The Chronicles of Aunt Minervy AnnHarris, Joel Chandler
General
The Chronicles of Aunt Minervy Ann
Harris, Joel Chandler
Georgia -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction
“Bimeby, I hear sump’n come swishin’ ’long, an’ in walkt Miss Fanny. I
tell you now, suh, ef I’d a met ’er comin’ down de road, I’d ’a’ made
a break fer de bushes, she look so much like you know sperrets oughter
look—an’ Marse Jesse’s wife wuz layin’ dar wid ’er eyes wide open. She
sorter swunk back in de bed when she see Miss Fanny, an’ cry out, ‘Oh,
I’m mighty sorry fer ter trouble you; I’m gwine ’way in de mornin’.’
Miss Fanny went ter de bed an’ knelt down ’side it, an’ ’low, ‘No, you
ain’t gwine no whar but right in dis house. Yo’ place is here, wid his
mudder an’ his gran’fadder.’ Wid dat, Marse Jesse’s wife put her face in
de piller an’ moan an’ cry, twel I hatter ax Miss Fanny fer ter please,
ma’m, go git some res’.
“Well, suh, I stayed dar dat night an’ part er de nex’ day, an’ by dat
time all un um wuz kinder quieted down, but dey wuz mighty res’less in
de min’, ’speshually Marse Jesse’s wife, which her name wuz Miss Sadie.
It seem like dat Marse Jesse wuz livin’ at a town up dar in de fur
North whar dey wuz a big lake, an’ he went out wid one er dem ’scursion
parties, an’ a storm come up an’ shuck de boat ter pieces. Dat what
make I say what I does. I don’t min’ gwine on ’scursions on de groun’,
but when it come ter water—well, suh, I ain’t gwine ter trus’ myse’f
on water twel I kin walk on it an’ not wet my foots. Marse Jesse wuz
de Captain uv a music-ban’ up dar, an’ de papers fum dar had some long
pieces ’bout ’im, an’ de paper at home had a piece ’bout ’im. It say he
wuz one er de mos’ renounced music-makers what yever had been, an’ dat
when it come ter dat kinder doin’s he wuz a puffick prodigal. I ’member
de words, suh, bekaze I made Hamp read de piece out loud mo’ dan once.
“Miss Sadie, she got mo’ calmer atter while, an’ ’twa’n’t long ’fo’ Marse
Gabe an’ Miss Fanny wuz bofe mighty tuck up wid ’er. Dey much’d ’er up
an’ made a heap un ’er, an’ she fa’rly hung on dem. I done tol’ you she
ain’t purty, but dey wuz sump’n ’bout ’er better dan purtiness. It mought
er been ’er eyes, en den ag’in mought er been de way er de gal; but
whatsomever ’twuz, hit made you think ’bout ’er at odd times durin’ de
day, an’ des ’fo’ you go ter sleep at night.
“Eve’ything went swimmin’ along des ez natchul ez a duck floatin’ on de
mill-pon’. Dey wa’n’t skacely a day but what I seed Miss Sadie. Ef I
ain’t go ter Marse Gabe’s house she’d be sho’ ter come ter mine. Dat uz
atter Hamp wuz ’lected ter de legislatur, suh. He ’low dat a member er de
ingener’l ensembly ain’t got no bizness livin’ in a kitchen, but I say
he ain’t a whit better den dan he wuz befo’. So be, I done been cross ’im
so much dat I tell ’im ter git de house an’ I’d live in it ef ’twa’n’t
too fur fum Miss Vallie an’ Marse Tumlin. Well, he had it built on de
outskyirts, not a big jump fum Miss Vallie an’ betwix’ de town an’ Marse
Gabe Towers’s. When you come down ter de fa’r, you mus’ come see me. Me
an’ Hamp’ll treat you right; we sholy will.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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