| TWO NEGRO STORIES FROM JAMAICA ANNANCY AND THE YAM HILLS. One time Annancy libed in a country where the Queen's name was Five, an' she was a witch; an' she say whoeber say five was to fall down dead. It was berry hungry times, and so Annancy go build himself a little house by de side of de riber. An' him make five yam hills. An' when anybody come to get water at de riber he call them an' say: "I beg you tell me how many yam hills I hab here. I can't count berry well." So den dey would come in and say, "One, two, three, four, five !" an' fall down dead. Then Annancy take dem an' corn dem in his barrel an' eat dem, an' so he live in hungry times in plenty. So time go on, an' one day Guinea fowl come dat way, an' Annancy say : " Beg you, Missus, tell me how many yam hills hab I here." 'So Guinea fowl go an' sit on hill an' say : " One, two, three, four, an' de one I am sittin' on ! "Cho !" say Annancy ; " you don't count it right !" An' Guinea fowl mouve to anoder yam hill an' say : " Yes, one, two, three, four, an' de one I am sittin' on !" " He ! you don't count right at all !" " How you count, den ?" " Why dis way," say Annancy : "One, two, three, four, five!" an' he fell down dead, an' Guinea fowl eat him up! Dis story show dat " Greedy choak puppy." DE STORY OF DE MAN AND SIX POACHED EGGS Once a man go travellin' an' he get hungry, so he stop at a tavern an' order something to eat, so dey bring him six poached eggs. He eat dem, but he did not hab any money, so he say he would come back an' pay. In six years ? or maybe it was more? he come back an' pay sixpence for de eggs. But den de tavern keeper say dat if he had not eaten de six poached eggs dey might hab been chickens, and den de chickens would hab grown up and hatch more chickens, an' dey more ? an' more ? an' more ? an' tell de man he must pay six pounds instead of sixpence. An' de man say he would not. So dey go to de judge. An' while dey was conversin' a boy come in wid a bundle under his arm. An' de judge say : " What you got in de bundle ? " and de boy say, " Parch' peas, sa !" " What you goin' do wid dem ? " " Plant dem, sa !" " Hi !" say de judge, " you can't plant parch' peas, dey won't grow !" " Well, sa, an' poached eggs won't hatch !" So dey dismiss de man and he neber pay a penny! Dis story show dat you mus' neber count you' eggs before dey hatch ! |
| Pamela Coleman Smith. |
| Kingston, Jamaica |
THE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE. Vol. IX. . OCTOBER-DECEMBER, 1896. . No. XXXV. p.278 |
 注釈 ： １８９６年『アメリカ民俗学ジャーナル』に掲載された「ジャマイカの黒人噺二題」。パメラ・コールマン・スミスの文章がはじめて活字になった例とされる。ジャマイカ滞在中に地元の語り部から聞いた西アフリカ起源のトリックスター物語「アナンシー」（蜘蛛男の意）をジャマイカン・アクセントで音写したもので、そのままではいささかわかりにくい。ここにある二話からうかがえる特長としては、ｔｈをｄ音、ｖをｂ音とし、語尾のｄとｇは省略する。動詞はすべて原形で用い、三人称単数のｓは使わない。録音から起こす時代ではないので、厳密な音写とはいいがたく、随所にｔｈやｖも残っている。３年後の１８９９年にＲ．Ｈ．ラッセルから出る『アナンシー・ストーリーズ』ではジャマイカン・アクセントがさらに強調され、１９０４年頃から始まるＰＣＳ本人のパフォーマンスはさらに奇想天外な発音を用いたようである。参考までにアナンシーの画像も紹介しておく。 |