Old Hendrik's Tales

by Arthur Owen Vaughan

“Den he feel Ou’ Jackalse, an’ he sort o’ smile all de way down his back. ‘Well, you bin have a high ole time, ain’t you, wid all dat fat on you? A week’s feedin on de berries here’ll give you yust a nice flavour,’ ses he.

“So nex’ day he gi’en ’em baskets; a sort o’ baskets like a bottle, so’s you cahnt open it, an’ so’s you cahnt get your hand in. You yust drops de berries in, an’ den Ou’ Mensefreiter he unlock de lid an’ see how much you fetch home. An’ off dese two flops to pick berries.

“‘Now look-a’-me,’ ses Ou’ Wolf to Ou’ Jackalse. ‘You better don’t eat too much now, else you’ll get scoffed ’fore you know it. You better to get t’in like me an’ den you’ll live longer. I’s yust a-gun’ to pick berries till de sweat run, den Ou’ Mensefreiter ain’t a-gun’ to was’e time eatin’ me, I’ll keep dat t’in.’

“‘A’ right I’ll tink on,’ ses Ou’ Jackalse, but he ain’t no more’n see de berries in de sun dan he wink to his nose end. ‘I’s fat,’ ses he to hisse’f. ‘I’s fat, an’ I’s a-goin’ to keep fat Ou’ Mensefreiter ain’t a-eat me yet, and he ha’n’t better hold his breat’ till he does, needer, else he’s likely to get black in de face ’fore he finis’.’

“Next he tas’e one berry, an’ ahter dat he yust about put one berry in his basket and forty-one in his mout’, till the yuice run all down his chest, an’ he feel dat good he yust cahnt he’p it but he fair stan’ on his head wid fun like a wildebeeste.

“Well, it come along to time to get back to de kraal, an’ yust when Ou’ Wolf was fair a-workin’ an’ a-snatchin’ at de berries to fill his basket, Ou’ Jackalse he sort o’ sa’nter past de basket behind him an’ swop his own for it, yust so slim an’ so quick dat Ou’ Wolf never dream on it. On’y when dey start fo’ de kraal, he say. ‘Dese yere berries is mighty light, considerin’ what a lot I picked an’ all,’ an’ he mop his fore’ead as if he’s glad dat yob’s done.

“Dis went on de same every day; Ou’ Wolf bringin’ yust a han’ful home, an’ Ou’ Jackalse a fat basket, till one day Ou’ Mensefreiter he wink at Ou’ Jackalse. ‘You is a bit slim, ain’t you, bringin’ all your berries home an’ eatin’ none, so’s you won’t get no fatter, huh? But dis is where I comes in. I yust drops you inside dis hock,’ ses he, droppin’ him in an empty place like a pigsty, ‘an’ I fat you up wid seven days’ feed o’ pun’kin like a little pig. Den we’ll see if you don’t make de finest kind o’ dinner,’ ses he. ‘An’ you, Ou’ Wolf,’ ses he, ‘you’s de all right sort. Yust you keep on in de berries, eatin plenty like you bin a doin’, an’ den one o’ dese days you’ll be nice an’ fat too.’

“Ou’ Wolf he take his basket at dat an’ off out to de bessie berries agen, an’ he won’er a bit; an’ Ou’ Jackalse he stop in de hock an’ he kind o’ begin to won’er too. Dere’s two or t’ree pun’kins, de finest kind o’ pampoene, in de hock wid him—dat’s his scoff fo’ de day, an’ if he don’t eat ’em all up ’fore night, den he’s yust agun’ to ketch it.

“Well, Ou’ Jackalse he look at dem pampoene an’ he kind o’ feel he ain’t yust a-yearnin’ fo’ dinner nohow. He look over de top o’ de wall o’ de hock, but he know it ain’t no manner o’ use to try an’ run for it, ’cause Ou’ Mensefreiter ’ll snap him back ’fore he get into his stride har’ly. It ain’t yust sich a fat time, bein’ fat, ahter all, tinks he, an’ he sort o’ wish he had Ou’ Wolf dere wid him somehow. He look dis way an’ he look dat way, but dere ain’t nawtin’, on’y de little pat’ a-runnin’ down to de drift, and de drift a-risin’ an’ a-risin’ wid it keepin’ on a-rainin’ an’ a-rainin’ up de river. It look mighty like Ou’ Jackalse’s name’s goin’ to be ‘mud’ dis time, an’ his tail yust drop flop.

“Den he feel a sort o’ quiet little twitch at his tail. He look roun’ sharp, an’ dere he see little Kleinkie Mousie. ‘What you bite me fo’?’ ses Ou’ Jackalse, kind o’ big, ’cause it kind o’ give him a start wid makin’ him tink it was Ou’ Mensefreiter had him.