The Annotated African American Folktales

by Henry Louis Gates

  So de man said, “God, dat cat’s got all our nine lives in her belly.” And he told God about de fish.

  God looked hard at dat cat for a hundred years, but it seem lak a minute.

  Then he said, “Gabriel, Peter, Rayfield,12 John and Michael, all y’all ketch dat cat, and throw him outa Heben.”

  So they did and he was fallin’ for nine days, and there ain’t been no cats in Heben since. But he still got dem nine lives in his belly and you got to kill him nine times befo’ he’ll stay dead.13

  Stepped on a pin, de pin bent

  and dat’s de way de story went.

  “Dat may be so, Presley,” commented Jim Allen, “but if Ah ketch one messin’ ’round my fish, Ah bet Ah kin knock dat man and woman and dem five chillun, de dog and de cat outa any cat Ah ever seen wid one lick.”

  “Dat’s one something. Ah ain’t never gointer kill,” announced Willard forcefully. “It’s dead bad luck.”

  “Me neither,” assented Sack Daddy. “Everybody know it’s nine years hard luck. Ah shot a man once up in West Florida, killed him dead for bull-dozin’ me in a skin game, and got clean away. Ah got down in de phosphate mines around Mulberry and was doin’ fine till Ah shacked up wid a woman dat had a great big ole black cat wid a white star in his bosom. He had a habit of jumpin’ up on de bed all durin’ de night time. One night Ah woke up and he was on my chest wid his nose right to mine, suckin’ my breath.

  Ah got so mad Ah grabbed dat sucker by de tail and bust his brains out against a stanchion.14 My woman cried and carried on ’bout de cat and she tole me Ah was gointer to have back luck. Man, you know it wasn’t two weeks befo’ Sheriff Joe Brown laid his hand on my shoulder and tole me, ‘Le’s go.’ Ah made five years for dat at Raiford. Killin’ cats is bad luck.”15

  SOURCE: Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men, 121–23.

  In Mules and Men, Zora Neale Hurston shows us folklore in action, giving us stories with their cultural surround. What appears to be a straightforward explanatory tale about “How the Cat Got Nine Lives” turns out to be a rich site of interpretive activity, with Jim Presley the teller showing us the motivation for the story and his audience chiming in at the end of the tale, demonstrating its relevance to their own lives. The story is introduced through a chain of associative banter and is then processed through improvisational talk. Hurston’s “spyglass of anthropology” enables her to zoom in on both teller and audience, watching what leads up to the tale and enabling us to witness its afterlife in a community.

  “How the Cat Got Nine Lives,” from Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men. Copyright 1935 by Zora Neale Hurston; renewed © 1963 by John C. Hurston and Joel Hurston. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

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  1 a large gar: A slow-moving fish found in shallow, brackish areas of rivers, lakes, and bayous. Known as voracious predators, they catch their prey with needle-like teeth. Their unusual green bones make them less appetizing than other fish.

  2 spit white lime: A variant reads “Brer Monkey chew opium, and give a good rhyme.”

  3 this was a man dat had a wife and five chillun, and a dog and a cat: The family unit is configured as one in which the wife and child are subordinated through their roles to the “man.” Dog and cat are included in a way that suggests that they too are family members.

  4 de river rose and drowned out everything: Like many folktales, this one begins with famine, hunger, and the threat of starvation. First comes a drought and lack, then a flood and excess, wiping out crops and the possibility of finding sustenance.

  5 blue-John: skimmed milk

  6 white mouf: one symptom of starvation is ash-gray skin around the mouth

  7 piller: pillow

  8 skeerce and educated: Animals are humanized and described in terms usually applied to humans.

  9 for our dog and our cat: The fisherman may be hungry and exhausted, but he finds the strength to keep fishing to enable the dog and cat to survive.

  10 So he made de cat eat dat other fish: Even if the last fish could not have saved the entire family, it could have saved one member. That the man chooses revenge over one life is telling.

  11 de man and his wife and chillun and de dog and cat all died: The sobering deaths of all in the family echo the endings of what folklorists call cumulative tales, or chain tales, stories like “The Gingerbread Man” or “The Cock and the Hen,” with spare plots that build up to a disastrous ending.

  12 Rayfield: Raphael

  13 you got to kill him nine times befo’ he’ll stay dead: The origins of a cat’s proverbial nine lives are unclear. The fact that they survive falls and other situations that would be fatal to humans most likely gave rise to the proverb that “a cat has nine lives” and “For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays.”

  14 stanchion: an upright supporting fixture

  15 Killin’ cats is bad luck: From the notion of cats having nine lives, the tale expands outward to the bad luck that comes from killing cats. Proverbs and superstitions often provide the pretext for a story whose truth can rarely be captured in a one-liner.

  “BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER” AND BUTTERFLIES

  “Take for instance de time they had de gopher up in court.

  “De gopher come in and looked all around de place. De judge was a turtle, de lawyers was turtles, de witnesses was turtles and they had turtles for jurymen.

  “So de gopher ast de judge to excuse his case and let him come back some other time. De judge ast him how come he wanted to put off his case and de gopher looked all around de room and said, ‘Blood is thicker than water,’ and escused hisself from de place.”

  “Yeah,” said Floyd Thomas, “but even God ain’t satisfied wid some of de things He makes and changes ’em Hisself.”

  Jim Presley wanted to know what God ever changed, to Floyd’s knowledge.

  Well, He made butterflies after de world wuz all finished and thru. You know de Lawd seen so much bare ground till He got sick and tired lookin’ at it. So God tole ’m to fetch ’im his prunin’ shears and trimmed up de trees and made grass and flowers and throwed ’em all over de clearin’s and dey growed dere from memorial days.

  Way after while de flowers said, “Wese put heah to keep de world comp’ny but wese lonesome ourselves.” So God said, “A world is somethin’ ain’t never finished. Soon’s you make one thing you got to make somethin’ else to go wid it. Gimme dem li’l tee-ninchy1 shears.”

  So he went ’round clippin’ li’l pieces offa everything—de sky, de trees, de flower, de earth, de varmints and every one of dem li’l clippin’s flew off. When folks seen all them li’l scraps fallin’ from God’s scissors and flutterin’ they called ’em flutter-bys. But you know how it is wid de brother in black. He got a big mouf and a stumbling tongue. So he got it all mixed up and said, “butter-fly” and folks been calling ’em dat ever since. Dat’s how come we got butterflies of every color and kind and dat’s why dey hangs ’round de flowers. Dey wuz made to keep de flowers company.

  SOURCE: Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men, 119–20.

  The tales in Mules and Men are set off visually from Hurston’s description of conversations among the tellers. But occasionally a story is told in the narrative frame itself and gives rise to a new tale, creating a sense that human exchanges are driven by story itself. The cynical tale about a gopher who declines to bring his case to court on the grounds that the courtroom is packed with turtles is juxtaposed to a vignette about beauty and social bonding in the natural order. Butterflies and flowers, unlike gophers and turtles, mix and mingle freely for their mutual benefit.

  “Blood Is Thicker Than Water” and “Butterflies,” from Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men. Copyright 1935 by Zora Neale Hurston; renewed © 1963 by John C. Hurston and Joel Hurston. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

  1 tee-ninchy: small

  WHEN GOD FIRST PUT FOLKS ON EARTH
AND WHY WOMEN ALWAYS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MEN

  Below are two versions of the same folktale, one told to Hurston by a male informant, the other by a woman.

  WHEN GOD FIRST PUT FOLKS ON EARTH

  When God first put folks on earth there wasn’t no difference between men and women. They was all alike. They did de same work and everything. De man got tired uh fussin’ ’bout who gointer do this and who gointer do that.

  So he went up tuh God and ast him tuh give him power over de woman so dat he could rule her and stop all dat arguin’.

  He ast Hum tuh give him a lil mo’ strength and he’d do de heavy work and let de woman jus’ take orders from him whut to do. He told Him he wouldn’t mind doing de heavy [work] if he could jus’ boss de job. So de Lawd done all he ast Him and he went on back home—and right off he started tuh bossin’ de woman uh-round.

  So de woman didn’t lak dat a-tall. So she went up tuh God and ast Him how come He give man all de power and didn’t leave her none. So He tole her, “You never ast Me for none. I thought you was satisfied.”

  She says, “Well, I ain’t, wid de man bossin’ me round lak he took tuh doin’ since you give him all de power. I wants half uh his power. Take it away and give it tuh me.”

  De Lawd shook His head. He tole her, “I never takes nothin’ back after I done give it out. It’s too bad since you don’t like it, but you shoulda come up wid him, then I woulda ’vided it half and half!”

  De woman was so mad she left dere spittin’ lak a cat. She went straight to duh devil. He tole her: “I’ll tell you whut to do. You go right back up tuh God and ast Him tuh give you dat bunch uh keys hangin’ by de mantle shelf; den bring ’em here tuh me and I’ll tell you whut to do wid’ em, and you kin have mo’ power than man.”

  So she did and God give ’em tuh her thout uh word and she took ’em back to de devil. They was three keys on dat ring. So de devil tole her whut they was. One was de key to de bedroom and one was de key to de cradle and de other was de kitchen key. He tole her not tuh go home and start no fuss, jus’ take de keys and lock up everything an’ wait till de man come in—and she could have her way. So she did. De man tried tuh ack stubborn at first. But he couldn’t git no peace in de bed and nothin’ tuh eat, an’ he couldn’t make no generations tuh follow him unless he use his power tuh suit de woman. It wasn’t doin’ him no good tuh have de power cause she wouldn’t let ’im use it lak he wanted tuh. So he tried tuh dicker wid her. He said he’d give her half de power if she would let him keep de keys half de time.

  De devil popped right up and tole her naw, jus’ keep whut she got and let him keep whut he got. So de man went back up tuh God, but He tole him jus’ lak he done de woman.

  So he ast God jus’ tuh give him part de key tuh de cradle so’s he could know and be sure who was de father of chillun, but God shook His head and tole him: “You have tuh ast de woman and take her word. She got de keys and I never take back whut I give out.”

  So de man come on back and done lak de woman tole him for de sake of peace in de bed. And thass how come women got de power over mens today.

  SOURCE: Zora Neale Hurston, Every Tongue Got to Confess, 7–9. Told by “Old Man Drummond.”

  WHY WOMEN ALWAYS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MEN

  “Whut ole black advantage is y’ll got?” B. Moseley asked indignantly. “We got all de strength and all de law and all de money and you can’t git a thing but whut we jes’ take pity on you and give you.”

  “And dat’s jus’ de point,” said Mathilda triumphantly. “You do give it to us, but how come you do it?” And without waiting for an answer Mathilda began to tell why women always take advantage of men:

  You see in de very first days, God made a man and a woman and put ’em in a house together to live. ’Way back in them days de woman was just as strong as de man and both of ’em did de same things. They useter get to fussin ’bout who gointer do this and that and sometime they’d fight, but they was even balanced and neither one could whip de other one.

  One day de man said to hisself, “B’lieve Ah’m gointer go see God and ast Him for a li’l mo’ strength so Ah kin whip dis ’oman and make her mind. Ah’m tired of de way things is.” So he went on up to God.

  “Good mawnin’, Ole Father.”

  “Howdy man. Whut you doin’ ’round my throne so soon dis mawnin’?”

  “Ah’m troubled in mind, and nobody can’t ease mah spirit ’ceptin’ you.”

  God said: “Put yo’ plea in de right form and Ah’ll hear and answer.”

  “Ole Maker, wid de mawnin’ stars glitterin’ in yo’ shinin’ crown, wid de dust from yo’ footsteps makin’ worlds upon worlds, wid de blazin’ bird we call de sun flyin’ out of yo’ right hand in de mawnin’ and consumin’ all day de flesh and blood of stump-black darkness, and comes flyin’ home every evenin’ to rest on yo’ left hand, and never once in yo’ eternal years, mistood de left hand for de right, Ah ast you please to give me mo’ strength than dat woman you give me, so Ah kin make her mind. Ah know you don’t want to be always comin’ down way past de moon and stars to be straightenin’ her out and it’s got to be done. So give me a li’l mo’ strength, Ole Maker and Ah’ll do it.”

  “All right, Man, you got mo’ strength than woman.”

  So de man run all de way down de stairs from Heben till he got home. He was so anxious to try his strength on de woman dat he couldn’t take his time. Soon’s he got in de house he hollered “Woman! Here’s yo’ boss. God done tole me to handle you in which ever way Ah please. A’m yo’ boss.”

  De woman flew to fightin’ ’im right off. She fought ’im frightenin’ but he beat her. She got her wind and tried ’im agin but he whipped her agin. She got herself together and made de third try on him vigorous but he beat her every time. He was so proud he could whip ’er at last, dat he just crowed over her and made her do a lot of things she didn’t like. He told her, “Long as you obey me, Ah’ll be good to yuh, but every time yuh rear up Ah’m gointer put plenty wood on yo’ back and plenty water in yo’ eyes.”

  De woman was so mad she went straight up to Heben and stood befo’ de Lawd. She didn’t waste no words. She said, “Lawd, Ah come befo’ you mighty mad t’day. Ah want back my strength and power Ah useter have.”

  “Woman, you got de same power you had since de beginnin’.”

  “Why is it then, dat de man kin beat me now and he useter couldn’t do it?”

  “He got mo’ strength than he useter have, He come and ast me for it and Ah give it to ’im. Ah gives to them that ast, and you ain’t never ast me for no mo’ power.”

  “Please suh, God, Ah’m astin’ you for it now. Jus’ gimme de same as you give him.”

  God shook his head. “It’s too late now, woman. Whut Ah give, Ah never take back. Ah give him mo’ strength than you and no matter how much Ah give you, he’ll have mo’.”

  De woman was so mad she wheeled around and went on off. She went straight to de devil and told him what had happened.

  He said, “Don’t be dis-incouraged, woman. You listen to me and you’ll come out mo’ than conqueror. Take dem frowns out yo’ face and turn round and go right on back to Heben and ast God to give you dat bunch of keys hangin’ by de mantel-piece. Then you bring ’em and Ah’ll show you what to do wid ’em.”

  So de woman climbed back up to Heben agin. She was mighty tired but she was more out-done than she was tired so she climbed all night long and got back up to Heben agin. When she got befo’ de throne, butter wouldn’t melt in her mouf.

  “O Lawd and Master of de rainbow, Ah know yo’ power. You never make two mountains without you put a valley in between. Ah know you kin hit a straight lick wid a crooked stick.”

  “Ast for whut you want, woman.”

  “God, gimme dat bunch of keys hangin’ by yo’ mantel-piece.”

  “Take ’em.”

  So de woman took de keys and hurried on back to de devil wid ’em. There was three keys on de bunch. Devil say, “See dese three key
s? They got mo’ power in ’em than all de strength de man kin ever git if you handle ’em right. Now dis first big key is to de do’ of de kitchen, and you know a man always favors his stomach. Dis second one is de key to de bedroom and he don’t like to be shut out from dat neither and dis last key is de key to de cradle and he don’t want to be cut off from his generations at all. So now you take dese keys and go lock up everything and wait till he come to you. Then don’t you unlock nothin’ until he use his strength for yo’ benefit and yo’ desires.”

  De woman thanked ’im and tole ’im, “If it wasn’t for you, Lawd knows whut us po’ women folks would do.”

  She started off but de devil halted her. “Jus’ one mo’ thing: don’t go home braggin’ ’bout yo’ keys. Jus’ lock up everything and say nothin’ until you git asked. And then don’t talk too much.”

  De woman went on home and did like de devil tole her. When de man come home from work she was settin’ on de porch singin’ some song ’bout “Peck on de wood make de bed go good.”

  When de man found de three doors fastened what useter stand wide open he swelled up like pine lumber after a rain. First thing he tried to break in cause he figgered his strength would overcome all obstacles. When he saw he couldn’t do it, he ast de woman, “Who locked dis do’?”

  She tole ’im, “Me.”

  “Where did you git de key from?”

  “God give it to me.”

  He run up to God and said, “God, woman got me locked ’way from my vittles, my bed and my generations, and she say you give her the keys.”

  God said, “I did, Man, Ah give her de keys, but de devil showed her how to use ’em!”

  “Well, Ole Maker, please gimme some keys jus’ lak ’em so she can’t git de full control.”

  “No, Man, what Ah give Ah give. Woman got de key.”

  “How kin Ah know ’bout my generations?”

  “Ast de woman.”