Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Signifying Monkey Folktale - Original Version
Deep down in the jungle so they say
There’s a signifying motherfucker down the way.
There hadn’t been no disturbin’ in the jungle for quite a bit,
For up jumped the monkey in the tree one day and laughed,
“I guess I’ll start some shit.”
[Abrahams 1970:113]
Work Cited
Zora Neale Hurston's Of Mules and Men
There’s a signifying motherfucker down the way.
There hadn’t been no disturbin’ in the jungle for quite a bit,
For up jumped the monkey in the tree one day and laughed,
“I guess I’ll start some shit.”
[Abrahams 1970:113]
Work Cited
Zora Neale Hurston's Of Mules and Men
Signifyin' Monkey by Oscar Brown Jr.
Said the signifyin’ monkey to the lion one day:
“Hey, dere’s a great big elephant down th’ way
Goin’ ’round talkin’, I’m sorry t’say,
About yo’ momma in a scandalous way!”
“Yea, he’s talkin’ ’bout yo’ mamma an’ yo’ grandma, too;
And he don’ show too much respect fo’ you.
Now, you weren’t there an’ I sho’ am glad
’Cause what he said about yo’ momma made me mad!”
Signifyin’ monkey, stay up in yo’ tree
You are always lyin’ and signifyin’
But you better not monkey wit’ me.
The lion said, “Yea? Well, I’ll fix him;
I’ll tear that elephant limb from limb.”
Then he shook the jungle with a might roar
Took off like a shot from a forty-four.
He found the elephant where the tall grass grows
And said, “I come to punch you in your long nose.”
The elephant looked at the lion in surprise
And said, “Boy, you better go pick on somebody your size.”
But the lion wouldn’t listen; he made a pass;
The elephant slapped him down in the grass.
The lion roared and sprang from the ground
And that’s when that elephant really went to town.
I mean he whupped that lion for the rest of the day
And I still don’t see how the lion got away
But he dragged on off, more dead than alive,
And that’s when that monkey started his signifyin’ jive.
The monkey looked down and said, “Oooh wee!
What is this beat up mess I see?
Is that you, Lion? Ha, ha! Do tell!
Man, he whupped yo’head to a fare-thee-well!
“Give you a beatin’ that was rough enough;
You’ s’pposed to be the king of the jungle, ain’t dat some stuff?
You big overgrown pussycat! Don’ choo roar
Or I’ll hop down there an’ whip you some more.”
The monkey got to laughing and a’ jumpin; up an’ down,
But his foot missed the limb and plunged to the ground.
The lion was on him with all four feet
Gonna grind that monkey to hamburger meat.
The monkey looked up with tears in his eyes
And said, “Please, Mr. Lion, I apologize,
I meant no harm, please, let me go
And I’ll tell you something you really need to know.”
The lion stepped back to hear what he’d say,
And that monkey scampered up the tree and got away.
“What I wanted to tell you,” the monkey hollered then,
“Is if you fool with me, I’ll sic the elephant on you again!”
The lion just shook his head, and said, “You jive…
If you and yo’ monkey children want to stay alive,
Up in them trees is where you better stay’
And that’s where they are to this very day.
Signifyin’ monkey, stay up in yo’ tree
You are always lyin’ and signifyin’
But you better not monkey wit’ me.
“Hey, dere’s a great big elephant down th’ way
Goin’ ’round talkin’, I’m sorry t’say,
About yo’ momma in a scandalous way!”
“Yea, he’s talkin’ ’bout yo’ mamma an’ yo’ grandma, too;
And he don’ show too much respect fo’ you.
Now, you weren’t there an’ I sho’ am glad
’Cause what he said about yo’ momma made me mad!”
Signifyin’ monkey, stay up in yo’ tree
You are always lyin’ and signifyin’
But you better not monkey wit’ me.
The lion said, “Yea? Well, I’ll fix him;
I’ll tear that elephant limb from limb.”
Then he shook the jungle with a might roar
Took off like a shot from a forty-four.
He found the elephant where the tall grass grows
And said, “I come to punch you in your long nose.”
The elephant looked at the lion in surprise
And said, “Boy, you better go pick on somebody your size.”
But the lion wouldn’t listen; he made a pass;
The elephant slapped him down in the grass.
The lion roared and sprang from the ground
And that’s when that elephant really went to town.
I mean he whupped that lion for the rest of the day
And I still don’t see how the lion got away
But he dragged on off, more dead than alive,
And that’s when that monkey started his signifyin’ jive.
The monkey looked down and said, “Oooh wee!
What is this beat up mess I see?
Is that you, Lion? Ha, ha! Do tell!
Man, he whupped yo’head to a fare-thee-well!
“Give you a beatin’ that was rough enough;
You’ s’pposed to be the king of the jungle, ain’t dat some stuff?
You big overgrown pussycat! Don’ choo roar
Or I’ll hop down there an’ whip you some more.”
The monkey got to laughing and a’ jumpin; up an’ down,
But his foot missed the limb and plunged to the ground.
The lion was on him with all four feet
Gonna grind that monkey to hamburger meat.
The monkey looked up with tears in his eyes
And said, “Please, Mr. Lion, I apologize,
I meant no harm, please, let me go
And I’ll tell you something you really need to know.”
The lion stepped back to hear what he’d say,
And that monkey scampered up the tree and got away.
“What I wanted to tell you,” the monkey hollered then,
“Is if you fool with me, I’ll sic the elephant on you again!”
The lion just shook his head, and said, “You jive…
If you and yo’ monkey children want to stay alive,
Up in them trees is where you better stay’
And that’s where they are to this very day.
Signifyin’ monkey, stay up in yo’ tree
You are always lyin’ and signifyin’
But you better not monkey wit’ me.
Work Cited
Talk That Talk: An Anthology of African American Storytelling
Ed. Linda Goss and Marian E. Barnes Simon & Schuster/Touchstone, NY: 1989 (p.456- 457)
Welcome to Legba and The Signifying Monkey
I am a senior at Eastern Michigan University. My majors are Communication Disorders, and English, Language, and Writing. My minor is Gerontology. As part of my senior capstone project we were required to do a multi-genre project. Over the time I have been at EMU, I have had several interesting literature, linguistic, and sociology courses that have lead me to become interested in the oral tradition, storytelling, and folktales. For my project I wanted to research the connection of the trickser figure of Esu-Elegba from the Afro-Caribbean religion and mythology and the Signifying Monkey, a trickser of African American folktales. I also wanted to learn more about how tricksters are represented and operate in popular culture today. As one of the genres in my project, I am creating a blog to document my resources, bibliography, link to Internet resources, to share what I am learning, and hopefully to get feedback from the others about these topics. Another part of the project was a critical essay and I was directed to look at and write about Ishmael Reed's novel, Mumbo Jumbo. This part of the project lead me to research Voudun and Hoodoo, as well as Reed's Neo-Hoodoo Aesthetic. I welcome your comments and direction, this will be a project that will hopefully continue to grow long after I've graduated from EMU.
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