Tag Archives: proverb

“Don’t fix your shoelace in the melon bed and don’t adjust your hat under a plum tree” – Korean Proverb

Occupation: Student
Performance Date: 2/19/2023
Primary Language: English

1. Text

Main piece: Informant shared a Korean proverb which he translated to “Don’t fix your shoelace in the melon bed and don’t adjust your hat under a plum tree”.

2. Context

Relationship to the piece:

Informant is a Korean-American whose parents immigrated from Korea to the US. He learned this piece of proverb from his culture and parents.

Proverb meaning:

The informant explained the proverb as a metaphor to “not do things that will make you look suspicious”. Since crouching down to fix ones shoelaces in a melon bed would make it look like one is stealing the melons and likewise for the plum tree and stealing plums. This proverb is used to warn and teach people what not to do.

3. Analysis

This proverb’s use of the “melon bed” and the “plum tree” seems specific to Korea as melons and plums are more common fruits in Asian culture therefore would be more likely to appear in a proverb rather than pumpkins or apples which might be more common in western proverbs. The idea that you should not do anything that would make you seem suspicious even if you have the right intentions seems like an Asian ideal that appearances and reputation is more important than individuality. Fixing the hat and shoelaces are also perfectionist and conforming actions that are more emphasized or expected in Asian cultures like Korea.

Finnish Tar Remedies

Nationality: American
Age: 65
Occupation: Writer
Residence: Seattle, Washington
Performance Date: April 28, 2022
Primary Language: English
Language: Finnish

Informant Background:

My informant, KL, is my mother. Her father was born in Finland and immigrated to the United States as a young adult. When she was younger, her father would heat up pine tar in boiling water and have her breathe in the fumes if she as sick.

Piece of Folklore:

            When KL was sick as a child, she remembers her father heating up pine tar in boiling water and having her lean over and breathe in the steam to clear out a head cold. Tar would also sometimes be diluted and rubbed on her and her siblings’ chests for the same effect. She also remembers a saying: ”Jossei viina terva ja sauna auta ni se on kuolemaksi,” which roughly translates to “If vodka, tar, and a sauna cannot cure you, it is likely fatal.*”

*: A slightly different version of this saying is referenced in a Finish journal of social medicine:

Pietilä, Ilkka. “Kontekstuaalinen vaihtelu miesten puheessa terveydestä: yksilöhaastatteluiden ja ryhmäkeskustelujen vertaileva analyysi.” Sosiaalilääketieteellinen aikakauslehti 46.3 (2009).

Analysis:

            Tar was believed to have powerful medicinal qualities – everything from treating skin ailments to serving as an antiseptic and antibiotic. It was more or less considered a cure-all, and was often at hand because it was also used for sealing boats. Similar treatments for colds are still in common use across many cultures – breathing in steam is thought to help de-congest the nose, and similar chest rubs are used to relieve coughs.

Korean Proverb 2

1) Original Performance: “세 살 버릇 여든까지 간다”

Romanization/Transliteration: Sae sal buh-leut yuh-deun kkaji ganda

Full Translation (Literal / Dynamic): “A three year old’s habits go till the age of 80” / “Old habits last a lifetime”

2) The informant is my grandfather, a Korean who immigrated to the US in the 1970s. My grandfather learned this piece from his elementary school teacher, during a scolding apparently. He told me this piece because he believes that as I am still young, it has great value for me to hear. He says that if I can develop good habits now, I can benefit for the rest of my life. 

3) This was performed along with a set of four Korean proverbs that I asked my grandfather to tell me while eating dinner at his house a month or so ago. I specifically asked him to tell me his four favorite or most inspirational proverbs that he could think of. 

4) This proverb rings of Korea’s Confucian value system and provides some insight as to why children are held to an extremely high standard of discipline at a young age. This is even reflected in Korea’s speaking system, wherein young people use a specialized, elevated form of speech when talking to their elders. It is through perpetual systems like these that young Korean’s can develop the “habits” referred to in this proverb. 

Korean Proverb 1

1) Original Performance: “개천에서 용 난다”

Romanization/Transliteration: Gae-cheon eh-suh yong nan-da

Full Translation (Literal / Dynamic): “A dragon is born from a stream” / “Great people come from humble beginnings”

2) The informant is my grandfather, a Korean who immigrated to the US in the 1970s. My grandfather learned this piece from my great grandmother, who told this proverb to him when he was a child in the Korean countryside with few resources (due to the destruction of the Korean War). He told me he likes this piece because he feels as if he has overcome his circumstances to emerge as a “dragon,” so to speak. 

3) This was performed along with a set of four Korean proverbs that I asked my grandfather to tell me while eating dinner at his house a month or so ago. I specifically asked him to tell me his four favorite or most inspirational proverbs that he could think of. 

4) In thinking about this performance, I was surprised by the text’s raw references to nature and mythical characters. Upon further thinking, I realized that Korea puts great emphasis on the Lunar Calendar, and that the symbols of luck, strength, and fortune that are associated with the dragon match with the idea of an individual’s journey towards prosperity. 

Korean Proverb 4

Entry 4: 

1) Original Performance: “가는 말이 고와야 오는 말이 곱다”

Romanization/Transliteration: “ga-neun mal-ee go-wah-yah oh-neun mal-ee gob-da”

Full Translation (Literal / Dynamic): “going words must be beautiful in order for coming words to be beautiful” / “you must speak nicely to hear nice words” / “treat others the way you wish to be treated” 

2) The informant is Kang Soo Lee, my grandfather, and a Korean who immigrated to the US in the 1970s. My grandfather said that this proverb is a folklore he learned from his mother, my great-grandmother. He says it was well known as a principle in Korea, but had no other distinction like “The Golden Rule.” He personally likes the phrase, but finds it intriguing that it is given a new level of relevance in America. 

3) This was performed along with a set of four Korean proverbs that I asked my grandfather to tell me while eating dinner at his house a month or so ago. I specifically asked him to tell me his four favorite or most inspirational proverbs that he could think of. 

4) In hearing this proverb, I’m made to think about contrasts in Korean and American culture. The fact that the Korean proverb isn’t given a new moral status as with the Golden Rule – though it’s still held as a moral principle – likely serves some connection to the fact that this expectation of a necessary equality of treatment between both parties isn’t taken as a given. For example, there are both family and corporate, professional situations where one party (the lower in the relationship’s hierarchy) clearly talks to their superior in the same manner the superior talks to them. This is because things like age, occupation, and family background are high contributors to the innate status an individual has in society. This is tied to old Confucian concepts of filial piety.