250. Ptit mie tombe, ramassé li; Chrétien tombe, pas ramassé li. (Quand une petite mie tombe, on la ramasse; quand un Chrétien tombe, on ne le ramasse pas [i.e., on ne l'aide pas à se relever].)
"If a little crumb falls, it is picked up; if a Christian falls, he is not picked up."--[_Hayti._]
251. * Quand bois tombé, cabri monté. (Quand l'arbre tombe, le cabri monte.)
"When the tree falls, the kid can climb it."--[105][_Louisiana._]
[105] This saying has quite a variety of curious applications. The last time I heard it, a Creole negress was informing me that the master of the house in which she worked was lying at the point of death: "_pauve diabe!_" I asked after the health of her mistress. "_Ah! Madame se porte bien; mais . . . quand bois tombé cabri monté_," she replied, half in French, half in her own patois; signifying that after the husband's death, wife and children would find themselves reduced to destitution.
252. Quand boudin mòdè, cé pas épi bell plimm[106] yo ka plein li. (Quand le ventre crie, ce n'est pas avec de beaux habits qu'on le remplit.)
"When your stomach gnaws you, it isn't with fine clothes that you can fill it."--[_Martinique._]
[106] Literally "feathers"--"_plimm_," _plumes_. Adopted from a Creole version of one of Lafontaine's fables.
253. * Quand boyaux grogné, bel évite pas fait yé pé. (Quand les boyaux grognent, un bel habit ne leur fait pas se taire; lit., ne leur fait pas paix.)
"When the bowels growl a fine coat won't make them hold their peace."[107]--[_Louisiana._]
[107] The words _pè_, _pé_, in Creole are distinguishable only by their accentuation. _Peur_ (fear); _peu_ (a little); _paix_ (peace, or "hush"); _peut_ (can), all take the form _pè_ or _pé_ in various Creole dialects. _Ipas ni pè sépent_: "he is not afraid of snakes." Sometimes one can guess the meaning only by the context, as in the Martinique saying: _Pè bef pè caca bef_. "Few oxen, little ox-dung;" i.e. "little money, little trouble." The use of "_pè_" for _père_ (father), reminds us of a curious note in the Creole studies of the brothers Saint-Quentin (See BIBLIOGRAPHY). In the forests of Guiana there is a bird whose song much resembles that of our Louisiana mocking-bird, but which is far more sonorous and solemn. The Creole negroes call it ZOZO MONPÉ (_l'oiseau mon-père_), lit., "The my-father bird." Now _monpè_ is the Creole name for a priest; as if we should say "a my-father" instead of "a priest." The bird's song, powerful, solemn, far-echoing through the great aisles of the woods by night, suggested the chant of a _monpè_, a "ghostly father;" and its name might be freely translated by "the priest-bird."