Cultural
Background Storyteller's Cabin
Collected by Joel Chandler Harris
Adapted by Akbar Imhotep
with Craig Dominey
You see, ol' Brer Coon and Brer Rabbit were friends. They were also fishermen - that is, Brer Rabbit, he fished for fish, and Brer Coon, he fished for frogs. Now, what happened was that, one day, them ol' frogs got so wild that Brer Coon couldn't catch any of 'em. And when this happened, Brer Coon had some problems back at the household. You know why? Well, when he couldn't catch any frogs, he didn't have any frog meat to bring home. All the little Coon children got a little bit hungry - and when all the little Coon children got a little bit hungry, the little Coon wife got a little bit mad. And Brer Coon felt real, real sad about that.
So, one day, ol' Brer Coon was walking slowly down toward the river, feeling so sad that his chin was about to drag the ground, when he ran into his good friend, Brer Rabbit. Ol' Rabbit saw Brer Coon looking all sad and miserable, and he said, "Brer Coon! What's the matter with you? What's your situation?"
Brer Coon said, "Brer Rabbit, I got problems. You see them ol' frogs out there in that river? They've gotten so wild that I can't catch none of 'em! And I just feel so sad."
Well, Brer Rabbit looked down at the river, and he saw the frogs out there just having a good ol' time, splashing around, jumping in and out of the river. So he turned to his friend and said, "You know what, Brer Coon? I'm gonna help you catch every last one of them ol' frogs."
Brer Coon suddenly got all excited and said, "Okay, Brer Rabbit, let's go! What you want me to do?"
Brer Rabbit said, "Coon, go down to the sandbar and lay down just like you was dead."
Brer Coon looked at him funny and said, "Lay down like I'm dead? What good's that gonna do?"
Brer Rabbit said, "Never you mind - just go out there and lay down like you was d-e-a-d, dead!"
Well, ol' Brer Coon moseyed on down to the sandbar. And when the frogs heard Brer Coon comin', the Big Frog yelled out to his friends, "Y'all better look out! Here comes that ol' Coon again!" And all the frogs hopped out of the river to hide from Brer Coon.
Brer Coon went ahead and laid down in the sand. After he'd been lying there for a while, Brer Rabbit came down to the river and hollered out to the Frogs, "Hey, y'all! This ol' coon is dead!"
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