Few are the friends that aid at planting, but when the crops are
gathered they come in shoals.
An old broken canoe may be mended, but youth and beauty cannot
be restored:—
A fat man has been fattened by food, not by active thought; you
will find him full, but not wise.
Women and war are the two dangers of men.
A woman probably hears the foe sing as they sacrifice to their
gods the bodies of her slaughtered relatives (i. e. it is of
little use to have a daughter, she will perhaps raise up heirs
for your foes).
Women and land are the causes which destroy men.
The Moa-bird (Dinornis gigantea) trampled down the Rata tree
(Metrosidero Robusta) when it was young; how then can you
expect it to grow straight now? (i. e. it is difficult to
overcome early influences.)
It is from food that a man's blood is made, and it is land which
grows his food and sustains him. (Never part with your own land,
and do not yield a fertile district.)
Persist in all as resolutely as you persist in eating.
Be firm as the surf-beaten rock in the ocean!