Northern American Proverb

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Willmar, Minnesota
Performance Date: 4/19/19
Primary Language: English

What is a proverb you’ve heard plenty of times before in your own household?

B.N. – “My grandfather, the man who’s M.O. was to be super reserved, very careful would always tell me “what’s the worst plan you can have?  No plan at all.”

How has this impacted you, and your life?

B.N. – “I mean, it’s hard to be conscious of this, but these are words that I definitely live by.  He was always ‘the man with the plan,’ and all my life, which has, like, always been in this town of Willmar, has always been easy for me.  And it’s because, I think, I’ve always had these words to live by, this backbone that I could go back to.”

 

This simple proverb resonated with this person just as it does with me.  He admitted that it doesn’t seem like most proverbs – too specific.  But, when I think about what it meant to him, in his town where – as his own uncle put it – danger was around every corner at one point or another, it brings another meaning to me.

Mouse and Cat Island and Dog Mountain

Nationality: Thai
Age: 60
Occupation: Restaurant Owner
Residence: New York
Primary Language: Thai (laotian)
Language: English

Context:

The following informant is a 60-year-old Thai immigrant who heard the following story growing up as a kid. This interview was carried out in a mix of Thai and English. In this I will be denoted as C and the informant will be denoted as S

Item:

S: When you go traveling in the south of Thailand, where there is a lot a sea. Like Pattaya, Hua Hin, and whatever there are islands named Mouse and Cat, and so forth.

C: Right.

S: Okay, I will tell you how those places got their name. So there’s this merchant, a Chinese merchant. Who is carrying merchandise. A Chinese merchant with merchandise from China brings his merchandise on a boat to Thailand. After selling all his merchandise, before he leave the merchant sees a beautiful cat and dog and brings them with him on his boat. Now once the cat and dog are on the boat it is very boring for them and they want to go back to Thailand. They want to go back to the sea and their house that is next to the sea. They want to go home and go back to being home. So they start trying to figure out how they can make their way back home.

So, the dog, the dog says to the cat that the merchant has, uh, a special glass. This mean a special crystal that whoever holds the crystal will not drown. They will be unable to drown, do you understand?

C: Yes, I understand.

S: Now the cat starts thinking about how it can get the crystal so it starts talking to a mouse and, uh, orders the mouse to steal the crystal in exchange for being able to join them on their journey back to Thailand. So the cat, the dog, and the mouse. When the boat starts going back to Thailand again the mouse sneaks in and steals the crystal, the special crystal, the magic crystal, and holds the crystal in the mouth. So the three of them, the mouse, the cat, and a dog, escape from the ship near Thailand.

When they’re swimming the mouse is swimming in front and starts thinking that the crystal, the one that it is holding in its mouth, is worth a lot and the cat and dog will probably try to take the crystal from the mouse. So the mouse starts thinking it should escape the cat and dog and then crystal will be the mouse’s forever. The cat is also thinking that it should take the crystal for itself so it swims up towards the mouse. When the mouse sees the cat it freaks out and swims away and when it does it the special crystal falls out of its mouth and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Now when it’s at the bottom of the ocean, the uh, the mouse and the cat can’t swim anymore and the cat and the mouse drown. This is why the there is a Mouse Island and Cat Island in Songkhla Bay. The dog is able to keep swimming but since the land is so far away, once it gets to land it dies immediately. This is why there is a Dog Mountain in the Songkhla Bay. And the special crystal broke up in the ocean becoming glassy sand that is white beautiful sand that looks almost like glass.

Analysis: It is very interesting to hear a story about how these islands and locations go their name and also an explanation for why the sand in the south of Thailand is so fine and white.

Annotation:
A different version of the story can be found here. It is printed on a plaque of a statue depicting the mouse and cat in the story. Interesting the mountain is not called Dog Mountain in this version but Tangkaun Hill.
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMBWWY_The_Sculpture_of_the_Mouse_and_the_CatHat_Yai_Thailand

Jewish Bread and Salt for New Homes

Nationality: American
Age: 26
Occupation: Student
Residence: Long Beach, California
Primary Language: English

I guess it’s a Jewish tradition to bring salt to somebody when they move somewhere new. When I moved into my first apartment, my mom brought a loaf of bread and salt. I think she said it’s supposed to be so you never go hungry, and then the salt brings flavor. She also sprinkled the salt on the floor because she said it protects against evil, and I couldn’t vacuum the salt for at least twenty-four hours. She said that her parents did the same thing when she moved into her first apartment, so she was passing that tradition on to me.

Context: The informant’s maternal grandparents are both Jewish, and the informant practiced Judaism throughout his childhood.

Interpretation: This is an act of love and concern from whoever brings the homeowner salt and bread. In this case, it also connects the informant to his grandparents by bringing their tradition into his home. Lastly, it is a religious practice that connects Jewish people to one another by practicing the same traditions.

 

Skate for fun, not for fame

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Long Beach, California
Primary Language: English

“Skate for fun, not for fame.”

Context: The informant has been skateboarding since he was six-years-old, and has encountered many amateur and professional skateboarders.

Interpretation: There is a lot of backlash in the skateboarding community against skaters who “sell out” and skateboard for the sake of money and fame. It is well-known that a “true” skateboarder skates because they are passionate about improving and about the culture of skateboarding. This proverb encourages skateboarders to fully enjoy the activity rather than putting pressure on themselves to be of a certain skill level in order to pursue skateboarding professionally. It also shames skateboarders who see skateboarding as their greatest strength and opportunity for success, and makes it more difficult for skateboarding to progress as an industry.

 

Av barn og fulle folk får ein høyre sanninga

Nationality: American
Age: 62
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Corona del Mar, California
Primary Language: English

“Av barn og fulle folk får ein høyre sanninga.”

“From children and drunk people we hear the truth.”

Context: The informant’s grandmother was a Norwegian immigrant with many peculiar sayings. This was his favorite, as it gave him a rare sense of power as a child.

Interpretation: Because sober adults often act in their own self-interest and mask their intentions with flattery and deceit, it has been said in more than one language that honesty is reserved for children who have not yet learned to lie and manipulate and drunk people who do not have the mental capacity to mask their feelings and intentions. This can be used, as is the case with my informant, to empower children and encourage them to maintain their honesty and forthrightness. It can also make adults more likely to share their true feelings because it indirectly shames their general dishonesty. Lastly, it makes people more receptive to the thoughts and feelings of children and drunk people, who are both often overlooked because they are seen as foolish and incapable of sharing knowledge.