Mules and Men

Mouths don't empty themselves unless ears are sympathetic and knowing.

Many a man thinks he is making something when he's only changing things around.

Zora, why do you think dese li'l slim women was put on earth?" "Couldn't tell you to save my life." "Well, dese slim ones was put here to beautify de world." "De big ones, musta been put here for de same reason." "Ah, naw, Zora. Ah don't agree wid you there." "Well then, what was they put here for?" "To show dese slim girls how far they kin stretch without bustin'.

We proaged on thru the woods that was full of magnolia, pine, cedar, oak, cypress, hickory, and many kinds of trees whose names I do not know. It is hard to know all the trees in Florida.

Dat's de reason de sister in black works harder than anybody else in the world. De white man tells de n****r to work and he takes and tells his wife.

Don’t you know you can’t git de best of no woman in de talkin’ game? Her tongue is all de weapon a woman got,” George Thomas chided Gene. “She could have had mo’ sense, but she told God no, she’d ruther take it out in hips. So God give her her ruthers. She got plenty hips, plenty mouf and no brains.” “Oh, yes, womens is got sense too,” Mathilda Moseley jumped in. “But they got too much sense to go ‘round braggin’ about it like y’all do. De lady people always got de advantage of mens because God fixed it dat way.

Jus' cause you done set round and growed ruffles round yo' hips nobody can't mention fat 'thout you makin' out they talkin' bout you.

Oh, dey put me under arrest one day for vacancy in Bartow. When de judge found out Ah had a job of work. He took and searched me and when he found out Ah had a deck of cards on me, he charged me wid totin' concealed cards, and attempt to gamble, and gimme three months. Then dey made out another charge 'ginst me. 'Cused me of highway shufflin', and attempt to gamble. You know dese white folks sho hates tuh turn a n****r loose, if every dey git dey hands on 'im.

I began to worry a bit. Ella kept on hurling slurs. So I said, "Come on, Big Sweet, we got to go to home." "Nope, Ah ain't got to do nothin' but die and stay black.

Lawd, look at Tookie switchin' it and lookin' back at it! She's done gone crazy thru de hips.

Well, it come a famine and all de crops was dried up and Brother John was ast to pray. He had prayed for rain last year and it had rained, so all de white folks 'sembled at they church and called on Brother John to pray agin, so he got down and prayed: "Lord, first thing, I want you to understand that this ain't no n****r talking to you. This is a white man and I want you to hear me. Pay some attention to me. I don't worry and bother you all the time like these n****rs--asking you for a whole heap of things that they don't know what to do with after they git 'em--so when I do ask a favor, I want it granted. Now, Lord, we want some rain. Our crops is all burning up and we'd like a little rain. But I don't mean for you to come in a hell of a storm like you did last year--kicking up racket like n****rs at a barbecue. I want you to come calm and easy. Now, another thing, Lord, I want to speak about. Don't let these n****rs be as sassy as they have been in the past. Keep 'em in their places, Lord, Amen.

You know they say a white man git in some kind of trouble, he'll fret and fret until he kill hisself. A n****r git into trouble, he'll fret for a while, then g'wan to sleep.

God let down two bundles 'bout five miles down de road. So de white man and de n****r raced to see who would git there first. Well, de n****r out-run de white man and grabbed de biggest bundle. He was so skeered de white man would git it away from him he fell on top of de bundle and hollered back: "Oh, Ah got here first and dis biggest bundle is mine." De white man says: "All right, Ah'll take yo' leavings," and picked up de li'l tee-ninchy bundle layin' in de road. When de n****r opened up his bundle he found a pick and shovel and a hoe and a plow and chop-axe and then de white man opened up his bundle and found a writin'-pen and ink. So ever since then de n****r been out in de hot sun, usin' his tools and de white man been sittin' up figgerin', ought's a ought, figger's a figger; all for de white man, none for de n****r.

Jim Allen laughed just as loud as anybody else and then he said: "We better hurry on to work befo' de buckra [white people] get in behind us." "Don't never worry about work," says Jim Presley. "There's more work in de world than there is anything else. God made de world and de white folks made work.

Zora,” George Thomas informed me, “you come to de right place if lies is what you want. Ah’m gointer lie up a nation.” Charlie Jones said, “Yeah, man. Me and my sworn buddy Gene Brazzle is here. Big Moose done come down from de mountain.” “Now, you gointer hear lies above suspicion,” Gene added.

What yo' all reckon is the matter sho' 'nough?" "Must be something terrible when white folks get slow about putting us to work.

The brother in black puts a laugh in every vacant place in his mind. His laugh has a hundred meanings. It may mean amusement, anger, grief, bewilderment, chagrin, curiosity, simple pleasure, or any other of the known or undefined emotions.

The theory behind our [Negro] tactics: "The white man is always trying to know into somebody else's business. All right, I'll set something outside the door of my mind for him to play with and handle. He can read my writing but he sho' can't read my mind. I'll put this play to in his hand, and he will seize it and go away. Then I'll say my say and sing my song.