| 246 | ʻAwa kau lāʻau o Puna. | Tree-growing ʻawa of Puna. |
| | [Tree-grown ʻawa of Puna was famous for its potency. It was believed that birds carried pieces of ʻawa up into the trees where it would grow.] |
| 287 | E hōʻike mai ana ka lāʻau a ke kia manu. | The stick of the birdcatcher will tell. |
| | [We will know how successful one is by what he produces. One knew whether a birdcatcher was successful by counting the birds on his gummed stick.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 475 | Hao ka Inuwai, maloʻo ka lau lāʻau. | The Inuwai breeze blew, withering the leaves of the trees. |
| | [Along he came and nothing was left. The Inuwai (Drink-water) breeze is very drying.] |
| 714 | He lāʻau kū hoʻokahi, he lehua no Kaʻala. | A lone tree, a lehua of Kaʻala. |
| | [An expression of admiration for an outstanding person, unequaled in beauty, wisdom, or skill.] |
| 715 | He lāʻau maka no ka nāhelehele. | A green wood of the forest. |
| | [An inexperienced person.] |
| 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.] |
| 818 | He milo ka lāʻau, mimilo ke aloha. | Milo is the plant; love goes round and round. |
| | [Said of the milo tree when its leaves, blossoms, or seeds were used by a kahuna who practices hana aloha sorcery.] |
| 828 | He moʻo, he pili pōhaku, he pili lāʻau a he pili lepo. | It is a lizard, for it clings to rocks, clings to trees, clings to the earth. |
| | [Said in derision of one who spies, hiding behind rocks, trees, and so forth. Also said of one who likes climbing over rocks and trees like a lizard.] |
| 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.] |
| 1053 | Holu ka pua o ka mauʻu, kapalili ka lau o ka lāʻau, māewa ka lau o ke ʻuki. | The grass blossoms sway, the leaves on the trees flutter, the leaves of the ʻuki grass wave to and fro. |
| | [Said of speed in traveling. The traveler went so fast he was like a passing gust of wind that caused the leaves to sway or flutter.] |
| 1076 | Hoʻokahi no lāʻau a ka uʻi. | Let the youth use but a single stroke. |
| | [Let it be once and for all. First uttered by the instructor of the chief Puapuakea, advising him to strike his enemy with a single, fatal blow.] |
| 1077 | Hoʻokahi no lāʻau lapaʻau, ʻo ka mihi. | There is one remedy — repentance. |
| | [Said of one who had offended a family ʻaumakua and suffered the penalty, or of one who was unhappy over a wrong he had done to others.] |
| 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.] |
| 1270 | Ka ʻai kīʻoʻe lāʻau. | The food reached for with a stick. |
| | [Said of the breadfruit, which grows high on the tree.] |
| 1363 | Ka iʻa lawe mai a ka makani, he lāʻau ka ʻupena e hei ai. | The fish brought by the wind, a stick is the net to catch them with. |
| | [Said of turtles that come to certain localities in the islands. They were driven ashore with sticks.] |
| 1419 | Ka lāʻau kumu ʻole o Kahilikolo. | The trunkless tree of Kahilikolo. |
| | [Said of one who lacks a family background. Famed in many Kauaʻi chants and legends is the trunkless koa tree of Kahilikolo. The tree does not grow upright but spreads over the ground. To say that one has found the trunk of Kahilikolo is to say that he has found nothing.] |
| 1565 | Ka ua kau lāʻau o Pāhala. | The tree-resting rain of Pāhala. |
| | [The rain of Pāhala in Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi, seems to rest on the tree tops.] |
| 1625 | Ka ulu lāʻau ma kai. | The forest on the seaward side. |
| | [Refers to the masts of the ships that came the harbors of Lahaina or Honolulu.] |
| 1640 | Ka wahine ʻai lāʻau o Puna. | The tree-eating woman of Puna. |
| | [Pele.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 2029 | Lū ka makani, mōkākī ka lau lāʻau. | When the wind shakes the trees, the leaves are scattered. |
| | [Said of a wrathful person who causes everyone to flee from him.] |
| 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.] |
| 2092 | Mākālei, lāʻau piʻi ona ʻia e ka iʻa. | Mākālei, the stick that attracts and draws thefish. |
| | [Said of a handsome person who attracts the interest of others. Mākālei was a supernatural tree who attracted fish.] |
| 2192 | Molokaʻi koʻo lāʻau. | Molokaʻi of the canoe-poler. |
| | [The reef at the southern shore of Molokaʻi extends out as far as one-half mile in some places. At low tide the water is no more than eight feet deep. Because it is so shallow, the people could propel their canoes with poles.] |
| 2193 | Molokaʻi kuʻi lāʻau. | Molokai, pounder of medicine. |
| | [The kāhuna of Molokaʻi were said to be experts in compounding medicines and poisonous potions. Also, a stick dance bore this name.] |
| 2197 | Muʻu mōkākī ka lau lāʻau, he makani kā. | The leaves lie strewn about in a pelting gale. |
| | [The remnants of a violent burst of temper.] |
| 2270 | Nānā nō a ka lāʻau kū hoʻokahi. | Look for the plant that stands alone. |
| | [Often said by those seeking strong medicinal herbs. A plant that stood by itself was considered better for medicine than one that grew close to others of its kind.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 2520 | ʻOni kalalea ke kū a ka lāʻau loa. | A tall tree stands above the others. |
| | [Said of a person of outstanding achievements.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 2722 | Puhipuhi lāʻau a kahuna, ka maunu loaʻa a ka pupuka. | By blowing the medicine given by a kahuna, can the ugly gain his desire. |
| | [Said of one who resorted to the prayers and ceremonies of a kahuna hana aloha to gain the love of his desired one. The person consulting the kahuna ate pilimai and manulele sugar cane after the kahuna had dedicated them to Makanikeoe, the love god. Then he blew in the direction of the desired person. The god, who also had a wind form, bore the mana along, and when it touched the one desired he or she became very much in love with the sender. When used with evil intent — for revenge or to humiliate — the sender is spoken of as an ugly person who has no charm of his own, hence he must resort to sorcery.] |
| 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.] |
| 2790 | Ua hoʻomakua ka lāʻau. | The plant has become a tree. |
| | [Said of a habit that might once have been easily overcome but has now gained a good stronghold.] |