50 MALAY PROVERBS. 



" were to pour upon it a thousand pots of milk, yet it will never 

 ''bear sweet fruit." * 



The Malays say (see No. 7 ante, Vol. 1 p. 89) "Though 

 "you plant the pria on a bed of sago and manure it with honey 

 "and water it with treacle and train it over sugar-canes, when 

 "it is cooked it will still be bitter." 



A similar proverb in Hindustani is Nim na mitha no seek gar 

 ghi se, "The nim tree will not become sweet though watered 

 with syrup and clarified butter." 



One more instance of a Hindustani proverb exactly repro- 

 duced in Malay will be sufficient ; Jiini chadar utna pail 

 pkailana, "Stretch your legs according to the length of your 

 blanket'*' corresponds very nearly with the Malay, Brapn 

 panjang lanjur bagitulah sMimitt i. e. " Suit your blanket 

 to the length of your legs." Both are equivalent to the 

 English proverb " Cut your coat according to your cloth." 

 But it must not be thought from these specimens that 

 the Malays are indebted to other nations for many of their 

 proverbs. The contrary in fact is the case; originality of 

 thought, no less than happiness of expression, usually charac- 

 terises them. 



No excuse is needed, I trust, for my having endeavoured at 

 such considerable length to familiarise English students 

 with the peculiar turns of Malay thought. The collection 

 now printed may be very materially added to by a reference 

 to Klinkert's work and to Favre's dictionary. The specimens 

 there given have not yet been published in English, and a 

 translation of them has not come within the scope of the 

 present paper. Should, however, the subject be found in- 

 teresting by those in the Straits Settlements who aim at a 

 thorough intimacy with the Malay language, there is little 

 doubt that the Dutch and French collections will find a 

 translator at some later date. 



As an encouragement to those who may feel disposed to 

 supplement existing collections let me quote a passage from 

 a writer already cited who has devoted a paper to "these ne- 

 glected fragments of wisdom which exist among all nations: — 



"The interest we may derive from the study of proverbs is 

 * Recollections of Ceylon— Selkirk, 148. 



