arms, carried on the back, whose arms have gone ahout the neck as a lei. Said of a beloved child. |
| 576 | Hehi i ka pili. | Trample on the relationship. |
| | [To abolish or disown the relationship.] |
| 580 | He hōʻailona ke ao i ʻike ʻia. | Clouds are recognized signs. |
| 584 | He hoa manu nēnē, he hoʻi nō a paumāʻele i ka hale. | A goose mate returns to pollute the house. |
| | [Said to a mate whose relative disgraces the family by committing fornication or adultery with another member.] |
| 597 | He huakaʻi paoa, he pili i ka iwi. | An unlucky journey in which the body was wagered. |
| | [Suffering.] |
| 600 | He huluhulu kau i ka puka ihu. | Hair growing inside of the nostril. |
| | [Said in envy of a person who is regarded as a favorite by a superior — he is so closely allied to the person that he is likened to a hair in the other’s nostril. Also said in criticism of one who is made too much of.] |
| 604 | He iʻa i pā i ka makau. | A fish that had once taken a hook. |
| | [Said of a person made wary by an unpleasant experience.] |
| 606 | Hei akula i ka ʻupena kuʻu a ka Lawakua. | Caught in the drawnet of the Lawakua breeze. |
| | [Ensnarled by beguiling words.] |
| 607 | He iʻa laka ka loli kaʻe, he loaʻa wale i kāheka. | The loli kaʻe is easy enough to gather, for it is found in sea pools. |
| | [Said of a cross, dissatisfied person who becomes grumpy. A play on kaʻe (grumpy) in loli kaʻe (sea cucumber).] |
| 611 | He iʻa moʻa ʻole i kālua. | A fish that can never he cooked. |
| | [Said of a person of low rank. Nothing can change his genealogy.] |
| 612 | He iʻa no ka moana, he aho loa kū i ke koʻa. | A fish of the deep sea requires a long line that reaches the sea floor. |
| | [In order to obtain a good position, one must prepare.] |
| 613 | He iʻa no ka pāpaʻu, he loaʻa wale i ka hopu lima; he iʻa no ka hohonu, noho i kaʻeaʻea. | Fish of the shallows are easy to catch with the hands; but fish of the depths keep the fisherman wet with sea sprays. |
| | [Ordinary folks are easy to find but an outstanding one is not.] |
| 616 | He iʻa ua nipoa i ka ʻauhuhu. | A fish stunned by ʻauhuhu juice. |
| | [Said of one under the influence of sorcery or other evils.] |
| 618 | He ikaika ke kanaka kaena i ka wā pilikia ʻole, akā he hōhē wale i ka lā o ka pilikia. | A braggart is strong when there is no trouble, but flees when there is. |
| 620 | He ʻike ʻana ia i ka pono. | It is a recognizing of the right thing. |
| | [One has seen the right thing to do and has done it.] |
| 639 | He ʻio au, he manu i ka lewa lani. | I am an ʻio, the bird that soars in the heavenly space. |
| | [A boast. The highest chiefs were often called ʻio (hawk), king of the Hawaiian birds.] |
| 673 | He kāpili manu no ka uka o ʻŌlaʻa he pipili mamau i ka ua nui. | A birdcatching gum of the upland of ʻŌlaʻa that sticks and holds fast in the pouring rain. |
| | [Said of one who holds the interest and love of a sweetheart at all times.] |
| 677 | He kau auaneʻi i ka lae ʻaʻā. | Watch out lest the canoe land on a rocky reef. |
| | [Watch out for trouble.] |
| 679 | He kawa ia naʻu i lele a ʻopu. | That is a diving place in which I dived without making a splash. |
| | [Said of something that is easy to do because one is accustomed to doing it.] |
| 697 | He koa ka mea hele hoʻokahi i ʻOʻopuloa. | Only a warrior dares to go alone to ʻOʻopuloa. |
| | [Said of a venture fit only for the brave. The way to ʻOʻopuloa, Maui, was feared because of robbers.] |
| 701 | He kohu puahiohio i ka hoʻolele i ka lepo i luna. | Like a whirlwind, whirling the dust upward. |
| | [Said of a commoner who makes an attempt to elevate himself so he will be regarded as a chief.] |
| 706 | He kui nao hemo ʻole i ke kala. | A screw that a screwdriver can not remove. |
| | [A fixed idea in a stubbom mind; something that nothing can undo.] |
| 711 | He kumu kukui i heʻe ka pīlali. | A kukui tree oozing with gum. |
| | [A prosperous person.] |
| 712 | He kumu kukui palahuli wale i ka makani Kona. | A kukui tree, easily toppled over by the Kona wind. |
| | [Said of one who is easily vanquished by a stronger opponent.] |
| 713 | He kumu lehua muimuia i ka manu. | A lehua tree covered with birds. |
| | [An attractive person. A lehua tree in bloom attracts birds as an attractive person draws the attention of others.] |
| 717 | He lālā kamahele no ka lāʻau kū i ka pali. | A far-reaching branch of the tree standing on the cliff. |
| | [A boast of a strong person who, like the tree on the cliff, can withstand gales and pouring rain.] |
| 718 | He lani i luna, he honua i lalo. | Heaven above, earth beneath. |
| | [Said of a person who owns his own property, or of one who is sure of his security. The sky above him and the earth beneath his feet are his.] |
| 728 | Hele a ʻīlio pīʻalu ka uka o Hāmākua i ka lā. | Like a wrinkled dog is the upland of Hāmākua in the sunlight. |
| | [An uncomplimentary remark about an aged, wrinkled person. Line from a chant.] |
| 730 | Hele akula a ahu, hoʻi mai nō e omo i ka waiū o ka makua. | He goes away and, gaining nothing by it, returns to nurse at his mother’s breast. |
| | [Said of a grown son or daughter who, after going away, returns home for support.] |
| 731 | Hele aku nei e ʻimi i ka ʻiliʻili hānau o Kōloa. | Went to seek the pebbles that give birth at Kōloa. |
| | [Said of one who goes and forgets to come home. These pebbles were found at a small beach called Kōloa, in Punaluʻu, Kaʻū.] |
| 733 | Hele a luhiehu i ka ua noe. | Is made bright by the misty rain. |
| | [Said of a person dressed gaily.] |
| 734 | Hele a nono i ka wai. | He looks red in the water. |
| | [He is as attractive as the fringes of lehua floating in the water.] |
| 738 | He lehua neneʻe wale i Hōpoe. | A low spreading lehua tree at Hōpoe. |
| | [A petite person, as pretty as a small, flower-laden tree.] |
| 742 | Hele i Kaunakakai i Hikauhi. | Go to Kaunakakai to seek Hikauhi. |
| | [After a time she returned with their daughter, whom they named Hikauhi.] |
| 743 | Hele i ke ala maʻawe iki. | Gone on the barely visible trail. |
| | [Dead.] |
| 744 | Hele ka hoʻi a hiki i Kealia, ua napoʻo ka lā. | When one reaches Kealia at last, the sun is set. |
| | [Said of one who procrastinates. A play on alia (to wait).] |
| 745 | Hele ka makuahine, ʻalalā keiki i kauhale. | When the mother goes out, the children cry at home. |
| | [Said of a neglectful mother.] |
| 746 | Hele kapalulu ke ahi me ka momoku a kukupaʻu i ke kai o Nuʻalolo. | The crackling firebrands make a great display over the sea of Nualolo. |
| | [Said of a person who makes himself very conspicuous.] |
| 751 | Hele nō i ka hola iʻa i ka lā. | Fish poison should he used in the daytime. |
| | [Greater efficiency is achieved in the daytime. [cf 1158]] |
| 753 | Hele nō ka lima; hele nō ka ʻāwihi; ʻaʻohe loaʻa i ke onaona maka. | The hand goes; the wink goes; nothing is gained by just looking sweet. |
| | [Keep the hands occupied with work, then one can afford to make eyes at the opposite sex. Just looking attractive isn’t enough.] |
| 754 | Hele nō ka pilau a ke ālia, i kahi nui o ka paʻakai. | Decomposition can also he found where there is so much salt that the earth is encrusted. |
| | [Scandal is found even in the best of families.] |
| 757 | Hele pōʻala i ke anu o Waimea. | Going in a circle in the cold of Waimea. |
| | [Said of a person who goes in circles and gets nowhere. Waimea, Hawaiʻi, is a cold place and when foggy, it is easy for one unfamiliar with the place to lose his way.] |
| 758 | He lepo ka ʻai a Oʻahu, a māʻona nō i ka lepo. | Earth is the food of Oʻahu, and it is satisfied with its earth. |
| | [Said in derision of Oʻahu, which was said to be an earth-eating land. In olden times, an edible mud like gelatine was said to fill Kawainui Pond. The mud, which was brought hither from Kahiki in ancient days, was once served to the warriors and servants of Kamehameha as a replacement for poi.] |
| 760 | Hele wale a lulu i nā manu. | The birds are so numerous that they cast a shade. |
| | [Said of a great crowd of people.] |
| 761 | He lihi nō paha i laila, ke ʻeuʻeu nei ka puapua. | Perhaps [he] has some rights there, to wag his tail feathers [the way he does]. |
| | [He wouldn’t be acting with such confidence if he weren’t related to or a friend of the person higher up.] |
| 765 | He limu ke aloha, he pakika i ke one o Mahamoku. | Love is like the slippery moss on the sand of Mahamoku. |
| | [One can fall in love before he realizes it.] |
| 775 | He lupe lele a pulu i ka ua ʻawa. | A kite that flies till it is dampened by icy cold raindrops. |
| | [Said of a person whose station has risen very high.] |
| 781 | He maiʻa ua paʻa i ke koʻo. | A banana tree well supported by props. |
| | [A man well supported by his followers.] |
| 784 | He maʻi ola ʻole i kahuna. | A sickness that no kahuna can heal. |
| | [A play on maʻi, which refers to either a sickness or the genitals. Diseases can be cured by a kahuna, but gender is something that no kahuna can change.] |
| 788 | He makani Kona, ke kū lā ke aʻe i ka moana. | It is the Kona wind, for the sprays are flying at sea. |
| | [Said of a raging temper.] |
| 797 | He mamo paha na ka poʻe o Kahuwā he maʻa i ka hoe ma ke kūnihi. | Perhaps they are descendants of the people of Kahuwā who were in the habit of paddling with the edge of the paddle blade. |
| | [They are stupid people who never do things right.] |
| 798 | He manini ka iʻa mai hōʻā i ke ahi. | The fish is just a manini, so do not light a fire. |
| | [Said to one who suffers defeat in a practice session: “This occasion is a mere manini, a small fish, so do not let your temper be kindled.”] |
| 805 | He maoli pua lehua i ka wēkiu. | An attractive lehua blossom on the topmost branch. |
| | [An attractive person.] |
| 813 | He mea aloha ʻia ke kāne i ka ʻili. | The husband of the skin is to be loved. |
| | [One’s husband, who is as close as the skin of one’s body, should always be loved. The term for a husband who is always near, in joy and in sorrow, is “Kāne i ka ʻili.” Such a wife is “ Wahine i ka ʻili.”] |
| 819 | He moa kani ao ia, a pō kau i ka haka. | He is a cock that crows in the daytime, but when night comes he sits on a perch. |
| | [Said of a person who brags of what he can do, but when difficulties come he is the first to remove himself from the scene.] |
| 820 | He moʻa no ka ʻai i ka pūlehu ʻia; he ahi nui aha ia e hoʻā ai? | Food can be cooked in the embers; why should a big fire be lighted? |
| | [A small love affair will do; why assume the responsibilities of a permanent mating? Said by those who prefer to love and leave.] |
| 825 | Hemo ke alelo o Kaumaka i ka wai. | The tongue of Kaumaka came out in the water. |
| | [Said of one who has had a good trouncing. Kaumaka, a defeated chief, was put to death by drowning.] |
| 831 | He nahā ipu auaneʻi o paʻa i ka hupau humu. | It isn’t a break in a gourd container that can he easily mended by sewing the parts together. |
| | [A broken relationship is not as easily mended as a broken gourd. Also, the breaking up of the family brought a stop to the support each gave the other.] |
| 832 | He naho manini mai kēia e loaʻa ai ka lima i kōkala. | This is a ledge under which the manini hides [and one should not be hasty lest] the hand be poked by the sharp points on the dorsal fin. |
| | [A boast. Also, a warning not to make trouble.] |
| 839 | He Napoʻopoʻo i ʻikea ke poʻo, he Napoʻopoʻo nō i ʻikea ka pepeiao. | A [person of] Napoʻopoʻo whose head is seen; a Napoʻopoʻo whose ears are seen. |
| | [A play on napoʻo (to sink), as the sun sinks in the west. No matter what your claim to rank may be, we can see that your head is low and that your mindfulness of etiquette is equally low.] |
| 856 | He ʻoiʻo kuhihewa; he kākā ola i ʻike ʻia e ka makāula. | The thought of a ghost is an error; it is a living person identifed by a prophet. |
| | [Don’t blame ghosts and spirits for one’s troubles; a human being is responsible.] |
| 858 | He ola i ka leo kāhea. | There is life in a [hospitable] call. |
| | [A call of friendly hospitality gives cheer to the traveler.] |
| 883 | He palupalu nā hewa liʻiliʻi i ka wā kolo, lolelua i ka wā kamaliʻi, loli ʻole i ka wā oʻo, ʻoni paʻa i ka wā ʻelemakule. | Small sins are weak in the creeping stage, changeable in childhood, unchanging when an adult, and firmly fixed in age. |
| | [Bad habits can be changed in the early stages but eventually become firmly implanted.] |
| 892 | He pili kauawe paha ke kumu i moʻa ʻole ai ke kalo. | Perhaps the reason for the partly cooked condition of the taro is because it is the one closest to the leaves that cover over the imu. |
| | [Said of an imperfect or defective task, or of a person whose ideas are “half-baked.”] |
| 913 | He poʻo hūnā i ka lewa. | A head hidden in the sky. |
| | [Said of a god, who is invisible. Also expressed He poʻo hūnā i ke aoūli.] |
| 917 | He pō walea, he ao walea i ka laʻi. | A night enjoyed, a day enjoyed in the calm. |
| | [Peace brings undisturbed nights and days.] |
| 926 | He puhi ka iʻa ʻoni i ka lani. | The eel is a fish that moves skyward. |
| | [Niuloahiki, god of coconut trees, had three forms — eel, man, and coconut tree, which reaches skyward. This expression can refer to Niuloahiki or to any influence that rises and becomes overwhelming. When used in hana aloha sorcery, it means that the squirming of love is like the movement of an eel. Also used as a warning — “Beware of that ambitious person who will let nothing stand in his way.”] |
| 927 | He puhi ke aloha, he iʻa noho i ke ale. | Love is like an eel, the creature that dwells in the sea cavern. |
| | [Love makes one restless in the mind, like the writhing of an eel.] |
| 935 | He pūmaiʻa: loaʻa i ke kīkīao, hina. | A banana stump: when a gust of wind comes, it falls. |
| | [A weakling who is blown down by every trouble that comes.] |
| 938 | He puʻupā hiolo wale nō i ka leo. | An obstructing wall falling down at the sound of the voice. |
| | [Said of stubbornness and obstinacy that are removed by gentle coaxing.] |
| 946 | He ʻuala ka ʻai hoʻōla koke i ka wī. | The sweet potato is the food that ends famine quickly. |
| | [The sweet potato is a plant that matures in a few months.] |
| 950 | He uʻi lolena kū i kiʻona. | A lazy beauty is fit for the dung hill. |
| | [Said of a beautiful person who is worth nothing.] |
| 953 | He ula, he iʻa noho i ka naele. | A lobster, the creature that stays in sea caves. |
| | [Said of a shy person who remains at home.] |
| 955 | He ula no ka naele, panau no ka hiʻu komo i ke ale. | That is a lobster of a sea cave, with one flip of the tail he is in the rocky cavern. |
| | [Said of an independent person who knows how to take care of himself.] |
| 957 | He ʻūlili holoholo kahakai, pā i ke kai nui, hina. | A sandpiper running about on the beach, when struck by a big wave, falls. |
| | [A disparaging remark applied to a weakling who cannot fight.] |
| 959 | He ʻulu ʻaʻai ʻole; he hāʻule wale i ka makani. | It is a breadfruit that does not hold to the tree; it falls easily with the wind. |
| | [Said of a person whose loyalty is doubtful — he can be swayed to desert his chief.] |
| 974 | Hewa i ka wai. | Great as a body of water. |
| | [A great multitude; so many that one cannot count.] |
| 975 | Hewa i ke ala a ka hewahewa. | Goes amiss on the trail of the mentally deranged. |
| | [Said of one who is careless of results.] |
| 981 | Hewa kumu waiho i keiki. | Faults of the source are left to the children. |
| | [Children suffer the consequences of the wrongs committed by their parents.] |
| 986 | Hihi kaunaʻoa, hihi i Mānā; aloha wale ia lāʻau kumu ʻole. | The dodder vine creeps, creeps at Mānā; beloved indeed is the trunkless plant. |
| | [This saying comes from two lines of a chant. Said of a person with no family background, or to a parasitical person. The kaunaʻoa (dodder vine) is a parasite.] |
| 987 | Hiʻikua waha ka ʻopeʻope, hiʻi ke keiki ma ke alo, uē ʻalalā i ka nahele. | A bundle borne on the back, a baby in the arms, wailing in the forest. |
| | [Said of mothers fleeing in terror.] |
| 989 | Hiki akula i nā ʻOle. | It has reached the ʻOle nights. |
| | [The ʻOle nights refer to certain moon phases that were not good for fishing, planting, or starting any business. To reach the ʻOle nights is to face a bad time.] |
| 1000 | Hilo i ka ua Kanilehua. | Hilo of the Kanilehua rain. |
| | [The Kanilehua rain, or the rain that patters in the lehua forest, is frequently referred to in the chants and songs of Hilo.] |
| 1001 | Hilo i ka ua kinakinai, ka ua mao ʻole. | Hilo of the constant rain, where it never clears up. |
| 1005 | Hilo, nahele paoa i ke ʻala. | Hilo, where the forest is imbued with fragrance. |
| | [Hilo’s forest is fragrant with hala and lehua blossoms.] |
| 1009 | Hiohio ka makani i lima o Kapaliwaiʻole. | The wind whistles on Kapaliwaiʻole. |
| | [How ignorance speaks! Kapaliwaiʻole is in Kaʻū.] |
| 1010 | Hiʻolani i ka noe. | Sleeping in the fog. |
| | [Sleeping off a drunken stupor.] |
| 1013 | Hō aʻe ka ʻike heʻe nalu i ka hokua o ka ʻale. | Show [your] knowledge of surfing on the back of the wave. |
| | [Talking about one’s knowledge and skill is not enough; let it be proven.] |
| 1016 | Hoʻā ke ahi, kōʻala ke ola. O nā hale wale nō kai Honolulu; ʻo ka ʻai a me ka iʻa i Nuʻuanu. | Light the fire for there is life-giving suhstance. Only the houses stand in Honolulu; the vegetable food and meat are in Nuuanu. |
| | [An expression of affection for Nuʻuanu. In olden days, much of the taro lands were found in Nuʻuanu, which supplied Honolulu with poi, taro greens, ʻoʻopu, and freshwater shrimp. So it is said that only houses stand in Honolulu. Food comes from Nuʻuanu.] |
| 1018 | Hōʻaleʻale Mānā i ke kaha o Kaunalewa. | Mānā ripples over the land of Kaunalewa. |
| | [Said of the movements of a dance. A play on ʻaleale (to ripple like water), referring to the gestures of the hands, and lewa (to sway), referring to the movement of the hips.] |
| 1019 | Hōʻale i ka wai ua lana mālie. | Stirring up still waters. |
| | [Said of one who stirs up controversies.] |
| 1023 | Hoʻi akula kaʻōpua i ke awa lau o Puʻuloa. | The horizon cloud has gone back to the lochs of Puuloa. |
| | [He has gone home to stay, like the horizon clouds that settle in their customary places.] |
| 1024 | Hoʻi hou i ka iwi kuamoʻo. | Return to the backbone. |
| | [To return to the homeland or family after being away.] |
| 1025 | Hoʻi hou i ka mole. | Return to the taproot. |
| | [The return to love and loyalty for kith and kin after a severing of relationship.] |
| 1026 | Hoʻi hou i ke ʻehu me he moi lā. | Returns to the broiling sea like a moi fish. |
| | [Said of one who leaves home for a better chance of advancing but eventually comes back.] |
| 1027 | Hoʻi hou ka iʻa i ke ʻehu kai. | The fish returns to the foamy sea. |
| | [Said of one who returns to a previous home or former habit.] |
| 1028 | Hoʻi hou ka paʻakai i Waimea. | The salt has gone back to Waimea. |
| | [Said when someone starts out on a journey and then comes back again. The salt of Waimea, Kauaʻi, is known for its reddish brown color.] |
| 1029 | Hoʻi hou ka wai i uka o Ao. | The water returns again to the upland of Ao. |
| | [The people had to travel far inland to find uncontaminated water.] |
| 1030 | Hoʻi i Hīlea i kalo ʻekaʻeka. | Go to Hīlea of the dirty taro. |
| | [Said of a careless person. Once, Kohāikalani, a chief of Kaʻū, was living at Punaluʻu. Poi was brought for him from various parts of the district, and a tiny speck of taro peeling was found in the poi from Hīlea. The makers of the poi were put to death. To say that someone hails from Hīlea is to say that he is unclean.] |
| 1032 | Hoʻi i Kālia i ka ʻai ʻalamihi. | Gone to Kālia to eat ʻalamihi crabs. |
| | [He is in a repentant mood. A play on ʻala-mihi (path-of-repentance). Kālia, Oʻahu, is a place where ʻalamihi crabs were once plentiful.] |
| 1033 | Hoʻi i Waolani i kahi o ka ʻeʻepa. | Go to Waolani where the supernatural beings dwell. |
| | [Said to one who can’t be fathomed. It is the equivalent of, “Go and join your peculiar kind of people.” Waolani, in Nuʻuanu, Oʻahu, was once the home of gods, menehune, Nāwā (Noisy beings), Nāmū (Silent beings), and all manner of disgruntled, misshapen, and joyous characters who were grouped under the term ʻeʻepa.] |
| 1034 | Hoʻi ka ʻoʻopu ʻai lehua i ka māpunapuna. | The lehua-eating ʻoʻopu has gone back to the spring. |
| | [Said of one who has gone back to the source.] |
| 1039 | Hoʻi nele i ke kula o Kaneoneo. | Return empty-handed on the plain of Kaneoneo. |
| | [Said of one who retums with nothing. A play on neoneo (nothing).] |
| 1040 | Hoʻi nō a nanahu i kona alelo. | He turns to bite his own tongue. |
| | [Said of one who criticizes others and later does just as they. Also expressed Nahu nō ʻo ia i kona alelo.] |
| 1041 | Hoʻi nō ka moʻala i kona lua. | The moʻala crab returns to its burrow. |
| | [He goes where he belongs.] |
| 1042 | Hoʻi no ka pono i ka makua. | Returns to the parent for benefts. |
| | [Said of a grown person who returns to his parents for support or help, thus becoming a dependent once again.] |
| 1044 | Hoʻi ʻolohelohe i ke kula o Hamohamo. | Going home destitute on the plain of Hamohamo. |
| | [Going home empty-handed. A play on hamo (rub), as in the act of rubbing the hands together to indicate that one is empty-handed. Hamohamo is a place in Waikīkī.] |
| 1054 | Holu ka wai o Kaʻulili i ka makani. | The water of Kaʻulili ripples in the wind. |
| | [A humorous saying applied to one whose proud swagger is like the movement of the ʻūlili (wandering tattler).] |
| 1061 | Hoʻohewahewa ke aloha, aia i Puna i Nānāwale. | Love failed to recognize him, for it is gone to Puna, to Nānāwale. |
| | [Said when an acquaintance or friend merely looks at another and offers no greeting. A play on nānā-wale (merely look).] |
| 1064 | Hoʻohū ka ua i ka moana, pilipili ʻāina ʻole mai. | The rain driving out to the ocean does not come near the land. |
| | [Said when a person snubs his old friends.] |
| 1065 | Hoʻokaʻawale i ka ʻōʻō mai ka lima aku. | [To] take the digging stick out of the hand. |
| | [To deprive someone of work.] |
| 1066 | Hoʻokahi e pōʻino, pau pū i ka pōʻino. | One meets misfortune, all meet misfortune. |
| | [Said of those who are important to the community — when misfortune befalls one, it is a misfortune for all. The fall of an able war leader is a disaster to his followers just as the fall of a good warrior is a disaster to the leader. Every member of the group is important.] |
| 1071 | Hoʻokahi no hana a Palapala ʻo ka ʻohi i ka iʻa. | All that Palapala does is gather fish. |
| | [Although we do all the hard work, another comes along and reaps the harvest. Palapala was a noted warrior of Kāʻanapali, Maui. When the fishermen went deep-sea fishing with hook and line, he accompanied them. Whenever a fish would become unfastened and float to the surface, Palapala would take it, uttering these words.] |
| 1075 | Hoʻokahi nō kaunu like ana i Waialoha. | Together there will he friendliness at Waialoha. |
| | [The enjoyment of friendliness by all. Waialoha (Water-of-love) is a place on Kauaʻi. When mentioned in poetry it refers to love and friendliness.] |
| 1086 | Hoʻokolo aku i ka nui manu. | Go inquire of the other birds. |
| | [Go and consult others. From the following story: One day a man went up to a mountain spring for water. On the way down he paused to rest, then fell asleep. An ʻelepaio lighted and, seeing the man’s gourd bottle, pecked a hole in the gourd. The sound of the pecking woke the man, who saw the water running out. In anger he threw a stone at the ʻelepaio and injured its leg. It flew away and met an ʻio. “O! ʻIo, I was stoned by a man,” ʻElepaio cried. “What did you do?” asked ʻIo. “Pecked the man’s bottle.” “Then the fault is yours,” answered ʻIo. ʻElepaio flew on and met Pueo. The same words were exchanged between them. So it was with ʻIʻiwi, ʻŌʻō, and all the others. ʻElepaio’s disgust grew greater with ʻAmakihi, who laughed at him in derision. Receiving no sympathy, ʻElepaio sat and thought and finally admitted to himself that he, indeed, was to blame.] |
| 1087 | Hoʻokomo i ko waho i ko loko. | Put inside that which is outside. |
| | [Eat.] |
| 1090 | Hoʻolaʻi nā manu i ke aheahe. | The birds poise quietly in the gentle breeze. |
| | [Said of those who are at peace with the world, undisturbed and contented.] |
| 1091 | Hoʻolalau ka helena i Kualoa, piʻi ana i ka pali o Kānehoalani. | In wandering about Kualoa, he ascends the cliff of Kānehoalani. |
| | [He goes off his course and thereby gets nothing. On the cliff of Kānehoalani stands a phallic stone, a symbol of bad luck when seen in a dream.] |
| 1093 | Hoʻolale i ka ʻai a ka uʻi. | Show what youth can do. |
| | [Let the youth show us what he can do.] |
| 1094 | Hoʻolaukanaka i ka leo o nā manu. | The voices of birds give the place a feeling of being inhabited. |
| | [Used by those who live, work, or travel in lonely places — life is made happy by the voices of many birds. Common in songs.] |
| 1098 | Hoʻolike ka manaʻo i Wailohia. | Make your minds alike at Wailohia. |
| | [Turn your minds onto the same channel with bright thoughts. A play on wai (water) and lohia (sparkle).] |
| 1103 | Hoʻonā ke ola i ka hale o ke akua. | The distresses of life are relieved in the house of the god. |
| | [The gods help man.] |
| 1104 | Hoʻonohonoho i Waineki kauhale o Limaloa. | Set in order at Waineki are the houses of Limaloa. |
| | [Limaloa, the god of mirages, made houses appear and disappear on the plains of Mānā. This saying applies to the development of ideas, the setting of plans, or the arranging of things in order.] |
| 1105 | Hoʻonuʻa Hilo i ka lehua. | Hilo produces the lehua in abundance. |
| 1107 | Hoʻopāpā i Waipā ka Lūpua. | The Lūpua wind touches at Waipā. |
| | [Said of one who cannot refrain from touching or pawing. Waipā is the name of a wind and location on Kauaʻi] |
| 1109 | Hoʻopau maunu i ka iʻa liʻiliʻi; e kiʻi nō ma ka iʻa nunui. | A waste of bait to go for the small fish; go for the big ones. |
| 1112 | Hopo ana i ka wai poniponi o Waipuhi. | Fearful of the dark water of Waipuhi. |
| | [Said of one who is fearful of getting into trouble.] |
| 1113 | Hōpoe, ka wahine lewa i ke kai. | Hōpoe, the woman who dances in the sea. |
| | [Hōpoe was a dancer of Keaʻau, Puna, in that long ago day when gods mingled with men. Because of her dancing and her kindly nature, Hōpoe was taken by the goddess Hiʻiaka as a favorite friend. When Pele sent Hiʻiaka to Kauaʻi to fetch Lohiʻau, the first request Hiʻiaka made to Pele was to be kind to her friend, Hōpoe. After a time, when Hiʻiaka did not return as expected, Pele in a fit of rage destroyed Hiʻiaka’s grove and the beloved Hōpoe. The latter was changed into a balancing stone that seemed to dance in the sea.] |
| 1114 | Hopu hewa i ka ʻāhui hala o Kekele. | [One] grasps the pandanus cluster of Kekele by mistake. |
| | [Said of one who meets with disappointment. A play on hala (to miss or to be gone). The hala cluster is often used figuratively to refer to the scrotum. Kekele is a grove at the base of Nuʻuanu Pali.] |
| 1115 | Hopu hewa i ka loli, i ka iʻa maka ʻole. | Grasped the eyeless fish by mistake. |
| | [Met with disappointment. The loli (sea cucumber) is known as the fish without eyes.] |
| 1116 | Hou hewa i ka lua o ka ʻōhiki. | [He] poked by mistake into the hole of a sand crab. |
| | [An expression of derision for a man who marries a very young woman and later realizes it would be better to have a more settled, mature wife.] |
| 1117 | Huaʻi ka ʻulu o Lele i ka makani Kona. | The breadfruit of Lele is exposed by the Kona wind. |
| | [Hidden matters are exposed in time of anger. When the Kona wind blows, the leaves of the trees are blown off to expose the fruit.] |
| 1119 | Hū akula i kula. | Lost on the plain. |
| | [Said of one who goes off-course.] |
| 1120 | Huʻea i kai nā pihaʻā moe wai o uka. | Washed down to the sea are the stones and debris of the upland stream beds. |
| | [Said of a cloudburst that washes the stones from the stream beds, or of a person who, like the torrents, leaves no scandal untold.] |
| 1121 | Huʻe a kaua, moe i ke awakea. | A battle attack, then sleep at midday. |
| | [The sleep of death. When Kawelo fought Kauahoa, the latter uttered this, meaning that he would fight back until his opponent was dead.] |
| 1125 | Hū hewa i Kapua ka ʻauwaʻa pānānā ʻole. | The fleet of canoes without a compass landed at Kapua by mistake. |
| | [Said of one who is off his course, mentally or otherwise. A saying from Kohala.] |
| 1126 | Huhui nā ʻōpua i Awalau. | The clouds met at Pearl Harbor. |
| | [Said of the mating of two people.] |
| 1128 | Hui aku na maka i Kou. | The faces will meet in Kou. |
| | [We will all meet there. Kou (now central Honolulu) was the place where the chiefs played games, and people came from everywhere to watch.] |
| 1130 | Huikau nā makau a ka lawaiʻa i Wailua, lou mai ʻo Kawelowai iā Waiehu. | The fishhooks of the fishers became entangled at Wailua and caught Kawelowai at Waiehu. |
| | [An entangling love affair. The first line of a chant.] |
| 1131 | Hū i kula ka make o ka ʻaiā. | The wicked dead is washed up by the sea. |
| | [In ancient times, certain priests would take charge of a chief’s corpse. The flesh and viscera, called pela, were sometimes taken out to sea where they were deposited. It was said that the viscera of a good chief was accepted by the sea and hidden in its depth, but that of a wicked chief was washed ashore and left there.] |
| 1134 | Hū ka wai i ke pili. | The water overflows to the pili grass. |
| | [Said of anything that overflows its boundaries, including a person whose behavior goes beyond the bounds of propriety.] |
| 1135 | Huki kū i luna ka lae o Kalaʻau. | The point of Kalaʻau holds itself high. |
| | [Said of an uncooperative person who wants his own way or of an egotistic, self-centered person. A Molokaʻi expression.] |
| 1136 | Huleilua i nā nalu o Launiupoko. | The waves of Launiupoko toss this way and that. |
| | [Said of one who is unsure of himself. From Maui.] |
| 1137 | Huli ka lau o ka ʻamaʻu i uka, nui ka wai o kahawai. | When the leaves of the ʻamaʻu turn toward the upland, it is a sign of a flood. |
| | [When the wind blows the leaves of the ʻamau fern so that they bend toward the mountains it is also blowing clouds inland, which will produce rain.] |
| 1139 | Huli ke alo i ka paia. | Turn the face to the wall. |
| | [There is nothing to fear. To go to sleep with one’s face to the wall is an indication of confidence in one’s safety.] |
| 1140 | Huli ke alo i luna. | Facing upward. |
| | [Said of a baby not yet able to sit up or a person too sick to rise.] |
| 1141 | Huli ke alo i luna, helu i ka ʻaʻaho. | Lying face up and counting the rafters. |
| | [Lazy.] |
| 1143 | Hulili ka lā i ke kula o Makahuʻena, he huakaʻi ʻoiʻo. | When the sunlight vibrates over the plain of Makahuena, a procession of ghosts is going through. |
| | [A saying used when the heat of the sun appears to vibrate. The huakaʻi ʻoiʻo is a procession of departed chiefs and their followers.] |
| 1145 | Hului kōkō a Makaliʻi a kau i luna. | The carrying net of Makaliʻi takes all and suspends them on high. |
| | [Said of a stingy person. Makaliʻi was a supernatural chief of ancient times who gathered all the food plants in a net and hung them in the sky among the stars of the Pleiades. The result was famine.] |
| 1147 | I ʻaʻa nō i ka lā o ka ikaika. | He can be daring as long as his strength lasts. |
| | [Said of a cocky person. As long as he has more strength than others, he acts the bully; but it soon ends when someone superior shows up.] |
| 1149 | I ʻāina nō ka ʻāina i ke aliʻi, a i waiwai nō ka ʻāina i ke kānaka. | The land remains the land because of the chiefs, and prosperity comes to the land because of the common people. |
| | [Chiefs are needed to hold the land, and commoners are needed to work the land.] |
| 1150 | I aliʻi nō ke aliʻi i ke kanaka. | A chief is a chief because of the people who serve him. |
| | [This was often used as a reminder to a chief to consider his people.] |
| 1151 | I ʻauheʻe ʻo Kaʻuiki i ka wai ʻole. | Kaʻuiki was defeated for the lack of water. |
| | [When ʻUmi, ruler of Hawaiʻi, went to Hāna to battle against Lono-a-Piʻilani of Kaʻuiki, thirst weakened the Maui warriors. Often used later to mean “without water or the needed supplies we cannot win.”] |
| 1152 | I haʻaheo nō ka lawaiʻa i ka lako i ka ʻupena. | The fisherman may well be proud when well supplied with nets. |
| | [Good tools help the worker to succeed.] |
| 1153 | I Halapē aku nei. | He has been to Halapē. |
| | [He’s drunk. A play on pē (gone under) in Halapē, a place at the Puna-Kaʻū boundary.] |
| 1154 | I hāna ka pō, i hāna ke ao. | Alert by night, alert by day. |
| | [Said of a fisherman or farmer who begins work before sunrise and continues into the daylight hours.] |
| 1155 | I hea nō ka lima a ʻau mai? | Where are the arms with which to swim ? |
| | [Don’t complain, use your limbs to do what you need to do.] |
| 1156 | I hea ʻoe i ka wā a ka ua e loku ana? | Where were you when the rain was pouring ? |
| | [A reply to one who asks his neighbor for some of his crop. If he answered that he had been away during the rains, he would be given some food; but if he said that he had been there, he would be refused. It was due to his own laziness that he did not have a crop as fine as his industrious neighbor’s.] |
| 1157 | I hele i kauhale, paʻa pūʻolo i ka lima. | In going to the houses of others, carry a package in the hand. |
| | [Take a gift.] |
| 1158 | I hele no ka hola iʻa i ka lā. | Poison fish while it is day. |
| | [It is better to work during the day. [cf 751]] |
| 1159 | I hewa i ka lele mua, i ka hoʻoūlu i ka lā ʻino. | The fault lies in leaping first, in inspiring a bad day. |
| | [Said of a person who starts a fight or an argument, especially after he has been worsted.] |
| 1160 | I hewa nō i ka waha. | The fault lies in the mouth. |
| | [Trouble results from speaking the wrong words.] |
| 1161 | ʻIhi ke kua, meha ke alo; ka hua i ka umauma hōʻike ʻia. | Sacred is the back, silent the front; the word on the chest, reveal. |
| | [An expression often used by chiefs. No one stands behind and no one else is here in my presence, so deliver your message to me.] |
| 1162 | I Hikauhi, i Kaumanamana. | At Hikauhi, at Kaumanamana. |
| | [A man and his wife lived at Kaunakakai, Molokaʻi. While he was gone fishing one day, she felt the beginning of labor pains and went to her mother’s home in another village. When the husband arrived home and his wife was not there, he began to search for her. After he had searched fruitlessly for several days, his wife returned with their baby daughter, whom they named Hikauhi. Ever since that day, hikauhi has meant “in vain,” and when a person loses something and goes in search, one says, “I Hikauhi, i Kaumanamana.”] |
| 1164 | I hole ʻia nō ka iʻe i ke kau o ka lā. | The time to cut designs in a tapa beater is when the sun is high. |
| | [Do your work when you can do your best.] |
| 1165 | I hoʻokahi kahi ke aloha. | Be one in love. |
| | [Be united in the bond of affection.] |
| 1166 | I hoʻokahi ka umauma, hoʻokahi ke aloha. | All abreast together, one in love. |
| | [All united in harmony and love.] |
| 1167 | I hoʻokauhua i ke kōlea, no Kahiki ana ke keiki. | When there is a desire for plovers, the child-to-be will travel to Kahiki. |
| | [Said of a pregnant woman. If she craves plovers, her child will someday travel to foreign lands.] |
| 1168 | I hoʻolulu, hoʻohulei ʻia e ka makani. | There was a lull, and then the wind began to blow about. |
| | [There was a promise of peace and quiet, and then the disturbance was renewed.] |
| 1169 | I ʻike ʻia nō ʻoe i ka lā o ko loaʻa; i ka lā o ka nele pau kou ʻike ʻia mai. | You are recognized when prosperous; but when poverty comes, you are no longer recognized. |
| | [Fair-weather friends gather when one is prosperous and scatter when prosperity is gone.] |
| 1170 | I ʻike ʻia nō ʻoe i ka loaʻa aku o kāu. | You are recognized as long as yours is received. |
| | [A warning about fair-weather friends who are friendly as long as they continue to benefit.] |
| 1171 | I ʻike ʻia nō ʻo Kohala i ka pae kō, a ʻo ka pae kō ia kole ai ka waha. | One can recognize Kohala by her rows of sugar cane which can make the mouth raw when chewed. |
| | [When one wanted to fight a Kohala warrior, he would have to be a very good warrior to succeed. Kohala men were vigorous, brave, and strong.] |
| 1172 | I ʻike ʻia nō ke aliʻi, i ka nui o nā makaʻāinana. | A chief is known by his many followers. |
| 1173 | I ʻike ʻoe iā Kauaʻi a puni a ʻike ʻole iā Kauaʻi-iki, ʻaʻole nō ʻoe i ʻike iā Kauaʻi. | If you have seen all of the places on the island of Kauaʻi and have not seen Little Kauaʻi, you have not seen the whole of Kauaʻi. |
| | [Kauaʻi-iki (Little Kauaʻi) is a stone that stood in a taro patch at Wahiawa, Kauaʻi. When it was threatened with destruction by the building of a road, it was rescued by Walter McBryde and taken to Maiʻaloa and later to Kukuiolono Park, where it stands today.] |
| 1174 | I ka ʻai, i ka nānā; i ka ʻai, i ka hālō; i ka ʻai, i ke kiʻei. | Eat, look about; eat, peer; eat, peep. |
| | [Said of the eating of a thief — the eyes dart here and there to see if anyone is coming.] |
| 1175 | I ka hale nō pau ke aʻo ʻana. | Instructions are completed at home. |
| | [Do all of your teaching at home. First uttered by Pupuakea, half-brother of Lonoikamakahiki, when his instructor advised him as they were preparing for battle. The instructor’s teaching was all done at home; from then on the warrior chief was on his own. Also directed toward parents who noisily scold their children in public.] |
| 1176 | I kahi ʻē ka malia, hana i ka makau. | While fair weather is still far away, make your fishhooks. |
| | [Be prepared.] |
| 1177 | I kahi ʻē nō ke kumu mokihana, paoa ʻē nō ʻoneʻi i ke ʻala. | Although the mokihana tree is at a distance, its fragrance reaches here. |
| | [Although a person is far away, the tales of his good deeds come to us.] |
| 1178 | I Kahiki ka ua, ako ʻē ka hale. | While the rain is still far away, thatch the house. |
| | [Be prepared.] |
| 1179 | I Kahiki nō ka hao, ʻo ke kiʻo ʻana i Hawaiʻi nei. | In Kahiki was the iron; in Hawaiʻi, the rusting. |
| | [Perhaps the foreigner was a good person while he was at home, but here he grows careless with his behavior.] |
| 1180 | I ka holo nō i ke alahao a piʻi i ka lani. | While going along the railroad one suddenly goes up to the sky. |
| | [A drinker soon finds himself “up in the clouds.” An expression used by the sweet-potato beer drinkers of Lahaina, Maui.] |
| 1181 | I ka hoʻolewa aku nei o Kuhelemai. | Attended the funeral of Kuhelemai. |
| | [A play on hoʻolewa (to lift) and kū hele mai (stand up and come), meaning that we stood up and lifted the beer down our throats. An expression used by the sweet-potato beer drinkers of Lahaina, Maui.] |
| 1182 | I ka ʻike! | If there is knowledge! |
| | [Said in scorn or annoyance of one who pretends knowledge, meaning, “What does he know about it?” Sometimes shortened to I ka ʻī.] |
| 1183 | I kai nō ka iʻa, mali ʻē ka makau. | While the fish is still in the sea, make the hook fast to the line. |
| | [Be prepared.] |
| 1184 | I ka moana nō ka iʻa, liuliu ʻia nā pono lawaiʻa. | While the fish is still in the sea, get your gear ready. |
| | [Be prepared.] |
| 1185 | I kanaka nō ʻoe ke mālama i ke kanaka. | You will be well served when you care for the person who serves you. |
| 1186 | I ka nānā nō a ʻike. | By observing, one learns. |
| 1187 | I kani koʻaka i ka leʻaleʻa; i puʻu ko nuku i ka huhū; i leʻa ka nohona i ka māʻona. | One laughs when joyous; sulks when angry; [is] at peace with all when the stomach is satisfed with food. |
| 1188 | I kani nō ka ʻalae i ka wai. | A mudhen cries because it has water. |
| | [A prosperous person has the voice of authority.] |
| 1189 | I kani nō ka pahu i ka ʻolohaka o loko. | It is the space inside that gives the drum its sound. |
| | [It is the empty-headed one who does the most talking.] |
| 1190 | I ka noho pū ʻana a ʻike i ke aloha. | It is only when one has lived with another that one knows the meaning of love. |
| 1192 | I ka pāhiʻuhiʻu. | To play the game of pāhiʻuhiʻu. |
| | [A saucy retort when asked, “Where are you going?” It is a play on hiʻu, which is a part of ʻohiʻu (to pry). Hence, a way of reminding the questioner that he is prying.] |
| 1193 | I ka pali nō ka hoa a hele, kalakala ke kua i ka ʻopeʻope. | The companion stays up on the hill and then goes, the back roughened by the load. |
| | [Said of one who keeps at a distance and departs. Also said of luck that stays away like a disinterested friend, carrying its load of fortune away with it. This was first uttered by Lohiʻau in a chant when he failed to make a score in kilu.] |
| 1194 | I ka piko nō ʻoe lihaliha. | Eat of the belly and you will he satiated. |
| | [The best part of the fish is the belly, especially when it’s fat. There is a play on piko (genitals) whereby this saying acquires sexual import.] |
| 1195 | I ka pono kau i nā waha, mai noho a pehi wale aku. | Those who put into the mouth need not throw stones. |
| | [The mouths that eat the food should never revile the producers.] |
| 1196 | I ka pule nō o Lohiʻau a make. | Lohiʻau was still praying when he died. |
| | [Said of one who waits until he is face to face with death before beginning to pray.] |
| 1197 | I Kaulua, Kaulua ka lā, Kaulua ka ua. | In Kaulua, sunshine and rain alternate. |
| | [Kaulua is a dual-natured month, sunny and rainy both.] |
| 1198 | I ka waha nō a ulu ka ʻai; i ka waha nō a maloʻo. | Food crops are made to grow by the mouth; while still in the mouth they wither. |
| | [Said of one who talks about farming and plans to plant but does nothing about it.] |
| 1199 | I ke aha hoʻi? I ka ʻahakea! | Why? The ʻahakea! |
| | [A saucy retort to the question “Why?” A play on aha (why) and ʻaha in the word ʻahakea. The ʻahakea is a native tree.] |
| 1201 | I ke alo nō ka ʻulu a hala. | The breadfruit was just in front and it was missed. |
| | [[cf. 1942]] |
| 1202 | I ke alo nō o ka lawaiʻa lā a pūkē hewa nā leho, haki wale nā kākala. | It was right in front of the fishermen that the cowry shells came together violently and the spikes broke off. |
| | [In spite of watchfulness, trouble occurs. The leho is a cowry-shell octopus lure fashioned with a spike on it.] |
| 1203 | ʻIkea maila ʻo Mānā, ua hāʻale i ka wai liʻulā. | Mānā notices the waters of the mirage. |
| | [The attempt to fool is very obvious.] |
| 1204 | ʻIke au i kona mau poʻopoʻo. | I know all of his nooks. |
| | [I know all about him, including his family connections, faults, and virtues.] |
| 1205 | I Kehena, i Kaiholena. | At Kehena, at Kaiholena. |
| | [Lazy. A play on hena and lena. “He has gone to Listless and Loafing.”] |
| 1206 | ʻIke ʻia aʻe nō ma ka huluhulu kau i ka puka ihu. | Attention is paid only to the hairs of the nostrils. |
| | [Attention is paid to the favored few whom one does not like to offend.] |
| 1208 | ʻIke ʻia nō ka loea i ke kuahu. | An expert is recognized by the altar he builds. |
| | [It is what one does and how well he does it that shows whether he is an expert.] |
| 1209 | ʻIke i ke au nui me ke au iki. | Knows the big currents and the little currents. |
| | [Is very well versed.] |
| 1210 | I ke kaua e ʻike ʻia ai nā hoaaloha a me nā kānaka koa. | It is in war that one learns who his friends are and who among them is brave. |
| | [One learns who one’s friends are when one faces trouble. Said by Kaʻeo to the chiefs of Oʻahu, who were fighting against Kalanikūpule.] |
| 1212 | ʻIke nō i ka lā o ka ʻike; mana nō i ka lā o ka mana. | Know in the day of knowing; mana in the day of mana. |
| | [Knowledge and mana — each has its day. Another day may bring greater knowledge and greater mana than today.] |
| 1213 | ʻIke nō ke aliʻi i kona kanaka, a ua ʻike nō ke kanaka i kona aliʻi. | The chief knows his servant; the servant knows his chief. |
| | [Outsiders do not understand our relationships to our chiefs, and we do not care to discuss it with them.] |
| 1214 | Ikiiki i ka lā o Keawalua. | Depressed with the heat of Keawalua. |
| | [Sick and tired of living in an atmosphere of unkindness and hatred.] |
| 1215 | I Kōkī o Wailau, i ke alapiʻi a ka ʻōpae. | At Kōkī at Wailau is the stairway of the shrimp. |
| | [Refers to Wailau, Molokaʻi, where the fishing god ʻAiʻai hid all the shrimps at a ledge called Kōkl because he was annoyed at the people there for neglecting to preserve the fish spawn. He later revealed the hiding place to a youth he especially liked.] |
| 1216 | I komo ka ʻai i ka paʻakai. | It is the salt that makes the poi go in. |
| | [Poi tastes much better with salted meats. If there is no meat, one can make a meal of poi and salt.] |
| 1217 | I komo nō ka haʻi puaʻa i ka paʻa ʻole o ka pā. | Other people’s pigs come in when the fence is not kept in good repair. |
| | [When you behave well and tend to your own business, no sorcerer can send his evil gods to destroy you, for your own gods will give you their protection.] |
| 1218 | I kua naʻu. | A burden for me. |
| | [A request to a dying person for last instruction: “Let me carry out your last wishes.” This saying also implies simply, “Let me bear the responsibilities,” or “Let me help.”] |
| 1219 | I kū i ke ola, ola; i kū i ka make, make. | If it is on the side of life, there is life; if on the side of death, death. |
| | [Said of one who lies between life and death.] |
| 1220 | I kū ka makemake e hele mai, hele nō me ka maloʻeloʻe. | If the wish to come arises, walk frmly. |
| | [If you wish to come do not be hesitant, for you are welcome.] |
| 1221 | I kūpalu ʻia i ka mūheʻe. | Fattened with squid. |
| | [Squid is sometimes used as bait. After eating some, the fisherman throws a piece into the sea as lure.] |
| 1222 | I laila i luakaha ai me Hiku. | There [he] whiled the time with Hiku. |
| | [Had an enjoyable time. Hiku was a hero who lived in the mountains of Hawaiʻi and was thought of as a man who lived happily.] |
| 1223 | I laka nō ka uhu i ka pakali. | The uhu is attracted by the decoy. |
| | [If one wants to attract a person he must have something to interest him. Be patient and you will get what you want.] |
| 1224 | I lalo i Milu. | Down to Milu. |
| | [The fate after death of one who has not been obedient to his family gods, Milu is the ruler of the underworld.] |
| 1225 | I leʻa ka hula i ka hoʻopaʻa. | The hula is pleasing because of the drummer. |
| | [The lesser details that one pays little attention to are just as important as the major ones. Although the attention is given to the dancer, the drummer and chanter play an important role in the dance.] |
| 1226 | I lele no ka lupe i ke pola. | It is the tail that makes the kite fly. |
| | [It is the number of followers that raises the prestige of the chief.] |
| 1228 | ʻIliki ke kai i ka ʻopeʻope lā, lilo; i lilo no he hāwāwā. | The sea snatches the bundle and it is gone; it goes when one isn’t watchful. |
| | [A person who fails to watch out often loses.] |
| 1229 | I lohe i ka ʻōlelo a hoʻokō, e ola auaneʻi a laupaʻi. | One who hears good counsel and heeds [it] will live to see many descendants. |
| 1230 | I luna nā maka, i lalo nā kuli. | Eyes up, knees down. |
| | [Pray.] |
| 1231 | I lima nō ka ua, wehe ʻē ke pulu o lalo. | While the rain is still in the sky, clear the field below. |
| | [In dry places, farmers cleared the fields when they saw signs of rain so the water would soak the earth.] |
| 1232 | I maikaʻi ke kalo i ka ʻohā. | The goodness of the taro is judged by the young plant it produces. |
| | [Parents are often judged by the behavior of their children.] |
| 1233 | I make nō he hāwāwā; ʻauhea nō hoʻi nā lima a ʻau mai? | It is inexperience that causes death; where are your arms with which to swim? |
| | [When you have something to do, learn to do it and gain experience. Experience often saves life.] |
| 1234 | I mānai kau, i pua hoʻi kaʻu, kui ʻia ka makemake a lawa pono. | Yours the lei-making needle, mine the flowers; so let us do as we wish [— make a complete lei]. |
| | [You, the man and I, the woman; let us satisfy the demands of love. Said by Hiʻiaka in a chant as she embraced Lohiʻau at the rim of Kīlauea to rouse the jealous wrath of her sister Pele.] |
| 1235 | I moe au i Kanikū, i waenakonu o ka ʻino. | I slept in [the lava bed] of Kanikū, amid the rough lava rocks. |
| | [I was in trouble. From a portion of a mele uttered by Pāmano when he was surrounded with trouble.] |
| 1236 | I mōhala nō ka lehua i ke keʻekeʻehi ʻia e ka ua. | Lehua blossoms unfold because the rains tread upon them. |
| | [It is the rain that brings forth the lehua blossoms. So do gentle words bring forth much that is desired.] |
| 1237 | I mua e nā pōkiʻi a inu i ka wai ʻawaʻawa. | Forward, my younger hrothers, until you drink the bitter water [of battle]. |
| | [Uttered by Kamehameha as he rallied his forces in the battle of ʻĪao Valley.] |
| 1238 | ʻInā e lepo ke kumu wai, e hōʻea ana ka lepo i kai. | If the source of water is dirty, the muddy water will travel on. |
| | [Where there is evil at the source, the evil travels on.] |
| 1239 | ʻInā he moe maiʻa makehewa ka hele i ka lawaiʻa. | If one dreams of bananas it is useless to go fishing. |
| 1240 | I nanea nō ka holo o ka waʻa i ke akamai o ke kū hoe. | One can enjoy a canoe ride when the paddler is skilled. |
| | [A sexual union is successful when the man knows how it is done.] |
| 1241 | ʻInā paha he puaʻa, pau i kālua. | If a pig, [you] would have heen roasted. |
| | [Said with laughter when a person forgets to come home on time. A straying pig can end up roasted in an imu. A common saying in Puna and eastem Kaʻū.] |
| 1242 | I noho ʻoukou a i pae mai he waʻa o Kahiki-makolena, hopu ʻoukou a paʻa; o ke kahuna ia ʻaʻohe e ʻeha ka ʻili ʻoiai no Kahiki aku ana ka ʻāina. | If sometime in the future a canoe from Kahiki-makolena arrives, grasp and hold fast to it. There is the kahuna for you, and your skins will never more he hurt [in war],for the land will someday he owned hy Kahiki. |
| | [A prophecy uttered by Kaleikuahulu to Kaʻahumanu and her sisters as he was dying. Foreign priests (missionaries) will come. Accept their teachings.] |
| 1243 | ʻIno ka moana ke ahu mōkākī nei ka puna i uka. | The sea is rough, for the corals are strewn on the beach. |
| | [Here are all the indications that there is trouble yonder.] |
| 1246 | I ola nō ke kino i ka māʻona o ka ʻōpū. | The body enjoys health when the stomach is well filled. |
| 1247 | I ʻolāʻolā nō ka huewai i ka piha ʻole. | The water gourd gurgles when not filled full. |
| | [A person not very well informed talks more than one who is.] |
| 1248 | I ʻo Nana hoʻokau ka mālie. | When Nana arrives, calm weather finds a place. |
| | [Good weather comes in the month of Nana.] |
| 1249 | I paʻa iā ia ʻaʻole ʻoe e puka. | If it had ended with him [or her] you would not be here. |
| | [Said to a younger sibling to encourage more respect for an elder.] |
| 1250 | I paʻa i ka hānau mua, ʻaʻole e puka nā pōkiʻi. | Had the mother died in bearing the oldest, all the others would not have been born. |
| | [Said in reminding brothers and sisters to respect the hiapo (eldest).] |
| 1251 | I paʻa i kona kupuna ʻaʻole kākou e puka. | Had our ancestress died in bearing our grandparent, we would not have come forth. |
| | [Said to remind a member of the family to respect the senior line, because they came first. Also expressed I paʻa i kona makua....] |
| 1252 | I paʻa ke kino o ke keiki i ka lāʻau. | That the body of the child be solidly built by the medicines. |
| | [A mother ate herbs during pregnancy and nursing for the sake of the baby’s health. The herbs were given to the child up to the age of twenty so that he would be healthy and strong through maturity and old age.] |
| 1253 | I pao i ka huewai nuku pueo a ke kanaka. | Pecked at the man’s short-necked gourd bottle. |
| | [Attempted an affair with another’s wife. This saying comes from the story of the ʻelepaio bird that pecked at a man’s water bottle while he slept.] |
| 1254 | I pīʻena ka lio i ka pūnuku; e komo kaula waha ʻia ka maikaʻi. | The horse shies at the halter; better use the bridle. |
| | [Advice not to suppress the activities of a wild-behaving person all at once, but to tame him gradually.] |
| 1257 | I puni iā ʻoe o Kaʻū a i ʻike ʻole ʻoe iā Kaʻūloa, ʻaʻohe nō ʻoe i ʻike iā Kaʻū. | If you have been around Kaʻū and have not seen Kaʻūloa, you have not seen the whole of the district. Kaʻūloa and Waiōhinu were two stones, wife and husband, that stood in a kukui grove on the upper side of the road between Na’alehu and Waiōhinu. With the passing of time, these stones gradually sank until they vanished completely into the earth. After Kaʻūloa was no longer seen, Palahemo was substituted as the chief point of interest. |
| 1258 | I puni iā ʻoe o Lānaʻi a i ʻike ʻole iā Lānaʻi-Kaʻula me Lānaʻi-Hale, ʻaʻohe nō ʻoe i ʻike iā Lānaʻi. | If you have gone around Lānaʻi, and have not seen Lānaʻi Kaʻula and Lānaʻi Hale, you have not seen all of Lānaʻi. |
| 1259 | Ipu paʻu lena i ka uahi. | Soot containers yellowed by smoke. |
| | [A term of contempt applied to the kauā of Kaupō, Maui.] |
| 1260 | I ʻūlili ka ʻūlili he kanaka. | When the sandpiper cries, someone approaches. |
| 1261 | I ulu nō ka lālā i ke kumu. | The branches grow because of the trunk. |
| | [Without our ancestors we would not be here.] |
| 1262 | I Ulupaʻupaʻu, i ka hale o ka makapō. | In Ulupaʻupaʻu, house of the sightless. |
| | [Said of one who is actually or figuratively “blind.” Hema, chief of Maui, went deep-sea fishing to satisfy the longing of his pregnant wife. He landed at Ulupaʻupaʻu where his eyes were pecked out by a large bird.] |
| 1263 | I Waialua ka poʻina a ke kai, ʻo ka leo ka ʻEwa e hoʻolono nei. | The dashing of the waves is at Waialua but the sound is being heard at ʻEwa. |
| | [Sounds of fighting in one locality are quickly heard in another.] |
| 1264 | I wai noʻu. | Give me water. |
| | [Said to challenge another to a game or contest.] |
| 1265 | I walea ka manu i ka ʻula o ka lehua. | The bird is attracted by the redness of the lehua. |
| | [The youth is attracted by the charm of another.] |
| 1266 | I wawā ʻia ka hale kanaka. Na wai e wawā ka hale kanaka ʻole? | Voices are heard around an inhabited house. Who hears voices about an uninhabited one ? |
| | [Where people are, life is. From a chant for Kaʻahumanu.] |
| 1267 | I wawā nō ka noio, he iʻa ko lalo. | When the noio make a din, there are fish below. |
| | [When people gossip, there is a cause.] |
| 1191 | I ka ʻōlelo nō ka ola, i ka ʻōlelo nō ka make. | Life is in speech; death is in speech. |
| | [Words can heal; words can destroy.] |
| 1269 | Ka ʻai hūnā i ka poli. | The food hidden in the bosom. |
| | [Breast milk.] |
| 1271 | Ka ʻai lewa i ka ʻāʻī. | The food that swings from the neck. |
| | [Refers to food containers that were carried suspended from poles.] |
| 1273 | Ka ʻai nānā i luna. | The food that requires looking up to. |
| | [Said of breadfruit, which grows on the tree, in contrast with taro, sweet potato, and yam, which grow underground.] |
| 1274 | Ka ʻai niho ʻole a ka makani i ka ʻai. | Even without teeth the wind consumes the food crops. |
| | [Said of a destructive windstorm.] |
| 1277 | Ka ʻalaʻihi kualoa e kukū ʻai i nā lima. | The long-backed ʻalaʻihi fish that pierces the hands. |
| | [Said of one who is not to be trifled with.] |
| 1287 | Kaha Kaʻena me he manu lā i ka mālie. | Kaʻena Point poises as a bird in the calm. |
| | [This is a line in a chant by Hiʻiaka praising Kaʻena Point, Oʻahu.] |
| 1288 | Kaha ka ʻio i ka mālie. | The ʻio bird poises in the calm. |
| | [Said in admiration of a handsome person. An ʻio dips gracefully as it flies, with wings that flap slowly.] |
| 1296 | Ka hana a ke aloha, he kohu mūheʻe i ke alo pali. | The action of a lover is like that of a squid at the face of a precipice. |
| | [A squid is said to be a creature that goes every which way. A squid-like lover is not to be trusted.] |
| 1300 | Kahaualeʻa i ke kūkae kupu. | At Kahaualeʻa, where the dung sprouts. |
| | [The people of Kahaualeʻa, Puna, were said to eat noni fruit, seeds and all. The seeds would sprout wherever the people excreted.] |
| 1307 | Kāhihi ka puka o ka hale i ka pūnāwelewele. | Cobwebs spread over the door of the house. |
| 1309 | Kāhiko i Nuʻuanu ka ua Waʻahila. | Adorned is Nuuanu by the Waʻahila rain. |
| | [The Wa’ahila rain makes Nuʻuanu grow green and beautiful.] |
| 1316 | Ka honua nui a Kāne i hoʻīnana a ʻahu kīnohinohi. | The great earth animated and adorned by Kāne. |
| | [Kāne was the god of fresh water and life.] |
| 1318 | Kahu i ka lae o ka manō, he ʻale ka wahie. | Kindle a fire on the forehead of a shark with waves for fuel. |
| | [Said when food in the imu is not cooked because of a lack of firewood. A criticism of the hosts’ half-cooked food.] |
| 1323 | Ka iʻa a ka wai nui i lawe mai ai. | The fish borne along by the flood. |
| | [The ʻoʻopu, which was often carried to the lowlands in freshets.] |
| 1324 | Ka iʻa a ke kualau i lawe mai ai. | The fish brought in by the rain at sea. |
| | [The spawn of the manini fish that came to the islands by the millions during the summer months. They were said to come after a shower at sea, in the early morning.] |
| 1327 | Ka iʻa ʻeli i ka lepo. | The fish that digs in the mud. |
| | [The clam] |
| 1329 | Ka iʻa hāhā i kahawai. | The fish groped for in the streams. |
| | [The ʻoʻopu, often caught by groping under rocks and hollow places in a stream.] |
| 1333 | Ka iʻa hāwanawana i ka wāwae, a ʻōlelo i ka lau o ka lima. | The fish that whispers to the feet and speaks to the tips of the fingers. |
| | [The mahamoe, found in the sand. It is felt under the feet and picked up by the fingers.] |
| 1334 | Ka iʻa hei i ka uahi. | The fish caught by smoke. |
| | [Birds caught at night with a net after being attracted by a bonfire.] |
| 1335 | Ka iʻa hoʻāla i ka pō, wai lama i ke ahi. | The fish that wakes people up at night and causes a glowing of torches over the water. |
| | [The mālolo, or flying fish.] |
| 1340 | Ka iʻa hoʻopumehana i ka weuweu. | The fish that warms the clumps of grass. |
| | [Mountain shrimp, which cling to weeds and grasses along the banks of streams when a cloudburst occurs in the upland. Unlike the ʻoʻopu, they are not washed down to the lowland.] |
| 1341 | Ka iʻa huli wale i ka pōhaku. | The fish that turns over the stones. |
| | [The wī, a shellfish found in mountain streams. They can be discovered only by turning over the stones to which they cling.] |
| 1342 | Ka ʻia i ka pōhuehue. | Smitten with the pōhuehue. |
| | [Said of a victim of sorcery. One who bore ill against another would smite the sea with a pōhuehue vine while the intended victim was at sea. It was believed that with the proper incantations this would cause the surf to rise. The sea would become rough and dangerous and the intended victim would be killed.] |
| 1343 | Ka iʻa i māʻona ai ka menehune. | The fish that satisfied the menehune. |
| | [Shrimp. A man once rewarded some menehune friends with shrimp after they had made him a canoe.] |
| 1344 | Ka iʻa ʻimi i ka moana, na ka manu e haʻi mai. | The fish sought for in the ocean, whose presence is revealed by birds. |
| | [A school of aku, whose presence is signaled by the gathering of noio at sea.] |
| 1346 | Ka iʻa i nui ai o Kamehameha. | The fish on which Kamehameha was raised. |
| | [Taro greens. The Kamehameha mentioned here is the son of Kekaulike, ruler of Maui, not Kamehameha I, the conqueror. Once, when it was necessary for his personal attendants to be gone for the day, the chief, who was then a small child, was left in the care of his attendants’ two young sons. Taro greens had been prepared and cooked for the royal child, because they were tender and easy to swallow. Kekaulike arrived unexpectedly and was displeased to see only taro greens instead of fish being given to his son. When the boys, who did not recognize him, explained that this was a very precious child and that the taro greens were fed him because they had no bones that would lodge in his throat, Kekaulike was pleased. Thus the little chief, who was reared at Pakaikai, Moloka’i, became known as Kamehameha-nui-ʻai-lūʻau (Great Kamehameha, Eater-of-taro-greens).] |
| 1349 | Ka iʻa kālai i ke koʻi. | The fish hewn with a hatchet. |
| | [Animals which produce beef, pork, mutton, venison, etc. Such meat has to be cut or chopped to a size that makes cooking easier.] |
| 1351 | Ka iʻa kaulana i ka waha o ka ʻale. | The fish that rests over the furrows of the billows. |
| | [The mālolo, or flying fish.] |
| 1355 | Ka iʻa koʻekoʻe o ka ʻili i ka wai. | The fish that chills one’s skin in the water. |
| | [The ʻoʻopu, usually found in upland streams.] |
| 1358 | Ka iʻa lamalama i ka pali. | The fish caught by torching along the seacoast. |
| | [The ʻaʻama, a crab that is often caught at night by torching along the rocky shore.] |
| 1359 | Ka iʻa lamalama i ke one. | The fish caught in the sand by torching. |
| | [The ʻōhiki, or sand crab.] |
| 1368 | Ka iʻa māewa i ke kai. | The fish that sways in the sea. |
| | [The limu (seaweed), which sways with the movement of the sea.] |
| 1372 | Ka iʻa mili i ka poho o ka lima. | The fish fondled by the palm of the hand. |
| | [When it was the season for the hinana (ʻoʻopu spawn), they were so numerous that they could be scooped up in the palm of the hand.] |
| 1375 | Ka iʻa nānā i ka lani ke ola. | The fish that looks to the sky for life. |
| | [Any vegetable, a food depending on sunshine and rain for subsistence.] |
| 1376 | Ka iʻa pā i ka ihu o ka waʻa a lele. | The fish that touches the prow of the canoe and leaps. |
| | [The mālolo, or flying fish.] |
| 1377 | Ka iʻa pani i ka waha o ke kānaka. | The fish that closes the mouth of men. |
| | [The pearl oyster, which was gathered in silence.] |
| 1379 | Ka iʻa pipili i ka lima. | The fish that sticks to the hand. |
| | [The octopus, whose tentacles have suction cups.] |
| 1380 | Ka iʻa uahi a holo i ka pali. | The fish pursued by running after them on the hills. |
| | [Goats.] |
| 1382 | Ka iʻa ʻula weli i ke kai. | The red fish that causes a red color to show in the sea. |
| | [The ʻalalauwā, a small red fish whose appearance in great numbers was regarded as a sign that a member of the royal family would soon die.] |
| 1383 | Ka iʻa ʻumi i ka hanu. | The fish that holds the breath. |
| | [The wana, or sea urchin. The fisherman holds his breath as he dives for them.] |
| 1388 | Kaihalulu i ke alo o Kaʻuiki. | Kaihalulu lies in the presence of Kaʻuiki. |
| | [Said of a person who is always found in the company of another. Kai-halulu (Roaring-sea) is a place that lies before Kaʻuiki hill in Hāna, Maui.] |
| 1390 | Kā i ka ʻai ka ʻaihue. | A thief is hurt in his thievery. |
| | [Theft is accompanied by fear.] |
| 1391 | Kaʻikaʻi i ka lima, hiʻi i ke alo. | Lead with one hand, carry with one arm. |
| | [Said of a mother with children born too close together.] |
| 1392 | Kā i ka ʻino. | To smite with evil. |
| 1393 | Kā i kaʻino, no ka ʻino. | To return evil for evil. |
| 1395 | Kaʻi ka puaʻa i luna o Hāʻupu, e ua ana. | When the pigs move around the summit of Hāʻupu, it is going to rain. |
| | [When puffy “pig” clouds encircle the top of Hāʻupu, above Kīpū on Kauaʻi, it is a sign of rain.] |
| 1396 | Kā i ka waha. | Struck the mouth. |
| | [Having criticized or spoken unkindly of others, the things he said happened to him.] |
| 1398 | Kā i ke kino. | Smites the body. |
| | [Said of the evil done to others that rebounds and hurts the person who started it.] |
| 1402 | Kaikoʻo ke awa, popoʻi ka nalu, ʻaʻohe ʻike ʻia ka poʻe nāna i heʻe ka nalu. | The harbor is rough, the surf rolls, and the rider of the surf cannot be seen. |
| | [A stormy circumstance with uncertain results.] |
| 1414 | Ka ipukukui pio ʻole i ke Kauaʻula. | The light that will not go out in spite of the blowing of the Kauaʻula wind. |
| | [Said of the Lahainaluna School, where many leaders of old Hawaiʻi were educated.] |
| 1416 | Kakaʻi ka puapuaʻa i ka mālie, he ʻino. | When the piglets follow one after the other in the calm, it is a sign of bad weather. |
| | [When the clouds called ao puapuaʻa or puaʻa, “pig” clouds, follow one after the other on the mountaintops in calm weather, bad weather is to be expected.] |
| 1422 | Ka lā i ka Mauliola. | The sun at the source of life. |
| | [Mauli-ola (Breath-of-life) is the god of health.] |
| 1426 | Kālai o Lūaliʻi i ke kiʻi a ʻike i ka ʻino haʻalele. | Lūaliʻi carved an image and, finding it bad, deserted it. |
| | [Said of one who abandons a thing he used to indulge in. Lūaliʻi was a chief of Hawaiʻi who wanted to carve an image. He went to the mountains, found a log and bore it to the lowland to work on. It was almost finished when he discovered a rotted spot. He deserted it and went to find another log to carve. As he worked on the second log he heard the first one say, “Lūaliʻi carved an image and, finding it bad, deserted it.” He went back to it, cleaned out the rotted spot and finished it. He knew that a god possessed it. This god later helped him rid Oʻahu of evil beings.] |
| 1427 | Kala kahiko i au wale ai ka lā. | The sun has gone down long since. |
| | [A reply to one who asks about something that took place a long time ago.] |
| 1429 | Ka lālā kaukonakona haki ʻole i ka pā a ka makani Kona. | The tough branch that does not break in the Kona gales. |
| | [Said of a sturdy, strong person.] |
| 1436 | Ka lawaiʻa nui i ʻeaʻea nā kuʻemaka, i ʻehuʻehu nā lihilihi. | The great fisherman whose brows are salt-encrusted and whose lashes are reddened [by the sun]. |
| | [Said in admiration of an experienced fisherman who has spent many a day at his trade.] |
| 1444 | Kālina ka pono, ʻaʻohe hua o ka puʻe, aia ka hua i ka lālā. | The potato hill is bare of tubers for the plant no longer bears; it is the vines that are now bearing. |
| | [The mother is no longer bearing, but her children are.] |
| 1448 | Ka lonolau no i ka lonolau; ka puʻulīʻulī no i ka puʻulīʻulī. | The large gourds to the large gourds; the little gourds to the little gourds. |
| | [In battle, chiefs attack chiefs and commoners fight commoners. Also, chiefs seek the society of chiefs, commoners the society of commoners.] |
| 1450 | Ka lulu o Moikeha i ka laulā o Kapaʻa. | The calm of Moikeha in the breadth of Kapaʻa. |
| | [Thc chief Moikeha enjoyed the peace of Kapaʻa, Kauaʻi, the place he chose as his permanent home.] |
| 1452 | Kama ʻia ke aloha a paʻa i loko. | Bind love that it may remain fast within. |
| | [Be a person who knows love.] |
| 1471 | Kamaliʻi ʻike ʻole i ka helu pō: Muku nei, Muku ka malama; Hilo nei, kau ka Hoaka. | Children who do not know the moon phases: Muku is here, Muku the moon; Hilo comes next, then Hoaka. |
| | [The first part of a child’s chant for learning the names of the moon phases. Also said of one who does not know the answer to a question or is ignorant. He is compared to a small child who has not learned the moon phases.] |
| 1477 | Ka manu hoʻāla i ke ao. | The bird that wakes [everyone] at daybreak. |
| | [The rooster.] |
| 1478 | Ka manu kāhea i ka waʻa e holo. | The bird that calls to the canoe - to sail. |
| | [Said of the kioea (stilt), whose early morning call was often a signal to canoemen to be ready to fish or travel.] |
| 1484 | Ka moa i hānai ʻia i ka lā, ua ʻoi ia i ka moa i hānai ʻia i ka malu. | A cock fed in the sunlight is stronger than one fed in the shade. |
| | [If you want a strong son, raise him with plenty of sunlight.] |
| 1487 | Ka moe no kau a Mele Wile, ala aʻe ua moʻa i ke kuke. | You sleep the sleep of Mary [wife of] Willie; when you awake, the food is cooked. |
| | [A common saying on Hawaiʻi applied to any sleepy-head. Mary, wife of William Shipman, was annoyed with a servant who constantly overslept. One morning she looked into the servant’s room and loudly uttered this condemnation. The other servants laughed, and the sleeping servant was so ashamed that she rose bright and early thereafter.] |
| 1492 | Ka nalu haʻaheo i ka hokua o ke kanaka. | The surf that proudly sweeps over the nape of one’s neck. |
| | [Said of a wind which surges and blows from the back. A play on hokua (crest of high wave).] |
| 1495 | Kani ka moa i ka ʻīpuka, he malihini kipa. | When a cock crows at the door, a guest is to he expected. |
| 1504 | Ka nui e ʻauamo ai i ke keiki i ke kua. | The size that enables one to carry a smaller child on the back. |
| | [Said of a child about ten years old who has grown big enough to carry a younger sibling on his back. In ancient days the age of a child was not reckoned by years but by physical ability to perform a certain task.] |
| 1506 | Ka nui e paʻa ai i ka hue wai. | The size that enables one to carry a water bottle. |
| | [Said of a child about two years old. In Kaʻū, where fresh water was scarce and had to be obtained from upland springs, every person who went helped to carry home water. When a child was about two, he was given a small gourd bottle for carrying water.] |
| 1507 | Ka nui e paʻa ai i nā niu ʻelua. | The size that enables one to carry two coconuts. |
| | [Said of a child of about five.] |
| 1508 | Kanukanu, hūnā i ka meheu, i ka maʻawe alanui o Kapuʻukolu. | Covering with earth, hiding the footprints on the narrow trail of Kapuukolu. |
| | [Said of a cautious person who guards his ways from those who pry. In ancient times a person who did not want to be traced by his footsteps carefully eradicated them as he went.] |
| 1509 | Kanu ke kalo i Welo, ʻaʻole e ulu nui ʻia e ka ʻohā. | Plant taro in Welo and the offshoots will not be many. |
| | [The corm of taro planted in the month of Welo grows very large but the offishoots are few.] |
| 1516 | Ka ō ʻole i ka wehe a ka Hoʻolua. | No stopping when the Hoʻolua wind opens up. |
| | [Said of anything that can’t be stopped.] |
| 1518 | Ka ʻōpuʻu pua i mōhala. | A flower that began to unfold. |
| | [A baby.] |
| 1520 | Kāpae aʻe nō i kulakula. | Just set it aside on the embankment. |
| | [Let’s not bother with it anymore.] |
| 1538 | Kāpī ʻia i ka paʻakai a miko. | Sprinkled with salt until well salted. |
| | [Made to pay a stiff fine.] |
| 1605 | Kaʻū, hiehie i ka makani. | Kaʻū, regal in the gales. |
| | [An expression of admiration for the district of Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi, or for a stately or outstanding person of that district.] |
| 1607 | Kau i ka lani ka holowaʻa ua o Hilo. | Placed high in heaven is the rain trough of Hilo. |
| | [An expression of admiration for a person of regal bearing.] |
| 1608 | Kau i Kāpua ka poʻe polohuku ʻole. | Those without resources will land at Kāpua. |
| | [Without resources one gets nowhere.] |
| 1610 | Kaʻū, i Palahemo. | In Kaʻū, at Palahemo. |
| | [Palahemo is a pool near Kalae in Kaʻū. Salt water is found under the fresh water, and any disturbance, like the dropping of a heavy stone, reverses the water, so that the salt water rises to the top. This place is famed in songs and chants.] |
| 1611 | Kau ka lā i ka lolo, hoʻi ke aka i ke kino. | The sun stands over the brain, the shadow retreats into the body. |
| | [Said of high noon, when the sun is directly overhead and no shadows are seen — an important time for some ancient rites and ceremonies.] |
| 1614 | Kau ka ʻōnohi aliʻi i luna. | The royal eyes rest above. |
| | [A rainbow — a sign that the gods are watching the chiefs — is now visible.] |
| 1616 | Kau ke keha i ka uluna. | The head rests upon the pillow. |
| | [All work is done and there is nothing more to worry about.] |
| 1617 | Kau ke poʻo i ka uluna ʻo Welehu ka malama. | Rest the head on the pillow; Welehu is the month. |
| | [Said of one whose work is done and who is able to rest. Welehu is a stormy month when little can be done except remain at home and sleep.] |
| 1618 | Kaulaʻi nā iwi i ka lā. | To bleach the bones in the sun. |
| | [To talk too freely and unkindly of one’s family to outsiders.] |
| 1621 | Kaulīlua i ke anu, Waiʻaleʻale. | Extremely cold is Waiʻaleʻale. |
| | [Said of one who is high above others, as is Waiʻaleʻale, a mountain on Kauaʻi. A chant beginning with this line was composed for a chiefess of Waialua, Oʻahu, named Kaumealani. The last person to inherit it was Kalākaua, who was also known by the name Kaulīlua.] |
| 1623 | Ka ulu koa i kai o Oneawa. | The koa grove down at Oneawa. |
| | [From the legend of Hiʻiaka. Canoes are sometimes referred to as the koa grove at sea, for canoes in ancient times were made of koa.] |
| 1627 | Ka ʻulu loaʻa ʻole i ka lou ʻia. | The breadfruit that even a pole cannot reach. |
| | [Said of a person of very high rank.] |
| 1638 | Kauā ke aloha i nā lehua o Kāʻana. | Love is a slave to the lehua blossoms of Kāʻana. |
| | [Kāʻana is a place between Keaʻau and ʻŌlaʻa where travelers used to rest and make lei of lehua. It took many blossoms and much patience to complete a lei. The lei was later given to a loved one.] |
| 1647 | Kawaihae i ke kai hāwanawana. | Kawaihae of the whispering sea. |
| | [Refers to Kawaihae, Hawaiʻi.] |
| 1656 | Ka wai lewa i ka makani. | The water that sways in the breeze. |
| | [The coconut, which contains water and is found in clusters high up in the tree.] |
| 1668 | Keaʻau, i ke kai nehe i ka ʻiliʻili. | Keaʻau, where the sea murmurs over the pebbles. |
| | [Keaʻau, Hawaiʻi.] |
| 1670 | Ke ahu a Kaunuohua i kaulu pali. | The heap of Kaunuohua on the slope of the cliff. |
| | [A humorous reference to the scrotum.] |
| 1671 | Ke akua liʻiliʻi hana ʻole i ka lani me ke honua. | Little god who did not create heaven and earth. |
| | [A saying used by Christian Hawaiians to express scorn for any god of old Hawaiʻi.] |
| 1676 | Ke ala pūpū i Molokaʻi. | The path of seashells of Molokaʻi. |
| | [Among the noted things made by Kihaapiʻilani, ruler of Maui, was a paved road lined with seashells at Kaluakoʻi, Molokaʻi.] |
| 1677 | Ke aliʻi nāna e kālua i ke poʻo i ka imu a poʻalo aʻe i nā maka. | The chief who can roast the head in the imu and scoop out the eyes. |
| | [Said of a chief who had the power and authority to have the head of one who offended him cut off and roasted in an imu, or to order his eyes dug out. The heads were roasted and then discarded, a warning to lesser chiefs and commoners to respect their superiors.] |
| 1682 | Keauhou i ka ʻihi kapu. | Keauhou, where strict kapu were observed. |
| | [Keauhou, Kona. This was the place where many of the highest chiefs resided and where Kamehameha III was born.] |
| 1683 | Keauhou, kai nehe i ka ʻiliʻili. | Keauhou, where the sea murmurs to the pebbles. |
| | [Keauhou, Puna, Hawaiʻi.] |
| 1693 | Keha kaʻakepa ka ʻōlelo i Hīhīmanu. | High and round about goes the talk at Hīhīmanu. |
| | [Said of one who boasts repeatedly.] |
| 1695 | Ke hele maila ko Kaʻū; he iho maila ko Palahemo; he hōkake aʻela i Manukā; haele loa akula i Kaleinapueo. | There come those of Kaʻū; those of Palahemo descend; those of Manukā push this way and that; and away they all go to Kaleinapueo. |
| | [Said when one tries to find out something about another and meets with failure at every turn. A play on place names: ʻū (a grunt of contempt) in Kaʻū; hemo (to get away) in Palahemo; kā (to run along like a vine) in Manukā; and leinapueo (owl’s leaping place) in Kaleinapueo.] |
| 1696 | Ke hiʻi lā ʻoe i ka paukū waena, he neo ke poʻo me ka hiʻu. | You hold the center piece without its head and tail. |
| | [You know only the middle part of the genealogy or legend. What about the origin and the latter part?] |
| 1698 | Ke hoʻi aʻela ka ʻōpua i Awalau. | The rain clouds are returning to Awalau. |
| | [Said of a return to the source.] |
| 1699 | Ke hoʻokumu nei Kumukahi i ka ʻino. | Kumukahi is brewing a storm. |
| | [Said of one whose anger increases. Kumukahi is a point at Puna, Hawaiʻi.] |
| 1703 | Keikei Lahaina i ka ua Paʻūpili. | Majestic Lahaina in the Paʻūpili rain. |
| 1711 | Ke inu akula paha aʻu ʻĀlapa i ka wai o Wailuku. | My ʻĀlapa warriors must now be drinking the water of Wailuku. |
| | [Said when an expected success has turned into a failure. This was a remark made by Kalaniʻōpuʻu to his wife Kalola and son Kiwalaʻō, in the belief that his selected warriors, the ʻAlapa, were winning in their battle against Kahekili. Instead they were utterly destroyed.] |
| 1745 | Kekeʻe ka waha, ua nahu i ka makani. | His mouth is wry after biting the wind. |
| | [Said of one who has found that what he said of others is true of himself.] |
| 1750 | Ke koaʻe lele kaha i ka pali o Līloa. | The tropic bird that soars to the cliff of Līloa. |
| | [Said of a chief of high rank.] |
| 1756 | Ke kōpiko i ka piko o Waiʻaleʻale. | A kōpiko tree on the summit of Waiʻaleʻale. |
| | [A boast about an outstanding person.] |
| 1758 | Ke kū i Kahiki. | If one lands at Kahiki. |
| | [If it is possible to do so. A play on hiki (possible).] |
| 1759 | Ke kui lā i nā ʻāpiki lei o Makaiwa. | Stringing the ʻilima flowers into lei at Makaiwa. |
| | [ʻĀpiki was another name for ʻilima.] |
| 1765 | Ke lepo ke kumu wai, e huaʻi ana ka lepo i kai. | When the source of the water is dirty, muddy water will he seen in the lowland. |
| | [When the thoughts are dirty, dirty words are heard.] |
| 1770 | Ke nānā lā i Nānāwale. | Just looks at Nānāwale. |
| | [Said of one who has nothing or no one to look to for help. A play on nānā-wale (merely look), a Puna place name.] |
| 1782 | Ke pau ka moa, kākā i ka nuku; ke pau ka ʻiole, ahu kūkae; ke pau ka manō, lanaō i ke kai. | When a chicken finishes [eating] he cleans his beak; when a rat finishes, he leaves a heap of excreta; when a shark finishes, he rises to the surface of the sea. |
| | [A description of the table manners of people. Some are clean like the chicken; others are unclean and careless, like the rat; and still others, like the shark, loll around without offering to help.] |
| 1785 | Ke wela nei nō ka ʻili i ka maka ihe. | The skin still feels the heated sting of the spear point. |
| | [Said when one is still at war. First uttered by Keaweamaʻuhili to Kahāhana.] |
| 1786 | Kiʻekiʻe ka lele a ke ao i ka lani, i hāpai ʻia e ka makani i luna. | High flies the cloud in the sky, lifted by the wind. |
| | [Said of one whose position is elevated by a chief.] |
| 1789 | Kihe ka ihu i ka ʻale. | One who sneezes when the spray from the surf rises at the bow of the canoe. |
| | [Said of one who braves danger with indifference.] |
| 1790 | Kiʻi ʻia aku ko ʻai i kiʻona. | Go and recover your food from the dung heap. |
| | [Said in disgust and anger to one who complains of the amount of food another has eaten, or of the number of times another has eaten one’s food.] |
| 1791 | Kiʻi kū wale i ke alo o nā aliʻi. | Images that stand about in the presence of chiefs. |
| | [Idle people who stand about like images.] |
| 1796 | Kīkaha ka ʻiwa i nā pali. | The ʻiwa hird soars over the cliff. |
| | [Said of a well-dressed person.] |
| 1799 | Kilioe wahine i uka. | Kilioe, woman of the upland. |
| | [Kilioe was a wahine moʻo (lizard woman) famed in chants and songs of the aliʻi. She belonged to Kauaʻi and it was she who tried to prevent Hiʻiaka from taking the body of Lohiʻau from a cave at Hāʻena.] |
| 1807 | Kīpū loa o Keoni Pulu i ka hoe. | John Bull still holds fast to the oar. |
| | [He is still full and wants nothing more to eat. A play on Pulu, Hawaiianized from the English “full” and “Bull.”] |
| 1811 | Koʻele nā iwi o Hua i ka lā. | The bones of Hua rattled in the sun. |
| | [A warning not to talk too much of one’s kin. Also, a reminder that trouble is sure to befall those who destroy the innocent. Hua was a chief of Maui who heeded the lies of jealous men and ordered the death of his faithful priest, Luahoʻomoe. Before he died, he sent his sons to the mountains for safety, because it was foretold by gods what was to come over the land. After his death, drought and famine came. Many died, including the chief Hua. There was no one to hide his remains, so his bones were left exposed to sun and wind. Also expressed Nakeke nā iwi....] |
| 1815 | Kohala i ka unu paʻa. | Kohala of the solid stone. |
| | [The people of Kohala were known for their firm attitudes.] |
| 1822 | Kōkō ʻiole ka ua i ke kula. | Like the rat [-gnawed] net is the rain over the plains. |
| | [A Kaʻū saying. Makaliʻi, an ancient chief, once gathered all the food plants in a huge net and hung it up in the sky. The result was famine. A rat volunteered to go up to see what he could do about it. He ascended a rainbow and found the net, which he chewed. Down fell the contents, everywhere. So when the rain pours over the land and plants sprout everywhere, it is compared to the gnawed net that scattered food from the hills to the sea, bringing life to all.] |
| 1826 | Kōlea aku i ka ʻohana. | Cry “Plover!” in seeking one’s kinfolk. |
| | [Names are family possessions. In seeking one’s unknown kin, repeat the family names until they are found.] |
| 1827 | Kōlea hewa i ka inoa. | He cried “Plover!” over the wrong name. |
| | [He told untruths about someone.] |
| 1829 | Kōlea kau āhua, a uliuli ka umauma hoʻi i Kahiki. | Plover that perches on the mound, waits till its breast darkens, then departs for Kahiki. |
| | [The darkening of the breast is a sign that a plover is fat. It flies to these islands from Alaska in the fall and departs in the spring, arriving thin and hungry and departing fat. Applied to a person who comes here, acquires weahh, and departs.] |
| 1830 | Kōlea nō ke kōlea i kona inoa iho. | The plover can only cry its own name. |
| | [Said of an egotistical person.] |
| 1831 | Kole ka waha i ka hānai wahine maikaʻi. | One’s mouth can grow weary and sore when one rears a beautiful daughter. |
| | [Said when a hard-headed daughter finds suitors who are not to one’s liking.] |
| 1833 | Ko luna pōhaku no ke kaʻa i lalo, ʻaʻole hiki i ko lalo pōhaku ke kaʻa. | A stone that is high up can roll down, but a stone that is down cannot roll up. |
| | [When a chief is overthrown his followers move on, but the people who have lived on the land from the days of their ancestors continue to live on it.] |
| 1834 | Komo akula i ke anapuni a Limaloa. | Entered the circle of Limaloa. |
| | [A play on Lima-loa (Long-hand). He has entered the domain of one who has the upper hand.] |
| 1835 | Komo akula ʻoe i ka ʻai a ka lua i Kealapiʻiakaʻōpae. | You are caught by the hold in lua fghting called Kealapiʻiakaʻōpae. |
| 1837 | Komo pohō i ka naele o Alakaʻi. | Sunk in the bog of Alakaʻi. |
| | [Said of one who is overwhelmed with trouble.] |
| 1842 | Kona i ke kai māʻokiʻoki. | Kona of the sea that is cut up. |
| | [From a distance one can see the smooth surface of the sea at Kona, Hawaiʻi, cut by innumerable streaks of color.] |
| 1844 | Kona, kai ʻōpua i ka laʻi. | Kona, where the horizon clouds rest in the calm. |
| 1848 | Konohiki lua ka lā i Olowalu. | The heat of the sun rules in Olowalu. |
| | [Said of one who permits the heat of anger to possess him. Olowalu, Maui, is known for its warm climate.] |
| 1849 | Kō nō i Manila. | Really gone to Manila. |
| | [A saying that began in the 1890s. Said of one who goes and forgets to return, as though he had departed for Manila.] |
| 1852 | Kōpī wale nō i ka iʻa a ʻeu nō ka ilo. | Though the fish is well salted, the maggots crawl. |
| | [Similar to the saying, “There’s a skeleton in every closet.”] |
| 1853 | Koʻūkoʻū i ka wai a ka nāulu. | Tasty to the palate is the water of the showers. |
| | [Said of drinks.] |
| 1857 | Kū a keʻokeʻo; ʻaʻohe i hōʻea mai. | Have stood until bleached white; no one came. |
| | [Said of a long, hopeless wait.] |
| 1858 | Kū akula i ka pana a Pikoi-a-ka-ʻalalā, keiki pana ʻiole o ke kula o Keahumoa. | Shot by the arrow of Pikoi-[son] of-the-crow, the expert rat-shooter of the plain of Keahumoa. |
| | [Got his just deserts.] |
| 1859 | Kū akula i ka pua; ke wī lā ka niho. | Hit by an arrow; now he is gnashing his teeth. |
| | [Now he is getting his just deserts.] |
| 1860 | Kū akula kaʻu lāʻau i ka ʻaʻama kua lenalena. | My spear pierced the yellow-shelled crab. |
| | [This was the boast of the warrior who speared Keʻeaumoku at the battle of Mokuʻohai. Keʻeaumoku revived and shortly after killed Kiwalaʻō. This battle was between the two cousins Kamehameha and Kiwalaʻō.] |
| 1861 | Kū a māloʻeloʻe, lālau nā lima i ka hoe nui me ka hoe iki. | Stand up straight; reach for the big and little paddle. |
| | [Said to young people — be prepared to weather whatever comes your way.] |
| 1865 | Kūhela kāhela i ka laʻi o Lele. | Stretched out full-length in the calm of Lele. |
| | [Said of a sleeper stretched out in a careless manner.] |
| 1866 | Kuhikuhi kahi lima i luna, hāpapa kahi lima i lalo. | One hand points upward, the other gropes downward. |
| | [Said of a religious leader who teaches others to seek heavenly wealth while he himself seeks worldly possessions.] |
| 1869 | Kū hoʻolehelehekiʻi i ka mahina ʻai a Nūkeʻe. | Standing like a protruding-lip image at the food patch of Nūkeʻe. |
| | [Standing around doing nothing, gaining nothing; hence, worth nothing. The reference to Nūkeʻe (Twist-mouth) adds a touch of contempt.] |
| 1872 | Kū ihola i Mamalakā, i ka hale o Kāneheoheo. | There one stands at Mamalakā, the house of Kāneheoheo. |
| | [Luck has departed, and one is left disappointed. A play on heo (to be gone or to depart) in Kāneheoheo.] |
| 1873 | Kū i ka hāiki, ʻaʻole ma mua, ʻaʻole ma hope. | Stands in a narrnow space until nothing before and nothing behind. |
| | [Said of one who has nothing to fall back on and no one to help.] |
| 1874 | Kū i ka īpuka o ka hoka. | Stands at the doorway of disappointment. |
| 1875 | Kū i ka māna. | Like the one from whom he received what he learned. |
| | [Said of a child who behaves like those who reared him. Mana is food masticated by an elder and conveyed to the mouth of a small child. The haumāna (pupil) receives knowledge from the mouth of his teacher.] |
| 1876 | Kū i ka moku. | Stands on the island. |
| | [Said of a person who has become a ruler — he stands on his district or island.] |
| 1878 | Kū i ka poholima ua mea he wahine maikaʻi. | A beautiful woman stands on the palm of the hand. |
| | [A beautiful woman makes one desire to caress and serve her.] |
| 1879 | Kū i ka welo. | Fits into the family behavior pattern. |
| | [Whether good or bad, one’s behavior is judged by the family he belongs to.] |
| 1880 | Kū i ke ʻaki. | Has reached the very highest spot. |
| 1881 | Kū i ke aʻuaʻu. | Jabbed by a small swordfish. |
| | [Felt the blows of a smaller person in a fight or a contest of strength.] |
| 1882 | Kū i ke Kīpuʻupuʻu. | Buffeted by the Kīpuʻupuʻu. |
| | [Said of hurt feelings. Kīpuʻupuʻu is a chilly wind and rain at Waimea, Hawaiʻi.] |
| 1883 | Kuʻikuʻi, hana pele; holo i uka, holo i kai, holo i kahi e peʻe ai a nalo. | Pound, pound, pulverize; run mountainward, run seaward, run till you find a hiding place and hide. |
| | [The chant used in hide-and-go-seek. One child gently pounds the back of the “master” and repeats this chant while the other children run and hide.] |
| 1887 | Kū ka hale i Punaluʻu, i Ka-wai-hū-o-Kauila. | The house stands at Punaluʻu, at the gushing water of Kauila. |
| | [Said of one who has found peace and comfort at last. Ka-wai-hū-o-Kauila is a spring, the gift of a turtle goddess to the people of Punaluʻu, Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi. The people of that locality feared the cannibal woman Kaikapū, who lived near their best springs. In order to avoid her and obtain water, they dived to the sea floor where fresh water bubbled up — hence the name Puna-luʻu (Water-dived-for). Seeing their difficulty, a turtle goddess created this spring.] |
| 1891 | Kū ka liki o Nuʻuanu i ka makani. | Nuʻuanu draws her shoulders up in the wind. |
| | [Said of a show-off.] |
| 1897 | Kū ke ʻā i ka hale o Kaupō. | The lava is heaped at the house of Kaupō. |
| | [A saying from the legend of Pāmano. Pāmano shouted this as his uncle Waipū was trying to make him drunk with ʻawa before killing him. The saying denotes great distress.] |
| 1898 | Kū ke ʻā i kai o ʻĀpua. | Lava rocks were heaped down at ʻĀpua. |
| | [Said of a confusing untidiness, like the strewing of lava rocks, or of utter destruction. ʻApua, in Puna, Hawaiʻi, is a land of rocks.] |
| 1899 | Kū ke ʻehu o ka huhū o ka mea hale, nakeke ka ʻauwae i ka inaina. | The anger of the house owner rises like the [sea] spray, and the chin rattles with wrath. |
| | [Said of an angry host. First uttered by Lohiʻau when he arrived at Kīlauea and encountered the wrath of Pele.] |
| 1902 | Kū kiʻi i kai o Kahuwā. | The image stands at the shore of Kahuwā. |
| | [An idle and ignorant person who stands around like an image.] |
| 1904 | Kukui ʻā mau i ka awakea. | Torch that continues to burn in daylight. |
| | [A symbol of the family of Iwikauikaua. After his daughter was put to death by one of his wives, this chief made a tour of the island of Hawaiʻi with torches burning day and night. This became a symbol of his descendants, who included Kalākaua and Liliʻuokalani.] |
| 1908 | Kūkulu kalaʻihi ka lā i Mānā. | The sun sets up mirages at Mānā. |
| | [Said of a boastful person who exaggerates.] |
| 1910 | Kūkuni i kāʻili o ka ipo ahi. | Burning the skin of the lovers. |
| | [When sparks from hurled firebrands fell near the spectators, lovers would pick them up quickly and drop them on the skin. The resulting scar was a remembrance of the event.] |
| 1912 | Kūlele ke ʻehu kai i ka makani. | The sprays are a-flying in the wind. |
| | [What wrath!] |
| 1913 | Kūlia i ka nuʻu. | Strive to reach the highest. |
| | [Motto of Queen Kapiʻolani.] |
| 1914 | Kūlia i ka nuʻu, i ka paepae kapu o Līloa. | Strive to reach the summit, to the sacred platform of Līloa. |
| | [Strive to do your best.] |
| 1916 | Kū loa akula i kulakula. | Stopped way up on dry land. |
| | [Stranded.] |
| 1921 | Kūneki nā kūʻauhau liʻiliʻi, noho mai i lalo; hoʻokahi nō, ʻo ko ke aliʻi ke piʻi i ka ʻiʻo. | Set aside the lesser genealogies and remain humble; let only one be elevated, that of the chief. |
| | [Boast not of your own lineage but elevate that of your chief. Said to members of the junior line of chiefs.] |
| 1922 | Kū nō i ke keʻa. | Like his sire. |
| | [Like sire, like child.] |
| 1924 | Kū pākū ka pali o Nihoa i ka makani. | The clff of Nihoa stands as a resistance against the wind. |
| | [Said of one who stands bravely in the face of misfortune.] |
| 1926 | Kū pāpiā Hilo i ka ua. | Hilo stands directly in the path of the rain. |
| 1929 | Kūpinaʻi i ke alo o Haoaloa. | Keeps repeating in the presence of Haoaloa. |
| | [The din of shouting is heard again and again. Also, the noise keeps flowing like rushing water.] |
| 1930 | Kūpopou ana i ka pali o Kēʻē. | Going downhill at the cliff of Kēʻē. |
| | [A play on kē (to object) and ʻe (elsewhere). Said of one who is not cooperative.] |
| 1931 | Kupouli Kānehoa i ka hele a Kaukaʻōpua. | Kānehoa is darkened by the departure of Kaukaʻōpua. |
| | [Said of dark grief at the departure of a loved one.] |
| 1933 | Kuʻu ʻia ka palu i piʻi ka moano. | To let down the mashed fish lure so that the moano fish rises to the surface. |
| | [To tell tall tales that attract gullible people. Palu (fish lure) here refers to lies. The fish come with the idea of feasting and are caught.] |
| 1936 | Lahaina, i ka malu ʻulu o Lele. | Lahaina, in the shade of the breadfruit trees of Lele. |
| | [The old name for Lahaina was Lele.] |
| 1938 | Lāʻie i ka ʻēheu o nā manu. | Lāʻie, borne on the wings of birds. |
| | [Lāʻie is a gathering place for people. Twin girls were born at a place now bearing the name of Lāʻie, Oʻahu. The older twin, Lāʻiekawai, was reared by her grandmother, Waka, and was said to rest on the wings of birds. The younger, Lāʻielohelohe, was taken by a kahuna to rear.] |
| 1939 | Laʻi Hauola i ke kai māʻokiʻoki. | Peaceful Hauola by the choppy sea. |
| | [Peace and tranquility in the face of disturbance.] |
| 1942 | Lālau aku ʻoe i ka ʻulu i ka wēkiu, i ke alo nō ka ʻulu, a hala. | You reach for the breadfruit away at the top and miss the one in front of you. |
| | [Sometimes one who reaches afar misses an opportunity that is right before him. Once Kalākaua promised to give a better position to Kamaʻiopili of Maui, but then forgot his promise. One day, while playing billiards with the king, Kamaʻiopili purposely played very badly and exclaimed, “I ke alo nō ka ʻulu, a hala,” whenever he missed the cue ball (ʻulu). This puzzled the king, and when the game was over, he asked a man who knew all the old sayings what Kamaʻiopili had meant. The king was told that Kamaʻiopili was reminding him that others had been rewarded with good positions, but that the man right in front of him, Kamaʻiopili, had been forgotten.] |
| 1945 | Lānaʻi i ke ʻehu o ke kai. | Lānaʻi stands among the sea sprays. |
| 1947 | Lana ka ʻauwae i kahi hāiki. | The chin floated in a narrow place. |
| | [He barely escaped.] |
| 1948 | Lanalana, pā i ke Kona, huli pū. | Insecurely rooted, when the Kona winds blow it topples over. |
| | [When one is insecurely rooted in his knowledge or character, any adversity causes him to fall.] |
| 1950 | Lauahi Pele i kai o Puna, one ʻā kai o Malama. | Pele spreads her fire down in Puna and leaves cinder down in Malama. |
| | [There are two places in Puna called Malama, one inland and one on the shore where black sand (one ʻā) is found.] |
| 1956 | Lawea ke kihe i Mauliola. | Take the sneeze to Mauliola. |
| | [Said to one who sneezes. A similar saying is Kihe, a Mauliola.] |
| 1957 | Lawe i ka maʻalea a kūʻonoʻono. | Take wisdom and make it deep. |
| 1958 | Lawe ka hanu i ʻOlepau. | The breath was taken to ʻOlepau. |
| | [A play on ʻole (no) and pau (finished) Said of one who dies by accident, in a war, etc., and not from natural causes. ʻOlepau is a moon phase in the lunar month.] |
| 1961 | Lawe ʻo Lehua i ka lā; lilo! | Lehua takes away the sun; [it is] gone! |
| | [The sun is said to vanish beyond Lehua at sunset. In love chants, this saying means that one’s sweetheart has been taken away.] |
| 1962 | Lawe ʻo Maleka i ka hoa lā; lilo! | America takes the mate; [she is] gone! |
| | [This expression was used in a chant of the whaling days, when some Hawaiians lost their wives and sweethearts to the white sailors.] |
| 1967 | Leʻaleʻa ka ʻōlelo i ka pohu aku o loko. | Conversation is pleasant when the inside is calm. |
| | [Talk is pleasant when hunger is satisfied.] |
| 1968 | Lehu ke poʻo i ka uahi o ka hoʻoilo. | The head turns ash gray in the smoke of winter. |
| | [Said of one who remains indoors constantly during the windy, rainy month of Welehu, huddled by a fireplace for warmth. Later applied to one who prefers being indoors.] |
| 1969 | Lei Hanakahi i ke ʻala me ke onaona o Panaʻewa. | Hanakahi is adorned with the fragrance and perfume of Panaʻewa. |
| | [The forest of Panaʻewa was famous for its maile vines and hala and lehua blossoms, well liked for making lei, so Hilo (Hanakahi) was said to be wreathed with fragrance.] |
| 1970 | Lei i ke ʻolo. | Wearers of gourds around the neck. |
| | [The kauā, who were a despised people. One who was marked for sacrifice was made to wear a small gourd suspended from the neck by a cord.] |
| 1972 | Lei Mahiki i ka ua kōkō ʻula. | Mahiki wears a wreath of rainbow-hued rain. |
| 1973 | Lēʻī ʻo Kohala i ka nuku nā kānaka. [Lēʻī Kohala, eia i ka nuku nā kānaka. (PE)] | Covered is Kohala with men to the very point of land. |
| | [A great populahon has Kohala. Kauhiakama onee traveled to Kohala to spy for his father, the ruling chief of Maui. While there, he did not see many people for they were all tending their farms in the upland. He returned home to report that there were hardly any men in Kohala. But when the invaders from Maui came they found a great number of men, all ready to defend their homeland.] |
| 1976 | Lele i Kona; lele i Koʻolau. | Flies to the leeward side of the island and flies to the windward. |
| | [Said of one who is hard to locate.] |
| 1981 | Lele ka manu i Kahiki. | The bird has flown to Kahiki. |
| | [He has taken flight like the plover to a foreign country and is not to be found.] |
| 1982 | Lele kapu i kai. | The kapu has flown to the sea. |
| | [The kapu has been abolished.] |
| 1984 | Lele kōheoheo i ka pali o Kapaheo. | Plummeting from the cliff of Kapaheo. |
| | [A Kaʻū saying and a play on heo (quickly gone).] |
| 1985 | Lele Laukī i ka pali. | Laukī leaped off the cliff. |
| | [Said when one in desperation does harm to himself. Laukl was a native of Puna who was ashamed after being derided about his small penis, so he committed suicide by leaping off a cliff. Sometimes applied humorously to one who has lost his sexual potency.] |
| 1987 | Lele nō ka ʻohe i kona lua. | The ʻohe taro leaps into its own hole. |
| | [Each person to his own place. From the legend of Kamiki, in whieh the hero called to the various taros by name, and each leaped into its own hole and stood there.] |
| 1989 | Lewa i ke alahaka o Nuʻalolo. | Swaying on the ladder of Nualolo. |
| | [Lacking security, especially of one who has no home.] |
| 1995 | Liʻiliʻi manu ʻai laiki, akamai i ka hana pūnana. | Small is the rice bird but an expert in nest building. |
| | [He may be insignificant but he’s a good worker.] |
| 1998 | Lī ka ʻili i ke anu o Hauaʻiliki. | The skin is chilled in the cold of Hauaʻiliki. |
| | [It is extremely cold. A play on the name Hau-a-iliki (Ice-strikes).] |
| 1999 | Like nō i ka laʻi o Hanakahi. | All the same in the calm of Hanakahi. |
| | [There is unity; all are as one. A play on kahi (one) in the place name Hanakahi.] |
| 2005 | Lilo i ke kake o Lehua. | Absorbed in the kake chant of Lehua. |
| | [The kake is a chant composed with words so broken up that it requires considerable attention to understand. Said of one who is so absorbed that he is hardly conscious of anything else.] |
| 2006 | Lilo i Puna i ke au a ka hewahewa, hoʻi mai ua piha ka hale i ke akua. | Gone to Puna on a vagrant current and returning, fnds the house full of imps. |
| | [From a chant by Hiʻiaka when she faced the lizard god Panaʻewa and his forest full of imps in a battle. It was later used to refer to one who goes on his way and comes home to find things not to his liking.] |
| 2007 | Lilo ka maka i ke kua. | The eyes are turned to the back. |
| | [There is an angry look in the eyes.] |
| 2011 | Limu pahapaha nolu i ke kai. | Sea lettuce, easily swayed by the action of the tide. |
| | [A derogatory expression for a person weak of character or physical ability.] |
| 2012 | Liʻuliʻu wale ka nohona i ka lā o Hauola, a holoholo i ke one o ʻAlio. | Long has one tarried in the sunlight of Hauola and walked on the sand of ʻAlio. |
| | [Said in praise of an aged person. There is a play on ola (life) in the name Hauola.] |
| 2013 | Liʻu nā maka o ke akua i ka paʻakai. | The eyes of the supernatural beings are made to smart with salt. |
| | [Said of people who have been duped.] |
| 2014 | Loaʻa i ka lāʻau a Kekuaokalani, ʻo Lehelehekiʻi. | You will get Kekuaokalani s club called Lehelehekiʻi. |
| | [You will find nothing but disappointment. Kekuaokalani was a nephew of Kamehameha I, to whom the latter entrusted the care of his war god after his death. Kekuaokalani had a club called Lehelehe-kiʻi (Lips-of-an-image). One meaning of Lehelehekiʻi is “to get around doing nothing but ʻlip’,” that is, talking.] |
| 2015 | Loaʻa i ka piwa lenalena. | He has caught the yellow fever. |
| | [Said of one who is extremely lazy. A play on lena (lazy).] |
| 2017 | Loaʻa ke ola i Hālau-a-ola. | Life is obtained in the House-of-life. |
| | [One is happy, safe, well again. A play on ola (life, health, healing, contentment, and peace after a struggle).] |
| 2018 | Loaʻa pono ka ʻiole i ka pūnana. | The rat was caught right in the nest |
| | [The fellow was caught red-handed.] |
| 2019 | Lohiʻau Puna i ke akua wahine. | Puna is retarded by the goddess. |
| | [Refers to Pele, ruler of volcanoes. The lava flows she pours into the district retard the work and progress of the people.] |
| 2020 | Lomia a wali i ka wali lima ʻole a ke aloha. | Squeezed and crushed by love, who does it without hands. |
| | [Said of heartrending grief.] |
| 2022 | Lonalona ka moana i ka ʻauwaʻa lawaiʻa. | The ocean is thickly dotted with fishing canoes. |
| | [Said when a large number of people are spread over a wide area for work or fun, like a very large picnic group.] |
| 2025 | Luhe i ka wai o Pāʻieʻie. | Drooped over the pool of Pāʻieʻie. |
| | [Drunk.] |
| 2026 | Luhi ʻuʻa i ka ʻai a ka lio. | Wasted time and labor getting food for the horse. |
| | [Applied to one who worked hard, like a Hawaiian sailor on a whaling ship. Retuming home with a well-filled pocket, he would find many friends and girlfriends to help him spend his earnings. In a very short time his cash would be gone and his friends would find another prosperous person. Sadly he would retum to work.] |
| 2028 | Lū i ka ʻōlelo ʻawaʻawa. | Scatters bitter words. |
| | [Curses another and says unkind words.] |
| 2033 | Luʻuluʻu Hanakahi i ka ua nui. | Weighted down is Hanakahi hy the heavy rain. |
| | [Hanakahi, Hilo, was named for a chief of ancient times. This expression was much used in dirges to express heaviness of the heart, as tears pour like rain.] |
| 2034 | Luʻuluʻu Hanalei i ka ua nui; kaumaha i ka noe o Alakaʻi. | Heavily weighted is Hanalei in the pouring rain; laden down by the mist of Alakaʻi. |
| | [An expression used in dirges and chants of woe to express the burden of sadness, the heaviness of grief, and tears pouring freely like rain. Rains and fogs of other localities may also be used.] |
| 2035 | Maʻemaʻe i ke kai ka pua o ka hala, ua māewa wale i ka poli o Kahiwa. | Cleaned by the sea are the blossoms of the hala whose leaves sway at the bosom of Kahiwa. |
| | [These two lines from a chant of praise for a chief are used as an expression of admiration.] |
| 2036 | Maʻemaʻe Puna i ka hala me ka lehua. | Lovely is Puna with the hala and lehua. |
| | [Refers to Puna, Hawaiʻi.] |
| 2037 | Maʻewaʻewa i ka hale kuleana ʻole. | One receives abuse in a house without a relative. |
| | [Pitiful is the lot of one who dwells with those who do not care.] |
| 2038 | Mahae ka ua i Alakaʻi. | The rain at Alakaʻi is divided. |
| | [The people are divided in their opinion of their leader (alakaʻi).] |
| 2041 | Mai ʻalaʻala paha i ka ua o ka Waʻahila. | Almost received a scar on the neek, perhaps, from the Waʻahila rain. |
| | [He just escaped trouble.] |
| 2042 | Mai ʻena i ke kanaka i laka aku. | Do not shy away from a person who is attracted to you. |
| | [Treat him who comes in kindness with kindness.] |
| 2043 | Mai hāʻawi wale i ka lei o ka ʻāʻī o ʻalaʻala. | Do not give a lei too freely lest a scrofulous sore appear on the neek. |
| | [In olden times one never gave the lei he wore except to a person closely related. Should such a lei fall into the hands of a sorcerer who disliked him, a scrofulous sore would appear on his neck. If you wish to make a present of a lei, make a fresh one.] |
| 2044 | Mai hahaki ʻoe i ka ʻōhelo o punia i ka ua noe. | Do not pluck the ʻōhelo berries lest we be surrounded by rain and fog. |
| | [A warning not to do anything that would result in trouble. It is kapu to pluck ʻōhelo berries on the way to the crater of Kīlauea. To do so would cause the rain and fog to come and one would lose his way. It is permissible to pick them at the crater if the first ʻōhelo is tossed into the fire of Pele. Then, on the homeward way, one may pick as he pleases.] |
| 2049 | Mai hōʻaʻano aku o loaʻa i ka niho. | Don’t go daring others lest [you] be caught between the teeth. |
| 2050 | Mai hōʻaleʻale i ka wai i lana mālie. | Do not stir up water that is still. |
| | [Do not stir up contention when all is peaceful.] |
| 2052 | Mai hoʻomāuna i ka ʻai o huli mai auaneʻi o Hāloa e nānā. | Do not be wasteful of food lest Hāloa turn around and stare [at you]. |
| | [Do not be wasteful, especially of poi, because it would anger Hāloa, the taro god, who would someday let the waster go hungry.] |
| 2053 | Mai hoʻoni i ka wai lana mālie. | Do not disturb the water that is tranquil. |
| | [Let the peaceful enjoy their peace.] |
| 2058 | Mai ka hikina a ka lā i Kumukahi a ka welona a ka lā i Lehua. | From the sunrise at Kumukahi to the fading sunlight at Lehua. |
| | [From sunrise to sunset. Kumukahi, in Puna, Hawaiʻi, was called the land of the sunrise and Lehua, the land of the sunset. This saying also refers to a life span — from birth to death.] |
| 2060 | Maikaʻi Kauaʻi, hemolele i ka mālie. | Beautiful Kauaʻi, peaceful in the calm. |
| | [Line from a chant.] |
| 2061 | Maikaʻi nō ka hoʻoipoipo i ka wā e lana ana ke koko; a pau ka lana ana, pau nō ka hie o ia mea. | Lovemaking is good when the blood is circulating freely [in youth]; but when the blood ceases to circulate freely [as in old age] the pleasure one derives from it ceases. |
| 2063 | Mai ka lā ʻōʻili i Haʻehaʻe a hāliʻi i ka mole o Lehua. | From the appearance of the sun at Haʻehaʻe till it spreads its light to the foundation of Lehua. |
| | [Haʻehaʻe is a place at Kumukahi, Puna, Hawaiʻi, often referred to in poetry as the gateway of the sun.] |
| 2064 | Mai ka ʻōʻili ʻana a ka lā i Kumukahi a ka lā iho aku i ka mole ʻolu o Lehua. | From the appearance of the sun at Kumukahi till its descent beyond the pleasant base of Lehua. |
| | [From the sunrise at Kumukahi, in Puna, Hawaiʻi, to the sunset beyond the islet of Lehua.] |
| 2065 | Mai kāpae i ke aʻo a ka makua, aia he ola ma laila. | Do not set aside the teachings of one’s parents for there is life there. |
| 2069 | Mai kaulaʻi wale i ka iwi o nā kūpuna. | Do not dry out the bones of the ancestors. |
| | [Do not discuss your ancestors too freely with strangers, for it is like exposing their bones for all to see.] |
| 2070 | Mai ke kai kuwā e nū ana i ka ulu hala o Keaʻau a ka ʻāina kāʻili lā o lalo o ka Waikūʻauhoe. | From the noisy sea that moans to the hala groves of Keaʻau, to the land that snatches away the sun, below Waikuauhoe. |
| | [From Puna, Hawaiʻi, where the sun was said to rise, to Lehua, beyond Waikūʻauhoe, where it vanishes out of sight.] |
| 2072 | Mai kīʻai a hālo wale i ko haʻi ʻīpuka o pā auaneʻi i ka leo. | Do not peer or peep in the doorway of other people’s houses or you’ll be struck by the voice. |
| | [Mind your own business, or you’ll hear something that will hurt your feelings.] |
| 2074 | Mai kolohe i ka moʻo o lele i ka pali. | Do not bother lizards or youll fall off a cliff. |
| | [A warning not to bother lizards lest someday the moʻo cause a madness that makes one leap off a cliff and die.] |
| 2077 | Mai lilo ʻoe i puni wale, o lilo ʻoe i kamaliʻi. | Do not believe all that is told you lest you be [led as] a little child. |
| | [Do not be gullible; scan, weigh, and think for yourself.] |
| 2078 | Mai lou i ka ʻulu i luna lilo, o lou hewa i ka ʻaʻai ʻole; eia nō ka ʻulu i ke alo. | Do not hook the breadfruit away up above lest you hook an imperfect one; take the one in front of you. |
| | [Why reach afar for a mate? Choose one from among your own acquaintances] |
| 2079 | Mai nānā i ka lāʻau maloʻo, ʻaʻohe mea loaʻa o laila. | Do not pay attention to a dry tree for there is nothing to be gained from it. |
| | [Nothing is learned from an ignoramus.] |
| 2080 | Mai nānā i ka ʻulu o waho, ʻaʻohe ia nāu; e nānā nō i ka ʻulu i ke alo, nāu ia. | Never mind looking for the breadfruit away out, that is not for you; look at the breadfruit in front of you, that is yours. |
| | [Be satisfied with what you have.] |
| 2081 | Mai ʻōlelo i ke kuapuʻu e kū pololei, o hina auaneʻi. | Dont tell the hunchback to stand up straight lest he fall down. |
| | [Don’t go around correcting others.] |
| 2082 | Mai paʻa i ka leo, he ʻole ka hea mai. | Do not withhold the voice and not call out [a welcome]. |
| | [From a password chant used in hula schools. It was often used by one who would like a friendly invitation to come into another’s home.] |
| 2083 | Mai pale i ke aʻo a ka makua. | Do not set aside the teachings of a parent. |
| 2084 | Mai piʻi aʻe ʻoe i ka lālā kau halalī o ʻike ʻia kou wahi hilahila e ou mau hoa. | Do not climb to the topmost branches lest your private parts be seen by your companions. |
| | [Do not put on an air of superiority lest people remember only your faults.] |
| 2085 | Mai puni aku o hei i ka ʻupena a ka Lawakua. | Do not helieve it or youll he caught in the net of the Lawakua wind. |
| | [Why believe all that? It is only wind.] |
| 2098 | Makapaʻa ʻike ʻole i ka ʻope iʻa. | One-eyed person who does not see the bundle of fish. |
| | [Dried fish were rolled in ti leaves and hung up. When the leaves dried, they matched the color of the thatch of the house and often were not noticed at a glance.] |
| 2100 | Makaʻu ka hana hewa i ka uka o Puna. | Wrongdoing is feared in the upland of Puna. |
| | [Wrongdoing in the upland of Puna brings the wrath of Pele.] |
| 2101 | Makaʻu ke kanaka i ka lehua. | Man is afraid of the lehua. |
| | [When going to the mountains one is warned not to pluck lehua blossoms lest it rain. Only when one is going out of the upland region is it permissible to pluck flowers. So the mountaingoer is said to fear the lehua.] |
| 2103 | Make auaneʻi i ka moana a pae kupapaʻu i Lānaʻi. | May probahly die at sea and his corpse wash ashore on Lānaʻi. |
| | [Refers to a person on a very hazardous venture.] |
| 2105 | Makemake akula i ka uhu kāʻalo i ka maka. | There is a desire for the parrot-fish that passes the eyes. |
| | [Said when one desires a lass or lad who is passing by.] |
| 2106 | Make nō ke kalo a ola i ka naio. | The taro dies but lives again in the pinworm. |
| | [The matter may be thought dead, but it is likely to come alive again. Naio (pinworms) were sometimes found in poi and caused itching in the anal passage.] |
| 2107 | Make nō ke kalo a ola i ka palili. | The taro may die but lives on in the young plants that it produces. |
| | [One lives on in his children.] |
| 2108 | Make nō ʻo Pāmano i ka ʻiʻo ponoʻī. | It was a near relative who destroyed Pāmano. |
| | [Troubles often come from one’s nearest relatives. From the legend of Pāmano, a hero who met his death through his uncle, Waipū.] |
| 2109 | Make o Keawe a kū i ke kāʻai. | Keawe died and stood in the kāʻai. |
| | [The kāʻai is a plaited container for the bones of a deceased chief. The head was placed in an upper compartment and the bones of the body in the lower one, which was shaped like an armless, legless torso.] |
| 2111 | Make ʻo Mikololou a ola i ke alelo. | Mikololou died and lived again through his tongue. |
| | [Said of one who talks himself out of a predicament. Mikololou was a shark god of Maui destroyed by the shark goddess Kaʻahupāhau of Pearl Harbor for expressing a desire to eat a human being. He was drawn up to land where his flesh fell off and dried in the heat of the sun. One day some children found his tongue in the sand and played with it, tossing it back and forth. When it fell into the sea, the spirit of Mikololou possessed it and it became a living shark again.] |
| 2112 | Mākole iho hewa i Mākua. | Red-eyed one goes to Mākua by mistake. |
| | [Applied to one who has gone off his course. Once, a red-eyed person left Mokulēʻia, Oʻahu, intending to go to Mākaha, but went by way of Kawaihāpai and arrived at Mākua instead.] |
| 2113 | Mākole lā i Waolani. | The red-eyed ones at Waolani. |
| | [Waolani, Nuʻuanu, was said to have been the home of many defective people — the hunchbacked, the club-footed, the red-eyed, and so forth. To see such a person anywhere outside of Waolani was regarded as a sign of bad luck.] |
| 2115 | Makua keiki i ka poli. | The child in the heart has grown up to be a man. |
| | [Said of one who loved as a child and finds his love reawakened in manhood. First uttered by Lohiʻau, whose love reawakened upon meeting his old sweetheart, Peleʻula.] |
| 2117 | Mālama i ke kala ka iʻa hiʻu ʻoi. | Watch out for the kala, the fish with a sharp tail. |
| | [A warning to beware of a person who is well equipped to defend himself. The kala, a surgeonfish, has a spike near the caudal fin which it uses in defense.] |
| 2118 | Mālama o ʻike i ke kaula ʻili hau o Kailua. | Take care lest you feel the hau-bark rope of Kailua. |
| | [Take care lest you get hurt. When braided into a rounded rope, hau bark is strong, and when used as a switch it can be painful.] |
| 2120 | Malama o kū i ke aʻu, ka iʻa nuku loa o ke kai. | Take heed that you are not jabbed by the swordfish, the long-nosed fish of the sea. |
| | [Do not annoy that fellow, or you will suffer the consequences.] |
| 2126 | Malō ka wai i ka lā. | The water dries up in the sun. |
| | [Joy withers in the presence of wrath.] |
| 2132 | “Māmā Hilo?” “ʻAe, māmā Hilo i ka wai ʻole.” | “Is Hilo light?” “ Yes, Hilo is light for lack of water.” |
| | [A question asked of a runner, and his reply. It means that the way is clear, with no robbers or unpleasant experiences, and no rains to swell the streams and make traveling difficult.] |
| 2134 | Māmā Kona i ka wai kau mai i ka maka o ka ʻōpua. | Kona is lightened in having water in the face of the clouds. |
| | [Kona is relieved, knowing that there will be no drought, when the clouds promise rain.] |
| 2135 | Mānā, i ka puʻe kalo hoʻoneʻeneʻe a ka wai. | Mānā, where the mounded taro moves in the water. |
| | [Refers to Mānā, Kauaʻi. In ancient days there were five patches at Kolo, Mānā, in which deep water mound-planting was done for taro. As the plants grew, the rootlets were allowed to spread undisturbed because they helped to hold the soil together. When the rainy season came, the whole area was flooded as far as Kalamaihiki, and it took weeks for the water to subside. The farmers built rafts of sticks and rushes, then dived into the water. They worked the bases of the taro mounds free and lifted them carefully, so as not to disturb the soil, to the rafts where they were secured. The weight of the mounds submerged the rafts but permitted the taro stalks to grow above water just as they did before the flood came. The rafts were tied together to form a large, floating field of taro.] |
| 2137 | Manaʻo pahaʻoe i kaʻeleʻele o kuʻu kuʻemaka he kauā au nāu? | Do you think that because my eyebrows are black I am your servant? |
| | [Said in annoyance by one who is asked to do distasteful work. Kauā were sometimes identifiable by the black tattoos on their foreheads.] |
| 2147 | Mauna Kea, kuahiwi kū haʻo i ka mālie. | Mauna Kea, standing alone in the calm. |
| 2152 | Mehameha wale nō ʻo Puʻuloa, i ka hele a Kaʻahupāhau. | Puuloa hecame lonely when Kaʻahupāhau went away. |
| | [The home is lonely when a loved one has gone. Kaʻahupāhau, guardian shark of Puʻuloa (Pearl Harbor), was dearly loved by the people.] |
| 2154 | Me he makamaka lā ka ua no Kona, ke hele lā a kipa i Hanakahi. | The rain is like a friend from Kona — it goes and calls on Hanakahi. |
| | [These are two lines from an old chant used to express a friendly visit with one who dwells in a distant place.] |
| 2158 | Minamina ka leo o ke aliʻi i ka hāʻule i ka pūweuweu. | A pity to allow the words of the chief to fall among the clumps of grass. |
| | [A reminder to heed the commands and wishes of one’s chief.] |
| 2160 | Moʻa i kapuahi a Uli. | Cooked in Uli’s fireplace. |
| | [Destroyed by sorcery.] |
| 2164 | Moʻa nopu ka lā i ke kula o Hoʻolehua. | The sun scorches the plain of Hoʻolehua. |
| | [Refers to Hoʻolehua, Molokaʻi.] |
| 2166 | Moe i ka lau o ka lihilihi. | The sleep on the tip of the eyelashes. |
| | [A very light sleep.] |
| 2167 | Moe i ka moe kapu o Niolopua. | Asleep in the sacred sleep of Niolopua. |
| | [Dead. Niolopua is the god of sleep.] |
| 2168 | Moe i ka moe kau a hoʻoilo. | Asleep with the sleep that lasts through summers and winters. |
| | [Dead.] |
| 2169 | Moe i kauwawe. | The sleep under the leaf covering of an imu. |
| | [Death, compared to an imu that was covered and never opened again.] |
| 2171 | Moe kūpuna i ka mamo, a puka hou mai nō nā mamo. | Ancestors slept with descendants, and more descendants were born. |
| | [Said when a girl mates with a supernatural lover in a dream and later bears him a child. The lover might be a family ʻaumakua, hence the reference to an ancestor.] |
| 2172 | Moe lāpuʻu i ke anu o Puʻupā. | Sleep curled up in the cold of Puʻupā. |
| | [Said of a person who sleeps with legs drawn up, as with cold. Also said in derision about one who likes to sleep.] |
| 2177 | Moe poʻo a hiʻu i Kalaeʻoiʻo. | Lies head and tail at Kalaeʻoiʻo. |
| | [Is up to the neck in trouble. Processions of ghosts were sometimes encountered here. If one had a relative among them, he escaped death; if not, he perished.] |
| 2178 | Mōhala i ka wai ka maka o ka pua. | Unfolded by the water are the faces of the flowers. |
| | [Flowers thrive where there is water, as thriving people are found where living conditions are good.] |
| 2186 | Moku i ka ʻohe a Kahaʻi. | Cut off by the bamboo knife of Kahaʻi. |
| | [Said of any complete severing. Kahaʻi was a chief who traveled afar. He is credited with introducing the first breadfruit plant to the islands.] |
| 1328 | Ka iʻa hāʻawe i ka paʻakai. | The fish that carries salt on its back. |
| | [The mountain shrimp (ʻōpae kolo), a creature that does not die readily after being removed from the water. Once a stranger arrived at the house of a man noted for his stinginess. While the host loudly deplored his lack of any kind of meat to eat with the poi, a shrimp with a lump of salt on its back crawled out of a container in the corner. The selfish man had placed it there earlier, with the salt for seasoning, intending to eat it himself.] |
| 1907 | Kūkulu ka ʻike i ka ʻōpua. | Knowledge is set up in the clouds. |
| | [Clouds are observed for signs and omens.] |
| 2207 | Nae iki ʻĪao i ka uhiwai. | Īao is barely breathing in the heavy mist. |
| | [Said of one who is in dire distress, with trouble pressing on all sides.] |
| 2212 | Nā hala o Naue ʻau i ke kai. | The hala of Naue swim out to sea. |
| | [The hala trees of Naue, Kauaʻi, seem to reach out to sea. This expression is used in songs and chants.] |
| 2228 | Na ka makua e komo i ka ʻāwelu o keiki, ʻaʻole na ke keiki e komo i ka ʻāwelu o ka makua. | Let the parent wear out his children s old clothes, but do not let the children wear their parent’s old clothes. |
| | [Some Hawaiians would wear the partly worn clothing of their children. However, wearing the old clothing of one’s parents was kapu.] |
| 2240 | Nakeke ka ua i ka lau o ka niu. | Rain patters on the coconut leaves. |
| | [Said of idle talk.] |
| 2245 | Nā kupa heʻe ʻĀhiu i ka laʻi o Kahana. | The native sons who surf in the ʻĀhiu wind in the peaceful land of Kahana. |
| | [Said in admiration of a native of Kahana, Oʻahu. In the days when Hiʻiaka traveled to Kahana as a woman, surfing was done there only by the chiefs. The ʻĀhiu is a well known wind of Kahana.] |
| 2250 | Nā lehua o Līhau i pehia e ka noe. | The lehua blossoms oj Līhau, weighted by the mist. |
| | [Līhau, a mountain of Maui, was noted for its beautiful lehua blossoms.] |
| 2256 | Nalowale i ke ʻehu o ke kai. | Lost in the sea sprays. |
| | [Said of one who disappears from sight to avoid coming in contact with others, like a canoe that speeds away and raises sprays so that it can’t be seen.] |
| 2257 | Nalowale nā maka, hūnā i ke ao uli. | The face is out of sight, hidden in the sky. |
| | [Said of one who is dead.] |
| 2261 | Nā mamo i ka halo o Kūa. | The descendants of the gill fins of Kūa. |
| | [The people of Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi, are related to Kūa, the great shark god and protector of that district, by descent from his human sister.] |
| 2262 | Nā mamo pihaʻā i kai o Kaʻaluʻalu. | The driftwood descendants at the sea of Kaʻaluʻalu. |
| | [Said of the innumerable children of large families, who are like the driftwood that litters the beach of Kaʻaluʻalu, Kaʻū.] |
| 2265 | Nāna i waele mua i ke ala, ma hope aku mākou, nā pōkiʻi. | He [or she] first cleared the path and then we younger ones followed. |
| | [Said with affection and respect for the oldest sibling (hiapo).] |
| 2269 | Nānā keʻe ka iʻa i ka maunu ʻekaʻeka. | The fish look askance at dirty bait. |
| 2271 | Nānā nō a ka ʻulu i pakī kēpau. | Look for the gummy breadfruit. |
| | [Advice to a young girl — Look for a man who has substance, like gummy breadfruit, which is a sign of maturity.] |
| 2272 | Nani i ka hala ka ʻōiwi o Kahuku. | The body of Kahuku is beautifed by hala trees. |
| | [Refers to Kahuku, Oʻahu.] |
| 2274 | Nani ka ʻike a ka heʻe i nā wahi leho liʻiliʻi. | It is wonderful how the octopus notices the little cowries. |
| | [Said sarcastically of a man who looks at young girls with lust.] |
| 2275 | Nani ka ʻōiwi o ka lāʻau i ka luaiele ʻia e ka makani. | Beautiful is the body of the tree, even when swayed this way and that by the wind. |
| | [Even through adversities and dissipation some people remain handsome.] |
| 2276 | Nani ka waiho a Kohala i ka laʻi. | Beautiful lies Kohala in the calm. |
| | [An expression of admiration for Kohala, Hawaiʻi, or for a person with poise and charm — especially a native of that district.] |
| 2278 | Nani Puna pō i ke ʻala. | Beautiful Puna, heavy with fragrance. |
| | [Praise for Puna, Hawaiʻi, where the breath of maile, lehua, and hala blossoms are ever present.] |
| 2287 | Nāpelepele nā pali o Kalalau i ka wili a ka makani. | Weakened are the cliffs of Kalalau in being buffeted by the wind. |
| | [Said of one who is worn out.] |
| 2293 | Naueue ka hiʻu o ka iʻa lewa i ke kai. | The tails of thefish that move in the sea tremble. |
| | [Said of fish, such as the hīnālea, in the cold month Welehu. The tails of the hīnālea bend as they seek hollows in the corals for hiding.] |
| 2297 | Nā ʻulu hua i ka hapapa. | The breadfruit that bears on the ground. |
| | [Breadfruit trees of Niʻihau were grown in sinkholes. The trunks were not visible, and the branches seemed to spread along the ground. These trees are famed in chants of Niʻihau.] |
| 2301 | Na wai hoʻi ka ʻole o ke akamai, he alanui i maʻa i ka hele ʻia e oʻu mau mākua? | Why shouldnʻt I know, when it is a road often traveled by my parents ? |
| | [Reply of Liholiho when someone praised his wisdom.] |
| 2306 | Neʻe papa ka helu a ka lā i Punahoa. | The sun continued to scorch at Punahoa. |
| | [The fight didn’t end quickly.] |
| 2308 | Nele i ka mea poepoe, nele ka pilina mai. | Lacking the round object, no one stays around. |
| | [When one lacks round dollars to spend, companions disappear.] |
| 2310 | Niau kololani ka helena, hūnā nā maka i ke aouli. | Silently, quickly he departed, to hide his eyes in the sky. |
| | [Said of one who has died suddenly.] |
| 2311 | Nihoa i ka moku manu. | Nihoa, island of birds. |
| 2313 | Niʻihau i ka uhi paheʻe. | Niʻihau of the slippery yam. |
| | [The island of Niʻihau was noted for its fine yams. When grated raw for medicine, yams are very slippery and tenacious.] |
| 2314 | Niʻihau i ke kīkū. | Niʻihau leans back firmly. |
| | [Niʻihau people are independent.] |
| 2316 | Niniu Puna, pō i ke ʻala. | Puna is dizzy with fragrance. |
| | [Puna is a land heavily scented with the blossoms of hala and lehua.] |
| 2322 | Noho i ka hohonu me he iʻa lā. | Remains in deep water, like a fish. |
| | [Said of one who won’t associate with others.] |
| 2323 | Noho i ke puhi. | Sits in the blowhole. |
| | [Jailed. One who falls into a blowhole rarely escapes.] |
| 2325 | Noho ke koaʻe i ka lua. | The tropic bird remains in the hole. |
| | [Said of one who does not express his opinion.] |
| 2327 | Noho nā makani a Kāne, lawe i ke ō. | When the winds of Kāne blow, carry your food along. |
| | [When one doesn’t know what to expect, it is better to be prepared. On windy days, fruits fall and vegetable crops are lashed and beaten.] |
| 2328 | Noho nō ke kanaka a ka lā mālie, kau ka ipu hōkeo a ka lawaiʻa, nānā ana i ka ʻōpua. | A person waits for a clear day, sets up the gourd that holds the fishermans paraphernalia, and observes the clouds. |
| | [To a fisherman, a clear day, his tools, and the signs and omens seen in the clouds are important.] |
| 2329 | Noho pū i ka uahi pōhina. | Sat together in the gray smoke. |
| | [Said of a teacher and pupils who sat about a smoky fire at night.] |
| 2342 | Nona ka ʻūmiʻi lauwili i ka pākaʻawili. | His is the tie that is twisted and entangled into one that holds fast. |
| | [His ancestors have intermarried and re-intermarried to preserve the bloodline of his family. He is therefore of a very high and kapu rank.] |
| 2347 | Nui ka hanu o Limahuli i nā lehua o Luluʻupali. | Heavily-sighed Limahuli falls over the lehua blossoms of Luluupali. |
| | [Said of a person in love who sighs over a sweetheart.] |
| 2357 | ʻO ʻEwa, ʻāina kai ʻula i ka lepo. | ʻEwa, land of the sea reddened by earth. |
| | [ʻEwa was once noted for being dusty, and its sea was reddened by mud in time of rain.] |
| 2374 | ʻO Honoliʻi, huewai ʻolāʻolā i ka nuku. | Honoliʻi, where the water bottle gurgles at the mouth. |
| | [Said of those of Honoliʻi, Hilo, by Hiʻiaka. In ancient days, expert sorcerers there who prayed others to death muttered prayers that sounded like the gurgling of a water bottle.] |
| 2378 | ʻŌhule ke poʻo i niania. | Bald of head and smooth. |
| | [Said of a bald-headed man.] |
| 2379 | ʻOhuʻohu Halemano i ka lau lehua. | Bedecked is Halemano with lehua leaves. |
| | [An expression of admiration for a good-looking person.] |
| 2380 | ʻOhuʻohu Punaluʻu i Ka-wai-hū-o-Kauila. | Punaluʻu is adorned by the rushing water of Kauila. |
| | [Refers to Punaluʻu, Kaʻū.] |
| 2384 | ʻO ia mau nō i ke alo pali. | Ever the same before the face of the cliff. |
| | [Just the same as ever.] |
| 2387 | ʻOi ka niho o ka lā i Kūmanomano. | Sharp are the teeth of the sun at Kūmanomano. |
| | [A very hot place is Kūmanomano. A play on manomano (much).] |
| 2388 | ʻOi kau ka lā, e hana i ola honua. | While the sun yet shines do all you can. |
| | [While there is earthly life (ola honua), do all you can.] |
| 2390 | ʻO ʻIkuwā i pohā kōʻeleʻele, ʻikuwā ke kai, ʻikuwā ka hekili, ʻikuwā ka manu. | ʻIkuwā is the month when the dark storms arise, the sea roars, the thunder roars, the birds make a din. |
| 2394 | ʻO ka ʻaʻama holo pali pōhaku, e paʻa ana ia i ka ʻahele pulu niu. | The crab that runs about on a rocky cliff will surely be caught with a snare of coconut fibers. |
| | [He who goes where he tempts trouble is bound to suffer.] |
| 2396 | ʻO Kaʻaona ka pua i ka uahi o ka hoʻoilo, a ulu māhiehie. | In Kaʻaona [is used] the dart that has rested in the smoke during the rainy months until it acquires beauty. |
| | [Said of the month Kaʻaona, when the young people bring out their darts for games. These darts had reddened in the smoke of the fireplaces during the wet months. With rubbing and polishing they acquired a beautiful sheen.] |
| 2397 | ʻO Kaʻaōna ke kāne, ʻo Laʻioeoe ka wahine, hānau ke keiki, he keiki leʻa i ke oli. | Kaʻaōna is the husband, Laʻi-oeoe (Calm-prolonged-sound) the wife; a child born to them is a pleasing chanter. |
| | [A child born in the month of Kaʻaōna is blessed with a pleasant voice for speaking and chanting.] |
| 2404 | ʻO ka hāʻule nehe o ka lau lāʻau, he hāwanawana ia i ka poʻe ola. | The rustling of falling leaves is like a whisper to the living. |
| | [It is the living who appreciate such things.] |
| 2405 | ʻO ka hua o ke kōlea aia i Kahiki. | The egg of the plover is laid in a foreign land. |
| | [The plover’s egg was never seen in Hawaiʻi. Said of a subject that no one knows anything about, or of something far away and impossible to reach.] |
| 2407 | ʻO ka iʻa i kū kona waha i ka makau ʻaʻole ia e ʻapo hou ia mea. | The fish whose mouth has heen pierced by a hook will never again take another. |
| | [Said of one who avoids trouble after once being hurt.] |
| 2410 | ʻO ka ʻīlio i paoa ka waha i ka hua moa ʻaʻole e pau ia hana iā ia. | A dog whose mouth likes the taste of eggs will not stop taking them. |
| | [Said of one who cannot be cured of a bad habit.] |
| 2412 | ʻO ka lāʻau i hina, ʻaʻole ia e kū hou. | A fallen tree does not rise again. |
| | [Said of an old man who has lost his sexual potency.] |
| 2413 | ʻO ka lāʻau o ke kula e noho ana i ka ʻāina, ʻo ka lāʻau o ka ʻāina e nalowale aku ana. | The trees of the plains will dwell on the land; the trees of the native land will vanish. |
| | [A prophecy uttered by Kalaunuiohua. Trees from the plains of other lands will grow here and our native trees will become extinct.] |
| 2414 | ʻŌkala ka hulu o Hilo i ka wai. | The fur of Hilo bristles in the water. |
| | [Sexual passion is rising.] |
| 2421 | ʻO ka līlā maiʻa ia o ka ʻeʻa, ʻaʻole e pala i ke anahulu. | A tall banana in a mountain patch whose fruit does not open in ten days. |
| | [A boast of his own height by Makakuikalani, chief of Maui, when Pupukea of Hawaiʻi made fun of his being so tall and thin.] |
| 2423 | ʻO ka makapō wale nō ka mea hāpapa i ka pōuli. | ʻOnly the blind grope in darkness. |
| | [Said to one who gropes around instead of going directly to the object he is seeking.] |
| 2427 | ʻO ka mea makaʻala ʻaʻohe lilo kona waiwai i ka ʻīlio. | He who watches does not lose his property to dogs. |
| | [ʻOne who watches his possessions will not lose them to thieves.] |
| 2429 | ʻO ka mea ukuhi kai ʻike i ka lepo o ka wai; o ka mea inu ʻaʻole ʻo ia i ʻike. | He who dips knows how dirty the water is, but he who drinks does not. |
| | [He who does the work knows what trouble it takes; he who receives does not.] |
| 2433 | ʻO ka papa heʻe nalu kēia, paheʻe i ka nalu haʻi o Makaiwa. | This is the surfboard that will glide on the rolling surf of Makaiwa. |
| | [A woman’s boast. Her beautiful body is like the surf board on which her mate “glides over the rolling surf.”] |
| 2435 | ʻO ka poʻe e ʻai ana i ka loaʻa o ka ʻāina he lohe ʻōlelo wale aʻe nō i ka ua o Hawaiʻi. | Those who eat of the product of the land merely hear of the rains in Hawaiʻi. |
| | [Said of absentee royal landlords who reap the gain but know nothing of the difficulties in the land where the toilers work.] |
| 2442 | ʻO ka uhiwai nō kai ʻike i ka ʻino o ka wai. | ʻOnly the mists know the storm that caused the streams to swell. |
| 2445 | ʻO ka ʻulu iki mai kēia nāna e kaʻa i kahua loa. | This is the small maika stone that rolls over a long field. |
| | [I am a small person who can accomplish much. When Lonoikamakahiki visited Kamalalawalu, ruling chief of Maui, he took along his half-brother Pupukea to serve him. Makakuikalani, half-brother and personal attendant of Kamalalawalu, made fun of the small stature of Pupukea. This saying was Pupukea’s retort.] |
| 2446 | ʻO ka ʻulu o lalo he loaʻa i ka pinana, ʻo ka ʻulu o luna loa he loaʻa i ka lou. | A breadfruit that is low can he reached by climbing, but a breadfruit high above requires a stick to reach it. |
| | [A mate of low station is easy to fmd, but one of higher rank is less easily acquired.] |
| 2451 | ʻO ke aliʻi lilo i ka leʻaleʻa a mālama ʻole i ke kanaka me ke kapu akua, ʻaʻole ia he aliʻi e kū ai i ka moku. | The chief who is taken with pleasure-seeking and cares not for the welfare of the people or the observation of the kapu of the gods, is not the chief who will become a ruler. |
| | [Said by Kekūhaupiʻo to Kamehameha. Advice to young people that success comes not by seeking idle pleasure but by living up to one’s beliefs and caring for the welfare of others.] |
| 2461 | ʻO ke keiki he loaʻa i ka moe, ʻo ka pōkiʻi ʻaʻole. | One can produce a child by sleeping with a mate, but he cannot produce a younger brother or sister. |
| | [Great affection between brothers and sisters, and especially for younger siblings, was not rare in olden days. This saying is a reminder to treat younger ones with love and respect.] |
| 2462 | ʻO ke kū hale wale iho nō i Makanoni. | Only the house stands there at Makanoni. |
| | [Said of a house from which the inhabitants are gone.] |
| 2468 | ʻOki pau ka hana i ke one kani o Nohili. | Strange indeed are the activities at the sounding sands of Nohili. |
| | [Barking Sands beach of Nohili, Kauaʻi, was believed to be the haunt of ghosts. Said of a person whose behavior is peculiar.] |
| 2471 | ʻO Kona i ka paka ʻona — ke haʻu iho ʻoe kūnewanewa. | Kona of the potent tohacco — a draw would make one stagger. |
| | [Kona is said to be a land of potent lovemaking.] |
| 2473 | ʻO Kula i ka hoe hewa. | Kula of the ignorant canoe-paddlers. |
| | [Said of Kula, Maui, whose people did not know how to paddle canoes because they were uplanders.] |
| 2478 | Ola akula ka ʻāina kaha, ua pua ka lehua i kai. | Life has come to the kaha lands for the lehua blooms are seen at sea. |
| | [“Kaha lands” refers to Kekaha, Kona, Hawaiʻi. When the season for deep-sea fishing arrived, the canoes of the expert fishermen were seen going and coming.] |
| 2480 | Ola i ka ʻai uahi ʻole o ke kini o Mānā. | The inhahitants of Mānā live on food cooked without smoking. |
| | [Said of the people of Mānā, Kauaʻi, who in ancient days did very little poi-making, except in a place like Kolo, where taro was grown. The majority of the inhabitants were fishermen and gourd cultivators whose products were traded with other inhabitants of the island, even as far as Kalalau. Because all the taro cooking and poi-making was done elsewhere, the people of Mānā were said to live on “smokeless food.”] |
| 2481 | ʻOla i ka ʻōhulu. | There is subsistence in the sprouting tubers. |
| | [Said when there is a poor growth of sweet potatoes during an excessively warm summer. The broken pieces of potato sprouting among the weeds produces the few potatoes that feed the farmer and his family until a new crop is started.] |
| 2482 | ʻOla i ka wai a ka ʻōpua. | There is life in the water from the clouds. |
| | [Rain gives life.] |
| 2483 | ʻOla i ke ahe lau makani. | There is life in a gentle breath of wind. |
| | [Said when a warm day is relieved by a breeze.] |
| 2486 | Ola ke awa o Kou i ka ua Waʻahila. | Life comes to the harbor of Kou because of the Waʻahila rain. |
| | [It is the rain of Nuʻuanu that gives water to Kou (now central Honolulu).] |
| 2487 | Ola nā ʻilima wai ʻole i ke ao ʻōpua. | Healed are the ʻilima of waterless places by the rain cloud. |
| 2489 | Ola nō i ka pua o ka ʻilima. | There is healing in the ʻilima blossoms. |
| | [The ʻilima blossom is one of the first medicines given to babies. It is a mild laxative. Hiʻiaka, goddess of medicine in Pele’s family, used ʻilima in some of her healings.] |
| 2490 | ʻOla nō ka lawaiʻa i kahi poʻo maunu. | A fisherman can subsist on his left-over bait. |
| | [Bait made from octopus heart was carefully prepared and kept in a clean container. When a fisherman had no luck in fishing, the bait was eaten with poi.] |
| 2491 | ʻOla nō ka mahiʻai i kahi kūʻōʻō. | A farmer can subsist on small, broken potatoes. |
| | [As long as there are potatoes, even small or broken ones, a farmer gets along.] |
| 2495 | ʻOla Waiʻanae i ka makani Kaiaulu. | Waiʻanae is made comfortahle by the Kaiaulu breeze. |
| | [Chanted by Hiʻiaka at Kaʻena, Oʻahu, after her return from Kauaʻi.] |
| 2496 | ʻŌlelo i ke aka ka hele hoʻokahi. | One who travels alone has but his shadow to talk to. |
| | [Said by Hiʻiaka as she was leaving Kīlauea on her quest for Lohiʻau.] |
| 2501 | ʻOloʻolo aku nō i hope, kū i ke aʻu. | Linger behind and he jabbed by the swordfish. |
| | [Better to advance with one’s companions than to stay behind and get into trouble.] |
| 2508 | ʻŌmaka ka iʻa, hōʻā aku ka lamalama i ka moana. | If the fish is the ʻōmaka, light the torches at sea. |
| | [The ʻōmaka is not a fighting fish and is easy to catch. Therefore one need not be prepared too soon and can afford to take time.] |
| 2512 | ʻO nā hihia wale ʻana i Moeawakea. | All the entangling shrubbery at Moeawakea. |
| | [Said of entangling affairs. There is a play on Moe-awakea (Sleep-till-the-sun-is-high).] |
| 2518 | ʻO nā ʻunihipili o Keaweʻolouha ua haʻalele i ka haka. | The deified relatives of Keaweʻolouha have deserted the person they possessed. |
| | [A play on Keawe-ʻolo-uha (Keawe-with-the-sagging-colon), a term applied to one who is too lazy to work. Those who depended on him soon deserted.] |
| 2519 | ʻOnea Kaupō, ua kā ka ʻai i ka lua. | Barren is Kaupō; the eating in the cavern has begun. |
| | [Fatal shark attacks were common at Kaupō at one time. As a result, the people moved elsewhere, after which a man-eating shark peered at Kaupō and said these words. The spot from which he watched was named Kiʻei (Peer). Later used to mean destitution.] |
| 2522 | ʻŌnohi ʻula i ka lani. | A red eyeball in the sky. |
| | [A fragment of rainbow.] |
| 2525 | ʻO ʻoe hoʻi kahi i Hāʻupu kēlā, ua kupu a kiʻekiʻe i luna. | You, too, were on the tall hill of Haʻupu going all the way up to the very top. |
| | [Said sarcastically to a person who boasts of his greatness.] |
| 2532 | ʻŌpelu haʻalili i ke kai. | ʻOpelu that make the sea ripple. |
| | [Said of active, quick-moving people.] |
| 2533 | ʻOpeʻope Kohala i ka makani. | Kohala is buffeted by the wind. |
| 2540 | ʻO uakeʻe nei i loko o Haʻaloʻu, ʻo ka pō nahunahu ihu. | The little bend in Haʻaloʻu (Bend-over), on the night that the nose is bitten. |
| | [This was said of Kahalaiʻa when he became angry with Kaʻahumanu. He was only a “little bend” whose wrath was no more important then a nip on the nose.] |
| 2545 | ʻO wai ka ʻoukou aliʻi i hānai ai? | What chief did you rear? |
| | [Those who had a part in the rearing of a young chief were proud of their position. Only kinsmen were given such places, but convention forbade discussing the relationship. When this is said in scorn it is the equivalent of “Who are you?”] |
| 2547 | ʻO Waipiʻo me Waimanu, no ʻoawa mahoe i ke alo o ka makani. | Waipiʻo and Waimanu, the twin valleys that face the wind. |
| | [These two are neighboring valleys on Hawaiʻi.] |
| 2549 | ʻO Welehu ka malama, lehu nui ke poʻo i ka uahi o ka hoʻoilo. | Welehu is the month; sooty is the head in the smoke of winter. |
| | [Said of Welehu, the most rainy of all the wet months, when the fireplace is kept going to give warmth to the house.] |
| 2553 | Paʻa aku i ka lani o kā ke akua ia, a hāʻule mai i lalo o kā Laiana ia. | What is held up in heaven is Godʻs, and what falls below is Lyonsʻs. |
| | [A reply made by the Reverend Lorenzo Lyons (Makua Laiana) when he was charged with being careless in accepting people as members of his church. He loved and accepted them and did not adhere rigidly to certain rules before allowing them to become members.] |
| 2554 | Paʻa ʻia iho i ka hoe uli i ʻole e īkā i ke koʻa. | Hold the steering paddle steady to keep from striking the rock. |
| | [Hold on; donʻt let yourself get into trouble.] |
| 2555 | Paʻa i ke aupuni a Limaloa. | Held fast by the kingdom of Limaloa. |
| | [A play on Lima-loa (Long-hand). The Big-grabber has it all now.] |
| 2556 | Paʻa i ke kānāwai kāmakaʻaha. | Held by the law of the sennit girdle. |
| | [Taken an oath to remain chaste. Luʻukia, wife of the high chief Olopana, designed and made a girdle of sennit to prevent her lover and brother-in-law from approaching her.] |
| 2557 | Paʻa kahi hope i ka malo. | The rear is covered with a malo. |
| | [Said of a boy about five or six years old. Prior to this age, a boy ate with the women in their eating house and wore no clothing, but when he was old enough to join the men in theirs, he wore a malo, just as they did.] |
| 2558 | Paʻa ka moku i ka helēuma. | The ship is held fast by the anchor. |
| | [Said of one who is married.] |
| 2561 | Paʻa nō ka ʻaihue i ka ʻole. | A thief persists in denying his guilt. |
| | [A thief is also a liar.] |
| 2562 | Paʻapaʻaʻina ka malo i loko o ʻIkuwā. | The [flap of the] loincloth [flutters and] snaps in the month of ʻIkuwā. |
| | [ʻIkuwā is a month of rains, winds, and thunderstorms.] |
| 2564 | Pae ka waʻa i Kaʻena. | The canoe lands at Kaʻena. |
| | [Wrath. A play on ʻena (red-hot) in Kaʻena.] |
| 2566 | Pae maila ka waʻa i ka ʻāina. | The canoe has come ashore. |
| | [Hunger is satisfied; or, one has arrived hither.] |
| 2567 | Pāhala, ka ʻāina lepo haʻaheo i ka maka. | Pāhala, land [of those who are] proud of the dust in the faces. |
| | [The people of Pāhala, Kaʻū, like others of that district, are proud of their home, even though the wind-blown dust keeps their faces dirty.] |
| 2569 | Paheʻe loa akula i ka welowelo. | Slipped away — off to flutter in the breeze. |
| | [Said of one who missed by a wide margin, whose aim was very poor.] |
| 2573 | Paiʻea noho i ka māwae. | Paiʻea crab that hides in a fissure. |
| | [Said of a person who is too bashful to meet strangers.] |
| 2574 | Paʻihi ʻoe lā, lilo i ka wai, ʻaʻohe ʻike iho i ka hoa mua. | Well adorned are you, borne along by the water, no longer recognizing former friends. |
| | [Said of one who grows proud with prosperity and looks down on his friends of less prosperous days. There is a play on wai (water). When doubled — waiwai — it refers to prosperity.] |
| 2575 | Pā i ka leo. | Struck by the voice. |
| | [Told something that hurt the feelings.] |
| 2576 | Pā i ke kumu. | Struck the base. |
| | [There is something that prevents progress. A kumu is a large stone set in the way to stop the rolling of a maika stone.] |
| 2580 | Pā ka makani o ka Moaʻe, hele ka lepo o Kahoʻolawe i Māʻalaea. | When the Moaʻe wind blows, the dust of Kahoʻolawe goes toward Maalaea. |
| | [Refers to Māʻalaea, Maui.] |
| 2586 | Palahuli i lalo ka waha ʻai ai. | Turned down is the mouth he eats food with. |
| | [He has more problems than he knows what to do with.] |
| 2596 | Pā mai, pā mai ka makani o Hilo; waiho aku i ka ipu iki, hō mai i ka ipu nui. | Blow, blow, O winds of Hilo, put away the small containers and give us the large one. |
| | [Laʻamaomao, the god of wind, was said to have a wind container called Ipu-a-Laʻamaomao. When one desires more wind to make the surf roll high, or a kite sail aloft, he makes this appeal.] |
| 2598 | Paoa ka lawaiʻa i ka ʻōlelo ʻia o ka ʻawa. | Unlucky is fishing when ʻawa is discussed. |
| | [ʻAwa (kava) also means “bitterness.”] |
| 2600 | Papahi i ka hae o ka lanakila. | Honor the flag of the victor. |
| | [Said in praise of a victorious person.] |
| 2609 | Pau ke aho i ke kahawai lau o Hilo. | Oneʻs strength is exhausted in crossing the many streams of Hilo. |
| | [Said of or by one who is weary with effort. First uttered by Hiʻiaka in a chant when she found herself weary after a battle with the lizard god Panaʻewa.] |
| 2610 | Pau kōkō a Makaliʻi i ka ʻai ʻia e ka ʻiole. | The net of Makaliʻi was all chewed up by the rat. |
| | [A total loss.] |
| 2611 | Pau kuhihewa i ka nani o ʻAipō. | Gone are all the illusions of the beauty of ʻAipō. |
| | [Said of one who finds out for himself what a person, thing, or place is really like.] |
| 2615 | Pau ʻole nō ka ʻumeke i kekahi, pau ʻole nō ka lemu i ka hāleu. | When one does not clean the sides of the poi bowl properly he is not likely to wipe his backside clean after excreting. |
| 2616 | Pau o Peʻapeʻa i ke ahi. | Peʻapeʻa is destroyed by fire. |
| | [Said of anything that is consumed by fire or is utterly destroyed. Peʻapeʻa was a chief and a relative of Kamehameha. He was killed by the explosion of a keg of gun powder on Kaʻuiki, Maui.] |
| 2620 | Peʻa nā lima i ke kaha o Kaupeʻa. | Crossed his hands bchind him on the land of Kaupeʻa. |
| | [Met with disappointment. To see someone with his hands crossed behind his back [opea kua) was a sign of bad luck.] |
| 2622 | Peʻe kua o Kaʻulahaimalama; o Kekūhaupiʻo ka makua; hilinaʻi aʻe i ka pale kai, kālele moku aʻe ma hope. | Kaʻulahaimalama is secretive; Kekūhaupiʻo (Stands-leaning) is her father; she leans against the canoe side and rests against the back of the canoe. |
| | [Said of one who tries to conceal the true offender by pretending to know nothing.] |
| 2626 | Pēpē i ka ua hoʻopoponi ʻili. | Bruised by the rain that bruises the skin. |
| | [Said of one whose feelings are hurt.] |
| 2627 | Pēpē i ka wai o Niuliʻi. | Crushed by the water of Niuliʻi. |
| | [Rendered helpless or made humble and obedient.] |
| 2628 | Pēpē ka nahele o Upeloa, nāwali i ka ua kakahiaka. | Crushed is the shruhhery of Upeloa, weakened by the morning rain. |
| | [An expression used in chants. Said of a person who is crushed by humiliation or woe, or of a craven person.] |
| 2629 | Pēpē ʻōmaka ʻoe, pā i ka paʻakai, uāniʻi. | You are a weak ʻōmaka — when touched with salt you stiffen. |
| | [The ʻōmaka is a small, soft fish. Said to a weakling who, with outside help, gains a little courage.] |
| 2632 | Pī ʻia ko wahi pilau iki, ʻaʻole ʻoe i ʻike i ko pilau nui. | Refuse to give your little stink a place and youʻll never know when a greater stink will come to you. |
| | [A curse uttered by a sorcerer to a woman who refuses his advances. In refusing a sexual union with him she may meet a greater “stink”- — death and decomposition.] |
| 2633 | Piʻi aku a kau i ka nuʻu. | Ascend and stand on the nuʻu. |
| | [Ascend to a place of honor. The nuʻu is a very kapu place reserved for certain chiefs.] |
| 2635 | Piʻi ka ihu o ka naiʻa i ka makani. | The nose of the dolphin rises toward the wind. |
| | [Said of one who is haughty.] |
| 2636 | Piʻi ka lepo i ka makani puahiohio. | The dust rises on the whirlwind. |
| | [Said of a person who elevates himself with his bragging.] |
| 2637 | Piʻi ka ʻula a hanini i kumu pepeiao. | The red rises till it spills over the base of the ears. |
| | [Said of one who blushes violently or of one who is flushed with anger.] |
| 2639 | Piʻi mai nei i ka pali me he ʻaʻama lā. | Climbs the cliff like a black crab. |
| | [Said of one who goes beyond his limit.] |
| 2643 | Pī ka ihu, haʻu i ka makani. | The nose snorts as he puffs at the wind. |
| | [He is incoherent with anger.] |
| 2644 | Pili aʻe ana i ka lāʻau pili wale. | Leans against a leaning tree. |
| | [Said of one who depends too much on another for support, either materially or morally.] |
| 2645 | Pili aloha ʻo Kona, hoʻoipo i ka mālie. | Love remains close to Kona, who woos the calm. |
| | [Kona is a land beloved for its calm and pleasant weather.] |
| 2653 | Pili pono ka lā i Kamananui. | The sun is very close to Kamananui. |
| | [A play on Ka-mana-nui (The-great-power). When the person in power becomes angry, everyone around him feels uncomfortable, as in the scorching, blistering sun.] |
| 2654 | Pili pono ka lā i Papaʻenaʻena. | The sun concentrates its heat at Papaʻenaʻena. |
| | [Said of the heat of temper. A play on ʻenaena (red-hot).] |
| 2655 | Pili pū i ka paia. | Pressed hard against the wall. |
| | [Deep in trouble.] |
| 2660 | Pipili i ka hana makamaka ʻole, hoʻokahi nō makamaka o ke kaunu a ka manaʻo. | Sticks to the work in which friends are ignored; only one friend is considered, the desire of the heart. |
| | [Said of one who is in love and pays no attention to anyone except the object of his affection.] |
| 2662 | Pipili no ka pīlali i ke kumu kukui. | The pīlali gum sticks to the kukui tree. |
| | [Said of one who remains close to a loved one all the time, as a child may cling to the grandparent he loves.] |
| 2668 | Pōhai ka neki lewa i ka makani. | Surrounded by the reeds that sway in the breeze. |
| | [Said of one handsome and graceful of movement.] |
| 2669 | Pohā i ke alo o Kaʻuiki. | A loud, explosive sound before the presence of Kaʻuiki. |
| | [Said of the drawing up of an aku fish from the water to the chest of the fisherman.] |
| 2670 | Pohā ka ʻauwae i ka ʻala. | A hard rock smacked the chin. |
| | [He got what was coming.] |
| 2677 | Pohāpohā i ke keiki o Kaʻakēkē. | Smacked by the lad of Kaʻakēkē. |
| | [Kaʻakēkē was a maika-rolling field at Ualapuʻe, Molokaʻi, where champions often met in ancient days. Said in admiration of any Molokaʻi lad outstanding in sports.] |
| 2678 | Pohāpohā ka ihu o ka waʻa i ka ʻale o ka Mumuku. | The prow of the canoe is slapped by the billows in the Mumuku gale. |
| | [Said of a person buffeted by circumstances or of one who has received many blows by the fist.] |
| 2679 | Pō Hilo i ka ua Kanilehua. | Hilo is darkened by the Kanilehua rain. |
| | [Said of one who is weighted by sorrow and grief.] |
| 2680 | Pohō i ka mālama i ko haʻi keakea! | A waste of effort to take care of someone elseʻs semen! |
| | [Usually said in anger by one who cares for the children of another. Also expressed Pohō i ka mālama i ko haʻi kūkae!] |
| 2683 | Pōʻino nā lāʻau aʻa liʻiliʻi i ka ulu pū me ka puakala aʻa loloa. | Plants with fine roots are harmed when left to grow with the rough, long-rooted thorny ones. |
| | [Weak-willed persons are often overcome and influenced by the wicked.] |
| 2685 | Pōkiʻi ka ua, ua i ka lehua. | The rain, like a younger brother, remains with the lehua. |
| | [Said of the rain that clings to the forest where ʻōhiʻa trees grow.] |
| 2689 | Pō nā maka i ka noe, i ka pahulu i ke ala loa. | The eyes are blinded by the mist that haunts the long trail. |
| | [Said of one who is deceived.] |
| 2690 | Poʻohū ka lae i ka ʻalā. | The forehead is swollen by the smooth waterworn stone. |
| | [The price is so high that it feels like a lump on the forehead. ʻAlā is often used to refer to money.] |
| 2691 | Poʻohū ka lae kahi i ka pōhue. | When the forehead lumps, rub it with a gourd. |
| | [Find the remedy for the problem.] |
| 2694 | Puaēa ka manu o Kaʻula i ke kai. | The bird of Kaʻula expires over the sea. |
| | [Said of utter destruction, as of birds that drop dead while flying over the sea.] |
| 2703 | Pua ke kō, neʻe i ka heʻe hōlua. | When the sugar cane tassels, move to the sledding course. |
| | [The tops of sugar cane were used as a slippery bedding for the sled to slide on.] |
| 2704 | Pua lehua i ka lawaiʻa. | A lehua blossom in fishing. |
| | [An expert in catching fish.] |
| 2705 | Pūʻali kalo i ka wai ʻole. | Taro, for lack of water, grows misshapen. |
| | [For lack of care one may become ill.] |
| 2708 | Puanaiea ke kanaka ke hele i ka liʻulā. | A person who goes after a mirage will only wear himself out. |
| 2712 | Puehu ka lehu i nā maka o ka mea luhi. | Ashes fly into the eyes of the toiler. |
| | [One must endure the unpleasant in order to gain the pleasant, just as the cook at a fireplace gets ashes into his eyes when he blows on the fire.] |
| 2714 | Pue i ke anu o Hauaʻiliki. | Crouch in the cold of Hauaʻiliki. |
| | [Said of an intense cold. A play on hau (ice) and ʻiliki (strike) in the place name Hauaʻiliki.] |
| 2716 | Pūhā hewa ka honu i ka lā makani. | The turtle breathes at the wrong moment on a windy day. |
| | [Said of a person who says the wrong thing at the wrong time and suffers the result.] |
| 2718 | Puhalu ka ihu, nānā i ke kāʻao. | When the scent reaches the nose, one sees the overripe hala fruit [fallen to ihe ground]. |
| | [One only notices the many good things a person does when it is too late to show appreciation.] |
| 2719 | Puhi lapa i kaʻale. | Eel active in the sea caverns. |
| | [Said of an overactive person, like a child with too much energy.] |
| 2724 | Pūʻiwa i ka lāʻau pākuʻikuʻi a ka lawaiʻa. | Frightened by the splashing stick of the fisherman. |
| | [Said of those who are suddenly frightened and flee in panic, like fish driven into the net by the stick that beats the water.] |
| 2725 | Puka ka lā, puka pū me ka hana, i ʻike ʻia ka lālā maloʻo me ka lālā maka. | When day arrives, work time arrives too, for it is then that dry branches can be distinguished from green ones. |
| 2726 | Puka ka maka i waho, loaʻa ka hale kipa aku, kipa mai. | A [new] face appears out [of the mother], someday to be a host as all visit back and forth. |
| | [Said of the baby of a relative or friend — it will someday host visiting relatives.] |
| 2727 | Pūkākā nā lehua o Mānā, ʻauwana wale iho nō i ka ʻauwai pakī. | Scattered are the warriors of Mānā, who go wandering along the ditch that holds little water. |
| | [A boast after winning a battle.] |
| 2729 | Puka maila ʻoe, ua kala kahiko i Lehua. | Now that you have come, [what we had] has long departed to Lehua. |
| | [Said to one who comes too late to share what his friends have had.] |
| 2735 | Pulelo ke ahi haʻaheo i nā pali. | The firebrand soars proudly over the cliffs. |
| | [An expression of triumph. Referring to the firebrand hurling of Kauaʻi, or to the glow of volcanic fire on Hawaiʻi.] |
| 2737 | Pulu ʻelo i ka ua Kanilehua. | Drenched in the Kanilehua rain. |
| | [Drenched by the rain or thoroughly drunk.] |
| 2738 | Pulu ʻelo i ka ua o ka hoʻoilo. | Drenched by winter s rain. |
| | [Filled with grief.] |
| 2739 | Pulu ihola i ka wai a ka nāulu. | Drenched by the water from the rain clouds. |
| | [Drunk.] |
| 2740 | Pulu i ka wai lohi o Maleka. | Soaked by the sparkling water of America. |
| | [Drunk.] |
| 2741 | Pulu i ka wai naoa a ke kēhau. | Wet by the icy cold dew. |
| | [Drunk.] |
| 2743 | Pumehana ka hale i ka noho ʻia e ka makua. | Warm is the home in which a parent lives. |
| 2745 | Puna, kai nehe i ka ulu hala. | Puna, where the sea murmurs to the hala grove. |
| 2746 | Punaluʻu, i ke kai kau haʻa a ka malihini. | Punaluu, where the sea dances for the visitors. |
| | [Punaluʻu, Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi, is said to be the place where the sea dances to delight visitors.] |
| 2749 | Puna paia ʻala i ka hala. | Puna, with walls fragrant with pandanus blossoms. |
| | [Puna, Hawaiʻi, is a place of hala and lehua forests. In olden days the people would stick the bracts of hala into the thatching of their houses to bring some of the fragrance indoors.] |
| 2758 | Pūpūkahi i holomua. | Unite in order to progress. |
| 2759 | Pupu ke kai i ka ʻalalauwā. | The sea is so thick with ʻalalauwā fish that it is difficult to make a passage. |
| | [Said of a situation where it is difficult to make progress.] |
| 2763 | Puʻua i ka hala o Kekaha. | Choked on the hala fruit of Kekaha. |
| | [Pregnant.] |
| 2764 | Puʻu auaneʻi ka lae i ka ua o Kawaupuʻu. | The forehead may he given a lump hy the rain of Kawaupuu. |
| | [One is likely to get into trouble.] |
| 2765 | Puʻupuʻu lei pali i ka ʻāʻī. | An imperfect lei, beautifed by wearing. |
| | [Even an imperfect lei looks beautiful when worn around the neck — as beautiful as flowers and greenery on the slope of a hill.] |
| 2769 | Ua ʻai au i kāna loaʻa. | I have eaten of his gain. |
| | [Said with pride and affection by a parent or grandparent who is being cared for by the child he reared.] |
| 2770 | Ua ʻai i ke kāī-koi o ʻEwa. | He has eaten the kāī-koi taro of ʻEwa. |
| | [Kāī is Oʻahu’s best eating taro; one who has eaten it will always like it. Said of a youth or a maiden of ʻEwa, who, like the kāī taro, is not easily forgotten.] |
| 2775 | Ua ʻeha ka ʻili i ka maka o ka ihe. | The skin has been hurt by the point of the spear. |
| | [Said of a warrior who has been wounded in war. This was said with pride and affection, for it meant that he had been faithful to his chief.] |
| 2780 | Ua hala ka wawā i Hāʻupu. | The loud talking has gone to Haupu. |
| | [The gossip is now widespread.] |
| 2781 | Ua hānau ʻia paha i Nana, ke māʻau ala. | Perhaps he was born in Nana, for he wanders about. |
| | [In the month of Nana, fledglings left the nests.] |
| 2782 | Ua heʻe i ka ua o ka Hoʻoilo. | Routed by the wintery rain. |
| | [Said of one who fled from an unpleasant situation.] |
| 2783 | Ua hihina wale i Moeawakea. | Fallen down at Moeawakea. |
| | [A play on the place name Moe-awakea (Sleep-at-noon). A humorous saying applied to those who fall asleep in the daytime or pass out in a drunken stupor.] |
| 2786 | Ua hilo ʻia i ke aho a ke aloha. | Braided with the cords of love. |
| | [Held in the bond of affection.] |
| 2787 | Ua hoʻi ka noio ʻau kai i uka, ke ʻino nei ka moana. | The seafaring noio bird returns to land, for a storm rages at sea. |
| | [A weather sign.] |
| 2788 | Ua hoʻi ka ʻōpua i Awalua. | The cloud has returned to Awalua. |
| | [Said of one who has gone home.] |
| 2791 | Ua hopu hewa i ka uouoa. | Accidentally caught an uouoa fish. |
| | [A play on uō (to howl). Said of one who has gotten himself into something distressing.] |
| 2792 | Ua ʻia kāua e ka ua; hikikiʻi kāua i kānana! | We are rained upon by the rain; let it pour as it wills! |
| | [Two men were traveling in the mountains on Kaua’i when it began to rain. The first man found a small dry place under an overhanging rock. The second man’s place leaked, and so he cried out these words. Hearing this, the first man was lured away from his dry rock and ran toward his companion, who sneaked under the dry place and rested. The first man now stood shivering in the rain. This saying is used when someone is foolish enough to give up what he has.] |
| 2794 | Ua ʻike nō kā he hewa ke wikiwiki lā ka waha i ka mihi. | He knows it is wrong so the mouth hastens to repent. |
| | [Said of one who is caught in wrong-doing and quickly begs pardon to avoid due punishment.] |
| 2795 | Ua ʻike paha i ka makapaʻa. | Perhaps he saw a one-eyed person. |
| | [Said of a person who meets with bad luck. It is considered unlucky to meet a blind person on one’s way.] |
| 2797 | Ua kaʻa niniau i ka wili wai. | Swirled about by the eddying waters. |
| | [Dizzy from being madly in love. Also, intoxicated.] |
| 2800 | Ua ka ua i Papakōlea, ihea ʻoe? | When it rained in Papakōlea, where were you ? |
| | [The reply of a sweet-potato grower on Papakōlea to one who asks for some of his crop. If one answered that he had been there when the rain fell to soak the earth for planting, and had not planted, then he was lazy and would be given no potatoes.] |
| 2803 | Ua kau i ka hano hāweo. | Reached the peak of honors. |
| | [Said of one who has attained a high position. Used in hula chants and songs.] |
| 2804 | Ua kau ka mauli lele i ka muku. | Life is placed where it can take only a brief flight. |
| | [Said of a hopeless situation in which there is only a brief respite, then disaster or death.] |
| 2805 | Ua kohu ke kaunu ana i Waialoha. | Lovemaking at Waialoha is suitable. |
| | [The match is good; the course of true love should be encouraged.] |
| 2806 | Ua kū i kahi hāiki. | Standing in a narrow place. |
| | [Said of one in a precarious position.] |
| 2807 | Ua kuluma ke kanaka i ke aloha. | Love is a customary virtue with man. |
| | [Man encounters love daily.] |
| 2809 | Ua laʻi ka nohona i ke alo pali. | There is tranquility before the face of the cliff. |
| | [Perfect peace.] |
| 2815 | Ua lele ka manu i Kahiki. | The bird has flown to Kahiki. |
| | [Said of a person who has gone somewhere and cannot be found.] |
| 2816 | Ua lilo i kai kuewa nā kai kapu i hoʻomalu ʻia. | The protected sea [shores] have become sea [shores] for wanderers. |
| | [Cherished daughters have been led astray.] |
| 2817 | Ua lilo i ke koli kukui a maluhi. | Gone lamp-trimming until tired. |
| | [Said of one who has gone on an all-night spree. When the top kukui nut on a candle was bumed out, it was knocked off and the next nut on the stick allowed to burn.] |
| 2819 | Ua lilo paha i ke kini o Waiʻāpuka. | Taken, perhaps by the inhabitants of Waiʻāpuka. |
| | [A play on ’āpuka (to cheat) in the place name Wai’āpuka. Said when someone has been cheated of his possessions.] |
| 2821 | Ua loaʻa i ka heu o ka pānini. | Caught by the fuzz of the cactus fruit. |
| | [Has something to be irritated about.] |
| 2822 | Ua lohaloha nā hulu ʻekekeu i pili paʻa i ke kēpau. | The wing feathers [of the bird] droop, because the bird is caught by [the snarer’s] gum. |
| | [Said of one who is caught in mischief.] |
| 2824 | Ua lupeʻa ʻia i ka wai ʻona. | Fully possessed by liquor. |
| | [Dead drunk.] |
| 2829 | Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono. | The life of the land is preserved in righteousness. |
| 2833 | Ua nīkiʻi ʻia i ke olonā o Honopū. | Tied fast with the olonā cord of Honopū. |
| | [Honopū, Kaua’i, was said to produce excellent olonā in ancient days.] |
| 2835 | Ua noi i ke ao ua ʻole. | Asked a rainless cloud. |
| | [Asked a favor of a hard person who refused to grant it. First uttered by Hi’iaka, who asked two surly lizard gods to permit her and her friends to cross Wailuku River in Hilo. The request was refused and battle was offered instead.] |
| 2836 | Ua ola loko i ke aloha. | Love gives life within. |
| | [Love is imperative to one’s mental and physical welfare.] |
| 2837 | Ua ola nō i ka pane a ke aloha. | There is life in a kindly reply. |
| | [Though one may have no gift to offer to a friend, a kind word or a friendly greeting is just as important.] |
| 2840 | Ua paʻa ka ʻīlio i ka ʻōhao. | The dog is tied by the neck. |
| | [All is safe.] |
| 2841 | Ua pae i kula. | Landed ashore. |
| | [The work is all done.] |
| 2842 | Ua pae ka waʻa i Nānāwale. | The canoe landed at Nānāwale. |
| | [Said of disappointment. To dream of a canoe is a sign of bad luck. A play on nānā-wale (merely look [around at nothing]).] |
| 2846 | Ua pau koʻu lihi hoihoi i ka nani o Poka ʻAilana. | I havent the slightest interest in the beauty of Ford Island. |
| | [Said when one has lost interest. This is a line from a chant.] |
| 2848 | Ua piʻi paha i ka ʻulu o Maunawili. | Gone up, perhaps, to fetch the breadfruit of Maunawili. |
| | [A play on wili (twist, turn about). Said of one who is confused.] |
| 2849 | Ua pili ka manu i ke kēpau. | The bird was caught by the gum. |
| | [The one desired has been snared.] |
| 2856 | Ua wela ka nuku o Nuʻuanu i ka hole ʻia e ke āhole. | Heated is the Nuuanu gap, by the āhole fish that go to and fro. |
| | [A vulgar expression referring to sexual intercourse.] |
| 2863 | ʻUkuliʻi ka pua, onaona i ka mauʻu. | Tiny is the flower, yet it scents the grasses around it. |
| | [Said of a small person who gives happiness to others.] |
| 2873 | ʻUme i ka ihu. | Pulls on the nose. |
| | [Said of one who weeps with disappointment. With the flowing of tears, the nose runs.] |
| 2876 | ʻUmia ka hanu! Hoʻokahi ka umauma ke kīpoʻohiwi i ke kīpoʻohiwi. | Hold the breath! Walk abreast, shoulder to shoulder. |
| | [Be of one accord, as in exerting every effort to lift a heavy weight to the shoulder and to keep together in carrying it along.] |
| 2877 | ʻUmi ka hanu i ka houpo. | Hold back the breath in the chest. |
| | [Bear with utmost patience.] |
| 2879 | ʻUnu mai a hoʻonuʻanuʻa ke kilu o Kalamaʻula, hoʻoleʻaleʻa i ke kaha o Kaunalewa. | Bring all the kilu for amusement at Kalamaʻula to make merry on the field of Kaunalewa. |
| | [To come together for a gay time and bring whatever you have to add to the fun. There is a play on lewa, whieh refers to the swinging of the hips in hula.] |
| 2881 | ʻUo ʻia i ka mānai hoʻokahi. | Strung [like flowers] on the same lei needle. |
| | [Married.] |
| 2890 | Uē ʻo Kānepūniu i ka wela a ka lā. | Kānepūniu complains of the heat of the sun. |
| | [Said when someone complains of the heat. From a chant by Hiʻiaka, who saw Kāne-pūniu (Kāne-of-the-coconut), a supernatural tree at Wai’anae, O’ahu, on a very warm day.] |
| 2894 | Wae aku i ka lani. | Let the selecting be done in heaven. |
| | [Take life as it comes.] |
| 2897 | Waha lama ʻoe, puʻu mai ka waha i waho. | You are rum-mouthed; the mouth protrudes. |
| | [Said to one who talks as foolishly as a drunkard.] |
| 2902 | Waialua, ʻāina kū pālua i ka laʻi. | Waialua, land that stands doubly becalmed. |
| | [Said in admiration for Waialua, O’ahu, where the weather was usually pleasant and the life of the people tranquil.] |
| 2906 | Waiho i Kaea ka iwi o kamahele. | Left in Kaea, the bones of the traveler. |
| | [The two sisters Kihalaninui and Kapapakuʻialiʻi went to Hawai’i to seek Konakaimehalaʻi, the husband of the former. They took with them a small daughter of Kihalaninui and a wooden image named Pili. They landed at Pololū in Kohala and went to Kahuwā, where the child died. There the child and the image were laid away together. īn lamenting, Kapapakuʻialiʻi cried these words. This saying is now applied to anyone who dies away from his homeland.] |
| 2908 | Waiho kāhela i ka laʻi a ahiahi ehuehu mai. | There he lies in the calm, but when evening comes he will he full of animation. |
| | [He is quiet now, but by and by you’ll find him full of life.] |
| 2911 | Waikapū i ka makani kokololio. | Waikapū of the gusty wind. |
| | [Refers to Waikapū, Maui.] |
| 2912 | Wailuku i ka malu he kuawa. | Wailuku in the shelter of the valleys. |
| | [Wailuku, Maui, reposes in the shelter of the clouds and the valley.] |
| 2913 | Waimea, i ka ua Kīpuʻupuʻu. | Waimea, land of the Kīpuupuu rain. |
| | [Waimea, Hawai’i, is famed in old mele for its cold Kīpuʻupuʻu rain.] |
| 2919 | Wā ʻōlelo i Kaunakakai. | Loud talking at Kaunakakai. |
| | [Said of much boisterous talking. The chiefs liked to play games such as kōnane at Kaunakakai, and their shouts and laughter could be heard for some distance.] |
| 2920 | Wawā ka menehune i Puʻukapele ma Kauaʻi, puoho ka manu o ka loko o Kawainui ma Oʻahu. | The shouts of the menehune on Puukapele on Kauai startled the birds of Kawainui Pond on Oʻahu. |
| | [The menehune were once so numerous on Kaua’i that their shouting could be heard on O’ahu. Said of too much boisterous talking.] |
| 2923 | Wehe i ka mākāhā i komo ka iʻa. | Open the sluice gate that the fish may enter. |
| | [This was uttered by Kaleopuʻupuʻu, priest of Kahekili, after the dedication of the heiau of Kaluli, at Pu’uohala on the north side of Wailuku, Maui. A second invasion from Kalaniʻōpuʻu of Hawaiʻi was expected, and the priest declared that they were now ready to trap the invaders, like fish inside a pond. The saying refers to the application of strategy to trap the enemy.] |
| 2925 | Wehe ke akule i ka hohonu. | The akule fish takes off to the deep. |
| | [Said of one who removes himself from the scene of trouble.] |
| 2927 | Wehe pau i ka hohonu. | Took off to the depths. |
| | [Said of one who goes and forgets to return, like fish going off to the deep sea.] |
| 2934 | Weliweli Puna i ke akua wahine. | Puna dreads the goddess. |
| | [Puna dreads Pele. Said of any dreaded person.] |
| 2936 | Welo ke aloha i ka ʻōnohi. | Love flutters to and fro before the eyes. |
| | [Said of a longing to see a loved one whose image is constantly in mind.] |
| 2939 | Wili i ke au wili o Kāwili. | Swirled about by the swirling Kāwili. |
| | [Said of a confusing, bewildering situation. Kā-wili (Hit-and-twist) is a current at Kalae, Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi, that comes from the Kona side and flows out to the ocean. It is the rougher of the two currents that meet off Kalae.] |
| 2940 | Wili ka puahiohio, piʻi ka lepo i luna. | The whirlwind twists, and up goes the dust. |
| | [With wrath, out come words that are unpleasant to hear.] |