An African-American folktale, retold by Molly Garrett Bang

Adapted for reader’s theatre from Wiley and the Hairy Man, Macmillan, 1976

GENRE: Folktale
CULTURE: African-American
THEME: Little vs. big guy; strong family
GRADE LEVEL: 3-7
ROLES: 7
TIME: 10 min.

ROLES: Narrator 1, Narrator 2, Narrator 3, Narrator 4, Wiley, Mother, Hairy Man

NOTE: For best effect, position MOTHER closest to NARRATORS 1 and 2, HAIRY MAN closest to NARRATORS 3 and 4, and WILEY in the middle.

NARRATOR 1: It was a long time ago.

NARRATOR 2: Wiley and his mother lived near a swamp. The swamp was near the Tombigbee River.

NARRATOR 3: One day, Wiley wanted to cut some bamboo.

NARRATOR 4: He needed poles for the hen roost. He got his ax to go down to the swamp.

NARRATOR 1: Wiley’s mother said,

MOTHER: Wiley, be careful when you go to the swamp. Take your hound dogs with you. The Hairy Man will get you if you don’t watch out!

NARRATOR 1: Wiley’s mother knew the Hairy Man hated hound dogs.

NARRATOR 2: She knew because she knew all about the ways of the swamp. She had grown up there on the Tombigbee River.

NARRATOR 3: Wiley said,

WILEY: I’ll watch out. I’ll take my hound dogs with me everywhere I go.

NARRATOR 3: But when he got to the swamp, his dogs saw a wild pig. They ran after it.

NARRATOR 4: They ran so far away, Wiley couldn’t even hear them yelp.

WILEY: Well, I hope the Hairy Man isn’t anywhere around here.

NARRATOR 1: Wiley took his ax and began cutting poles.

NARRATOR 2: But when he looked up, there was the Hairy Man.

NARRATOR 3: He was coming through the trees.

NARRATOR 4: He sure was ugly.

NARRATOR 3: He was hairy all over.

NARRATOR 4: His eyes burned like coals.

NARRATOR 3: His teeth were big and sharp and white.

NARRATOR 4: He was swinging a sack.

NARRATOR 1: Quick as he could, Wiley climbed up a big bay tree.

NARRATOR 2: Wiley had seen that the Hairy Man had feet like a cow. And Wiley knew a cow could not climb a tree.

NARRATOR 3: The Hairy Man stood at the foot of the tree.

HAIRY MAN: Wiley, what you doin’ up there?

WILEY: My Momma told me to stay away from you! What’s in your big old sack?

HAIRY MAN: Nothin’—yet. Heh, heh, heh.

NARRATOR 4: The Hairy Man picked up Wiley’s ax and began to chop down the tree.

NARRATOR 1: Wiley held tight to the tree. He rubbed his belly against it and hollered,

WILEY: Fly, chips, fly! Fly back to your same old place!

NARRATOR 2: The chips flew back!

NARRATOR 3: The Hairy Man chopped faster.

NARRATOR 1: Wiley hollered as fast as he could,

WILEY: Fly, chips, fly! Fly back to your same old place!

NARRATOR 2: The chips flew back even faster!

NARRATOR 4: But the Hairy Man was faster yet, and he was winning!

NARRATOR 1: Then from ‘way far off, Wiley heard his hound dogs yelping.

WILEY: H-E-R-E, DOGS!

NARRATOR 2: The dogs came running.

NARRATOR 3: As soon as the Hairy Man saw them,

NARRATOR 4: he fled away into the swamp.

* * *

NARRATOR 1: When Wiley got home, he told his mother what had happened.

MOTHER: Did the Hairy Man have his sack with him?

WILEY: Yes, ma’am, he did.

MOTHER: Well, the next time the Hairy Man comes after you, don’t climb a tree. Just stay on the ground and say, "Hello, Hairy Man." The Hairy Man will say, "Hello, Wiley." Then you say, "I hear you’re the best conjure man around here."

WILEY: What’s "conjure"?

MOTHER: It’s magic. You tell him he is the best conjure man, and he’ll say, "I reckon I am." Then you say, "I bet you can’t change yourself into a giraffe." And he will change himself into a giraffe.

Then you say, "I bet you can’t change yourself into an alligator." And he will change himself into an alligator. You keep telling him what he can’t do. He’ll keep doing it just to show you.

Then you say, "Everybody can change into something big. I bet you can’t change yourself into a little possum." He will change into a little possum. You grab him right away and throw him into his sack. Then you take the sack and throw it in the river.

NARRATOR 3: Wiley was scared to do what his mother said.

NARRATOR 4: But the next time he had to go to the swamp, he tied up his hound dogs with good, stout rope.

NARRATOR 1: As soon as he got to the swamp, Wiley saw the Hairy Man.

NARRATOR 3: He was coming at him through the trees.

NARRATOR 4: He was swinging his sack.

NARRATOR 3: He was grinning, because he knew Wiley had left his hound dogs behind.

NARRATOR 2: Wiley wanted to run away, but he stayed right there. He said,

WILEY: Hello, Hairy Man.

NARRATOR 4: And the Hairy Man said,

HAIRY MAN: Hello, Wiley.

WILEY: Hairy Man, I hear you’re the best conjure man around here.

HAIRY MAN: I reckon I am!

WILEY: I bet you can’t change yourself into a giraffe!

HAIRY MAN: Sure I can! That’s no trouble at all!

NARRATOR 3: The Hairy Man twisted around

HAIRY MAN: WHOO-OOP!

NARRATOR 4: and changed himself into a giraffe!

NARRATOR 1: Then Wiley said,

WILEY: I bet you can’t change yourself into an alligator!

NARRATOR 3: The giraffe twisted around

HAIRY MAN: WHOO-OOP!

NARRATOR 4: and changed itself into an alligator!

NARRATOR 2: So Wiley said,

WILEY: Everybody can change into something big. I bet you can’t change yourself into a little possum!

NARRATOR 3: The alligator twisted around

HAIRY MAN: WHOO-OOP!

NARRATOR 4: and changed itself into a little possum!

NARRATOR 1: Wiley grabbed the possum and threw it in the Hairy Man’s sack.

NARRATOR 2: He tied the sack as tight as he could.

NARRATOR 1: Then he threw the sack in the Tombigbee River.

NARRATOR 3: Wiley started back home through the swamp. But he hadn’t gone far,

NARRATOR 4: when there was the Hairy Man again. He was coming at Wiley.

NARRATOR 2: Wiley climbed right up the nearest tree.

WILEY: How did you get out, Hairy Man?

HAIRY MAN: I changed myself into the wind, and I blew my way out. Now, I’m going to wait right down here. You’ll get hungry, and you’ll come down out of that tree.

NARRATOR 1: Wiley thought and thought.

NARRATOR 2: He thought about the Hairy Man waiting below.

NARRATOR 1: He thought about his hound dogs tied up at home with that good, stout rope.

NARRATOR 2: After a while, Wiley said,

WILEY: Hairy Man, you did some pretty good tricks. But I bet you can’t make things disappear!

HAIRY MAN: Ha! That’s what I’m best at. See the bird’s nest on that branch?

NARRATOR 1: Wiley looked. It was there.

HAIRY MAN: WHOO-OOP!

NARRATOR 2: It was gone!

WILEY: Oh, I never saw it in the first place. I bet you can’t make something I know is there disappear.

HAIRY MAN: Look at your shirt, Wiley. WHOO-OOP!

NARRATOR 1: Wiley’s shirt was gone!

WILEY: Well, that was just a plain old shirt. But this rope around my pants is magic. My momma conjured it. I bet you can’t make this rope disappear!

HAIRY MAN: I can make all the rope in this county disappear!

WILEY: I bet you can’t!

NARRATOR 3: The Hairy Man threw out his chest. He opened his mouth wide and hollered,

HAIRY MAN: All the rope in this county, DISAPPEAR! WHOO-OOP!…Heh, heh, heh!

NARRATOR 2: The rope around Wiley’s pants was gone.

NARRATOR 1: He held up his pants with one hand, held onto the tree with the other, and hollered,

WILEY: H-E-R-E, DOGS!

NARRATOR 2: The dogs came running,

NARRATOR 4: and the Hairy Man fled away.

* * *

NARRATOR 1: When Wiley got home, he told his mother what had happened.

MOTHER: Well, you fooled the Hairy Man twice. If we can fool him one more time, he’ll never come back to bother us again. But he’ll be mighty hard to fool the third time!

NARRATOR 1: Wiley’s mother sat down in her rocking chair, and she thought.

NARRATOR 3: Wiley couldn’t sit still. He went outside and tied up one dog at the front door.

NARRATOR 2: He tied up the other dog at the back door.

NARRATOR 4: Then he came inside. He sat down and helped his mother think.

NARRATOR 1: After a while, she said,

MOTHER: Wiley, go down to the pen and bring me back a young pig.

NARRATOR 3: Wiley went down to the pen and brought her back a piglet.

NARRATOR 2: She put the piglet in Wiley’s bed.

MOTHER: Now, Wiley, you go up to the loft and hide.

NARRATOR 4: Wiley climbed up to the loft.

NARRATOR 3: He looked out front through a knothole in a plank. He saw a great big animal run out of the swamp toward the house.

NARRATOR 4: The dog out front broke loose. It chased the animal back into the swamp.

NARRATOR 1: Wiley looked out back through a crack between the planks. He saw another animal run out of the swamp toward the house.

NARRATOR 2: The other dog broke loose. It chased the animal back into the swamp.

NARRATOR 1: The wind howled and the house shook.

NARRATOR 2: Wiley heard footsteps.

NARRATOR 3: It was the Hairy Man!

NARRATOR 4: He walked right up to the front door and banged on it.

HAIRY MAN: (pounding on door) Momma, I’ve come for your young ’un!

MOTHER: You can’t have him, Hairy Man!

HAIRY MAN: I’ll set your house on fire with lightning. I’ll burn it down, if you don’t give him to me!

MOTHER: I have plenty of sweet milk, Hairy Man. The milk will put out your fire.

HAIRY MAN: I’ll dry up your cow. I’ll dry up your spring.I’ll send a million boll weevils out of the ground to eat up your cotton, if you don’t give me your young ’un!

MOTHER: Hairy Man, you wouldn’t do all that! That’s mighty mean!

HAIRY MAN: Heh, heh, heh. I’m a mighty mean man!

MOTHER: Well, listen, Hairy Man. If I do give you…the young ’un…will you go away and never come back?

HAIRY MAN: (Thinks it over.) I swear I will.

NARRATOR 1: Wiley’s mother opened the door.

MOTHER: He’s over in that bed.

NARRATOR 3: The Hairy Man grinned and grinned.

NARRATOR 4: He walked over to the bed. He snatched back the covers.

HAIRY MAN: Hey! There’s nothing in this bed but a young pig!

MOTHER: I never said which young ’un I’d give you.

NARRATOR 3: The Hairy Man stomped his feet.

NARRATOR 4: He gnashed his teeth.

NARRATOR 3: He raged and yelled.

NARRATOR 4: Then he grabbed the piglet and fled away into the swamp.

NARRATOR 2: Wiley came down from the loft.

WILEY: Is the Hairy Man gone for good?

MOTHER: He sure is. He can’t ever get you now.

NARRATOR 1: Wiley and his mother had fooled the Hairy Man three times,

NARRATOR 2: and they never

NARRATOR 3: saw him