African American Folktales Stories from Black Traditions in the New World

by ABRAHAMS, ROGER

• ISBN13: 9780375705397
• ISBN10: 0375705392
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-01-09
• Publisher: Pantheon

Summary

From the canefileds of the ante-bellum South, the villages of the Caribbean islands, and the streets of contemporary inner cities, here are more than one hundred tales from an "incredibly rich and affirmative storytelling tradition" (Choice). Full of life, wisdom, and humor, these tales range from the earthy comedy of tricksters to stories explaining how the world was created and got to be the way it is, to moral fables that tell of encounters between masters and slaves. They includes stories set down in travelers' reports and plantation journals from the early nineteenth century, tales gathered by collectors such as Joel Chandler Harris and Zora Neale Hurston, and narratives tape-recorded by Roger Abrahams himself during extensive expeditions throughout the American South and the Caribbean.

Author Biography

Roger D. Abrahams is a former president of the American Folklore Society. Among his most recent books are <i> African Folktales</i> (also availabe in Pantheon paperback), <i>After Africa</i> (with John Szwed, and <i>Singing the Master</i>.

Table of Contents

PREFACE	xv
INTRODUCTION	3	(34)
PART I. Getting Things Started: How the World Got Put Together That Way	37	(44)
1. Never Seen His Equal	41	(1)
2. The Man Makes and the Woman Takes	42	(3)
3. Bringing Men and Women Together	45	(1)
4. The Fight over Life	46	(1)
5. The Wind and the Water Fighting	47	(1)
6. The Word the Devil Made Up	48	(1)
7. The Knee-High Man Tries to Get Sizable	49	(1)
8. Pig's Long Nose and Greedy Mouth	50	(2)
9. Getting Common Sense	52	(1)
10. Hankering for a Long Tail	53	(9)
11. The Devil's Doing	62	(1)
12. The John Crows Lose Their Hair	63	(2)
13. Tadpole Loses His Tail	65	(1)
14. The Owl Never Sleeps at Night	66	(2)
15. Why Hens Are Afraid of Owls	68	(1)
16. The Gifts of Dipper and Cowhide	69	(3)
17. Buh Nansi Scares Buh Lion	72	(2)
18. Testing the Good Lord	74	(1)
19. Mr. Possum Loves Peace	75	(2)
20. Get Back, Get Back	77	(1)
21. No Justice on Earth	78	(3)
PART II. Minding Somebody Else's Business and Sometimes Making It Your Own	81	(34)
22. Meeting the King of the World	85	(2)
23. Mr. Bamancoo Gets Dropped	87	(2)
24. The Tug-of-War between Elephant and Whale	89	(2)
25. Tiger Becomes a Riding Horse	91	(3)
26. The Telltale Pepper Bush	94	(3)
27. Making the Stone Smoke	97	(2)
28. The Latest Song	99	(2)
29. The Signifying Monkey	101	(4)
30. The Singing Bones	105	(3)
31. A Boarhog for a Husband	108	(3)
32. The Woman Who Was a Bird	111	(2)
33. My Mother Killed Me, My Father Ate Me	113	(2)
PART III. Getting a Comeuppance: How (and How Not) to Act Stories	115	(62)
34. What Makes Brer Wasp Have a Short Patience	119	(2)
35. Between the Fiddler and the Dancer	121	(1)
36. Being Greedy Chokes Anansi	122	(1)
37. The Doings and Undoings of the Dogoshes	123	(1)
38. Spreading Fingers for Friendship	124	(1)
39. Don't Shoot Me, Dyer, Don't Shoot Me	125	(3)
40. Little Eight John	128	(2)
41. The Poor Man and the Snake	130	(2)
42. The Little Bird Grows	132	(4)
43. Tricking All the Kings	136	(4)
44. The Feast on the Mountain and the Feast under the Water	140	(1)
45. Hide Anger until Tomorrow	141	(1)
46. Buying Two Empty Hands	142	(2)
47. Cutta Cord-La	144	(3)
48. Brer Bear's Grapevine	147	(2)
49. A Foolish Mother	149	(2)
50. Old Granny Grinny Granny	151	(2)
51. You Never Know What Trouble Is until It Finds You	153	(6)
52. He Pays for the Provisions	159	(4)
53. The Cunning Cockroach	163	(1)
54. Little Boy-Bear Nurses the Alligator Children	164	(3)
55. The Girl Made of Butter	167	(2)
56. Poppa Stole the Deacon's Bull	169	(4)
57. The Trouble with Helping Out	173	(2)
58. The Rooster Goes Away in a Huff	175	(2)
PART IV. How Clever Can You Get? Tales of Trickery and Its Consequences	177	(42)
59. Why They Name the Stories for Anansi	182	(1)
60. Brother Rabbit Takes a Walk	183	(2)
61. The Lion in the Well	185	(7)
62. A License to Steal	192	(2)
63. The Race between Toad and Donkey	194	(3)
64. Crawling into the Elephant's Belly	197	(2)
65. A Strange Way to Sleep	199	(1)
66. Goobers Gone, Rabbit Gone	200	(2)
67. Assaulting All the Senses	202	(1)
68. Brer Rabbit's Riddle	203	(3)
69. The Horned Animals' Party	206	(1)
70. Anansi Plays Dead	207	(3)
71. Anansi Climbs the Wall	210	(1)
72. Dancing to the River	211	(3)
73. "Trouble" Coming Down the Road	214	(2)
74. No Chicken Tonight	216	(3)
PART V. The Strong Ones and the Clever: Contests and Confrontations	219	(44)
75. Golden Breasts, Diamond Navel, Chain of Gold	223	(7)
76. The Flying Contest	230	(2)
77. Loggerhead	232	(2)
78. Trying to Get the Goldstone	234	(4)
79. Stackolee	238	(2)
80. Escaping, Slowly	240	(1)
81. Turning into Nouna--Nothing	241	(3)
82. The Old Bull and the Young One	244	(7)
83. Fasting for the Hand of the Queen's Daughter	251	(2)
84. Weak in the Day and Strong at Night	253	(2)
85. Jack Beats the Devil	255	(5)
86. Three Killed Florrie, Florrie Killed Ten	260	(3)
PART VI. Getting Around Old Master (Most of the Time)	263	(34)
87. They Both Had Dead Horses	270	(4)
88. You Talk Too Much, Anyhow	274	(1)
89. Making the Eyes Run	275	(1)
90. Making a Wagon from a Wheelbarrow	276	(1)
91. The One-Legged Turkey	277	(1)
92. John Outruns the Lord	278	(2)
93. A Flying Fool	280	(1)
94. Horses Stay Outside	281	(1)
95. The Sinking of the Titanic	282	(1)
96. Competition for Laziness	283	(1)
97. John Outwits Mr. Berkeley	284	(4)
98. Black Jack and White Jack	288	(3)
99. Philanewyork	291	(2)
100. The Barn Is Burning	293	(4)
PART VII. In the End, Nonsense	297	(10)
101. Big-Gut, Big-Head, Stringy-Leg	300	(1)
102. A Chain of Won'ts	300	(1)
103. Animal Talk	301	(1)
104. A Comic Conversation	302	(1)
105. A Smoking Story	303	(1)
106. The Things That Talked	304	(1)
107. Endings	305	(2)
APPENDIX: Sources, Annotations, and Index of Tales	307	(14)
BIBLIOGRAPHY	321	(4)
PERMISSIONS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	325