Lafcadio Hearn

“ The word grigri, also of African origin, simply refers to a charm, which may be used for an innocent or innocuous purpose. Thus, in a Louisiana Creole song, we find a quadroon mother promising her daughter a charm to prevent the white lover from forsaking her; Pou tchombé li na fé grigri—“We shall make a grigri to keep him.”
101. Conseillére napas payére. (Le donneur de conseil n’est pas le payeur.)
“The adviser is not the payer.” That is to say, the one who gives advice has nothing to lose.— [Mauritius.] ”

“ C’est bois pourri. (Quand l’Acoma est tombé, tout le monde dit: C’est du bois pourri.)
“When the Acoma has fallen everybody says: ‘It’s only rotten wood.’” [1] — [Mart.]
[1] The Acoma, says Turiault, is one of the grandest trees in the forests of the Antilles. The meaning of the proverb appears to be, that a powerful or wealthy person who meets with misfortune is at once treated with contempt by those who formerly sought his favor or affected to admire his qualities. ”

“ Refers especially to a man who marries without having made proper provision for the future. The Creole does not believe in our reckless proverb: “What will keep one, will keep two.” Non, non, chèr, lamisère à deux, Misère & Cie.!
163. Lapauveté napas éne vis, més li éne bien gros coulou. (La pauvreté n’est pas une vis [un vice] ; mais c’est un bien gros clou.)
“Poverty isn’t a screw; but it’s a very big nail.” The pun will be obvious to a French reader; but vice is not a true Creole word, according to Baissac.— [Mauritius.] ”

“ In most of the Creole dialects several different versions of a popular proverb are current. A friend gives me this one of proverb 97: Cochon-marron conné enhaut qui bois li frotté. (“The wild hog knows what tree to rub himself upon.”) Marron is applied in all forms of the Creole patois to wild things; zhèbes marrons signifies “wild plants.” The term, couri-marron, or nègue-marron formerly designated a runaway slave in Louisiana as it did in the Antilles. There is an old New Orleans saying:
“Après yé tiré canon
Nègue sans passe c’est nègue-marron.” ”

“ In Creole bon temps most generally signifies “idleness,” and is not always used in a pleasant sense. Prov. 35 is susceptible of several different applications.
36. Bon valett ni lakhé coupé. (Le bon valet a la queue coupée.)
“The good servant’s tail is cut off.”—Reference to the condition of a dog whose tail is cut off: he can’t wag his tail, because he has no tail to wag! [17] — [Martinique.]
[17] The good servant does not fawn, does not flatter, does not affect to be pleased with everything his master does—he may emulate the dog in constant faithfulness, not in fawning. ”

“ A proverb common to all the dialects. In uttering it, with emphatic gesture, the negro signifies that there is no pride which will not be at last brought down, no grandeur which will not have an end.
304. Souliers faraud, més domage ziutes manze lipieds. (Les souliers sont elegants, mais c’est dommage qu’ils mangent les pieds.)
“Shoes are fine things; but it’s a pity they bite one’s feet.” [128] — [Mauritius.]
[128] M. Baissac tells us, in a very amusing way, how this proverb originated at the time of the negro emancipation in Mauritius, when 30,000 pairs of new shoes were distributed. ”

“ I would also recommend those interested in such folklore to peruse the Creole novel of Dr. Alfred Mercier—Les Saint-Ybars, which contains excellent examples of the Louisiana dialect; and Baissac’s beautiful little stories, “Recits Créoles,” rich in pictures of the old French colonial life. The foreign philological reviews and periodicals, especially those of Paris, have published quite a variety of animal fables, proverbs, stories in various Creole dialects ”

“ Where the final t—never pronounced in our own patois—is fully sounded, the several authorities upon Creole grammar have indicated the fact in various fashions: one spelling it cabritt; another cabrite, etc.
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The grammatical peculiarities and the pronounciation of the several Creole dialects are matters which could not be satisfactorily treated within the compass of a small pamphlet. Some few general rules might, indeed, be mentioned as applying to most Creole dialects. It is tolerably safe to say that in no one of the West Indian dialects was the French “r” pronounced in former days ”

“ In Martinique Creole the proverb is: Còde gnâme marré gnâme. “Code” (corde) signifying the same as liane, the long cord-like stalk of the creeper. Folks are sometimes caught fast in the snares they set for others, just as the yam is tied with its own stalk.
182. Lilit pour dé napas lilet pour trois. (Un lit pour deux n’est pas un lit pour trois.)
“A bed for two isn’t a bed for three.”— [Mauritius.]
183. Lizié napas éna balizaze. (Les yeux n’ont pas de frontière.) [73]
“Eyes have no boundary.” Equivalent to the English saying: “A cat may look at a king.”— [Mauritius.] ”

“ Mr. Bigelow gives the curious spelling croquez. The word is certainly derived from the French, accrocher. In Louisiana Creole we always say ’croché for “hang up.” I doubt the correctness of the Haytian spelling as here given: for the French word croquer (“to devour,” “gobble up,” “pilfer,” etc.) has its Creole counterpart; and the soft ch is never, so far as I can learn, changed into the k or g sound in the patois.
116. D’abord vous guetté poux de bois mangé bouteille, croquez calabasse vous haut. (Quand vous voyez les poux-de-bois manger les bouteilles, accrochez vos calabasses [en] haut) . ”

“ Quand maite chanté, nègue dansé; quand ’conome sifflé, nègue sauté. (Quand le maître chante, le nègre danse; quand l’économe siffle, le nègre saute.)
“When the master sings the negro dances; but when the overseer only whistles, the negro jumps.”—A relic of the old slave-day Creole folklore.— [Louisiana.]
267. Quand milatt tini yon vié chouvral yo dit nègress pas manman yo. (Quand les mulâtres ont un vieux cheval ils disent que les négresses ne sont pas leurs mères.)
“As soon as a mulatto is able to own an old horse, he will tell you that his mother wasn’t a nigger.”— [Martinique.] ”

“ The delightfully fragrant grass, well-known to pharmaceutists as the Andropogon muricatus or Vetiveria odorata is used in Mauritius to thatch cabins with. A broad border of this grass is usually planted around each square of sugar-cane. It grows tall enough to conceal a man, or a couple of lovers holding a rendezvous. ”

“ There is more than one way to revenge oneself.— [Mauritius.]
106. Coupé son nenez, volor so figuire. (Couper son nez, c’est voler sa figure.)
“Cutting off one’s nose is robbing one’s face.”— [Mauritius.]
107. * Coupé zoré milet fait pas choual. (Couper les oreilles au mulet, n’en fait pas un cheval.)
“Cutting off a mule’s ears won’t make him a horse.” [42] — [Louisiana.]
[42] This seems to me much wittier than our old proverb: “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.” ”

“ Boudin in French signifies a pudding, in Creole it also signifies the belly. Thus there is a double pun in the patois.
45. Ça qui dourmi napas pensé manzé. (Qui dort ne pense pas à manger.)
“When one sleeps, one doesn’t think about eating.” [21] — [Mauritius.]
[21] “Qui dort, dine,” is an old French proverb.
46. Ça qui fine goûté larac zamés perdi son goût. (Celui qui a goûté l’arac n’en oublie jamais le goût.)
“He who has once tasted arrack never forgets the taste.”— [Mauritius.]
47. Ça qui gagné piti mil dehors, veillé laplie. (Celui qui a un peu de mil dehors veille la pluie.) ”

“ The Louisiana tiyon or tignon [tiyon is the true Creole word] is the famously picturesque handkerchief which in old days all slave women twisted about their heads. It is yet worn by the older colored folk: and there are several styles of arranging it—tiyon chinoise, tiyon Créole, etc. An old New Orleans ditty is still sung, of which the refrain is ”

“ I much doubt the Creole origin of any proverb relating to the beard. This one, like many others in the collection, has probably been borrowed from a European source; but it furnishes a fine sample of patois. In Louisiana Creole we would say to quenne instead of ta ou. The Spanish origin of the Creole quenne is obvious.
11. Babiez mouche, babiez viande. (Grondez les mouches, grondez la viande.)
“Scold the flies, scold the meat.”— [Hayti.]
12. Badnèn bien èpis macaque; main pouèngâde manyèn lakhé li. (Badinez bien avec le macaque; mais prenez garde de ne pas manier sa queue.) ”

“ If you talk scandal at random, the mischief done will sooner or later recoil upon yourself. I find the same proverb in the Mauritian dialect.
113. Crapaud pas tini chímise, ous vlé li pôte caneçon. (Le crapaud n’a pas de chemise, et vous voulez qu’il porte caleçon) .
“The frog has no shirt, and you want him to wear drawers!”— [Trinidad.]
114. Cresson content boire dileau. (Le cresson aime à boire l’eau) .
“The water cress loves to drink water.” Used interrogatively, this is equivalent to the old saw: “Does a duck like water?” “Will a duck swim?”— [Mauritius.] ”

“ The proverb is susceptible of various applications. Everyone who has sojourned in tropical, or even semi-tropical latitudes knows the deadly nature of stagnant water in the feverish summer season.
125. Dimounde qui fére larzent, napas larzent qui fére dimounde. (Ce sont les hommes qui font l’argent, ce n’est pas l’argent qui fait les hommes.)
“It’s the men who make the money; ’tisn’t the money that makes the men.”— [Mauritius.] ”

“ In Louisiana Creole, faire di-train is commonly used in the sense of making a great noise, a big fuss. An old negro-servant might often be heard reproving the children of the house in some such fashion as this:—“Ga!—pouki tapé fait tou di-train la?—Toulé pé?—pas fait tou di-train mo di toi!” (“Here, what are you making all that noise for?—are you going to keep quiet?—musn’t make so much noise, I tell you!”)
307. Tampée ka gagnen malhèrs ka doublons pas sa gueri. (Un ‘tampée’ achète des malheurs que les doublons ne peuveut pas guerir.) ”

“ A wooden chest or trunk is the first desideratum of the negro housewife. As soon as the family is able to purchase a clothes-press, or (as we call it in Louisiana) “armoire,” it is considered quite a prosperous household by Mauritian colored folk. The chest, Baissac tells us, is the clothes-press of the poor. “After the bed comes the chest, and next the accordeon!”
261. Quand lamôrt vini, vous pense vous lavie. (Quand la mort vient, vous pensez à vôtre vie.)
“It’s when death comes that you think about your life.”— [Mauritius.]
262. Quand lébras trop courte, napas zoinde. ”

“ Zaco malin, li-méme té montré noir coment voler. (La singe est malin; c’est lui qui a montré au noir comment on vole.)
“The monkey is sly; it was he that first taught the black man how to steal.”— [Mauritius.]
342. Zaco napas guétte so laquée; li guétte pour son camarade. (Le singe ne regarde pas sa queue; il regarde celle de son voisin.)
“Monkey never watches his own tail; he watches his neighbor’s.”— [Mauritius.] ”

“ A widely-spread proverb. In Louisiana we say piti li or so piti, instead of “yche” or “iche li.” In Martinique Creole: Macaque pas janmain trouve yche li laide.
188. Macaque save qui bois li monté; li pas monté zaurangé. (Le macaque sait sur quel arbre il doit monter; il ne monte pas sur l’oranger.)
“The monkey well knows what tree to climb; he doesn’t climb an orange tree.” [77] — [Martinique.] ”

“ 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.) ”

“ Bef pas bousoin lakhê li yon sel fois pou chassé mouche. (Le bœuf n’a pas besoin de sa queue une fois seulement pour chasser les mouches.)
“It isn’t one time only that the ox needs his tail to drive the flies away.”—Ironical expression for “you will have need of me again.” [10] — [Martinique.]
[10] This proverb may be found in all the Creole dialects of the West Indies. We have in the South a proverb to the same effect in English: Flytime will come again, and the ox will want his tail.
21. Bef pas jamain ka dîe savane, “Meçi!” (Le bœuf ne dit jamais à la savane, “Merci!”) ”

“ In the Martinique dialect it is: C’est soulié qui save si bas tini trou. In the Trinidad patois: Cé soulier tout-sél qui save si bas tini trou (Thomas) . In Louisiana Creole: C’est soulier nek connin si bas gagnin trou. “Nek,” compound from French ne ... que—“only.”
224. Oti tini zos tini chien. (Où il y a des os il y a des chiens.)
“Wherever there are bones, there are dogs.” Meaning that when one is rich, one has plenty of friends.— [Martinique.]
225. Ou faché avec gan chemin, que côté ou va passé? (Vous vous fachez avec le grand chemin, de quel côté irez-vouz?) ”

“ 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.) ”

“ The loftiest pride is liable to fall; and we know not how soon we may be glad to seek the aid of the most humble.
149. Janmain guiabe ka dòmi. (Jamais le diable ne s’endort.)
“The devil never sleeps.”— [Martinique.]
150. Janmain nous ne pas douè ladans quiou poule compté zè. (Il ne faut jamais [nous ne devons jamais] compter les œufs dans la derrière de la poule.)
“We should never count the eggs in the body of the hen.”- (The Creole proverb is, however, less delicate.) — [Martinique.] ”