Suriname folk-lore

146.

Wąn neti, na ɩni wąn koleisi, den mąn sidǫ' a i prei̯ karta. Di den prei̯ so tɛ ... na mɩndri neti, dąn wąn mąn kɔm. A kǫm na sei̯ na tafra, a i prei̯ 'ąŋga dem. Ma sɛns' 'a mɛn kɔm den dɛ prei̯ nową' suma mąŋ fō wɩni na mąn. A i wɩn' ala den suma. Ma di dę' i prei̯, wąn karta fadǭ' na ɔndro na tafra. Na wąn fō den mąn saka tek' 'a karta. Fa-i-si a buku na ɔndro na tafra, a si wąn hasi futu. Di a si 'a futu, a skrei̯ki. Na soso libisuma dɛ na sei̯ na tafra, ma wąn 'asi futu dɛ na ɔndro.

Ala dɑti na wąn mąn ben go suku takru sani, wisi fō prei̯ karta fō wɩni mɔni. Ma na suma di bɛn gi hɛm na sani, a bɛn wroko wąn krara gi hɛm. Dąn, tɛ a go na ɩni na koleisi, a mu' wer' na krara. Sɔndra a wer' na krara na hɛm nɛki, dąn wantrǫn a dɛ trǫ' wąn sɔrtu lei̯ki didibri.

Ma di den kɩs' hɛm na neti, dąn den aksi hɛm taki, ‘Fa yu dɛ kɩsi na hasi futu?’ Dąn a tai̯gi hɛm taki, na suma di bɛn gi hɛm na sani, tai̯gi hɛm taki, tɛ hɛm dɛ kɔm na koleisi, dąn ɛ̨ŋ musu trowe watra, dąn mus' taki, ‘Mi na wąn libisuma, ma tɛ mi go fō prei̯ karta, mi mu' trǫ' wan karta-yɔrka, so mi sɑ wɩni ala den suma na ɩni na koleisi. Ma na krara di mi dɛ weri, dat' meki mi nɛki no dɛ geɛrsi takru sani, ma a dɛ geɛrsi libisuma.’

A so den kɩsi hɛm, den fɔm hɛm, dąn den yag' hɛm gowe. Dąn di ɛ̨ŋ go na hɛm basi, den ɛ̨ŋ basi taig' hɛm taki, ‘Yu no kąn kɔm bɛtre mɔro, yu go las' ala yu tu futu, bika' na trefu fō na kɔni a no mąŋ fō nyąm futumą' nanyąm.’¹ A kɔm sɩki. A las' ɛ̨ŋ futu.

1 Futumᾳ' nanyᾳm - food cooked by a woman who is menstruating.

146. A Card Yorka.²

One night, inside a gambling house, men sat and played cards. As they played so till... then at midnight a man came in. He came to the table, and played with them. But ever since the man came to play no one could win from the man. He won from all the people. But as they were playing, a card fell down under the table. One of the men bent down to take the card. Just as he bent down under the table, he saw a horse's foot. When he saw the foot he was frightened. Only human beings were at the table, but there was a horse's foot underneath it.

All this was because a man had gone to look for evil magic for card-playing in order to win money. But the person who gave him this thing, had worked a bead for him. Then, when he went into the gambling house, he had to wear the bead. Unless he wore the bead about his neck, then instantly he was changed into a sort of devil.

But when they caught him that night, then they asked him, they said, ‘How did you get a horse's foot?’ Then he said to them, said, the person who gave him the thing told him that when he came to the gambling house, then he had to pour some water on the ground and he had to say, ‘I am a human being, but when I come to play cards, I must become a card-yɔrka so that I may win from all the people in the gambling house. But the bead that I wear, causes me not to resemble an evil thing, but to resemble a human being.’

And so they caught him, and they beat him, and then they drove him away. He went to his basi,³ and his basi said to him, said, ‘You can no longer get well. You are going to lose both your feet, because the trefu⁴ of this magic is that one cannot eat food cooked by a woman during her menses.’⁵ He became ill. He lost his feet.

2 Told by 1.

3 Here basi has the connotation of the head wɩntimᾳn, who, in reality is often a practitioner of both white and black magic. The names for the wɩntimᾳn are Pa Aluku-bǫn or Boni-Boni, or Basi fō Wɩnti Prei̯, i.e., leader of the wɩnti play.

4 Food taboo.

5 Menstruation is one of the deadliest taboos of these people, both in the bush and in town. Unless the trefu against menstruation have been removed, any obia, i.e., healing magic, or wisi, i.e., black magic, or any other form of supernatural power is contaminated and rendered useless, with the consequence that it not only loses its properties helpful to the person employing it, but eventually punishes the violator by exposure, as in the instance of this tale, or metes out punishment in other ways.