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> Like the terriid, in the taro garden but hungry The terriid, a bird, is often seen in the taro garden but, unlike the purple swamp hen which eats taro corms, the terriid seems to eat nothing. The idiom may apply to anyone who works hard without recognition, or to a man frequently in the company of women but with no success as a lover. |
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> Like the mud fish of the Bngei lagoon, drawn to the passing wind The reef fish mud seldom leaves a given rock or cleft in the reef, but according to this saying the mud of Bngei lagoon, near Airai, may be attracted away from their locus by the dust raised by a passing school of fish. The latter portion of this proverb is difficult to translate. The word melecheb may be applied to a person drawn forward by a current of water. Rrengor refers to a movement of air caused by one body passing another. The idiom is applied to a changeable person, a faddist, or a joiner |
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> Like the man of Ngerechemai, who lost his turtle and lost his canoe. Relates to a fisherman who jumped from his canoe to catch a turtle only to find that his canoe had drifted beyond recovery. Applies to any situation where a person fails at a task, or, aptly, to a situation where a man, through his own foolishness, loses both his wife and his mistress. |
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> He's like the chambered nautilus whose shell is very fragile. When provoked, he gets easily irritated or angered. The Palauan believes that the chambered nautilus lives in the sea at great depth and, at the slightest touch against a rock, its shell is broken and it drifts to the surface where it dies. The saying may be applied to a poor sport, one who angers easily or who reacts badly when the victim of a prank. |
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> Like lightning, a big, unnecessary noise. Lightning rarely strikes in such a way as to cause serious damage in Palau. May be applied to any unnecessary fuss or oratory at a meeting. |
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