Article written by london swaminathan

 

Date: 28 May 2016

 

Post No. 2848

 

Time uploaded in London :– 17-37

 

(Thanks for the Pictures)

 

DON’T REBLOG IT AT LEAST FOR A WEEK!  DON’T USE THE PICTURES; THEY ARE COPYRIGHTED BY SOMEONE.

 

(for old articles go to tamilandvedas.com OR swamiindology.blogspot.com)

 

Contact ; swami_48@yahoo.com

ANIMAL PROVERBS;WHAT DO THEY TEACH US?

Proverbs are telescopic and kaleidoscopic; you can extend and expand the meaning; you can make it colourful and meaningful by interpreting them. The words are flexy and the meaning can be bent according to your needs. Our forefathers summarised their accumulated wisdom in pithy sayings. They observed nature closely and used them to teach us their discovery of truths. Here are some proverbs which use animals and birds to teach us something.

A for ant

The ant had wings to her hurt ( a warning against aspiring  to higher positions than one is equipped to cope with)

A for an ass

Better ride an ass that carries me than a horse that throws me

A for an ape

An ape is an ape, a varlet’s a varlet, though they be clad in silk or scarlet

B for bear

Call the bear ‘uncle’ till you are safe across the bridge (Turkish proverb)

B for bee

The bee sucks honey out of the bitterest flowers

C for cat

A cat in gloves catches no mice (warning against over cautiousness)

D for donkey

Send a donkey to Paris, he will return no wiser than he went.

E for elephant

An elephant is worth 1000 gold coins whether it is alive or dead (Tamil Proverb)

F for fox

A fox should not be of the jury at a goose’s trial

G for goat

The goat must browse where it is tied

H for hare

The hare always returns to her form

I for Insect

Neither the insect nor the worm dies (Tamil proverb)

J for jackdaw

Jackdaw always perches by jackdaw

K for Kingfisher

The grasshopper flies about, but the kingfisher watches him (Samoan Proverb)

L for lamb

Lamb on the shoulder, looking for it in the forest (Tamil proverb)

M for Monkey

What will happen if a drunken monkey is stung by a scorpion and possessed by a ghost? (Tamil Proverb)

N for nightingale

Everybody thinks that his own cuckoo sings better than another’s nightingale (German proverb

 

O for ox

An ox is taken by the horns and a man by his word

P for peacock

The peacock has fair feathers, but foul feet.

 

Q for quail

The parrot utters one cry and the quail another

The quail waits for the stick, the idle loiterer about a place waits for a kick from an old boot.

R for rats

Rats desert a sinking ship

S for snail

When black snails on the road you see, then on the morrow rain will be

T for tiger

If you do not enter tiger’s den, you cannot get his cubs (Chinese proverb)

U for (M)ule

He who wants a mule without fault must walk on foot

V for vulture

No matter how hungry the vulture, it will never eat grass (African Proverb)

W for wolf

A thief knows a thief as a wolf knows a wolf

X for fox

Old foxes want no tutors

Y for yak

Don’t notice the tiny flea in the other person’s hair and overlook the lumbering yak on your own nose- Tibetan Proverb

Z for zebra

When you shoot a zebra in the black stripe, white dies too (South African Proverb)

 

–Subham–