(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Night has fallen, and the moon is a glowing golden orb in the black sky. See how it shines on the dark back roads of America, and on one road in particular. Come with us, and we'll take a walk down the moonlit road, for the night is waiting. Come, and the moon is full. The Moonlit Road presents, episode 36, How Br 'er Coon Gets His Meat. Written by Joel Chandler Harris, and told by Akbar Imhotep. Stories come, and stories go.
Listen to the words, and help them grow. It matters not if the stories are true. Only what they mean to you. Cause stories come, and stories flow. Listen to the words, and away we go. And now, How Br'er Coon Gets His Meat. Now, does everyone here know what a raccoon is? Old banded eyes with the rings around his tail. Now in this story, we're not gonna call him Br'er Raccoon. We're not gonna call him Br'er Banded Eyes. You know what we're gonna call him?
Br'er Coon. That's right, Br'er Coon. You see, old Br'er Coon and Br 'er Rabbit was friends. Not only was they real good friends, they was also fishermen. That is, old Rabbit, he fished for fish, and Br'er Coon, he fished for frogs. Now what happened in the story was, them old frogs, they got so wild, that Br 'er Coon couldn't catch any of them. And when this happened, that old Coon had problems back at the household. Anybody think they might know why?
Well, when he didn't catch no frogs, he didn't have no frog meat. Run out of frog meat, all the little Coon children got a little bit hungry. And when the little Coon children got a little bit hungry, the little Coon wife got a little bit mad. And when the little Coon wife got upset, Br'er Coon felt real, real sad. So one day, old Coon was walking down towards the river with his chin about to drag the ground. And that's when he ran into his good friend, Br'er Rabbit.
Old Rabbit saw Coon looking all sad and miserable. He said, Br'er Coon, what's the matter with you? How's your situation? Br'er Coon said, Rabbit, I got problems. You see them old frogs out there in that river? They done got so wild that I can't catch none of them. And I just feel so sad. Well, old Rabbit, he looked out into the river, and he saw the frogs out there having a splash party, like jumping in and out of the river. So Rabbit said, you know what, Br'er Coon?
I'm going to help you catch every last one of them old frogs. Br'er Coon says, OK, Rabbit, come on. Let's go get them. What you want me to do? Rabbit says, Coon, I just want you to go down to the sandbar and lay down just like you was dead. Br'er Coon says, lay down like I'm dead? What am I going to do? Rabbit says, never you mind. You just go down there and lay down just like you was D-A-I-D dead. Well, old Br'er Coon, he moseyed on down to the sandbar.
And when the frogs heard Br'er Coon coming, the big frog hollered, y'all better look around. Y'all better look around. And all the little frogs said, needy, needy, needy, needy. And they hopped over into the river to hide from Br'er Coon. Well, old Coon, he went ahead and laid down in the sand. After a while, that old rabbit, he come down to the river. And he stood up over old Coon and hollered, hey, y'all, this old Coon is D-A-I-D. Big frog said, I don't believe it. I don't believe it.
Rabbit says, come on. Come on up here and see for yourself, all of you. Come on. Come on. Come on, see for yourself. So then all the frogs, they hopped up right to the river. And they crowded right around where Br'er Coon was laying in the sand. Rabbit said, you know, if I were you frogs, you know what I'd do? I'd bury this old Coon so deep he could never get out. Big frog said, hey, that's a good idea. Let's bury him, y'all. Come on, let's bury him. So they all hopped back down to the river.
They got their little frog shovels and everything. They come back up there. And they started digging a hole right around where old Coon was laying, with that Coon right there in the middle of the hole. Now, after they dug a little while, the big frog, he stopped him from digging. And he hollered up to old Rabbit. He said, Br'er Rabbit, is it deep enough? Is it deep enough? Old Rabbit said, can you get out? Frog shouted back, yes, we can. Yes, we can. Rabbit said, it ain't deep enough.
Dig it deeper. So they went back to work. And this time, they dug it real, real, real, real, real deep. And the frog says, woo-hoo, it ought to be deep enough. Now, let's see what that little Rabbit said. Br'er Rabbit, is it deep enough? Is it deep enough? Now, old Rabbit said, can you get out? Frog shouted back, no, we can't. No, we can't. Well, at this point, old Rabbit hollered over in that hole to his good friend, Br 'er Coon. He said, Br'er Coon, rise up and get your meat.
And that old Coon, he looked up from there. He opened up his big black eyes, and he looked around and saw them old frogs, and he just started grabbing and grabbing and grabbing and grabbing and grabbing and grabbing and grabbing and grabbing. He grabbed up all the frogs, and after a while, old Rabbit threw a sack down into the hole. He bagged old frogs up, took them home to Miss Coon, and they had enough frog meat to last them a real long time. And after that, Br'er Coon was real, real happy.
That concludes this tale from The Moonlit Road. Be sure to visit our website at themoonlitroad .com to find out more about our stories and let us know how we're doing. The Moonlit Road is produced and directed by Craig Dominey, recorded and soundscaped by Henry Howard in beautiful Stone Mountain, Georgia. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time.