Suriname folk-lore

18.

Tigri ben pre taki 'ɛm dɛdɛ. A meki dɛm sɛni kari ala meti, taki hɛm dɛdɛ. Ma nō a taki te dɛm kɔ̨' na dɛdɛ-'oso, dɛm no muso sɩ̨ŋgi tra sɩ̨ŋgi lei̯ki dem sɩ̨ŋgi dąnsi-sɩ̨ŋgi.

Krabita bɛn sabi pre fiɔl, ɛn Dia bɛn sabi pre gita'. Nō, di den gō na dɛdɛ-'oso dem bɩgin fō pre, no mō Sɛkrepatu a si taki Tigri no dɛdɛ, Tigri bɛn wani fō kiri den alamala. No mo a sɩ̨ŋgi -

Asasa sambai̯ sambai̯ sa
Asasa sambai̯ sa
Suma n' a futu
A bɩgɩn bitɛm.

So a gō, a tai̯gi Krabita taki Tigri no dɛdɛ, ma a i dɛ luku den, fo' kiri den. Dąn Krabita teki ɛ̨ŋ fiol, a pre -

Suma no abi futu,
A bɩgɩn bitɛm,
Suma no abi futu,
A bɩgɩn bitɛm.

[p. 178]

So ala den meti bɩgɩn lɔ̨'. Tigri lɔ̨' na Krabita baka fō go kɩsi ɛ̨ŋ, ma di a lɔ̨' so te... dąn Krabita go na in' wą' ɔro, d'a poti hɛm tutu 'a dɔro.

Dąn dagu, nō, tɛnap' farawɛ. No mō a tai̯gi Tigri taki, ‘Ɛf' yu trąŋga, na tɔmpu di dapɛ frɩ̨ŋgi ɛ̨ŋ' go na abra.’ Ɛn so, di Tigri 'ati brɔ̨n, a teki na tutu fō Krabita, a hari ɛ̨ŋ, frɩ̨ŋgi gō na abra. Dą' di a frɩ̨ŋg' ɛ̨' kaba, a kɔ̨' si taki, na Krabita. No mo a naki ɛm 'anu.

Odo: Grɔ̨' no dɛ tai̯gi suma sani sabi so diri.

A busi kɔndre wi n'ɛ pre so,
Zɔndro akrima;
A mi doti-o, wi n'ɛ pre so,
Zɔndro akrima.

Mi 'ɛde 'ɛ golo,
Nana-ho!
Mi 'ɛde 'ɛ golo,
Mi wiri ąnsi,
Te mi 'ɛ si sani so.
Mi 'ɛde 'ɛ golo,
Nana-ho!

18. Mock Funeral, - Tiger Plays Dead: Bone for a Stump.⁴

Tiger played that he was dead. He made them send to call all the animals saying he was dead. But now he said when they came to the funeral, they must not sing other songs than dance songs.

Goat knew how to play the violin, and Deer knew how to play the guitar. Now, when they went to the house of the dead and they began to play, at once Tortoise saw that Tiger was not dead. Tiger wanted to kill all of them. At once he sang -

Asasa sambai sambai sa
Asasa sambai sa
He who has no feet
Begins betimes.

So he went to tell Goat that Tiger was not dead, but was lying in wait for them, to kill them. Then Goat took his violin, and he played -

He who has no feet,
He begins betimes,
He who has no feet,
He begins betimes.

4 Told by 1. For ‘Mock Funeral’ correspondences, see preceding tale. For ‘Bone for a Stump’ compare, for Senegal (Toucouleur), le Brun 183, No. 1; Sudan (Bambara), Travélé 142-143, No. 53, (Mossi), Tauxier (II) 433-435, fables No. 23 and No. 24, (Hausa), Tremearne (III) 219-220, No. 18; Gold Coast (Ashanti), Rattray (I) 197, No. 50; Gabun, Nassau (I) 45, Mpongwe No. 41; Jamaica, Beckwith (II) 51-52, No. 40a and b; Bahamas, Parsons (III) 103-104, No. 55 I and II.

[p. 179]

So all the animals began to run. Tiger ran after Goat to catch him, but as he ran so till... then Goat went into a hole and he put [left] his horns outside.

Then Dog, now, was standing far away. At once he said to Tiger, he said, ‘If you are strong, fling across the stump that is there.’ And so, as Tiger was angry, he took Goat's horns, and he pulled at them, and flung them across. Then, when he had flung them, he came to see that it was Goat. At once he struck his hands.

Proverb: The earth does not tell people why knowledge is so costly.

In the bush villages we do not play so,
Without an Akrima;¹
On my soil, we do not play so,
Without an Akrima.

My head is turning,²
Oh Ancestors!
My head is turning,
My hair turns gray,
When I behold such things.
My head is turning,
Oh, Ancestors!

1 A drum.

2 Idiom for being possessed by a Kromanti spirit, because Kromanti enters the head, as the vulture (Opete) does the eyes, and the snake (the Dagowe, Papa, etc.) the abdomen.