Whatever your difficulty, whatever your hardship in life: Dance and make the song you sing your prayer. Sing it courageously, and with each step strengthen yourself with the knowledge and wisdom of your elders, so that whatever next happens, you can survive and not lose your rhythm.

Meaning: Difficulty can expose weaknesses that praise or favourable circumstances leave unnoticed. Adversity is pictured as an unflattering observer, inviting an honest assessment without making hardship necessary for growth or a complete test of someone’s character.

Meaning: The rhyme presents a spring ague as medicine fit for a king. It gives a feverish illness a surprising positive value rather than simply treating it as misfortune.

Meaning: You cannot fully judge another person’s difficulties from what is visible. Listen before assuming that their task or situation is easy to bear.

Meaning: When every available option is poor, choosing the best may still leave a poor result. The saying recognises a constrained comparison, inviting scrutiny of the options without proving that no improvement or alternative can be found.