Donkey Ears

General Information about Item:

• Verbal lore, proverb
• Language: Spanish
• Informant: Gabriel Onate
• Date Collected: 10-14-18

Informant Data:

Gabriel Onate is a sophomore at Dartmouth College. He was born and raised in what he describes as a “typical Mexican household”  in Los Angeles, California. His parents are married and he has one younger brother. His family’s values are more conservative and traditional compared to his own, but he still holds onto much of the Mexican culture and traditions, even now that he no longer lives at home. On campus, Gabriel is the Undergraduate Advisor for La Casa, a living learning community for Spanish speaking students.

Contextual Data:

Gabriel was told this proverb by his mom one day when he was feeling upset. He couldn’t quite recall the exact event that led to this discussion with his mom, but he remembers that it was about his high school friends, or maybe just classmates, being unkind to him. His mom wanted to remind him that he was not much different from his friends, and his friends were not much different from him, and so it was ironic that they would bully or gossip about him when they were just like him. Just like how it is ironic and hypocritical that a donkey is talking about ears when it has ears itself, his friends were being being ironic and hypocritical when being unkind to Gabriel because they were just like him, and could probably relate to him. Gabriel also adds that this proverb is commonly used in reference to friends gossiping, or people gossiping, in general, because often the gossiper is no better or no different than the person they are gossiping about.

Item:

Orally transmitted proverb:

“El burro hablando de orejas.”

Translation:

“The donkey is talking about ears.”

Transcript:

“One of the proverbs I remember the most growing up throughout the times was just, I guess, in reference to gossiping. But one time my mom applied it perfectly to my friends while I was in high school, or at least, they’re not really friends but my classmates. And the proverb goes, ““El burro hablando de orejas,” which translates to, “The donkey is talking about ears.” And what my mom was referencing was because I think I was just upset that like…I guess people were…bullying me was it? I think? My mom, in saying that, was trying to remind me that we as teenagers, we’re not that very different, and it’s very ironic that a teenager would make fun of another teenager as if they were not a teenger themselves. I don’t remember exactly what I was upset about, but my mom told me that to remind me, like, that. I guess it just comes down to gossiping. It is a very commonly used proverb in Mexican culture when you want to reference someone who is gossiping to say that, how ironic it is that the donkey will gossip about ears even though it was like a giant pair of ears.”

Collector’s Comments:

• This proverb falls into the theme of “Proper Behaviors” and “Like Attracts Like” in Spanish Proverbs.
• It shows that within Spanish culture, there is a disapproval of gossip.
• This proverb also functions based on the assumption that friends are similar and, thus, gossiping about friends is hypocritical.
• This proverb is a metaphor using animals (a trend in Spanish proverbs), and follows the “___ is ___” Dundes formula. Like most Spanish proverbs, the image or tone is more serious than humorous, despite using an animal character to make the proverb more light-hearted.

Collector’s Name: Vi Nguyen

Tags/Keywords:

• Verbal Lore
• Spanish Proverbs
• Friends