African American Folktales

by Roger Abrahams

  Now, after a while John got to his rifle and he raised the muzzle right in old lion’s face and pulled the trigger. Long, slim black feller, he snatched it back and heard it beller! Now that was too much for the lion. He turned around and started to run off into the woods. John leveled on him again and let him have another load, right in his hindquarters.

  The old lion gave John the back of his tail. He was into the woods where the bear was hauling some heavy loads.

  “More over,” he told Bear. “I need to lie down, too.”

  “How come?” the bear asked him, knowing the answer all too well.

  “I have met the King of the World, and he has ruined me.”

  “Brer Lion, how did you know you met the King of the World?”

  “Because he made lightning flash in my face and thunder at my hips. I know when I’ve met a king; now move over.”

  —Florida

  23

  MR. BAMANCOO GETS DROPPED

  I’m going to Heaven today-o

  Titty flam, titty flam-o-day.

  All of us are flying to Heaven today-o

  Titty flam, titty flam o-day.

  I’m going to Heaven today-o

  Titty flam, titty flam o-day.

  To see those Chateaubelaire girls

  Titty flam, titty flam o-day.

  To see some lovely girls up there

  Titty flam, titty flam o-day.

  This is one about Mr. Bamancoo* and Mr. Chickenhawk, Compé Chickenhawk and Compé Bamancoo were compé and mackmé—they were best friends and divided everything. But both of them loved those girls, and one time Compé Chickenhawk decided he didn’t want to share them anymore. So, one day, Mr. Chickenhawk went up to Heaven and came back talking about how all the girls up there on the other side belonged to him. Mr. Bamancoo wouldn’t believe it. He said, “Well, what we have to do is for me to go up there so you can prove it.” Mr. Bamancoo wanted to see all those pretty girls anyhow, you know, because he had lots of girl friends too. So Mr. Chickenhawk said, “Well, so be it, then, but you have to remember that I’m a man who flies very fast. So if you want to come, you’ll have to ride on my back!”

  Titty flam, titty flam o-day

  Titty flam, titty flam o-day.

  Going to Heaven

  Titty flam, titty flam o-day.

  Going to Heaven

  Titty flam, titty flam o-day.

  To see those pretty girls there

  Titty flam, titty flam o-day.

  I’m going to see those pretty girls there

  Titty flam, titty flam o-day.

  Crick!

  Now listen, Compé Bamancoo got on Compé Chickenhawk’s back and they really flew fast, so fast and so long in fact that Compé Bamancoo started to get very worried, but he hung on. And Compé Chickenhawk started to sing again:

  Titty flam, titty flam o-day

  Titty flam, titty flam o-day.

  To see those pretty girls there

  Titty flam, titty flam o-day.

  I’m going there to see them

  Titty flam, titty flam o-day.

  Now, listen to what happened. You know Compé Chickenhawk flew lower and lower, but got faster and faster. Compé Bamancoo said he wanted to get off, and Compé Chickenhawk said that would be all right, so when he got close to the ground—about as high as the top of a coconut—he let him go, Boop! And Compé Bamancoo busted when he hit the ground, and the people who were down there when he hit were washed downstream when he hit, his grains were so filled with water.

  And I was there and danced with all the ladies that came to see what happened.

  —St. Vincent

  * Refers to someone with huge genitals because of elephantiasis.

  24

  THE TUG-OF-WAR BETWEEN ELEPHANT AND WHALE

  One day Compere Rabbit and Compere Bouki were making a trip together. When they reached the shore of a sea, they saw something that was so strange that they stopped to watch and listen. An elephant and a whale were talking.

  The elephant said to the whale: “Compere Whale, since you are the largest and strongest around in the sea, and I am the largest and strongest on land, we rule over all beasts; and anyone who doesn’t like it, we’ll just have to kill, all right, compere?” “Yes, compere,” agreed the whale. “You keep the land and I’ll keep the sea, and between us we’ll rule everyone.”

  “You hear that?” said Bouki. “Let’s get going. We better not get caught listening in on their conversation.” “Oh, I don’t care,” said Rabbit. “I know more tricks than they do. Just watch how I am going to fix them.” “No,” said Bouki, “I’m scared. I’m going.” “Well, go if you can’t have a little fun because you are scared of everything! Go ahead and leave, and quick because I’m sick and tired of you.”

  Compere Rabbit went to get a rope that was long and strong. Then he got his drum and hid it in the grass. He took one end of the rope, and went up to Elephant, complimenting him: “Sir, Compere Elephant, you who are so good and so strong, I wonder if you could do me a favor? You could help me a lot and save me from losing my money, too, if you would do me a favor.” Elephant always enjoyed hearing such fine compliments, so he said: “Compere, what do you want? I am always ready to help my friends.”

  “Well,” said Rabbit, “This cow of mine is stuck in the mud down on the coast, and I have tried and tried, but I’m just not strong enough to pull her out. I hope you can help me. If you could just take this rope in your trunk, I could tie it to the cow and you could pull her out. When you hear me beat the drum, if you will pull hard on the rope, we’ll soon have her out of that mud.” “That’s all right,” said Elephant. “I guarantee I’ll pull the cow out, or the rope will break.” So he tied the rope around the neck of Elephant.

  Then Compere Rabbit took the other end of the rope and ran toward the sea. He went up to Whale and paid her some of the same compliments. He asked her if she wouldn’t help him free up his cow that was stuck in the woods in a bayou. He was so convincing that no one could ever refuse him anything. So Whale took hold of the rope and said: “When I hear the drum beat, I’ll pull.” “Yes,” said Rabbit; “begin pulling gently, and then harder and harder.” “Don’t you worry,” said Whale; “I’ll pull out the cow, even if the Devil is holding her.” “That is good,” said Rabbit. And he went off aways from both Whale and Elephant so they couldn’t see him and began to beat on his drum.

  The elephant began to pull so hard that the rope was stretched to the breaking point. Whale, on her side, was pulling and pulling, but she was losing ground and being pulled to the land because she didn’t have any ground to plant herself on. When she saw that she was being pulled onto the land she beat her tail furiously and plunged headlong toward the depths of the sea. Now Elephant found himself being dragged into the sea. “What is happening? That cow must be really scared!” So he twisted the rope around his trunk and planted his feet so well that he was able to pull so hard that he pulled Whale onto the shore.

  When he looked back he was astonished to see that his friend Whale was on the other end of the rope. “What is this? I thought I was pulling Compere Rabbit’s cow,” he said. “Rabbit told me the same thing,” said Whale. “I think he must be playing a trick on us.” “He’ll pay for that,” said Elephant, “if I ever catch him on land.” “And if he comes near the sea, I’ll get him,” said Whale.

  Hearing all this, Compere Rabbit said to Bouki: “It’s getting pretty hot; I guess it’s time for us to get out of here.” “You see,” said Bouki, “you are always getting us into trouble.” “Oh, don’t worry, I’m not through with them; you’ll see how I’ll fix them yet.”

  So they went away and after a while they separated. When Compere Rabbit arrived in the wood, he found a little dead deer. The dogs had worried the hair off its skin in many places, and when Rabbit skinned the deer and put it on his back, he looked just like a wounded deer.

  He passed limping by Elephant, who said to him: “Poor little deer, how sick you look
.” “Oh, yes, I’m really suffering,” he said sadly. “You see, Compere Rabbit poisoned me and put his curse on me, because I wanted to stop him from eating grass on land. Take care Mr. Elephant, Compere Rabbit has made a bargain with the Devil; he will be hard on you too, if you don’t take care.”

  Now Elephant got frightened. He said, “Little deer, tell Compere Rabbit that I am still his friend. When you see him, send him my regards.”

  A little later the deer met Whale in the sea. “Poor little deer, why are you limping so? You seem sick today.” “Oh yes, Compere Rabbit did that. Take care, Compere Whale, for Rabbit can poison anyone he wants because the Devil gave him the power to do so.” The whale was frightened too, and said: “I don’t want anything to do with Devil; send Compere Rabbit my regards when you see him again.”

  Now Rabbit met Bouki and he took off the deer’s skin and they both laughed until their sides ached. “No matter who’s the largest,” Rabbit said, “I’m still the strongest—at least when I use my head!”

  —Louisiana

  25

  TIGER BECOMES A RIDING HORSE

  Once upon a time, long before now, Anansi and Tiger used to go out romancing those girls together. But as things will happen, one day they found that they were both courting the same young lady, and they got very jealous of each other. So you know Anansi, he went to this lady’s yard and he started in on his boasting, claiming that Tiger was nothing better than his father’s old riding horse. Of course, it wasn’t any time before Tiger came by to call upon this girl he thought was his sweetheart. But the young lady said to him, “Go along with you now! How can you just come around courting when I heard that you are nothing but an old riding horse?”

  “What do you mean?” asked Tiger. “Who is telling you this? It looks like somebody has been telling stories about me, and they have filled your ears with big lies, ma’am. But I tell you what I’ll do. I’ll go straight to my friend Anansi, and he’ll tell you that all of this is just something somebody is stirring up. I never have been his father’s old jackass riding horse.” So the lady told him to get going.

  So Tiger took up his walking stick, and put his pipe in his cheek, and walking out as respectably as he can he went straight to Anansi’s yard. He found Anansi lying there on his bed moaning with fever. So he lifted the latch, and called out, “Brer Anansi! Brer Anansi!” Anansi heard him very well, but he just said so soft and sicklike, “Brer Tiger, you call me?” He knew that Brer Tiger was going to be mad at him, you know.

  Tiger said, “Yes, I called you! I came right over to your house because someone has been telling lies about me and I wanted to find out if it was you. I want to hear it from your own mouth. If you said those things, I’m going to make you prove it.”

  “Oooh,” Anansi groaned. “Can’t you see I have a fever? My stomach is hurting me bad, and I have just been to the doctor and taken some of his medicine!”

  “Is that so?” said Tiger. “I don’t believe you.”

  “I just ate two pills, Brer Tiger, so how can you think I could even get up and go to any lady’s yard to prove anything tonight?” “I don’t want to have any argument with you, brother,” replied Tiger, “but I think you better come with me anyhow to tell that lady tonight that I am not your father’s old jackass riding horse.”

  “Oh, Lord!” cried Anansi. “This pain in my breast just won’t let me be, it’s burning so bad! But if you insist, I could try to go with you to see the lady. But I’m feeling so sick.”

  Then Tiger said, “Well, since you’re so sick maybe I could help you get there. How can I help?” So Brer Anansi said, “Well, just lift me up a little and see how I feel.” So Tiger lifted him, and Anansi said, “Oh, Lord, I’m feeling dizzy.” So Tiger said, “Just grab on here on my neck, and don’t worry; I will carry you on my back.” “Wait a minute, then, brother, and I will get out of bed here and help out.” But he fell back, and he cried out, “Oh, Lord, I just can’t get up at all. I beg you, brother, come lift me up again.” So Tiger raised him up again, and again Anansi fell back. Now Tiger didn’t know what to do. Brer Anansi looked up and said, “Well, why don’t you get that saddle up there in the rafters and put it on and I could maybe grab hold of that and you could carry me.”

  So he went to the rafter, and took down Brer Anansi’s saddle. Brer Anansi said, “Now just put that on your back, brother, and I can sit down soft.”

  Then Anansi got up on his saddle and got his bridle and reins. “Hey!” said Tiger, “what are you going to do with that?” Brer Anansi said, “If you just put that through your mouth, brother, and then I can tell you if you are starting to go too fast and I am going to fall off. “All right then,” said Tiger; “put it on.”

  So Anansi took out his horsewhip. “Hey!” said Tiger. “What are you going to do with that?” “If a fly comes on your ear or back, brother, I will be able to take this whip and lick it off.” Tiger said, “Well, O.K.” So Anansi put on his spurs. “Hey!” said Tiger. “Now what are you going to do with those?” “If flies come on your side, brother, I can brush them away with my spurs and make them fly away.” “O.K., never mind then,” said Tiger; “put them on.”

  Then Anansi moaned, “Well, Brer Tiger, if you stoop down, I can get on.” And that way Anansi mounted on his back, and Tiger then began to walk off. But as he went along Anansi pulled him up with the bridle. “Stop, brother! Take your time, will you; my head is hurting me so!”

  So Tiger went on about a mile or so, and after a little while, Anansi took his whip out and gave Tiger a lick on the ear. “Hey!” said Tiger. “What’s that for?” “Well, there was a stupid fly on your ear! Shoo fly!” “All right, brother,” said Tiger, “but next time don’t hit so hard.”

  Tiger went on for another mile or so and Anansi stuck his spur into his side. Tiger jumped and cried out, “Now wait a minute! What is that you’re doing?” “Those bothersome flies, brother. They are biting your side hard.”

  Then Tiger went on for another half-mile, till he came to the lady’s yard. Now the lady’s house had two doors, a front one and a back one. Just as he came to the entrance of the yard, Anansi rose up in his saddle, just like jockeys run races on the Kingston racecourse, and he took out his whip and he lashed Tiger hard! “Hey!” cried Tiger. “You lick too hard!” But Anansi lashed him more and more until Tiger really started to run. Then Anansi took his spurs and stuck them into Tiger’s side and he made him run right up to the lady’s door-mouth.

  Then Anansi took off his hat and waved it above his head and said to the lady, who was standing at the door, “Good morning, mistress, didn’t I tell you the truth that Tiger is nothing but my father’s old riding horse?” He leaped off Tiger, and went into the lady’s house, and Tiger was so embarrassed that he galloped off, and never was heard of no more.

  —Jamaica

  26

  THE TELLTALE PEPPER BUSH

  Once there was a king and queen who had a daughter and a son. The queen died. There was an old witch who had the power to make herself beautiful when she wanted. And when the king saw her she had changed herself into a beauty, and he wanted to marry her, and he did. Now that woman didn’t like the little girl at all because she was so jealous of the king’s love for his daughter.

  One day, after the king had gone off to work, the woman told the little girl that she was going to the river, and she hung up a bunch of bananas in a tree. Now, birds love to eat ripe bananas when they are just hanging out in the open air like that, but she hung them there just to give that girl a hard task to do. She told the girl that if she saw any birds coming, she must chide them and make them fly away so that they won’t peck on the fig-bananas.

  So the woman took her washbasin and all the washing and went to the river. The girl stood there in the yard trying to do her sweeping and up came a blackbird. So the beautiful young girl started to sing:

  Do Blackbird, do blackbird

  Don’t take that fig;

  Do Blackbird, do blackbird
<
br />   Don’t take that fig;

  Do Blackbird, do blackbird

  Don’t take that fig;

  My mommy will bury me alive.

  The blackbird heard what she was singing, took pity on her, and didn’t take the fig.

  But then a pigeon flew down into the yard toward the bananas, and the girl started to sing again:

  Do Pigeon, do pigeon

  Don’t take that fig;

  Do Pigeon, do pigeon

  Don’t take that fig;

  Do Pigeon, do pigeon

  Don’t take that fig;

  My mommy will bury me alive.

  So the pigeon heard her and took pity on her and flew away without touching the bananas.

  At last there came an owl. And the girl started to sing again:

  Do Mr. Owl, do Mr. Owl

  Don’t take that fig;

  Do Mr. Owl, do Mr. Owl

  Don’t take that fig;

  Do Mr. Owl, do Mr. Owl

  Don’t take that fig;

  For my mommy will bury me alive.

  The owl flew down and picked at the fig just as the woman came up the hill to the yard. And that gave her the chance to curse the girl right then. The girl turned to her and said, “But, Mommy, I did everything I could to keep the birds away. But Mr. Owl came last and he picked the fig so fast I couldn’t do anything about it.”

  Now right there in the yard there was a pepper tree. And the father, every time the father ate, he used to like to have a pepper. And she dug a deep hole and she threw the girl into it and buried her right by the pepper tree.

  When the father came home, he asked for his beautiful girl, and the stepmother said she didn’t know where the girl was, because she had been gone for the whole morning. Well, the father sent his son out to pick a pepper for his dinner. And when the boy went to pick the pepper, the bush started to sing: