tall tales of cicero farrar ta

8/3/2019 Tall Tales of Cicero Farrar Ta

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Much Overdue Recognition of a Master Storyteller

October 2007


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Cicero Farrar Talley,Fatherof

Cicero Farrar Buddy Talley, Jr.and

Grandfather

toThomas Farrar Talley


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Cicero Farrar Talleywas an Irish American Bard

of good humor and gentle spirit

who delightedin the entertaining of others.

An obscure personality in his lifetimeand thus,

under-rated as the Master Crafter

of Tales & Folklorethat he truly was.

An early 20th Century storytellerwho could enthrall children

as well as adults.

His time talkingand walking on this Earth

covered a period of Seventy-One Years.

The followingare the Recollectionsof

the Sonand Grandson


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ofCicero Farrar Talley

of

but a fewof

the manyTall Tales

he spun.

This, as they say, is a work-in-progress topreserve for posterity, the life of one ofthe patriarchs of the Talley family - CiceroFarrar Talley first-born son of an evenearlier patriarch, Henry Milton Talley.

As more information is retrieved throughmemoriesand the oral tradition, as well asdocuments and images,it will be added to this modest tome as itis passed along

to the compilers of same.


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This is a first attempt at preservation ofthe deedsand life experience of one member of the

Talley family.

Hopefully, it will serve as an example toothersto undertake their own projects of writingdown and collating the many memories ofother membersof the Talley family who have shed theirmortal coilsand passed beyond this earthly veil

All that will be done hereis to record some of the verbal

performances of Ciceroand to portray his amazing propensity forticklingthe funny bones of others.

Some may remember theCharacters,either invented,

re-invented,


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modified,imitated

or wholly fabricatedfrom the fertile imagination ofCicero.

There was

Aint Phyllisand

Skinny Doogan

andSteagol, Fido &

Minotateand

The Jackassandof course,


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Bully & the

Monkey( Ciceros Trademark Tale )

Aint Phyllis

Starting with the character of Aunt Phyllis,or Aint Phyllis, as the Southern pronunciationwould have it - this was a dark and sinister entity thatCicero either created or borrowed and embellished,and was aimed at the children, rather than adults.

Ciceros wife Inez seemed to delight in keeping alivethe presence of Aint Phyllis even more so than Cicero.

Aint Phyllis, it was said, was a witch who livedin attics - ALL attics and that if young children dareventure up in the attics of their homes to explore,they would surely encounter Aint Phyllisand to say the least, it would not be pleasant.

After being told the tale of Aint Phyllis enough timesby Cicero or Inez, the Talley grandchildren and otherrelated Talley children and friends would pass under


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the ceiling door to the attic as if they weretip-toeing thru the cemetery . . . .

Aint Phyllis, if she caught children prowling up in theattic, depending on the mood she was in at themoment, would at the very best tie the children upand torment them by scratching their skin with herlong prickly fingernails, all the way up to the worstthing possible - eating the children!

Cicero and Inez would describe the appearance

of Aunt Phyllis, and it would make the Wizard of OzWicked Witch of the West look like a glamour girl.

When children would ask where Aint Phyllis camefrom, they were told that she always was, that she waseverywhere in all the attics of the world. (She had theability of being omnipresent much like Santa Claus

more on that possible connection in a minute)

Cicero, when he was down at our house wouldsometimes remind us of Aint Phyllis, but usually wefirst asked him to, as we wished our memories to berefreshed. Well, Cicero would lead us down thehallway where the attic door was and as he wouldre-paint the dreadful picture of this witch up above us,

he would sometimes take his cane and rap on theceiling to arouse her and doggone if we didnt hearthis muffled cackling laughter in the distance.We would vamoosh and immediately relocate toanother part of the house!


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Other times - and it was mainly Ciceros wife who didthis - Inez would take a naughty child by the arm and

start dragging him or her to the attic door and sayingthat Aint Phyllis wanted to talk with them and it wasseconds later that the child was falling on the floorfairly begging Grandmomma that they would behaveif she wouldnt take em up to see Aint Phyllis.

Looking back on the story of Aint Phyllis, it seems

such a coincidence that we were often alerted tothe entity around Christmas time more than atother times of the year.

What better way to keep kids out of the attic nearChristmas where parents might have hidden certainobjects to be revealed on Christmas morning

than to invent this very effective guardianto the attic entrance, Aint Phyllis ?


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Skinny Doogan

Now, as to the story of Skinny Doogan, it was justplain and simple that the Talley kids and their friendsbelieved that Mr. Cicero had a little man living inhis pocket a man named Skinny Doogan.

Skinny was Ciceros best buddy. They were constantcompanions. Everywhere, of course, that Cicero went,Skinny went too. Cicero would take great and obviouscare of the wee fellow when the children were around.


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Skinny required constant attention and occasionalfeeding and again, there was that high-pitchedmuffled voice of the little fellow conversing

with Cicero.

Cicero, with all those adolescent eyes upon him,would announce that Skinny was hungry and neededsomething to eat, so he carefully would pull open theside of his coat just far enough to slide a piece of hardcandy down his pocket

and then with the kids in wide-eyed amazement,Cicero would look inside his coat with enough of itcovering his face especially his mouth and a squeaky voice could be heard saying:

Thank-you, Mr. Cicero.

Sometimes the children would ask Mr. Cicero to askSkinny a question, and of course Cicero would obligeand relay Skinnys answer to them.

It seemed that Skinny was very smart and knew

the answer to practically any question.

Whether it was winter or autumn and Skinny wasliving in Ciceros coat pocket, or it was summer orspring and Skinny resided in Ciceros shirt pocket,


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the kids could always see enough bulk in the pocketto be convinced that Skinny was in there.

Skinny evidently just didnt wiggle around too much.

Sometimes Cicero needed change, and he would plunka Quarter down his pocket and Skinny would makechange Cicero pulled out two Dimes and a Nickel.

The children were astounded!

The kids were always interested in the welfare ofSkinny and inquired about him when Cicero wasaround and unfailingly Cicero would look in onSkinny to see how he was faring and invariablyhe could report back that Skinny was doing fine.

But lest you think that Skinny Doogan was all funand games, think again. Skinny was often usedas a mild disciplinary tool by Cicero.

If some of the kids started getting too rambunctious,then Cicero would have a little back and forth

conversation with Skinny and Cicero would askSkinny what he thought should happen to themisbehaving kids and the little man would sayin that high tone whisper:


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Let me out!Let me at em.

Ill whup their little fannies!

The kids, once they saw that they had made Skinnyangry, would back off and start behaving again.

And as usual, there were always one or two doubtersin the audience and they challenged Cicero thatSkinny was not real.

Well, Cicero immediately took this sign of disbelief toSkinny and they talked it over for a few seconds andCicero told the unbelievers that Skinny couldbe right mean at times.

Skinny had dared any who didnt believe in himto just stick their finger in the pocket and Skinny promised to bite it off!

Well, there were no kids who took the dare.

(Just imagine the sharp teeth that Mr. Cicero

had previously told the kids Skinny possessed -little teeny tiny teeth, just like itty bitty NEEDLES!)

Often the kids asked just to see Skinny and at timesapproached as if to peek into the pocket and Cicero


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quickly pulled away and cautioned in a strict tonethat no one could see Skinny.

Skinny would only appear to Cicero, anyway.Skinny made himself invisible to all other folks.

Steagol, Fido and Minotate

Whenever Cicero brought up the subject of his threeprize hunting dogs, Steagol, Fido and Minotate,he pretended to puff up with pride.

As hunting (like fishing) stories started to be told by

the guys gathered around at their regular hangouts,Cicero would pipe up and say that they shoulda seenhis hunting dogs that he had years ago in the glorydays.


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Cicero told all that he once had a good rabbit houndand that when she started to get a little age on,he thought of breeding her. He made some inquiries

and was told there was a man out in the country thathad a prize stud rabbit hound. Cicero made thenecessary arrangements with the owner and the studmated with Ciceros hound and soon after siredthree of the most beautiful pups you ever did see.

Instantly the names Steagol, Fido and Minotatecame to the mind of Cicero to call them, and so he did.

They fairly glowed with good health from an early ageand Cicero could tell that they had inherited the verybest of traits from their father. Even when they werelittle puppies playing with each other, Cicero tooknote of how fast they moved. Like streaked lightning.

Cicero said sometimes he was afraid that they weregoing to whip themselves up and turn into Butter,like when those Tigers all caught hold of each otherstail, wrangling and scrambling and running aroundthat tree so fast as Little Black Sambo looked on.

When they got a year or two on them, Cicero tookthose three rabbit hounds out hunting with him, andfirst of all when he hunted alone. They were naturalsat it. Cicero would see some rustling in the brush


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up ahead or to the side and he called out toSteagol, Fido and Minotate to go git em!

The three of them tore away and flushed that rabbitout of the brush and took chase so quick that Cicerodid not even have time to raise his shotgun before histhree hounds had caught the rabbit in their bare teeth.Talk about fast!NO dogs were as fast as Steagol, Fido and Minotate.No contest. Not even close.

Well, as Cicero related, after he broke his threehounds in, he would start taking them outwith parties to hunt.

The other men in the hunting party looked inamazement at Cicero and asked him:

Where in the world is your shotgun and shells?

Cicero had his rooster chest stuck out and crowed:

Dont need them. My dogs wont let me shoot.They catch the rabbits so fast, I dont have to donothing but turn them loose.

Of course, the fellows had a good guffaw over thatone, but when they made their way out into the woodsand the hunt got on and at the first hint of a rabbit,they saw Cicero make good on his boast.


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He quickly siced his three hounds on the varmintand before the fellows could blink two or three times,they saw Steagol, Fido and Minotate trotting back in

unison to the party, each with a portion of the wholerabbit in their mouths.

Every time Cicero told a story about the many huntingadventures of his Three Speed Hounds, he swore itwas true, but we have a strong feeling that Cicerohad at least a couple of fingers crossedbehind his back

The Jackass

Whenever the incident of Cicero and The Jackasscomes up, we have to ask the question:

WHO was the REAL jackass?

In about the year 1910, Cicero and his pals werehanging out around the town of Fuquay Springs,North Carolina, where he lived.


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At the time, widespread apprehension was in the airacross town because there was a wild jackass on theloose and the townsfolk were an itsy bit on edge

and somewhat goosey about it allEven before that, all of Ciceros pals knew that hecould conjure an imitation of a jackass like no other.So, they thought theyd all have a little fun with it,given the tense state of affairs and the spottyjackass sightings.

Now, we dont know how many times Cicero usedthe gag and pulled the Wild Jackass character outfor public consumption and amusement, but we doknow he used the Jackass one time too many!...leading us back to that question:

WHO was the REAL Jackass?

Late one afternoon, right around twilight, when thingsstart to get spooky, Cicero and the gang were downnear the old wooden bridge over the creek onWest Depot Street, with the old diaper factory justup the hill.

One would have to conclude that Cicero was not the

only practical jokester in the crowd, but he was theonly one who could do a spot-on imitation of abraying jackass, so we guess he was drafted to gopark hisself under the bridge with a big stickand wait.


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However many times Cicero and friendshad pulled this trick on someone, it was soon to beThe Last Time!

With his buddies nearby and serving as look-outs,Cicero was probably warming up his windpipes as hestooped down ready to pounce. Pretty soon the guyssaw an elderly lady they recognized, walking down thehill from town where she had come from the grocery,and was struggling with carrying a couple of sacks.

Right when she set foot on the first plankof the bridge, the guys flashed Cicero the go signal,and Cicero waited until she was in the middleof the bridge and he jumped up and hollered:

Hehheeeeeee-hawwwww, heeeeeee-haw!!Cicero was hollering and simultaneously beating

his stick up under the floorboards of the bridge.

The old lady dropped her bags of groceries and frozeup for a minute letting out a holler louder thanCiceros, absolutely convinced that she had steppedright on top of that Wild Jackass, and it was huffingand puffing and trying to break through the planksof that bridge and get her!

Pp-shaw! if she didnt start running and hobbling upthe hill away from that racket as fast as she could andscreaming all the way and then about that time


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chimed in a third set of screams, and it was allthe guys in the low brush busting their collective gut,belly-laughing at the whole scene.

Well, she turned around once she heard all that andrecognized a few of the boys before they could duckdown and hide again.

Merry-making turned into serious business shortlythereafter as the old lady went to the authorities andreported the incident, and then there must have been

some kind of brief investigation as a few of the boysshed seen, once questioned by the law, quickly flippedon Cicero and exposed him as the culprit.Cicero.Busted!Dont that beat all?

Once Cicero was confronted with his mischief,he quickly confessed and was sincerely repentant.

He was taken over to the old lady, who he also knewand she knew him, and profusely apologized to herand was thankful that she had not fallen downand hurt herself or had a heart attack or somethinglike that.

But that did not dispense with the consequences thatCicero knew he was going to have to pay.

The following week, Cicero had a date with a judge in


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The Fuquay Recorders Court, and as Ricky years laterwould say to Lucy, youll gotta lotta splaining todo.

We forgot what Cicero was charged with.Probably it was something like Disturbing the Peaceor Reckless Conduct, but court day cameand Cicero swallowed hard before the Judgewho told him to tell all about his actions last weekdown on Depot Street.

All his friends who had egged him on(wink;wink; as IF Cicero needed any encouragement!)

to pull the Wild Jackass stunt and who had beenthoroughly entertained by it, but conveniently missedtaking the rap for it, were in court with Ciceroto support him during his trial and tribulation.

So, when the Judge pronounced verdict on Cicero-GUILTY!... all his pals pooled their money andpaid the price of admission to The Cicero Showwhich turned out to bea whopping Fine of$ 3 !

So, again, back to that question:

Who was the REAL jack ASS ?


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We have an educated guess

Bully and the Monkey

Bully and the Monkey, we believe, is a storyor the Template of a Tale which has drifted upthrough the mists of time, closely related to theold blood sport ofMonkey-baiting.It contains all of the vital elements in the classic

folktale, such as the Hero and the Villain, the smallerguy besting the bigger guy like in the earlierwell-known story ofJack & the Beanstalk,ThePowers ThatBe brought low with humilityas a Moral Of The Story - all the key ingredientswhich make a folktale timeless


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so, it is possible that Cicero did not fabricate the storyof Bully and the Monkey out of whole cloth,but likely relied on actual events and archetypes

floating around in his mind to construct it.

Whatever the case, Cicero certainly did embellish hisstories and never told them the same way twice.That is for a fact.What would be the fun in repeating, word for word,a tale for an audience to hear, unless you could geta totally different audience every time, but even then

the story teller would eventually get bored, andif Cicero was anything, he surely was NOT boredOR boring.

So, how goes the story of Bully and the Monkey ?

Something like this

Once there was a Bulldog that lived in a town that hada master who was a Bigshot. He was the town fatherand looked up to as The Man and was known to throwhis weight around when he felt like it. His bulldoghe named Bully. Very apropos. The name fit. Bullywas a bulldog and Bully was a bully. Like Master, likedog. Bully was known to walk tall around the town,

too. With Master holding his leash, they both madequite the impressive sight as they strolledthe streets of their village a real Dapper Duo.


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The other dogs and animals in the town would notcross Bully for anything and gave way whenever heneared. They feared mighty Bully. Bully just knew

he was The Stuff. Any contenders to Bullys thronewere swiftly dealt with and vanquished.

If his Master dropped the leash, Bully was steadyready to fight anyone. These hard lessons werelearned and word spread about the fearsome bulldogand the other critters in town all would kowtowto Bully.

So set the scene when one day in the fall of the year,late in the afternoon, a medicine man came rollinginto town on his covered wagon.

The medicine man came to a stop in a small clearingright off the main street and set up his gear to put on a

show to sell his remedies, tonics and sundry things.

Later, after the sun had gone to bed and with a circleof lanterns lit out in front of the wagon, all was readyfor the medicine man to start hawking his wares, andBully and his Master were in the front of the crowdready to watch.

The Medicine Man was a real barker and startedwarming up the crowd when Bully, in the dim light,barely spied a small set of eyes peeking out fromaround the Medicine Man. Bully wondered who that


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could be and sniffing the air, let out a curious little W o o f ?

When the Medicine Man had finished his spiel andwas ready to start accommodating the folks whowanted to buy the different bottles and cans ofmedicine, he pulled out a box organ and strapped itaround his shoulder and started cranking themusic out.

All of a sudden the little pair of beady eyes

that Bully had seen earlier hopped out from aroundthe Medicine Man and there was a little Monkey,dressed to the nines in a felt suit with a spiffyred bellhop hat on his head, held in placeby a chin strap.

Little Monkey started dancing and prancing to the

organ music the Medicine Man was grinding.

The Monkeys job was to entertain the crowd with hisantics and also fetch the medicines that the peoplewere yelling orders for.He would take the medicine to the right person andthen collect the money in a little tin cup.

So little Monkey was making the rounds with hismonkey sounds and hops and flips and flopsall over the grounds.

About that time, Master Man called out his order


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a bottle of bitters for his wife. Little Monkey fetchedthe right bottle and skipped over to The Man inperfect step to the music filling the air.

Little Monkey handed the bottle to The Man and tookthe money and looked over at Bully, who had hislower lip jutting out. For some reason a wry smileslowly appeared on the face of little Monkey.

Little Monkey let out a Heee heee hee eeeeee,it sounded like, just to goad big Bully, in order to

get under his skin. Bully was not impressed one bitand narrowed his eyes and let out a lowGrrrrrrin the back of his throat, with his mouth closed.

Little Monkey got the response he was going for,and then set down his cup and got up real close toBullys face and started bobbing his head up and down

and side to side.

Little Monkey wrinkled up his rubber-like face intoall kinds of gestures and smiles and grimaces andpouts and such. Bully did not like this action at all.

Imagine a silly little Monkey having his way withproud Bully - how Bully must have felt with all eyes

on him and this dinky Monkey goofing on him.

That lowGrrrrin Bullys throat grew into a biggrowl with Bully giving the Monkey a quick flash ofa few of his teeth.


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Little Monkey having free reign, because he was noton a leash like Bully was, just hopped up and did a few

back flips and came all the way up within inches ofBullys face and began to stroke Bullys chin with histhin hands. Oh boy, Bullys temperature was risingnow and all the slack in that leash was shrinkingand the leather rope tightening

Still, Bully could not afford to lose his cool, what withall the other dogs and cats looking on, and with Bully

being the respectable and powerful canine that hewas. Little Monkey sensed this and started turningthe heat on. He tapped Bully on one side of his jowls,and then he tapped him lightly on the other jowl.

Awww, now that was the final straw!

Bully blew his stack and let out a loud snarl,lunging for the Monkey.Bullys leash drew up tight as a Dicks Hat Band,but the Monkey was quick as a mongoose and dodgedBullys feeble attempt to get a piece of him.

Bully had now lost his cool and his dignity and hadtaken The Monkeys Bait.

It was too late to turn back. Bully was committed.The Monkey had soundly disrespected him and nowBully had to defend his honor.


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Bully was bristling and standing stiff at attentionand shining all his teeth at little Monkey, letting outa constant growl. He was just waiting for his Master

to unleash him so he could tear that Monkey to pieces!

Of course, Bullys Master saw what had happenedand if the Medicine Mans Monkey had dishonoredhis dog, then it was the same as if the Medicine Manhad dishonored The Man himself.

The Medicine Show had stopped anyway.

No more festive music. All had ground to a halt.S i l e n c e .There was a nasty face-off about to occur.The crowd picked up on this and the circle grewsmaller and smaller around Bully and the Monkeyas well as The Master and the Medicine Man.

The crowd didnt want to miss a move.

Bullys Master was now ready to do some barkingof his own and he looked the Medicine Mansquare in the eye, warning: Now looky here Mister.You better call off your Monkey or my Bully is goingto rip him up into tiny pieces!

The Medicine Man just grinned slyly and replied:Sir, Id worry about your dog if I should turn myMonkey loose on him. He will make mincemeatout of your Bully!


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The Man, staring in disbelief at this outrageouscomment, bellowed: Why Mister, if I decide

to unhook my Bully from his leash, Ill bet youa Five Dollar Bill that your little Monkey will beno more. Bully will eat him alive!

The Medicine Man looked up with his own wry smile,just about like the grin on his Monkeys face andconfidently responded: Sir, its your money to lose,and its your Bully to lose too so yes,

Ill take your bet!

Without pause, The Master unhooked Bully from histether and the Big Dog charged the little Monkey,ready to bite him in half with One Big Snap-when . . . : : :p o o f!: : :the Monkey disappeared into thin air

by jumping straight up out of Bullys field of vision.

Next thing the crowd saw was the Monkey lightingsquare down on Bullys back, digging his little Monkeyheels into Bullys ribs. Bully went crazy when he feltthe unwelcome rider up on his back!He couldnt stand it!

Bully, worked up into a tizzified blind rage,began bucking like a bronco, trying his best toGet The Monkey Off His Back!The Monkey was having a grand ole time, letting out


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weird jungle sounds and going: Che-che-che-cheee!Little Monkey was now hard-slapping Bully upsideboth sides of his big head. He was fully in control

and driving Bully into an even hotter hissy fit!

All Bully could do was buck up and down and runround and round trying to throw off his tormenter,while grunting Uhh-uh-whuh-uhh!Bully was not having any success.The Monkey was stuck on Bully like glue.

Any bystanders just coming up to the throng of folksthought there was some Otherworldly Wild WestShow or a Rodeo going on, what with the sight ofa little red-suited Monkey with his perky red hat,rough-riding bare-back, a bucking Bull-dog.

My, oh my, what a sight that was to see!

Some in the crowd were cheering:

Ride him, Monkey! Ride that Bully dog out!

No one cheered for Bully.

Bully was a big strong dog, but he was badly out ofshape and was already starting to tire. The Monkeycould see this and he took full advantage of it.


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Even with Bullys constant wriggling and wrangling,the Monkey let loose his heels, and deftly hopped upand around, seated now on Bullys back and facing

his rear end.

Bullys eyes popped-out Big as a Bugwhen the Monkey grabbed a hold of Bullys shortstubby tail, as if realizing what was coming next the little Monkey dug his little Monkey feet deeperinto Bullys sides for support and sunk the clawson his free hand into a Most Tender Area

just below Bullys tail.

Bully let out a YEEEELLLLP!which could be heard in the next county!!

The Monkey had found that sweet spot and he reallynow, really in earnest started working on Bully,

now with both of those little Monkey hands, with theirsharp claws, digging away into Bullys behind.

YEEEEEE Awwwwwllll YOOoowwww elp-elp-elp-elp!! were the thundering yells and moans andgroans as Bully howled out in AGONY!

The Monkey was barely getting his second wind as his

sharp fingernails were furiously digging up and downand scratching sideways and all whicha ways!

He was going to town!! Blood was flying everywhere,


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along with little bits of Bully, even spattering somein the crowd.

Bully bucked harder and harder frantically trying toshake the Monkey, but to no avail.Little Monkey was holding fast with those feet andstill going chee-che-che!as his arms andhands were turning like a locomotortearing up Bullys buttocks!

The crowd stared at Bully as his huge mouth

was wide open and he seemed to be letting outan excruciating scream _____ but no soundwas coming out.

Bully, obviously, was going into SHOCK!

The Master had to intervene and jumped into the ring

and begged the Medicine Man: Mister, PleaseMister, please call your Monkey off my Bully.I am right afraid hes going to kill my Bully. PleaseMister, please stop your Monkey!

The Medicine Man pushed up the brim of his hat anddrawled: Well Sir, I dont know. A bets a bet anda deals a deal.

The Master pleaded: Please Mister, I cant lose mydog. Ill double the bet and pay you a Ten Dollar Billif youll just call off your Monkey!


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The Medicine Man accepted the offer and let outa quick whistle toward the Whirling Dervish inthe middle of the circle. The Monkey obeyed

the command and hopped up and rode Bully aroundthe ring several times standing straight upon Bullys back.

He then bounced off Bully and turned two flips in theair, landed on his little Monkey feet and skipped backinto the darkness surrounding the wagon, all the whilepursing his lips into a round pucker and grunting a

chiding: hoo-hoo-hooooo!

Everyone looked back around to where Bully was lastpositioned and he was gone with the wind!

Bully was no where to be found.

The Man paid the Medicine Man and went outdesperately looking for Bully.He kept whistling and calling out: Bully! Buulllly!Here boy! Cmon, boy!

Bully did not appear as the Master searched the townhigh and low. He looked into all of Bullys favoritespots. No Bully. He kept looking all evening long

and finally towards midnight, he gave upand made his way home.

Tired and dragging himself through the front door,he saw his wife back in the kitchen and asked her:


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Dear, did you happen to see Bully around,anywhere?

His wife called back: Why yes, I was worried whereyall were and was looking out the picture windowand saw him several hours hours ago limping fromthe yard onto the front porch and Im pretty sure hemade his way under the house.

Well, the Master turned around and went backoutside and stooped down at the crawl space

of the house and called out for Bully.He heard a faint woof, wof, mmhmm hmmmmThen he faintly saw Bully laying flat downwhimpering, barely breathing and hardly moving.The Master then inched his way up under the houseand slowly dragged Bully outside and oh Boy!

What an Ugly Mess his Bully was!

Bully needed some kind of fixing up.

The only thing the Master this late at night couldthink to do for to help his precious Bully, was to walkback downtown and find the Medicine Man.He approached the dark wagon and gave a call and the

Medicine Man popped his head out of the curtainholding a kerosene lamp and there was little Monkeysitting up on his shoulder munching a banana.


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The Man gritted his teeth, because he was mightyangry at that Monkey, but swallowed his pride andasked the Medicine Man if he had any liniment

for him to use on his Bully?

The Medicine Man ducked back in and came out witha satchel of cans and said: Why sure Sir, I have justthe trick to fix up your Bully. I usually sell this canof liniment for One Dollar, but Ill let you have itfor Two Dollars.

Daggummit!!, the Master turned three shades of redand threw his hat down on the groundand kicked it away!

The Medicine Man said oh so leisurely:

Take it or leave it.

The Man snapped: Ill take it!

Then, the Medicine Man hesitated and lookedthoughtful and quipped: Sir, my Monkey tore yourBully up so bad, Im sure that one can of linimentis not going to be enough. You better get two.

The Man ripped his wallet out of his coat pocketand shoved Four Dollars in the Medicine Mans handand stomped away!


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It took a long, long time for Bully to heal up,but eventually Bully was seen walking stiffly aroundthe town. He just didnt have the ol Bully traits

anymore.

Bully didnt pick any fights and he would hang hishead low and give way whenever another dogapproached him on the sidewalk.

Bully was just broke down.

It took the better part of a year for Bully to start to feelhis old self again. One blue autumn afternoon, whenBully was out in his Masters front lawn lazing andhalf-way snoozing on the grass, there came a soundin the distance

Bully rolled over and tried to ignore it.

The Sound kept getting louder and Bully finallyperked up and recognized that dreadful drone.

It hit Bully! . . . OHH NOOoo!That was the sound of an Organ Grinder!The Medicine Man and the Monkeywere rolling back into town.

Bully shot up like a rocket, turned in the oppositedirection of the approaching noise, and beat his feetas fast as he could, straight out of town.


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The last anyone saw of Bully was a trail of dustrising up in the distance.

No one ever saw Bully again.

Never, ever again.

Concluding Thoughts&


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Contact Information

Cicero was one of the biggest Cut-Ups

in the Talley family. Today, he might be called aPerformance Artist.

Around about the time Cicero was thirty years of age,he met and married


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Inez Winston(Mother of C. F. Buddy Talley, Jr.and Grandmother of Tom F. Talley) .

She was able to settle Cicero down a little bit, but henever stopped Telling his Tall Tales. We suspecthe mightve wooed Inez with some of his stories.


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The new email

address is:

[email protected]

tall tales of cicero farrar ta

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