Browse:Doctor Plays Both Sides (Volume 1, entries 780–782)
Doctor Plays Both Sides
Volume 1, entries 780–782. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → DOCTOR AND DOCTOR: TWO OPPOSING SYSTEMS OF THOUGHT. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 780
Well, you see, mah husband, he wus a kinda like dis he wus jealous of me; and he wanted to run aroun' hisself, but always, if I even smiled at a man, he wanted to 'cuse me out wid dat man. And so he come to me and he'd beat me and he'd abuse me, he wouldn't - it seemed like he jis' didn't care. I tole 'im I was gon'a leave 'im and I mean' it. And he saw me talkin' to a fortune-teller man dat come to de house one day, and he sayed, "Whu' yah doin', gittin' yore fortune told?" I say, "No," I say, "he jis' come dere and wanted money for him to tell my fortune," I sayed, 'but I didn't," I sayed, '''cause I didn't have de money." I jis' tole 'im dat. So - and it went on like dat, he kept seein' de man dere. But one day he had a talk with de man. So de fortune-teller man, he would tell 'im whut he wanted to know and tell me de same t'ing: He seem to tell Bernice about me and tell me about Bernice; see, jis' breakin' peace.
(Just working one against the other.)
Yes sir. He wouldn't care, jis' so he gittin' de money - he wouldn't care. He'd tell on you jis' as quick as he would on me, and he'd tell you about me as quick as he would tell me about choo. And he tole me dat de best t ing for me to do - he said, to put a little salt and sulphah in mah shoe, and to get away from Bernice as quick as I could. And he tole Bernice sumepin 'nother. But anyhow, Bernice startin' gittin' meaner and meaner. And he must of tole 'im sumepin 'nother to do to make me stay wit 'im, aftah he saw I wus gon'a leave 'im, becuz one day he came home he gave me a quarter - I tole 'im I wanted to go to a show. He say, "Well, '' he say, "take dat, a nickel of it and git me a box of powdered sage." Dat's whut he tole me to do. And I thought it was sumepin mighty funny, becuz he had never ast de sage befo'. So when de fortune-teller man come back I tole 'im. And he say, "Joo git dis sage," he sayed, "but don' choo give it to 'im." And he said to take dis sage and a raw sweet patatah. He sayed, "Cut de sweet patatah in half and scrape some out of both sides de sweet patatah and put it on a little piece of papah, and put a pinch of dis sage in dere and a pinch of sulphah, and wrap it up and put it in de middle of your shoe, on both of 'em." I cut de patatah in half, den de piece heah, I scrape it and put it [the scrapings] in a piece of papah, den I puts some sulphah in dere and some sage, and I fold dat up and put it in one shoe; while off de othah side of de patatah, I do de same t'ing and put it in mah othah shoe. And I did dat.
(What did you do to the sweet potato?)
You throw it away. You mustn't eat any of it or nothin'. You have to bury it or eithah throw it away where nobody can find it. And so I did dat. And Bernice ast me did I get de sage. I say, "No," I say, ''and that isn't all," I say, "I'm not gon'a get it," I say, "becuz you're not gon'a be able to fix me," I say, "if I can help it." He sayes, "Huh, I wasn't gon'a fix yah." And so dat night I picked 'im.
(Started a quarrel with him.)
When he came home I picked 'im. I sayed, "Bernice, you played up nice to me," so he would tell me, becuz I know if I picked 'im I could git anyt'ing I wanted out of 'im. And he tole me. He sayed dat de man tole 'im to git some of mah hair and some sage and some sulphah and some dirt out de graveyard, and mix all of it up in a box, he sayed, and carry dat in his pocket and dat would make me stay wit 'im; you see, cuz he'd have some of my hair and some dirt from de grave- yard and a piece of lodestone. He tole 'im to git 'im a little tiny piece of lodestone and - lodestone is suppose to draw yeh - he say dat would make me stay wit 'im, jes' draw me to 'im. He wouldn't tell me who tole 'im dough [though]. And I tole de man [fortune-teller] about it and he played like he didn't know nuthin' about it. Well, he tole me to take some of mah hair, and take some dirt out of Bernice's tracks, out of both of his tracks, and put 'em in a can, and some sulphah and some sage, he sayed, and to keep dat with me. And he tole me to take some salt and sprinkle it all aroun' mah baid and put some in mah shoe and keep it in mah shoe. And I did dat and I certainly have got along good since I've been doin' dat.
(How long ago did this happen?)
Jis' about two months ago [December 1936].
(Are you still with your husband?)
No, sir.
(You were able to get away from him?)
Yes, sir. And another thing. He tole me dat if I didn't make mah get-a-way from Bernice - he tole me dis on a Sunday night - he tole me if I didn't make mah get-a-way from Bernice by Wednesday, he sayed dat Bernice wus gon'a kill me. And he saw Bernice right up de street dat same Sunday night and tole Bernice dat I wus gon'a leave 'im by Wednesday. And Bernice came right on back and tole me. He sayes, "Make your break Wednesday night if you wanna," he say, "I'll see yah in hell first." Dat's whut he tole me. And so dat Monday I lef' while Bernice was workin'. I lef' becuz I know dat all dat Wednesday he would be watchin'. And he kep' comin' back by de house, even on Monday, to see was I goin', but I managed to slip away. I haven't been back wit 'im since.
(Did he come after you, after you left?)
Oh, yes sir. He tried his best to get me to go back but I'm not. And I wear salt in mah shoe now to keep 'im from harmin' me. [The informant, a girl about 18, had just related the childhood experience given elsewhere.]
Entry 781
["Deceit of colored root doctors - work for both parties but white root doctor won't - he mentions Williams - R.D. [[root doctor - colored or white?]] in Richmond - Richmond, Va.,365:1 - cyl. ref. checked - Inf. 414" - Introduction Notes. Informant interviewed: "Thurs., Apr. 22, 1937 -[[No.ll 414 - Wade - fair." Numbers Book 340-442.]
Entry 782
They said there wus a ole man an' his wife. They wus livin' lovely togethah fer about forty years an' nobody ever known no disagreement or nuthin' between 'em. So one day he wus workin' in the field an' there come along a ole man an' says, "I want to know if you want your fortune told?" He says, "Well, no." He says, "Yes, I'll tell you your fortune," he says, "for a quartah [twenty- five cents]. = He says, "Well, I don't - I ain't got de money, but I don't care about it." He says, "But you ought to have your fortune told becuz there some things you ought to know." So he says, "Where's your wife?" He says, "She's home." He says, "Well, now, your wife has got somepin against you." And he said, "Now, I'll tell yo' whut choo do." He say, "Well, where do you keep yore razor?" He said, "I'll tell you," he said, "I keep it home over the doah in a little box." You know, in the country where they had jis' a little one-room house like they - specially they did about twenty-five or thirty yeahs ago [before 1936] - they use'ly had a little shelf up ovah de doah, an' a rack with a gun, an' a little shelf to put the boxes where maybe they had little chains, and then maybe nails an' diff'rent things like that. So he said that's where he kept his razor. So he says, "Well, now, you got to wat-chore [watch your] wife," say, "she may try to hurt choo if she got yore razor." He says, "I see," he says, "you got a mole there - that's a lucky sign. You got a mole there," he say, "on your neck," he says, "but if you wat-chure wife," he says - "well," he says, "I jis' want to tell you to be careful." So he tole 'im good-by. He got the quartah. So he went on to the house. When he got there the old lady she wus in there fixin' up her husband's dinner [midday meal]. You know, he tole 'im, "Now, you mind too, how you eat" - whut she fix it fer 'im - "if you don't mind, she'll trick you." So when he got to the house he met her, [he] pleasant an' nice, an' tole 'er, "I want to tell yore fortune - you need yore fortune tole." She say, "You don't know anything." She say, "I don't wan'a spend mah money." So he says, "Well, I'll tell you, I'll tell yore fortune for ten cents." She says, "Well, all right." He says, "Where is yore husband?" She says, "He's in the field." He says, "Zhoo know, '' he says, "yore husband got a big big mole on his neck." She says, "He's got a mole on his neck." "You see, I tell that much; you know I know somepin, don't choo?" She says, "Yes, that's the truth. He sure has got a mole on his neck." He says, "Well, now, I'll tell you whu' choo do, '' he says, ''don't he keep his razor right over the doah?" She says, "Well, I declare, you sure do know things, don't chew!" He say, "Well, now, I tell you that much." He say, "Now, you take that razor at night when he lay down - you take that razor an' cut that mole off an' you kin git every dollah he's keepin' from you; you'll find out somepin or othah you ought to been knowin' long along." He wus so earnest that she said, "Well, I'll do it." So he says, "Now, I'll tell yeh," he says, "when he come, don't choo say nuthin' to 'im, you jis' watch 'im an'," he says, "when he goes to sleep, you go an' take that razor an' you cut that mole off." Now, he done tole the ole man out there in the field that his wife gon'a try do somepin or othah to trick 'im. So when the ole man come, he looked all up an' down. You see, both of 'em wus curious now, 'cause they'd heard somepin. So she - in order to keep from sayin' somepin or othah to 'im - she goes an' gits 'er mouth fulla watah, 'cause she's a great talker an' she couldn't keep nuthin'. An' she wanted to tell 'im so bad that this ole man had been there an' tole 'er all this. But she gon'a wait until he gits to sleep, you see. So she filled her mouth fulla watah. An' when she filled her mouth fulla watah, he come in an' he said, "Well, you got mah dinnah done?" She wouldn't talk. He wondered whut in the world wus the mattah wit 'er. She nevah said nuthin'. He wondered whut the matter. An' so he went on an' eat his dinnah. Night come an' not a word. He couldn't imagine not to hear from his wife - this man said somepin a mattah wit his wife. "Now, whut in the name's the mattah." So fin'lly, at last he laid down. An' when he laid down he says, "Now, I'm not goin' to go to sleep. So he pretended that he wus asleep. An' she waited an' waited an' waited for him to snore. Well, directly he made a little noise like he's asleep, an' she gits up an' goes to git the razor. She got the razor. He looked right at her. She got the razor an' started to the baid. Jis' as soon as she started to - this ole man jump up, he didn't wait choo see. They said he jumped up an' says, "Yes, you started to kill me." That jis' made a great big disturbance an' broke 'em up. [Wilmington, N. Car., (215), 123:5+85.] [This trick by the fortune-teller says my informant happened years ago in Effingham County, Georgia - on Savannah River and next county above Savannah. But it is a folk story. My note while transcribing original reads, "Also heard this story in S. C., use (this) as separate appendix and refer to in Intro. I have not yet found this extra version. A note about third version reads: "Story of the old woman and the razor - badly recorded - recheck - on the full moon at midnight (wife to) get hair from behind husband's left ear and had to be done with his razor - (the trickster called) cunjure doctor - badly recorded but last part well recorded, so know what story is about - wife was going to cut his throat to get insurance money to get this young man - gave this as an actual occurrence (Richmond, Va., 418,369:7)" - Introduction Notes.]