Long ago I learned that the study of a people’s culinary traditions and literature will tell you as much about them as learning about their history and now, in Sicily, I am learning more about my adopted region by studying its proverbs. Italian proverbs are fun in general but Sicily has its own, unique collection with some, just like certain dishes, belonging to a particular town or even village.
These sayings show a wry sense of humour, a healthy cynicism about the pretentious and, as you would expect of a people who have suffered countless invasions, sometimes a mistrust of new people and ways. “Pazienza”, that eternal Sicilian virtue, is, of course, there too.
The proverbs are all in various forms of dialect but usually I can work them out from my French and Spanish and if I can’t, I ask a friend to explain them. In the many books of Sicilian proverbs available here, all are translated into standard Italian anyway.
As in all agricultural lands, many sayings are about seasons and weather and some tell the farmer when to plant certain crops:
“A San Franciscu si simìna lu pitrusinu” – “On St Francis Day [October 4th] sow parsley”.
Others are about food and there are a lot which tell you which foods you can eat in abundance without doing yourself harm and that wine, in moderation, is necessary:
“Bonu vinu fa bonu sangu” – “Good wine makes good blood”.
The importance of the vineyard is stressed:
“Cu’ havi ‘na bona vigna, havi pani, vinu e ligna” - “He who has a good vineyard will have bread [because he can sell the wine] wine and wood” [wood, of course, being essential for the fire].
There are also many proverbs about farm animals and, in some cases, they seem to have the same value as women!
Asini, donni e voi, nun t’alluntanari di li toi” – “Don’t go far away from your donkeys, women and oxen”.
At the risk of losing my feminist credentials, I’ll quote a few more proverbs about women:
“ Fimmine e tila ‘un si ‘nn’accàttanuu di sira” – “Don’t choose a woman or a fabric in dim light”.
The implication here is that, if you do, you might be deceived and I just love the way in which the woman is considered along with a household object. Or how about:
“La donna e la gaddina si perdi si troppu cammina” – “Women and hens get lost if they wander too far”.
Here we have an assumption that women belong in the house, perhaps, but also a rather charming notion that a woman needs to be protected [even if she is compared to a hen].
This idea, as well as a traditional view of the family, could also be behind this one:
“Cui nun ha maritu, nun ha nuddu amico” – “She who has no husband has no friend”.
And I‘ll leave you to make up your own minds about this Modican saying:
“ Cuannu ‘a fimmina camina e u’ culu ci abballa, si nun è buttana, falla” – “A woman who sways her hips when she walks is a whore or nearly one.”
There are as many proverbs about priests, monks and nuns as there are about women and we are often warned that a priest will always turn up where there is food. And if you have to ask the monks for charity, this is where you should go:
“Lettu di Duminicani, tavulu di Cappuccini, lussu di Biniottini” – “The Domenicans for a bed [their beds were reputed to be soft] the Capuchins for food and the Benedictines for luxury”.
Sicilians mistrust those who boast and this is shown in:
“Dinari e santità, crìdìtinni mità” – “Only half believe what someone tells you about their wealth and saintliness” and “Anni e piccati su’ cchiù di quantu si dicinu” – “People are always older and more sinful than they let on”.
In the countryside, professionals were generally mistrusted and villagers were advised to get an old doctor, because he would be experienced, but a young pharmacist because he would be without guile [that is, he would not yet have learned how to charge you too much for your medicines].
A fear of change is prevalent, too and perhaps here we also have a warning against emigration:
“Cui lassa la via vecchia pri la nova, li guai ch’un va circannu, ddà li trova” - “He who leaves the old road for the new will often find himself betrayed”.
And maybe we should just leave things as they are:
“Se nun si’ Re, nun fari liggi nova” – “If you’re not the king, don’t make new laws”.
My favourite proverb of all is this one, for it sums up not only the Sicilian’s patience but his resignation:
“’U Signùri rùna ‘u viscuottù a cu nun’ avi rienti “ – “God gives biscuits to those with no teeth”.
As I recite this proverb, I can picture a Sicilian family of one hundred years ago, seated around a wooden table in a small cottage, eyes heavenward, sighing as they speak of a neighbour who is unable to benefit from his recent good fortune. And I just know that the next word they will utter is “Pazienza”.
In five years I have learned that there is a Sicilian proverb for every eventuality. Are you feeling a little down today?
“Bòn tièmpu e màlu tièmpu nun nùra tutu u tièmpu” – “Neither good nor bad weather lasts forever”.
