Browse:Grave-Shaped (Volume 1, entries 1915–1917)
Grave-Shaped
Volume 1, entries 1915–1917. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 1915
Jes' lak if yo' want to drive a person from town [or] home, yo' kin go in de cemetery an' run yore han' down in de grave jes' about dat deep, jes' to de end of his [your] fingers an' git de dirt at de end of his [your] fingers an' come back. (You run your hand into the dirt just about as deep as your hand - up to your wrist.) An' git dat dirt at de end of yore finger, git as much as yo' kin an' carry it to dere house - right in front of dere porch, dere steps an' make a little grave dere. De nex' mawnin' when dey git up an' see dat dere, dey'll go. An' dey gradually perish away.
(How do you make that little grave?)
Make it jes' lak yo' make a grave an' bury folks, jes' in de same shape.
Entry 1916
Take graveyard dirt an' care [carry] it to a person's house dat chew Wanta move from dat house, an' make a grave out of it an' put it under his do'- steps. Make a little small grave and put a headbo'd to de head an' one [stick or small piece of board] to [as] a footbo'd, an' write dat person name on a piece of papah an' put it inside dat little grave whut chew make, yo' understand, an he have tuh move. He can't stay dere.
Entry 1917
Yo' kin take two sweet gum sticks an' go undah a person's house an' dig a lil' hole an' put one in dere an' one into anothah hole, right underneat' de bed, jes' lak dis bed sit ovah dere [points to corner of room in which I was working]. Well, dat be's down undah de ground. Put one undah dat bed an' one undah dis one, an' dat person will jes' dry up - wither up until he dies.
(If he sleeps over those sweet gum sticks.)
An' dey say dat's a body. It's a parable as [it signifies] a body, yo' sec, an' when dat stick dry up, dere body will wither away an' dry up an' die.
(Do you put one stick under each bed or two under one bed?)
Well, one undah each bed, jes' either one. Well, dat'd be lak someone mad at someone, see. An' yo' jes' put one undah dis bed an' shape it up as a grave, jes' lak a grave.