Subject:Bananas
Entries
Entry 4086
Yo' take a peach or banana, or lak if yore husban' lak bananas an cream, yo' know, lak dat fo' breakwus [breakfast]. Well yo' take dis banana, peaches - I won' say peaches becuz I haven't used dat, I use bananas. An' pee in a pan at night an let dese bananas soak in 'em ovahnight, an' de nex mawnin' use dem in corn flakes or cream. Dat's fo' love.
(Would he taste that?)
No, sir. Yo' cain't taste it at all.
(You mean the sugar kills the taste?)
Yes.
Entry 2406
Dat's luck tuh eithah draw mens to yore home, yessuh, de banana peelin' - jis' de peelin' of de banana yo' know, a little piece ovah de do' an' folks walk up underneat' chew know...comin' in de front do'.
(That is supposed to bring men into your house?)
Bring money mens to yore home.
Entry 3117
In case if yo' don't have time, dis is a quick way now. Ah'm goin' tell yo' 'gin [again]. WANT CHEW PAY CLOSE 'TENTION AN' KETCH DIS. Yo' go tuh a fruit stan' an' git chew one banana. Undahstan' good now, jes' one. Yo' know dere's lotsa bananas are ripe, jes' so ripe dey'll almos' fall tuh pieces off de hull. Well, yo' git dat banana peelin'. Git dat banana peelin' an' den when she lay down at night an' go tuh sleep, jes slip dat banana peelin' dere, an' take dat banana peelin' an' jes' dou- ble it. See dere, double it jes' lak dat [demonstrates]. An' yo' take it an vipe dat woman. Wipe her fanny, see, an' yo' say, "No son-of-a-bitch don't git dis but me, no son-of-a-bitch don't git dis but me" [and probably repeat a third time]. All right, an' yo' do dat. Den yo' take dat banana peelin' an' throw it, throw it ovah yo' shouldah an' nobody else can't go wit 'er tuh save 'er life but chew.
Entry 2407
Yo' take five cents worth of oranges, five cents worth of apples, five cents worth of grapes an' five cents worth of bananas. Yo' take yo' a bowl an' yo' cut all those up an' have yore fiah burnin' there, an' it's a-spotin luck, fast luck. An' it's re'lly lucky. Yo' git chew five cents worth of that brown sugah agin, five cents Worth of that white sugah an' put all that together an' put it on de back of yore fiah an' make yore wish from all parts of de worl' [successively face each of four directions and wish] - jes' wish fo' diff'rent things tuh come. Yo' don't know 'em but chew jes' wishin'. An' befo' de week's out every time yo' be's jes' lak that.
(That's for trade?)
Yeah, be success - trade.
(Why do you use white sugar and brown sugar?)
Well, yo' use de white mens, yo' see, an' yo' use the brown, fo' de brown.
Entry 2755
(Do the people over there have altars?)
Yes, they still got altars over there, yes sir. (How do they handle that? Supposing I'd go over to see one, what would they have me do? I wonder what would be the ceremony they'd go through?) Well now, you see, as you go in, the altar is setting just like this here [points] vanity [bureau] there - yes, sir. The altar is setting there. Well, it's always, the candles are always lit, you see, with saints all around it. It always stays lit night and day. See, you go in there, probably you put a nickel in the box and you light you a candle, if it's a penny even, you can put that in there and you light a candle. You get down on your knees and you prays. And whatsoever prayer you want and whatsomever you pray for or want done, you pray to the saint that you know would help you, understand. You get there and you pray to that saint. Now and then the mother of that church, she would come to you - see, she would talk to you and she would give you information. She would pray for you, and probably she may give you a medal. She'd bless the medal and everything - well, pray over it rather and give it to you. Then, she would tell you just what to do and how to do it. See, she liable to tell you, say, "Well, when you go back over to the New Orleans side," say, "you go to the Crackerjack Drug Store," and she say, "you go and get you some goat- weed." She say, "You get some goatweed and you go out in the woods - if you can get to the woods, if you know how. You go out in the woods and you get some banana leaves." You see. "But get the root of the banana tree, rather - get the root of that," she says, "and you come back and you bring it chere to me, but bring it back in nine days." She say, "Let it be dry when you bring it back." Well, you bring it back to her and she will fix that for you. Well now, when she fix it, she liable to tell you, she say, "I want $100 for it." You pay it to her because you wants something done for yourself. She going to use sugar with it, she is going to use cinnamon with that stuff. She gotta take and sprinkle vine- gar onto it and all that - cook all that together - take a red onion and cook all that together. Make one thing out of it. When she get through with it - it will be just about that much stuff when she finish. She tell you, now, put it in a sack or anything and put that in your pocket and go ahead on. And you have the luck and success in anything you undertake to do. (What do they call these people that do that sort of thing? What would you call her?) Well, we call 'em just by name - some people call 'em the hoodoos - some call 'em spirituals - some call 'em - ah forget the other name they call 'em - but we call 'em all kind of names - fortunetellers and all such things as that, you see.
(Well, does she wear a robe or dress up in any particular way?)
They generally wears a gown, yes sir - you know, a big white gown. Some of 'em be - have a black gown, you know. We call 'em gowns. They look more like gowns than they is robes - and tassel and all around - just in order - just on the order of a priest, you see.
Entry 8479
Well, you open that banana - you see, not far enough for it to be shown - and write that name and put it in, and put it up overhead and the apple too. That will keep them right there with you, just like that urine. That is supposed to make them care for you. [While recording Was stopped I asked informant about the 9 times previously mentioned.] You write the name nine times on the paper, yes sir, and put it in the hole, stick in the hole in the apple or orange or banana; just fix it up, you know, so it won't be laid open. Then you wrap it up into somepin. And then you put it up overhead, anywhere high. When you wrap it, you wrap to you like this [demon- strates] and put it up overhead where they pass by. [Wrapping, as here, is often a magic rite - see later margin title WRAPPING.]