How much enchanting attractive power in "Tales of Uncle Remus"! No wonder the 16-year-old teenager Joel Harris (1848–1908) was listened to by stories told by blacks in the kitchen in order to pass the time and have fun. Then he himself worked as a “boy on the premises” on a plantation for shelter and bread, and in the evenings he absorbed the fables of those black slaves whom he would later call uncle Remus and mother Meadows in his tales.
How fairy tales entered American literature
Ten years later, as a writer, Harris will begin to travel and collect stories about the cunning Brother Rabbit and his family, about the insidious Fox, who can not catch and eat a very clever hare. But first, he will work as a typesetter in a printing house, then as a journalist and, finally, as an editor in various newspapers. He will write essays, humoresques, serious political articles. Together with his family he will move to Atlanta and begin to reproduce what he listened with pleasure in his youth. His stories will be reprinted by all newspapers. This folklore of the southern states will not be printed in one book. His believable and admirable animals will change his attitude towards children's books.
This will be literature, including for adults. And the numerous clones that will appear in English-speaking countries, for example, Winnie the Pooh, and all the characters in cartoons and films are the merit of Joel Harris, whose "Tale of Brother Rabbit and Brother Fox" gave impetus to the development of this direction. All collections of the writer are translated into many languages of the world. In Russia they met in the thirties of the last century. They can be found on shelves in public and home libraries. These publications are read to the holes.
What did mom hear?
One evening, my mother was looking for her son and accidentally looked into the window of a dilapidated hut. She saw an old black, good-natured uncle Rimus, next to whom her baby was comfortably settled and attentively listens to how smartly, word for word, this black old man composes the story.
Mom herself listened. It was a fairy tale about the Fox and the Rabbit. Mom heard the Fox chasing the Rabbit and in every way contrived to catch him. And Rabbit tried to run away from him. The paths of animals suddenly met on the road. They are standing opposite each other. The rabbit is plump, smooth, and so the Fox wants to eat it, that he invents such a trick. He assures that Brother Bear advises them to make peace. The rabbit answers: “And come to me, Brother Fox, tomorrow. We will have lunch together. ” The fox, of course, agreed. And the Rabbit, grieved, galloped home. Our hero sadly told Matushka Krolchikha that tomorrow by dinner we should wait for Brother Fox.
Everyone got up early in the house of Brother Rabbit and began to prepare to meet the red-haired guest. They made a dinner of delicious vegetables, and suddenly their little rabbit runs and reports that a visitor is coming to them. But the Fox did not dare to go to them. He pretended to be sick and through Brother Hedgehog sent an invitation to dinner to him. The next day, Brother Rabbit went to the house of the furry cunning master and began to ask if he had a chicken cooked. “Of course,” Fox agreed, and Brother Rabbit, on the pretext that they didn’t put dill in the chicken, gave the ratman and quickly ran away. And Fox did not manage to catch him.
The other evening
Uncle Remus told the little boy a story called "The Tale of the Fox and the Frogs." The old man croaked funny, as amphibians do, who seduced a red-haired beast to dive into the pond for a turtle. The Fox looks into the water, sees in it his reflection, mistaken for a fellow man, and boldly dives. Then he came to his senses and quickly, until Brother Turtle dragged him to the bottom, climbed ashore.
Another fairy tale about the Fox
Uncle Rimus always has a lot of unexpected in stock. For example, a story about a resin scarecrow. This is a fairy tale about the Fox, who almost caught Brother Rabbit. He made a little red man from sticky resin, put him on the road, and he hid himself and peeps what will come of it. Brother Rabbit runs and politely greets the scarecrow, but it is silent.
He was angry with the ignoramus and decided to teach him a lesson: hit the scarecrow with his paw. She's stuck. Then the Rabbit urchil even harder and began to beat the useless scarecrow not only with all his paws, but also with his head. Completely stuck brother Rabbit in resin. Then Brother Fox jumped out and let's mock the angry eared caught and say that they will have a nice dinner today. Suddenly, Uncle Remus fell silent. The tale of the Fox and the resin scarecrow is over. The young listener asks with alarm: "What next?" "Maybe Brother Bear came and saved the harmless Brother Rabbit?" - Uncle Remus cunningly suggests and sends the baby home.
Conclusion
Many tales were written by Joel Harris. In Russian translations, only “The Tale of the Fox Family” was not found.
The rest are all there. These are fairy tales about Sarych, Brother Wolf, little rabbits. A total of one hundred eighty-five stories. These are 5 collections of tales of Uncle Remus. All of them are alive and loved, although more than a hundred years have passed since the last lifetime publication of the author.