"Here come dat lazy I'ishman down de strit. I don't lak'
I'ishman, me, non, dey so funny. One day one I'ishman, he say to
me, 'Auntie, what fo' you talk so?' and I jes' say back, 'What
fo' you say "Faith an' be jabers"?' Non, I don' lak I'ishman,
me!

"Here come de rain! Now I got fo' to go. Didele, she be wait
fo' me. Down h'it come! H'it fall in de Meesseesip, an' fill
up--up--so, clean to de levee, den we have big crivasse, an' po'
Tante Marie float away. Bon jour, madame, you come again?
Pralines! Pralines!"



ODALIE

Now and then Carnival time comes at the time of the good Saint
Valentine, and then sometimes it comes as late as the warm days
in March, when spring is indeed upon us, and the greenness of the
grass outvies the green in the royal standards.

Days and days before the Carnival proper, New Orleans begins to
take on a festive appearance. Here and there the royal flags
with their glowing greens and violets and yellows appear, and
then, as if by magic, the streets and buildings flame and burst
like poppies out of bud, into a glorious refulgence of colour
that steeps the senses into a languorous acceptance of warmth and
beauty.

On Mardi Gras day, as you know, it is a town gone mad with folly.