Читать книгу Chains and Freedom: or, The Life and Adventures of Peter Wheeler, a Colored Man Yet Living онлайн

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P. “Oh? yis, Sir, I had the handlin’ of the victuals, and I had my fill, I tell ye.”

A. “Did you ever go to school, Peter?”

P. “Yis, Sir, I went one day when John was sick in his place, and that was the only day I ever went, in all my life, and I larned my A, B, C’s through, both ways, and never forgot ’em arter that.”

A. “Well, did you ever meet with any accidents?”

P. “Why, it’s a wonder I’m alive, I’ve had so many wonderful escapes. When I was ’bout ten year old, Master had a beautiful horse, only he was as wild as a pain’ter, and so one day when he was gone away, I and John gits him out, and he puts me on, and ties my legs under his belly, so I shouldn’t git flung off, and he run, and snorted, and broke the string, and pitched me off, and enemost broke my head, and if my skull hadn’t a been pretty thick, I guess he would; and I didn’t get well in almost six weeks.” Another thing I think on, Master had some of these ’ere old-fashioned long-eared and long-legged hogs, and he used to turn ’em out, like other folks, in a big wood nearby, and when they was growed up, fetch ’em and pen ’em up, and fat ’em; and so Master fetched home two that was dreadful wild, and they had tushes so long, and put ’em in a pen to fat. Well, his oldest son gits over in the pen one day to clean out the trough, and one on ’em put arter him, and oh! how he bawled, and run to git out; I heard him, and run and reached over the pen, and catched hold on him, and tried to lift him out; but the old feller had got hold of his leg, and took out a whole mouthful, and then let go; and I pulled like a good feller, and got him most over, but the old sarpent got hold of my hand, and bit it through and through, and there’s the scar yit.”