Folklore of Kürse Village (5): Proverbs, Blessings and Curses

Chapter IV: Oral Folklore

Proverbs

Proverbs, as we know, are pithy and concise expressions that have been passed down through generations; they are sayings on various subjects that have gained validity through the people’s accumulated experience over the years, and their absolute validity depends on the era and society in which they are spoken or lived. Here, I shall endeavour to record the proverbs spoken in the village—just as they are spoken throughout Turkey—which I have known to be on the lips of the villagers since my childhood.

• The horse belongs to the rider; the sword to the warrior.
• The horse dies, the battlefield remains; the hero dies, his glory remains.
• A hungry man does not play the same game.
• A hungry hen fancies she’s in a grain store.
• A rat in the granary never goes hungry.
• A hungry dog will break into a bakery.
• He who gives little gives from the heart; he who gives much gives from his wealth.
• Let me have a little food and a carefree mind.
• A tree is bent whilst it is young.
• If my mother weeps, it is genuine; the rest are just crocodile tears.
• Blood that is meant to flow will not stay in the veins.
• Save your money for a rainy day.
• They won’t give the breast to a child who doesn’t cry.
• To the discerning, a mosquito’s buzz is music; to the uninitiated, even a drum and pipe are too much.
• To give without taking is the prerogative of God.
• Look at the mother to judge the daughter; look at the embroidery to judge the cloth.
• Keep your feet warm and your head cool.
• Flesh and nail cannot be separated. (Can flesh and nail be separated?)
• They say a dog whose time has come will urinate on the mosque wall.
• Keep your hands, your waist and your tongue in check.
• God gives to everyone according to their heart’s desire.
• A true man can make a living out of a stone,
• No food comes from the imam’s house, nor tears from the eyes of the dead.
• He who does not beat his daughter will beat his own knee.
• You don’t look for a calf under an ox.
• An unexpected stone can split your head open.
• An unexpected stone can overturn a cart.
• He who sows reaps; he who complains perishes. (He who seeks finds; he who complains perishes.)
• You don’t get more from work, but you do from your teeth.
• A working iron shines.
• A working iron does not rust.
• When two hearts are as one, even a hayloft becomes a paradise.
• Do a good deed and cast it into the sea; if the fish do not know, the Creator does.
• If you tend it, it becomes a garden; if you neglect it, it becomes a wasteland.
• He who handles honey licks his fingers.
• One madman threw a stone into a well; forty wise men couldn’t get it out.
• A cup of coffee is remembered for forty years.
• One eats, one watches; the end of the world comes from this.
• You’ll wear yourself out paying off debts and walking the road.
• With great power comes great responsibility.
• You can never tell who has money and who has faith.
• A knife wound heals, but a wound from the tongue never does.
• The field with its small stones, the girl with her long hair.
• He who waits at the dervish lodge drinks the soup.
• The pot has rolled away, but found its lid.
• Whatever the congregation says, the imam recites what he knows.
• You can’t change your nature until you die.
• Life comes from the throat.
• The simit seller and the sherbet seller go where they’re not invited.
• There’s no such thing as too much talk without lies, or too much wealth without ill-gotten gains.
• He who talks too much makes many mistakes.
• A nail pulls out another nail.
• He who leaves no trace in the field has no place in the threshing floor.
• Drop by drop, a lake is formed.
• A friend looks to your head; an enemy looks to your feet.
• Sorrow makes one weep; love makes one speak.
• The godless are dealt with by the faithless.
• They’ll chase the truth-teller out of nine villages.
• If the place you’re going to has one eye blind, close one of your own.
• If time does not suit you, adapt to time.
• The rich man’s wealth tires the poor man’s tongue.
• The rich man drives his car over the mountains, whilst the poor man loses his way on the flat plains.
• You can’t force a tune from a flute; whatever comes out is your lot.
• Too much is a loss; a little is just right.
• If Aleppo is over there, the yardstick is here.
• Telling a lie whilst away from home is like singing in a bathhouse.
• Do you ask a sick person for a bed?
• He who has been scalded by milk blows on his yoghurt before eating it.
• The flood recedes, but the sand remains.
• A finger cut off by Sharia law does not hurt.
• A wolf snatches the one who strays from the flock.
• If you say ‘You know best’, there’ll be no quarrel.
• For the living, every day is a celebration
• For a madman, every day is a festival.
• Save the hay; the time will come.
• The patient dervish has achieved his desire; the impatient dervish has perished by morning.
• Patience leads to safety.
• They blamed the bride, but no one took the blame.
• Water sleeps, but the enemy never rests.
• A water jug breaks on its way to the water.
• It is a gain to turn back from a loss at any stage.
• A kind word can coax a snake from its hole.
• Where there is the oppressor’s tyranny, there is God for the oppressed.
• Haste makes waste.
• Wisdom lies not in age, but in the mind.
• God provides a nest for the stray bird.
• Dark days do not last forever.
• The night belongs to the stranger.
• You don’t spare the hen where the goose is to be raised.
• If you leave a girl to her own devices, she’ll end up with either a drummer or a flute player.
• There is a path from heart to heart.
• There’s no wedding without a hunchback.
• A wolf loves smoky air.
• When a wolf grows old, it becomes a dog’s laughing stock.
• It’s better not to go to bed at all than to have a nightmare.
• Where there are no sheep, they call the goat ‘Abdurrahman Çelebi’.
• He who loves the rose must put up with its thorns.
• A rose cannot exist without thorns.
• The newcomer makes the departing one pray for mercy.
• The bride mounted the horse and said, ‘If it is meant to be.’
• Out of sight, out of mind.
• Out of sight, out of mind.
• Whoever the heart loves is the sultan.
• A village in plain sight needs no guide.
• Don’t laugh at your neighbour; it may come back to haunt you.
• A comb of boxwood for a bald head.
• If a bald man had ointment, he’d rub it on his own head.
• You call a bear ‘uncle’ until you’ve crossed the bridge.
• Some hit the nail, others the head.
• You can’t sail a cheese ship on words alone.
• The tongue has no bone.
• A stork’s life is spent chattering.
• March in, Gypsies out.
• March is a month of troubles.
• March makes you peer through the door and break a sweat with spade and pick.
• Wealth is the lifeblood of one’s soul.
• Nothing escapes the grasp of one’s intentions.
• Pity breeds trouble.
• A guest eats what he finds, not what he expects.
• He who steals the minaret prepares his alibi.
• Whoever holds the seal is Solomon.
• Neither Damascus’s sugar nor the Arab’s face.
• Neither the skewer nor the kebab.
• He says ‘Noah’, but not ‘prophet’.
• If the deity does not give, what can Mahmut do?
• What comes from nothing goes to nothing.
• Every sheep is hung by its own leg.
• Don’t take everyone who smiles at you for a friend.
• Health comes first in everything.
• Either tend this camel or leave this land.
• He who has a wound feels the pain.
• A liar’s candle burns only until evening.
• A miscalculation comes back to haunt you.
• A gentle horse’s kick is a powerful one.
• The ground has ears.
• A traveller must stick to the road.
• A rolling stone gathers no moss.
• It is the female bird that builds the nest.
• Having found favour, he now wants the lining.
• He who eats an orphan’s property will never prosper.
• At seventy, one’s work is done.
• As a person is at seven, so they are at seventy.
• Strong vinegar spoils the jar.
• They’ll chase the truth-teller out of nine villages.
• Even fire burns only as much as its own size.
• He says ‘nail’, but not ‘nail’.
• The Arab wants red slippers.

Blessings (Prayers for Good Fortune)

In this section, I’m also providing the blessings most commonly used in the village and amongst the people. Amongst these are some that are widely recited everywhere, as well as others that are less common but original.

• May Allah be pleased.
• May Allah make your work go well.
• May Allah reunite you with your loved one.
• May Allah grant you wisdom and insight.
• May Allah grant you a clear mind.
• May Allah grant you whatever it is you desire.
• May Allah grant you what your heart desires.
• May Allah grant you what is best.
• May Allah grant you a long life.
• May Allah grant you peace and order.
• May Allah grant you a livelihood.
• May Allah not deprive you of the peace of faith at your final breath.
• May Allah let you grow old together on the same pillow. (Said to newlyweds)
• Good luck.
• Get well soon.
• My condolences.
• May your friends be well.
• May it be a blessing.
• May Allah grant the same to neighbours and friends.
• May Allah keep you on the right path.
• May Allah have mercy on him.
• May Allah bestow abundant mercy upon him.
• May he rest in peace.
• May his resting place be in Paradise.
• May the earth be generous to him.
• May you be as precious as water.
• May what you hold be as precious as gold.
• May the milk you suckled from your mother be halal.
• Farewell, may your path be clear.
• Go in peace, and return in peace.
• May you be blessed.
• May your steps be blessed.
• May you be honoured in both worlds.
• Farewell.
• God be with you.
• Stay well.
• May your hands never know hardship.
• May God be with you.
• Thank you.
• Long may you live.
• May you be happy.
• May you be blessed.
• May there be plenty of people to kiss your hand.
• May there be plenty of those who offer you water.
• May they live a long life (for a newborn child).
• May Allah grant that they grow up with both their mother and father.
• May the same be true for you.
• May the same be true for your friends.

Curses

What I am about to share here are also curses and invectives spoken in the village in moments of anger and rage. Just as with the blessings, some of these are very common and spoken everywhere, whilst others are specific to the village or region.

• May God bring misfortune upon you.
• May God take your life.
• May you get what you deserve from God.
• May your name be damned.
• May your two sides never meet.
• May you not live to see tomorrow, God willing.
• May your hearth go out.
• May owls perch on your hearth.
• May a fig tree be planted in your hearth.
• May you crawl along, dragging yourself.
• May you set off, but never return.
• May you go and never return.
• May bad news come your way.
• May you sink into the ground.
• May you be swallowed up by the earth.
• Damn you.
• May God curse him.
• May his eyes be blinded.
• May it come out of his nose in strands.
• May he rot in hell.
• May your jaw lock up.
• May it be forbidden.
• May it be poison and gall.
• May he be struck down.
• Damn him.
• May Allah give him what he deserves.
• May you be a pillar in Hell.
• May it stick to your face and eyes.
• May it stay beneath your neck.

All episodes of the series

1. Foreword and Introduction to the Village
2. Customs Relating to Birth and Children
3. Folk Medicine
4. Superstitions and Folk Meteorology
5. Proverbs, Blessings and Curses
6. Folk Songs, Lamentations and Nursery Rhymes
7. Legends and Riddles
8. Fairy Tales
9. Rhymes and Ramadan Rhymes

Traditions and Customs page