156 

 690. Can you get sound out of a broken chank ? 



2559. Will the dawn come at the blowing of the 

 chank ? 



(This refers to the blowing of chanks when the temples 

 are opened about 4 a.m.; Rostrand's Chanteclaire has the 

 same motive as this proverb.) 



3097. The mendicant blew the unused chank and 

 spoilt it. 



(A reference to the contamination wrought by the 

 contact of saliva— a wholesome Hindu rule.) 



2065. If a mendicant's son become a mendicant, he 

 will blow the chank at the proper time. 



(The influence of an hereditary calling is set forth in 

 this saw.) 



Lazarus supplies the following, but he confines 

 himself to giving the Tamil and does not supply a 

 translation into English. 



4TL6. «9"/e7;^ ^yS aihQdSTSsarQ fn fsiAfrenih Qufr^ev Quit 



This may be rendered — " If you take i,ooo chanks to 

 Bengal your venture may turn to gold or just as likely to 

 dirt." The reference to taking chanks to Bengal would 

 seem to betoken the ancient character of the traffic in 

 chank shells between the Tamil country and Bengal ; 

 it certainly implies clearly the highly speculative nature 

 of the trade ; the chanks may fetch a high price or they 

 may prove to be a drug in the market, and so cause much 

 loss to the exporter. The proverb is one used to express 

 the risk or uncertainty of whatever may be in question 

 between the speakers. 



(If you take i,ooo chanks to Kasi (Benares) yet the 

 sin remains with you.) 



