Brer Wolf, Brer Fox, and the Little Rabbits

Brer Wolf and Brer Fox went to see Brer Rabbit one day. Wasn’t nobody home except the little Rabbits playing in the yard. Brer Wolf looked at them. They looked so plump and fat he was licking his chops without knowing he was doing it. Brer Wolf looked at Brer Fox and licked his chops again. Brer Fox looked at Brer Wolf and licked his.

“They mighty fat, ain’t they?” said Brer Wolf.

Brer Fox grinned. “Man, hush your mouth!”

The little Rabbits kept on playing but began easing out of the yard. They kept their ears sharp, though.

“Ain’t they slick and pretty?” said Brer Wolf.

Brer Fox started drooling. “I wish you’d shut up,” he grinned.

The little Rabbits kept playing and inching their way out of the yard and they kept listening.

Brer Wolf smacked his mouth. “Ain’t they juicy and tender?”

Brer Fox’s eyes started to roll around in his head. “Man, if you don’t hush up, I’m going to start twitching, and when I start twitching, I can’t help myself.”

The little Rabbits kept playing and easing out of the yard and they kept listening.

“Let’s eat ’em!” Brer Wolf said suddenly!

“Let’s eat ’em!” exclaimed Brer Fox, twitching all over.

The little Rabbits were still playing, but they knew everything that was going on.

Brer Wolf and Brer Fox decided that when Brer Rabbit got home, one of them would get him in a dispute about something or other and the other one would catch the little Rabbits.

“You best at talking, Brer Wolf. I’ll coax the little Rabbits. I got a way with children, you know.”

Brer Wolf snorted. “You can’t make a gourd out of a pumpkin. You know I ain’t never been too good at talking, but your tongue’s as slick as glass. I can bite a whole lot better than I can talk. Them little Rabbits don’t need coaxing; they need grabbing, and I’m the man for that. You keep Brer Rabbit busy. I’ll grab the little Rabbits.”

They knew that whichever one grabbed the little Rabbits first wasn’t gon’ leave even a shadow for the other one. While they were arguing back and forth, the little Rabbits took off down the road – blickety-blickety – looking for their daddy.

They hadn’t gone far when they ran into him coming from town with a jug over his shoulder.

“What you got, Daddy?” they cried.

“A jug of molasses.”

“Can we have some?” they wanted to know.

Brer Rabbit pulled the stopper out and let them lick the molasses off the bottom of it. After they’d gotten their breath, they told him all about Brer Fox and Brer Wolf. Brer Rabbit chuckled to himself.

He picked up the jug and he and the little Rabbits started home. When they were almost there, Brer Rabbit said, “Now y’all stay out of sight until I call you.”

The little Rabbits were happy to get out of sight, because they had seen Brer Wolf ’s sharp teeth and Brer Fox’s red red tongue. They got down in the weeds and were as still as a mouse in a barrel of flour.

Brer Rabbit sauntered on home. Brer Fox and Brer Wolf were sitting on his front-porch step, smiling smiley smiles. They how-do’d with Brer Rabbit and he how-do’d with them.

“What you got in that jug there, Brer Rabbit?” Brer Wolf wanted to know.

Brer Rabbit hemmed and hawed and made like he didn’t want to tell. That made Brer Wolf more curious.

“What you got in that jug, Brer Rabbit?”

Brer Rabbit shook his head and looked real serious. He started talking to Brer Wolf about the weather or whatever and Brer Fox took this chance to sneak off and grab the little Rabbits.

Brer Rabbit unstoppered the jug and handed it to Brer Wolf. “Take a little taste of this.”

Brer Wolf took a hit on the jug and smacked his lips. “That’s all right, Brer Rabbit! What is it?”

Brer Rabbit leaned close to Brer Wolf. “Don’t tell nobody. It’s Fox blood.”

Brer Wolf ’s eyes got big. “How you know?”

“I knows what I knows.”

“Let me have another hit on that, Brer Rabbit.” Brer Rabbit shook his head. “Don’t know how come you want to drink up what little I got when you can get some more for yourself. And the fresher it is, the better.”

“How you know?”

“I knows what I knows.”

Brer Wolf jumped up and started off after Brer Fox. When he got close, he made a grab for him. Brer Fox ducked and dodged and headed for the woods with Brer Wolf ’s hot breath on his tail.

When Brer Rabbit got through laughing, he called his young’uns out of the weeds.

Now don’t come asking me if Brer Wolf caught Brer Fox. It’s all I can do to follow the tale when it’s on the big road. Ain’t no way I can keep up with them animals when they get to running through the woods. I don’t know about you, but when I go in the woods, I got to know where I’m going.

Brer Rabbit’s Luck

The time came when the animals made catching Brer Rabbit a full-time job. They didn’t even take off holidays or weekends. But no matter what they tried, Brer Rabbit got out of it. They decided Brer Rabbit must have something he conjured with – a John the Conqueror root, a black cat bone, tuna fish casserole, or something!

Brer Bear allowed as to how he thought Brer Rabbit was a natural-born witch. Brer Wolf said he didn’t know about that, but it sure wouldn’t surprise him if Brer Rabbit was in cahoots with one. Brer Fox said it had to be something like that because Brer Rabbit had more luck than smarts.

That set them to worrying about where Brer Rabbit got his luck when they couldn’t buy none with a truckload of money. They worried and fretted so much they couldn’t get to sleep at night. Some of them even started getting a little gray over it.

While they were doing all this worrying, one of Brer Bear’s children took sick. He asked Miz Rabbit if she would mind setting up a while with Miz Bear to keep her company. Naturally, Miz Rabbit went.

Miz Bear was rocking the baby to keep it from fretting, when all of a sudden Miz Rabbit dropped her knitting. “Oh, my goodness!” she exclaimed.

“What’s the matter, Sister Rabbit?”

“I just remembered that I left my ole man’s money purse on the mantel. Anybody could walk in and take it. I don’t know what he got in there, but whatever it is, he done told me to guard it with my life. What am I going to do, Sister Bear?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it none. I’m sure everything will be all right.”

Miz Rabbit said she hoped so, because it was a long way to her house and she wasn’t about to go back in the middle of the night.

It just so happened that Brer Wolf was doing his worrying that night on Brer Bear’s back porch. He heard every word and took off for Brer Rabbit’s.

He sneaked in the house quietly and there on the mantelpiece was Brer Rabbit’s purse. Brer Wolf opened it. Inside he found some collard seeds, a calamus root, and a great big rabbit foot! He chuckled and ran home with the purse, as pleased as a man who’d found a gold mine.

Brer Rabbit didn’t miss the purse for a few days, but when he did, he tore up the house looking for it. He asked his wife about it. She said she’d given it to him more than a week and a half ago and if he had lost it, don’t come blaming her, ’cause it was his purse, and if he didn’t have sense enough to keep up with his own things it wasn’t her fault, ’cause she had enough to do with taking care of the house and all the children, and speaking of children, when was he going to get them those high-heel sneakers they’d been wanting, ’cause she was tired of hearing about ’em – and Brer Rabbit just sneaked on out.

He was troubled deep in his mind now. “I know where I put that purse, but I don’t know where I left it.”

All of sudden it seemed like Brer Wolf had all the luck and Brer Rabbit didn’t have a lick. Brer Wolf got fat and Brer Rabbit got lean. Brer Wolf could run fast; Brer Rabbit couldn’t move as fast as Sister Cow. Brer Wolf felt healthy and Brer Rabbit felt sick all the time. After a month or so, Brer Rabbit knew there was only one thing to do. He had to talk to Aunt Mammy-Bammy Big-Money.

She was the Witch-Rabbit and lived way off in a deep, dark, dank, smelly, slimey swamp. To get there you had to ride some, slide some; jump some, hump some; hop some, flop some; walk some, balk some; creep some, sleep some; fly some, cry some; follow some, holler some; wade some, spade some; and if you weren’t careful, you still wouldn’t get there. Brer Rabbit made it, but he was plumb wore out when he did.

He sat down to rest, and in a little while he saw black smoke coming out of a hole in the ground. That was where Aunt Mammy-Bammy Big-Money lived. The smoke got blacker and blacker. Brer Rabbit knew the time had come to say what was on his mind.

“Mammy-Bammy Big-Money, I need your help.”

“Son Riley Rabbit, why so? Son Riley Rabbit, why so?”

“Mammy-Bammy Big-Money, I lost that foot you gave me.”

“Oh, Riley Rabbit, why so? Son Riley Rabbit, why so?”

“Mammy-Bammy Big Money, my luck done gone. I don’t know where that foot is.”

“The Wolf took and stole your luck, Son Riley Rabbit, Riley. Go find the track, go get it back, Son Riley Rabbit, Riley.”

Aunt Mammy-Bammy Big-Money sucked all the black smoke back in the hole. Brer Rabbit headed for home, wondering how he was going to get the foot back from Brer Wolf. He didn’t know, so he hid out near Brer Wolf ’s house and waited his chance. He waited a day. He waited a week. He waited near ’bout a month.

Finally, one night Brer Wolf came home from a big party. Brer Rabbit knew his waiting was over. After Brer Wolf was good and asleep, Brer Rabbit sneaked in the house. He saw Brer Wolf ’s coat on the back of a rocking chair. Brer Rabbit searched through the pockets, and in the inside pocket was his purse. He took it and was gone.

Even though he had his purse back and the rabbit’s foot was still in it, Brer Rabbit didn’t feel like he had his luck back. It seemed that he wasn’t getting out of trouble as easily as he used to. Maybe old age was setting in on him.

He decided to go talk things over with Aunt Mammy-Bammy Big-Money again. His wife packed him a lunch of bacon and cornbread.

When he got there, he hollered out, “Mammy-Bammy Big-Money! О Mammy-Bammy Big-Money! I journeyed far, I journeyed fast; I’m glad I found the place at last!”

Great big black smoke rose up out of the ground and Mammy-Bammy Big-Money said, “Where for, Son Riley Rabbit, Riley? Son Riley Rabbit, Riley, where for?”

“Mammy-Bammy Big-Money, I’m afraid I’m losing my mind. Don’t seem like I can fool the other animals good as I used to. They done come nigh to catching me here recently and doing away with me for good.”

Mammy-Bammy Big-Money sat there sucking in black smoke and belching it out until you couldn’t see nothing except her great big eyeballs and her great big ears. Finally, she said, “There’s a squirrel up in that tree over yonder, Son Riley. Go catch it and bring it to me, Son Riley Rabbit, Riley.”

“I ain’t got much sense left,” Brer Rabbit said, “but if I can’t get that squirrel out of that tree, I’m in worse shape than I thought I was.”

Brer Rabbit went over to the tree, took the bacon and cornbread out of the bag, found two rocks, and put the bag over his hands. He waited a little while, then he banged the two rocks together – blip!

Squirrel hollered, “Hey!”

Brer Rabbit waited a little longer and then slapped the rocks together again – blap!

Squirrel ran down the tree a little ways and hollered, “Heyo!”

Brer Rabbit don’t say a word, but pops the rocks together – blap!

Squirrel came down the tree trunk a little bit farther. “Who that?”

“Biggidy Dicky Big-Bag,” said Brer Rabbit.

“What you doing?”

“Cracking hickory nuts.”

“Can I crack some?”

“Come get in the bag,” Brer Rabbit said.

Squirrel hesitated, then scampered down the tree and right into the bag. Brer Rabbit closed it tight, tied it, and gave it to Mammy-Bammy Big-Money.

The ole Witch-Rabbit turned the squirrel loose and said, “There’s a snake lying over there in the grass, Son Riley. Bring him here and be fast about it, Son Riley Rabbit, Riley.”

Brer Rabbit looked around and saw the biggest rattlesnake he’d ever seen. He was wrapped around himself five or six times and looked like he was ready to do business with anybody come down the pike.

Brer Rabbit studied the situation for a few minutes, then went off in the bushes, cut a young grapevine, and made a slipknot in it.

“How you today, Mr. Snake?”

Snake don’t say a word. He just coiled up a little tighter, flicking his tongue in and out of his mouth quicker than a lamb can shake its tail.

Brer Rabbit don’t pay it no never mind. “I’m glad I ran into you today. Me and Brer Bear was arguing a few weeks ago about how long you are. We both agree that you the prettiest thing ever swished across the earth. You even prettier when you curled up in the sun like you are now. Brer Bear say that when you stretch out you about three feet long. I told him he better get his eyes examined, ’cause I know you five feet long if you an inch. Well, we got to arguing back and forth so much, I come close to going upside Brer Bear’s head with my walking stick.”

Mr. Snake don’t say a word, but seemed to relax a little bit.

“I told Brer Bear that the next time I saw you I was going to take your measurements. So that’s why I’m glad I run into you today. Would you be so good as to uncoil yourself?”

Mr. Snake was feeling mighty proud now, and he stretched himself out like he was being judged in a contest.

“That’s one foot,” Brer Rabbit said, as he started measuring from the tail forward. “Two feet. There’s Brer Bear’s three feet and I still got a ways to go. Four feet.”

Brer Rabbit was at the head now and just as he said, “Five feet! That’s what I told Brer Bear,” he dropped the slipknot over Mr. Snake’s head and pulled it tight. He dragged the Snake over to Mammy-Bammy Big-Money, but when he got there, she had disappeared.

Then he heard a voice from far off: “If you get any more sense, Son Riley, you gon’ be the death of us all, Son Riley Rabbit, Riley.”

Brer Rabbit felt all right now. He took the snake home, made snake stew, and used the snake oil as an ointment for his limbs. He didn’t need no oil for his brain. Fact was, Brer Rabbit thought he just might be better than ever.