| GO 'way, fiddle! folks is tired o' hearin' you a-squawkin'. | |
| Keep silence fur you' betters! don't you heah de banjo talkin'? | |
| About de 'possum's tail she's gwine to lecter—ladies, listen! | |
| About de ha'r whut isn't dar, an' why de ha'r is missin': | |
| |
| "Dar's gwine to be a' oberflow," said Noah, lookin' solemn— | 5 |
| Fur Noah tuk de "Herald," an' he read de ribber column— | |
| An' so he sot his hands to wuk a-clarin' timber-patches, | |
| An' 'lowed he's gwine to build a boat to beat de steamah Natchez. | |
| |
| Ol' Noah kep' a-nailin' an' a-chippin' an' a-sawin'; | |
| An' all de wicked neighbors kep' a-laughin' an' a-pshawin'; | 10 |
| But Noah didn't min' 'em, knowin' whut was gwine to happen: | |
| An' forty days an' forty nights de rain it kep' a-drappin'. | |
| |
| Now, Noah had done cotched a lot ob ebry sort o' beas'es— | |
| Ob all de shows a-trabbelin', it beat 'em all to pieces! | |
| He had a Morgan colt an' sebral head o' Jarsey cattle— | 15 |
| An' druv 'em 'board de Ark as soon's he heered de thunder rattle. | |
| |
| Den sech anoder fall ob rain! It come so awful hebby, | |
| De ribber riz immejitly, an' busted troo de lebbee; | |
| De people all wuz drownded out—'cep Noah an' de critters, | |
| An' men he'd hired to wuk de boat—an' one to mix de bitters. | 20 |
| |
| De Ark she kep' a-sailin' an' a-sailin' an' a-sailin'; | |
| De lion got his dander up, an' like to bruk de palin'; | |
| De sarpints hissed; de painters yelled; tel', whut wid all de fussin', | |
| You c'u'dn't hardly heah de mate a-bossin' 'roun' an' cussin'. | |
| |
| Now Ham, de only nigger whut was runnin' on de packet, | 25 |
| Got lonesome in de barber-shop, an' c'u'dn't stan' de racket; | |
| An' so, fur to amuse he-se'f, he steamed some wood an' bent it, | |
| An' soon he had a banjo made—de fust dat wuz invented. | |
| |
| He wet de ledder, stretched it on; made bridge an' screws an' aprin; | |
| An' fitted in a proper neck—'twuz berry long an' taprin'; | 30 |
| He tuk some tin, an' twisted him a thimble fur to ring it: | |
| An' den de mighty question riz: how wuz he gwine to string it? | |
| |
| De 'possum had as fine a tail as dis dat I's a-singin'; | |
| De har's so long an' thick an' strong,—des fit fur banjo-stringin'; | |
| Dat nigger shaved 'em off as short as washday-dinner graces: | 35 |
| An' sorted ob 'em by de size—f'om little E's to basses. | |
| |
| He strung her, tuned her, struck a jig,—'twuz "Nebber min' de wedder,"— | |
| She soun' like forty-lebben bands a-playin' all togedder: | |
| Some went to pattin'; some to dancin': Noah called de figgers; | |
| An' Ham he sot an' knocked de tune, de happiest ob niggers! | 40 |
| |
| Now, sence dat time—it's mighty strange—dere's not de slightes' showin' | |
| Ob any ha'r at all upon de 'possum's tail a-growin'; | |
| An' curi's, too, dat nigger's ways: his people nebber los' 'em— | |
| Fur whar you finds de nigger—dar's de banjo an' de 'possum! | |
