| 37 | Aia i Hilo ʻo Alanaio; aia i Puna ʻo Kapoho; aia i Laupāhoehoe ʻo Ulekiʻi. | In Hilo is Alanaio; in Puna is Kapoho; in Laupāhoehoe is Ulekii. |
| | [A vulgar play on place names, calling attention to private parts, which are omens of disappointment when seen in dreams. An expression of contempt for one who brings bad luck. Alanaio (Way-of-the-pinworm), the anus, is in Hilo; Kapoho (The Container), the vagina, is in Puna; and Ulekiʻi (Rigid Penis) is in Laupāhoehoe.] |
| 233 | ʻĀpiki Puna i Leleʻapiki, ke nānā lā i Nānāwale. | Puna is concerned at Leleʻapiki and looks about at Nānāwale. |
| | [The people are but followers and obedient to their rulers. The people of Puna were not anxious to go to war when a battle was declared between Kiwalaʻō and Kamehameha; it was the will of their chief. Lele-ʻapiki (Tricky-leap) and Nānā-wale (Just-looking) are places in Puna.] |
| 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.] |
| 260 | E ala e Kaʻū, kahiko o Mākaha; e ala e Puna, Puna Kumākaha; e ala e Hilo naʻau kele! | Arise, O Kaʻū of ancient descent; arise, O Puna of the Kumākaha group; arise, O Hilo of the water-soaked foundation! |
| | [A rallying call. These names are found in Kaʻū and Puna chants of the chiefs. The Mākaha and Ku-mākaha (Like-the-Mākaha) were originally one. Some moved to Puna and took the name Kumākaha.] |
| 360 | E nihi ka helena i ka uka o Puna; mai pūlale i ka ʻike a ka maka. | Go quietly in the upland of Puna; do not let anything you see excite you. |
| | [Watch your step and don’t let the things you see lead you into trouble. There is an abundance of flowers and berries in the uplands of Puna and it is thought that picking any on the trip up to the volcano will result in being caught in heavy rains; the picking is left until the return trip. Also said to loved ones to imply, “Go carefully and be mindful.”] |
| 397 | Haʻalele i Puna nā hoaloha ʻē. | Left in Puna are the friends. |
| | [Said of one who has deserted his friends. Originally said of Hiʻiaka when she left Puna.] |
| 444 | Hamohamo i ke kualā o Puna. | Pats the dorsal fin of Puna. |
| | [Said of one who is verbally ambitious but does nothing to attain his goal, or of one who is full of flattery and false promises.] |
| 838 | He nani wale nō o Puna mai ʻō a ʻō. | There is only beauty from one end of Puna to the other. |
| | [There is nothing to complain about. Refers to Puna, Kauaʻi.] |
| 994 | Hilinaʻi Puna, kālele iā Kaʻū. | Puna leans and reclines on Kaʻū. |
| | [Said of one who leans or depends on another. The ancestors of these two districts were originally of one extended family. The time came when those of each district decided to have a name of their own, without breaking the link entirely. Those in Kaʻū referred to themselves as the Mākaha and those in Puna as the Kumākaha. These names are mentioned in the chants of the chiefs of Kaʻū.] |
| 995 | Hilinaʻi Puna kālele ia Kaʻū, hilinaʻi Kaʻū kālele ia Puna. | Puna trusts and leans on Kaʻū, Kaʻū trusts and leans on Puna. |
| | [The people of Puna and Kaʻū are related.] |
| 1061 | Hoʻohewahewa ke aloha, aia i Puna i Nānāwale. | Love failed to recognize him, for it is gone to Puna, to Nānāwale. |
| | [Said when an acquaintance or friend merely looks at another and offers no greeting. A play on nānā-wale (merely look).] |
| 1458 | Ka makani hali ʻala o Puna. | The fragrance-bearing wind of Puna. |
| | [Puna, Hawaiʻi, was famed for the fragrance of maile, lehua, and hala. It was said that when the wind blew from the land, fishermen at sea could smell the fragrance of these leaves and flowers.] |
| 1587 | Ka ua moaniani lehua o Puna. | The rain that brings the fragrance of the lehua of Puna. |
| | [Puna is known as the land of fragrance.] |
| 1640 | Ka wahine ʻai lāʻau o Puna. | The tree-eating woman of Puna. |
| | [Pele.] |
| 1950 | Lauahi Pele i kai o Puna, one ʻā kai o Malama. | Pele spreads her fire down in Puna and leaves cinder down in Malama. |
| | [There are two places in Puna called Malama, one inland and one on the shore where black sand (one ʻā) is found.] |
| 2006 | Lilo i Puna i ke au a ka hewahewa, hoʻi mai ua piha ka hale i ke akua. | Gone to Puna on a vagrant current and returning, fnds the house full of imps. |
| | [From a chant by Hiʻiaka when she faced the lizard god Panaʻewa and his forest full of imps in a battle. It was later used to refer to one who goes on his way and comes home to find things not to his liking.] |
| 2019 | Lohiʻau Puna i ke akua wahine. | Puna is retarded by the goddess. |
| | [Refers to Pele, ruler of volcanoes. The lava flows she pours into the district retard the work and progress of the people.] |
| 2036 | Maʻemaʻe Puna i ka hala me ka lehua. | Lovely is Puna with the hala and lehua. |
| | [Refers to Puna, Hawaiʻi.] |
| 2100 | Makaʻu ka hana hewa i ka uka o Puna. | Wrongdoing is feared in the upland of Puna. |
| | [Wrongdoing in the upland of Puna brings the wrath of Pele.] |
| 2278 | Nani Puna pō i ke ʻala. | Beautiful Puna, heavy with fragrance. |
| | [Praise for Puna, Hawaiʻi, where the breath of maile, lehua, and hala blossoms are ever present.] |
| 2316 | Niniu Puna, pō i ke ʻala. | Puna is dizzy with fragrance. |
| | [Puna is a land heavily scented with the blossoms of hala and lehua.] |
| 2619 | Pau Puna ua koʻele ka papa. | Puna is ravaged; the foundation crackles. |
| | [Said of anything that is entirely consumed. From a chant by Lohiʻau when Pele sent her sisters to overwhelm him with lava.] |
| 2665 | Pōʻele ka ʻāina o Puna. | The land of Puna is blackened [by lava flows]. |
| 2744 | Puna, ʻāina ʻawa lau o ka manu. | Puna, land of the leafed ʻawa planted by the birds. |
| 2745 | Puna, kai nehe i ka ulu hala. | Puna, where the sea murmurs to the hala grove. |
| 2747 | Puna, mai ʻOkiʻokiaho a Mawae. | Puna, from ʻOkiʻokiaho to Mawae. |
| | [The extent of Puna is from ʻOkiʻokiaho on the Kaʻū side to Mawae on the Hilo side.] |
| 2748 | Puna maka kōkala. | Puna of the eyelashes that curve upward like the thorns of the pandanus leaves. |
| | [The placenta of a newborn was buried under a pandanus tree so the childʻs eyelashes would grow long like the pandanus thorns.] |
| 2749 | Puna paia ʻala i ka hala. | Puna, with walls fragrant with pandanus blossoms. |
| | [Puna, Hawaiʻi, is a place of hala and lehua forests. In olden days the people would stick the bracts of hala into the thatching of their houses to bring some of the fragrance indoors.] |
| 2934 | Weliweli Puna i ke akua wahine. | Puna dreads the goddess. |
| | [Puna dreads Pele. Said of any dreaded person.] |