Proverbs: Wisdom Tales Without the Plot ...Creative thinking

Proverbs: Wisdom Tales Without the Plot
Aim: Creative thinking

Time: 60 minutes

Organisation: 2s

Procedure: Have students choose a familiar proverb and develop a story that can
surround and carry that thought. Multicultural proverbs offer interesting
insights into the universality of wisdom. The following are some selected
proverbs from Wisdom Tales From Around the World by Heather Forest,
August House Publishers.
"This evocative form of folklore sometimes stands in the stead of a wisdom tale.
Thought-provoking proverbs can suggest a larger scenario. I invite the students
to look at proverbs creatively and imagine the story the proverb suggests."

• One finger cannot lift a pebble. ( Iranian ) IR=
• When elephants battle, the ants perish. (Cambodian) CAM
• If you chase two hares, you will not catch either. Russian) RUS)
• The pot calls the kettle black. (United States) USA , The sieve says to the
needle: You have a hole in your tail. (Pakistan) PAK
• It is better to turn back than to get lost. (Russian) RUS
• Handsome words don't butter cabbage. (German) GER
• Talk does not cook rice. (Chinese) CHI
• After the rain, there is no need for an umbrella. (Bulgaria) BUL
• When the kettle boils over, it overflows its own sides. (Yiddish) YID
• You can't chew with somebody else's teeth. (Yiddish) YID
• Mistrust is an axe at the tree of love. (Russian) RUS
• If a farmer becomes a King, he will still carry a basket on his
back.(Hebrew) HEB
• Not all that is black is charcoal. (Philippine) PHI
• Little brooks make great rivers. (French) FRA
• Every kind of animal can be tamed, but not the tongue of man. (Philippine) PHI
• Do not look for apples under a poplar tree. (Slovakian) SLO
• Every ass loves to hear himself bray. (English) ENG
• He that goes barefoot must not plant thorns. (English) ENG
• Better to be a free bird than a captive King. (Danish) DAN
• A blow passes on, a spoken word lingers. (Yiddish) YID
• You can't spit on my back and make me think it's rain. (Yiddish) YID
• A book gives knowledge, but it is life that gives understanding. (Hebrew) HEB
• A crooked branch has a crooked shadow. (Japanese) JAP
• Better bread with water than cake with trouble. (Russian) RUS
• The heaviest burden is an empty pocket. (Yiddish) YID
• A candle lights others but consumes itself. (English) ENG
• It takes a village to raise a child. (Africa) AFR
• It is one thing to cackle and another to lay an egg. (Ecuador) ECU
• One dog barks because it sees something ; a hundred dogs bark because
they heard the first dog bark. (Chinese) CHI
• To hide one lie, a thousand lies are needed. (India) IND
• A needle wrapped in a rag will be found in the end. (Vietnamese) VIT
• Do not seek to escape from the flood by clinging to a tiger's tail.(Chinese) CHI
• Step by step one ascends the staircase. (Turkey)TUR
• Little by little the cotton thread becomes a loincloth. (Africa-Dahomey) AFR-DAH
• Anger is a bad adviser. (Hungary)HUN
• Eggs must not quarrel with stones. (Jamaican)JAM
• Eyes can see everything except themselves. (Serbo-Croatian)SER-CRO
• Haste makes waste. (English)ENG
• Every hill has its valley. (Italian) ITA