The Tales of Uncle Remus / Сказки дядюшки Римуса. Книга для чтения на английском языке. Джоэль Чендлер Харрис

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СКАЧАТЬ he’d been tricked[42]. Before he could think of what to tell Brer Fox, Brer Fox came marching up with his axe on his shoulder.

      “How’s Brer Rabbit?” Brer Fox wanted to know.

      “Oh, he doing fine, I reckon. He’s mighty quiet, but he’s in there.”

      Brer Fox took his axe and – POW! – started in on the tree. He was swinging that axe so hard and so fast, the chips were piling up like snowflakes.

      “He’s in there!” Brer Buzzard yelled. “He’s in there!” The sweat was pouring off Brer Fox like grease coming out of a Christmas goose what’s been in the oven all day. Finally, Brer Buzzard couldn’t hold it in any longer and he bust out laughing.

      “What’s so doggone funny?” Brer Fox wanted to know, putting his axe down.

      “He’s in there, Brer Fox! He’s in there!” Brer Buzzard exclaimed, still laughing.

      Brer Fox was suspicious now. He stuck his head in the hole and didn’t see a thing. “It’s dark in there, Brer Buzzard. Your neck is longer than mine. You stick your head in. Maybe you can see where he’s at.”

      Brer Buzzard didn’t want to do it, but he didn’t have no choice. He walked over real careful like, stuck his head in the hole, and soon as he did, Brer Fox grabbed his neck and pulled him out.

      “Let me go, Brer Fox! I ain’t done nothing to you. I got to get home to my wife. She be worrying about me.”

      “She don’t have to do that, ’cause you gon’ be dead if you don’t tell me where that rabbit is.”

      Brer Buzzard told him what had happened and how sorry he was.

      “Well, it don’t make no never mind,” said Brer Fox. “You’ll do just as good.[43] I’m gon’ throw you on a fire and burn you up.”

      “If you do, I’ll fly away.”

      “Well, if that’s the case, I better take care of you right here and now.”

      Brer Fox grabbed Brer Buzzard by the tail to throw him on the ground and break his neck. Soon as he raised his arm, however, Brer Buzzard’s tail feathers came out and he flew away.

      Po’ Brer Fox. If it wasn’t for bad luck, he wouldn’t have no luck at all.

      Brer Rabbit and Sister Cow

      While Brer Fox was sitting on the ground with Brer Buzzard’s tail feathers in his hand, wondering if God had something against him, Brer Rabbit was eleventeen miles away. He was tired, sweaty, and out of breath, and when he saw Sister Cow grazing in a field, he thought how nice it would be if she gave him some milk to drink. But he knew she wouldn’t. One time his wife had been sick and Brer Rabbit had asked her for some milk and she’d refused him. But that didn’t make no never mind. He was going to get him some of her milk.

      “How you, Sister Cow?” asked Brer Rabbit, walking up to her.

      “Reckon I be getting on all right, Brer Rabbit. How you be?”

      “Fair to middling.[44] Fair to middling.”

      “How’s your family?”

      “’bout the same, I reckon. How’s Brer Bull and all your young’uns?”

      “They doing fine, just fine.”

      “Glad to hear it.”

      Brer Rabbit looked around for a minute and noticed a persimmon tree. “There’s some mighty nice persimmons on that tree. I’d love to have some.”

      “How you gon’ get ’em?” Sister Cow wanted to know.

      “Well, I was wondering if you would butt the tree for me a time or two and shake some down.”

      Sister Cow allowed as to how she thought she could do that. She took a running start and banged her head into the tree, but no persimmons fell. And there was a good reason too. The persimmons were green and weren’t ready to fall, which Brer Rabbit knew. Sister Cow backed up farther and galloped toward the tree like a racehorse and – BAM! – hit that tree so hard that one of her horns got stuck. Brer Rabbit jumped up and did the shimmy, ’cause that was just what he’d been waiting for.

      “I’m stuck,” called out Sister Cow. “Come give me a hand[45], Brer Rabbit.”

      “Don’t believe there’s much I can do, but I’ll run and get Brer Bull.” Brer Rabbit ran all right, ran straight home to get his wife and all the children. They come back with buckets and milked Sister Cow dry.

      “You have a good night, Sister Cow!” Brer Rabbit called out as him and his family were leaving. “I be back in the morning.”

      Sister Cow worked hard all through the night trying to get her horn unstuck, and nigh on to daybreak she finally got loose. She grazed around in the field for a while, because she was mighty hungry. Long before the time she thought Brer Rabbit would be coming back, she stuck her horn back in the hole. However, Sister Cow didn’t know that Brer Rabbit had been watching all the while.

      “Good morning, Sister Cow!” says Brer Rabbit, coming up to her. “How you this morning?”

      “Ain’t doing too good, Brer Rabbit. Couldn’t sleep last night for trying to get out of this hole. Brer Rabbit? You suppose you could grab on to my tail and yank it real hard? I believe if you did that, I might be able to get free.”

      “Tell you what, Sister Cow. You do the pulling and I’ll do the grunting.”

      Sister Cow had had enough. She turned around and took off after Brer Rabbit. She was a lot faster than Brer Rabbit had given her credit for and it was all he could do to stay a hop in front of her horns. He dived into the first briar patch he saw, and Sister Cow come to a screeching halt[46].

      After a while she saw two big eyes staring out at her. “How you this morning, Brer Big-Eyes?” she says. “You seen Brer Rabbit pass here?”

      “I did. He was looking mighty scared too.”

      Sister Cow went galloping down the road. Brer Rabbit lay there in the briar-patch just laughing and laughing. Brer Fox was mad at him; Brer Buzzard was mad at him; and now, Sister Cow was mad at him. And he just laughed and laughed.

      Brer Turtle, Brer Rabbit, and Brer Fox

      First thing next morning Brer Rabbit went to see Miz Meadows and the girls. He wasn’t far from their house when he came upon Brer Turtle. He knocked on Brer Turtle’s roof.

      You know, Brer Turtle is a cautious kind of creature and he always carries his house with him. Don’t know whether he’s afraid of robbers or just what. (The way folks be breaking into houses these days, seems to me Brer Turtle got the right idea.)

      Anyway, Brer Rabbit knocked on the roof and asked if anybody was in[47]. Brer Turtle allowed as to how he was. Brer Rabbit wanted to know where he was going.

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