“WHAT IS a proverb? Many have tried to tell exactly what a proverb is, but no definition has yet been given that has been accepted by everybody. Indeed it is impossible to give a definition that will satisfy all the proverbs, or rather all that are included as proverbs, in any collection.
A nearer approach might be made to success if many sentences, though short and quaint, were rejected from all collections, as having too little vigour to entitle them to be ranked as proverbs. It will be sufficient for our purpose simply to say that ‘a proverb is a short pithy saying in common use among the people of a country or district.’
“Proverbs have been in circulation from the most ancient times. They grow with the growth of a people, and express briefly and forcibly the experience and observations of the people on men and things. Some are common to all nations; they may differ in form, but the idea is the same. Others are national, or even local. Those that are peculiar to a people have a special interest for the student, for they tell him something of the character, something of the manners and customs and pursuits, past and present, of the people using them…”
Words written over 100 years ago by the Reverend James Speirs still hold good for the opening of this article. Those words were written to introduce his book, ‘The Proverbs of British Guiana’, published by The Argosy Company Limited,1902, as Speirs  attempted to bring “to readers some of the colony’s proverbs which bear on our everyday life. They are worthy of our careful attention, for they contain lessons of wisdom which, if put into practice, would diminish the evils from which so many particularly suffer, would make us less selfish more sympathetic, and tend to increase the comfort and happiness of ourselves and neighbours.”
Professor Belle Tyndall of the George Washington University, writing the preface to ‘The Proverbs of Guyana Explained’, said that this book “represents a significant contribution to the history of the language of Guyana, as it exemplifies and preserves the syntactic structure as well as the powerful imagery of Guyanese Creole which is such a rich part of our Guyanese heritage.”
The book consists of over 1000 Guyanese proverbs originally published in 1902 by Reverend James Speirs. This new publication, however, explains and reclassifies the proverbs, thus making more accessible a piece of work that has been in virtual obscurity for almost a century.
This, in itself, is a valuable service to the community of scholars. The book is a wealth of information for those who are engaged in serious scholarship in the field of linguistics, particularly in the area of dialect studies.
For those in the field of literature, it provides examples of the mood, rhythm and cadence of the vernacular that could be captured in dialogue, while the general Guyanese community may, from time to time, need not only to negotiate the meaning of the proverbs, but also be able to use them with accuracy and aplomb. There are many more endearing features of this book. The most delightful section is ‘Proverbs of Guyana compared with African Proverbs’, ‘Proverbs of Guyana compared with Middle-Eastern Proverbs’ and ‘Proverbs of Guyana compared with European Proverbs’.
The first proverb in the section, ‘Proverbs of Guyana compared with African Proverbs’ is ‘Ol’ fiah ‘tick soon ketch’, which, when explained, means: ‘Wood already touched by fire is not hard to set alight’.
When you get your copy of ‘The Proverbs of Guyana Explained’, your love for proverbs will soon reignite. And all the wisdom and wit captured therein would be yours for a better life.
‘The Proverbs of Guyana Explained’ by Joyce Trotman was published by Bogle-L’Ouverture Press, 2006.

WHAT’S HAPPENING
•    Another welcomed autobiography to Guyana’s shortlist of such publications: GROWING UP IN BRITISH GUYANA 1945-1964 by Joseph G. Singh, with an introduction by Rupert R. Roopnaraine, printed and published by Sheik Hassan Printery Inc. 2011.
•    Suggested reading for the season: THE PROVERBS OF GUYANA EXPLAINED by Joyce Trotman; A PLATE-A GUYANA COOK-UP by Allan Fenty; LANTANA STRANGLING IXORA, a new collection of poems by Sasenarine Persaud.

(To respond to this author, either call him on (592) 226-0065 or send him an email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com)