that was half starved. So he begged entrance at the door of the castle from the wife. And she didn't want to have him in, and she told him about the boy that had took the wonder-box from her husband. So he begged so hard that she left him in, an' she gave him some bread and milk to eat. And again, while Jack was eating, the giant came. And as he came in the door, he said, I smell the blood of an Englishmune." "Be he alive or be he dead, And Jack jumped in the salt-cellar. His wife said, "No, there hasn't been any one here to-day." She says, "I'm only roastin' some pork for your supper." So, after he ate his supper, the giant sent for his golden hen that lay the golden egg. So his wife went and brought it for him. And while the giant was playing with the egg that the hen had laid, he fell fast asleep. An' Jack carried off the hen and the egg down the bean-stalk to where his mother lived. But Jack still thought that he wanted to visit the castle again. So this time, when he went up the bean-stalk to the giant's castle, he was in the appearance of a newsboy selling papers. So, while the wife went to get the money to buy a paper, the giant appeared, and Jack hid in the closet. And the giant repeated again, "Fe, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of an Englishmune." "Be he alive or be he dead, Fe, fi, fo, fum!" So the wife said, "No, there hasn't been any one here to-day." And after the giant had ate his supper, he called for his harp, the only thing that he had left, an' this was a magic harp. So it commenced to play, an' it played so sweetly that the giant fell fast asleep and commenced to snore. And as the harp stopped playing, Jack came out of the closet, took the harp, and started to the door. But the harp began to play, and it woke the giant up. An' the giant followed Jack out of the door, an' Jack run as fast as he could down the beanstalk, an' the giant started to follow. But as the giant reached the top, Jack cut down the bean-stalk with an axe; an' as the giant stepped on, he fell down an' broke his neck. An' Jack and his mother always lived happy afterward with the property of the father which the giant had stolen an' Jack had restored again. 5. IN THE WELL.1 There was a deep well, an' there was a little bit of water in the bottom of it. An' so one day a fox chanced to goin' by, an' he fell in. So a billy-goat came by. And the fox called to him, an' he asks him to help him out. An' the billy-goat said he couldn't. But the fox said, "There is fine fresh water down here, brother Goat." So the goat was thirsty. So he went to get a drink; and when he went to get a drink, he fell in; an' the fox said, "Help me out, then I'll help you." So the goat agreed to do so. So the fox said, "Let me jump upon your back an' climb out, then I'll reach down an' help you up." So the goat was silly enough to do so. But when the fox had got out, he said, "I'm sorry, brother Goat, but my paws are too short to reach you." So he ran away an' left the poor goat in the water, after he had helped him out. 6. THE RACE.2 Once upon a time there was a tortoise and a rabbit lived in a forest together. So the rabbit says to the tortoise, "How slow you walk!" So there was a river not far away, where water-lilies grew. So the tortoise said to the rabbit, “I'll run a race with you." So the rabbit laughed at the tortoise. So the rabbit asked where he wanted to run a race to. The tortoise said, "Down to the river, where the water-lilies grew." And the rabbit said, "You'll grow old and die before you get there." But the turtle said to the rabbit, "Who shall we have for a judge to this race?" An' the rabbit said, “We'll get Mr. Wolf for a judge." So they said, one, two, three, an' away they went. So the rabbit ran right fast till he got in sight of the river where the water-lilies grew. And he lay down in the shade to rest. While he was resting, he fell fast asleep. And when he awoke again, it was the next day at dinner-time. So he was very hungry; and he ran into a near field an' eat some clover, an' he didn't know that the tortoise had passed him while he was asleep. So after he had ate his dinner, he ran right fast to the goal. But who should he find when he got there, waiting for him, but the tortoise who he had laughed at the day before. 7. THE FROZEN TAIL.3 Once there was a fox an' a rabbit. They was in partnership. The rabbit used to go fishing a lot. The rabbit told the fox he could show him where there was a nice lot of fish. The rabbit said, "Don't pull up until you feel your tail getting stiff an' heavy." After a 1 Informant Mary Smith. Informant Mary Smith. Informant Mary Smith. Compare Parsons, L (1). See this number, pp. 174, 226. while the fox said, "My tail getting heavy, can I pull up?" Rabbit said, "No, don't pull up yet. Wait till you get a few more on. Pull up now! You got a nice bunch on." His tail stuck, was froze. "That's just what I wanted, Mr. Fox, you treated me so dirty." 8. DIVIDING THE SOULS.1 Once there were two men, an' they were out one afternoon fishin'. They caught a large basket of fish. It was growin' towards evening. One of the men says, "Where shall we go to count the fish?" The other man says, "Oh, we'll find a place." So they went on till they come to a graveyard. So they stopped. They went in an' started a-countin', "One for me, an' one for you." They had dropped two fish on the road. They kept on saying, "One for me an' one for you, two for me an' two for you." One of the preacher's friends come along. He stopped an' listened, an' they were in their fifties. He thought the Devil and the Lord was in the graveyard dividin' up people. So he goes to the preacher's house. And he said, "Reverend John, your preachin's true, but the Devil an' the Lord's in the graveyard dividin' up people." Says, "How do you know? I don't believe you." Says, "Well, get your hat and come an' see." When they had got to the graveyard, they heard the two fishermen say, "Let us go after the other two!" So they both ran home as fast as they could go. 9. PLAYING GODFATHER.2 Once there was a family of bears. They lived in a little hut in the woods. One day father Bear went to town and bought a large tub of butter. On his way home he met b'o' Wolf. The wolf says to brother Bear, "What have you got there?" He says, "Some butter for my family." The wolf says to brother Bear, "How long do you think that butter's going to last you?" He said, "It will last over winter." So they all went out to work in the field. B'o' Wolf say, "Listen! I hear my wife callin' me." So he left the field an' snuk around back of brother Bear's house. He went in an' ate the top off brother Bear's butter. Then he went back to the field an' said to brother Bear, "I had a little niece born to-day;" and brother Bear said, "What did you name it?" He said, "I named it Top-Off." So the next day they was out in the field again, and he said to brother Bear, "Listen! don't you hear my wife callin' me again?" B'o' Bear said, "No, I don't hear no one callin' you." He said, "Well, I do. I mus' go." So he goes back to b'o' Bear's house, an' eats half of the butter. So he comes back again, an' says, "I had another niece born." 1 Informant Ruth Holmes. See this number, p. 177. Informant Ruth Holmes. See this number, p. 192. An' b'o' Bear says, "What did you name her this time?" He said, "Oh, I named her Half-Gone." He said, "Half-Gone, that's a peculiar name!" So the third day he went back an' finished it. So b'o' Wolf said to b'o' Bear, "This was the last one she's goin' to have. Because it was the last one, I named it All-Gone." So the corn and potatoes was ripe in b'o' Bear's field, an' he was goin' to have a big supper. So they had a big time, Mis' Bear an' b'o' Bear fixin' for the supper. So they went to look for the butter, an' it was gone. So b'o' Bear he didn't know what to make of that. So he said to b'o' Fox, "Somebody takin' my butter, an' I'm goin' to give a party, an' after the party I'm goin' to have everybody sit in a row in the sun, an' the one that had taken the butter it will show on their mouth. An' brer Fox said, "I don't blame yer, brother Bear." So brer Bear gave a big party, an' he invited all his friends. He told them how he missed his butter. They all agreed with his plans. So, after the party was over, they all sat in a circle in the sun, an' the grease was all runnin' down brer Fox's mouth, an' all their eyes were turned to brother Fox. So brer Bear said to brer Fox, "I'll let you off this time, but next time I'll hang yer." So the party ended, an' they all went on their way. IO. VOICE ABOVE.1 Brer Fox was goin' round makin' a lot of trouble. So he drove brother Bear's wife from home by goin' round makin' mischief on her. Said he seen her go down to the pond and flirt with brother Turtle. So after she had gone, it was too late for brother Bear, an' he was sorry. So they made up their minds to hang him. So brother Bear an' a lot of his friends got a rope an' hid behind some thickets. When brother Fox went by, they caught him an' take him to the church. So brer Fox said, "Please let me go say good-by to my wife an' children first." Brer Bear was the judge. He gave brer Fox five minutes. He went down to a large pond, an' he met his friend the stork. He sat down an' began to cry. The stork said, "What's the matter, friend of mine? Can I help you out any way?" Brother Fox said, "Oh, yes! they're goin' to hang me." He said, "You go on ahead of me, an' when they start to hang me, you git up in the ceilin', an' jus' say these words, 'Don't kill him, don't kill him!"" So the stork said "All right!" So he went to the church, and the bear was very glad to have him. The stork got in a corner by himself. They put brer Fox in the electric chair, an' was jus' gettin' ready to push the button, an' the stork flew up in the ceilin' an' begin to sing, "Don't kill him, don't kill him!" An' they all stopped an' listened; and brother Fox said, 'Listen! do you hear that?" An' brother Bear say, "Yes, what is it?" He said, "the Lord sendin' his angels down to tell yer not 1 Informant Ruth Holmes. to kill me." So they all got scared an' left the church, an' left brother Fox in the 'lectric chair. An' when they had gone, brer Fox got way up in top of a big tree, an' he laughed an' laughed till he cried. He said, "O brer Bear! I got the best of you, after all." That's all. II. THE DISMEMBERED GHOST.1 Once there was a man, an' he wanted a place to lodge jus' fur the night, him an' his friends. So the man saw a little light 'tween the trees, an' he followed the light. It led him to a little house way back in the woods. It was an old man standin' in the door. The man says, "Say, Mister, have you got a place where I can lodge all night?" He says, "There's a little house back there, but it's haunted. If you can stay in it, all right." He says, "I can stay any place the Devil can stay." So he says, "Come on, fellers, we've got a good place!" So the man says, "We can have a nice game of cards here too." They all got around the table, an' had jus' finished a game of cards, when one man looked up, an' a pair of legs came down. He said, "Come on, let's go!" The other men said, "Let's stay here an' see what the end of it is." So they played a second game, an' a body came down. An' they kep' on playin', an' two arms came down. The other man says, "How much longer you goin' to stay here?" said, "Don't be so scared! nothin' ain't goin' to bother you." He says, "I'm right here; if anything bothers you, it will bother me too." Then the head come down. The man that was standin' in the middle of the floor said, "Well, what are yer doin' playin' cards in my house?" So they all got up from the table, lef' everything they had, an' ran to the man's house. The man says, "What's the matter, fellers?'' The men say, "We can't stay in that place." The man says, "Well, you said you could live anywhere the Devil was." They say, "I know, but I can't live there." That's all. 1 Informant Ruth Holmes. See this number, p. 195. He |