146 MALAY PROVERBS. 



114. Seperti ay am kuivis pagi makan pagi kuwis petang 

 makan petang. 



Like a lien, what it scratches up in the morning it eats 

 in the morning, and what it scratches np in the evening it 

 eats in the evening. 



A Malay peasant will use this phrase in speaking of his own 

 means of livelihood, if he wants to explain that he makes 

 just enough by his daily labour to support himself from day 

 to day. 



" To live from hand to mouth." 



115. Pagar makan padi, telunjuk merusuh maia. 



The fence eats the corn, the forefinger pierces the eye. 



Kdinkert's version gives "menyuchuk" instead of merusuk 

 but this latter word is in use in Perak and seems to mean 

 the same as sigi, (to poke with the finger,) and to be less 

 strong than merunjang which means " to thrust upwards," 

 as with a spear. 



The saying is sometimes quoted in a rhythmical form, 



Tahar minyak sapi 

 Di buboh dibawah geta 

 Pagar makan padi 

 Telunjuk merusuk mata. 

 A measure of ghi put underneath the sleeping platform ; 

 the fence devours the rice ; the finger thrusts at the eye. 



The meaning is, to suffer injury at the hands of a person 

 from whom piotection was naturally to be expected. If the 

 measure of ghi disappears, the owner of the house must 

 blame the members of his own family, whose conduct in 

 taking it is as unnatural as that of the hedge in the proverb, 

 which eats up what it was put to protect, or of a man's finger, 

 which injures instead of guarding his eye. Fayre quotes 

 Hang Tuall as the work from which he took tin's proverb. 



116. Pelabor Itabis .Palembang ta'alali. 



The supplies were exhausted but Palembang did not fall. 



This refers to an ancient siege of the town of Palembang 

 in Sumatra by the Dutch. According to Malay tradition 



