“Doing favors brings sorrow.”—[Louisiana.]
287. Roce entété, més quand téti cause av li, li répondé. (La roche est entêtée, mais quand le têtu lui parle, elle répond.)
“The rock’s hard-headed; but when the stone-hammer speaks to him, he answers.”—[Têtu means an obstinate person, also a stone-hammer.][120]—[Mauritius.]
[120] This is another example of double-punning, of which we have already had a specimen in [Prov. 163].
288. Sac vide pas ka tienne douboutt. (Un sac vide ne peut pas se tenir debout.)
“An empty sack cannot stand up.” One cannot work with an empty stomach.—[Martinique.]
289. Sèpent dit li pas rhaï mounn-la qui cué li; c’est ça qui dit, “Mi sèpent!” (Le serpent dit qu’il ne hait pas la personne qui le tue; que c’est celle qui dit, “Voilà le serpent!”)
“The snake says he doesn’t hate the person who kills him, but the one who calls out, ‘Look at the snake!’”—[Martinique.]
290. Serin dérobé; maille bengali. (Le serin se derobe; prenez le bengali.)
“When the canary can’t be found, take the bengalee.” When you can’t find what you like, be content with what you can get.—[Mauritius.]