梅うめは食くうとも核食さねくうな、中なかに天神寝てんじんねてござる

expression, yodan verb with 'ru' ending (archaic)

don't eat plum pits (because they are poisonous); if you eat a plum, don't eat the kernel; inside it heavenly gods sleep

Proverb warning against eating plum pits, which contain toxic compounds. The literal image is that a deity (Tenjin) sleeps inside the pit, so eating it would be disrespectful and dangerous.

• 祖そ母ぼはよく「梅うめは食くうとも核さね食くうな、中なかに天てん神じん寝ねてござる」と言いって、梅うめ干ぼしの種たねを取とってくれた。

  My grandmother often said, 'Don't eat the plum pit; inside it, the heavenly god sleeps,' and would remove the pit from the pickled plum for me.