ProverbPedia

“Malayalam Proverb:
എലി നിരങ്ങിയാൽ പിട്ടം തഴകയില്ല”
— English Translation:
A rat scurrying over the floor will not develop calluses on its rump. (Fidgety, trivial movements achieve nothing of enduring substance.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
എംപ്രാന്റെ വിളക്കത്തു വാരിയന്റെ അത്താഴം”
— English Translation:
By the light of the priest's lamp, the temple assistant eats his supper. (Riding on another person's resources to get your own business done without cost.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
എലി, പന്നി, പെരിച്ചാഴി, പട്ടരും, വാനരൻതഥാ, ഇവർ ഐവരുമില്ലെങ്കിൽ മലയാളം മഹോത്സവം”
— English Translation:
The rat, the wild boar, the bandicoot, the parasitic priest, and the monkey—if these five were gone, Kerala would be an endless celebration. (A satirical complaint against destructive agricultural pests and social freeloaders.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
എയ്പാൻ വിചാരിച്ചതു് നാശങ്ങളും ചെയ്യും”
— English Translation:
What was aimed as an arrow can unleash widespread destruction. (Reckless schemes and words loosed in haste often cause far more devastation than intended.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
എലിപിടിക്കുംപൂച്ച കലവും ഉടെക്കും”
— English Translation:
The cat that hunts the rat is bound to shatter a few pots along the way. (Aggressive problem-solvers often cause collateral damage while getting the job done.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
എരിച്ചോൻ കോഴ പറിച്ചെന്നാക്കരുതു”
— English Translation:
Do not claim that the one who burned down the place merely pulled out a stray firebrand. (Do not whitewash grave destruction as a minor, harmless accident.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ചട്ടി, വിട്ടി = ഷഷ്ഠി, വിഷ്ഠി”
— English Translation:
[Linguistic gloss from source text: Clarifies that "Chatti" and "Vitti" in proverb #564 refer to Shashti and Vishti, inauspicious astrological timings.]

“Malayalam Proverb:
കോഴ = കൊള്ളി; എരിഞ്ഞുനിൽക്കുന്ന തീയിൽ എണ്ണ ഒഴിക്കുംപോലെ”
— English Translation:
Like pouring oil onto a blazing fire. (Gloss notes that "Kozha" means a burning brand; worsening an already furious conflict.)

“”
— English Translation:
One who thrust his bare hand into a pot of piping-hot curry. (Someone who got severely burned by rash meddling and will never repeat the mistake.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
എനിക്കു നിന്റെ ചൊല്ലും ചെലവും അല്ലല്ലോ”
— English Translation:
I am neither governed by your orders nor fed by your purse. (I owe you no subservience, as I am not dependent on you for my livelihood.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
എരുമക്കിടാവിനു് നീന്തംപഠിപ്പിക്കെണ്ടാ”
— English Translation:
You don't need to teach a buffalo calf how to swim. (Never teach a fish to swim; innate instincts require no outside coaching.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
എനം എനത്തിൽ ചേരും, എരണ്ട വെള്ളത്തിൽ ചേരും”
— English Translation:
Like joins with its own kind, just as a wild duck takes naturally to water. (Birds of a feather flock together; people gravitate toward their own kind.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
എരുമെക്കടുത്തതു അകത്തും, പോത്തിനടുത്തതു പുറത്തും”
— English Translation:
What belongs to the milking buffalo stays indoors; what belongs to the he-buffalo remains outside. (Valuable, yielding assets are sheltered and cared for, while tough manual laborers are left in the cold.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
എന്തുചെയ്തു പണ്ടുള്ളോർ എന്നറിഞ്ഞിട്ടു ചെയ്യണം”
— English Translation:
Learn what the elders did before undertaking an action. (Look to established precedent and wisdom before venturing into serious endeavors.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
എറുമ്പിന് ഇറവെള്ളം സമുദ്രം”
— English Translation:
To a tiny ant, the drip from the eaves is an ocean. (What is a minor inconvenience to the mighty is a catastrophic crisis to the vulnerable.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
എന്നാലന്നു കാക്ക മലന്നുപറക്കും”
— English Translation:
On that day, crows will fly upside down. (When pigs fly; an event that will never come to pass.)