44 MALAY PROVERBS. 



dang budi hadapatan, which is is quite unfcranslateable with 

 out a long paraphrase. " Know all about your man before 

 you face him " (for you won't find out his real motives at 

 the interview,) is what is intended to be expressed. Suspi- 

 cion and distrust are inbred in Malays and with only too' 

 good reason ; plausibility and hypocrisy come in, therefore, 

 for some stinging comparisons (Nos, 76, and 188,) and it 

 is amusing to find an injunction to beware even of friendly 

 offers conveyed in the phrase Menulong kerbau ditangkap 

 harimau (No. 187). "Such assistance as the buffalo gets 

 when he is rescued from the tiger." 



Ingratitude must be common, or we should not find a cy- 

 nical warning not to help those in distress. To do so and to 

 meet with the customary return is "to help a dog out of a 

 hedge," (Melepaskan anjing tersapit, No. 172) see also No. 251. 

 Among a Mohamedan people we might expect to find that 

 proverbs on the subject of women are governed by theories 

 common to the whole Mohamedan world. This however is not 

 the case. Malay women are not concealed from public view, 

 and enjoy more freedom than falls to the lot of women in most 

 Mohamedan countries. Polyga my is a foreign institution 

 which has never taken root kindly in Malay soil, and though 

 it is lawful for a man to have a plurality of wives, only a small 

 minority avail themselves of the privilege. It is uncommon to 

 find a Malay husband who can induce his wives if he has more 

 than one, to live under one roof. To do so is, according to a 

 common expression, like " keeping two tigers in one cage," 

 (Harimau dua sa'kanda?ig.) Contemporary wives must be pro- 

 vided with separate establishments, they generally hate each 

 other and sometimes come to blows if theymeet. The first wife 

 looks upon her successor as an unwarrantable intruder who 

 has stolen away her husband's affections and ruined the 

 peace of her home. So well is this feeling known, that it is 

 common for the relations of a girl who is asked in marriage 

 by a man already provided with a wife, to insist that the first 

 wife shall be divorced before the new match is agreed to. 

 Hence the common saying — 



Sayangkan Jcain buangkan baju, 



Sayang/ian lain buangkan aku. 



" If you love your sarong drop your jacket, 



If you love the other cast me aside." (No. 103). 



