My friend and I got to one of our classes early. While we waited I asked her if she knew any folklore. She happily gave me a legend about the Mid-Autumn Festival. She also gave me two proverbs. Here is the first:

“さるも　き　から　おちる (saru mo ki kara ochiru).” translates to “Even monkeys fall from trees.”

I asked her what the proverb meant, here is what she said:

“Well, ‘Even monkeys fall from trees’ is a really famous Japanese proverb. I’ve heard it from pretty much every person of my dad’s side of the family… its like basically saying even the best will fail. So like during my family game nights, my mom usually dominates trivia but sometimes if my dad wins, which rarely happens, he’ll say the proverb to my mom just as a reminder that she’s still better than him at trivia, it was probably just an off day. So, yeah… its kind of similar to ‘everyone makes mistakes’ but not quite. I think this proverb is more specific because its like no matter how good you are at something, you can slip, and that’s okay.”

Collector Analysis:

I thought this was a very beautiful proverb. The message of accepting failure is so important and I think it is a beneficial proverb to grow up hearing because it teaches not to fear failure because it is only natural. So many people think that to be successful means to never fail, but success is measured in the amount of times someone failed and got right back up to try again. This proverb really gets the point across about how natural failing is. I really wish I had grown up hearing this proverb because coming from a family member this proverb is endearing and uplifting. I wonder if other cultures have a similar proverb.

My friend and I got to one of our classes early. While we waited I asked her if she knew any folklore. She happily gave me a legend about the Mid-Autumn Festival. She also gave me two proverbs. Here is the second:

“井の中の蛙大海を知らず (I no naka no kawazu taikai wo shirazu)  translates to “A frog in the well doesn’t know the great sea.”

I asked her what the proverb meant, here is what she said:

“I don’t like this one as much as the monkey proverb. I’ve also heard this one less from my dad because I feel like this is a more specific proverb. Like it can only be used in so many different ways. My dad can literally work the Moneky proverb into basically anything. But this proverb is a little harder. I call this one the Frog Proverb, for obvious reasons. Basically, it means you shouldn’t judge because we each have our own narrow experience of the world. The well is the way we see and perceive the world. As much as we like to think we know the great sea because all of our experiences are limited we can’t ever fully perceive and understand the world like others do. Like I said, I’ve only heard it a few times though.”

Collector Analysis:

Firstly, I found it funny that both the proverbs my friend provided for me had to deal with animals. I’m sure Japanese culture is flooded with proverbs, but I find it beyond coincidental that the two Japanese proverbs I collected were animal based. This probably speaks to the emphasis traditional Japanese culture places on nature. Secondly, this proverb has a completely different feel from the monkey proverb. I feel like the monkey proverb is playful, but this proverb sounds more along the lines of sacred knowledge. To me, the frog proverb is depressing. I interpret the frog proverb in the sense that the frog believes he is in the great sea as he only knows the well. He knows no different and he doesn’t know that beyond the horizon lies a vast ocean. So I feel like the frog proverb basically points out everyone’s ignorance by telling us that our idea of the world isn’t close to the actual world at all.