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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY— PUBLICATION NO. 3 



trary. my impression is that the Mocheros are not 

 adept at the invention of the bon mot, but rather 

 depend upon stock phrases when they engage in 

 repartee. Some of tiie following are so overworked 

 as to have almost the standing of cliches. A few 

 examples, however, may be of interest in order to 

 show the patterns of thought transfer, metaphor, 

 and phraseology which have some currency in Aloche. 

 Drinking toasts are found on page 48. 



Zorro que atrcvicsa, 

 Pi onto cstards tiesa. 

 ("Fox winch meddles, soon you will be stilf." — Play 

 en words in licsa, wliich also may mean "stuclc ui ".) 



La mordidura del perro. 



Con la misma latia sc saiia. 

 (The Peruvian \ersion of, "I need some of the hair of 

 the dog that bit me." More or less literally: "The bite 

 of the dog is cured with the same wool." This is said to 

 be based on a Sierra custom of clapping a tuft of sheep 

 or llama wool on a wound to stop bleeding). 



Tanto tiiiics, lanlo sales; 



nada licnes, nada lalcs. 

 ("You come out in this W'orld according to what you 

 have. If you don't have anything, you're not worth any- 

 thing," or, more literally, ".As you have, so you make 

 out ; having nothing, you are worth nothing.") 



Bl honthrc propone, Uios dispone, 

 llega la mtijcr y todo la dcscompone. 

 ("Man proposes, God disposes; comes a woman and 

 upsets it all.") 



Quien con lohos anda 

 a aullar sc cnsciia. 

 ("He who goes with wolves, is tauglit to howl.") 



Lo que fue bucn vino es btien vinagre. 

 ("Good wine makes good vinegar," i. e., a good young 

 man is a good old man.) 



lilds vale niorir dehicndo que ziiir para pagar. 



("It is better lo die in debt than to live only to pay.") 



Lo niismo que di por verte, 



dicra por no haberte visto. 

 ("The same that I gave to see you, I would give for 

 not having seen you." Used in situations which would 

 be appropriate for the restrained and icy use of the 

 .American expression, "If I never see you again, it will 

 be too soon.") 



Quien eon lo ajcno se viste, 

 en la eatle lo desvislen. 

 (He who mastpierades as another will be unmasked 

 by the public.) 



Gallina no liene agua para tomar 

 convida paio a nadar. 

 ("Chicken doesn't have water to drink, she invites the 

 duck to go swimming.") 



Afiuia sabe lo que cose, 

 dedal, lo que cmpuja. 

 ("The needle knows what it is sewing and the thmible 

 what it is pushing.") 



Mas vale llcgar a tieinpo 

 que scr convidado. 

 ("It is more imp'Ortant that you arrive in time for the 

 ftm than that you are in\ ited.") 



lilds pesa una libra atrds 



que un quintal al bonibro. 

 (".\ pound weighs more when you arc jiulling it than 

 do a hundred pounds on your shoulders," i. e., it's easier 

 in the long run to do the job right.) 



Todo hond^re debe de tener 

 nueve concubinas, dies con la mujer. 

 ("Every man .should have nine mistresses, ten count- 

 ing his wife.") 



Nada debe decir 

 de esta agua, no he de bcber. 

 (Literally, "You should not say anything about this 

 water, you don't have to drink it," usually in the sense 

 of, "If you don't like what I'm doing, mind your own 

 business.") 



These pithy epitomes of folk wisdom may be com- 

 pared with a few examples picked up in other locali- 

 ties known to the Mocheros. 



The following were recorded in Huainachuco, in 

 the Sierra, directly inland from Moche.'*'' 



Que sabe el burro el freno. 

 ("The donkey tnust learn to know the bridle," a way 

 of saying that a certain person must learn to know who 

 is boss.) 



El gallina'o no canto en puna, 



y si canta, es por fortuna. 

 ("The black buzzard" — referring to Negroes — "does 

 not crow in the puna" — high plateau of the Andes — "and 

 if he does, it is only to inake his fortune.") 



Solo lo falta, que lo pongan jdquima y 

 capachos para rcbucnar. 

 (As with a donkey, all he needs is that they put the 

 halter and hampers on him to start him braying, i. e., 

 some men start complaining as soon as they have work 

 to do.) 



Abril, aguas mil, 

 Si no, cabe un barril. 

 (In April there is usually no end of rain — in Huama- 

 chuco — but if there is not a lot, a barrel will hold it all.) 



*^ The unpolished English translations attempt to convey the sense 

 in the North American idiom, but no endeavor is made to convert 

 tlie rhythm, rhyme, assonance, or play on words into English. 



*" Rafael Larco Hoyle, my genial host on the short trip to Huania- 

 chuco, introduced me to several residents of that town. 



