BRER FOX COPIES BRER RABBIT 
Man come ’long, dar he wuz all stretch out like he big ’nuff fer 
ter fill a two-bushel baskit, en he look like he dead ’nuff fer ter be 
skint. Mr. Man druv up, he did, en stop. He look down pun 
Brer Fox, en den he look all ’roun’ fer ter see w’at de ’casion er all 
deze yer dead Fox is. Mr. Man look all ’roun’, he did, but he 
ain’t see nothin’, en needer do he year nothin’. Den he set dar 
en study, en bimeby he ’low ter hisse’f, he did, dat he had better 
’zamin’ w’at kinder kuse zeeze 1 done bin got inter Brer Fox 
fambly, en wid dat he lit down outer de waggin, en feel er Brer Fox 
year; Brer Fox year feel right worn. Den he feel Brer Fox neck; 
Brer Fox neck right worn. Den he feel er Brer Fox in de short 
ribs; Brer Fox all soun’ in de short ribs. Den he feel er Brer Fox 
lim’s; Brer Fox all soun’ in de lim’s. Den he tu’n Brer Fox over, 
en, lo en beholes, Brer Fox right limber. W’en Mr. Man see dis, 
he say ter hisse’f, sezee: — 
“‘Heyo, yer! how come dis? Dish yer chicken-nabber look lak 
he dead, but dey ain’t no bones broked, en I ain’t see no blood, en 
needer does I feel no bruise; en mo’n dat he worn en he limber,’ 
sezee. ‘Sump’n’ wrong yer, sho’! Dish yer pig-grabber mought 
be dead, en den ag’in he moughtent,’ sezee; ‘but ter make sho’ dat 
he is, I’ll des gin’im a whack wid my w’ip-han’le,’ sezee; en wid 
dat, Mr. Man draw back en fotch Brer Fox a clip behime de years 
— poio! — en de lick come so hard en it come so quick dat Brer 
Fox thunk sho’ he’s a goner; but ’fo’ Mr. Man kin draw back fer 
ter fetch ’im a n’er wipe, Brer Fox, he scramble ter his feet, he 
did, en des make tracks ’way fum dar.” 
Uncle Remus paused and shook the cold ashes from his pipe, 
and then applied the moral: — 
“Dat w’at Brer Fox git fer playin’ Mr. Smarty en copyin’ atter 
yuther foks, en dat des de way de whole Smarty fambly gwine ter 
come out.” 
1 Disease. 
17 
