[i_3] Page 10.
[i_4] Kaffir Folk-Lore; or, A Selection from the Traditional Tales current among the People living on the Eastern Border of the Cape Colony. London, 1882.
[i_5] Kaffir Folk-Lore, p. 43.
[i_6] Professor Hartt, in his Amazonian Tortoise Myths, relates the story of "The Jabuti that Cheated the Man." The Jabuti is identical with Brother Terrapin. The man carried the Jabuti to his house, put him in a box, and went out. By and by the Jabuti began to sing, just as Brother Rabbit did. The man's children listened, and the Jabuti stopped. The children begged him to continue, but to this he replied: "If you are pleased with my singing, how much more would you be pleased if you could see me dance." The children thereupon took him from the box, and placed him in the middle of the floor, where he danced, to their great delight. Presently, the Jabuti made an excuse to go out, and fled. The children procured a stone, painted it like the tortoise, and placed it in the box. After a while the man returned, took the painted stone from the box and placed it on the fire, where it burst as soon as it became heated. Meantime, the Jabuti had taken refuge in a burrow having two openings, so that, while the man was looking in at one opening, the tortoise would appear at another. Professor Hartt identifies this as a sun-myth—the slow-sun (or tortoise) escaping from the swift-moon (or man).
[i_7] Kaffir Folk-Lore, p. 84.
[i_8] Page 89.
[i_9] Kaffir Folk-Lore, p. 178.
[i_10] Page 111.
[i_11] Kaffir Folk-Lore, p. 166.
[i_12] Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings, xix. p. 88.
[i_13] Amazonian Tortoise Myths, p. 29.
[i_14] Reynard, the Fox, in South Africa; or, Hottentot Fables and Tales. By W. H. I. Bleek, Ph. D. London, 1864.
[i_15] Page 32.
[i_16] Bleek, p. 23.
[i_17] O'Selvagem, p. 237. Quoted by Mr. Herbert H. Smith, in his work Brazil and the Amazons.
[i_18] Page 37.
[i_19] The first volume.
[i_20] D. G. Brinton's Myths, pp. 161–170.
[i_21] The American Journal of Philology, vol. iii. no. 11.
[i_22] Tchiak is the name given by the Creole negroes to the starling, which, Dr. Mercier tells me, is applied adjectively to express various states of spirituous exhilaration.—Note by Prof. Harrison.
NIGHTS WITH UNCLE REMUS
I
MR. FOX AND MISS GOOSE
It had been raining all day so that Uncle Remus found it impossible to go out. The storm had begun, the old man declared, just as the chickens were crowing for day, and it had continued almost without intermission. The dark gray clouds had blotted out the sun, and the leafless limbs of the tall oaks surrendered themselves drearily to the fantastic gusts that drove the drizzle fitfully before them. The lady to whom Uncle Remus belonged had been thoughtful of the old man, and 'Tildy, the house-girl, had been commissioned to carry him his meals. This arrangement came to the knowledge of the little boy at supper time, and he lost no time in obtaining permission to accompany 'Tildy.
Uncle Remus made a great demonstration over the thoughtful kindness of his "Miss Sally."
"Ef she aint one blessid w'ite 'oman," he said, in his simple, fervent way, "den dey aint none un um 'roun' in deze parts."
With that he addressed himself to the supper, while the little boy sat by and eyed him with that familiar curiosity common to children. Finally the youngster disturbed the old man with an inquiry:
"Uncle Remus, do geese stand on one leg all night, or do they sit down to sleep?"
"Tooby sho' dey does, honey; dey sets down same ez you does. Co'se, dey don't cross der legs," he added, cautiously, "kase dey sets down right flat-footed."
"Well, I saw one the other day, and he was standing on one foot, and I watched him and watched him, and he kept on standing there."
"Ez ter dat," responded Uncle Remus, "dey mought stan' on one foot an' drap off ter sleep en fergit deyse'f. Deze yer gooses," he continued, wiping the crumbs from his beard with his coat-tail, "is mighty kuse fowls; deyer mighty kuse. In ole times dey wuz 'mongs de big-bugs, en in dem days, w'en ole Miss Goose gun a-dinin', all de quality wuz dere. Likewise, en needer wuz dey stuck-up, kase wid all der kyar'n's on, Miss Goose wer'n't too proud fer ter take in washin' fer de neighborhoods, en she make money, en get slick en fat lak Sis Tempy.
"Dis de way marters stan' w'en one day Brer Fox en Brer Rabbit, dey wuz settin' up at de cotton-patch, one on one side de fence, en t'er one on t'er side, gwine on wid one er n'er, w'en fus' news dey know, dey year sump'n—blim, blim, blim!
"Brer Fox, he ax w'at dat fuss is, en Brer Rabbit, he up'n 'spon' dat it's ole Miss Goose down at de spring. Den Brer Fox, he up'n ax w'at she doin', en Brer Rabbit, he say, sezee, dat she battlin' cloze."
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"Battling clothes, Uncle Remus?" said the little boy.
"Dat w'at dey call it dem days, honey. Deze times, dey rubs cloze on deze yer bodes w'at got furrers in um, but dem days dey des tuck'n tuck de cloze en lay um out on a bench, en ketch holt er de battlin'-stick en natally paddle de fillin' outen um.
"W'en