Author Archives: ambenson

Children’s Song: “A Sailor Went to Sea”

Nationality: African American
Age: 60
Performance Date: April 21, 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The following was transcribed from an interview between the informant and the interviewer.

“A sailor went to sea, sea, sea

To see what he could see, see, see

But all that he could see, see, see

Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea

A sailor went to chop, chop, chop

To see what he could chop, chop, chop

But all that he could chop, chop, chop

Was the bottom of the deep, blue chop, chop, chop

A sailor went to knee, knee, knee

To see what he could knee, knee, knee

But all that he could knee, knee, knee

Was the bottom of the deep, blue knee, knee, knee

A sailor went China

To see what he could China

But all that he could China

Was the bottom of the deep, blue China

A sailor went to Ooh-Wah-Chi-Kah

To see what he could Ooh-Wah-Chi-Kah

But all that he could Ooh-Wah-Chi-Kah

Was the bottom of the deep, blue Ooh-Wah-Chi-Kah

Context:

I collected this piece of folklore during an interview while at the informant’s house. The informant, my mother, used to sing this song along with her other friends when she was around the ages of 6-9. She is an African American, and she grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. There are also hand motions that go with this song when ever the word “see” or “sea” is used then you would put your hand to your forehead as if saluting, and you would tap your forehead in time with the words. So, when it says “see, see, see,” you would tap your forehead three times along with the words. This applies to all of the other words if it’s said three times. For “chop,” you would make a “knife” with one hand and “chop” your other arm in time with the music. For “knee,” you would hit your knee. Then, for “China,” you would pull at the corner of your eyes to create narrower eyes. And, lastly, for “Ooh-Wah-Chi-Kah” (I just made up the spelling by the way), you would shimmy. My informant also told me that the “original” song was simply just the first verse, and then she learned other verses of the song through different friends.

My Thoughts:

The first stanza could have been popular among children simply because it deals with word play. Since young kids would be exploring the English language more as they grow up, word play, homophones, may be words that are especially interesting to young kids. All the other stanzas are different though because they have nothing to do with word play or seem to make that much sense at all. The other stanzas could just show how kids had fun with words. The other stanzas could be more regional, while the first stanza could be more widespread. All the other stanzas besides the first, have words that may be interesting to young kid learning more about the language. Both “chop” and “China” have the “ch” sound which is a special grammar rule in the English language. Also, the word “knee” is an interesting exception to the common rules of English grammar by having a silent k. These words could be forms of exploring the complexity of the English language. The last stanza is the oddest because it does not have to do with the English language, but kids do get to explore different sounds that may just be fun to say. It is also important to note that my informant said only girls would play this rhyme which is common in our culture.

Superstition about eating all the rice in your bowl

Performance Date: April 15, 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The following was transcribed from an interview between the informant and the interviewer:

 “Each grain of rice left in my bowl would become a pimple on my future husband’s face.”

Context:

I collected this piece of folklore during an over the phone interview. My informant is a Chinese American who resides in California. My informant’s mother used to tell her this when she was growing up and they would eat a bowl of rice with many of their meals. So, this superstition was meant to encourage her to eat all of her rice.

Thoughts/Analysis:

My informant told me that she believed her mother used to tell her this warning when she was a child before she hit puberty. So, it’s interesting that this was mainly used as a warning before she would have known that many people with pimples. It’s also interesting how this superstition glorifies appearance and romance. This superstition makes the assumption that it is important for young girls to want attractive husbands when they are older. The informant also told me that her mother would say this specifically to her not to her brother. This shows how marriage is deemed as a more important goal in a female’s life a male’s.

Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival: The Origin of Mooncakes

Performance Date: April 15, 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The following was transcribed from an interview between the informant and the interviewer.

“So usually in the fall time there’s a holiday called the mid-autumn festival or sometimes people call it the mooncake festival because the thing that people eat during this festival is called a mooncake. It’s basically like this um, roundish like, very dense um, pastry, and on the inside there’s like different fillings. So sometimes like mixed nuts as a filling, red bean paste, or loaded bean paste, or these like different things. And um there’s like a legend about why we celebrate the mid-autumn festival or the moon festival. And it’s like basically the story is that a really long time ago, like in ancient times, there were actually ten suns on earth, um, and, it was like really hot, and it made people’s lives very difficult ‘cause it was super, super hot all the time. And then there was this guy who was a hero, and he wanted to help people because they were struggling under the heat of the ten suns. So, he like used a bow and arrow and his great strength and he shot down nine of the ten suns (laughs). Um so, after he like did this, he became a big hero, everybody loved him. And then, as all stories go, he like met a princess, and he married her. And they were living happily ever after. Um, but then, the hero, he like didn’t want to die, so then he was looking for a way to live forever. And then, this like magician gave him a potion which would cause him to go to heaven and become a god. But then, instead of drinking it because he wasn’t sure, he took it home and gave it to his wife. Um and she was just supposed to keep it, but basically, she drank it. And then the moment that she drank it, she flew out of the window and ascended into the sky. And then she lived on the moon, so the princess that lived on the moon that’s why it’s the moon festival. And then we eat these cakes to like remember her.”

Context: I collected this piece of folklore during an over the phone interview. My informant is a Chinese American who resides in California. Her family has participated in the Chinese holiday called the mid-autumn festival or the mooncake festival.. When the mooncake is made with an egg yolk inside it is meant to represent the moon. This legend that my informant told me is meant to be the reason why they celebrate the holiday.

My Thoughts:

Even though this story is of Asian descent and not European, there are many similarities with this tale and the formula that Propp discovered that fits most Europeans tales. However, there is a twist with this Chinese legend. As in most European tales a hero identifies a need (in this case he wants to save the people from the ten suns by destroying most of them), he battles the villain (in this case the villains are the suns), the need is resolved (people no longer are struggling from overheating), the hero returns and there is a wedding. The part of this legend that is different than European tales is after there is a happy ending, the story keeps going. I find it interesting that the story ends with the hero’s wife becoming immortal and ascending to be a god which then becomes the person that is remembered through the festival. You would think the festival would be to honor the guy who slayed nine suns for human’s continued existence, but instead it’s his wife, who just so happened to drink a potion at the end of the story. This legend kind of makes being a hero seem not worth it.

Chinese New Year: Food you’re supposed to eat

Performance Date: April 15, 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The following has been transcribed from an interview between the informant and the interviewer.

“One dish that you’re supposed to eat during the lunar new year is anything with noodles like spaghetti…. Another thing that you eat is fish. So usually when you prepare it, it’s like an entire fish with like the bone still in it and everything. And when you eat you’re like not supposed to flip the fish over even though like, you know, once you eat the top part there’s a bone that’s kind of like, like the skeleton that’s preventing you from eating the bottom part. So, you’re not supposed to flip it because it’s like too much effort to get to it, to flip it. And they’re like not supposed to engage in hard work on Chinese New Year’s.

Context:

I collected this piece of folklore during an over the phone interview. My informant is a Chinese American who resides in California. Her family participate in this tradition every year.

My Thoughts:

My informant informed me that noodles are meant to symbolize longevity of life because noodles, like spaghetti, are long. So, eating the noodles is like a superstition to increase the longevity of life of whomever eats it. Also, since they are not supposed to flip a fish when you eat because it is like a symbol of hard work, and anything that you do during the day of Chinese New Year is meant to be like a reflection of the year to come. So, you don’t want to do any hard work on New Year’s Day so that your year would not be full of hard work.

Chinese New Year: Red Envelopes

Performance Date: April 15, 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The following was transcribed from an interview between the informant and the interviewer:

“So one of the traditions that we have during the Chinese New Year celebration is for older relatives to give younger relatives red envelopes which contain money inside.”

Context: I collected this piece of folklore during an over the phone interview. My informant is a Chinese American who resides in California. Her family participates in these tradition every year.

My Thoughts:

According to my informant, the money is supposed to be a symbol for wealth and prosperity going into the new year. So older relatives giving it to younger relatives is wishing the younger relatives success in the coming new year. My informant also told me that red symbolizes luck in the Chinese tradition. So, the red envelopes are meant to give the younger generations luck to help them with their success. The giving of the red envelopes to the younger generation symbolizes the culture’s idea of bringing up and supporting the youth towards prosperity. My informant also told me that as soon as you get married you are supposed to stop receiving red envelopes and start giving them. This makes sense because as soon as you get married then you are expected to start making the next generation. Therefore, you are making the transition from being dependent on elders to help support to being someone that the youth can depend on.