Kabrit di: “sa k nan vant ou, se li ki pa w.”

Literal translation for this proverb could be: “Goat says that what is yours is what you have in your belly.”

In Haiti, goats are one of the animals that people breed. Some people breed them for meat and others do that for a living. They sell them to the people that need their meat, especially in the festive season. Goat’s meat is delicious, appreciated and expensive in Haiti, actually.

In some areas of the country, people have a certain space dedicated to breeding. Breeders take them to eat in the morning and take them back to their enclosure at night. In some other areas, they are in the streets and literally all over the neighborhood in search of food. Farmers are mad when goats break through their gardens and eat their plantation. And people in the neighborhood do not like when goats break through their gates to eat their flowers either. They throw stones at them and sometimes, they kill them. And sometimes you can see part of the leaves on the mouth of the dead animal. So, even when the herb/leaf is in their mouth, it is not theirs yet, because they can die without having the opportunity to swallow it.

Haitian people say this proverb when they are promised to be given something. They say that a promise remains as such until you actually have the thing at one's possession. The person that promised it could die or change his/her mind or could lose the position/opportunity he/she had and now is unable to do what he/she promised to do. Haitian people also say this proverb to warn people not to rely on promises because things can change and then you could be disappointed.