Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit were always fighting, and one day Brer Fox decided he would put an end to Brer Rabbit once and for all. Early in the morning he mixed up a batch of tar and then shaped the tar into a big baby doll. "Look at that beautiful Tar Baby!" he exclaimed. "I'll trap Brer Rabbit with this for sure."
Brer Fox put the Tar Baby in the middle of the road and then hid himself in the bushes, waiting for Brer Rabbit to come by. It wasn't long before Brer Rabbit came down the road, whistling a merry tune as usual.
"Hello there!" he said to the Tar Baby, but the Tar Baby said nothing in reply.
"Are you deaf?" Brer Rabbit asked. "Didn't you hear me say hello?" The Tar Baby still said nothing.
"What's the matter with you?" Brer Rabbit shouted. "Don't you have any manners at all?" The Tar Baby just sat there, perfectly silent.
"Well, I'll knock some sense into you then!" Brer Rabbit shouted and then he swung his fist at the Tar Baby's face. Brer Fox smiled a big smile when he saw that Brer Rabbit's paw was stuck in the tar.
"Let go of my paw!" Brer Rabbit shouted as he kicked the Tar Baby. Now his foot was stuck in the tar, just like his paw.
"Stop it!" Brer Rabbit shrieked as he reached out with his other paw. Then that paw was stuck, and then his other leg, and finally Brer Rabbit was all tangled up in that Tar Baby, completely stuck.
Brer Fox then emerged from the bushes, laughing out loud. "I've got you now, Brer Rabbit, and I'm going to barbecue you for my supper."
If you want to find out how Brer Rabbit got away, you'll have to read the next story!
