Browse:Devil and Animals (Volume 1, entries 340–343)
Devil and Animals
Volume 1, entries 340–343. Source context: SPIRITS → SELL SELF TO THE DEVIL. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 340
Jes' lak if yo' wanta learn some tricks yo' know, yo' kin take a black chicken an' go dere fo' nine mawnin's, to de fo'k of de road. Have yo' a further road - both of 'em public roads each way, not no blind roads yo' know. Both of 'em have tuh be public roads, forkin'. Yo' take dis chicken an' go dere fo' nine mawnin's an' on de ninth mawnin' de devil will meet chew dere. An' he will learn - well, anything yo' wanta learn.
(Do you do anything with that chicken?)
De chicken, he have tuh be 'live. Yo' ketch him alive an' carry him to de fo'k of de road an' yo' go fo' nine mawnin's, an' on de ninth mawnin' he'll meet chew dere.
Entry 341
If yo' wanta learn to pick a guitar, go to a road nine Sunday mawnin's - de fo'ks of de road, nine Sunday mawnin's. But 'fore yo' evah go tuh de fo'ks of de road to learn yo'self, dey way fo' yo' tuh do - git a rooster, an' if he ain't blind, have some de young ones to knock his eye out. It won't.hurt him yo' know. Don' do it chewse'f but have somebody else tuh do it - lak yo' ketch a rooster, put one his eyes out. Ah reckon yo' heerded dat ole song - dey say long time ago it wus named atter [after] [what a] root worker done, chew know. Dey says, "De Ole Blind Rooster, When He Comes." Well, dat's de way dat is. See, yo' take dat rooster one eye. Den yo' kill him an' yo' take his drumstick when all de meat is done 'way - done eat de meat off yo'self. Take dat drumstick an' yo' go ahead an' yo' put it in yore pocket.
(What do you put in your pocket, the eye or the drumstick?)
No, not de eye, jes' de thigh an' let somebody else eat de meat off it. [He calls the thigh bone a drumstick, a term usually reserved for the leg bone. Thigh in old-fashioned country-fried chicken was never called second joint, a carving term; the chicken being completely disjointed and cut up when fried raw.] (What do you do with that eye that you took off the rooster, what do you do with that eye?) Well, yo' see -
(You just blind the rooster?)
Yeah, jes' blind de rooster in dat one eye. Den yo' take dat othah eye an' put undah de back do'step yo' know. An' so whenevah de mawnin' when yo' goin' tuh learn tuh pick de guitar, an' cut. tricks, yo' know, yo' got dat rooster drumstick in yore pocket.
(You kill the rooster and eat him?)
Uh-huh, kill de rooster an' eat him, but don' eat none of it yo'self, see: Yo' git de drumstick an' de eye - take de eye time yo' kill him an' bury it undah de do'step an' let nobody know whut chew done wit it. Den yo' take de drumstick an' yo' go down to fo'ks of de road Sunday mawnin 'fore day, jes' right round 'bout three a'clock an' when yo' git down dere, yo' wanta learn tuh play de guitar. So de first Sunday mawnin' yo' go dere, well, yo' don't stay but 'bout eight or ten minutes - give yo' eight or ten minutes. Well now, whenevah yo' 'cide tuh leave dere, if yo' go dere fo' dat business, yo' know, well, yo' drop dat bone down right in de middle of de fo'ks of de road, near as yo' know, say, "Well, dey ain't nobody heah dis mawnin', thigh, but me, an' so's yo'." Now yo' ain't goin' say nuthin'. Well, yo' start to pickin' yo' guitar an' whenevah yo' startin' tuh pickin' yore guitar, the corner of that bone round dere would be heah, an' it will keep changin' but yo'll nevah see it change dat mawnin'. Yo'll look at it - one end of it's small an' de othah end large, yo' know. Co'se it be larger up heah, yo' know, den it would be down dere, but that end will be round, that end, an' ever' time yo' pick a tune, it will be changin' - yo' know yo' comin' on den wit de guitar, yo' know whut chew done. An' when it quit changin' yo' know it time tuh go.'Well, '' yo' say, "nex' Sunday mawnin'." If yo' want it be at twelve a'clock, yo' say, "Twelve a'clock an' it change agin. Not watch it yo' know, an' whatevah yo' see it comin' at de change, yo' jes' hold it at dat hour an' yo' come de next time dat hour an' - so - on whenevah Sunday mawnin' come agin, yo' go back dere. Well, whut yo' do dat time, yo' go back dere an' yo' set right down, right up on de - sit down dere an' pick. Say, "Dere's nobody tuh worry yo' ah ain't got but one eye." An' yo'll see a sheep - a sheep will come up cross de road an' git right in de road an' face yo' an' look mournful an' pitiful, an' yo'll look at dat sheep an' keep on pickin' an' dat sheep atter while will vanish away. Atter while yo' see somepin black comin'. Well, dey'll pass on by, won't stop dat time. Well, it's time tuh go den. Yo' goes de nex' time. Well, de nex' time yo' go dere, yo' guitar will git pickin' bettah an' bettah. Well, whut'll drive yo' 'way dat time, yo'll heah a cow come 'long. Well, yo'll nevah see dat cow dat time, an' fore yo' leave - yo stay dere 'bout a hour dat time befo' yo' leave, an' if anybody on de road kin see yo' or anything, den dat cow de las' time she'll low, she say, "Aah-aah-do sound lak she say. An' it's time tuh go den. An' so yo' go dat time. An' de next time yo' go dere, dere a lil' ole funny boy will come out an' yo' speak to him an' he'll play all dumb, an' yo' not know a thing about him. Well, it natural sometime yo'll run up on people yo' nevah knew. An' yo' git picking de guitar till yo' git tuh messin' wit him, an' quite natural yo' think he'll not keep it, keep it down. Well, at least it wus wit me. An' ah got tuh playin' an' fust thing ah knows he had two lil' ole sticks yo' know, an' keep playin' it on, dat bark got to ringin', yo' know, good, an' ah kept playin', kept playin' an' ah wus playing one tune an' when de guitar got playin' anothah, ah change back. An' den ah didn't have tuh go no mo'. Ah didn't have tuh go no mo' 'tall 'cause ah got playin' so's ah could play anything ah want. Ah have been where ah could lay de guitar upside down an' stan' beside it - it would ring right on. Dat's true. But ah laid off of it. Way ah wus doin', ah'd be a speck mo' den ah is. Ah went dere 'bout - ah missed two Sundays an' ah got off on de guitar a lil' bit, an' ah went back den on a Sunday mawnin' an' ah met somepin dere. Well, people say yo' meet de devil, but tell de truth 'bout de thing, ah don't know if it wus de devil or not. It wus a black something othah jes' 'bout dat high - sorta 'mind me of a dog. He had han's lak a dog when ah fus' seen him but fust an' last his han' wus jes' lak mine only it wus jes' as hot as could be. Well, ah wus drinkin' putty ha'd dat mawnin' tuh hol' mah nerve, but ah warn't drunk, an' he took dat guitar an' got tuh pickin' an' he changed it back tuh me. Well, atter while ah got tuh de place ah could pick anything. An' de bottom of mah shoe, ah had had a sole an' hit wus 'bout tuh come off, yo' know, an' he says, "Gimme yore soul" - whut he says. Ah wus gittin' ready tuh leave yo' know. Ah say, "Well, nobody knows." An' ah says, "Good-day" - jes' lak dat an' turn roun an' he say, "Gimme yore soul befo' yo' goes." Ah went an' pulled de half-sole off mah shoe an' gi' him de sole, yo' see, an' he disappeahed. Well, ah went on back tuh de house an' ah got tuh play - ah got tuh pick de guitar extra good. (Were you supposed to do anything else the rest of the times you were supposed to go out there?) De nine days?
(If you keep on going out there what happens?)
Yo' keep on goin' dere? Well, yo' see if yo' keep on goin' dere, yo' kin go dere eight mo' days on Sunday mawnin' an' yo' git to de place, de devil will give yo' a root. Dere's somepin come out lak a dog an' he'll come by an' he'll drop somepin down - it's 'bout six inches long, jes' 'bout lak dat. He be runnin' jes' lak a dog or somepin an' drop somepin yo' know, an' quite natchral yo'll pick it up yo' know. An' yo' pick it up an' yo' keep dat. If yo' offah tuh show it tuh somebody, dey cain't see it - [dey] say, "Yo' ain't got nuthin' in yore han'." Yo' cain't see it. Well, if yo' try tuh show it to dem, dey don't hardly believe yo'. So yo' keep dat in yore pocket till yo' git to de house an' git a chance tuh go down 'side de spring an' bury it. Well, de day yo' bury dat, if yo' bury it deep enough, yo'll nevah find it yo'self, but yo'll have luck de longest day yo' live. But chew go' tuh dat crossroads nine Sunday mawnin's. Well, dat ninth mawnin' yo' know, yo' done made dat aftah yo' done learn tuh pick de guitar. Well, yo' don't have but seven mo'. An' yo' go dere seven mo' Sunday mawnin's. Well, yo' beat right on de guitar. Yo' kin cut all kinda tricks den an' de devil will show yo' how tuh manage tricks. Yo' kin see the police dere an' everything in close places, an' how tuh git out chew know, an' ever'thing.[ Fayetteville, N. Car.,
(1438), 2581:1.]
Entry 342
I did hear once [of a man] sellin' hisself to the devil with a black chicken, you understan'. He wus, seemed to be kinda unlucky - you see, couldn't have any luck country-fashion an' so he went to a witch. She tole 'im, she says, "You're crossed with bad luck, you can't have no good luck." Well, he ast her how she could do. She said, "Well, I'll tell you wha' choo do. Now, you go to work," she says, "now, you git a black rooster." She says, "You take this black rooster, take 'im to a runnin' stream, an' you cut his throat, you see, an' hol' 'im up over de Water like that, an' as that blood drips, say, "Nick, Nick, black cock, over the Water, please to teach me to be one quarter as wise as thou." An' repeat that over nine times while the blood runs. An' you can take the carcass an' throw it away if you wanta." An' they say from right then you're sold to the devil - you're supposed to belong to him body an' soul. Yes sir, that was a ole sayin' at home in Tennessee.
The rooster occurs in a witch's reported instruction within a heard account involving animal harm; its effects are unverified.
Entry 343
Say, if yo' kin take a frog outa God an' put 'im in man - an' build yo' a brush heap an' stand in de smoke of it, say de devil will appear befo' yo' lak a nachur'l man, an' he'll talk wit chew, an' den he'll tell yo' whut chew kin do.
(You take a frog out of what did you say?)
Take him out God hide an' put him in man hide - now, ah don't know whut dey meant by dat.
(You take this frog out of God hide and put him in man hide.)
[Burning a frog takes the animal out of the hide God gave him and by means of the smoke puts him within man's hide. The smoke, as in ancient burnt offerings, is the spirit of the sacrificial gift. Once inside man, the spiritual smoke could become a frog. Usually, live things put in a person is done by using the blood or powdered body of the animal in a person's food or drink.] Yes, an' then build a brush heap an' set it afire an' git in de smoke of it.
(You put this frog in there alive.)
De devil will appear befo' yo' lak a nachur'l man an' talk wit yo' - tell yo' whut all yo' could do.