“Now, wan’t dat scanlus? It’s jes’ ez bad ez fishin’ on Sunday. Dat’s
what gib Jim Brooks de brake-bone fever, fishin’ on Sunday; but de
doctor tole Kyarline, his wife, not ter be relarmed, but reposed; dat de
_bone-set_ tea he wuz ergibbin’ him would kow de wus kine ub brake-bone
fever. Doctor Dawson is sut’ny uh pow’ful doctor. Fuh instinct, meh arms
wuz all broke out. He say dey wuz too clean fum habin’ dem in soapsuds
too much, so he tole me ter grease meh arms wid goose grease befo’ I
commenc’ ter wash. Well, it made de skin sorf, kep’ de water outin de
poors, an’ it sholy cured meh arms. Aunt Betsy wuz ’tirely mustakin; she
say dat when I got het up washin’ da wuz uh checkeration ub
pusspuration, an’ dat made it.
“I heah de bell ringin’, Aunt Tillie, so let’s go in, fuh dat mus’ mean
de speechifyin’ gwine futto commence.”
Just as they entered Pawson Phil Demby said: “Sistus an’ brudders, de
fus’ ter pester dis subjec’ will be Brer Frisby Jemes; den Brer Rasmus
Jemes, den Brer Hesakiah Sprouts, an’ de gre’t speller an’ reader, Uncle
Reubin Viney. Da ain’ no use ub interjuicin’ ’em, kase almos’ ev’ybody
heah has kep’ company wid ’em.”
Frisby Jemes: “I wuz ’pinted on dis side, an’ de mo’ I think erbout it
de mo’ I think hits de rong side; de fac’ is, meh mind is pow’ful
’stressed. You see, I bin rasslin’ wid bof sides ub de ’bate, an’ de
consequation is, I is bin dreamin’ ’bout ole shirks an’ young shirks fuh
two weeks, till I kyant res’; an’ I kyant see why dey tuck such uh fishy
subjec’ ter ’bate erbout. Reposin’ on erligion, I shall res’ meh remarks
on de salbation part ub dis ’bate, an’ I wan’ ter say rite heah dat
salbation an’ de funnel-shape pen is all dat will preserb you fum dem
shirks. We _mus’_ hab de pen, fuh ef’n da is anyone heah ornsartin
erbout deah faith, an’ nach’ly timid like many ub de sistus (_ub cose we
men ain’ feard_), dat pen mus’ be built an’ de rails kivvered wid tar,
ter keep dem shirks fum chawin’ de rails. Now, we kin make uh
funnel-shaped pen, an’ hab de mouf ub de funnel jes’ big ernuf fuh one
at uh time ter go in; de shirks, ub cose, kyant git in.”
Wilson Small (interrupting): “Why kyant dey git in? Kyant dey jump same
ez you? Dey kin chaw up de pen. Dey is monstus sens’ble, an’ ef’n dey
raal hongry dey would jump in, tell dey fill dat pen an’ hab all ub dem
moners in uh cluster.”
Damon Mink: “You kyant qualify what you say, an’ fum yo’ talk, uh pusson
mite s’pose de shirks know’d deah A. B. C.’s. Mon dat, you ain’ in dis
’bate! Wha you cum fum, anyhow?”
“Fum Queen Anne’s County; I’m uh free pusson.”
Damon: “Well, we don’ ’low no free niggahs ter ’bate heah!”
“Suppose meh sistah ’longs ter Mars John Tilghman? What den?”
“Set down; we ain’ talkin’ ’bout yo’ sistah, an’ dis subjec’ is
’stressin’ ernuf ’doutin you breakin’ de hyarts ub dese po’ sistus
talkin’ erbout _jumpin’_ shirks!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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