Theh anoush lezou ounees otzuh dzaghen guh hahness
Theh goutzou lezou ounehs, suhrpa dounnet guh vanehs

If you have a sweet tongue (or if you speak sweetly), you can charm a snake to come out of its hole

But if you speak harsh words, then you will chase away a saint from your home.

The devastating power of harsh words is further captured in the Armenian proverb,

“Otzin khaitadzuh guh lavanah, lezouvin khaitadzuh chee lavanar - A snake bite can be cured, but the bite (or sting) of a nasty tongue cannot.”

The quality of a person can be estimated by how they talk. If they speak truthful words that are based on scriptural and proven wisdom, they are judged to be truly good persons. If their behavior corresponds to their truthful words, then they are an exceptional person whose practical example shows the power of their words. In fact, example is better than precept. What good is a person who speaks the truth but their personal example belies the truth. Better to speak the truth and live the truth in a practical sense. There are some people who cannot articulate well, but their practical example is so powerful that others understand just by seeing their actions.

The truth should be spoken palatably for all to understand. The truth spoken concisely is true eloquence. Foul language reveals a foul mind and does not produce anything positive.

There were twin parakeets. At birth, one was given to a saintly man and another was given to a sinful man. Some years later, the king went on royal procession through his town riding an elephant. As his procession passed the house of the sinful man a voice was heard.

“Here comes the king riding an elephant. What a stupid fellow making a fool of himself. May he meet his ruin soon.” Hearing these horrible words the king ordered his soldiers to find the culprit. The sinful man and his family ran is every direction. The soldiers realized that the parakeet spoke the insulting words and brought to the king. The king ordered his men to find the owner of the bird. When the sinful man and his family were presented to the king he ordered the tongues of all the family cut out and the bird destroyed. He understood that the dumb bird could only have learned such insulting words from his keepers. The king continued his procession. On passing the home of the saintly man, the twin parakeet began to speak.

“All glories to the Almighty God’s representative on earth. Our king is the most respectable servant of God and he is gracing us today by passing in procession. May he and his family live and prosper always.” The king was impressed by such sweet speech and ordered that the speaker be brought before him. He was surprised to see what appeared to be the same parakeet that was just killed. He asked for the keeper of the parakeet to appear. When the saintly man appeared, the king asked him to explain why this parakeet appeared to be exactly the same as the one he just killed that belonged to the sinful man. The saintly man explained that his parakeet was the exact twin of the other one. The king ordered the saintly man and his family handsomely rewarded for having trained the parakeet in such good speech. You can recognize a person by their speech.