Author Archives: Kate-Malorie McCall

Proverb

Informant: A day late and a dollar short.

The informant learned this proverb from her mother.

Collector: Why would your mom say this proverb? In what context?

Informant: It was always meant jokingly/lightheartedly but I guess with the context of death or talking about not experiencing something.

Collector: Did you hear proverbs from your mother a lot?

Informant: No, mom didn’t say proverbs often.

Collector: Did you have a strict upbringing?

Informant: Not a super strict upbringing but in some ways, yeah; like with school want what not.

Collector: Did the day late and dollar short proverb make you think about missing opportunities or not experiencing life enough? Why or why not?

Informant: Yes, that quote made me want to embrace life and make the most because I don’t want to fail or live with regrets.

Under the context provided by the informant, this proverb expresses a correlation between success and finances. This shows a very westernized obsession with monetary goods. To relate being ‘a dollar short’ with not experiencing something also associates all aspects of life with money whether it be specifically a financially secure occupation or the ability to adventure and participate in recreational activities.

Proverb

Informant: Be swift to hear, slow to speak.

The informant learned this proverb from her mother who said it often.

The proverb was said in situations where the informant was speaking too much or saying things that weren’t beneficial to her or those around her.

The informant admired the proverb and took it to heart when it was said. The informant still attempts to live by it.

Collector: where do you think your mother heard this? From her parents, church, elders?

Informant: From church

Collector: Did you know that this is similar to something from the Bible (Epistle of James): “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath?”

Informant: Yes, she told me. All of her teachings were biblical.

Children are unaware of societal etiquette or proper behavior and tend to speak hurtful truths, share unnecessary thoughts and ignore other people talking. This proverb could help to teach the children the importance of being careful of what they say and always listening to others.

For another version, see Epistle of James in the Bible.

 

The Dragon of Wawel

Informant: A nasty dragon lived at the bottom of Wawel Hill. He ate sheep, children, anything. Nobody could kill him, though many tried. The king invited any knight or nobleman to try his luck so to win the hand of the princess and become king. He didn’t invite anyone else to try because, obviously, you had to be good with a horse and a sword to take on a dragon. One day a poor (but impossibly handsome) shoemaker’s apprentice named Krak asked to try, but nobody thought he had a chance without a sword or horse. But Krak substituted his brains and his shoe-making skills – he stuffed a sheep carcass with sulfur and sewed it up. The dragon ate it and started to burn inside, so he drank so much water that he exploded. Krak married the princess and became King. He built a castle on the top of Wawel Hill and the town became known as Krakow.

Collector: When were you told this story?

Informant: This is one of the most important stories from Poland, and everybody knows it. I heard it from my grandmother when I was very young and from my dad when I was older, and started to be interested in my heritage.

Collector: Why did you like this story?

Informant: Because it’s funny. And you can imagine how the story can be told with all sorts of great details-like imagine the dragon as he swells up, the look of surprise on his face- You’ve got the archetypical good vs evil going on, but also it’s just a good story.

Collector: What do you think it says of Poland?

Informant: I think it says a lot about the national character of the Poles. For one, they really love their country and themselves, I mean who they are as a people. Poles are at the same time practical and whimsical. They love the underdog who is smart and creative and most of all, courageous.

By telling this story, adults were able to teach national pride to children in an interesting way that would appeal to their imagination. Children have notoriously small attention spans. With this story, national pride and geographic basics are combined with supernatural drama and heroics that children take to.

For another version, see Legend of the Wawel Dragon (Legenda o Smoku Wawelskim) by Katarzyna Malkomska

Origin of the Easter Bunny

Informant: The Easter Bunny, what’s up with that? Why is there an Easter Bunny? So basically, when Jesus was in the cave, there was a big boulder in front of it. One day, a giant bunny came around and kicked the boulder out and Jesus rose.

The informant was told this story every Easter morning by her father.

Collector: Did you have a religious upbringing?

Informant: I’m technically Catholic and went to CCD but my parents were very sacrilegious so that played more into my views than anything I learned at CCD.

Collector: What’s CCD?

Informant: A catholic after school program.

Collector: Why did your father tell you this story?

Informant: He’s just a goofball and sacrilegious so I think he just made it up at some point as a funny joke/sarcastic explanation.

Collector: Have you heard a similar story?

Informant: I’ve never heard a similar story.

Collector: Is it ever told with variation?

Informant: He always tells it the same exact way.

The informant never believed the story had any validity but found the story very funny and entertaining.

In families that don’t identify as heavily religious, it seems very common that funny or parody stories of religious holidays begin to appear. This could be because non-religious families participate in the holidays out of cultural or consumerist reasoning rather than faith and therefore hold little sentiment about its sanctity.

The White Witch

The informant visited Jamaica when she was seven or eight with her family. They visited an old plantation that used to be run by a cruel slave owner. They were told that her ghost still haunted that plantation. There was no threat element as the ghost was not said to attack. She was called the White Witch.

Collector: Who was the White Witch before she died?

Informant: She ran the plantation.

Collector: Do you know how she died?

Informant: Not sure how she died. I think it was natural causes.

Collector: Did they provide you with examples of her cruelty?

Informant: Yeah. Her cruelty with her slaves and brutally hurting them and what not.

Collector: In what context and who told you this story?

Informant: Tour guide! Told us more as history than for fear but alluded that she was feared.

The informant didn’t see anything and didn’t believe it.

As this story was primarily told by local tour guides to tourists, it’s possible that this folklore stemmed from a place of consumerist intentions. Tourists are drawn to folklore as it makes their visit feel more “authentic.”