Then thou mayst tell her it is I
Who sent thee to her, gentle sigh!"
—COSTELLO.
In regard to length of words, there exist undoubtedly some surprising examples, but they are merely compound expressions and quite in analogy with those of better known and less abused tongues. The German, for one, indulges in such with notorious yet unrebuked frequency. One is naturally startled at encountering in Basque such imbrications as Izarysaroyarenlarrearenbarena, or Ardanzesaroyareniturricoburua, which are actual names of places in Spanish Basque-land; but they are mercifully rare, and when analyzed prove to be rational and even poetic formations, laden with a full equivalent of import,—the first of the above two signifying "the centre of the field of the mountain of the star," and the second, "the summit of the fountain of the mountain of the vine."
These be scarcely fair samples, however. Commoner words and some of their more musical phrases are instanced in the following, taken in the dialect of this region of St. Jean:
| Haran, | Valley. | Lo, | Sleep. |
| Etchelde, | Farm. | Etche, | House. |
| Ogi, | Bread. | Etchetar, | Household. |
| Egur, | Wood. | Nerhaba, | Child. |
| Maraza, | Hatchet. | Nescatcha, | Maiden. |
| Nekarsale, | Workman. | Zorioneko, | Happy. |
| Aita, | My father. | Ama, | My mother. |
| Neure maiteak, | My loved ones. |
Home words, such as these latter, give a glimpse of this people's home life. For they are devoted to their household as to their tribe, and uniformly show a certain homely honesty and simplicity underneath all their free ways. Love of smuggling does not impugn this honesty,—in their own view, at all events; for the Basque, man and woman, is a born smuggler, and believing it right is not ashamed. Indeed, they make common cause of it; for years, if a revenue officer detected and shot a Basque in the act, he had to fly the land at once, for the entire neighborhood united in seeking hot and deadly vengeance.
The race is notably fond of dancing and drama, and the villages hold frequent open-air theatricals, generally upon religious themes, which they always handle with great seriousness. They have at intervals unique contests in improvisation, rivaling Wolfram and Tannhaüser, or the Meistersingers, in this special talent. They are fruitful, too, in proverb lore, as would be expected in an old race. Their wise saws are sharp, often rasping:
"Hard bread makes sharp teeth." (Ogi gogorrari haguin sorroza.)
"One eye suffices the seller; the buyer has need of a hundred."