Suriname folk-lore

113.

Wą' mąn bɛn g'a wąn presi. Dąn den gi' ɛ̨ŋ stofu kɔkrɔntu, dąn a nyam ɛ̨ŋ. Ma di a kɔ̨' na 'oso, dąn ɛm tai̯g' ɛ̨ŋ umą taki, ɛ̨ŋ nyąm stofu kɔkrɔnto na wą' presi. A sui̯ti. Mek' na umą stofu p'kinso gi' ɛ̨ŋ. Ma na umą bɛn dɛ so dɔm, a no bɛn sabi-taki nąŋga sukru dem dɛ stofu kɔkrɔnto.

A go wąn dei̯, a bai̯ speki, oli, braki-pɛprɛ, a tya-kɔ̨m. A tek' 'a kɔkrɔnto, a grit' ɛ̨ŋ, a baka na meti, a pɔt' 'a kɔkrɔnto na fai̯a, mek' a i bɔri. Di a bɔri, a puru, a pɔt' a tafra. Di na man kɔm na 'oso, a tai̯g na mąn taki, ‘Mi stɔfu na kɔkrɔntu gi' yu.’ Na mąn no sabi, a dɛ̨ŋki taki nąŋga sukru a bɛn stɔf' ɛ̨ŋ. Ma di na mąn opo na preti, a si a bɔri nąŋga meti, nąŋga braka pɛprɛ, gi ɛ̨ŋ. 'A mąn ati brɔ̨n, a kɔsi na umą, ‘Yu dɔm umą yu! A no so den stɔfu kɔkrɔnɔtu! Nąŋga sukru de stɔfō. Yu dɔm nɛ̨ŋgre umą yu!’

113. The Stupid Wife²

There was a man who went somewhere. Then they gave him stewed coconut, and he ate it. But when he came home, then he told his wife, that he ate stewed coconut at a certain place. It was sweet.³ Let his wife stew some for him. But the wife was so stupid, that she did not know that they cook coconut with sugar.

One day she went and bought bacon, oil, black pepper, and brought them home. She took the coconut, and she grated it, she baked the meat, and she put the coconut on the fire to let it cook. When it was cooked she removed it (from the fire), and she put it on the table. When the husband came home, she said to the husband, said, ‘I stewed the coconut for you.’ The husband did not know, and he thought she had cooked it with sugar. But when the man picked up the plate, he saw she had cooked it with meat and black pepper. The man became angry, and he cursed the woman, ‘You stupid woman, you! This isn't the way they stew cocoanut! They stew it with sugar. You stupid Negro⁴ woman, you!’

2 Told by 1.

3 Idiomatic for ‘excellent’.

4 A rare instance of this term used as an aspersion. Its use here is the same as the United States ‘nigger’.