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> You think only of Present, not of Future. Chelechang (Present) and Chrechar (Future) were brothers. Present was the favorite of his mother. These are the words of Future reprimanding his mother. The idiom is used of those who inadequately plan for the future. |
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> It's like the foam of the sea, which forms unexpectedly and then disappears. It's a matter that comes up for lengthy discussions and then is dropped without resolution or effect. Some things, like sea foam, drift on without settlement. Endless discussion without reaching agreement. |
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> If it is my lunch it can be divided, if it is yours then it cannot Two men habitually trapped fish in the same region of the lagoon. One would occasionally ask the other to join him at lunch, the other would always refuse. One day the man who refused arrived with no lunch. When the usual invitation was extended the man refused, saying that, anyway, he had no lunch. The invitation was insistently pressed until the reluctant one gave in. As they split the taro between them the one who shared made the above statement. The idiom is a mild rebuke of a retentive person |
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> Like the honey bee, celebrating without first boiling down the coconut syrup. Once coconut syrup, dripping from the cut flower stem, is collected it is thickened
by boiling. The honeybee, however, collects his nectar, puts it in the hive without boiling
it, then proceeds to fly around noisily as though celebrating the completed task.
Hence, to talk or boast loudly about successes and accomplishments when one has none;
to make plans but never carry them out; to celebrate without cause. |
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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. |
