Tar Heel TalesBryant, H. E. C. (Henry Edward Cowan)
General
Tar Heel Tales
Bryant, H. E. C. (Henry Edward Cowan)
African Americans -- Fiction; North Carolina -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Short stories, American
The meeting was getting right then for Elder Brown, a man of piety and
reverence, cried out: “Dat’s it, sister, tell it to ’em!”
A half-dozen women and two men joined the first shouter.
“An’ it’s good enough fer me,” yelled the preacher, slapping his big
hands together; “come on, brethren an’ sistern, an’ jine de moaners!”
Four-fifths of the congregation kept an eye on Arabella, knowing that it
was only a question of time until she would come forward with a swing and
a whoop, and tell what she had seen.
The eager throng did not have to wait long, for Arabella was eager to get
out, and deliver her message. Laying aside her hat and veil she waltzed
out, humming softly, and sweetly, in a melodious voice, “An’ I seed er
vision, er vision, er vision!”
“I tole you so, honey, an’ she’s gwine to tell it,” shouted Uncle Jerry
Howard, one of the class leaders.
As she rose I got a good look at Arabella, and I was very much impressed
with her masculine features. She weighed about 225 pounds, was large of
bone, muscular and black. She entered the aisle reeling and rocking.
“Clar de way dere,” said Parson Honeycutt, “an’ let Miss Simpkins pass!”
“It sho’ is de same ole Arabella,” declared Class Leader Jones, “an’
she’s gut trouble on her mind des as sho’ as you’s born’d.
“Come on, Sister Simpkins, an’ don’t keep us in dis agony! Tell de truf
as you see it! Tell it an’ let us prepare fer de wust!”
“Dis mornin’,” sang Arabella, “as I wuz er comin’ er long-er de road, I
seed er vision, er vision, er vision.”
“Tell it, sister; don’t keep back nothin’. What wuz it you seed?” came
from the amen corner.
“Yes, Brer Honeycutt, des as I started, an’ as I wuz comin’ down de
road-er, I seed er vision, er vision, er vision!”
“Yes, Lawd! Tell it all, sister! What did you see?”
“An’ I looked back-er, an’ seed it ergin-er.”
“Come on wid it, sister! Tell it all!”
“An’ it had-er long tail-er. Yes, Lawd, an’ dat I did-er!”
“Come on, honey, what wuz it you seed?”
By this time everybody else had quit shouting; Arabella had the floor to
herself. Every neck was craned and every ear open to get what she said.
“An’ I look back-er, an’ I seed dat it had er head-er, er head-er, er
head-er!”
“What den, chile?”
“An’ er long body-er, body-er, body-er! An’ legs-er, fo’ long legs-er.
Yes, yes, chillun, an’ fo’ legs-er!”
While this was going on I could not keep my eyes off of Parson Honeycutt,
the large, striking-looking preacher, who was very superstitious. I
was afraid he would go into convulsions. His eyes were stretched, his
nostrils distended and his mouth in a quiver. He leaned over the pulpit
and listened intently at Arabella. He was anxious to hear her prediction.
The suspense was telling on his nerves, and his heart.
“What wuz it, sister?” he cried in his agony.
“An’ I look back-er, an’ seed dat it had a long pair years-er,” continued
Arabella.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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