"Possum" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... black man, Dan, was subject to it. Sometimes when he opened his mouth to its utmost capacity he felt the joints slip and was compelled to put down the cornbread, or jole and greens, or the piece of 'possum he was eating, while his mouth remained a fixed abyss until the doctor came and restored it to a natural position by an exertion of muscular power that would ...
— Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete - The Personal And Literary Life Of Samuel Langhorne Clemens • Albert Bigelow Paine
... Peggy," she told Saxon. "We had two Irish terriers down in the South Seas, brother and sister, but they died. We called them Peggy and Possum. So she's named after the ...
— The Valley of the Moon • Jack London
... jus' makes my mouth water, talkin' 'bout 'possums. Folks thought so much of deir 'possum dogs dem days dey fed 'em 'til dey was jus' fat and lazy. Dey cotched de 'possums, singed and scraped de hair off of 'em, finished dressin' 'em and drapped 'em in de pot to bile 'til dey was tender. Den dey put 'em in bakin' pans and kivvered 'em over wid strips of fat meat and baked 'em jus' ...
— Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States - Volume II. Arkansas Narratives. Part I • Work Projects Administration
... causas relinqueret et desiderii et doloris. O triste plane acerbumque funus! O morte ipsa mortis tempus indignius! Iam destinata erat egregio iuveni, iam electus nuptiarum dies, iam nos vocati. Quod gaudium quo maerore mutatum est! Nec possum exprimere verbis quantum anima vulnus acceperim, cum audivi Fundanum ipsum, praecipientem, quod in vestes margarita gemmas fuerat erogaturus, hoc in tus ...
— A Handbook for Latin Clubs • Various
... my hearties," cried the gratified Captain, "the ignorant beggar understands me after all. I mistrusted, from the beginning, that he was only playing 'possum, as they say down in Virginny. For look ye, ye lubbers, it would be strange if a man who has been buen' camarada with the Spaniard, and guter Gesell with the Dutchman, and parleywood with Mounseer, and made the weight of his ship in gold for his owners, out of these here ...
— The Knight of the Golden Melice - A Historical Romance • John Turvill Adams
... nova fictaque nuper habebunt verba fidem si Graeco fonte cadent, parce detorta. quid autem Caecilio Plautoque dabit Romanus ademptum 55 Vergilio Varioque? ego cur, acquirere pauca si possum, invideor, cum lingua Catonis et Enni sermonem patrium ditaverit et nova rerum signatum praesente nota producere nomen. ut silvae foliis privos mutantur in annos, 60 prima cadunt ita verborum vetus interit aetas et iuvenum ...
— Reflections on Dr. Swift's Letter to Harley (1712) and The British Academy (1712) • John Oldmixon
... Corona militis, 4, after instancing Rebecca, he goes on to say of Susanna: "si et Susanna in iudicio revelata argumentum velandi præstat, possum dicere: et his velamen arbitrii fuit," etc. Also de Pudic. ...
— The Three Additions to Daniel, A Study • William Heaford Daubney
... "centipede" group, the body consisting of about sixteen flattened segments, or rings, each bearing a single pair of legs. When disturbed, the "thousand-legs" generally coils up and remains motionless, shamming death, or "playing possum," as it is popularly put, as a means of defence; while the centipede scampers hurriedly away and endeavors to hide beneath leaf, ...
— A Book of Natural History - Young Folks' Library Volume XIV. • Various
... of dissimulation Cardan writes: "Assuevi vultum in contrarium semper efformare; ideo simulare possum, dissimulare nescio."—De Vita Propria, ch. xiii. p. 42. Again in Libellus Praeceptorum ad filios (Opera, tom. i. p. 481), "Nolite unquam mentiri, sed ...
— Jerome Cardan - A Biographical Study • William George Waters
... is not one of all the little people in the Green Forest who has so many enemies to watch out for as has Whitefoot. There are ever so many who would like nothing better than to dine on plump little Whitefoot. There are Buster Bear and Billy Mink and Shadow the Weasel and Unc' Billy Possum and Hooty the Owl and all the members of the Hawk family, not to mention Blacky the Crow in times when other food is scarce. Reddy and Granny Fox and Old Man Coyote are ...
— Whitefoot the Wood Mouse • Thornton W. Burgess
... SUCKLING PIG AND 'POSSUM—Put two tablespoonfuls of finely chopped onions into a saucepan with one teaspoon of oil. Toss them over the fire for five or six minutes, add eight ounces of rice boiled in stock, an equal quantity of sausage meat, four or five ounces of butter, a small quantity of minced parsley, and ...
— Good Things to Eat as Suggested by Rufus • Rufus Estes
... wave comes, the stretcher bearers are supposed to have cleared the trenches of wounded enemies, and after that every soldier is supposed to jab his bayonet in every bag in the trenches, as he is expected to jab every dead body, to prevent an enemy from playing possum and then getting to a presumably disabled enemy machine gun and shooting our soldiers in the back. Every time a student soldier jabs a canvas bag he snarls and growls like a jackal, and if he misses a bag it counts against him in the day's markings. Wave after wave comes over, ...
— The Martial Adventures of Henry and Me • William Allen White
... was known far and wide as "Laughing Mingo," and upon hundreds of occasions he was the boon companion of the young men about Rockville in their wild escapades. Many who read this will remember the "'possum suppers" which it was Mingo's delight to prepare for these young men, and he counted among his friends and patrons many who afterward became distinguished both in war and in the civil professions. At these gatherings, Mingo, ...
— Mingo - And Other Sketches in Black and White • Joel Chandler Harris
... for doing the most comfortable thing for the moment, regardless of consequences, the Infant for months after will expect to be sung to sleep, my hand cuddled against her cheek, until I develop laryngitis from continued vocal struggles with 'Ole Uncle Ned,' 'Down in de Cane Brake,' and 'De Possum and de Coon.' ...
— The Garden, You, and I • Mabel Osgood Wright
... then, "I reckon when Babe was a-playin' 'possum in the bushes that day, he could 'a' shot ye when you run down ...
— The Heart Of The Hills • John Fox, Jr.
... the hint, and just then Mr. Bell came up with his capture, who had merely been "playing possum." The two men were thoroughly cowed, and were ...
— The Girl Aviators' Sky Cruise • Margaret Burnham
... waiting to hear if anything new has happened, for all the news of the neighborhood comes to the store. The storekeeper is sure to know whether the stranger seen passing along the road in the morning stopped at the York's, or went on to Possum ...
— Sergeant York And His People • Sam Cowan
... "Plenty 'possum fellow up a tree," he said. "One make jump down on bull-cow fellow back. You pidney? Kimmeroi (one) run, metancoly run. Bull-cow stupid fellow. Plenty frighten. ...
— The Dingo Boys - The Squatters of Wallaby Range • G. Manville Fenn
... Romae faciam? mentiri nescio; librum, si malus est, nequeo laudare et poscere; motus astrorum ignoro; funus promittere patris nec volo nec possum; ranarum viscera numquam inspexi; ferre ad nuptam quae mittit adulter, quae mandat, norunt alii; me nemo ministro fur erit, atque ideo nulli comes exeo tamquam mancus et extinctae, corpus non utile, ...
— Post-Augustan Poetry - From Seneca to Juvenal • H.E. Butler
... qui iuvenis exivi, redibo valetudinarius; 245 exponar contemptui etiam infimorum, solitus et a maximis honorari. Studia mea compotationibus permutabo. Nam quod polliceris officium tuum in quaerenda sede, ubi cum maximo, ut scribis, vivam emolumento; quid sit, non possum coniectare, nisi forte collocabis me 250 apud monachas aliquas, ut serviam mulieribus, qui nec archiepiscopis nec regibus unquam servire volui. Emolumentum nihil moror; neque enim studeo ditescere, modo tantum sit fortunae ut valetudini et otio literarum ...
— Selections from Erasmus - Principally from his Epistles • Erasmus Roterodamus
... (Quercus aquatica) (Duck Oak, Possum Oak). Medium- to large-sized tree, of extremely rapid growth. Eastern Gulf States, eastward to Delaware and northward ...
— Seasoning of Wood • Joseph B. Wagner
... she peered closely at him she distinctly saw him wink his left eye, and this act, with the bright look in his eyes, warned her that Copley was playing possum. ...
— Ruth Fielding on the St. Lawrence - The Queer Old Man of the Thousand Islands • Alice B. Emerson
... kennels. He had his big writing-table established there, with a sufficiency of chairs, a few rugs upon the forty-feet length of floor, and an old couch upon one side, manufactured by himself with the aid of an ancient spring mattress, a few blocks of wood, a big 'possum-skin rug which some friend had sent him from Australia, and a variety of cushions. The actual house, for all its rambling shape, was small, and possibly this was why the Master chose to utilize this outside ...
— Finn The Wolfhound • A. J. Dawson
... Non possum, docti confreri, En moi satis admirari Qualis bona inventio Est medici professio; Quam bella chosa est et bene trovata. Medicina illa benedicta, Quae, suo nomine solo, Surprenanti miraculo, Depuis si longo tempore, Facit a gogo vivere Tant de ...
— The Imaginary Invalid - Le Malade Imaginaire • Moliere
... conduct was something treacherous. In the apology to Charles V., speaking of a war against Henry, he had said: "Tempus venisse video, ad te primum missus, deinde ad Regem Christianissimum, ut hujus scelera per se quidem minime obscura detegam, et te Caesar a bello Turcico abducere coner et quantum possum suadeam ut arma tua eo convertas si huic tanto malo aliter mederi non possis." For thus, "levying war against his country," Pole had been attainted. The name of traitor grated upon him. To Edward, therefore, he wrote: ...
— The Reign of Mary Tudor • James Anthony Froude
... praediti?"—Praef. pp. xxi., ii. In Hearne's perface [Transcriber's Note: preface] to Walter Hemingford's history, Bagford is again briefly introduced: "At vero in hoc genere fragmenta colligendi omnes quidem alios (quantum ego existimare possum) facile superavit JOANNES BAGFORDIUS, de quo apud Hemingum, &c. Incredibile est, quanta usus sit diligentia in laciniis veteribus coacervandis. Imo in hoc labore quidem tantum versari exoptabat quantum ...
— Bibliomania; or Book-Madness - A Bibliographical Romance • Thomas Frognall Dibdin
... mild-eyed giant. "What could 'a' possessed you to be a-chunkin' ole Blue that away? Ag'in bullaces is ripe you'll git your heart sot on 'possum, an' whar' is the 'possum comin' from ef ole Blue's laid up? Blame my hide ef you ain't a-cuttin' up some mighty quare capers fer a ...
— Free Joe and Other Georgian Sketches • Joel Chandler Harris
... flyin' about, an' fresh ones a-comin'. I tuk a idee that I mout git my claws upon some o' 'em. So I lay down clost up agin the calf, an' played 'possum. ...
— The Scalp Hunters • Mayne Reid
... I would; but that's the first time I ever had any one step in and beat me clean. I'll have to watch out for you after this, you sly 'possum. But then you've shot lots of these birds ...
— The Outdoor Chums - The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club • Captain Quincy Allen
... found Scip awaiting me. "Massa," he said, "we better be gwine. Dat dar sesherner am ugly as de bery ole debble; and soon as he knows I cum de possum ober him 'bout de Cunnel, he'll be down on ...
— Among the Pines - or, South in Secession Time • James R. Gilmore
... there's anyone down there, asleep, or playing possum?" thought the young skipper as he peered into the blackness and listened. No sound of any kind came up to him. At last, a short step at a time, Halstead descended into the motor room, groping cautiously about. Finally, he became confident ...
— The Motor Boat Club and The Wireless - The Dot, Dash and Dare Cruise • H. Irving Hancock
... year ago, and I han't heerd nor seed nary a thing on him sence, till a spell back. But I'll stick ter him this time, like a possum ter a rail. He woan't put eoeut no more, ye kin bet ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2 No 4, October, 1862 - Devoted To Literature And National Policy • Various
... abdita rerum, Fingere cinctutis non exaudita Cethegis Continget, dabiturque licentia sumpta pudenter: Et nova fictaque nuper habebunt verba fidem si Graeco fonte cadant, parce detorta. Quid autem Caecilio Plautoque dabit Romanus, ademptum Virgilio Varioque? Ego cur, acquirere pauca Si possum, invideor; cum lingua Catonis et Enni Sermonem patrium ditaverit, et nova rerum Nomina protulerit? Licuit semperque licebit Signatum praesente ...
— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 1 • Boswell, Edited by Birkbeck Hill
... were just playing 'possum, were you?" demanded the indignant Lil Artha, "bent on fooling me so as to evade hard work, eh? I'd be serving you right, Landy, if I kept you shovin' away the rest of the afternoon. It'd thin you down a trifle, too, because I think you're getting ...
— Afloat - or, Adventures on Watery Trails • Alan Douglas
... night for to go 'possum huntin'," said the girl, at last, getting to her feet and standing in her twisted attitude, with her wry neck holding her head to one side. "Them there Jackson ...
— The Re-Creation of Brian Kent • Harold Bell Wright
... sleeve, and Dr. Possum was putting away the toothpick with which he had vaccinated the little piggie boy, when, all of a sudden, into the room jumped a ...
— Curly and Floppy Twistytail - The Funny Piggie Boys • Howard R. Garis
... fellow. That was a new feeling for Happy Jack. He knew that all his neighbors considered him rather timid, and many a time he had envied, actually envied Jimmy Skunk and Reddy Fox and Unc' Billy Possum and even Sammy Jay because they did such bold things and had dared to visit Farmer Brown's dooryard and henhouse in spite of ...
— Happy Jack • Thornton Burgess
... her spectacles and settled the whole question by observing: "Ah, ladies, you may talk about yer per-turnips, and your pertaters, and your passnips and other gyardin sass, but the sweetest wedgetable that ever melted on these ol' gums o' mine is the 'possum." ...
— Gov. Bob. Taylor's Tales • Robert L. Taylor
... my cousin was early astir, possibly not having found that narrow springless lounge all a 'possum could wish, and joined us in discussing a plan which I had proposed overnight to Mrs. Wesley, namely, that he should hire an apartment in a quiet street near by, and take his meals—that was to say, his dinner—with ...
— The Queen of Sheba & My Cousin the Colonel • Thomas Bailey Aldrich
... in her husband, who sat smoking his clay pipe on the door-step. "She was hard at it, pickin' flowers as usual. I swear I never seed the like. That gal certainly takes the rag off'n the bush. I believe she'd let 'possum an' taters git cold to pick a daisy. But what's the talk?" he ended, as he turned his head and looked at his wife, who really was the ...
— Westerfelt • Will N. Harben
... pushing back her rumpled curls and yawning prodigiously. "I wonder why it is I always have to wake up first," and then, her eyes happening to fall on Evelyn at this precise moment, she cried, "Oh, I saw you wink, Evelyn; you can't fool me! You're playing possum," and, springing quickly out of bed, she gave that young lady a vigorous shake, which caused her to open her ...
— Lucile Triumphant • Elizabeth M. Duffield
... adustum est, hoc lautum est, parum: Illud recte: iterum sic memento: sedulo Moneo, qux possum, pro mea sapientia. Postremo, tanquam in speculum, in patinas, Demea, Inspicere jubeo, et ...
— The Essays of Montaigne, Complete • Michel de Montaigne
... in their hands," he said, "I decided to play 'possum for a while. The car was moving at incredible speed, remembering your stringent traffic regulations,"—he smiled,—"and I knew that any attempt to escape on my part would result in serious injury to myself. ...
— The Secret House • Edgar Wallace
... Brer Bear would go up to Farmer Brown's henhouse and scare Farmer Brown's boy so that he would keep away from there. It would be a favor to me which Ah cert'nly would appreciate," said Unc' Billy Possum when he ...
— The Adventures of Buster Bear • Thornton W. Burgess
... or death. Then, like a detected pickpocket, he was suddenly transformed into another creature. His eyes flew wide open, his talons clutched my finger, his ears were depressed, and every motion and look said, "Hands off, at your peril." Finding this game did not work, he soon began to "play possum" again. I put a cover over my study wood-box and kept him captive for a week. Look in upon him at any time, night or day, and he was apparently wrapped in the profoundest slumber; but the live mice which I put into his box from time to time found ...
— Bird Stories from Burroughs - Sketches of Bird Life Taken from the Works of John Burroughs • John Burroughs
... warmed up and grew reminiscent. He told some amusing plantation experiences, recollections of old Iberville and his youth, when he hunted 'possum in company with some friendly darky; thrashed the pecan trees, shot the grosbec, and roamed the woods ...
— The Awakening and Selected Short Stories • Kate Chopin
... piece began, and Rubach had to leave him. It was midnight before the faithful chum returned, and after looking in on the invalid, who seemed to slumber calmly, sat down for a final pipe by his own bedside. But Christopher was only 'playing 'possum,' as our playful American cousins put it, and, his anxiety over-riding his desire for ...
— Cruel Barbara Allen - From Coals Of Fire And Other Stories, Volume II. (of III.) • David Christie Murray
... any such thing," said Murty, slightly confused. "'Tis the way I was most likely goin' afther a sick bullock, or it might be 'possum shootin'." He raised his cup and took a deep draught; then, with a wry face, gazed at its contents. "I dunno is this a new brand of tea you're afther usin', ...
— Back To Billabong • Mary Grant Bruce
... afore me, until I had got it high and dry on a sandbar. 'Twur like to melt when I pulled it out o' the water. 'Twa'n't eatable nohow. I see the buzzards still flying about, and fresh ones comin', an' I took a idee that I might get some, so I laid down close to the buffler, and played possum. I wa'n't long there 'fore a big cock com a floppin' up, and lit on the karkidge. I grabbed him by the leg. The cussed thing wur nearly as stinkin' as the other; but it wur die dog, buzzard, or buffler; so I skinned ...
— Seven and Nine years Among the Camanches and Apaches - An Autobiography • Edwin Eastman
... That took four days to do the first ten miles, and then was delayed several weeks on the bank of the Rangitata by a series of very heavy freshes, so we determined on trying a different route: we got farther on our first day than our predecessor had done in two, and then Possum, one of the bullocks, lay down (I am afraid he had had an awful hammering in a swampy creek where he had stuck for two hours), and would not stir an inch; so we turned them all adrift with their yokes on (had ...
— A First Year in Canterbury Settlement • Samuel Butler
... eat any bobbycued rabbit?" he asked. "Me an' Wilkes Booth Lincoln been eatin' chit'lins, an' sweet 'taters, an' 'possum, an' squirrel, an' hoecake, an' Brunswick stew ever sence we's born," was his ...
— Miss Minerva and William Green Hill • Frances Boyd Calhoun
... hunt no moah fo' de possum and de coon, On de medder, de hill, an' de shoah. We'll sing no moah by de glimmer ob de moon, On de bench ...
— Sandy • Alice Hegan Rice
... my hands. Let me catch breath and see, What is this confine either side of me? Green pumpkin vines about me coil and crawl, Seen sidelong, like a 'possum in a tree,— Ah me, ah me, that pumpkins are ...
— The Re-echo Club • Carolyn Wells
... He's a Nez Perce, Pine. I know their lingo. He can talk some English, too. He needn't play 'possum any longer." ...
— Two Arrows - A Story of Red and White • William O. Stoddard
... tribuno Carbone quid de Ti. Gracchi caede sentiret, respondit, si is occupandae rei publicae animum habuisset, jure caesum. Et cum omnis contio adclamasset, "Hostium," inquit, "armatorum totiens clamore non territus, qui possum vestro moveri, quorum noverca est Italia?" Val. Max. vi. 2. 3 Orto deinde murmure "Non efficietis," ait, "ut solutos verear quos alligatos adduxi." Cf. Cic, pro Mil. 3. 8; Liv. Ep. lix; Plut. Ti. ...
— A History of Rome, Vol 1 - During the late Republic and early Principate • A H.J. Greenidge
... outing as his overlord. While the one may have spent the day in fox hunting or deer driving, when nightfall came the Negro was apt to emerge from his quarters followed by his faithful dog in search of possum or coon. While the master may have enjoyed a feast of venison at his table the Negro was just as well satisfied with the less valuable but savory game that ...
— The Journal of Negro History, Volume 3, 1918 • Various
... in Pimlico or further Kensington,' scoffed Biddy. 'Ordering sprats and plaice for dinner and pretending they're soles and whitebait. Perambulators stuffing up the hall; paying your own books and having your gown made at home! No, thank you. 'Possum skins and a black's gunya—that's Australese for a wigwam, isn't it?—appeal to ...
— Lady Bridget in the Never-Never Land • Rosa Praed
... one of the truly American sports of the chase, though its devotees have found difficulty in persuading folks to take their sport seriously. It is, in truth, a comical aspect of hunting, and is scarcely less wanting in dignity than a 'possum [Footnote: Possum: opposum; this animal carries its young in a pouch, like the kangaroo.] chase, which confessedly has none at all. If 'coon-hunting be regarded, as a step higher than that, it loses ...
— Short Stories and Selections for Use in the Secondary Schools • Emilie Kip Baker
... the dead leaves that lay under the trees, no fire having ever swept across the island, at least for many years. The sound was really continuous, and could hardly be made by the passage of any animal—mink, skunk, weasel, 'coon, 'possum or ...
— The Strange Cabin on Catamount Island • Lawrence J. Leslie
... can sleep as hot as they want to in de summer time and raise as big families as anybody. Sho', poor folks, and especially niggers, has a good time on hog-killin' days. In early summer come them juicy brierberries dat they enjoy so much. They last until watermelon season. Then they has 'possum and 'tators in de fall. Most all livin' beings has deir own way of doin' things and deir way of existin'. De hog roots for his, de squirrel climbs for his, de chickens scratches for deirs, and de nigger, well, if dere ...
— Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves • Works Projects Administration
... the serpent. It stupefies and bewilders the simple heart, which sees it without understanding it, which touches it without being able to believe in it, and which sinks engulfed in the problem of it, like Empedocles in Etna. Non possum capere te, cape me, says the Aristotelian motto. Every diminutive of Beelzebub is an abyss, each demoniacal act is a gulf of darkness. Natural cruelty, inborn perfidy and falseness, even in animals, cast lurid gleams, as it were, into that fathomless ...
— Amiel's Journal • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... my host, pointing to a corner of his tree-cabin. I looked and saw the skins of several animals,—among which I recognized those of the "painter," "possum," and "'coon," along with a haunch or two of recently killed venison. "I sell 'em, boy; the skins to the storekeepers, and the deer-meat to anybody as ...
— Our Young Folks—Vol. I, No. II, February 1865 - An Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls • Various
... from her horse, and a few well-aimed blows of fist and knee sent the frail lock flying. The door was barricaded within by a bureau and a table and chairs—Mag's poor little defense, evidently, against the "Possum-Hunters." ...
— Kildares of Storm • Eleanor Mercein Kelly
... Indian women's work is to cook the victuals for the whole family, and to make mats, baskets, girdles, of possum hair, and such like. * ...
— Prehistoric Textile Art of Eastern United States • William Henry Holmes
... there is any thought or calculation in her behavior, any more than there is in her nest-building, or any other of her instinctive doings. It is probably as much a reflex act as that of a bird when she turns her eggs, or feigns lameness or paralysis, to lure you away from her nest, or as the "playing possum" of a rose-bug or potato-bug when it ...
— Ways of Nature • John Burroughs
... fat Sist' Mindy Sawyer fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan and swaying back and forth in time to the speretual, and busybody Deacon Williams rolling his eye to see that nobody took too long a swallow out of the communion cup he passed around. She thought of possum parties, with accompaniments of sweet 'taters and possum gravy. Her lip trembled, tears rolled down her black cheeks. She had been living in the midst of air raids, her ears had been stunned with ...
— The Purple Heights • Marie Conway Oemler
... there was always ample out-of-door recreation at hand. In addition to the deer-hunts, there were often bear-hunts, and 'possum and 'coon-hunts were popular nighttime sports. On the latter occasions a party of men set out, preferably on a moonlight night, with their dogs. Having entered the woods, the dogs shortly took up the trail of their intended victim, while the men on foot followed the yelping dogs through the ...
— Domestic Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century - Jamestown 350th Anniversary Historical Booklet Number 17 • Annie Lash Jester
... was sent to work on the Possum Tail Railroad. Here he was worked so hard, that in one month he lost his health. The other two men taken on with him, failed before he did. He was then sent to Macon, and thence to ...
— The Underground Railroad • William Still
... forage for themselves. But the market supplied with chickens by the small farmers, as it might easily be. Whenever opportunity offers, hunting and fishing become more than diversions, and the fondness for coon and 'possum is proverbial. ...
— The Negro Farmer • Carl Kelsey
... then appointed to guard him for the present. This was towards evening; and up to a late hour at night, the inn was filled with strangers crowding to see the Yankee rebel, as they politely termed him. These honest rustics seemed to think that Yankees were a sort of wild creatures, a species of 'possum or kangaroo. But Israel is very affable with them. That liquor he drank from the hand of his foe, has perhaps warmed his heart towards all the rest of his enemies. Yet this may not be wholly so. We shall see. ...
— Israel Potter • Herman Melville
... and the Indians were breathing deeply, Lewis sat up. It was bright moonlight, and he could see plainly. He could see Jacob, and the forms of the Indians stretched around. He moved more. Nobody else stirred, not a breath was interrupted. Then, to find out if the Indians were playing 'possum, ...
— Boys' Book of Frontier Fighters • Edwin L. Sabin
... Slick, "I beg your pardon, I do, indeed, I don't mean that at all; and I do declare and vow now, I wasn't a playin' possum with you, nother. I won't do it no more, I ...
— The Attache - or, Sam Slick in England, Complete • Thomas Chandler Haliburton
... I want to know a little more about him," mused the colonel. "I'd like to have a talk with him, and see how he acts. But I won't chance that yet. I'll play 'possum ...
— The Diamond Cross Mystery - Being a Somewhat Different Detective Story • Chester K. Steele
... on, thoughtful. At Bixton Big Tony had been no more remarkable for his willingness to work than for his peaceableness. Had he really changed for the better? Or was it possible he was "playing possum," to cover the carrying-out of some plan of revenge against ...
— The Young Railroaders - Tales of Adventure and Ingenuity • Francis Lovell Coombs
... the slope, and lay for a few minutes hidden among dense bushes. Both had been familiar with country life, they had hunted the 'possum and the coon many a dark night, and now their forest lore stood them in good stead. They made no sound as they passed among the bushes and trailing vines, and they knew that they were quite secure in their covert, ...
— The Scouts of Stonewall • Joseph A. Altsheler
... quantitatem. Postquam ergo recessimus de Soldaia, tertia die inuenimus Tartaros: inter quos cum intraueram, visum fuit mihi recte quod ingrederer quoddam aliud saculum. Quorum vitam et mores vobis describam prout possum. ...
— The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries - Vol. II • Richard Hakluyt
... be a difficult matter to describe the food prepared and eaten at this banquet. Several varieties of fowl, all wild types, and the wild boar, as well as the 'possum, provided the meats. Of course taro and amarylla were the chief vegetables; and of nuts, the well known Brazil species was found everywhere, and to ...
— The Wonder Island Boys: Adventures on Strange Islands • Roger Thompson Finlay
... the gardens and crops. The man kill coon and possum if they didn't get nough meat up at the house. I say it sure is good. It is good as pork. The men prowl all night in the winter huntin'. If you be workin' at the field yo dinner is fetched down thar to you ...
— Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves: Volume II, Arkansas Narratives, Part 2 • Works Projects Administration
... dead," said the prostrate individual, opening his eyes, and getting upon his feet with some difficulty. "Play 'possum—dat all." ...
— The Riflemen of the Miami • Edward S. Ellis
... (That is to say, communities which vote a certain ticket which need not be named here.) It is often said that there are things which flesh and blood will not bear. Now, a thorough system of Taxidermy remedies all this. A stuffed 'possum, for instance, having no flesh or blood, will bear any thing. When the people of this country are thoroughly cleaned out, they will be just as docile. Among the things which PUNCHINELLO would recommend as fit subjects of taxation, is a man's expenses. ...
— Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 5, April 30, 1870 • Various
... Valley of Virginia mutton in market last week, and I think you will enjoy it." Or, "I received some fine cod-fish from Boston to-day, sir; will you dine with me at five o'clock and taste them?" Or, "I found a famous possum in market this morning, sir, and left orders with Monica, my cook, to have it baked in the real old Virginia style, with stuffing of chestnuts and surrounded by baked sweet potatoes. It will be a dish fit for the ...
— Perley's Reminiscences, Vol. 1-2 - of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis • Benjamin Perley Poore
... Washington and declare open war upon the few white squatters at that time in the southern portions of the Florida peninsula. Or, what was more probable still, it might be only the pathway used for ages by innumerable four-footed denizens of the swamp,—deer, panthers, raccoons, 'possum, foxes, wildcats ...
— Eagles of the Sky - With Jack Ralston Along the Air Lanes • Ambrose Newcomb
... space to co't Nella-Rose, so he aimed to shoot one o' Burke's feet just enough to lay him up—Jed is the slow, calculatin' kind and an almighty sure shot. He reckoned Burke couldn't walk up Lone Dome with a sore foot, so he laid for him, meanin' afterward to say he was huntin' an' took Burke for a 'possum. Well, Burke got wind of the plot; I'm thinkin' Marg put a flea in his ear, anyway he set a trap just by the path leading from the trail to Lone Dome. Gawd! Jed planted his foot inter it same as if he meant ter, and what does that Burke do but take a ...
— The Man Thou Gavest • Harriet T. Comstock
... this is but a young country, and we have to live upon what we can catch. Pray, would you fancy some 'possum fat and hominy? ...
— She Would Be a Soldier - The Plains of Chippewa • Mordecai Manuel Noah
... on his own fat. All the hibernating animals that keep up respiration, must have sustenance of some sort—either a store of food at hand or a store of fat in their own bodies. The woodchuck, the bear, the coon, the skunk, the 'possum, lay up a store of fuel in their own bodies, and they come out in the spring lean and hungry. The squirrels are lean the year through, and hence must have a store of food in their dens, as does the chipmunk, or else be more or less active in their search all winter, ...
— The Wit of a Duck and Other Papers • John Burroughs
... comrade. But it's only one of the ole woman's conniption fits, and you know she's got nineteen lives. People of the catamount sort always has. You'd better gin a thought to yourself now. I got you into this scrape, and I mean to see you out, as the dog said to the 'possum in its hole. Git up onto this four-legged quadruped and go as fur as I go on the road to peace and safety. Now, I tell you what, the hawk's got a mighty good purchase onto you, my chicken, and he's jest about to light, and when he lights, look out fer ...
— The End Of The World - A Love Story • Edward Eggleston
... cook, dress up, embroider; varnish right and puzzle wrong; exaggerate &c 549; blague[obs3]. invent, fabricate; trump up, get up; force, fake, hatch, concoct; romance &c (imagine) 515; cry "wolf!' dissemble, dissimulate; feign, assume, put on, pretend, make believe; play possum; play false, play a double game; coquet; act a part, play a part; affect &c. 855; simulate, pass off for; counterfeit, sham, make a show of; malinger; say the grapes are sour. cant, play the hypocrite, sham Abraham, faire pattes de velours, put on the mask, clean the outside of the ...
— Roget's Thesaurus
... star-shell looped across the spongy sky, casting a lurid illumination over the ghastly field. When the three travellers caught the soft swish of its ascent, they "froze"—motionless as a shamming 'possum—mimicking death ...
— The Valley of Vision • Henry Van Dyke
... he had heard that a darky would barter 'possum, ham-bone, and soul immortal for a ripe sapodilla; he had also once, much farther northward, seen the distressing spectacle of Savannah negroes loading a freight car with watermelons; and it struck him now that it was equally rash to commission this aged uncle on any such business as the gathering ...
— The Firing Line • Robert W. Chambers
... been playing 'possum when he ought to have been laid out? He must, it would seem, have been pretty fit all the time to get away without ...
— Ambrotox and Limping Dick • Oliver Fleming
... carried an umbrella," continued Malcolm Sage, "and took cover behind the holly bush; but you came out a little too soon, hence that nose. Burns was playing 'possum. You were rather anxious for a smoke too. ...
— Malcolm Sage, Detective • Herbert George Jenkins
... as three, and have been under a terrific strain to keep from eating the finest and fattest baked 'possum you ever saw. ...
— In Search of the Okapi - A Story of Adventure in Central Africa • Ernest Glanville
... death. Then, like a detected pickpocket, he was suddenly transformed into another creature. His eyes flew wide open, his talons clutched my finger, his ears were depressed, and every motion and look said, "Hands off, at your peril." Finding this game did not work, he soon began to "play 'possum" again. I put a cover over my study wood-box and kept him captive for a week. Look in upon him at any time, night or day, and he was apparently wrapped in the profoundest slumber; but the live mice ...
— A Year in the Fields • John Burroughs
... big yellow and brown ones won't hurt you; they're bull-snakes and help to keep the gophers down. Don't be scared if you see anything look out of that hole in the bank over there. That's a badger hole. He's about as big as a big 'possum, and his face is striped, black and white. He takes a chicken once in a while, but I won't let the men harm him. In a new country a body feels friendly to the animals. I like to have him come out and watch me ...
— My Antonia • Willa Sibert Cather
... engage Mandy Berry, colored, to fry for them some spring chickens and make for them a few pones of real cornbread. In Creole Louisiana they should sample crawfish gumbo; and in Georgia they should have 'possum baked with sweet potatoes; and in Tidewater Maryland, terrapin and canvasback; and in Illinois, young gray squirrels on toast; and in South Carolina, boiled rice with black-eyed peas; and in Colorado, cantaloupes; and in Kansas, young sweet corn; and in Virginia, country hams, ...
— Europe Revised • Irvin S. Cobb
... Gray Squirrel!" shouted Billie. "What a beautiful bushy tail he has!" Then, after a pause he added, "Mother, what is its tail for? Why is it so big and fluffy? I know a 'Possum has a tail to hang on a limb with, and a Fish can swim with his tail, but why is a Gray Squirrel's tail ...
— Woodland Tales • Ernest Seton-Thompson
... said Grandison, "has got a justifyin' meanin' in it, an' it's 'bout a bar an' a' possum. De 'possum he was a-gwine out early in de mawnin' ter git a little ...
— Amos Kilbright; His Adscititious Experiences • Frank R. Stockton
... minute that I hadn't fixed all that the first thing? Mrs. Cherry held back a bit but I rabbit-footed the old lady into being wild to go and then wheedled the correct hostess some; and there you are! Caroline is to send them out in her motor and I'm going to make Hob and Tom chase the possum in company of the merry widow and Mrs. Big Bug. Now give me a ...
— Andrew the Glad • Maria Thompson Daviess
... her head, her huge lips tightening. "He's down wid de purple headache," she replied gloomily, "twel he can't smell de diff'ence between er 'possum en er polecat. Yes, suh, Mose he's moughty low down, en' ter dis yer day he ain' never got over Marse Nick Burr's ous'in' you en Miss Euginny outer de cheer you all oughter had down yonder at de cap'tol. ...
— The Voice of the People • Ellen Glasgow
... de canebrake wid his little dog and gun,— Sleep, Kentucky Babe! Possum fo' yo' breakfast when yo' sleepin' time is done,— Sleep, Kentucky Babe! Bogie man'll catch yo' sure unless yo' close yo' eyes, Waitin' jes outside de doo' to take yo' by surprise! Close yo' ...
— Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (of 17) - Fun and Thought for Little Folk • Various
... steak just as much as Buster said he would; but p'raps, Jack, darlint, we'd better be contint wid 'possum, 'coon or muskrats." ...
— Motor Boat Boys Mississippi Cruise - or, The Dash for Dixie • Louis Arundel
... no stock safe. Guess I've had my med'cine from 'em, and I'm jest crazy fer more. I've had to do wi' fellers o' their kidney 'fore, I guess. We strung six of 'em up in a day on the same tree down Arizona way, as that gray-headed possum, Joe Nelson, well remembers. Say, we jest cleaned our part o' that country right quick. Guess ther' wa'n't a 'bad man' wuth two plugs o' nickel chawin' around when we'd finished gettin' 'em. Say, this feller's played it long enough, an' ...
— The Night Riders - A Romance of Early Montana • Ridgwell Cullum
... the Georgia mountains need not despair nor be backward while the "Sunday Lady of Possum Trot" keeps open the Gate of ...
— Blue Ridge Country • Jean Thomas
... answer to that was easy: 'Tell him I'm busy.' Master Bean's admirably dignified reply was that he understood how great was the pressure of Mr Ferguson's work, and that he would wait till he was at liberty. Liberty! Talk of the liberty of the treed possum, but do not use the word in connexion with a man bottled up in an office, with Roland ...
— The Man Upstairs and Other Stories • P. G. Wodehouse
... fine scope for the talents of the "log-roller," here defined as an especially wily and persuasive person, who could depict the merits of his scheme with roseate but delusive eloquence, and who was said to carry a gourd of "possum fat"—wherewith he "greased and swallowed" his prey. One of the largest of these gourds was carried by "honest Abe," who was especially active in "log-rolling" a bill for the removal of the seat of government from Vandalia to Springfield, at a virtual cost to the State of about six millions ...
— Lectures and Essays • Goldwin Smith
... fool that ever breathed!" said he, recollecting the craftiness imputed to those animals, and searching in vain for his game. "If ever I come across another, he'll not come the 'possum over me, I'll answer for it!" he continued, somewhat vexed. At this juncture Glenn's gun was heard, and Joe observed a majority of the deer leaping affrighted in the direction of his position. The foremost passed within twenty yards of him, and, his limbs trembling with excitement, ...
— Wild Western Scenes • John Beauchamp Jones
... esse mea, 10 Nec peccatum a me quisquam pote dicere quicquam: Verum istud populi fabula, Quinte, facit, Qui, quacumque aliquid reperitur non bene factum, Ad me omnes clamant: ianua, culpa tuast.' Non istuc satis est uno te dicere verbo, 15 Sed facere ut quivis sentiat et videat. 'Qui possum? nemo quaerit nec scire laborat.' Nos volumus: nobis dicere ne dubita. 'Primum igitur, virgo quod fertur tradita nobis, Falsumst. non illam vir prior attigerit, 20 Languidior tenera cui pendens sicula beta Numquam se mediam sustulit ad tunicam: Sed pater ...
— The Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus • Caius Valerius Catullus
... that first delicious burst of aroma when the oven door is opened, would tempt an angel from heaven down to the lowly earth. A Southerner declares that his nostrils can detect at a prodigious distance the cooking of "possum and taters." A Kanaka has a cosmopolitan appetite, but the fragrance which moves him most nearly is the scent of fish baking in Ti leaves. A Frenchman waits unmoved until the perfume of some rich lamb ragout, an air laden with spices, ...
— Trailin'! • Max Brand
... they could not make so plenteous treatments out of such decayed fortunes. This, therefore, will be a good argument to us, either not to write at all; or to attempt some other way. There are no Bays to be expected in their walks, Tentanda via est qua me quoque possum ...
— An English Garner - Critical Essays & Literary Fragments • Edited by Professor Arber and Thomas Seccombe
... Larry, by slipping over a haymaker on me like you did on Gavegan. So's I can say I tried to get you, but you were too quick and knocked me cold. Quick! Only not too hard—I know how to play possum." ...
— Children of the Whirlwind • Leroy Scott
... yourself." She gave a deep breath. "And now you'll be in that heavenly place with Cousin Claudia. When I get big I'm going there and hunt by the light of the moon, and hear the darkies sing when they're having a party with possum and hoe-cake, and—" She sat upright. "Did you know Cousin ...
— The Man in Lonely Land • Kate Langley Bosher
... Rainmaker had fixt it up so dat de race would be right down de middle er de big road, an' when de day come, dar's whar he made de creeturs stan'—Brer B'ar at de bend er de road, Brer Wolf a leetle furder off, an' Brer Fox at a p'int whar de cross-roads wuz. Brer Coon an' Brer Possum an' de yuthers be scattered about up an' down ...
— Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit • Joel Chandler Harris
... that belly of his in shape. There's a back door to this joint. He slipped round behind and bribed the babu to feed him on the rear step, me standing guard at the corner to keep Greeks at bay. He's back in the car now, playing possum." ...
— The Ivory Trail • Talbot Mundy
... was killed while playing football, the lower house of the Georgia legislature passed a bill prohibiting that game under severe penalties. To be consistent the same body should now prohibit swimming because some boys are drowned, and possum hunting because some nocturnal sportsmen are killed. Georgia appears to take it for granted that nature makes no mistake—when she finds a man who's good for nothing else in the universe she sends him to the legislature to make laws. There's an element of danger in foot-ball ...
— Volume 10 of Brann The Iconoclast • William Cowper Brann
... allowed thar' wasn't no fool like an old one. But you needn't to swaller that whole, old boy; I've knowed some young ones in my time—sometimes gals, sometimes boys, sometimes both. But thar' ain't no 'possum up yonder, Caesar; you've flew the track this time, for certain. Come on, old dog; let's be ...
— The Quickening • Francis Lynde
... Experienc'd Author, Olaus Wormius,[32] where he treats of that Stone, Confirms it with this Testimony. Imprimis memorandum exemplum quod Anshelmus Boetius de seipso refert, tam mutati Coloris, quam a casu preservationis. Cui & ipse haud dissimile adferre possum, nisi ex Anshelmo petitum quis putaret. I remember that I saw two or three years since a Turcois (worn in a Ring) wherein there were some small spots, which the Virtuoso whose it was asur'd me he had observ'd to grow sometimes greater sometimes less, and to be sometimes in one ...
— Experiments and Considerations Touching Colours (1664) • Robert Boyle
... I tole you dat I know'd whar dere's a possum? Did I tole you dat I know'd whar dere's a coon? Oh, mah lady, come out soon! Oh, mah honey, come out soon! While de Mocker, while de Mocker ...
— Citizen Bird • Mabel Osgood Wright and Elliott Coues
... "O-v-e-r," and who seemed so put out because I had no fare for him that I gave him my case-knife. The next evening I had the only taste of meat of this thirteen days' journey, which I got from an old negro whom I found alone in his cabin eating possum ...
— Famous Adventures And Prison Escapes of the Civil War • Various
... her meals in the master's house and says that her food was even better. She was also permitted to go to the kitchen to get food at any time during the day. Sometimes when the boys went hunting everyone was given roast 'possum and other small game. The two male slaves were often permitted to accompany them but were not allowed to handle the guns. None of the slaves had individual gardens of their own as food sufficient for their needs was raised in ...
— Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves - Georgia Narratives, Part 3 • Works Projects Administration
... said Rushford, "though, of course, I may be mistaken. But I fancy he believes that while he is playing 'possum here, Emperor William, who is not especially renowned for patience, will settle the question of the succession without asking any one's advice—as, I must say, he seems to have a perfect right to do. In that case, it would, of course, be ...
— Affairs of State • Burton E. Stevenson
... drop during July and August. However, pecan growers who wish to make the effort can time the first application accurately by spreading a sheet on the ground beneath an infested tree and lightly jarring the branches to dislodge the weevils. When the weevils are disturbed they fall and "play possum" and can be easily collected. When a minimum of six weevils can be taken by jarring the branches on any one tree, it is time to make the ...
— Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 44th Annual Meeting • Various
... goodman wets his whistle, And the goodwife scolds the child; And the girls exclaim convulsively, "Have done, or I'll be riled!" When the loafer sitting next them Attempts a sly caress, And whispers, "Oh, you 'possum, You've fixed my heart, I guess!" With laughter and with weeping, Then shall they tell the tale, How Colt his foeman quartered, And died ...
— The Bon Gaultier Ballads • William Edmonstoune Aytoun
... very snug here," he said, smiling down my apologies. "I'm a 'possum for adapting myself ...
— The Queen of Sheba & My Cousin the Colonel • Thomas Bailey Aldrich
... nigger bishop, Bishop Warren was, and had a good deal of white blood into him, they say. An ashy-coloured nigger, with bumps on his face, fat as a possum, and as cunning as a fox. He had plenty of brains into his head, too; but his brains had turned sour in his head the last few years, and the bishop had crazy streaks running through his sense now, like fat and lean mixed in a slab ...
— Danny's Own Story • Don Marquis
... "commemoras, o uirtutum omnium nutrix, nec infitiari possum prosperitatis meae uelocissimum cursum. Sed hoc est quod recolentem uehementius coquit. Nam in omni aduersitate fortunae infelicissimum est genus infortunii fuisse felicem." "Sed quod tu," inquit, "falsae opinionis ...
— The Theological Tractates and The Consolation of Philosophy • Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius
... pity!" said the Kangaroo, as she returned to the cave, "the 'possum made that unlucky joke of telling the Nightjar it has a touching voice, and can sing: everyone has to suffer for that joke of the 'possum's. It doesn't matter to him, for he is awake all night, but it is too bad for his neighbours who want ...
— Dot and the Kangaroo • Ethel C. Pedley
... opossum is thus said to be "treed;" and before long, the barking of the dog brings his master to the spot, when the opossum has to fly for its life to the highest branch it can reach. It is easily captured by the rudest style of trap, into which it will walk without hesitation. When "feigning 'possum," it will submit to be knocked about, and kicked and cuffed, without giving the slightest sign of life. The flesh of the opossum is white, and considered excellent—especially in the autumn, when, after feeding amply on the fruits, beech-nuts, and wild berries, ...
— The Western World - Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North - and South America • W.H.G. Kingston
... to it that we children got the best food on the place, the fattest possum and the hottest fish. When the possum was all browned, and the sweet 'taters swimming in the good mellow gravy, then she call us for to eat. Um-um-h! That ...
— Slave Narratives, Oklahoma - A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From - Interviews with Former Slaves • Various
... in the vicinity of civilization, he would prefer to break his fast with tender young pig. Pig, to the bear, is what 'possum is to the negro. He will travel for miles and take risks that he does not often expose himself to, if thereby he can secure a ...
— Black Bruin - The Biography of a Bear • Clarence Hawkes
... began in the Cumberland Mountains between the Folwell and the Harkness families. The first victim of the homespun vendetta was a 'possum dog belonging to Bill Harkness. The Harkness family evened up this dire loss by laying out the chief of the Folwell clan. The Folwells were prompt at repartee. They oiled up their squirrel rifles and made it feasible for Bill Harkness to follow ...
— The Voice of the City • O. Henry
... shortening if the biscuits were eaten hot, but if allowed to get cold they had a strong taste of tallow in their flavor that did not taste like the flavor of vanilla or lemon in ice cream and strawberries; and biscuits fried in tallow were something upon the principle of 'possum and sweet potatoes. Well, Pfifer had got the fat from the kidneys of two hind quarters and made a cake of tallow weighing about twenty-five pounds. He wrapped it up and put it carefully away in his knapsack. When the assembly sounded for the march, Pfifer strapped on his ...
— "Co. Aytch" - Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment - or, A Side Show of the Big Show • Sam R. Watkins
... on de place and dey had a big long trough dug out of a log and each chile had a spoon and he'd eat out of dat trough. Yas'm, I 'member dat. Eat greens and milk. As for meat, we didn't know what dat was. My mother would go huntin' at night and get a 'possum to feed us and sometimes old master would ketch her and take it away from her and give her a piece of salt meat. But sometimes she'd bury a 'possum till she had a chance to cook it. And dey'd take sackin' like you make cotton sacks ...
— Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Arkansas Narratives, Part 4 • Works Projects Administration
... de fish we would catch out of dat Brazos River would be so big dey would pull us in but finally we would manage to gits dem out. De rabbits and de 'possum was plentiful too and wid de big garden what our marster had for us all, we sho' ...
— Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves. - Texas Narratives, Part 2 • Works Projects Administration
... glory! The little divil's scooted! It's a ruined man I am! In the name of the Saints, why is blasted Chinkees made with han's an' 'em like a 'possum? Look at the wee han's on 'em to slip out of darbies like the same. He's slipped out as aisily as meself out of a horse-collar, and the face a' him as bould and as big as the hill o' hope! I'm ...
— Tropic Days • E. J. Banfield
... rest of the men were in the camp fast asleep. Every now and again I'd get on my horse and prowl round the cattle quiet like, and they seemed to be settled down all right, and I was sitting by my fire holding my horse and drowsing, when all of a sudden a blessed 'possum ran out from some saplings and scratched up a tree right alongside me. I was half-asleep, I suppose, and was startled; anyhow, never thinking what I was doing, I picked up a firestick out of the fire and flung it at ...
— Three Elephant Power • Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson
... or two remain of what was once the "big house" on the hill; possibly it is still standing, but as forlorn and lifeless as a dead tree. The muscadine grapes still grow in the swale and the persimmons in the pasture field, but neither 'possum nor 'coon is left to eat them. The last deer vanished years ago, the rabbits died in their baby coats and the quail were killed in June. Old "Uncle Ike" has gone across the "Great River" with his ...
— Our Vanishing Wild Life - Its Extermination and Preservation • William T. Hornaday
... think he's crazy, if you ask me," said he. "And yet he was just as earnest about it as if it were really so. I think he must have eaten something that has gone to his head. There's Unc' Billy Possum over there. Let's ask him ...
— The Adventures of Old Mr. Toad • Thornton W. Burgess
... not friendly, as Nic soon found; but he attributed it to the stern orders they had received; but now and then one or another made a little advance, by offering, on the sly, fish or flesh in the shape of bird or 'possum which he had caught or trapped during the moonlight nights. For Saunders seemed to pay no heed to the black slaves slipping away of a ...
— Nic Revel - A White Slave's Adventures in Alligator Land • George Manville Fenn
... the possum and the coon, On the meadow, the hill, and the shore; They sing no more by the glimmer of the moon, On the bench by the old cabin door; The day goes by, like the shadow o'er the heart, With sorrow where all was delight; The time has come, when the darkeys have to part, Then, ...
— The World's Best Poetry, Volume 3 - Sorrow and Consolation • Various
... totus torpeo. non edepol nunc ubi terrarum sim scio, si quis roget, neque miser me commovere possum prae formidine. ilicet, mandata eri perierunt una et Sosia. verum certum est confidenter hominem contra conloqui, qui possim videri huic fortis, a ...
— Amphitryo, Asinaria, Aulularia, Bacchides, Captivi • Plautus Titus Maccius
... Possum, the fox-terrier puppy Galbraith had so inconsiderately foisted upon me, whimpered and shivered on my lap inside my greatcoat and under the fur robe. But he would not settle down. Continually he whimpered and clawed and struggled ...
— The Mutiny of the Elsinore • Jack London
... and every one was drowned except two or three men and women, who got on an island. Past came the pelican, in a canoe; he took off the men, but wanting to marry the woman, kept her to the last. She wrapped up a log in a 'possum rug to deceive the pelican, and swam to shore and escaped. The pelican was very angry; he began to paint himself white, to show that he was on the war trail, when past came another pelican, did not like his looks, and killed him with ...
— In the Wrong Paradise • Andrew Lang
... habit of falling to the ground and "playing 'possum" when disturbed. This led to the practice of holding or spreading sheets beneath the tree and then striking the tree a sudden, forcible blow with a padded pole or mallet in order to dislodge the beetles. The trees were jarred daily ...
— Trees, Fruits and Flowers of Minnesota, 1916 • Various
... scraping and drawing. Save all the inside fat, let it soak in weak salt water until cooking time, then rinse it well, and partly try it out in the pan before putting in the possum. Unless he is huge, leave him whole, skewering him flat, and laying him skin side up in the pan. Set in a hot oven and cook until crisply tender, taking care there is no scorching. Roast a dozen good sized sweet potatoes—in ashes if possible, if not, bake ...
— Dishes & Beverages of the Old South • Martha McCulloch Williams
... disremember whar I've met with gentlemen so true As yo' all in Kaintucky, whar blood an' grass are blue; Whar a niggah with a ballot is the signal fo' a fight, Whar a yaller dawg pursues the coon throughout the bammy night; Whar blooms the furtive 'possum—pride an' glory of the South— And Aunty makes a hoe-cake, sah, that melts within yo' mouth! Whar, all night long, the mockin'-birds are warblin' in the trees And black-eyed Susans nod and blink at every passing breeze, Whar in a hallowed ...
— John Smith, U.S.A. • Eugene Field
... game vos dot possum?" asked Hans innocently. "I ton't dink we got dime to play some games," ...
— The Rover Boys in Southern Waters - or The Deserted Steam Yacht • Arthur M. Winfield
... 'possum with me," he roared. Roy drank. Swallow after swallow of the stuff burned its way into his stomach. He stopped at ...
— The Sheriff's Son • William MacLeod Raine
... he added, fetching forth the tools, "I want you to take this junk and go up there where the neighbor is working. Just sit down quietly and drill three shallow holes and don't say a word to yonder busy bee. If he asks you what's doing, play possum—and don't make the holes ...
— The Furnace of Gold • Philip Verrill Mighels
... that the opossum, though it is a marsupial too, differs inexpressibly in psychological development from the kangaroo and the wombat. Your opossum, in short, is active, sly, and extremely intelligent. He knows his way about the world he lives in. 'A 'possum up a gum-tree' is accepted by the observant American mind as the very incarnation of animal cleverness, cunning, and duplicity. In negro folk-lore the resourceful 'possum takes the place of Reynard ...
— Science in Arcady • Grant Allen
... the ancient negro asserted, with a melancholy shaking of his bald head, "dar hain't no trustin' a 'possum. Once on a time, suh, I done watched de hole of a 'possum all night long. An' at las', suh, de 'possum done come out of his hole. An' what yoh t'ink de ole scallywog done did? Well, suh, he done come out, an' when he done come ...
— Jokes For All Occasions - Selected and Edited by One of America's Foremost Public Speakers • Anonymous
... Conrad Jimmerson, and strung him up like a trapped 'possum, did you?" he cried, clapping his hands in glee. "Gee! what tough luck that I wasn't around to see it. Always my bad fortune, seeing lots of game when I haven't got a gun; and never a thing ...
— Fred Fenton on the Crew - or, The Young Oarsmen of Riverport School • Allen Chapman
... where they passed the rest of the night, enduring as best they could the heavy rain, and the attack of insects, against neither of which they were able to protect themselves. "This place takes its name,—'Rotten-possum',—from an animal frequently found here, which they call a Possum. I am told that it has a double belly, and that if pursued it puts its young into one belly, runs up a tree until it reaches a limb, ...
— The Moravians in Georgia - 1735-1740 • Adelaide L. Fries
... at first, but after a little it came to her that "Mas'r Hugh was goin' to play 'possum. That Miss Alice and all dem would think him ravin' and only she would know the truth." It would be rare sport for Mug, and after giving her promise, she waited anxiously for some one to come. At last another ...
— Bad Hugh • Mary Jane Holmes
... ebry day, when all our work was o'er, We'd hear de bones' and banjos' sweet refrain, While all de darkies danc'd and swung around de cabin door; Dem happy times will neber come again; We'd hunt de possum and de coon until de mornin' fair, An' laugh and shout, so gay and jolly still; Such joyous, happy darkies, an' we had no tho't of care, In de little ...
— Slavery's Passed Away and Other Songs • Various
... listen me—this one time I speak a good many words. Dat stupid fellow know nothing, and so because you not shoot him a good way* behind—you very stupid. One," counted Jacky, touching his thumb, "he know nothing with these (pointing to his eyes). Jacky know possum,** Jacky know kangaroo, know turkey, know snake, know a good many, some with legs like dis (four fingers), some with legs like dis (two flngers)—dat stupid fellow know nothing but sheep, and not know sheep, let him die too much. Know nothing with 'um eyes. One more (touching his ...
— It Is Never Too Late to Mend • Charles Reade
... he said. "The knife could only have knocked him out for a time. He must have played 'possum. But he was disabled. Crawled after us—couldn't get a gun till we left and too eager to wait—thought we'd be under the hoist. Yet why he should ...
— Bloom of Cactus • Robert Ames Bennet
... comes, cat-like, creeping;— He opens the door just sufficient to peep in, And sees, as he fancies, the Bagman sleeping! For Blogg, when he'd once ascertain'd that there was some "Precious mischief" on foot, had resolv'd to play "'Possum;"— Down he went, legs and head, Flat on the bed, Apparently sleeping as sound as the dead; While, though none who look'd at him would think such a thing Every nerve in his frame was braced up for a spring. Then, just as the villain Crept, stealthily ...
— The Humourous Poetry of the English Language • James Parton
... teazing me long enough with your pretty affectation of ignorance and innocence—not but that you are as ignorant as the rest of your sweet sex, and as innocent too—but, I beseech you, lay by this masquerading, you have played possum long enough. I humbly implore of you to be the same to me that you were in our first visit to Fairmount—the earnest, simple-hearted Cousin ...
— Graham's Magazine Vol XXXIII No. 4 October 1848 • Various
... one thing, reason another, there is a new reluctancy in men. [1022]Odi, nec possum, cupiens non esse, quod odi. We cannot resist, but as Phaedra confessed to her nurse, [1023]quae loqueris, vera sunt, sed furor suggerit sequi pejora: she said well and true, she did acknowledge it, but headstrong passion and fury made her to do that which was opposite. So ...
— The Anatomy of Melancholy • Democritus Junior
... hurry date this hoc est quod volui—tandem. {greek here} A. W. V. {greek here}. calx pedibus inhaerens difficultatem superavit. magnopere adiuvas persectando semper. Nomen inscribere iam possum—sic, ...
— The Unknown Guest • Maurice Maeterlinck
... cried Mother Goose. "But the trouble is that Jack can't get his thumb out. He put it in the pie, to pull out the plum, but it won't come out—neither the plum nor the thumb. They are stuck fast for some reason or other. I wish you'd go for Dr. Possum, ...
— Uncle Wiggily and Old Mother Hubbard - Adventures of the Rabbit Gentleman with the Mother Goose Characters • Howard R. Garis
... called, and mingled, too, with a faint scent like our bay, which comes from a woody bush called sweet-fern. That, and the strong smell of the bluish, short-needled pine, was ever clogging my nostrils and confusing me. Once I thought to scent a 'possum, but the musky taint came from a rotting log; and a stale fox might have crossed to windward and I not noticed, so blunted had grown my nose in ...
— The Maid-At-Arms • Robert W. Chambers
... Radford's boys and the colored boys all went hunting. We had 'possum and potatoes all along in winter; 'possum grease won't make you sick. Eat all you want. I'd hear their horn and the dogs. They would come in hungry every time. I never seen no whiskey. He had his cider and vinegar press and made wine. ...
— Slave Narratives: Arkansas Narratives - Arkansas Narratives, Part 6 • Works Projects Administration
... grewsome And hours are, oh! so late, Old Sam steals out And hunts about For charms that hoodoos hate! That from the moaning river And from the haunted glen He silently brings what eerie things Give peace to hoodooed men:— The tongue of a piebald 'possum, The tooth of a senile 'coon, The buzzard's breath that smells of death, And the film that lies On a lizard's eyes In the light of a ...
— Songs and Other Verse • Eugene Field
... I can remember was riding the old pony, 'Possum, out to bring in the milkers. Father was away somewhere, so mother took us all out and put me on the pony, and let me have a whip. Aileen walked alongside, and very proud I was. My legs stuck out straight on the old ...
— Robbery Under Arms • Thomas Alexander Browne, AKA Rolf Boldrewood
... prudence," answered the guide. "Help me get the fellows who are down. Look out that they aren't playing possum. Keep your gun in your hand and watch them. Mrs. Gray, will you follow a short distance behind us, so that you may have all the wounded ...
— Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders on the Great American Desert • Jessie Graham Flower
... "gol durn it," "an up-hill job," "slick," "short cut," "guess not," "correct thing" are Bostonisms. The terms "innocent," "acknowledge the corn," "bark up the wrong tree," "great snakes," "I reckon," "playing 'possum," "dead shot," had their origin in the Southern States. "Doggone it," "that beats the Dutch," "you bet," "you bet your boots," sprang from New York. "Step down and out" originated in the Beecher trial, just as "brain-storm" ...
— How to Speak and Write Correctly • Joseph Devlin |
