“He start out wid it, he say, but it got so heavy he hatter set it down
in de woods, an’ dat’s de reason why Brer Wolf seed ’im settin’ down by
de side er de road, lookin’ like he in deep trouble. Brer Wolf sot down,
he did, an’ study, an’ bimeby he say he’d like mighty well fer ter have a
cradle fer his chillun, long ez cradles wuz de style. Brer Rabbit say dey
been de style fer de longest, an’ ez fer Brer Wolf wantin’ one, he say he
kin have de one what Mr. Man make fer him, kaze it’s lots too big fer his
chillun. ‘You know how folks is,’ sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. ‘Dey try ter do
what dey dunner how ter do, an’ dar’s der house bigger dan a barn, an’
dar’s de fence wid mo’ holes in it dan what dey is in a saine, an’ kaze
dey have great big chillun dey got de idee dat eve’y cradle what dey make
mus’ fit der own chillun. An’ dat’s how come I can’t tote de cradle what
Mr. Man make fer me mo’ dan ten steps at a time.’
“Brer Wolf ax Brer Rabbit what he gwineter do fer a cradle, an’ Brer
Rabbit ’low he kin manage fer ter git ’long wid de ol’ one twel he kin
’suade Mr. Man ter make ’im en’er one, an’ he don’t speck dat’ll be so
mighty hard ter do. Brer Wolf can’t he’p but b’lieve dey’s some trick in
it, an’ he say he ain’t see de ol’ cradle when las’ he wuz at Brer Rabbit
house. Wid dat, Brer Rabbit bust out laughin’. He say, ‘Dat’s been so
long back, Brer Wolf, dat I done fergit all ’bout it; ’sides dat, ef dey
wuz a cradle dar, I boun’ you my ol’ ’oman got better sense dan ter set
de cradle in der parler, whar comp’ny comes’; an’ he laugh so loud an’
long dat he make Brer Wolf right shame er himse’f.
“He ’low, ol’ Brer Wolf did, ‘Come on, Brer Rabbit, an’ show me whar de
cradle is. Ef it’s too big fer yo’ chillun, it’ll des ’bout fit mine.’
An’ so off dey put ter whar Mr. Man done sot his trap. ’Twa’n’t so mighty
long fo’ dey got whar dey wuz gwine, an’ Brer Rabbit say, ‘Brer Wolf, dar
yo’ cradle, an’ may it do you mo’ good dan it’s yever done me!’ Brer Wolf
walk all roun’ de trap an’ look at it like ’twas ’live. Brer Rabbit thump
one er his behime foots on de groun’ an’ Brer Wolf jump like some un done
shot a gun right at ’im. Dis make Brer Rabbit laugh twel he can’t laugh
no mo’. Brer Wolf, he say he kinder nervous ’bout dat time er de year,
an’ de leas’ little bit er noise ’ll make ’im jump. He ax how he gwineter
git any purchis on de cradle, an’ Brer Rabbit say he’ll hatter git inside
an’ walk wid it on his back, kaze dat de way he done done.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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