Here is one of the first examples, which is entitled
The Desolate (one) forsaken by Friends.
I (am) a straggling piece of peel from the young shoots of the plantain tree; but when I still had possessions, while I still was in happy circumstances, then I was loved by both father’s and mother’s relations. When I spake, they were shamefaced; when I admonished, they submitted; so that I was to father’s relatives their protection[1] and glory, and to mother’s relatives the wide-sheltering sunshade; and was to them (as) the calf born in the summer,[2] both amusement and wealth, of whom they said: This one is the great voàra (a species of ficus), ornament of the field; this the great house, adornment of the town; this is protection, this is glory, this is splendour, this is boasting; this will preserve the memory of the dead, for (he is as) wide-spreading grass in the deserted village, and succeeding his fathers. Yes, they thought me a memorial stone set up, and I was (received) both with shoutings and acclamation.[3]
Nevertheless I am (but) a straggling piece of peel from the shoots of the plantain tree; and now I am left spent and desolate, and having nothing, and hated by father’s family, and cast off by mother’s relations; and considered by them but a stone on which things are dried in the sun, and, when the day becomes cloudy, kicked away. Yes, O people, O good folks, for while I admonish you I also reproach myself, for I am both reproached and openly ashamed. Therefore, hark ye, take good care of property; for when property is gone, gone is adornment; and the lean ox is not licked by its fellows, and the desolate person is not loved. So do not waste the rice, for those whose planting-rice is gone, and who have to enter into the fellow-wife’s house, are in sad case. Do not trample on my cloth, for I cannot arrange the cotton to weave another, and it is ill having rags to wear in the winter.
It will be observed how large a number of figures there is in these few sentences; some of the allusions are explained in foot-notes, but other points are somewhat obscure to those unacquainted with the habits and customs of the Malagasy.
- ↑ The word thus translated means, literally, a post set up as a protection to taboo a house or piece of ground.
- ↑ That is, in the rainy season, when there is plenty of fresh pasture.
- ↑ Memorial stones are largely used in the central provinces, and consist of massive monoliths erected with immense labour and expense.
