Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 1 1883.djvu/299

 Rh of distress. Min soon reaches the place, and destroys the child, but persists in his intention of knowing the offender: hereupon the woman accuses herself, and is stabbed by the man in a fit of despair. Min, whose revenge is not yet glutted, on finding the body, repeats his demand, and the man is obliged to confess himself guilty. He attempts, however, to elude the search of his dreadful adversary, by concealing himself in the bushes, but is soon discovered, and sacrificed to the resentment of Min. The moral which they draw from this story is, that children ought not to have everything given to them which they cry for, as it may not only cause their own destruction, but that also of those most intimately connected with them. These questions and answers being formed into stanzas and sung, contribute much to relieve the tediousness of the narration."

In conclusion I will give one other extract from Lewis's Journal bearing on the subject of this communication. He says (p. 307), "the Creole slaves are very fond of another species of tale, which they call, 'Neger-tricks,' and which bear the same relation to a Nancy-story which a farce does to a tragedy." The following is a specimen: "A man who had two wives divided his provision-grounds into two parts, and proposed that each of the women should cultivate one-half. They were ready to do their proper share, but insisted that the husband should at least take his third of the work. However, when they were to set out, the man was taken so ill, that he found it impossible to move; he quite roared with pain, and complained bitterly of a large lump which had formed itself on his cheek during the night. The wives did what they could to relieve him, but in vain; they boiled a negro-pot for him, but he was too ill to swallow a morsel: and at length they were obliged to leave him, and go to take care of the provision grounds. As soon as they were gone, the husband became perfectly well, emptied the contents of the pot with great appetite, and enjoyed himself in ease and indolence till evening, when he saw his wives returning; and immediately he became worse than ever. One of the women was quite shocked to see the size to which the lump had increased during her absence; she begged to examine it; but although she barely touched it with the tip of her finger as gingerly as possible, it was so tender that the fellow screamed with agony. Unluckily, the other woman's manners were by no means so delicate; seizing him forcibly by the head to examine it, she undesignedly happened to hit him a great knock on the jaw, and, lo and behold!