A Dream :: :: University of Virginia Library

Gader 'round ole Efram chillun,
An' a story he will tell,
'Bout a hoo doo lille chillun
Dat he once knowed berry well.
We worked on de same plantation,
Hoed de shugar cane an' corn,
Went to many shuckins chillun,
To git home in early morn.
He was monstrous large ma chillun,
Wid a frame just like an ox,
Wid an eye jist like de eagle,
An' as cunnin' as a fox.
He could hoo doo yo' ma chillun
By de twinkle ob his eye,
Gib yo' chills an aches an feber,
Dat woul' pester till yo'd die.
He had done gone met de debble,
Yes, it am de truf ah say!
He had done gone met de debble,
An' had sold himsel' away!
But afo' dis lille chillun

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He had did gone fell in lub
Wid a yaller gal, Lucindy,
De plantation turtle dub.
Dis here gal ma lille chillun
Wuz jist like a ripened peach,
Dat had riped in fairest summer
Far above de common reach.
Many of the chock'late cullud
An' de ginger cullud boys
Had done told her day did lub her;
But she said, “Hush up yo' noise!”
A' dar wuz one lille chillun
Dat had won dis maiden's heart,
Day had swore to lub each odder,
An' fo' nebber mo' toe part.
He wuz gracful as a willer
Dat is bendin' in de breze,
Wid a boice as sweet as summer
Dat is moaning in de trees,
An' it haint no wonder chillun
Dat Lucindy's lub he won,
Fir a finer lookin' couple
Nebber walked beneaf de sun.
I can see dem zif'twer yonder

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Now a-walkin' in de wood,
War day wooed an' won each odder
In a way dat's honest good.
But de debble an' de hoo doo,
Bof as cunnin' as a fox,
Wuz bof lookin' at um chillun,
Frum behind de trees an' rocks.
Day wuz happy, ah, too happy
Fo' dis worl' toe ebber win
Fo' de dice ob fate ma chillun,
Had been loaded down wid sin.
An' de hoo doo hel' um chillun,
An' it wuz his time toe fro,
Keep yo' quiet dar, yo' Rachel,
Ef de bes' part yo' would know.
Now de debbil tole de hoo doo,
Fo toe go and git a frog,
Dat wuz sittin' dar befo' um
On a fallen libe oak log,
Take de frog den said de debble,
And yo' put 'im in a box—
Listen now ma lille chilun,
'Bout dis deblish debble fox.
“Wid de frog yo' put a dollar,

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Den yo' nail the box up tight,
An' yo' take it to an ant-hill
On de darkest kind o' night;
But afo' dis does yo' bore
Dat air box chuck full ob holes
So de ants can eat de reptiles,
Dat exists widout no souls.
Den de ants will eat de bullfrog
Clear down to a pile ob bones—
(But watch out dar Mr. Hoo doo,
Ef de bullfrog croaks and groans)
Mid de bones dar'l be one hooked,
An' annudder like a scale,
Take dis dollar an' dese two bones
An' right to dat gal yo' sail,
Take de hooked bone an' hook it
Fas', safe in dat maiden's dress,
An' she'll lub yo', man, fir ebber,
Wid a lub toe nebber res'.”
Well den chillun, dis here hoo doo
Ketched dis reptile ob a frog
Dat wuz rollin' 'round his eyes
Most unconscious on de log,
An' he goes an' gits a dollar

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What did hab no buzzard on,
An' he takes dem to an ant-hill
For toe trick dis gentle fawn,
Who'd done tole him kine ma chillun
Dat der lub was not fir him;
But fir Zekel, dis here feller
Graceful as a willer limb.
Now dis hoo doo, Henry Frisby,
Wuz not beautiful toe see,
He wuz cullud like a tater,
An' as sneakin' as a flee,
An' he swore he'd hab Lucindy,
Ef hit took his berry life,
He would wed de fair Lucindy,
Handsome Zekel's promised wife.
When he thought de ants had eaten
Dat air frog all down toe bones,
Did he gladly go toe git hit,
Nebber thinkin' 'bout de groans.
An' de frog was livin' chillun,
It is honest 'yond belief,
An' de bull frog's painful groanin'
Made dis hoo doo Frisby deaf.
He was deaf ma lille chillun

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An' he nebber heared agin;
But hit diddent stop him chillun
Frum his mad career ob sin,
Fo' he waited long ma honeys
Till de bones wuz in a pile,
And he gits de hook an' dollar
An' de scale in triumph's smile,
An' he says to sweet Lucindy,
On her berry weddin' day.
“Break yo' gagement off wid Zekel,
Or I'll hab yo' any way.”
But Lucindy nebber feared him,
Lille did de sweet girl know,
Dat when things are blithe an' happy,
Fate does strike it's hardes' blow.
Straightway did dis hoo doo Frisby
Right beneaf Lucindy's nose,
Take dis hooked bone an' hook it
In Lucindy's weddin' clothes.
Den de spell commenced toe workin',
An' dis deblish debble art
Made Lucindy lub de hoo doo
Wid a madly jealous heart,
Wid a lub dat wuz unceasin'

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On, until his day wuz done,
Fo' de hoo doo got his needins
Do his game he meanly won.
He wuz married to Lucindy
In de ebenin' jist at seben
An' de hoo doo wuz the winner,
Fo' he had done frowed eleben.
Fo' de spell wuz hard a workin'
An' de power ob her will,
Wuz wid Frisby, dis here hoo doo
Who wuz desp'rate nuff toe kill,
An' he says, “Ah, married Cindy,
When dat purty Zekel boy
Tought he had de sweet Lucindy
Wid de worl' chuck full ob joy.”
Lille chillun, lille chillun,
Purty Zekel wuz so sad,
Dat de worl' seemed all ob darkness,
An' day tought he'd done gone mad.
Dis here hoo doo kept Lucindy,
All de time so near his side,
Dat hit almos' killed poo' Zekel
In his madly jealous pride.
Here's de way de story ended,

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As de hoo doo he wuz deaf,
An' he'd stole de lub ob Cindy,
By dark power frum beneaf,
So de light ob heaben chillun
Wuz'nt wid him any mo'
An' he walked dis earf ma chillun
Mighty near de furnace doo.
So one day when he wuz walkin',
Down along de railroad track,
Cause he coulden' hear the engine,
Hit done struck him in de back,
An' his soul went toe de debble,
Who had waited long toe win,
Wid de hottest fire blazin'
Did de debble pitch him in.
When he died de spell wuz broken,
An' Lucindy she wuz free,
From de hoo doo and de debble
An' toe Zekel she did flee,
An she splained it all toe Zekel,
Doo he knowed hit all de same,
An' he nebber hel' Lucindy
In the leastest bit toe blame,
An' day married in de mornin'

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Ob a balmy June-time day,
An' dar libbin' ole an' happy
Singin' dar las' days away.
Now de moral am dis chillun
Koz yo's sleepy fo'de de bed,
When yo's foolin' wid de debble,
He will allus git ahead.

This poem was conceived from a superstition that if a live frog be placed in a perforated box, and taken to an ant-hill, that when the ants have eaten the frog to a pile of bones, a hooked bone and a scale will be found among them. It is thought by hooking the hook into a woman's dress, it will cause her to love the person doing so, even against her will. But should the frog croak while dying, it is believed that it will make the conjuror deaf.