Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 2, 1891.djvu/419

Rh in Imèrina Vòrombazàha, i. e., "Foreigner's bird", and so is probably of comparatively recent introduction. In other parts of the country it is known by the name of Drakidràky and Ganagàna, the first certainly, and the latter probably, imitative of its quack. The following proverbs refer to this bird: "Thin and flat-mouthed, like a duck"; "Do like the ducks: the drake who leads has least to say"; "It is the ducks that make a noise, so the frogs are alarmed"; "If turning head over heels is to be done, the duck will get something first"; "Like a duck lying on its back, its feet are flat and thin; bending down, its beak is flat and thin."

Last, but by no means least in importance, to the Malagasy, is the domestic Fowl, reared everywhere, and called by them Akòho, a word most probably onomatopoetic in origin, although it may be more immediately connected with the Swahili kuku. It was no doubt introduced into Madagascar in very early times, and the numerous words, verbal forms, and compound words, derived from the name of the bird, as well as the innumerable references to it in native folk-lore, legends, oratory, and proverbs, all testify to the prominent place it holds in the estimation of the people. In the fullest collection of Malagasy proverbs yet published there are more than ninety which refer to fowls—whether as cocks, hens, or chickens—and there are several also about eggs, from each of which classes a few of the most noteworthy will now be quoted.

First, then, as to Chickens: a bit of natural theology is seen in the following: "A chicken drinking water: it observes what is on the earth, but also looks up to heaven." The anxieties of a hen who has brought up a brood of ducklings is thus noticed: "As a hen which has hatched ducklings: if she clucks after them, they are not hers; if she leaves them alone, they are a troublesome family." Others will explain themselves: "A chicken fallen into a ditch: it struggles to get out, but can't; it calls out, but its voice is weak; it stops there, it is in danger of the wildcat"; "Chickens having rice thrown to them: they are