Old Hendrik's Tales

by Arthur Owen Vaughan

“Missis Jackalse she ketches hold o’ Ainkye an’ gives her such a shakin’ till her eyes fly wide open. ‘I’s yust about tired o’ hearin’ all dat row,’ ses she. An’ while Ainkye’s quiet considerin’ dat, Missis Jackalse she hear Ou’ Wolf come along outside, axin’ her Ou’ Baas ain’t he comin’ huntin’ dis mawnin’? Den she hear Ou’ Jackalse answer back, sort o’ tired like. ‘But I cahnt come. I’s sick.’

“Den Ainkye lets out a squall fit to split, an’ her mammy she biffs her a bash dat s’prise her quite quiet, before she stick her head out o de doh an’ say, mighty tremblin’ like—‘I don’t tink we got no meat fo’ breakfas’ at all, Ou’ Man’.

“But Ou’ Jackalse he ain’t a troublin’ hisse’f about no women’s talk. He don’t turn his ’ead nor not’in’. He yust hutch hisse’f closer to de wall to bake hisse’f some more, an’ he say agen—‘I tell you I’s sick, an’ I cahnt go huntin’ dis mawnin’, nohow’.

“Missis Jackalse she pop her head inside agen mighty quick at dat, an’ Ou’ Wolf he sling off down de spruit wid his back up. Ou’ Jackalse he yust sit still in de sun an’ watch him go, an’ he ses to hisse’f ses he: ‘Now dat’s big ole luck fo’ me. If he ha’n’t a come along like dat I don’ know but I’d a had to go an’ ketch somet’in’ myse’f, I’m dat ’ongry. But now it’ll be all right when he come back wid some sort o’ buck.’

“Den he turn his head to de doh. ‘Frowickie,’ ses he to his missis inside, soft an’ chucklin’, ‘tell Ainkye to stop dat squallin’ an’ bawlin’. Ou’ Wolf’s gone huntin’, an’ yust as sure as he come back we’ll have all de breakfas’ we want. Tell ’er if she don’t stop anyhow I’ll come inside to her.’

“Missis Jackalse she frown at Ainkye. ‘You hear dat now,’ ses she, ‘an’ you better be quiet now ’less you want to have you’ daddy come in to you.’ An’ Ainkye she say, ‘Well, will you le’ me play wid your tail den?’ An’ her mammy she say, ‘All right,’ an’ dey ’gun a-laughin’ an’ a-goin’ on in whispers. But Ou’ Jackalse he yust sit an’ keep on bakin’ hisse’f in de sun by de wall.

“By’n’by here comes Ou’ Wolf back agen, an’ a big fat Eland on his back, an’ de sweat yust a-drippin’ off him. An’ when he comes past de house he look up an’ dere he see Ou’ Jackalse yust a-settin’ an’ a-bakin’, an’ a-makin’ slow marks in de dust wid his toes now an’ agen, an’ lookin’ might comfy. An’ Ou’ Wolf he feel darie big fat Eland more bigger an heavier dan ever on his back, an he feel dat savage at Ou’ Jackalse dat he had to look toder way, for fear he’d let out all his bad words Kerblob in one big splosh on darie Ou’ Jackalse head. But Ou’ Jackalse he say nawt’in’; he yust sit an’ bake. But he tink inside hisse’f, an’ his eye kind o’ ’gun to shine behind in his head as he watch darie meat go past an’ go on, an’ he feel his mouf run all water.

“But he ha’n’t watched dat breakfas’ out o’ sight, an’ he ha’n’t quite settle hisse’f yust how he’s goin’ to get his share, when up hops Klein Hahsie—what you call Little Hare.

“‘Mawnin’, Klein Hahsie,’ ses Ou’ Jackalse, but yust so high an’ mighty’s he know how, ’cause little Hahsie he’s de runner for Big Baas King Lion, an Ou’ Jackalse he tink he’ll show him dat oder folks ain’t no chicken feed, too.

“‘Mawnin’, Ou’ Jackalse,’ ses Little Hahsie, kind o’ considerin’ him slow out of his big shiny eyes. Den he make a grab at one of his own long years as if it tickle him, an’ when he turn his face to look at de tip o’ darie year he sorto’ wunk at it, kind o’ slow and solemn. ‘Darie ou’ year o’ mine!’ ses he to Ou’ Jackalse.