Proverbs

Proverbs are the homely offspring of the aphorism and the unacknowledged bastards of the cliché. They distill wisdom and make it memorable. At least that’s how they start. If a proverb becomes successful and catches on – say, Franklin’s “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise” – it risks becoming a cliché, which means we can no longer hear it or, when we repeat it, we do so ironically, as a joke.

I’ve been browsing through two collections of proverbs, largely because of the contrast in their sizes and ethnic origins, and the fact that I found them on the same library shelf. Based on a recommendation at the Complete Review, which calls it a “monumental achievement,” I went looking for Yoruba Proverbs, edited by Oyekan Owomoyela, a professor of African literature at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and published last year by the University of Nebraska Press.

It’s a hefty volume, gathering 5,235 owe – the Yoruba version of the English proverb – in 500 pages. The Yoruba are an ethnic group of about 40 million people in West Africa, mostly in Nigeria. For each owe, Owomoyela includes the original Yoruba, a literal translation and a gloss or re-interpretation. For instance, “What got into the bald person that made him or her swim underwater?” becomes “One should not unnecessarily endanger oneself.” As you can tell, the owes tends to be suggestive, even poetic, while Owomoyela’s glosses are a little flat-footed. The example I cited is brightened a little by the accompanying footnote, which I will not share with my father-in-law: “The proverb is based on the proposition that a bald person underwater could be mistaken for some aquatic animal.” I’m assuming that means the hippopotamus.

I don’t intend to read the entire book. I’m happy, like the hippo, to graze. Some of the owe are so deeply rooted in Yoruba culture, their broader significance is minimal. But what strikes me as interesting and hopeful for those of us who value humanity as such and who reject identity politics, is the universality of so many of the proverbs Owomoyela has collected. They distill fundamental human experience: “Death is the name one bears at the last. (Death is everybody’s ultimate fate.)”

Here are some favorites:

“A one-eyed person does not attempt standing somersaults. (One should limit one’s ambition to one’s capability.)”

“Whoever takes great care in killing an ant will see its innards. (One must handle delicate matters carefully.)”

“The penis at home never impresses the woman, unless she fucks one outside the home. (One hardly ever appreciates what one has until one has flirted with, and has been disappointed by, alternatives.)”

“The legs of vultures, which ruin the stew. (An abomination [is] like the legs of the vulture in a stew.)”

“Possession of charms is more efficacious than carrying a Koran. (A sure medicine is preferable to faith in religion.)”

The other book I found was an after-thought – Polish Proverbs, collected by Joanne Asala, and published in 1995 by Penfield Press. It’s brief (64 pages), folksy and illustrated with wycinanki – the silhouette-like art of cut paper. In contrast to Yoruba Proverbs, it’s devoid of scholarly apparatus. In her introduction, Asala writes, “Poles are gregarious, cheerful, hard-working, earnest people – these qualities are reflected in their proverbs,” and most of the proverbs she has collected are almost pious, certainly more earnest and less earthy, than the Yoruba. You won’t find penises here, at home or elsewhere. Here are some of the good ones:

“Love your neighbor, but do not remove the fence.”

“The children of a peasant are assets, the children of a gentleman are liabilities, the children of a nobleman are thieves.”

“Old truths, old laws, old friends, an old book and old wine are best.”

And while the Yoruba say

“People think the poor person lacks the wisdom the wealthy person has; they say if one had wisdom, one would be rich. (It is folly to equate wealth with wisdom.)”

the Poles say:

“The peasant’s a born philosopher, the aristocrat must learn to be one.”