Browse:GRAVE OF A 12 YEAR OLD CHILD (Volume 4, entries 7584)
GRAVE OF A 12 YEAR OLD CHILD
Volume 4, entries 7584. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → DEATH AND BURIAL AND GRAVEYARD → HOW TO OBTAIN GRAVEYARD DIRT → DIRT FROM WHAT TYPE OF GRAVE. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 7584
Well, ah knows dis to be did. Why dey'd go tuh work an' dey'd go an' fin' where dere's some- body buried, a young person dat is twelve yeahs old. An' dey'd take a can, yuh know.
(A cane?)
A cane.
(Yes?)
An' bo' [bore] dis cane through an' through.
(You mean sugar cane?)
No sir, a cane whut grows in de groun' - what yuh fish wit, yuh see. Don't have tuh be a fishin' cane, but it have tuh be a certain size fo' tuh git de dirt yuh know. [This is probably the cane-reed or southern cane, common names for Arrondinami macrosperma, a tall grass native to wet ground from Virginia to the Gulf States.]
(I see.)
From right off de haid of dat corpse, see. Dey drive dat [hollow cane] down tuh de bottom of dat grave. [This is a slight. exaggeration; a foot would be a good trick.] An' dey gits dat dirt. Well, dey take dat dirt an' dey will loosen it in dat cane enough tuh throw it across de house. Well, aftah dey do dat, well dey'll git a egg den. An' dey'll bust dat egg at de bottom of yore steps, an' bury de hulls [shell]. An' den yuh'll git in a axe so dat yuh can't stay dere - yuh won't stay dere. Yore min' will be always tuh go. Yuh'll go leave dere. Ah've knowed sich as dat tuh be did. Ah lived by some ole people dat used tuh do sich things as dat. People used tuh come tuh 'em tuh do sich things as dat.
(You say you are living by them now?)
No, sir, ah ain't livin' by dem now, but ah used tuh live by them.
(Oh, I see.)