'
"Brer Tiger 'low, 'I gwine ter let you off dis time, but nex' time I see
you, watch out!'
"Brer Rabbit say, 'Bein's you so monst'us perlite, I'll let you off too,
but keep yo' eye open nex' time you see me, kaze I'll git you sho.'"
[Illustration: BRER RABBIT AND THE TAR BABY
(Courtesy of D. Appleton & Co.)]
The glee of the negro in the rabbit's nonchalant bearing is humorously
given in this paragraph:--
"Well, I wish ter goodness you could er seed 'im 'bout dat time. He went
'long thoo de woods ez gay ez a colt in a barley-patch. He wunk at de
trees, he shuck his fisties at de stumps, he make like he wuz quoilin'
wid 'is shadder kaze it foller 'long atter 'im so close; en he went on
scan'lous, mon!"
The three books that contain the most remarkable of these tales are: _Uncle
Remus, His Songs and His Sayings_ (1880), _Nights with Uncle Remus_ (1881),
_Uncle Remus and His Friends_ (1892). In the volume, _Told by Uncle Remus_
(1905), the same negro relates more stories to the son of the "little boy,"
who had many years before listened to the earlier tales. The one thing in
these books that is absolutely the creation of Harris is the character of
Uncle Remus.
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