| Summary: | Folder contains 51 pages of Alabama short stories compiled by Donnell Van de Voort for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s.•
682 A T1lEASURY OP AMERICAN :FOLKLORE WILEY AND TilE HAIRY MAN 683
"5ing that sweeten, gooden song again."
She sang, IITray·bta, tray·bla, tray·bla, cum qua, kimo."
Wolf, be gone.
Pit·.-pit, pit-a-pat, pit-.-pat coming behind ber and there wu the wolf,
an"e5aY,
uYou move."
110 no my dear, what 'ea5ion I move?"
IISing that sweeten, gooden song again. II
She sang, "Tray bta-tray bla.-cum qua, limo."
Wolf he gone.
Pit-a-pat, pit-.-pat, pit·a-pat.
She goes back some mort and tws time when she hears piL-a-pat, pit'l-pll,
pit-a-pat coming behind her, 'she slips inside the gatt and shull it &Ad
wolf, be can't get her.
Wiley and the Hairy Man
WJUY'. pappy wu • bad man and D<H:OUnt. He stole watermelons io
the dark 01 the moon, slept "hile the weeds grew higher than the 001 ton,
robbed a corpse laid out for burying, and, worse than that, killed there
martins and never even chunked at a crow. So everybody thougbt thlt
when Wiley's pappy died he'd Dever cross Jordan because the Hairy MID
would be there wailing for him. That mwt have been the way it happentd.
because they never found him alter he feU off the ferry boat at HoUy',
,!,here the river is quicker than anywhere else. They Jooked for him a 10lIl
way down river and in the slill pools between the sand-banks, but they
never found pappy. And they heard a big man laughing across the river,
and everybody said, "That's the Bairy Man." So they stopped look-ing.
. "Wiley," his mammy told him, lithe Hairy Man's done got yo' pappy
and he's go' get you 'f you don't look OUL"
I·Yas'm," be said, uI'll look out. I'll take my bound·dogs ev'rywba'e
I go. The Hairy Man can't stand no hound-dog."
Wiley knew that because his mammy had told him. She knew bKl"'?
she was from the swamps by the Tombigbee and knew conjure. They
don't know conjure on the Alabama like they do on the Tombigbee.
One day Wiley took his ue and went down in the swamp to cut 'O'N
poles for a hen-roost and his bounds went with him. But they took out
after a shoat and ran it so far off Wiley couldn't even hear them yelp.
·'\Vell," be said, Ifl hope the Hairy Man ain't nowhere round here DOw.He
picked up hi> axe to start cutting poles, but he looked up aad
there came the Hairy Man through the trees grinning. He was sure qt,
By DonMII Vu de Voort. From the Muuteripll or the Federal Writt.n' Pre....
01 the Woru Proc~ AdmiDbtration lor the Stat.t. of Alabama.
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and his grin didn't help much. He was hairy allover. His eyes burned
like fire and spit drooled allover his big leeth. .
uDon'l look at me like that," said Wiley, but the Hairy Man kept
coming and grinning, so Wiley threw down hiJ axe nnd climbed up a big
bay tete. He saw the Hairy Man didn't have feel like a man bUl like a
cow, and Wiley never had seen a cow up a bay lree.
IlWhat for you done climb up there?" the Hairy Man asked Wiley when
he got to the bottom of the tree.
Wiley climbed nearly to the top of the tree and looked down. Then he
climbed plumb to the top.
uHow come you cJimbin' trees?" the Hairy Man said.
"My mammy done tole me to stay "way from you. 'Vbat you gol in
thal big croak.er·sack?"
ItI ain't got nothing yeLl!
"Gwan 'way from here," said Wiley, hoping the tree would grow some
more.
"Bat said the Hairy Man and picked up Wiley's axe. He swung it
slOut and the chips new. Wiley grabbed the tree close, rubbed hi> belly
00 it and hollered, "Fly, chips, fly, back in yo' same old place."
The chips new and the Hairy Man cussed and damned. Then he
swung the axe and Wiley knew he'd have to boiler fast. They went to
it tooth and toe-nail then, Wiley hollering and the Hairy Man chopping.
He hollered till he was hoarse and be saw the Hairy Man was gaining on
bim.
(11'1l come down part t'way," be said, II 'f youtH make this bay tree
twicet as big around!'
1'1 ain't studym' you," said the Hairy MaD, swinging the axe.
"J bet you cain'tt said Wiley.
"l ain't go' try," said the Hairy Man.
Then they went to it again, Wiley hollering and the Hairy Man chopping.
Wiley had about yelled himself out when he heard his hound-dogs yelping
way off.
"Hyeaaah, dog. Hyeaaah," he hollered. "Fly, chips, fly, back. ip yo'
same old place.1I
"You ain't got no dogs. I sent that shoat to draw 'em off." .
"Hyeaaah, dog," hollered Wiley, and they both heard the hourid-dogs
yelping and coming jam-up. The Hairy Man looked worried.
Heome on down," he said, "and I'll teach you conjure."
If I can learn all the conjure I wants from my mammy.1I
The Hairy Man cussed some more, but he threw the axe down and
hailed the jack off through the swamp.
When Wiley got home he told hi> mammy that the Hairy Man had
most got bim, but his dogs ran him off.
"Did he have his sack?1I •
"Yas'm.1I
uNex' time be come after you, don't you climb no bay tree."
IlJ ain'l," said Wiley. IIThey ain't big enough around."
uDoo'l climb no kind 0' tree. Jes stay on the ground and say, 'Hello,
Hairy Man.' You bear JDC, Wiley?"
uNo'rn."
"He ain't go' hurl you, chile. You can put the Hairy Man in the dirt
when J tell you bow to do him."
111 puts him in the dirt and be puts me in that croaker·sack. I ain't
pUllin' no Hairy Man in t.he dirt."
"You jes do like I say. You say, 'Hello, Hairy Man.' He says, 'HeUo,
Wiley.' You say, 'Hairy Man, I done heard you 'boullhe best conjureman
'round here.' 'I reckon I am.' You say, 'I bet you cain't tum fo'self into
DO gee--raa.' You keep telliot him be ca.in't and be will. Then you say,
'I bel you cain'llum yo'seH into no alligator.' And he will. Then you say,
'Anybody can tum lheyseJf into somep'n big as a man, but I bel you
cain't tum yo'self into DO 'possum.' Then be will, and you grab him and
throw him in the sack.Jt
lilt don't sound jes right somehow." said Wiley, ltbut I wiD." So be
tied up his dogs 10 they wouldn't scare away the Hairy Man, and Wtnt
down to the swamp again. He hadn't been there long when be looked
up and there came the Hairy Man grinning through the trees, hairy all
over and his big teeth showing more than ever. He knew Wiley came off
without his hound·dogs. Wiley nearly climbed a tree wben he saw the
croaker-sack, but he didn't.
"Hello, Hairy Man," he said.
"Hello, Wiley." He took tbe sack off his shoulder and started open.inc
It up.
"Hairy Man, I done heard you 'bout tbe best conjure man round ~
"I reckon I is." .' ~,r ..... 4 __ fit
"I bet you cain'tturn yo'se1f into no gee-raff." ~ WPA ~
uShux, that ain't no trouble," said the Hairy Man. o?>: - ~~
"I bet you ain't do iL" ",".....-
So the Hairy Man twisted round and turned himseH into a gee-nl.
"I bet you cain't turn yo'seH into no alligator," said Wiley.
Tbe gee-raff twisted around and turned into an alligator all the time
watching Wiley to see he didn't try to run. '
UAnybody can tum lhey.self into somep'n big as a man," said Wiley
"but I bet you cain't tum yo-self into DO 'possum!' ,
The alligator twisted around and turned jnto a 'possum, and Wiley
grabbed it and threw it in the sack.
WUey tied the sack up as tisbt as be could and then be threw it ID
the river. He went home througb the swamp and he looked up and tber,
came the Hairy Man grinning through the trees.
"1 tum myself into the wind and blew out. 'Viley, I'm go' set ri&bt
bere till you get bongry and fall out of that bay tree. You want me to
learn you some more conjure."
Wiley studied a wbile. He studied about the Hairy Man and be studied
about his hound~ogs tied up JD()$l a mile away.
6S4 A TJlEASUllY OP AMEIUCAN FOLKLORE
IVE,r
__ ~ WILEY AND rHE HAIRY MAN 685
A ~ HWelJ," he said, lIyou done some pretty smart tricks. But I bet you
~ .\cain't make things disappear and go where nobody knows."
~- "Huh, that's what I'm good at. Look at that old bird-nest on the limb.
Nowiook. It's done gone."
uHow I ~now it was there in the fus' place? I bet you wn't make
somep'n I know is tbere disappear."
ff~a ba," said the Hairy 1\'lan. "Look at yo' shirL"
Wiley ~ooked down and his shirt was gone, but be didn't care, because
that was Just what be wanted tbe Hairy Man to do.
"That was jes a plain old shirt," he said. flDut this rope I got lied
round my breeches been conjured. I bet you ain't make it disappear"
uHuh, I can make all the rope in this county disappear." .
"Ha ha ha," said Wiley.
The Hairy Man looked mad and threw his chest way out. Be opened
his mouth wide and hollered loud.
ll~rom now aD all the rope in this county bas done disappeared."
Wiley reared back holding his hreeches with one band and a tree-limb
with the other.
UHyeaaah, dog," he hollered loud enough to be heard more than a
mile off.
Wben Wiley and his dogs got back bome bi. mammy asked bim did be
put the Hairy Man in the sack.
"Yes'm, but he done turned himself into the wind and blew right through
that old croaker·sack."
IfThat U. bad," .said his mammy. UBut you done fool him twlcel. 'F
you fool him agam be'll leave you alone. He'll be mighty hard to fool
the third time."
IIWe gotta study up a way to fool him mammy."
"I'll stud>: up a way tereckly," she satd, and sal down by the fire and
beld I ber chl.n betwee? her hands and studied real hard. Dut Wiley
wasn t .studymg anylhmg except how to keep the Hairy Man away. He
took his bound·dogs out and tied one at the back door and one at the
front dc;>Or. Then. he crossed a broom and an axe--bandle over the window
and butl~ a fire In the fire-place.. Feeling a Jot safer, be sat down and
helped hIS mammy study. After a little while his mammy said, UWiley,
you go down to the pen and get that little sudin' pig away from that
old sow."
Wiley went down and snatched the sucking pig through the rails and
Jeft the sow grunting and heaving in lbe pen. He took the pig back. to bis
mammy and she put it in his bed.
uNow, ~Viley," she said, uyou go on up to the 10ft and hide."
So be did. Before Ions be beard the wind bowling and tbe trees shaking
~d then his dogs started growling. He looked out through a knot-hol~
10 the planks 4nd saw the dog at the front door looking down toward the
swamps, wi~ his ~ standing up and his lips drawn back in a snarl.
Then an animal AS big as a mule with horns on its bead ran out of tbe
swamp past the bouse. Tbe dog jerked and jumped, but be couldn't get
loose. Then an animal bigger than a great big dog with a Jong nose and
big teeth ran out of the swamp and growled at tbe cabin. This time the
dog broke loose and took after the big animal, who ran back down into
the swamp. Wiley looked out anolber chink at the back end of the 10(t
just in time to see his other dog jerk loose and take out after an animal,
which might have been a 'possum, hut wasn't.
uLaw-dee," said Wiley. "The Hajry Man is coming here sho'."
He didn't have long LO wait, because soon enough be beard something
wilh feet like a cow scrambling around on the roOf. He knew it was the
Hairy Man, because be beard him damn and swear when be touched the
hot chimney. Tbe Hairy Man jumped. off the roof when be found Gullbere
was a 6re in the fire-place and came up and knocked on the froot door
as big as you please.
l'lfammy," be hollered, uI done come aller yo' baby."
"You ain't go' gel bim," mammy hollered back.
"Give him here or I'll bite you. I'm blue-gummed and I'll
you lbo'."
III'm right blue--gummed myself," mammy sang out.
"Give him bere or I'll set yo' bouse on fire with Jigbtnin'." )..
III got plenty of swett-milk to pUl it out with." ..",
"Give him here or ru dry up yo' spring, make yo' cow go dry an'::d:l--
send a million boll-weevils out of the ground to eat up yo' cotton."
"Hairy Man, you wouldn't do aU tbat. That's mighty mean."
"I'm a mighty mean man. I ain't never seen a man as mean 8.5 I am."
U 'F I give you my baby will you go on way from here and leave every.
thing else aJone."
"1 swear that's jes whatl'U do," said tbe Hairy Man, so mammy opened
the door and let him in.
"He's over there in that bed," she said.
The Hairy Man came in grinning like he was meaner than he said.
He walked over to tbe bed and snatched the covers back.
IIHey," he hollered, "there ain't Dolhin' in this bed but a old sudin'
pig."
'II ain't said what kind of a baby I was givin' you, and that ludin'
pig sho' belonged to me 'fa' I gave it to you."
The Hairy Man raged and yelled. He .tomped aU over the bouse gtUUh.
ing his teeth. Then be grabbed up the pig and tore out through the
swamp, knocking down trees right and left. The next morning the swamp
had a wide path like a cyclone bad cut through it, with trees tom 100iC
at the roots and lying on the ground. \Vben the Hairy Man was gODe
Wiley came down from tbe loft.
"Is he done gone, mammy?"
IIYes, chile. That old Hairy Man ain't f"Yef hurt you again. We daDe
f001 him three times."
Wiley went over to the safe and gOt out his pappy's jug of shinny that
had been lying there since the old man feU in the river.
686 A TlUtASUIlY OF AMERICAN POLKLORE LITTLE EIGHT JOHN 687
"Mammy," be said, "J'm goiD' to get bog~runk and chltken.wHd II
'Iyou ain't the only onc, chile. Ain't it nice yo' pappy was 50 D~unt
be had to keep shinny in the bouse111
Little Eight John
ON~ an loog ago dey was a IitUe black boy name of Eight John. He was
a DIce Jookln !Iltle. boy but be didn't act like he look. He mean little boy
an he wouldn t mind a word de grown folks told him. Naw not a livin
word. So if his lovin mammy told him not to do a thing h; go straight
an do hit. Yes. spite of all de world. '
~IDon't step on no toad-€rawgs," his Iovin mammy told him. U a" you
bnng de bad lucks on yo family. Yes you will.II
Little Eight John he say, "No'rn, I won't step on no toad-frawgs. No
ma'amI"
But jest as ~ as ~ything, soon as be got out of sight of his lovin
mammy, dat Little Eight John find him a toad-frawg an squirsb hit
Sometime he squirsb a heap of toad.€rawgs. •
An the cow wouldn't give no milk but bloody milk an de baby would
have de bad 01 colics.
But LitUe Eight Jobn he jes duck bis haid an laugh.
II lI~n't set in no chair backwards," his lovin mammy told Eight John.
It bring de weary troubles to yo family."
And so Little Eight John he set backwards in every chair.
Den his Jovin mammy's cawn bread bum an de milk wouldn't chum
. Little 01 Eight John jes laugh an laugh an laugh cause be know ';'by
hit was.
liDon't cI·1mb no trees on Sunday," his lovin mammy told him "aw hit
will be bad luck." ,
So dat Little Eight John, dat bad little boy, he sneak up trees on
Sunday. •
Den his pappy's taters wouldn't grow 8n de mute wouldn't go
Little Eight John he know howcome. .
IIDon't count yo teeth." his lovin mammy she tell Little Eight John
"aw dey come a bad sickness in yo €amily." '
But ~at Little Eight John he go right ahaid 8n count his teeth. He
count hiS uppers an he Count his lowers. He count em on weekdays an
Suoday•.
Den his mammy .he whoop an de baby git de croup. All on couot 01
dat L,tUe Eigbt John, dat badness 01 a IitUe 01 boy.
By James R. Aswtn. From God Bien ,It. Devilt LJIJd BtKC:1t Toks by J R.
~wdl. Julia W~oit, !tnl1ette Edwards, E. E. M.iller, aDd Lena E. Li~(IIDb~:~ lb.
T~ Write", Pro)Kt, pp. 172-17S. COPYri&bt, IlUO, by lbe University o( Nonh
CArolina PrtSL ChaDd Bi1l.
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• eef "'aldrep
415 '". 115 f'
New York City
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lips quivered with impatience, her small hand dropped with
hopelessness. He was .so stubborn, so mule-headedl Looked
like he would have a little artistic consciousness.
She was silent so long thatotto rolled over on
his stomach, and pulled himself to a sitting ~osition. Then
he propped himself against the trunk of the shade tree, and
said real friendly: "Gosh, han; we've been going th one
another all our lives. e played hide and-seek together. There
ain't no use putting on airs •••• "
Leeta turned sharply, and her blue eyes narrowed
until you bought she would have looked mean. But Leeta was
so pretty she couldn' look mean if whe wanted to. Her mouth
and her eyes were made so they looked better and better the
more she twisted them around.
her face.
Now she stood up and pushed her hair back from
She looked down on the sprawling Otto with scorn
and contempt. Then she bent and took a book from the leaves;
The Complete Works of illiam Blake. There was a firmness to
her lips, a quickness to her movement that made Otto jump up
in alarm. His stubby, brown hand reached out; but Leeta was
haughty. She jerked away.
Then she stopped and put her hands on her hips,
spread her skirts by spraddling. Her eyes flashed from under
long lashes. 0 to almost fainted with her beauty, as he
reac ed owar her.
"Listen to me, Ottison Newgood, I've tried my
best to understand the higher things of life. l've done all
that's humanly possible ••• You're just stubborn••• "
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• Reef"1taldrep
415 '" 11~ St.
ew ork City
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Her voice shook with emotion, her lips trembled;
and she brushed her hair nervously. There was a pleading in
her tone. Yet she was fim and resolute. Otto could hardly
listen 1:0 her she _s so pretty with the sun coming through the
leaves of the tree and making her hair full of light, and making
her oist lips shine just a little. He as so dreadfully in
love with herl But what could a man do? When a 'lIOl!lan has fits
a man had better just shut-up---he gue sed. Gosh, bu it was
hard to be quiet with her so pretty and so cute.
"You won't read wha I tell you. You won't
talk right. You won' pay any attention when I try to tell
you about poetry and art and--the real things. Why. when I
was reading that essay on .S. Elliot you went to sleepl" One
hand left her slim hip, came up lowly and accusingly: "You're
just plain stupid. And Ottison New Good, I am through with
you. I am totally, comp1e ely, and finally through with you.
You can have your old picnic, your old car, and everything you
have. Go ahead and fish, I'll walk home---" Here her voice
grew dreamy-- "and III enjoy the glory of nature while you
snore your head off on that fish-bank." lIer little chin went
stuck firmly into the soft earth.
"Oee, Lee-ta, I don't know what to do."
"You needn't come to et me for the show tomorrow
night ei he. I am ~oing to oa ch up on my reading."
"Gee ••• "
But it was no use. She was behind a bush, and
hitting it toward the road, fifty yards away. Otto dropped
back on the ground with a whimper, and reached for a sandwiche.
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• Reef aldrep
415 1'1. 115 St.
ew York City
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He munched heavily and sadly. He crossed his legs once more,
and closed his eyes. The freckles showed plain by the bright
light.
Hi s mind was very busy. He was pained and burt.
omen have to be didn' t know what
got into them.
high flalootin'
queer and funny. A guy
They were happy on~inute,
the next. Sometimes they
sad the next, and
had their nose so
high in the air that you walk around like you are barefooted on
glass. Then they get sweet and chummy and you feel like the
biggest guy in the world.
There was Leeta, the girl he used to play leapfrog
with, readin that fellow--- illiam Blake -goin around saying:
" i er, tiger, burning bri ht in the forest of the night." She
was jumping on him about his alkin and telling him how to
say thing. Tell1n~im he ought to sit straight, and quit walking
with his head down. One time Lee wasn't that way. One time
if he yelled across the street: "Hey, Lpel Riyah,
kidl"
ybe she would get over it. Reckon she was going
through some kind of a stagp. He hoped so. He wanted 0 marry
her someday. Then they'd go to the farm and have a family. But
the way Lee was talking now there wasn.t much chance of a fellow
bringing up something serious. For she would, sure as shooting,
start talking about some of the poets, telling about a fellow
name of Rossetti, ordsworth, and ho ting off her mouth about
~hakespeare. A man had no time for such stuff. Life was too
good to be wasUng with a lot of dead men. He ried to tell
her that once, as they were wimmin do'lll on the creek. The swim
lOa over, and hey we e si ting near the edge of the 'Vater with
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Reef Waldrep
415 • 115 St.
New York City
their feet dangling in the flowing -.ater. They had bp.en picking
blackberries that afternoon, and had brought their swimming sui s •
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Now, they had swam, and were resting on the bank.
"Here's the way I figure it, lee," he said. "A
man has ot to be eriou. I don't matter how much he talks, it's
wha he really is that counts. I ain't no talker like you are,1I
he confided, as she looked still and Quiet. His eye caught
her round shoulder and it was hard to think, much less say
anything. ost of the time, in the old days, he wouldn't have
had to say anythin else. She would have smiled and acted like
she understood everything. That made a fellow feel swell. Now,
she _s quiet and cold. "I ain't no talker, but you know what
I mean.
II 0, Otti on, I don't know what you mean. Some
man said that anything that cannot be e"qJre~sed does not exist. II
Of course she had him there, and he Just had to
be quiet. All the time he new well as anything what she was
thinkin~ he was a dumb ox.
"Ottison, it is get ing late," was what she said•
Otto took a bite of his sandwiche without opening
hi eyes. There 1II1S a frown on his face. He had asked, he
remembered, ab t her. He told his mother, and she couldn't
answer him. lI~ome girls get some mighty brigh notions in
their head. I~d drop her coldh" was wh1. his mother advised.
But she didn't understand things. She didn't know how Leeta
could be sweet and nice. How she could make a fe:low so glad
and so th-oughtful. How her voice could make noises so sweet
he had to swallow. Even now he loved her when she was dog~ing
him and telling him Just as plain as everything he didn't have
any sense because he wouldn't understand poetry.
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• Reef Waldrep
415 W. 115 Rt.
New York City
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"Please, please, try to like good things. Call
me'Leeta' notlLee' ~ y real name is not vulgar. And you ought
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to make everybody call you Ottison. Otto---how vulgar I "
It looked like she was going too far sometimes.
Especially that time he went on a date with her and she spent
four solid hours reading to hi. about the Rime of the Ancient
ariner. Spots of it were pretty good the first time, but
.... she kept on reading things over, and saying: "~Hat
does it men?" "What does it su~gest?" "~w wonderful, how
beautifull" All he could do when she'd read it over was to
grunt, and she wanted to know what "images" be saw. She would
talk about the meter and try to get him to sing it off. And
he never did like things twice, three times, and he just couldn't
stand the tenth time. He was tbe sort of fellow that can't
stand to see a movie twice.
So it wasn't any wonder he was glad that date was
over. Let ber have her Keats, he muttered/as he grabbed his
ha. He was murtering all the way home and while he was taking
off his shoes and getting into bPd. He usually went to sleep
quick when he hi t the bed. But he lay for a long time thinking
about her. It was a revolution with all that voetry buzzing
in his head and her "ahs," and anger.
"I'd be a pretty peaceful fellow,1I thought
tto as he rolled over, and picked up his fishing pole, and
walked to the edge of tbe creek and threw in his hook and sinker
with a wrigging worm. He belli the pole out over the creek, and
thought hard.
•
• Reef Waldrep
415 W. 115 St.
New York City
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"I ain't a person to get mad ~d fight. The only
fight I ever had was when that Jack Beers threw a cup of
white wash on Lee. I wouldn' have fou ht then if Lee hadn't
squalled. "
otto sa~ tbe~e was no bite. So he too hi~ pole
in his armpit, and picke" up his straw-hat, and pulled it down
over his d17, yellow hair. Then he walked down the road that
Leeta had left on in all her haughtiness. He was thoughtful as
he lodded on to the car he had parked in the ditch by the
bridge. He was thoughtful as he piled his things in the rear of
the open car, and crawled beneath the steering wheel.
It wasn't a long walk for her, he reasoned. Before
he bought the Ii tIe car, h~ and she had walked it a lot of
times. No, he could make ~t. the chances were she would be
mad thc:ugh. But what can you do when a girl is in a pet? You
can'T sooth them wi th Jll'ords. You can't laugh it off, and you
can' ignore them. Gee I
Otto's car pu terQU t
and poppe'!, and pitched forward.
He was in a da~e of hou h and dreams as he drove, Otto was a
deep thinker, he thought. Lee didn't think 0, but he knew he
was. She ought not to think I am dumb just because I don't
know a lot them double-jointed words and read a lot. Just
because a fellow makes a failure in school is no sign he ain't
got any sense. the principal had told him about that when he
Quit school.
"Come in here, my boy," said the principal. He
was r. Duff. He is a fine fellow, remember Otto sleepily,
6
and ya~ intolhis cupped hand which he moved from the steering
,
,
Reef Waldrep
415 W. 115 St.
New York City
-8-
..heel a m~ent. They had gone into the office. "Take a seat,
Otto. You're not doing so good in your work, are you, my
•
"No, I reckon not, Mr. Duff. You see, I ••• "
Then the principal had raised his hand and smiled.
It was good to get'that smile. For Otto was felling pre ty low.
Those grades he w~s getting were hurting him a lot. He didn't
admit it, but they were. The other fellows seemed to make
,
grades without any trouble. He st be dumb, he thought. The
principal never got mad at him, though. Hi mother worried
about him, and used to say to the teachers~ "Otto dll not
study. He doesn't even read the funny papers. I have never
seen him pick up a book in all his born~days. All he is
interested in is fishinp and playing. He doesn't care about
anything else!'
The teachers were worried, too. They couldn't
get him to write plain. They couldn't get him to read distinctly.
They couldn't get him to prepare hi lessons. He just wouldn't
learn hist ry.
But everybody liked him. The boys liked .for him
to go on hiking trips and be a boyscout with them. He could
tell joke and laugh' and he had a pretty good singing voice.
Bu his songs were homemade. He never could learn, or never
would, thn songs the teachers wanted him to. He'd
pick his gu1tar and hum a 11ttle, ~ing a 11 tle. He W1S best
when he w15 aratfu a camp- fire; then a word now and then
" would come out pretty sleepy. A humming would come, more words;
and all of a sudden he would be singing some"hing that was happy
• • Reef Waldrep -9-
415 1". 115 St.
ew York City
and bright. The boys would turn ovpr on their blankets to
listen. ...
~. RM -I tto like~he principal better than any teacher
~"'A••~
because to knew the princiapl didn't markdown so much as did
the other teaohers. Even when Otto ould say made up things
about George Washington on history, he principal wouldn't
mark down.
~o Otto didn't mind when the principal calleu him
into the office one day, and said: "Don't you worry about your
grades, Otto. You aren't dumb. You're smart enough. Some
people aren't cut out for grades. You weren't made to stwly
books. You were made for other things. Don't you worry, and
you just laugh if anybod)l tells you that you are dumb."
Otto was remembering those words as he drove.
Never had he felt dumb any more. He didn't really believe he
was dumb when Lee said he was. 'l'he principal knew if anybody
did, he reasoned. He was the smartest man in town, schoolman.
"r don't think you ought to be wasting your time
in school, Otto. You ought to be omewhere else. Now, you
can stay if you want ••• "
Otto remembered how happy he was when the principal
said that. He had never liked the school. He would sit
sit very lonely in his seat abou Springtime and look at the
sky and the green branches of the bushe that,great against
the panes. He had the hardest time sitting throu~h the classes.
~c he qui t choo1-
Lee did not aui school, but went on through
the classes, and on un il ~he got on the school stage and made
a speech. Otto' went to the p ogram he night she graduated,
•
•
• Reef 1'1aldrep
415 ~est U5 St.
ew York City 10-
and listened as she spoke her piece bravely. She was retty
in her .hite dress, her hair done up just right. after it was
over he took her in his a s, and she hugged him. It was
before she went arty, and she din not alk about him qUitting
school.
He often wondered why she took up with him. She
was smart in school, and he couldn't do a thing. She was
always the best when the class had to memorize a poem. She
was always the best when they wrote themes. But she had
always lik~ better than anybody. They went to schoolparties
together, played together, courted together, and
laughed together. She was always understanding. Then she
began that poetry
of things to him.
business. She read things to h1l]'lj talktd
said.
She .-.r that poets had the keys to the
you know what life mean , Otton?" she
He always grew cold when he
asked things like hat; he fel naked. She began till talk
• about the creat~e imagination, the subli ity of thought.
She talked about the rhythm of the senses. She told him about
the intoxication of the soul, the beauty of words, and he
power of sound. He watched the light in ber hair and was
silent.
•
Then he said: "The ckens, Lee, you knuw, I
ain't good at that kind of stuff. I sorta like them poems you
read, the woes that sound pre ty. Bu I ain't guing nuts over
them. I ain't cut out for things like that. Professor Duff
said I ain't dumb, just not cut out ••.• "
• Reef raldrep
415 115 St.
ew ork City
-11-
hat kin of talk aWways made her mad and she
wouldn't talk, but would be still and calm. "hen off she
would go again when things set tled down. It was pretty
good to listen to sometimes. Especially when she got eager
and leaned forward, talking fast as she could, the words
tumbling ou , her eyes flashing, her fingers jabbing. Then
she would makef things all rough again by asking questions;
and, God knows, ho didn' like questions, If she would just
talk herself and quit wantin to know if he was convinced,
it would be o.k.
"I tell you rifht now," she said one day when
they were eating a chocolate frost , "J./tell you I don't
to a person I can't convince."
Otto decided when he got to town that the best
him to do was to go around to her house and try to
talk her ou of her pet. She might be darn serious this time.
He sure didn't want to lose her when she was prettiest thing
in the world and the person he ca1ldn't live withou. So he
pulled he teering wheel sharply to make the turn around
the block to her white home. He parked near the shade in the
yard, jumped out, and knocked on the doo~. He brushed his
yellow, sandy hair quickly as he waited. He smiled.
He heard somebody coming, and he caught his hands
behind his back, and began to Whistle idly. He turn
ound when he recognized the footsteps of Leeta's little
s"•ster.
"Hello, Otto," said the little sister: she
• Reef laldrep
415 • 115 St. -p2-
New York City
looked a lot like Leeta. "Where's Lee---Leeta?"
"She's not here?" The face of the child was
all smiles. She liked Otto and Otto usually told her stories
to make her like him more. She would sit in his lap as he
spun dreams abou fai'l'ies and giants ou of his head and
stories that didn't come out of story books you buy.
"Say, Sis, when has she been in?"
" ou took her witb you, didn't you?"
"You mean she ha n't been back since we left this
"No, Otto." Utto pu on his hat, and walked
back to his car at the shade. He looked at thp sun, .ad saw
ittwas ge ting pretty low. She must not have come in when she
left him. She must have gone to the school to get some library
books. Otto, backing the car almost into the culvprt, turned
around, charged toward the school, around blocks. Twisting and
turning hp wound his way to the school. He parked on the drive-way,
and once more Jumped out, and went to a door. tte pushed •
into the vacant building, across a hall to a door which
had a sign printed in black letters on it: LI RARY: silence.
He heard the flu tering of pages. Somebody here.
He caught the knob of the door, pushed in. Glancing
along he tacks of book , the chairs unde,," h'\tight of the
tall windOWS, he saw r. ff. The principal lifted his length
from a chair, and closed hi~ book on a long finger.
He smiled: "Otto, don't tell me you want a book?"
" o---no --" He glanced swiftly. "I'm leoking
for Lee,---Leeta."
,
•
Reef "aldrep
415 West 115 Street
New York City lZ-
"Leeta," ~epeated Mr. ff. He was still smiline.
And welcoming. Darn soothing. But r. ruff didn't know where
she was, and hadn't seen her. He spoke softl)' and slowly, and
the first thing Otto knew he wa sitting down and telling Mr.
Duff about the spat.
"~at can a guy do, I'm asking you, Mr. Duff? I
like her a lot. In fact, I'm crazy about her. She j st sticks
her nose in the air and gets mad when I cadt memorize that
poetry of hers." Duff listened QUietly and warmly and he found
himself telling things he wa surprised about later on••
"I tell you: '"e'll look her up, and I'll talk
to her. You're a fine boy, Otto, and she ought not treat
you this way."
Later the two were in the little car, and the
frown was deepening on Otto's freckled features. They drove
back to the woods, to the path she had left on, and to the
bridge where the car was parked. They struck out through the woods.
They yelled and they called. they cut across a pasture to
a place where Otto and Lee built toadfrog houses of damp sand
as kids, and where they sat as older people. T• here they found her
foot-prints. Sharp heels of her shoes stuck deep.
Then there was a movement, a sight of color, and
Leeta perched on a fallen log, book open, and .. a deep study
on the roundness of cheek and forehead.
long before.
pe must have heard them
"Leeta," exclaimed Otto. She looked up, and
showed her boredom by continUing to read.
hand to his sides.
t~o dropped his
• , •
. Reef .aldrep
415 \ • 115 lit.
New York City
"~eeta."
She looked up.
14-
r. Du f motioned Otto to one side.
Then he walked up. "Let m talk to you about Otto." Ot 0 himself
dropped to a log some di ance away. He put his face in his
hands, dug in he pasture with his heel. He watched the two as
they talked. He saw Leeta shaking her head and he calm,
insistant head of the principal. The sun was sinking behind
the pasture, and nothing could be seen but the Hght coming
up pink. There was a s il10e s and Otto could hear the
sound of their voices. Mr. Duff was soft-voiced, but Leeta
sounded mad.
Finally the young an could stand it no longer. He
went to them when they were very evident at odds. He was hesitant
and his eyes were pained. He walked slow and was timid. At
first he didn't say anything. Stood there looking at Leeta.
He tried to make wo ds come to his mouth. He wanted to tell
her how much he loved her, to blurt out he was different like
r. Duff said, not cu out. for words and books. He wanted to
tell her th'lt he knew things abou fish and rabbits and dogs.
e wanted to ell her he had grand feeHr:g some day , and he
he nearly burst with feeling.
He stood there. "I ain't mUCh."
Her chin went in 0 he air. He fel warm at the
stubbornness that made her pre tier than ever. H saw how
bright her eyes Were. He saw her little clinched fist, and the
little foot tapping against the log she was couched on.
"If I could write a poem i wculd be about you." He
lookPd up as he said hat. For he felt sort of sugary as he
said it. Leeta tole a cautiou glance at him, but llJIlLediately
froze up.
Reef Waldrep
415 • 115 St.
New York City
-15-
He moved closer, hands outstretched. He was
pleading. I'igher and higher her chin went into the air. en
her eyes caught hi she trembled, and almost melted.
Fer heel kicked the weeds at the base of the log,
where it was buried in the loose gravel of a dry-stream bed. She
was feeling his voice. Then there was a soft, definite rattle
down at her fee. A sudden rattle, a sharp warning rattle. A
snake uncoiled and struck even a hey watched. The girl's
- bare leg bore a mark of red blood.
She screamed, her fingers caught her book. Both
hands tightened on he volume of Blake. Ot 0 dived with the
eloquent words of his dying in his throat. He slung ho girl from
the log, and she fell in a 1'11e ten feet away. Fis hands caught
the snake. Pop, like a whip over a pair of mules. The head of
the snake was off. He threw the still squirming, thrashing
coils into the weed •
A moan of agony left his lips. He had the girl in
his arms. He was whin1"g wi h her pain. He was hugging her. She
was "obbing on his shoulder. But on her leg there was the red
mark of snake-fan s.
break.
ore of her blood was easing into the
Sweetheart." e carried her to the green grass
of the pasture. Placing her tbwn gently, he knelt over her.
By this time Mr. Duff was there, whipping out his knife. The
•
girl's face blanched.
"0." She clutched at her volume of Blake.
" e have to, Lee. In a hurry. We have to. It's
poison. "
Otto didn.t argue with her. He took the knife from
Reef Waldrep -16-
415 115 St.
New York City
Duff's hand. He pushed the girl down. He caught up her leg.
His own teeth sunk into his lip, as he slashed dee". The girl
moaned, but the look on bis face expressed more pain than
did her voice and face combined. He was firm and he was steady.
He ~cked the blood from her leg, bandaged
handkerchief.
white
" darling," he whispered.
The Blake was still held tightly to her breast.
He dropped her leg; then almo t without warning fell back in
a faint. He was -.r like urning ou a light. Duff smiled
at Leeta, but she was taking the boy into her arms. The principal
took him from her, placed him back, lifted her ~ on the log
in her comf rtable niche. He propped her injured leg. Then he
took care of the boy. Slapped his face.
Otto looked at Leeta first when he came to, and
bounced up swaying. He rushed toward her. He caught her hand.
He looked at her leg. There was a wild light in his eyes.
r. Duff started across the field.
""fe' 'e got to have a doctor •••• for her leg."
Leeta was studying Otto. She looked at the book
in her hands. She looked into hi eyes. He was scared to death.
He had the same look on his face the time he came to see her
when she was 'lick and the doctor said she wouldn1l: live. He
had the arne look on his face all day the time he jerked her from
before a car. Now, his fingers trembled.
"You've got to have a doctor. That legl"
"Mr. Duff has gone. I'm all right. You sucked
all the poison out." He was examining the leg. His fingers
were fumbling and tender like a fussy mother.
•
•
•
• eef "'aldrep
415 1'1. 115 t.
New York City
-17-
"It's my fault." He was filled with a hate for himself.
"I made you mad. It was me that didn't like book~. I'm
dlDDb, Leeta. Don't you ever pay any attention to me. I airlt
worth it. don't know a thing. I can't pass. I flunked, do
you understand? I flunkedl" Be caught her hand. "You fonna
forget me. You're goin to quit dating me. You're going to
leave me alone."
She was lookinv, into his eyes. Then she looked at
the sky, and then at the book in her lap. Jl. rosy hue
filling her ~ face and her soul.
"I ain't got any kn wledge why you ever
thing about me. I never did know why you looked at me••" Her
chin w s trembling, but her turdy, small body was like a fist
full of determination. Her fingers clutched the volume of
Blake. "You want me to talk about Poe, but I don't know nothing
about that sort of fellow ••• I never did feel like he did in
them poems you read to me. I can't talB••• " She was thinking
that Tennyson, maybe, didn't have anything on this guy.
The sun was entirely gone. Soon Duff "as a long
distance across the pasture. ButGtto didn't notice, nor did
Leeta. She was still carIpId on the log, and 0 to was talking
•
and pleading.
"I promise you I'll like books and I'll read
the papers so I can talk to you about Hitler and u solini.
I'll try to learn about Rome and Greece. I'll do my best to
know things. I know you ge tired talking to a fellow that
never did know anything. Bu r. Duff said I wasn't dumb. He
told me straight-out. But I guess you do get tired of me Just
talking about woods, the things there. You get tired me telling
you how I feel when I go swimming, how I like snow. J:lut that
•
•
• •
-3-
Buddy, you know how he started out. or course, it's
a lite! He wes here in town about thirty years ago, they say.
I can't rsmember. They sew he was a tarmer then, had a little
patohj the saw-ott ll~ olod-hopper didn't work then •
•
Maybe that's the reason he raised all them no-oount kide,
IVallis---that
them to work, and lIhen
they would n 't he quit.
•
He oome up to town during·t'he war, and bOUght the house ..
there this side.-.x at the bridge, on the oorner on main-street.
It was a box; but as he got a bet tar chanoe to stelll
tram the town---Goddemn his stinking, brown hide---he put
on a poroh, rooted, painted, and tixed it a little. sure, he
stUl owes tor the house, and alweys will. He pays th,intereat
that is all. And he owes every store in town a tew dollars,
more or less. The y It> n' t .-II credit him any more.
\oil.
Well, .~-a. ed, N come 10 town, sold his
little two-bit tarm out there on the railroad toward Golden.
He put him up a POOl-roam.
Now, I admit that was the st utt a.
•
•
Honky Tonks sprung up,
walk down the streets.
Joe kept him a woman.
-6-
it wasn't good tor a woman ,.-,... to
yJ~
s was everywhere, and they say
He pumped this town dryas a mash-orange, and he strutted
around spruoe as ever. He grinLed and gavs that sott old
handshake. He'd pull the tellers ott to one side to talk
oontidential~like, you know. It drug in the votes; .,...,
ot oourse, he was elected again and again.
• He 1laS a big shot. He was head ot the demoorati,o
I
t-model
maohine. The party give him a~ in the t-model deys
to work the oounty in. He went up to Ruesellville and
talked wi th the tellers up there. e oould trade the town
like a dozen eggs. I've got this and that, you give me this
and that, and we'll all get ouf man, he'd say.
His gals went through oollsge, part anyway, and taught
sohool, but, bY~Od, that daUghter ot his, her vile temper and
all don't teaoh in Red Bay no more---she's out now, just
like Joe T.'s going to be---only he's going to be out like a
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