Author Archives: Crystal Lu

Proverb #3 – Haiti

My informant was born and raised in Haiti. She shared with me a few proverbs that she learned from her time growing up there.

When people think of Haiti, they rightly so think of severe poverty, denuded mountains, music, art, and its oral history — including proverbs of its peasants.  These peasants have suffered so much over the centuries.  Because of all that they have suffered, they have gained a treasure full of wisdom. Haitians seem to hold the mentality that a lot of things are up to them and that they can only depend on themselves. This belief that they hold is understandable; how can they trust a world that has been so cruel and unfair to them? A lot of their proverbs reflect skepticism, relentless hardship of life, universal truths about people, and at times a hopelessness or defeated attitude. Below I have laid out the proverb in Creole, the English translation, and then an explanation behind the proverb as provided by my informant:

 

Haitian Proverb (Creole)

Konstitusyon se papye, babyonet se fe

Translation

The constitution is made of paper, but the bayonet is made of steel

Explanation

“This one requires a bit of history about Haiti. It was the first country where slaves gained their freedom and became the first nation to create one after a fight. It happened under the Napoleonic rule. And at the time, it was the richest colony that France had, so a lot of the money that it needed actually came from Haiti. Then when they lost Haiti, the French got their coffer drained so much that they couldn’t’ make ends meet. And it was because of that, that they sold a chunk of the United States called the Louisiana Purchase. So it was because they lost Haiti, they had to find other means to raise money, so they sold Louisiana and that whole area in the United States. The Haitians created the constitution, but it’s gone through so many constitutions to the point where constitutions don’t matter anymore. The way you make a difference is you get your armaments to fight. That’s what drives change. It has nothing to do with constitution. Unlike us in the United States, we can depend on our constitution because theres stability. But in so many countries there is no such thing. Somebody else comes into power, you have a new constitutions, somebody else comes into power, you have a new constitutions—it’s meaningless. But what does matter is who has the guns. It’s like people pay attention to that cause constitutions don’t’ matter.”

Proverb #4 – Haiti

My informant was born and raised in Haiti. She shared with me a few proverbs that she learned from her time growing up there.

When people think of Haiti, they rightly so think of severe poverty, denuded mountains, music, art, and its oral history — including proverbs of its peasants.  These peasants have suffered so much over the centuries.  Because of all that they have suffered, they have gained a treasure full of wisdom. Haitians seem to hold the mentality that a lot of things are up to them and that they can only depend on themselves. This belief that they hold is understandable; how can they trust a world that has been so cruel and unfair to them? A lot of their proverbs reflect skepticism, relentless hardship of life, universal truths about people, and at times a hopelessness or defeated attitude. Below I have laid out the proverb in Creole, the English translation, and then an explanation behind the proverb as provided by my informant:

 

Haitian Proverb (Creole)

Nan benyen pa gen kache lonbrit

Translation

A beautiful burial does not guarantee heaven

Explanation

“People put in so much into the external in their lives. So it’s like ok you do all this for yourself—you pamper yourself. But in the end it’s not a passport to heaven. Because who knows what’s on the other side? It’s not ultimately money that matters when you die. It’s not going to take you to heaven. You can lavish on yourself, but in the end it won’t matter.”

Haitian Version of Jacks (Game)

My informant is from Oakland, California. Her mother was born and raised in Haiti. She shared with her some experiences of her time living in Haiti. My informant decided to share with me the rules for the Haitian version of Jacks.

“The start of the game began around the Roman Empire and took different evolutions. It’s basically a game where you play with animal knuckles—you play with bones. Now they just make it and you play with metal pieces. But back then kids would play with literal bone pieces. The way that the knuckle worked is it has like four sides. You don’t use a ball and have it bounce to pick up like how we play Jacks. So when you throw it up in the air, you have to catch. So when you have these knuckles, you only play with four knuckles. When you throw I guess the master knuckle or the father knuckle, you have to hurry up and catch or pick up one of the other knuckles on the surface and then catch it before it comes down. You would do it by ones and then by twos.”

I always wondered what the reasoning was behind the shape of the small metal “jacks” in the game. Producers made them that way to resemble the original knucklebones used in ancient times. This game has been around for over 2000 years. It has probably stuck around for so long because of how simple, portable, and fun it is. There are so many different ways to play the game. Players can choose to add or drop whatever rule they please. The flexibility and variability of the game is what keeps the game interesting. Not only is it fun and entertaining, but it also serves as a helpful tool for building hand-eye coordination in young children and building motor skills in children with autism and/or sensory processing disorders.

 

For three versions of how to play the game, go to http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Jacks

Aunt Margy

My informant is Persian and he told me a story that his mother used to tell him when he was little. In Farsi, a lot of the words in the story rhyme and flow a bit better than the english translation.

“The story is called Aunt Margy. So Aunt Margy had a lot of chickens and a rooster. Every morning she would take them out of the chicken coop to come and eat their food. At night, Aunt Margy asked them kindly to go to their chicken coop, so they can stay safe and away from the wild animals. One night, Aunt Margy went to go put them in the coop, but the rooster was very arrogant and didn’t want to listen to her. He was running around and didn’t go in. Aunty Margy decided to let him stay out and deal with the consequences that night. It started to rain very hard and Aunty Margy decided to keep him out and get punished. The next day the rooster did the same thing and he was very sick and he kept sneezing. He was sitting by Aunty Margy’s door desperately. Aunt Margy told him, ‘See what happens when you don’t listen to me?’ So she brought him in, made him some soup, and he felt better. Next day when Aunty Margy was calling for everyone to go in the coop, he was the first one to go in and he learned his lesson. This was one of the stories that my mom used to tell me as a kid and it was obviously in Farsi. In Farsi, a lot of the words rhyme, so it was meant for kids.”

This story takes place in a fictional world where roosters can talk, and is intended to entertain and educate its audience. These attributes make the story of Aunt Margy a tale. It also follows Axel Olrik’s Epic Laws of Folk Narratives. The first one is that the tale does not open or close abruptly. The second is the use of repetition. Repeating things in a story helps the audience follow along easier, especially if they missed information the first time around. Another law that the tale of Aunty Margy follows is that it never has more than two characters to a scene. It becomes difficult for children to keep track of characters when there are too many introduced at once.

Governor of the Southern Tributary State – Chinese Fable

“So this ancient Chinese fable is based around Bhuddist and Daoist morals. It’s called the Governor of the Southern Tributary State. So this man Chunyu Fen was an officer in the army that was dismissed for poor conduct and over-drinking. Disgruntled by this, he basically drinks himself into oblivion and falls asleep one day under a tree where  he dreams messenger come and take him to the kingdom of Ashendon.  The king offers his daughter hand in marriage and they get married and he’s really enjoying his new life of splendor and luxury. He eventually moves to this Southern Tributary State which is really prosperous and when he got there all the people were building monuments for him and singing praises. Until one day, the kingdom was invaded and he lost his land and his wife died shortly after. So he returned to the palace and his morale is very low. There was a prophecy that the kingdom of Ashendon would end by cause of some outside person. Chenyun was getting a lot of attention when he was in the palace, so the king grew suspicious of the prophecy and told him to leave. But when Chenyun was first told to go back to his normal world, he didn’t understand that this wasn’t the normal world and had to be reminded that he came from the world of men. And on his way out he’s super disappointed and all the grim surroundings picks up from underneath the tree and he realizes only a few hours had passed. He goes to try and find the kingdom under the tree and when he looks it’s just this mound of earth with ants. When he looks at the mound of earth, everything really resembles the kingdom and the palace itself and the southern state that he governed. When he wakes up in the morning, the whole thing is washed away.”

My informant is from Beijing. She lived there all her life before moving to America for USC. She told me that in China she learned a lot of different fables in school. Fables were popular because it taught students how to read while also teaching them valuable life lessons. I think that the moral of this particular story is that power is just an illusion. It’s about living a life of balance, simplicity, and no attachments–specifically to the physical world. These lessons are taught in the form of a cautionary dream, warning the protagonist of what could be his future if he doesn’t change his perspective and attitude.