"Ole Brer Tarrypin come up, he did, en look "roun", en "fo" Brer Mink kin say a wud, he holler out:
""Youer nice man, Brer Mink! Youer mighty nice man!"
""W"at I done now, Brer Tarrypin?"
""Don"t ax me. Look up dar whar you bin eatin" dem fish en den ax yo"se"f. Youer mighty nice man!"
"Brer Mink look "roun" en, sho" "nuff, de fish done gone. Ole Brer Tarrypin keep on talkin":
""You tuck"n come up fust, en w"iles I bin down dar in de water, nat"ally achin" fer lack er win", yer you settin" up chawin" on de fish w"ich dey oughter bin mine!"
"Brer Mink stan" "im down dat he aint eat dem fish; he "ny it ter de las", but ole Brer Tarrypin make out he don"t b"leeve "im. He say, sezee:
""You"ll keep gwine on dis a-way, twel atter w"ile you"ll be wuss"n Brer Rabbit. Don"t tell me you aint git dem fish, Brer Mink, "kaze you know you is."
"Hit sorter make Brer Mink feel proud "kaze ole Brer Tarrypin mix "im up wid Brer Rabbit, "kaze Brer Rabbit wuz a mighty man in dem days, en he sorter laugh, Brer Mink did, lak he know mo" dan he gwine tell. Ole Brer Tarrypin keep on grumblin".
""I aint gwine ter git mad long wid you, Brer Mink, "kaze hit "s a mighty keen trick, but you oughter be "shame" yo"se"f fer ter be playin"
tricks on a ole man lak me--dat you ought!"
"Wid dat ole Brer Tarrypin went shufflin" off, en atter he git outer sight he draw"d back in he house en shot de do" en laugh en laugh twel dey wa"n"t no fun in laughin"."
LXVIII
BROTHER FOX MAKES A NARROW ESCAPE
The next time the little boy had an opportunity to visit Uncle Remus the old man was alone, but he appeared to be in good spirits. He was cobbling away upon what the youngster recognized as "Tildy"s Sunday shoes, and singing s.n.a.t.c.hes of a song something like this:
"_O Mr. Rabbit! yo" eye mighty big-- Yes, my Lord! dey er made fer ter see; O Mr. Rabbit! yo" tail mighty short-- Yes, my Lord! hit des fits me!_"
The child waited to hear more, but the song was the same thing over and over again--always about Brother Rabbit"s big eyes and his short tail.
After a while Uncle Remus acknowledged the presence of his little partner by remarking:
"Well, sir, we er all yer. Brer Jack and Sis Tempy en dat ar "Tildy n.i.g.g.e.r may be a-pacin" "roun" lookin" in de fence-cornders fer Chris"mus, but me en you en ole Brer Rabbit, we er all yer, en ef we aint right on de spot, we er mighty close erroun". Ya.s.ser, we is dat; mo" speshually ole Brer Rabbit, wid he big eye and he short tail. Don"t tell me "bout Brer Rabbit!" exclaimed Uncle Remus, with a great apparent enthusiasm, ""kaze dey aint no use er talkin" "bout dat creetur."
The little boy was very anxious to know why.
"Well, I tell you," said the old man. "One time dey wuz a monst"us dry season in de settlement whar all de creeturs live at, en drinkin"-water got mighty skace. De creeks got low, en de branches went dry, en all de springs make der disappearance "cep"n one great big un whar all de creeturs drunk at. Dey"d all meet dar, dey would, en de bigges" "ud drink fus", en by de time de big uns all done swaje der thuss[83] dey wa"n"t a drap lef" fer de little uns skacely.
"Co"se Brer Rabbit "uz on de happy side. Ef anybody gwine git water Brer Rabbit de man. De creeturs "ud see he track "roun" de spring, but dey aint nev" ketch "im. Hit got so atter w"ile dat de big creeturs "ud crowd Brer Fox out, en den "t wa"n"t long "fo" he hunt up Brer Rabbit en ax "im w"at he gwine do.
"Brer Rabbit, he sorter study, en den he up "n tell Brer Fox fer ter go home en rub some "la.s.ses all on hisse"f en den go out en waller in de leafs. Brer Fox ax w"at he mus" do den, en Brer Rabbit say he mus" go down by de spring, en w"en de creeturs come ter de spring fer ter git dey water, he mus" jump out at um, en den atter dat he mus" waller lak he one er dem ar kinder varment w"at got bugs on um.
"Brer Fox, he put out fer home, he did, en w"en he git dar he run ter de cubbud[84] en des gawm hisse"f wid "la.s.ses, en den he went out in de bushes, he did, en waller in de leafs en trash twel he look mos" bad ez Brer Rabbit look w"en he play Wull-er-de-Wust on de creeturs.
"W"en Brer Fox git hisse"f all fix up, he went down ter de spring en hide hisse"f. Bimeby all de creeturs come atter der water, en w"iles dey "uz a-scuffin" en a-hunchin", en a-pushin" en a-scrougin", Brer Fox he jump out"n de bushes, en sorter switch hisse"f "roun", en, bless yo"
soul, he look lak de Ole Boy.
"Brer Wolf tuck"n see "im fus", en he jump spang over Brer B"ar head.
Brer B"ar, he lip back, en ax who dat, en des time he do dis de t"er creeturs dey tuck"n make a break, dey did, lak punkins rollin" down hill, en mos" "fo" youk"n wink yo" eye-ball, Brer Fox had de range er de spring all by hisse"f.
"Yit "t wa"n"t fur long, "kaze "fo" de creeturs mov"d fur, dey tuck"n tu"n "roun", dey did, en crope back fer ter see w"at dat ar skeery lookin" varment doin". W"en dey git back in seein" distuns dar "uz Brer Fox walkin" up en down switchin" hisse"f.
"De creeturs dunner w"at ter make un "im. Dey watch, en Brer Fox march; dey watch, en he march. Hit keep on dis a-way twel bimeby Brer Fox "gun ter waller in de water, en right dar," continued Uncle Remus, leaning back to laugh, "right dar "uz whar Brer Rabbit had "im. Time he "gun ter waller in de water de "la.s.ses "gun ter melt, en "t wa"n"t no time skacely "fo" de "la.s.ses en de leafs done all wash off, en dar "uz ole Brer Fox des ez natchul ez life.
"De fus" Brer Fox know "bout de leafs comin" off, he year Brer B"ar holler on top er de hill:
""You head "im off down dar, Brer Wolf, en I"ll head "im off "roun"
yer!"
"Brer Fox look "roun" en he see all de leafs done come off, en wid dat he make a break, en he wa"n"t none too soon, n"er, "kaze little mo" en de creeturs "ud "a" kotch "im."
Without giving the little boy time to ask any questions, Uncle Remus added another verse to his Rabbit song, and harped on it for several minutes:
"_O Mr. Rabbit! yo" year mighty long-- Yes, my Lord! dey made fer ter las"; O Mr. Rabbit! yo" toof mighty sharp-- Yes, my Lord! dey cuts down gra.s.s!_"
-- FOOTNOTES:
[83] a.s.suaged their thirst.
[84] Cupboard.
LXIX
BROTHER FOX"S FISH-TRAP
The little boy wanted Uncle Remus to sing some more; but before the old man could either consent or refuse, the notes of a horn were heard in the distance. Uncle Remus lifted his hand to command silence, and bent his head in an att.i.tude of attention.
"Des listen at dat!" he exclaimed, with some show of indignation. "Dat aint nothin" in de roun" worl" but ole man Plato wid dat tin hawn er his"n, en I boun" you he"s a-drivin" de six mule waggin, en de waggin full er n.i.g.g.e.rs fum de River place, en let "lone dat, I boun" you deyer n.i.g.g.e.rs strung out behime de waggin fer mo"n a mile, en deyer all er comin" yer fer ter eat us all out"n house en home, des "kaze dey year folks say Chris"mus mos" yer. Hit "s mighty kuse unter me dat ole man Plato aint done toot dat hawn full er holes long "fo" dis.
"Yit I aint blamin" um," Uncle Remus went on, with a sigh, after a little pause. "Dem ar n.i.g.g.e.rs bin livin" "way off dar on de River place whar dey aint no w"ite folks twel dey er done in about run"d wil". I aint a-blamin" um, dat I aint."
Plato"s horn--a long tin bugle--was by no means unmusical. Its range was limited, but in Plato"s hands its few notes were both powerful and sweet. Presently the wagon arrived, and for a few minutes all was confusion, the negroes on the Home place running to greet the new-comers, who were mostly their relatives. A stranger hearing the shouts and outcries of these people would have been at a loss to account for the commotion.
Even Uncle Remus went to his cabin door, and, with the little boy by his side, looked out upon the scene,--a tumult lit up by torches of resinous pine. The old man and the child were recognized, and for a few moments the air was filled with cries of:
"Howdy, Unk Remus! Howdy, little Marster!"
After a while Uncle Remus closed his door, laid away his tools, and drew his chair in front of the wide hearth. The child went and stood beside him, leaning his head against the old negro"s shoulder, and the two--old age and youth, one living in the Past and the other looking forward only to the Future--gazed into the bed of glowing embers illuminated by a thin, flickering flame. Probably they saw nothing there, each being busy with his own simple thoughts; but their shadows, enlarged out of all proportion, and looking over their shoulders from the wall behind them, must have seen something, for, clinging together, they kept up a most incessant pantomime; and Plato"s horn, which sounded again to call the negroes to supper after their journey, though it aroused Uncle Remus and the child from the contemplation of the fire, had no perceptible effect upon the Shadows.