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> Like the man who made coconut syrup in Ngesebei, dipping from half-filled containers to keep one overflowing. Pertains to a situation which may have occurred in Ngesebei, a small hamlet in Ngardmau (northern Palau): a coconutsyrup specialist always kept one coconutshell container full and in sight of guests, who, thus, would think that all of his containers were full. The idiom applies to any pointed display of opulence. It's a deceptive display of wealth. |
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> Like Tangerekoi The tangerekoi is a portion of the rafters of a club or community hall that serves as a shelf (rekoi). It is also the name of a demigod ranking with several figures who are mentioned in the origin legends. The idiom refers to the multiple functions of the tangerekoi (even as rafters, or shelf), as resembling the work of a woman's world. When a person is already busy and is asked to take on another task, he may say: "Who do you think I am, Tangerekoi? |
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> My neck is sore from that affair. Looking up for a long period makes for a sore neck; hence, a person who is tired of occupying an inferior position for a long time. More widely applied: One who is facing work that is beyond his capabilities. |
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> It's like the case of Beriber and Chemaredong (who for a long time lived in adjacent caves unaware of each other's existence but who finally discovered each other and began to share their surpluces). People wasting things and not sharing or cooperating as they should. Cooperative reciprocity among equals should be patterned on that exemplified by these two men. Beriber, who harvested coconut syrup, and Chemaredong, who was an expert fish trapper, lived in two small caves near the village of Oikuul in Airai (central Palau). These caves are side by side, separated by a natural wall about one foot thick. However, for a long time the neighbors did not know that the other existed. Finally, they discovered one another, and from that time on they engaged in mutually profiitable exchange of their surpluses in fish and syrup. An elder source said that this is more than a proverb (blukul a tekoi) and referred to it as ollach idnger, the "law of neighborliness." |
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> Jelling of the fruit. Coconut syrup, collected from the stem of the cut flower, is boiled to make it thick. The weather in August is spoken of as being extra hot in order to bring fruit to its final stage of ripeness for harvest. |
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