BRER RABBIT AND HIS NEIGHBORS 
“Dar now!” exclaimed Uncle Remus. “Hit’s a blessin’ dat 
dat ar platter is got mo’ backbone dan de common run er crockery, 
’kaze’t would er bin bust all ter flinderations long time ago. Dat 
ar platter is got dents on it w’at Miss Sally put dar w’en she ’uz 
a little bit er gal. Yet dar’t is, en right dis minnit hit’ll hoi’ mo’ 
vittles dan w’at I got ter put in it. 
“I lay,” the old man continued, leaning his hand against the 
chimney and gazing at the little boy reflectively, — “I lay ef de 
creeturs had a bin yer w’iles all dat clatterment gwine on dey’d 
a lef’ bidout tellin’ anybody good-bye. All ’ceppin’ Brer Rabbit. 
Bless yo’ soul, he’d er stayed fer ter see de fun, des lak he did dat 
t’er time w’en he skeer um all so. I ’speck I done tole you ’bout 
dat.” 
“When he got the honey on him and rolled in the leaves?” 
Uncle Remus thought a moment. 
“Ef I make no mistakes in my ’membunce, dat wuz de time 
w’en he call hisse’f de Wull-er-de-Wust.” 
The little boy corroborated Uncle Remus’s memory. 
“Well, den, dish yer wuz n’er time, en he lak ter skeer um 
plum out ’n de settlement. En it all come ’bout ’kaze dey wanter 
play smarty.” 
“Who wanted to play smarty, Uncle Remus?” asked the child. 
“Oh, des dem t’er creeturs. Dey wuz allers a-layin’ traps fer 
Brer Rabbit en gittin’ cotch in um deyse’f, en dey wuz allers 
a-pursooin’ atter ’im day in en day out. I ain’t ’nyin’ but w’at 
some er Brer Rabbit pranks wuz mighty ha’sh, but w’y’n’t dey 
let ’im ’lone deyse’f?” 
Naturally, the little boy was not prepared to meet these argu¬ 
ments, even had their gravity been less impressive, so he said 
nothing. 
“In dem days,” Uncle Remus went on, “de creeturs wuz same 
lak folks. Dey had der ups en dey had der downs; dey had der 
hard times, and dey had der saf’ times. Some seasons der craps 
101 
