| 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.] |
| 127 | ʻAʻohe ʻalawa wale iho iā Maliʻo. | Not even a glance at Maliʻo. |
| | [Said of a haughty person. Pele was once so annoyed with Maliʻo and her brother Halaaniani that she turned them both into stone and let them lie in the sea in Puna, Hawaiʻi. It was at the bay named after Halaaniani that clusters of pandanus were tossed into the sea with tokens to loved ones. These were borne by the current to Kamilo in Kaʻū.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 282 | E hiolo ana nā kapu kahiko; e hina ana nā heiau me nā lele; e hui ana nā moku; he iho mai ana ka lani a e piʻi ana ka honua. | The ancient kapu will be abolished; the heiau and altars willfall; the islands will be united; the heavens will descend and the earth ascend. |
| | [A prophecy uttered by Kapihe, a kahuna in Kamehameha’s time. The last part of the saying means that chiefs will come down to humble positions and commoners rise to positions of honor.] |
| 301 | Eia iho ko hoa like o Malelewaʻa. | Here is a suitable companion for you, Malelewaʻa. |
| | [Remark about an untidy person. A play on malele (strewn about) in Malelewaʻa, a place on Kauaʻi.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 362 | E noho ma lalo o ka lāʻau maka, iho mai ka huihui, māʻona ka ʻōpū. | Sit under a green tree. When the cluster comes down, the stomach is filled. |
| | [Serve a worthy person. When your reward comes you will never be hungry.] |
| 372 | E piʻi ana kahi poʻe, e iho ana kahi poʻe. | Some folks go up, some go down. |
| | [While the fingers of some are in the poi bowl, the fingers of others are at the mouth.] |
| 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.] |
| 689 | He kekē niho wale iho nō. | Just an exposing of teeth. |
| | [Just threats.] |
| 854 | He ʻohu poʻi wale iho nō. | Only a covering of mist. |
| | [Said of a person who is a mere figurehead in a high position and has no authority to act. Like the mist, he merely nestles on the peak.] |
| 967 | He waʻa holo nō ka hoʻi, kālai kāpulu ʻia iho. | After all, it is a worthy canoe, but you hewed it so carelessly. |
| | [He is a good worker but you have treated him with such thoughtlessness.] |
| 1031 | Hoʻi iho ka lehelehe a ka ʻauwae, noho. | The lip goes down to the chin and there it sits. |
| | [Said of a pouting person.] |
| 1050 | Hōlapu ke ahi, koe iho ka lehu. | The fire blazed up, then only ashes were left. |
| | [After a blaze of temper, the ashes of remorse are left.] |
| 1163 | Iho ihola ka puna palaʻai. | Down goes the pumpkin spoon. |
| | [Said in derision to one who pouts, whose pouting lips are compared to a spoon.] |
| 1389 | Ka iho ʻana iho o ko luna poʻe, hikikiʻi ka ua o ʻEna. | When those from above come down, the rain of ʻEna leans backward. |
| | [When drowsiness comes, one can lean back and relax contentedly. Also, when one feels mellow after imbibing, there is contentment and relaxation.] |
| 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.] |
| 1701 | Ke iho mai nei ko luna. | Those above are descending. |
| | [A fog is beginning to settle. Said by one who is beginning to feel the effects of the ʻawa he has drunk.] |
| 1749 | Ke koaʻe iho ia, he manu lele no ka pali kahakō. | That is the tropic hird, one that flies at the sheer cliffs. |
| | [Said of a person who is hard to catch.] |
| 1830 | Kōlea nō ke kōlea i kona inoa iho. | The plover can only cry its own name. |
| | [Said of an egotistical person.] |
| 1855 | Kū aʻe ʻEwa; Noho iho ʻEwa. | Stand-up ʻEwa; Sit-down ʻEwa. |
| | [The names of two stones, now destroyed, that once marked the boundary between the chiefs’ land (Kūaʻe ʻEwa) and that of the commoners (Noho iho ʻEwa) in ʻEwa, Oʻahu.] |
| 1975 | Lele au lā, hokahoka wale iho. | I fly away, leaving disappointment behind. |
| | [Said of one who is disillusioned after giving many gifts. Wakaʻina was a ghost of North Kohala who deceived people. He often flew to where people gathered and chanted. When he had their attention he would say, “I could chant better if I had a tapa cloth.” In this way he would name one thing after another, and when all had been given him he would fly away chanting these words.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 2403 | ʻO ka hana ia a ka lawaiʻa iwi paoa, iho nō ka makau, piʻi nō ka iʻa. | That is the way of a fisherman with lucky bones — down goes his hook, up comes a fish. |
| | [Said of a lucky person. It was believed that certain people’s bones brought them luck in fishing. When they died their bones were sought for the making of fishhooks.] |
| 2437 | ʻO ka pono ke hana ʻia a iho mai nā lani. | Continue to do good until the heavens come down to you. |
| | [Blessings come to those who persist in doing good.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 2624 | Pēlā iho a hala aʻe ka ua ka mea makaʻu. | Wait until the thing that is feared, the rain, has gone its way. |
| | [Wait until this person whom we are afraid of or do not want with us has gone.] |
| 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.] |