“Conversation is the food of the ears.”--[_Trinidad._]
75. C’est bon khé crâbe qui lacause li pas tini tête. (C’est à cause de
son bon cœur que le crabe n’a pas de tête.)
“It is because of his good heart that the crab has no
head.”[31]--[_Martinique._]
[31] Implies that excessive good nature is usually indicative of
feeble reasoning-power.
76. * C’est couteau qui connaite ça qui dans cœur geomon. (C’est le
couteau qui sait ce qu’il y a dans le cœur du giromon.)
“It’s the knife that knows what’s in the heart of the
pumpkin.”[32]--[_Martinique._]
[32] This proverb exists in five Creole dialects. In the Guyana patois
it is slightly different: _Couteau oûnso connain quior iniam_ (le
couteau seul connaît le cœur de l’igname.) “It’s only the knife knows
what’s in the heart of the yam.”
77. C’est cuiller qui allé lacail[33] gamelle; gamelle pas jamain allé
lacail cuiller. (C’est la cuiller qui va à la maison de la gamelle;
jamais la gamelle ne va à la maison de la cuiller.)
“Spoon goes to bowl’s house; bowl never goes to spoon’s
house.”--[_Hayti._]
[33] _Caïe_ or _Caille_, as sometimes written, is a Creole word of
Carib origin. In the cities of the Antilles _case_ is generally
substituted--probably derived from the Spanish _casa_, “house.”
78. C’est douvant tambou nion connaitt Zamba. (C’est devant le tambour
qu’on reconnaît Zamba.)
“It’s before the drum one learns to know Zamba.”--[_Hayti._]
79. C’est langue crapaud[34] qui ka trahî crapaud. (C’est la langue du
crapaud qui le trahit.)
“It’s the frog’s own tongue that betrays him.”--[_Trinidad._]
[34] In some of the West Indies the French word _crapaud_ seems to
have been adopted by the Creoles to signify either a toad or a frog,
as it is much more easily pronounced by Creole lips than _grenouille_,
which they make sound like “gwoonouïlle.” But in Louisiana there is a
word used for frog, a delightful and absolutely perfect onomatopœia:
OUAOUARON (wahwahron).
I think the prettiest collection of Creole onomatopœia made by any
folklorist is that in Baissac’s _Étude sur le Patois Créole Mauricien_,
pp. 92-95. The delightful little Creole nursery-narrative, in which the
cries of all kinds of domestic animals are imitated by patois phrases,
deserves special attention.
80. C’est lhé vent ka venté, moun ka ouer lapeau poule. (C’est quand le
vent vente qu’on peut voir la peau de la poule--lit.: que le monde peut
voir.)
“It’s when the wind is blowing that folks can see the skin of a
fowl.”--True character is revealed under adverse
circumstances.--[_Trinidad._]
81. C’est nans temps laplîe béf bisoèn lakhé lì. (C’est dans le temps de
pluie que le bœuf a besoin de sa queue.)
“It’s in the rainy season that the ox needs his tail.”--(See
Martinique proverb No. 20.) [_Trinidad._]
82. C’est pas toutt les-jou guiabe n’empòte you pauve nhomme. (Ce n’est
pas tous les jours que le diable emporte un homme pauvre.)
“It isn’t every day that the devil carries off a poor
man.”--[_Martinique._]
83. Cé souliers tout-sêl qui save si bas tinî tous. (Ce sont les
souliers seuls qui savent si les bas ont des trous.)
“It’s only the shoes that know if the stockings have
holes.”--[_Trinidad._]
84. Chaque bêtè-à-fè clairé pou nânme yo. (Chaque mouche-à-feu éclaire
pour son âme.)
“Every fire-fly makes light for its own soul;” that is to say, “Every
one for himself.”--[_Martinique._]
85. Chatt pas là, ratt ka baill[35] bal. (Absent le chat, les rats
donnent un bal.)
“When the cat’s away the rats give a ball.”--[_Martinique._]
[35] _Baïll_ (to give) affords example of a quaint French verb
preserved in the Creole dialect,--_bailler_. It can be found in
MOLIÈRE. Formerly a Frenchman would have said, “_Bailler sa foi,
bailler sa parole._” It is now little used in France, except in such
colloquialisms as, “_Vous me la baillez belle!_”