| Br'er Tarrypin | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Real Name |
Mister Terrapin, Br'er Tarrypin, Br'er Terrapin or Br'er Terrapin |
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First Appearance |
Unknown |
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Created by |
Unknown |
Origin[]
A friend of Brer Rabbit who joins him in his mischief & even outdoes him at times.
In the folktales, Old Man Tarrypin lived in a pond near the house of Brer Rabbit who made friends with him. They liked playing tricks on Brer Fox who decided to get even with Tarrypin as he couldn't catch Brer Rabbit.
One morning, the fox saw the turtle very tired on the road, he explained that a farmer set the field near his pond on fire, he had to hide in his shell to escape the flames and now it was very hot. Tarrypin said he thought his tail was burned, so Brer Fox told him to let him look only for the fox to swing the turtle off the ground by grabbing the tail.
Tarrypin begged Brer Fox not to drown him, but the fox threw him in the pond as he figured the fire wouldn't do any good. But then he remembered that Tarrypin lived in the pond and he got furious, that was when Brer Bull-Frog appeared telling him that the pond only goes to your knees.
Hearing this, Brer Fox decided to jump in and get Tarrypin, he saw his reflection in the water and Brer Bull Frog claimed that it was his "brother". When Brer Fox tried to shake hands with his "brother", he fell into the pond which was actually deep, as Brer Fox fled away from the pond, all the frogs laugh, the fox never bothered Tarrypin since.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
All published appearances of Brer Tarrypin from before Janurary 1, 1929 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
- Mr. Terrapin Appears upon the Scene
- Mr. Fox Tackles Old Man Tarrypin
- Mr. Fox & the Deceitful Frogs
- Mr. Rabbit Finds His Match at Last
- Mr. Terrapin Shows His Strength
- Brother Terrapin Deceives Brother Buzzard
- Brother Fox Covets the Quills
- Mr. Fox Figures As an Incendiary
- The Moon in the Mill-Pond
- Why Brother Bear Has No Tail
- The Pimmerly Plum/ The Fire-Test
- Brother Wolf Gets in a Warm Place
- Brother Wolf Still in Trouble
- Old Brother Terrapin Gets Some Fish
- Brother Rabbit Rescues Brother Terrapin
- How the Terrapin Was Taught to Fly