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:
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“ ‘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.’

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“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:
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“ ‘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:
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“ ‘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.”

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“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:

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“ ‘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:

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“ '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:

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“ ‘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