№ 02 Cambodia
Every Jungle Has a Snake
ព្រៃណាមានពស់
prey na mean pos
Why Cambodians warn each other that every jungle has a snake — and how Russian, English, and Spanish circle the same truth from very different directions.
Parallel & Proverbs
A weekly literary miscellany
Read by the tongue
Khmer
№ 01 Cambodia
When the Water Rises
ទឹកឡើងត្រីស៊ីស្រមោច ទឹកស្រកស្រមោចស៊ីត្រី។
tɨk laəng trəy sii srɑmaoch, tɨk srɑk srɑmaoch sii trəy
A Khmer proverb watches the flood reverse the food chain — fish over ants, then ants over fish. Chinese, Latin, and English also know that power is borrowed, but only Cambodia times it to the monsoon.