The Journal of Negro History
Chapter 4 : THE MIND OF THE AFRICAN NEGRO AS REFLECTED IN HIS PROVERBS As a study of folk literature

THE MIND OF THE AFRICAN NEGRO AS REFLECTED IN HIS PROVERBS

As a study of folk literature of different races offers one way of understanding their mental att.i.tude toward life and its problems, the folk literature of the Negro will reveal to us his inherent moral and intellectual bias and the natural trend of his philosophy. Let us therefore examine some phases of this subject, paying particular attention to that part which relates especially to the proverbs. The sources of such literature are abundant. A little research in a well-equipped library brings one into a curious and informing ma.s.s of knowledge, ever increasing in bulk, in the French, German and English languages, as well as in many strange and highly inflected African tongues.

A cursory reading of this literature discloses at once that our general knowledge of Africa has been based in the past mainly on those external facts that strike the sense of sight, such as the physical appearance of the population, native dress and handiwork, musical instruments, implements of warfare, and customs peculiar to the social and religious life of the people. Only through the folk literature, however, can we get a glimpse of the working of the mind of the African Negro. Professor Henry Drummond, although he had traveled in Africa and had written at length about it, still exhibited a longing for this insight when he observed: "I have often wished that I could get inside of an African for an afternoon and just see how he looked at things." At that time much of the folk literature of that continent was not as now available. A deeper and more extensive reading of it at present strengthens our belief in the ancient saying "Out of Africa there is always something new," a rather disquieting thought, if we have reached the conclusion that native culture on that continent has never risen above the zero point.

A critical examination of the content of this folk literature will result in a division somewhat similar to that found in the same type of literature of other races. Such a division discloses stories, poetry, riddles and proverbs. The African folk literature is especially rich in proverbs. So numerous are these proverbs that it has been said that there is scarcely an object presented to the eye, scarcely an idea excited in the mind, but it is accompanied by some sententious aphorism, founded on close observation of man and animals and in many cases of a decidedly moral tendency. Lord Bacon remarked many years ago that "the genius, wit and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs." Cervantes in _Don Quixote_ says "Methinks, Sancho, that there is no proverb that is not true, because they are all judgments drawn from the same experience which is the mother of all knowledge." If these sayings be true, then the proverbs of the African Negro should be examined in order to see if they approach these observations.

For convenience of the reader an effort has been made to arrange these sententious sayings under general subjects. These selected by no means exhaust the mine of African proverbial lore but are only a few nuggets that suggest the Negro's power to infer and generalize and to express himself in a graphic and concise way relative to life as he observed and experienced it.[1]

_Anger_ Anger does n.o.body good, but patience is the father of kindness.

_a.s.sistance_ Not to aid one in distress is to kill him in your heart.

_Birth_ Birth does not differ from birth; as the free man was born so was the slave.

In the beginning our Lord created all. With him there is neither slave nor free man, but every one is free.

_Boasting_ Boasting is not courage. He who boasts much cannot do much. Much gesticulation does not prove courage.

_Borrowing_ Borrowing is easy but the day of payment is hard.

_Chance_ He who waits for chance may wait for a year.

_Character_ Wherever a man goes to dwell his character goes with him. Every man's character is good in his own eyes.

_Charity_ Charity is the father of sacrifice.

_Children_ There is no wealth without children. It is the duty of children to wait on elders, not elders on children.

_Condemnation_ You condemn on hearsay evidence alone, your sins increase.

_Contempt_ Men despise what they do not understand.

_Covetousness_ If thou seeketh to obtain by force what our Lord did not give thee, thou wilt not get it.

_Danger of Beauty_ He who marries a beauty, marries trouble.

_Danger of Poverty_ Beg help and you will meet with refusals; ask for alms and you will meet with misers.

_Danger of Wealth_ It is better to be poor and live long than rich and die young.

_Disposition_ A man's disposition is like a mark in a stone, no one can efface it.

_Doing Good_ If one does good, G.o.d will interpret it to him for good.

_Duty to One's Self_ Do not repair another man's fence until you have seen to your own.

_Effort_ You cannot kill game by looking at it.

_Evil Doer_ The evil doer is ever anxious.

_Experience_ We begin by being foolish and we become wise by experience.

_Familiarity_ Familiarity induces contempt, but distance secures respect.

_Faults_ Faults are like a hill, you stand on your own and you talk about those of other people.

_Faults of the Rich_ If thou art poor, do not make a rich man thy friend.

If thou goest to a foreign country, do not alight at a rich man's house.

_Favor of the Great_ To love the king is not bad, but a king who loves you is better.

_Folly_ After a foolish action comes remorse.

_Forethought_ A person prepared beforehand is better than after reflection.

The day on which one starts is not the time to commence one's preparation.

_Forgiveness_ He who forgives ends the quarrel.

_Friends_ There are three friends in this world--courage, sense, and insight.

_Friends.h.i.+p_ Hold a true friend with both of your hands.

_Future_ Thou knowest the past but not the future.

As to what is future, even a bird with a long neck can not see it, but G.o.d only.

_Gossip_ Gossip is unbecoming an elder.

_Gentleness_ A matter dealt with gently is sure to prosper, but a matter dealt with violently causes vexation.

_Hate_ There is no medicine for hate.

_Heart_ It is the heart that carries one to heaven.

_Heathen_ He is a heathen who bears malice.

_Hope_ Hope is the pillar of the world.

_Ignorance_ Lack of knowledge is darker than night.

An ignorant man is always a slave.

Whoever works without knowledge works uselessly.

_Immortality_ Since thou hast no benefactor in this world, thy having one in the next world will be all the more pleasant.

_Injury_ He who injures another brings injury upon himself.

_Laziness_ Laziness lends a.s.sistance to fatigue.

A lazy man looks for light employment.