| 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.”] |
| 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.] |
| 93 | ʻAkahi ka hoʻi ka paoa, ke kau nei ka mākole pua heʻo. | Here is a sign of ill luck, for the red-eyed bright-hued one rests above. |
| | [Said when a rainbow appears before the path of one who was on a business journey. Such a rainbow is regarded the same as meeting a red-eyed person — a sign of bad luck. Better to turn about and go home.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.”] |
| 413 | Haka kau a ka manu. | Perch on which birds rest. |
| | [A promiscuous woman.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 638 | He ʻio au, ʻaʻohe lālā kau ʻole. | I am a hawk; there is no branch on which I cannot perch. |
| | [I can go anywhere I please; I am a chief.] |
| 677 | He kau auaneʻi i ka lae ʻaʻā. | Watch out lest the canoe land on a rocky reef. |
| | [Watch out for trouble.] |
| 749 | He lele pā iki kau ka manaʻo; ke aloha kamaliʻi he lālau nō. | [An adult] lets his fancy take fight and touches lightly while a child lover reaches out directly. |
| | [An adult lover dreams, plans, and gently woos; a child is clumsy in his lovemaking.] |
| 804 | He manu ke aloha, ʻaʻohe lālā kau ʻole. | Love is like a bird — there is no branch that it does not perch upon. |
| | [Love is an emotion shared by all.] |
| 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.] |
| 852 | He ʻohu ke aloha; ʻaʻohe kuahiwi kau ʻole. | Love is like mist; there is no mountain top that it does not settle upon. |
| | [Love comes to all.] |
| 1052 | Holo iʻa ka papa, kau ʻia e ka manu. | When the shoals are full of fish, birds gather over them. |
| | [Where there is food, people gather.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 1289 | Ka haka o ka moa kāne, ua kau ʻia e ka moa wahine. | The perch of the cock is now occupied by a hen. |
| | [Said by Puna, whom Kalaniʻōpuʻu placed as governor in Hāna, Maui. Mahihelelima wanted Puna out of the way and lied that Kalaniʻōpuʻu had sent word for Puna to meet him in Hawaiʻi at once. When Puna arrived in Hawaiʻi, he discovered that he had been duped and that Kaʻuiki hill in Hāna had been taken by the Maui chiefs in the meantime. The saying was later used to mean that a superior worker had been replaced by another who was not as good.] |
| 1320 | Kahuku kau ʻaoʻao. | One-sided Kahuku. |
| | [Refers to Kahuku, Kaʻū. At one time, Kamehameha I made a bargain with some farmers to exchange poi for fish. A konohiki of Kahuku named Kaholowaho took huge calabashes of poi to the chief, who gave him one small fish in return. Kaholowaho tied the fish to one end of a carrying stick to show his neighbors what the chief had done. After several such exchanges, Kaholowaho brought Kamehameha a small taro in a big container. When the chief saw the taro he laughed, and from then on he played fair. The fish tied to one side of the carrying stick produced the saying, “One-sided Kahuku.”] |
| 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.] |
| 1485 | Ka moe kau a Moi, ke kahuna mana o Hāʻupukele. | You sleep like Moi, the powerful kahuna of Haupukele. |
| | [Said to one who oversleeps. The kahuna Moi, of Hāʻupukele, Molokaʻi, had a long, prophetic dream of misfortune to befall his chief. The chief paid no attention and kidnapped a chiefess of Hilo. This led to a war with her sons, Niheu and Kana.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 1609 | Kau ʻino na waʻa o Kaʻaluʻalu. | The canoes hasten ashore at Kaʻalualu. |
| | [Said of those who hurry away from the scene of trouble. Kaʻaluʻalu is a beach in Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi, where fishermen hastened away from Halaʻea after unloading their fish onto his canoe.] |
| 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.] |
| 1612 | Kau ka mahina. | The moon is shining. |
| | [A remark made in fun when a bald head is seen.] |
| 1613 | Kau ka maka. | The eyes rest upon [him or her]. |
| | [A longing to see a certain person or to possess a certain thing.] |
| 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.] |
| 1615 | Kau ka peʻa, holo ka waʻa! | Up go the sails; away goes the canoe! |
| | [Said humorously of one who dresses up and goes out for a gay time.] |
| 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.] |
| 1636 | Kau pō Kāneiahuea. | All night long rode Kāneiahuea. |
| | [Said of one who wastes time in useless effort. From the story of a man who started out from the inlet of Kāneiahuea, Kona, one night. Because he was unfamiliar with the place, he went back and forth all night without finding an outlet to the open sea. Similar to the saying Naʻaupō wale ʻo Kāneiahuea.] |
| 1740 | Ke kau mai nei ka mākole. | The red-eyed one rests ahove. |
| | [Said of the rainbow with red predominating. A sign to some people that their ʻaumakua is watching them.] |
| 1741 | Ke kau mai nei ʻo ʻOlepau. | The moon is in the phase of ʻOlepau. |
| | [There is nothing more to consider. A play on ʻole (no) and pau (finished).] |
| 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.] |
| 1836 | Komo mai kau māpuna hoe. | Put in your dip of the paddle. |
| | [Pitch in.] |
| 1965 | Leʻa ke kau ʻai. | The time for food is pleasing. |
| | [One can eat with pleasure — there are no wars, just peace.] |
| 2021 | Lona kau lani. | A block on which the royal [canoe] rested. |
| | [A chief whose sire was higher than that of his mother.] |
| 2062 | Mai ka lā hiki a ka lā kau. | From the sun’s arrival to the sun’s rest. |
| | [Said of a day, from sunrise to sunset. This phrase is much used in prayers. Any mention of the setting of the sun was avoided in prayers for the sick; instead one referred to the sun’s rest, thus suggesting rest and renewal rather than permanent departure.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 2165 | Moʻa nopu o ke kau. | Summer’s first parched product. |
| | [The first sweet potato of the summer or the first from one’s field.] |
| 2168 | Moe i ka moe kau a hoʻoilo. | Asleep with the sleep that lasts through summers and winters. |
| | [Dead.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.] |
| 2441 | ʻO kau aku, ʻo kā ia lā mai, pēlā ka nohona o ka ʻohana. | From you and from him — so lived the family. |
| | [The farmer gave to the fisherman, the fisherman to the farmer.] |
| 2447 | ʻO ka wai kau nō ia o Keʻanae; ʻo ka ʻūlei hoʻowali ʻuala ia o Kula. | It is the pool on the height of Keanae; it is the ʻūlei digging stick for the potato [patch] of Kula. |
| | [A handsome young man of Kula and a beautiful young woman of Keʻanae, on Maui, were attracted to each other. She boasted of her own womanly perfection by referring to her body as the pool on the heights of Keʻanae. Not to be outdone, he looked down at himself and boasted of his manhood as the digging stick of Kula.] |
| 2466 | ʻOki loa ka ihu kau ʻia e ka nalo. | It is worse to have a fly sit on the nose |
| | [A young woman from Kaʻū was teased about being carried ashore by a sailor who found it hard to resist kissing her. This was her laughing reply — there are worse things than being kissed.] |
| 2477 | Ola a kau kō kea. | Lives till the sugar cane tassels. |
| | [Said of one who lives until his hair whitens with age.] |
| 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.] |
| 2649 | Pili kau, pili hoʻoilo. | Together in the dry season, together in the wet season. |
| | [Said of loving companionship.] |
| 2651 | Pilikia hoʻi kau a lohe mai. | Troubles that [do not] hear. |
| | [Serious trouble indeed.] |
| 2733 | Pula kau maka ʻino loa. | A very bad mote in the eye. |
| | [A person who is much disliked. Pula kau maka denotes something that is constantly on oneʻs mind.] |
| 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.] |
| 2779 | Ua hala ka ʻino, ua kau ka mālie. | The storm has passed; calmness is here. |
| 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.] |