Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular

Chapter 5: II.

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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.

II.

BUH TUKREY BUZZUD AN DE RAIN.

Buh Tukrey Buzzud, him yent hab no sense no how. You watch um.

Wen de rain duh po down, eh set on de fench an eh squinch up isself. Eh draw in eh neck, an eh try fur hide eh head, an eh look dat pittyful you rale sorry for um. Eh duh half cry, an eh say to isself: “Nummine, wen dis rain ober me guine buil house right off. Me yent guine leh dis rain lick me dis way no mo.”

Wen de rain done gone, an de win blow, an de sun shine, wuh Buh Tukrey Buzzud do? Eh set on de top er de dead pine tree way de sun kin wam um, an eh tretch out eh wing, an eh tun roun an roun so de win kin dry eh fedder, an eh laugh to isself, an eh say: “Dis rain done ober. Eh yent guine rain no mo. No use fur me fuh buil house now.” Caless man dis like Buh Tukrey Buzzud.