Browse:Sand Root (Volume 1, entries 2275)
Sand Root
Volume 1, entries 2275. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 2275
Once dere wus a fellah went an' shot in de church - shot in through de church. All of us in de church preachin' an' ever'thin', an' he came up drunk an' he shot into de church. Some of de fellahs made him mad an' went in de church an' he went home - ran home all de way home an' got his shotgun an' come back - got his pistol an' come back. He's intendin' tuh break up de church - all of 'em drunk. Well, he come back an' shot in de church. He run dem all out, de preacher out de church an' ever'thin'. Well, when he ran dem all out he ranned on out hisself an' went tuh shootin' behin' dem. Well, his father says, "Well son, ah'm goin' git chew outa dis, if yo'be's good." He said, "Yes." He wus goin' to his father tuh git him out. [For man so mad at his church he threw graveyard dirt on congregation, see No. 655, p.221.] Well, his father went to a man an' got a root. It wus a root about that long, a blacksnake root an' dese heah lil roots yo' call de sand root - about that, so long. He give him that root an' tole him to put it - cut it an' put it in his shoe, an' take one piece an' put it in his mouth when he git up there befo' de judge an' chew dat root, an' if he'd chew dat root, he'd come clear or wouldn't have tuh make a oath for 60 or 70 or maybe 90 days. An' he taken dat root an' went up dere an' he tole him tuh keep his foot pattin' lak that while he wus up there an' while de judge wus tryin' him. Well, he taken that root an' put it in his mouth an' had one under each feet an' he's up dere pattin' de root an' de judge tried him. He tole him he could give him a life sentence or have him exe- cuted, but de best thing he could do fo' him wus let him go, tuh give him five yeahs out of town. Dat's whut he did with the root dat he had.
(All he had was the piece of blacksnake root?)
He had a piece of blacksnake root an' whut chew call de sand root. An' he had then cut it an' put in his shoe - in each shoe an' while the judge wus tryin' him he chewed dat root.