Title: No Greater Gift

General Information:

• Verbal lore, Proverb
• Informant: Caroline Petro
• Location: Via Phone Call to Massachusetts Area
• Date: November 1, 2018

Informant Data:

Caroline Petro is a Dartmouth alumna who graduated in June 2018. She is 22 years old. She was born and raised Catholic, though she attended private school instead of Catholic school. She lives in Norwood, Massachusetts, and she currently works on the cape of Massachusetts as an intern for a museum fundraising and marketing department. She has three siblings, one of whom is in training to become a Catholic priest, and her mother recently earned a degree to become a theologian.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context:

Caroline knows that this proverb originated from somewhere in the Bible, though she doesn’t know where, and says that her family has updated it to apply to their lives. As her family is entirely Catholic, it’s not unusual to her that this would be a statement of deep meaning, and she says that it has become more of a colloquial phrase.

Social Context:

This proverb relies on the metaphor of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to allow all humans to enter heaven, and compares that to laying down our own lives for the good of our friends. It is a reminder to be selfless and giving for a greater meaning in your relationships. Caroline said that she doesn’t often repeat this whole proverb in a serious manner directly to her friends and family, but that it’s mentioned in times where she might need advice on a difficult situation, or when her family is discussing the importance of relationships.

Item:

Orally transmitted proverb:

“There is no greater gift than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Interview Audio:

This portion of the interview starts at 9:44. Caroline’s background starts at 0:00.

Collector’s Notes:

The formula is a “than” comparison proverb, as suggested by Dundes. The image is serious at first glance, but colloquially and in true usage is softened. The message uses a callback to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and compares that to the love between friends. This is one of just a few overall proverbs that we collected that took religious imagery and turned it into a colloquial phrase that conveyed something more than just the original meaning.

Collector:

Alexandra Norris, 20
3305 Hinman, Hanover, NH, 03755
Dartmouth College
Russian 13
Fall 2018

Tags:

• Proverbs
• Catholic Proverbs
• Friends
• Relationships