And brush away de blue-tail fly.”
They were dependent, kind, obedient, full of music, contentment, and happiness. The venom of the politician and carpetbagger had not stung them.
Greetings over, they all strolled to the new brick church, distant about three-quarters of a mile. Like all the churches of that day, the pulpit was much nearer heaven than the pews, and above it hung a picture given them by Miss Henrietta. It had a bell, a clock—described in Ho-Ho—and a fireplace large enough for half a dozen darkies to stand and warm themselves. When all were seated Uncle Stephen was asked to pray, and then Parson Phil Demby preached.
His text was “Fogitfulness.”
ANNE FRANCIS.
“FOGITFULNESS.”[[3]]
“Dat is de subjec’ ub my discose dis mawnin’ and I is preachen mo’ ’specially to de chillun in de meetin’ house. Uncle Reubin Viney an’ I was a huskin’ cawn lars’ week an’ he tol’ me boutin dis tex’, and arsked me to preach fum it; an’ you will find de ’zact words in de 7th chapta ub Acts, 8th vus: ‘Ab’ham fogot Isaac, Isaac fogot Jacob and Jacob fogot de twelve Petracks.’ Dem ole Petracks was a pow’ful fogitful race ub people! Now, ten ub dem Petracks, Simeon, Levi an’ Zebulon, dey wuz Miss Leah’s chillun (I fogit de names ub de res’ ub her chillun, but dey wuz all Jews). An’ Joseph an’ Benjamin, dey wuz Miss Rachel’s chillun, an’ de Bible say dey wuz saints. One ub ’em er his uncle, I fogit which, foun’ some mules in de wilderness ez he wuz watchin’ his father’s sheep, but he wuz so fogitful dat he didn’t gib de names ub de mules or how many dey wuz—some people say da wan’ no mules at all, dey wuz all Jackasses. Well, lemmy see—da wuz two mo’ ub Jacob’s sons (I dun mention five), an’ I fogit deah Ma’s name, but deah names wuz Dan an’ Naptha, or sompin’ like dat (I lef’ my specks hom’). I don’ think dey wuz Jews, er Dukes like Esau’s sons, an’ I don’ ’zactly no deah ’ligion, but I specks dem two wuz Babtis’s. ’Pears to me I hearn Uncle Reubin say so! How-some-eber, all ub dem chillun ub Jacob’s wuz born in Panorama [Padanaram] an’ dey’s all uh pow’ful fogitful race ub people.
“Brudderin, da is nothin’ ez bad ez fogitfulness. Ef’n my memory wuz not good (kase I lef’ my specks at hom’) I could not gib you any ub dese beautiful names. Now, den, dese ten brudders wuz sent by deah Pa way down in Egyp’ lan’ futto buy cawn fum deah eleventh brudder. An’ bless yo’ soul, when dey got down da, dey didn’t eben no deah brudder—but he no’d dem. Mebby de color ub his coat ’fused ’em. I tell you dem old Petracks is a pow’ful fogitful race ub people. So wuz deah Ma’s an’ Pa’s. Laban, de Granpa ub de Petracks, and prob’ly de bigist farmer in dem days, wuz uh fogitful man. We is told dat Jacob (wonder why dey jes’ call ’em Jacob), an’ Noahy, an’ Moses, an’ Peter, an’ Rasmus dey’s mos’ ub ’em kings an’ dukes an’ sich like. I mus’ ask Uncle Reubin boutin dat. Well, Jacob merried Miss Rachel, so he did, but I specks Jacob got a little het up at de weddin’. An’ Laban, he mus’ hab had some ros’ apples wid apple-jack. Brudderin, apples is bin makin’ trubble eber since Adam totch ’em—kase Laban he fogot which daughter Jacob wuz gwine ter marry. ’Pears like Jacob fogot, too, kase he didn’t scover de mustak’ till de nex’ mawnin’. An’ ’pears like Miss Leah an’ Miss Rachel fogot. Now, wan’ dey uh fogitful lot ub people? De nex’ mawnin’ arfter de weddin’—or as de Bible say, de feas’—when Jacob got up to milk de cows an’ yoke de oxin, da was Miss Leah up, an’ shakin’ down de stove an’ grindin’ de coffee. An’ Jacob say, ‘Wha Rachel?’ an’ Miss Leah say, ‘I dunno nuffin boutin Rachel.’ Da wuz uh mustak’ some wha, sho. So Jacob merried ’em bof to be sartin an’ pleas’ Laban. No wonder dat de Petracks wuz uh fogitful race wid four Ma’s an’ uh Pa all fogitful; an’, mine you, Miss Rachel she wuz so fogitful seems to me her mine mus’ hab been ’stressed, kase you recommember when her boys Jacob an’ Esau went out an’ kilt uh deer, she fogot which kilt it—leas’wise it ’pears so. Well, as fo’ dat, I specks de fus’ man, Adam, hissef was absen’-minded. He sut’ny lubbed fruit. We all knows dat. An’ I specks he wuz hongry, an’ mebby po’ Adam when he clum up de apple tree in de dark tho’t it wuz uh peach tree—kase when a man is hongry he ain’ ’stressin’ hissef boutin de fruit, so it’s good. An’ I specks he got ’fused ’bout de trees, kase dat gyarden wuz full ub fruit trees, from apple trees clean down to cucumbers and watermillions.
“King Dabid come outin uh fogitful fam’ly. De Bible tell us dat in dem days Pharez fogot Hezron, an’ Hezron fogot Ram——”