Tag Archives: cuban

El Reloj or The Clock

Nationality: Cuban
Age: 62
Occupation: House Cleaner
Residence: Torrance, Ca
Performance Date: 4/26/2012
Primary Language: Spanish

“Tal parece que me vela y me dice el minutero, pongase aprisa el sombrero y salga para la escuela. El tiempo corre veloz, mas un amigo cercano. Por la manana temprano me despierta con su voz. Casi nunca se retrasa y por eso lo bendigo. Sepase usted que es mi amigo, el reloj de mi casa.”

English:

It seems that it watches me and the minute hand tells me, quickly! Put your hat and go to school. The time runs fast, yet it’s a close friend. Early in the morning it wakes me up with its voice. It hardly ever falls back and that’s why I bless it. I will have you know that its my friend, the clock of my house.

This is a cuban refran, or saying, which message is basically thankfulness for the clock in their home. It’s a sort of homage to the clock, which never falls behind and helps them to stay punctual. Time in cuban culture would likely be a precious comodity. My informant, who was a field worker in cuba when she was young, tells me that her family had schedules that they adhered to on most days for work. As part of a group that relied on the changing of the seasons and weather for agricultural, and thus monetary, success, it makes sense that time would be viewed as something worth having a saying about.

El Boniatal, or Sweet Potato

Nationality: Cuban
Age: 62
Occupation: House Cleaner
Residence: Torrance, Ca
Performance Date: 4/22/2012
Primary Language: Spanish

“Dicen que el boniato es un jugete. Me dio trenta tauretes. tres mesas y un tinajero. Maquina con costureros que no se pueden nombrar, y me dio para forrar el corral de la arboleda. Valla a casa para que vea donde queda el boniatal.”

English:
They say the sweet potato is a toy. It gave me thirty stools, three tables & a water jar holder. a sewing machine with sewers which cannot be named and it gave me enough to fix the corral for my grove. Go to my house so you can see where my sweet potato plantation is located.

This cuban refran, or saying, is basically saying that the speaker is thankful for their vegetable/ crop because it provides for them all of their neccessities. My informant was a field worker in cuba when she was young and picked it up among elder family members. It makes sense that they would hold the sweet potato in such high regard, as they lived an agricultural life-style and would be almost completely dependant on their crop to make a living.

 

El que madruga, Dios le ayuda.

Nationality: Cuban-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

El que madruga, Dios le ayuda.

The one that rises early, God aids.

(Similar Proverb: Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.)

My informant, who is bilingual, remembers hearing this proverb from her grandmother, born in 1915, and who moved to the United States from Cuba in 1976. (My informant’s mother came to the United States at the same time in 1976).

My informant said that her grandmother would say this to her while she was growing up in reference to her sleeping habits most of all and how they differed from her grandmother’s sleeping habits. (My informant said that she usually goes to bed at 2 AM and sleeps in until 12 noon).

The use of “Dios,” or God in the proverb might imply the influence of the religion and belief of my informant, although of all the proverbs my informant provided me, numbering at around 14 or so, this is only one that references God. And when my informant translated, she referenced the similar proverb noted above, not a direct translation. The influence of her American upbringing explains why she would not use a direct translation and the proverb variant in America seems to be the product of capitalism by mentioning wealth, whereas the Spanish proverb does not mention wealth as a reward for rising early.

La ambición rompe el saco.

Nationality: Cuban-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

La ambición rompe el saco.

If you do more than you can handle, you will bust.

 

(Similar Proverb: Don’t spread yourself too thin.)

My informant, who is bilingual, remembers hearing this proverb from her grandmother, who moved to the United States from Cuba in 1976. (My informant’s mother came to the United States at the same time in 1976).

Her grandmother would always say this to her when she was stressed out. Her grandmother meant to remind her of her limitations with her workload, particularly in high school.

My informant noted that these proverbs are said more by her grandmother than her mother, and hardly ever by her own generation.

My informant also has discussed the effect that speaking English has had on her repeating proverbs in Spanish. She remembers them in Spanish, but does not say them in Spanish. She says the English variants more often than not. I asked about the structure of the proverb, the if/then statement, and if it is popular among Spanish proverbs, but my informant did not have an answer for me.

Ningún mono se ve el rabo.

Nationality: Cuban-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Ningún mono se ve el rabo.

No monkey sees his own tail.

 

(Similar Proverbs: Pigs don’t know pigs stink, Before you criticize the splinter in someone else’s eye, remove the log from your own.)

My informant, who is bilingual, remembers hearing this proverb from her grandmother, born in 1915, and who moved to the United States from Cuba in 1976. (My informant’s mother came to the United States at the same time in 1976).

This was one of her favorite proverbs growing up. Notice the objects used in each version of the proverb. In Cuba it was a monkey, a more western version uses a pig. It appears that this proverb is localized to each region in that they use native animals for the proverb.

My informant did note that, although some versions of this proverb do come from the Bible, she felt that “No monkey sees his own tail” is more a reflection of her grandmother’s origins, not the similarity between her grandmother’s version and the version found in the bible involving removing the log from ones eye.

My informant explained the proverb to me as a proverb advocating self-examination. When you want to criticize someone for a small fault, look at yourself and any faults that you might have first.