BRER FOX AND THE GRAPES 
little boy knew; how comfortable and refreshing the change from 
the bed to the strong arms of Uncle Remus, only the little boy 
could say. 
Almost the first manifestation of the child’s convalescence was 
the renewal of his interest in the wonderful adventures of Brother 
Rabbit, Brother Fox, and the other brethren who flourished in 
that strange past over which this modern iEsop had thrown the 
veil of fable. “Miss Sally,” as Uncle Remus called the little 
boy’s mother, sitting in an adjoining room, heard the youngster 
pleading for a story, and after a while she heard the old man clear 
up his throat with a great affectation of formality and begin. 
“Dey ain’t skacely no p’int whar ole Brer Rabbit en ole 
Brer Fox made der ’greements side wid one er ’n’er; let ’lone 
dat, dey wuz one p’int ’twix’ ’um w’ich it wuz same ez fier en 
tow, en dat wuz Miss Meadows en de gals. Little ez you might 
’speck, dem same creeturs wuz bofe un um flyin’ ’roun’ Miss 
Meadows en de gals. Ole Brer Rabbit, he’d go dar, en dar he’d 
fine ole Brer Fox settin’ up gigglin’ wid de gals, en den he’d skuze 
hisse’f, he would, en gallop down de big road a piece, en paw 
up de san’ same lak dat ar ball-face steer w’at tuck’n tuck off 
yo’ pa’ coat-tail las’ Feberwary. En lakwise ole Brer Fox, he’d 
sa’nter in, en fine old man Rab. settin’ ’longside er de gals, en den 
he’d go out down de road en grab a ’simmon-bush in he mouf, en 
nat’ally gnyaw de bark off’n it. In dem days, honey,” continued 
Uncle Remus, responding to a look of perplexity on the child’s 
face, “creeturs wuz wuss dan w’at dey is now. Dey wuz dat — 
lots wuss. 
“Dey went on dis a-way twel, bimeby, Brer Rabbit ’gun ter 
cas’ ’roun’, he did, fer ter see ef he can’t bus’ inter some er Brer 
Fox ’rangerments, en, atter w’ile, one day w’en he wer’ settin’ 
down by de side er de road wukkin up de diffunt oggyment w’at 
strak pun he mine, en fixin’ up he tricks, des ’bout dat time he 
year a clatter up de long green lane, en yer come ole Brer Fox — 
71 
