And here the second:—
5th Figure.
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The other day me waistcoat cut, The other day me waistcoat cut, The other day me waistcoat cut, What a pain an' grief to me. I spend me money but the beggar don't dead, I spend me money but the beggar don't dead, I spend me money but the beggar don't dead, What a pain an' grief to me. All me money gone like butter 'gainst sun, All me money gone like butter 'gainst sun, All me money gone like butter 'gainst sun, What a pain an' grief to me! Sake of the man me live 'pon tree, Sake of the man me live 'pon tree, Sake of the man me live 'pon tree, What a pain an' grief to me! |
Obeah (pronounced in two syllables, Ob-ya, with short Italian vowels) is the dark blot upon this fair island of Jamaica. In every district there is an Obeah-man, or Bush-doctor, as he is often called, from his supposed knowledge of herb simples. He is by no means the innocent person which this latter designation would seem to imply. He deals in magic and sorcery of all descriptions, and there is not a Black man who does not believe in his powers. They consult him on every conceivable business and he gets heavy fees. He will secure a man the favour of his master so that he shall not lose his place, or help him to revenge a wrong, real or fancied. And herein lies the danger. The puerilities of inefficacious charms and mysterious ceremonies with which he deludes his clients are not all. He keeps poison in his bag, and for sufficient reward arsenic has been obtained to put in the liqueur, or ground glass for the coffee. The Government attempts in vain to stamp out the evil.
The story of the last sing is briefly this. A has a friend who is an Obeah-man. From him he gets Obeah to injure an enemy B. The enemy does not suffer. So A says his waistcoat is torn, a figurative way of expressing the fact that he is beaten, B's Obeah turning out to be stronger than A's and able to repel it. Having indiscreetly talked about what he meant to do to B, B reports him to the police, and he has to abscond and seek shelter in the bush till the matter blows over.