{"id":56,"date":"2021-06-14T12:01:39","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T16:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/claudemckay\/?post_type=chapter&p=56"},"modified":"2022-02-03T08:45:49","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T13:45:49","slug":"the-biter-bit","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/chapter\/the-biter-bit\/","title":{"raw":"The Biter Bit","rendered":"The Biter Bit"},"content":{"raw":"[\"Ole woman a swea' fe eat calalu: calalu[footnote]Spinach, but not the English kind[\/footnote] a swea' fe wuk him[footnote]His = her[\/footnote] gut.\"-JAMAICA PROVERB.]\r\n\r\nCORN an' peas growin' t'ick an' fas'\r\nWid nice blade peepin' t'rough de grass;\r\nAn' ratta[footnote]The rats[\/footnote] a from dem hole a peep,\r\nT'ink all de corn dem gwin' go reap.\r\n\r\nOle woman sit by kitchen doo'\r\nIs watchin' calalu a grow,\r\nAn' all de time a t'inking dat\r\nShe gwin' go nyam dem when dem fat.[footnote]Juicy[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nBut calalu, grow'n' by de hut,\r\nIs swearin' too fe wuk him gut;\r\nWhile she, like some, t'ink[footnote]Thinks: but it also means 'think', and so equally applies to the plural subject[\/footnote] all is right\r\nWhen dey are in some corner tight.\r\n\r\nPeas time come roun'[footnote]The time for harvesting the peas arrives[\/footnote] \u2014de corn is lef;\r\nAn' ratta now deh train himse'f\r\nUpon de cornstalk dem a' night\r\nFe when it fit to get him bite.[footnote]And (every) rat now practises climbing the cornstalks at night, so that he may get his bite when the corn is ripe[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nDe corn-piece lie do'n all in blue,[footnote]This refers to the bluish leaf of the maize[\/footnote]\r\nAn' all de beard dem floatin' too\r\nAmongst de yellow grain so gay,[footnote]Supply 'all this makes so pretty a picture'[\/footnote]\r\nDat you would watch dem a whole day.\r\n\r\nAn' ratta look at ebery one,\r\nSwea'in' dat dem not gwin' lef none;[footnote]They are not going to leave any[\/footnote]\r\nBut Quaco know a t'ing or two,\r\nAn' swear say[footnote]'Say' is redundant: it is tacked closely to swear[\/footnote] dat dem won't go so.\r\n\r\nSo him go get a little meal\r\nAn' somet'ing good fe those dat steal,\r\nAn' mix dem up an' 'pread dem out\r\nFor people possess fas' fas' mout'.[footnote]For those who are too quick with their mouths[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nNow ratta, comin' from dem nes',\r\nSee it an' say \"Dis food is bes';\"\r\nDem nyam an' stop, an' nyam again,\r\nAn' soon lie do'n, rollin' in pain.","rendered":"

[“Ole woman a swea’ fe eat calalu: calalu[1]<\/sup><\/a> a swea’ fe wuk him[2]<\/sup><\/a> gut.”-JAMAICA PROVERB.]<\/p>\n

CORN an’ peas growin’ t’ick an’ fas’
\nWid nice blade peepin’ t’rough de grass;
\nAn’ ratta[3]<\/sup><\/a> a from dem hole a peep,
\nT’ink all de corn dem gwin’ go reap.<\/p>\n

Ole woman sit by kitchen doo’
\nIs watchin’ calalu a grow,
\nAn’ all de time a t’inking dat
\nShe gwin’ go nyam dem when dem fat.[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

But calalu, grow’n’ by de hut,
\nIs swearin’ too fe wuk him gut;
\nWhile she, like some, t’ink[5]<\/sup><\/a> all is right
\nWhen dey are in some corner tight.<\/p>\n

Peas time come roun’[6]<\/sup><\/a> \u2014de corn is lef;
\nAn’ ratta now deh train himse’f
\nUpon de cornstalk dem a’ night
\nFe when it fit to get him bite.[7]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

De corn-piece lie do’n all in blue,[8]<\/sup><\/a>
\nAn’ all de beard dem floatin’ too
\nAmongst de yellow grain so gay,[9]<\/sup><\/a>
\nDat you would watch dem a whole day.<\/p>\n

An’ ratta look at ebery one,
\nSwea’in’ dat dem not gwin’ lef none;[10]<\/sup><\/a>
\nBut Quaco know a t’ing or two,
\nAn’ swear say[11]<\/sup><\/a> dat dem won’t go so.<\/p>\n

So him go get a little meal
\nAn’ somet’ing good fe those dat steal,
\nAn’ mix dem up an’ ‘pread dem out
\nFor people possess fas’ fas’ mout’.[12]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Now ratta, comin’ from dem nes’,
\nSee it an’ say “Dis food is bes’;”
\nDem nyam an’ stop, an’ nyam again,
\nAn’ soon lie do’n, rollin’ in pain.<\/p>\n

  1. Spinach, but not the English kind ↵<\/a><\/li>
  2. His = her ↵<\/a><\/li>
  3. The rats ↵<\/a><\/li>
  4. Juicy ↵<\/a><\/li>
  5. Thinks: but it also means 'think', and so equally applies to the plural subject ↵<\/a><\/li>
  6. The time for harvesting the peas arrives ↵<\/a><\/li>
  7. And (every) rat now practises climbing the cornstalks at night, so that he may get his bite when the corn is ripe ↵<\/a><\/li>
  8. This refers to the bluish leaf of the maize ↵<\/a><\/li>
  9. Supply 'all this makes so pretty a picture' ↵<\/a><\/li>
  10. They are not going to leave any ↵<\/a><\/li>
  11. 'Say' is redundant: it is tacked closely to swear ↵<\/a><\/li>
  12. For those who are too quick with their mouths ↵<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":251,"menu_order":11,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-56","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/56","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/56\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/56\/revisions\/57"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/56\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=56"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=56"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/claudemckay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=56"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}