“A little string for a little dog.”--[_Martinique._]
312. Ti hache coupé gouaus bois. (Une petite hache coupe un grand
arbre.)
“A little axe cuts down a big tree.”--[_Martinique._]
313. Ti moun cònnaitt couri, yo pas cònnaitt serré. (Les enfants--lit:
“le petit monde”--savent courir; ils ne savent pas se cacher.)
“Children (little folk) know how to run; they do not know how to
hide.”--[_Martinique._]
314. Tig mò, chien ka prend pays. (Quand le tigre est mort, le chien
prend le pays.)
“When the tiger is dead, the dog takes [rules] the
country.”--[_Martinique._]
315. Tòti sé vole si li tè tini plimm. (Le tortue volerait si elle avait
des ailes.)
“The tortoise would fly if it had wings.”[134]--[_Martinique._]
[134] “Pigs might fly,” etc.
316.
Tout bois cé bois;
Main mapou
Pas ‘cajou.
(Tout bois c’est du bois;
Mais le mapou
N’est pas de l’acajou.)
“All wood is wood; but mapou wood isn’t mahogany
(cedar).”[135]--[_Trinidad._]
[135] Thomas translates _cajou_, by “cedar.” _Acajou_ in French,
signifies mahogany, as it does also in Louisiana Creole. There is an
old song, of which the refrain is:
_Chèr bijou
Dacajou,
Mo laimin vous_
(“My darling mahogany jewel, I love you!”)
317. * Tout ça c’est commerce Man Lison. (Tout ça c’est affaire de Maman
Lison.)
“All that’s like Mammy Lison’s doings.”[136]--[_Louisiana._]
[136] Whenever a thing is badly done, this saying is used;--_commerce_
in the Creole signifying almost the reverse of what it does in French.
Who that traditional _Man Lison_ was, I have never been able to find
out.
318. Tout ça qui poté zépron pas maquignon. (Tout homme qui porte
éperons n’est pas maquignon.)
“Everybody who wears spurs isn’t a jockey.” All is not gold that
glitters.--[_Martinique._]
319. Toutt cabinett tini maringouin. (Tout cabinet contient des
maringouins.)
“Every bed-chamber has its mosquitoes in it.”--Equivalent to our own
proverb: A skeleton in every closet.--[_Martinique._]
320. * Toutt joué c’est joué; mais cassé bois dans bonda macaque--ça pas
joué. (Tout [façon de] jouer c’est jouer; mais ce n’est pas jouer que de
casser du bois dans le derrière du macaque.)
. . . . . . . . [137]--[_Martinique._]
[137] This ridiculous observation is unsuitable for translation.
Nevertheless we have an English, or perhaps an American, proverb
equally vulgar, which may have inspired, or been derived from, the
Creole one. In the English saying, the words “joking” and “provoking”
are used as rhymes. The moral is precisely similar to that of No. 322.
In old days the Creole story-teller would always announce his
intention of beginning a tale by the exclamation “_Tim-tim!_”
whereupon the audience would shout in reply, “_Bois sec_;” and the
story-teller would cry again, “_Cassez-li_,” to which the chorus would
add “. . . . _dans tchu_ (bonda) _macaque_.” Thus the story-teller
intimated that he had no intention of merely “_joking_,” but intended
to tell the whole truth and nothing else--“a real good story”--_tois
fois bonne conte!_
321. * Toutt jour c’est pas dimanche. (Tous les jours ne sont pas le
dimanche.)
“Every day isn’t Sunday.”--[_Louisiana._]
322. Tou jwé sa jwé; me bwa là zòrè sa pa jwé. (Tout [façon de] jouer
c’est jouer; mais enfoncer du bois dans l’oreille n’est pas jouer.)
“All play is play; but poking a piece of wood into one’s ear isn’t
play.”--[_Guyane._]
323. * Tout macaque trouvé so piti joli. (Tout macaque trouve son petit
joli.)
“Every monkey thinks its young one pretty.”--[_Louisiana._]
324. Toutt milett ni grand zaureilles. (Tout les mulets ont des grandes
oreilles.)
“All mules have big ears.”--Equivalent to our proverb; “Birds of a
feather flock together.”--[_Martinique._]
325. * Toutt mounn save ça qui ka bouï nens canari yo. (Toute personne
sait ce qui bout dans son canari [marmite].)
“Everybody knows what boils in his own pot”--i.e., knows his own
business best.[138]--[_Martinique._]
[138] In Thomas’s Trinidad version: “_Tout moune connaite ça qui ka
bouï nans canari yeaux_.” In Louisiana Creole: “_Chakin connin ça kapé
bouilli dans so chodière_.” _Canari_ is sometimes used in our Creole,
but rarely. I have only heard it in old songs. The iron pot
(_chodière_) or tin utensil has superseded the _canari_.
326. Travaï pas mal; cé ziex qui capons. (Le travail ne fait pas du mal;
c’est les yeux qui sont capons [lâches].)
“Work doesn’t hurt;--‘tis the eyes that are cowards.”--[_Mauritius._]