Category Archives: folk metaphor

GRANDPA’S FIRST EXORCISM

Age: 19

For this story, I spoke to my friend. He told me this story that he got from his grandfather. The following is told from his first person perspective about his grandfather.

INTERVIEWEE: “When my grandpa was 25 years old he was a deacon at a church in Riverside, California. During his time, he had some house calls regularly. He was a deacon until he was around 40 so he saw a lot of different stuff at peoples’ houses. They would typically send him to houses to pray over new houses, old people, deceased, etc. However, one time he was asked to come to a home to perform a literal exorcism which was very out of the ordinary for him.

He thought this was unusual because he had never done anything like this before. One day, the church sent him to this house to perform the exorcism on this teenage girl who was spasming out, blaspheming, and acting really funky in general. The parents had no idea what to do so they called up my grandpa who and some other people with then church. My grandpa showed up with a few other priests. The other priests must have brought a bible, a cross, and some holy water.

They went into the house and the parents directed them into the room where the teenage girl was. She couldn’t sit still. They did something and they got the demon out of her; repeating a prayer or splashing holy water on her. She tried to jump away from it, but eventually she hit the ground and started shaking and screaming for a couple minutes. During this, the priests recited the prayer again and again. Then she passes out.

The girl didn’t wake up until the following morning super exhausted. She ended up being totally fine afterwards, with no signs of possession or evil spirits holding inside her anymore yet having no idea what had happened. This actually was the last and only exorcism my grandpa had to perform during his time being a deacon; this being a very different experience for him.”

My thoughts: I find it super interesting that his grandfather never did another exorcism after this, nor having done one prior. Around this time, which was maybe the 1970’s, the first Exorcist film came out, which made exorcisms more believed in during this time perchance, which may be why he got this house call in particular. With this, the details such as the girl forgetting everything that had happened, as well as the possession itself, it makes this story very unique; especially in the perspective of someone who has never experienced something like this.

Step on a Crack, you’ll Break your Mother’s Back

Interview: “Don’t step on a crack, you’ll break your mother’s back. So that’s the saying we used to… Uh… sling around on the playground. If you’re on a sidewalk or blacktop, you’re not supposed to step on the cracks. I think painted lines counted as well, in parking lots and stuff. I guess its a superstition but like, nobody actually believes it.
Its a little bit of a game. More than anything it was just to annoy people. If there’s a lull in conversation and somebody steps on a crack you’d be like: Oh, better call your mom, see if she’s okay.”

Context: The informant is 21 years old from Los Angeles. He remembers playing the game in grade school.

Analysis: This falls into a group of superstitions which are prevalent around schools. Like many school superstitions, it survives and spreads likely because the consequences are so severe. Even a child who is pretty sure that the consequences are not real, might still be hesitant to step on a crack, and might still warn his friends about it, just in case.

Proverb: If you marry a chicken follow the chicken; if you marry a dog follow the dog

Text:

Interviewee:

There is a custom in parts of China in which a bride-to-be holds a chicken. In Chinese, “chicken” (ji 鸡) is a homophone for (ji 吉), which means good fortune. There is also an old saying that goes: “if you marry a chicken follow the chicken, if you marry a dog follow the dog” (Jia ji sui ji, jia gou sui gou嫁鸡随鸡，嫁狗随狗). This saying means that no matter how her husband acts, a good wife should always follow and obey him. In addition, the hen is a symbol of fertility, implying that it is a wifely duty to have children early and often.

Context:
This informant was told of this proverb in her hometown, a rural village in China. She thinks of this proverb as a very out-dated idea about marriage and a woman’s destiny being defined by marriage.

Analysis:

This Chinese proverb reflects a deeply patriarchal ideology that was widely spread in last century China—a time when the informant referred to as “outdated.”
It reinforces unconditional wifely submission to her husband regardless of the husband’s character. The use of animals, chicken and dog—animals instead of humans— is a metaphor that suggests that a wife must follow even a low-status or undesirable husband.

Structurally, this proverb uses parallelism and antithesis—chicken/dog, marry/follow, which makes it easy to spread orally and be remembered.

STEP ON A CRACK, BREAK YOUR MOTHER’S BACK

The informant was told in the third grade that if they stepped on a sidewalk crack, their mother’s back would break. This superstition lasted for years and is widespread, and is something that is often told amongst young elementary children. It is also believed that it can cause bad luck and misfortune.

Age: 24

Date: April 3rd 2025

Language: English

Nationality: White/Hispanic

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: California

Analysis: This story falls into the category of superstition and this story is often shared among young students in school. This superstition has racist origins, dating back to the 19th century. The original saying was “step on a crack and your mother will be black”, which then later evolved from being a harmful racist saying to being about bad luck.

Parable / Wisdom Tale

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

Context:

A story my informant was told when they were growing up, used to reframe seemingly bad things into a positive light. It’s an example of intergenerational folklore because his mother was told the story as a child as well.

Text: Pulled from a message my informant sent me

“My mom would tell me this story about a man that seemingly fell into continuous fortune and misfortune. The man owns a farm and has a son. His son falls off his horse, and breaks his leg. Everyone tells him “how unfortunate,” but he says “don’t say how unfortunate.” A week passes and there’s a draft, all young men must go fight, but his son isn’t taken because of his broken leg. Everyone says “how fortunate,” again the man replies “don’t say how fortunate.” Later when the boy was healed, he wasn’t able to use his leg the same way. My mom would say this to keep me centered no matter what I’m doing. That not everything that happens to you is bad luck, because everything can change. She was trying to teach me a moral lesson that we must be thankful in every situation and not focus on a specific outcome.”

This story can be categorized as a teaching tale, which are used to convey moral, spiritual, or philosophical lessons. It’s not just a story for entertainment, it’s supposed to be instructive. This story teaches us patience, perspective, and detachment. It also overlaps and can be condensed into some common proverbs like “everything happens for a reason” and “don’t judge too soon”.