OF PACHYDERMS & MICROBES

73.  Anjing menyalak di pantat gajah

      

A dog barking at an elephant’s behind

Barking dogs hardly bite. Not unlike barking at passing caravans. An impotent threat.

74.  Bagai gajah putih ditambat

      

Like a white elephant in chains

Fussed over and pampered for the owner’s greater glory and profit.

 Much like a Hollywood star, pop celebrity, or prize fighter.

75.  Gajah di depan mata tak 
nampak, kuman di sebarang 
lautan kelihatan

      

You cannot see the elephant in front of you,

 but spot with great ease the germ across the ocean

If every man would sweep before his own door, the city would soon be clean.

To see the mote in another’s eye but not the beam in one’s own. 
One in a series featuring the dynamic duo of gajah and kuman, e.g., 
gajah berhati, kuman pun berhati juga

(it is true the elephant has a heart, but so does the microbe).

76.  (Bagai) gajah rompong belalai

     

An elephant minus its trunk

    

A fallen idol. A pearl that has lost its luster. Lame duck.

77.  Gajah sama gajah berjuang, pelanduk mati di tengah-tengah

      

In a contest between elephants, a mousedeer 
caught in the middle is done for

The small are advised to keep out of the quarrels of the high and mighty.

 The opposite, however, is sometimes equally true.