Monthly Archives: May 2011

Proverb on Success

Nationality: Danish
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 20 Apr

Danish

English

18, student

20 April 2011

“Reap what you sow”

To Christina this is particularly important because she has always felt like she does things without thinking. She describes this proverb as “the way I get my dues” meaning she uses this proverb to justify when things go wrong. Christina’s Dad taught her this phrase, he is very wealthy and has “reaped” a lot in this life. She learns a lot from her father and considers his life an inspiration. When things don’t go her way, she says, “I just gotta try hard, I know I screwed up but I’ll try again.”

This folk proverb has been passed down to Christina like most proverbs are—from word of mouth. This proverb means a lot to Christina because she works hard and desperately wants to succeed. Even though the tone in the proverb with words like “reap” makes it sound very fatalistic, the message is positive and one that Christina treasures.

Annotation: This quote also showed up in the popular novel Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini

Tim Perille

18

1027 W. 34th St. Los Angele CA

Chinese Four-Character Proverb

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 27, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Some Spanish and Mandarin

The informant is an eighteen-year old student from Irvine, California currently studying in Los Angeles. His dad was born in India, and his mother was born in Hong Kong before they met in San Jose, CA and moved down to Orange County. He speaks some Spanish and can understand Cantonese, which is how he learned many of his proverbs. He shall be referred to as KT.

KT states that in Chinese culture, there are a series of four-character proverbs that can be summed up in a short, metaphorical sentence that relates back to a full tale.

KT: It was something like, to drain the fish- to drain the pond and catch all the fish. And it’s the story about this one warlord…and he wanted to win this battle, so he asked his two advisors how to win this battle and one of them tells him like how to basically, like, basically cheat in order to win with, like, dishonorable tactics. And the other one was like, ‘you, if you cheat this time, then no one will have any respect for you.’ It’s like you can drain the pond and get the fish, but then next year there won’t be any more fish for you to get.

KT went on to describe how the latter advisor was the wiser one, and the warlord opted to follow his advice. He explained how the proverb tells us that a shortcut may serve in the short term, but will hurt your reputation in the long term.

I agree with KT’s assessment. The proverb emphasizes that all actions taken are investments in one’s reputation, which is not something worth gambling with. This is in stark contrast to the idea of “all’s fair in love and war.” Even as a warlord, the man decided that it was better to act honorably and fairly than to risk damaging his image from a long term perspective. This devotion to honesty even in battle demonstrates a strict adherence to this value that not even the threat of fatal failure can deter.

Furthermore, the nature proverb of the pond emphasizes a cyclical idea. Draining a pond is beneficial in catching fish, but interrupts the natural flow of life. As such, the honest route seems to be more reflective of nature and the way things are meant to be, rather than an explosive interruption of cheating.

Proverb-Persian

Nationality: Persian
Age: 82
Occupation: Homemaker
Residence: Santa Ana, CA
Performance Date: April 12, 2011
Primary Language: Persian

 

???? ?? ??? ?? ????? ?? ????? ? ?????
????? ?? ??? ?? ????? ?? ????? ? ?????

Dana anast ke bedanad ke bedanad va beporsad.

Nadan anast ke bedanad ke nadanad va naporsad.

The wise is the one that knows (he or she) knows and asks.

The not wise is the one that knows (he or she) not knows and not asks.

The wise one knows he knows and asks.

The fool knows he does not know and does not ask.

This expression came up in conversation when I was gossiping about someone who was acting very sure of herself on a topic she did not know much about. My grandma told me to remember this phrase, implying that the person we were talking about fits the category of a fool. My grandma was born in a village outside Tehran, where she moved after she got married. In 1986, she moved to the United States.

She explained to me that this proverb emphasizes the importance of checking your work and making sure you’ve done things right. The wise person never takes for granted that he or she is correct, while the fool is not concerned with the truth of whether or not he or she is correct but only concerned with giving the impression that he or she is correct by not challenging his or her ideas.

In addition to this I think it implies that one should always be open to the possibility that one is wrong, especially because the only way to become wise is to fix any mistakes that one has made in the past. It also calls for the continual pursuit of knowledge even where one thinks one has the correct facts, and for the continual pursuit of other opinions.

This proverb separates knowledge from wisdom, which is a very big theme with my grandmother, who always assures me that knowledge is not worth much without wisdom.

Passover Tradition

Nationality: Scottish; American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Oak Park, CA, USA
Performance Date: April 20, 2011
Primary Language: English

The following is from a student partaking in Passover: “Well, last night I went home for the second night of Passover. And, uh, I was there with my cousins and my parents. We have a tradition, um, each year where we sign a pillowcase with our date, initials, and a message. Uh, if you’re not familiar with Passover, you’re supposed to recline for the holidays. Basically the Jews were enslaved in Egypt, and God picked Moses to lead them to freedom in Israel – so they are no longer working slaves, they can relax and recline. I’m not sure who started the traditions, but it goes back to before I was born. I think other families do this as well, but I’m not sure. The message is like something that was big that year – just like a general, big event that you’d want to mark. It would be something from the very recent past or immediately upcoming future.”

This demonstrates that which is valued by the individuals partaking in the tradition and their relationship with those who were a part of it before. It acts as a connecting factor with the past, the performance aspect legitimizing the celebration and in doing so enabling those now to feel a part of the struggles felt by their people so many years ago.

Folk Speech- Sicilian-American

Nationality: American
Age: 74
Occupation: Medical Doctor
Residence: Mount Kisco, NY
Performance Date: April 22, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Italian; Sicilian dialect

“Face levata” (Sicilian dialect)

“Cleaned face”

“Putting on a straight face”

The above item was learned by the informant most likely from his grandparents, between the ages of 9 and 12, perhaps while they were talking to his parents in Sicilian dialect, and using the phrase to describe someone. According to the informant, this folk speech is used in “any circumstance” in which a person is hiding their true feelings, such as “withholding their criticism” or “hiding their disdain”; when they are, in other words, “putting a good face on, or pretending.” The informant considers this phrase a “useful and clever way to express an interaction between people,” particularly when others who are around cannot understand the meaning of the phrase because it is Sicilian.

To capture the meaning of this piece of Sicilian folk speech, I use the more familiar phrase “Putting on a straight face” since it seems the best rendering of the phrase with an American equivalent. However, as the latter seems most typically understood as the concealment of negative feelings with more of a neutral face or disposition so as to comport oneself as being “alright” when this is not really the case, this may not fully encapsulate the meaning of the original if, as the informant states, it may also describe a person who is doing even more—namely, “putting a good face on.” Accordingly, this possible additional meaning must be taken into account in considering the phrase, as it is unclear to what extent “clean” and “straight” express the same notion in their respective phrases. That being said, I agree with the informant that the item is “useful and clever” since it represents an easy and succinct way of conveying what may be a rather complex social dynamic.