A Classified Collection of Tamil Proverbs

TAMIL NATION LIBRARY: Literature

*A Classified Collection of Tamil Proverbs
Herman Jensen, 1897, Reprinted Routledge 2000, 499pp
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From the Preface

"...But why so much ado about nothing ? Why take so much trouble about these proverbs ? What is the good of it ? Who cares for these obsolete childish things? Perhaps some old grandmother, when telling stories to women and children inside the houses who are half asleep on their mats, may make some use of them...My answer is that.. Whether we look to the West or to the East we find that figurative speech always has great influence over the masses..."

About twenty years ago (1877), when I got Percival's collection of Tamil proverbs into my hands, I had only been a short time in India, and had as yet got no insight into Indian thought and literature. I had read only a couple of small Tamil story books, but when reading these I had already perceived that the Indians could hardly tell a story without introducing some proverbs into it.

My attention was thus at an early period of my life in India drawn to proverbs, and 1 began to study Percival's collection. I got, however, very little out of my study, as Percival had only given a translation of the Tamil proverbs, and had given no hints as to their meaning. So in those days I got no insight whatever into the real household proverbs, but had almost to rest satisfied with the many aphorisms, or what we in Tamil நீதி மொழி, of which we find large numbers in all our Tamil proverb collections.

Yet, from what I had seen in the story books and in Percival's collection I had got an interest in these terse, blunt and poetic sayings ; and year after year on getting deeper into the thought and life of India, and at the same time becoming acquainted with more and more of the proverbs, my interest in them steadily increased. And whenever I met with a new proverb either when talking with the people or reading Tamil books, I always looked for it in Percival's collection, and if he had not got it, I took a note. of it; and at times I fried to have some of them explained by the common people.

While I was thus leisurely prosecuting the study of Tamil proverbs, the Rev. J. Lazarus B.A., began to prepare a " Dictionary of Tamil Proverbs." I looked forward to the publication of this book with very great interest, but when it appeared, I was somewhat disappointed with it, partly because Mr. Lazarus had not given a translation of the proverbs and partly because his explanation of the proverbs seemed to me, from the insight I had got into the proverbs through years of study, not always to be the right.

But the book roused my interest afresh, and I took a Tamil munshi for about three years to go through all the proverbs I had found in other collections, and those I now found in Mr. Lazarus's book, and also those I had collected myself. This study with my munshi together with the kind help I got from other Tamil people led me to a fuller understanding of Oriental proverbial literature, -and after a couple of years investigation I got the idea of publishing a collection of these beautiful national sayings. But no sooner had I began to realize the idea, than I felt how much easier it was to get an idea than to carry it out. And hundreds of times, when going on with this work, have I felt the force of the Tamil proverb: " I stepped into the water without knowing its depth'.

When the idea of publishing a collection of Tamil proverbs occurred to me, I saw at once that I had great difficulties to face. I had the difficulty of two languages, both of which were foreign to me. I had the fear-and still have it-that it might be too much for a foreigner to venture on the publication of Tamil proverbs, as proverbs undoubtedly form the most difficult branch of a nation's literature to comprehend.

Besides this, it was clear to me that if I were to publish Tamil proverbs, I could not-adopt the usual alphabetical order, 'but would have to arrange them, into groups. Another difficulty-and without comparison the most important one--was to get the proper meaning of the proverbs, not as some pandits may please to explain them, but as common men and. women understand them, when they use them in their every day life. Another difficulty, again, was to have these thousands of -proverbs before me sifted. What was to be taken, and what to be left out ? It always seemed to me that our collections of proverbs suffered from a great evil, viz., that they contained too many useless sayings, too many aphorisms and too many repetitions of the same proverbs.

With these difficulties before me I started, hoping that the proverb would prove true : Little strokes at last fell great oaks," or as we say in Tamil : " Stroke upon stroke will make even a grindstone creep."

When going into the study of Tamil proverbs one finds that little has been done in the way of making a, scientific investigation of them. All proverbs, sayings and aphorisms we meet with in our Tamil proverb collections we generally call Tamil proverbs, but these two terms-Tamil and Proverbs-raise two great questions: Are they all Tamil originally, and are they all proverbs ?

When comparing the Tamil proverbs with the Telegu ones, we find a good number almost word for word the same. And I remember when once walking with a friend in the streets of Poona, that he quoted two Marathi proverbs, both of which we have literally in Tamil. At Bombay I once happened to look into a Marathi proverb collection, and when Iasked for a translation of the first proverb in the book I found it to be ours : "The dancing girl, who could not dance, said that the hall was not big enough." But which is which in our Tamil proverb collections. They are all called Tamil.

Again, is it right to insert in our collections of proverbs hundreds and hundreds of aphorisms, classical sayings (நீதி மொழ) and common sayings, when these only communicate a truth in a general way, without making use of any sort of illustration ? It seems to me that we should not allow "the confusion of proverbs with mere precepts or maxims destitute of proverbial significance and character" to go on. Each in its proper place. I have not left them out altogether, but tried to insert only such as are common, and at the same time contain rare words or idiomatic phrases....

.... But why so much ado about nothing ? Why take so much trouble about these proverbs ? What is the good of it ? Who cares for these obsolete childish things? Perhaps some old grandmother, when telling stories to women and children inside the houses who are half asleep on their mats, may make some use of them. But we men of the nineteenth century, what on earth have we to do with obsolete proverbial literature, some may ask.

My answer is that it is well known that the more a nation develops the more its proverbs die out, but though Europe has now for many hundreds of years been developing, there are many proverbs still in circulation among the different nations of Europe, and some of these proverbs will not die out as long as there is a tongue on earth to speak them. Whether we look to the West or to the East we find that figurative speech always has great influence over the masses. I suppose this was the reason why Jesus, who " knew what was in man," "spake unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them." It is interesting to observe that the latest Tamil drama: " Lilavati-Sulochana" written by an educated man, Sambandam, B.A, contains about a score of Tamil proverbs. If proverbs are still largely in use by the masses, if they still form a part of their daily language, used in practical life for practical purposes, it is clearly our duty to know them, if we want to exert any influence on the people.

When we read biographies of great men, we often see these great men attribute much of their greatness to their mother's influence on them in their early life. A mother, or a home, does lay the first foundation in every child's heart for its future, and in most cases the foundation laid by the mother or by the women of the home, has a most important effect on the moral life afterwards. In this case India is no exception to the rule. But from where does the Indian mother get thoughts by which to educate her children at home ? When a child is naughty, or when a daughter has quarrelled with her mother-in-law and comes home, does an Indian mother in such cases in order to rebuke or comfort quote from the Bhagavatgita, or from the Upanishads? Does she from these books try to inculcate in the child's heart what the different indriyas mean - that some of them are to be subdued, others again to be developed'

The Indian mother has her own practical way at home. Legends, stories and proverbs are her storehouse ; from these she obtains material for rebuking, for sneering, for warning, for encouraging, for comforting and for praising. The proverbs and maxims are India's practical ethics. The Indian proverbs are not antiquarian curiosities, but living and stern realities, and hence perhaps more celestial than the so-called "Celestial Songs" of the Bhagavatgita.

By a good knowledge of Indian proverbs one is enabled, as it were, to feel the moral pulse of the Indian people, and a sound insight into the proverbial literature of India is like getting a microscope by which one can look deeply into the recesses of the native heart. Nothing else can throw so much light on the daily practice of the Indians as do the proverbs. And if one could publish the obscene ones also, which often contain most striking truths, we should see still deeper into the misery of the country. But the obscene ones with which I have met in our collections, and in intercourse with the people, 1 have left out. I have, however, reason to believe that there are many obscene ones besides the few that I have seen and heard; and that they are freely used by the great majority of the common people even in their children's presence. The children are often, I am told, made to laugh over them.

Proverbs are merciless in their criticism of sinful life, and they always aim at putting things right. As already said, the Indian mothers nurse their sons and daughters with them. By proverbs satire is pronounced over folly and over wickedness. By a proverb a crowd or a household is made to smile pleasantly, that otherwise might have got into a hot fight. In proverbs lies buried an endless store of criticism, encouragement, humour, sorrow and complaint, referring to all classes of mankind from the unborn child to the grey-haired veteran. And as the Hindu- and we might for that matter say the whole world - likes to hurt without hurting (சுடாமல் சுடுகிறது), that he may not burn his own fingers, he has in the proverbial literature material by the help of which he can indirectly express his sorrow and joy, his approval or disapproval. By proverbs the shrewd and avaricious Brahmin is criticised; the calculating and careful Chetty a held up to ridicule or indirectly praised; the shepherd's stupidity and the kuravan's rudeness is brought out; the ungrateful and deceitful friend is mercilessly rebuked; the life of immoral women is censured in strong terms; vanity is ridiculed; ... No wonder that many of the proverbs are universal in their application...

Pandits when inserting proverbs in the books they have made, or in books translated by them, have often tried to refine the language in which they are expressed. They are always trying to employ big words and highflown terms, not knowing as yet that simplicity is the highest beauty. I think it is our duty, when we meet with pandit-refined proverbs to bring them back to their original form. I could give many examples of this kind, but I shall confine myself to one: பன்றியோடு இணங்கின் or கூடிய கன்றும் மலம் தின்னும். The common form of this proverb is: பன்றி பின் போகிற கன்றும் பீ தின்னும். பீ is not an indecent word in a Hindu home as yet. Would that no worse words were used in Hindu houses! Real life has dictated the proverbs, and as they are used in real life, so they should be quoted. Their meaning, their words and their grammar are alike practical and simple, why then dress them up in a pandit's dress ? When they die, let them die; bat as long as they are realities, and play an important part in the life of the nation, we should let them go in their natural simplicity, and honour them in their natural dress...."