II
"O cursed eyes he praised that led me to him! O cursed lips of mine which ever repeated his name! O cursed moment in which I gave up my heart to the ingrate who no longer knows how to love."...
III
"Doudoux, you swore to me by Heaven!—doudoux, you swore to me by your faith!... And now you cannot come to me?... Oh! my heart is withering with pain!... I was passing by the cemetery;—I saw my name upon a stone—all by itself. I saw two white roses; and in a moment one faded and fell before me.... So my forgotten heart will be!"...
The air is not so charming, however, as that of a little song which every creole knows, and which may be often heard still at the river: I think it is the prettiest of all creole melodies. "To-to-to" (patois for the French toc) is an onomatope for the sound of knocking at a door.
"To, to, to!—'Ça qui là?'
—'C'est moin-mênme, lanmou;—
Ouvé lapott ba moin!'
"To, to, to!—'Ça qui là?'
—'C'est moin-mênme, lanmou;—
Qui ka ba ou khè moin!'
"To, to, to!—'Ça qui là?'
—'C'est moin-mênme, anmou;—
Laplie ka mouillé moin!'"
[To-to-to... "Who taps there?"—"'Tis mine own self Love: open the door for me."
To-to-to... "Who taps there?"—"'Tis mine own self Love, who give my heart to thee."
To-to-to... "Who taps there?"—"Tis mine own self Love: open thy door to me;—the rain is wetting me!"...]
... But it is more common to hear the blanchisseuses singing merry, jaunty, sarcastic ditties,—Carnival compositions,—in which the African sense of rhythmic melody is more marked:—"Marie-Clémence maudi, Loéma tombé, Quand ou ni ti mari jojoll."[28]