LXII BRER WOLF AND THE HORNED CATTLE

 Daddy Jack¹ appeared to enjoy 'Tildy's story as thoroughly² as the little boy.

 

"'E one fine tale. 'E mekky me lahff tell tear is come in me y-eye," the old African said. And somehow or other 'Tildy seemed to forget her pretended animosity to Daddy Jack, and smiled on him as pleasantly as she did on the others. Uncle Remus himself beamed upon each and every one, especially upon Aunt Tempy; and the little boy thought he had never seen everybody in such good-humor.

 

[299]"Sis Tempy," said Uncle Remus, "I 'speck³ it's yo' time fer ter put in."

 

"I des bin⁴ rackin' my min'," said Aunt Tempy, thoughtfully. "I see you fixin' dat ar hawn, en terreckerly hit make me think 'bout⁶ a tale w'at I ain't year none en you tell yit."

 

Uncle Remus was polishing a long cow's-horn, for the purpose of making a hunting-horn for his master.

 

"Hit come 'bout one time dat all de creeturs w'at got hawns tuck a notion dat dey got ter meet terge'er en have a confab fer ter see how dey gwine take ker deyse'f, 'kaze dem t'er creeturs w'at got tush en claw, dey uz des a-snatchin' um fum 'roun' eve'y cornder."

 

"Tooby sho'!" said Uncle Remus, approvingly.

 

"Dey sont out wud, de hawn creeturs did, en dey tuck'n meet terge'er 'way off in de woods. Man—Sir!—dey wuz a big gang un um, en de muster⁷ dey had out dar 't wa'n't b'ar tellin' skacely. Mr. Bull, he 'uz dar, en Mr. Steer⁸, en Miss Cow"—

 

"And Mr. Benjamin Ram⁹, with his fiddle," suggested the little boy.

 

—"Yes, 'n Mr. Billy Goat, en Mr. Unicorn"—

 

"En ole man Rinossyhoss," said Uncle Remus.

 

—"Yes, 'n lots mo' w'at I ain't know de names un. Man—Sir!—dey had a mighty¹⁰ muster out dar. Ole Brer Wolf, he tuck'n year 'bout de muster, en he sech a smarty dat nothin' ain't gwine do but he mus' go en see w'at dey doin'.

 

"He study 'bout it long time, en den¹¹ he went out in de timber en cut 'im two crooked¹² sticks, en tie um on his head, en start off ter whar de hawn creeturs meet at. W'en he git dar Mr. Bull ax 'im who is he, w'at he want, whar he come frum, en whar he gwine. Brer Wolf, he 'low:—

 

"'Ba-a-a! I'm name little Sook Calf¹³!'"

 

"Eh-eh! Look out, now!" exclaimed 'Tildy, enthusiastically.

 

"Mr. Bull look at Brer Wolf mighty hard over his specks¹⁴, but [300]atter a w'ile he go off some'rs else, en Brer Wolf take his place in de muster.

 

"Well, den, bimeby, terreckerly, dey got ter talkin' en tellin' der 'sperence des like de w'ite folks does at class-meetin'. W'iles dey 'uz gwine on dis a-way, a great big hoss-fly come sailin' 'roun', en Brer Wolf tuck'n fergit hisse'f, en snap at 'im.

 

"All dis time Brer Rabbit bin hidin' out in de bushes watchin' Brer Wolf, en w'en he see dis he tuck'n break out in a laugh. Brer Bull, he tuck'n holler out, he did:—

 

"'Who dat laughin' en showin' der manners?'

 

"Nobody ain't make no answer, en terreckerly Brer Rabbit holler out:—

"'O kittle-cattle, kittle-cattle, whar yo' eyes? Who ever see a Sook Calf snappin' at flies?'

 

"De hawn creeturs dey all look 'roun' en wonder w'at dat mean, but bimeby dey go on wid dey confab. 'T wa'n't long 'fo' a flea¹⁵ tuck'n bite Brer Wolf 'way up on de back er de neck, en 'fo' he know what he doin', he tuck'n squat¹⁶ right down en scratch hisse'f wid his behime foot."

 

"Enty!" exclaimed Daddy Jack.

 

"Dar you is!" said 'Tildy.

 

"Brer Rabbit, he tuck'n broke out in 'n'er big laugh en 'sturb um all, en den he holler out:—

"'Scritchum-scratchum, lawsy, my laws! Look at dat Sook Calf scratchin' wid claws!'

 

"Brer Wolf git mighty skeer'd, but none er de hawn creeturs ain't take no notice un 'im, en 't wa'n't long 'fo' Brer Rabbit holler out ag'in:—

"'Rinktum-tinktum, ride 'im on a rail! Dat Sook Calf got a long bushy tail!'

 

"De hawn creeturs, dey go on wid der confab, but Brer Wolf git skeerder en skeerder, 'kaze he notice dat Mr. Bull got his [301]eye on 'im. Brer Rabbit, he ain't gin 'im no rest. He holler out:—

"'One en one never kin⁵ make six, Sticks ain't hawns, en hawns ain't sticks!'

 

"Wid dat Brer Wolf make ez ef he gwine 'way fum dar, en he wa'n't none too soon, needer, 'kaze ole Mr. Bull splunge at 'im, en little mo' en he'd er nat'ally to' 'im in two."

 

"Did Brother Wolf get away?" the little boy asked.

 

"Yas, Lord!" said Aunt Tempy, with unction; "he des scooted 'way fum dar, en he got so mad wid Brer Rabbit, dat he tuck'n play dead, en wud went 'roun' dat dey want all de creeturs fer ter go set up wid 'im. Brer Rabbit, he went down dar fer ter look at 'im, en time he see 'im, he ex:—

 

"'Is he grin yit?'

 

"All de creeturs dey up'n say he ain't grin, not ez dey knows un. Den Brer Rabbit, he 'low, he did:—

 

"'Well, den, gentermuns all, ef he ain't grin, den he ain't dead good. In all my 'speunce folks ain't git dead good tel dey grins.'[79]

 

"W'en Brer Wolf year Brer Rabbit talk dat a-way, he tuck'n grin fum year ter year, en Brer Rabbit, he picked up his hat en walkin'-cane en put out fer home, en w'en he got 'way off in de woods he sot down en laugh fit ter kill hisse'f."

 

Uncle Remus had paid Aunt Tempy the extraordinary tribute of pausing in his work to listen to her story, and when she had concluded it, he looked at her in undisguised admiration¹⁷, and exclaimed:—

 

"I be bless, Sis Tempy, ef you ain't wuss'n w'at I is, en I'm bad 'nuff', de Lord knows I is!"

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

3 speck   

n.微粒，小污点，小斑点

参考例句：

• I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
• The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗，一星星云彩也没有。

4 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

5 kin   

n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的

参考例句：

• He comes of good kin.他出身好。
• She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

6 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

7 muster   

v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册

参考例句：

• Go and muster all the men you can find.去集合所有你能找到的人。
• I had to muster my courage up to ask him that question.我必须鼓起勇气向他问那个问题。

8 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

9 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

10 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

11 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

12 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

13 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

14 specks   

n.眼镜；斑点，微粒，污点( speck的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Minutes later Brown spotted two specks in the ocean. 几分钟后布朗发现海洋中有两个小点。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• Do you ever seem to see specks in front of your eyes? 你眼睛前面曾似乎看见过小点吗？ 来自辞典例句

15 flea   

n.跳蚤

参考例句：

• I'll put a flea in his ear if he bothers me once more.如果他再来打扰的话，我就要对他不客气了。
• Hunter has an interest in prowling around a flea market.亨特对逛跳蚤市场很感兴趣。

16 squat   

v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的

参考例句：

• For this exercise you need to get into a squat.在这次练习中你需要蹲下来。
• He is a squat man.他是一个矮胖的男人。

17 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。