Page:Tamil proverbs.pdf/233

 
 * கழுதையைக் கட்டி ஓமம் வளர்த்தது போல.
 * Like tying an ass and feeding a sacrificial fire.
 * This proverb relates to the following story. A certain Maharàja had a barber who had evinced great skill in shaving hie royal master when he was asleep. To reward him the King resolved to elevate him in the social scale. The brahmans were called and ordered to make a brahman of the barber. They set to work, kindled a sacred fire and the barber was led round it, whilst the priests uttered the required incantations for accomplishing their purpose.
 * The prime minister being of a somewhat facetious temperament determined to metamorphose an ass. As the proverb intimates he kindled a fire and led the animal round it. When the King saw him thus engaged he asked him what he was doing. The prime minister replied by stating that if the brahmans could make a brahman of a barber he thought an ass might be made into a horse, and he was therefore engaged in the ceremony.

 
 * கழுதைக்கு உபதேசம் காதிலே சொன்னாலும் அபயக் குரல் அன்றி அங்கு ஒன்றும் இல்லை.
 * Though religious instruction be whispered in the ears of an ass nothing will come of it but the accustomed braying.

 
 * கழுதைக்கு வாழ்க்கைப்பட்டு உதைக்கு அஞ்சலாமா?
 * Having married an ass, do you fear his kicking?

 
 * கழுதை மேல் ஏறி என்ன, இறங்கி என்ன?
 * What matters it whether you mount an ass, or alight from one?

 
 * }கழுதைமேல் ஏறியும் பெருமை இல்லை, இறங்கியும் சிறுமை இல்லை.
 * Though you may ride on an ass, you gain no honour, nor are you disgraced by dismounting.

 
 * கழுதை உழுது வண்ணான் குடி ஆனானா?
 * Did the washerman become a farmer by ploughing with an ass?

 
 * கழுதை உழுது குறவன் குடி ஆனானா?
 * Has the forester become a farmer by ploughing with an ass?

 