Melanesian proverbs

[Lise M. Dobrin]

Dear wantoks,

A colleague is interested in the apparent dearth of proverbs ("A
stitch in time saves nine" sort of thing) in Papuan/Melanesian lgs,
and I thought that this might be a good forum in which to post his
question. I have come across at least one clear case in a casual
conversational context in my Arapesh texts ("the village pig attracts
the bush pig", i.e., even if it looks like the trouble was caused by
an outsider, an insider must have been involved). Apparently there
are some in Orokaiva, but the examples I have heard in that lg appear to be much
more domain-specific than this. Has anyone heard such sayings used in Tok
Pisin?

Thanks,
Lise




________________________________
Lise Dobrin
Dept. of Anthropology
University of Virginia
Brooks Hall--PO Box 400120
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4120