152

WHY THE GUINEA FOWLS ARE SPECKLED 196

BROTHER RABBIT AND THE MOSQUITOES 216

THE PIMMERLY PLUM 228

BROTHER RABBIT GETS THE PROVISIONS 234

BROTHER WOLF STILL IN TROUBLE 278

BROTHER RABBIT AND MR. WILDCAT 288

BROTHER RABBIT TIES MR. LION 328

HOW THE BEAR NURSED THE LITTLE ALLIGATOR 344

GOOD-NIGHT 404

INTRODUCTION

The volume[i_1] containing an instalment of thirty-four negro legends,
which was given to the public three years ago, was accompanied by an
apology for both the matter and the manner. Perhaps such an apology is
more necessary now than it was then; but the warm reception given to the
book on all sides--by literary critics, as well as by ethnologists and
students of folk-lore, in this country and in Europe--has led the author
to believe that a volume embodying everything, or nearly everything, of
importance in the oral literature of the negroes of the Southern States,
would be as heartily welcomed.

The thirty-four legends in the first volume were merely selections from
the large body of plantation folk-lore familiar to the author from his
childhood, and these selections were made less with an eye to their
ethnological importance than with a view to presenting certain quaint
and curious race characteristics, of which the world at large had had
either vague or greatly exaggerated notions.

The first book, therefore, must be the excuse and apology for the
present volume. Indeed, the first book made the second a necessity; for,
immediately upon its appearance, letters and correspondence began to
pour in upon the author from all parts of the South. Much of this
correspondence was very valuable, for it embodied legends that had
escaped the author's memory, and contained hints and suggestions that
led to some very interesting discoveries. The result is, that the
present volume is about as complete as it could be made under the
circumstances, though there is no doubt of the existence of legends and
myths, especially upon the rice plantations, and Sea Islands of the
Georgia and Carolina seacoast, wh