A019  Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby
Okay, so, this is a story about Brer Rabbit. And ah, Brer Rabbit is a very famous ah, very famous character for a southern folk tales. Ah, He’s actually so famous that ah, Disney, ah actually used Brer Rabbit in some of their feature films. Ah and he’s also one of the main characters for one of the main rides at Disneyland. If you know Splash Mountain, then it is about Brer Rabbit and ah, those things. Umm, but ah Brer Rabbit is a trickster. And ah, tricksters often do very cunning and smart things, but they don’t always do the smartest things. And, so sometimes, they make mistakes, but they know how to survive. Umm anyway, so in this ah, world, there is a Brer Rabbit and there’s also a character called Brer Fox. And ah, Brer Fox was always getting bested by Brer Rabbit. And so Brer Fox was very angry at Brer Rabbit for always being better than him, and always you know, making fun of him. So Brer Rabbit, or so Brer Fox was always thinking of how to get back at Brer Rabbit. And so Brer Fox thought about it for a long long time. And Brer Fox finally decided he knew what to do to get back at Brer Rabbit. And so what Brer Fox did, is he took some tar. He took some tar and some turpentine and he mixed it together, and he created a little black baby. And this didn’t look very human, so he put a little hat on it, and then put it in the middle of the road. And he thought that doing this, he could get back at Brer Rabbit. And so, lo and behold, Brer Rabbit was walking down the road and he saw this tar baby in the middle of the road. And Brer Rabbit said, “Hello, how are you there?” But the tar baby didn’t say anything back. And Brer Fox, looking from the bushes, “ Uw, I think it’s gonna work.” And then Brer Rabbit says to the tar baby, “Umm, I said hello, you should say hello back.” But of course the tar baby didn’t say anything. Brer Fox says, “Haha, this is working.” Umm, Brer Rabbit starts to get angry. Brer Rabbit says, “I said hello. You really need to say back to me.” And Brew Fox starts to laugh. “Hahaha.” And then Brer Rabbit says, “You know what? I’ve had enough of your rudeness.” And so he says, “I’m going to hit you!” He swings, “Pumf.” But, his arm gets stuck, because it’s tar and it’s very sticky. So he’s, “Oh no, I can’t get my arm out.” And Brer Fox is like, “Yes! Hahaha, yes!” Umm, and then but Brer Rabbit doesn’t want to give up and he’s like, “Ugh, you got my arm, let me go! If you won’t let me go, I’ll hit you again!” And so he takes is other hand and goes “bam!” But his other hand gets stuck. “Oh no! I can’t get out.” And so he’s like, “Okay I can’t punch you but I’ll kick you.” And he kicks, but his legs get stuck too. So he’s like, “Okay I’ll head punch you! Puh!” And then, he’s completely stuck in the tar baby. And Brer Fox is just rolling on the ground like, “Haha, I’ve got him, I’ve got him. Now yes, yes!” But, while Brer Fox is rolling on the ground, Brer Rabbit is thinking, he’s like, “Oh no, Brer Fox has got me. I can hear him laughing. I need to think of a plan.” But after a couple of minutes, Brer Fox is done, and he walks over to Brer Rabbit. He’s like, “I’ve got you now Brer Rabbit! What should I do with you? I can do anything.” He says, “Maybe, maybe I’ll have some rabbit stew. I’ll cook you and I’ll eat you for dinner.” And Brer Rabbit says, “Okay, okay, you can do that. You can cook me for dinner, I don’t mind. Just, just, don’t throw me in the briar patch.” And Brer Fox said, “Hmm, but I don’t have, I don’t have a pot to cook you in right now. So maybe, maybe, I should tie you up in a tree, and just leave you there.” And Brer Rabbit says, “That’s fine. You can hang me up in a tree, but just don’t, just don’t throw me in the briar patch.” And Brer Fox says, “Hmm, but I don’t have any string. So maybe I should just throw you in the water and let you stay in the water.” And Brer Rabbit’s like, “Okay, that’s fine you can drawn me in the water, but just, just, just don’t throw me in the briar patch.” And Brer Fox is thinking, “Well hmm. What is this briar patch? It looks very thorny, and if I throw you in there, maybe you’ll get all cut up and you’ll, you’ll get really hurt when I throw you down there.” He’s like, “Okay, I think I’m gonna throw you in the briar patch.” And so, he takes Brer Rabbit and he throws him into the briar patch. And when Brer Rabbit is thrown in the briar patch, he screams, “ Ahhhhh!” All the way down and there’s a big crash, “Bam,” when he hits the ground. But afterwards, ah, Brer Fox is listening, but he doesn’t hear any sound. And he waits, he waits for Brer Rabbit to, you know, to make his final sound of agony. But he can’t hear anything. Brer Rabbit isn’t making any noise. And so he listens, he listens but there is no noise. And so, after a little bit, Brer Rabbit comes up one of the branches of the briar patch. And Brer Fox is like, “What are you doing there? I just threw you down in the briar patch. Why aren’t you hurt, or in problems?” And Brer Rabbit’s laughing and smiling very smugly, just picking the tar out of his hair, out of his fur. And he says, “Brer Fox, I was born and raised in a briar patch. This is my home. Thank you for taking me back to my home.” And he ran off back very happily and bouncing. Brer Fox is all like, “Oh no, he got me again.” And that is the story of Brer Rabbit and the tar baby.course