Page:Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (IA journalofstrait121878roya).pdf/136

 : 45. Ta' ampang peluru di lalang.

A bullet is not stopped by the lalang grass. The weak can oppose but the feeblest barriers to the attacks of the powerful.


 * 46. Tiada ter-kajang batu di pulau.

"The rocks on an island are not to be covered over with kajang awnings." There must be a limit to benevolence; one man cannot feed a province. Kajang, a kind of mat or screen made of palm-leaves sewn together, often used as an awning or tarpaulin.


 * 47. Ta'kan srêk luka makan ditajak, esok ka bindang juga kita.

A cut with a tajak is not so serious but that we are able to go to the fields again next day. The tajak is an instrument with which the first process in padi cultivation, namely clearing the ground of the long grass and reeds which have grown up since the last crop was taken off, is performed. It consists of a heavy iron blade attached, at right angles nearly, to a wooden handle. Weight is necessary, as the grass is thick and strong and its roots are under water. A certain amount of dexterity is required, or the operator may cut his own feet. The proverb, which is common among Malay peasants in Perak, means something of this kind: "What is the use of being sulky because our Chief or Punghulu has punished or injured us? We have to till his fields for him all the same whether we like it or not."


 * Ter-klêbat-klêbat seperti lintah lapar.

"Waving about like a hungry lecch." A simile applied to Malay damsels who shew a want of maidenly propriety.


 * 48. Tamua hilang malu halôba dapat kabinasa-an.

"Covetousness begets loss of shame, avarice results in destruction."

Favre, quoting Hikayat Abdullah gives laba, not halôba, as the Malay word for covetousness, (Dict. vol. 2. p. 537.) I give the word as I have been accustomed to hear it pronounced, after having consulted several Malays of education.

Another Malay word, signifying "miserly, avaricious" is chikel. I have not found this in any dictionary, though Favre (quoting Klinkert) gives kikel.


 * 49. Tiada butih telinga, tandok di pélas-kan.

"As he can't twist the ear he pulls at the horn." "By hook or by crook."