Gator was sleeping, and Rabbit ran right over him.
"You woke me up!" growled Gator.
"I've got trouble," said Rabbit. "Hounds are after me!"
"Trouble? I don't know what that is," said Gator.
"I'll show you!" said Rabbit. He lit a torch and set fire to the marsh-grass all around Gator. Gator couldn't get to the water! He was trapped.
The fire burnt him all over.
Gator used to be white, but now he's black.
He finally burst through the flames and got to the water, but he's been black ever since.
That's how Rabbit showed Gator what trouble is.
Inspired by: Every Tongue Got to Confess, stories collected by Zora Neale Hurston (from a manuscript thought lost, but now found and published).
Notes: This story is on p. 238, "Why De Alligator is Black." In other versions of this story, the explanation is why the crocodile's has crackled skin, but this story has the alligator changing from white to black. Hurston heard the story from Eugene Oliver and Mary Dash.
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