Cría cuervos is the title of a superb Spanish film by Carlos Saura released in 1976. The film’s title comes from a well-known Spanish proverb: “Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos” (“Raise ravens and they will pluck your eyes out”).
This proverb translates in “Khmer” as: កុំចិញ្ចឹមសត្វក្អែក វាត្រឡប់ចិតភ្នែក (Don’t raise crows, [otherwise] they will come back and peck out your eyes).
Vocabulary:
កុំ [kom]: do not
ចិញ្ចឹម [chinh-chem]: to raise (animals)
ក្អែក [k’aèk]: crow
ត្រឡប់ [trâ-lâp]: to return
ចិត [chit]: to peck with the beak
ភ្នែក [phnèk]: eyes
I use quotes for the word “Khmer” because I suspect the Khmer phrase is merely a translation of the Spanish proverb.
All the more so because there is a genuine Khmer proverb with exactly the same meaning:
កុំបង្រៀនក្រពើឱ្យចេះហែលទឹក
(Don’t teach a crocodile to swim).
This proverb also appears as កុំបង្ហាត់ក្រពើឱ្យចេះហែលទឹក
Vocabulary:
បង្រៀន [bâng-rien]: to teach, to instruct
ក្រពើ [krâ-peu]: crocodile
ចេះ [cheh]: know how
ហែលទឹក [haèl teuk]: to swim
The Khmer proverb implies that if you teach a crocodile to swim, you’ll have to deal with the consequences sooner or later. Here is the main theme of the movie Cría Cuervos, with English subtitles:
