reading notes: brer rabbit part a

 The Calamus Root

• brer rabbit avoids brer fox, but brer fox stopped him one day because brer bear told him that him and brer rabbit needed to be friends
• brer rabbit suggests they have dinner, so brer fox agrees and brer rabbit prepares for it 
• brer fox never showed up to dinner, so brer rabbit looks out the door and sees brer fox hiding outside 
• Mr mink told brer rabbit that brer fox was sick last night but that brer rabbit should go to his house for dinner
• brer rabbit goes to his house and brer fox looked very weak. there was no dinner on the table, just a pan and carving knife
• brer rabbit ran and brer fox never caught him

The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story

• after brer rabbit ran, brer fox set up a trap called a tar baby 
• brer rabbit talked to the tar baby and it didn't speak back, so he said he was going to fix his attitude 
• he punched the tar baby and couldn't pull away
• brer fox came and laughed at brer rabbit stuck in the tar

Why Mr. Possum Loves Peace

• brer possum and brer coon are talking together when they see brer dog talking to himself and wonder what they would do if he came up on them 
• brer possum played dead and brer coon killed him 
• brer possum ran away, and beer coon refused to talk to him after because he wont hang around cowards 
• beer possum is bound to surrender if you see him to this day

Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp For Mr. Fox

• Mr fox says he's tired of Mr rabbit's sass, so he was going to barbecue the tar baby with Mr rabbit attached 
• Mr rabbit says he doesn't care how he dies, just not by getting thrown in the briar patch 
• he finally flung brer rabbit in the briar patch after being frustrated
• brer rabbit was born in the briar patch so he knew how to escape. he walked out of the briar patch unscathed

Mr. Fox is Outdone by Mr. Buzzard 

• Mr turkey buzzard guarded the hole where brer rabbit stayed for brer fox
• brer fox woke brer rabbit up by cutting down his tree 
• brer fox chopped at the tree while Mr turkey buzzard said he could see him in there, but he wasnt
• brer fox said he was going to burn Mr turkey buzzard up 
• Mr turkey buzzard flew away from brer fox so he couldn't kill him 

Mr. Wolf Makes a Failure

• Mr wolf came upon brer fox and saw him looking down, so after talking they made a plan to get brer rabbit in brer fox's house
• mr wolf went to brer rabbit's house and told him that brer fox was dead so that they could lure him to his house to eat him for dinner
• brer rabbit talked to himself when he saw brer fox and said out loud that dead men always raise their back leg and holler when people come to visit them 
• he knew he was alive so he ran 

Mr. Fox Tackles Old Man Tarrypin

• brer fox came up to brer terrapin and started to talk to him 
• brer fox asked him why he looked ill, and it was because brer terrapin was in a fire
• he said it looked like he fire got brer terrapin's tail so he pulled it out and grabbed it 
• brer fox dragged him by his tail and tried to drown him 
• he is a turtle so brer fox let go of him and he was home 

The Awful Fate of Mr. Wolf 

• brer rabbit couldn't have peace because of brer wolf and fox, and brer wolf kept blowing his houses down
• he built a sturdy house that couldn't be destroyed 
• brer wolf busted in to his house one day saying that dogs were chasing him, so brer rabbit said he could hide in a chest
• brer rabbit put holes in the chest, and put on water for tea, and started a fire
• brer rabbit poured the hot water through the holes in the chest and told brer wolf it was fleas
• that water killed brer wolf and brer rabbit still has his hide hanging 

Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox

Source: Pinterest

Joel Chandler Harris, "Brer Rabbit tales". UnTextbook