If a plant wants to grow

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Rama
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If a plant wants to grow

Post by Rama »

បើវានឹងដុះ មិនចាំបាច់ដាំ

My translation: "If it (a plant) wants to grow, it is not necessary to plant it"

Quite a straight forward proverb that one, but culturally quite interesting.
potty
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Re: If a plant wants to grow

Post by potty »

weed.

yeah, almost as deep as hegel, leibniz, nietzsche...

:roll:
Rama
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Re: If a plant wants to grow

Post by Rama »

I think that is probably the point; Don't think too deeply and accept your lot in life.
"Destiny (karma) controls everything!" ... Hard work and education will not result in social mobility.
Cambodia has traditionally been hierarchical, social mobility was almost impossible. You were wither born into the upper classes or born into the peasant classes (or middle class), hard work wouldn't result in moving up the social strata. There was/still is little opportunity among the majority of rural Cambodians to change social status so they accepted the life they were born into.
Buddhist fatalism.
Soi Dog
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Re: If a plant wants to grow

Post by Soi Dog »

Rama wrote:I think that is probably the point; Don't think too deeply and accept your lot in life.
"Destiny (karma) controls everything!" ... Hard work and education will not result in social mobility.

Buddhist fatalism.
I don't see that phrase as fatalistic at all. How are you getting "Hard work and education will not result in social mobility" from that? You may have the first part correct about perceived destiny, but not the fatalistic part. It's the Cambodian version of "que sara, sara". That doesn't preclude good things from happening as well.
Rama
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Re: If a plant wants to grow

Post by Rama »

But isn't "que sara, sara" fataliatic? "Whatever will be, will be"
My interpretation of the proverb is that it's teaching/reinforcing the idea that "Karma controls everything"
Good things may happen, but only because they are destined to occur.
"There is no need to plan or work hard (plant the seed)... If it's going to happen (grow) it's going to happen"
If good luck appears- enjoy it. If bad things happen it's through no fault of your own, so endure it. Whatever will be, will be.
Soi Dog
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Re: If a plant wants to grow

Post by Soi Dog »

Rama wrote:But isn't "que sara, sara" fatalistic?
Maybe. But maybe it's a bit more like the ubiquitous Arabic saying "Inch Allah", or "God willing". It doesn't mean you shouldn't bother putting forth your best effort in any endeavor, just that outcomes are mostly unpredictable, and therefore one shouldn't be discouraged by occasional setbacks. Things will happen in their proper time...when you are ready for them to happen.
rick_o'shea
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Re: If a plant wants to grow

Post by rick_o'shea »

Not sure about you guys, but on my screen, the top of the khmer text is missing. Just a little, but it has snipped off part of the vowels. Rama, can you transliterate it for me?

It looks like:

baur via nung doh, mun jambach dam.

if it will ? , not necessary plant.


I'm just a little confused by the word I put in bold.


I haven't heard that one before - I like it!
Rama
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Re: If a plant wants to grow

Post by Rama »

Yeah, the top of the text is cut off. I think because I put it in 'large' size text to help people read it. Here it is in normal size:

បើវានឹងដុះ មិនចាំបាច់ដាំ

I don't like to transliterate Khmer into English, as people start arguing over the transliteration spellings, and because I'm trying to improve my Khmer reading.

Here it is broken down and translated:

បើ = if
វា = it
នឹង= going it
ដុះ = to grow, germinate, sprout; to rise (referring to cliffs, mountains, etc.), to spring (up), to bud, put out shoots; to appear, emerge; to increase, improve
មិន = negative particle not
ចាំបាច់ = necessary
ដាំ = To plant

បើវានឹងដុះ មិនចាំបាច់ដាំ = If it (is) going to grow, (it is) not necessary to plant (it)

Here's some other examples of ដុះ ;

ដុះឡើង = to sprout, germinate
ដុះឫស = 1. to (take) root, put out roots 2. to have a callous 3 . to stay in one place for a long time, 'be rooted to a spot'
ដុះស្មៅ​ = To grow grass
ដុះសក់ = To grow hair

Example product;
Image
តុក្គតាដុះសក់(ដុះស្មៅ​)_ប្រុស_ធំ - Doll grow hair(grow grass)_boy_big $4
http://cam-onlineshopping.com/product/my-gift/offset/48
Rama
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Re: If a plant wants to grow

Post by Rama »

Just stumbled across another proverb that relates to the OP, tricky one to translate for me:

កុំ​គិត​តែ​រៀន​ចង់ធ្វើ​មន្ត្រី ស្អប់​ខ្ពើម​ភក់ដី​នាំអោយ​ក្រ ត្រូវ​រៀន​ធ្វើ​ជា​កសិករ ទើប​មានទ្រព្យ​ត​ទៅ​ខាង​ក្រោយ ។

Here's my translation with sentences broken down and key words in matching colour.

កុំ​គិត​តែ​រៀន​ចង់ធ្វើ​មន្ត្រី
ស្អប់​ខ្ពើម​ភក់ដី​នាំអោយ​ក្រ
ត្រូវ​រៀន​ធ្វើ​ជា​កសិករ
ទើប​មានទ្រព្យ​ត​ទៅ​ខាង​ក្រោយ ។

Don't plan to study (because) you want to be a bureaucrat,
dislike (and) detest (the) mud (that) brings about poverty.
(You) have to plan to study to be a farmer,
only then (will you) have wealth in the future/next time.

And this is the translation from the Khmer Institute: http://www.khmerinstitute.org/kiproverbs.html

"Do not plan to study with the desire to become a government minister, hate and loathe this quagmire that leads to poverty; you must study to become a farmer in order to have wealth in the future."
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