The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

LANGUAGE: THE WILDFLOWERS OF THOUGHT

"TOO MANY COOKS SPOIL THE BROTH"--
"TWO MIDWIVES WILL DELIVER A BABY WITH A CROOKED HEAD."
"WITH SO MANY ROOSTERS CROWING, THE SUN NEVER COMES UP."
"WITH SEVEN NURSES, THE CHILD GOES BLIND."
"TOO MANY BOATMEN RUN THE BOAT UP TO THE TOP OF THE
MOUNTAIN."
"IT NEVER RAINS BUT IT POURS,"
"IT LEAKS AT THE GUNWALE, IT LEAKS IN THE KEEL."
"AN EYE FOR AN EYE, A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH,"
"A GOAT'S HIDE BUYS A GOAT'S HIDE AND A GOURD A GOURD."
"A SOFT ANSWER TURNETH AWAY WRATH,"

Submitter comment: SO GOES A PROVERB THAT IS AS FAMILIAR TO MOST AMERICANS AS
ITS MEANING. THE IRANIANS EXPRESSED THE SAME THOUGHT WITH
DIFFERENT WORDS:
SO DO THE ITALIANS:
THE RUSSIANS:
AND THE JAPANESE:
THESE LEAN, DIDACTIC, APHORISTIC STATEMENTS, SO VARIED IN
THEIR LANGUAGE, SEEM TO DISTILL A UNIVERSAL WISDOM. IN THE
SAMOAN FISHING CULTURE, WHICH IS DEPENDENT ON THE CANOE,
ISLANDERS WOULD HAVE NO DIFFICULTY IN RECOGNIZING THE
KINSHIP OF THE ENGLISH PROVERB,
TO ONE OF THEIR OWN:
FROM THE BIBLICAL INJUNCTION,
IT IS ONLY A SHORT AND NEGOTIABLE STEP TO AN OLD SAYING
OF THE NANDI TRIBE IN EAST AFRICA:
HIDDEN CODE. CAN IT BE THAT THE PROVERB--LITERALLY,
"BEFORE THE WORD"--PROVIDES A CLUE TO THE COMMON
DENOMINATOR OF ALL HUMAN THOUGHT? THIS POSSIBILITY HAS
BEEN RAISED BY GEORGE B. MILNER, 50, A LINGUIST AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON'S SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN
STUDIES. MANY ANTHROPOLOGISTS AND LINGUISTS HAVE LONG
SUSPECTED THAT THE HUMAN MIND OBEYS A HIDDEN CODE--JUST
AS THE COMPUTER FOLLOWS INSTRUCTIONS PROGRAMMED INTO IT
BEFORE IT BEGINS TO "THINK." IN AN ARTICLE FOR BRITAIN'S
"NEW SOCIETY" MAGAZINE, MILNER CONTENDS THAT THE PROVERB
MAY STAND BREATHTAKINGLY NEAR TO THE SOURCE OF THAT CODE.
MILNER'S INTEREST IN THE PROVERB BEGAN IN 1955, WHEN HE
FLEW TO THE SOUTH PACIFIC TO COMPILE THE FIRST SAMOAN
DICTIONARY SINCE 1862. THERE HE FOUND A RIGIDLY STRATIFIED
CULTURE THAT RELIED ON THE PROVERB AS A GUIDE THROUGH THE
THICKET OF SOCIAL LIFE. THE SAMOANS HAD PROVERBS FOR EVERY
HUMAN EXCHANGE, SAYS MILNER: "TO PAY RESPECT, TO EXPRESS
PLEASURE, SYMPATHY, REGRET, TO MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH, TO BLAME
OR CRITICIZE, TO APOLOGIZE, TO INSULT, THANK, CAJOLE, ASK
A FAVOR, SAY FAREWELL." INTRIGUED, HE COLLECTED THOUSANDS
OF THESE PITHY SAYINGS.
BACK IN ENGLAND, MILNER COMPARED HIS SAMOAN STOCK WITH THE
PROVERBS CURRENT IN EUROPE, AND WAS STRUCK BY THE MANY
SIMILARITIES IN STRUCTURE, RHYTHM AND CONTENT. IT WAS
ALMOST AS IF THE PROVERB SHARED A COMMON SOURCE. SINCE
THIS WAS CULTURALLY IMPOSSIBLE, MILNER CONSIDERED ANOTHER
POTENTIAL ORIGIN: THE UNIVERSALITY OF HUMAN THOUGHT.
REGARDLESS OF THEIR GENESIS, MILNER ARGUES, THE BEST
PROVERBS EASILY TRANSCEND ETHNIC AND GEOGRAPHICAL BARRIERS.
THEY DEAL IN THE FUNDAMENTAL STUFF OF LIFE: LOVE AND WAR,
BIRTH AND DEATH, SICKNESS AND HEALTH, WORK AND PLAY. LIKE
THE HUMAN MIND ITSELF, THEY SEEK THE CORE MEANING OF THINGS
AND THE SATISFYING SYMMETRY OF ANTITHESIS. THEY TOUCH THE
TAPROOTS OF THE MIND WITHOUT REQUIRING THE SERVICE OF THE
INTELLECT.
PRECURSOR SAGE. MANY WORDS IN A GIVEN LANGUAGE CAN BE
TRACED TO THEIR ROOT ORIGINS BY A SKILLED LEXICOGRAPHER.
THE ANCESTRY OF PROVERBS CAN RARELY BE DETERMINED WITH
SCIENTIFIC ACCURACY. AESCHYLUS WAS AS FAMILIAR AS SOLOMON
WITH THE PROVERB,
BUT NO ONE CAN SAY TO WHAT PRECURSOR SAGE BOTH MEN OWED THE
SAYING. IT REMAINS A MYSTERY, MOREOVER, WHY SOME
CIVILIZATIONS ARE RICH IN PROVERBS AND OTHERS ARE NOT. WHY
DID THE INCAS, THE MAYANS AND NEARLY ALL THE INDIAN TRIBES
OF NORTH AMERICA PRODUCE SUCH A MEAGER CROP OF PROVERBS,
WHEN THE SPANIARDS, THE SAMOANS, THE ARABS AND THE CHINESE
WERE MINTING THEM BY THE THOUSANDS?
THE ANSWERS MUST AWAIT FURTHER EXPLORATION OF THAT GREATEST
MYSTERY OF ALL: THE PROCESSES OF THE MIND. MILNER'S
CONTENTION IS THAT THE PROVERB, THE WILD FLOWER OF HUMAN
WISDOM, MAY NOW HELP TO DIRECT THE SEARCH INTO THE DEEP.
"TIME" MAGAZINE, MARCH 14, 1969, PP.74, 76.

Where learned: NOT GIVEN