Folk-lore from the Dominican republic / by Manuel J. Andrade.

Folk-Lore from the Dominican Republic

25

but owing to prevalent social restrictions, it is difficult to secure
their services. Most of the women who served as informants were
members of the families with whom I lodged, or servants.
We see, therefore, that this collection represents only the folklore prevalent in certain social strata. Obviously, one cannot predict
with any degree of certainty whether the selections would have
been essentially different, had the stories been obtained from the
more cultured classes, but so far as I may infer from my experience,
tales of enchantment might have been more abundant than those
of the Juan Bobo cycle, and the animal stories would have been
more scarce.
When asking my informants for stories, they generally thought
first of humorous realistic accounts of everyday life, or of various
episodes of the many revolutions and wars that the country has
seen. I insisted upon "the kind of story that the old folks used to
tell". By wording my request thus, some of the effects of sophistication were mitigated. Though one meets with a great deal of
pretension, I do not think that stories of monsters and enchanted
princesses are at present told among adults, even by the majority
of peasants.
Further artificial selection was introduced by endeavoring to
collect as many different stories as possible, and consequently
neglecting close variants. This was effected by asking the informant
to recite the whole story before dictating it. If he offered the same
plots that had already been recorded, and no new episode, it was
not accepted. I consider this preliminary recitation very desirable
for several reasons. Dictation is a strange, artificial process to the
majority of illiterate persons, and few can become adapted to it
in a few days. The rehearsal of the story in a manner that is more
familiar to the narrator facilitates recollection of its details, and
offers a better opportunity for personal garnish and wit. Upon
dictating it, if any important element is omitted, which occurs
rather frequently, one can easily bring the fact to the attention of
the informant. Occasionally, after reciting a portion of the story,
the narrator realizes that he has introduced an episode that belongs
to a different story, or that he has omitted one. Many refrain from
making these rectifications when dictating, for fear of prolonging
their monotonous task. Furthermore, this procedure is especially
useful when studying pronunciation, as the whole story is heard
twice, without making the informant self-counscious, or suspicious
of our design. I owe the suggestion of this method to Bienvenido
Fabian, an intelligent bootblack in San Pedro de Macoris. Fabian
could not dictate the stories unless he rehearsed them first by
mumbling the words to himself. I asked him one day to recite aloud
to see whether I would like the story, and in view of the results,
I decided to make the identical request of all who offered stories
thereafter. It must be admitted that some informants defeated my