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Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular cover

Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular

Chapter 20: IX.
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About This Book

This collection assembles short folktales and tall tales drawn from the coastal rice- and swamp-region oral tradition, rendered in local vernacular speech. The pieces range from animal trickster episodes—featuring a clever rabbit, alligator, wolf, turkey, and other creatures—to human-centered anecdotes about conjuring, superstition, plantation life, and humorous misadventures. Arranged as many brief numbered stories, the volume preserves regional expressions, rhythm, and humor while alternating fables, jokes, and supernatural accounts. Recurrent themes include cunning over brute strength, community memory, survival in marshland settings, and the interplay of practical wit and folkloric belief.

IX.

DE OLE MAN AN DE GALLINIPPER.

An ole man bin a hunt roccoon in de wood. Eh hab eh dog fuh tree de coon, an eh hatchich fuh chop down de tree. De dog bark. De ole man gone ter um. Eh look up de tree fuh see de coon. Steader de coon, er big Gallinipper bin a settin in de crotch er de sweet-gum. De tree so big de ole man cant retch round um wid bofe eh arm. De dog bark at de Gallinipper. Eh bark. Eh bark. De Gallinipper git bex. Eh light off de tree fuh bite de dog. De dog holler an run roun de tree. De Gallinipper miss eh lick, an dribe eh bill trugh de tree tell de pint come out on tarruh side. De ole man try fuh chop off de een er de Gallinipper bill. Wen de Gallinipper see wuh de ole man up teh, eh rare back an try fur pull eh bill outer de tree. Eh fastne so tight eh couldnt git um out, but eh strain so hebby eh drag de tree up by de root. De ole man dat scade eh drop eh hatchich, eh leff eh dog der wood, and eh lean fur home.