78. C’est douvant tambou nion connaitt Zamba. (C’est devant le tambour qu’on reconnaît Zamba.)
“It’s before the drum one learns to know Zamba.”—[Hayti.]
79. C’est langue crapaud[34] qui ka trahî crapaud. (C’est la langue du crapaud qui le trahit.)
“It’s the frog’s own tongue that betrays him.”—[Trinidad.]
[34] In some of the West Indies the French word crapaud seems to have been adopted by the Creoles to signify either a toad or a frog, as it is much more easily pronounced by Creole lips than grenouille, which they make sound like “gwoonouïlle.” But in Louisiana there is a word used for frog, a delightful and absolutely perfect onomatopœia: Ouaouaron (wahwahron).
I think the prettiest collection of Creole onomatopœia made by any folklorist is that in Baissac’s Étude sur le Patois Créole Mauricien, pp. 92-95. The delightful little Creole nursery-narrative, in which the cries of all kinds of domestic animals are imitated by patois phrases, deserves special attention.
80. C’est lhé vent ka venté, moun ka ouer lapeau poule. (C’est quand le vent vente qu’on peut voir la peau de la poule—lit.: que le monde peut voir.)
“It’s when the wind is blowing that folks can see the skin of a fowl.”—True character is revealed under adverse circumstances.—[Trinidad.]
81. C’est nans temps laplîe béf bisoèn lakhé lì. (C’est dans le temps de pluie que le bœuf a besoin de sa queue.)
“It’s in the rainy season that the ox needs his tail.”—(See Martinique proverb [No. 20].) [Trinidad.]