“‘Pig-un-a-wa-ya, Pig-un-a-wa-ya, hooo-hooo!’
“An’ wile dey wuz er singing’ an’ er j’yin’ uv deyselves, hyear come de
birds; an’ de frog he felt so big, caze he’d got de stone, tell he
stood up on Nancy Jane O’s back, he did, an’ he tuck’n shuck de stone
at de birds, an’ holler at ’em,
“‘O Pig-un-a-wa-ya, Pig-un-a-wa-ya, hoo-hooo!’
An’ jes ez he said dat, he felt hisse’f slippin’, an’ dat made him
clutch on ter Po’ Nancy Jane O, an’ down dey bof’ went tergedder
kersplash, right inter de crick.
“De frog he fell slap on ter er big rock, an’ bust his head all ter
pieces; an’ Po’ Nancy Jane O sunk down in de water an’ got drownded;
an’ dat’s de een’.”
“Did the king get the stone, Aunt Edy?” asked Dumps.
“Wy no, chile; don’t yer know de mole he’s blin’ tell yit? ef’n he
could er got dat stone, he could er seen out’n his eyes befo’ now. But
I ain’t got no time ter fool ’long er you chil’en. I mus’ git marster’s
shuts done, I mus’.”
And Aunt Edy turned to her ironing-table, as if she didn’t care for
company; and Dumps and Tot, seeing that she was tired of them, went
back to the house, Tot singing,
“Who on-tied, who on-tied Po’ Nanty Dane O?”
and Dumps answering back,
“Pig-un-a-wa-ya, Pig-un-a-wa-ya, hooo-hooo!”
CHAPTER X
PLANTATION GAMES
“Mammy, the quarter folks are goin’ ter play to-night; can’t we go look
at ’em?” pleaded Diddie one Saturday evening, as Mammy was busy sorting
out the children’s clothes and putting them away.
“Yer allers want ter be ’long er dem quarter-folks,” said Mammy. “Dem
ain’t de ’soshuts fur you chil’en.”
“We don’t want ter ’soshate with ’em, Mammy; we only want ter look at
’em play ‘Monkey Moshuns’ and ‘Lipto’ and ‘The Lady You Like Best,’ and
hear Jim pick the banjo, and see ’em dance; can’t we go? PLEASE! It’s
warm weather now, an’ er moonshiny night; can’t we go?”
And Diddie placed one arm around Mammy’s neck, and laid the other
little hand caressingly on her cheek; and Mammy, after much persuasion,
agreed to take them, if they would come home quietly when she wanted
them to.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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