The Golden Log

Book excerpt: The nameless settlement deep in the East Texas forest was truly paradise-until a young bride took a forbidden sliver from the gold log that spanned a nearby creek; whereupon the log disappeared into the water, bride and groom were banished, and hard times fell upon all. And thus, the story goes, was paradise lost in East Texas. Like the more than a dozen other contributions in this volume, "The Golden Log" typifies the combined universality and fresh and authentic regional flavor of southwestern lore and legend. Here are tales of early Texas days, told as they were told of old: "Thirteen Tales from Houston County" by Theodore B. Brunner; "Homemade Tales" by Richard M. Rivers; "Cuentos de Susto," by Baldemar A. Jimenex; and many others. On the contemporary scene are "The Petroleum Geologist: A Folk Image" by Mody Boatright and "The Changing Concept of the Negro Hero" by Roger Abrahams. Paul Patterson gives us "Cowboy Comedians and Horseback Humorists," and A. L. Bennett "Joe Say, Wit and Storyteller" for samples of native southwestern humor.