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385. Zie hot a männersche kopf.

(She has a man's head.)

INSANITY.

386. In Tammuz wert men meschuge.

In August one goes crazy.

387. Bist du meschuge? Schlog zach die kopf in wand. (See No. 284.) Are you mad? Go beat your head against the wall.

(231) Az me zogt meschuge, zoll men gleiben. (See No. 231.) (When people say that some one is crazy, believe it.)

(194) Meschugene gänz, meschugene grieben. (See No. 194.) (Crazy geese, crazy cracklings.)

388. Az Gott will einem strofen, nemmt er ihm dem seichel avek.

(Whom God wishes to punish, he makes mad [cf. "Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad"].)

DRINK.

389. Wos bai a nichterin af'n lung,

Is bai a schickerin af'n zung.

(What is in the heart of a sober man is on the tongue of a drunkard.)

390. Bist du schicker? Geh schlofen. (Are you drunk? Go to sleep.)

DEATH.

391. Starben muz men.

(We must all die.)

392. Zicher is men nor mit'n teit.

(One is certain only of death.)

(202) Starben un chasene hoben farspetigt men nit. (See No. 202.)

(It's never too late to die or get married.)

393. Der mensch is zum starben geboren.

(Man is born to die [from a popular Yiddish song].)

394. Mit'n malach hamovess

Traibt men nit kein kitovess.

(You can't jest with the angel of death.)

395. Wos die erd deckt zu, dos muz men fargessen.

(What the earth covers we must forget [said to some one who is grieving excessively for the dead].)

396. Dem is weh der wos ligt unter'n schnee.

(Woe to him that lies under the snow!)

397. Der malach hamovess schecht,

Un blaibt gerecht.

(The angel of death slays, and remains justified.)

CRIME, PUNISHMENT.

398. Far Tillem zogen sitzt men nit.1

One is not imprisoned for saying his prayers.

399. Af a ganef brennt die hittel.

(The thief's hat is on fire [Russian].)

The above is a Russian proverb based on a famous folk-story.

400. A ganef fun a ganef is potter.

It's no crime to steal from a thief.

401. Ert obgeleckt a guten beindel.

(He has licked a good bone [graft].)

WEATHER.

402. S'iz azei kalt es is a neveire arois lozen a meschugenem hund. (It's so cold that it's a sin to drive out a mad dog.)

There are practically no Yiddish proverbs about weather-signs, agricultural conditions, and so on, because the Jews have not been farmers for thousands of years.

ETHNOGRAPHIC, JEWS AND GENTILES.

403. Besser in goische hend eider in yiddische mailer.
(Better in Gentile hands than in Jewish mouths.)

It is interesting to see what the Jew thinks of himself. "Gentiles" in these pages must be understood as referring to the Russian peasants, who ignorantly massacred the Jews. Yet this proverb states that it would be better to fall into the hands of these peasants than into the mouths of the Jews!

404. Voinen zoll men mit yiddin un handlen mit goim. (Live among Jews, and do business with Gentiles.)

405. Behüt Gott far yiddische kepf un goische hend!

(God protect us from Jewish heads and Gentile hands!)

406. Mit a yid is gut kugel essen, ober nit af ein teller, weil er chapt ois. (It's good to eat pudding with a Jew, but not from one plate, because he'll grab.)

Much has been said about the shrewdness of the Jew in business. These proverbs will show, I think, that the Jews have suffered from the extortionist Jew just as much as the peasants have. Nobody defends the profiteer and extortionist, least of all the Jews themselves. 407. Voinen zoll men zwischen goim, un starben zwischen yiddin. (Live among Gentiles, and die among Jews.)

1 Compare Scotch, "Ye've neither been biggin' kirks nor placin' ministers" (Folk-Lore Journal, 2 [1884]: 59 [from Aberdeen and its Folk, 1868]).

408. Zwischen yiddin wert men nit ferfallen.

(One does not perish among Jews [refers to the charity and generosity

of the Jews to the poor].)

409. Az se nitto kein meiden, tanzt men mit schikses.

(When there are no Jewish girls, one dances with Gentiles.)

410. Wen singt a yid? Wen er is hungrig.

(When does a Jew sing? When he's hungry.)

411. A goische kopf!

A bauersche kopf!

(A peasant's head! [stupid!])

AMERICA.

It is interesting to know what the Russian Jewish immigrant thinks of this country. Many times he is disappointed in the land of his dreams, especially at first, when he has to live and work in unpleasant surroundings, and when he earns little money for the comforts of life. The most common expression of his disillusionment is, "Woe to Columbus!" The saying that he has heard in Russia about America is, "America is a golden land." He repeats this after he has been here a little time, but he says it with a shrug of the shoulder and a contemptuous purse of the lips. An expression that may surprise the descendants of the Mayflower Pilgrims is, "There is no family pride in America."

412. America is a goldene medina.

(America is a golden country.)

413. Eich mir a medina!

(Not much of a country!)

414. A klog zu Columbus'n. (Woe to Columbus!)

415. Es is dein America!

(It is your America! [said to a person who is successful.])

416. Er lebt zach op in America!

(He's having a jolly time in America [said of one who is prosperous].)

417. In America is nitto kein yichess.

(There is no family pride in America.)

418. In der heim is er geven a schuster,1 In der heim is er geven a schneider, In der heim is er geven a ganef.

(At home [in Russia] he was a shoemaker, tailor, thief [here he has become a person of importance].)

419. Er arbet far der city.

(He works for the city [said of a person unemployed].)

1 See p. 157, footnote.

I think the above originated in saying that some one was walking the streets, looking for work, and counting the bricks in the sidewalk for the city. It may be a local St. Louis expression.

420. Zie is azei dick wie die grobe blecherin.

(She is as large as the tinner's fat wife.)

This is a purely local St. Louis expression. About twenty years ago there lived on North Seventh Street a tinner whose wife was abnormally large. This simile is the result of that good woman's excessive girth, and is still used by Yiddish-speaking Jews in this city. LEAH RACHEL YOFFIE.

SOLDAN HIGH SCHOOL,

ST. LOUIS, Mo.,

October, 1919.

THIRTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

THE annual meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society was held Dec. 30, 1919, at the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Mass., President Elsie Clews Parsons in the Chair.

A meeting of the Council of the Society took place at 10.30 A.M. of the preceding day. After the meeting had been called to order, the report of the Secretary was read, as follows:

SECRETARY'S REPORT.

The membership of the Society, including the libraries subscribing to the Journal, is as follows:

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The Secretary's Report was accepted as read. Reports of the Treasurer and Editor were then presented.

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Grant of Department of Ontario through C. M. Barbeau . 100.00
Sale of French number through C. M. Barbeau .

327.00

883.00

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