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Provenience of certain Negro Folk Tales.
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"Sir Barrel, stop playing. Unless you stop playing I will kick you. This is no place to play." He kicked the barrel with his right foot. His right foot stuck. He kicked with his left foot, his left foot stuck. His sons found he did not come home. They went after him. They cut off his head and took it with them. They left the body there. They came and found the body. They dragged the body through the streets to see to whom it belonged. They watched to see who would cry. The boys knew they would do this, so they sat working with their tools near the door to keep their mother away. They told their mother not to cry for they would all three be taken and have their heads cut off. When they passed with the body they saw their mother was about to cry. One son took his isho and cut two fingers. As they passed with the body the woman cried. They put a sign on the door that here there was crying. The son said, "Would a mother not be heartless not to cry when her son had cut off his fingers?" They answered, "We have nothing to do with that, we have only to report where there is crying." One of the boys went and put the same sign on all the doors of the houses in the city. They went to the saib. The saib said that there were two boys in town who went to school and learned how to steal. The king rode by the boys' house. The king said, "I hear you answer any questions put to you. I want you to come to-morrow to my house. If you answer my question I will give you a palace. If you do not answer, I will kill you." The next day they went to the king's house. The king asked one boy, "How many alqer of land are there in the world?" The boy answered, "If you separate all the stones and trees I will tell you how many alqer there are." The king asked the other boy, "How many stars are there in the sky?" He said, "Last night I was counting the stars. I counted 9999. If you don't believe me go up there and count them yourself." The king made them his councillors.


III.

There was a woman who wanted a child. She asked San Anton to give her a son. When the boy was born she gave him