The Journal of Negro History, Volume 1, January 1916. VariousЧитать онлайн книгу.
of science. One distinguished geographer is mentioned, and allusions to surgical science show that the old maxim of the Arabian schools, "He who studies anatomy pleases God," was not forgotten. One of these writers mentions that his brother came from Jenne to Timbuctu to undergo an operation for cataract of the eyes at the hands of a celebrated surgeon there. It is said that the operation was wholly successful. The appearance of comets, so amazing to Europe of the Middle Ages and at the present time to the ignorant, was by these learned blacks noted calmly as a matter of scientific interest. Earthquakes and eclipses excited no great surprise.
The renowned writer of the Sudan was Abdurrahman Essadi. He was born in Timbuctu in 1596. He came of learned and distinguished ancestors. He is chief author of the history of Sudan. The book is said to be a wonderful document. The narrative deals mainly with the modern history of the Songhay Empire, and relates the rise of this black civilization through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and its decadence up to the middle of the seventeenth century. The noted traveller, Barth, was of the opinion that the book forms one of the most important additions that the present age has made to the history of mankind. The work is especially valuable for the unconscious light which it throws upon the life, manners, politics, and literature of the country. It presents a vivid picture of the character of the men with whom it deals. It is sometimes called the Epic of the Sudan.
From this brief sketch which I have given of the African in ancient and medieval times it is clear that Negroes should not despise the rock from which they were hewn. As a race they have a past which is full of interest. It is worthy of serious study. From it we can draw inspiration; for it appears that not all black men everywhere throughout the ages have been "hewers of wood and drawers of water." On the contrary, through long periods of time there were powerful black nations which have left the records of their achievements and of which we are just now beginning to learn a little. This little, however, which we have learned teaches us that the Negroes of today should work and strive. Along their own special line and in their own peculiar way they should endeavor to make contributions to civilization. Their achievements can be such that once more black will be dignified and the fame of Ethiopia again spread throughout the world.
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 attitude 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 mass 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.79
Anger
Anger does nobody good, but patience is the father of kindness.
Assistance
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, God 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
Among the works which have been consulted in the preparation of this article are the following:
R. F. Burton, Wit and Wisdom from West Africa.
S. W. Koelle, African Native Literature.
A. B. Ellis, The Yoruba Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa.
Heli Chatelin, Folk Tales of Angola.