"Br'er Rabbit Earns a Dollar a Minute" is a traditional African American folktale, featuring

Br'er Rabbit Br'er Rabbit (an abbreviation of ''Brother Rabbit'', also spelled Brer Rabbit) is a central figure in an oral tradition passed down by African-Americans of the Southern United States and African descendants in the Caribbean, notably Afro-Bahami ...

, Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear. It is famous for its inclusion among

Joel Chandler Harris Joel Chandler Harris (December 9, 1848 – July 3, 1908) was an American journalist, fiction writer, and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a planta ...

' ''

Uncle Remus Uncle Remus is the fictional title character and narrator of a collection of African American folktales compiled and adapted by Joel Chandler Harris and published in book form in 1881. Harris was a journalist in post-Reconstruction era Atlanta, a ...

'' stories.Harris, Joel Chandler. ''Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings''. Chapter XXIII. 1881. Although its folk roots most likely trace back to ancient Africa, the folktale's first written appearance was as a chapter titled "Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear" in ''Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings'', published in 1881.

Synopsis

Like many short stories featuring

, the tale describes one of the

trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story ( god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwi ...

's successful attempts to talk his way out of a difficult situation. Br'er Rabbit is sneaking into Br'er Fox's garden to steal goober peas (peanuts) when he gets caught in a

snare trap Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithic ...

laid by Br'er Fox. Suspended awkwardly in mid-air, unable to free himself, he worries what will happen when Br'er Fox finds him caught in his trap. He then sees the notoriously slow-witted Br'er Bear approaching and quickly thinks of a way to trick Br'er Bear into freeing him. Feigning a cheerful complacency, he tells Br'er Bear that he is hanging there because Br'er Fox has been paying him "a dollar a minute" to act as a

scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley ...

for the garden. He offers to let Br'er Bear take over the "job". Excited by the promise of quick wealth, Br'er Bear gladly helps free Br'er Rabbit and takes his place in the trap. Br'er Rabbit laughs and scampers away before Br'er Bear realizes that he has been tricked.

In popular culture

The story was used in the movie '' Song of the South'', along with " The Tar Baby" and " The Laughing Place", but with one difference; Brer Rabbit, instead of intending to steal some of Brer Fox's peanut crop, decided to run away, fed up with life at his briar patch, and while running away he happens to get caught in a snare trap set by Brer Fox, right at the edge of a cornfield. It is also referenced in the first dark ride scene of Splash Mountain, a

log flume A log flume is a watertight flume constructed to transport lumber and logs down mountainous terrain using flowing water. Flumes replaced horse- or oxen-drawn carriages on dangerous mountain trails in the late 19th century. Logging operations pr ...

-style attraction based on ''Song of the South'' at

Tokyo Disneyland (local nickname ''TDL'') is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to ...

, and formerly at

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

and

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The ...

References

External links

* Full text o
''Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings''
from

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

Brer Rabbit Stories at AmericanFolklore.net
1881 short stories African-American cultural history Br'er Rabbit Rabbits and hares in literature Bears in literature Literature featuring anthropomorphic foxes Folklore of the Southern United States {{Story-stub