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Forms to be Filled out for Each Interview FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
FORM A
Circumstances of Interview
STATE
NAME OF WORKER
ADDRESS
DATE
SUBJECT
New York
Herman Partnow
530 Parkside Avenue,
March 23, 1939
Moo De MUdderland
N.Y.C.
Saul Levitt
27 Hamilton Terrace, N.Y.C.
1. Date and tin. of Interview March 12, 1939. Twelve until two.
2. Place of interview National Maritime Union
21st Street 11th Avenue
New York City
3. Name and address of informant Sergeant -at -arms of NMI, known as Lee.
4. Name and address of person, if any, who put you in
touch with informant.
5. Name and address of person, if any, accompanying you
6. Description of room, house, surroundings, etc.
Union hall entrance.
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, for any of the forms, each
bearing the proper heading and the number to which the material refers.)
FORM C
-Text of Interview (Unedited)
STATE New York
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
NANT OF ‘trORKER Herman Partnow Saul Levitt
ADDRESS 530 Parkside Avenue, N.Y.C.
DATE 2 March 23, 1959
SUBJECT Moo De Mudderland
27 Hamilton Terrace, N.Y.C.
MOO DE MDDDERLAND
I been all ova, see? Nobody in de vourld knows de same as
a sailor. Shoot! I stands up on deck and looks aroun de ocean
an I kin see all troo, troo tousands uv miles an tousands uv
centchirries verytingl Hawahya Shanghai Australia Rio Bombay
de five continints an de seven seas an de two oceans. An unda
de friggin ocean, Atlantis an de los' continints an furder den
dat, de mudderland uv de whole friggin universe, dat island uv
Moo. Shoot, man! All dem places mid anshin histries dat go
back tousands uv years. How ya gonna get em togedder in de
bruddahood uv man?
I been in Shanghai inna native city. Ya life ain't wurt it
ta go out in at native city night time. Right troo de troatl I
seem dem widders standin dere an watchin deir husbinds boin up
alive like rose' chicken. Open ya friggin moat an dey call ya
coward. Dey got a million widders ova dere dat ain't good fer
nuttin dey're untouchables, nobody allowed ta hannle em.
Ya mean ta say ya could sit dere an lookit dat kinds ting?
(In Japan dey do it wid an axe.) Watcha gonna do wit dem people.
Shoot! Four hunnerd fifty million in Japan an tree hunnerd
fifty million in Africa an six hunnerd fifty million in India.
Dey boin em up de same may in India. Dey take out de navel an
traw it inta de Ganjes Riva so it gets reincarnated an it'll
come back ta life stronger den it muz. Cremation, fer Crissake,
de mos sanitery ting in de murld. Ye believe in at custom2 A
girl's gonna die, dey put pepper in or eyes an nail or hans
down mid spikes. Why? far Crissake. She goes ta her deat mid
out a murmer. Customs, fez- Crissake. I muz in Parliamin ova
dare, I muz in de obsurva section. Deywuz tryin ta boost de
friggin age limit 14 insteada 12. Wotta howl! Neva, by de
Holy Booda, it's agin de tridishins, ya let de girls wait all
dat time ta git married an dey goet polluted. Customs! A
dame's givin bur -0 dey shut or up inna dark room so she doan
get fever.
Shoot! Ye go an ship dam Hindoos ta England for an edjication
an dey comes back lookin fez- a job from de .ubbermin, dey're reddy
ta spit on deir own people. Dat Hindoo in Calcutta, e comes back
an eats de officials fez- a job. If ya doan give it to me, e sez,
I'm gonna kill myself. Shoot, he out is troat de nox day. None
a die friain highbrow stuff far de few. I sez, Sen em all ta
grammar school or ya nova gonna bust dam tridishins. Why dey're
trained dat way troo tousands uv years. Take ova dere in China,
if yer hard up ya goes mid ya daughta ta de gubbimin an sells
er for a tousan ye, ya puts er in de whoore house ta pay off de
mortgage. Ever hear a dam Geesha girls? Dey're de mos sanitery
whoores in de murld. Shoot! Ye put yer arm aroun dem why
deir skin's like silk. Big eyes. Face like peaches. Dam girls
is clean troo an troo, dey gives it ta ya straight an no bull,
7
4110,0•1.
ya know vot yLr gettin. I got pitchas a dem home. Dolls, fer
Crissake. I show em ta my wife makes or wanna tear em up, she
gets so jealous. Ye can' manifatcha dames like dat ovanight,
takes centchirries ta make am day way. Like Pompeii da pitchas
ova dere, de phallic wurship. Cris! All dam vanisht wurlds.
Greece an Rome an Egyp an all den places. De rest uv us is like
nuttin compared to all den centchirries. Like den an, Moo de
MUdderland, de same way. Why shoot' Dat island uv Alantis,
dat's oney a los' colony uv Moo dat all de people uv de wurld
come from, includin de frigLin Aryans. Dat's vot I sez wid
a few prufessers. Dat's histry, ya can' dispute it. Dey find
oysta shells on toppa de Himilayas. Why? fer Chrissakes? Ya
gotta become a prufesser ta know? Gas belts. Dat lava dat's
shootin from Vescovius ova in Italy dat comes from de gasbelts
runnin unna de ocean all de way from Moo. Shoots Dey gone down
inn* ocean an seen em down dere wid deir flashlights. Dey seen
bases in Egyp' dat come all dey way from Greece dat wuz one a
de los' colonies. If ya kin read de writin on em stones in
Greece, dat's where it's proved about Moo. Ya gotta read it
ass backward. All a den wuz part uv Moo, de whole buncha den
wuz oney colonies uv Moo dat Vanisht.
Dat's wot's bounna happen ta de whole friggin wurld, for
Crissake, if ya doan hurry up an establish de bruddahood uv
man. All dam refigees dat's shippin ova here gotta stay in de
place dey wuz born in an fight deir friggin Hitler. Ya tink
den fashists come ova here I'm gonna ship out like some friggin
coward? Stand me up against a wall an shoot me down, I ain't
shippin out ta no place, I'm stayin right here in dis place
an fight like hell. De same widda rest uv de wurld. Den high-
brow Hindoos dat go off ta England gotta stay inland in de
villages instead a hangin aroun de big cities fez' a job from
de eubbimin. Dey gotta stay dere and help de people fight
deir friggin Hitlers. Den dey kin get togedda in de bruddahood
uv man. If dey don't or shoot! De whole wurld's gonna go back
ta Moo de Mudderland an vanish in de friggin ocean.