slave proverbs: a perspective

7/24/2019 Slave Proverbs: A Perspective

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129

SLAVE PROVERBS:

A PERSPECTIVE

by

JohnW.Roberts

As

a

short,

raditional tatement

esigned

o

mpart

he

moral

and

ethicalwisdom fa

group

o its

members,

he

proverb,

n ts

brevity,s an important ehiclefor the studyof problematic

situationsfaced

by

the

Afro-American

lave

community

n

the

United

States.

The

study

of

the

proverbs,

moreover,

ffers

significant

means

of

discovering

xpedient

olutions he

com-

munity

ound

o its

problems.'

However,

with he

exceptions

f

short

collections

scattered

throughout nthologies,proverb

dictionaries,

nd

journals,

the

proverbs

mployed

y

the Afro-

American slave

community

re

an almost

forgotten

enre.

Because scholars have failed to study seriouslythe slave

proverbs,

mportant nsights

nto

the

nature of artistic

ex-

pression

within the slave

community

nd a

potentially

significant

means of

evaluating

slave

thought

have been

overlooked.2

s the

well-known

roverb

cholar

Archer

Taylor

has

pointed

ut,

through

he

study

of

proverbs

we are led

very

directly

o

estimate

he

worth f

different anners f

expression

and

to

perceive

urrents

f

deas-ethical,

political,

cientific

nd

esthetic-in hehistoryfhumanity. 3 comprehensivetudy f

Afro-Americanlave

proverbs

must

nevitably

ead

one to seek

out

the differentmannersof

expression

and

currentsof

ideas

employed y

the lave

community.

Although

he ack of

adequate

contextual ata

in

existing

ol-

lectionsrenders

mpossible thorough

xamination

f

the nu-

merous ndividual ituations o

which he

proverbs

were

pplied,

it is

possible

to

gain

a

general

understanding

f slave

proverbs

through

n

analysis

of theirbase

meanings,

hose

meaningswhich llow them to be

applied

to

specific

ituations o

begin

with.4

n

this

paper, propose

o examine

he

proverb

f

he

Afro-

American slave

community

romdiverse

perspectives

n

an

attempt

to

delineate

some

of

its

characteristics

s a form

f

expressive

ulture

nd

to

suggest

ome

ways

n

which t

might

e

helpful

n

providing nsights

nto the

nature and

meaning

of

artistic

xpression

within he slave

community.

irst of

all,

I

shall examine he

general

sefulness f the

proverb

o the slave


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130

community

rom formal nd

rhetorical

erspective.

hen,

from

an aesthetic

oint

f

view,

shall

nalyze

he

rtistic nd

stylistic

traits of

slave

proverbs

s

they

reveal certain

patterns

f

exp-

pression

which

the slave

community

ound ttractive.

inally,the contentof slave proverbs nd their

relationship

o other

forms f

Afro-American

lave folklore

ill

be discussed.

In

terms

f

usefulness,

he

proverb,

s a form f cultural x-

pression,

provided

he

slaves

with

numerous

pportunities

or

verbal

indirection,

form f verbal behaviorat which

the

slaves became

particularlydept.5

n

as much

s

the

mperatives

of the

slaves'

world made survival an

important

concern,

achieving

this

goal

without

totally

nhibiting

he slaves'

ex-

pressiveneeds produceda constanttension.The veryformal

traitsthat make

the

proverb

ne of the most

easily recognized

forms

f

expressive

ulture-such s

figurative

anguage,poetic

phrasing,

nd

balanced structure-made t a

particularly

t-

tractive ehiclefor he

expression

f taboo ideas. These formal

considerations ided

in

the

establishment f the

proverb

s a

covertmeans

of

imparting xperiential

nformationbout

the

nature f the slaves' world nder

he

watchful

ye

ofmaster nd

overseer. heobjectivityndpoeticqualitiesof theproverbs a

form reed he laves from

ersonal esponsibility

or

hecontent

oftheir

roverbial

ayings.

After

ll,

they

were

imply spousing

traditional

entiments

n

a

traditional

nd

accepted

orm.

On

a more

encompassing

evel,

the

universality

f

proverbial

lore

and

its concernwithuniversal

hemesfurnished he

slave

community

ith

n

ideal meansof

expressing

nd

camouflaging

its

own

peculiar

ultural

oncerns

within

larger

radition. o

greathas beentheconcernwithproverbialore as theuniversal

expression

of

human nature

that,

in

the

past,

scholars have

questioned

the fruitfulnessf

proverbstudy

along

racial or

national

ines.6Without

denying

he universal

pplicability

f

proverbial

wisdom,

t is

easy

to see

that

proverbs

re

capable

of

taking

on

specific

ultural onnotations

nder

unique

cultural

conditions.

urthermore,

he

possibility

f this

occurring

ith

culturally

nd

racially

defined nslaved

minority

eems

greater

thanwithmostgroupsbyvirtue fan enslavedgroup's nability

to

dentifyotally

with

oals

and

aspirations

fthe nslavers.

There s

evidence

o

ndicate

hatthe ocial

status

ofthe

laves

influencedheir

erceptions

nd

interpretations

f

proverbs.

or

example,

Millie

Evans,

an

ex-slave

nterviewed or

the

Federal

Writers

roject,

elated

her

master's dmonition

o

the lave

to

be

good

in

terms

f a

proverb:

You

will

reap

what

you

sow,

that

you

sow

t

singly

nd

reap

t

doubly. 7

lthough

hemaster


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131

viewedhis

use

of

the

proverb

n

terms f

his

own

nterests nd

was

referring

o

the

punishment

that

would result from

disobedience,

he

slaves,

on

hearing

his,

related t

to

the even-

tual fate of the entireslaveholding ystem.As this example

suggests,

heuniversal

ature f

proverbial

orecouldbe usedto

the

slave

community'sdvantage

n

a rhetorical

ense.

In

other

words,

universality,

ather han

prohibiting

he

expression

f

their

nique perspective,

rovided

he slaves with kindof

pro-

tective rmor

or

he

xpression

f t.

Furthermore,

he traditional ssociation

of the

proverb

with

moral and ethical

questions

also

proved

instrumental

n

the

slaves' use

of

the

proverb.

o

the

laves,

from

heir

osition

f o-

cial and economic

mpotency,

he moral nd ethical

pronounce-

ments f the masters

ften

arried

he

ring

f

furtherestraints.

In

the

face of the

master's

repressive

moral

codes

and

the

per-

sistence f

their wn

psychologial

nd

physical

need,

the

slaves

developed

moral and ethical

perspective

hat

reflected

heir

own

needs and social

position.

That the slaves used their

proverbs

to inculcate certain

values of

secrecy

and

verbal

discretion

hich

wouldnot

neccessarily

ave been

supportive

f

theslavocracys indicated ya number fproverbswhich arry

the

implication

hat

it

is

betternot

to see

or

openly

discuss

certain

types

of

activities.

Examples

of these

include: Mole

don't see w'at his naber

doin',

Tattlin'

oman can't

make de

bread

rise,

Dem

w'at

knows

oo much

leeps

under e

hopper,

and

A

locked

awbone's

sure

to

be

out of

trouble. 8

he

in-

culcation

f

these

ttitudes

hrough

roverbs

nd other

orms

f

folklore

ndoubtedly

ecame a

source

of

frustration

or the

masters nd was probably s responsible or hestereotypingf

black

slaves as

sullen,

rresponsible,

gnorant,

tc.,

as

anything

else.9

However,

or he slaves thewisdom ontained

n

these nd

similar

roverbs epresented

set of

values

which nsulated he

communitygainst

he

rbitrary

owers

fthe

lavocracy.

One situation

n

particular,

hich ed

the slaves

to

develop

a

moral

position

that ran

counterto that advocated

by

white

slaveholders,

rose out of

one

of

hemost

hronic

roblems

many

faced,that of procuring n adequate food supply.10 o sup-

plement

heir

meager

diets,

slaves

oftenresorted

o

stealing.

Robert

Falls,

another

Federal Writers

Project

informant,

n-

dicated

how the

proverb

ould be

instrumental

n

inculcating

counter

moral

pattern

or

reasons of

survival.He

spoke

of the

slaves'

reacting

o the

possibility

f

beingpunished

or

tealing

food,

n

the

saying,

It

was easier to standwhen he stomach

was

full. 11

ccording

o

the

conventionalWesternmoral

ode,


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132

stealing

s

immoral,

view whichthe slaves

supported

nder

most circumstances.

However,

n

response

to

their

peculiar

situation,

he

slaves

developed

moral

perspective

n

stealing

that was

fair

o them.LawrenceW. Levine

points

out thatthe

slaves made a distinction etween

'stealing,'

whichmeant

appropriating

omething

hat

belonged

o another lave and was

not

condoned,

nd

'taking,'

which

meant

appropriating art

of

the master's

property

orthe benefit f

another

part '12-as

n

another lave

proverb, Jay-bird

on't rob

his

own nes'. 13 his

is

not

to

suggest

hat

lave

morality

an

totally

ounter

o that

of

the

masters',

but to

point

out

that,

through

heir

proverbial

tradition,

he slaves

were

able to

cultivate

ertain

values

that

werenotnecessarilymoral n termsof Western tandardsbut

nonetheless air o the laves.

As with

mostforms ffolklore

ound

mong

blacks

n

America,

it is

difficult o determine o what extent

and

in

what

ways

African

roverbial

radition nfluenced

he content nd form f

Afro-American

lave

proverbs.

However,

whenwe look

at

slave

proverbs,

we

should

keep

in

mindthat

most of the slaves had

their roots

in

West African cultures with well-established

proverbial raditions.14ndoubtedly, ecause of theuniversal

nature f

proverbial

isdom,

many

f he

deas,

although hrased

differently,

n

the slave

proverbs

were lso

in

circulation

mong

white

Americans

t

various

times.B.

J.

Whiting,

ditorof the

section on

proverbs

in

The Frank

C.

Brown Collection

of

North

Carolina

Folklore,

oncludes

that

it is

virtually mpossible

o

separate

Afro-American

roverbs

romwhiteAmerican

roverbs

because of the

borrowing

y

blacks.

However,

he

does concede

thatproverbs xpressing pparentlydentical deaswerephrased

differentlyy

blacks. He

characterizes

he

proverbs

ollected

from

lacks as

constituting

he most colorful

n

the Frank

C.

Brown Collection.15

n

examination f the

artistry

f the

slave

proverbs

will

not resolve

the

question

of

origin

ne

way

or

the

other,

but it will

reveal

much

about

the

slaves' attraction

o

certain

patterns

f

expression

nd,

thereby,

omething

f

how

they

iewed heworld.

The mostpronouncedrtistic chievement fthe laveproverb

is its

striking

se of

magery.

t is

rivaled

nlyby

Afro-American

folksong

n

its

ability

to create

meaningful

nd

significant

imagery

while

ppropriatelyummarizing potentially

rouble-

some

moral or ethical

question.

The Western

endency

o

cast

moral nd ethical onsiderations

n

abstract

erms s eschewed

y

theAfro-American

n

favor

fthemore

rtistically

rresting

on-

crete,

which

s

more haracteristicf

African

ultures.16he con-


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133

cretions sed

in

the

proverbs nevitably

erive

rom he

familiar

aspects

of the slaves'

daily

ives. The

imagery

ends to cluster

around

farming,

nimals

farm,

omestic

nd

wild),

and

food.

Given

the

circumstances

nderwhich he slaves

lived,

he ncli-

nationtowardthe concreten theirfolklores not

surprising.

Leisure s

practiced y

the

slaveholding

lass

promoted

bstract

thinking,

hile the

demands of

survival

which

faced

the

slave

community

equired

mmediately

erceivable

olutions

phrased

concretely.

rom

a rhetorical

erspective,

oger

Abrahamshas

argued

that the more

concrete he

language

of

a

proverb,

he

more

oblique

is its

argument.17

or the slave

community

his

would

have been an

important

onsideration

n

their se of the

proverbpenlyndfreely.

The

preponderance

f

natural

magery

n

the

proverbs

f

the

slaves stemsfrom

othenvironmentalactors nd

from

unique

view of nature.

As is evident

n

their olktales nd

supernatural

beliefs,

he slave

community

ad

a

great

deal of

respect

for he

natural world.

In

their

narrative

nd

belief

traditions,

hey

turned

o animaltraits

o teach

mportant

essons about human

behavior.

n

their

proverbial

ore,

the concreteness

f

nature

imageryhad an importantrhetoricalfunction. The most

striking

rait

n

the ethics

of

proverbs,

ccording

o

Archer

Taylor,

is

the adherence o the

middle

way....

18

One

of the

mosteconomical

ways

n

which he middle

way

is achieved

n

slave

proverbs

derivedfrom heiruse of nature

magery.

By

persistently

sing

nimals

with

definite,

ecognizable

ehavioral

traits,

he

speaker

of

proverbs

was

able to

achieve

a

moderate

stance.

Forexample, heproverb Settin' hensdon'thaker ter fresh

aigs

can be

used

to demonstratehis

dea.19When he

proverb

s

viewed

n

the context f a

proverb rovoking

ituation,

t

forces

the

istener

o

view his

mmediate

ilemma

n

terms f

the

prov-

erb's iteral

magisticmessage.

The istener's

osition

has an

im-

plied comparative elationship

ith

that

of the

animal,

n

this

case

the

hen,

while he

actiontaken

by

the animal

provides

he

listenerwith solution

riented ehavioralmode.

Rhetorically,

thespeaker ttempts o infusentothesocial world he natural

balancewhichhe

perceives

n

nature.

y comparing

he

ituation

which

recipitated

heuse

ofthe

proverb

o

a

natural tate

of

af-

fairs,

he

speaker iterally ays

that

the situation nderdiscus-

sion s

derived rom nd

is

part

of

natural

vents

nd, therefore,

must

be

accepted

and endured.The

underlying ssumption

s

that

he

moderation hich xists

naturally

n

theworld

an be

in-

voked

by

man

nd,

by

his

mitating

t,

provide

im

with

natural


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134

approach

o his own xistence. eter

ietel abels this

ype

f

pro-

verbial

use

as

restraint

r

consolation

n

that no extreme

action

need be undertaken

o realize

ts

message.20

his

general

rhetorical

attern

upports

he

notion

hat laves

sought

ut

and

consistentlyttemptedo inculcatenon-threateningolutions o

their

ocial

problems.

Another

mportant

haracteristic

f

slave

proverbs

s their se

of

personification.

his tends

to occur most

often

n

proverbs

whichhave

abstract deas

as

subjects.

The

personification

f

ab-

stract deas

is

a

way

of

forcing

he

abstract o become

oncrete

by giving

t

personality

nd an

independent

ife

beyond

hat of

the

abstraction

ersonified.

Good

luck

ay:

Open

you'

mouf en

shetyou' eyes' is illustrative f thistypeofproverb.21Good

luck,

which s

ostensibly

n abstract

oncept,

s

given

he

char-

acteristic f

human

peech.

The use of

personification

lso

allows

the

proverbs

o retain heir

bjectivity

hile

nhancing

heir

ra-

maticeffect

pon

the istener. he

objectivity

f the

personified

abstraction lso

acts

to

essen

the

peaker's

esponsibility

or

he

ideas containedwithin he

proverb.

Without

heuse

of

personific-

ation,

he

speaker

would

lmost

be

forced o

express

he

proverb

inthe secondperson nd,thereby,reate more ubjective tate-

ment.The

anonymity

nd

objectivity

f the

proverb

was too

m-

portant

shield for

the

slaves to

relinquish

ts

use,

especially

whentherewereverbaltransformations

uch

as

personification

at their

isposal.

Since

proverbs

o a

large

extent dvocate behavior f

one

sort

or

another,

t

s

instructive

o examine he

slave

proverbs

or he

kind

of

behavior

uggested

n

them.

Judging

rom

he

number f

folktale ollectionswhichcontainthe tarbaby tory nd other

tales

dealing

withthe foolhardinessf

rash and

thoughtless

c-

tion,

ne would

expect

to find number

f

admonitory roverbs

among

he

slaves

addressing

uchaction.Proverbs

uch

as Tar-

rypin

walk

fast

nuff er

o

go

visin',

Don't

rain

eve'ytime

e

pig

squeal,

Colt

in

the

barley-patch

ick

high,

Don't

fling

away

the

empty

wallet,

nd

Dog

don't

get

mad

when

you says

he

is

a

dog

adequately

demonstrate

his

theme.22

he

theme

f

rashaction s closely ollowed ythatofunduepride nd unreal-

istic

aspirations.

Proverbswith

this theme nclude:

Save

de

pacin'

mar'

fer

Sunday,

Dem

w'at

knows

too

much

sleeps

underde

hopper,

Looks won't do ter

split

rails

wid,

Nigger

wid

a

pocket

han'kcher

etter

e looked

tter,

De

proudness

f

a

man

don't countw'en

his

head's

cold,

Some

niggers

mighty

smart,

ut

dey

can't

drive

de

pidgins

o

roos,

and

Temmorow

may

be de

carridge-driver'say

for

loughing. 23

lthough

hese


7/12

135

proverbs

would eemto

represent

he slaves'

acceptance

f their

lot and

act

to

support

he

position

f the

slaveholding

lass,

in

reality hey

seek to instill realisticview of the

nature

of the

slaves' world.LawrenceW. Levine sees this as an uneasy

duality

n black

thought

whichwouldcontinue or

century

after

Emancipation.24

t

is

a theme

that runs

throughout

he

folklore f the slave

period.

As

a theme

n

the

proverbs,

t

represents

n

important

orm

of

internal

group

controland

promoted

thical behavior

which

was realistic

n

termsof the

slaves' social

position

nd

worldview.

Verbalizing

alues

that

appeared supportive

f

the status

quo,

while

nterpreting

hose

values in accordancewiththeirownexperience,s one of the

major

chievements

f lave folklore.

Another

losely

elated heme ound

n

slave

proverbs

s

thatof

status

and its

transitory

ature.Nowhere

n

their

roverbial

ra-

ditiondid

the

slaves

express point

of view

so

succinctly

s

in

Temmorow

may

be de

carridge-driver'say

for

ploughin'. 25

The

theme f status as

transitory

s

another ndication hat

the

slaves

maintained realistic

iew

of

their

redicament.

slave's

statuswithin heslavehierarchy as at thediscretionndwhim

of the

master.

However,

he

proverb,

s

universalmoral state-

ment,

rovided

he slaves with

means

of

transcending

he

nar-

rowdefinitions

mposed

n them.The

proverbs

f

the

slaves had

more

mplications

or osmic ruth

han

heusual imited

pplica-

tions of

the

proverbial

ormwould

ndicate,

truthwell docu-

mented

n

slave

religion.

reversal

n

status

nd

change

n

power

relationships

as

always

an imminent

ossibility

or he

slave.

Fromboth theirAfrican nd American ackgrounds,lavesdis-

coveredthat the

natural

world

was

capable

of

providing

hem

with

a means

of

evaluating

heirown

self-worthnd status

in

spite

of the

pronouncements

f their

nferiorityy

the

master

class.

By observing

nature

they

discovered

hat

Big 'possum

clime ittle

tree,

Possum tail

good

as a

paw,

Mushmilion

vine in't

shame

to

grow longside

o de

mornin'

lory,

nd that

Death don't

see

no differencetween the

big

house

and

the

cabin. 26nasmuch s theslavesviewed quality s a factof na-

ture,

hey

efused o

accept

their

wn

social

nequality

s a fact.

They

were

ble

through

heir

bservation o hold on to the

hope

that heir atural tate

of xistence

would ome bout.

Irony

nd

skepticism, revalent

n

other orms f

Afro-Ameri-

can slave

lore,

find

xpression

n

the

proverbs

lso. The slaves

learned

hrough

xperience

hat

t

was unwise o

put

their

otal

faith

nd

confidence

n

a man or

idea,

however

eliable

t

might


8/12

136

shine,

ut

a

lightered

not's

mighty

andy,

nd

s

furtherxem-

plified

n

such

proverbs

s:

Old

Man

Know-All

ied as'

year,

Rain-crow

on't

sing

no

chune,

ut

youk'n

pen

on

'im,

The

best swimmer

s

often

rowned,

Yuh

mought

s

well

die

wid

de

chillsez de fever and Evah bell you heah ain't uh dinnah

bell. 27 he

skepticism

hich

he

slaves

sought

o nstill

hrough

their

proverbs

temmed rom oth their

xperience

n

dealing

with hewhite

ower

tructurend

maneuvering

ithin he

lave

system.

A

benevolent

master ould

suddenly

ecome malicious

enemy,

nd

promises

were

keptonly

o

long

s

they

enefitedhe

interests f slaveholders.28he

cynical

nd

skeptical

ttitude

f

the

laves

provided

hemwith

wedge

o

place

between he

reali-

tiesoftheir xistencendthepicture ainted ythe laveholding

class.

They

knew

very

well

the

deception

hatthewhiteman

was

capable

of

and

expressed

n in

their

olklore.

he

attitude

s

best

illustrated

n

one of the more

ynical

f

slave

proverbs:

Watch

out

w'en

yo'er

gettin'

ll

yo'

want.Fattin'

hogs

in't

n

uck. 29

In

a number

f

ways,

lave

proverbs

omplement

nd

reinforce

otherforms f folklore

eveloped

by

the Afro-Americanlave

community.

nasmuch as

proverbs

re secular

expressions

f

whatthegroup eesas moral r ethical ruths,heyhave a close

relationship

ith

eligion.

hrough

heir

roverbial

radition he

slaves

show

their

ecognition

f

truths

hat

are not tied to the

slave

system

r theirmasters'

eligion.

heir

ecognition

fthese

truths choestheir

eligious

eliefs s

expressed

n

the

spirituals

in

a

number f

ways.

One

of

the

major

statementsmade

by

the

spirituals

s

thatthere

s

a

truth

nd

ustice

greater

hanthatre-

vealed

by

the

slaveholding ystem.

his truth nd

ustice

makes

slavery,s aninstitution,lie.With he ppropriatettitude nd

faith,

he slave

system

would

give

way

to that

greater

ruth.

he

proverb

ecamea

way

of

nfusing

hat

knowledge

ntothe

daily

lives ofthe slaves on a

secular

evel.

n

the

proverbs,

owever,

t

is

nature nd

not

God

which ecomes

he source f thiswisdom.

Through

heir

bservations

f

nature nd

ts

workings,

he laves

were

ble

to

constantly

eaffirm

heir

wn

quality

nd self-worth

within he

naturalorder f

things.

As

a

result,

hey

refused o

internalize he idea of their nferioritys advocatedby their

masters.

he

slaves

always

knew hat

Dey's

jes'

ez

good

uh fish

in

de creek z

evah been

caught.

Dey's

jes'

ez

good

uh timber

n

woods

ez

evah been

bought,

nd that

All

de

jestice

n

de wul'

ain't fastened

p

in

de

cote'ouse. 30

The

relationship

f

the

slaves'

proverbs

o their

nimal

trick-

ster

tales is

very

obvious from

he

frequent

se

of animal

m-

agery.

The extensive

se of

animalsas a

sourceof

magery

nd


9/12

137

the

concentration

n food n the

proverbs

nvite

omparison

et-

ween

the two forms. t has been

suggested

that the

slaves

assimilated

he

strategies

nd

tactics

of

their

nimal

trickster

figures

nto

their

own

behavior nd

expressed

them as

moral

truths n theirproverbialore.31 he use of the rabbit orBrer

Rabbit,

s

well s other nimalsfamiliar o thetrickster

ycle,

s

the

subjects

of a

number f

proverbs

nhances he

reliability

f

this

ssertion.

roverbs

uch s

Old

rabbitwalks n de

paf

when

de snow

done

fell,

De

old rabbit hink

speriunce

ost too

much

when

you git

t

frum

mash-trap,

Rabbit know fox

rap

ame

as

a

houn',

Et

tek a smart

omebody

uh uh head Buh

Rab'

bit,

and

Tarrypin

walk fast nuff er o

go

visin' are well

rep-

resentednthe collections.32hileproverbswhich voke pecific

tales from

hetrickster

ycle

re

few,

hose

which

eflect

hewis-

dom,

trategies

nd tacticsof

the tricksterre numerous: Crow

an' corn an't

grow

n

de same

fiel',

Whut

you

don' hab in

yo'

haid

yougot

terhab

n

yo'

feet,

Galluses

orbelt)

s small

but t

helpkeep

you

warm,

When trouble

leeps

don't wake

t,

and

If

you

make

youself

n

ass the world

will ride

you. 33

lave

proverbs

erved s a shorthand

meansof

reinforcing

he

wisdom

ofthe trickster's ehaviorntheeverydayocial nteractionsf

the

group

nd,

s

such,

provided

senseof

continuity

nd consis-

tency

etween he

apparently

ivorced orms f

folklore tilized

by

the lave

community.

The

highly

eveloped ystem

of folk

beliefswithin he

slave

community

lso

acted as a source

of

proverbial

isdom

n

many

instances.

olk beliefs

which

had

been

tested

nd,

therefore,

ar-

ried

highdegree

f

validity

or he

slaves

were

dopted

s uni-

versal truthswhichcouldbe used to teach and exhortfellow

slaves.

However,

n

proverbial

orm,

he

superstitions

eased

to

express

cause and effect

elationship

nd

become

llusive

of

the

original

uperstition

n a

declarative

evel. The

allusionencom-

passed

the

dea of the

original

uperstition,

hile ts

proverbial

meaning

derivedfrom

he

context

f

its use.

For

example,

he

superstition

A

howling

og

is

a

sign

of death

as a

proverb

e-

comes De

howling

og

knoww'at

he sees. 34

he

speaker

akes

the

truth

which

he sees

implicitlyxpressed

n

the

superstitionandtranslates tinto n

explicit

ruthnthe

proverb.

heuse of

superstitious

deas

in

proverbs

ignalled

he

slaves'

willingness

to

accept

and

trust heir

wn

experiences.

he existence f

these

proverbs

lso

demonstrateso a

largedegree

he

extent o which

the

slaves

valued their

wn

knowledge

nd

reliedon their

wn

perceptions

f

heworld.

As

one of the

more

ophisticated

rtistic orms

f

folklore,

he


10/12

138

proverb

s

capable

of

compressing

tremendous

mount fhum-

an

wisdom nto

relatively

ew

words.

Recognizing

his

possibili-

ty,

the

Afro-American

lave

community

eized

the

proverb

nd

made

t

an

expression

f

ts

world

iew

nd

a reflectionf ts

own

uniquecultural redicament.n doing o,the slaves nadvertent-

ly

discovered means

of

reaffirming

heir

wn self-worthithin

the

universal rder.

n

nature he

slaves

sought

nd

found olu-

tions

hatwere

pplicable

n

a world

bsorbed

n

social,

conomic

and

political

concerns,

worldof

which

hey

formed n

amor-

phous

center.

Through

heir

proverbial

ore,

they

ttempted

o

cultivate

modes

of

behavior hat

gave

form

nd

meaning

o their

existence,

o discover moral nd

ethical

erspective

romwhich

to evaluate their osition, nd to present communityf deas

thatwould nsure heir

ntegrity.

The

proverbs

fthe

slaves revealboth herichness

ftheir er-

tile minds

nd

the

depth

of

their

eflective atures.

Artistically,

the

proverbs

eflect

heir

onsiderable

erbal nd

poetic

bilities,

as

well

s

their

bility

o deal

concretely

ith heir

erceptions

f

the

ways

of the world.

Thematically,

lave

proverbs

apsulized

some of

the

most immediate

nd

compelling

ssues

facing

he

group n a languageand stylemostreadilyunderstood.Mabel

Byrd

in

her 1924

study

of Uncle Remus'

proverbs

tates

that

They express

n

epigram

nd

aphorism

he

wit and

wisdom f

the

slave,

earned

not

n

books

but

in

the hard schoolof

experi-

ence. 35 olklore

cholars'

failure o consider

eriously

he

prov-

erbs

of the

slave

community

as leftan

obvious

void

in

Afro-

Americanfolklore

cholarship.

As one slave

proverb

declares,

Youk'n

hide

de

fier,

ut

w'at

yougwine

o widde smoke. 36

he

passage oftimehas undoubtedlyttenuated lavewisdom, ut

by

rescuing

lave

proverbs

rom econd-class tatus

n

American

folklore,

cholars

will be

doing proverb

cholarship

nd Afro-

Americans

great

ervice.


11/12

139

NOTES

1Roger

Abrahams,

Proverbs

nd

Proverbial

xpressions

n

Folklore and Folklife:An Introduction, d. Richard Dorson

(Chicago:

University

f

Chicago

Press,

1972),

pp.

119-121.

2The several rticles

which

reatAfro-American

roverbs

n

a

non-critical

ay

include

Natalie

Taylor

Carlisle,

Old

Time

Darky

Plantation

Melodies,

Publication

f

the Texas

Folklore

Society,

(1926),

13;

Mabel

Byrd,

Plantation

roverbs

f

Uncle

Remus',

Crisis,

27

(1924),

118-119;

L.

J.

Vance,

Plantation

Folklore,

Open

Court,

(1888),

1029-1074.

3Archer aylor, Problems

n

the

Study

of

Proverbs,

ournal

of

American

olklore,

7

(1934),

1.

4Barbara

Krishenblatt-Gimblett

iscusses

the distinction

between

performance

meaning

and base

meaning

of

proverbs

n

Toward a

Theory

of Proverb

Meaning,

Prover-

bium,

2

(1973),821-827.

5This

dea

is

discussed

by

several uthors

o some

extent,

ut

for

good

discussion

which

relates

t

to African radition

ee

Lawrence

W.

Levine,

Black Culture

nd

Black

Consciousness

(NewYork:Oxford

University

ress,1977),

pp.

5-19.

6See,

for

example,

Archer

Taylor,

The

Proverb

Cambridge,

Mass.:

Harvard

University

ress, 1931),

pp.

164-165;

nd for

discussionof

this

idea

in

relation

o

black

proverbs,

ee

B. J.

Whiting's

Proverbs nd Proverbial

ayings

in

The

Frank

C.

Brown

Collection

f

North

Carolina

Folklore,

d.

Newman

vey

White

Durham:

uke

University

ress,1952),

p.

332-339.

7 Millie

Evans: North

Carolina

n

Lay My

Burden

down,

d.

B. A. BotkinChicago:UniversityfChicagoPress,1945),p.62.

8J. Mason

Brewer,

American

Negro

Folklore

(Chicago:

Quadrangle

Books, 1968),

p.

313;

and

Old

Saws,

The Southern

Workman,

5

1896),

206.

9

For

an excellent iscussion f

stereotypes

f

slaves,

see

John

W.

Blassingame,

The

Slave-

Community

New

York:

Oxford

University

ress,

1972),

pp.

132-153.

10For

a discussion of the

problems

slaves faced

in

food

procurement,ee Blassingame, p. 158-159;CharlesH. Nichols,

Many

ThousandGone:The

Ex-Slaves'Account

f

Their

ondage

and Freedom

Bloomington:

ndiana

University

ress,

1963),

p.

56;

and

Eugene

D.

Genovese,

Roll,

Jordon,

oll The World he

Slaves

Made

(New

York:

Vintage

Books,

1976),

p.

62-63.

11

RobertFalls

in

Voices

from

lavery,

d.

NormanR.

Yetman

(New

York:

Holt,

Rinehart nd

Winston,

970),

p.

116.

12

Levine,

pp.

124-125.


12/12

140

13

Brewer,

.

314.

14L. A.

Boadi,

The

Language

of the Proverb

n

Akan

in

African

Folklore,

ed. Richard Dorson

(Bloomington:

ndiana

University

ress, 1972),

p.

184.

The

extensiveuse of

animal

imagerymightndicateAfricannfluence.

15

Whiting,

.

332.

16

Boadi,

pp.

184-189.

17

Abrahams,

.

122.

18Archer

Taylor,

The Proverb

Cambridge,

Mass.: Harvard

University

ress,

1931),

p.

168.

19

Brewer,

.

314.

20

Peter

Sietel,

Proverb:

A

Social Use of

Metaphor,

Genre,

(1969), pp. 143-161.

21

Brewer,

.

314.

22Brewer,

pp.

313-314;

Harold

Courlander,

Treasury fAfro-

American olklore

New

York:

Crown

Publishers, nc.,

1976),

p.

500.

23

Brewer,

pp.

313-314.

24Levine,

p.

97.

25Ibid.,

.

315.

26Brewer,

p.313,318;Courlander,. 500.

27

rewer,

p.

313-314, 24,325.

28For

discussion

of

changes

that

could

take

place

in

slave

masters,

ee

Blassingame, .

165.

29Brewer,

.

315.

30Ibid.,

p.

321,325.

31

Levine,

p.

121.

32

rewer,

p.

314,316,

318.

33Ibid., . 313; Courlander,. 500; Old Saws, p. 206.34

rewer,

.

314.

35

yrd,

.

118.

slave proverbs: a perspective

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