XXIV. Mr. Bear Catches Old Mr. Bull-frog. Uncle Remus Translation

 Legends of the Old Plantation

XXIV

MR. BEAR CATCHES OLD MR. BULL-FROG

"Well, Uncle Remus," said the little boy, counting to see if he hadn't lost a marble somewhere, "the Bear didn't catch the Rabbit after all, did he?"

"Now you talkin', honey," replied the old man, his earnest face breaking up into little eddies of smiles -- "now you talkin' sure.  "It ain't been proven (prone) into no Brer Bear for to catch Brer Rabbit, It sort of like settin' a mule for to trap a hummin'-bird.  But Brer Bear, he took and got hisself into some more trouble, which it look like it mighty easy.  If folks could make their living longer getting into trouble," continued the old man, looking curiously at the little boy, "ole Miss Favers wouldn't be bothering your ma for to borrow a cup full of sugar every now and then; and it look like to me that I knows a nigger that wouldn't be squattin' 'round here making these here fish-baskets."

"How did the Bear get into more trouble, Uncle Remus?" asked the little boy.

"Natural, honey.  Brer Bear, he took a notion that old Brer Bull-frog was the man what fooled him, and he say that he'd come up with him if 'twas a year afterwards.  But 'twasn't no year, and 'twasn't no month, and more than that, it wasn't scarcely a week, when by and by one day Brer Bear was going home from the taking of a bee-tree, and lo and behold, who should he see but old Brer Bull-frog setting out on the edge of the mud-muddle fast asleep!  Brer Bear dropped his axe, he did, and crept up, and reached out with his paw, and scooped old Brer Bull-frog in just this way."  Here the old man used his hand ladle-fashion, by way of illustration.  "He scoop hm in, and there he was.  When Brer Bear got his clampers on him good, he sat down and talked at him.

" 'Howdy, Brer Bull-frog.  howdy! And how your family? I hope they're well, Brer Bull-frog, 'cause this day you got some business with me what'll last you a mighty long time.' "

"Brer Bull-frog, he dunno what to say.  He dunno what's up, and he don't say nothin', Old Brer Bear he kept running on:

" 'You're the man what took and fooled me 'bout Brer Rabbit the other day.  You had your fun, Brer Bull-frog, and not I'll get mine.'

"Then Brer Bull-frog, he begin to get scared, he did, and he up and say:

" 'What I been doin', Brer Bear?  How I been foolin' you?"

"Then Brer Bear laugh, and make like he don't know, but he keep on talkin''.

" 'Oh, no, Brer Bull-frog!  You ain't the man what stick your head up out of the water and tell me Brer Rabbit done gone on by. Oh, no!  you ain't the man. I bound you ain't.  About that time, you was a thome with your family, where you always is.  I don't know where you is, Brer Bull-frog, and it's ou and me for it.  After the sun goes down this day you do't fool o more folks goin' along this road.'

"Course, Brer Bull-frog don't know what Brer Bear drivin' at, but he know something has to be done, and that mighty soon, 'cause Brer Bear begun to snap his jaws together and foam at the mouth, and Brer Bull-frog holler out:

" 'Oh, pray, Brer Bear!  Let me off this time, and I won't never do so no more,  Oh, pray, Brer Bear! do let me off this time, and I'll show you the fattest bee-tree in the woods.'

"Old Brer Bear, he chomp his toothies and foam and the mouth.  Brer Bull-frog he just up and squall:

" 'Oh, pray, Brer Bear!  I won't never do so no more!  Oh, pray, Brer Bear! Let me off this time!"

"But old Brer Bear say he going to make way withhim, and then he sat and studied, old Brewr Bear did, how he going to squench Brer Bull-frog.  He know he can't drown him, and he aint got no fire for to burn him, and he got mighty pestered. By and by old Brer Bull-frog, he sort of stop his crin' and his boo-hooin', and he up and say:

" 'If you goingn to kill me, Brer Bear, carry me to that big flat rock out there on the edge of the mill=pond, where I can see my family, and after I see them, then you can take your axe and sqush me.'

"This look so fair and square that Brer Bear he agree, and he take old Brer Bull-frog by one of his behind legs, and sling his axe on his shoulder, an off he put for the big flat rock.  When he get there he lay Brer Bul-frog down on the rock, and Brer Bull-frog make like he looking around for his folks. Then Brer Bear, he draw long breath and pick up his axe. Then he spit in his hands and draw back and come down on the rock -- pow!"

"Did he kill the Frog, Uncle Remus?" asked the little boy, as the old man paused to scoop up a thimbleful of glowing embers in his pipe.

" 'Indeed, and that he didn't, honey.  Betwixt the time when Brer Bear raise up with his axe, and when he come down with it, old Brer Bull-frog he leapt up and dove down in the mill-pond, kerblink-kerblunk!  And when he rose way out int he pond, herose a singin', and this here's the song what he sing:

" 'Ingle-go-jang, my joy, my joy --

Ingle-go-jang, my jou!

I'm right at home, my joy, my joy --

Ingle-go-jang, my joy!' "

"That's a mighty funny song," said the little boy.

"Funny now, I expect," said the old man, "but it weren't funny in them days,and it wouldnt be funny now if folks knew much about the Bull-frog language as they used to. That's what."

XXIII. Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear. Uncle Remus Translation.

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Legends of the Old Plantation
XXIII.  MR. RABBIT AND MR. BEAR.
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“There was one season,” said Uncle Remus, pulling thoughtfully at his whiskers, “when Brer Fox say to himself that he expect he better whirl in and plant a goober-patch FN 1, and in them days, man, it was touch and go. The words weren’t more than out of his mouth before the ground was broke up and the goobers was planted. Old Brer Rabbit, he set off and watch the motions, he did, and he sort of shut one eye and sing to his children:
.

“ ‘Ti-yi! Tungalee!

I eat them pea, I pick them pea.

It grow in the ground, it grow so free,

Ti-yi! them goober pea.’

.
“Sure enough when the goobers begun to ripen up, every time Brer Fox go down to his patch, he find where somebody been grabblin’ amongst the vines, and he get mighty mad. He sort of expect who the somebody is, but old Brer Rabbit he cover his tracks so cute that Brer Fox don’t know how to catch him. By and by, one day Brer Fox take a walk all around the ground-pea patch, and it wasn’t long before he find a crack in the fence where the rail done been rubbed right smooth, and right there he set him a trap. He took and bent down a hickory sapling, growing in the fence-corner, and tie one end on a plow-line on the top, and in the other end he fix a loop-knot, and that he fasten with a trigger right in the crack. Next morning, when old Brer Rabbit come slipping along and creep through the crack, the loop-know catch him behind the forelegs, and the sapling flew up, and there he was ‘twixt the heavens and the earth. There he swung, and he feared he going to fall, and he feared he weren’t going to fall. While he was fixing up a tale for Brer Fox, he hear a lumbering down the road, and presently here come old Brer Bear ambling along from where he been taking a bee-tree FN 2.  Brer Rabbit, he hail him:
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“ ‘Howdy, Brer Bear!’
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“Brer Bear, he look around and by and by he see Brer Rabbig swinging from the sapling, and he holler out:
.
“ ‘Heyo, Brer Rabbit! How you coming on this morning’ “
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“ ‘Much obliged, I’m middling’, Brer Bear, says Brer Rabbit says he.
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“Then Brer Bear, he asks Brer Rabbit what he doing up there in the elements, and Brer Rabbit, he up and say he making’ a dollar a minute. Brer Bear, he say how. Brer Rabbit say he keeping the crows out of Brer Fox’s ground-pea patch, and then he asked Brer Bear if he don’t want to make a dollar a minute, ‘cause he got family of children for to take care of,, and then he make such nice scarecrow. Brer Bear allow that he take the job, and and then Brer Rabbit show him how to bend down the sapling, and watsn’t long before Brer Bear was swinging up there in Brer Rabbit’s place. Then Brer Rabbit, he put out for Brer Fox house, and when he got there he sing out:
.
“ ‘Brer Fox! Oh, Brer Fox! Come out here, Brer Fox, and I’ll show you the man what been stealing your goobers.’
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“Brer Fox, he grab up his walking stick, and both of them went running back down to the goober patch, and when they got there, sure enough, there was old Brer Bear.
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“ ‘Oh, yes! You're caught, is you?’ says Brer Fox, and before Brer Bear could explain, Brer Rabbit he jump up and down, and holler out:
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“ ‘Hit him in the mouth, Brer Fox; hit him in the mouth; and Brer Fox, he drew back with the walking-cane, and blip he took him, and every time Brer Bear try to expolain, Brer Fox would shower down on him.
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“Whiles all this was going on, Brer Rabbit, he slip off an get in a mud-hole and just left his eyes sticking out, ‘cause he knowed that Brer Bear’d be a coming after him. Sure enough, by and by here come Brer Bear down the road, and when he get to the mud-hole, he say:
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“ ‘Howdy, Brer Frog; have you seen Brer Rabbit go by here?’
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“ ‘He just gone by,’ says Brer Rabbit, and old man Bear took off down the road like a ‘scared mule, and Brer Rabbit, he come out and dried himself in the sun, and go home to his family same as any other man.”
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“The Bear didn’t catch the Rabbit, then?” inquired the little boy, sleepily.
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“Jump up from there, honey!” exclaimed Uncle Remus, by way of reply. “ I ain’t got time for to be setting here propping your eyelids open.”

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FN 1  Goober-patch, goobers.

Goobers are peanuts. See http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/goobers.  Goober may derive from "ngubu" from 1833, a Bantu word says the site.  But the Bantu people were not West African, the area where we understand most North and South American slaves originated, via the Caribbean often on the slave trade routes.  See http://library.thinkquest.org/16645/the_people/ethnic_bantu.shtml

Grow your own goobers.  See http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2002-12-01/Peanuts.aspx?page=3

Sing about Eatin' Goober Peas with Johnny Cash and Burl Ives.  This is a Civil War song from the South, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBOxw6vbDyo&feature=related

FN 2  Bee-tree.  Bees can nest in trees, bears get at them for the honey, see http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G7391

XXII. A Story About the Little Rabbits. Uncle Remus Translation

Legends of the Old Plantation

XXII
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A STORY ABOUT THE LITTLE RABBITS
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Rabbit, little one. Evoking Uncle Remus

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“Find them where you will and when you may,” remarked Uncle Remus with emphasis, “good children always gets took care of. There was Brer Rabbit’s children; they minded their daddy and mammy from day’s evening to day’s evening. When old man Rabbit say ‘scoot,’ they scooted, and when old Miss Rabbit say ‘scat’ they scatted. They did that. And they keep their clothes clean, and they ain’t had no smut on their nose, neither.”

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Involuntarily the hand of the little boy went up to his face, and he scrubbed the end of his nose with his coat-sleeve.

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“They was good children,” continued the old man, heartily, “and if they hadn’t have been, there was one time when there wouldn’t have been no little rabbits – nary a one. That’s what.”

.

“What time was that, Uncle Remus?” the little boy asked.

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“The time when Brer Fox dropped in at Brer Rabbit house. Old Brer Rabbit, he was off somewheres raiding on a collard patch, and old Miss Rabbit she was tendin’ on a quiltin’ FN 1 in the neighborhood, and while the little Rabbits was playing hiding-switch, in dropped Brer Fox. The little Rabbits was so fat that they fairly make his mouth water, but he remembers about Brer Wolf, and he scared for to gobble them up excepting he got some excuse. The little Rabbits, they mighty skittish, and they sort of huddle theyselves up together an dwatch Brer Fox motions. Brer Fox, he sat there and study what sort of excuse he going to make up. By and by he see a great big stalk of sugar cane standing up in the corner, and he clear up his throat and talk biggity:

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“ ‘Here! You young Rabs there, sail around and broke me a piece of that sweetnin’ tree,’ says he, and then he cough.

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“The little Rabbits, they got out the sugar-cane, they did, and they wrestle with it, and sweat over it, but twasn’t no use. They couldn’t broke it. Brer Fox, he make like he ain’t watching, but he keep hollering:

.

“ ‘Hurry up there, Rabs! I’m waiting on you!’

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“And the little Rabbits, they hustle around and wrestle with it, but they couldn’t broke it. By and by they hear little bird singing on top of the house, and the song what the little bird sing was this here:

..

“ 'Take your toothies and gnaw it.

'Take your toothies and saw it,

'Saw it and yoke it,

'And then you can broke it.’

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“Then the little Rabbits, they get mighty glad, and they gnawed the cane most before old Brer Fox could get his legs uncrossed, and when they carried him the cane, Brer Fox, he sat there and study how he going to make some more excuse for nabbing on them, and by and by he get up and get down the sifter what was hanging on the wall, and holler out:

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“ 'Come here, Rabs! Take this here sifter, and run down to the spring and fetch me some fresh water.’

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“The little Rabbits, they run down to the spring, and try to dip up the water with the sifter, but of course it all run out, and it keep on runnin’out, until by and by the little Rabbits sat down and began to cry. Then the little bird settin’ up in the tree he begin for to sing, and this here’s the song what he sing:

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“ ‘ Sifter hold water same as a tray,

'If you fill it with moss and daub it with clay;

'The Fox get madder the longer you stay –

'Fill it with moss and daub it with clay.’

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“Up they jump, the little Rabbits did, and they fix the sifter so it won’t leak, and then they carry the water to old Brer Fox. Then Brer Fox he gets mighty mad, and oint out a great big stick of wood, and tell the little Rabbits for to put that on the fire. The little chaps they got around the wood, they did, and they lift at it so hard until they could see their own sins, but the wood ain’t budge. Then they hear the little bird singing, and this here’s the song what he sing:

.

“ ‘Spit in your hands and tug it and toll it,

'And get behind it, and push it, and pole it;

'Spit in your hands and rear back and roll it.’

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“And just about the time they got the wood on the fire, their daddy, he come skippin’ in, and the little bird, he flew away. Brer Fox, he saw his game was up, and it wasn’t long before he make his excuse and start for to go.

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“ ‘You better stay and take a snack with me, Brer Fox,’ says Brer Rabbit, says he. “Since Brer Wolf done quit coming and setting up with me, I getting so I feel right lonesome these long nights,’ says he.

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“But Brer Fox, he button up his coat-collar tight and just put out for home. And that what you better do, honey ‘cause I see Miss Sally’s shadow sailing backwards and forwards before the window, and the first news you know she’ll be expecting on you.”

.

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FN 1  Tendin' on a quiltin'.  Quilting.  Quilts are bed coverlets, now often used as wall hangings, that were large to handle as they were made from stitching patches or scraps into designs.  Some were stitched in a haphazard for a "crazy quilt".  Some were stretched out on frames, and neighbor ladies would arrive all to socialize and share in the quilting around the frame; or just with sides draped over their knees. See http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-quilting-bee.htm.  As sewing machines came into use, they made the job faster, but more lonesome; working in your own house would cut down on the socializing that the outing to the group provided.  See patterns and more history at http://www.womenfolk.com/historyofquilts/

In this era, the role of a woman was largely confined after marriage to tending the children. See the story of Mary H. Seymour, in a Civil War era periodical, at http://bogomilia.blogspot.com/#%21/2008/07/protest-within-convention-victorian.html

XXI. Mr. Rabbit Meets His Match Again. Uncle Remus Translation

Legends of the Old Plantation

XXI

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MR. RABBIT MEETS HIS MATCH AGAIN

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“There was another man that sort of play it sharp on Brer Rabbit,” said Uncle Remus, as by some mysterious process, he twisted a hog’s bristle into the end of a piece of thread – an operation which the little boy watched with great interest. FN 1  “In them days,” continued the old man, “the creatures carried on much as the same as folks. They went into farming, and I expect if the truth was to come out, they kept store, and had their camp-meeting times, and their barbecues when the weather was agreeable.”
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Uncle Remus evidently thought that the little boy wouldn’t like to hear of any further discomfiture of Brer Rabbit, who had come to be a sort of hero, and he was not mistaken.
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“I thought the Terrapin was the only one that fooled the Rabbit,” said the little boy, dismally.
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“It’s just like I tell you, honey. There ain’t no smart man, except what there’s a smarter. If old Brer Rabbit hadn’t have got caught up with, the neighbors would have took him for a haunt, and in them times they burnt witches before you could squinch your eyeballs. They did that.”
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“Who fooled the Rabbit this time?” the little boy asked.
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When Uncle Remus had the bristle set in the thread, he proceeded with the story:
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“One time Brer Rabbit and old Brer Buzzard concluded they would sort of go snacks, and crap together. FN 2.  It was a mighty good year, and the truck turned out monstrous well, but by and by, when the time came for division, it come to light that old Brer Buzzard ain’t got nothing. The crap was all gone, and they want nothing there for to show for it. Brer Rabbit, he make like he in a worse fix than Brer Buzzard, and he mope around, he did, like he feared they going to sell him out.
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“Brer Buzzard, he ain’t sayin’ nuthin’, but he keep up a monstrous thinkin’, and one day he come along and holler and tell Brer Rabbit that he done find a rich gold mine that cross the river.
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“ 'You come and go along with me, Brer Rabbit,’ says Brer Turkey Buzzard, says he. ‘I’ll scratch and you can grabble, and between the two of us we’ll make short work of that gold mine,’ says he.
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“Brer Rabbit, he was high up for the job, but he study, he did, how he was going to get across the water, ‘cause every time he get his foot wet all the family caught cold. Then he up and asked Brer Buzzard how he going to do, and Brer Buzzard he up and say that he carry Brer Rabbit across, and with that old Brer Buzzard, he squat down, he did, and spread his wings, and Brer Rabbit, he mounted, and up they rose.” There was a pause.
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“What did the Buzzard do then?” asked the little boy.
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“They rose,” continued Uncle Remus, “and when they lit, they lit in the top of the highest sort of pine, and the pine what they lit in was growing on an island, and the island was in the middle of the river, with the deep water running all around.

Brer Buzzard's island. Brer Rabbit confesses.

They ain’t more than lit before Brer Rabbit, he know which way the wind was blowing, and by the time old Brer Buzzard got himself balanced on a limb, Brer Rabbit, he up and say, says he:
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“ 'While we were restin’ here, Brer Buzzard, and being as you been so good, I got something for to tell you,’ says he. ‘I got a gold mine of my own, one what I make myself, and I expect we better go back to mine before we bother longer with your’n,’ says he.
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“Then old Brer Buzzard, he laugh, he did, until he shake, and Brer Rabbit, he sing out:
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“Hold on, Brer Buzzard! Don’t flop your wings when you laugh, ‘cause then if you does something will drop from up here, and my gold-mine won’t do you no good, and neither will your’n do me no good.’
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“But before they got down from there, Brer Rabbit done told all about the crap, and he had to promise to provide fair and square. So Brer Buzzard, he carry him back, and Brer Rabbit he walk weak in the knees a month afterwards.” 

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Photo:  Reservoir #6, MDC, Metacomet Trail area, West Hartford,  CT
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FN 1.  Hog bristle needle for sewing.   History of sewing needles, sewing implements.  Some 25,000 years ago, needle forms were made from antlers, bone, and ivory. Germans used iron in the 3d Century BC.  Egyptians used copper, silver and bronze.  Metal needles were perfected by the Muslims in Spain in the 11th Century, when they controlled Spain and other areas. This included fine needles for suturing. They took the skills back to the Middle East in the 15th Century after the Reconquest; and Arabs brought the knowledge back to Europe in the 17th Century.  Other needle functions, not metal, included the use of boar bristles in bookbinding and shoemaking in the middle ages. See Sewing Mantra at http://www.sewingmantra.com/index.php/needles/history-of-sewing-needles-2/
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FN 2.  " ... go snacks, and crap together" when the truck was good.  Truck:  truck farming --  grow produce and take it to market without a middleman, directly from the farm.  So if the truck was good, it would have been a good year.  Is this correct here? 
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Snacks and crap:  Going snacks and crap together could mean a joint venture  in farming small crops in the context here, where two characters join in the effort.  Snacks - easy growing, eat on the spot produce?  See story XXI, where Brer Rabbbit invites Brer Fox to stay for snacks.
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But in the end in this story, in the growing of the snacks, there is nothing left for one of them, the Buzzard -- who then forces a confession.
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Crap, then, as a modification of crop?   Snacks and crap (crop).  Crap -- there is also craps, the game, but there is no reference to the dice, or rules or equipment hat fits this context, see http://wizardofodds.com/games/craps/, but

XX. How Mr. Rabbit Saved His Meat. Uncle Remus Translation

 Legends of the Old Plantation

XX

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HOW MR. RABBIT SAVED HIS MEAT

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"One time," said Uncle Remus, whetting his knife slowly and thoughtfully on the palm of his hand, and gazing reflectively in the firs -- "one time Brer Wolf --"

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"Why, Uncle Remus!" the little boy broke in, "I thought you said the Rabbit scalded the Wolf to death a long time ago."

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The old man was fairly caught and he knew it; but this made little difference to him. A frown gathered on his usually serene brow as he turned his gaze upon the child -- a frown in which both scorn and indignation were visible.  Then, all at once he seemed to regain control of himself.  The frown was chased away by a look of Christian resignation.

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"There now! What I tell you?" he exclaimed as if addressing a witness concealed under the bed. "Ain't I done told you so? Bless gracious! if children aren't getting so they know more than old folks, and they'll dispute longer than you and dispute longer than you, excepting their ma call them, which I expect won't be long before she will, and then I'll set here by the chimney-corner and get some peace of mind.  When Old Miss was living," continued the old man, still addressing some imaginary person, "it was more than any of her children would dare to do to come disputing longer than me, and Master John'll tell you the same any day as you ask him"

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"Well, Uncle Remus, you know you said the Rabbit poured hot water on the Wolf and killed him," said the little boy.

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The old man pretended not to hear.  He was engaged in searching among some scraps of leather under his chair, and kept on talking to the imaginary person. Finally, he found and drew forth a nicely plaited whip-thong with a red snapper all waxed and knotted. FN 1

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"I was fixing up a whip for a little chap," he continued, with a sigh, "but, bless gracious! before I can get her done, the little chap done grown up until he know more than I do."

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The child's eyes filled with tears and his lips began to quiver, but he said nothing; where upon Uncle Remus immediately melted.

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"I declare to goodness," he said, reaching out and taking the little boy tenderly by the hand, "if you ain't the very spitting image of Old Miss when I brought her the last news of the war.  It's just like scaring up a ghost that you ain't afraid of."

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Then, there was a pause, the old man patting the little child's hand caressingly. 

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"You ain't mad, is you, honey?" Uncle Remus asked finally, "because if you is, I'm going out of here and butt my head against the door jamb."

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But the little boy wasn't mad.  Uncle Remus had conquered him and he had conquered Uncle Remus in pretty much the same way before.  But it was some time before Uncle Remus would go on with the story.  He had to be coaxed.  At last, however, he settled himself back in the chair and began:

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"Of course, honey, it might have been old Brer Wolf, or it might have been before he got caught up with, or it might have been afterwards. As the tale was given to me, just that way I give it to you.  One time Brer Wolf was coming along home from a fishing frolic.  He sauntered along the road, he did, with his string of fish across his shoulder, when first news you know old Miss Partridge, she hop out of the bushes and flutter along right at Brer Wolf's nose.  Brer Wolf he say to himself that old Miss Partridge trying for to lure  FN 2  him away from her nest, and with that he lay his fish down and put out into the bushes where old Miss Partridge came from, and about that time Brer Rabbit, he happen along.  There was the fishes, and there was Brer Rabbit, and when that is the case, what do you expect a sort of independent man like Brer Rabbit going to do? I can tell you this, that them fishes ain't stay where Brer Wolf put them, and when Brer Wolf come back, they was gone.
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"Brer Wolf, he sat down and scratched his head, he did, and study and study, and then it sort of rushed into his mind that Brer Rabbit been along there, and then Brer Wolf he put out for Brer Rabbit house, and when he got there, he hailed him. Brer Rabbit, he don't know nothing about no fishes.  Brer Wolf he up and say he was obliged to  FN 3  believe Brer Rabbit got them fishes.  Brer Rabbit deny it up and down, but Brer Wolf stand to it that Brer Rabbit got them fishes, then he give Brer Wolf leave for to kill the best cow he got.  Brer Wolf, he took Brer Rabbit at his word, and go off to the pasture and drive up the cattle and kill Brer Rabbit's best cow.

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"Brer Rabbit, he hate mighty bad for to lose his cow, but he lay his plans, and he tell his children that he going to have that beef yet.  Brer Wolf, he was taken up by the patrollers  FN 4  before now, and he was mighty scared of them, and first news you know, here comes Brer Rabbit hollering and telling Brer Wolf that the patrollers coming.

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" 'You run and hide, Brer Wolf," says Brer Rabbit, says he, and I'll stay here and take care of the cow until you get back,' says he.

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"Soon as Brer Wolf hear talk of the patrollers, he scramble off into the underbrush like he been shot out of a gun. And he wasn't more than gone before Brer Rabbit, he whirl in and skinned the cow and salt the hide down, and then he took and cut up the carcass and stow it away in the smoke-house, and then he took and stick the end of the cow-tail in the ground.  After he gone and done all this, Brer Rabbit he squall out for Brer Wolf.

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" 'Run here, Brer Wolf! Run here! Your cow gone in the ground! Run here!'

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"When old Brer Wolf got there, which he come a-scooting, there was Brer Rabbit holding on to the cow-tail, for to keep it from going in the ground.  Brer Wolf, he caught hold, and they begin a pull or two and up comes the tail.  Then Brer Rabbit, he wink his off eye  FN 5  and say, says he:

.

" 'There! the tail done pulled out and the cow gone,' says he.
.

"But Brer Wolf he wasn't the man for to give it up that way, and he got him a spade, and a pick-axe, and a shovel, and he dig and dig for that cow until digging was past all endurance, and old Brer Rabbit he sat up there in his front porth and smoke his cigar.  Every time old Brer Wolf stuck the pick-axe in the clay, Brer Rabbit he giggle to his children.

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" 'He diggy, diggy, diggy, but no meat there! He diggy, diggy, diggy, but no meat there!"

.

"Because all the time the cow was laying piled up in his smoke-house, and him and his children was eating fried beef and onions  FN 6   every time their mouth watered.

.

"Now then, honey, you take this here whip," continued the old man, twining the leather thong around the little boy's neck, "and scamper up to the big house and tell Miss Sally for to give you some of it the next time she find your tracks in the sugar-barrel."

.

.............................................................................................

FN 1 Plaited whip-thong.  Whip. The leather whip-thong, loop handle, stick and top stinger, has long been part of proper mounted fox-hunting gear, with the pack of dogs, see one whip thong maker now using nylon, see http://www.nylonhuntingwhipthongs.com//  Long whip thongs, some braided for strength, become useful in carriage whips, to reach the pulling animal(s) see the history and evolution of uses of goose quill and whale bone; in the late 1800's, early 1900's, some 90% of all whip thongs were made in the US, see http://www.gladstonedriving.org/History/gea_whip.html. It also has an unsavory history as an instrument of punishment, inflicting a slight or greater cut, scroll down to whip at http://www.archive.org/stream/lincolnshiredane00stre/lincolnshiredane00stre_djvu.txt

Whip as enforcer.  The whip was also used to control, punish, slaves, see http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASwhipping.htm; http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215086/slave_punishment_&_manipul.htm.

• In the story, Uncle Remus sends the little boy back to his mother, Miss Sally, with the whip wound around his neck. 
• A whip wound around a child's neck? A white child? Son of the owner?

 Danger, threat. All is not playful here. 

• Conjecture, given Uncle Remus' strong personality:  Was he, as a slave, whipped with just such a whip, and did Miss Sally, growing up on that Plantation, witness it and make no protest. Or otherwise know. 
• Is Uncle Remus saying, in his way, that the whipping time is not forgotten and that he himself holds some power in that regard, even if he refrains from using it as it was perhaps used against him. More mildly, a reminder: What if it were her son in those days. What was Uncle Remus' relationship to Miss Sally? He would have been of her mother's generation, "Old Miss" who is now dead.   

FN 2 Word given is "toll" -- as in toll him away from her nest.  See 13th Century Old English, tollen for draw, lure or decoy.  Think of a bell toll, a single stroke, a lure to come to church, perhaps says http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=toll

.

FN 3  Phrase given is "bleedzd to" -- as in, we think, "obliged to."  Bleedzd to and other forms are also earlier researched in other stories here.  This time, we find Harper's Round Table at page 667 (in Harper's Young People 1882), where the phrase is used so that the sense of "obliged to"  makes sense -- I am obliged to do this or that. See Google book, Harper's Round Table, usage of "bleedzd to" (in sense of obliged to)

.

FN 4 Word given is "pater-rollers" - The word is also seen as paterrollers, bands of whites out looking for slaves out without a pass, see page 75 at Weevils In The Wheat: Interviews with Virginia Ex-Slaves by Thomas L. Purdue and Thomas E. Barden, 1976, fair use quote:

.

"I know something about the paterrollers. There were three sets of dem in slavery working like shifts --   1 set go 'round 'bout six O'Clock 'til nine O'Clock.  Nine O'Clock 'nother set travel, and the third ones, see, had to stay wid the horses when they left 'em, 'cause niggers would cripple 'em -- sometimes steal 'em -- so paterrollers was [s] (sic) keered to leave 'em in road by demselves. Paterrollers would whip you if they caught you dout a pass.  Ef you had a pass, didn't whip you, jes' would git in touch wid your marster and tell him dat they had one of his niggers, den he'd let him go."

.

Read further about a beating by the paterrolers, and the Nat Turner insurrection; and if a slave were caught with a piece of paper with a letter on it,  the slave would be beaten.

.

FN 5  "Wink his off eye" - the wink is an ancient signal of deceit, see http://bible.cc/proverbs/6-13.htm.

.

The "off eye" could mean the eye on the other side of a profile, that could not be seen by the other character at the time.  Speculative, but common sense.

.

FN 6   Word given is "Inguns" -  find a recipe for an omelette where the "inguns" appears to be onions, as the only ingredient otherwise not accounted for --  http://dailyburn.com/recipes/omelette_hang_and_cheese_with_inguns  Inguns as onions also appears in http://www.freefictionbooks.org/books/l/24022-a-letter-of-credit-by-susan-warner?start=229; and affirmed at page 351 in the English Dialect Dictionary, by Joseph Wright 1903.

XIX. The Fate of Mr. Jack Sparrow. Uncle Remus Translation

Legends of the Old Plantation

XIX

.

THE FATE OF MR. JACK SPARROW  *

.

“You’ll trample on that bark ‘til it won’t be fit for to fling away, let alone make horse-collars out of,” said Uncle Remus, as the little boy came running into his cabin out of the rain.  All over the floor long strips of “wahoo” bark FN 1 were spread, and these the old man was weaving into horse-collars.

.

“I’ll sit down, Uncle Remus,” said the little boy.

.

“Well, then, you better, honey,” responded the old man, “ ‘cause I despises to have my wahoo trompled on.  If it was shucks, now, it might be different, but  I’m getting too old for to be projecting  FN 2  longer shuck collars.”

.

For a few minutes the old man went on with his work, but with a solemn air altogether unusual.  Once or twice he sighed deeply, and the sighs ended in a prolonged groan, that seemed to the little boy to be the result of the most unspeakable mental agony.  He knew by experience that he had done something which failed to meet the approval of Uncle Remus, and he tried to remember what it was, so as to frame an excuse; but his memory failed him.  He could think of nothing he had done calculated to stir Uncle Remus’ grief.  He was not exactly seized with remorse, but he was very uneasy.  Presently Uncle Remus looked at him in a sad and hopeless way, and asked:

.

“What’s that long rigmarole FN 3  you been telling Miss Sally about your little brother this morning?”

.

“Which, Uncle Remus?” asked the little boy, blushing guiltily.

. 

“That’s just what I asking of you now.  I hear Miss Sally say she’s going to stripe his jacket, and then I knew you been telling on him.”

.

“Well, Uncle Remus, he was pulling up your onions, and then he went and flung a rock at me,” said the child, plaintively.

.

“Let me tell you this,” said the old man, laying down the section of horse-collar he had been plaiting  FN 4, and looking hard at the little boy – “let me tell you this – there ain’t no way for to make tattlers and tale-bearers turn out good.  No, there ain’t.  I been mixing up with folks now going on eighty year, and I ain’t seen no tattler come to no good end.  That I ain’t. And if old man Methuseleh  FN 5 was living clean ‘til yet, he’d up and tell you the same. Sure as you are sitting there.  You remember what come of the bird what went tattling around Brer Rabbit?”

.

The little boy didn’t remember, but he was very anxious to know, and he also wanted to know what kind of a bird it was that so disgraced itself.  

.

“It was one of these here uppity little Jack Sparrows, I expect,” said the old man; "they was always bothering alone other folks’ business, and they keeps at it down to this day – pecking here, picking there, and scratching out yonder.  One day, after he been fooled by old Brer Terrapin, Brer Rabbit was setting down in the woods studying how he was going to get even.  He feel mighty lonesome, and he feel mighty mad, Brer Rabbit did.  It ain’t put down in the tale, but I expect he cussed and reared around considerable. Leastways, he was setting out there by himself, and there he sat, and study and study, ‘til by and by he jump up and holler out:

.

“ ‘Well, dog-gone my cats if I can’t gallop  around old Brer Fox, and I’m going to do it.  I’ll show Miss Meadows and the gals that I’m the boss of Brer Fox,’ says he.

.

“Jack Sparrow up in the tree, he hear Brer Rabbit, he did and he sing out:

.

“ ‘I’m going tell Brer Fox!  I’m going tell Brer Fox! Chick-a-biddy-wind-a-blowin’-acorns-fallin’! I’m going tell Brer Fox!”

.

Uncle Remus accompanied the speech of the bird with a peculiar whistling sound in his throat, that was a marvelous imitation of a sparrow’s chirp, and the little boy clapped his hands with delight, and insisted on a repetition.

.

“This kind of terrify Brer Rabbit, and he scarcely know what he going do; but by and by he study to himself that the man what see Brer Fox forst was bound to have the in turn (?), and then he go hopping off towards home.  He didn’t get far when who should be meet but Brer Fox, and then Brer Rabbit, he open up:

.

“ ‘What this betwixt you and me, Brer Fox?” says Brer Rabbit, says he.  ‘I hear tell you going to send me to destruction, and nab my family, and destroy my shanty,’ says he.

.

“ Then Brer Fox he get mighty mad.

.

“ ‘Who been telling you all this?’ says he.

.

“Brer Rabbit make like he didn’t want to tell, but Brer Fox he insist and insist, until at last Brer Rabit he up and tell Brer Fox that he hear Jack Sparrow say all this.

.

“ ‘Of course, ‘ says Brer Rabbit, says he, ‘when Brer Jack Sparrow tell me that I flew up, I did, and I use some language which I’m mighty glad there  weren’t no ladies ‘round nowhere so they could hear me go on,’ says he.
.

“Brer Fox he sort of gape, he did, and say he expect he better be sauntering on.  But bless your soul, honey, Brer Fox ain’t sauntered far, before Jack Sparrow flip down on a persimmon bush by the side of the road, and hollered out:

.

“ ‘Brer Fox! Oh, Brer Fox! – Brer Fox!”

.

“ Brer Fox he just sort of canter along, he did, and made like he don’t hear him.  Then Jack Sparrow up and sing out again:

.

“ ‘Brer Fox! Oh, Brer Fox!  Hold on, Brer Fox! I got some news for you. Wait Brer Fox! It’ll astonish you!”

.

“Brer Fox he make like he don’t see Jack Sparrow, nor neither do he hear him, but by and by he lay down by the road, and sort of stretch himself like he fixin’ for to nap.  The tattling Jack Sparrow he flew along, and keep on calling Brer Fox, but Brer Fox, he ain’t saying nothing.  Then little Jack Sparrow, he hop down on the ground and flutter around amongst the trash.  This sort of attracted Brer Fox’s attention, and he look at the tattling bird, and the bird, he keep on calling.

.

“ ‘I got something for to tell you, Brer Fox.’

.

“ ‘Get on my tail, little Jack Sparrow,’ says Brer Fox, says he, ‘because I’m deaf in one ear, and I can’t hear out of the other.  Get on my tail,’ says he.

.

“Then the little bird he up and hop on Brer Fox’s tail.

.

“ ‘Get on my back, little Jack Sparrow, because I’m deaf in one ear, and I can’t hear out of the other.’

.

“Then the little bird hop on his back.

.

“ ‘Hop on my head, little Jack Sparrow, because I’m deaf in both ears.”

.

“Up hop the little bird.

.

“ ‘Hop on my tooth, little Jack Sparrow, because I’m deaf in one ear and I can’t hear out of the other.’

.

“The tattling little bird hop on Brer Fox’s tooth, and then –“

.

Here Uncle Remus paused, opened wide his mouth and closed it again in a way that told the whole story. 
.

“Did the Fox eat the bird all – all – up?” asked the little boy.

.

“Judge B’ar come along next day,” replied Uncle Remus, “and he find some feathers, and from that word went around that old man Screech Owl done caught another whatsisname.”

.

……………………………………………………………………………………

.
FN 1 “Wahoo” bark – Euonymous Atropurpureus, or burning bush, among other names. See http://www.hoag.org/health-library/alternative-medicine/wahoo-bark. Useful also as constipation remedy, but there can be unpleasant side effects.

.
FN 2  Projickin' - Projecting? Projickin’? in the sense of a project?

.

FN 3  Rigmarole.  1730’s, long rambling discourse.  In the 1520’s, “Kentish colloquial” for ragman’s roll, or long list. Before that, in Middle English, usage as long roll of verses for characters used in a game called Rageman, could then also be Anglo-French from Rageman le Bon, Rageman the Good, one of the characters.  See http://etymonline.com/?term=rigmarole

.

FN 4  Plaiting – 14^th Century and on, gathering into pleats, folding, intertwining, Anglo, French, Latin roots. Braiding. See http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=plait

.

FN 5.  Methuseleh.  Longest-lived man in history, says the Bible, see http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Methuselah
...................................................
 

 * A footnote is given in the text, summary here:  It says:
This is a middle Georgia version. Other variations of the story, as reported in Florida, substitute other animals, and a little boy as the rabbit, or a gosling telling tales on her mother, to the fox; 

XVIII. Mr. Rabbit Finds His Match At Last. Uncle Remus Translation.

Legends of the Old Plantation

XVIII.


MR. RABBIT FINDS HIS MATCH AT LAST

"Her look like to me, that I let on the other night that in them days when the creatures was sauntering around same like folks, none of them was brash enough for to catch up with Brer Rabbit," remarked Uncle Remus, reflectively.

"Yes," replied the little boy. "That's what you said."

"Well, then," continued the old man with unction, *"there's where my remembrances give out, 'cause Brer Rabbit did get caught up with, and it cool him off like pouring spring water on one of these here biggity little dogs. **

"How was that, Uncle Remus?" asked the little boy.

"One day when Brer Rabbit was going lippity-clippiting down the road, he meet up with old Brer Terrepin, and after they pass the time of day with one another, Brer Rabbit, he allow that he was much obliged to Brer Terrepin for the hand he took in the rumpus that day down at Miss Meadows's."

"When he dropped off of the water-shelf on the Fox's head," suggested the little boy.

"That's the same time, honey. Then Brer Terrapin he allow that Brer Fox run mighty fast that day, but that if he'd have been after him instead of Brer Rabbit, he'd have caught him. Brer Rabbit say he could have caught him himself, but he didn't care about leaving the ladies/ They keep on talking, they did, until by and by they got to spouting about which was the swiftest. Brer Rabbit, he say he can outrun Brer Terrapin, and Brer Terrapin, he just vow that he can outrun Brer Rabbit. Up and down they had it, until first news you know Brer Terrapin say he got a fifty-dollar bill in the chink of the chimney at home, and that bill done told him that he could beat Brer Rabbit in a fair race. Then Brer Rabbit say he got a fifty-dollar hill what say that he can leave Brer Terrapin so far behind that he could sow barley as he went along and it'd be ripe enough for to cut by the time Brer Terrapin passed that way.

"Any how, they make the bet and put up the money, and ole Brer Turkey Buzzard, he was summoned for to be the judge, and the stakeholder; and it wasn't long before all the arrangements were made. The race was a five-mile heat, and the ground was measured off, and at the end of every mile a post was stuck up. Brer Rabbit was to run down the big road, and Brer Terrapin he say he'd gallop through the woods. Folks told him he could get along faster in the road, but old Brer Terrapin, he know what he doing. Miss Meadows and the gals and most all the neighbors got wind of the fun, and when the day was set, they determined for to be on hand. Brer Rabbit he train himself every day, and he skip over the ground just as gaily as a June cricket. Old Brer Terrapin, he lay low in the swamp. He had a wife and three children, old Brer Terrapin did, and they was all the very spit and image of the old man. Anybody what know one from the other got to take a spy-glass, and then they are liable for to get fooled.

"That's the way matters stand until the day of the race, and on that day, old Brer Terrapin, and his old woman, and his three children, they got up before sun-up, and went to the place. The old woman, she took her stand near the first mile-post, she did, and the children near the others, up to the last, and there old Brer Terrapin, he took his stand. By and by, here come the folks: Judge Buzzard, he com, and Miss Meadows and the gals, they come, and then here come Brer Rabbit with ribbons tied around his neck and streaming from his ears. The folks all went to the other end of the track for to see how they come out. When the time come Judge Buzzard strut around and pull out his watch, and holler out:

" 'Gents, is you ready?'

"Brer Rabbit, he say 'yes,' and old Miss Terrapin holler 'go' from the edge of the woods Brer Rabbit, he lit out on the race, and old Miss Terrapin, she put out for home. Judge Buzzard, he rose and skimmed along for to see that the race was run fair. When Brer Rabbit got to the first mile-post, one of the Terrapin children crawled out of the woods, he did, and made for the place. Brer Rabbit, he holler out:

" 'Where is you, Brer Terrapin?'

" 'Here I come a bulging,' says the Terrapin, says he.

"Brer Rabbit so glad he's ahead that he put out harder than ever, and the Terrapin, he make for home. When he come to the net post, another Terrapin crawled out of the woods,

" 'Where is you, Brer Terrapin,' says Brer Rabbit, says he.

" 'Here I come a boiling,' says the Terrapin, says he.

"Brer Rabbit, he lit out, he did, and come to the next post, and there was the Terrapin. Then he come to the next and there was the Terrapin. Then he had one more mile for to run,and he feel like he getting out of breath *** By and by, old Brer Terrapin look way off down the road and he see Judge Buzzard sailing along and he know it's time for him for to be up.  So he scramble out of the woods, and roll across the ditch, and shuffle through the crowd of folks and get to the mile-post and crawl behind it.  By and by, first news you know, here come Brer Rabbit.  He look araound and he don't see Brer Terrapin, and then he squall out:

" 'Gimme the money, Brer Buzzard, Gimme the money!'

"Then Miss Meadows and the gals, they holler and laugh fit to kill themselves, and old Brer Terrapin, he raise up from behind the post and says, says he:

" 'If you'll give me time for to catch my breath, gents and ladies, one and all, I expect I'll finger that money myself,' says he, and sure enough, Brer Terrapin tie the purse around his neck and skaddle FN 1 off home.

"But, Uncle Remus," said the little boy, dolefully, "that was cheating."

"Of course, honey.  The creatures began to cheat, and then folks took it up, and it keep on spreadin'. It's mighty catching, and you mind your eye, honey, that somebody don't cheat you before your hair get gray as the old nigger's."


.........................................

* Unction. In secular usage, said with exaggerated earnestness; an act that serves to soothe, heal, see ://www.thefreedictionary.com/unction

** "Fices" in the text -- Fices is dialect for "small dogs", see ://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fices. Also feist (feisty?), fyce. An obsolete usage for feist is "fisting hound," and fist there means breaking wind, c. 1770

*** "Bellust" in the text -- out of breath, see JSTOR research source that would make you pay to find out anything more than an inch, at ://www.jstor.org/pss/452637. This definition is from the search for "bellust" that led to the JSTOR.

....................................................

FN 1   Footnote in the text: That "skaddle" was usage among Virginia negroes, skaddle deriving from "scatter".  Skedaddle came into use in the Civil War as a derivation from skaddle. There was some controversy during the Civil War as to the origin of the words.

XVII. Mr. Rabbit Nibbles Up the Butter. Uncle Remus Translation

Legends of the Old Plantation

XVII

MR. RABBIT NIBBLES UP THE BUTTER
Translation

“The animals and the creatures,” said Uncle Remus, shaking his coffee around in the bottom of his tin cup, in order to gather up all the sugar, “they kept on getting more and more familiar with one another, until by and by, it wasn’t long before Brer Rabbit, and Brer Fox, and Brer Possum got to sort of bunching their provisions * together in the same shanty. After a while, the roof sort of began to leak, and one day, Brer Rabbit, and Brer Fox, and Brer Possum, assembled for to see if they can’t kind of patch her up. They had a big day’s work in front of them, and they fetched their dinner with them. They lump the vittles up in one pile, and the butter what Brer Fox brought, and they goes and puts in the spring-house for to keep cool, and then they went to work, and it wasn’t long before Brer Rabbit stomach began to sort of growl and pester him. That butter of Brer Fox sat heavy on his mind, and his mouth water every time he remember about it. Presently he say to himself that he bleedzd ** to have a nip at that butter, and then he lay his plans, he did. First news you know, while they was all working long, Brer Rabbit raise his head quick and fling his ears forward and holler out:
.

“ ‘Here I is. What you want with me?’ and off he put like something was after him.
.

“He sallied around, old Brer Rabbit did, and after he make sure that nobody ain’t following on him, into the spring-house he bounces, and there he stays until he gets a bite of butter. Then he saunter on back and go to work.
.

“ ‘Where you been?’ says Brer Fox, says he.
.

“ ‘I hear my children calling me,’ says Brer Rabbit, says he, ‘and I have to go see what they want. My old woman done gone and took mighty sick,’ says he.
.

“They work on until by and by the butter taste so good that old Brer Rabbit want some more. Then he raise up his head, he did, and holler out:
.

“ ‘Heyo! Hold on! I’m a-comin’!’ and off he put.
.

“This time he stay a right smart while, and when he got back, Brer Fox asked where he been.
.

“ “I been to see my old woman, and she’s a sinkin’,’ says he.
.

“Directly Brer Rabbit hear them calling him again and off he goes, and this time, bless your soul, he gets the butter out so clean that he can see himself in the bottom of the bucket. He scrape it clean and lick it dry, and then he go back to work looking most same than a nigger what the patter-rollers *** been had a hold of.
.

“ ‘How’s your old woman this time?’ says Brer Fox, says he.
.

“ ‘I’m obliged to you, Brer Fox, says Brer Rabbit, says he, ‘but I’m feared she’s done gone by now,’ and that sort of make Brer Fox and Brer Possum feel in moanin’ **** with Brer Rabbit.
.

“By and by, when dinner –time come, they all got out of vittles, but Brer Rabbit keep on lookin’ lonesome, and Brer Fox and Brer Possum they sort of rustle around for to see if they can’t make Brer Rabbit feel sort of splimmy.”
.

“What is that, Uncle Remus?” asked the little boy.

“Sort of splimmy-splammy, honey – sort of like he in a crowd – sort of like his old woman ain’t dead as she mout ***** be. You know how folks does when they gets where people’s a-moanin’.” ****
.

The little boy didn’t know, fortunately for him, and Uncle Remus went on:
.

“Brer Fox and Brer Possum rustle around, they did, getting out the vittles, and by and by Brer Fox he say, says he:
.

“ ‘Brer Possum, you run down to the spring and fetch the butter, and I’ll sail around you and set the table,’ says he.
.

“Brer Possum, he lop off after the butter, and directly her he come lopin’ back with his ears a tremblin’ and his tongue a hangin’ out. Brer Fox, he holler out:
.

“ ‘What the matter now, Brer Possum? Says he.

“ ‘You all better run here, folks,’ says Brer Possum, says he. ‘The last drop of that butter done gone!’
.

“ ‘Where she gone?’ says Brer Fox, says he.
.

“ ‘Look like she dry up,’ says Brer Possum, says he.
.

“Then Brer Rabbit, he look sort of solemn, he did, and he up and say, says he.
.

“ ‘I expect that butter melt in somebody mouth,’ says he.
.

“Then they went down to the spring with Brer Possum, and sure enough the butter done gone. While they was disputin’ over the wonderment, Brer Rabbit say he see tracks all around there, and he point out that if they’ll all go to sleep, he can catch the chap what stole the butter. Then they all lie down and Brer Fox and Brer Possum they soone dropped off to sleep, but Brer Rabbit he stay awake, and when the time come he raise up easy and smear Brer Possum’s mouth with the butter on his paws, and then he run off and nibble up the best of the dinner what they left layin’ out, and then he come back and wake up Brer fox, and sho him the butter on Brer Possum’s mouth. Then they wake up Brer Possum, and tell him about it, but of course Brer Possum deny it o the last. Brer Fox, though, he’s a kind of lawyer, and he argue this way – that Brer Possum was the first one at the butter, and the first one for to miss it, and more than that, there hand the signs on his mouth. Brer Possum see that they got him jammed up on a corner, and then he up and say that the way for to catch the man what stole the butter is to build a big brush-heap and set her afire, and all hands try to jump over, and the one what fall in, then he the chap what stole the butter. Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox they both agree, they did, and they whirl in and build the brush-heap, and they build her high and they build her wide, and then they touch her off. When she got to blazin’ up good, Brer Rabbit, he took the first turn. He sort of step back, and look around and giggle, and over he went more samer than a bird flying. Then come Brer Fox. He got back a little further, and spit on his hands, and lit out and makd the jump, and he come so nigh getting in that that the end of his tail catch afire. Ain’t you never see no fox, honey? Inquired Uncle Remus, in a tone that implied both conciliation and information.
.

The little boy though probably he had, but he wouldn’t commit himself.
.

“Well, then,” continued the old man, "next time you see one of them, you look right close nd see if the end of his tail ain't white. It's just like I tell you. They b'ars are scared of that brush-heap to this day. They are marked -- that's what they is - they are marked."

"And what about Brother Possum?" asked the little boy.

"Old Brer Possum, he took a running start, he did, and he come lumberin' along, and hn he lit -- kerblam! --right in the middle of the fire, and that was the last of old Brer Possum."

"But, Uncle Remus, Brother Possum didn't steal the butter after all," said the little boy, who was not at all satisfied with such summary injustice.

"That's what make I say what I does, honey. In this world, lots of folks have got to suffer for other folks sins. Look like it's mighty on wrong; but it's just that way. Tribulation seem like she's a-waitin' 'round the corner for to catch one and all of us, honey."

………………………………………………………………..

* Bunching their perwishuns together – their provisions, food

** Bleedzd to - obliged to

*** pater-rollers – patrollers, whites who monitored the area, and the people on and off the roads of it, focusing on blacks being where the patrollers thought they should not.

**** feel in moanin’; a-moanin' – in mourning?

***** mout be – might be?

XVI. Old Mr. Rabbit, He's a Good Fisherman. Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings, Translation

Legends of the Old Plantation
XVI

OLD MR. RABBIT, HE’S A GOOD FISHERMAN
Translation

“Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox was like some children what I knows of,” said Uncle Remus, regarding the little boy, who had come to hear another story, with an affection of great solemnity. “Both of them was always after one another, a prankin’ and a pesterin’ around, but Brer Rabbit did have some peace, cause Brer Fox got skittish about puttin’ the clamps * on Brer Rabbit.
.

“One day, when Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox, and Brer Coon, and Brer B’ar, and a whole lot of them was clearin’ up a new ground for to plant a roasting ear patch **, the sun began to get sort of hot, and Brer Rabbit he got tired; but he didn’t let on, because he feared the balance of them would call him lazy, and he keep on toting off trash and piling up brush, until by and by he holler out that he got a briar in his hand and then he take and slip off, and hunt for cool place for to rest. After while he come across a well with a bucket hanging in it.
.

“ ‘That look cool,’ says Brer Rabbit, says he, ‘and cool I expect she is. I’ll just about get in there and take a nap,’ and with that in he jump, he did, and he ain’t no sooner fix himself than the bucket began to go down.
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“Wasn’t the Rabbit scared, Uncle Remus?” asked the little boy.
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“Honey, there ain’t been no worser scared beast since the world began than this here same Brer Rabbit. He fairly had a ager. *** He know where he come from, but he don’t know where he going. Directly, he feel the bucket hit the water, and there she sat, but Brer Rabbit he keep mighty still, because he don’t know what minute going to be the next. He just lay there and shook and shiver.
.

“Brer Fox always got one eye on Brer Rabbit, and when he slip off from the new ground, Brer Fox he sneak after him. He know Brer Rabbit was after some project or another, and he took and crept off, he did, and watch him. Brer Fox see Brer Rabbit come to the well and stop, and then he see him jump in the bucket, and then, no and behold, he see him go down out of sight. Brer Fox was the most astonished Fox that you ever laid eyes on. He sat off there in the bushes and study and study but he don’t make no heads nor tails to this kind of business. Then he say to himself, says he:
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“ ‘Well, if this don’t bang my times,’ says he, ‘then Joe's dead and Sal’s a widow. Right down there in that well Brer Rabbit keeps his money hid, and if it ain’t that then he done gone and discovered a gold mine, and if it ain’t that, then I’m a-gonna see what’s in there, ‘ says he.
.

“Brer Fox crept up a little nigher, he did, and listen, but he don’t hear no fuss, and he keep on gettin’ nigher, and yet he don’t hear nothing. Al this time Brer Rabbit mighty nigh scared out of his skin, and he feared for to move because the bucket might keel over and spill him out in the water. While he saying his prayers over like a train of cars runnin’, old Brer Fox holler out:
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“ ‘Heyo, Brer Rabbit! Who you with sittin’ down there?’ says he.
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“ ‘Who? Me? Oh, I’m just a fishin’, Brer Fox,’ says Brer Rabbit, says he. ‘I just say to myself that I’d sort of surprise you all with a mess of fishes for dinner, and so here I is, and there’s the fishes. I’m a fishin’ for suckers, Brer Fox,’ says Brer Rabbit, says he.
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“ ‘Is there many of them down there, Brer Rabbit?’ says Brer Fox, says he.
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“ ‘Lots of them, Brer Fox; scores and scores of them. The water is naturally alive with them. Come down and help me haul them in, Brer Fox,’ says Brer Rabbit, says he.
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“ ‘How I going to get down, Brer Rabbit?’
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“ ‘Jump into the bucket, Brer Fox. It’ll fetch you down all safe and sound.’
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“Brer Rabbit talk so happy and talk so sweet that Brer Fox he jump in the bucket, he did, and he went down, because his weight pulled Brer Rabbit up. When they pass one another on the half-way ground, Brer Rabbit he sing out:
.

“ ‘Good-by, Brer Fox, take care your clothes,

For this is the way the world goes;

Some goes up and some goes down,

You’ll get to the bottom all safe and sound.’ ****

“When Brer Rabbit got out, he gallop off and told the folks what the well belong to that Brer Fox was down in there muddying up the drinkin’ water, and then he gallop back to the well, and holler down to Brer Fox:
.

“ ‘Here come a man with a great big gun –

When he haul you up, you jump and run.’ “
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“What then, Uncle Remus?” asked the little boy, as the old man paused.
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“In just about half an hour, honey, both of them was back in the new ground, working just like they never heard of no well, except that every now and then Brer Rabbit would bust out in the laugh, and Old Brer Fox, he’d get a spell of the dry grins.”

…………………………………………………………

*Puttin’ the clamps on Brer Rabbit – Is this clamping a way of castrating. See the fate of this poor fellow on the wrong side of Judgment Day, a clamping fate inflicted by the gleeful imp, about third from the right. Bern Cathedral, Switzerland.

A Judgment Day clamping, imp and sinner, Bern Cathedral, Switzerland

** roasting corn; tougher than sweet eating corn

*** fairly had a ager – could be ague: illness with fever, shivers, paroxysms, see ://www.medterm.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=10965; or agida, heartburn, eart palpitations, a fit of some kind. See etymology of ague at http://www.20kweb.com/etymology_dictionary_A/origin_of_the_word_ague.htm

**** Some goes up and some goes down, bottom safe and sound: There is a footnote to a single asterisk in the text here, and the footnote reads: “As a Northern friend suggests that this story may be somewhat obscure, it may be as well to state that the well is supposed to be supplied with a rope over a wheel, or pulley, with a basket at each end.”

XV. Mr. Fox Goes a-Hunting, but Mr. Rabbit Bags the Game. Uncle Remus His Songs and His Sayings, Translation

 Legends of the Old Plantation

XV

MR. FOX GOES A-HUNTING, BUT MR. RABBIT BAGS THE GAME
Translation

“After Brer Fox hear about how Brer Rabbit done Brer Wolf,” said Uncle Remus, scratching his head with the point of his awl, “he allowed, he did, that he better not be so brash, and he sort of let Brer Rabbit alone. They was all the time seeing one another, and abundance of times Brer Fox could have nabbed Brer Rabbit, but every time he got the chance, his mind would sort of resume about Brer Wold, and he let Brer Rabbit alone. By and by, they begun to get kind of familiar with one another like they used to, and it got so Brer Fox’d call on Brer Rabbit, and they’d set up and smoke their pipes, they would, like no harsh feelings had ever rested betwixt them.

“At last, one day Brer Fox come alone all rigged out , and asked Brer Rabbit for to go hunting with him, but Brer Rabbit, he sort of feel lazy, and he tell Brer Fox that he got some other fish for to fry. Brer Fox feel mighty sorry, he did, but he say he believe he try his hand anyhow, and off he put. He was gone all day, and he had a monstrous streak of luck, Brer Fox did, and he bagged a sight of game. By and by, towards the shank of the evening, Brer Rabbit sort of stretched himself, he did, and allow it’s almost time for Brer Fox for to get along home. Then Brer Rabbit, he went and mounted a stump for to see if he could hear Brer Fox coming. He ain’s been there long, until sure enough, here come Brer Fox through the woods, singing like a nigger at a frolic. Brer Rabbit, he leaped down off of the stump, he did, and lay down in the road and make like he’s dead. Brer Fox he come along, he did, and see Brer Rabbit layin’ there. He turned him over, he did, and examined him, and say, says he:

“ ‘This here rabbit dead. He look like he been dead long time. He dead, but he mighty fat. He the fattest rabbit what I ever see, but he been dead too long. I feared to take him home,' says he.

“Brer Rabbit ain’t saying nothing. Brer Fox, he sort of lick his chops, but he went on and left Brer Rabbit laying in the road. Directly he was out of sight, Brer Rabbit, he jump up, he did , and run around through the woods and get before Brer Fox again. Brer Fox, he come up, and there lay Brer Rabbit, apparently cold and stiff. Brer Fox, he look at Brer Rabbit, and he sort of study. After while, he unslung his game-bag, and say go himself, says he:

“ ‘These here rabbits going to waste. I’ll just about leave my game here, and I’ll go back and get that other rabbit, and I’ll make folks believe that I’m old man Hunter from Huntsville,' says he.

“And with that he dropped his game and loped back up the road after the other rabbit, and when he got out of sight, old Brer Rabbit, he snatch up Brer Fox game and put out for home. Next time he see Brer Fox he holler out:

“ ‘What you kill the other day, Brer Fox,' says he.

“Then Brer Fox, he sort of comb his flank with his tongue, and holler back:

“ ‘I caught a handful of hard sense, Brer Rabbit,’ says he.

“Then old Brer Rabbit, he laugh, he did, and up and respond, says he:

“ ‘If I’d have known you was after that, Brer Fox, I’d have loaned you some of mine,’ says he.”

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