Brer Rabbit and the Witch-Rabbit

The Rabbit's Foot

You might think it strange that Brer Rabbit had himself a rabbit's foot, but he did. He got it from Mammy-Bammy Big-Money, and it gave him both power and protection. Some of the animals even thought Brer Rabbit was a witch himself, but that wasn't exactly true; instead, his supernatural luck was coming from that rabbit's foot. And it looked like the foot of a rabbit, sure enough, but it didn't come from just any old rabbit: it came from a graveyard rabbit, what is not really a rabbit at all but a witch going out into the world in the form of a rabbit, same as a witch might go forth as a cat or some other animal. There's some folks that carry a black cat bone for power and protection, but what Brer Rabbit had was a rabbit's foot, and he kept it safe in his money-purse inside his house. Some of the other animals had guessed Brer Rabbit's secret, and they were just waiting for the chance to steal that rabbit's foot away from him.

One day it happened that one of the bear cubs was ailing, and Sis Rabbit went to visit Sis Bear to see how the cub was getting on. Sis Wolf was there too and all the other ladies, whispering and gossiping as the ladies do. Some of the menfolk were there too, sitting out on the porch, smoking their tobacco. Brer Bear was out there smoking, and Brer Wolf with him.

Well, all of a sudden Sis Rabbit yelled out, "Lord have mercy! I went and left my husband's money-purse at home, and nobody there to mind it since he went out traipsing off who knows where early this morning. I best go back home and fetch it to be safe."

But before Sis Rabbit had even put away her knitting, Brer Wolf went racing off to Brer Rabbit's house, knocked down the door, and snatched up that money-purse. He opened it up and saw the rabbit's foot inside. "I knew it!" he said. "This here is Brer Rabbit's own luck, and now it's going to be mine." Brer Wolf then ran back out into the woods, grinning even more wicked than usual.

When Sis Rabbit saw the busted down door, she feared the worst. Sure enough, the money-purse was gone. She managed to get the door back up on its hinges, just barely hoping Brer Rabbit wouldn't notice. But of course he did. Before he even got back home, Brer Rabbit was moping. And when he saw his money-purse was gone, he moped even more. Who had dared take his rabbit's foot? Days went by, each passing day worse than the day was before. Nothing was going right for him. Every trick he tried backfired. Every time he went to take something that wasn't his, he lost something of his own. He was getting skinnier and skinner, while Brer Wolf was getting fatter and fatter. But Brer Rabbit didn't know about that 'cause Brer Wolf made sure to steer clear of Brer Rabbit ever since he stole that purse.

Brer Rabbit knew there was nothing for it but to go see Mammy-Bammy Big-Money deep in the swamp. Last time he went to see her, she used some fearsome conjure powers, and Brer Rabbit was more scared of her now than he used to be. Plus, he'd be going through that swamp, full of haunts and bogeys, without his rabbit's foot to protect him. But he had no choice: he'd lost his powers when he lost that rabbit's foot, and Mammy-Bammy was the only one who could help him.

"Mammy-Bammy Big-Money!" he shouted. "O Mammy-Bammy Big-Money! I journeyed far, ran many an hour: you got to help me get back my power."

"Riley Rabbit, Wiley Rabbit," replied the witch, "don't you know Brer Wolf done took your foot of power?"

And that was all Brer Rabbit needed to know. "Damn that wolf!" he said to himself as he raced back home. "He's been lying low for sure, and since he stole my wits, course I didn't see clear what he did. But now I do. Best watch out, Wolf, 'cause I'm coming for to get you."

Brer Rabbit went straight to Brer Wolf's house, and he could hear folks inside doing what folks do, but he couldn't know for sure if Brer Wolf was in there or not. He'd have to wait either for Brer Wolf to leave, or for Brer Wolf to arrive and then leave again. Either way, Brer Rabbit knew what he had to do, and he waited.

And he didn't wait long neither, 'cause Sis Wolf started yelling at Brer Wolf to move his lazy behind and go fetch some fresh taters from out in the field for supper. Brer Rabbit saw Brer Wolf go stomping out with a big basket; it would take him a while to fetch back those taters. This was his chance!

Brer Rabbit raced inside the house without so much as knocking. "Good day to you, Sis Wolf!" he shouted. "And good day to all you little wolfies. Brer Wolf sent me to fetch that money-purse what I loaned him 'cause he needs his shaving brush, and he put his brush in that purse for safekeeping. He's gone down to the spring to bathe and shave so he'll look right nice at suppertime. Don't tell him I told you; it's a surprise."

"Well, Brer Rabbit, I do declare," said Sis Wolf. She wasn't sure what to say, taken by surprise as she was. And before she could say another word, Brer Rabbit grabbed up that money-purse and raced out of the house and back to his own home. He could feel the power of the rabbit's foot working inside him again.

And he knew he would need every bit of that power to get his revenge on Brer Wolf…

You'll find the author's note below... or you can move right on to the story of Brer Rabbit's revenge on Brer Wolf.

Author's Note. The plot of Brer Wolf stealing Brer Rabbit's rabbit's foot is the same as in Harris's story "Brother Rabbit and His Famous Foot." The only change I made was to leave out how the baby rabbits were at home when Brer Wolf stole the purse. When Brer Rabbit comes to see Mammy-Bammy, he waits by a hole in the ground where smoke comes out; you can see how that detail in the story inspired Shepherd's illustration above.

In the Uncle Remus frame of the story, there is more information about rabbit's foot folklore. Uncle Remus is carrying a rabbit's foot in his pocket and it falls out. He is really alarmed that the rabbit's foot might fall into the fire: "Don't let it git in de embers; 'kaze ef dat ar rabbit foot git singe, I'm a goner, sho'!" He tells the little boy that the rabbit's foot is for protection: "Dat rabbit foot is fer ter keep off boogers. W'en I hatter run er'n's fer myse'f all times er night, en take nigh cuts thoo de woods, en 'cross by de buryin'-groun', hits monst'us handy fer ter have dat ar rabbit foot." The rabbit's foot is also good luck: "dish yer rabbit foot 'll gin you good luck."

I did some research into rabbit's foot folklore and its connection to African American hoodoo, and I also read a fantastic article: "Why Is a Lucky Rabbit's Foot Lucky? Body Parts as Fetishes" by Bill Ellis; here are my notes.

I hope you enjoyed this story, and there will be one more: Brer Rabbit is going to team up with Mammy-Bammy to take Brer Wolf down in the final story of this Storybook. Coming in Week 14, or sooner maybe. :-)

Bibliography:

"Brother Rabbit and His Famous Foot" in Nights with Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris.

Information about graveyard rabbits inspired by "A Plantation Witch" in Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris.

Illustrations: graveyard rabbit by A. T. Elwes, witch-rabbit by J. A. Shepherd, and brother rabbit by Milo Winter.

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