MALAY PROVERBS, 109 



Like a buffalo butting its young with the flat and not with 

 the points of the horn. 



Parents' anger to their children is always tempered with 

 love. 



71 M^~» '^ ^J^ 3j$L* 

 Seperti kli dua s'lobang. 



Like two kli fish in one hole. 



Said of people who are in one mind in all their enterprises. 

 Kli A£ — a long scaleless fish found in the padi swamps. 



In Ulu Pahang the two Chiefs who live in the far Ulu of the 

 Lipis District bear the titles of To' Kli and To' Bakar, res- 

 pectively. Neither of them has ever visited the Sultan of Pa- 

 hang, which fact caused the Sultan to declare that To' Kli 

 was too slippery to hold, and To' Bakar (Bakar ^b=to burn) 

 too hot to handle. This royal witticism is a good specimen of 

 the Malay pun. 



72 3U <^~*a ^b"^ ^^ 

 Segan ber-tanya sesat jalan. 



If you are too shy to make enquiries, you will lose your way. 



Sembleh ayam dengan pisau, sembleh orang dengan kapas. 



Cut a fowl's throat with a knife, and a man's throat with 

 cotton. 



Men are deceived by soft words. 



Susu di-dada ta'dapat di-elak-kan. 



