“An old cock, a young hen.”--[_Mauritius._]
334. Volè pas ainmein vouè canmarade yo pòté sac. (Les voleurs n’aiment
pas voir leurs camarades portant le sacs.)
“Thieves do not like to see their comrades carrying the
bags.”[141]--[_Martinique._]
[141] Probably truer to human nature than our questionable statement
concerning “honor among thieves.” Mr. Bigelow, in his contribution to
_Harper’s Magazine_, cited a similar proverb in the Haytian dialect.
335. Vous napas va montré vié zaco fère grimaces. (Vous ne montrerez pas
à un vieux singe à faire des grimaces.)
“You can’t teach an old monkey how to make
faces.”[142]--[_Mauritius._]
[142] “Teach your granny to suck eggs.”
336. Voyé chein, chein voyé lakhe li. (Envoyez le chien, et le chien
envoie sa queue.)
“Send dog, and dog sends his tail.”--Refers to those who obey orders
only by proxy.--[_Trinidad._]
337. Yo ka quimbé[143] chritiens pa langue yo, bef pa còne yo. (On prend
les Chrétiens par la langue, les bœufs par les cornes.)
“Christians are known by their tongues, oxen by their horns.”
(Literally, are taken by or caught by.)--[_Martinique._]
[143] _Quimbé_ is a verb of African origin. It survives in Louisiana
Creole as _tchombé_ or _chombo_:
_Caroline, zolie femme,
Chombo moin dans collet._
[“Caroline, pretty woman; put your arm about my neck!”--lit.: “take me
by the neck.”]
There are other African words used by the older colored women, such as
_macayé_, meaning to eat at all hours; and _Ouendé_, of which the
sense is dubious. But the Congo verb _fifa_, to kiss; and the verbs
_souyé_, to flatter; _pougalé_, to abuse violently; and such nouns as
_saff_ (glutton), _yche_ or _iche_ (baby), which are preserved in
other Creole dialects, are apparently unknown in Louisiana to-day.
In Chas. Jeannest’s work, _Quatre Années au Congo_ [Paris:
Charpentier, 1883], I find a scanty vocabulary of words in the Fiot
dialect, the native dialect of many slaves imported into Louisiana and
the West Indies. In this vocabulary the word _ouenda_ is translated by
“partir pour.” I fancy it also signifies “to be absent,” and that it
is synonymous with our Louisiana African-Creole _ouendé_, preserved in
the song:
_Ouendé, ouendé, macaya_;
Mo pas, ’barassé, _macaya_!
_Ouendé, ouendé, macaya_;
Mo bois bon divin, _macaya_!
_Ouendé, ouendé, macaya_;
Mo mangé bon poulé, _macaya_!
_Ouendé, ouendé, macaya_;..etc.
This is one of the very few songs with a purely African refrain still
sung in New Orleans. The theme seems to be that, the master and
mistress of a house being absent, some slave is encouraging a
slave-friend to eat excessively, to “stuff himself” with wine,
chicken, etc. “They are gone, friend: eat, fill yourself; _I’m_ not a
bit ashamed; stuff yourself!--I’m drinking good wine; stuff
yourself!--I’m eating good chicken; gorge yourself,” etc. Here
_ouendé_ seems to mean “they are out; they are gone away,”--therefore
there is no danger.
There is another Creole song with the same kind of double refrain, but
the meaning of the African words I have not been able to discover.
Nicolas, Nicolas, Nicolas, ou dindin;
Nicolas, Nicolas, Nicolas marché ouaminon:
Quand li marché
_Ouarasi, ouarasa!_
Quand li marché
_Ouarasi, ouarasa!_
[“Nicholas, etc., you are a turkey-cock! Nicholas walks _ouaminon_:
when he walks, it is _ouarasi, ouarasa_.”] The idea is obvious enough;
viz.: that Nicholas struts like a turkey-cock; but the precise
signification of the three italicised words I have failed to learn.
338. Yon doègt pas sa pouend pice. (Un seul doigt ne peut pas attraper
des puces.)
“One finger can’t catch fleas.”--[_Martinique._]