Subject:Sweetpotato
Entries
Entry 5681
Dey could go on down den an' dey could take yore track an' put it in a tater [potato].
(You mean an Irish potato?)
No sir, a potatuh, a sweet potatuh. Take yore track an' put it in a sweet potatuh an' stop it back up an' put a peg in dat tatuh an' throw it in de rivah, an' yondah yo' go. (That's to send you away?) Send joo right on away.
(Do they take both tracks or what?)
Take de lef' track, an' ag'in dey could take yore right.
Entry 780
Well, you see, mah husband, he wus a kinda like dis he wus jealous of me; and he wanted to run aroun' hisself, but always, if I even smiled at a man, he wanted to 'cuse me out wid dat man. And so he come to me and he'd beat me and he'd abuse me, he wouldn't - it seemed like he jis' didn't care. I tole 'im I was gon'a leave 'im and I mean' it. And he saw me talkin' to a fortune-teller man dat come to de house one day, and he sayed, "Whu' yah doin', gittin' yore fortune told?" I say, "No," I say, "he jis' come dere and wanted money for him to tell my fortune," I sayed, 'but I didn't," I sayed, '''cause I didn't have de money." I jis' tole 'im dat. So - and it went on like dat, he kept seein' de man dere. But one day he had a talk with de man. So de fortune-teller man, he would tell 'im whut he wanted to know and tell me de same t'ing: He seem to tell Bernice about me and tell me about Bernice; see, jis' breakin' peace.
(Just working one against the other.)
Yes sir. He wouldn't care, jis' so he gittin' de money - he wouldn't care. He'd tell on you jis' as quick as he would on me, and he'd tell you about me as quick as he would tell me about choo. And he tole me dat de best t ing for me to do - he said, to put a little salt and sulphah in mah shoe, and to get away from Bernice as quick as I could. And he tole Bernice sumepin 'nother. But anyhow, Bernice startin' gittin' meaner and meaner. And he must of tole 'im sumepin 'nother to do to make me stay wit 'im, aftah he saw I wus gon'a leave 'im, becuz one day he came home he gave me a quarter - I tole 'im I wanted to go to a show. He say, "Well, '' he say, "take dat, a nickel of it and git me a box of powdered sage." Dat's whut he tole me to do. And I thought it was sumepin mighty funny, becuz he had never ast de sage befo'. So when de fortune-teller man come back I tole 'im. And he say, "Joo git dis sage," he sayed, "but don' choo give it to 'im." And he said to take dis sage and a raw sweet patatah. He sayed, "Cut de sweet patatah in half and scrape some out of both sides de sweet patatah and put it on a little piece of papah, and put a pinch of dis sage in dere and a pinch of sulphah, and wrap it up and put it in de middle of your shoe, on both of 'em." I cut de patatah in half, den de piece heah, I scrape it and put it [the scrapings] in a piece of papah, den I puts some sulphah in dere and some sage, and I fold dat up and put it in one shoe; while off de othah side of de patatah, I do de same t'ing and put it in mah othah shoe. And I did dat.
(What did you do to the sweet potato?)
You throw it away. You mustn't eat any of it or nothin'. You have to bury it or eithah throw it away where nobody can find it. And so I did dat. And Bernice ast me did I get de sage. I say, "No," I say, ''and that isn't all," I say, "I'm not gon'a get it," I say, "becuz you're not gon'a be able to fix me," I say, "if I can help it." He sayes, "Huh, I wasn't gon'a fix yah." And so dat night I picked 'im.
(Started a quarrel with him.)
When he came home I picked 'im. I sayed, "Bernice, you played up nice to me," so he would tell me, becuz I know if I picked 'im I could git anyt'ing I wanted out of 'im. And he tole me. He sayed dat de man tole 'im to git some of mah hair and some sage and some sulphah and some dirt out de graveyard, and mix all of it up in a box, he sayed, and carry dat in his pocket and dat would make me stay wit 'im; you see, cuz he'd have some of my hair and some dirt from de grave- yard and a piece of lodestone. He tole 'im to git 'im a little tiny piece of lodestone and - lodestone is suppose to draw yeh - he say dat would make me stay wit 'im, jes' draw me to 'im. He wouldn't tell me who tole 'im dough [though]. And I tole de man [fortune-teller] about it and he played like he didn't know nuthin' about it. Well, he tole me to take some of mah hair, and take some dirt out of Bernice's tracks, out of both of his tracks, and put 'em in a can, and some sulphah and some sage, he sayed, and to keep dat with me. And he tole me to take some salt and sprinkle it all aroun' mah baid and put some in mah shoe and keep it in mah shoe. And I did dat and I certainly have got along good since I've been doin' dat.
(How long ago did this happen?)
Jis' about two months ago [December 1936].
(Are you still with your husband?)
No, sir.
(You were able to get away from him?)
Yes, sir. And another thing. He tole me dat if I didn't make mah get-a-way from Bernice - he tole me dis on a Sunday night - he tole me if I didn't make mah get-a-way from Bernice by Wednesday, he sayed dat Bernice wus gon'a kill me. And he saw Bernice right up de street dat same Sunday night and tole Bernice dat I wus gon'a leave 'im by Wednesday. And Bernice came right on back and tole me. He sayes, "Make your break Wednesday night if you wanna," he say, "I'll see yah in hell first." Dat's whut he tole me. And so dat Monday I lef' while Bernice was workin'. I lef' becuz I know dat all dat Wednesday he would be watchin'. And he kep' comin' back by de house, even on Monday, to see was I goin', but I managed to slip away. I haven't been back wit 'im since.
(Did he come after you, after you left?)
Oh, yes sir. He tried his best to get me to go back but I'm not. And I wear salt in mah shoe now to keep 'im from harmin' me. [The informant, a girl about 18, had just related the childhood experience given elsewhere.]