Tag Archives: cuban

Cuban demon dog teaching moral lesson memorate

Age: 21

Text: 

“it was kind of, you know, he’s this military guy who thinks he’s all that, you know, he has a few mates and he’s, he’s got a nice house. And, and you have to go into town to get groceries and all that. And at some point, it was very dangerous. Like, they had a curfew in the town, because they were like, you know, nobody can be going out. Like it’s dangerous. So whatever. He was, like, Fuck the curfew. Like, I’m a big man, you know. So he goes into town at night. And he’s wandering around and he’s just being a rascal. I forgot, I feel like there’s like more of a story to this, but basically, so he goes into town, and then he sees this dog in the distance and it looks at him and it looks mean. It’s staring right at him,  his eyes are glinting like and there’s like no light around you know, there’s no there’s no streetlights in this time. There’s no anything, it’s pitch black, but he can see his eyes. And he starts charging after him. And so he’s running away, he’s like trying to get away and he thinks that he’s lost the dog and he’s like, “stupid dog” and he’s like, well, I’m going to keep going out at night. And then one day he sees the dog again, and it pounces on him. and its eyes are red and it’s like a burning fire. But then he got away and then he never went back out. That’s kind of it like he escaped, I don’t know I think it like maybe bit him or something and he like ran away and he got in his car and he took off, and he never he never went out after curfew again.”

Context:

This memorate was told to the informant by his Cuban grandmother, about her father.

Analysis:

In this familial legend a man who is proud, stubborn, and dismissive of authority encounters a possibly demonic dog that enforces a moral boundary. The curfew serves not just as a safety measure but as a symbol of order and discipline. By defying it, the great-grandfather positions himself as a reckless figure whose pride demands correction. The dog acts as an agent of consequence, frightening the man enough to change his behavior. Though the man “escapes,” he learns his lesson, never violating curfew again. The legend transforms a moment of social defiance into a story of cosmic or supernatural comeuppance

Cuban donkey murderer memorate

Age: 21

Text:

“So they’re in the mountains. And they have their first house. And he was out at night past, you know, past curfew in the town, so my great grandmother was at home alone. And you know, it’s pitch black. And at some point, she was like, “Oh, I have to, I have to use the bathroom. And in order to use the bathroom, I have to go out to the outhouse outside.” And she was scared. She gets her lantern. She has the light on. 

They had donkeys, right. They have like a little, little farm, like, you know, she’s alone in the house. And then she hears these like, clawing noises on her bed. And she’s like, trying to go to sleep. But she just keeps hearing like, it’s like, (Makes clawing noises) and then as it gets closer, and closer, to where it feels like it’s right on her. And so she’s, she’s starting to freak out. And then she hears the donkey freaking out outside. He’s like, like kicking and she’s like, “What the fuck is going on?” And then she hears it breaking through the gate. She’s like, “Oh, I have to like, get the donkey. It’s gonna break through the gate.” So she tries to peek outside. But the donkey disappears. And then she’s like, “I can’t go running after that. It’s the middle of the night.” Yeah. So she’s like, shit, whatever, the donkey is gone. And she’s just really creeped out like something’s going on. Something’s weird. So then, she goes, to use the bathroom, to the outhouse. So she’s like, okay, and when she starts going outside, the door slams behind her. Like, after she leaves her house. And then she sees it like in the dark. Like, she sees the chairs, like plants around, right? Sees like plants. And it seems like they’re like, like, screwed. Like, she gives us like screeching noise of like, like the wooden playing since. And then she feels like a plant. Like every time she looks at the plants, they’re getting closer and closer. She runs to the outhouse, she runs, and she gets in there, she locks the door. She she goes number two, you know? And then she’s like, “okay, okay,” so she opens the door, and there’s nothing out there. Okay, she’s good. She’s walking back to the house, she starts running, and she sees the plant. The plant is back in this place. Like before, it looked like it was right next to the door. Now it was back like over in the corner or whatever. Okay, okay. And then she’s walking to the, and the plant is fucking back,  to the house. And then she’s just like, fuck that. She opens the door real quick. She gets back in, locks it behind her. And she has her little lantern, okay, so she puts it down on the counter. And right next to the counter, she sees a bloody knife. She faints and then three, actually 8 in the morning, oh, because her husband was away on the military duty, So then in the morning, her husband comes back with you know, some other like military guys and they’re back and like a maid comes in. Also like for work, whatever, comes in and she sees her laying on the floor and she’s like, ‘what’s wrong? What’s wrong?’ She wakes her up. And then And then she’s like, like, “I saw this bloody knife. And there were the sounds and there was blood, it was a bloody knife.”: So they’re like, “Okay, we’re gonna go find this bloody knife,” like because it wasn’t on the counter anymore. So they go investigate, they go investigate. And then one of the military guys is like, “oh shit wait over here” like they see blood and he’s outside and it’s a donkey and it’s dead. The donkey is dead so they took the donkey from the house.”

They never found out what it was and nothing happened after.

Context:

This memorate was told to the informant by their Cuban grandmother about her mother.

Analysis:

As a countryside local legend, this story injects supernatural terror into rural domestic life, creating a chilling narrative rooted in isolation, vulnerability, and the thin line between the natural and the uncanny. The woman’s frightening experiences while alone escalate throughout the night, giving the sense of something malevolent lurking just beyond comprehension. Her journey to the outhouse and back is a liminal journey, emphasizing her exposure to the unknown. The unresolved horror, capped by the discovery of the donkey’s mutilated body and the vanished knife, leaves the listener in suspense, with no closure or clear antagonist. 

Shrimp Proverb

Nationality: Cuban-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Miami
Performance Date: 4/20/18
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Main Piece: Proverb

“El camaron que se duerma se la lleva la corriente”

Translation:

A sleeping shrimp will be swept by the current.

Background Information:

  • Why does informant know this piece?

He was constantly told that as a kid because he would procrastinate on his assignments

  • Where did they learn this piece?

From his Cuban relatives

  • What does it mean to them?

It means to be constantly aware of what you have control over/required to do. If there’s any change, you don’t want to be controlled by its consequences.

Context:

It’s based on the observation of shrimp, when sleeping being taken away from their original location. This can thus be inferred that one must always be on top of whatever they are tasked with, because if not suddenly you lose control and arrive somewhere different and unknown.

Personal Thoughts:

I find this proverb to be very interesting, because a shrimp is normally an insignificant animal that no one really thinks about, but in this case the shrimp is meant to represent a person, and people generally consider themselves to be important.

Agua Que No Vas a Beber Déjala Correr

Nationality: Cuban
Age: 54
Occupation: Customer Service Supervisor
Residence: Miami, FL
Performance Date: 4/15/18
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: english

Cuban culture in general is incredibly vibrant and colorful. With recent tourism to Cuba rising, foreigners often underestimate how vibrant the buildings, cars, and clothes are in Cuba. And this powerful expression also transfers over into language and proverbs. Although the Cuban diaspora is widespread, our vernacular holds us together. When visiting home recently, my aunt and grandmother came over to share proverbs and common Cuban vernacular with me.

One such proverb is: “Agua Que No Vas a Beber Déjala Correr”. Phonetically, it’s easy to pronounce since it utilizes the same Latin alphabet.

This is Cuban proverb was told to me by my aunt, who’s heard it all her life whether in public or at home. As a native speaker, I’ve heard this proverb a lot while growing up but did not know what it really meant until my aunt explained it. When literally translated, it reads “Water you don’t drink, you should let run.” My aunt explained that the original context means that if an issue does not concern you, you let it be; like water flowing down a stream it is not important to you at all. Sometimes it’s worse, the proverb posits, to become muddled in someone else’s problems. If one tries to solve the problems of another, the one with the problem won’t grow as a result and the situation can become much worse as a result of the intervening. So everyone for themselves, y’all.

Cuban Proverb #2

Nationality: Cuban
Age: 57
Residence: Miami, FL
Performance Date: 3/14/16
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Original Text: “Camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente.”

Transliteration: “Shrimp that sleeps is taken by the current.”

Translation: “A shrimp that sleeps will be taken by the current.”

 

The meaning of this proverb is that a person who is lazy won’t amount to much. The source says that her mother often told her this when she was a teenager and chose to nap instead of doing her homework. It’s a saying that’s often used to berate people who aren’t being productive. She says she didn’t value it much at the time, but now, looking back, she finds that it holds more meaning because her mother was working all the time. After leaving Cuba and moving to the US, her family struggled. Her parents worked many hours so that she and her five siblings could live good lives. She says her mother was never taken by the current. She always swam past it.

It’s interesting because I’ve heard similar proverbs in the US, but none expressed precisely like this. It seems the Cuban version has taken the proverb and colored it with their own flare by using ocean-related words to demonstrate their point, which makes total sense since Cuba is an island nation.

As for the point it makes on being productive and whatnot, it’s a very fitting proverb for this community of Cuban exiles. Many of them left their entire lives behind when they left Cuba and had to start from scratch in the US. The current was definitely something to be afraid of. If they didn’t try their hardest every day, they may have left for nothing.

While I formally collected this source from my aunt, I also recall hearing it at another point in time from a coworker who’d come to Miami in a raft. He said it to me as I was sleeping in the passenger seat of his car, as we were returning from a summer camp field trip. Thinking back on it, in a more literal sense, for those Cubans who came to the US via raft, the person who slept would actually be taken by the current. Thousands of Cubans have made the journey to the US on rafts called “balsas.” There’s a lot of space to cover between Cuba and Florida, and without enough manpower and dedication, the raft will go off track, and they could be stranded at sea. Perhaps this proverb takes some root from there, rather than originating in Cuba?