Suriname folk-lore

133.

Lesi boi̯ a go ler' lesi 'a wąn basi. Dą' den lidǫ' na ɔndro wąn bom. Dą' wan mąnya fadǫ' tu meter fara fō 'a basi. Dą' 'a basi kroi̯pi go teki ɛ̨ŋ. Ɛn wą' mąnya fadǫ' wą' af-meter fō 'a boi̯. Dą' 'a boi̯ bɛgi ɛ̨ŋ basi fō kɔ̨ tek 'a mąnya gi ɛ̨ŋ. Dą' 'a basi tak', ‘Yu lesi mɔro mi, bikasi luku, so fara di fō mi fadǫ', ɛ̨' mi kroi̯pi go teki ɛ̨ŋ, ma di fō yu, yu no wąn ląŋga yu anu teki ɛ̨ŋ.’

So a i kɩsi wan papira fō lesi.

133. Diploma for Laziness.²

A lazy boy went to learn laziness from a teacher. Then they lay down under a tree. Then a mango fell down two meters away from the teacher. Then the teacher went creeping to take it. And one mango fell down half a meter away from the boy. Then the boy begged his teacher to come and take the mango for him. Then the teacher said, ‘You are more lazy than I, because look, this one fell down so far away from me and I crawled over to take it, but yours you would not stretch out your hand to take it.’

So he got a paper (diploma) for laziness.

2 Told by 1. For comparative data, see Bolte u. Polívka, iii, 207-213, No. 151 and No. 151a.