Part 1 — XVI. ANNANCY AND THE OLD LADY’S FIELD.
Reading edition
One day there was a old lady work a very nice field on a rock, an' an old-witch boy is the watchman.
An' one day Annancy heard about the old-witch boy, an' Annancy send an' invite him to his yard. An when the old-witch boy come, Annancy ask him what his name. An' he says to Annancy that his name is John-John Fe-We-Hall.
An' the boy ask Annancy why him ask him like that.
An' Annancy say:—"Don't be afraid my frien', I very love you; that's why I ask whé you name."
An' by this time the old lady didn't know that the old-witch boy gone to Annancy yard.
An' Annancy have a son is a very clever tief, call Tacoma.
An' Annancy made a bargain that, when him see John-John Fe-We-Hall come, he must walk to the back door an' come out, an' go to the old lady ground an' destroy the provision.
An' when Tacoma come home, Annancy leave John-John out the hall, an' tell him that he is going to get some breakfast for him.
Now the old lady make a law that, if the watchman eat any of his provision, it going to make him sick in a way that he will find out if it is the same watchman tiefing him.[41]
An' being the boy is old-witch, he know that the food Annancy is getting ready is from the old lady field. So when Annancy bring the breakfast he won't eat it.
Annancy tell him that he must eat the food, he mustn't be afraid.
An' the boy say:—"No."
An' Annancy send an' tell the old lady that the man is here clever more than him.
An' when the old lady receive the message from Annancy, he sent to the ground to tell the old-witch boy that he must look out for Mr. Annancy, for him receive a chanice from Annancy.
An' this time the old lady didn't know that the watchman is at Annancy yard.
An' the old-witch boy is a fluter, an' when the old lady want to dance it's the same boy playing for the old lady. An' the old lady have a tune which he is dancing with. An' Annancy ask the boy to play the tune when he is going home, an' Annancy know if the tune play the old lady will dance till she kill herself.
When the boy going home, him took up his sing with the flute:—
[Listen] [XML]
Old lady you too love dance, turn dem, Old lady you too love dance, turn dem, Turn dem make dem lay, turn dem, Turn dem make dem lay, turn dem.
An' when the old lady hear the sing she beguns to dance an' wheel until she tumble off the rock an' dead.
An' Annancy becomes the master of the field until now.
Jack Mantora me no choose none.
NOTES.
A rock would be a bad place for a field. Her house was on a rock probably, and her field or provision-ground elsewhere. For Provision-grounds and their contents see Digging-Sings.
old-witch. Join these words as closely as possible wherever they occur.
Fe-We-Hall. Very humble houses are called So-and-so Castle and So-and-so Hall. Fe we, for us, our. He was John of our Hall.
destroy, take away, so that they are lost to the owner and destroyed as far as she is concerned.
out the hall, out in the hall.
breakfast, the principal repast of the day at twelve o'clock.
the man is here. They delight in this enigmatic language. Annancy speaks of himself. He sends word that the man here (himself) is more clever than her (the old lady). Straightforwardness is a quality which the Negro absolutely lacks. If you try to get at the truth of any story he brings, and cross-question him upon it, he will shuffle and change it little by little, and you cannot fix him to any point. Language with him is truly, as the cynic said, the art of disguising thought.
chanice, more usually chalice, challenge.
Boys constantly carry their musical instruments about with them. The Flute, a cheap kind of fife, and the Concertina are the favourites. They play as they walk along the road.
The tune, which is quick, is sung over and over and gets uproariously and deliriously merry; gasps on an inward breath, which there is no time to take properly, doing duty for some of the notes.
The words are fragments of a song referring to fowls and eggs. It runs:—
Mother Bonner me hen a lay, turn dem, Them a lay t'ree time a day, turn dem, Turn dem make dem lay, turn dem.