—Ten fingers to catch one louse.
a) Ten men go to Bullinton fe bring down one prisoner; only two bring
him down.
b) One prisoner stan’ pon Marley hill; ten policemen go fe tek him
down; two bring him to de station do, an’ de sentence pass pon de
finger-nail.
c) My father tek a bwoy to court; de sentence pass pon finger-nail.
68. My fader sen’ me fe go pick out a woman fe me wife; those laugh
will be the bes’ fe tek, but those not better left, fe they will kill
me.
—Ackee; this refers to the common warning that the fruit is safe to
eat only after it has ripened and split in the sun.
69. My father plant a acre a kasava; only one white belly rat a eatey
off.
—Grater for preparing kasava meal.
70. My father give me one root kasava an’ a quart of fine salt; if I
don clever I wouldn’t taste it.
—Egg; the salt cannot penetrate the shell.
a) I put on one coco on the fire to boil and I put in a gallon of salt,
and the salt never tasted it.
b) I have a t’ing and don’t care how much salt I put in it, when I go
to eat it I have to put salt on it.
71. My father gave me some seed to sow; the ground is white and the
seed is black. [96]
—Black ink on white paper.
72. My father was in Green Island cutting chip and the chip never fly.
[97]
—Clock.
73. Mother put on a pot of food to boil; the top boil before the
bottom.
—Pipe.
74. Going up to town my face turn to town; coming back from town my
face turn to town.
—Climbing a tree.
75. I was going up to town one morning, met a man; I tell him ’Mawnin’
and he wouldn’t speak to me, and when I was coming back early in the
evening he speak to me.
—Trash, noiseless to the tread when cold, crackles when warmed by
the sun.
76. I was going up Sand-hill and saw a man and suck his blood and throw
him over the wall. [98]
—Orange.
77. When I was going up to town I met a man; his head is fire an’ his
mouth is bone. [99]
—Rooster.
a) As I was going through Bramble hall,
An old man gave me a call;
His beard was flesh, his mouth was horn,
And this old man was never born.
b) Got to a gentleman’s yard and his mouth was hard and his beard was
flesh.