Browse:Avenges Own Death (Volume 1, entries 108–114)
Avenges Own Death
Volume 1, entries 108–114. Source context: SPIRITS → GHOSTLORE. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 108
Jes' lak dere was someone in de crowd dat yo' was trying to find out who did it, killed him, yo' could turn him on his face an' let ev'ry man tetch him, an' de man dat killed him, when he tetch him de wound will start to bleedin' agin.
Entry 109
Now, if a man was to get kilt in my house an' it was a crowd there. Now, if I want anybody found out who kilt that man, I wouldn't let nobody come out of my house. I git me a straw [demonstrates] an' break it an' make a cross - jis' lak this, right across his forehead, an' let ev'ryone of den step over this man whut's dead. Well, now, when de right one stepped over this man whut's dead, well then de nose begins bleeding - that's him.
Entry 110
A white man killed another white man in slavery time - had killed him for years. An' one day they was riding 'long an' he says, "Thare zem bones - I killed dat fellah ten or fifteen or twenty years ago." An' de other fellah says tuh him, "Aw hush, git down an' let's see yo' tetch 'em." An' dey say, when he touched de bones, de blood come out - out that bone, an' he had him 'rested. An' that was de evidence - dat blood.
Entry 111
Yo' take him lak yo' fixin' tuh bury him an' yo' turn him on his face. Well, yo' see if that man is on his face an' yo' bury dat man, de man or woman dat killed him, she's worried until she goin' soon come up an' it ain't goin' be ovah nine days 'fore she goin' come up an' give herself up.
(How did you say they carry him out of the house?)
Jes' lak if dere's a windah on dis side - well, jes' lak a windah dis heah, yo' take him out dis windah on dis side. No, don't chew take him out de do'. Carry him out either one dese windah but don't take him dis way. Let him be goin' dis Way, where de sun set at. Don't nevah take him where de sun rise - it's not goin' work as fast. But if yo' put him on his face an' carry him out de way de sun go down, it won't be nine days 'fore she goin' come back.
(You carry him out the door, though?)
No suh, don' take him out de do'. Yo' wanta put him out de windah - take his body out de windah. Let him be on his face an' take his body out de windah.
Entry 112
Well, you can find that out very easily. If I killed you and it seemed to be hard fer anybody to understand how it was done and who done it. See, you won't be naked, you bound to have some clothes on. They'll strip your clothes right off and put 'em to de side and get ready fer to lying you out as a corpse - you know, take 'em and stretch 'em right out right in de casket and lay you right on top of 'em. And I don't care where you are or where I am - if I've kill yuh, why I'm bound to be coming dere, and the moment I comes near, why the blood will gush out chure mouth and nose. It's not necessary to have the law do anything to me at all after dis, because I can't stay here. You bound to take me along with you.
Entry 113
Git chew a fresh yard aig an' tie it in his right han' an' bury him on his face. Now, dat happen right chere about fo' yeahs ago, right at dis basin [dock for ships along Mississippi River] befo' dey closed it in. A colored fellah kilt a girl dere an' got away, an' her mothah didn't know whut tuh do. So she sent ovah tuh mah house an' got me. So ah says, "Yo' got any chickens roun' heah?" She say, "De lady nex' do'." Ah says, "Tomorrah git me a fresh yard aig." Ah says, "Does yo' min' buryin' dis gurl on her face?" She says, "No, ah'll bury her any way if ah kin find de fellah." She put de yard aig in her han' dis-a-way an' shet her han' up on it an' tied a han'ke'chef ovah it an' buried her on her face. In twenty-four hours he come right dere where he chunked her ovahbo'd an' dis white fellah, de night watchman out dere, caught him. He carried him ovah dere an' called up de law at dis Union Station, an' the law took him ovah to the gurl's mothah's house. Den the girl's mothah went an' had de gurl redug up an' buried on her back. Dey broke his neck outen dis jail out heah.
Entry 114
Ef he killed dis man, you'd git chew a pint of likkah an' lay it right in his breast - crossways in de grave an' dat man cain't stay 'way from dat grave - right across his breast in dat grave an' de man dat killed him, ef he's gone away - don't keer where he done go - he kin go to de No'th Pole - dat's 'bout fer as yo' kin go, to de Eskimo. Well, ef he get ovah to de Eskimo den an! his life is spared an' he git back, he comin' right smack to dat same graveyard, an' he jes' walk around dat grave. Yo' ain't got to hunt fer de man 'tall - jes'
[take a] turn around dat grave.