Category Archives: general

With a sweet tongue and kindness, you can drag an elephant by a hair

Nationality: American/Iranian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Massachussettes
Performance Date: 4/30/22
Primary Language: English
Language: French, Farsi

Background: My informant, O, is a 19 year old male consulting over text with his 60 year old Persian aunt. He recalled hearing this proverb from his great grandparents and grandparents growing up.

In Farsi  بلسان حلو ولطف ، يمكنك جر فيل بشعر.

O: So this one has a lot to do with charisma, which is a very Persian thing because everything is very personable and negotiable, like, Persians do not really do things by the book. You can talk your way out of a lot of things in the culture, and that’s accepted, but this is sort of saying how you’re supposed to do that. You’re supposed to do it gently and kindly in order to get what you want.

My thoughts: My informant really emphasized this aspect negotiability of Persian culture with me, which I found really interesting. He told me that his aunt got upset at the pharmacy once because she couldn’t negotiate a copay. I think that contrasts a lot of our western expectation of equity, where of course, everyone is supposed to follow the same rules and be entitled to the same goods and services, whereas in this culture it may be viewed as more transactional, and based on mutual respect that things are done. Favors for favors are common and commercial rules are not as strict. 

Is money just leaves to a bear?

Nationality: American/Iranian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Massachusettes
Performance Date: 4/30/22
Primary Language: English
Language: French, Farsi

Background: My informant, O, is a 19 year old male consulting over text with his 60 year old Persian aunt. He recalled hearing this proverb from his great grandparents and grandparents growing up.

مگه پول علف خرسه in Farsi

O: This one I kind of had to think about. At first I thought it meant more that money is a social construct, because I forgot that the proverb is asked in a questioning way, like, “IS money just leaves to a bear?” It really means that money is more important to us than leaves are to a bear. Money is worth more than leaves… *laughter* So it’s just a reminder that we can’t just expect money to be everywhere like leaves are everywhere in a forest, we can’t treat it like toilet paper. Do bears use leaves as toilet paper? Do they eat leaves?

Me: I don’t think they do. Maybe they eat leaves…

O: The sentiment is the same I think. We need money like bears need leaves, but we need to respect our money more than bears need to respect leaves. Leaves always grow back.

My thoughts: This proverb is essentially the Farsi version of “money doesn’t grow on trees”, in the sense that it’s meant to remind the audience that money shouldn’t be wasted on frivolous things because it’s something that one has to earn. 

Initiation

Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Performance Date: 4/29/22
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Context: The school in question here is The Cate School, which is a boarding school located in Carpinteria California. The sophomores and the freshmen at this school would live in the same building. 

Text:

 “It’s an initiation that a lot of students participated in, especially the freshmen members. I remember, my friends and I, would go into freshmen rooms and basically spook them a little bit. We’d turn off all the lights, and hold brooms and question them. Some got a little scared, hahaha some ran. But those who stayed, we would basically tap them on the shoulders with the broom and say they got initiated. It’s something the older students always do”. 

Analysis: 

With schools themselves being strong with folklore, boarding schools are even more riddled with folklore of its own. Having kids from all over the world living together as they are still becoming who they are is an incredibly unique environment and one that spawns its fair share of folklore. Additionally, activities revolving around the older and younger student dynamic are also quite common. 

Doce Uvas

Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: North Carolina
Performance Date: 4/29/22
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Context: Subject is from New York City. 

Text:

“With my family, we have doce uvas, or twelve grapes, which is a tradition in Latin American households. So basically, households will set up a cup of twelve grapes for each member of the household, and once it’s officially New Years we celebrate and eat 12 grapes. Each grape represents a wish for next year, so it’s sort of like a good luck thing. But also, the reason it’s twelve grapes, is because you know twelve months in the year, which is important to keep in mind with this tradition”. 

Analysis:

This piece of folklore points out a commonality amongst many rituals, specifically them taking place at these liminal spaces in time. In this case, the grapes are eaten right in between one year and another, a perfect opportunity to get in touch with the supernatural in a sense. New Years in general is a ripe time for ritual and folkloric activities, with a new year representing endless amounts of opportunity and excitement, that obviously everything would be done to ensure it goes well. 

El Cuco

Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Performance Date: 4/29/22
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Context: Subject grew up in New York City, but spent his high school education in California. 

Text:

“So El Cuco, which is basically like the boogeyman in Latin households. It started in Latin America basically. So my parents grew up with it and they passed it down to me. What it basically is is that it’s a boogeyman for children who misbehave so parents can say oh you better behave or el cuco will take you away. It’s basically just like a way to prevent children from acting up, because the way they describe the figure is sort of a demon-like figure. So it makes children afraid, also because he’s always watching you. He’s like the anti-santa clause. He knows when you misbehaving and at any moment he can take you away”.

Analysis: 

This piece of folklore here clearly aligns itself with the pieces of folklore created for the sole purpose of teaching children how the world works. The harmless white lies told to children in order to indoctrinate them into society, teaching them lessons of empathy and responsibility, are best done through stories such as this.