Rohi Mataluna

"For a Pashtun, the world is a dangerous place. . . . To negotiate such a world, a man or woman needs wise words. . . . Pashto proverbs provide critical lessons about faith and honor, human nature and relationships, friends and enemies, power and revenge, in short, how to live in a society that is at once fragrant with friendship, fraught with ambiguities, and seared by treachery."

You are invited to look into the world of the Pashtun through the pages of Rohi Mataluna: Pashto Proverbs. This selection of 1,350 Pashto proverbs (mataluna) from the mountainous (rohi) Afghan borderlands, with English translation and cultural annotations, aims to preserve some of the original flavor of an oral literature that reflects a traditional culture now facing turmoil and inevitable change.

This second edition has been completely updated, revised, and expanded with new material, while taking care to preserve and honor the original work of the first edition. It includes:

-- Cultural background and context of the Afghan frontier
-- Explanations of key words and concepts
-- Examples of the use of texts in social situations
-- Observations on the form and structure of proverbs
-- Parallel and variant texts
-- Background stories
-- Index of key words, persons, and places

This book will appeal to readers and students of Pashto and English, to scholars and tourists, to anthropologists and folklorists, and to all those interested in learning more about the Pashtun people of the Afghan frontier.