|
> You're like a stinkbug that burns itself in the fire. i.e., you get involved in things that may hurt you. |
|
> You pluck the fruit and pick it up; what of us? Why don't you share or let us participate in your activity?/Why are you the only one to laugh at your joke? Usually one person climbs the tree or uses a long stick to knock down the fruit while an assistant shares the task and rewards by catching the falling fruit or picking it up. The saying may be applied to a person who prepares something to eat by himself, then eats it without sharing. It can apply also to a person who laughs at his own joke, leaving his audience unmoved. |
|
> It's like the way they eat in Ngeraus (where food is scarce): as soon as they get to like or enjoy the food, it's gone. Just as something becomes popular, it becomes unavailable. Ngerraus is a small village in Ngchesar (central Palau). The idiom suggests a person who begins to feel hungry just as the food runs out. The reference is to the meager food resources of a small village. In contemporary Palau the idiom may be applied to some popular import that soon disappears from the shelves of the stores. |
|
> Like the heart of the halfbeak, straight. The halfbeak, a small fish (bolobel), is regarded as one who follows his fancy or heart, doing as he pleases. The idiom is applied to persons who are easy-going, sleeping when the mood calls for it, undisturbed by the behavior or opinion of others. |
|
> Like the gods of Ngebukd, completed up above. As part of the festivities of a village feast or in celebration of some event, such as the completion of a community hall, Palauan young people produce a variety of named dances. One type of dance, called ruk, was never conducted in Ngebukd (in Ngaraard, northern Palau). It was said that the gods of the village had done their dancing in heaven before coming to earth and thus it was not necessary for the people of Ngebukd to dance. The saying pertains to a completed task, indicating to another that the work need not be repeated. |
