牛に対して琴を弾ず
(Ushi ni tai shite koto wo danzu; “Playing a koto for a cow”)
Definition:
No matter what you say to a fool, your words are wasted. Even the most moving stories or the most edifying sermon, or the most beautiful music, will fail to move the heart of a cow.
Breakdown:
We begin at the end, with verb 弾ず (danzu), “to play a stringed instrument,” in conclusive form. This is an interesting usage because the character 弾 indicates a sort of elastic snap, and can refer all sorts of related concepts from beads to bullets, stimulation to momentum, popping to repulsion. In this case it refers to the twang of a plucked string, but even for that single meaning, 弾く (hajiku), 弾じる (danjiru), or 弾ずる (danzuru) would all be more common renditions than the aggressive pithiness of danzu. (Note that of the three alternatives, the latter two are common ways of making a single kanji character – grammatically a noun – into a verb, and function identically to simply adding する (suru).)
Anyway, particle を (wo) marks noun 琴 (koto), “koto,” a zither-like stringed instrument, as the direct object of the playing. Skipping back to the beginning, we find the noun 牛 (ushi), “cow.” And the relationship between the cow and the koto being played is described by directional particle に (ni), noun 対 (tai), “with regard to,” and verb する (suru), which turns the preceding noun into a verb, and appears in conjunctive form in order to attach this clause to the koto’s clause.
Notes:
Note that the koto is Japan’s national instrument; also that, with 13-string and 17-string variants, it seems to have been chosen as an example of the pinnacle of musical mastery.
Apparently, this saying comes to us from the Zuting shiyuan (祖庭事苑, Japanese Sotei jien), a Chinese Song-era annotated dictionary of Zen-related terminology from around 1100 CE. The story goes that in the state of Lu, a famed musician encountered a cow while out walking. Inspired by the pastoral scene, he began playing with his utmost skill, but the cow remained completely unresponsive. When he tried a more common tune, though, the high notes seemed to remind the cow of the sound of biting flies, so it perked up and became attentive. The great scholar concluded, quite rationally, that cows simply have no taste when it comes to music.
That said, it’s quite easy to find videos online nowadays of cows strolling over to watch curiously as humans play music at them, so maybe he just didn’t know his audience.
Example sentence:
「自分の言っていることはどんなに合理的だと思っても、インターネットで討論するのは所詮、牛に対して琴を弾ずように時間の無駄遣いにすぎないのだと思えてきた」
(“Jibun no itteiru koto wa donna ni gouriteki da to omotte mo, intaanetto de touron suru no wa shosen, ushi ni tai shite koto wo danzu you ni jikan no mudadzukai ni suginai no da to omoete kita.”)
[“I came to believe that no matter how rational your words, a debate on the internet was ultimately nothing more than a waste of time, whistling into the void.”]
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飼い犬に手を噛まれる
(Kaiinu ni te wo kamareru;
“Bitten on the hand by your pet dog”)
Definition:
To be betrayed or harmed in some way by someone you had deeply cared for, or taken care of on a regular basis. (In other words, it doesn’t apply to a stranger whom you once did a favor for, etc.)
Breakdown:
We begin with the verb 飼う (kau), “to keep / raise / feed (an animal),” in conjunctive form, which allows it to function as a noun. This noun compounds with, and modifies, the noun 犬 (inu), “dog.” Direction particle に (ni), “from,” marks the dog-one-raised as the source of the verb 噛む (kamu), “to bite.” This verb appears in imperfective form and takes the passive formation れる (reru). The direct object of the “being bitten” is marked by particle を (wo); this object is the noun 手 (te), “hand.”
Notes:
This is interesting, because in English we have a parallel saying, “to bite the hand that feeds you.” The content is almost exactly the same (although the English lacks the canine specificity and could apply to a one-off favor being repaid with harm), but from the opposite point of view.
Example sentence:
「例の上院議員は誰よりも先にあの革命的な政治家を支援した一方で、誰よりも罵詈雑言を浴びされて、誰よりも先に棄てられた。一言も口は利かないが、脳裏で飼い犬に手を噛まれたと考えているんじゃないかな」
(“Rei no jouin giin wa dare yori mo saki ni ano kakumeiteki na seijika wo shien shita ippou de, dare yori mo bari zougon wo abisarete, dare yori mo saki ni suterareta. Hitokoto mo kuchi wa kikanai ga, nouri de kaiinu ni te wo kamareta to kangaeteiru n ja nai ka na.”)
[“Although this senator gave his support to that revolutionary politician before anyone else, he was also showered with abuse more than any other, and thrown away before any other. He doesn’t say anything about it, but in the back of his mind he must feel like he was bitten by the dog he’d raised.”]
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