The Wonderful Tar Baby Story

Note: This text comes from Joel Chandler Harris’s Uncle Remus: His Songs and Saying, published in 1881. This text needs to be handled carefully on account of its racist depictions of African Americans in the post-Civil War South. Joel Chandler Harris, a white man, gathered stories told by freedmen in his native Georgia and then compiled them as an anthology. To unite the stories, he created a frame narrative where Uncle Remus, a freed slave, would share these tales in the evenings with a young white boy who would sneak out of his parents’ house to see him. As an example of the racist controversies surrounding this text, Disney in 1946 created a mixed live-action and animated film called Song of the South based on these stories, and the film has been plagued with criticism of its racist tropes ever since. It is no longer for sale by Disney. The Splash Mountain theme ride at Disney parks is based on this movie, and as recently as 2022 it is in the process of being phased out of at least some parks on account of its racist past.

Scholars have critiqued Harris’s role in the popularization of the Uncle Remus stories, arguing that in doing so, he exploited and distorted African American culture. A recently published version of these tales, edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Maria Tatar, “reveals how these folktales were hijacked and misappropriated in previous incarnations, egregiously by Joel Chandler Harris, a Southern newspaperman, as well as by Walt Disney, who cannibalized and capitalized on Harris’s volumes by creating cartoon characters drawn from this African American lore” (Hutchins Center). Ultimately, however, these stories are vitally important to African American folktales as they are presented by Gates and other African American writers. For additional context, linguist John McWhorter famously chided those who claim that the term “tar baby” is a racial slur. Writer Toni Morrison’s first novel was eponymously titled Tar Baby in reference to these tales.  

Harris opted to tell these stories in the seeming vernacular accent of the freedmen themselves, which is often difficult for today’s readers to interpret. For that reason, this story is presented twice: first, the story is given using the actual language Harris recorded, out of respect for the culture of African-American freedmen from the postwar era. (It should be noted that Harris’s contemporary, African American writer Charles Chestnutt, critiqued Harris’s interpretation of African American dialect.^[1]) In the second version, the story is given using more modern terminology.

I. The Wonderful Tar Baby Story

“Didn’t the fox never catch the rabbit, Uncle Remus?” asked the little boy the next evening.

“He come mighty nigh it, honey, sho’s you born–Brer Fox did. One day atter Brer Rabbit fool ‘im wid dat calamus root, Brer Fox went ter wuk en got ‘im some tar, en mix it wid some turkentime, en fix up a contrapshun w’at he call a Tar-Baby, en he tuck dish yer Tar-Baby en he sot ‘er in de big road, en den he lay off in de bushes fer to see what de news wuz gwine ter be. En he didn’t hatter wait long, nudder, kaze bimeby here come Brer Rabbit pacin’ down de road–lippity-clippity, clippity-lippity–dez ez sassy ez a jay-bird. Brer Fox, he lay low. Brer Rabbit come prancin’ ‘long twel he spy de Tar-Baby, en den he fotch up on his behime legs like he wuz ‘stonished. De Tar Baby, she sot dar, she did, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

“‘Mawnin’!’ sez Brer Rabbit, sezee–‘nice wedder dis mawnin’,’ sezee.

“Tar-Baby ain’t sayin’ nuthin’, en Brer Fox he lay low.

“‘How duz yo’ sym’tums seem ter segashuate?’ sez Brer Rabbit, sezee.

“Brer Fox, he wink his eye slow, en lay low, en de Tar-Baby, she ain’t sayin’ nuthin’.

“‘How you come on, den? Is you deaf?’ sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. ‘Kaze if you is, I kin holler louder,’ sezee.

“Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

“‘You er stuck up, dat’s w’at you is,’ says Brer Rabbit, sezee, ‘en I’m gwine ter kyore you, dat’s w’at I’m a gwine ter do,’ sezee.

“Brer Fox, he sorter chuckle in his stummick, he did, but Tar- Baby ain’t sayin’ nothin’.

“‘I’m gwine ter larn you how ter talk ter ‘spectubble folks ef hit’s de las’ ack,’ sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. ‘Ef you don’t take off dat hat en tell me howdy, I’m gwine ter bus’ you wide open,’ sezee.

“Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

“Brer Rabbit keep on axin’ ‘im, en de Tar-Baby, she keep on sayin’ nothin’, twel present’y Brer Rabbit draw back wid his fis’, he did, en blip he tuck ‘er side er de head. Right dar’s whar he broke his merlasses jug. His fis’ stuck, en he can’t pull loose. De tar hilt ‘im. But Tar-Baby, she stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

“‘Ef you don’t lemme loose, I’ll knock you agin,’ sez Brer Rabbit, sezee, en wid dat he fotch ‘er a wipe wid de udder han’, en dat stuck. Tar-Baby, she ain’t sayin’ nuthin’, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

“‘Tu’n me loose, fo’ I kick de natchul stuffin’ outen you,’ sez Brer Rabbit, sezee, but de Tar-Baby, she ain’t sayin’ nuthin’. She des hilt on, en de Brer Rabbit lose de use er his feet in de same way. Brer Fox, he lay low. Den Brer Rabbit squall out dat ef de Tar-Baby don’t tu’n ‘im loose he butt ‘er cranksided. En den he butted, en his head got stuck. Den Brer Fox, he sa’ntered fort’, lookin’ dez ez innercent ez wunner yo’ mammy’s mockin’- birds.

“Howdy, Brer Rabbit,’ sez Brer Fox, sezee. ‘You look sorter stuck up dis mawnin’,’ sezee, en den he rolled on de groun’, en laft en laft twel he couldn’t laff no mo’. ‘I speck you’ll take dinner wid me dis time, Brer Rabbit. I done laid in some calamus root, en I ain’t gwineter take no skuse,’ sez Brer Fox, sezee.”

Here Uncle Remus paused, and drew a two-pound yam out of the ashes.

“Did the fox eat the rabbit?” asked the little boy to whom the story had been told.

“Dat’s all de fur de tale goes,” replied the old man. “He mout, an den agin he moutent. Some say Judge B’ar come ‘long en loosed ‘im–some say he didn’t. I hear Miss Sally callin’. You better run ‘long.”

Note: What follows below is an adapted text.

II. The Wonderful Tar Baby Story

“Didn’t the fox never catch the rabbit, Uncle Remus?” asked the little boy the next evening.

“He came mighty close to it, honey, sure as you were born–Brer Fox did. One day after Brer Rabbit fooled him with that calamus root, Brer Fox went to work and got him some tar, and mixed with some turpentine, and fixed up a contraption which he called Tar-Baby, and he took this here Tar-Baby and he saw her in the big road, and then he lay off in the bushes to see what the news was going to be. And he did have to wait long, neither, ‘cause here comes Brer Rabbit pacing down the road–lippity-clippity, clippity-lippity–he’s as sassy as a jay-bird. Brer Fox, he lay low. Brer Rabbit comes prancing along  until he spies the Tar-Baby, and then he got up on his hind legs like he was astonished. The Tar Baby, she sat there, she did, and Brer Fox, he lay low.

“‘Mornin’!’ says Brer Rabbit, he says—‘Nice weather this mornin’,’ he says.

“Tar-Baby ain’t saying nothing, and Brer Fox, he lay low.

“‘How is your health?’ says Brer Rabbit, he says.

“Brer Fox, he winks his eye slowly, and lay low, and the Tar-Baby, she ain’t saying nothing.

“‘How you come on, then? Are you deaf?’ says Brer Rabbit, he says. ‘‘Cause if you are, I can holler louder,’ he says.

“Tar-Baby stay still, and Brer Fox, he lay low.

“‘You are stuck up, that’s what you are,’ says Brer Rabbit, he says, ‘and I’m going to cure you, that’s what I’m a-going to do,’ he says.

“Brer Fox, he sort of chuckles in his stomach, he did, but Tar- Baby ain’t saying nothing.

“‘I’m going to teach you how to talk to respectable folks if it’s your last act,’ says Brer Rabbit, he says. ‘If you don’t take off that hat and tell me howdy, I’m going to bust you wide open,’ he says.

“Tar-Baby stay still, and Brer Fox, he lay low.

“Brer Rabbit keep on asking him, and the Tar-Baby, she keeps on saying nothing, until presently Brer Rabbit draws back with his fists, he did, and blip he struck her on the side of her head. Right there’s where he broke his molasses jug. His fist stuck, and he can’t pull loose. The tar held him. But Tar-Baby, she stays still, and Brer Fox, he lay low.

“‘If you don’t let me loose, I’ll knock you again,’ says Brer Rabbit, he says, and with that he gave her a swipe with his other hand, and that stuck. Tar-Baby, she ain’t saying nothing, and Brer Fox, he lay low.

“‘Turn me loose, before I kick the natural stuffing out of you,’ says Brer Rabbit, he says, but the Tar-Baby, she ain’t saying nothing. She does hold on, and the Brer Rabbit loses the use of his feet in the same way. Brer Fox, he lay low. Then Brer Rabbit calls out that if the Tar-Baby doesn’t turn him loose he’ll headbutt her side.  And then he headbutted, and his head got stuck. Then Brer Fox, he sauntered forth, looking just as innocent as one of your mommy’s mockingbirds.

“Howdy, Brer Rabbit,’ says Brer Fox, he says. ‘You look sort of stuck up this mornin’,’ he says, and then he rolled on the ground, and laughed and laughed until he couldn’t laugh anymore. ‘I expect you’ll take dinner with me this time, Brer Rabbit. I already laid in some calamus root, and I ain’t going to take no excuse,’ says Brer Fox, he says.”

Here Uncle Remus paused, and drew a two-pound yam out of the ashes.

“Did the fox eat the rabbit?” asked the little boy to whom the story had been told.

“That’s as far as the gale goes,” replied the old man. “He might’ve, and then again he might not have. Some say Judge Bear came along and loosed him—some say he didn’t. I hear Miss Sally calling. You better run along.”

To cite this reading, use the following format:

Harris, Joel Chandler. Uncle Remus. Appleton and Company, 1881. Full Text Archive, https://www.fulltextarchive.com/book/Uncle-Remus/