ebery mile-pos', and he hisse'f, what was to run wid B'er Deer,
he was right in front of de young lady's do', in de broom-grass.
"Dat mornin' at nine o'clock, B'er Deer he did met B'er Cooter at
de fus mile-pos', wey dey was to start fum. So he call: 'Well,
B'er Cooter, is you ready? Co long!' As he git on to de nex'
mile-pos', he say: 'B'er Cooter!' B'er Cooter say: 'Hullo!' B'er
Deer say: 'You dere?' B'er Cooter say: 'Yes, B'er Deer, I dere
too.'
"Nex' mile-pos' he jump, B'er Deer say: 'Hullo, B'er Cooter!'
B'er Cooter say: 'Hullo, B'er Deer! you dere too?' B'er Deer say:
'Ki! it look like you gwine fer tie me; it look like we gwine fer
de gal tie!'
"W'en he git to de nine-mile pos' he tought he git dere fus,
'cause he mek two jump; so he holler: 'B'er Cooter!' B'er Cooter
answer: 'You dere too?' B'er Deer say: 'It look like you gwine
tie me.' B'er Cooter say: 'Go long, B'er Deer. I git dere in due
season time,' which he does, and wins de race."
The story of the Rabbit and the Fox, as told by the Southern
negroes, is artistically dramatic in this: it progresses in an
orderly way from a beginning to a well-defined conclusion, and is
full of striking episodes that suggest the culmination. It seems
to me to be to a certain extent allegorical, albeit such an
interpretation may be unreasonable. At least it is a fable
thoroughly characteristic of the negro; and it needs no
scientific investigation to show why he selects as his hero the
weakest and most harmless of all animals, and brings him out
victorious in contests with the bear, the wolf, and the fox. It
is not virtue that triumphs, but helplessness; it is not malice,
but mischievousness. It would be presumptuous in me to offer an
opinion as to the origin of these curious myth-stories; but, if
ethnologists should discover that they did not originate with the
African, the proof to that effect should be accompanied with a
good deal of persuasive eloquence.
Curiously enough, I have found few negroes who will acknowledge
to a stranger that they know anything of these legends; and yet
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