A book of Tamil proverbs arranged in alphabetical order; the translator focuses exclusively on Tamil proverbs, excluding those that have been borrowed from Sanskrit and other languages.
From preface:
It is hoped that the following collection of Tamil Proverbs may be useful to those who are in any way connected with the interesting people who speak that language. Examples of concise and forcible expression are thereby furnished, which may tend to aid in the study of the language, and occasional allusions to national, social, and religious usages may suggest heads of valuable enquiry, while the modes of thinking, and the natural shrewdness of the Hindu mind may be seen through this medium.
About the author (from Wikipedia):
Peter Percival (24 July 1803 – 11 July 1882) was a British born missionary, linguist and a pioneering educator in Sri Lanka and South India during the British colonial era. His work influenced prominent people such as Robert Bruce Foote a pioneering geologist and archaeologist and Arumuka Navalar, a Hindu revivalist. He began his career in British held Sri Lanka and Bengal as a Wesleyan Methodist missionary. His early work was in the minority Sri Lankan Tamil dominant Jaffna peninsula. He was instrumental in starting and upgrading a number of schools within the Jaffna peninsula. His preference of education over evangelism influenced educational programs off all others who sought to improve the literacy rate in the district. During his stay in Jaffna, he led the effort to translate the Bible into Tamil, based on the Authorised Version. After returning to England, he converted to Anglicanism. Subsequent to his posting in South India, he severed his association with the Anglican Missionary Society that had sent him to India and worked as an educator in Presidency College in Madras Presidency. He published English-Tamil and English-Telugu dictionaries as well as a number of books on Indian culture and religion. He died in 1882 in Yercaud in present-day Tamil Nadu.
