Subject:Matchbox
Entries
Entry 4671
Yuh take de bow out of a man's hat an' carry it home an' put it in matchbox an' put it undah yore haid, an' dey say dat will make 'em love yo'. [I stopped machine too soon and had to add:] (You said sleep on it.) [The matchbox, a coffin symbol (confinement) and the match, a sexual one - a frequent combination in HooDoO - explain them- selves.]
Entry 9883
Ah heah a guy say one time he had had some arguments wit a man an' he Wanted tuh git a way tuh git 'im. He went down tuh de side of a creek-kinda or lak a li'l swamp, an' got 'im a toadfrog. He tuk dis toadfrog an' brought 'im back tuh de house, an' put 'im in a matchbox an' stuck nine straight needles in dis toadfrog's back. An' he stuck nine straight needles in dis toadfrog's back an' he 'sposed tuh stay in dis matchbox nine mawnin's, an' de ninth mawnin' dis toadfrog would die. So he did dat, an' de ninth mawnin' dis toadfrog died. An' he said he went where dis man wuz, aftah dat nine mawnin's an' he said dis man hopped lak a toadfrog. He fixed 'im dat way, so he jes' hop- ped long, long lak a toadfrog. [He cunjured him that way so that he would hop along like a frog.] (Well, is that all he did, just stick the needles in the toadfrog? Nothing else? That's all he did?) Yes, dat's all - jes' went an' caught 'im an' put him in a matchbox an' stick nine needles in 'is back an' fix [here meaning to arrange, not to cunjure] him in a matchbox so he wouldn't git out. An' de ninth mawnin'... (Well, what connection would that toadfrog have with this man? How would he know he Was getting the right man?) [The man's intention was sufficient.] Well, he an' dis man had had a fuss an' dis man beat 'im outa de fuss. He beat 'im an' he wanted tuh git even wit 'im - jes' git dis man.