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> Like the ilaot [coconut juice] of Ngetkib, mixing itself. Probably of folk-tale derivation, the idiom may be applied to a man who has married too close to his own clan, thus not gaining the assistance of the wife's clan in food and services, since this would amount to the clan giving to itself. Also applied to a situation where a person expects to have some service performed for him but ends up doing it himself. |
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> Like a pigeon-seeing the danger, yet it flies from cover The pigeon sits quietly concealed until some threat appears, then it flies out, revealing itself. The idiom applies to a person who unnecessarily exposes himself to danger, leaves the house in the rain, or takes a boat out in a storm. |
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> Like the uul [Cettria cantans?] with its house open, calling for rain. The uul may be heard to call out usually just before it rains; some say that it is calling for rain. This seems foolish, since the bird constructs its house with an opening at the top that will let rain in. A person who makes a decision or starts some action without adequate preparation is likened to the uul. |
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> It's like the way they eat in Ngeraus (where food is scarce): as soon as they get to like or enjoy the food, it's gone. Just as something becomes popular, it becomes unavailable. Ngerraus is a small village in Ngchesar (central Palau). The idiom suggests a person who begins to feel hungry just as the food runs out. The reference is to the meager food resources of a small village. In contemporary Palau the idiom may be applied to some popular import that soon disappears from the shelves of the stores. |
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> He's like Chelebesoi of Ngeriil, dead in a fishtrap not his own. A man named Chelebesoi (also the name of a fish) was robbing another man's fish trap when a head-hunting party came by and removed his head. He lost both his head and his reputation. The idiom may apply to one who gets hurt while trying to do someone else's job. |
