The Dragon and the Sheep-Thief

Gilyard was a dragon. Big as an ox, with razor-teeth and a pitchfork-tongue. When Gilyard held barbecues, everybody enjoyed the food, but they were scared too.
Fox had been stealing Gilyard's sheep and wanted to fix the blame on Rabbit. "Gilyard invited us to sing at the barbecue," he said. Then he taught Rabbit his part.
"Who sees Gilyard's sheep?" sang Fox.
"I do, I do!" sang Rabbit.
Then Fox changed the words. "Who steals Gilyard's sheep?"
"I do, I do!" sang Rabbit.
Gilyard grabbed Rabbit and locked him in the henhouse. "I'll eat that Rabbit for breakfast!" he snarled.


Inspired by:The Days when the Animals Talked by William J. Faulkner.
Notes: This is "Who Stole Brer Gilyard's Sheep?" (p. 158). In the original, Wolf, Fox, and Bear have ganged up on Rabbit, and they sing in a quartet, but I narrowed it down to Fox. I haven't seen the Gilyard-dragon in any other other stories, but there is a whole cycle of Gilyard stories here. To find out what happens next in this story, see: Rabbit in the Dragon's Hen-House

 

No comments:

Post a Comment