Paczolay Gyula : 750 MAGYAR KOZMONDAS
So many folk tales and sayings teach values, customs, and ways of life. Some of these will sound so familiar to Americans that one will wonder if the saying originated in Hungary or not. Others are clearly from a time when agricultural life was the norm.
The sayings about a good wife being a beaten one make me cringe.
But take a look at the use of the Hungarian language here: References to dogs, cats, pigs, goats, wolves, geese and sparrows, hares, ox - ropes and hanging, trees and weather, priests and Slovaks and Wallachians to discover the attitudes about life that made these sayings roll off the lips of the Hungarians.
Enjoy looking through these.
Some excerpts:
Okos disznó mély gyökeret ránt.
Amit főztél, edd is meg!
What you have cooked, you should eat as well.
You have to take the responsibility for your action.
***
Gúzsba kötve táncol.
He danced bound hand and foot.
He tries hard but has very little freedom of movement or action.
***
Szemérmes koldusnak üres a táskája.
A shy beggar has an empty scrip.
