If you are looking for an unusual present for a friend or relative, this little book might suit the bill. It is unusual in that it has a broad sweep across Africa, though it is stronger on proverbs from Southern Africa and former colonies of Great Britain; there are some from former French dominated areas. The book is liberally illustrated with small, but appropriate, line drawings printed in either orange or green. The 200 or so proverbs are divided into fourteen themes, ranging from adversity and animals to nature and wisdom.
Each proverb is presented in the original vernacular. This is immediately followed in brackets by the language it belongs to and then the country. Then in larger print in a different colour the proverb is translated into English. For most adults, the proverb will speak for itself. But for children, an interpretation may be necessary. The compiler, Diane Stewart, provides an explanation next, which at times is redundant, occasionally amusing, but rarely trite.
Diane Stewart, we are told, is an author of children’s books and a person with “degrees in African Languages and Literature”. This book of proverbs is dedicated to her professor, Ant Davey, but we are not told where and when. Struik has also failed to enlighten readers about any of Diane Stewart’s other books, or anything else about her. Her introduction reveals little and unfortunately there is no preface that might have helped to enlighten us. I mention this because there is a lesson here for anyone who is selecting the name of a child and concerned about their future greatness, which in the world of the wide web, means “uniqueness”.
If you do not give your child a unique name, they will be lost in cyber space. “Diane Stewart” in Google scores 10,100 hits and there are dozens of presumable females with her name: a painter, an actress, an English teacher, a songstress, an author, and so on, but no clue to the identity of the author of this quaint book. Perhaps in a hundred years this dynamic will feature in a number of varying proverbs written in one of the surviving African languages of the future?
There is a methodological problem presented by this selection of proverbs. The compiler says that proverbs have their source in oral tradition and are grounded in culture and time-honoured society. The problem is, as with the field of studying folk tales, and other aspects of culture, what is unique to the society, what existed before “contact”? Or to put it another way, are these really original proverbs, or have they just been taken from other sources and over decades ended up being incorporated into the talk of the place, but are actually not original? How do you tell when a proverb is genuine and when it is borrowed, an import from another culture, even a modern one, and at that not another African culture?
One example from Uganda will help to illustrate the problem - “Aria wura aluri ei nga to alu” is taken from the Lugbara, and means, “The same-coloured birds fly together”. But missionaries reached West Nile over 100 years ago and the saying, “Bird of a feather flock together”, could have easily been transposed for local use. The compiler has presented all the proverbs she has collected as being “African”. Are they? But, no matter, they are interesting, and no matter what their context, they are a useful tool to teach children a lesson. Proverbs are more that archaic sayings passed down through generations, to amuse and entertain.
They are also instruments of social control; ways of transmitting a message to the young about what behaviour is expected of them.
As the compiler notes, they tend to be universal.
Another example of a universal proverb is one from the Northern world, “Haste makes waste”.
It is also the famous Swahili saying found throughout East Africa and west into the Congo, “Haraka haraka haina baraka”, or “Hurry hurry has no benefits”, which she explains as “there is little merit in doing things in a hurry” (and attributes just to Kenya). Fortunately, most of her entries are more interesting than this.
Let me give a few examples of some of the other proverbs Stewart has collected.
In Rwanda and Burundi, it is said that, “Ndani ya neno la mzee hupatikana mfupa”, or “A bone is formed from the word of an elder”, which according to the compiler translates, “youth should look to elders in their society for guidance and instruction”. That this is a Swahili saying, and has other meanings, is not mentioned.From Senegal, in Wolof, we have a saying on sycophancy, “Ku la abal I tank, nga dem fa ko neex”, which she converts to, “If you borrow a man’s legs you will go where he directs you”.
The saying in Setswana, “Ke go bonetse letsatsi pele” or “I have seen the sun before you”, is translated not in terms of the early bird catching the first rays of the Tswana blanket in the winter, but “I was born even before you could see. Experience has taught me many things”. So respect me, I am your elder, and am more knowledgeable than you. You can see what a proverb means depends on its cultural context and usage. And on its compiler.
Stewart has collected and included a number of Ovambo sayings from northern Namibia, which are subtler. For example, “Uusiku waa nomwedhi”, she translates “Night without moonlight” and interprets, “The evil that is in man is exposed.
Things that are hidden are revealed”. Another form of “Things are seldom what they seem”? From Luganda she presents, “Atannayita: y’atenda nniyina okufumba”, or “The person who has not travelled a great deal thinks that his or her mother is the best cook”. She interprets this further, saying, “A person who has not experienced life beyond home can become self-centred and isolated. Similarly, people who have not travelled far from home can become very provincial in their outlook on life. This proverb is used to promote the fact that ‘travel broadens the mind’”.
It would be fun for adults or teachers to use this book to stimulate children to come up with alternative possible explanations, and then try to say what they have created might hold. They could then write their own proverbs.
e-mail sheridangriswold@yahoo.com
