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