37o
Martinique
Sketches.
formed into malevolent beings. The zombi deludes under the appearance of a travelling companion, an old comrade—like the desert spirits of the Arabs—or even under the form of an animal. Consequently the Creole negro fears everything living which he meets after dark upon a lonely road,—a stray horse, a cow, even a d o g ; and mothers quell the naughtiness of their children by the threat of summoning a zombi-cat or a zombi-creature of some kind. "Zombi ké nana ou" (the zombi will gobble thee up) is generally an effectual menace in the country parts, where it is believed zombis may be met with any time after sunset. In the city it is thought that their regular hours are between two and four o'clock in the morning. At least so Cyrillia says :— — " Dèzhè, toua-zhè-matin : c'est lhè zombi. Y o ka soti dèzhè, toua zhè : c'est lhè yo. A quattrhè yo ka rentré ;—angélus ka sonné." (At four o'clock they go back where they came from, before the Angelus rings.) Why ? —" C'est pou moune pas joinne yo dans larue." (So that people may not meet with them in the street), Cyrillia answers. — " A r e they afraid of the people, Cyrillia?" I asked. — " No, they are not afraid ; but they do not want people to know their business " (pa lè moune ouè zaffai yd). Cyrillia also says one must not look out of the window when a dog howls at night. Such a dog may be a mauvais vivant (evil being) : " If he sees me looking at him he will say, 'Ou tropp quirièse quitté cabane ou pou gàdé zaffai lezautt.' " (You are too curious to leave your bed like that to look at other folks' business.) — " A n d what then, Cyrillia ?" — " Then he will put out your eyes,—y ké coqui ziê ou,—make you blind." — " But, Cyrillia," I asked one day, " did you ever see any zombis ?"
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