Author: Comerd » Fri May 04, 2007 12:22 pm
K4L_2007 wrote:Comerd wrote:Some kurdish proverbs that I am fond of:
Listen a hundred times; ponder a thousand times; speak once.
Kind words will unlock an iron door.
Do not throw the arrow which will return against you.
When a cat wants to eat her kittens, she says they look like mice.
Of evil grain no good seed can come.
It looks nice
If you can, can you please translate the metaphors of it?
I want to understand it a little more to see what it means.
Naturally, I can't say exactly what is meant by these proverbs but I can write how I interpret them which is why I like them.
Listen a hundred times; ponder a thousand times; speak once.
This can be interpreted in many different ways but I understand it as it saying that one should listen and learn, think about it and when you are done you say what your conclusions are.
Kind words will unlock an iron door.
I like this one a lot as it says that kindness can help you a lot in life, which in the proverb are "iron doors".
Do not throw the arrow which will return against you.
Do not do something that will affect you later. (Negatively of course because there is nothing good about being hit by an arrow
)
Example: Do not lie because sooner or later it will cause problems for you.
When a cat wants to eat her kittens, she says they look like mice.
Cats eating their own kittens is pretty rare (I think) so this means that even though the cats wants to eat her kittens, she "tells" herself that they are mice. This is kind of psychological. Example: I tell my sister to throw the garbage bag. I say that because I am too lazy to throw it myself, BUT I tell myself that I am telling her so she "learns to do it by herself". So I hide my own intentions with a better one so I don't feel as bad about myself for being lazy.
Of evil grain no good seed can come.
If something is evil, nothing good can come out of it. "Grain" and "seed" are symbolical in this proverb.
I also found a new one. It's an Arab proverb.
An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.