“Water always runs to the river.”--[_Louisiana._]
131. Doucement napas empéce arrivér. (Aller doucement n’empêche pas
d’arriver.)
“Going gently about a thing won’t prevent its being
done.”[50]--[_Mauritius._]
[50] Literally: “Gently doesn’t prevent arriving.” One can reach his
destination as well by walking slowly, as by making frantic haste.
132. Fair pou fair pas mal. (Faire pour faire n’est pas [mauvais]
difficile.)
“It is not hard to do a thing for the sake of doing
it.”--[_Trinidad._]
133. Faut janmain mett racounn[51] dans loge poule. (Il ne faut jamais
mettre un raton dans la loge des poules.)
“One must never put a ’coon into a henhouse.”--[_Martinique._]
[51] A Creole friend assures me that in Louisiana patois, the word for
coon, is _chaoui_. This bears so singular a resemblance in sound to a
French word of very different meaning--_chat-huant_ (screech-owl) that
it seems possible the negroes have in this, as in other cases, given
the name of one creature to another.
134. Faut jamais porté déil avant défint dans cerkeil. (Il ne faut
jamais porter le deuil avant que le défunt soit dans le cercueil.)
“Never wear mourning before the dead man’s in his
coffin.”[52]--[_Louisiana._]
[52] Don’t anticipate trouble: “Never bid the devil good morrow till
you meet him.” “Don’t cross a bridge until you come to it.”
135. Faut páoûoles môr pou moune pè vivre. (Il faut que les paroles
meurent, afin que le monde puisse vivre.)
“Words must die that people may live.”--Ironical; this is said to
those who are over-sensitive regarding what is said about
them.--[_Trinidad._]
136. Faut pas cassé so maïe avant li fine mir. (Il ne faut pas casser
son maïs avant qu’il soit mûr.)
“Musn’t pluck one’s corn before it’s ripe.”--[_Mauritius._]
137. * Faut pas marré tayau[53] avec saucisse. (Il ne faut pas attacher
le chien-courant (taïant) avec des saucisses.)
“Musn’t tie up the hound with a string of sausages.”--[_Louisiana._]
[53] Adopted from old French “_taïaut_” (tally-ho!) the cry of the
huntsman to his hounds. The Creoles have thus curiously, but forcibly,
named the hound itself.
138. Fére éne tourou pour boucé laute. (Il fait un trou pour en boucher
un autre.)
“Make one hole to stop another.” “Borrow money to pay a
debt.”--[_Mauritius._]
139. Gambette ous trouvé gan chemin, nen gan chemin ous va pède li. (Le
gambette que vous trouvez sur le grand chemin, sur le grand chemin vous
le perdrez.)
“Every jack-knife found on the high-road, will be lost on the
high-road.”[54]--[_Hayti._]
[54] I cannot discover the etymology of this word, according to the
meaning given by Mr. Bigelow. The ordinary French signification of
_gambette_ is “red-shank”--_Totanus caledris_.
140. Gens bon-temps kállé dîe gouvênér bon-jou. (Les gens [qui ont du]
bon-temps vont dire bon-jour au gouverneur.)
“Folks who have nothing to do (lit.: _who have a fine time_) go to bid
the Governor good-day.” _Gens bon-temps_: “fine-time
folks.”--[_Trinidad._]
141. * Gens fégnants ka mandé travâï épîs bouche; main khèrs yeaux ka
pouier Bondié pou yeaux pas touver. (Les gens fainéants demandent avec
leurs bouches pour du travail; mais leurs cœurs prient le Bon Dieu
[pour] qu’ils n’en trouvent point.)
“Lazy folks ask for work with their lips: but their hearts pray God
that they may not find it.”--[_Trinidad._]
142. Gens qui ka ba ous conseî gagnen chouval gouous-boudin nans
lhouvênaïe, nans carême pas ka rider ous nouri li. (Les gens qui nous
donnent conseil d’acheter un cheval à gros-ventre pendant l’hivernage,
ne veulent point vous aider à le nourrir pendant le carême.)
“Folks who advise you to buy a big-bellied horse in a rainy season
(when grass is plenty), won’t help you to feed him in the dry season
when grass is scarce.”[55]--[_Trinidad._]
[55] This is J. J. Thomas’ translation, as given in his “Theory and
Practice of Creole Grammar.” _Lhouvênaïe_ is a word which does not
exist in our Louisiana patois. Does it come from the Spanish
_llover_--“to rain”? or is it only a Creole form of the French
_hivernage_? _Carême_, of course means Lent; whether the dry season in
Trinidad is concomitant with the Lenten epoch, or whether the Creoles
of the Island use the word to signify any season of scarcity, I am
unable to decide.