Uncle Reubin: “Well, I didn’ say what sort she put on; mout erbin
crows-foot, spechly ef’n de fros’ had kilt de fig leaves, er it mout
erbin Firginny Creeper, er she mout uh rap hersef in clusters ub
grapevines; we all no dar wan’ no fashion in _dem days_.
“De Bible say: ‘Ez in water de face anserreth ter face, so de hart ub
man ter man;’ so de water wuz Miss Eve’s lookin’ glass, dat’s what it
mean; an’ all dat watah wuz fresh; de consequation wuz, da wuz no shirks
in it.”
Jim Brooks, from Queen Anne’s County: “I rid 20 miles ter heah dis
’bate, an’ I wan’ ter no what watah got ter do wid it. Ev’body seems ter
hab fogot de shirks.”
Uncle Reubin: “I has jes’ ’cited uh vus fum Sams, an’ I will ’cite an
nerr fum Proberbs: ‘Tho’ thou shouldst bray uh fool in uh morter ’mong
wheat wid uh pessal, yet will not his foolishness depart fum him.’ Why,
Brer Brooks, ef’n it hadn’ bin fuh watah de twelve Petracks mout neber
bin bo’n. De narration say dat Mars Jacob met Miss Rachael at de well,
an’ ef’n de well had uh bin dry he mout neber hab met de mudder ub de
Petracks.
“Now, what wud dat gyarden bin ’dout plenty watah? Dey wud uh lef’ it,
an’ got an nerr gyarden; fuh not only Mars Adum an’ Miss Eve baved in
dat Paradice watah, but de seeds an’ de vegetables sipped it, de flowers
when deah faces got dusty, washed in it, de cups ub de blossoms hilt it,
I specks, till de watah tu’n inter perfume, an’ I kin almos’ see de
jewdraps hangin’ on ev’y leaf, mo’ lubly dan uh oyster pearl. It makes
Uncle Reubin glad when he looks at watah, fuh it tu’ns our mills, gibs
us cawn bred, brings de big schooners wid our boots, shoes, clothes an’
mullasses, an’ when de tide comes in, ’specially at sundown, when de
birds is goin’ ter deah nesses, an’ de busy bees is wanderin’ home, da
is nuffin I lubs mo’ ter look at, it’s so quiet an’ repose. No place kin
be lonely ef’n watah is da; but it’s uh sad thing, too, fuh what is mo’
’stressin’ dan eyes full ub tears. But mos’ ub all, young people ub dis
chuch don’ fogit dat watah wash yo’ sins uh way, an’ meck you ez white
ez de lam’. But I am condident da is only one kind fit fuh ’mersion, an’
dat’s fresh watah.”
Sister Sue: “Dat’s it; now yo’r climin’ dem golden stairs, Brer Viney!”
Sally Mink: “Blessid be his brow, he’s fairly chantin’ de songs ub de
Sams.”
Mrs. Rodgers’ Ned: “I is convicted, Brer Viney, an’ I plays de fiddle no
mo’!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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