154 MALAY PROVERBS, 



The best of friends fall out sometimes. 



150. Getik-kan puru dibibir. 



" To be impatient with a sore on one's lip." 



To hate one's own child because it is deformed or ugly. 



151. Gemiut-gemiut bagei kambing ber-ulat. 

 " As thick as maggots in a (dead) goat." 



A simile to express the number and movement of a crowd 

 of persons e. g. an assemblage of persons in a Malay house, 



Gemiut is not be to be fonnd in the dictionaries, but I 

 believe it to signify the creeping motion of worms, etc. 



152. Gay a sahja rasania Wallah. 



"A project only ; the result God knoweth." 



" L' homme propose mais Dieu dispose." 



" Man proposes, God disposes " is one of the proverbs men- 

 tioned by Archbishop Trench ( Proverbs and their lessons, 

 p. 63 ) as probably common to every nation in Europe. It 

 has probably found its way into Malay through the Aiabs. 

 Wallah means literally "By God" though I have translated 

 it as if Wallalm alam had been written. 



153. Gelagah borah rambutan jantan. 

 Orang berbunga dia berbunga. 

 Orang berbuah dia tidak. 



"Like a barren tree; others flower, be too puts forth 

 flowers ; others bear fruit, he does not." 



Said of a pretentious or ostentatious person, who wishes 

 to imitate every one who has or does anything that he 

 admires. He takes in hand many projects but none of them 

 reach completion. I have been unable to identify the plant 

 here called " gelagah borah." In Favre's dictionary gelegah 

 is explained to mean "a kind of reed (saccharum sponianeum) ." 



154. Gajah lain de beli kwasa tidak terbeli. 



" He could buy the elephant, but not the goad." 



A taunt directed against a person who does not take any 

 trouble about minor details when the main thing is secured, 

 e. g. who, having a large house, neglects to provide a carpet 

 or lamp. 



