| 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.] |
| 113 | Aloha mai nō, aloha aku; ʻo ka huhiā ka mea e ola ʻole ai. | When love is given, love should he returned; anger is the thing that gives no life. |
| 130 | ʻAʻohe e hōʻike ana ka mea hewa ua hewa ia. | The wrongdoer does not tell on himself. |
| 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.] |
| 184 | ʻAʻohe mea e mānalo ai. | Nothing can sweeten it. |
| | [Nothing can change a bad situation into a good one.] |
| 185 | ʻAʻohe mea ʻimi a ka maka. | Nothing more for the eyes to search for. |
| | [Everything one desires is in his presence.] |
| 186 | ʻAʻohe mea koe aku iā Makaliʻi; pau nō ka liko me ka lāʻele. | Makaliʻi left nothing, taking [everything] from buds to old leaves. |
| | [Said of one who selfishly takes all, or of a lecherous person who takes those of the opposite sex of all ages. From a legend surrounding a chief, Makaliʻi, who took from his people until they faced starvation.] |
| 187 | ʻAʻohe mea koe ma kūʻono. | Nothing remains in the corners. |
| | [Said of one who is extremely generous, giving freely without reservation.] |
| 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.] |
| 189 | ʻAʻohe mea nāna e hoʻopuhili, he moho no ka lā makani. | There is no one to interfere, for he is a messenger of a windy day. |
| | [Said in admiration of a person who lets nothing stop him from carrying out the task entrusted to him.] |
| 190 | ʻAʻohe mea nāna e paʻi i ke poʻo. | No one to slap his head. |
| | [He has no equal in his accomplishments.] |
| 191 | ʻAʻohe na ia mau mea e uē iā ʻoe, na ke kanaka ʻoe e uē. | Things will not mourn you, but people will. |
| | [Said to one who thinks more of his possessions than of his kinfolk or friends.] |
| 192 | ʻAʻohe nānā; he holoholona ia he mea ʻuhane ʻole; o ke kanaka nō ka nānā, he mea ʻuhane. | Never mind; it is an animal, a soulless creature; take heed of man, for he is a creature with a soul. |
| 217 | ʻAʻohe wāwae o ka iʻa; ʻo ʻoe ka mea wāwae, kiʻi mai. | Fish have no feet; you who have feet must come and get it. |
| | [Said of one who asks for, but doesn’t come to get, what he wants. Any footless creature might be used as an example.] |
| 251 | E ʻai i ka mea i loaʻa. | What you have, eat. |
| | [Be satisfied with what you have.] |
| 254 | E akahele ka mea ʻakahi akahi. | Let the person who is inexperienced watch his step. |
| 268 | E! E pololei ana ke kua o mea. | Say! The back [of a hunchhacked person] will surely he straightened. |
| | [Said to one who is always correcting others, as if to say, “Why correct my mistakes? Let’s see if you can straighten a crooked back!”] |
| 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.] |
| 305 | Eia ke kānaenae a ka mea hele: he leo, he leo wale nō. | Here is an offering from a traveler: a voice in greeting, simply a voice. |
| | [Said in affection by a passerby who, seeing a friend, greets him but doesn’t stop to visit.] |
| 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. |
| 341 | E loaʻa ana iā ʻoe ka mea a Paʻahao. | Youll get what Paʻahao has. |
| | [Paʻahao, a native of Kaʻiā, was often teased by his neighbors because when annoyed he would snap, “Naio!” (“Pinworms!”) This amused his tormentors. When annoyed, one might say, “You’ll get what Paʻahao has.” Paʻahao lived in Waiōhinu, Kaʻū, during the late 1800s and early 1900s.] |
| 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.] |
| 367 | E ʻoluʻolu i ka mea i loaʻa. | Be contented with what one has. |
| 379 | E uhi ana ka wā i hala i nā mea i hala. | Passing time obscures the past. |
| 395 | Haʻalele i ka lā ka mea mahana. | Has left the warmth of the sun. |
| | [Has died.] |
| 425 | Hala ka ua, ka mea makaʻu. | The rain we feared is gone. |
| | [The person we are afraid of is absent; we have nothing to worry about.] |
| 589 | He honu ka ʻāina he mea paneʻe wale. | Land is like a turtle: it moves on. |
| | [Land passes slowly but inexorably from owner to heir.] |
| 684 | He keiki aloha nā mea kanu. | Beloved children are the plants. |
| | [It is said of farmers that their plants are like beloved children, receiving much attention and care.] |
| 688 | He keiki mea kupuna. | [It shows] that the child has a grandparent. |
| | [Said in admiration of a child whose grandparents show affection by making beautiful things for his use or compose songs and chants in his honor. A similar expression is He keiki mea makua: [It shows] that the child has a parent.] |
| 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.] |
| 812 | He mea ʻai ʻia kahi pilipili maunu kāpae ʻia. | The bit of bait set to one side is edible still. |
| | [A man or woman who has been the mate of another can still be a good mate to have.] |
| 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.”] |
| 814 | He mea ʻao lūʻau ʻia ke kānāwai. | A law [of an ʻaumakua] can be removed with an offering of cooked taro leaves. |
| | [An ʻaumakua could be propitiated by offering taro leaves and prayers for forgiveness.] |
| 815 | He mea laha ʻole. | Not spread everywhere. |
| | [A thing rare. A not uncommon expression in songs and chants.] |
| 816 | He mea mahamahana no ka lehelehe. | Something warm for the lips. |
| | [A tasty morsel for gossip.] |
| 855 | He ʻō ʻia ka mea hāwāwā e ka heʻe nalu. | The unskilled surf rider falls back into the water. |
| 914 | He poʻo ulu ko nā mea kanu. | Plants have heads that grow again. |
| | [An assurance that if you break off the top of a plant, it will put forth a new one.] |
| 934 | He pula, ʻo ka ʻānai ka mea nui. | A speck of dust in the eye causes a lot of rubbing because of irritation. |
| | [Let one member of a family do wrong and, like the resultant irritation, he is a shame to all.] |
| 1021 | Hōhē wale ka mea hewa. | There is cowardice in the wrongdoer. |
| | [The person who wrongs another is often afraid to face him.] |
| 1070 | Hoʻokahi mea manaʻo nui a ka ʻōhua o ka hale: ʻo kahi mea mai ka lima mai o ke aliʻi. | There is one thing all members of the household look to: whatever they are given by the hands of the chief. |
| | [All members of the chief’s household are dependent on him.] |
| 1286 | Ka hāʻawi a ka mea hale, koe koena ʻole ma kūʻono. | Giving as a house owner does, with nothing left hidden in the corners. |
| | [Said of a very generous person who gives freely of all he has.] |
| 1302 | Ka hāuli o ka mea hewa ʻole, he nalowale koke. | A bruise inflicted on an innocent person vanishes quickly. |
| | [Mean words uttered against the innocent may hurt, but the hurt will not last.] |
| 1697 | Ke hina ke uahi ma kahi ʻaoʻao he mea mākole ko ia ʻaoʻao. | When the smoke falls on one side, someone on that side will feel a smarting of the eyes. |
| | [Where strong words fall, feelings are hurt.] |
| 1702 | Keikei kūlana hale wili, ʻaʻohe mea hana o loko. | A fine-looking mill, but no machinery inside. |
| | [Good-looking but unintelligent. Taken from a hula song.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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. |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 2406 | ʻO ka huhiā ʻino ka mea e ola ʻole ai. | Rage is a thing that does not produce life. |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 2428 | ʻO ka mea ua hala, ua hala ia. | What is gone is gone. |
| | [There is no use in recalling hurts of the past.] |
| 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.] |
| 2450 | ʻO ke aliʻi ka mea ikaika, ʻaʻole ʻo ke kanaka. | It is the chief who is strong, not the commoner. |
| | [A commoner’s own work of planting and fishing is limited by his physical ability. A chief can command a multitude to carry out his projects.] |
| 2492 | ʻOla nō ka mea akua, make nō ka mea akua ʻole. | He who has a god lives; he who has none, dies. |
| | [A god was regarded as a helper and protector of his devotee.] |
| 2524 | ʻO ʻoe, a ʻo wau, nalo ia mea. | You and me; it is hidden. |
| | [Let the secret be with us alone.] |
| 2602 | Papani ka uka o Kapela; puaʻi hānono wai ʻole o Kukaniloko; pakī hunahuna ʻole o Holoholokū; ʻaʻohe mea nāna e ʻaʻe paepae kapu o Līloa. | Close the upland of Kapela; no red water gushes from Kukaniloko; not a particle issues from Holoholokū; there is none to step over the sacred platform of Līloa. |
| | [The old chiefs and their sacredness are gone; the descendants are no longer laid to rest at Ka-pela-kapu-o-Kakaʻe at ʻīao; the descendants no longer point to Kukaniloko on Oʻahu and Holoholokū on Kauaʻi as the sacred birthplaces; there is no one to tread on the sacred places in Waipiʻo, Hawaiʻi, where Līloa once dwelt.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |