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MALAY PROVERBS
Because the water is still you must not think there is no crocodile there.
Better die with a good repute than live with a bad one.
Back turned, language changed.
and self-respecting. Their own code of man-
Good manners are neither sold nor bought.
The kite sings duets with the fowl, to pounce on it and eat it at last.
The fuller the ear of rice the more it leans; the emptier it is, the straighter it stands.
Where there is no kite the grasshopper says, "I am the Kite!"
If you slap the water in a tub, it will splash in your face.
The perfume of flowers is far off, the odor of dung is near.
If some dogs bark, can they make the mountains fall down?
If one makes friends with scoundrels, he has to be a scoundrel too.
If the root is dead, it is best to pull it up.
If you love the rice, pull up the weeds.
The elephants fight, and the musk-deer between them gets killed.
When the bait is gone you catch no fish.
If one crosses a river he may be swallowed by a crocodile, but he ought not to let the little fishes bite him.
The ass would like to be a horse.
The crab orders its children to walk straight.
He who is ashamed to ask, goes astray.
Good bargain on the lips, dear on the balance.
The deer forgets the snare but the snare does not forget the deer.
A sea turtle lays eggs by the hundred and no one knows anything about it; a hen lays one egg and the noise goes all over town.
To go on a horse and come back on a cow.
It is best to prepare the ointment before you fall.
He can see a louse in China, but he could not see an elephant at the end of his nose.
If you dispute with the wells, you end by dying of thirst.
***
Broadly speaking, all the brown races which inhabit the portion of Asia south of Siam and Indo-China, and the islands from the Philippines to Java, and from Sumatra to Timor belong to the Malayan family.
As a race they are exceedingly courteous and self-respecting. Their own code of manners is minute and strict and they observe its provisions faithfully.
The Malays are indolent, pleasure-loving, improvident, fond of bright clothing, of comfort, of ease, and they dislike toil exceedingly.
In a famous duel fought between Alexander Shott and John S. Knott, Knott was shot and Shott was not. This seemed to show that it was better to be Shott than Knott.
A commonplace critic has something to say upon every occasion; and he always tells you either what is not true, or what you knew before, or what is not worth knowing.
WHERE DO WE LIVE?
A New York sportsman was once chatting with an old woman who lived alone on a little backwoods farm in Maine.
"Where do you live?" asked the old lady.
"In New York City."
"How far might that be?" she queried.
"Oh, about five hundred miles."
"For the land's sake!" said she, "I don't see how you can bear to live so far off."
How often do we stand in the old woman's position, when considering the views of others?
TOMORROW IS NOT JUST AS GOOD
Tomorrow! Tomorrow?
'Tis a period nowhere to be found
In all the hoary registers of time,
Unless perchance in the fool's calendar.
Wisdom disclaims the word,
Nor holds society with those who own it.
Tomorrow, didst thou say? Tomorrow?
'Tis a sharper, who stakes his penury
Against thy plenty; takes thy ready cash,
And pays thee naught but wishes, hopes and promises,
The currency of idiots.
