Proverb #1- Haiti

Nationality: American
Age: 53
Occupation: Director of Human Resources
Residence: Oakland, California
Performance Date: 4/25/17
Primary Language: English

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)

Dye Mon, Gen Mon

 

Translation

Behind mountains are more mountains

 

Explanation

“The reason this proverb has a lot of meaning is because Haiti is a very mountainous country. Unlike the Dominican Republic whom it shares the island, Haiti is pretty much all mountains. And the Dominican Republic when you fly over the island is all green. And Haiti unfortunately over the years has diluted because they cut down the trees to make charcoal and things like that—it’s made poverty even worse. Because of the topography, it (the proverb) has kind of a double meaning in that one because it is a very mountain country and then second is that in life…it is a roller coaster. It doesn’t mean that you go through life smoothly. There is always a bump. There is always a hurdle. There is always something. And just when you think you’re done, then something else comes up. So, for them it’s even more accentuated if you will because the poverty is so extreme and they’ve had earthquake where thousands and thousands of people have died. And then after that came a whole string of health problems because of that. And I think perhaps a lot of poor people feel that way and you’re leaving a daily subsistence and it’s just everyday there’s something else for you to have to deal with. There’s no coasting.”

Governor of the Southern Tributary State – Chinese Fable

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Beijing
Performance Date: 4/10/17
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

“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.

Aunt Margy

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Laguna Niguel, California
Performance Date: 4/18/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Farsi

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.

Newts as Yardstick for Ecosystems

Nationality: American
Age: 61
Occupation: Private Chef
Residence: Santa Monica
Performance Date: April 22, 2017
Primary Language: English

Interviewer and informant were on a hike together, and in a pond at the base of a waterfall, found quite a few newts feeding.

Informant: This is great, this is really good to see.  Newts and I think salamanders and a certain kind of frogs—what’s that class? They’re not reptiles, but they’re something equally repulsive?

Interviewer: Amphibians?

Informant: The amphibians—if they disappear, the salamanders or newts and a certain frog, I know this from my friends who lead wildflower walks and go snow camping with me, it’s a sign of, I’ll say degradation of the natural habitat, of the environment, which could be drought or pollution or non-native plants and animals wreaking havoc on the natural environment. Water pollution, absence of water, because they’re amphibians, it’s water-related stress. It’s all very logical but it’s the kind of thing you don’t know until someone tells you.  Also they’re poisonous.

Jinxes: How they work

Nationality: American
Age: 16
Occupation: student
Residence: Encino, CA
Performance Date: 3/6/17
Primary Language: English

Informant: So if someone says a word at the same time as you say a word, and they say jinx right after, then you cannot speak until someone says your name three times. There are very strict rules to this, too. If you continue speaking after you say the same word and the other guy says jinx right after, like, say you’re trying to jinx me and I’m saying a sentence, and you jinx me but I continue talking while you say jinx, that counter-acts it.

Also, lemme think. You can’t jinx on a song or a jingle if, like, you’re both singing along or something, or if you’re repeating after someone. If you get in a jinxout, where you both say it at the same time and you keep saying it, you can kinda, um, you can stop the jinx by saying any word during that sequence, like you both say but and then you both say jinx, whoever says a word, that, like, breaks it. I think that’s all the jinx rules. Oh. They gotta say your whole name the same way all three times or it doesn’t count.

Interviewer: Same person has to say it?

Informant: No, anyone can say it.  If three different people say it or if, like, if two people say it and then one person says one syllable and someone else says the other one, you’re, like, you’re still–the jinx is still over ’cause they said it.

Interviewer: What happens if you break the rules?

Informant: I dunno. I haven’t tried yet.  You just, you don’t.  Ahhh, if I do, I’ll tell you, okay?

The sixteen year old interviewer had just been jinxed at a family dinner when this was collected, and the interviewer took that opportunity to ask some questions about the rules surrounding the concept of jinxing as practiced in the informant’s family.  His mother and younger sister are the other major participants.  It seems to be, perhaps, a playful but instructive way for adults to demonstrate basic principles of etiquette and teach a younger person to listen before speaking and perhaps discourage impulsive or disruptive speech.