Lafcadio Hearn - Two years in The French West Indies,
New York,Harper & Brothers,Franklin Saquare, 1890, 431 p.
p. 353 à 354.

 

Photo F.P.

ZHISTOUÈ PIMENT

Té ni yon manman qui té ni en
pile, en pile yche ; et yon jou y pa
té ni aïen pou i té baill yche-là
mangé. Y té ka lévé bon matin-
là sans yon sou : y pa sa ça y té
douè fai,—là y té ké baill latête.
Y allé lacaïe macoumè-y, raconté
lapeine-y. Macoumè baill y toua
chopine farine-manioc. Y allé
lacaill lautt macoumè, qui baill y
yon grand trai piment. Macou-
mè-là di y venne trai-piment-à,
épi y té pè acheté lamori,—pisse
y ja té ni farine. Madame-là di :
“ Mèçi, macoumè ;”—y di y bon-
jou' : épi y allé lacaïe-y.

Lhè y rivé àcaï y limé difé : y
metté canari épi dleau assous difé-
à ; épi y cassé toutt piment-là et
metté yo adans canari-à assous
difé.

Lhè y ouè canari-à ka bouï, y
pouend baton-lélé, épi y lélé pi-
ment-à : aloss y ka fai yonne cala-
lou-piment. Lhè calalou-piment
là té tchouitt, y pouend chaque
zassiett yche-li ; y metté calalou
yo fouète dans zassiett-là; y metté
ta-mari fouète, assou, épi ta-y.
Épi lhè calalou-là té bien fouète,
y metté farine nans chaque zassi-
ett-là. Épi y crié toutt moune
vini mangé. Toutt moune vini
metté yo à-tabe.

Pouèmiè bouchée mari-à pou-
end, y rété,—y crié : “ Aïe ! ouaill !
mafenm !” Fenm - là réponne
mari y : “ Ouaill ! monmari !” Cés
ti manmaille - là crié :“ Ouaill !
manman !” Manman - à répon-
ne : — “ Ouaill ! yches-moin !”...
Yo toutt pouend couri, quitté
caïe-là sèle,—épi yo toutt tombé
lariviè à touempé bouche yo. Cés
ti manmaille-là bouè dleau sitel-
lement jusse temps yo tout néyé :
té ka rété anni manman-là épi
papa-là. Yo té là, bò larivè, qui
té ka pléiré. Moin té ka passé à
lhè-à ; —moin ka mandé yo : “ Ça
zautt ni ?”
Nhomme-là lévé : y baill moin
yon sèle coup d'pié, y voyé moin
lautt bò lariviè—ou ouè moin vini
pou conté ça ba ou.

PIMENTO STORY

There was once a mamma who
had ever so many children ; and
one day she had nothing to give
those children to eat. She had
got up very early that morning,
without a sou in the world : she
did not know what to do : she
was so worried that her head was
upset. She went to the house of
a woman - friend, and told her
about her trouble.The friend
gave her three chopines [three
pints] of manioc flour. Then she
went to the house of another fe-
male friend, who gave her a big
trayful of pimentos. The friend
told her to sell that tray of pi-
mentos : then she could buy some
codfish,—since she already had
some manioc flour. The good-
wife said : “ Thank you, macou-
mè,”—she bid her good-day, and
then went to her own house.

The moment she got home, she
made a fire, and put her canari
[earthen pot] full of water on the
fire to boil : then she broke up all
the pimentos and put them into
the canari on the fire.

As soon as she saw the canari
boiling, she took her baton-lélé,
and beat up all those pimentos :
then she made a pimento-calalou
When the pimento-calalou was
well cooked, she took each one
of the children's plates, and pour-
ed their calalou into the plates to
cool it ; she also put her husband's
out to cool, and her own. And
when the calalou was quite cool,
she put somme manioc flour into
each of the plates. Then she
called to everybody to come and
eat. They all came, and sat
down to table.

The first mouthful that hus-
band took he stopped and scream-
ed : — “ Aïe ! ouaill ! my wife !”
The woman answered her hus-
band : “ Ouaill ! my hudsband !”
The little children all screamed :
“ Ouaill ! mamma !” Their mam-
ma answered : “ Ouaill ! my chil-
dren !”... They all ran out, left
the house empty ; and they tum-
bled into the river to steep their
mouths. Those little children
just drank water and drank water
till they were all drowned : there
was nobody left except the mam-
ma and the papa. They stayed
there on the river-bank, and cried.
I was passing that way just at
that time ;— I asked them : “ What
ails you people ?”

That man got up and gave me
just one kick that send me right
across the river ; I came here at
once, as you see, to tell you all
about it. ...