| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 417 | Haki kākala o Piʻilani, ʻike pono ʻo luna iā lalo. | Roughness breaks in Piʻilani, those above recognize those below. |
| | [A storm breaks loose and those above — rain, lightning, thunder, wind — show their effects to the people below.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 990 | Hiki mai ka lā ma Haʻehaʻe, ma luna mai o Kukiʻi. | The sun rises at Haʻehaʻe, above Kukiʻi. |
| | [Haʻehaʻe, in Puna, Hawaiʻi, is often called the gateway of the sun. Kukiʻi is a place in Puna.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 1230 | I luna nā maka, i lalo nā kuli. | Eyes up, knees down. |
| | [Pray.] |
| 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.] |
| 1381 | Ka iʻa uahi nui o ka ʻāina; o ka iʻa ma luna, o ka ʻai ma lalo. | The many smoky fish of the land; with the fish ahove and the vegetable food beneath. |
| | [This refers not to any particular fish or meat but to anything that is cooked in an imu. When lighted, the imu is smoky until the stones redden and the wood is reduced to coals.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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] |
| 2097 | Makani luna ke lele ʻino maila ke ao. | There is wind from the upland, for the clouds are set a-flying. |
| | [Signs of trouble are seen. This saying originated shortly after the completion of the Puʻukoholā heiau by Kamehameha I. He sent Keaweaheulu to Kaʻū to invite Keouakuahuʻula to Kawaihae for a peace conference between them. Against the advice of his own high priest, Keouakuahuʻula went, taking his best warriors along with him. When outside of Māhukona, he saw canoes come out of Kawaihae and realized that treachery awaited him. It was then that he uttered the words of this saying. His navigator pleaded with him to go back, but he refused. Arriving in Kawaihae, Keouakuahuʻula stepped off the canoe while uttering a chant in honor of Kamehameha. One of the latter’s war leaders stepped up from behind and killed him. All of his followers were slaughtered except for Kuakahela, who hid and later found his way home, where he wailed the sad story.] |
| 2131 | Ma luna mai nei au o ka waʻa kaulua, he ʻumi ihu. | I came on a double canoe with ten prows. |
| | [I walked. The “double canoes” are one’s two feet and the “ten prows” are his toes.] |
| 2345 | Noʻu o luna, noʻu o lalo, noʻu o uka, noʻu o kai, noʻu nā wahi a pau. | Above, below, the upland, the lowland are mine; everywhere is mine. |
| | [Said by Kamehameha III to encourage his lover Kalama to come to him. She need not fear the wrath of Kaʻahumanu for he, Kamehameha, was the master everywhere.] |
| 2417 | ʻO ka lā ko luna, o ka pāhoehoe ko lalo. | The sun above, the smooth lava below. |
| | [Said of a journey in which the traveler suffers the heat of the sun above and the reflected heat from the lava bed helow.] |
| 2425 | ʻO ka manu ma luna, ʻo ia ma lalo. | The birds above, he below. |
| | [Said in admiration of one who travels with great speed — he equals the birds that fly in the sky.] |
| 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.] |
| 2504 | ʻO luna, ʻo lalo; ʻo kai,ʻo uka — ʻo ka hao pae ko ke aliʻi ia. | Above, below; seaward, inland — the iron that washes ashore belongs to the chief. |
| | [Said by Kamehameha. All iron that was found belonged to him.] |
| 2505 | ʻO luna, ʻo lalo; ʻo uka, ʻo kai; ʻo ka palaoa pae, no ke aliʻi ia. | Above, helow; the upland, the lowland; the whale that washes ashore — all belong to the chief. |
| | [The chief owned everything in the land he ruled. Ivory obtained from the teeth of whales that washed ashore was very valuable.] |
| 2515 | ʻO nā hōkū o ka lani luna, ʻo Paʻaiea ko lalo. | The stars are above, Paʻaiea helow. |
| | [Refers to Kamehameha’s great fish-pond, Paʻaiea, in Kona, Hawaiʻi. Its great size led to this saying — the small islets that dotted its interior were compared to the stars that dot the sky. The pond was destroyed during a volcanic eruption.] |
| 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.] |
| 2667 | Pōhai ka manu ma luna, he iʻa ko lalo. | When the birds circle above, there are fish below. |
| | [Strong words are a sign of wrath. Fishermen at sea watch where the noio birds gather, for that is a sign that the aku fish are near.] |
| 2774 | Ua ʻawa ka luna o Uwēkahuna. | Bitterly cold are the heights of Uwēkahuna. |
| | [Said of the wrath of a chief. From a chant by Lohiʻau when he saw the wrath of Pele as she sought to destroy him.] |
| 2922 | Wehe ʻia ma luna o Hīhīmanu. | Bared on the summit of Hīhīmanu. |
| | [A humorous reference to a person whose bald head is fringed with hair — like a bare mountaintop above a circle of mist.] |
| 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.] |