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XXIII.

QUAND YO BAILLE OU tête bef pou mangé, n'a

PAS PEUR ZIEUX LI.

When they give you an ox's head to eat, have no fear for his eyes.

XXIV.

The vanity of the black, which frequently tempts him to load his back at the expense of his stomach, to purchase superfluities while lacking necessaries, is perhaps no more common among the African than the Caucasian race, but its exhibition is apt to be more absurd.

It is a weakness, however, which has not escaped the barbs of Haytian satire. Their contempt for such folly is compared to that of the frog which, lacking water to drink, asks for a bath, or wanting a shirt, calls for drawers.

CRAPAUD LI PAS TINI L'EAU POUR LI BOIRE LI VLÉ GAGNÉ POUR LI BAGNER.

XXV.

CRAPAUD PAS TINI CHEMISE OUS VLÉ LI POTER

CALEÇON.

The Germans draw the same lesson from

the cat:

Du willst andern Katzen fangen, und kannst dir selbst keine Maus fangen.

You would hunt other cats, and can't yet catch

a mouse.

Cicero' quotes from Ennius a line expressing the same sentiment, though as a proverbial locution it has little save its age to recommend it- Qui sibi semitam non sapiunt, alteri monstrant viam.2

Goldsmith, in his Haunch of Venison, has embalmed the best English paraphrase

1 De Divinatione, 1, 58.

"Though not knowing the way themselves they pretend to point it out to others; the blind leading the blind. There is another Latin proverb which conveys a kindred though not quite the same lesson: Alienos agros irrigas tuis sitientibus.— You water others' fields, your own parched by drought.

of the two Haytian proverbs now under con

sideration :

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'There's my countryman, Higgins, oh, let him alone

For making a blunder or picking a bone;

But hang it, to poets, who seldom can eat,

Your very good mutton's a very good treat.
Such dainties to them their health it might hurt;
It's like sending them ruffles when wanting a shirt.”

XXVI.

66

BEF PAS JAMAIN CA DIE SAVANNE, MECI."

The ox never says to the pasture, “ Thank you.” This proverb not only rebukes ingratitude for familiar favors or blessings, by placing the ingrates on a footing with beasts, which have no intelligent sense of obligation, and are strangers to the emotion of thankfulness, but it also distinguishes between the ostensible good deeds which are the result of accident, or which originate in a selfish purpose, such as the feeding our cattle or poultry that they may one day feed us, from those which are the result of spontaneous and deliberate kindness.

XXVII.

Practical jokes and injudicious familiarities have given form and currency to the following caution.

BADIÑEN BIEN AVEC MACAQUE, MAIN PRIN GADE MANIER QUEUE LI.

Joke freely with the monkey, but don't play with his tail. Jocko's sensitiveness about his tail, which is notoriously his weak point,' serves admirably to show that there is nothing so amiable, so low, so familiar, that has not something about him or it that must not be trifled with. Every one has some sentiment which to him is sacred, some point of dignity, self-respect, or sensitiveness which may not be outraged with impunity.

This proverb also contains a warning against driving an adversary to extremities, against abusing an advantage. There

1 The Haytians, also, when they wish to speak of one who has been heavily fined or harshly treated, say: Yeaux péser la sous laché li.— They have pressed on his tail.

is a point with every body which it is not wise to pass, whether in joke or in earnest. So the Haytians also say:

XXVIII.

HAI MOUNE, MAIN PAS BAIE YEAUX PAÑEN POU CHAIER DE L'EAU.

Hate people, but don't give them baskets to fetch water in.1 That is, don't impose upon them impossible duties nor insupportable punishments, for "with the tale of bricks Moses comes." Neither should we impute to people incredible crimes or acts inconsistent with their character, age, sex, or condition. As the French say: Il ne faut pas faire cuire l'agneau dans le lait de la mère-almost a literal translation of one of the prohibitions of Moses: “Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk." Deut., xiv: 21; Exod., xxii: 19; xxxiv: 26.

'The Trinidad version of this proverb is similar to the Martinique and Haytian version. In Jamaica an addition has been made to it, and it runs thus: "If any one hate you him get you basket carry water; but if you clebber, you put plaintain leaf in him.” — Hunt.

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