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The Butter Tree
? Tales of Bruh Rabbit ?
By Mary E. Lyons, Mireille Vautier Henry Holt and Company
Copyright © 1995 Mary E. Lyons
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4668-8332-1
CHAPTER 1
Bruh Bear Plays Dead
* * *
Bruh Bear and Bruh Rabbit liked to chase each other. One day Bruh Rabbit found Bruh Bear at his house. All the animals were there. But Bruh Bear was in bed and under the sheet. He was not breathing.
Bruh Rabbit squinched down in the door. He said, "My, my, so Bear is dead."
"Yes, poor Bear!" the animals said.
Bruh Rabbit did not believe it. He made a plan.
He called out, "They say if a bear is dead, he turns over. Then he groans three times." Big old Bear turned over. He groaned three times.
"Ha, ha!" Bruh Rabbit said. "A dead bear can't groan like that." Then Bruh Rabbit laughed again and jumped outside.
Bruh Bear was right behind him, sheet and all. But there was nothing to that race. Bruh Bear is big. But he can't ever outrun Bruh Rabbit!
CHAPTER 2
Bruh Bear's Fish
* * *
One time Bruh Bear caught a nice mess of fish. Bruh Rabbit got hungry seeing the fat fish. He ran through the woods ahead of Bruh Bear. Then he lay down in the path and closed his eyes.
Bruh Bear came along. "My, my, that is a pity. There is a sick Bruh Rabbit." And he went on down the path.
Bruh Rabbit jumped up. He cut through the woods again. Then he fell down in the path.
When Bruh Bear saw him, he said, "My, my, that is a pity. Here is another poor Bruh Rabbit."
Bruh Bear kept on down the path. The next time he saw a rabbit, he laid down his fish. "I think I will go back and get all the other ones," he said.
Bruh Bear walked, walked, walked, but there were no rabbits on the path. Then he went back for his catch. He did not find his fish either. But he saw Bruh Rabbit with a big iron pot. Turnip greens and collard greens were floating on top.
"Hey!" said Bruh Bear. "I smell fish cooking."
"Oh, no," Bruh Rabbit told him. "Only collards and turnips with plenty of bacon. See?" Bruh Rabbit stirred the pot with an old cook spoon.
"My nose can't fool me!" said Bruh Bear. He took the spoon. And he turned up all the fish from the bottom of the pot.
Then Bruh Rabbit said, "Well, I got big business down the road." He ran faster than a straight line. Bruh Bear chased him right through the woods. But Bruh Bear never catches Bruh Rabbit. No, sir!
CHAPTER 3
The Butter Tree
* * *
Bruh Rabbit and Bruh Wolf had a butter tree next to a rice field. One day they went to hoe the rice. Rabbit was hungry and said, "I am going home now. My wife is calling."
Rabbit slipped through the bushes to the tree and ate some butter. He came back and picked up his hoe. He told Wolf, "My wife has a young one at home. She wanted me to give it a name."
Wolf said, "What did you name it?"
"JUST STARTED," Rabbit told him.
They hoed the rice. Soon Rabbit was ready to eat again. "My wife is calling," he said. "I have more children to name." He slipped to the butter tree and filled up. He came back.
Wolf asked, "What did you name the child?"
"ALMOST HALF," Rabbit said.
Rabbit hoed and hoed. He thought about the butter tree. That made him hungry again. "Bruh Wolf, my wife calls," he said. "She must want me to name another child." He slipped through the bushes and filled up at the butter tree.
When he came back, Wolf asked, "What did you name it?"
"ALMOST GONE!"
Rabbit hoed again. Just before lunch he felt hungry. He threw down his hoe and said, "Bruh Wolf, I have to name that last child." He left so fast that he almost lost his wind.
When Rabbit came back, Wolf asked, "What did you name the last one?"
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Butter Tree by Mary E. Lyons, Mireille Vautier. Copyright © 1995 Mary E. Lyons. Excerpted by permission of Henry Holt and Company.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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