Author Archives: Mary Atkins

Proverb – Taiwanese

Nationality: Taiwanese-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 22, 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

????????????????

Yi3 ge mei3 de2 ren3 bu2 jian4 de2 you3 yi4 ge mei3 de sheng1 huo3.

“A beautiful person may not have a beautiful life.”

My informant heard this proverb from her mother at the age of nine.  She saw a model in a magazine and told her mother “I wish I was as beautiful as her.”  Her mother looked at my informant and said this proverb to her.  Her mother used this proverb to teach my informant that being beautiful does not make you happy.  My informant also says that her mother would use this proverb to stress the importance of education and a close group of friends who make you happy.

My informant says this proverb is very popular in Taiwan and can be used by anyone.  Generally, it is used to encourage young girls to aspire to more than being just beautiful.

Collector’s Note: I believe this proverb resembles the American one that “beauty is only skin deep.”

Proverb – Russian

Nationality: Russian
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Aloha, OR
Performance Date: April 24, 2007
Primary Language: Russian
Language: English

?? ???????? ????? ?? ????

“Do not make an elephant out of a fly.”

My informant heard this proverb around the age of five from her mother.  My informant had fallen down while playing in the backyard and came in crying to her mother.  She told her mother that she had hurt her knee and began wailing about it.  Her mother looked at her knee, saw only a scrape and said this proverb to her.

My informant says this proverb means not to over exaggerate or not to worry too much.  Although it can be used for either exaggeration or worrywarts, my informant says it is used mostly for exaggeration.  Often times it is used if someone tells a story that has a great deal of exaggeration in it and can no way be true.  She says that this proverb can apply to anyone, not just children.

My informant heard this proverb again from her father after she had gotten a low grade on her homework.  As she told him the grade she got on her homework, she started crying.  Her father gave her a hug and told her this proverb to make her feel better.  My informant says this proverb made her feel better because she realized that one homework grade was not going to affect the rest of her life.

Riddle – American

Nationality: Taiwanese-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 23, 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

Make the following equation true by drawing only one straight line:

5 + 5 + 5 = 550

Answer: 5 4 5 + 5 = 550

My informant saw this riddle on a Facebook wall post from her roommate.  She was bored one day and did not want to do homework, so she asked her roommate to give her something to do.  Her roommate posted this riddle on her Facebook wall.  My informant worked on the riddle for a very long time but could not figure out the answer.  Eventually, her roommate gave my informant the answer to the riddle.   It is interesting that my informant heard this riddle from an engineering major, since the riddle is a play on a math problem.

My informant believes this riddle is popular among math and engineering students as well as anyone who enjoys mathematics.  My informant also believes that because she could not figure out the riddle because she is not as skilled at mathematics as her roommate is.

I believe that figuring out this riddle has nothing to do with mathematics.  I think this riddle is visual.  Those who are very observant and visual people are more likely to solve this riddle.

Collector’s note:  How this riddle was shared demonstrates the influence of the Internet on the spread of folklore.

Tradition – African-American

Nationality: African-American
Age: 27
Occupation: Managing Director
Residence: Houston, TX
Performance Date: April 22, 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: French, Spanish

Newlyweds jump over a broom at the end of the wedding ceremony.

At my informant’s wedding in 2004, she and her husband jumped over a broom after they were pronounced man and wife and before they walked back down the aisle.  When I asked my informant about this tradition, she said it was an African-American tradition.  She said it began during the times of slavery when slaves could not legally marry; they used jumping over the broom to signify the beginning of the unofficial marriage.  The broom my informant and her husband jumped over was a regular plain broom, but more festive, decorated brooms can also be used in this tradition.

My informant says that this tradition is primarily used by African-Americans who take pride in their historic roots.  She says both her mother and grandmother jumped over a broom at their weddings.

Annotation: Dundes, Alan. “’Jumping the Broom’: On the Origin and Meaning of an African Wedding Custom.” The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 109, No. 433. (Summer, 1996), pp. 324-329.

Dundes talks about popularity of “broom-jumping” among African-Americans, the variants of the “broom jumping” ceremony, and also the history of the tradition.  Dundes says there is no evidence that the “broom jumping” tradition can be traced back to Africa, but it can be traced back to the Gypsies of England and Scotland.

Tradition – New Orleans, Louisiana

Nationality: African-American
Age: 27
Occupation: Managing Director
Residence: Houston, TX
Performance Date: April 23, 2007
Primary Language: French
Language: English, Spanish

“On Epiphany, my family would have king’s cake during the course of the day.  It is a ring-shaped cake made out of bread that has sprinkles of green, purple, and gold on top of the icing.  There is a small plastic baby inside the cake.  Each member of the family would get a piece and whoever ends up with the baby in their piece gets to be king or queen of the day and wear a paper crown.”

My informant learned this tradition around the age of three or four in her hometown of New Orleans.  Her family taught it to her on the Epiphany when they all gathered at one of the family member’s houses to spend the day with the family and have a family dinner.  Whoever gets the plastic baby becomes the king or queen of the day.  All the family members had to be extra nice to the king or queen.  The king or queen would get to sit at the head of the table during dinner and lead the family in a prayer before they began eating.

My informant says many families and groups of friends celebrate Mardi Gras using the king’s cake not only in France but also in New Orleans.  Usually those who celebrate are big, close-knit families who believe in the value of family and enjoy spending time together.

King’s cake is also called the “galette de rois” in French and is popular around the Mardi Gras season.  In my French class, we ate king’s cake on the actual day of Mardi Gras rather than on the day of the Epiphany.

Annotation: Marcia Gaudet. “Ribbon Pulls in Wedding Cakes: Tracing a New Orleans

Tradition.” Folklore  117.1 (2006): 87-96. Humanities Module. ProQuest.  USC

Libraries, Los Angeles, CA.  24 Apr. 2007.

<http://www.proquest.com.libproxy.usc.edu/>

This article mainly talks about recipes for king’s cake, but it also has a history of the cake and when it is used.  They are used mainly during the Mardi Gras season and is very popular in Louisiana.  The tradition was brought to Louisiana by the French.