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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 61: XXIX.
By Jr. Charles C. Jones
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Mythology, Legends & Folklore

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.

XXIX.

DE TWO FREN AN DE BEAR.

Two fren, dem bin a mek one journey togerruh. Dem haffer go tru one tick swamp wuh full er bear an edder warmint. Dem prommus fuh tan ter one anurrer, an help one anurrer out ef de warmint should tack dem. Dem yent bin git half way tru de swamp wen one big black Bear jump outer de bush an mek fur dem. Steader one er dem tan fur help fight um, eh leff eh fren an clime one tree. De tarruh fren bin yeddy say Bear no gwine eat dead people, so him leddown on de groun, an hole eh bref, an shet eh yeye, an mek out say him bin dead. De Bear come up ter um, an smell um, an tun um ober, an try fuh ketch eh bref. Wen eh fine eh cant ketch eh bref, eh gone off leely way an eh watch um. Den eh tun back an smell um gen, an notus um close. At lenk eh mek up eh mine say de man bin dead fuh true; an wid dat eh leff um fuh good an gone back der wood. All dis time de tarruh fren duh squinch ehself up een de tree duh watch wuh bin gwine on. Eh dat skade eh wunt do nuttne fuh help eh fren, er try fuh run de Bear off.

Wen eh fine de Bear done gone fuh sho, eh holler ter him fren say: “Wuh de Bear bin tell you? Him an you seem luk you bin hab close combersation.” Den eh fren mek answer: “Eh bin tell me nebber fuh trus nobody wuh call ehself fren, an wuh gwine run luk er coward soon es trouble come.”