Folklore

Humour in Proverbs

Fables and folktales deal with diverse themes, covering almost every aspect of folk life. Humour provides one of the commonest themes that fascinated the creative genius of story-teller.

Proverbial folktales show how a people can laugh at themselves, at their own mistakes and follies. They show how funny and witty a people can be. The aim of this site is to narrate some of the more popular folktales which have given rise to proverbs, in an attempt to understand how the people have succeed in combining humor with wisdom.

The Pumpking Thief can be known by his Shoulder

In the days of old, every village had a chief. He was called the headman. A certain headman once had a vegetable garden, full of melons, gourds and pumpkins of all kinds. In his garden was an ash-pumpkin, as big as a water-pitcher. An ash-pumpkin, as you know, has a coating of ash on its skin.

The headman tended this pumpkin with special care. But one day, when he went to his garden, the pumpkin was gone! He felt very angry and insulted too because he was the chief of the village. Soon he summoned all the villagers to his curt-yard. The man who stole the pumpkin was also there.

The headman said nothing about the pumping, "I have great power of magic" he said, "I can ever tell a thief who steals a pumpkin by looking at his shoulder. " Villagers began to look at each other.

In Ceylon villages, big fruits such as melons and pumpkins are carried on one's shoulders. When a pumpkin is carried thus, it leaves behind some ash on the shoulder.

The thief who stole the pumpkin had quite forgotten about the ash. Suddenly he began to wipe off his shoulders with his hand. The headman and everyone else noticed the movement and thus the thief was caught. Ever since then, people say "Pumpkin thief can be known by his shoulders"

This Proverb is used on occasions when a man's behavior betrays his actions, particularly wrong and misdeeds.

Like the pot of porridge of the seven gypsy-men

In the olden days there were soothsayers who traveled from village to village reading people's palms. They were called Gypsy-Men. They usually pass the night in little resthouses on the wayside called Way-Station.

Once, seven of these Gypsy-Men met in a Way-Station to pass the night. Since there were seven of them, they agreed to cook their food together. So, preparations were made to cook some porridge, for the night. A pot of water was kept on the fire. Each was asked to contribute a handful of rice as his share. One by one, the Gypsy-Men come near the pot but instead of putting his share of rice into the pot on fire, they pretended to do so. Each of them believed that if the others contributed their shares, he could save his own.

An hour passed. It was time for the porridge to be served. The Gypsy-Men were ready with their plates. They were feeling very hungry too, after a hard day's traveling. But alas when they opened the pot of porridge, there was only water in it! For none has put any rice at all. They had to spend the night without food. Ever since then, people say "Like the pot of porridge of seven Gypsy-Men".

This Proverb is used on occasions when a who tries to deceive others gets deceived himself or when certain things get spoilt by getting too many to share.

Like John going to Nottingham.

John was a poor villager who had never gone to school. He could, therefore, neither read nor write. When he grew up, he went to work in the house of a chieftain. Though foolish, John was a very loyal servant.

One day, the master of the house wanted to send a massage to another chieftain in a distant village called Nottingham. He called John and said, "Tomorrow, you will have to go to Nottingham. It's good if you start early, before the cock crows, because it will take about a day to reach Nottingham". John agreed and went to bed. The chieftain sat up late that night writing the massage carefully on a palm-leaf, as they used to do in the olden days.

Early next morning, the chieftain brought the letter to be handed over to John. But John was not to be seen anywhere. He looked high and low but there was no John. The chieftain wondered what happened to his loyal servant whom he had spoken to only the night before.

A day later, John reappeared. "Where on earth were you?" yelled the chieftain in anger and anxiety "I wanted you to go to Nottingham". "So I did" snapped the loyal servant, "I am just returning from Nottingham, my lord."

In fact, John had left for Nottingham as he was instructed the day before. He took no letter nor message. But who asked him to take a massage? The chieftain said nothing of a message. He only said "Tomorrow you will have to go to Nottingham", which John did. Ever since then, people say 

"Like John going to Nottingham".

Like the man from Raigama Meeting the man from Gampola

Raygama and Gampola are two villages in Sri Lanka. They were quite famous in the days of the Sinhalese kings, for some of the kings used to live there. A man from Raygama is called Raigamaya and a man from Gampola, a Gampolaya.

There were once a raigamaya and a Gampolaya who travelled from village to village carrying pingo-loads of Betel, and Arecanuts, to sell. Betel is a kind leaf that grows on creepers and Arecanuts, a kind of nut that grows on trees. It is a habit among Ceylon villagers to chew betel leaves with bite of arecanuts and lime. The two men used to met in an way-station to pass the night.

One day, Raigamaya thought of earning more money by cheating Gampolaya. He collected leaves of pepper, which looked almost like betel. He packed his bag with leaves of pepper. Gampolaya did a similar thing. He wanted to deceive Raigamaya by putting DOMBA nuts, which looked almost like Arecanuts, into his bag.

When they met at the way-station, they talked to each other as usual. But each thought to himself thus: "I will take my friend's bag, as if by mistake, and make money by selling his goods". The next morning, when Raigamaya awoke and hastened to fetch his friend's bag, he found that his friend had already left with his own bag! Both felt very happy that they were able to fool the other. But soon they discovered that they were themselves fooled! Ever since then, people say "Like the man from Raigam meeting the man from Gampola.

This proverb is used on occasions when a crafty man meets his equal.

Like telling a blind man what curd is.

Curdled milk is a food that the Ceylon people eat with relish. It is usually made with the milk of the buffalo and is white in colour.

Once there was a blind man, who had never eaten curd. But he had heard that curd was a marvelous thing to eat. He becomes very interested in knowing what curd was. So, one fine day, he asked one of his friends, "What is curd like?" "Well" answered the friend, "It is white". But how could the blind man know what white is, for he cannot see?

"What is white, dear friend?" asked the blind man. His friend answered "Well, white is what the heron is". A heron is a bird with very long legs, along neck and a long straight bill. "A heron?" asked the blind man. For he had not seen a heron either.

His friend thought for a while. He bent his arm at the elbow and the wrist and asked the blind man to feel it, saying "This is what a heron is like". The blind man felt his friend's arm and he could not help saying "Oh, eating curd is not going to be easy!" Ever since then, people say "Like telling a blind man what curd is".

This proverb is used on occasions when a person tries to explain the unknown with the help of the unknown.

Like causing cats to fetch Jak-Seeds from the embers.

Jak is a common tree in Asian countries. Its fruit is eaten both when it is young and when it is ripe. Its seeds, when roasted under the embers of the fire, also make a delicacy. Monkeys too like roasted Jac seeds.

One day, a monkey was passing by a house in the village. He was suddenly attracted by the scent of Jak-seeds being roasted. He looked around and seeing no one in the house, entered the kitchen. He put his paw into the embers but could not pull out the seeds because the embers were still very hot. “What shall I do?” wondered the monkey.

He looks around again. And what did he see? A cat is sleeping closely by the fire. Gently, the monkey lifted the cat’s paw and made it reach the jak seeds. The poor cat howled almost in his dreams. The embers had burnt his paw. The monkey, however, was able to pull out a few of the seeds and run away. Ever since then, people say, “like causing cats to fetch jack seeds from the embers.

This proverb is used on occasions when someone gets another to perform some task, particularly an unpleasant one, on his behalf.