Subject:Sin
Entries
Entry 10013
I've heard of that but I've never committed that sin. My grandmother has spoke of it several times in front of me, how you sells yourself to the devil, that you go in the woods and get you a black cat and kill it. And you get a boiling pot of hot water and you throu this cat in that water. And if yon can stand there and watch that cat cook to death, that you will be lucky and success- ful. Take the bones and throw them in a creek and the bone that float8 upstream, that's the bone that you take. And long as you wear that bone you slll be lucky.
(I see.) [Boiling cat in the woods is rare.]
Entry 226
If you are a sinner, you will come in any kind of shape. I know a man at home who died and his home had a black dog in it all the time. You could see it, too.
Entry 1389
If you rob a mockingbird's nest, that makes you go necked [naked] an' hungry. It's a sin to rob a mockingbird's nest. Yes sir, they say that's re'lly the truth.
Entry 7682
Tuh put evil spirits behin' yo', yo' goes tuh a graveyard an' yo' gits de dirt off of a grave but chew do not git it offa a person grave dat died - dat wuz a Christian an' vent tuh heaven. Yo' gits it off a sinner's grave, a person dey know God won' pardon dere sins. See. An' when yo' goes tuh git dat dirt chew leaves a dime, an' yo' takes dat dirt an' sprinkle it anywhere where anybody's dead [alive] an' call dat person name whut's daid an' tell 'em yo' want 'em tuh to'ment 'em. An' dey will tō'ment dat person an' dey won' be able tuh stay no- where roun' where yo' puts dat dirt.
Entry 7686
Dey say dat chew [a woman] could go tuh de cemetery, but yo' have tuh go dere at midnight, an' git dis graveyard dirt. Well, ah do know a woman dat says she went dere. Says she git dis graveyard dirt but yo' gits it outa de breast of a sinnah, a person dat chew know is a sinnah. Yo' go dere an' yo' git it right up outa his breast, an' tell 'im dat chew git- tin' dis heah dust an' yo' want it tuh hold sech-an'-sech-a-one. Yo' gittin dis - jes' lak yo' go an' git it, says So-an'-so, ah'm gittin' dis. Ah wan' chew tuh hold sech-an'-sech-a-one fo' me. An' yo' kin take dat graveyard dirt an' sprinkle it aroun' in yore house fo' nine mawnin's an' he [the man for whom the rite is worked] come an' tell yo' jes' evahthin' mos'ly dat he know. He'll come tuh tell yo' mos'ly evahthin' dat he know in de line of some woman dat he's been naggin' attah [after] or de woman naggin' attah 'im.
Entry 7760
Take graveyard dirt an' dragon's blood an' make [mix] it up. Yo' kin take dat an' sprinkle it aroun' in a person's home. He can't see it. Yo' begin tuh have a hackin' cough an' dat hackin' cough, yo' jes' cough, cough lak yo' got tuberculosis; an': if yo' don' git dat dirt - some people don sweep often enough. Some people know [how] tuh avoid dat. Any person kin come in yuh home an' have a pinch of it an' throw it in dere an' cuz yo' tuh have a hackin' cough. (You say they take graveyard dirt and dragon's blood. Do they put it sep- arately or what?) Naw, mix 'em tuhgethah. See, dragon's blood is a very precious thing an' de graveyard dirt yo' git it off a sinnah's grave.
Entry 7823
Tisn't [It is not] but one place at ah knows of in de graveyard dat yo' kin git any dirt dat will do anythin'. Not any kind of dirt in de graveyard will not [omit not] anything. [Such a belief] it's a fake. If yo' go tuh a murdahed man's grave... [I interrupt.] (Some man that was killed?) Yeah, murdahed. He gotta be a sinnahman, a worldly man lak a gamblah or gangstah or somepin of dat kind. Yo' goes tuh 'is grave an' on 'is left-hand side at 'is haid, yo' take yuh right hand, yo' puts it down in dat earth. Yo' try tuh make it [reach the grave] aftah it rains, 'cuz de earth is soft. [As we shall see, you must grasp this dirt until you reach home and write a letter; consequently not one grain of this dirt must be dropped.] An' yo' kneels dere an' yo' ask 'im whut yo' wanta be done. Undahstan', an' as yo' ask 'im, yo' close yuh hand whilst yo' got it down in dat hole, an' den yo' brings dis dirt out. Undahstand? Yo' brings dis dirt out. Well, den yo' take it home. Yo' writes a lettah jis' lak ah'm writin' tuh a live person from which ah got dis dirt. An' in dat envelope ah'll put dis yere [here] dirt whut ah had in mah hand in dat envelope. Nevah let it [dirt] loose, nevah turn it loose until ah put it in dis envelope. An' den ah will take de sheet of papah an' ah will write tuh dat [dead] man. An' whutsomevah ah wan 'im tuh do, ah will seal dat lettah up wit dis dirt an' put it undah mah haid An' he will do anything dat yo' ast 'im tuh do. An' dat's de only place in de graveyard dat de dirt is any good.