Tibetan Proverbs and "Good Sayings"

Tibetan Proverbs and "Good Sayings"Author(s): David MacdonaldSource: Folklore, Vol. 42, No. 1 (Mar. 31, 1931), pp. 82-85Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1256414 .

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82 Collectanea.

inclined to think that the main story had its origin in India, or even further west.

The story of the wer-tiger, in w'i-h a human being assumed the form of a tiger for purposes of evil, is well known in Upper, but not in Lower Burma. The crocodile in the story turned himself into a human being, because he wished to live as a human being. The same is true of the other crocodile, who had no grudge against human beings, but only against Ngamoyeit. I think the story has some connection with the stories of the " Naga," which form the various historical legends concerning the Kingdom of Tagaung in Upper Burma, the first Burmese Kingdom. The conception of the Naga was borrowed straight from the Jatakas, the Buddhist Birth Stories, many of which had their origins in prehistoric India. I think the general opinion is that the conception of the Naga, the Dragon-Snake, originally belonged to Southern India. As many Southern Indians settled as colonists in Lower Burma, some time after Buddha, maybe the stories of the Naga were known in Lower Burma then. However, the Upper Burmese stories concerning the Naga became current only after the re-introduction of Buddhism into Burma in the eleventh century. In fact, very probably, the Nagas of the old Tagaung Kingdom were the tribes known as the Nagas on the Naga Hills, and later scholar- historians turned the human Naga into the snake Naga. Also, there is no evidence that the Naga was ever known to Lower Burma, before it was Burmanised. Moreover, the Naga was a spirit animal, who had various supernatural powers, and he came to kings and princesses, and not to live among the common people. Perhaps these facts would be held sufficient evidence against the theory that the Crocodile tales were connected with the Naga tales.

MAUNG HTIN AUNG.

TIBETAN PROVERBS AND " GOOD SAYINGS."

THE following proverbs and sayings have been translated from the Tibetan by Mr. David Macdonald, interpreter in the Lhasa



Collectanea. 83

Mission of 1903-4, and later, for about twenty years, British Trade Agent for Tibet. He is the author of The Land of the Lama, and has spent the.,yrars from 19o6 onwards partly in Lhasa and partly in the trade marts of Gyantse and Yatung. The proverbs (Tib. ?Tamdpe, pron. Tum-pe) are in series with and supplement those collected by Col. Waddell as chapter- headings in his Lhasa and Its Mysteries (1905). The present proverbs are drawn in a few cases from oral tradition, but come mostly from popular manuscript books or pocket-books usually carried by the peasants themselves, and show the practical- minded Tibetan peasant preaching the lessons of prudence which he has gained from experience, in different phrases and. with examples drawn from very different surroundings, but in much the same way as in the folk-sayings of Western Europe. The series of " Good Sayings " (Tib. Legs-bshad) which follows the proverbs consists of short passages in current use as quotations from the classics, and show what the folk mind has chosen as useful to it for guidance in everyday life.

As Mr. Macdonald's collections are in India, while he is at present in this country, he is unable to give precise references to sources, but all the passages are familiar to him.

Proverbs.-I. If food is without goodness, it does not matter whether the meal is large or small.

2. Sugar may be sweet, but barley meal is more filling. 3. Famine has come,-there will be an extra month in the

year. 4. If a horse wants to race, there is the whole plain for him

to run on. 5. Before a horse can race, he must be taught to gallop. 6. Nothing will grow unless a seed is sown. 7. A white cloud which is thinner than a silk scarf can hold

no rain. 8. A debt will never be repaid by empty words. 9. A jack-of-all-trades is like a bird with too many feathers.

I0. A king who is about to lose his kingdom makes exceed- ingly good laws.

I I. A sleeping shepherd will often lose his flock.



84 Collectanea.

12. It is useless to lock a thief inside a house. 13. Do not recite charms to a sleeping demon. [Eng. Let

sleeping dogs lie.] 14. Slow work sometimes means good work. [Eng. Slow and

sure.] 15. No man can light a fire in the water. 16. Lightning does not require darkness to be seen. 17. It is not necessary to paint a conch-shell white. 18. Man is born but to die ; a fort is built but to be destroyed. 19. A fish should not hate his home, for, if the river dries up,

he will die. 20. Borrow a mask, and you may frighten the one who lent it. 21. When enemies rejoice, friends feel sad. " Good Sayings."-I. If you have nothing to say, do not tell

untruths. If you have nothing to offer, do not make promises. 2. A secret is no secret if two people know it. One friend

repeats it to another friend until the whole world is filled with the news.

3. A secret confided to a woman is a secret no longer. How many men have been ruined by this !

4. No person should know the secrets of a king. 5. A little flattery is pleasing. Do not slander others.

Give praise where it is merited. 6. By praising others you will receive praise. By slandering

others you will certainly receive abuse. [Eng. You scratch me, I'll scratch you.]

7. Praise in itself is good, but it is poison to the proud and foolish man. Therefore do not praise without reason, for this is only deceit and lying.

8. In the long run, untrue gossip hurts only those who in- dulge in it.

9. Charity is the greatest of all virtues. Next comes a sweet tongue. Though you have wealth and power, only sweet words will win you the world.

Io. Sweet words are like honey. Bitter words are like medicine. Sharp words are like the stab of a dagger.

II. If you know how to borrow a thing, be sure you know how to return it.



Collectanea. 85

12. Looked at from afar, trouble may seem as large as a hill. When one meets it face to face, it may only be as large as a grain of sand.

13. The beginning of a lawsuit is as big as a mountain; the length is as long as a river.

14. If by the power of knowledge a man may get to heaven, what limits can be put on his possible achievements ?

15. A wise man may gather more riches than a powerful one. 16. As the ocean can never have too much water, or a child

too many good things, so a wise man will never tire of " good sayings," nor will a holy man ever be wearied by spiritual study.

17. Where there is a bad king, a proud fool, and an evil wife, peace is to be obtained only by leaving that place.

18. If the king's throne is unsteady, then the beggar's pillow will not be comfortable.

19. He who is seen too close and heard too often, loses the respect of others. [Eng. Familiarity breeds contempt.]

20. An evil friend is like a maggot at the heart of a fruit. Unseen, he does irreparable harm.

21. A daughter-in-law in a house means trouble between brothers.

22. A person of lowly birth should never be appointed to high office, lest he vex his lowly brethren. [Eng. Don't set a beggar on horseback.]

23. If the soldiers are cowards, it does not matter how big the army or how small. [Cf. Proverb I above.]

24. Though salt brings out the savour of all food, yet the worm will not touch it.

25. When a worm burrows into iron; when hair grows on a stone; when corpses breathe; then the impossible will become possible.

26. The vulture, though he eats no curds, has a white beak; the kyung-ka bird (red-billed chough) has a red bill though he never touches blood.

27. If one carries meat in the hand, the lammergeier will come around.

DAVID MACDONALD.



Tibetan Proverbs and "Good Sayings"

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