The Conjure Woman by Charles W. Chesnutt (7 ebook reader .TXT) 📕
Description
The Conjure Woman is a collection of fantastical stories narrated by Julius, a former slave, about life on the nearby plantations prior to the Civil War. Each involves an element of magic, be it a vine that dooms those who eat from it or a man transformed into a tree to avoid being separated from his wife. Julius’s audience, a married couple who have just moved to the South to cultivate grapes, listen on with mixed sympathy and disbelief. They disagree on whether Julius is telling the truth and whether there is some deeper significance to the tales. At turns humorous and unsettling, these stories provide a surprising lens into the realities of slavery.
The text is notable for spelling out Julius’s spoken accent. Although Julius has some stereotypical features of a simple-minded old slave, he is often regarded as a more clever and complicated figure. He seems to tell his tales not only to entertain his listeners, but to trick them to his advantage.
Many of these stories first appeared in national magazines, where they received popular acclaim, before being assembled as their own volume in 1899. Charles W. Chesnutt’s race was not mentioned by the publisher, nor could many guess his African heritage based on his appearance. However, Chesnutt embraced his African-American identity and was a prominent activist for black rights. The Conjure Woman, his first book, is considered an important early work of African-American fiction.
This edition includes four additional Julius tales that appeared in magazines but were not collected during Chesnutt’s lifetime.
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- Author: Charles W. Chesnutt
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“ ‘You is de bes’ frien’ I got, Unk’ Jube,’ sez Dan, ‘en I’ll ’member yo’ kin’ness ter my dyin’ day. Tell me how I kin git rid er dis yer ole witch w’at’s be’n ridin’ me so ha’d.’
“ ‘In de fus’ place,’ sez de cunjuh man, ‘dis ole witch nebber comes in her own shape, but eve’y night, at ten o’clock, she tu’ns herse’f inter a black cat, en runs down ter yo’ cabin en bridles you, en mounts you, en dribes you out th’oo de chimbly, en rides you ober de roughes’ places she kin fin’. All you got ter do is ter set fer her in de bushes ’side er yo’ cabin, en hit her in de head wid a rock er a lighterd-knot w’en she goes pas’.’
“ ‘But,’ sez Dan, ‘how kin I see her in de da’k? En s’posen I hits at her en misses her? Er s’posen I des woun’s her, en she gits erway—w’at she gwine do ter me den?’
“ ‘I is done studied ’bout all dem things,’ sez de cunjuh man, ‘en it ’pears ter me de bes’ plan fer you ter foller is ter lemme tu’n you ter some creetur w’at kin see in de da’k, en w’at kin run des ez fas’ ez a cat, en w’at kin bite, en bite fer ter kill; en den you won’t hafter hab no trouble atter de job is done. I dunno whuther you’d lack dat er no, but dat is de sho’es’ way.’
“ ‘I doan keer,’ ’spon’ Dan. ‘I’d des ez lief be anything fer a’ hour er so, ef I kin kill dat ole witch. You kin do des w’at you er mineter.’
“ ‘All right, den,’ sez de cunjuh man, ‘you come down ter my cabin at half-past nine o’clock ter-night, en I’ll fix you up.’
“Now, dis cunjuh man, w’en he had got th’oo talkin’ wid Dan, kep’ on down de road ’long de side er de plantation, ’tel he met Mahaly comin’ home fum wuk des atter sundown.
“ ‘Hoddy do, ma’m,’ sezee; ‘is yo’ name Sis’ Mahaly, w’at b’longs ter Mars Dugal’ McAdoo?’
“ ‘Yas,’ ’spon’ Mahaly, ‘dat’s my name, en I b’longs ter Mars Dugal’.’
“ ‘Well,’ sezee, ‘yo’ husban’ Dan wuz down by my cabin dis ebenin’, en he got bit by a spider er sump’n, en his foot is swoll’ up so he can’t walk. En he ax’ me fer ter fin’ you en fetch you down dere ter he’p ’im home.’
“Co’se Mahaly wanter see w’at had happen’ ter Dan, en so she sta’ted down de road wid de cunjuh man. Ez soon ez he got her inter his cabin, he shet de do’, en sprinkle’ some goopher mixtry on her, en tu’nt her ter a black cat. Den he tuk ’n put her in a bairl, en put a bo’d on de bairl, en a rock on de bo’d, en lef’ her dere ’tel he got good en ready fer ter use her.
“ ’Long ’bout half-pas’ nine o’clock Dan come down ter de cunjuh man’s cabin. It wuz a wa’m night, en de do’ wuz stan’in’ open. De cunjuh man ’vited Dan ter come in, en pass’ de time er day wid ’im. Ez soon ez Dan ’mence’ talkin’, he heared a cat miauin’ en scratchin’ en gwine on at a tarrable rate.
“ ‘Wat’s all dat fuss ’bout?’ ax’ Dan.
“ ‘Oh, dat ain’ nuffin but my ole gray tomcat,’ sez de cunjuh man. ‘I has ter shet ’im up sometimes fer ter keep ’im in nights, en co’se he doan lack it.
“ ‘Now,’ ’lows de cunjuh man, ‘lemme tell you des w’at you is got ter do. W’en you ketches dis witch, you mus’ take her right by de th’oat en bite her right th’oo de neck. Be sho’ yo’ teef goes th’oo at de fus’ bite, en den you won’t nebber be bothe’d no mo’ by dat witch. En w’en you git done, come back heah en I’ll tu’n you ter yo’se’f ag’in, so you kin go home en git yo’ night’s res’.’
“Den de cunjuh man gun Dan sump’n nice en sweet ter drink out’n a new go’d, en in ’bout a minute Dan foun’ hisse’f tu’nt ter a gray wolf; en soon ez he felt all fo’ er his noo feet on de groun’, he sta’ted off fas’ ez he could fer his own cabin, so he could be sho’ en be dere time ernuff ter ketch de witch, en put a’ een’ ter her kyarin’s-on.
“Ez soon ez Dan wuz gone good, de cunjuh man tuk de rock off’n de bo’d, en de bo’d off’n de bairl, en out le’p’ Mahaly en sta’ted fer ter go home, des lack a cat er a ’oman er anybody e’se would w’at wuz in trouble; en it wa’n’t many minutes befo’ she wuz gwine up de path ter her own do’.
“Meanw’iles, w’en Dan had retch’ de cabin, he had hid hisse’f in a bunch er jimson weeds in de ya’d. He hadn’ wait’ long befo’ he seed a black cat run up de path to’ds de do’. Des ez soon ez she got close ter ’im, he le’p’ out en ketch’ her by de th’oat, en got a grip on her, des lack de cunjuh man had tol’ ’im ter do. En lo en behol’! no sooner had de blood ’mence’ ter flow dan de black cat tu’nt back ter Mahaly, en Dan seed dat he had killt his own wife. En w’iles her bref wuz gwine she call’ out:
“ ‘O Dan! O my husban’! come en he’p me! come en sabe me fum dis wolf w’at’s killin’ me!’
“W’en po’ Dan sta’ted to’ds her, ez any man nach’ly would, it des made her holler wuss en wuss; fer she didn’ knowed dis yer wolf wuz her Dan. En Dan des had ter hide in de weeds, en grit his teef en hol’ hisse’f in, ’tel she passed out’n her mis’ry, callin’ fer Dan ter de las’, en wond’rin’
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