Suriname folk-lore

71.

Dagu no bɛn kąn waka na strati. Ala suma dę' kɔs' hɛm. Den kari hɛm fufurumąn. So a go na Gadō, a taki, ‘Masra Gadō, mi dɛ bɛgi yu f' i kąn kɛ̨ŋki na nɛ̨m fō Dagu gi mi?’ Gadu Masra piki hɛm taki, ‘A bǫn. Mi sɑ si.’ So Masra teki Dagu, a tyari hɛm gowe nąŋga hɛm. A kiri wan fatu kau̯, a tai̯gi Dagu, a taki, ‘Meki wąn brabakɔtu, meki wi brabakɔtu na kau̯. Dąn mi sa libi yu fō wakti da kau̯ na brabakɔtu, ma no wąn pisi no mu mąŋkeri.’ Dagu piki Gadu, a taki, ‘Ya, mi Masra, mi sɑ sɔrgu fō hɛm bǫn.’ Ma di na fai̯ya bɛn dɛ brɔ̨' na na brabakɔtu, dɑn kau̯ ben de rɔ̨n fatu. Dagu smeri na fatu, a bɛn dɛ lɛki hɛm tɔ̨ŋgo, bɩkasi a bɛn lɔstu wąn pisi fō na kau̯. Ma a bɛn frede fō nyąm. Ma a wakti, wakti so tɛ... a no bɛn mąŋ hɔri mɔro. A luku lɔntu, a no si nowan suma, so a teki wąn pisi fō na meti, a i nyąm. Dąn a fɩgi hɛm mɔfo, so nowan suma no si hɛm.

[p. 276]

Na tradei̯, di Gadō kɔm, Dagu aksi hɛm taki, ‘Masra, mi no luku na meti bǫn?’ Gado piki hɛm taki, ‘Ya, yu luku hɛm heri bǫn.’ Dagu taki, ‘Wɛ, dąn yu mu kɛ̨ŋki mi nɛ̨m.’ Masra piki hɛm taki, ‘Fō di yu luku na meti so bǫn, mi sa kɛ̨ŋki yu nɛ̨m gi yu.’ Dagu bɛn brei̯ti so tɛ... A taki, ‘Masra, yu de rɛkfardig ɛn bǫn fō kɛ̨ŋki mi nɛ̨m. Ma tai̯gi mi fa sɔrtu nem mi habi nō?’ So Gadu piki hɛm taki, ‘Yu no nem Dagu mɔro, ma yu nɛ̨m de So-no-mo, So-no-mo.’

So Dagu go na strati, den p'kin boi̯ na strati den bari gi hɛm, ‘Luku, na fufuru Dagu.’ Dagu piki den taki, ‘Mi kąn tyari yu go na krutu, bɩkasi mi no nɛ̨m Dagu mɔro. Mi nɛ̨m dɛ So-no-mo, So-no-mo.’ No mo den boi̯ bari, ‘ai̯, na So-no-mo, So-no-mo, dagu de nąŋga fufuru.’

71. Dog Asks for a New Name.³

Dog could not walk the streets. People insulted him. They called him thief. So he went to God and he said, ‘Please, Master God, can you change the name of Dog for me?’ So God, the Master, said to him, he said, ‘All right. I will see.’ So the Master took Dog and he took⁴ him away with him. He killed a fat cow and he said to Dog, he said, ‘Make a barbecue and let us barbecue the cow. Then I will leave you to watch the cow while it is being barbecued, but not a single piece must be missing.’ Dog said to God, he said, ‘Yes, Master, I will look after it well.’ But when the fire began to barbecue the cow, then the cow ran fat. Dog smelt the fat, and he licked his tongue because he longed for a piece of the cow. But he was afraid to eat it. But he waited and he waited so till... he could keep back no longer. He looked about him and he saw no one, so he took a piece of the meat and he ate it. Then he wiped his mouth, so that no one should see him.

3 Told by 6. Compare Gold Coast (Ashanti), Rattray (I) 231-235, No. 59.

4 Wilkie (I) p. 30 in his discussion of verbs that have prepositional value, states that the verb ke, ‘to take’, is used for ‘with’. This sentence, then, should read, ‘So the Master took Dog with him’.

[p. 277]

The next day when God came Dog asked him, said, ‘Master, did I not look after the meat well?’ God answered him, said, ‘Yes, you looked after it very well.’ Dog said, ‘Well, then you must change my name.’ The Master answered him, said, ‘Since you looked after the meat so well, I will change your name for you.’ Dog was happy so till... He said, ‘Master, you are just and good to change my name. But tell me, what sort of name do I have now?’ So God said to him, said, ‘You are not called Dog any more, but your name is Just-the-same-as-ever, Just-the-same-as-ever.’

So Dog went about the streets, and the small boys in the street called after him, ‘Look, the thieving Dog.’ The Dog answered them, said, ‘I can take you to court, because I am no longer called Dog. My name is Just-the-same-as-ever, Just-the-same-as-ever.’ At once the boys called. ‘Yes, Just-the-same-as-ever, Just-the-same-as-ever, dog lives by thieving!’