African Americans -- Fiction; Short stories, American
A newly married man, whose wife had made kindling wood of the furniture,
sold Regnan a cooking stove. "Beware of the first wedding day," said the
man. Regnan thought him unwise, and drove on. He knew of another newly
married couple who were living in hopes of many anniversaries. To these
he would sell the stove. He could fancy the good wife cooking pancakes
for her husband. Ere he could reach them he exchanged the stove for a
sofa. "All good wives need rest," said he. "The sofa will therefore
serve as well as the stove. I can see the good man and his wife resting
upon it now."
Later in the afternoon an old friend stopped Regnan.
"Now, listen," said he, "to an anniversary march. While I play you think
of the days agone." The friend played, and the tears stole down
Regnan's cheeks.
"How much for the fiddle?" asked Regnan. "Take the fiddle for the sofa."
The exchange was made. "The newly married couple are loving and patient.
They can wait," said Regnan. "I will stop here and get my beaver hat,
white vest, and swallow-tailed coat." He went into the tailor's shop and
got them. He had had them cleaned for the anniversary.
Regnan was now very tired. He had been in the hot sun all day. He had
had nothing to eat since morning. Besides, the malaria made him drowsy.
So he stopped under a tree to rest. The clothes and fiddle were
tempting. He spread the coat upon some newspapers in the wagon and put
the vest in the proper place. He then placed the beaver at the head.
"Kitty," said he, as though she was present, "look at your husband." He
became more and more drowsy. He played. He nodded and closed his eyes.
He stopped playing with his fingers on the bow and the bow on the
strings.
Several boys were watching Regnan. They thought it would be nice to put
the vest, coat, and hat on the biggest boy and dance around him while
Regnan "played in his dreams." It was done. The boy so dressed stood in
a clear place and held out the tails of the coat. The others circled
around him.
In every neighborhood there are at least two factions among the boys.
Fight is born in a boy. Letting it out occasionally will help to tame
him. It was so in this case. It happened that the opposing faction had
business that way. When they saw what was going on, they cried: "Fun,
boys, fun!" A dozen pebbles fell among the dancers, who fled from the
attack, and the fun began. The beaver hat and swallow-tailed coat were
kept in the lead. The opposing faction followed, threw pebbles, and
laughed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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