A tale retold from the stories of Uncle Remus for beginning readers.

Chapter One – The Creatures Go to the Barbeque

On this warm and sleepy afternoon, Uncle Remba settled down to share a story with the young lad. “Once upon a time,” he began, “But Uncle Remba, when was ‘once upon a time’?” the child interrupted to ask. “Well now, young’un,” Uncle Remba chuckled, “once upon a time ain’t like countin’ beans, no sir. It isn’t about yesterdays or tomorrows. It’s more like somethin’ that’s always been and always will be.” He tapped his temple, ”Lives right here, in the rememberin’ part of your mind.”

The young one, nestled at his feet, pondered this for a moment, brow furrowed in thought. “But Uncle Remba,” he finally piped up, “if it’s always been, then when did it start?”

The old man threw back his head and let out a hearty laugh, the sound echoing through the summer day’s heat. “Ah, you’re a curious one, ain’t ya? Just like Brer Rabbit, always pokin’ his nose where it don’t belong!” He winked, then leaned in close, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “The truth is child, ‘once upon a time’ started way back when the moon was new, and the stars were just twinkles stuck up in the sky. It started before the rivers knew where to flow, and the mountains knew how to stand tall.”

He paused, letting the silence build the anticipation, then continued, his voice weaving magic into the air. “It was a time when animals talked, trees could walk, and magic was as common as sunshine. And that, my young friend, is where our story begins…”

Once upon a time,” he resumed, “Mr. Man had a garden so fine that all the neighbors came to see it. Some would look at it over the fence, some would peep through the cracks, and some would go and look at it by the light of the stars. One of them was ol’ Brer Rabbit; starlight, moonlight, cloud light, and nightlight were the lights for him. When the morning comes, he is all up and about and feeling purty well. I thank you, sir!

“Now, then, you did hear what I said. There was Mr. Man, yonder was the garden, and here was ol’ Brer Rabbit.” Uncle Remba made a map of this part of the story by marking it in the dirt with his walking cane. 

“Well, this being the case, what do you suspect will happen? Nothin’ in the round world, but what has been happenin’ since greens and sparrer-grass was planted in the ground. They look fine and taste fine, and long towards the shank of the morning, Brer Rabbit would creep through the crack of the fence and nibble at them. He’d take the greens but leave his tracks, especially right after a rain. Takin’ and leavin’–it’s the way of the world.

“Well, one mornin’, Mr. Man went out in his truck patch, and he finds somethin’ missin’–a cabbage here, a turnip there, and a mess of beans yonder, and he asked, how come this? He looked around, he did, and he saw Brer Rabbit’s tracks, which he couldn’t take with him. Brer Rabbit had left his shoes at home and come barefooted.

“So Mr. Man calls his dogs, ‘Here, Buck! Here, Brinjer! Here, Blue!’ and he sicced them on the track, and here they went!

“From the fuss they made, you’d have thought they were runnin’ after forty-seven rhinoceros. Brer Rabbit hears them coming, and he puts out for home, kinder doublin’ around like he does these days.

“When he got to the point where he could sit down to rest, he took a poplar leaf and went to fan himself. Then Brer Fox comes a-trottin’ up. He says, ‘Brer Rabbit, what’s all this fuss I hear in the woods? What in the name of goodness does it mean?’ Brer Rabbit scratched his head and said, ‘Why, they are tryin’ to drive me to the big bobbycue on the creek. They all asked me, and when I refused, they said they were gonna make me go anyhow. They ain’t no fun in being as popular as I am, Brer Fox. If you want to go, just get in ahead of the hounds and go lickity-split down the big road!’

“Brer Fox rolled his little eyes and licked his chops. He dribbled at the mouth and put out to the bobbycue, and he ain’t no more than made his disappearance before here come Brer Wolf, and when he got the news, off, he put.

“And he ain’t no more got out of sight before here comes ol’ Brer Bear, and when he heard talk of the bakin’ meat and the big pan of gravy, he set upon his behind legs an’ snored. Then off he put, and he ain’t got out of hearin’ before Brer Coon come rackin’ up, and when he got the news, he put out.

“So there they were, and what are you gonna do about it? It seems like they all got in front of the dogs, or the dogs got behind them, and Brer Rabbit sat by the creek side laughin’ and hittin’ at the snake doctors. And them poor creatures had to go clean past the bobbycue–if there was any bobbycue, which I don’t suspect there was. That’s what makes me say what I do–when you get an invite to a bobbycue, you better find out when and where it’s at and who runnin’ it.”

Chapter 2 Brer Rabbit’s Frolic

After hearing how the animals went to the barbecue, the little boy wanted to know what had happened to them. He was anxious to learn if any of them had been hurt by the dogs that had been chasing Brer Rabbit. 

Uncle Remba closed his eyes and chuckled. “You sure are asking something now, honey. Under his hat, if he had one, Brer Rabbit had a mighty quick thinkin’ apple-ratus, and most all the time, the pranks he played on the other creatures pestered them both ways, a-comin’ an’ a-goin.’ The dogs did mighty well, as long as they had dealin’ with the small fry, like Brer Fox, and Brer Coon, and Brer Wolf, but when they run against ol’ Brer Bear, they sure struck a snag. The most serious was the individual one that got the worst hurt. He got too close to Brer Bear, and when he caught a gander at his reflection in the pond water, he saw he was wearing a smile that ran from snout to rump!

“After the ruckus was over, the creatures hobbled off home the best they could and laid around in the sun and shade to let their cuts and gashes get good and well. When they got so they could situate and pay their party calls; they agreed to assemble somewhere and hit on some plan to outdo Brer Rabbit. 

Well, they had their assembly, and they jower’d and jower’d just like folks do when they aren’t feelin’ right well, but, by and by, they agreed upon a plan that looked like it might work. They agreed to make out that they were going to have a dance. They know that ol’ Brer Rabbit was always keen for that, and they said they’d give him an invite, and when he got there, they’d ask him to play the fiddle, and if he refused, they’d close in on him and make way with him.

“So far, so good! But all the time they were jowerin’ and confabbin’, ol’Brer Rabbit was settin’ in a shady place in the grass, a-hearin’ every word they say. When the time came, he creepped out, he did, and run wide around, and the first they knew, here he comes down the big road–bookity-bookity.

He says, ‘Why, hello, friends! And howdy, too, because I ain’t seen you all since the last time! What the name of goodness has you been doing? And how did you fair at the bobbycue? If my two eyeballs ain’t gone and got crooked, there’s ol’ Brer B’ar, with the short tail and sharp tooth–the very one I’m a-huntin’ for! And there’s Brer Coon! I sure is in big luck. There’s going to be a big frolic at Miss Meadows’, and her and the gals want Brer Bear to show them the Honeypot shuffle; and they put Brer Coon down for the jig they calls Rack-Back-Davy.

“‘I’m to play the fiddle—-somthin’ I aint done since my oldest gal had the mumps and the measles, both on the same day and hour! Well, this mornin’ I took down the fiddle from where she was a-hangin’and draw’d the bow backerds and forards a time or two. Then I shut my eyes and hit some of the ol’-time tunes, and when I come to myself, there was my whole blessed fambly skippin’ and sashaying ’round the room, spite the fact that brekkus needed to be cooked!’

“With that, Brer Rabbit bowed, he did, and went back down the road like the dogs was after him.”

“But what happened then?” the little boy asked. “Nothin’ at all,” replied Uncle Remba, taking up the chuckle where he had left off. “The creatures ain’t had no dance, and when they went to Miss Meadows’, she put her head out the window and said if they don’t go off from there, she’ll have the law on um!”

The little boy sat quietly for a moment, pondering Uncle Remba’s tale. “But Uncle Remba,” he finally asked, “what does it all mean? What can we learn from Brer Rabbit’s story?”

Uncle Remba smiled. “Well, child, there are a few things we can take away from this. First, it shows us that wit and quick thinking can often get you out of a tight spot, just like Brer Rabbit’s clever words saved him from the dogs and the capture the other creatures planned.”

He leaned forward, his voice taking on a more serious tone. “But it also reminds us that our actions have consequences. Brer Rabbit’s pranks and tricks may have seemed funny to him, but they caused real trouble and hurt for the other animals. It’s important to think about how what we do affects those around us.”

The boy nodded solemnly, understanding dawning on his face. “So, we should be clever and resourceful but also kind and considerate?”

“That’s right, young’un. Find that balance, and you’ll go far in this world.” Uncle Remba leaned back against the tree with a contented smile.

Later that night, snuggled in his comfy bed, the little boy’s mind drifted back to the beginning of the story, to the magic and wonder of “once upon a time.” He realized that the true enchantment lay not in the talking animals or the fantastic events but in the timeless wisdom woven throughout the tale.

As his eyelids grew heavy and sleep began to overtake him, the child recalled the laughter in Uncle Remba’s voice when he described Brer Rabbit’s antics. The boy drifted off to sleep awash in the wisdom passed down from generation to generation, connecting him to a timeless tradition of storytelling and life lessons in Uncle Remba’s enchanting tales.

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