TAMIL PROVERBS.
157
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- எல்லாரும் பாக்கு இவன் ஒரு தோப்பு.
- All other men are areca-nuts, but this man is a grove of areca-trees.
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- எல்லாரும் தடுக்கின்கீழ் நுழைந்தால் அவன் கோலத்தின்கீழ் நுழைவான்.
- If all can hide themselves under a small mat, he can conceal himself under the ornamental drawing on the floor.
- The கோலம் here mentioned is a floor ornament very commonly formed at the entrance of a native house: the form is circular, These ornaments are renewed every morning. They contain various devices. In some a temple car as delineated, in others trees, birds, flowers. They are generally striking because the combinations indicate considerable skill. It may be that they are connected with the prevalent ideas regarding the evil eye.
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- எல்லாத் தாட்டோட்டும் குல்லாவுக்குள்ளே இருக்கிறது.
- All the skill in steering centres in the out-rigger.
- Out-rigger boats or canoes are common on the south western coast of Ceylon. They are very swift and most safe. In 1848 when at Colombo duty called me daily to a large ship at the time out in the offing anchored in seven fathoms of water. On the occasion under notice I went on board in an ordinary Cingalese out-rigger canoe. In the evening after having completed the berths, for my two daughters who were going home for education, I betook myself to the boat, and soon after we got clear of the ship the boat was struck in the stern, filled, and went down. When I emerged from the waves I found myself near one of the two brackets of the out-rigger. The canoe was submerged but could not sink lower than the ends of the brackets tied to her side. The out-rigger at the other end of the brackets was floating on the surface of the sea, the canoe being suspended by it like a pair of scales from a beam. Aided by one of those brackets, which I pressed to my bosom, and a Chubb's Palanquin box, I gained the rocks soon after sunset and escaped to land.
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- எல்லா ஓட்டும் குல்லாவிலே.
- All our progress depends on the outrigger.
