A Georgia Folktale
retold by
S. E. Schlosser
One
day, Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox and Brer Coon and Brer Bear and a lot of
other animals decided to work together to plant a garden full of corn
for roasting. They started early in the morning and raked and dug and
raked some more, breaking up the hard ground so it would be ready for
planting. It was a hot day, and Brer Rabbit got tired mighty quick. But
he kept toting off the brush and clearing away the debris 'cause he
didn't want no one to call him lazy.
Then Brer Rabbit got an
idea. "Ow!" he shouted as loudly as he could. "I got me a briar in my
hand!" He waved a paw and stuck it into his mouth. The other critters
told him he'd better pull out the briar and wash his hand afore it got
infected. That was just what Brer Rabbit wanted to hear. He hurried off,
looking for a shady spot to take a quick nap. A little ways down the
road, he found an old well with a couple of buckets hanging inside it,
one at the top, and one down at the bottom.
"That looks like a mighty cool place to take a nap," Brer Rabbit said, and hopped right into the bucket.
Well,
Brer Rabbit was mighty heavy - much heavier than the bucket full of
water laying at the bottom. When he jumped into the empty bucket, it
plummeted right down to the bottom of the well. Brer Rabbit hung onto
the sides for dear life as the second bucket whipped passed him,
splashing water all over him on its way to the top. He had never been so
scared in his life.
Brer Rabbit's bucket landed with a smack in
the water and bobbed up and down. Brer Rabbit was afraid to move, in
case the bucket tipped over and landed him in the water. He lay in the
bottom of the bucket and shook and shivered with fright, wondering what
would happen next.
Now Brer Fox had been watching Brer Rabbit all
morning. He knew right away that Brer Rabbit didn't have a briar in his
paw and wondered what that rascal was up to. When Brer Rabbit snuck
off, Brer Fox followed him and saw him jump into the bucket and
disappear down the well.
Brer Fox was puzzled. Why would Brer
Rabbit go into the well? Then he thought: "I bet he has some money
hidden away down there and has gone to check up on it." Brer Fox crept
up to the well, listening closely to see if he could hear anything. He
didn't hear nothing. He peered down into the well, but all was dark and
quiet, on account of Brer Rabbit holding so still so the bucket wouldn't
tip him into the water.
Finally, Brer Fox shouted down into the well: "Brer Rabbit, what you doing down there?"
Brer Rabbit perked up at once, realizing that this might be his chance to get out of the well.
"I'm
a fishing down here, Brer Fox," says he. "I thought I'd surprise
everyone with a mess of fresh fish for lunch. There's some real nice
fish down here."
"How many fish are there?" asked Brer Fox skeptically, sure that the rascally rabbit was really counting his gold.
"Scores and scores!" cried Brer Rabbit. "Why don't you come on down and help me carry them out?"
Well,
that was the invitation Brer Fox was waiting for. He was going to go
down into that well and get him some of Brer Rabbit's gold.
"How do I get down there?" asked Brer Fox.
Brer
Rabbit grinned. Brer Fox was much heavier than he was. If Brer Fox
jumped into the empty bucket at the top, then Brer Rabbit's bucket would
go up, and Brer Fox's bucket would go down! So he said: "Jest jump into
the bucket, Brer Fox."
Well, Brer Fox jumped into the empty
bucket, and down it plummeted into the dark well. He passed Brer Rabbit
about halfway down. Brer Rabbit was clinging to the sides of the bucket
with all his might 'cause it was moving so fast. "Goodbye Brer Fox," he
shouted as he rose. "Like the saying goes, some folks go up, and some go
down! You should make it to the bottom all safe and sound."
Brer
Rabbit jumped out of the well and ran back to the garden patch to tell
the other critters that Brer Fox was down in the well muddying up the
waters. Then he danced back to the well and shouted down to Brer Fox:
"There's a hunting man coming along to get a drink o' water, Brer Fox.
When he hauls you up, you'd best run away as fast as you can!"
Then
Brer Rabbit went back to the garden patch. When the thirsty hunter
hauled up the bucket full of water, a wet and shaky Brer Fox sprang out
and ran away before the hunter could grab for his gun.
An hour
later, Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit were both back in the garden, digging
and hauling away debris and acting like nothing had happened. Except
every once in a while, Brer Fox would look sideways at Brer Rabbit and
grin, and the rascally rabbit would start to laugh and laugh 'cause both
of them had looked so silly plummeting up and down in that ol' dark
well.
Question after
reading “Brer Rabbit Falls Down the Well”
-From this story, what lesson can be learned
about trying to get out of work? Use RARE to answer the question.
-Why was Brer Rabbit more concerned about others thinking he was lazy, instead of
worrying about trying not to be lazy?
Use RARE to answer the question.
