“Me importa tres pepinos”
English:
I care three cucumbers.
This is another saying with agricultural reference in cuban foklore, the meaning of which is that the speaker simply doesn’t care. A similar American saying would be “I don’t give a shit,” or I don’t give a rat’s ass,” only less vulgar. My informant tells me that cucumbers were generally very inexpensive when she was living in cuba when she was growing up there.
“Iva por un caminito y me encontre un barilito, le meti el dedito y me salio coloradito. Que es?”
English:
I was going down a road & I found a small little barrel, I stuck my finger in it and it came out red. What is it?
Answer: El Mamey ( A fruit with a brown rind and an orange-red center)
This cuban riddle (dichos) is one based on agriculture, as much of their folklore is. Their culture is very much crop-based, so this is logical. My informant, having been raised as a field worker in cuba, knows many of these riddles and sayings.
“Oro parece plata no es, el que no adivine bien tonto es.”
English:
It looks like gold but silver it is not, who ever does not guess is really dumb.
This cuban dichos, or riddle, is a clever play on words. Anyone who speaks even rudimentary spanish can likely guess at this one when hearing it spoken out loud, hence the insult towards those who cannot answer it. “Plato no es,” or the “it’s not silver,” of the riddle sounds very much like “platanos,” or banana. My informant, as someone who often worked with crops as a field worker in cuba up until her early twenties, heard many riddles and saying involving fruit and other crops. With platanos being one of cuba’s main exports it’s of little surprise that a few of Cuba’s narratives and riddles center around them.
“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.
“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.