Shona Proverb? G. Fortune? Maya Angelou? Wolfgang Mieder? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: A faultfinder may deliver a harsh criticism and quickly forget it. Yet, the recipient of the barb may create a painful memory. Similarly, a person who causes an injury may forget the incident, but the person who is hurt will likely remember it. Here are three versions of a pertinent saying:
(1) The axe forgets what the tree remembers.
(2) The ax forgets, but the cut log does not.
(3) What the axe forgets the stump does not forget.
Would you please explore the provenance of this proverb?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1955 G. Fortune of the University of Cape Town in South Africa published “An Analytical Grammar of Shona” which contained the following English translation of a phrase:1
What has forgotten is the axe – the stump does not forget
In 1968 G. Fortune published a book chapter titled “Predication of ‘Being’ in Shona” which included the proverb. Fortune stated that the version he presented was based on the Zezuru dialect cluster of Shona:2
Chakángánwá idemo, chigutsá hachíkángánwé
(What has forgotten / is the axe /, the stump (which was once a tree) / does not forget; viz. A person who is injured does not forget though the one who injured him may forget) cp. démó (axe)
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In 1986 “The Prentice Hall Encyclopedia of World Proverbs” compiled by Wolfgang Mieder included the following entry:3
The ax forgets but the cut log does not. African (Shona)
In 1987 “Global Insights: People & Cultures” by James Neil Hantula et al printed a set of proverbs from Africa which included these three items:4
“The axe forgets, the tree does not forget.” (The one who inflicts the insult may forget, but the one insulted will not.)
“A loud drum will soon split.” (Loud promises are hollow.)
“The one with the sharp knife will eat meat.” (The alert and ready person gets the job.)
In 2006 an article titled “The Dialogue between African Proverbs and Biblical Texts” contained the following:5
The axe forgets but the tree cannot forget. (Zimbabwe)
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion . . .
In 1992 the book “Playing with Fire: Training for the Creative Use of Conflict” contained the following exercise:6
Divide the participants into groups of three or four. Using cards prepared in advance, give each group a proverb that deals with some aspect of violent behaviour. Add your own discoveries to these two African examples:
When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers most.
The axe forgets; the log does not.
In 1997 Maya Angelou published a collection of essays under the title “Even the Stars Look Lonesome”. Her essay titled “Africa” contained the following:7
African culture is alive and well. An African proverb spells out the truth: “The ax forgets. The tree remembers.”
In 1998 “Wit & Wisdom of Africa: Proverbs from Africa & the Caribbean” collected by Patrick Ibekwe contained two germane entries:8
The axe forgets, the tree doesn’t forget – NDEBELE
The axe forgets but the cut log does not – SHONA
In conclusion, the earliest instances of this proverb were expressed in the Shona language in Africa. The creator remains anonymous. Maya Angelou and other authors have employed the proverb while pointing to its African provenance.
Image Notes: Picture of an axe buried in a stump from Kevin Schmid at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to the anonymous person whose message led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
- 1955, An Analytical Grammar of Shona by G. Fortune Ph.D. (Lecturer in Bantu Languages, University of Cape Town), Chapter 5: The Qualificative Pronoun, Quote Page 150, Longmans, Green and Company, London. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1968, The Verb ‘Be’ and Its Synonyms: Philosophical and Grammatical Studies Part 3, Edited by John W. M. Verhaar, Foundations of Language / Supplementary Series, Volume 8, Chapter: Predication of ‘Being’ in Shona by G. Fortune (University College of Rhodesia), Start Page 110, Quote Page 125, D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Netherlands. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1986 Copyright, The Prentice Hall Encyclopedia of World Proverbs: A Treasury of Wit and Wisdom Through the Ages, Edited by Wolfgang Mieder, Topic: Ax(e), Quote Page 16, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1987, Global Insights: People & Cultures by James Neil Hantula, Thomas O. Flickema, et al, Chapter 6: The Arts In Daily Life, Topic: Oral Literature, Quote Page 91, Column 1, Merrill Publishing Company, Columbus, Ohio. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2006, Old Testament Essays, Volume 19, Number 2, Chapter: ‘It’s on the Old Mat that One Weaves the New One’: The Dialogue between African Proverbs and Biblical Texts by Willie van Heerden (Unisa) Start Page 429, Quote Page 435, Published by The Old Testament Society of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.(Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1992 Copyright, Playing with Fire: Training for the Creative Use of Conflict by Nic Fine and Fiona Macbeth, Sessions 1-3: The Fuel: Ourselves and Our Communication, Exercise 1.3: Punchy Proverbs, Quote Page 34, Column 1, Youth Work Press, London. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1997, Even the Stars Look Lonesome by Maya Angelou, Chapter: Africa, Start Page 11, Quote Page 17, Random House, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1998, Wit & Wisdom of Africa: Proverbs from Africa & the Caribbean, Collected by Patrick Ibekwe, Topic: Injury, Quote Page 100, Topic: Suffering, Quote Page 181, Africa World Press, Trenton, New Jersey and Asmara, Eritrea. (Verified with scans) ↩︎