“放掉乞食篮拍乞食”

“放掉乞食篮拍乞食” is a Teochew proverb,the literal meaning is that after a person stops being a beggar, he starts to attack beggars.’放掉’ means abandon.’乞食’means beggar.’篮’ means basket.’拍’means beat.

Practice speaking this sentence in Teochew dialect by following the audio below:

It is used to mock those who turn their backs on their friends who have gone through hardships together after becoming rich.

Beggar brothers as close as blood

Once upon a time, there was a pair of sworn brothers who wandered around the world and begged for a living. They slept in the same bed and ate from the same bowl, and they were as close as real brothers.

Promises before going their separate ways

Later, the two men discussed their own future and looked for their own way of life. When they parted, they promised each other: “If we can get rich one day, we must never forget each other.”

Beggar becomes rich

A few years later, one of the two beggars accumulated a little capital with the surplus money he had begged. He also took advantage of his opportunities to travel around the country to do some small business and made a little fortune.

So he settled down, built a tall house, opened a shop, and ran a business, and finally became a wealthy man.

It is easy to share adversity, but difficult to share wealth

Another beggar, who had been displaced for years, finally got nothing. He was haggard and pale. However, he still missed his ally from that year and looked for him everywhere.

This year, the beggar who had already become a wealthy man celebrated his birthday and invited the gentry and the rich to a banquet with guests.

And the poor beggar happened to come to the door at this time. But the beggar brother who had become a wealthy man had already forgotten this friend.

At this time, he suddenly saw his friend coming to his house, dressed in rags, which brought him great shame. So he ordered the servants to drive him out of the house.

The beggar friend was so angry that he yelled at the door: “You really 放掉乞食篮拍乞食(You are really the one who beat the beggar once no need for a begging basket.). He also exposed the identity of the nouveau riche beggar. From then on, there was the saying “放掉乞食篮拍乞食.”