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This is the first of a two-part recording, it starts with Lou Ida Granny Gates, an African American woman, describing her childhood living in a log cabin as the oldest of nine children. She tended to her younger siblings, milked the cows, and plowed the fields until her brothers were old enough. 5:29: Lucinda Watson, Gatess daughter, clarifies that Gates is 102 and had five children, three boys and two girls, including herself. Next at 8:37, Watson tells a story about a preacher and a man who played a prank on him and the congregation. 10:55: Gates then talks about working as a farmer, cook, and launderer, earning five dollars a month. She also describes how to plant and harvest cotton and how to milk a cow. 14:05: The next interviewee, Ferris Jackson, Watsons daughter, tells a story about an old witch who jumped out of her skin every night. At 15:05, Watson tells a tale about a rabbit and a bear who worked on a farm and when the rabbit drank all the bears milk. In her next story, a preacher asks women to cry out the number of their children. At 19:35, Sylvia Scapa recites stories she heard from her Jewish-Greek family, including one about a man who kept borrowing money until nothing was left, and another story about a woman who took a bassina (wash bin) through trickery. 23:27: In her next story, a man falls in love with a Greek woman; to marry her, he must convert to Christianity. In another, a Greek villager does not understand the concept of Easter. Scapa then tells a tale about a poor and hungry man. She explains that in her tradition if a newborn baby is ugly, you should spit on it to ward off the evil eye. 32:55: At the end of the recording, Scapa reminisces about her great-uncle teaching her and the other children in the family about ghosts, who should always be flattered. The audio ends in the middle of the story.
Lucinda Watson (1896-1991) was born and raised in Georgia. She had one daughter, Ferris Jackson (1934-?). Watson worked in the house of Dr. Leon Mandell, a research director at Emory University. Lou Ida Granny Gates (1866-?) was born and raised in Troup County, Georgia, where she worked on a farm. She had five children, three boys and two girls, including Lucinda Watson. Sylvia Scapa (1926-?) was born in Salonica, Greece. She attended college in France until the German occupation of Paris in 1940. Her parents were killed during the German occupation of Greece, after which she fled to Portugal and later to England, where she worked until the end of the war. Afterward, she moved to the United States where she worked as a biochemistry technician at Emory University.
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'TrOD\? {o,r.{'\'" Fer (;';) ,)u...cYSuon', 1) (.\ Object Information Enter information about the Title (interviewee name and date of interview) Vi Description (bio on interviewee) Lou I c!l'"- 1 Creator (Enter either an individual's name or an organization) Collection Name (within the organization) f loj\\ ~\n\Q(\ ( Burrison Folklore Class Georgia Folklore Archives Creation Date (use only one) Exact Date (yyyy-mm-dd) Year (if only the year is known) Circa (4 digit year) Ii Object Type Media Format (VHS, reel to reel, etc Recording extent Year Span Image_ Text Text and image_ Video and soupd ,.. - Sound onlyV Reel-reel Hours: (J c:J From To Minutes: Derivatives Access copy: Yes or No Access copy format: Recording clip Yes or No Time code for clip (h:m:s) Notes (interview summary) .. ) \ i) \t" \\;~.. (\ r\ Beginning: l'y~e; I ,tC,\ t"\';) '\ C)('~}\\Q '-' Clip extent: &5: 1'6' End:--'-'--"--- ~l, " \ \ , ~- ~. Recording issues (background noise, echo, static, etc.) Subject Information Enter information about the content of the ob'ect here: Subject Date Exact Date (yyyy-mm-dd) (use only one) Year (if only the year is known) Circa (4 digit year) Year Span From To Local Name First Name MI L-u C\V\()O l \ Burrison, John See sUbject who for additional names Country State Town \J2)1~ Gr\ !l{) Personal names AHC Cataloger will complete this for you. Last Name VJtA. ~)j':~)V\ :\C1C Subject Who Subject Location 3 Corporate names Geographic locations Topics 4 COLLECTING PROJECT Folklore 300 "INTRODUCTION TO FOLKLORE" SUBMITTED BY: Mrs. Elaine Miller TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE PAGE Introduction and Photographs A General Conversation with Granny: .................. 1-4 "Life Nearly A Hundred Years Ago" Tales: The Witch (Mr s. Jackson) 4 Animal Tale (Mrs. watson) 5 Preacher StorY (Mrs. Watson) . 6 Amen Corner (Mrs. Watson) . 6 PART TWO Introduction and Photographs Anunan Haja ? The Pregnant Bassina 7-8 Meat and Fish .. 8-9 The Resurrection and The Farmer ...................... 9-10 The Tramouz 10 The Evil Eye 11 The Better-Than-Us ... 11 A Per sonal Encounter 12 PART III Manuscript: History of Ty Ty and Family History of A Georgia Family. INTRODUCTION I met Mrs. Lucinda watson several months ago while she was working as a domestic for Dr. Leon Mandell, my husband's research director at Emory University. During the summer, my husband and I lived in the Mandell's house, while ~hey were in Europe, and Mrs. Watson continued working for us. Mrs. Watson is a tall, powerfully-built Negro of 72. She has been a domestic all her life. Mrs. Watson had mentioned on several occasions that she lived with her daughter and her mother; when I called to make an appointment to discuss the "old way of life," she invited my husband and I to her house to meet her daughter and her mother. Mrs. Watson owns a small house in North West Atlanta. When we arrived on Saturday afternoon, she ushered us into a small living room, and we chatted for several minutes. We were apprised of the approach of "Granny" by the slow shuffle of feet and the tap-tap of a cane on the wooden floor. "Granny" Gates entered the room with great dignity. She is 102 years old, and the daughter of slaves. She was dressed in a floor-leng~h dressing gown, rather ragged, and had a white rag wound about her head. After being seated, she called for her "pail" and a young girl of about 15 entered with a blue bucket which she placed by Granny's side. Every few' minutes during the interview, Granny would aim a brown stream of the snuff which she had been chewing, into the bucket. Granny appeared to be in good health, although her conversation rambled a bit, and she was rather deaf. Mrs. Watson's daughter, Mrs. Ferris Jackson, came in about a half hour later and was introduced. She is 54, and appears to be much younger. Of medium height, and stout, she is a bouncy, exuberant woman, who has been a domestic all of her life, as has her mother. There were several young children playing in neighboring rooms, some' of whom were introduced as Granny's great-great gnndchildren. Mrs. Watson was born in LaGrange, Georgia. Her mother was born in Troop County. Mrs. Lucinda Watson and Great-grandchildren Mrs. Ferris Jackson Mrs. Lucinda Watson and Great-grandchildren ..~ Mrs. Ferris Jackson IIGRANNY I. GATES ItGRANNY" GATES E. MILLER: What kind of house were you born in? GRANNY: Huh? WATSON: What kind of house were you born in? She was born in, I would say, a log cabin. GRANNY: I was born in a log house. Daubed around outside with dirt and floor cracky, and it was a log house, made out of logs. Built with boards. Wasn't even as nice as a horse's stall is now. It was a log house. Big old fireplace. Put the wood on there. Great big old fireplace. Picked up trash many a day to make fire. Cut wood to make a fire. ' MILLER: You cooked in your fireplace? GRANNY: Set back with mud Yeah, great big ole fireplace. and warm. House cracky and had to keep the air off. Floor was Make a fire under there. the house daubed around cracky. MILLER: How many brothers and sisters did you have? GRANNY: Huh? MILLER: Brothers and sisters, you had seven brothers, is that right? GRANNY: I don unnerstand ya. DAYTON MILLER: How many brothers and sisters did you have? GRANNY: How many brothers and sisters? Well, there was seven of my mama's boys and jus two of us girls livin', and all of them gone. An I got a sister, and I got a brother, jus me here by myself, and I older than all of em. Older than all of em. I plowed hard every day and git up in the night an take up one of the childrin and dry em, put dat in de bed an go git another one. I'm older than all of em. An the next mornin , I'd . called me .. my name was Lou Ida, but everyone called me Dot. "Dot, git up an see whatsamatter wid dat chile." I'd have to git up to see whatsa matter wid dat one. Time I git back in the bed, "What's de matter wid than'un in there?" I'd say, "I'd don't know." Go in there and see what de matter is. Sometimes I take em up and dry em, sometimes I take em up and put a napkin on it. I wuz de fust one every mornin' I wuz de fust one called every mornin'. Looky here, see how hard I worked. I had three or four cows to milk, go down and mil~ the cows; had four cows, and them good cows. My Daddy made me a shelf about this high (indicates height about three feet from the floor) and I sot my big bucket up heah, and then I had a leetle bucket to milk in. That wuz a great big ole three gallon bucket where I had to carry my milk to the house. I wuz called fust for everythin'. Cuz I wuz the oldest. -2- GRANNY: I'd go down there and catch my mule and go to the field. and plow. CUZ I wuz in de lead. I'd go down to the field and my Daddy would come by and say, "Go plow that row." "I done plowed it." Well, go git that mule and plow it again." I WUZ in de lead--I wuz in de lead of de plow hands. Den I got one of the boys big enough to take the plow, I wuz in de lead of de hoe hands. I wuz in de lead dere. I wuz in de lead of everything dat wuz done. D' work all de wee~, den Friday I'd have to take all dem children's clothes down from the house, down to the spring, to wash. You had de do dat SaxMK~~X Friday. Saturday, (unintelligible) you had de iron em. they'd put me to irnnin', and sometimes I'd take em and fold em to.<git em folded up. D. MILLER: How many children did you have? GRANNY: Eh? I had four, jus five Will and Jim and Jerry and Aaron. demo And I wuz in de lead of all brothers, and Bob and And, I, I, wuz in de of demo Charles and lead of all of WATSON: She had five childrin. She had, urn, three boys and two girls. And so all of dem is passed, now she jus have two. Me and my brother, in LaGrange. She had seven brothers, and there was two girls and them. And so they all are passed and left my mother. She's de oldest one of de seven children in her family. MILLER: And she's how old? WATSON: An she's 102; she live to see this comin' August, she'll be 103 years old. D. MILLER: Do you remember stories that you used to tell your child~'en? GRANNY: Eh? D. MILLER: Do you remember any stories that you used to tell your children? GRANNY: Yeah. D. MILLER: Could you tell us some of those? That you remember? GRANNY: I don't know how to answer that question. Well, I tell ya'll, I jus done lived so long that I can hear, but I cain't understand it. I hear a person talkin', and I don't understand a wurd. Sometime I bow my head, sometime I shake my head, and I don't know whether"I}m doin' right or not. Folks jus take it. I tell ~~8ffie round and ask me so on, and I tell em, I tell em~' (unintelligible) I'm 1'us here. An den I try to tell some of em how come I'm here, ya know, an sometime I git it right, and sometime I git it wrong. I tell em, how comes I here. I had a brother, well, he was about seven years younger than I ... GATES: Hello! -3- GRANNY: And I had to tell em all about that. An I raised these here children, and raised grand children, and I raised great, great, great, grandchildren. Now these children you see goin' round here, are my great grandchildren. I don't know whut the Lord keepin' me hEa h for, I jus heah for somethin', that I don't know. Wait here till he calls me. I done work and work and done all I could do. The Lord spoke to me year before last. He shook me, I felt it. He said, "You done all you can do,' Quit." But still I gotta move, try to go. I got de desire to go. That's my heart's desire, but my strength is all gone. Cain't do nothin', cain't do nothin. At this point, Granny lapsed into silence. Mrs. Watson offered to tell a story that she had remembered. Mrs. WATSON: There was an old country church, and the pastor said, the pastor, you know, they had a meetin' in de mornin' and at night and so, the mornin' service, he preached about the resurrection of Christ and he told the congregation when they went to dismiss, that that night, he was gonna preach about Gabriel. And so, he says, I want all of ya'll to come and bring a friend. Cfuz I'~ goin' to preach about Gabriel tonight. And there was this ole devilish man 'in the neighborhood, and he heard, and he gets this old bugle, and afore time for church, he g~s up in the tower, you know, with this ole bugle, and pretty near, the congregation gethered for that night, and (for preachin') and he was goin on, about, "vJ!lo'll be ready to if Gabriel was to sound his trumpet? And they'd holler, "me, me, me, I'll be ready, to go!" An so this ole devilish man, you know, he'd sound the trumpet, you know, he'd blow the horn. "Whooo, whooo, like that." And some of them were listenin, you know, turn a listenin' ear. And after a while, he'd holler, "Oh, Gabrieeeel, sound out your trumpet!" And this ole man, he'd blow, "WHOOOO, WHOOO," louder, you know. N.iN XI> i+~Y And he said, it, on for several times, and whenjheVgot' in th<~s high speed of preachin'. he said, "Oh, Gabriel,/sound out your trumpet," and this ole devilish man blew it real loud,(and everybody got scared, and comes runnin', wadn' t nobody[j3.round ablowin' i"j:J, and they thought that was Gabriel, and so, the ole preacher, he started out the back door, you know, and some way or another, he got his coat hung onto a big nail stuck in the back door, and he thought that nail was Gabriel had on to him, so he say, "look out Gabriel~' said, "Turn me loose, I ain't ready to go yet!" -4- GRANNY: .Lord, it's your business . it ain't mine. If you say lay here, I lay here, if you say git up, I git up. Pick up the next mornin', I git up, talk to him like I talk to you, I say "Lord, thank you, I say, I'm able to git up, put my clothes on~and walk to the door; sometimes breakfast is ready, but I got de habit of goin' to de door, thankin de Lord, lettin , me see the sun shine .breakfast is ready .. I got to go to the door .. I say, "Thank you, I see the sun shine." Sometimes I git up and say, "Thank you, it's rainin'." Sometimes I say, "Thank ya, but it's cold." I got to go dere. I don't know how come, I got de habit of goin' to de door. Sometimes I go to de door, and fastin' my dress, puttin' on my apron. Sometimes I stand, sometimes I sit down and looks at people I done been in this world a long time. I done seen more'n I can tell. Done seen more'n I can tell. I cain'ttell what I have seen. (Mrs. Watson nods assent.) I got a job (unintelligible) work, wid de farmin', then I got to cook for it . I didn't go no huntin , somebody . somebody come a 'huntin , a cook--I git my old apron and h~ll it up and go on. Cook out sometime for five dollars a month, five dollars a month. I wash and iron, cook, sometimes, cook for a crowd. for hands. DAYTON MILLER: When you farmed . E. MILLER: When do you plant? D. MILLER: When you were a farmer, when you farrred .. GRANNY: I farmed! D. MILLER: When did you know when to plant your crops and when to harvest your crops? fWhen I plant my cotton? GRANNY: When I plant my crops? Well, I start fixin' my land right after Christmas . the first of March . February, then on into February, I start tokplant my stuff git it planted, and then I have, to plow it and cop it out. Pick it out. I done all that. I \'i!b8~fthe mule many "a Monday mornin' and go to the field and plow till 12:00. Night'd come, I'd put up my mule, (that was when I was with my Ma and Paw)' put my mules up there, next thing, go to the cow pen and milk two or three cows. Had a big old water bucket. Had it up on the shelf there, and then had my little cup of milk in it. I'd pour it in there, and then I'd go git my milk. As it became obvious that Granny was about to recite the milking procedures, again, the recorder was stopped. Mrs. Gates volunteered to tell a story that she knew. MRS. GATES: Once upon a time, there was an old woman and she lived with some of her childrens, you see, she was an old witch, rather. And she lived with some of her childrens. And every night, she would jump out of her skin and~then she'd come back in early in the mornin' ()O .s\)J -5- and jump back in her skin. So she did it several time. So, finally she went out one night, and come back in, and somebody had put pepper in her skin, and so she hop back in her skin, and she say, "Skinny, skinny, skinny, don't you know me? Skinny skinny skinny, don't you know me?" So that's what had happened, somebody had put pepper in her skin, and it was stingin' her, you see, so she jump and say, "skinny skinny skIimny, don't you know me?" MRS. WATSON: Be quiet, now, I've got to tell a story. Once upon a time, there was a rabbit and a bear. And they was workin' on a farm together. And the ole bear put some milk in the spring, you know, to keep cool, and the ole rabbit knew it. And everyonce in a while, the ole rabbit would holler, "Whoooo!" And the ole bear I d ask him,II who you answerin'." And the rabbit' d say, "My wife callin me." He says. "I got to go see what my wife want. " An the ole rabbit would go to the spring, and drink up the bear's milk. IVic And first time he went and drank -up some of the milk, [nd got back;1 and got back to de field, and bear say, "what did C13helwant?" "She wan'ed me to name the baby." (rabbit). Yb-tC~ L>Jilfl, ) "What'd you name it?" (bear) "I named it "Little Bit." (rabbit) Worked on a way, and after a while, he hollered again, "Whooo." Ole bear says, "What you hollerin' for?" He say, That's my wife callin' me." He say, "I got to go see what she wants." And so he took off and went back to the spring, and drank some more milk. And when he got back, the ole bear asked him, said, "What did your wife want this time?" "She wanted me to change the baby's name." Said, "What'd she change it to?" Said, "I changed it to Half-gone." t And so he went back, worked on a while, and after a while, he hollered again, "Whooo!" And ole bear says, "Who you keepin' answerin', I don't hear nobody callin'!" An ole rabbit say, "That's my wife, a keepin on a dallin' me. We got a new baby, and every once in a while, she want to change the baby's name." He say, "I'm goin' this time to see what she want to change it to." So he went on down to the sprliWg, you see, and he drank some more of the m~lk. -6- :; and when he come back, the ole bear asks him, he rays, "What did your wife want this time. II "She want me to change the baby's name. II "Said, what'd you change it to?1l "Almost. II gonna Jl'c'J.:J) baby's name. A I ain't she say! II And way after a while, he answered, you know, again. And he went back down to the spring, and this time he drank all the mil~. And when he got back to the field, the ole bear asks him, he say, IIWhat 'd your wife want this time? II 1I0h, she wanted me to change the change it no more. I don't care what He say, IlWhat'd you change it to this time?t1 He say, IIAII gone. 11 So he had drinked up all the milk and that's the end of the story. Another story by Mrs. watson: MRS. WATSON: Once there was an old-time country church, and this preacher, he was preachin', and in his sermon, he got to talkin' about, you know, peoples with childrens. And there were old ladies in some part of the church they call the IIhallelujah corner ll and so all the women sits in the hallelujah corner. And the men sits on the other side in the corner they call the "amen corner. II And sO{ththis ole preacher was pr~achinI J and he say~; "Some of you sisterg~:there in the halIe1 uj ah corner :wlitcl'l~ got one chile! II And this ole lady, jumped up, says, "Yes, Lawd, I got one! II Preached on a while, and say, IISome got two! II An another one jumped up and say, IIYes, Lawd, I got two! II An in a while, he says, "An some of ya got three! II Ole lady jumped up &nd saiJ~ "Yes, I got three! II Preached on a while, and say, IISome of you got four!1I Ole lady jumped up and say, "Yess, I got four!1I All ,i)I\.'I") And It.hen h~ say?; IISome of you got five. II And ?another ole lady jumped up, BYes, Lawd, I got five childrins! II An the ole preacher say, IIAII of em got different daddies! II An this ole lady say, lIyou done lie, cause all my childrin are named Paul Jones. II That's the end of that story! Sylvia Scapa is a Jewish Greek who has lived in the United States since the end of World War II. Born in Salonica , she attended college in France until the German occupation of Paris. She fled to Portugal, and eventually made her way to England, where she worked until the end of the war. She is sity. in the She is 42 years old, a u.S. citizen, and single. employed as a biochemistry technician at Emory UniverHer parents, comparatively prosperous, were killed German invasion of Greece. i L SYLVIA SCAPA [1 i 4. t I ...,,," .~ SYLVIA SCAPA Sylvia Scapa is a Jewish Greek who has lived in the United States since the end of World War II. Born in Salonica, she attended college in France until the German occupation of Paris. She fled to Portugal, and eventually made her way to England, where she worked until the end of the war. She is sity. in the She is 42 years old, a U.S. citizen, and single. employed as a biochemistry technician at Emory UniverHer parents, comparatively prosperous, were killed German invasion of Greece. -7- SYLVIA SCAPA: stories that were prevalent at that time, that I heard around the house and around my relative's families. They are always based on the wisdom of the Orient, and the struggle for life they have. This is one example: 1:J,t There was a man who needed to borrow some money, and there was another man, apparently a respected man in the family, in the community, and he went to his home, and he say, "Oh, Amman Hoja,' can you lend me a lire? A lire is a pound. It is a unit of money. And so the Hoja said, "Yes, my son, lift that mattress, and you will find the lire." So, he lift the mattress, took the lire, and went to do his business. A few, a little while later, he came back, and he say, "Thank you, Hoja, here is your lire." "All right, my son, lift the mattress and put it back." So sometime later the man was again in need of borrowing money, and he went to the Hoja. "Amman Hoja, please, can you lend me some money?' Can you lend me a lire?" The Hoja say, "Yes, my s\f.n~vlift the mattress and take the lire." So he lift the mattress and t~Re the lire. But apparently this time, he had some kind of ~ifficulties, ang, ~r maybe, he find that it was not so handy to bring the money back:~Ee forgot. So, a few months later, he was again in need of some money, and he went to the Hoja,WI) :;~Ir' Amman Hoja, can you lend me ,s~re. lire?" (/': '.> tAJi]l"YeS, , my son, lift the mattress and take the lire." He say, "Amman Hoja, the lire is not tchere." t ,'1.' J ,h';i;"My son,j.f you didn't put it there, how do you expect to find it.?" SYLVIA SCAPA: This is a story that I heard said by a little cousin of mine. (Which probably she heard from her Grandmother) At that time, washday was a big affair an d the waShing was done in containers of copper. They were covered with tin. In our language it. is ~alled a biJl:;;;.~4~~a. So tha~ woman went to the neighbor and J~'.'i(q I ' sal d, Could you ;fend me a basslna for the washing?" She said .yes'; I so she borrowed her bassina. And then when s1;e finished[with the bassina,]she brought it back, but next to the basslna, she brought another smaller container. There were also smaller containers which have a different name, also for the same purpose. -8- And the neighbor said, "Well, what is that?" "Well," she said, "the bassina was pregnant, and she had a baby." So the neighbor found that funny, but was mthing .. she was against it. So, she took the baby. So a few months later, t~l'i~:' neighbor, the first neighbor, again wanted to borrow the bassina. So she went and said, "Could you please lend me the bassina?" And the woman, she said, "Yes, of course." But this time, the bassina never came back. And the neighbor asked, "Well, how about the bassina?" "WeIll' she said, "she died." "The bassina? Can a bassina die?" "Well, can a bassina have a baby?" til; t) This is a story about a ma whp fell in love with a Greek woman. A Greek woman, like in old time, they were Gentiles, but in this case'Q,()f course, they were Christians. And those are things that~g~e'not easily done. But the woman was beautiful, so willing or not, he had to marry her, and to marry her, he had to be converted. So he went to the priest, and the priest said "Your name is not Jacob, it is Janis. Your name is Janis. Your name is not Jacob, it is Janis." the sign of the cross, and he said, "Now you are three times, is not Jacob, it And then he made J an1'. S "l'~' '."0 J\.IF,t., t So then the man was kind of happy and he went around living with his wife; but, came a time of Lent, And at that time, the Greeks don't eat meat. And Jacob, or Janis, was kind of impatient. He put up one day, two days, three days, then he found it was too much. So, steak. that?" one day, he went to the marketplace and bought a beautiful So he brings it home, and the wife say: "Eh, Janis, what is "What is what?" "Well, that is why do you bring meat?" "Meat, that is not meat!" "Well, what is it?" -9- "That is fish!" She said, "No, that is meat!" He said, "Oh really, well wait a minute! This is not meat, it is fish, this is not meat, it is fish,. this is not meat, it is fish!" And then he make the sign of the cross, and said, "Now you can eat it, it is fish!" It was a time of Easter, and at Easter, all the Greeks have to have a lamb, a milk lamb, a very young lamb. So usually the villagers fatten up the lambs to bring them to town and sell them. So that villager came with his Whole flock and he sold the lambs, but by the time . it was ~ood Friday and he was not yet back to his village, and on that Good Friday, of course, he was an ignorant man, and on that Good Friday, the bells were ringing in the church. It was kind of mourning bells. And the man asked someone in the street, "What is it?" "Well'~ he said, "don 't you know, they are burying Christ." "Burying Christ, why?" "Well, the Jews kill him." "Oh how terrible! How could the Jews kill Christ?" And he was very, very angry; fortunately, a Jew was not in his part because fie would have make him in two, cut him into two. " ..~ Well, about midnight, there was other bells. They were very cheerful. He said, "What is it?" /' t(kc / , it so hclppened that he did good bijsin\';'\1s and his boss ",;' ,~, to townfsoori] after, Again, he sold t~e lambs, and again, the bells. The moummg bells on Good Friday. "0h, that's the resurrection. Christ is resurrected." ,'1)~'\<1_+,',~) "Oh, good!" 'And, he was very happy and he went back to his village. And in a sense, he was satisfied that Christ was alive again. Well, sent him he heard -10- "What is it?" "The Jews have killed Christ." "Again~ Oh, those horrible Jews! How could they do How could they do this horrible thing?" vi~dl-A/jv'i'\j ( that? A Well, fortunately, there was again resurrection, and the man was kind of satisfied, and he went home terribly happy. Well, to town, find out never two without three, so the third year, again to bring his lambs, and again he heard the bells. that the Jews have killed Christ. he comes And he "Oh, well, now that 'It: 1}:Li? fault! If he knows that the Jews are going to kill him, Why does he go with them again in the first place!" I f1.JL> This was a man who was very poor and he stnuggle andAstruggle and somehow he couldn't have money. And one day, he was so desperate he decided he was going to commit suicide and throw himself into the sea. And as he was walking, he looked into his pocket and~round a penny. A penny was a small unit--the equivalent of a penny. It was a smaller uqit of money. ((.4 fl,, ,) 'r "well," he said, "if I am going to die, I shouldn't die hungry,!1 so what can he buy? ,f' He cannot buy bread and cheese, because he needs one penny for bread and one penny for cheese. ~I: So he buy tramouz. It is a kind of bean that swells into the water, and people uSed to buy it like nuts, you see. So he wentVand buy one penny of beans, or tramouz~> ~vi' And there is a--stop--(at this point, the narrator indicated that she wanted the tape stopped so she could remember the name that she wanted)--an envelope there so as he was walking he was eating the beans and throwing the envelope (th~fe is a name for it). So, anyway, as he was eating his tramoui; he was walking the street and throwing the shells. And as he was nearing the seashore, he saw there was a man following him, and he looked at him and saw that he was picking up tge shells and eating them .. and then he real~zed.there was someone hungrier than him. And he say, "If this man;. eat';lijmy shells, and he is not throwing himself into the sea, then there is no reason for me to throw myself '.. into the sea. And he changed his mind. -11- One thing very common is that story about the evil eye. Now, When you see a baby, in the street or even in the family, you never never say, "Oh, what a beautiful baby!" b.,ecause the mother will be very upset. But What you say is "Oh, what an ugly baby!" And then you spit on him. You really spit on him, and say, "Oh, he is so ugly," and even though you are thrilled to bits you have to say he is ugly. Because, if you say he is beautiful, then you might be throwing him the evil eye and something bad will happen to the baby. And if by any chance something bad does happen, then God help you! tl,t{< Uh, I've heard ~ case of a woman, who, I was told, her lips grew thick from spitting because Wher~ver she saw something, she was so much afraid of her own power, that she will have to spit on thllings to protect them. I was told the story of the woman who went to visit some friends. There was a beautiful jasmine plant outside, and she happened to mention, what a beautiful jasime(plan~it was. Well, by the time she L_~ came out of the visit--it was probably two or three hours later--the jasmine was dead. And this kind of thing seemed to happen so often, and then she decided she better be careful. And the question of the evil eye is something Which is not understood yet, but people seem to think there is a' power in the thought [a~d the power in that thoughtJand the paer in that thought travels and can do harm or good. That's why we should always have good thoughts towards other people. But that evil eye, it's very much spread over there and the people are very much afraid of the evil eye. But it will take a little bit of clear thinking in our time to find the nature of it. But people are con:~vinced, not because of an empty superstition, but PFobably, I know it sounds silly to say that, but probably Lhecause ofJsome of the connotations and some of the results they've seen. (\~m', -12- When I was a little girl~1 my Great-Uncle wanted to illuminate us, to educate us, and he told us the story about those--I don't know if I shall call them ghosts or beings but apparently we are very much afraid of them, and we flatter them by giving them good names, and we call them, lithe better-than-us.!i' So those people come at 12:00 and they have chicken feet, and this is thxppnly time they come, at midnight, and of course I was always(aft~ld\of those things, when it was midnight and~} was alone in the house, it was terrible. ~{ One day I remember, while walking in the street, I was always aware, even when I was fifteen, sixteen, seventeen years old, but that happened when I was thirteen. [crf'j(~C?:~c\ We were walking down the street. Fortunately, I was with a big group, my family. Brother, sister, father, mother, and I remember, though, probably, it must have been around midnight. Because, as I walked down the street, I saw someone crossing the street, at a great speed. I still don't know if that was tru 3, or if it was a dream. But it was such a conviction. I never saw those beings of course, but their presence was very powerful and everybody talks about them. The following manuscript was obtained from Mrs. E. R. Flynt, (nee Carolyn Williams) of 1475 North Amanda Circle, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia 30329. It is a Xerox copy of a manuscript compiled by Mrs. F. B. Pickett, Mrs. Flynt's Aunt, and is a portion of the Williams Family History, which Mrs. Pickett wrote before her death. It has never been published in any form, and is the exclusive property of Mrs. Flynt.
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Professor John Burrison founded the Atlanta Folklore Archive Project in 1967 at Georgia State University. He trained undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in his folklore curriculum to conduct oral history interviews. Students interviewed men, women, and children of various demographics in Georgia and across the southeast on crafts, storytelling, music, religion, rural life, and traditions.
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