Named after a New Orleans herb gumbo, this small book gathers proverbs in the French Creole dialects of Louisiana, Martinique, Haiti, Trinidad, Mauritius and elsewhere, each with a French rendering, an English translation and notes. Hearn’s introduction and indexes of dialects and subjects make it a handy browsing book, though some notes use the racial language of the 1880s.
A gem of Hearn’s New Orleans years, full of earthy wit and folk wisdom. Download the free EPUB.