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> You're like a floating log without a resting place. You have no fixed abode. |
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> 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. |
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> Like the Bilimbi tree which, if not shaken, will not bear fruit. Applied to a person who does not fulfill their obligations without constant prodding or nagging. |
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> Title pride. A title (dui, also "coconut leaf," which is sometimes used as the receptacle for a title pending the selection of a successor) is to be worn in humility, but a person who has just received a new title may sometimes be oppressively haughty or prideful. |
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> Our nose is close (to the mouth), but cannot be licked. i.e. we shouldn't be too sure of, or overconfident in, ourselves. The nose is very close to the mouth, but, no matter how reassuringly available, it cannot be licked by the tongue. The idiom cautions those who are careless with their possessions to be less assured about wealth. |
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