Why climb the neighbor’s tree?
Ngût kwit i-x̬angqlup tu-chôl-pem sat i-kyat. suppose fruit of neighbor FUT fall enter yard of you.
Suk kyat tu-mok-um u-tyang-noy muk-un? Then, you FUT why PRED-climb steal tree-OTHER?
‘Why climb the neighbor’s tree, when the fruit falls in your yard?’
In one of their early conversations regarding statecraft, Tsyam argued that self-interests could be exploited by the kingdom to fortify itself. Lord Qom countered that acting purely in self-interest, it would be to the advantage of a prince to kill his father to gain power. Tsyam is said to have used the example of a man whose neighbor has a tree next to the wall. The fruit falls in his yard, and the neighbor has promised him that he can take any fallen fruit. In that case, he has merely to do nothing but wait in order to receive benefit. In such circumstances, what fool would jump the fence and climb the neighbor’s tree to pick fruit?
Unfortunately, some men, including princes, are fools.
Idiomatically, “climb the neighbor’s tree” has come to represent someone so stupid and greedy that even if they would get what they want anyway, they try to grab it anyway in a way that kills their chance.