Meaning & Analysis
An ideal servant should physically embody the characteristics of three animals: the strong back of a donkey for carrying burdens, the quiet tongue of a sheep to ensure silence, and the indiscriminate nose of a pig for eating any food provided.
Insights
Dehumanization and Utility
The proverb is a metaphor for the complete subjugation and dehumanization required in servitude. By comparing the ideal servant's traits to animal parts, it strips them of human agency, voice, and dignity, reducing their value to pure utility.
The Three Virtues of Servitude
It metaphorically outlines the three pillars of ideal servitude from a master's perspective: uncomplaining physical endurance ('back of an ass'), absolute discretion and obedience ('tongue of a sheep'), and a total lack of fussiness or preference ('snout of a swine').
Survival and Social Control
Symbolizes the harsh economic and social realities for the servant class. A servant must endure hard labor, remain silent to avoid punishment, and accept whatever meager sustenance is offered in order to survive.
Historical Social Hierarchy
This proverb offers a stark glimpse into the historical power dynamics of master-servant relationships, reflecting an era where servants were valued for their utility rather than their humanity. The animal attributes prescribed—endurance, silence, and a non-discerning palate—codify the ideal subordinate as a functional, uncomplaining tool, effectively erasing personal agency and reinforcing a rigid social hierarchy.
Psychology of Subordination
Psychologically, the proverb functions as a tool of social control, defining the 'good' servant in terms that benefit the master exclusively. It promotes a mindset of dehumanization, where the servant's ideal qualities are stripped of human complexity and reduced to the brute functionality of animals, thereby justifying their subordinate and often exploitative conditions.
Cultural Animal Symbolism
The specific animals chosen are deeply symbolic. The ass represents tireless labor, the sheep embodies passive obedience and lack of voice, and the swine signifies an uncritical acceptance of provisions. This trio of symbols powerfully communicates a social expectation for the complete subjugation of the individual will.
Rhetorical Devices
Metaphor
The proverb is built on a series of powerful metaphors where animal attributes symbolize the desired traits in a servant, effectively communicating the expected standards of labor, silence, and sustenance.
Tricolon
The use of a three-part parallel structure ('the back of...', 'the tongue of...', 'and the snout of...') creates a memorable and rhythmic list that gives the statement a sense of completeness and authority.
Imagery
The proverb employs vivid and somewhat grotesque animal imagery to create a lasting and impactful impression of the servant's expected role, emphasizing the physical and base nature of the duties.
Transcription
Quotations
If that thou wolt thy mayster please Thou must haue these thre propertees Fyrst must thou haue an asses eares Wyth an hertes fete in all degrees An hogges snout.
The property of a good Servant. It is required in a good seruant, to haue the backe of an Asse, to beare all things patiently, the tongue of a sheep, to keep silence gently, and the snout of a Swine, to feede on all things heartily.
A hogs snout, an asses back, and a harts legs, a good servant ought to have.
Annotations
- p. 276: To eat any thing, and endure any thing, and run of errants, spoken of the inferiour frie of servants.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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