[11] A proverb current in Martinique, Louisiana, etc., with slight variations. Favors or services done through selfish policy, or compelled by necessity, do not merit acknowledgment.
22. Béfs laquée en lére, mauvés temps napas loin. (Les bœufs ont la queue en l’air, le mauvais temps n’est pas loin.)
“When the oxen lift their tails in the air, look out for bad weather.”—[Mauritius.]
23. * Bel tignon[12] pas fait bel négresse. (Le beau tignon ne fait pas la belle negresse.)
“It isn’t the fine head-dress that makes the fine negress.”—[Louisiana.]
[12] The Louisiana tiyon or tignon [tiyon is the true Creole word] is the famously picturesque handkerchief which in old days all slave women twisted about their heads. It is yet worn by the older colored folk: and there are several styles of arranging it—tiyon chinoise, tiyon Créole, etc. An old New Orleans ditty is still sung, of which the refrain is:—
Madame Caba!
Tiyon vous tombé!
Madame Caba,
Tiyon vous tombé!
“Madame Caba, your tiyon’s falling off!”
24. Bénéfice ratt, c’est pou sèpent. (Le bénéfice du rat, c’est pour le serpent.)
“The rat’s gains are for the serpent.”—[Martinique.]
25. Bon bagout çappe la vie. (Bon bagou sauve la vie.)
“Good gab saves one’s life.”—[Mauritius.]
26. Bon blanc mouri; mauvais rêté. (Le bon blanc meurt; le mauvais [méchant] reste.)
“The good white man dies; the bad remains.”—[Hayti.]
27. Bon-bouche ka gagnin chouvals à crédit. (La bonne bouche[13] obtient des chevaux à credit.)
“Fair words buy horses on credit.”—[Trinidad.]
[13] That is to say: la bonne langue;—“the good tongue gets horses on credit.”
28. * Bon chien pas janmain trappé bon zo. (Jamais un bon chien n’obtient un bon os.)
“A good dog never gets a good bone.”—Creole adaptation of an old French proverb.—[Martinique.]
29. Bon coq chanté dans toutt pouleillé. (Un bon coq chante dans tout [n’importe quel] poulailler.)
“A good cock crows in any henhouse.”—Meaning that force of character shows itself under all circumstances.—[Martinique.]
30. Bondié baille nouèsett pou ça qui pas ni dent. (Le Bon Dieu donne des noisettes à celui qui n’a pas de dents.)
“God gives nuts to people who have no teeth.” Originally an Oriental proverb; adopted into Creole from the French. As we say: “A fool for luck.”—[Martinique.]
31. Bon-Guè ka baille ti zouèseau dans bois mangé, jigé sì li pas ké baille chritien mangé. (Le Bon Dieu donne à manger aux petits oiseaux qui sont dans les bois; jugez s’il ne donnera pas à manger à un chrétien.)[14]
“God gives the little birds in the wood something to eat; judge for yourself, then, whether he will not give a Christian something to eat.”—[Martinique.]
[14] Such a conversation as the following may not unfrequently be heard among the old colored folk in New Orleans:—
—“Eh! Marie! to papé travaï jordi?”
—“Moin?—non!”
—“Eh, ben! comment to fé pou vive, alors?”
—“Ah! … ti zozo li ka boi, li ka mangé, li pas travaï toujou!”
[“Hey, Marie!—Ain’t you going to work to-day?” “I?—no!” “Well then, how do you manage to live?” “Ah! … little bird drinks, little bird eats, little bird doesn’t work all the same!”]
32. Bon lilit, bon ménaze. (Bon lit, bon ménage.)
“Where there’s a good bed, there’s good housekeeping.”—[Mauritius.]
33. Bon piè sauvé mauvais cò. (Un bon pied sauve un mauvais corps.)
“A good (swift) foot saves a bad (weakly) body.”—Like our proverbial refrain: “He that fights and runs away,” etc.[15]—[Martinique.]
[15] Or like the Old Country saying “Better a good run than a bad stand.”
34. * Bon-temps fait crapaud manqué bounda. (Le bon temps fait manquer de derrière au crapaud.)
“Idleness leaves the frogs without buttocks.”—[Louisiana.]
35. * Bon-temps pas bosco. (Le bon temps n’est pas bossu.)
“Good fortune is never hunch-backed.” (Same proverb in Martinique dialect, and in that of Louisiana.)[16]—[Trinidad.]
[16] In Creole bon temps most generally signifies “idleness,” and is not always used in a pleasant sense. Prov. 35 is susceptible of several different applications.
36. Bon valett ni lakhé coupé. (Le bon valet a la queue coupée.)
“The good servant’s tail is cut off.”—Reference to the condition of a dog whose tail is cut off: he can’t wag his tail, because he has no tail to wag![17]—[Martinique.]
[17] The good servant does not fawn, does not flatter, does not affect to be pleased with everything his master does—he may emulate the dog in constant faithfulness, not in fawning.
37. * Bouche li pas ni dimanche. (Sa bouche n’a pas de dimanche.)
“His mouth never keeps Sunday”—lit: “has no Sunday”—no day of rest.—[Mart.]
38.
