One day, that sly Brer Fox, he was tired of Brer Rabbit always gettin' the best of him. So he mixed up some tar and some turpentine and made a little figure—a Tar-Baby, he called it—and put it right in the middle of the road. Then he hid himself in the bushes, just waitin' and watchin'.

Pretty soon, here comes Brer Rabbit, lickin' his chops and feelin' mighty fine. He sees that little Tar-Baby sittin' there, and he says, "Mawnin'!" But that little figure don't say a word. Brer Rabbit, bein' a polite fella, says, "Good mawnin'! Don't you hear me? You lookin' at me and you ain't sayin' nothin'?"

Still, that Tar-Baby just sits there, silent as a stump. Well, that made Brer Rabbit madder than a wet hen. He shakes his fist and says, "If you don't speak up, I'm gonna hit you right square in the face!"

And with that, he gives it a good lick with his fist, and wham! His hand gets stuck tight in that tar. Brer Rabbit, he yells, "You better turn me loose, or I'm gonna hit you with the other hand!" He hits it with his other hand, and plunk! That one gets stuck, too.

He's hoppin' mad now. He kicks it with one foot, and then the other, and pretty soon, he's stuck up to his knees. "I'm a-gonna butt you with my head!" he hollers, and he throws his head at the Tar-Baby, and thwump! It sticks, too!

There he was, stuck all over, can't move a muscle. That's when Brer Fox comes out from the bushes, laughin' and carryin' on. "Well, well, Brer Rabbit," he says. "Looks like I finally got you!"

But that ain't the end of the story, not by a long shot! 

Because Brer Rabbit, he was a tricky one, and he knew just what to say to fool that fox.

Brer Fox starts thinkin' of all the ways he can get rid of that pesky rabbit. He talks about roas'in' him up for dinner, and Brer Rabbit just stays quiet. Then Brer Fox says he might hang him, and Brer Rabbit don't say a thing. Brer Fox, he's just gettin' wound up now. "Maybe I'll drown you!" he says. Still not a word from Brer Rabbit.

Finally, Brer Fox comes up with what he thinks is the perfect plan. He'll throw Brer Rabbit into the worst place he can think of. "I'll throw you in that ol' briar patch!" he says, pointin' to a thicket of thorny bushes nearby.

Now, this is where Brer Rabbit's mind starts workin' overtime. He knows that briar patch is his home, a safe haven where he's lived his whole life. But he also knows that Brer Fox thinks it's a terrible, painful place. So Brer Rabbit starts to cry and plead, puttin' on a big show.

"Oh, Brer Fox, please don't do that!" he cries. "You can roast me, you can hang me, you can drown me, but please, please, don't throw me in that briar patch! The briars will scratch me up and hurt me somethin' awful!"

Well, Brer Fox, he hears this and his eyes light up. He figures if that briar patch is the one thing Brer Rabbit fears, it must be the very worst punishment of all. He snatches Brer Rabbit off the Tar-Baby and, with a big ol' heave, he flings him right into the middle of that thicket.

Brer Fox watches, waitin' to hear Brer Rabbit's screams of pain. But a second later, he sees the top of Brer Rabbit's head as he bounces and disappears into the thorns. Then, from deep inside the briar patch, he hears a little laugh.

Brer Rabbit's voice comes ringin' out, clear as day: "Born and bred in a briar patch, Brer Fox, born and bred in a briar patch!"

And with that, Brer Rabbit was gone, home free, and Brer Fox was left standin' there, foolish and outsmarted once again.