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very clever person is always humble, but it is not so with foolish people, who are very proud).^
16. Huibu dolai tonghallaga thigang uraga chongthei.
A dog, when made to ride a palanquin, jumps down on seeing a dung-heap, {i.e. What's bred in the bones will come out in the flesh. Among the Manipuris riding a palky is con- sidered a great honour, as only certain people are permitted to do it).
17. Lamboibada samjet pibagum.
Like giving an ascetic a comb, {i.e. Casting pearls before swine. Hindu ascetics in Manipur shave their heads, so that a comb is thrown away on them).
1 8. Sal asibagi manakta leplaga prachit ^ phangi.
When [found] standing near a dead cow you receive penance. (Hindus do not kill, but worship, the cow, so that, if they are found near others killing a cow, they are included among the company of evil-doers.)
19. Pena semlingeida Samuran yauba.
While tuning the pe?ia (an instrument like a fiddle), I might have reached Samuran. (Samuran is a village in the south of Manipur near Wangoi, and the idea here is a protest against waste of time in profitless preliminaries.)
20. Khutta paiba itaugi yada hukpa eigi.
What I hold in my hands is my friend's, what I hold in my teeth mine, {i.e. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush).
"^ Or, alternatively, a tree that bears much fruit has deep roots. T. C. H.
^ Prachit =praj as chhitta, a purificatory penance. The proverb means that you cannot touch pitch without being defiled, and also includes the idea that birds of a feather flock together. T. C. H.
