Post No. 13,764
Date uploaded in London – 9 October 2024
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Japanese Proverbs and Chinese Stories (Post No.13,764)
Southeast Asian countries and Far Eastern countries share the same proverbs with slight changes.
He hangs up a cow’s head and sells horse meat is known to many in those countries
Chinse and Koreans are eating dog’s meat. As of today, Koreans eat ten lakhs dogs every year. Chinese eat anything that moves including scorpions, lizards and snakes.
So they change the proverb as He hangs up a sheep’s head and sells dog meat.
In Japanese it is
Gyuuto wo kakete ba niku wo ru meaning to hang up a cow’s head and sell horse meat
The story behind this proverb comes from China :
Duke Jinggong of Qi ordered the woman in his court to wear men’s clothes. This was then imitated in the state, although he prohibited it. Yan Yin, his prime minister tod him, You encourage women to war men’s clothes at the court but prohibit other women doing the same. This is just like hanging up an ox head as a sign and actually selling horse meat. The warning was accepted, and the unwanted practice stopped. Later hanging up a sheep’s head and selling dog meat became an idiom.
Nowadays the insurance companies and travel agents do the same. They get all the money for a number of years from the customers and when one claims money they show the small print matter and say they can’t provide the money
When I was a school boy in Madurai, Tamil Nadu we used to see similar cheating advertisements in the Tamil restaurants. The board said GHEE is not used to make the food stuff in this hotel, is not will be in smallest letters
Tamil Proverbs on Cheating and Double Standards
ஊருக்குத்தாண்டி உபதேசம் உனக்கல்ல .
1314. உருத்திராக்ஷப் பூனை உபதேசம் பண்ணினதுபோல.
As a beaded cat gave divine instruction.
1206. உடும்புக்கு இரண்டு நாக்கு உண்டு, மனிதனுக்கு இரண்டு நாக்கு உண்டா ?
The guana has a double tongue, has man the same?
3896.தூவி நாக்கு இடரும்
A double tongue will slip.
மாமியார் உடைத்தால் மண்கலம் மருமகள் உடைத்தால் பொன்கலம்
****
Dogs transported for Chinese Dog Meat Festival
Story of Separated Wife
It is no use of crying over spilt milk
Or spilt water cannot be gathered
In Japanese they say,
Fukusui bon ni kaerazu meaning spilt water does not return to tray.
In tamil they say broken glass or broken pot cannot be fixed
5026. பொன்னின் குடம் உடைந்தால் பொன் ஆகும் என்ன ஆகும் மண்ணின் குடம் உடைந்தாக்கால் ?
Though broken to pieces a golden pot will still be gold, of what use is an earthen pot when broken?
5224. மாமி ஒட்டினாலும் பானை ஒட்டாது.
Though a mother-in-law may be reconciled, the broken pieces of any earthen pot cannot be reunited.
The story for this proverb is as follows,
Lord Jiang was left by his wife due to his poverty. Later he was appointed Prime Minister by king Wenwang of Zhou dynasty and then she wanted to reunite with him. Jiang spilt a basin full of water on the ground and asked his wife to recover it. Of course she failed and then he said, As you left me it is impossible for us to make it up. It is like spilt water that cannot be recovered.
The Japanese proverb is used in the cases of divorces. In Japan persons separated rarely come together again.
–subham—
Tags- Tamil, Japanese proverbs, Chinese stories, spilt milk, cow’s head, horse meat, sheep’s head, dogs meat.
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