Adages from the desert dunes...

[Incognito]

Desert dwellers do not possess luxuries. They use tents of hair, or houses of wood or clay, unfurnished. They had shade and shelter, nothing else. Their food is either raw or little prepared, save that it may have been touched by fire.
- The Muqaddimah of IBN KHALDUN

Victories often have hidden causes. Muhammad said, "War is trickery." A proverb says, "A trick is worth more than a tribe."
- The Muqaddimah of IBN KHALDUN

The greatest number of marauders are found on the borders of the cultivated districts. The desert itself is safer.
- BAEDEKER'S Palestine and Syria

Since desert life is clearly the source of bravery, the more savage the group, the more brave, and the more able to defeat other peoples and take from them their possessions.
- The Muqaddimah of IBN KHALDUN

The bare necessities are basic; luxuries are secondary. Thus, Bedouins are basic, prior to cities and sedentary people.
Bedouins are clearly nearer to goodness than are sedentary people.
- The Muqaddimah of IBN KHALDUN

The arts are well established in a city only after sedentary culture has a long duration there.
- The Muqaddimah of IBN KHALDUN

The traveller should be on his guard against the thievish propensities of beggars.
BAEDEKER's Palestine and Syria

[Delirium]

Very awesome.

[sjanimal]

Very cool.

[DustMight]

May the fleas of a thousand kanks nestle in your armpit.
  - me

[DustMight]

Sand from the North, storm is short.
Sand from the South, stay in the house.

[a strange shadow]

Holy mon un nilaz dead thread, batman!

[Voular]

An opponent worthy of rising from the dead, my friends!

[Incognito]

Some more desert wisdom - anonymous bedouin sayings:

At the narrow passage, there is no brother and no friend.

He who shares my bread and salt is not my enemy.

I against my brother, I and my brother against our cousin, I, my brother and our cousin against the neighbours, all of us against the foreigner.

The lightly burdened will be saved.

When you sleep inside, your thoughts are as high as the ceiling, when you sleep outdoors, your thoughts are as high as the stars.

[IAmJacksOpinion]

"Keep red Fred in the shed."


Oh wait.

That's a compass.

[spicemustflow]

Some more desert wisdom - anonymous bedouin sayings:

At the narrow passage, there is no brother and no friend.

He who shares my bread and salt is not my enemy.

I against my brother, I and my brother against our cousin, I, my brother and our cousin against the neighbours, all of us against the foreigner.

The lightly burdened will be saved.

When you sleep inside, your thoughts are as high as the ceiling, when you sleep outdoors, your thoughts are as high as the stars.

These are so cool.

[musashi]

I agree!

[WarriorPoet]

The Sun!
Rays that have wander'd into darkness wide,
Return! And back into your sun subside.

From Omar Khayyam's Bird Parliament. Always reminded me of the Desert.

[IAmJacksOpinion]

Zalanthanized ancient chinese proverb I once read and wrote down specifically for this very reason:

A hawk and a scorpion meet each other at the edge of a great ravine.

The scorpion asks, "Hawk, will you carry me on your back across this gap?" to which the hawk responds, "How do I know you won't sting me if I put you on my back?"

The scorpion thinks a moment, then says, "If I do, we'll both fall and die."

Seeming satisfied, the hawk loads the scorpion onto his back and together they soar over the canyon. Half way across the scorpion buries his stinger into the hawk's back.

As he begins to fall, the hawk asks, "Scorpion, but why?"  The scorpion responds, "Because it is my nature."


A proverb about self-destructive qualities, and self-sabotage.

[musashi]

The one I heard was a bit different ...

It was a scorpion and a horse and a river. And kind of the same story except the scorpion said because we'll both drown.

Then when the horse asked why, the scorpion said: Because ... I can swim.

Too much water for Zalanthas though.

[IAmJacksOpinion]

Yeah, this one was a frog and a scorpion, and a river. As I said, I Zalanthanized it. Other than the frog and the river it's the same.

As far as "because I can swim?" That doesn't make any sense to me, cause I don't think scorpions can swim. Even so, that would be a good one to mold into a proverb about deception. As I've said, the above one was about self-sabotaging characteristics. Biting the hand that feeds, and so forth. I found it funny cause when I read it I wrote it down because I thought it would be awesome to say one day IG.

[musashi]

I had always thought it was about deception :-)

One of my favorites is an Africian one.

"When deeds speak, words are nothing."

Oh!!!! And I just remembered a SWEET phrase that would suit Zalanthas really well.

(adapted from an Italian proverb)

"Once the game is over ... the templar and the sand dune both go back in the same box."

[WarriorPoet]

Better to live one day as a Bynner, than a thousand years as a bard.

-WP bows.

[FantasyWriter]

Better to live one day as a Bynner, than a thousand years as a bard.

-WP bows.

em applauds even though he loves bards.

[Potaje]

running in circles, like a krath struck gortok chasing its tail.

[IAmJacksOpinion]

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove any doubt."

TWAIN BABY, TWAIN!


"The tallest tree attracts the axe."
~ Sounds like a northerner's way of saying, 'if you flaunt it, we'll cut it off.'

[Nile]

When walking the desert and confronted by another humanoid, first ask them to step aside, if not, destroy them.

Maybe I'm getting confused with something out of the Necronomicon :/

[Pale Horse]

Zalanthanized ancient chinese proverb I once read and wrote down specifically for this very reason:

A hawk and a scorpion meet each other at the edge of a great ravine.

The scorpion asks, "Hawk, will you carry me on your back across this gap?" to which the hawk responds, "How do I know you won't sting me if I put you on my back?"

The scorpion thinks a moment, then says, "If I do, we'll both fall and die."

Seeming satisfied, the hawk loads the scorpion onto his back and together they soar over the canyon. Half way across the scorpion buries his stinger into the hawk's back.

As he begins to fall, the hawk asks, "Scorpion, but why?"  The scorpion responds, "Because it is my nature."


A proverb about self-destructive qualities, and self-sabotage.

Heard something similar to this, only a Native American story.

Was a boy out hunting in a high mountain, when he came across a rattle snake in the snow.  The snake asks the boy to carry it down to the warm below and the boy replies that he will not, since the snake will bite him.  The snake says no, blah, blah, boy goes down, snake bites him, boy asks why and snake says "You knew my nature when you picked me up".

[evil_erdlu]

The scorpion and frog? "Kelile and Dimne" from Beydeba. The snake and the horse? "Mesnevi" from Mevlana..

[Kol]

I once read a really beautiful story from indian folklore (the country, not the peoples)

Kinda long to copy into here, but basic gist goes like this:

Prince in forest, meets amazingly beautiful woman;
Prince tells amazingly beautiful that she will become his wife, woman refuses;
Prince forces woman to become his wife;
Prince slowly falls in love with woman over the years, woman continues to hate prince, constantly asking to be set free;
Prince denys woman many times, woman suddenly turns nto geisha, one of the gods, and strips him of everything;
when asked why the god decived the prince, god replies "Not everything is at it seems, you took me for looks, and kept me because of pride and misplaced love, and because you thought you were above evryone" Prince lives as a beggar forever after.

Think the moral of that one is a resounding no-one is above the law.

[Jdr]

Except nobles.