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 onomatop[oe]ia: OUAOUARON (wahwahron).
I think the prettiest collection of Creole onomatop[oe]ia 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 b[oe]uf a besoin de sa queue.)
"It's in the rainy season that the ox needs his tail."--(See Martinique proverb No. 20.) [_Trinidad._]
82. C'est pas toutt les-jou guiabe n'empòte you pauve nhomme. (Ce n'est pas tous les jours que le diable emporte un homme pauvre.)
"It isn't every day that the devil carries off a poor man."--[_Martinique._]
83. Cé souliers tout-sêl qui save si bas tinî tous. (Ce sont les souliers seuls qui savent si les bas ont des trous.)
"It's only the shoes that know if the stockings have holes."--[_Trinidad._]
84. Chaque bêtè-à-fè clairé pou nânme yo. (Chaque mouche-à-feu éclaire pour son âme.)
"Every fire-fly makes light for its own soul;" that is to say, "Every one for himself."--[_Martinique._]
85. Chatt pas là, ratt ka baill[35] bal. (Absent le chat, les rats donnent un bal.)
"When the cat's away the rats give a ball."--[_Martinique._]