|
> Like Beachedarsai's food, only a little but it does not disappear. Beachedarsai and a friend, one day, went to heaven. On arrival they were very hungry, so they visited one of the gods who provided food for them. The "food" was one tiny piece of taro and a bit of fish. Beachedarsai thought to himself that this would hardly suffice, but he picked up the taro and ate it. As he did so another piece appeared on the plate. He ate the piece of fish and another piece of fish appeared. His friend also ate and on his plate as well a new piece of taro or fish appeared as each was consumed. When they were satisfied, there remained on their plates a piece of taro and fish. The idiom is applied to any small blessing, such as a small but steady income, or Western meals that, in contrast with the Palauan tray full of food, are served in small portions, and so on. |
|
> He's like the chambered nautilus whose shell is very fragile. When provoked, he gets easily irritated or angered. The Palauan believes that the chambered nautilus lives in the sea at great depth and, at the slightest touch against a rock, its shell is broken and it drifts to the surface where it dies. The saying may be applied to a poor sport, one who angers easily or who reacts badly when the victim of a prank. |
|
> Like the breadfruit of Kayangel, just one rotten piece will spoil the whole bunch. One bad person can ruin the reputation of a whole group. It is said of the Chebiei variety of breadfruit found at Kayangel atoll that one rotten one will spoil others packaged with it. Similar to "One bad apple spoiled the bushel." |
|
> You're just like a lobster (flambuoyant in color but prone to hide under rocks. You dress up fancy but never go anywhere. Applicable to a person who prides himself on great wealth but does not put it to work; or to one who dresses to the hilt, then stays home. It may once have been applied to villages that were well armed, but peaceful. |
|
> To accompany and send back. Used of the people of Ngaraard district, especially Ngebuked villagers, as a reference to cowardice. When the clubhostess system (mongol) was practiced, in which a group of women from one village would be "abducted" (with the consent of village leaders) to serve as hostesses in the men's club of another village, it was customary for the women of Koror to be taken to a men's club in Ngebuked. This involved four trips by the men of Ngebuked past the hostile villages of Aimeliik: (i) to go to Koror to "abduct" the girls at a pre-designated place; (2) to bring the girls "secretly" back to Ngebuked; (3) to take the girls back to Koror for the payment (money payments to the girls' village chief, to the club to which the girls belong, and to the fathers of the more active girls); (4) the final trip home by the men. In each instance, the canoes of Ngebuked would be joined, by prearrangement, by canoes and warriors from Ngeremlengui as an escort past Aimeliik. |
|