-
Главная
-
- Книги
-
- Авторы
-
- Соломон Нортап
-
- Двенадцать лет рабства
-
- Стр. 63/98
Для того чтобы воспользоваться озвучкой предложений, необходимо
Войти или зарегистрироваться
Озвучка предложений доступна при наличии PRO-доступа
Купить PRO-доступ
"
Platt
,
you
lying
nigger
,
have
I
?
"
was
his
brazen
appeal
to
me
.
It
is
not
safe
to
contradict
a
master
,
even
by
the
assertion
of
a
truth
.
So
I
was
silent
,
and
when
he
entered
the
house
I
returned
to
the
field
,
and
the
affair
was
never
after
alluded
to
.
Shortly
after
this
time
a
circumstance
occurred
that
came
nigh
divulging
the
secret
of
my
real
name
and
history
,
which
I
had
so
long
and
carefully
concealed
,
and
upon
which
I
was
convinced
depended
my
final
escape
.
Soon
after
he
purchased
me
,
Epps
asked
me
if
I
could
write
and
read
,
and
on
being
informed
that
I
had
received
some
instruction
in
those
branches
of
education
,
he
assured
me
,
with
emphasis
,
if
he
ever
caught
me
with
a
book
,
or
with
pen
and
ink
,
he
would
give
me
a
hundred
lashes
.
He
said
he
wanted
me
to
understand
that
he
bought
"
niggers
"
to
work
and
not
to
educate
.
He
never
inquired
a
word
of
my
past
life
,
or
from
whence
I
came
.
The
mistress
,
however
,
cross-examined
me
frequently
about
Washington
,
which
she
supposed
was
my
native
city
,
and
more
than
once
remarked
that
I
did
not
talk
nor
act
like
the
other
"
niggers
,
"
and
she
was
sure
I
had
seen
more
of
the
world
than
I
admitted
.
My
great
object
always
was
to
invent
means
of
getting
a
letter
secretly
into
the
post-office
,
directed
to
some
of
my
friends
or
family
at
the
North
.
The
difficulty
of
such
an
achievement
can
not
be
comprehended
by
one
unacquainted
with
the
severe
restrictions
imposed
upon
me
.
In
the
first
place
,
I
was
deprived
of
pen
,
ink
,
and
paper
.
In
the
second
place
,
a
slave
can
not
leave
his
plantation
without
a
pass
,
nor
will
a
post-master
mail
a
letter
for
one
without
written
instructions
from
his
owner
.
I
was
in
slavery
nine
years
,
and
always
watchful
and
on
the
alert
,
before
I
met
with
the
good
fortune
of
obtaining
a
sheet
of
paper
.
While
Epps
was
in
New-Orleans
,
one
winter
,
disposing
of
his
cotton
,
the
mistress
sent
me
to
Holmesville
,
with
an
order
for
several
articles
,
and
among
the
rest
a
quantity
of
foolscap
.
I
appropriated
a
sheet
,
concealing
it
in
the
cabin
,
under
the
board
on
which
I
slept
.
After
various
experiments
I
succeeded
in
making
ink
,
by
boiling
white
maple
bark
,
and
with
a
feather
plucked
from
the
wing
of
a
duck
,
manufactured
a
pen
.
When
all
were
asleep
in
the
cabin
,
by
the
light
of
the
coals
,
lying
upon
my
plank
couch
,
I
managed
to
complete
a
somewhat
lengthy
epistle
.
It
was
directed
to
an
old
acquaintance
at
Sandy
Hill
,
stating
my
condition
,
and
urging
him
to
take
measures
to
restore
me
to
liberty
.
This
letter
I
kept
a
long
time
,
contriving
measures
by
which
it
could
be
safely
deposited
in
the
post-office
.
At
length
,
a
low
fellow
,
by
the
name
of
Armsby
,
hitherto
a
stranger
,
came
into
the
neighborhood
,
seeking
a
situation
as
overseer
.
He
applied
to
Epps
,
and
was
about
the
plantation
for
several
days
.
He
next
went
over
to
Shaw
's
,
near
by
,
and
remained
with
him
several
weeks
.
Shaw
was
generally
surrounded
by
such
worthless
characters
,
being
himself
noted
as
a
gambler
and
unprincipled
man
.
He
had
made
a
wife
of
his
slave
Charlotte
,
and
a
brood
of
young
mulattoes
were
growing
up
in
his
house
.
Armsby
became
so
much
reduced
at
last
,
that
he
was
compelled
to
labor
with
the
slaves
.
A
white
man
working
in
the
field
is
a
rare
and
unusual
spectacle
on
Bayou
Bœuf
.
I
improved
every
opportunity
of
cultivating
his
acquaintance
privately
,
desiring
to
obtain
his
confidence
so
far
as
to
be
willing
to
intrust
the
letter
to
his
keeping
.
He
visited
Marksville
repeatedly
,
he
informed
me
,
a
town
some
twenty
miles
distant
,
and
there
,
I
proposed
to
myself
,
the
letter
should
be
mailed
.
Carefully
deliberating
on
the
most
proper
manner
of
approaching
him
on
the
subject
,
I
concluded
finally
to
ask
him
simply
if
he
would
deposit
a
letter
for
me
in
the
Marksville
post-office
the
next
time
he
visited
that
place
,
without
disclosing
to
him
that
the
letter
was
written
,
or
any
of
the
particulars
it
contained
;
for
I
had
fears
that
he
might
betray
me
,
and
knew
that
some
inducement
must
be
held
out
to
him
of
a
pecuniary
nature
,
before
it
would
be
safe
to
confide
in
him
.
As
late
as
one
o'clock
one
night
I
stole
noiselessly
from
my
cabin
,
and
,
crossing
the
field
to
Shaw
's
,
found
him
sleeping
on
the
piazza
.
I
had
but
a
few
picayunes
--
the
proceeds
of
my
fiddling
performances
,
but
all
I
had
in
the
world
I
promised
him
if
he
would
do
me
the
favor
required
.
I
begged
him
not
to
expose
me
if
he
could
not
grant
the
request
.
He
assured
me
,
upon
his
honor
,
he
would
deposit
it
in
the
Marksville
post-office
,
and
that
he
would
keep
it
an
inviolable
secret
forever
.
Though
the
letter
was
in
my
pocket
at
the
time
,
I
dared
not
then
deliver
it
to
him
,
but
stating
I
would
have
it
written
in
a
day
or
two
,
bade
him
good
night
,
and
returned
to
my
cabin
.
It
was
impossible
for
me
to
expel
the
suspicions
I
entertained
,
and
all
night
I
lay
awake
,
revolving
in
my
mind
the
safest
course
to
pursue
.
I
was
willing
to
risk
a
great
deal
to
accomplish
my
purpose
,
but
should
the
letter
by
any
means
fall
into
the
hands
of
Epps
,
it
would
be
a
death-blow
to
my
aspirations
.
I
was
"
perplexed
in
the
extreme
.
"
My
suspicions
were
well-founded
,
as
the
sequel
demonstrated
.
The
next
day
but
one
,
while
scraping
cotton
in
the
field
,
Epps
seated
himself
on
the
line
fence
between
Shaw
's
plantation
and
his
own
,
in
such
a
position
as
to
overlook
the
scene
of
our
labors
.
Presently
Armsby
made
his
appearance
,
and
,
mounting
the
fence
,
took
a
seat
beside
him
.
They
remained
two
or
three
hours
,
all
of
which
time
I
was
in
an
agony
of
apprehension
.
