2024.05.28
カテゴリ：lessons
Difference in Practicality
Urushi lacquer artwork with silver Makie by Atsuko Shiomi
I asked a German-speaking student if there was a German equivalent of the saying 'Even dust piles up to make mountains.' In Japanese, it is 「チリも積もれば山となる」. The proverb encourages you to steadily accumulate good deeds and efforts, even if they are trivial.
She said there is, and it is, 'Kleinvieh macht auch Mist'. Kleinvieh refers to small domestic animals such as rabbits, chickens and ducks, not cows or pigs, and Mist refers to dung.
She explained, 'In the old days, people without money couldn't afford larger livestock, so they kept smaller rabbits and chickens. If you store the dung up, it makes a great fertiliser.' This is said to mean.
I see. - In Japanese it's dust, but in German it's dung. I was greatly impressed by the difference in practicality.
【Published an e-book (Kindle) under my pen name TONE Riko】
https://jlesson-kyoto.jp/index.php?QBlog-20220801-1