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> You're a flying kite, but i hold the guide string. No matter how much you play around, you always come back to me. |
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> Like receiving in Airai. According to this saying, the people of Airai (central Palau) are likely to ask for those things they have in abundance. A wealthy man asking for financial help; a person asking for a cigarette when he has a pack in his pocket. |
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> Like the mud fish of the Bngei lagoon, drawn to the passing wind The reef fish mud seldom leaves a given rock or cleft in the reef, but according to this saying the mud of Bngei lagoon, near Airai, may be attracted away from their locus by the dust raised by a passing school of fish. The latter portion of this proverb is difficult to translate. The word melecheb may be applied to a person drawn forward by a current of water. Rrengor refers to a movement of air caused by one body passing another. The idiom is applied to a changeable person, a faddist, or a joiner |
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> Like the running elder. Elders do not run fast, but they can run for great distances. Young men can sprint, but have little endurance. Hence, a person with enduring persistence. |
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> Like an old woman who is cautious about coughing and breaking wind. Among elderly women, it seems, coughing sometimes produces the unwanted effect of breaking wind. The idiom may be applied to any action that might produce an undesirable side effect, such as a hasty decision at a political meeting. As a caution, it suggests the need for leaders to consider all the consequences. |
