Honestly, I think it is about the watermelon. And, by the way, the racial
stereotype breaks down. I'm a Caucasian Southerner (I don't say white
because all of us humans are just different shades of brown). I share Mr.
Twain's esteem for the watermelon. But when I was growing up, one of my
best friends as an African-American man who worked for my grandfather and
then my father and who would not touch a watermelon with a ten foot pole. Twain
talked about watermelon a lot:The true Southern watermelon is a boon apart,
and not to be mentioned with commoner things. It is chief of this world'd
luxuries, king by grace of God over all the fruits of the earth. When one
has tasted it, he knows what the angels eat. It was not a Southern
watermelon that Eve took: we know it because she repented.
I know how a prize watermelon looks when it is sunning its fat rotundity
among pumpkin vines and “simblins;”* I know how to tell when it’s ripe
without “plugging”** it; I know how inviting it looks when it is cooling
itself in a tub of water under the bed, waiting; I know how it looks when
it lies on the table in the sheltered great floor-space between house and
kitchen, and the children gathered for the sacrifice and their mouths
watering; I know the crackling sound it makes when the carving knife enters
its end, and I can see the split fly along in front of the blade as the
knife cleaves its way to the other end; I can see the halves fall apart and
display the rich red meat and the black seeds, and the heart standing up, a
luxury fit for the elect; I know how a boy looks, behind a yard long slice
of that melon, and I know how he feels for I have been there. I know the
watermelon which has been honestly come by and I know the taste of the
watermelon which has been acquired by art. Both taste good, but the
experienced know which tastes best.

When one has tasted watermelon, he knows what the angels eat.


On Sun, Nov 25, 2018 at 10:16 AM James N. Powell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> 我園の真桑も盗むこころ哉
> wagasono no makuwa mo nusumu kokoro kana
>
> Even in my own field,
> I pick a melon
> As if stealing.
>
>                 ~ Buson
>
> Tr. Shoji Kumano
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Dave Davis
> Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2018 7:08 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Clemens and persistent racism?
>
> Wiser heads will know more, but that sounds to me more like the voice of
> Paine than the voice of Twain. Are the narratives quoted found in the
> Autobiography (the full dictations, which have recently been published)?
>
> DDD
>
> https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/t/twain/mark/paine/chapter214.html
>
>
> On Sat, Nov 24, 2018 at 6:14 PM John Greenman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > from “the watermelons” (which Paine quotes in chapter CCXIV. MARK
> > TWAIN AND THE MISSIONARIES in his Biography) Clemens says:
> > “...This was down South, in the slavery days. It was the nature of the
> > negro then, as now, to steal watermelons…."
> >
> > Question: have y’all concluded that this 1901 concept accurately
> > reflects Clemens’ racial feelings are was there some other reason for
> his wording??
> >
> > thanks,
> >
> > -j
> >
> > +++++++++++++++
> > Coincidence is a messenger
> > sent by Truth
> >
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
> > Mark Twain Audiobooks from Librivox
> >
> > My Mark Twain audio recordings at Archive.org
> >
>


-- 
William B. Robison, PhD
Department Head / Professor of History
Department of History and Political Science
Southeastern Louisiana University
SLU 10895
Hammond LA 70402
985-549-2109 phone
985-549-2012 fax
[log in to unmask]
http://www.selu.edu/acad_research/depts/hist_ps/index.html
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History teaches students to read intelligently, think analytically, write
clearly, accurately assess past trends, rationally predict future
developments, and understand the real world. Now *that* is workforce-ready!

History does offer us very real lessons, but they are seldom simple and
straightforward. To understand and benefit from them, you have to know your
history very well. That is why history matters as much as math, science,
technology, or any other subject.

"A young horse is fast, but an old horse knows what's going on." – Muddy
Waters