Browse:Three Roots (Volume 1, entries 2329)
Three Roots
Volume 1, entries 2329. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 2329
Well, from mah own experience, ah have a couple of things dat ah know of in gambling: Ah git some root dey call de High John de Conker, an' Ruler of de Worl' an' King Of Man - lak de king of anything, lak de King of England, somepin. An' ah have anothern dey call de Eve-an'-Adam [Adam-and-Eve]. An' ah experience of de High John de Conker an' Ruler of de Worl' an' King of Man - ah've gambled wit dat. (How would you fix that up? How would you prepare that?) [I tried to avoid prepare - see what he does with it.] Well, it be compared up wit Hearts Cologne in a little bottle [this is a bottle hand] an' as yo' go into de game - befo' yo' go into de game yo' take some of it an' po' it in de palm of yore han', rub it, see [demonstrates]. Rub it on yore han' an' rub it on yore face. Yo' might take de bottle lak yo' put perfume on yo' an' tetch it on heah couple of times. Den yo' goes on in de game an' if anybody have put any cookin' salt on yo' or somepin lak dat, yore luck won't be no good. It can't be touched by no othah man but jes' de one who handles it - yore wife, yore husband, or yore sister or nobody lak dat. If dey do, why den yore luck begin tuh change - it's bad.
(If somebody would put cooking salt there, it would kill that luck?)
Kill it - dat's right. Or either yo' kin take a red pocket han'kerchief an' band dat roun' yore waist with one dose ole hoppy toadfrogs. If anybody got roots or anything lak dat of de kind in de game, why yo' kin tell it by dis frog.
(What will the frog do?)
He will holler jes' lak it rainin' or somepin lak dat - jes' lak a frog holler when it's rainin'. Dat's to notify yo' dere's somepin dere wrong.
(There's something wrong in the game?)
Dat's right. An' if it any kinda root - de King of Man, or either de High John de Conker, or Eve-an'-Adam, dey won't stand no salt or no othah han's on it but yores after yo' git it. If yo' do, yo' conceal it wit bad luck. If yo' kin keep it without anybody han' on it, without anybody puttin' de cookin' salt on it - lak folks standin' in de game behin' yore back dey sprinkle salt on yo'. Dat's tuh put chew in bad luck.