Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 1 1883.djvu/185

Rh 12. Agg nûn âî gharbâran hî ban baithî.

She came for fire and became mistress of the house, i. e., Jack in office: being conceited about nothing.

13. Parâî chhâh uppur muchchân manâuniân.

Shaving your moustache for another man's butter-milk, i. e., every man's geese are swans. It is folly to trust in another man's goods. Muhammadans (and copying them the ignorant Hindus also) shave the moustache to avoid the hair going into the mouth when eating and drinking, as if it does it is supposed to send them to hell.

14. Khâli gharâ chalkdâ bharyâ nahîn dalkdâ.

The empty pot rattles, the full one is silent, i. e., still waters run deep, or the empty kettle sings, not the full one. Old Sanskrit proverb.

15. Ankhân te anhâ te nâun Nainsukh.

Blind of the eyes and called a Seer, i. e., lucus a non lucendo. Calling white black.

16. Nawîn juânî liddu de phakke.

The youth eats a mouthful of horsedung, i. e., anything for show. The pride of a fool. The story goes that a young Jatt, in showing off how much food he could throw (after the manner of Jatts) into his mouth at once, picked up some horsedung and threw it in.

17. Nâun najânân terâ: tûn hoiâ jatherâ merâ?

I don't know your name: are you an ancestor? i. e., you are making yourself very much at home. Said of a stranger who makes himself at home readily. The jatherâ is a deceased ancestor who is worshipped and to whom offerings of food must be made.

18. ''Dâkhe hath na upre: thû! kaurî!''

What the hand can't reach are sour grapes, i. e., sour grapes! The Panjabi adage has originated from the same tale as the English one.

19. Hath pur thukk te mâun âkhe "merâ putt rupâe hî parkhdâ hai."

Spittle in his hand and his mother says he is examining his money i. e., putting off the evil day : pacifying the creditor. The tricks of the bankrupt.

20. Tinn pâu khichrî te chubâre rasoî.

A pound and a half of rice and a dinner on the housetop, i. e., inviting guests to a Barmecide feast: dining with Duke Humfrey: making a vain show.