The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-05-15
The Robins Concert TO the Crow


| There were no leaves on the tree which
| bloomed. The blossoms swelled and
| burst their petals on the branches until
| they looked like summer cloud.
Fronting on this park /. a home in
| which a sick child had lain for weeks
and weeks. She was nursed by one Of
the Old black mamnies so numerous
in the national capital. AS the sunshine
| became warmer so that the window in
| the room of the sick child could be
raised at certain hours the child asked
| the old nanny 10 push her white bed
near the window, and It was By this
| open window the old nanny sat and
held the child's hands, as she told her
this story:
Honey. dat tree dat looks so like de
cotton in my ole home is what dey call
| de Japanee magnoh. It doan got no
| lebes on II, honey, like de magn0hs In
Dixie. An I tole you, honey, why it
amt got no lebes. AFTER while, honey,
| OAR will come a robin-red breast ter
sing dar, in de middle Of de white
bloom. An de good man want you, nah
| honey to see dat robin-red breast, and
so he doan put no laoes on de tree
| Kase if dsr WIZ lebes on dat tree, man
| honey cudden see de robin-red breast.
/ OATS why. An de robin-red breast he's
gwine to sing fo' you. honey. Jes' for
| you
A few days later, while the sun was
shining warm and flooding the room the
| old nanny moved the waite bed TO the
! window and raised the sash. And rob
! bin with breast as red as cardinal / ght-
| ed on a branch OF the japanese mag
nolia and sang until its notes filed the
tree of bloom and all the little park.
1t was In the morning. After a little
while the robin took its fight, and the
! vim In, cf1 Tovt
| cred.
Honey, what did I done tell you?''
said the old NANNY as she tucked the
| coveriets about the sick child.
Dat wuz TO you, money. De good
man he knowed you WIZ sick an he
send de robin-red- breast ter sing 70 you.
! An now de robin-red-preast he gwine
away. Whar he gwine, honey? I dean
! know TO sho, but tell you, honey,
what I spec. He got a nest somewha
wha he got Ill robin-red-breast, an he
gwine home to tel his Ill robin-red- breast
] bout his singin' 70 you.
! when he comm back, honey? : spec
he come back dis ebenfn' jes befo' he
! have his supper. Kase he know you's
! sick, honey, and de good man gwine TO
! take keer OBJ you an de robin-red-
| breast. De good book, honey, tell me dat
| de good man watch out TO de sparrer
what falls off de tree ter de grOun'. an
1 reckon, honey, If De good man keer
| huff to look out TO de sparrer, he amt
! gwine to forgit robin-red-breast what
| sings TO- nah honey: no. deedy."
! In the afternoon just before the sun
| took his place in the bloom Of the mag
set gun was fired at Fort Myer, in the
| Virginia hills, the robin came back and
| took his place in the bloom of the mag
| nola tree and sang. The robin does not
! plume itself between It's notes, or hop
! from branch 10 branch as most other
! songsters, but takes its place and stays
| there until its songs are finished. When
! it returned in the afternoon the sick
! child was again wheeled in her white
| bed near the window, and the black
| nanny was by her side.
Il knowed he done come back" she
| said to the sick child. He done come
! back to tell 70, honey. dat he bene lone
I some way from yo'. an he gwine ter
| tell yo in a song, honey, bout his Iii
robin-red-breast in his home. He come
| ter sing TO you, honey, fust. Kase you
| sick, honey. an he got ter sing ter
| yo' fust, den he fly away ter his own
| home. Why doan he brung his IL robin
| red-breast long, too? l spec de Iii robin
J red-breast amt weaned yit, an he got
ter stay wild his mudder Ill while yit
De papa robin-red-breast got ter meek
de libin, and he stop head on de way
| back, ter an fro, honey, fun his days
wuck ter sing 70 you"
And so it went on for several days.
! The robin came, morning and evening.
and always sat in the midst of the bloom
! of the magnolia tree, always about the
! same hour and sang. The man who
cares for the park noticed ii and spoke
| about it to people who stopped near the
= IL
| ed to the song of the first robin of the
! spring. II got to be the talk of people
who lived around the park. Even some
! of the grown people wondered why the
! robin always came about the same hour.
and why it was always alone. 4 few of
! the older people said It was singing for
! its mate. But they did not know what
the old nanny knew.
One afternoon, however-5ut the old
nanny tells the story best:
! Oars gwine ter be a concert, honey"
! she said. as she looked out Of the win
| dow "sho's yo' bawn de robin-red-
breast got comp'ny. When ennybody
! sing, honey, dey likes comply An
| Dress my hawt. honey, wat yo' tlnk ?
! De compny what come ter de robin-red-
| breasts concert, honey, am q black crow.
| Oar he sat on annuder limb ob dat mag
noli, by his lonesome, iisenan ter de
robin-red-b breast. De crow cant sing a
III bit. All he kin do. honey, IS jest ter
say, cav, cav jes' as some culled
! folks say huh, huh kase dey doan know
no mo.
Now, de robin-red-breast singin' on
de limb, in de magnoli bloom, an de
crow lookin crost de tree tip at him.
! Now de robin-red-breast quit sing.n' and
| looks at Mistah Jim Crow an I spec he
sayin' to Mistah Crow, New 70 herd
me- whafo doan ye say nuffin7 Oar he
am. honey. Heah him. de crow. He say
| In Cav, cav Dat means dat he want
mo- robin singin' agin. honey. Ny. but
! dat is MS best song He jest done frow
! hissef 20 make dat. an M!stah Jim
! Crow he sittin on De limb iisenen ter
/ git hls money with. Honey, dat con-
cert IS TO wo l done beene raised
! 'mong crows all my life. honey. but /
! declar' 70 do good man I nebber see
| Mistah Jim Crow come 10 robin-red-
/ breast concert befo'. RObiu-red-br =
noughty proud ter glib did heah concert
I IN der maED0i bloom 70 man Isl sick
/ honey. Now de robin-red-br asst got ter
/ so home TO tell his III robin bout De
/ concert Oar he 60. on his lii wings.
/ An dar 90 Mis;ah Jim Crow 0ber ter
! Vtrginuy- 7 woudah what he tel. dem
/ Udder crows?
An I spec darn be concerts now
! tin nah honey cit well
| Neither the robin nor the crow ever
{ came back after that evening TIE old
man wao tends the park noticed &, and
/ sp K O. T. Tire virdow Of tae OK
room was raised che next day. a. usua-
/ But no one looked out Z It. TIE school
| ch Iaren near BY dii not play & thar
( street that day. And the second day
/ soma 4 the white bloom % Ire magnolia
I tree IN which the robin had sung for
g-rn he bona