Чичо Римъс разказва: Приказки от плантацииите

by Joel Chandler Harris, Светозар Златаров (Translator), Джоуъл Чандлър Харис

Old Uncle Remus tells about the time Brer Fox grabs ahold of the horse's tail and hangs on . . . when Brer Rabbit jumps up and hollers out: "'Hold 'im down, Brer Fox You got 'im now, sho' Hold yo' grip and hold 'im down ' says he.

"De Hoss, he jump and he hump And he rip and he rear, and he snort and he tear But Brer Fox hangs on, and still Brer Rabbit skips 'round and hollers:

"'Hold 'im down, Brer Fox You got 'im whar he can't neither back nor squall Hold 'im down, Brer Fox ' says he.

"Bimeby de Hoss going ter kick with his hind legs, and de fus' news you know, he fetches Brer Fox a lick in de stomach dat fa'rly makes 'im squall, and den he kick 'im ag'in, and dis time he breaks Brer Fox loose and sends 'im a-whirlin' And Brer Rabbit, he keeps on a-jumpin' 'round and hollerin':

"'Hold 'im down, Brer Fox '"

Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908), journalist and author, achieved his greatest renown for humorous folktale retellings, in his "Uncle Remus" stories.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, 19th Century, Childrens, Short Stories, Folklore

96 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1883

About the author

Joel Chandler Harris was an American journalist born in Eatonton, Georgia who wrote the Uncle Remus stories, including Uncle Remus; His Songs and His Sayings, The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation, (1880), Nights with Uncle Remus (1881 & 1882), Uncle Remus and His Friends (1892), and Uncle Remus and the Little Boy (1905).

The stories, based on the African-American oral storytelling tradition, were revolutionary in their use of dialect and in featuring a trickster hero called Br'er ("Brother") Rabbit, who uses his wits against adversity, though his efforts do not always succeed. The frog is the trickster character in traditional tales in Central and Southern Africa. The stories, which began appearing in the Atlanta Constitution in 1879, were popular among both Black and White readers in the North and South, not least because they presented an idealized view of race relations soon after the Civil War. The first published Brer Rabbit stories were written by President Theodore Roosevelt's uncle, Robert Roosevelt.

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know. It's a classic. It's also completely unreadable.

I know it was written in a different time (but not a different place: I live in Georgia), but honestly. Nobody talks like that.

In addition, I finally broke down and bought a copy of the book written in what actually was English, and the stories didn't translate anything like the same. I guess. This is one of the few books I had to read aloud to myself to even understand.

While the stories probably are actual slave stories, I firmly believe that Joel Chandler Harris should have gotten over the idea that he was presenting a black dialect and just written the silly things down. As it is, the stories are completely unintelligible in this day and age.

In addition, while I do love the Disney movie "Song of the South", the stories told in the movie only barely resemble the actual tales, and huge details that make the stories even make sense have been omitted.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s practically like reading a foreign language, making sense of phrases like “Bimeby, ‘long todes night, Brer Rabbit low he better be gwine.” I started out listening to the audio--the Librivox version narrated by Mark Smith, and it gave me a jump start. I got so I could match the printed words with the audio in my mind, and sort of understand what was going on. And it was totally worth the effort. The voice of Uncle Remus gives a unique flavor to these folk tales. I’m afraid of political correctness, however, and that these stories might disappear some day soon. It would be a staggering loss to American culture. I bought a nice hardbound version of the book to preserve the stories for whoever inherits my library someday.

[Lara Giesbers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was worth searching out and reading. Though it's now a banned book, it gives a slice of Southern living during the plantation era. Slavery was a dark period in our nation's history, but this collection of stories, compiled by Harris and collected by night, shows the strength and resilience of the African Americans forced to come here. It takes real courage to tell stories and sing songs during such a dark period. If you think this book doesn't have an impact on American culture, think again. Many of the phrases and idioms we use all throughout our nation today are also buried in these stories, and may well have originated from them. Uncle Remus shows us that the animal world is just as wily as our own.

[Danice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that the dialect in which it was written was challenging. There are a few words in dialect which I couldn't figure out their meaning. I appreciate that author went to such lengths to capture dialect and word use, however, the majority of words with links that expanded on their meaning, didn't include the handful which had me stymied.

[James]

After another story where someone is almost killed, I’m done. Brer Buzzard couldn’t have survived, brer fox would haben stung to death by that many wasps and the setting the field on fire was one story too many about putting the characters in mortal danger, especially after Brer Rabbit had to play drunk to avoid death.

[Don Voorhees · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the only way to ‘read’ Uncle Remus. The black dialect of many years ago is authentic, but hare to read. With the audio book, it was easy to understand the dialect.
The stories were delightful and often funny. I really enjoyed this book

[John Darsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave up about halfway through, the vernacular is often hard to translate... moving on to something more fun!

[Andrew Klob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely loved going through this book and hearing about the wild adventures of Br'er Rabbit and his many friends in the Briar Patch. This is such a unique piece of Georgia history that contains so many interesting insights about the plantation life in the Deep South. Some critique this book because it is written by a white male who recorded these stories from the many African American people who shared these stories on the plantation that he worked on. Others rightly see how much Harris tried to preserve a valuable part of Georgia and African American history by simply recording what he heard in their own words. It was so interesting to hear Uncle Remus talk about Persimmon Beer, Yam baked in ashes, and life on the plantation. Even more, it was unique to hear the many characters in "Nights with Uncle Remus" constantly using racial slang words that would immediately get anybody "canceled" today. That being said, outside of the historical context of the book, the fictional story itself is so enjoyable to read. Br'er Rabbit constantly keeps the reader laughing with the many tales on how he gets out of each and every situation and somehow works it to his advantage. These fun stories are ultimately, as scholars have noted, an example of slaves outwitting their masters which adds a whole other layer to the story. All in all, while the stories could get repetitive at times and are directed more towards kids, "Nights with Uncle Remus" is an important resource for Georgia and African American history. Harris's work should not be canceled but seen in its proper context with its faults and all. I definitely recommend "Nights with Uncle Remus" for those who are interested in Georgia History.

As a side note, I listened to the LibriVox audiobook recording of this and felt that it was incredibly helpful in reading the book since it was written in such a way as to represent how the African American slaves talked in the Deep South. In addition to that, I also watched Disney's "Song of the South" (based off of "Nights with Uncle Remus") which I highly recommend as well. All of this (and there are other resources I didn't access) was very helpful in understanding and enjoying "Nights with Uncle Remus".

[Kitty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a hard time with this. The dialect is so hard to grasp that really the only way to get it is to read it aloud. Not my preferred method of book consumption. I can’t do that without intense mocking from my husband either, so this took absolutely forever. I’ve heard the other Uncle Remus books on audio, and they were delightful. This one I couldn’t find, so it was a slog. Not so delightful. It’s just too much of the same thing.

[Samantha Glasser]

Read this book for free through Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24430/...

[Joyce M. Tice]

These are wonderful stories. What a delight.