Ethiopian Proverb

[ChaiMe]

"Two things that are hard to notice: an elephant losing weight and a wealthy person becoming a pauper."

One would think that the opposite is quite true also. Since being an elephant and being wealthy bring such scrutiny, great changes are bound to be noticed.

Any thoughts?

[Shanna]

Perhaps the point is, one is more likely to notice a person comin' up rather than a person on their way down; a person who may not have had many things and is then unintentionaly advertising their new "wealth" (material items) is going to be more obvious than say a person losing wealth because they may still have items regarded as "wealthy" in their possesion.

[ChaiMe]

That's an interesting perspective, Shanna. I can certainly see the point. Thanks for responding!

[dogdoc]

My take on this proverb is that since an elephant is so large, it would be difficult to notice the weight being lost, at least at first. A wealthy person becoming a pauper is simply a wealthy person spending lots of money, and so to outsiders it appears that the person is as rich as ever... until the money is gone. So, perhaps the proverb means that we shouldn't be fooled by appearances, the truth may not be easily seen.