Subject:Trunk
Entries
Entry 3528
When a woman wanta make a man lose his nature, dat's by ovahfeedin' 'im wit dis monthly - a man, dey take his discharge an' take de pocket han'ke'ch'ef an' iron [it], tie three knots in it, an' throw it in de bottom of de trunk. He wouldn't fool wit 'em, not until he dead. (With any other woman.) No more good. All 'is nature will go to his head, an' den he'll come to be a man usin' wit 'is mouth. Dat's why a lotta fellahs use wit dey mouth an' can't use down below here, becuz dey nature is taken away from dem. [In hoodoo every ailment and misfortune, including impotence, is caused by a spell or conjuration.]
(They use this nature on the handkerchief and iron it.)
Iron it an' put three knots in it.
Entry 4067
Yuh take some of dey fingahnails or toenails an' put it in a bottle wit some of yuh urinate an' keep it in yuh trunk or somewhere. Dat will cuz [cause] 'em tuh love yuh - be sweet on yuh. (Well, if some woman was doing that to me, would she take my fingernails or her fingernails?) Well, if she wanted yuh tuh love huh, she would take yuh fingahnails.
(And put it with my urine or hers?)
Yuhs.
(She would have both things from me?)
Yeah.
(And keep them?)
Yeah.
Entry 4174
An' jis' lak if yuh want tuh git chure man back, jis' lak if yuh want tuh make 'em come home, if yuh kin git a chance tuh, git 'is chamber lye an' put it intuh a bottle, an' don' have no watah in dere, no spit or nuthin. Take dis chamber lye an' put it intuh a bottle an put chew a teaspoonful of sugah in dere, an' take an' stop dat up in dat bottle. Put it somewheres where it cain't be in- tahfered wit, an' turn dat bottle down lak dat [demonstrates] an' let it stay dere. An' he will come back. If yuh wanta keep 'im wit yuh, yuh git some of 'is chamber lye ag'in - dere two or three diff'ren' ways dat chew kin do it. Go tuh a cow, if she's a cow dat has a young calf, a black cow an' she's got a calf. Git chew aroun' two teaspoonful of dat milk an' po' it intuh dat bottle. An' yuh kin keep 'im jis' as fast, jis' as yuh do de sugah an' dat chamber lye tuhgethah. Put all of it tuhgethah. Set it aside or put it in de trunk or put it up ovah yuh do'. It's all right. Dat will draw 'im home an' make him stay dere. He cain't go nowhere.
(You don't do that if he's away some place?)
[No.] Jis' [to] keep 'im. All yuh gotta do is tuh keep 'll.
Entry 4254
If yo' take a person's chamber lye an' stop it up in a bottle, put it in de cornah of yore trunk - in de east cornah of yore trunk, or tuh de haid of yore baid. Let it stay dere. Any time yo' wanta see dat person - listen tuh me, yo' shake it up an' turn de stoppah down. Ah've got chew.
(They are coming right there.)
Ah got chew.
Entry 6010
If dey git hold of yore hair, why dey'll tie dat hair up jes' lak dey do wit chure [foot] track. Dey'll tie dat hair up in a bottle. Dey'll put six needles in dere wit dat hair an' dat'll keep yo' goin' crazy all de time. (What will they do with that bottle then?) Dat bottle - dey put dat bottle down in de ground, or in a trunk.
Entry 7635
They say they take this graveyard dirt, choo understand, take it an' put it in a box. Take a piece of yuh underweah whut choo weah nex' tuh yuh skin [and put it in the box], an' jis' put it in a trunk an' let it stay there. An' as this dirt turns this piece of yuh underweah yel- lah, dat's jis' de way yuh'll turn. Yuh'll jis' fade right away. NO DOCTOR
[M.D.] KIN CURE YUH!
Entry 8006
[I have two versions of the story about Bowizer and his two wives, a tale concerning his mistreatment of first wife and his enslavement by second wife. Whether this is the remnant of a folktale or the beginning of a new one, or something actually factual, I do not know.] FIRST VERSION OF BOWIZER TOLD BY COUSIN Mah Cousin's brothah's wife [not speaker's cousin but cousin by marriage who had a brother who had two wives, this one the second], she taken down sick an she had doctors an' doctors an' doctors of all kind, an' none of 'em seemed tuh not tuh do 'er any good. An' he wus settin' down one day an' - dat wus 'is sec- ond wife. He wusn't good tuh 'is firs' wife, but 'is second wife, he wus so good tuh 'er. He'd wash an' scrub fo' her an' evah- thing. Jis' cook an' evahthin'. So somepin come tuh 'im an' tole 'im, say, "Yo"go an' look in de bottom of yuh trunk. Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk." Well, he'd set down dere an' nod, an' nod, an' nod. Be settin' up wit 'er an' nod, an' nod, an' he'd drowse, an' sompin would tell im ag'in. "Go an' look in de bottom of yuh trunk." So fine'ly sompin tole 'im, "Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk, " fo' about two weeks. An' so de nex' time sompin tole him, "Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk, " he got up an' went on an' looked in de bottom of 'is trunk. All kinds of fine things, jis' fine dresses, de finest kind of step-ins, bloomahs an' a big ole automatic, he didn't even know it wus in de house, wus in de bottom of dat trunk. An'.den dere wus a li'le coffin down in dere - a li'le coffin. Dere wus de seat of 'is undahweah, de centah of undah each ahm [arm] in dere, an' some of dis here, whut dey call cayenne peppah sprinkled down on dere. An' it wus de image of a person made from a stick.
(From a stick?)
Right on a piece of a board, yo' know, jis' in a image. Yo' know, jis' lak yo' take a board an' cut a image of a person, yo' know. An' den dey had dat private an' evahthing cut down dere. Yo' know, had it crossed. An' so dey had jis' down in dere jis' lak a coffin, made in de shape of a coffin. An' it wus closed up an' dere wus 'is name wrote in dere nine times. His name wrote down in dat, right down in dat coffin nine times. Some kind of a powdah wus in dere. A li'le bottle about dat high of urinate wus in dere an' de cork, li'le cork stoppah wus in it, yo' see, well it wus cut on each side, see cut on each side fo' de air tuh git in dere, an' it kin come out, yo' see. An' it wus settin' right straight up right by dat li'le image of 'is private, yo' know, settin' right by it. An' it wus closed up right in de bottom of de trunk. An' so dat's whut had 'im, kept 'im down. He couldn't git away from 'er. She would do anything dat she Wanted tuh do an' he'd be pleased at it, he jis' stayed at home, but wit 'is firs' wife he didn't do it.
(What did he finally do? Did he get the spell off of him or anything?)
Yes, he took dat li'le box out of dere an' took it tuh two-three fortune- tellahs. An' dey tole him, ast 'im who fixed 'im, an' he tole 'em, said, "It wus mah wife." Dey say, "Well, do yo' want 'er?" So he tole 'em, 'Yeah, ah loves 'er." Dey say, "Well, if yo' love her, yo' take dat box right back, set it right back where yo' got it from; but if yo' don't want 'er no mo', yo' take a jar an' put dat box in dere dat jar big enough jar tuh slip dat box in dere" - dat box no biggah'n jis' lak dat - "an' den yo' close it up an' go tuh a runnin' stream an' throw it in dere an' say, "She'll leave yuh wandahin'.
(Leave you what?)
Leave yo' wandahin', she'll wandah away. An' he did dat an' dat woman got up dere one mawnin', she got well an' evahthin'. She wusn't all dat sick. She wus jis', yo' know, actin' lak dat, playin' sick fo' him tuh do de work. She got up from dere an' left, tole 'im dat she wus goin' tuh town. An' she left from dere, didn't eat or nuthin. She didn't even take time tuh git 'er clothes. She jis' got worried an' jis' half crazy, an' she left from dere an' he don't even know where she's at.
(I thought he wanted to keep her?)
You say, if he wanted to keep her?
(I thought he told the fortunetellers he wanted to keep her?)
Said he loved 'er. He [fortuneteller] ast 'im did he love 'er.
(Yes?)
An' he tole 'em, said, yeah, he loved 'er. "So, well, yo' take dat box den an' put it right back where yo' - where it wus.
(Well, why didn't he do that?)
Well, he wanted tuh git out of de fix he wus in. but he didn't.know it wus goin' tuh run 'er away.
(I see.)
[If the reader missed it, do turn back to the first sentence of this first version: "she had doctors an' doctors an' doctors of all kind." These are unique words because the usual expression is, with variations, 'she had every doctor in town. "[Mobile, Ala., (679), 975:3.] So mah brothah, Bowizah, had a wife, firs' wife. He didn't do nuthin jis' run roun' all de time. But ah'm tellin' yo' dis here whut ah know from experience. Ah ain't tellin' somepin whut somebody say dey know. So he ma'ied anothah woman an' she had 'im so she'd go out, she run roun' an' she do whut she please. He couldn't he'p 'imself. He wash an' he scrub an' sweep - do evahthin' in de worl' he could an' he couldn't quit 'er. So one day he wus 'tendin' our garden an' somepin tole him look in 'is trunk. So he went tuh de trunk an' looked in it an' seen all kin' raimints - clothes, shoes - evah- thin' wus in dere. An' he didn't know it wus in de house. So dis [same inner voice] says somepin tuh 'im, "Look in [the bottom of] dis trunk." An' so he looked in de bottom an' dere wus a small casten [or castit = casket] 'bout dat long [demonstrates].
(What?)
Casten - coffin. An' it had de seat of 'is undahweah cut out an' right up undah his sleeve [demonstrates].
(Under his arm, the left arm.)
Yes, sir, his left ahm. An' he got it out an' ca'd [carried] it tuh one of de men's [a doctor] an' de man put it in one dese fruit jahs [jars] an' screwed it tight an' put it in a runnin' stream. So he say one mawnin' she woke up an he run 'er out dat house an' he ain't saw 'er since.
Entry 8197
Take yure pitchure an' put it in a looking glass [the carboard behind the small.hand mirror having been removed]. An' turn it [photo] upside down [against mercury backing of mirror, restoring card- board back] an' put it undahneat' [you] an' sleep on it or walk on it or put it somewhere somebody'll tread on it an' break de glass, an' yo' [person of photo] got tuh come back. Go tuh de do' an' burn some disinfect [disinfectant] an' make yure wish [wish] an' burn it in de house. Den go to de do' an' make yuh wush [again] an' come back. An' 'at [that] been done in Short[?] William Street alley [here in Richmond]. Den [another method] yo' put it [photo without mirror] undah- neat' de carpet or in a trunk upside down tuh draw yuh back. Well keep yuh on yure haid or yuh feet till yuh git back home. An' use dat powdah, insex, love insex [love incense] dey call it. Burn it on a stove.
Entry 8383
Take yore pichures. Now ef yo' got a tintype pichure - can't do a thing wit a pastebo'd pichure - but if yo' got a tintype pichure, take dat pi- chure an' go tuh a trunk an' place dat pichure down. Turn it upside down in dat trunk. Put de clothes on de bottom of dat trunk. An' if a man really love a woman dat she could do enything in de world wit 'im, she kin turn 'im enyway dat she Wanta. But she kin have any perfection of 'im - wouldn't hurt nuthin but would draw out love an' all 'is attention an' care fer dis woman.
Entry 8746
A person kin take a new tin plate an' write a person's name in it dat's e from aroun' yo'. An' if yo' wanted tuh see 'em an' turn it down in a trunk or keep it some way where nobody Would nevah trouble it, an' dat person'll come. Ah've heard of dat.
Entry 11369
Dey say de fig tree leaves is good fo' luck. See, yo' take dem an' put 'em in yore cifforobe [combination of wardrobe and chest of drawers (U. S. A.) or yore trunk or put 'em in yore billfold, de fig leaves. Dey are nice fo' luck. Jes' take a leaf yo' know, lak a little young leaf-lak, a little young one, yo' know, not one de great big ones. Put it some- where yo' kin handle it, jes' spread it out.
Entry 12740
Get a rattlesnake - ah heard yo' take de rattles, yo' know, an' keep 'em in yore trunk till yo' git ten years of age, an' den yo' become wealthy. Cut de rattles off of 'im an' put dem in a trunk, put dem in jes' where de air can't strike it. Yo' see whut ah mean. Fo' ten years yo'll be a wealthy man. (You keep them in there ten years before you are a wealthy man.)
Entry 12994
If yo' want him tuh give yo' his money, all his money, sometime ask him fo' money. If he happen tuh han' yo' a silver dime, don't chew spend dat silver dime. Yo' take dat silver dime an' wrap it up in a piece of - it ain't cotton flannel either. It's woolen stuff. Yo' put chew two needles in dat, a short one an' a long one, an' yo' make a wish fo' tuh rule him an' fo' tuh have him bring yo' dat money. An' yo' git chew some oil from de drug sto'.
(What kind of oil?)
Oil of annis. An' keep it [wrapped up hard] anointed wit it an' put it in de bottom of yore trunk, an' he'll bring his money tuh yo'. Dat's whut ah kmoc 'bout dat. Dat's whut ah have experienced.