Pashto Proverbs
پشتو متلونه

S. S. Thorburn

From "Bannu: Our Afghan Frontier"

Topic: Boasting

The maxim that "deeds not words prove the man," is fully appreciated in the proverbs here given, which, though few in number, contain various means, from a delicate hint to a coarse rebuff, of "shutting up" men who indulge in tall talking. So far as my experience goes, the Pathan is not much given to bragging, except when speaking of his own clan collectively, or of his ancestors, whose bravery, of course, no words can adequately represent. The case perhaps most familiar to a District Officer, in which the Baron Munchausen style is invariably used to an amusing extent, is when a favour is asked from government, through its representative the Deputy Commissioner, for then the State is sure to be described as being greatly in the petitioner's debt for important services rendered, which as often as not turn out to be purely imaginary, or only so far true that the petitioner or a relation of his once caught a thief, but had, at the time, received a handsome reward for the capture.

• You will then learn your measure, when you spend a night with your match.
  هاله به ئي زده شي چه انډول په انډول شپه شي
• Say not thus, "I am," or you will become as I am.
  داسي مه وايه چه زه يم، داسي به شي لکه چه زه يم
  Said by a small man to a great man and a boaster.
• The frog mounted a clod, and said he had seen Kashmir
  جيندخه په لوټه وخته ويل ئي چه کشمير مي وليده
  Said of small men, in derision of their vain-glorious trumpeting of their own great deeds.
• Though I am but a straw, I am as good as you.
  که خس يم د تا بس يم
  Pathans act on the principle that "Jack is as good as his master", each believing himself as good as any other man.
• The slave is down, but his vaunting is up.
  مريي لاندي، غوره ئي باندي
  Meaning the greater the coward, the greater his bragging.
• Say not, "I am in the world," God has made man above man.
  داسي مه وايه چه زه يم په جهان کښي، پيدا کړي خداي د سر د پاسه سر دي
• A fly's hostility will be known on the scald-headed man.
  د مچ جنګ به د پک په سر معلوم شي
  When a fly is seen rubbing his two fore-legs together, he is supposed to be regretting that the last scald-headed man, on whose crown he alighted, has escaped him, and to be cogitating that if he again have a chance, he will show him his powers of fighting and irritate him to death. The above is said in derision of boastful cowards.
• Weep, oh Omar! then you would not eat the thousand-holed food; now you must content yourself with dry Pulao.
  ژاړه عمره ژاړه، هاله د نه خوړي هزار سوراخي اوس د وچ پلاؤ محتاج شوي
  Omar was a Marwat and married well in a foreign country. After a time he became home-sick, longing to see his sandy fields again; and whilst eating dry Pulao, a very dainty dish, repeated the above to himself aloud so often as to arouse his wife's curiosity. "'Tis what I used to eat at home," said her husband, sighing. So she consented to go to Marwat with him, in order to taste the wonderful "thousand-holed" food. When she got there, she found it was only a Bajra Cake, the coarsest of food, and so called owing to the number of air-bubbles which arise in it when being baked. The moral is that every man boasts of his native land, so when telling about it should not be believed.
• Small mouth, big words.
  وړوکي خوله لويي خبري
  So we say, "Great cry, little wool," and "Great boast, small roast."
• What is a small hare, what is its load?
  څه سوي ګي څه ئي بار ګي
  Said in rebuff to men who promise what they cannot perform.
• You have plundered the country, oh Kite! by your blustering; you will not let me seize you.
  وطن دي لوټ که په ټس او ټوسه، په لاس به را نشي ټپوسه
  The words rendered "blustering" mean literally, the swishing noise made by a large bird when making a swoop. The meaning is, that a cowardly bully robs one, and, before the victim can recover from his first surprise, runs away.
• Is a dog or a soldier the better? Confound the soldier who praises himself.
  سپي ښه دي که سپاهي، ورک شه سپاهي چه په خپله ځان ستايئي
  Meaning that, in respect of modesty, a vain-glorious soldier is inferior to the unclean dog, which never boasts.
• He eats greens, and breathes Pulao
  خوري ساګ او پسکئي د پلاؤ اچوي
  Said of a man who is "vox et praeterea nihil"
• A great sound is given forth from the empty vessel.
  له خالي لوښي لوي اواز خيژي
  So in English, "Empty vessels make the loudest sounds;" and in the Scriptures, "A fool's voice is known by the multitude of words."
• Here is a yard measure, and here is some level ground.
  دغه ګز دغه ميدان دي
  Now said to any boaster, when means of testing his assertions are at hand; first said to a Marwat, who was talking of some impossible jump he stated he had done.
• When a man praises his own greatness, why does he make himself equal to heroes ?
  چه په خپله بډائي که له شاغليو سره څه لره سيالي که
  By doing so he shows he is none, as heroes never vaunt their own deeds.