Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 28, 1917.djvu/443

 The Provenience of certain N^egro Folk- Tales. 409

He run round den an' got in de path ahead of him an' lay down like he was dead. 01' fox he come on an' kicked him outside of de road. An' ol' rabbit ran 'roun again an' got in de road an' lay down like he was dead. An' ol' fox said, " Hum ! I pick you up." He turned in den an' lay him on a log aside of his fish an' goes back an' gets de oder one. When he got back again ol' rabbit took his- fish an' was gone.

Of this tale I collected three variants on Andros Island in the Bahamas. The variant I got first and, I may note^ the prevailing Andros variant differs little from the Caro- linian variant.^

Boukee an' b'o' Rabbit make up ter go fishin'. Dey went fishin'. B'o Boukee ketch all de small fish an' b'o' Rabbit ketch all de big one. An' when dey come asho' b'o' Boukee say, " Share de fish," an' b'o' Rabbit say, " No, you share them. I only want de small one an' you take de beeg one." B'o' Rabbit done string up, an' he went befo'. He played dead in de road. Boukee said, " If I meet another rabbit like dis I go back an' get dat rabbit ; have two rabby an' a bunch of fish." B'o' Rabbit went befo' again an' played dead. B'o' Boukee said, " I'll go back an' get dat rabbit, an' I'll have two rabby an' a bunch of fish." An' he went an' he meet no rabbit yet. An' he come back, he meet no fish. vSo he went an' he cut off b'o' Rabbit an' he play dead. B'o' Rabbit said, " If I see anuder boukee like dis I'll go back an' get dat boukee an' I'll come back an' have two boukee an' a bunch of fish." B'o' Boukee went befo' an' play dead again. B'o' Rabbit said, " I'll go back and get dat boukee an' T'U cut dis one throat an' leave him to bleed till I come back." An' he went home. His wife ax him, " Where is de fish .? " B'o' Rabbit tief (thieve) all de fish.

^ Of interest in this connection is the fact that during the American Revolu- tion many Carolinian Tories — United Empire Loyalists, they were called — migrated with their slave households to the Bahamas.