“Tamil:
கழுதையைக் கட்டி ஓமம் வளர்த்தது போல.”
“English Translation:
Like tying an ass and feeding a sacrificial fire.This proverb relates to the following story. A certain Maharàja had a barber who had evinced great skill in shaving hie royal master when he was asleep. To reward him the King resolved to elevate him in the social scale. The brahmans were called and ordered to make a brahman of the barber. They set to work, kindled a sacred fire and the barber was led round it, whilst the priests uttered the required incantations for accomplishing their purpose.The prime minister being of a somewhat facetious temperament determined to metamorphose an ass. As the proverb intimates he kindled a fire and led the animal round it. When the King saw him thus engaged he asked him what he was doing. The prime minister replied by stating that if the brahmans could make a brahman of a barber he thought an ass might be made into a horse, and he was therefore engaged in the ceremony.”,