La case de l'oncle Tom
A book de Harriet Beecher Stowe.
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CHAPITRE PREMIER.
VOLUME I
Où le lecteur fait connaissance avec un homme vraiment humain.
CHAPTER I In Which the Reader Is Introduced to a Man of Humanity
Vers le soir d' une froide journée de février, deux gentlemen étaient assis devant une bouteille vide, dans une salle à manger confortablement meublée de la ville de P..., dans le Kentucky. Pas de domestiques autour d' eux: les siéges étaient fort rapprochés, et les deux gentlemen semblaient discuter quelque question d' un vif intérêt.
Late in the afternoon of a chilly day in February, two gentlemen were sitting alone over their wine, in a well-furnished dining parlor, in the town of P——, in Kentucky. There were no servants present, and the gentlemen, with chairs closely approaching, seemed to be discussing some subject with great earnestness.
C' est par politesse que nous avons employé jusqu' ici le mot de _gentlemen_[1 ]. Un de ces deux hommes, quand on l' examinait avec attention, ne paraissait pas mériter cette qualification: il n' avait vraiment pas la mine d' un gentleman. Il était court et épais; ses traits étaient grossiers et communs; son air à la fois prétentieux et insolent révélait l' homme d' une condition inférieure voulant se pousser dans le monde et faire sa route en jouant des coudes. Il avait une mise exagérée: gilet brillant et de toutes couleurs, cravate bleue semée de points jaunes, et noeud pimpant, tout à fait en harmonie avec l' aspect du personnage. Ses mains, courtes et larges, étaient surabondamment ornées d' anneaux. Il portait une massive chaîne de montre en or, avec une grappe de breloques gigantesques; il avait l' habitude, dans l' ardeur de la conversation, de les faire sonner et retentir avec des marques de vive satisfaction. Sa conversation était un défi audacieux jeté sans cesse à la grammaire de Muray; il avait soin de temps en temps de la munir de termes assez profanes, que notre vif désir d' être exact ne nous permet cependant point de rapporter.
For convenience sake, we have said, hitherto, two _gentlemen_. One of the parties, however, when critically examined, did not seem, strictly speaking, to come under the species. He was a short, thick-set man, with coarse, commonplace features, and that swaggering air of pretension which marks a low man who is trying to elbow his way upward in the world. He was much over-dressed, in a gaudy vest of many colors, a blue neckerchief, bedropped gayly with yellow spots, and arranged with a flaunting tie, quite in keeping with the general air of the man. His hands, large and coarse, were plentifully bedecked with rings; and he wore a heavy gold watch-chain, with a bundle of seals of portentous size, and a great variety of colors, attached to it,—which, in the ardor of conversation, he was in the habit of flourishing and jingling with evident satisfaction. His conversation was in free and easy defiance of Murray’s Grammar,[1] and was garnished at convenient intervals with various profane expressions, which not even the desire to be graphic in our account shall induce us to transcribe.
[1] English Grammar (1795), by Lindley Murray (1745-1826), the most authoritative American grammarian of his day.
His companion, Mr. Shelby, had the appearance of a gentleman; and the arrangements of the house, and the general air of the housekeeping, indicated easy, and even opulent circumstances. As we before stated, the two were in the midst of an earnest conversation.
“That is the way I should arrange the matter,” said Mr. Shelby.
“I can’t make trade that way—I positively can’t, Mr. Shelby,” said the other, holding up a glass of wine between his eye and the light.
“Why, the fact is, Haley, Tom is an uncommon fellow; he is certainly worth that sum anywhere,—steady, honest, capable, manages my whole farm like a clock.”
“You mean honest, as niggers go,” said Haley, helping himself to a glass of brandy.
-- Non, je veux dire réellement honnête, rangé, sensible et pieux. Il doit sa religion à une mission ambulante[2 ], qui passait il y a quatre ans par ici; je crois sa religion vraie. Je lui ai confié depuis tout ce que j' ai, argent, maison, chevaux; je le laisse aller et venir dans le pays; toujours et partout je l' ai trouvé exact et fidèle.
“No; I mean, really, Tom is a good, steady, sensible, pious fellow. He got religion at a camp-meeting, four years ago; and I believe he really _did_ get it. I’ve trusted him, since then, with everything I have,—money, house, horses,—and let him come and go round the country; and I always found him true and square in everything.”
-- Il y a des gens, fit Haley avec un geste naïf, qui ne croient pas que les nègres soient véritablement religieux; pour moi, je le crois: dans un des derniers lots que j' ai eus à Orléans, je suis tombé sur un individu--une bonne rencontre--si doux, si paisible ! c' était un plaisir de l' entendre prier. Il m' a rapporté une somme assez ronde.... Je l' achetai bon marché d' un homme qui était obligé de vendre; j' ai réalisé avec lui six cents[3 ]. Oui, j' estime que la religion est une bonne chose dans un nègre, quand l' article n' est pas falsifié....
“Some folks don’t believe there is pious niggers Shelby,” said Haley, with a candid flourish of his hand, “but _I do_. I had a fellow, now, in this yer last lot I took to Orleans—‘t was as good as a meetin, now, really, to hear that critter pray; and he was quite gentle and quiet like. He fetched me a good sum, too, for I bought him cheap of a man that was ’bliged to sell out; so I realized six hundred on him. Yes, I consider religion a valeyable thing in a nigger, when it’s the genuine article, and no mistake.”
[ 3 ] _Six cents dollars._ Quand les Américains ne nomment pas leur monnaie, ils sous-entendent le dollar. Le dollar est le sesterce américain. (_Note du traducteur._ )
-- Eh bien ! reprit l' autre, Tom est vraiment l' article non falsifié. Dernièrement je l' ai envoyé à Cincinnati, seul, pour faire mes affaires et me rapporter cinq cents dollars. « Tom, lui dis -je, j' ai confiance en vous, parce que vous êtes chrétien.... Je sais que vous ne me volerez pas. » Tom revint; j' en étais sûr.... Quelques misérables lui dirent: « Tom ! pourquoi ne fuis -tu pas ?... Va au Canada !... -- Ah ! je ne puis pas, répondit -il.... Mon maître a eu confiance en moi ! » -- On m' a redit ça ! Je suis fâché de me séparer de Tom, je dois l' avouer.... Allons ! ce sera la balance de notre compte, Haley.... Ce sera cela.... si vous avez un peu de conscience.
“Well, Tom’s got the real article, if ever a fellow had,” rejoined the other. “Why, last fall, I let him go to Cincinnati alone, to do business for me, and bring home five hundred dollars. ‘Tom,’ says I to him, ‘I trust you, because I think you’re a Christian—I know you wouldn’t cheat.’ Tom comes back, sure enough; I knew he would. Some low fellows, they say, said to him—Tom, why don’t you make tracks for Canada?’ ’Ah, master trusted me, and I couldn’t,’—they told me about it. I am sorry to part with Tom, I must say. You ought to let him cover the whole balance of the debt; and you would, Haley, if you had any conscience.”
-- J' ai autant de conscience qu' un homme d' affaires puisse en avoir pour jurer dessus, dit le marchand en manière de plaisanterie, et je suis prêt à faire tout ce qui est raisonnable pour obliger mes amis.... mais les temps sont durs, vraiment trop durs. » ~~~ Le marchand poussa quelques soupirs de componction,... et se versa une nouvelle rasade d' eau-de-vie.
“Well, I’ve got just as much conscience as any man in business can afford to keep,—just a little, you know, to swear by, as ’t were,” said the trader, jocularly; “and, then, I’m ready to do anything in reason to ’blige friends; but this yer, you see, is a leetle too hard on a fellow—a leetle too hard.” The trader sighed contemplatively, and poured out some more brandy.
“Well, then, Haley, how will you trade?” said Mr. Shelby, after an uneasy interval of silence.
“Well, haven’t you a boy or gal that you could throw in with Tom?”
“Hum!—none that I could well spare; to tell the truth, it’s only hard necessity makes me willing to sell at all. I don’t like parting with any of my hands, that’s a fact.”
A ce moment la porte s' ouvrit, et un enfant quarteron, de quatre ou cinq ans, entra dans la salle. Il était remarquablement beau et d' une physionomie charmante. Sa chevelure noire, fine comme un duvet de soie, pendait en boucles brillantes autour d' un visage arrondi et tout creusé de fossettes; deux grands yeux noirs, pleins de douceur et de feu, dardaient le regard à travers de longs cils épais. Il regarda curieusement dans l' appartement. Il portait une belle robe de tartan jaune et écarlate, faite avec soin et ajustée de façon à mettre en saillie tous les caractères particuliers de sa beauté de mulâtre; ajoutez à cela un certain air d' assurance comique, mêlée de grâce familière, qui montrait assez que c' était là le favori très-gâté de son maître.
Here the door opened, and a small quadroon boy, between four and five years of age, entered the room. There was something in his appearance remarkably beautiful and engaging. His black hair, fine as floss silk, hung in glossy curls about his round, dimpled face, while a pair of large dark eyes, full of fire and softness, looked out from beneath the rich, long lashes, as he peered curiously into the apartment. A gay robe of scarlet and yellow plaid, carefully made and neatly fitted, set off to advantage the dark and rich style of his beauty; and a certain comic air of assurance, blended with bashfulness, showed that he had been not unused to being petted and noticed by his master.
“Hulloa, Jim Crow!” said Mr. Shelby, whistling, and snapping a bunch of raisins towards him, “pick that up, now!”
The child scampered, with all his little strength, after the prize, while his master laughed.
“Come here, Jim Crow,” said he. The child came up, and the master patted the curly head, and chucked him under the chin.
« Maintenant, Jim, montre à ce gentleman comme tu sais danser et chanter.... » L' enfant commença une de ces chansons grotesques et sauvages, assez communes chez les nègres. Sa voix était claire et d' un timbre sonore. Il accompagnait son chant de mouvements vraiment comiques, de ses mains, de ses pieds, de tout son corps. Tous ces mouvements se mesuraient exactement au rhythme de la chanson.
“Now, Jim, show this gentleman how you can dance and sing.” The boy commenced one of those wild, grotesque songs common among the negroes, in a rich, clear voice, accompanying his singing with many comic evolutions of the hands, feet, and whole body, all in perfect time to the music.
“Bravo!” said Haley, throwing him a quarter of an orange.
-- Maintenant, Jim, marche comme le vieux père Cudjox, quand il a son rhumatisme. »
“Now, Jim, walk like old Uncle Cudjoe, when he has the rheumatism,” said his master.
A l' instant les membres flexibles de l' enfant se déjetèrent et se déformèrent. Une bosse s' éleva entre ses épaules, et, le bâton de son maître à la main, mimant la vieillesse douloureuse sur son visage d' enfant, il boita par la chambre, en trébuchant de droite à gauche comme un octogénaire.
Instantly the flexible limbs of the child assumed the appearance of deformity and distortion, as, with his back humped up, and his master’s stick in his hand, he hobbled about the room, his childish face drawn into a doleful pucker, and spitting from right to left, in imitation of an old man.
Les deux hommes riaient aux éclats.
Both gentlemen laughed uproariously.
“Now, Jim,” said his master, “show us how old Elder Robbins leads the psalm.” The boy drew his chubby face down to a formidable length, and commenced toning a psalm tune through his nose, with imperturbable gravity.
“Hurrah! bravo! what a young ’un!” said Haley; “that chap’s a case, I’ll promise. Tell you what,” said he, suddenly clapping his hand on Mr. Shelby’s shoulder, “fling in that chap, and I’ll settle the business—I will. Come, now, if that ain’t doing the thing up about the rightest!”
At this moment, the door was pushed gently open, and a young quadroon woman, apparently about twenty-five, entered the room.
C' était le même oeil, noir et brillant, un oeil aux longs cils. C' était la même abondance de cheveux noirs et soyeux.... On voyait courir le sang sous sa peau brune, qui prit une teinte plus foncée quand elle aperçut le regard de l' étranger fixé sur elle avec une sorte d' admiration hardie, qui ne prenait pas même la peine de se cacher. Sa mise, d' une irréprochable propreté, laissait ressortir toute la beauté de sa taille élégante. Elle avait la main délicate; ses pieds étroits et ses fines chevilles ne pouvaient échapper à l' investigation rapide du marchand, habitué à parcourir d' un seul regard tous les attraits d' une femme.
There needed only a glance from the child to her, to identify her as its mother. There was the same rich, full, dark eye, with its long lashes; the same ripples of silky black hair. The brown of her complexion gave way on the cheek to a perceptible flush, which deepened as she saw the gaze of the strange man fixed upon her in bold and undisguised admiration. Her dress was of the neatest possible fit, and set off to advantage her finely moulded shape;—a delicately formed hand and a trim foot and ankle were items of appearance that did not escape the quick eye of the trader, well used to run up at a glance the points of a fine female article.
“Well, Eliza?” said her master, as she stopped and looked hesitatingly at him.
“I was looking for Harry, please, sir;” and the boy bounded toward her, showing his spoils, which he had gathered in the skirt of his robe.
“Well, take him away then,” said Mr. Shelby; and hastily she withdrew, carrying the child on her arm.
“By Jupiter,” said the trader, turning to him in admiration, “there’s an article, now! You might make your fortune on that ar gal in Orleans, any day. I’ve seen over a thousand, in my day, paid down for gals not a bit handsomer.”
“I don’t want to make my fortune on her,” said Mr. Shelby, dryly; and, seeking to turn the conversation, he uncorked a bottle of fresh wine, and asked his companion’s opinion of it.
“Capital, sir,—first chop!” said the trader; then turning, and slapping his hand familiarly on Shelby’s shoulder, he added— ~~~ “Come, how will you trade about the gal?—what shall I say for her—what’ll you take?”
“Mr. Haley, she is not to be sold,” said Shelby. “My wife would not part with her for her weight in gold.”
“Ay, ay! women always say such things, cause they ha’nt no sort of calculation. Just show ’em how many watches, feathers, and trinkets, one’s weight in gold would buy, and that alters the case, _I_ reckon.”
“I tell you, Haley, this must not be spoken of; I say no, and I mean no,” said Shelby, decidedly.
“Well, you’ll let me have the boy, though,” said the trader; “you must own I’ve come down pretty handsomely for him.”
“What on earth can you want with the child?” said Shelby.
-- Eh mais, j' ai un ami qui s' occupe de cette branche de commerce. Il a besoin de beaux enfants qu' il achète pour les revendre. Ce sont des articles de fantaisie: les riches y mettent le prix. Dans les grandes maisons, on veut un beau garçon pour ouvrir la porte, pour servir, pour attendre. Ils rapportent une bonne somme. Ce petit diable, musicien et comédien, fera tout à fait l' affaire.
“Why, I’ve got a friend that’s going into this yer branch of the business—wants to buy up handsome boys to raise for the market. Fancy articles entirely—sell for waiters, and so on, to rich ’uns, that can pay for handsome ’uns. It sets off one of yer great places—a real handsome boy to open door, wait, and tend. They fetch a good sum; and this little devil is such a comical, musical concern, he’s just the article!’
“I would rather not sell him,” said Mr. Shelby, thoughtfully; “the fact is, sir, I’m a humane man, and I hate to take the boy from his mother, sir.”
-- En vérité ! Oui.... le cri de la nature.... je vous comprends: il y a des moments où les femmes sont très-fâcheuses.... j' ai toujours détesté leurs cris, leurs lamentations.... c' est tout à fait déplaisant.... mais je m' y prends généralement de manière à les éviter, monsieur: faites disparaître la fille un jour.... ou une semaine, et l' affaire se fera tranquillement. Ce sera fini avant qu' elle revienne.... Votre femme peut lui donner des boucles d' oreilles, une robe neuve ou quelque autre bagatelle pour en avoir raison.
“O, you do?—La! yes—something of that ar natur. I understand, perfectly. It is mighty onpleasant getting on with women, sometimes, I al’ays hates these yer screechin,’ screamin’ times. They are _mighty_ onpleasant; but, as I manages business, I generally avoids ’em, sir. Now, what if you get the girl off for a day, or a week, or so; then the thing’s done quietly,—all over before she comes home. Your wife might get her some ear-rings, or a new gown, or some such truck, to make up with her.”
-- Que Dieu vous écoute donc !
“I’m afraid not.”
-- Ces créatures ne sont pas comme la chair blanche, vous savez bien; on leur remonte le moral en les dirigeant bien. On dit maintenant, continua Haley en prenant un air candide et un ton confidentiel, que ce genre de commerce endurcit le coeur; mais je n' ai jamais trouvé cela. Le fait est que je ne voudrais pas faire ce que font certaines gens. J' en ai vu qui arrachaient violemment un enfant des bras de sa mère pour le vendre.... elle cependant, la pauvre femme, criait comme une folle.... C' est là un bien mauvais système.... il détériore la marchandise, et parfois la rend complétement impropre à son usage.... J' ai connu jadis, à la Nouvelle-Orléans, une fille véritablement belle, qui fut complétement perdue par suite de tels traitements.... L' individu qui l' achetait n' avait que faire de son enfant.... Quand son sang était un peu excité, c' était une vraie femme de race: elle tenait son enfant dans ses bras.... elle marchait.... elle parlait.... c' était terrible à voir ! Rien que d' y penser, cela me fait courir le sang tout froid dans les veines. Ils lui arrachèrent donc son enfant et la garrottèrent.... Elle devint folle furieuse et mourut dans la semaine.... Perte nette de mille dollars, et cela par manque de prudence.... et voilà ! Il vaut toujours mieux être humain, monsieur; c' est ce que m' apprend mon expérience. »
“Lor bless ye, yes! These critters ain’t like white folks, you know; they gets over things, only manage right. Now, they say,” said Haley, assuming a candid and confidential air, “that this kind o’ trade is hardening to the feelings; but I never found it so. Fact is, I never could do things up the way some fellers manage the business. I’ve seen ’em as would pull a woman’s child out of her arms, and set him up to sell, and she screechin’ like mad all the time;—very bad policy—damages the article—makes ’em quite unfit for service sometimes. I knew a real handsome gal once, in Orleans, as was entirely ruined by this sort o’ handling. The fellow that was trading for her didn’t want her baby; and she was one of your real high sort, when her blood was up. I tell you, she squeezed up her child in her arms, and talked, and went on real awful. It kinder makes my blood run cold to think of ’t; and when they carried off the child, and locked her up, she jest went ravin’ mad, and died in a week. Clear waste, sir, of a thousand dollars, just for want of management,—there’s where ’t is. It’s always best to do the humane thing, sir; that’s been _my_ experience.” And the trader leaned back in his chair, and folded his arm, with an air of virtuous decision, apparently considering himself a second Wilberforce.
Le marchand se renversa dans son fauteuil et croisa ses bras avec tous les signes d' une vertu inébranlable, se considérant sans doute comme un second Villeberforce.... Le sujet intéressait au plus haut degré l' honorable gentleman; car, pendant que M. Shelby, tout pensif, enlevait la peau d' une orange, Haley reprit avec une modestie convenable, mais comme s' il eût été poussé par la force de la vérité:
The subject appeared to interest the gentleman deeply; for while Mr. Shelby was thoughtfully peeling an orange, Haley broke out afresh, with becoming diffidence, but as if actually driven by the force of truth to say a few words more.
« Je ne pense pas qu' un homme doive se louer lui-même; mais je le dis, parce que c' est la vérité.... je crois que je passe pour avoir les plus beaux troupeaux de nègres qu' on ait amenés ici.... du moins on le dit.... Ils sont en bon état, gras, bien portants, et j' en perds aussi peu que quelque négociant que ce soit. Je le dois à ma manière d' agir, monsieur. L' humanité, monsieur, je puis le dire, est la base de ma conduite ! »
“It don’t look well, now, for a feller to be praisin’ himself; but I say it jest because it’s the truth. I believe I’m reckoned to bring in about the finest droves of niggers that is brought in,—at least, I’ve been told so; if I have once, I reckon I have a hundred times,—all in good case,—fat and likely, and I lose as few as any man in the business. And I lays it all to my management, sir; and humanity, sir, I may say, is the great pillar of _my_ management.”
Mr. Shelby did not know what to say, and so he said, “Indeed!”
“Now, I’ve been laughed at for my notions, sir, and I’ve been talked to. They an’t pop’lar, and they an’t common; but I stuck to ’em, sir; I’ve stuck to ’em, and realized well on ’em; yes, sir, they have paid their passage, I may say,” and the trader laughed at his joke.
Et le marchand se mit à rire de sa plaisanterie. ~~~ Il y avait quelque chose de si piquant et de si original dans ces démonstrations d' humanité, que M. Shelby lui-même ne put s' empêcher de rire.... Peut-être riez -vous aussi, cher lecteur; mais vous savez que l' humanité revêt chaque jour d' étranges et nouvelles formes, et qu' il n' y aura pas de fin aux stupidités de la race humaine.... en paroles et en actions.
There was something so piquant and original in these elucidations of humanity, that Mr. Shelby could not help laughing in company. Perhaps you laugh too, dear reader; but you know humanity comes out in a variety of strange forms now-a-days, and there is no end to the odd things that humane people will say and do.
Le rire de M. Shelby encouragea le marchand à continuer.
Mr. Shelby’s laugh encouraged the trader to proceed.
« C' est étrange, en vérité; mais je n' ai pas pu fourrer cela dans la tête des gens. Il y avait, voyez -vous, Tom Liker, mon ancien associé chez les Natchez: c' était un habile garçon; seulement, avec les nègres, ce Tom était un vrai diable. Il fallait que chez lui ce fût un principe, car je n' ai pas connu un plus tendre coeur parmi ceux qui mangent le pain du bon Dieu. J' avais l' habitude de lui dire:--Eh bien, Tom, quand ces filles sont tristes et qu' elles pleurent, quelle est donc cette façon de leur donner des coups de poing ou de les frapper sur la tête ? C' est ridicule, et cela ne fait jamais bien. Leurs cris ne font pas de mal, lui disais -je encore: c' est la nature ! et, si la nature n' est pas satisfaite d' un côté, elle le sera de l' autre. De plus, Tom, lui disais -je encore, vous détériorez ces filles; elles tombent malades et quelquefois deviennent laides, particulièrement les jaunes: c' est le diable pour les faire revenir.... Ne pouvez -vous donc les amadouer.... leur parler doucement ? Comptez là-dessus, Tom ! un peu d' humanité fait plus de profit que vos brutalités et vos coups de poing; on en recueille la récompense. Comptez -y, Tom ! -- Tom ne put parvenir à gagner cela sur lui; il me gâta tant de marchandise que je fus obligé de rompre avec lui, quoique ce fût un bien bon coeur et une main habile en affaires.
“It’s strange, now, but I never could beat this into people’s heads. Now, there was Tom Loker, my old partner, down in Natchez; he was a clever fellow, Tom was, only the very devil with niggers,—on principle ’t was, you see, for a better hearted feller never broke bread; ’t was his _system_, sir. I used to talk to Tom. ‘Why, Tom,’ I used to say, ‘when your gals takes on and cry, what’s the use o’ crackin on’ ’em over the head, and knockin’ on ’em round? It’s ridiculous,’ says I, ‘and don’t do no sort o’ good. Why, I don’t see no harm in their cryin’,’ says I; ’it’s natur,’ says I, ‘and if natur can’t blow off one way, it will another. Besides, Tom,’ says I, ‘it jest spiles your gals; they get sickly, and down in the mouth; and sometimes they gets ugly,—particular yallow gals do,—and it’s the devil and all gettin’ on ’em broke in. Now,’ says I, ‘why can’t you kinder coax ’em up, and speak ’em fair? Depend on it, Tom, a little humanity, thrown in along, goes a heap further than all your jawin’ and crackin’; and it pays better,’ says I, ‘depend on ’t.’ But Tom couldn’t get the hang on ’t; and he spiled so many for me, that I had to break off with him, though he was a good-hearted fellow, and as fair a business hand as is goin’.”
“And do you find your ways of managing do the business better than Tom’s?” said Mr. Shelby.
-- Oui, monsieur, je puis le dire. Toutes les fois que cela m' est possible, j' évite les désagréments. Si je veux vendre un enfant, j' éloigne la mère, et, vous le savez: loin des yeux, loin du coeur. Quand c' est fait, quand il n' y a plus moyen, elles en prennent leur parti. Ce n' est pas comme les blancs, qui sont élevés dans la pensée de garder leurs enfants, leur femme et tout. Un nègre qui a été dressé convenablement ne s' attend à rien de pareil, et tout devient ainsi très-facile.
“Why, yes, sir, I may say so. You see, when I any ways can, I takes a leetle care about the onpleasant parts, like selling young uns and that,—get the gals out of the way—out of sight, out of mind, you know,—and when it’s clean done, and can’t be helped, they naturally gets used to it. ’Tan’t, you know, as if it was white folks, that’s brought up in the way of ’spectin’ to keep their children and wives, and all that. Niggers, you know, that’s fetched up properly, ha’n’t no kind of ’spectations of no kind; so all these things comes easier.”
“I’m afraid mine are not properly brought up, then,” said Mr. Shelby.
-- Cela se peut. Vous autres, gens du Kentucky, vous gâtez vos nègres, vous les traitez bien. Ce n' est pas de la véritable tendresse, après tout. Voilà un noir ! eh bien, il est fait pour rouler dans le monde, pour être vendu à Tom, à Dick, et Dieu sait à qui ! Il n' est pas bon de lui donner des idées, des espérances, pour qu' il se trouve ensuite exposé à des misères, à des duretés qui lui sembleront plus pénibles.... J' ose dire qu' il vaudrait mieux pour vos nègres d' être traités comme ceux de toutes les plantations. Vous savez, monsieur Shelby, que chaque homme pense toujours avoir raison; je pense donc que j' agis comme il faut agir avec les nègres.
“S’pose not; you Kentucky folks spile your niggers. You mean well by ’em, but ’tan’t no real kindness, arter all. Now, a nigger, you see, what’s got to be hacked and tumbled round the world, and sold to Tom, and Dick, and the Lord knows who, ’tan’t no kindness to be givin’ on him notions and expectations, and bringin’ on him up too well, for the rough and tumble comes all the harder on him arter. Now, I venture to say, your niggers would be quite chop-fallen in a place where some of your plantation niggers would be singing and whooping like all possessed. Every man, you know, Mr. Shelby, naturally thinks well of his own ways; and I think I treat niggers just about as well as it’s ever worth while to treat ’em.”
“It’s a happy thing to be satisfied,” said Mr. Shelby, with a slight shrug, and some perceptible feelings of a disagreeable nature.
“Well,” said Haley, after they had both silently picked their nuts for a season, “what do you say?”
-- Je vais y réfléchir et en parler avec ma femme, dit M. Shelby. Cependant, Haley, si vous voulez que cette affaire soit menée avec la discrétion dont vous parlez, ne laissez rien transpirer dans le voisinage; le bruit s' en répandrait parmi les miens, et je vous déclare qu' il ne serait pas facile alors de les calmer.
“I’ll think the matter over, and talk with my wife,” said Mr. Shelby. “Meantime, Haley, if you want the matter carried on in the quiet way you speak of, you’d best not let your business in this neighborhood be known. It will get out among my boys, and it will not be a particularly quiet business getting away any of my fellows, if they know it, I’ll promise you.”
“O! certainly, by all means, mum! of course. But I’ll tell you. I’m in a devil of a hurry, and shall want to know, as soon as possible, what I may depend on,” said he, rising and putting on his overcoat.
“Well, call up this evening, between six and seven, and you shall have my answer,” said Mr. Shelby, and the trader bowed himself out of the apartment.
Le marchand salua et sortit. ~~~ « Dire que je ne puis pas le jeter du haut en bas de l' escalier ! pensa M. Shelby quand il vit la porte bien fermée. Quelle impudente effronterie !... Il connaît ses avantages. Ah ! si on m' eût dit qu' un jour j' aurais été obligé de vendre Tom à un de ces damnés marchands, j' aurais répondu: « Votre serviteur est -il un chien pour en agir ainsi ?.... » Et maintenant cela doit être... je le vois.... Et l' enfant d' Élisa ! Je vais avoir maille à partir avec ma femme à ce sujet -là.... et pour Tom aussi.... Oh ! les dettes ! les dettes ! Le drôle sait ses avantages.... il en profite. »
“I’d like to have been able to kick the fellow down the steps,” said he to himself, as he saw the door fairly closed, “with his impudent assurance; but he knows how much he has me at advantage. If anybody had ever said to me that I should sell Tom down south to one of those rascally traders, I should have said, ’Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing?’ And now it must come, for aught I see. And Eliza’s child, too! I know that I shall have some fuss with wife about that; and, for that matter, about Tom, too. So much for being in debt,—heigho! The fellow sees his advantage, and means to push it.”
C' est peut-être dans l' État de Kentucky que l' esclavage se montre sous sa forme la plus douce. La prédominance générale, de l' agriculture, paisible et régulière, ne donne pas lieu à ces fiévreuses ardeurs du travail forcé que la nécessité des affaires impose aux contrées du sud; dans le Kentucky, la condition de l' esclave est plus en harmonie avec ce que réclament la santé et la raison. Le maître, content d' un profit modéré, n' est pas poussé à ces exigences impitoyables qui forcent la main à cette faible nature humaine partout où l' espoir d' un gain rapide est jeté dans la balance sans autre contre-poids que l' intérêt du faible et de l' opprimé.
Perhaps the mildest form of the system of slavery is to be seen in the State of Kentucky. The general prevalence of agricultural pursuits of a quiet and gradual nature, not requiring those periodic seasons of hurry and pressure that are called for in the business of more southern districts, makes the task of the negro a more healthful and reasonable one; while the master, content with a more gradual style of acquisition, has not those temptations to hardheartedness which always overcome frail human nature when the prospect of sudden and rapid gain is weighed in the balance, with no heavier counterpoise than the interests of the helpless and unprotected.
Oui, si l' on parcourt certaines habitations du Kentucky, si l' on voit l' indulgence humaine de certains maîtres, l' affection sincère de quelques esclaves, on peut être tenté de se reporter par ses rêves aux poétiques légendes des moeurs patriarcales; mais toute la scène est dominée par une ombre gigantesque et terrible, l' ombre de la loi ! Tant que la loi considérera les esclaves comme des choses appartenant à un maître, tant que la ruine, l' imprudence ou le malheur d' un possesseur bienveillant pourra contraindre ces infortunés à échanger une vie abritée sous l' indulgence et la protection contre une misère et un travail sans espérance, il n' y aura rien de beau, rien d' avouable dans l' administration la mieux réglée de l' esclavage.
Whoever visits some estates there, and witnesses the good-humored indulgence of some masters and mistresses, and the affectionate loyalty of some slaves, might be tempted to dream the oft-fabled poetic legend of a patriarchal institution, and all that; but over and above the scene there broods a portentous shadow—the shadow of _law_. So long as the law considers all these human beings, with beating hearts and living affections, only as so many _things_ belonging to a master,—so long as the failure, or misfortune, or imprudence, or death of the kindest owner, may cause them any day to exchange a life of kind protection and indulgence for one of hopeless misery and toil,—so long it is impossible to make anything beautiful or desirable in the best regulated administration of slavery.
M. Shelby était une bonne pâte d' homme, une facile et tendre nature, porté à l' indulgence envers tous ceux qui l' entouraient. Il ne négligeait rien de ce qui pouvait contribuer à la santé et au bien-être des nègres de sa possession. Mais il s' était jeté dans des spéculations aveugles... il était engagé pour des sommes considérables. Ses billets étaient entre les mains de Haley.. Voilà qui explique la conversation précédemment rapportée.
Mr. Shelby was a fair average kind of man, good-natured and kindly, and disposed to easy indulgence of those around him, and there had never been a lack of anything which might contribute to the physical comfort of the negroes on his estate. He had, however, speculated largely and quite loosely; had involved himself deeply, and his notes to a large amount had come into the hands of Haley; and this small piece of information is the key to the preceding conversation.
Élisa, en approchant de la porte, en avait assez entendu pour comprendre qu' un marchand faisait des offres pour quelque esclave.
Now, it had so happened that, in approaching the door, Eliza had caught enough of the conversation to know that a trader was making offers to her master for somebody.
She would gladly have stopped at the door to listen, as she came out; but her mistress just then calling, she was obliged to hasten away.
Still she thought she heard the trader make an offer for her boy;—could she be mistaken? Her heart swelled and throbbed, and she involuntarily strained him so tight that the little fellow looked up into her face in astonishment.
“Eliza, girl, what ails you today?” said her mistress, when Eliza had upset the wash-pitcher, knocked down the workstand, and finally was abstractedly offering her mistress a long nightgown in place of the silk dress she had ordered her to bring from the wardrobe.
Eliza started. “O, missis!” she said, raising her eyes; then, bursting into tears, she sat down in a chair, and began sobbing.
-- Eh bien ! Élisa, mon enfant... mais qu' avez -vous donc ?
“Why, Eliza child, what ails you?” said her mistress.
“O! missis, missis,” said Eliza, “there’s been a trader talking with master in the parlor! I heard him.”
-- Eh bien ! folle ! quand cela serait ?
“Well, silly child, suppose there has.”
“O, missis, _do_ you suppose mas’r would sell my Harry?” And the poor creature threw herself into a chair, and sobbed convulsively.
« Eh non ! sotte créature; vous savez bien que votre maître ne fait pas d' affaires avec les marchands du sud, et qu' il n' a pas l' habitude de vendre ses esclaves tant qu' ils se conduisent bien... Et puis, folle que vous êtes, qui voudrait donc acheter votre Henri, et pour quoi faire ? pensez -vous que l' univers ait pour lui les mêmes yeux que vous ? Allons, sèche tes larmes, accroche ma robe et coiffe -moi... tu sais, ces belles tresses par derrière, comme on t' a montré l' autre jour... et n' écoute plus jamais aux portes.
“Sell him! No, you foolish girl! You know your master never deals with those southern traders, and never means to sell any of his servants, as long as they behave well. Why, you silly child, who do you think would want to buy your Harry? Do you think all the world are set on him as you are, you goosie? Come, cheer up, and hook my dress. There now, put my back hair up in that pretty braid you learnt the other day, and don’t go listening at doors any more.”
--Non, madame..., mais vous, vous ne consentirez pas à... à ce que...
“Well, but, missis, _you_ never would give your consent—to—to—”
-- Quelle folie... ! eh non, je ne consentirais pas... Pourquoi revenir là-dessus ? j' aimerais autant voir vendre un de mes enfants, à moi ! Mais, en vérité, Élisa, vous devenez un peu bien orgueilleuse aussi de ce petit bonhomme... On ne peut pas mettre le nez dans la maison que vous ne pensiez que ce soit pour l' acheter. »
“Nonsense, child! to be sure, I shouldn’t. What do you talk so for? I would as soon have one of my own children sold. But really, Eliza, you are getting altogether too proud of that little fellow. A man can’t put his nose into the door, but you think he must be coming to buy him.”
Reassured by her mistress’ confident tone, Eliza proceeded nimbly and adroitly with her toilet, laughing at her own fears, as she proceeded.
Mme Shelby était une femme supérieure, comme sentiment et comme intelligence; à cette grandeur d' âme naturelle, à cette élévation d' esprit, qui souvent est le caractère distinctif des femmes du Kentucky, elle joignait des principes d' une haute moralité et des sentiments religieux qui la guidaient, avec autant de fermeté que d' habileté, dans toutes les circonstances pratiques de sa vie. Son mari, qui ne faisait profession d' aucune religion plus particulièrement, avait la plus grande déférence pour la religion de sa femme. Il tenait à son opinion; il lui laissait donner librement carrière à sa bienveillance dans tout ce qui regardait l' amélioration, l' instruction et le bien-être des esclaves; quant à lui, il ne s' en mêlait pas directement. Sans croire très-fermement à la réversibilité des mérites des saints, il laissait assez voir qu' à son avis sa femme était bonne et vertueuse pour deux, et qu' il espérait gagner le ciel avec le surplus de ses vertus: ceci le dispensait de toute prétention personnelle.
Mrs. Shelby was a woman of high class, both intellectually and morally. To that natural magnanimity and generosity of mind which one often marks as characteristic of the women of Kentucky, she added high moral and religious sensibility and principle, carried out with great energy and ability into practical results. Her husband, who made no professions to any particular religious character, nevertheless reverenced and respected the consistency of hers, and stood, perhaps, a little in awe of her opinion. Certain it was that he gave her unlimited scope in all her benevolent efforts for the comfort, instruction, and improvement of her servants, though he never took any decided part in them himself. In fact, if not exactly a believer in the doctrine of the efficiency of the extra good works of saints, he really seemed somehow or other to fancy that his wife had piety and benevolence enough for two—to indulge a shadowy expectation of getting into heaven through her superabundance of qualities to which he made no particular pretension.
The heaviest load on his mind, after his conversation with the trader, lay in the foreseen necessity of breaking to his wife the arrangement contemplated,—meeting the importunities and opposition which he knew he should have reason to encounter.
Mrs. Shelby, being entirely ignorant of her husband’s embarrassments, and knowing only the general kindliness of his temper, had been quite sincere in the entire incredulity with which she had met Eliza’s suspicions. In fact, she dismissed the matter from her mind, without a second thought; and being occupied in preparations for an evening visit, it passed out of her thoughts entirely.
CHAPITRE II. ~~~ La mère.
CHAPTER II The Mother
Eliza had been brought up by her mistress, from girlhood, as a petted and indulged favorite.
Ceux qui ont voyagé dans l' Amérique du sud ont pu remarquer l' élégance raffinée, la douceur de voix et de manières qui semblent être le don particulier de certaines mulâtresses. Ces grâces naturelles des quarteronnes sont souvent unies à une beauté vraiment éblouissante, et presque toujours rehaussées par des agréments personnels. Élisa telle que nous l' avons peinte n' est point un tableau de fantaisie: c' est un portrait; nous avons vu l' original dans le Kentucky. Défendue par l' affection protectrice de sa maîtresse, Élisa avait atteint la jeunesse sans être exposée à ces tentations qui font de la beauté un héritage si fatal à l' esclave. Elle avait été mariée à un jeune homme de sa condition, habile et beau, vivant sur une possession voisine. Il s' appelait Georges Harris.
The traveller in the south must often have remarked that peculiar air of refinement, that softness of voice and manner, which seems in many cases to be a particular gift to the quadroon and mulatto women. These natural graces in the quadroon are often united with beauty of the most dazzling kind, and in almost every case with a personal appearance prepossessing and agreeable. Eliza, such as we have described her, is not a fancy sketch, but taken from remembrance, as we saw her, years ago, in Kentucky. Safe under the protecting care of her mistress, Eliza had reached maturity without those temptations which make beauty so fatal an inheritance to a slave. She had been married to a bright and talented young mulatto man, who was a slave on a neighboring estate, and bore the name of George Harris.
Ce jeune homme avait été loué par son maître pour travailler dans une fabrique de sacs. Son adresse et son savoir lui avaient valu la première place. Il avait inventé une machine à tiller le chanvre. Eu égard à l' éducation et à la position sociale de l' inventeur, on peut dire qu' il avait déployé autant de génie mécanique que Whitney dans sa machine à coton.
This young man had been hired out by his master to work in a bagging factory, where his adroitness and ingenuity caused him to be considered the first hand in the place. He had invented a machine for the cleaning of the hemp, which, considering the education and circumstances of the inventor, displayed quite as much mechanical genius as Whitney’s cotton-gin.[1]
Georges était bien de sa personne et d' aimables manières; c' était le favori de tous à la fabrique. Cependant, comme cet esclave, aux yeux de la loi, n' était pas un homme, mais une chose, toutes ces qualités supérieures étaient soumises au contrôle tyrannique d' un maître vulgaire, aux idées étroites. Le bruit de l' invention alla jusqu' à lui: il se rendit à la fabrique pour voir ce qu' avait fait cette chose intelligente; il fut reçu avec enthousiasme par le directeur, qui le félicita d' avoir un esclave d' un tel mérite.
[2] A machine of this description was really the invention of a young colored man in Kentucky. [Mrs. Stowe’s note.] ~~~ He was possessed of a handsome person and pleasing manners, and was a general favorite in the factory. Nevertheless, as this young man was in the eye of the law not a man, but a thing, all these superior qualifications were subject to the control of a vulgar, narrow-minded, tyrannical master. This same gentleman, having heard of the fame of George’s invention, took a ride over to the factory, to see what this intelligent chattel had been about. He was received with great enthusiasm by the employer, who congratulated him on possessing so valuable a slave.
Georges lui fit les honneurs de la fabrique, lui montra sa machine, et, un peu exalté par les éloges, parla si bien, se montra si grand, parut si beau, que son maître commença d' éprouver le sentiment pénible de son infériorité. Quel besoin avait donc son esclave de parcourir le pays, d' inventer des machines et de lever la tête parmi les gentlemen ? Il fallait y mettre ordre..., il fallait le ramener chez lui, le mettre à creuser et à bêcher la terre.... on verrait alors s' il serait aussi superbe ! Le fabricant et tous les ouvriers furent donc grandement étonnés d' entendre cet homme demander le compte de Georges, qu' il voulait, disait -il, reprendre immédiatement.
He was waited upon over the factory, shown the machinery by George, who, in high spirits, talked so fluently, held himself so erect, looked so handsome and manly, that his master began to feel an uneasy consciousness of inferiority. What business had his slave to be marching round the country, inventing machines, and holding up his head among gentlemen? He’d soon put a stop to it. He’d take him back, and put him to hoeing and digging, and “see if he’d step about so smart.” Accordingly, the manufacturer and all hands concerned were astounded when he suddenly demanded George’s wages, and announced his intention of taking him home.
“But, Mr. Harris,” remonstrated the manufacturer, “isn’t this rather sudden?”
“What if it is?—isn’t the man _mine_?”
-- Nous consentirons volontiers à élever le prix.
“We would be willing, sir, to increase the rate of compensation.”
“No object at all, sir. I don’t need to hire any of my hands out, unless I’ve a mind to.”
-- Mais, monsieur, il semble tout particulièrement propre aux fonctions....
“But, sir, he seems peculiarly adapted to this business.”
“Dare say he may be; never was much adapted to anything that I set him about, I’ll be bound.”
“But only think of his inventing this machine,” interposed one of the workmen, rather unluckily.
“O yes! a machine for saving work, is it? He’d invent that, I’ll be bound; let a nigger alone for that, any time. They are all labor-saving machines themselves, every one of ’em. No, he shall tramp!”
Georges était resté comme anéanti en entendant son arrêt ainsi prononcé par une autorité qu' il savait irrésistible. Il croisa les bras et se mordit les lèvres; mais la colère brûlait son sein comme un volcan, faisant couler dans ses veines des torrents de laves enflammées; sa respiration était brève, et ses grands yeux noirs avaient l' éclat des charbons ardents. Il eût sans doute éclaté dans quelque emportement fatal, si l' excellent directeur ne lui eût dit à voix basse en lui touchant le bras:
George had stood like one transfixed, at hearing his doom thus suddenly pronounced by a power that he knew was irresistible. He folded his arms, tightly pressed in his lips, but a whole volcano of bitter feelings burned in his bosom, and sent streams of fire through his veins. He breathed short, and his large dark eyes flashed like live coals; and he might have broken out into some dangerous ebullition, had not the kindly manufacturer touched him on the arm, and said, in a low tone,
“Give way, George; go with him for the present. We’ll try to help you, yet.”
The tyrant observed the whisper, and conjectured its import, though he could not hear what was said; and he inwardly strengthened himself in his determination to keep the power he possessed over his victim.
Georges fut ramené à l' habitation et employé aux plus grossiers travaux de la ferme. Il put sans doute s' abstenir de toute parole irrespectueuse; mais l' oeil rempli d' éclairs, mais le front sombre et troublé, n' est -ce point là un langage aussi, un langage auquel on ne saurait imposer silence ? Signe trop visible qu' on ne peut faire de l' homme une chose !
George was taken home, and put to the meanest drudgery of the farm. He had been able to repress every disrespectful word; but the flashing eye, the gloomy and troubled brow, were part of a natural language that could not be repressed,—indubitable signs, which showed too plainly that the man could not become a thing.
C' était pendant l' heureuse période de son travail à la fabrique que Georges avait vu Élisa et qu' il l' avait épousée: pendant cette période, jouissant de la confiance et de la faveur de son chef, il avait pleine liberté d' aller et de venir à sa guise. Ce mariage avait reçu la haute approbation de Mme Shelby, qui, comme toutes les femmes, aimait assez à s' occuper de mariage: elle était heureuse de marier sa belle favorite avec un homme de sa classe, qui lui convenait d'ailleurs de toute façon. Ils furent donc unis dans le grand salon de Mme Shelby, qui voulut elle-même orner de fleurs d' oranger les beaux cheveux de la fiancée et la parer du voile nuptial. Jamais ce voile ne couvrit une tête plus charmante. Rien ne manqua: ni les gants blancs, ni les gâteaux, ni le vin; on accourait pour louer la beauté de la jeune fille et la grâce et la libéralité de sa maîtresse. ~~~ Pendant une ou deux années, Élisa vit son mari assez fréquemment; rien n' interrompit leur bonheur que la perte de deux enfants en bas âge, auxquels elle était passionnément attachée: elle mit une telle vivacité dans sa douleur qu' elle s' attira les douces remontrances de sa maîtresse, qui voulait, avec une sollicitude toute maternelle, contenir ses sentiments naturellement passionnés dans les limites de la raison et de la religion.
It was during the happy period of his employment in the factory that George had seen and married his wife. During that period,—being much trusted and favored by his employer,—he had free liberty to come and go at discretion. The marriage was highly approved of by Mrs. Shelby, who, with a little womanly complacency in match-making, felt pleased to unite her handsome favorite with one of her own class who seemed in every way suited to her; and so they were married in her mistress’ great parlor, and her mistress herself adorned the bride’s beautiful hair with orange-blossoms, and threw over it the bridal veil, which certainly could scarce have rested on a fairer head; and there was no lack of white gloves, and cake and wine,—of admiring guests to praise the bride’s beauty, and her mistress’ indulgence and liberality. For a year or two Eliza saw her husband frequently, and there was nothing to interrupt their happiness, except the loss of two infant children, to whom she was passionately attached, and whom she mourned with a grief so intense as to call for gentle remonstrance from her mistress, who sought, with maternal anxiety, to direct her naturally passionate feelings within the bounds of reason and religion.
Cependant, après la naissance du petit Henri, elle s' était peu à peu calmée et apaisée; tous ces liens saignants de l' affection, tous ces nerfs frémissants s' enlacèrent à cette petite vie et retrouvèrent leur puissance et leur force. Élisa fut donc une heureuse femme jusqu' au jour où son mari fut violemment arraché de la fabrique et ramené sous le joug de fer de son possesseur légal.
After the birth of little Harry, however, she had gradually become tranquillized and settled; and every bleeding tie and throbbing nerve, once more entwined with that little life, seemed to become sound and healthful, and Eliza was a happy woman up to the time that her husband was rudely torn from his kind employer, and brought under the iron sway of his legal owner.
The manufacturer, true to his word, visited Mr. Harris a week or two after George had been taken away, when, as he hoped, the heat of the occasion had passed away, and tried every possible inducement to lead him to restore him to his former employment.
“You needn’t trouble yourself to talk any longer,” said he, doggedly; “I know my own business, sir.”
“I did not presume to interfere with it, sir. I only thought that you might think it for your interest to let your man to us on the terms proposed.”
“O, I understand the matter well enough. I saw your winking and whispering, the day I took him out of the factory; but you don’t come it over me that way. It’s a free country, sir; the man’s _mine_, and I do what I please with him,—that’s it!”
And so fell George’s last hope;—nothing before him but a life of toil and drudgery, rendered more bitter by every little smarting vexation and indignity which tyrannical ingenuity could devise.
A very humane jurist once said, The worst use you can put a man to is to hang him. No; there is another use that a man can be put to that is WORSE!
CHAPITRE III. ~~~ Époux et père.
CHAPTER III The Husband and Father
Mrs. Shelby had gone on her visit, and Eliza stood in the verandah, rather dejectedly looking after the retreating carriage, when a hand was laid on her shoulder. She turned, and a bright smile lighted up her fine eyes.
“George, is it you? How you frightened me! Well; I am so glad you ’s come! Missis is gone to spend the afternoon; so come into my little room, and we’ll have the time all to ourselves.”
Saying this, she drew him into a neat little apartment opening on the verandah, where she generally sat at her sewing, within call of her mistress.
« Oh ! je suis bien heureuse.... Mais pourquoi ne souris -tu pas ? Regarde Henri: comme il grandit !... » Cependant l' enfant jetait sur son père des regards furtifs à travers les boucles de ses cheveux épars, et se cramponnait aux jupes de sa mère. ~~~ « N' est -il pas beau ? dit Élisa en relevant les longues boucles et en l' embrassant.
“How glad I am!—why don’t you smile?—and look at Harry—how he grows.” The boy stood shyly regarding his father through his curls, holding close to the skirts of his mother’s dress. “Isn’t he beautiful?” said Eliza, lifting his long curls and kissing him.
“I wish he’d never been born!” said George, bitterly. “I wish I’d never been born myself!”
Surprise et effrayée, Élisa s' assit, appuya sa tête sur l' épaule de son mari et fondit en larmes.
Surprised and frightened, Eliza sat down, leaned her head on her husband’s shoulder, and burst into tears.
“There now, Eliza, it’s too bad for me to make you feel so, poor girl!” said he, fondly; “it’s too bad: O, how I wish you never had seen me—you might have been happy!”
“George! George! how can you talk so? What dreadful thing has happened, or is going to happen? I’m sure we’ve been very happy, till lately.”
“So we have, dear,” said George. Then drawing his child on his knee, he gazed intently on his glorious dark eyes, and passed his hands through his long curls.
“Just like you, Eliza; and you are the handsomest woman I ever saw, and the best one I ever wish to see; but, oh, I wish I’d never seen you, nor you me!”
-- O Georges ! comment pouvez -vous ?....
“O, George, how can you!”
-- Oui, Élisa, tout est misère, misère, misère ! Ma vie est misérable comme celle du ver de terre.... La vie, la vie me dévore. Je suis un pauvre esclave, perdu, abandonné.... Je vous entraîne dans ma chute.... voilà tout ! Pourquoi essayons -nous de faire quelque chose, d' apprendre quelque chose, d' être quelque chose ? A quoi bon la vie ?... Je voudrais être mort !
“Yes, Eliza, it’s all misery, misery, misery! My life is bitter as wormwood; the very life is burning out of me. I’m a poor, miserable, forlorn drudge; I shall only drag you down with me, that’s all. What’s the use of our trying to do anything, trying to know anything, trying to be anything? What’s the use of living? I wish I was dead!”
“O, now, dear George, that is really wicked! I know how you feel about losing your place in the factory, and you have a hard master; but pray be patient, and perhaps something—”
-- Patience ! s' écria -t-il en l' interrompant.... N' ai -je pas eu de la patience ? ai -je dit un seul mot quand il est venu et qu' il m' a enlevé, sans motif, de cette maison, où tous étaient bons pour moi ? Je lui abandonnais tout le profit de mon travail, et tous disaient que je travaillais bien.
“Patient!” said he, interrupting her; “haven’t I been patient? Did I say a word when he came and took me away, for no earthly reason, from the place where everybody was kind to me? I’d paid him truly every cent of my earnings,—and they all say I worked well.”
“Well, it _is_ dreadful,” said Eliza; “but, after all, he is your master, you know.”
-- Mon maître ! Eh ! qui l' a fait mon maître ? c' est à quoi je pense.... Je suis un homme aussi bien que lui; et je vaux mieux que lui ! Je connais mieux le travail que lui, et les affaires mieux que lui. Je lis mieux que lui, j' écris mieux, et j' ai appris tout moi-même sans lui en devoir de gré.... J' ai appris malgré lui; et maintenant quel droit a -t-il de faire de moi une bête de somme, de m' arracher à un travail que je fais bien, que je fais mieux que lui, pour me faire faire la besogne d' une brute ? Je sais ce qu' il veut.... il veut m' abattre, m' humilier.... c' est pour cela qu' il m' emploie aux oeuvres les plus basses et les plus pénibles.
“My master! and who made him my master? That’s what I think of—what right has he to me? I’m a man as much as he is. I’m a better man than he is. I know more about business than he does; I am a better manager than he is; I can read better than he can; I can write a better hand,—and I’ve learned it all myself, and no thanks to him,—I’ve learned it in spite of him; and now what right has he to make a dray-horse of me?—to take me from things I can do, and do better than he can, and put me to work that any horse can do? He tries to do it; he says he’ll bring me down and humble me, and he puts me to just the hardest, meanest and dirtiest work, on purpose!”
“O, George! George! you frighten me! Why, I never heard you talk so; I’m afraid you’ll do something dreadful. I don’t wonder at your feelings, at all; but oh, do be careful—do, do—for my sake—for Harry’s!”
-- J' ai été prudent et j' ai été patient, mais de jour en jour le mal empire; la chair et le sang ne peuvent en supporter davantage. Chaque occasion qu' il peut saisir de me tourmenter et de m' insulter.... il la saisit. Je croyais qu' il me serait possible de bien travailler, et de vivre en paix, et d' avoir un peu de temps pour lire et m' instruire en dehors des heures du travail.... Non ! plus je puis porter, plus il me charge !.... il affirme que, bien que je ne dise rien, il voit que j' ai le diable au corps, et qu' il veut le faire sortir.... Eh bien ! oui, un de ces jours ce diable sortira, mais d' une façon qui ne lui plaira pas, ou je serais bien trompé....
“I have been careful, and I have been patient, but it’s growing worse and worse; flesh and blood can’t bear it any longer;—every chance he can get to insult and torment me, he takes. I thought I could do my work well, and keep on quiet, and have some time to read and learn out of work hours; but the more he sees I can do, the more he loads on. He says that though I don’t say anything, he sees I’ve got the devil in me, and he means to bring it out; and one of these days it will come out in a way that he won’t like, or I’m mistaken!”
“O dear! what shall we do?” said Eliza, mournfully.
-- Pas plus tard qu' hier, dit Georges, j' étais occupé à charger des pierres sur une charrette; le jeune maître, M. Tom, était là, faisant claquer son fouet si près du cheval qu' il effrayait la pauvre bête. Je le priai de cesser aussi poliment que je pus, il n' en fit rien: je renouvelai ma demande; il se tourna vers moi et se mit à me frapper moi-même. Je lui saisis la main; il poussa des cris perçants, me donna des coups de pied et courut à son père, à qui il dit que je le battais. Celui -ci devint furieux, dit qu' il voulait m' apprendre à connaître mon maître; il m' attacha à un arbre, coupa des baguettes, et dit au jeune monsieur qu' il pouvait me frapper jusqu' à ce qu' il fût fatigué. Il le fit.... Et moi, je ne l' en ferais pas ressouvenir un jour ! » ~~~ Le front de l' esclave s' assombrit. Une flamme passa dans ses yeux; sa femme trembla.... ~~~ « Qui a fait cet homme mon maître ? murmurait -il encore; voilà ce que je veux savoir !
“It was only yesterday,” said George, “as I was busy loading stones into a cart, that young Mas’r Tom stood there, slashing his whip so near the horse that the creature was frightened. I asked him to stop, as pleasant as I could,—he just kept right on. I begged him again, and then he turned on me, and began striking me. I held his hand, and then he screamed and kicked and ran to his father, and told him that I was fighting him. He came in a rage, and said he’d teach me who was my master; and he tied me to a tree, and cut switches for young master, and told him that he might whip me till he was tired;—and he did do it! If I don’t make him remember it, some time!” and the brow of the young man grew dark, and his eyes burned with an expression that made his young wife tremble. “Who made this man my master? That’s what I want to know!” he said.
“Well,” said Eliza, mournfully, “I always thought that I must obey my master and mistress, or I couldn’t be a Christian.”
-- Vous pouvez avoir raison en ce qui vous concerne: ils vous ont élevée comme leur enfant, nourrie, habillée, bien traitée, instruite; cela leur donne des droits. Mais moi, coups de pied, coups de poing, insultes et jurons.... abandon parfois.... c' était mon meilleur lot.... voilà ce que je leur dois ! J' ai payé mon entretien au centuple.... mais je ne veux plus souffrir.... non ! je ne veux plus.... » Et il ferma le poing, en fronçant le sourcil d' un air terrible.
“There is some sense in it, in your case; they have brought you up like a child, fed you, clothed you, indulged you, and taught you, so that you have a good education; that is some reason why they should claim you. But I have been kicked and cuffed and sworn at, and at the best only let alone; and what do I owe? I’ve paid for all my keeping a hundred times over. I _won’t_ bear it. No, I _won’t_!” he said, clenching his hand with a fierce frown.
Eliza trembled, and was silent. She had never seen her husband in this mood before; and her gentle system of ethics seemed to bend like a reed in the surges of such passions.
« Vous savez, reprit Georges, ce petit chien, Carlo, que vous m' avez donné ? C' était toute ma joie: la nuit, il dormait avec moi; le jour, il me suivait partout: il me regardait avec tendresse, comme s' il eût compris ce que je souffrais.... L' autre jour, je le nourrissais de quelques restes, ramassés pour lui à la porte de la cuisine. Le maître nous vit et dit que je nourrissais un chien à ses dépens.... qu' il ne pouvait souffrir que chaque nègre eût ainsi son chien, et il m' ordonna de lui attacher une pierre au cou et de le jeter dans l' étang.
“You know poor little Carlo, that you gave me,” added George; “the creature has been about all the comfort that I’ve had. He has slept with me nights, and followed me around days, and kind o’ looked at me as if he understood how I felt. Well, the other day I was just feeding him with a few old scraps I picked up by the kitchen door, and Mas’r came along, and said I was feeding him up at his expense, and that he couldn’t afford to have every nigger keeping his dog, and ordered me to tie a stone to his neck and throw him in the pond.”
“O, George, you didn’t do it!”
-- Moi ? non ! mais lui l' a fait ! Lui et Tom assommèrent à coups de pierres la pauvre bête qui se noyait.... Carlo me regardait tristement, s' étonnant que je ne vinsse pas le sauver.... J' eus le fouet pour n' avoir pas obéi.... Qu' importe ? mon maître saura que je ne suis pas de ceux que le fouet assouplit.... Mon jour viendra.... qu' on y prenne garde !
“Do it? not I!—but he did. Mas’r and Tom pelted the poor drowning creature with stones. Poor thing! he looked at me so mournful, as if he wondered why I didn’t save him. I had to take a flogging because I wouldn’t do it myself. I don’t care. Mas’r will find out that I’m one that whipping won’t tame. My day will come yet, if he don’t look out.”
“What are you going to do? O, George, don’t do anything wicked; if you only trust in God, and try to do right, he’ll deliver you.”
“I an’t a Christian like you, Eliza; my heart’s full of bitterness; I can’t trust in God. Why does he let things be so?”
“O, George, we must have faith. Mistress says that when all things go wrong to us, we must believe that God is doing the very best.”
-- C' est aisé à dire à des gens qui sont assis sur des sofas et voiturés dans leurs équipages. Qu' ils soient à ma place, et je gage qu' ils changeront de discours.... Oh ! je voudrais être bon.... mais mon coeur brûle, rien ne peut l' éteindre.... Vous -même vous ne pourriez pas.... si je disais tout.... car vous ne savez pas encore toute la vérité !
“That’s easy to say for people that are sitting on their sofas and riding in their carriages; but let ’em be where I am, I guess it would come some harder. I wish I could be good; but my heart burns, and can’t be reconciled, anyhow. You couldn’t in my place,—you can’t now, if I tell you all I’ve got to say. You don’t know the whole yet.”
“What can be coming now?”
-- Écoutez ! dernièrement le maître a dit qu' il avait eu grand tort de me laisser marier hors de sa maison; qu' il déteste M. Shelby et les siens, parce qu' ils sont orgueilleux et qu' ils portent la tête plus haut que lui. Il dit que vous me donnez des idées d' orgueil, qu' il ne me laissera plus venir ici, mais que je prendrai une autre femme et m' établirai chez lui. Il se contenta d'abord d' insinuer et de murmurer cela tout bas; mais hier il me dit que j' aurais à prendre Mina dans ma cabane, ou qu' il me vendrait de l' autre côté de la rivière.
“Well, lately Mas’r has been saying that he was a fool to let me marry off the place; that he hates Mr. Shelby and all his tribe, because they are proud, and hold their heads up above him, and that I’ve got proud notions from you; and he says he won’t let me come here any more, and that I shall take a wife and settle down on his place. At first he only scolded and grumbled these things; but yesterday he told me that I should take Mina for a wife, and settle down in a cabin with her, or he would sell me down river.”
“Why—but you were married to _me_, by the minister, as much as if you’d been a white man!” said Eliza, simply.
-- Eh ! ne savez -vous pas qu' une esclave ne peut pas être mariée ? Il n' y a pas de loi là-dessus dans ce pays. Je ne puis vous garder comme femme s' il veut que nous nous séparions.... et voilà pourquoi je voudrais ne vous avoir jamais vue ! voilà pourquoi je voudrais ne pas être né.... Ce serait meilleur pour tous deux, meilleur pour ce pauvre enfant qu' attend un pareil sort....
“Don’t you know a slave can’t be married? There is no law in this country for that; I can’t hold you for my wife, if he chooses to part us. That’s why I wish I’d never seen you,—why I wish I’d never been born; it would have been better for us both,—it would have been better for this poor child if he had never been born. All this may happen to him yet!”
-- Oh ! notre maître à nous est si bon !
“O, but master is so kind!”
“Yes, but who knows?—he may die—and then he may be sold to nobody knows who. What pleasure is it that he is handsome, and smart, and bright? I tell you, Eliza, that a sword will pierce through your soul for every good and pleasant thing your child is or has; it will make him worth too much for you to keep.”
Ces paroles mordaient cruellement le coeur d' Élisa. Le fantôme du marchand d' esclaves passa devant ses yeux.... Comme si elle eût reçu le coup de la mort, elle pâlit, le souffle lui manqua.... Elle jeta un coup d' oeil vers le vestibule où l' enfant s' était retiré pendant cette grave et triste conversation. Le bambin cependant, superbe comme un triomphateur, se promenait à cheval.... sur la canne de M. Shelby. Élisa aurait bien voulu confier ses craintes à son mari, mais elle n' osa.
The words smote heavily on Eliza’s heart; the vision of the trader came before her eyes, and, as if some one had struck her a deadly blow, she turned pale and gasped for breath. She looked nervously out on the verandah, where the boy, tired of the grave conversation, had retired, and where he was riding triumphantly up and down on Mr. Shelby’s walking-stick. She would have spoken to tell her husband her fears, but checked herself.
“No, no,—he has enough to bear, poor fellow!” she thought. “No, I won’t tell him; besides, it an’t true; Missis never deceives us.”
“So, Eliza, my girl,” said the husband, mournfully, “bear up, now; and good-by, for I’m going.”
“Going, George! Going where?”
“To Canada,” said he, straightening himself up; “and when I’m there, I’ll buy you; that’s all the hope that’s left us. You have a kind master, that won’t refuse to sell you. I’ll buy you and the boy;—God helping me, I will!”
-- Oh malheur ! Et si vous étiez pris ?
“O, dreadful! if you should be taken?”
“I won’t be taken, Eliza; I’ll _die_ first! I’ll be free, or I’ll die!”
--Vous ne vous tuerez pas vous-même?
“You won’t kill yourself!”
“No need of that. They will kill me, fast enough; they never will get me down the river alive!”
“O, George, for my sake, do be careful! Don’t do anything wicked; don’t lay hands on yourself, or anybody else! You are tempted too much—too much; but don’t—go you must—but go carefully, prudently; pray God to help you.”
-- Oui, oui, Élisa; mais écoutez mon plan. Mon maître s' est mis dans la tête de m' envoyer de ce côté avec une note pour M. Symner, qui demeure à un mille plus loin. Il s' attend que je viendrai ici pour conter mes peines. Il se réjouit de penser que j' apporterai quelque ennui chez les Shelby. Cependant je m' en retourne tout résigné, comme si c' était chose terminée. J' ai quelques préparatifs à faire. On m' aidera, et dans huit jours je serai au nombre de ceux qui manquent à l' appel. Priez pour moi, Élisa; peut-être le bon Dieu vous écoutera -t-il, vous !
“Well, then, Eliza, hear my plan. Mas’r took it into his head to send me right by here, with a note to Mr. Symmes, that lives a mile past. I believe he expected I should come here to tell you what I have. It would please him, if he thought it would aggravate ’Shelby’s folks,’ as he calls ’em. I’m going home quite resigned, you understand, as if all was over. I’ve got some preparations made,—and there are those that will help me; and, in the course of a week or so, I shall be among the missing, some day. Pray for me, Eliza; perhaps the good Lord will hear _you_.”
“O, pray yourself, George, and go trusting in him; then you won’t do anything wicked.”
“Well, now, _good-by_,” said George, holding Eliza’s hands, and gazing into her eyes, without moving. They stood silent; then there were last words, and sobs, and bitter weeping,—such parting as those may make whose hope to meet again is as the spider’s web,—and the husband and wife were parted.
CHAPITRE IV. ~~~ Une soirée dans la case de l'oncle Tom.
CHAPTER IV An Evening in Uncle Tom’s Cabin
La case de l' oncle Tom était une petite construction faite de troncs d' arbres, attenant à la _maison_, comme le nègre appelle par excellence l' habitation de son maître. Devant la case, un morceau de jardin, où, chaque été, les framboises, les fraises et d' autres fruits, mêlés aux légumes, prospéraient sous l' effort d' une culture soigneuse. Toute la façade était couverte par un large bégonia écarlate et un rosier multiflore: leurs rameaux confondus, se nouant et s' enlaçant, laissaient à peine entrevoir çà et là quelques traces des grossiers matériaux du petit édifice. La famille brillante et variée des plantes annuelles, les chrysanthèmes, les pétunias, trouvaient aussi une petite place pour étaler leurs splendeurs, qui faisaient les délices et l' orgueil de la tante Chloé.
The cabin of Uncle Tom was a small log building, close adjoining to “the house,” as the negro _par excellence_ designates his master’s dwelling. In front it had a neat garden-patch, where, every summer, strawberries, raspberries, and a variety of fruits and vegetables, flourished under careful tending. The whole front of it was covered by a large scarlet bignonia and a native multiflora rose, which, entwisting and interlacing, left scarce a vestige of the rough logs to be seen. Here, also, in summer, various brilliant annuals, such as marigolds, petunias, four-o’clocks, found an indulgent corner in which to unfold their splendors, and were the delight and pride of Aunt Chloe’s heart.
Cependant entrons dans la case. ~~~ Le souper des maîtres était terminé, et la tante Chloé, premier cordon bleu de l' habitation, après en avoir surveillé les dispositions, laissant aux officiers de bouche d' un ordre inférieur le soin de nettoyer les plats, allait dans son petit domaine préparer le souper de son vieux mari. C' est bien elle qu' on a pu voir auprès du feu, suivant d' un oeil inquiet la friture qui chante dans la poêle, ou soulevant d' une main légère le couvercle des casseroles, d' où s' échappe un fumet qui annonce quelque chose de bon. Sa figure est noire, ronde et brillante; on dirait qu' elle a été frottée de blanc d' oeuf comme sa théière étincelante. Sa face dodue rayonne d' aise et de contentement sous le turban coquet. On y découvre cette nuance de satisfaction intime qui convient à la première cuisinière du voisinage. Telle était la réputation justement méritée de la tante Chloé.
Let us enter the dwelling. The evening meal at the house is over, and Aunt Chloe, who presided over its preparation as head cook, has left to inferior officers in the kitchen the business of clearing away and washing dishes, and come out into her own snug territories, to “get her ole man’s supper”; therefore, doubt not that it is her you see by the fire, presiding with anxious interest over certain frizzling items in a stew-pan, and anon with grave consideration lifting the cover of a bake-kettle, from whence steam forth indubitable intimations of “something good.” A round, black, shining face is hers, so glossy as to suggest the idea that she might have been washed over with white of eggs, like one of her own tea rusks. Her whole plump countenance beams with satisfaction and contentment from under her well-starched checked turban, bearing on it, however, if we must confess it, a little of that tinge of self-consciousness which becomes the first cook of the neighborhood, as Aunt Chloe was universally held and acknowledged to be.
Pour une cuisinière, c' était une cuisinière.... et jusqu' au fond de l' âme ! Pas un poulet, pas un dindon, pas un canard de la basse-cour qui ne devînt grave en la voyant s' approcher; elle les faisait réfléchir à leurs fins dernières. Elle-même réfléchissait sans cesse au moyen de les rôtir, de les farcir ou de les bouillir; ce qui était bien propre à inspirer une certaine terreur à des volailles intelligentes. Ses gâteaux, qu' elle variait à l' infini, restaient un impénétrable mystère pour ceux qui n' étaient pas versés comme elle dans les arcanes de la pratique; dans son honnête orgueil, elle riait à se donner un point de côté, quand elle racontait les inutiles efforts de ses rivales pour atteindre à cette hauteur.
A cook she certainly was, in the very bone and centre of her soul. Not a chicken or turkey or duck in the barn-yard but looked grave when they saw her approaching, and seemed evidently to be reflecting on their latter end; and certain it was that she was always meditating on trussing, stuffing and roasting, to a degree that was calculated to inspire terror in any reflecting fowl living. Her corn-cake, in all its varieties of hoe-cake, dodgers, muffins, and other species too numerous to mention, was a sublime mystery to all less practised compounders; and she would shake her fat sides with honest pride and merriment, as she would narrate the fruitless efforts that one and another of her compeers had made to attain to her elevation.
L' arrivée d' une nombreuse compagnie à l' habitation, l' arrangement d' un dîner ou d' un souper de gala, surexcitaient les facultés de son esprit. Rien n' était plus agréable à sa vue qu' une rangée de malles sous le vestibule; elle prévoyait, avec les arrivants, l' occasion de nouveaux efforts et de nouveaux triomphes.
The arrival of company at the house, the arranging of dinners and suppers “in style,” awoke all the energies of her soul; and no sight was more welcome to her than a pile of travelling trunks launched on the verandah, for then she foresaw fresh efforts and fresh triumphs.
A ce moment de notre récit, la tante Chloé inspectait sa tourtière. Abandonnons -la à cette intéressante occupation, et achevons la peinture du cottage.
Just at present, however, Aunt Chloe is looking into the bake-pan; in which congenial operation we shall leave her till we finish our picture of the cottage.
Le lit était dans un coin, recouvert d' une courte-pointe blanche comme neige; à côté du lit, un morceau de tapis assez large: c' était là que se tenait habituellement la tante Chloé. Le tapis, le lit et toute cette partie de l' habitation étaient l' objet de la plus haute considération. On les protégeait contre les dévastations et le maraudage des jeunes drôles. Ce coin était le salon de la case. Dans l' autre coin, il y avait également un lit, mais à moindre prétention; celui -là, il était évident que l' on s' en servait. ~~~ Le dessus de la cheminée était décoré d' images enluminées, dont le sujet était emprunté à l' Écriture sainte, et d' un portrait du général Washington, dessiné et colorié de façon à causer quelque étonnement au héros, s' il se fût jamais rencontré avec son image.
In one corner of it stood a bed, covered neatly with a snowy spread; and by the side of it was a piece of carpeting, of some considerable size. On this piece of carpeting Aunt Chloe took her stand, as being decidedly in the upper walks of life; and it and the bed by which it lay, and the whole corner, in fact, were treated with distinguished consideration, and made, so far as possible, sacred from the marauding inroads and desecrations of little folks. In fact, that corner was the _drawing-room_ of the establishment. In the other corner was a bed of much humbler pretensions, and evidently designed for _use_. The wall over the fireplace was adorned with some very brilliant scriptural prints, and a portrait of General Washington, drawn and colored in a manner which would certainly have astonished that hero, if ever he happened to meet with its like.
Dans ce coin, sur un banc grossier, deux enfants à têtes de laine, aux yeux noirs et brillants, aux joues rebondies et luisantes, étaient occupés à surveiller les premières tentatives de marche d' un nourrisson.... Ces tentatives se bornaient du reste à se dresser sur les pieds, à se balancer un moment d' une jambe sur l' autre, puis à tomber. Chaque chute était accueillie par des applaudissements: on eût dit quelque miracle accompli.
On a rough bench in the corner, a couple of woolly-headed boys, with glistening black eyes and fat shining cheeks, were busy in superintending the first walking operations of the baby, which, as is usually the case, consisted in getting up on its feet, balancing a moment, and then tumbling down,—each successive failure being violently cheered, as something decidedly clever.
Une table, dont les membres n' étaient pas complétement exempts de rhumatismes, était dressée devant le feu et couverte d' une nappe. On voyait déjà les verres et la vaisselle, d' un modèle assez recherché. On reconnaissait tous les symptômes qui signalent l' approche d' un festin. ~~~ A cette table était assis l' oncle Tom, le plus vaillant travailleur de M. Shelby. Tom étant le héros de notre histoire, nous devons le daguerréotyper pour nos lecteurs. C' était un homme puissant et bien bâti: large poitrine, membres vigoureux, teint d' ébène luisant; un visage dont tous les traits, purement africains, étaient caractérisés par une expression de bon sens grave et recueilli, uni à la tendresse et à la bonté. Il y avait dans tout son air de la dignité et du respect de soi -même, mêlé à je ne sais quelle simplicité humble et confiante.
A table, somewhat rheumatic in its limbs, was drawn out in front of the fire, and covered with a cloth, displaying cups and saucers of a decidedly brilliant pattern, with other symptoms of an approaching meal. At this table was seated Uncle Tom, Mr. Shelby’s best hand, who, as he is to be the hero of our story, we must daguerreotype for our readers. He was a large, broad-chested, powerfully-made man, of a full glossy black, and a face whose truly African features were characterized by an expression of grave and steady good sense, united with much kindliness and benevolence. There was something about his whole air self-respecting and dignified, yet united with a confiding and humble simplicity.
Il était alors très-laborieusement occupé: une ardoise était placée devant lui, et il s' efforçait, avec un soin plein de lenteur, de tracer quelques lettres. Il était surveillé dans cette opération par le jeune monsieur Georges, vif et pétulant garçon de treize ans, qui s' élevait en ce moment à toute la dignité de sa position d' instituteur:
He was very busily intent at this moment on a slate lying before him, on which he was carefully and slowly endeavoring to accomplish a copy of some letters, in which operation he was overlooked by young Mas’r George, a smart, bright boy of thirteen, who appeared fully to realize the dignity of his position as instructor.
“Not that way, Uncle Tom,—not that way,” said he, briskly, as Uncle Tom laboriously brought up the tail of his _g_ the wrong side out; “that makes a _q_, you see.”
-- En vérité ! » dit l' oncle Tom en regardant avec un air de respect et d' admiration les _q_ et les _g_ sans nombre que son jeune instituteur semait sur l' ardoise pour son édification. ~~~ Il prit alors le crayon dans ses gros doigts pesants et recommença patiemment.
“La sakes, now, does it?” said Uncle Tom, looking with a respectful, admiring air, as his young teacher flourishingly scrawled _q_’s and _g_’s innumerable for his edification; and then, taking the pencil in his big, heavy fingers, he patiently recommenced.
“How easy white folks al’us does things!” said Aunt Chloe, pausing while she was greasing a griddle with a scrap of bacon on her fork, and regarding young Master George with pride. “The way he can write, now! and read, too! and then to come out here evenings and read his lessons to us,—it’s mighty interestin’!”
“But, Aunt Chloe, I’m getting mighty hungry,” said George. “Isn’t that cake in the skillet almost done?”
-- Bientôt, monsieur Georges, dit Chloé en soulevant le couvercle... bientôt. Oh ! le brun magnifique ! Elle est vraiment d' un brun superbe ! Ah ! il n' y a que moi pour cela. Madame permit l' autre jour à Sally d' essayer.... pour apprendre, disait -elle. Ah ! madame, lui disais -je, ça me fend le coeur de voir ainsi gâter les bonnes choses. Le gâteau ne monta que d' un côté.... et plus ferme que ma savate... Ah ! fi ! »
“Mose done, Mas’r George,” said Aunt Chloe, lifting the lid and peeping in,—“browning beautiful—a real lovely brown. Ah! let me alone for dat. Missis let Sally try to make some cake, t’ other day, jes to _larn_ her, she said. ‘O, go way, Missis,’ said I; ‘it really hurts my feelin’s, now, to see good vittles spilt dat ar way! Cake ris all to one side—no shape at all; no more than my shoe; go way!’”
Et, après cette dernière expression de mépris pour la maladresse de Sally, la tante Chloé enleva le couvercle et servit un gâteau parfaitement réussi, dont aucun praticien de la ville n' eût eu certes à rougir. Cette opération délicate une fois menée à bien, Chloé s' occupa activement de la partie plus substantielle du souper.
And with this final expression of contempt for Sally’s greenness, Aunt Chloe whipped the cover off the bake-kettle, and disclosed to view a neatly-baked pound-cake, of which no city confectioner need to have been ashamed. This being evidently the central point of the entertainment, Aunt Chloe began now to bustle about earnestly in the supper department.
“Here you, Mose and Pete! get out de way, you niggers! Get away, Polly, honey,—mammy’ll give her baby some fin, by and by. Now, Mas’r George, you jest take off dem books, and set down now with my old man, and I’ll take up de sausages, and have de first griddle full of cakes on your plates in less dan no time.”
“They wanted me to come to supper in the house,” said George; “but I knew what was what too well for that, Aunt Chloe.”
“So you did—so you did, honey,” said Aunt Chloe, heaping the smoking batter-cakes on his plate; “you know’d your old aunty’d keep the best for you. O, let you alone for dat! Go way!” And, with that, aunty gave George a nudge with her finger, designed to be immensely facetious, and turned again to her griddle with great briskness.
“Now for the cake,” said Mas’r George, when the activity of the griddle department had somewhat subsided; and, with that, the youngster flourished a large knife over the article in question.
Et il brandit un immense couteau sur l' objet en question. ~~~ « Oh ciel ! monsieur Georges, dit Chloé vivement en lui saisissant le bras, pas avec ce grand et lourd couteau; laissez -le bien vite, vous écraseriez le gâteau. J' ai là un vieux petit couteau très-fin, que je garde depuis longtemps pour cette occasion.... Allez maintenant.... voyez ! léger comme une plume. A présent, mangez.... rien ne vous arrête.
“La bless you, Mas’r George!” said Aunt Chloe, with earnestness, catching his arm, “you wouldn’t be for cuttin’ it wid dat ar great heavy knife! Smash all down—spile all de pretty rise of it. Here, I’ve got a thin old knife, I keeps sharp a purpose. Dar now, see! comes apart light as a feather! Now eat away—you won’t get anything to beat dat ar.”
“Tom Lincon says,” said George, speaking with his mouth full, “that their Jinny is a better cook than you.”
-- Lincoln ne sait ce qu' il dit, reprit Chloé avec un souverain mépris.... Il ne faut pas comparer les Lincoln aux Shelby.... ils ont leur petit mérite pour les choses ordinaires; mais s' il s' agit d' avoir un peu de.... de style !... plus rien !... Mettre M. Lincoln à côté de M. Shelby !... Oh ! Dieu ! et Mme Lincoln, peut -elle figurer dans un salon à côté de ma maîtresse.... si belle, si brillante ? Allons ! ne me parlez plus de ces Lincoln. » Et Chloé hocha la tête comme une femme qui a la conscience de ce qu' elle sait.
“Dem Lincons an’t much count, no way!” said Aunt Chloe, contemptuously; “I mean, set along side _our_ folks. They ’s ’spectable folks enough in a kinder plain way; but, as to gettin’ up anything in style, they don’t begin to have a notion on ’t. Set Mas’r Lincon, now, alongside Mas’r Shelby! Good Lor! and Missis Lincon,—can she kinder sweep it into a room like my missis,—so kinder splendid, yer know! O, go way! don’t tell me nothin’ of dem Lincons!”—and Aunt Chloe tossed her head as one who hoped she did know something of the world.
“Well, though, I’ve heard you say,” said George, “that Jinny was a pretty fair cook.”
-- Oui, je l' ai dit, et je puis le répéter.... bonne, mais vulgaire, commune.... propre à faire la cuisine de tous les jours; mais l' _extra_, monsieur, l' _extra_ !... elle n' y atteint pas.... Elle fait bien une galette de maïs.... et c' est tout.... Je sais qu' elle s' essaye aux pâtés.... mais la croûte.... elle manque les croûtes ! Elle n' arrivera jamais à cette pâtisserie molle et fondante qui s' élève et se gonfle comme un soufflet.... non, jamais ! Quand miss Mary se maria.... Jenny me montra les gâteaux de mariage.... Jenny et moi nous sommes bonnes amies, vous savez: je ne dis rien.... Mais allez, monsieur Georges, je ne fermerais pas l' oeil d' une semaine si j' avais fait des pâtés pareils.... Ce n' était rien qui vaille....
“So I did,” said Aunt Chloe,—“I may say dat. Good, plain, common cookin’, Jinny’ll do;—make a good pone o’ bread,—bile her taters _far_,—her corn cakes isn’t extra, not extra now, Jinny’s corn cakes isn’t, but then they’s far,—but, Lor, come to de higher branches, and what _can_ she do? Why, she makes pies—sartin she does; but what kinder crust? Can she make your real flecky paste, as melts in your mouth, and lies all up like a puff? Now, I went over thar when Miss Mary was gwine to be married, and Jinny she jest showed me de weddin’ pies. Jinny and I is good friends, ye know. I never said nothin’; but go ’long, Mas’r George! Why, I shouldn’t sleep a wink for a week, if I had a batch of pies like dem ar. Why, dey wan’t no ’count ’t all.”
“I suppose Jinny thought they were ever so nice,” said George.
-- Eh ! sans doute, elle les montrait comme une innocente. Vous voyez, c' est bien cela ! Jenny ne sait pas ! C' est une famille de rien.... Elle ne peut pas savoir, cette fille; ce n' est pas sa faute. Ah ! monsieur Georges, vous ignorez la moitié des avantages et priviléges de votre famille. » ~~~ Ici Chloé soupira et roula des yeux attendris.
“Thought so!—didn’t she? Thar she was, showing em, as innocent—ye see, it’s jest here, Jinny _don’t know_. Lor, the family an’t nothing! She can’t be spected to know! ’Ta’nt no fault o’ hem. Ah, Mas’r George, you doesn’t know half ’your privileges in yer family and bringin’ up!” Here Aunt Chloe sighed, and rolled up her eyes with emotion.
“I’m sure, Aunt Chloe, I understand my pie and pudding privileges,” said George. “Ask Tom Lincon if I don’t crow over him, every time I meet him.”
Chloé se renversa dans sa chaise: l' esprit de son jeune maître excita en elle des accès de gaieté retentissante. Elle rit, elle rit jusqu' à ce que les larmes couvrissent ses joues noires et brillantes..... Cependant elle pinçait le jeune homme, et lui donnait même quelques coups de poing, en disant qu' il était son bourreau et qu' il la tuerait un de ces jours; et, entre chacune de ces prédictions funèbres, les éclats de rire sonores recommençaient de plus belle. Georges commença à croire qu' il avait trop d' esprit.... que c' était un danger, et qu' il devait prendre garde à ce que ses conversations fussent moins meurtrières.
Aunt Chloe sat back in her chair, and indulged in a hearty guffaw of laughter, at this witticism of young Mas’r’s, laughing till the tears rolled down her black, shining cheeks, and varying the exercise with playfully slapping and poking Mas’r Georgey, and telling him to go way, and that he was a case—that he was fit to kill her, and that he sartin would kill her, one of these days; and, between each of these sanguinary predictions, going off into a laugh, each longer and stronger than the other, till George really began to think that he was a very dangerously witty fellow, and that it became him to be careful how he talked “as funny as he could.”
“And so ye telled Tom, did ye? O, Lor! what young uns will be up ter! Ye crowed over Tom? O, Lor! Mas’r George, if ye wouldn’t make a hornbug laugh!”
“Yes,” said George, “I says to him, ‘Tom, you ought to see some of Aunt Chloe’s pies; they’re the right sort,’ says I.”
-- Eh bien ! non, il ne faut pas ! dit Chloé; car l' idée de la malheureuse condition de Tom Lincoln fit une soudaine et vive impression sur son coeur bienveillant. Vous devriez plutôt l' inviter à venir dîner ici de temps en temps, monsieur Georges, ajouta-telle; ce serait tout à fait bien de votre part. Vous savez, monsieur Georges, qu' il ne faut se croire au-dessus de personne à cause de ses priviléges.... Nos priviléges, voyez -vous, nous les avons reçus.... il faut toujours se rappeler cela. » ~~~ Et Chloé redevint tout à fait sérieuse.
“Pity, now, Tom couldn’t,” said Aunt Chloe, on whose benevolent heart the idea of Tom’s benighted condition seemed to make a strong impression. “Ye oughter just ask him here to dinner, some o’ these times, Mas’r George,” she added; “it would look quite pretty of ye. Ye know, Mas’r George, ye oughtenter feel ’bove nobody, on ’count yer privileges, ’cause all our privileges is gi’n to us; we ought al’ays to ’member that,” said Aunt Chloe, looking quite serious.
“Well, I mean to ask Tom here, some day next week,” said George; “and you do your prettiest, Aunt Chloe, and we’ll make him stare. Won’t we make him eat so he won’t get over it for a fortnight?”
-- C' est cela ! c' est cela ! s' écria Chloé toute ravie.... Vous verrez ! Seigneur Dieu ! pensez à quelques-uns de nos dîners.... Vous rappelez -vous ce pâté de volaille, quand vous reçûtes le général Knox ? Moi et madame, nous nous disputâmes pour la croûte. Je ne sais ce qu' ont parfois les dames; mais c' est au moment où vous avez la plus lourde responsabilité sur la tête qu' elles viennent se mêler de vos affaires. Madame voulait me montrer comment je devais m' y prendre. A la fin, je me fâchai presque.... je lui dis: « Madame, regardez vos belles mains blanches et vos longs doigts, et toutes ces bagues étincelantes comme nos lis blancs avec leurs perles de rosée.... Regardez maintenant mes larges mains noires.... ne voyez -vous pas que Dieu a voulu nous créer, moi, pour faire la croûte du pâté, vous, pour rester dans votre salon ?... » Oui, monsieur Georges, j' étais sur le point de me fâcher....
“Yes, yes—sartin,” said Aunt Chloe, delighted; “you’ll see. Lor! to think of some of our dinners! Yer mind dat ar great chicken pie I made when we guv de dinner to General Knox? I and Missis, we come pretty near quarrelling about dat ar crust. What does get into ladies sometimes, I don’t know; but, sometimes, when a body has de heaviest kind o’ ’sponsibility on ’em, as ye may say, and is all kinder _”seris’_ and taken up, dey takes dat ar time to be hangin’ round and kinder interferin’! Now, Missis, she wanted me to do dis way, and she wanted me to do dat way; and, finally, I got kinder sarcy, and, says I, ’Now, Missis, do jist look at dem beautiful white hands o’ yourn with long fingers, and all a sparkling with rings, like my white lilies when de dew ’s on ’em; and look at my great black stumpin hands. Now, don’t ye think dat de Lord must have meant _me_ to make de pie-crust, and you to stay in de parlor? Dar! I was jist so sarcy, Mas’r George.”
-- Et que dit ma mère ?
“And what did mother say?” said George.
-- Elle fixa sur moi ses grands yeux, ses beaux grands yeux, et elle dit: « Bien, mère Chloé, je crois que vous avez raison.... » Et elle rentra dans le salon. Elle aurait dû me donner un coup de poing sur la tête, pour mon insolence. Mais chacun à sa place.... je ne puis rien faire quand il y a des dames dans la cuisine.
“Say?—why, she kinder larfed in her eyes—dem great handsome eyes o’ hern; and, says she, ‘Well, Aunt Chloe, I think you are about in the right on ’t,’ says she; and she went off in de parlor. She oughter cracked me over de head for bein’ so sarcy; but dar’s whar ’t is—I can’t do nothin’ with ladies in de kitchen!”
“Well, you made out well with that dinner,—I remember everybody said so,” said George.
-- N' est -ce pas ?... Moi, j' étais dans la salle à manger.... je vis le général passer trois fois son assiette pour retourner au pâté.... Il disait: « Vous avez là, madame Shelby, une cuisinière vraiment distinguée.... » Dieu ! je me sentais gonfler d' orgueil ! Le général sait quelle cuisinière je suis, reprit Chloé en se rengorgeant.... un bien bel homme, le général; il descend d' une des premières familles de l' ancienne Virginie.... il s' y connaît aussi bien que moi, le général. Voyez -vous, monsieur Georges, il y a plusieurs points à noter dans un pâté.... tout le monde ne s' en doute pas.... mais le général le sait, lui, je m' en suis aperçue aux remarques qu' il a faites.... il connaît le pâté ! »
“Didn’t I? And wan’t I behind de dinin’-room door dat bery day? and didn’t I see de General pass his plate three times for some more dat bery pie?—and, says he, ‘You must have an uncommon cook, Mrs. Shelby.’ Lor! I was fit to split myself. ~~~ “And de Gineral, he knows what cookin’ is,” said Aunt Chloe, drawing herself up with an air. “Bery nice man, de Gineral! He comes of one of de bery _fustest_ families in Old Virginny! He knows what’s what, now, as well as I do—de Gineral. Ye see, there’s _pints_ in all pies, Mas’r George; but tan’t everybody knows what they is, or as orter be. But the Gineral, he knows; I knew by his ’marks he made. Yes, he knows what de pints is!”
Cependant, M. Georges en était arrivé à ce point où un enfant même peut en venir (dans des circonstances exceptionnelles ), de ne pouvoir avaler un morceau de plus. Il eut alors le temps de regarder toutes ces têtes de laine et tous ces yeux brillants qui le contemplaient d' un air famélique, d' un angle à l' autre de l' appartement.
By this time, Master George had arrived at that pass to which even a boy can come (under uncommon circumstances, when he really could not eat another morsel), and, therefore, he was at leisure to notice the pile of woolly heads and glistening eyes which were regarding their operations hungrily from the opposite corner.
“Here, you Mose, Pete,” he said, breaking off liberal bits, and throwing it at them; “you want some, don’t you? Come, Aunt Chloe, bake them some cakes.”
Georges et Tom se placèrent sur un siége confortable, au coin de la cheminée, tandis que Chloé, après avoir fait encore une pile de galette, prit le _baby_[4 ] sur ses genoux, le faisant manger, mangeant elle-même, et distribuant les morceaux à Pierre et à Moïse, qui dévoraient en se roulant sous la table, criant, se pinçant et tirant les pieds de leur petite soeur. » ~~~ [ 4 ] Très-jeune enfant.
And George and Tom moved to a comfortable seat in the chimney-corner, while Aunte Chloe, after baking a goodly pile of cakes, took her baby on her lap, and began alternately filling its mouth and her own, and distributing to Mose and Pete, who seemed rather to prefer eating theirs as they rolled about on the floor under the table, tickling each other, and occasionally pulling the baby’s toes.
« Plus loin ! disait la mère en allongeant de temps en temps un coup de pied sous la table en manière d' avertissement, quand le mouvement devenait trop importun.... Ne pouvez -vous vous tenir décemment, quand les blancs viennent vous voir ? Allez -vous finir ? Non ! eh bien ! je vais faire sauter un bouton quand M. Georges sera parti ! »
“O! go long, will ye?” said the mother, giving now and then a kick, in a kind of general way, under the table, when the movement became too obstreperous. “Can’t ye be decent when white folks comes to see ye? Stop dat ar, now, will ye? Better mind yerselves, or I’ll take ye down a button-hole lower, when Mas’r George is gone!”
What meaning was couched under this terrible threat, it is difficult to say; but certain it is that its awful indistinctness seemed to produce very little impression on the young sinners addressed.
« Ils se sont tellement chatouillés, dit Tom, que maintenant ils ne peuvent plus se tenir tranquilles. »
“La, now!” said Uncle Tom, “they are so full of tickle all the while, they can’t behave theirselves.”
A ce moment, les enfants sortirent de dessous la table, et, les mains et le visage pleins de mélasse, commencèrent à embrasser vigoureusement la petite fille.
Here the boys emerged from under the table, and, with hands and faces well plastered with molasses, began a vigorous kissing of the baby.
« Voulez -vous bien vous en aller ? dit la mère, en repoussant les têtes crépues.... Comme vous voici faits !... Cela ne partira jamais ! Courez vous laver à la fontaine. » Et à ses exhortations elle ajouta une tape qui retentit formidablement, mais qui n' excita autre chose que le rire des enfants qui tombèrent l' un sur l' autre en sortant, avec des éclats de rire joyeux et frais.
“Get along wid ye!” said the mother, pushing away their woolly heads. “Ye’ll all stick together, and never get clar, if ye do dat fashion. Go long to de spring and wash yerselves!” she said, seconding her exhortations by a slap, which resounded very formidably, but which seemed only to knock out so much more laugh from the young ones, as they tumbled precipitately over each other out of doors, where they fairly screamed with merriment.
« A -t-on jamais vu d' aussi méchants garnements ? » dit Chloé avec une certaine satisfaction maternelle. Elle atteignit une vieille serviette destinée à cet effet; elle prit un peu d' eau dans une théière fêlée, et débarbouilla les mains et le visage du baby. Elle les frotta jusqu' à les faire reluire, puis elle mit l' enfant sur les genoux de Tom, et fit disparaître les traces du souper. Cependant le marmot tirait le nez, égratignait le visage de Tom et passait dans les cheveux de son père ses petites mains potelées. Ce dernier exercice semblait surtout lui causer une joie particulière.
“Did ye ever see such aggravating young uns?” said Aunt Chloe, rather complacently, as, producing an old towel, kept for such emergencies, she poured a little water out of the cracked tea-pot on it, and began rubbing off the molasses from the baby’s face and hands; and, having polished her till she shone, she set her down in Tom’s lap, while she busied herself in clearing away supper. The baby employed the intervals in pulling Tom’s nose, scratching his face, and burying her fat hands in his woolly hair, which last operation seemed to afford her special content.
« N' est -ce point là un bijou d' enfant ? » dit Tom en l' écartant un peu de lui pour mieux la voir; et se levant, il l' assit sur sa large épaule et commença de gesticuler et de danser avec elle, tandis que Georges secouait autour d' elle son mouchoir de poche, et que Moïse et Peter cabriolaient comme de jeunes ours. Chloé déclara enfin que tout ce bruit lui fendait la tête; mais, comme cette plainte énergique se faisait entendre plusieurs fois par jour dans la case, elle ne réprima point la gaieté pétulante de nos amis: les jeux, les danses et les cris continuèrent, jusqu' à ce que chacun tombât d' épuisement.
“Aint she a peart young un?” said Tom, holding her from him to take a full-length view; then, getting up, he set her on his broad shoulder, and began capering and dancing with her, while Mas’r George snapped at her with his pocket-handkerchief, and Mose and Pete, now returned again, roared after her like bears, till Aunt Chloe declared that they “fairly took her head off” with their noise. As, according to her own statement, this surgical operation was a matter of daily occurrence in the cabin, the declaration no whit abated the merriment, till every one had roared and tumbled and danced themselves down to a state of composure.
“Well, now, I hopes you’re done,” said Aunt Chloe, who had been busy in pulling out a rude box of a trundle-bed; “and now, you Mose and you Pete, get into thar; for we’s goin’ to have the meetin’.”
“O mother, we don’t wanter. We wants to sit up to meetin’,—meetin’s is so curis. We likes ’em.”
-- Allons ! mère Chloé, accordez -leur cela. Qu' ils soient du meeting ! » dit Georges en repoussant les lits grossiers.
“La, Aunt Chloe, shove it under, and let ’em sit up,” said Mas’r George, decisively, giving a push to the rude machine.
Aunt Chloe, having thus saved appearances, seemed highly delighted to push the thing under, saying, as she did so, “Well, mebbe ’t will do ’em some good.”
The house now resolved itself into a committee of the whole, to consider the accommodations and arrangements for the meeting.
“What we’s to do for cheers, now, _I_ declar I don’t know,” said Aunt Chloe. As the meeting had been held at Uncle Tom’s weekly, for an indefinite length of time, without any more “cheers,” there seemed some encouragement to hope that a way would be discovered at present.
“Old Uncle Peter sung both de legs out of dat oldest cheer, last week,” suggested Mose.
“You go long! I’ll boun’ you pulled ’em out; some o’ your shines,” said Aunt Chloe.
“Well, it’ll stand, if it only keeps jam up agin de wall!” said Mose.
“Den Uncle Peter mus’n’t sit in it, cause he al’ays hitches when he gets a singing. He hitched pretty nigh across de room, t’ other night,” said Pete.
“Good Lor! get him in it, then,” said Mose, “and den he’d begin, ‘Come saints—and sinners, hear me tell,’ and den down he’d go,”—and Mose imitated precisely the nasal tones of the old man, tumbling on the floor, to illustrate the supposed catastrophe.
“Come now, be decent, can’t ye?” said Aunt Chloe; “an’t yer shamed?”
Mas’r George, however, joined the offender in the laugh, and declared decidedly that Mose was a “buster.” So the maternal admonition seemed rather to fail of effect.
“Well, ole man,” said Aunt Chloe, “you’ll have to tote in them ar bar’ls.”
“Mother’s bar’ls is like dat ar widder’s, Mas’r George was reading ’bout, in de good book,—dey never fails,” said Mose, aside to Peter.
“I’m sure one on ’em caved in last week,” said Pete, “and let ’em all down in de middle of de singin’; dat ar was failin’, warnt it?”
During this aside between Mose and Pete, two empty casks had been rolled into the cabin, and being secured from rolling, by stones on each side, boards were laid across them, which arrangement, together with the turning down of certain tubs and pails, and the disposing of the rickety chairs, at last completed the preparation.
“Mas’r George is such a beautiful reader, now, I know he’ll stay to read for us,” said Aunt Chloe; “‘pears like ’t will be so much more interestin’.”
George very readily consented, for your boy is always ready for anything that makes him of importance.
La chambre fut bientôt remplie d' une compagnie bigarrée, depuis la vieille tête grise du patriarche de quatre-vingts ans jusqu' au jeune garçon et à la jeune fille de quinze. On échangea d'abord quelques innocents commérages sur différents sujets.... « Où la mère Sally avait -elle eu son nouveau mouchoir rouge ?... Madame allait donner à Lisa sa robe de mousseline à pois.... Monsieur devait acheter un cheval de trois ans, qui allait ajouter à la gloire de la maison.... » Quelques-uns des fidèles appartenaient à des habitations du voisinage, et on leur permettait de se réunir chez Tom; ils apportaient leur quote-part de cancans sur ce qui se faisait ou se disait dans l' habitation: c' était le même _libre échange_ que dans les cercles d' un monde plus élevé.
The room was soon filled with a motley assemblage, from the old gray-headed patriarch of eighty, to the young girl and lad of fifteen. A little harmless gossip ensued on various themes, such as where old Aunt Sally got her new red headkerchief, and how “Missis was a going to give Lizzy that spotted muslin gown, when she’d got her new berage made up;” and how Mas’r Shelby was thinking of buying a new sorrel colt, that was going to prove an addition to the glories of the place. A few of the worshippers belonged to families hard by, who had got permission to attend, and who brought in various choice scraps of information, about the sayings and doings at the house and on the place, which circulated as freely as the same sort of small change does in higher circles.
Au bout d' un instant les chants commencèrent, à la satisfaction très-évidente des assistants. Le désagrément des intonations nasales ne pouvait détruire complétement l' effet de ces voix naturellement belles, chantant cette musique à la fois ardente et sauvage.... Les paroles étaient les hymnes ordinaires et bien connues que l' on entend dans tous les temples, ou bien elles étaient empruntées aux missions ambulantes, et elles avaient je ne sais quel caractère étrange où l' on pressentait l' infini.
After a while the singing commenced, to the evident delight of all present. Not even all the disadvantage of nasal intonation could prevent the effect of the naturally fine voices, in airs at once wild and spirited. The words were sometimes the well-known and common hymns sung in the churches about, and sometimes of a wilder, more indefinite character, picked up at camp-meetings.
The chorus of one of them, which ran as follows, was sung with great energy and unction:
“Die on the field of battle, Die on the field of battle, Glory in my soul.”
Another special favorite had oft repeated the words—
“O, I’m going to glory,—won’t you come along with me? Don’t you see the angels beck’ning, and a calling me away? Don’t you see the golden city and the everlasting day?”
Il y en avait beaucoup d' autres encore qui faisaient sans cesse allusion aux rives du Jourdain, aux champs de Chanaan et à la nouvelle Jérusalem. L' esprit du nègre, impressionnable et mobile, s' attache toujours aux hymnes qui lui présentent de saisissantes images.... Tout en chantant, les uns riaient, les autres pleuraient, quelques-uns frappaient dans leurs mains ou bien ils se les serraient les uns aux autres, comme s' ils eussent heureusement atteint l' autre rive du fleuve.
There were others, which made incessant mention of “Jordan’s banks,” and “Canaan’s fields,” and the “New Jerusalem;” for the negro mind, impassioned and imaginative, always attaches itself to hymns and expressions of a vivid and pictorial nature; and, as they sung, some laughed, and some cried, and some clapped hands, or shook hands rejoicingly with each other, as if they had fairly gained the other side of the river.
Diverses exhortations, des exemples que l' on rapportait, alternaient avec les chants. Une vieille femme à tête grise, qui ne travaillait plus depuis longtemps, mais que l' on révérait comme la chronique du temps passé, se leva et s' appuyant sur son bâton: ~~~ « Bien, mes enfants, dit -elle, bien ! Je suis heureuse de vous voir et de vous entendre une fois de plus.... Je ne sais pas quand j' irai à la gloire.... Mais je suis prête, mes enfants, mon petit paquet est fait, j' ai mis mon chapeau: j' attends que la voiture passe et m' emporte chez moi. Il me semble, la nuit, que j' entends le bruit des roues et que je regarde à la porte.... Et maintenant, mes enfants, soyez toujours prêts aussi.... je vous le dis à tous ! » ~~~ Et frappant fortement la terre de son bâton: ~~~ « C' est une grande chose, cette gloire, dit -elle, une grande chose, enfants ! Et vous ne faites rien pour elle.... c' est étonnant ! » ~~~ La vieille femme se rassit: ses larmes coulèrent par torrents, elle paraissait hors d' elle -même.... Toute l' assistance répétait:
Various exhortations, or relations of experience, followed, and intermingled with the singing. One old gray-headed woman, long past work, but much revered as a sort of chronicle of the past, rose, and leaning on her staff, said—“Well, chil’en! Well, I’m mighty glad to hear ye all and see ye all once more, ’cause I don’t know when I’ll be gone to glory; but I’ve done got ready, chil’en; ’pears like I’d got my little bundle all tied up, and my bonnet on, jest a waitin’ for the stage to come along and take me home; sometimes, in the night, I think I hear the wheels a rattlin’, and I’m lookin’ out all the time; now, you jest be ready too, for I tell ye all, chil’en,” she said striking her staff hard on the floor, “dat ar _glory_ is a mighty thing! It’s a mighty thing, chil’en,—you don’no nothing about it,—it’s _wonderful_.” And the old creature sat down, with streaming tears, as wholly overcome, while the whole circle struck up—
O Chanaan ! terre de Chanaan; Nous irons tous vers Chanaan !...
“O Canaan, bright Canaan I’m bound for the land of Canaan.”
Mas’r George, by request, read the last chapters of Revelation, often interrupted by such exclamations as “The _sakes_ now!” “Only hear that!” “Jest think on ’t!” “Is all that a comin’ sure enough?”
[ 5 ] La Bible. ~~~ Georges, qui avait beaucoup de facilité et que sa mère avait soigneusement instruit de sa religion, se sentant l' objet de l' attention générale, y mettait du sien de temps en temps, avec une gravité et un sérieux louable. Il était admiré par les jeunes et béni par les vieux. On répétait de tous côtés qu' un ministre ne pourrait pas mieux faire, et que c' était réellement merveilleux.
George, who was a bright boy, and well trained in religious things by his mother, finding himself an object of general admiration, threw in expositions of his own, from time to time, with a commendable seriousness and gravity, for which he was admired by the young and blessed by the old; and it was agreed, on all hands, that “a minister couldn’t lay it off better than he did; that ’t was reely ’mazin’!”
Pour tout ce qui touchait à la religion, Tom, dans le voisinage, passait pour une sorte de patriarche. Le côté moral dominait en lui: il avait en même temps plus de largeur et d' élévation d' esprit qu' on n' en rencontre parmi ses compagnons; il était l' objet d' un grand respect: il était parmi eux comme un ministre. Le style simple, cordial, sincère de ses exhortations, aurait édifié des personnes d' une plus haute éducation. Mais c' était dans la prière qu' il excellait. Rien ne pouvait surpasser la simplicité touchante, l' entraînement juvénile de cette prière, enrichie du langage de l' Écriture, qu' il s' était en quelque sorte assimilée et qui tombait de ses lèvres sans qu' il en eût conscience. « Il priait juste ! » disait un vieux nègre dans son pieux langage, et sa prière avait toujours un tel effet sur les sentiments de l' assistance, qu' elle courait souvent le risque d' être étouffée sous les répons abondants qui s' échappaient de toutes parts autour de lui.
Uncle Tom was a sort of patriarch in religious matters, in the neighborhood. Having, naturally, an organization in which the _morale_ was strongly predominant, together with a greater breadth and cultivation of mind than obtained among his companions, he was looked up to with great respect, as a sort of minister among them; and the simple, hearty, sincere style of his exhortations might have edified even better educated persons. But it was in prayer that he especially excelled. Nothing could exceed the touching simplicity, the childlike earnestness, of his prayer, enriched with the language of Scripture, which seemed so entirely to have wrought itself into his being, as to have become a part of himself, and to drop from his lips unconsciously; in the language of a pious old negro, he “prayed right up.” And so much did his prayer always work on the devotional feelings of his audiences, that there seemed often a danger that it would be lost altogether in the abundance of the responses which broke out everywhere around him.
While this scene was passing in the cabin of the man, one quite otherwise passed in the halls of the master.
The trader and Mr. Shelby were seated together in the dining room afore-named, at a table covered with papers and writing utensils. ~~~ Mr. Shelby was busy in counting some bundles of bills, which, as they were counted, he pushed over to the trader, who counted them likewise.
“All fair,” said the trader; “and now for signing these yer.”
M. Shelby prit vivement les billets de vente et signa, comme un homme pressé de finir une besogne ennuyeuse; puis il tendit au marchand l' acte signé et de l' argent. Haley tira d' une vieille valise un parchemin qu' il présenta à M. Shelby après l' avoir un moment examiné. Celui -ci s' en empara avec un empressement qu' il ne put dissimuler.
Mr. Shelby hastily drew the bills of sale towards him, and signed them, like a man that hurries over some disagreeable business, and then pushed them over with the money. Haley produced, from a well-worn valise, a parchment, which, after looking over it a moment, he handed to Mr. Shelby, who took it with a gesture of suppressed eagerness.
“Wal, now, the thing’s _done_!” said the trader, getting up.
“It’s _done_!” said Mr. Shelby, in a musing tone; and, fetching a long breath, he repeated, _“It’s done!”_
“Yer don’t seem to feel much pleased with it, ’pears to me,” said the trader.
“Haley,” said Mr. Shelby, “I hope you’ll remember that you promised, on your honor, you wouldn’t sell Tom, without knowing what sort of hands he’s going into.”
“Why, you’ve just done it sir,” said the trader.
“Circumstances, you well know, _obliged_ me,” said Shelby, haughtily.
“Wal, you know, they may ’blige _me_, too,” said the trader. “Howsomever, I’ll do the very best I can in gettin’ Tom a good berth; as to my treatin’ on him bad, you needn’t be a grain afeard. If there’s anything that I thank the Lord for, it is that I’m never noways cruel.”
Le marchand avait trop bien expliqué tout d'abord comment il entendait l' _humanité_ pour rassurer beaucoup M. Shelby par ses protestations. Mais, comme dans les circonstances actuelles il ne pouvait exiger rien de plus, il le laissa partir sans observation, et il alluma un cigare pour se distraire.
After the expositions which the trader had previously given of his humane principles, Mr. Shelby did not feel particularly reassured by these declarations; but, as they were the best comfort the case admitted of, he allowed the trader to depart in silence, and betook himself to a solitary cigar.
CHAPTER V Showing the Feelings of Living Property on Changing Owners
M. et Mme Shelby s' étaient retirés dans leur appartement pour la nuit. ~~~ Le mari s' était étendu dans un fauteuil confortable: il parcourait quelques lettres arrivées par la poste de l' après-dîner; la femme était debout devant son miroir, déroulant les boucles et dénouant les tresses de ses cheveux, élégant ouvrage d' Élisa. Mme Shelby, remarquant la pâleur et l' oeil hagard d' Élisa, l' avait dispensée de son service pour ce soir -là; l' occupation du moment lui rappela la conversation du matin, et se tournant vers son mari, elle lui dit avec assez d' insouciance:
Mr. and Mrs. Shelby had retired to their apartment for the night. He was lounging in a large easy-chair, looking over some letters that had come in the afternoon mail, and she was standing before her mirror, brushing out the complicated braids and curls in which Eliza had arranged her hair; for, noticing her pale cheeks and haggard eyes, she had excused her attendance that night, and ordered her to bed. The employment, naturally enough, suggested her conversation with the girl in the morning; and turning to her husband, she said, carelessly,
“By the by, Arthur, who was that low-bred fellow that you lugged in to our dinner-table today?”
-- Il s' appelle Haley, dit Shelby en se retournant sur son siége comme un homme mal à l' aise; et il tint ses yeux fixés sur la lettre.
“Haley is his name,” said Shelby, turning himself rather uneasily in his chair, and continuing with his eyes fixed on a letter.
“Haley! Who is he, and what may be his business here, pray?”
“Well, he’s a man that I transacted some business with, last time I was at Natchez,” said Mr. Shelby.
“And he presumed on it to make himself quite at home, and call and dine here, ay?”
“Why, I invited him; I had some accounts with him,” said Shelby.
-- C' est un marchand d' esclaves ? poursuivit Mme Shelby, qui observait un certain embarras dans les façons de son mari.
“Is he a negro-trader?” said Mrs. Shelby, noticing a certain embarrassment in her husband’s manner.
“Why, my dear, what put that into your head?” said Shelby, looking up.
“Nothing,—only Eliza came in here, after dinner, in a great worry, crying and taking on, and said you were talking with a trader, and that she heard him make an offer for her boy—the ridiculous little goose!”
“She did, hey?” said Mr. Shelby, returning to his paper, which he seemed for a few moments quite intent upon, not perceiving that he was holding it bottom upwards. ~~~ “It will have to come out,” said he, mentally; “as well now as ever.”
-- J' ai dit à Élisa, reprit Mme Shelby, tout en continuant d' arranger ses cheveux, qu' elle était vraiment bien folle de s' affliger ainsi, que vous ne traitez jamais avec des gens de cette sorte.... et puis, que je savais que vous ne voulez vendre aucun de vos esclaves.... et ce pauvre enfant moins que tout autre.
“I told Eliza,” said Mrs. Shelby, as she continued brushing her hair, “that she was a little fool for her pains, and that you never had anything to do with that sort of persons. Of course, I knew you never meant to sell any of our people,—least of all, to such a fellow.”
“Well, Emily,” said her husband, “so I have always felt and said; but the fact is that my business lies so that I cannot get on without. I shall have to sell some of my hands.”
“To that creature? Impossible! Mr. Shelby, you cannot be serious.”
“I’m sorry to say that I am,” said Mr. Shelby. “I’ve agreed to sell Tom.”
-- Quoi ! notre Tom.... cette bonne et fidèle créature, votre fidèle esclave depuis son enfance.... Oh ! monsieur Shelby ! Et vous lui aviez promis sa liberté.... vous et moi nous lui en avons parlé maintes fois.... Ah ! maintenant, je puis tout croire.... je puis croire maintenant que vous vendrez le petit Henri.... l' unique enfant de la pauvre Élisa.... » ~~~ Mme Shelby prononça ces mots d' un ton qui tenait le milieu entre la douleur et l' indignation.
“What! our Tom?—that good, faithful creature!—been your faithful servant from a boy! O, Mr. Shelby!—and you have promised him his freedom, too,—you and I have spoken to him a hundred times of it. Well, I can believe anything now,—I can believe _now_ that you could sell little Harry, poor Eliza’s only child!” said Mrs. Shelby, in a tone between grief and indignation.
“Well, since you must know all, it is so. I have agreed to sell Tom and Harry both; and I don’t know why I am to be rated, as if I were a monster, for doing what every one does every day.”
“But why, of all others, choose these?” said Mrs. Shelby. “Why sell them, of all on the place, if you must sell at all?”
“Because they will bring the highest sum of any,—that’s why. I could choose another, if you say so. The fellow made me a high bid on Eliza, if that would suit you any better,” said Mr. Shelby.
-- Le misérable ! s' écria Mme Shelby.
“The wretch!” said Mrs. Shelby, vehemently.
“Well, I didn’t listen to it, a moment,—out of regard to your feelings, I wouldn’t;—so give me some credit.”
-- Mon ami, dit Mme Shelby en se remettant, pardonnez -moi. J' ai été vive. Vous m' avez surprise. Je n' étais pas préparée à cela. Mais certainement vous me permettrez d' intercéder pour ces pauvres créatures. Tom est un nègre; mais c' est un noble coeur, et un homme fidèle. Je suis sûre, monsieur Shelby, qu' au besoin il donnerait sa vie pour vous....
“My dear,” said Mrs. Shelby, recollecting herself, “forgive me. I have been hasty. I was surprised, and entirely unprepared for this;—but surely you will allow me to intercede for these poor creatures. Tom is a noble-hearted, faithful fellow, if he is black. I do believe, Mr. Shelby, that if he were put to it, he would lay down his life for you.”
“I know it,—I dare say;—but what’s the use of all this?—I can’t help myself.”
-- Pourquoi ne pas faire un sacrifice d' argent ? Allez ! j' en supporterai ma part bien volontiers. Oh ! monsieur Shelby ! j' ai essayé.... je me suis efforcée, comme une femme chrétienne, d' accomplir mon devoir envers ces pauvres créatures, si simples, si malheureuses. J' en ai eu soin.... je les ai instruites, je les ai veillées. Il y a des années que je connais leurs modestes joies et leurs humbles soucis.... Comment pourrai -je élever ma tête au milieu d' eux, si pour un misérable gain nous vendons ce digne et excellent Tom ? si nous lui arrachons en un instant tout ce que nous lui avons appris à aimer et à respecter ?... Oui ! je leur ai appris les devoirs de la famille, de père et d' enfant, de mari et de femme: comment supporter la pensée de leur montrer maintenant qu' il n' y a pas de liens, de relations, si sacrées qu' elles soient, que nous ne soyons prêts à briser pour de l' argent ? J' ai souvent parlé avec Élisa de son enfant et de ses devoirs envers lui comme mère chrétienne. Je lui ai dit qu' elle devait le surveiller, prier pour lui, l' élever en chrétien.... et maintenant.... que puis -je dire, si vous le lui arrachez pour le vendre, corps et âme, à un profane, à un homme sans principes ?... et cela pour épargner un peu d' argent ! Et je lui ai dit qu' une âme valait mieux que toutes les richesses du monde.... Pourra -t-elle me croire en voyant vendre son enfant ? Le vendre, hélas ! pour la ruine de son corps et de son âme.
“Why not make a pecuniary sacrifice? I’m willing to bear my part of the inconvenience. O, Mr. Shelby, I have tried—tried most faithfully, as a Christian woman should—to do my duty to these poor, simple, dependent creatures. I have cared for them, instructed them, watched over them, and know all their little cares and joys, for years; and how can I ever hold up my head again among them, if, for the sake of a little paltry gain, we sell such a faithful, excellent, confiding creature as poor Tom, and tear from him in a moment all we have taught him to love and value? I have taught them the duties of the family, of parent and child, and husband and wife; and how can I bear to have this open acknowledgment that we care for no tie, no duty, no relation, however sacred, compared with money? I have talked with Eliza about her boy—her duty to him as a Christian mother, to watch over him, pray for him, and bring him up in a Christian way; and now what can I say, if you tear him away, and sell him, soul and body, to a profane, unprincipled man, just to save a little money? I have told her that one soul is worth more than all the money in the world; and how will she believe me when she sees us turn round and sell her child?—sell him, perhaps, to certain ruin of body and soul!”
-- Je suis bien fâché, Émilie, que vous le preniez si vivement. Oui, en vérité; je respecte vos sentiments, quoique je ne puisse pas prétendre les partager entièrement. Mais, je vous le dis maintenant solennellement, tout est inutile.... c' est le seul moyen de me sauver.... Je ne voulais pas vous le dire, Émilie.... mais voyez -vous, s' il faut parler net.... ou vendre ces deux -là, ou vendre tout ! Ils doivent partir, ou tous partiront ! Haley possède une hypothèque sur moi.... si je ne la purge pas avec lui, elle emportera tout.... J' ai économisé, j' ai gratté sur tout, j' ai emprunté, j' ai fait tout, excepté mendier.... et je n' ai pu arriver à la balance de mon compte sans le prix de ces deux -là.... J' ai dû les abandonner. Haley avait un caprice pour l' enfant, il a voulu terminer l' affaire de cette façon et non d' une autre.... j' étais en son pouvoir; j' ai dû obéir.... Eussiez -vous mieux aimé les voir tous vendus ? »
“I’m sorry you feel so about it,—indeed I am,” said Mr. Shelby; “and I respect your feelings, too, though I don’t pretend to share them to their full extent; but I tell you now, solemnly, it’s of no use—I can’t help myself. I didn’t mean to tell you this Emily; but, in plain words, there is no choice between selling these two and selling everything. Either they must go, or _all_ must. Haley has come into possession of a mortgage, which, if I don’t clear off with him directly, will take everything before it. I’ve raked, and scraped, and borrowed, and all but begged,—and the price of these two was needed to make up the balance, and I had to give them up. Haley fancied the child; he agreed to settle the matter that way, and no other. I was in his power, and _had_ to do it. If you feel so to have them sold, would it be any better to have _all_ sold?”
Mrs. Shelby stood like one stricken. Finally, turning to her toilet, she rested her face in her hands, and gave a sort of groan.
« C' est la malédiction de Dieu sur l' esclavage.... Amère, amère et maudite chose ! Malédiction sur le maître ! malédiction sur l' esclave !... J' étais folle de penser que je pouvais faire quelque chose de bon avec ce mal mortel.... c' est un péché que d' avoir un esclave avec des lois comme les nôtres. Je l' ai toujours pensé; je le pensais quand j' étais jeune fille, je le pense encore plus depuis l' église[6 ]. Mais j' avais aussi pensé à dorer l' esclavage; j' espérais, à force de soins et de bonté, faire aux miens l' esclavage plus doux que la liberté même.... folle que j' étais ! ~~~ [ 6 ] Depuis le mariage.
“This is God’s curse on slavery!—a bitter, bitter, most accursed thing!—a curse to the master and a curse to the slave! I was a fool to think I could make anything good out of such a deadly evil. It is a sin to hold a slave under laws like ours,—I always felt it was,—I always thought so when I was a girl,—I thought so still more after I joined the church; but I thought I could gild it over,—I thought, by kindness, and care, and instruction, I could make the condition of mine better than freedom—fool that I was!”
-- Ma femme, vous devenez tout à fait abolitionniste.... mais tout à fait.
“Why, wife, you are getting to be an abolitionist, quite.”
“Abolitionist! if they knew all I know about slavery, they _might_ talk! We don’t need them to tell us; you know I never thought that slavery was right—never felt willing to own slaves.”
“Well, therein you differ from many wise and pious men,” said Mr. Shelby. “You remember Mr. B.‘s sermon, the other Sunday?”
-- Je n' ai pas besoin d' écouter de tels sermons, et je désire n' entendre plus jamais M. B.... dans notre église. Les ministres ne peuvent pas empêcher le mal; ils ne peuvent pas le guérir beaucoup plus que nous-mêmes. Mais le justifier ! cela m' a toujours paru une monstruosité, et je suis sûre que vous -même vous n' êtes point édifié de ce sermon.
“I don’t want to hear such sermons; I never wish to hear Mr. B. in our church again. Ministers can’t help the evil, perhaps,—can’t cure it, any more than we can,—but defend it!—it always went against my common sense. And I think you didn’t think much of that sermon, either.”
-- Mon Dieu ! j' avoue que parfois ces ministres poussent les choses plus loin que nous ne le ferions nous-mêmes, nous autres, pauvres pécheurs.... Nous, qui vivons dans le monde, nous sommes forcés, dans bien des cas, de franchir les strictes limites du juste; mais nous n' aimons pas que les femmes et les prêtres nous imitent, et même nous dépassent, dans tout ce qui regarde les moeurs ou la charité. C' est un fait. Maintenant, ma chère, j' espère que vous voyez la nécessité de la chose et que vous conviendrez que j' ai agi aussi bien que les circonstances me le permettaient.
“Well,” said Shelby, “I must say these ministers sometimes carry matters further than we poor sinners would exactly dare to do. We men of the world must wink pretty hard at various things, and get used to a deal that isn’t the exact thing. But we don’t quite fancy, when women and ministers come out broad and square, and go beyond us in matters of either modesty or morals, that’s a fact. But now, my dear, I trust you see the necessity of the thing, and you see that I have done the very best that circumstances would allow.”
-- Oui, oui, sans doute, dit Mme Shelby en tournant sa montre en or entre ses doigts fiévreux et distraits. Je n' ai aucun bijou de prix, ajouta -t-elle d' un air pensif; mais cette montre ne vaut -elle pas quelque chose ?... Elle a coûté cher... Pour sauver l' enfant d' Élisa, je sacrifierais tout ce que j' ai.
“O yes, yes!” said Mrs. Shelby, hurriedly and abstractedly fingering her gold watch,—“I haven’t any jewelry of any amount,” she added, thoughtfully; “but would not this watch do something?—it was an expensive one, when it was bought. If I could only at least save Eliza’s child, I would sacrifice anything I have.”
-- Je suis désolé, Émilie, vraiment désolé que cela vous tienne si fort au coeur.... mais cela ne servirait à rien. La chose est faite. Les billets de vente sont signés. Ils sont entre les mains de Haley. Rendez grâce à Dieu que le mal ne soit pas pire. Haley pouvait nous ruiner tous, et le voilà désarmé.... Si vous connaissiez comme moi quel homme c' est.... vous verriez que nous l' avons échappé belle.
“I’m sorry, very sorry, Emily,” said Mr. Shelby, “I’m sorry this takes hold of you so; but it will do no good. The fact is, Emily, the thing’s done; the bills of sale are already signed, and in Haley’s hands; and you must be thankful it is no worse. That man has had it in his power to ruin us all,—and now he is fairly off. If you knew the man as I do, you’d think that we had had a narrow escape.”
-- Il est donc bien dur ?
“Is he so hard, then?”
-- Eh ! mon Dieu ! ce n' est pas précisément un homme cruel, mais c' est un homme de sac et de valise, un homme qui ne vit que pour le trafic et le lucre; froid, inflexible, inexorable comme la mort et le tombeau. Il vendrait sa propre mère, s' il en trouvait bon prix.... sans pour cela souhaiter aucun mal à la pauvre vieille.
“Why, not a cruel man, exactly, but a man of leather,—a man alive to nothing but trade and profit,—cool, and unhesitating, and unrelenting, as death and the grave. He’d sell his own mother at a good percentage—not wishing the old woman any harm, either.”
“And this wretch owns that good, faithful Tom, and Eliza’s child!”
-- Oui, ma chère. Le fait est que cela m' est bien pénible.... Je ne veux pas y penser. Haley viendra demain matin pour faire ses dispositions et prendre possession. Je vais donner ordre que mon cheval soit prêt de très-bonne heure; je sortirai. Je ne pourrais pas voir Tom, non je ne pourrais pas. Vous devriez arranger une promenade quelque part et emmener Élisa. Il ne faut pas que cela se passe devant elle.
“Well, my dear, the fact is that this goes rather hard with me; it’s a thing I hate to think of. Haley wants to drive matters, and take possession tomorrow. I’m going to get out my horse bright and early, and be off. I can’t see Tom, that’s a fact; and you had better arrange a drive somewhere, and carry Eliza off. Let the thing be done when she is out of sight.”
-- Non, non, s' écria Mme Shelby; je ne veux en aucune façon être aide ou complice de ces cruautés; j' irai voir ce vieux Tom; je l' assisterai dans son malheur; ils verront du moins que leur maîtresse souffre avec eux et pour eux. Quant à Élisa, je n' ose pas y penser. Que Dieu nous pardonne ! Mais qu' avons -nous fait pour en être réduits à cette cruelle nécessité ? »
“No, no,” said Mrs. Shelby; “I’ll be in no sense accomplice or help in this cruel business. I’ll go and see poor old Tom, God help him, in his distress! They shall see, at any rate, that their mistress can feel for and with them. As to Eliza, I dare not think about it. The Lord forgive us! What have we done, that this cruel necessity should come on us?”
Cette conversation était écoutée par une personne dont M. et Mme Shelby étaient loin de soupçonner la présence.
There was one listener to this conversation whom Mr. and Mrs. Shelby little suspected.
Communicating with their apartment was a large closet, opening by a door into the outer passage. When Mrs. Shelby had dismissed Eliza for the night, her feverish and excited mind had suggested the idea of this closet; and she had hidden herself there, and, with her ear pressed close against the crack of the door, had lost not a word of the conversation.
Quand les deux voix se furent éteintes dans le silence, elle se retira d' un pied furtif, pâle, frémissante, les traits contractés, les lèvres serrées.... Elle ne ressemblait plus en rien à la douce et timide créature qu' elle avait été jusque -là. Elle se glissa avec précaution dans le corridor, s' arrêta un moment à la porte de sa maîtresse, leva les mains, comme pour un silencieux appel à Dieu, puis tourna sur elle-même et rentra dans sa chambre. C' était un appartement calme et coquet, au même étage que celui de sa maîtresse. Voici la fenêtre, égayée, pleine de soleil, où elle s' asseyait pour coudre en chantant; voici l' étagère pour ses livres; voici, tout près d' eux, mille petits objets de fantaisie; voici les présents des fêtes de Noël et la modeste garde-robe, suspendue dans le cabinet ou rangée dans les tiroirs.... En un mot, c' était là sa demeure, et, après tout, une demeure où elle avait été bien heureuse ! Sur le lit était couché l' enfant endormi. Ses longues boucles tombaient négligemment autour de son visage insoucieux encore, de sa bouche rose entr'ouverte; ses petites mains potelées étaient jetées sur la couverture, et sur toute sa face un sourire se répandait comme un rayon de soleil.
When the voices died into silence, she rose and crept stealthily away. Pale, shivering, with rigid features and compressed lips, she looked an entirely altered being from the soft and timid creature she had been hitherto. She moved cautiously along the entry, paused one moment at her mistress’ door, and raised her hands in mute appeal to Heaven, and then turned and glided into her own room. It was a quiet, neat apartment, on the same floor with her mistress. There was a pleasant sunny window, where she had often sat singing at her sewing; there a little case of books, and various little fancy articles, ranged by them, the gifts of Christmas holidays; there was her simple wardrobe in the closet and in the drawers:—here was, in short, her home; and, on the whole, a happy one it had been to her. But there, on the bed, lay her slumbering boy, his long curls falling negligently around his unconscious face, his rosy mouth half open, his little fat hands thrown out over the bedclothes, and a smile spread like a sunbeam over his whole face.
“Poor boy! poor fellow!” said Eliza; “they have sold you! but your mother will save you yet!”
No tear dropped over that pillow; in such straits as these, the heart has no tears to give,—it drops only blood, bleeding itself away in silence. She took a piece of paper and a pencil, and wrote, hastily,
« Ah ! madame ! chère madame ! ne me prenez pas pour une ingrate; ne pensez pas de mal de moi.... d' aucune sorte. J' ai entendu ce que vous avez dit cette nuit, vous et monsieur. Je vous quitte pour sauver mon enfant. Vous ne me blâmerez pas. Dieu vous bénisse et vous récompense pour votre bonté. »
“O, Missis! dear Missis! don’t think me ungrateful,—don’t think hard of me, any way,—I heard all you and master said tonight. I am going to try to save my boy—you will not blame me! God bless and reward you for all your kindness!”
Elle plia rapidement sa lettre et y mit l' adresse; elle alla ensuite vers un tiroir, fit un petit paquet de hardes pour son enfant et l' attacha solidement autour d' elle avec un mouchoir; puis, car une mère pense à tout, même dans les angoisses de cet instant, elle eut soin de joindre au paquet un ou deux de ses jouets favoris; elle réserva un perroquet enluminé de vives couleurs pour le distraire quand il faudrait l' éveiller. Elle eut assez de peine à faire lever le petit dormeur; enfin, après quelques efforts, il secoua le sommeil et se mit à jouer avec son oiseau pendant que sa mère mettait son châle et son chapeau.
Hastily folding and directing this, she went to a drawer and made up a little package of clothing for her boy, which she tied with a handkerchief firmly round her waist; and, so fond is a mother’s remembrance, that, even in the terrors of that hour, she did not forget to put in the little package one or two of his favorite toys, reserving a gayly painted parrot to amuse him, when she should be called on to awaken him. It was some trouble to arouse the little sleeper; but, after some effort, he sat up, and was playing with his bird, while his mother was putting on her bonnet and shawl.
“Where are you going, mother?” said he, as she drew near the bed, with his little coat and cap.
His mother drew near, and looked so earnestly into his eyes, that he at once divined that something unusual was the matter.
« Chut ! Henri; il ne faut pas parler si haut, ou l' on nous entendra. Un méchant homme allait venir pour prendre le petit Henri à sa maman et l' emmener bien loin, dans un endroit où il fait noir;... mais maman ne veut pas le quitter, Henri. Elle va mettre la veste et le chapeau à son petit garçon et s' échapper avec lui pour que le méchant homme ne puisse pas le prendre. »
“Hush, Harry,” she said; “mustn’t speak loud, or they will hear us. A wicked man was coming to take little Harry away from his mother, and carry him ’way off in the dark; but mother won’t let him—she’s going to put on her little boy’s cap and coat, and run off with him, so the ugly man can’t catch him.”
Saying these words, she had tied and buttoned on the child’s simple outfit, and, taking him in her arms, she whispered to him to be very still; and, opening a door in her room which led into the outer verandah, she glided noiselessly out.
C' était une nuit étincelante, froide, étoilée; la mère jeta le châle sur son enfant qui, parfaitement calme, quoique sous l' empire d' une vague terreur, se suspendit à son cou. Le vieux Bruno, grand chien de Terre-Neuve, qui dormait au bout de la véranda, se leva à son approche avec un sourd grognement. Elle l' appela doucement par son nom, et l' animal, qui avait joué cent fois avec elle, remua la queue, déjà disposé à la suivre, tout en se demandant, dans sa simple cervelle de chien, ce que pouvait signifier cette indiscrète promenade de minuit. La chose lui paraissait inconvenante; il sentit ses idées se troubler; il ne savait plus quel parti prendre. La jeune femme passa, le chien s' arrêta; il regardait alternativement la maison et l' esclave. Enfin, comme rassuré par quelque réflexion intime, il s' élança sur les traces de la fugitive. ~~~ Au bout de quelques minutes, on arriva à la case de l' oncle Tom. Élisa frappa légèrement aux carreaux.
It was a sparkling, frosty, starlight night, and the mother wrapped the shawl close round her child, as, perfectly quiet with vague terror, he clung round her neck. ~~~ Old Bruno, a great Newfoundland, who slept at the end of the porch, rose, with a low growl, as she came near. She gently spoke his name, and the animal, an old pet and playmate of hers, instantly, wagging his tail, prepared to follow her, though apparently revolving much, in this simple dog’s head, what such an indiscreet midnight promenade might mean. Some dim ideas of imprudence or impropriety in the measure seemed to embarrass him considerably; for he often stopped, as Eliza glided forward, and looked wistfully, first at her and then at the house, and then, as if reassured by reflection, he pattered along after her again. A few minutes brought them to the window of Uncle Tom’s cottage, and Eliza stopping, tapped lightly on the window-pane.
The prayer-meeting at Uncle Tom’s had, in the order of hymn-singing, been protracted to a very late hour; and, as Uncle Tom had indulged himself in a few lengthy solos afterwards, the consequence was, that, although it was now between twelve and one o’clock, he and his worthy helpmeet were not yet asleep.
“Good Lord! what’s that?” said Aunt Chloe, starting up and hastily drawing the curtain. “My sakes alive, if it an’t Lizy! Get on your clothes, old man, quick!—there’s old Bruno, too, a pawin round; what on airth! I’m gwine to open the door.”
And suiting the action to the word, the door flew open, and the light of the tallow candle, which Tom had hastily lighted, fell on the haggard face and dark, wild eyes of the fugitive.
“Lord bless you!—I’m skeered to look at ye, Lizy! Are ye tuck sick, or what’s come over ye?”
“I’m running away—Uncle Tom and Aunt Chloe—carrying off my child—Master sold him!”
[Illustration: Eliza comes to tell Uncle Tom that he is sold, and that she is running away to save her child.]
“Sold him?” echoed both, lifting up their hands in dismay.
-- Oui, vendu, lui ! reprit Élisa d' une voix ferme. Cette nuit je m' étais glissée dans le cabinet de ma maîtresse; j' ai entendu monsieur dire à madame qu' il avait vendu mon Henri... et vous aussi, Tom ! vendus tous deux à un marchand d' esclaves.... Monsieur va sortir ce matin, et l' homme doit venir aujourd'hui même pour prendre livraison de sa marchandise. »
“Yes, sold him!” said Eliza, firmly; “I crept into the closet by Mistress’ door tonight, and I heard Master tell Missis that he had sold my Harry, and you, Uncle Tom, both, to a trader; and that he was going off this morning on his horse, and that the man was to take possession today.”
Tom had stood, during this speech, with his hands raised, and his eyes dilated, like a man in a dream. Slowly and gradually, as its meaning came over him, he collapsed, rather than seated himself, on his old chair, and sunk his head down upon his knees.
“The good Lord have pity on us!” said Aunt Chloe. “O! it don’t seem as if it was true! What has he done, that Mas’r should sell _him_?”
-- Ce n' est pas cela,... il n' a rien fait,... et monsieur ne voudrait pas le vendre. Madame,... oh ! elle est toujours bonne; je l' ai entendue prier et supplier pour nous; mais il lui disait que tout était inutile, qu' il était _dans la dette_ de cet homme, que cet homme avait pouvoir sur lui,... et que s' il ne s' acquittait pas maintenant, il finirait par être obligé de vendre plus tard l' habitation et les gens,... et de partir lui-même. Oui, je lui ai entendu dire qu' il était obligé de vendre ces deux -là ou de vendre tous les autres.... L' homme est impitoyable.... Monsieur disait qu' il était bien fâché; mais madame ! Oh ! si vous l' aviez entendue ! Si ce n' est pas une chrétienne et un ange, c' est qu' il n' y en a pas !... Je suis une misérable de la quitter ainsi, mais je n' y pouvais pas tenir;... elle-même elle disait qu' une âme valait plus que le monde. Eh bien ! cet enfant a une âme; si je le laisse enlever, que deviendra cette âme ? Ce que je fais doit être bien.... Si ce n' est pas bien, que le Seigneur me pardonne, car je ne peux pas ne pas le faire.
“He hasn’t done anything,—it isn’t for that. Master don’t want to sell, and Missis she’s always good. I heard her plead and beg for us; but he told her ’t was no use; that he was in this man’s debt, and that this man had got the power over him; and that if he didn’t pay him off clear, it would end in his having to sell the place and all the people, and move off. Yes, I heard him say there was no choice between selling these two and selling all, the man was driving him so hard. Master said he was sorry; but oh, Missis—you ought to have heard her talk! If she an’t a Christian and an angel, there never was one. I’m a wicked girl to leave her so; but, then, I can’t help it. She said, herself, one soul was worth more than the world; and this boy has a soul, and if I let him be carried off, who knows what’ll become of it? It must be right: but, if it an’t right, the Lord forgive me, for I can’t help doing it!”
-- Eh bien, pauvre vieux homme, dit Chloé, pourquoi ne t' en vas -tu pas aussi ? Veux -tu attendre qu' on te porte de l' autre côté de la rivière, où l' on fait mourir les nègres de fatigue et de faim ? J' aimerais mieux mourir mille fois que d' aller là, moi ! Allons, il est temps... partez avec Lisa... Vous avez une passe pour aller et venir en tout temps.... Allons, remuez -vous; je fais votre paquet. »
“Well, old man!” said Aunt Chloe, “why don’t you go, too? Will you wait to be toted down river, where they kill niggers with hard work and starving? I’d a heap rather die than go there, any day! There’s time for ye,—be off with Lizy,—you’ve got a pass to come and go any time. Come, bustle up, and I’ll get your things together.”
Tom slowly raised his head, and looked sorrowfully but quietly around, and said,
« Non, je ne partirai point; qu' Élisa parte ! elle fait bien. Ce n' est pas moi qui dirai le contraire. La nature veut qu' elle parte. Mais vous avez entendu ce qu' elle a dit: je dois être vendu, ou tout ici, choses et gens, va être ruiné. Je pense que je puis supporter cela autant que qui que ce soit.... Et quelque chose comme un soupir et un sanglot souleva sa vaste poitrine, qui tressaillit convulsivement.... Le maître, ajouta -t-il, m' a toujours trouvé à ma place,... il m' y trouvera toujours.... Je n' ai jamais manqué à ma foi, je ne me suis jamais servi de la passe contrairement à ma parole: je ne commencerai point: il vaut mieux que je parte seul que de causer la perte de la maison et la vente de tous. Le maître ne doit pas être blâmé, Chloé, il prendra soin de vous et de ces pauvres.... »
“No, no—I an’t going. Let Eliza go—it’s her right! I wouldn’t be the one to say no—‘tan’t in _natur_ for her to stay; but you heard what she said! If I must be sold, or all the people on the place, and everything go to rack, why, let me be sold. I s’pose I can bar it as well as any on ’em,” he added, while something like a sob and a sigh shook his broad, rough chest convulsively. “Mas’r always found me on the spot—he always will. I never have broke trust, nor used my pass no ways contrary to my word, and I never will. It’s better for me alone to go, than to break up the place and sell all. Mas’r an’t to blame, Chloe, and he’ll take care of you and the poor—”
A ces mots, il se tourna vers le lit grossier où l' on voyait paraître les petites têtes crépues, et ses sanglots éclatèrent... Il s' appuya sur le dossier de sa chaise et se couvrit le visage de ses larges mains. Des sanglots profonds, bruyants, impétueux, ébranlèrent jusqu' au siége, et de grandes larmes, glissant entre ses doigts, tombèrent sur le sol. Lecteur ! telles seraient les larmes que vous verseriez sur le cercueil de votre premier-né ! telles étaient, madame, les larmes que vous avez répandues en entendant les cris de votre enfant qui mourait ! Lecteur, vous êtes un homme, et lui aussi était un homme ! Madame, vous portez de la soie et des bijoux; mais, dans ces grandes détresses de la vie, dans ces terribles épreuves, nous n' avons pour nous tous qu' une même douleur !........................
Here he turned to the rough trundle bed full of little woolly heads, and broke fairly down. He leaned over the back of the chair, and covered his face with his large hands. Sobs, heavy, hoarse and loud, shook the chair, and great tears fell through his fingers on the floor; just such tears, sir, as you dropped into the coffin where lay your first-born son; such tears, woman, as you shed when you heard the cries of your dying babe. For, sir, he was a man,—and you are but another man. And, woman, though dressed in silk and jewels, you are but a woman, and, in life’s great straits and mighty griefs, ye feel but one sorrow!
« Et puis, dit Élisa, qui se tenait toujours auprès de la porte, j' ai vu mon mari cette après-midi.... Je ne me doutais pas alors de ce qui allait arriver. Ils l' ont poussé à bout, et il m' a dit aujourd'hui qu' il avait aussi l' intention de s' enfuir. Tâchez de lui donner de mes nouvelles; dites -lui comment et pourquoi je suis partie; dites -lui que je vais essayer de gagner le Canada; portez -lui tout mon amour, et si je ne le revois pas, dites -lui.... » ~~~ Elle se retourna vers la muraille, leur déroba un instant son visage, puis elle reprit d' une voix brève:
“And now,” said Eliza, as she stood in the door, “I saw my husband only this afternoon, and I little knew then what was to come. They have pushed him to the very last standing place, and he told me, today, that he was going to run away. Do try, if you can, to get word to him. Tell him how I went, and why I went; and tell him I’m going to try and find Canada. You must give my love to him, and tell him, if I never see him again,” she turned away, and stood with her back to them for a moment, and then added, in a husky voice, “tell him to be as good as he can, and try and meet me in the kingdom of heaven.”
“Call Bruno in there,” she added. “Shut the door on him, poor beast! He mustn’t go with me!”
A few last words and tears, a few simple adieus and blessings, and clasping her wondering and affrighted child in her arms, she glided noiselessly away.
CHAPITRE VI. ~~~ Découverte.
CHAPTER VI Discovery
Après leur longue discussion, M. et Mme Shelby ne s' endormirent pas tout d'abord. Aussi le lendemain se réveillèrent -ils plus tard que de coutume.
Mr. and Mrs. Shelby, after their protracted discussion of the night before, did not readily sink to repose, and, in consequence, slept somewhat later than usual, the ensuing morning.
“I wonder what keeps Eliza,” said Mrs. Shelby, after giving her bell repeated pulls, to no purpose.
Mr. Shelby was standing before his dressing-glass, sharpening his razor; and just then the door opened, and a colored boy entered, with his shaving-water.
“Andy,” said his mistress, “step to Eliza’s door, and tell her I have rung for her three times. Poor thing!” she added, to herself, with a sigh.
Andy soon returned, with eyes very wide in astonishment.
“Lor, Missis! Lizy’s drawers is all open, and her things all lying every which way; and I believe she’s just done clared out!”
The truth flashed upon Mr. Shelby and his wife at the same moment. He exclaimed,
“Then she suspected it, and she’s off!”
“The Lord be thanked!” said Mrs. Shelby. “I trust she is.”
“Wife, you talk like a fool! Really, it will be something pretty awkward for me, if she is. Haley saw that I hesitated about selling this child, and he’ll think I connived at it, to get him out of the way. It touches my honor!” And Mr. Shelby left the room hastily.
Une seule personne eût pu donner quelques éclaircissements, et cette personne se taisait: c' était la cuisinière en chef, Chloé. Silencieuse, un nuage de tristesse couvrant sa face naguère encore si joyeuse, elle préparait les gâteaux du déjeuner, comme si elle n' eût rien vu, rien entendu de ce qui se passait autour d' elle.
There was great running and ejaculating, and opening and shutting of doors, and appearance of faces in all shades of color in different places, for about a quarter of an hour. One person only, who might have shed some light on the matter, was entirely silent, and that was the head cook, Aunt Chloe. Silently, and with a heavy cloud settled down over her once joyous face, she proceeded making out her breakfast biscuits, as if she heard and saw nothing of the excitement around her.
Very soon, about a dozen young imps were roosting, like so many crows, on the verandah railings, each one determined to be the first one to apprize the strange Mas’r of his ill luck.
“He’ll be rael mad, I’ll be bound,” said Andy.
“_Won’t_ he swar!” said little black Jake.
-- Oui, il jure, faisait à son tour Mandy Tête-de-laine. Je l' ai entendu hier à dîner; j' ai entendu tout, je m' étais fourré dans le cabinet où madame met la vaisselle... j' ai entendu ! » ~~~ Amanda, qui jamais de sa vie n' avait compris un mot à une conversation, se donna un petit air d' intelligence supérieure, en marchant fièrement au milieu de ses compagnons. Amanda n' oubliait de dire qu' une seule chose, c' est que blottie dans ce cabinet, au milieu de la vaisselle, elle n' avait fait qu' y dormir.
“Yes, for he _does_ swar,” said woolly-headed Mandy. “I hearn him yesterday, at dinner. I hearn all about it then, ’cause I got into the closet where Missis keeps the great jugs, and I hearn every word.” And Mandy, who had never in her life thought of the meaning of a word she had heard, more than a black cat, now took airs of superior wisdom, and strutted about, forgetting to state that, though actually coiled up among the jugs at the time specified, she had been fast asleep all the time.
Haley apparut enfin botté, éperonné... De tout côté, on lui jeta au nez la mauvaise nouvelle. ~~~ Les jeunes drôles ne furent pas désappointés dans leur attente: il jura, il jura avec une abondance et une facilité de paroles qui les réjouissaient fort; ils avaient soin cependant de se baisser et de se reculer de façon à être toujours hors de la portée de son fouet. Ils roulèrent bientôt les uns sur les autres, avec d' immenses éclats de rire, se débattant sur le gazon flétri de la cour, gesticulant, criant et hurlant.
When, at last, Haley appeared, booted and spurred, he was saluted with the bad tidings on every hand. The young imps on the verandah were not disappointed in their hope of hearing him “swar,” which he did with a fluency and fervency which delighted them all amazingly, as they ducked and dodged hither and thither, to be out of the reach of his riding-whip; and, all whooping off together, they tumbled, in a pile of immeasurable giggle, on the withered turf under the verandah, where they kicked up their heels and shouted to their full satisfaction.
« Oh ! les petits démons ! si je les tenais, murmura Haley entre ses dents.
“If I had the little devils!” muttered Haley, between his teeth.
“But you ha’nt got ’em, though!” said Andy, with a triumphant flourish, and making a string of indescribable mouths at the unfortunate trader’s back, when he was fairly beyond hearing.
“I say now, Shelby, this yer ’s a most extro’rnary business!” said Haley, as he abruptly entered the parlor. “It seems that gal ’s off, with her young un.”
“Mr. Haley, Mrs. Shelby is present,” said Mr. Shelby.
“I beg pardon, ma’am,” said Haley, bowing slightly, with a still lowering brow; “but still I say, as I said before, this yer’s a sing’lar report. Is it true, sir?”
-- Monsieur, répondit Shelby, si vous voulez conférer avec moi, gardez un peu la tenue d' un gentleman. André, prenez le chapeau et le fouet de M. Haley.... Asseyez -vous, monsieur.... Oui, monsieur, j' ai le regret de vous dire que cette jeune femme, qui a entendu ou soupçonné ce qui l' intéressait.... a enlevé son fils et est partie la nuit dernière.
“Sir,” said Mr. Shelby, “if you wish to communicate with me, you must observe something of the decorum of a gentleman. Andy, take Mr. Haley’s hat and riding-whip. Take a seat, sir. Yes, sir; I regret to say that the young woman, excited by overhearing, or having reported to her, something of this business, has taken her child in the night, and made off.”
“I did expect fair dealing in this matter, I confess,” said Haley.
“Well, sir,” said Mr. Shelby, turning sharply round upon him, “what am I to understand by that remark? If any man calls my honor in question, I have but one answer for him.”
The trader cowered at this, and in a somewhat lower tone said that “it was plaguy hard on a fellow, that had made a fair bargain, to be gulled that way.”
-- Monsieur, dit Shelby, si je ne comprenais que vous avez quelque sujet de désappointement, je n' aurais pas toléré la grossièreté de votre entrée dans mon salon ce matin, et j' ajoute, puisque l' explication semble nécessaire, que je ne tolérerai pas la plus légère insinuation de votre part: on ne suspecte pas ma loyauté, monsieur ! Je me crois cependant obligé à vous donner aide et protection. Prenez mes gens et mes chevaux, et tâchez de retrouver ce qui est à vous. En un mot, Haley, continua -t-il en quittant tout d' un coup ce ton de dignité froide pour revenir à sa franche cordialité, ce que vous avez de mieux à faire, c' est de reprendre votre belle humeur.... et de déjeuner.... Nous aviserons après. »
“Mr. Haley,” said Mr. Shelby, “if I did not think you had some cause for disappointment, I should not have borne from you the rude and unceremonious style of your entrance into my parlor this morning. I say thus much, however, since appearances call for it, that I shall allow of no insinuations cast upon me, as if I were at all partner to any unfairness in this matter. Moreover, I shall feel bound to give you every assistance, in the use of horses, servants, &c., in the recovery of your property. So, in short, Haley,” said he, suddenly dropping from the tone of dignified coolness to his ordinary one of easy frankness, “the best way for you is to keep good-natured and eat some breakfast, and we will then see what is to be done.”
Mrs. Shelby now rose, and said her engagements would prevent her being at the breakfast-table that morning; and, deputing a very respectable mulatto woman to attend to the gentlemen’s coffee at the side-board, she left the room.
“Old lady don’t like your humble servant, over and above,” said Haley, with an uneasy effort to be very familiar.
“I am not accustomed to hear my wife spoken of with such freedom,” said Mr. Shelby, dryly.
“Beg pardon; of course, only a joke, you know,” said Haley, forcing a laugh.
“Some jokes are less agreeable than others,” rejoined Shelby.
“Devilish free, now I’ve signed those papers, cuss him!” muttered Haley to himself; “quite grand, since yesterday!”
Jamais la chute d' un premier ministre, après une intrigue de cour, ne produisit une plus violente tempête d' émotions que la nouvelle de ce qui venait d' arriver à l' oncle Tom. On ne parlait pas d' autre chose. Dans la case comme aux champs, on discutait les résultats probables de l' événement. La fuite d' Élisa, étant le premier exemple d' un événement de cette nature chez M. Shelby, augmentait encore l' agitation et le trouble de tous.
Never did fall of any prime minister at court occasion wider surges of sensation than the report of Tom’s fate among his compeers on the place. It was the topic in every mouth, everywhere; and nothing was done in the house or in the field, but to discuss its probable results. Eliza’s flight—an unprecedented event on the place—was also a great accessory in stimulating the general excitement.
Le noir Samuel (on l' appelait noir parce que son teint était de trois nuances plus foncé que celui des autres fils de la côte d' ébène ), le noir Samuel déroulait en lui-même toutes les phases de l' affaire: il en étudiait la portée, il en calculait l' influence sur son propre bien-être, avec une puissance d' intuition et une netteté de regard qui eussent fait honneur à un politique blanc de Washington.
Black Sam, as he was commonly called, from his being about three shades blacker than any other son of ebony on the place, was revolving the matter profoundly in all its phases and bearings, with a comprehensiveness of vision and a strict lookout to his own personal well-being, that would have done credit to any white patriot in Washington.
« C' est un mauvais vent que celui qui ne souffle nulle part, se dit Samuel sentencieusement. Un mauvais vent ! c' est un fait. » Il rehaussa son pantalon qui menaçait de tomber, remplaçant adroitement par un petit clou un bouton nécessaire.... et absent. Cet effort de génie mécanique sembla le ravir.
“It’s an ill wind dat blow nowhar,—dat ar a fact,” said Sam, sententiously, giving an additional hoist to his pantaloons, and adroitly substituting a long nail in place of a missing suspender-button, with which effort of mechanical genius he seemed highly delighted.
« Oui, c' est un mauvais vent que celui qui ne souffle nulle part, répéta -t-il encore. Maintenant, voilà Tom bas... cela va faire monter un nègre à sa place. Et pourquoi pas moi, ce nègre ? Pourquoi pas Sam ? C' est une idée ! Comme Tom ! à cheval ! Aller à cheval ! partout, dans la campagne.... belles bottes cirées... bottes noires !... Une passe dans ma poche.... Moi, grand monsieur ! Pourquoi pas ? Oui, pourquoi pas Sam ? Je voudrais bien savoir la raison !...
“Yes, it’s an ill wind blows nowhar,” he repeated. “Now, dar, Tom’s down—wal, course der’s room for some nigger to be up—and why not dis nigger?—dat’s de idee. Tom, a ridin’ round de country—boots blacked—pass in his pocket—all grand as Cuffee—but who he? Now, why shouldn’t Sam?—dat’s what I want to know.”
-- Ohé, Samuel ! ohé, Sam ! m' sieu a besoin de vous pour seller Bell et Jerry, dit André en interrompant le soliloque de Samuel.
“Halloo, Sam—O Sam! Mas’r wants you to cotch Bill and Jerry,” said Andy, cutting short Sam’s soliloquy.
-- Ah ! et pourquoi faire, petit ?
“High! what’s afoot now, young un?”
“Why, you don’t know, I s’pose, that Lizy’s cut stick, and clared out, with her young un?”
“You teach your granny!” said Sam, with infinite contempt; “knowed it a heap sight sooner than you did; this nigger an’t so green, now!”
“Well, anyhow, Mas’r wants Bill and Jerry geared right up; and you and I ’s to go with Mas’r Haley, to look arter her.”
“Good, now! dat’s de time o’ day!” said Sam. “It’s Sam dat’s called for in dese yer times. He’s de nigger. See if I don’t cotch her, now; Mas’r’ll see what Sam can do!”
“Ah! but, Sam,” said Andy, “you’d better think twice; for Missis don’t want her cotched, and she’ll be in yer wool.”
“High!” said Sam, opening his eyes. “How you know dat?”
-- Moi -même, ce matin, en allant porter l' eau pour la barbe dans la chambre de monsieur, je l' ai entendue; elle m' a envoyé voir pourquoi Lisa ne venait pas l' habiller, et, quand je lui ai dit qu' elle était partie, elle a dit: « Dieu soit béni ! » et monsieur a été comme fou; et il lui a répondu: « Vous ne savez ce que vous dites ! » Mais elle le ramènera, allez ! je sais bien comment cela se passe.... il vaut mieux être du côté de madame; c' est moi qui vous le dis ! »
“Heard her say so, my own self, dis blessed mornin’, when I bring in Mas’r’s shaving-water. She sent me to see why Lizy didn’t come to dress her; and when I telled her she was off, she jest ris up, and ses she, ‘The Lord be praised;’ and Mas’r, he seemed rael mad, and ses he, ‘Wife, you talk like a fool.’ But Lor! she’ll bring him to! I knows well enough how that’ll be,—it’s allers best to stand Missis’ side the fence, now I tell yer.”
Le noir Samuel gratta sa tête crépue, qui ne renfermait pas sans doute une profonde sagesse, mais qui contenait beaucoup de cette chose particulière qu' on souhaite aux hommes politiques de tous les pays et sous tous les régimes, et qui consiste à savoir de quel côté le pain est beurré.... Samuel se mit donc à réfléchir, en remontant encore une fois son pantalon: c' était le procédé dont il se servait habituellement pour faciliter les opérations de son cerveau.
Black Sam, upon this, scratched his woolly pate, which, if it did not contain very profound wisdom, still contained a great deal of a particular species much in demand among politicians of all complexions and countries, and vulgarly denominated “knowing which side the bread is buttered;” so, stopping with grave consideration, he again gave a hitch to his pantaloons, which was his regularly organized method of assisting his mental perplexities.
“Der an’t no saying’—never—‘bout no kind o’ thing in _dis_ yer world,” he said, at last. Sam spoke like a philosopher, emphasizing _this_—as if he had had a large experience in different sorts of worlds, and therefore had come to his conclusions advisedly.
“Now, sartin I’d a said that Missis would a scoured the varsal world after Lizy,” added Sam, thoughtfully.
“So she would,” said Andy; “but can’t ye see through a ladder, ye black nigger? Missis don’t want dis yer Mas’r Haley to get Lizy’s boy; dat’s de go!”
“High!” said Sam, with an indescribable intonation, known only to those who have heard it among the negroes.
“And I’ll tell yer more ’n all,” said Andy; “I specs you’d better be making tracks for dem hosses,—mighty sudden, too,—-for I hearn Missis ’quirin’ arter yer,—so you’ve stood foolin’ long enough.”
Sam, upon this, began to bestir himself in real earnest, and after a while appeared, bearing down gloriously towards the house, with Bill and Jerry in a full canter, and adroitly throwing himself off before they had any idea of stopping, he brought them up alongside of the horse-post like a tornado. Haley’s horse, which was a skittish young colt, winced, and bounced, and pulled hard at his halter.
“Ho, ho!” said Sam, “skeery, ar ye?” and his black visage lighted up with a curious, mischievous gleam. “I’ll fix ye now!” said he.
Un large frêne ombrageait la cour: de petites faînes, triangulaires et tranchantes, jonchaient le sol. Samuel en prit une, s' approcha du poulain, le flatta, le gratta, comme s' il eût voulu l' adoucir et le calmer; et, sous prétexte d' ajuster la selle, il glissa fort adroitement en dessous la petite faîne, de telle façon que le moindre poids posé sur la selle dût exciter la sensibilité nerveuse de l' animal, sans laisser la moindre trace de blessure ou d' égratignure.
There was a large beech-tree overshadowing the place, and the small, sharp, triangular beech-nuts lay scattered thickly on the ground. With one of these in his fingers, Sam approached the colt, stroked and patted, and seemed apparently busy in soothing his agitation. On pretence of adjusting the saddle, he adroitly slipped under it the sharp little nut, in such a manner that the least weight brought upon the saddle would annoy the nervous sensibilities of the animal, without leaving any perceptible graze or wound.
“Dar!” he said, rolling his eyes with an approving grin; “me fix ’em!”
At this moment Mrs. Shelby appeared on the balcony, beckoning to him. Sam approached with as good a determination to pay court as did ever suitor after a vacant place at St. James’ or Washington.
“Why have you been loitering so, Sam? I sent Andy to tell you to hurry.”
“Lord bless you, Missis!” said Sam, “horses won’t be cotched all in a minit; they’d done clared out way down to the south pasture, and the Lord knows whar!”
“Sam, how often must I tell you not to say ‘Lord bless you, and the Lord knows,’ and such things? It’s wicked.”
-- Dieu vous bénisse, madame ! Je ne l' oublierai pas.... je ne recommencerai point.
“O, Lord bless my soul! I done forgot, Missis! I won’t say nothing of de sort no more.”
-- Eh mais, Samuel, vous avez déjà recommencé !
“Why, Sam, you just _have_ said it again.”
“Did I? O, Lord! I mean—I didn’t go fur to say it.”
“You must be _careful_, Sam.”
-- Donnez -moi le temps de me reconnaître, madame.... vous verrez.... je ferai attention.
“Just let me get my breath, Missis, and I’ll start fair. I’ll be bery careful.”
“Well, Sam, you are to go with Mr. Haley, to show him the road, and help him. Be careful of the horses, Sam; you know Jerry was a little lame last week; _don’t ride them too fast_.”
Mme Shelby prononça ces derniers mots à voix basse et avec une certaine intonation.
Mrs. Shelby spoke the last words with a low voice, and strong emphasis.
« Pour cela, rapportez -vous en à ce nègre, dit Samuel, en tournant deux yeux pleins de commentaires.... Dieu sait ! Ah ! je ne voulais pas le dire, reprit -il avec un tel luxe de démonstrations craintives, qu' en dépit d' elle -même sa maîtresse ne put s' empêcher de rire. Oui, madame, j' aurai soin des chevaux.
“Let dis child alone for dat!” said Sam, rolling up his eyes with a volume of meaning. “Lord knows! High! Didn’t say dat!” said he, suddenly catching his breath, with a ludicrous flourish of apprehension, which made his mistress laugh, spite of herself. “Yes, Missis, I’ll look out for de hosses!”
-- Maintenant, André, dit Samuel en retournant à son poste sous le hêtre, je ne serais pas du tout surpris quand le cheval du monsieur se mettrait à danser un peu au moment où il montera en selle. Vous savez, André, les bêtes ont quelquefois de ces idées -là; et, en guise d' avertissement, il donna à son camarade un coup de poing dans les côtes. ~~~ -- High ! fit André avec le signe d' un homme qui a compris tout à coup.
“Now, Andy,” said Sam, returning to his stand under the beech-trees, “you see I wouldn’t be ’t all surprised if dat ar gen’lman’s crittur should gib a fling, by and by, when he comes to be a gettin’ up. You know, Andy, critturs _will_ do such things;” and therewith Sam poked Andy in the side, in a highly suggestive manner.
“High!” said Andy, with an air of instant appreciation.
“Yes, you see, Andy, Missis wants to make time,—dat ar’s clar to der most or’nary ’bserver. I jis make a little for her. Now, you see, get all dese yer hosses loose, caperin’ permiscus round dis yer lot and down to de wood dar, and I spec Mas’r won’t be off in a hurry.”
André fit une grimace.
Andy grinned.
« Vous voyez, André, vous voyez, dit Samuel; s' il arrivait quelque chose au cheval de M. Haley, nous quitterions nos montures et nous irions à lui pour le secourir. Oui, nous lui porterions secours; oh ! oui. » ~~~ Samuel et André branlèrent leurs têtes noires d' une épaule à l' autre et se livrèrent à un rire inextinguible, dont ils tempéraient toutefois les éclats; puis ils firent claquer leurs doigts, et trépignèrent avec une sorte de ravissement.
“Yer see,” said Sam, “yer see, Andy, if any such thing should happen as that Mas’r Haley’s horse _should_ begin to act contrary, and cut up, you and I jist lets go of our’n to help him, and _we’ll help him_—oh yes!” And Sam and Andy laid their heads back on their shoulders, and broke into a low, immoderate laugh, snapping their fingers and flourishing their heels with exquisite delight.
Haley apparut sur le perron. Quelques tasses d' excellent café l' avaient un peu adouci. Il était d' assez bonne humeur: il s' avança en souriant et en causant; les deux nègres saisirent certaines feuilles de palmier, qu' ils avaient l' habitude d' appeler leurs chapeaux, et s' élancèrent vers les chevaux pour être prêts « à aider le m' sieu. »
Les feuilles du chapeau de Samuel n' avaient plus, sur les bords, aucune prétention possible à la tresse. Elles retombaient de tous côtés, éparses et roides; ce qui lui donnait un air de révolte et d' indépendance superbe. On eût dit un chef de tribu.
At this instant, Haley appeared on the verandah. Somewhat mollified by certain cups of very good coffee, he came out smiling and talking, in tolerably restored humor. Sam and Andy, clawing for certain fragmentary palm-leaves, which they were in the habit of considering as hats, flew to the horseposts, to be ready to “help Mas’r.”
Sam’s palm-leaf had been ingeniously disentangled from all pretensions to braid, as respects its brim; and the slivers starting apart, and standing upright, gave it a blazing air of freedom and defiance, quite equal to that of any Fejee chief; while the whole brim of Andy’s being departed bodily, he rapped the crown on his head with a dexterous thump, and looked about well pleased, as if to say, “Who says I haven’t got a hat?”
“Well, boys,” said Haley, “look alive now; we must lose no time.”
“Not a bit of him, Mas’r!” said Sam, putting Haley’s rein in his hand, and holding his stirrup, while Andy was untying the other two horses.
Au moment où Haley toucha la selle, le fougueux animal bondit du sol, par un élan soudain, et jeta son maître à quelques pas de là sur le gazon sec et doux, qui amortit la chute. ~~~ Samuel s' élança aux rênes avec un geste frénétique, mais il ne réussit qu' à fourrer son bizarre chapeau de palmier dans les yeux de l' animal: la vue de cet étrange objet ne pouvait guère contribuer à calmer ses nerfs; aussi il échappa violemment des mains de Samuel renversé, fit entendre deux ou trois hennissements de mépris, et, après quelques ruades vigoureusement détachées, s' élança au bout de la prairie, suivi bientôt de Bell et de Jerry, qu' André n' avait pas manqué de lâcher, hâtant encore leur fuite par ses terribles exclamations. ~~~ Il s' ensuivit une indescriptible scène de désordre. Andy et Sam criaient et couraient; les chiens aboyaient; Mike, Moïse, Amanda, Fanny, et tous les autres petits échantillons de la race nègre qui se trouvaient dans l' habitation, s' élancèrent dans toutes les directions, poussant des hurlements, frappant dans leurs mains et se démenant avec la plus fâcheuse bonne volonté et le zèle le plus compromettant du monde.
The instant Haley touched the saddle, the mettlesome creature bounded from the earth with a sudden spring, that threw his master sprawling, some feet off, on the soft, dry turf. Sam, with frantic ejaculations, made a dive at the reins, but only succeeded in brushing the blazing palm-leaf afore-named into the horse’s eyes, which by no means tended to allay the confusion of his nerves. So, with great vehemence, he overturned Sam, and, giving two or three contemptuous snorts, flourished his heels vigorously in the air, and was soon prancing away towards the lower end of the lawn, followed by Bill and Jerry, whom Andy had not failed to let loose, according to contract, speeding them off with various direful ejaculations. And now ensued a miscellaneous scene of confusion. Sam and Andy ran and shouted,—dogs barked here and there,—and Mike, Mose, Mandy, Fanny, and all the smaller specimens on the place, both male and female, raced, clapped hands, whooped, and shouted, with outrageous officiousness and untiring zeal.
Le cheval de Haley, vif et plein d' ardeur, parut entrer dans l' intention des auteurs de cette petite scène avec le plus grand plaisir. Il avait pour carrière une prairie d' un quart de lieue, descendant de chaque côté vers un petit bois: il se laissait donc volontiers approcher; quand il se voyait à portée de la main, il repartait avec une ruade et un hennissement, comme une méchante bête qu' il était, puis il s' enfonçait bien loin dans quelque allée du bois. Samuel n' avait garde de l' arrêter avant le moment qu' il jugerait convenable. Il se donnait une peine vraiment héroïque. Pareil au glaive de Richard Coeur-de-Lion, qui brillait toujours au front de la bataille et au plus épais de la mêlée, le chapeau de palmier de Samuel se montrait toujours là où il y avait le plus petit danger de reprendre le cheval. Il n' en criait pas moins à pleins poumons: « Là ! ici ! prenez ! prenez -le ! » de telle façon cependant qu' il augmentait à chaque fois le désordre et la confusion.
Haley’s horse, which was a white one, and very fleet and spirited, appeared to enter into the spirit of the scene with great gusto; and having for his coursing ground a lawn of nearly half a mile in extent, gently sloping down on every side into indefinite woodland, he appeared to take infinite delight in seeing how near he could allow his pursuers to approach him, and then, when within a hand’s breadth, whisk off with a start and a snort, like a mischievous beast as he was and career far down into some alley of the wood-lot. Nothing was further from Sam’s mind than to have any one of the troop taken until such season as should seem to him most befitting,—and the exertions that he made were certainly most heroic. Like the sword of Coeur De Lion, which always blazed in the front and thickest of the battle, Sam’s palm-leaf was to be seen everywhere when there was the least danger that a horse could be caught; there he would bear down full tilt, shouting, “Now for it! cotch him! cotch him!” in a way that would set everything to indiscriminate rout in a moment.
Haley ran up and down, and cursed and swore and stamped miscellaneously. Mr. Shelby in vain tried to shout directions from the balcony, and Mrs. Shelby from her chamber window alternately laughed and wondered,—not without some inkling of what lay at the bottom of all this confusion.
Enfin, vers deux heures, Samuel apparut, triomphant, monté sur Jerry, tenant en main la bride du cheval de Haley, ruisselant de sueur, mais l' oeil ardent, les naseaux dilatés et laissant voir que son ardeur et sa fougue n' étaient pas encore domptées.
At last, about twelve o’clock, Sam appeared triumphant, mounted on Jerry, with Haley’s horse by his side, reeking with sweat, but with flashing eyes and dilated nostrils, showing that the spirit of freedom had not yet entirely subsided.
“He’s cotched!” he exclaimed, triumphantly. “If ’t hadn’t been for me, they might a bust themselves, all on ’em; but I cotched him!”
“You!” growled Haley, in no amiable mood. “If it hadn’t been for you, this never would have happened.”
“Lord bless us, Mas’r,” said Sam, in a tone of the deepest concern, “and me that has been racin’ and chasin’ till the sweat jest pours off me!”
“Well, well!” said Haley, “you’ve lost me near three hours, with your cursed nonsense. Now let’s be off, and have no more fooling.”
-- Ah ! monsieur, s' écria piteusement Samuel, vous voulez donc nous tuer net, bêtes et gens ! nous n' en pouvons mais, et les chevaux sont sur les dents... M' sieu restera bien jusqu' après dîner.... Il faut que le cheval de m' sieu soit bouchonné; voyez dans quel état il s' est mis.... Jerry boite.... et puis, je ne pense pas que madame veuille vous laisser partir ainsi. Dieu vous bénisse, monsieur ! nous n' avons rien à perdre pour attendre. Lisa n' a jamais été une bonne marcheuse. »
“Why, Mas’r,” said Sam, in a deprecating tone, “I believe you mean to kill us all clar, horses and all. Here we are all just ready to drop down, and the critters all in a reek of sweat. Why, Mas’r won’t think of startin’ on now till arter dinner. Mas’r’s hoss wants rubben down; see how he splashed hisself; and Jerry limps too; don’t think Missis would be willin’ to have us start dis yer way, no how. Lord bless you, Mas’r, we can ketch up, if we do stop. Lizy never was no great of a walker.”
Mrs. Shelby, who, greatly to her amusement, had overheard this conversation from the verandah, now resolved to do her part. She came forward, and, courteously expressing her concern for Haley’s accident, pressed him to stay to dinner, saying that the cook should bring it on the table immediately.
Thus, all things considered, Haley, with rather an equivocal grace, proceeded to the parlor, while Sam, rolling his eyes after him with unutterable meaning, proceeded gravely with the horses to the stable-yard.
« L' avez -vous vu, André ? l' avez -vous vu ? s' écria -t-il, dès qu' il fut hors de la voix et qu' il eut attaché ses chevaux. O Dieu ! si ce n' était pas aussi amusant qu' au meeting de le voir danser, trépigner et jurer après nous.... l' avez -vous entendu ?... Jure, vieux drôle ! me disais -je à moi-même; jure ! Tu veux ton cheval ! Attends que je l' attrape !... Dieu ! André, il me semble que je le vois encore ! » ~~~ Et les deux nègres, s' appuyant contre le mur, s' en donnèrent à coeur joie.
“Did yer see him, Andy? _did_ yer see him?” said Sam, when he had got fairly beyond the shelter of the barn, and fastened the horse to a post. “O, Lor, if it warn’t as good as a meetin’, now, to see him a dancin’ and kickin’ and swarin’ at us. Didn’t I hear him? Swar away, ole fellow (says I to myself ); will yer have yer hoss now, or wait till you cotch him? (says I). Lor, Andy, I think I can see him now.” And Sam and Andy leaned up against the barn and laughed to their hearts’ content.
“Yer oughter seen how mad he looked, when I brought the hoss up. Lord, he’d a killed me, if he durs’ to; and there I was a standin’ as innercent and as humble.”
“Lor, I seed you,” said Andy; “an’t you an old hoss, Sam?”
“Rather specks I am,” said Sam; “did yer see Missis up stars at the winder? I seed her laughin’.”
“I’m sure, I was racin’ so, I didn’t see nothing,” said Andy.
-- Remarquez, dit Samuel tout en lavant le poney, remarquez, André, comme j' ai l' habitude de l' observation; c' est bien important dans la vie, André ! Cultivez l' observation pendant que vous êtes jeune. Levez donc le pied de derrière. Voyez -vous, l' observation, c' est ce qui fait la différence entre un nègre et un nègre. N' ai -je pas vu de quel côté soufflait le vent, ce matin ? N' ai -je pas compris ce que madame voulait, quoiqu' elle ne le dît pas ?... C' est de l' observation, André ! Je pense que vous appellerez cela une faculté ! Les facultés diffèrent suivant les natures; mais l' éducation y est aussi pour beaucoup, André !
“Well, yer see,” said Sam, proceeding gravely to wash down Haley’s pony, “I ’se ’quired what yer may call a habit _o’ bobservation_, Andy. It’s a very ’portant habit, Andy; and I ’commend yer to be cultivatin’ it, now yer young. Hist up that hind foot, Andy. Yer see, Andy, it’s _bobservation_ makes all de difference in niggers. Didn’t I see which way the wind blew dis yer mornin’? Didn’t I see what Missis wanted, though she never let on? Dat ar’s bobservation, Andy. I ’spects it’s what you may call a faculty. Faculties is different in different peoples, but cultivation of ’em goes a great way.”
“I guess if I hadn’t helped your bobservation dis mornin’, yer wouldn’t have seen your way so smart,” said Andy.
-- André, vous êtes un enfant qui promettez beaucoup; cela ne fait pas un doute. J' ai bonne opinion de vous, et je n' ai pas honte de vous emprunter une idée. Il ne faut mépriser personne, André. Les plus malins peuvent quelquefois se tromper. Mais rentrons.... Je gage qu' aujourd'hui madame nous donnera quelque bon morceau. »
“Andy,” said Sam, “you’s a promisin’ child, der an’t no manner o’ doubt. I thinks lots of yer, Andy; and I don’t feel no ways ashamed to take idees from you. We oughtenter overlook nobody, Andy, cause the smartest on us gets tripped up sometimes. And so, Andy, let’s go up to the house now. I’ll be boun’ Missis’ll give us an uncommon good bite, dis yer time.”
CHAPITRE VII. ~~~ Les angoisses d'une mère.
CHAPTER VII The Mother’s Struggle
Jamais une créature humaine ne se sentit plus malheureuse et plus abandonnée qu' Élisa, au moment où elle s' éloigna de la case de l' oncle Tom. Les souffrances et les dangers de son mari, le danger de son enfant, tout cela se mêlait dans son âme avec le sentiment confus et douloureux de tous les périls qu' elle -même allait courir en quittant cette maison, la seule qu' elle eût jamais connue, en quittant une maîtresse qu' elle avait toujours aimée et respectée. N' allait -elle pas quitter aussi tous ces objets familiers qui nous attachent, le lieu où elle avait grandi, les arbres dont l' ombre avait abrité ses jeux, les bosquets où elle s' était promenée, le soir des jours heureux, à côté de son jeune époux ? Tous ces objets, qu' elle apercevait à la lueur froide et brillante des étoiles, semblaient prendre une voix pour lui adresser des reproches et lui demander où elle pourrait aller en les quittant.
It is impossible to conceive of a human creature more wholly desolate and forlorn than Eliza, when she turned her footsteps from Uncle Tom’s cabin. ~~~ Her husband’s suffering and dangers, and the danger of her child, all blended in her mind, with a confused and stunning sense of the risk she was running, in leaving the only home she had ever known, and cutting loose from the protection of a friend whom she loved and revered. Then there was the parting from every familiar object,—the place where she had grown up, the trees under which she had played, the groves where she had walked many an evening in happier days, by the side of her young husband,—everything, as it lay in the clear, frosty starlight, seemed to speak reproachfully to her, and ask her whither could she go from a home like that?
Mais, plus puissant que tout le reste, l' amour maternel la rendait folle de terreur en lui faisant pressentir l' approche de quelque danger terrible. L' enfant était assez grand pour marcher à côté d' elle; dans toute autre circonstance, elle se fût contentée de le conduire par la main: mais alors la seule pensée de ne plus le serrer dans ses bras la faisait tressaillir; et, tout en hâtant sa marche, elle le pressait contre sa poitrine avec une étreinte convulsive.
But stronger than all was maternal love, wrought into a paroxysm of frenzy by the near approach of a fearful danger. Her boy was old enough to have walked by her side, and, in an indifferent case, she would only have led him by the hand; but now the bare thought of putting him out of her arms made her shudder, and she strained him to her bosom with a convulsive grasp, as she went rapidly forward.
La terre gelée craquait sous ses pas: elle tremblait au bruit; le frôlement d' une feuille, une ombre balancée lui faisaient refluer le sang au coeur et précipitaient sa marche. Elle s' étonnait de la force qu' elle trouvait en elle. Son enfant lui semblait léger comme une plume. Chaque terreur nouvelle augmentait encore cette force surnaturelle qui l' emportait. Souvent quelque prière s' élançait de ses lèvres pâles et montait jusqu' à l' ami qui est là-haut: « Seigneur, sauvez -moi ! mon Dieu, ayez pitié de moi ! »
The frosty ground creaked beneath her feet, and she trembled at the sound; every quaking leaf and fluttering shadow sent the blood backward to her heart, and quickened her footsteps. She wondered within herself at the strength that seemed to be come upon her; for she felt the weight of her boy as if it had been a feather, and every flutter of fear seemed to increase the supernatural power that bore her on, while from her pale lips burst forth, in frequent ejaculations, the prayer to a Friend above—“Lord, help! Lord, save me!”
O mère qui me lisez, si c' était votre Henri à vous qu' on dût vous enlever demain matin, si vous eussiez vu l' homme, le brutal marchand, si vous eussiez appris que l' acte de vente est signé et remis.... si vous n' aviez plus que de minuit au matin pour vous sauver.... et le sauver.... quelle serait la rapidité de votre fuite, combien de milles pourriez -vous faire dans ces quelques heures.... le cher fardeau à votre sein, sa petite tête endormie sur votre épaule, ses deux petits bras confiants noués autour de votre cou ? ~~~ Car l' enfant dormait.
If it were _your_ Harry, mother, or your Willie, that were going to be torn from you by a brutal trader, tomorrow morning,—if you had seen the man, and heard that the papers were signed and delivered, and you had only from twelve o’clock till morning to make good your escape,—how fast could _you_ walk? How many miles could you make in those few brief hours, with the darling at your bosom,—the little sleepy head on your shoulder,—the small, soft arms trustingly holding on to your neck?
D'abord, l' effroi, l' étrangeté des circonstances le tinrent éveillé; mais la mère réprimait si énergiquement chaque parole, chaque souffle, l' assurant que, s' il voulait seulement être tranquille, elle le sauverait, qu' il se serra paisiblement contre elle en lui disant seulement, quand il sentait venir le sommeil:
For the child slept. At first, the novelty and alarm kept him waking; but his mother so hurriedly repressed every breath or sound, and so assured him that if he were only still she would certainly save him, that he clung quietly round her neck, only asking, as he found himself sinking to sleep,
“Mother, I don’t need to keep awake, do I?”
--Non, cher ange, dors si tu veux.
“No, my darling; sleep, if you want to.”
“But, mother, if I do get asleep, you won’t let him get me?”
“No! so may God help me!” said his mother, with a paler cheek, and a brighter light in her large dark eyes.
« Vous êtes sûre, mais bien sûre ?
“You’re _sure_, an’t you, mother?”
-- Oui, bien sûre ! » reprit la mère d' une voix qui l' effraya elle-même, car elle lui sembla venir d' un esprit intérieur qui n' était point elle. ~~~ L' enfant laissa tomber sa tête fatiguée et s' endormit.... Le contact de ces petits bras chauds, cette respiration qui passait sur son cou, donnaient aux mouvements de la mère comme une ardeur enflammée. Chaque tressaillement de l' enfant endormi faisait passer dans ses membres comme un courant électrique. Sublime domination de l' esprit sur le corps, qui rend insensibles les chairs et les nerfs, et qui trempe les muscles comme de l' acier, pour que la faiblesse devienne de la force ! Les limites de la ferme, le bosquet, le bois, tout cela passait comme des fantômes.... Et elle marchait, marchait toujours, sans s' arrêter, sans reprendre haleine.... Les premières lueurs du jour la trouvèrent sur le grand chemin, à plusieurs milles de l' habitation.
“Yes, _sure_!” said the mother, in a voice that startled herself; for it seemed to her to come from a spirit within, that was no part of her; and the boy dropped his little weary head on her shoulder, and was soon asleep. How the touch of those warm arms, the gentle breathings that came in her neck, seemed to add fire and spirit to her movements! It seemed to her as if strength poured into her in electric streams, from every gentle touch and movement of the sleeping, confiding child. Sublime is the dominion of the mind over the body, that, for a time, can make flesh and nerve impregnable, and string the sinews like steel, so that the weak become so mighty. ~~~ The boundaries of the farm, the grove, the wood-lot, passed by her dizzily, as she walked on; and still she went, leaving one familiar object after another, slacking not, pausing not, till reddening daylight found her many a long mile from all traces of any familiar objects upon the open highway.
Souvent, avec sa maîtresse, elle était allée visiter quelques amis dans le voisinage jusqu' au village de T., tout près de l' Ohio: elle connaissait parfaitement ce chemin. Mais aller plus loin, passer le fleuve, c' était pour elle le commencement de l' inconnu. Elle ne pouvait plus désormais espérer qu' en Dieu.
She had often been, with her mistress, to visit some connections, in the little village of T——, not far from the Ohio river, and knew the road well. To go thither, to escape across the Ohio river, were the first hurried outlines of her plan of escape; beyond that, she could only hope in God.
Quand les chevaux et les voitures commencèrent à circuler sur la grande route, elle comprit, avec cette intuition rapide que nous avons toujours dans nos moments d' excitation morale, et qui semble une sorte d' inspiration, elle comprit que sa marche égarée et sa physionomie inquiète allaient attirer sur elle l' attention soupçonneuse des passants. Elle posa donc l' enfant à terre, répara sa toilette, ajusta sa coiffure, et mesura sa marche de façon à sauver du moins les apparences. Elle avait fait provision de pommes et de gâteaux. Les pommes lui servirent à hâter la marche de l' enfant; elle les faisait rouler à quelques pas devant lui: l' enfant courait après de toutes ses forces. Cette ruse, souvent répétée, lui fit gagner quelques milles.
When horses and vehicles began to move along the highway, with that alert perception peculiar to a state of excitement, and which seems to be a sort of inspiration, she became aware that her headlong pace and distracted air might bring on her remark and suspicion. She therefore put the boy on the ground, and, adjusting her dress and bonnet, she walked on at as rapid a pace as she thought consistent with the preservation of appearances. In her little bundle she had provided a store of cakes and apples, which she used as expedients for quickening the speed of the child, rolling the apple some yards before them, when the boy would run with all his might after it; and this ruse, often repeated, carried them over many a half-mile.
Ils arrivèrent bientôt près d' un épais taillis, qu' un ruisseau limpide traversait avec un frais murmure. L' enfant avait faim et soif: il commençait à se plaindre. Tous deux franchirent la haie. Ils s' assirent derrière un quartier de rocher qui les dérobait à la vue; elle le fit déjeuner. L' enfant remarqua en pleurant qu' elle ne mangeait pas: il lui passa un bras autour du cou et voulut lui glisser un morceau de gâteau dans la bouche....
After a while, they came to a thick patch of woodland, through which murmured a clear brook. As the child complained of hunger and thirst, she climbed over the fence with him; and, sitting down behind a large rock which concealed them from the road, she gave him a breakfast out of her little package. The boy wondered and grieved that she could not eat; and when, putting his arms round her neck, he tried to wedge some of his cake into her mouth, it seemed to her that the rising in her throat would choke her.
“No, no, Harry darling! mother can’t eat till you are safe! We must go on—on—till we come to the river!” And she hurried again into the road, and again constrained herself to walk regularly and composedly forward.
Et elle se précipita sur la route.... puis elle reprit une marche régulière et calme. ~~~ Elle avait dépassé de plusieurs milles les endroits où elle était personnellement connue. Si le hasard voulait qu' elle rencontrât quelque connaissance, elle se disait que la bonté très-notoire de la famille écarterait bien loin toute idée d' évasion. Et puis, elle était si blanche qu' il fallait un oeil attentif et exercé pour reconnaître le sang mêlé; son enfant était aussi blanc qu' elle; c' était une chance de plus de passer inaperçue.
She was many miles past any neighborhood where she was personally known. If she should chance to meet any who knew her, she reflected that the well-known kindness of the family would be of itself a blind to suspicion, as making it an unlikely supposition that she could be a fugitive. As she was also so white as not to be known as of colored lineage, without a critical survey, and her child was white also, it was much easier for her to pass on unsuspected.
On this presumption, she stopped at noon at a neat farmhouse, to rest herself, and buy some dinner for her child and self; for, as the danger decreased with the distance, the supernatural tension of the nervous system lessened, and she found herself both weary and hungry.
The good woman, kindly and gossipping, seemed rather pleased than otherwise with having somebody come in to talk with; and accepted, without examination, Eliza’s statement, that she “was going on a little piece, to spend a week with her friends,”—all which she hoped in her heart might prove strictly true.
An hour before sunset, she entered the village of T——, by the Ohio river, weary and foot-sore, but still strong in heart. Her first glance was at the river, which lay, like Jordan, between her and the Canaan of liberty on the other side.
On était au commencement du printemps; la rivière, gonflée et mugissante, charriait des monceaux de glace avec ses eaux tumultueuses. Grâce à la forme particulière du rivage, qui, dans cette partie du Kentucky, s' avance comme un promontoire au milieu des eaux, d' énormes quantités de glace avaient été retenues au passage. Elles s' entassaient en piles énormes qui formaient comme un radeau irrégulier et gigantesque, interrompant la communication des deux rives.
It was now early spring, and the river was swollen and turbulent; great cakes of floating ice were swinging heavily to and fro in the turbid waters. Owing to the peculiar form of the shore on the Kentucky side, the land bending far out into the water, the ice had been lodged and detained in great quantities, and the narrow channel which swept round the bend was full of ice, piled one cake over another, thus forming a temporary barrier to the descending ice, which lodged, and formed a great, undulating raft, filling up the whole river, and extending almost to the Kentucky shore.
Eliza stood, for a moment, contemplating this unfavorable aspect of things, which she saw at once must prevent the usual ferry-boat from running, and then turned into a small public house on the bank, to make a few inquiries.
The hostess, who was busy in various fizzing and stewing operations over the fire, preparatory to the evening meal, stopped, with a fork in her hand, as Eliza’s sweet and plaintive voice arrested her.
« Qu' est -ce donc ?
“What is it?” she said.
“Isn’t there any ferry or boat, that takes people over to B——, now?” she said.
-- Non vraiment. Les bateaux ne marchent plus. »
“No, indeed!” said the woman; “the boats has stopped running.”
La douleur et l' abattement d' Élisa frappèrent cette femme.
Eliza’s look of dismay and disappointment struck the woman, and she said, inquiringly,
“May be you’re wanting to get over?—anybody sick? Ye seem mighty anxious?”
“I’ve got a child that’s very dangerous,” said Eliza. “I never heard of it till last night, and I’ve walked quite a piece today, in hopes to get to the ferry.”
“Well, now, that’s onlucky,” said the woman, whose motherly sympathies were much aroused; “I’m re’lly consarned for ye. Solomon!” she called, from the window, towards a small back building. A man, in leather apron and very dirty hands, appeared at the door.
“I say, Sol,” said the woman, “is that ar man going to tote them bar’ls over tonight?”
“He said he should try, if ’t was any way prudent,” said the man.
“There’s a man a piece down here, that’s going over with some truck this evening, if he durs’ to; he’ll be in here to supper tonight, so you’d better set down and wait. That’s a sweet little fellow,” added the woman, offering him a cake.
But the child, wholly exhausted, cried with weariness.
“Poor fellow! he isn’t used to walking, and I’ve hurried him on so,” said Eliza.
-- Faites -le entrer dans cette chambre, » dit l' hôtesse en ouvrant un petit cabinet où il y avait un lit confortable. Élisa y plaça le pauvre enfant et tint ses petites mains dans les siennes jusqu' à ce qu' il fût endormi. Pour elle, il n' y avait plus de repos. La pensée de ses persécuteurs, comme un feu dévorant, brûlait la moelle de ses os. Elle jetait des regards pleins de larmes sur les flots gonflés et terribles qui coulaient entre elle et la liberté.
“Well, take him into this room,” said the woman, opening into a small bed-room, where stood a comfortable bed. Eliza laid the weary boy upon it, and held his hands in hers till he was fast asleep. For her there was no rest. As a fire in her bones, the thought of the pursuer urged her on; and she gazed with longing eyes on the sullen, surging waters that lay between her and liberty.
Mais quittons l' infortunée pour un instant, et voyons ce que deviennent ceux qui la poursuivent.
Here we must take our leave of her for the present, to follow the course of her pursuers.
Mme Shelby avait dit, il est vrai, que le dîner serait immédiatement servi; on vit bientôt, ce qui s' est vu souvent, qu' il faut être deux pour faire un marché. Quoique les ordres eussent été donnés en présence d' Haley et transmis à la mère Chloé par au moins une demi-douzaine d' alertes messagers, cette haute dignitaire, pour toute réponse, grommela quelques mots inintelligibles, en hochant sa vieille tête, et elle continua son opération avec une lenteur inaccoutumée.
Though Mrs. Shelby had promised that the dinner should be hurried on table, yet it was soon seen, as the thing has often been seen before, that it required more than one to make a bargain. So, although the order was fairly given out in Haley’s hearing, and carried to Aunt Chloe by at least half a dozen juvenile messengers, that dignitary only gave certain very gruff snorts, and tosses of her head, and went on with every operation in an unusually leisurely and circumstantial manner.
Toute la maison semblait instinctivement deviner que madame n' était en aucune façon affligée de ce retard: on ne saurait croire combien d' accidents retardèrent le cours ordinaire des choses. Un marmiton maladroit renversa la sauce: il fallut refaire la sauce. Chloé y mit un soin désespérant et une précision compassée; elle répondait à toutes les exhortations « qu' elle ne se permettrait pas de servir une sauce tournée pour plaire à des gens qui voulaient rattraper quelqu'un. » Un enfant tomba avec l' eau qu' il portait: il fallut retourner à la fontaine. Un autre renversa le beurre. De temps en temps on arrivait, en ricanant, dire à la cuisine que M. Haley paraissait très-mal à son aise, qu' il ne pouvait rester sur son siége, et qu' il allait en trépignant de la fenêtre à la porte.
For some singular reason, an impression seemed to reign among the servants generally that Missis would not be particularly disobliged by delay; and it was wonderful what a number of counter accidents occurred constantly, to retard the course of things. One luckless wight contrived to upset the gravy; and then gravy had to be got up _de novo_, with due care and formality, Aunt Chloe watching and stirring with dogged precision, answering shortly, to all suggestions of haste, that she “warn’t a going to have raw gravy on the table, to help nobody’s catchings.” One tumbled down with the water, and had to go to the spring for more; and another precipitated the butter into the path of events; and there was from time to time giggling news brought into the kitchen that “Mas’r Haley was mighty oneasy, and that he couldn’t sit in his cheer no ways, but was a walkin’ and stalkin’ to the winders and through the porch.”
“Sarves him right!” said Aunt Chloe, indignantly. “He’ll get wus nor oneasy, one of these days, if he don’t mend his ways. _His_ master’ll be sending for him, and then see how he’ll look!”
“He’ll go to torment, and no mistake,” said little Jake.
-- Il le mérite bien, dit Chloé d' un air revêche. Il a brisé bien des coeurs... Je vous le dis à tous, reprit -elle en élevant sa fourchette, comme M. Georges l' a lu dans la _Rêvélation_, les âmes crient au pied de l' autel, elles crient au Seigneur et demandent vengeance.... et un jour le Seigneur les entendra. Oui, il les entendra ! »
“He desarves it!” said Aunt Chloe, grimly; “he’s broke a many, many, many hearts,—I tell ye all!” she said, stopping, with a fork uplifted in her hands; “it’s like what Mas’r George reads in Ravelations,—souls a callin’ under the altar! and a callin’ on the Lord for vengeance on sich!—and by and by the Lord he’ll hear ’em—so he will!”
Aunt Chloe, who was much revered in the kitchen, was listened to with open mouth; and, the dinner being now fairly sent in, the whole kitchen was at leisure to gossip with her, and to listen to her remarks.
“Sich’ll be burnt up forever, and no mistake; won’t ther?” said Andy.
“I’d be glad to see it, I’ll be boun’,” said little Jake.
-- Enfants ! » dit une voix qui les fit tous tressaillir.
“Chil’en!” said a voice, that made them all start. It was Uncle Tom, who had come in, and stood listening to the conversation at the door.
“Chil’en!” he said, “I’m afeard you don’t know what ye’re sayin’. Forever is a _dre’ful_ word, chil’en; it’s awful to think on ’t. You oughtenter wish that ar to any human crittur.”
“We wouldn’t to anybody but the soul-drivers,” said Andy; “nobody can help wishing it to them, they ’s so awful wicked.”
-- La nature elle-même, la bonne nature ne crie -t-elle point contre eux ? dit Chloé. Est -ce qu' ils n' arrachent pas l' enfant qu' on allaite au sein de sa mère... pour le vendre ?... Et les petits enfants qui pleurent et qui s' attachent à nos vêtements, est -ce qu' ils ne les arrachent point aussi de nos bras.... pour les vendre ? Ne séparent -ils point la femme du mari ? continua -t-elle en pleurant.... et n' est -ce pas les tuer tous deux ? Et cependant, que ressentent -ils ? quelle pitié ? est -ce que cela les empêche de boire, de fumer et de prendre toutes leurs aises ? Si le diable ne les emporte pas, à quoi donc le diable est -il bon ? » Et, couvrant son visage de son tablier, Chloé laissa éclater ses sanglots.
“Don’t natur herself kinder cry out on ’em?” said Aunt Chloe. “Don’t dey tear der suckin’ baby right off his mother’s breast, and sell him, and der little children as is crying and holding on by her clothes,—don’t dey pull ’em off and sells ’em? Don’t dey tear wife and husband apart?” said Aunt Chloe, beginning to cry, “when it’s jest takin’ the very life on ’em?—and all the while does they feel one bit, don’t dey drink and smoke, and take it oncommon easy? Lor, if the devil don’t get them, what’s he good for?” And Aunt Chloe covered her face with her checked apron, and began to sob in good earnest.
Mais alors Tom, à son tour: ~~~ « Priez pour ceux qui vous persécutent, dit le _bon livre_ !
“Pray for them that ’spitefully use you, the good book says,” says Tom.
“Pray for ’em!” said Aunt Chloe; “Lor, it’s too tough! I can’t pray for ’em.”
-- Oui, Chloé, c' est plus fort que la nature, mais la grâce du Seigneur est plus forte aussi que la nature !... Et d'ailleurs, songez dans quel état se trouve l' âme des pauvres créatures qui commettent de telles actions.... Remerciez Dieu de n' être pas comme elles, Chloé. Pour moi, j' aimerais mieux être vendu dix mille fois que d' avoir le même compte à rendre que ce pauvre homme !
“It’s natur, Chloe, and natur ’s strong,” said Tom, “but the Lord’s grace is stronger; besides, you oughter think what an awful state a poor crittur’s soul ’s in that’ll do them ar things,—you oughter thank God that you an’t _like_ him, Chloe. I’m sure I’d rather be sold, ten thousand times over, than to have all that ar poor crittur’s got to answer for.”
“So ’d I, a heap,” said Jake. “Lor, _shouldn’t_ we cotch it, Andy?”
Andy shrugged his shoulders, and gave an acquiescent whistle.
« Je suis bien aise, reprit Tom, que monsieur ne soit pas sorti ce matin, comme il le voulait. Cela me faisait plus de mal que de me voir vendu. C' était bien naturel à lui, mais bien pénible pour moi, qui le connais depuis l' enfance; j' ai vu monsieur et je commence à être réconcilié avec la volonté de Dieu. Monsieur ne pouvait se tirer d' affaire sans cela. Il a bien fait. Mais j' ai peur que les choses n' aillent encore plus mal, moi absent. On ne s' attendra pas à voir monsieur rôder et surveiller partout, comme je faisais. Les enfants ont bonne volonté.... mais c' est si léger.... voilà ce qui m' effraye ! »
“I’m glad Mas’r didn’t go off this morning, as he looked to,” said Tom; “that ar hurt me more than sellin’, it did. Mebbe it might have been natural for him, but ’t would have come desp’t hard on me, as has known him from a baby; but I’ve seen Mas’r, and I begin ter feel sort o’ reconciled to the Lord’s will now. Mas’r couldn’t help hisself; he did right, but I’m feared things will be kinder goin’ to rack, when I’m gone Mas’r can’t be spected to be a pryin’ round everywhar, as I’ve done, a keepin’ up all the ends. The boys all means well, but they ’s powerful car’less. That ar troubles me.”
The bell here rang, and Tom was summoned to the parlor.
“Tom,” said his master, kindly, “I want you to notice that I give this gentleman bonds to forfeit a thousand dollars if you are not on the spot when he wants you; he’s going today to look after his other business, and you can have the day to yourself. Go anywhere you like, boy.”
-- Merci, monsieur, dit Tom.
“Thank you, Mas’r,” said Tom.
“And mind yourself,” said the trader, “and don’t come it over your master with any o’ yer nigger tricks; for I’ll take every cent out of him, if you an’t thar. If he’d hear to me, he wouldn’t trust any on ye—slippery as eels!”
-- Monsieur, dit Tom en se tenant tout droit devant Shelby, j' avais huit ans quand la vieille maîtresse vous mit dans mes bras; vous n' aviez pas un an: « Tom, ce sera ton maître, me dit -elle: « aie bien soin de lui ! » Et maintenant, monsieur, je vous le demande, ai -je jamais manqué à mon devoir ? Vous ai -je jamais été infidèle... surtout depuis que je suis chrétien ? »
“Mas’r,” said Tom,—and he stood very straight,—“I was jist eight years old when ole Missis put you into my arms, and you wasn’t a year old. ‘Thar,’ says she, ‘Tom, that’s to be _your_ young Mas’r; take good care on him,’ says she. And now I jist ask you, Mas’r, have I ever broke word to you, or gone contrary to you, ’specially since I was a Christian?”
Mr. Shelby was fairly overcome, and the tears rose to his eyes.
“My good boy,” said he, “the Lord knows you say but the truth; and if I was able to help it, all the world shouldn’t buy you.”
“And sure as I am a Christian woman,” said Mrs. Shelby, “you shall be redeemed as soon as I can any way bring together means. Sir,” she said to Haley, “take good account of who you sell him to, and let me know.”
“Lor, yes, for that matter,” said the trader, “I may bring him up in a year, not much the wuss for wear, and trade him back.”
-- Je vous le rachèterai bon prix.
“I’ll trade with you then, and make it for your advantage,” said Mrs. Shelby.
“Of course,” said the trader, “all ’s equal with me; li’ves trade ’em up as down, so I does a good business. All I want is a livin’, you know, ma’am; that’s all any on us wants, I, s’pose.”
M. et Mme Shelby se sentaient humiliés et abaissés par l' impudente familiarité du marchand; mais tous deux sentaient aussi l' impérieuse nécessité de maîtriser leurs sentiments: plus il se montrait dur et avare, plus Mme Shelby craignait de le voir reprendre Élisa et son enfant. Elle cherchait donc à le retenir par toutes sortes de ruses féminines: c' étaient des mines, des sourires, des causeries presque intimes... tout, enfin, pour faire passer le temps insensiblement.
Mr. and Mrs. Shelby both felt annoyed and degraded by the familiar impudence of the trader, and yet both saw the absolute necessity of putting a constraint on their feelings. The more hopelessly sordid and insensible he appeared, the greater became Mrs. Shelby’s dread of his succeeding in recapturing Eliza and her child, and of course the greater her motive for detaining him by every female artifice. She therefore graciously smiled, assented, chatted familiarly, and did all she could to make time pass imperceptibly.
A deux heures, Samuel et André amenèrent les chevaux, qui semblaient plus frais et plus dispos que jamais, malgré leur escapade du matin.
At two o’clock Sam and Andy brought the horses up to the posts, apparently greatly refreshed and invigorated by the scamper of the morning.
Sam was there new oiled from dinner, with an abundance of zealous and ready officiousness. As Haley approached, he was boasting, in flourishing style, to Andy, of the evident and eminent success of the operation, now that he had “farly come to it.”
“Your master, I s’pose, don’t keep no dogs,” said Haley, thoughtfully, as he prepared to mount.
“Heaps on ’em,” said Sam, triumphantly; “thar’s Bruno—he’s a roarer! and, besides that, ’bout every nigger of us keeps a pup of some natur or uther.”
--Fi donc!»
“Poh!” said Haley,—and he said something else, too, with regard to the said dogs, at which Sam muttered,
“I don’t see no use cussin’ on ’em, no way.”
“But your master don’t keep no dogs (I pretty much know he don’t) for trackin’ out niggers.”
Sam knew exactly what he meant, but he kept on a look of earnest and desperate simplicity.
“Our dogs all smells round considable sharp. I spect they’s the kind, though they han’t never had no practice. They ’s _far_ dogs, though, at most anything, if you’d get ’em started. Here, Bruno,” he called, whistling to the lumbering Newfoundland, who came pitching tumultuously toward them.
“You go hang!” said Haley, getting up. “Come, tumble up now.”
Samuel, en montant à cheval, trouva adroitement le moyen de chatouiller André, qui partit d' un éclat de rire, à la grande indignation de Haley, qui le menaça de son fouet.
Sam tumbled up accordingly, dexterously contriving to tickle Andy as he did so, which occasioned Andy to split out into a laugh, greatly to Haley’s indignation, who made a cut at him with his riding-whip.
“I ’s ’stonished at yer, Andy,” said Sam, with awful gravity. “This yer’s a seris bisness, Andy. Yer mustn’t be a makin’ game. This yer an’t no way to help Mas’r.”
“I shall take the straight road to the river,” said Haley, decidedly, after they had come to the boundaries of the estate. “I know the way of all of ’em,—they makes tracks for the underground.”
“Sartin,” said Sam, “dat’s de idee. Mas’r Haley hits de thing right in de middle. Now, der’s two roads to de river,—de dirt road and der pike,—which Mas’r mean to take?”
Andy looked up innocently at Sam, surprised at hearing this new geographical fact, but instantly confirmed what he said, by a vehement reiteration.
“Cause,” said Sam, “I’d rather be ’clined to ’magine that Lizy ’d take de dirt road, bein’ it’s the least travelled.”
Haley, notwithstanding that he was a very old bird, and naturally inclined to be suspicious of chaff, was rather brought up by this view of the case.
“If yer warn’t both on yer such cussed liars, now!” he said, contemplatively as he pondered a moment.
The pensive, reflective tone in which this was spoken appeared to amuse Andy prodigiously, and he drew a little behind, and shook so as apparently to run a great risk of failing off his horse, while Sam’s face was immovably composed into the most doleful gravity.
“Course,” said Sam, “Mas’r can do as he’d ruther, go de straight road, if Mas’r thinks best,—it’s all one to us. Now, when I study ’pon it, I think de straight road de best, _deridedly_.”
“She would naturally go a lonesome way,” said Haley, thinking aloud, and not minding Sam’s remark.
-- On ne sait pas, reprit Samuel; les femmes sont si drôles ! elles ne font jamais rien comme on se l' imagine; c' est presque toujours le contraire: la femme est naturellement contrariante. Si vous croyez qu' elle a pris une route, il est certain que c' est l' autre qu' il faut suivre pour la trouver. Mon opinion à moi est que Lisa a pris la vieille route: aussi je pense qu' il faut suivre la nouvelle. »
“Dar an’t no sayin’,” said Sam; “gals is pecular; they never does nothin’ ye thinks they will; mose gen’lly the contrary. Gals is nat’lly made contrary; and so, if you thinks they’ve gone one road, it is sartin you’d better go t’ other, and then you’ll be sure to find ’em. Now, my private ’pinion is, Lizy took der road; so I think we’d better take de straight one.”
This profound generic view of the female sex did not seem to dispose Haley particularly to the straight road, and he announced decidedly that he should go the other, and asked Sam when they should come to it.
« Tout à l' heure, dit Samuel en clignant de l' oeil qui regardait André, tout à l' heure ! » Il ajouta gravement: « J' ai étudié la question; je crois qu' il ne faut pas prendre cette route. Je ne l' ai jamais parcourue; elle est d' une solitude désespérante, nous pourrions nous égarer.... et dans ce cas, où aller ?... Dieu le sait !
“A little piece ahead,” said Sam, giving a wink to Andy with the eye which was on Andy’s side of the head; and he added, gravely, “but I’ve studded on de matter, and I’m quite clar we ought not to go dat ar way. I nebber been over it no way. It’s despit lonesome, and we might lose our way,—whar we’d come to, de Lord only knows.”
“Nevertheless,” said Haley, “I shall go that way.”
“Now I think on ’t, I think I hearn ’em tell that dat ar road was all fenced up and down by der creek, and thar, an’t it, Andy?”
André n' était pas certain.... il n' avait pas vu.... il ne voulait pas se compromettre.
Andy wasn’t certain; he’d only “hearn tell” about that road, but never been over it. In short, he was strictly noncommittal.
Haley, habitué à tenir la balance entre des mensonges plus ou moins pesants, crut qu' elle penchait cette fois du côté de la vieille route; il s' imagina que c' était par mégarde que Samuel l' avait d'abord indiquée. Il attribua ses efforts confus pour l' en dissuader à un mensonge désespéré qui n' avait d' autre but que de sauver Élisa.
Haley, accustomed to strike the balance of probabilities between lies of greater or lesser magnitude, thought that it lay in favor of the dirt road aforesaid. The mention of the thing he thought he perceived was involuntary on Sam’s part at first, and his confused attempts to dissuade him he set down to a desperate lying on second thoughts, as being unwilling to implicate Liza.
When, therefore, Sam indicated the road, Haley plunged briskly into it, followed by Sam and Andy.
C' était vraiment une vieille route, qui avait conduit jadis à la rivière. Elle était abandonnée depuis longues années pour un nouveau tracé. La route était libre à peu près pour une heure de marche; après cela elle était coupée de haies et de métairies. Samuel le savait parfaitement bien; mais elle était depuis si longtemps fermée, qu' André l' ignorait véritablement. Il trottait donc avec un air de soumission respectueuse, murmurant et criant de temps en temps que c' était bien raboteux et bien mauvais pour le pied de Jerry.
Now, the road, in fact, was an old one, that had formerly been a thoroughfare to the river, but abandoned for many years after the laying of the new pike. It was open for about an hour’s ride, and after that it was cut across by various farms and fences. Sam knew this fact perfectly well,—indeed, the road had been so long closed up, that Andy had never heard of it. He therefore rode along with an air of dutiful submission, only groaning and vociferating occasionally that ’t was “desp’t rough, and bad for Jerry’s foot.”
“Now, I jest give yer warning,” said Haley, “I know yer; yer won’t get me to turn off this road, with all yer fussin’—so you shet up!”
“Mas’r will go his own way!” said Sam, with rueful submission, at the same time winking most portentously to Andy, whose delight was now very near the explosive point.
Samuel était d' une animation extrême; il vantait son excellente vue, il s' écriait de temps en temps: « Ah ! je vois un chapeau de femme sur la hauteur ! » Ou bien, appelant André: « N' est -ce point Lisa, là-bas, dans ce creux ? » Il choisissait pour ces exclamations les parties difficiles et rocailleuses de la route, où il était à peu près impossible de hâter le pas. Il tenait ainsi Haley dans une perpétuelle émotion.
Sam was in wonderful spirits,—professed to keep a very brisk lookout,—at one time exclaiming that he saw “a gal’s bonnet” on the top of some distant eminence, or calling to Andy “if that thar wasn’t ’Lizy’ down in the hollow;” always making these exclamations in some rough or craggy part of the road, where the sudden quickening of speed was a special inconvenience to all parties concerned, and thus keeping Haley in a state of constant commotion.
Après une heure de marche, les trois voyageurs descendirent précipitamment dans une cour qui dépendait d' une vaste ferme. On ne rencontra personne; tout le monde était aux champs; mais, comme la ferme barrait littéralement le chemin, il était évident qu' on ne pouvait aller plus loin dans cette direction.
After riding about an hour in this way, the whole party made a precipitate and tumultuous descent into a barn-yard belonging to a large farming establishment. Not a soul was in sight, all the hands being employed in the fields; but, as the barn stood conspicuously and plainly square across the road, it was evident that their journey in that direction had reached a decided finale.
“Wan’t dat ar what I telled Mas’r?” said Sam, with an air of injured innocence. “How does strange gentleman spect to know more about a country dan de natives born and raised?”
“You rascal!” said Haley, “you knew all about this.”
“Didn’t I tell yer I _knowd_, and yer wouldn’t believe me? I telled Mas’r ’t was all shet up, and fenced up, and I didn’t spect we could get through,—Andy heard me.”
Cette assertion était trop incontestablement vraie pour qu' on pût y contredire. L' infortuné marchand fut donc obligé de dissimuler de son mieux. Il cacha sa colère, et tous trois firent volte-face et se dirigèrent vers la grande route.
It was all too true to be disputed, and the unlucky man had to pocket his wrath with the best grace he was able, and all three faced to the right about, and took up their line of march for the highway.
Il résulta de tous ces retards une certaine avance pour Élisa. Il y avait trois quarts d' heure que son enfant était couché dans le cabinet de l' auberge, quand Haley et les deux esclaves y arrivèrent eux-mêmes. ~~~ Élisa était à la fenêtre; elle regardait dans une autre direction; l' oeil perçant de Samuel l' eut bientôt découverte. Haley et André étaient à quelques pas en arrière. C' était un moment critique. Samuel eût soin qu' un coup de vent enlevât son chapeau. Il poussa un cri formidable et d' une façon toute particulière. Ce cri réveilla Élisa comme en sursaut. Elle se rejeta vivement en arrière.
In consequence of all the various delays, it was about three-quarters of an hour after Eliza had laid her child to sleep in the village tavern that the party came riding into the same place. Eliza was standing by the window, looking out in another direction, when Sam’s quick eye caught a glimpse of her. Haley and Andy were two yards behind. At this crisis, Sam contrived to have his hat blown off, and uttered a loud and characteristic ejaculation, which startled her at once; she drew suddenly back; the whole train swept by the window, round to the front door.
Les trois voyageurs s' arrêtèrent en face de la porte d' entrée, tout près de cette fenêtre. ~~~ Pour Élisa, mille vies se concentraient dans cet instant suprême. Le cabinet avait une porte latérale qui s' ouvrait sur la rivière. Elle saisit son fils et franchit d' un bond quelques marches. Le marchand l' aperçut au moment où elle disparaissait derrière la rive. Il se jeta à bas de son cheval, appela à grands cris Samuel et André, et il se précipita après elle, comme le limier après le daim. Dans cet instant terrible, le pied d' Élisa touchait à peine le sol; on l' eût crue portée sur la cime des flots. Ils arrivaient derrière elle.... Alors, avec cette puissance nerveuse que Dieu ne donne qu' aux désespérés, poussant un cri sauvage, avec un bond ailé, elle s' élança du bord par-dessus le torrent mugissant et tomba sur le radeau de glace. C' était un saut désespéré, impossible, sinon au désespoir même et à la folie. Haley, Samuel et André poussèrent un cri et levèrent les mains au ciel.
A thousand lives seemed to be concentrated in that one moment to Eliza. Her room opened by a side door to the river. She caught her child, and sprang down the steps towards it. The trader caught a full glimpse of her just as she was disappearing down the bank; and throwing himself from his horse, and calling loudly on Sam and Andy, he was after her like a hound after a deer. In that dizzy moment her feet to her scarce seemed to touch the ground, and a moment brought her to the water’s edge. Right on behind they came; and, nerved with strength such as God gives only to the desperate, with one wild cry and flying leap, she vaulted sheer over the turbid current by the shore, on to the raft of ice beyond. It was a desperate leap—impossible to anything but madness and despair; and Haley, Sam, and Andy, instinctively cried out, and lifted up their hands, as she did it.
L' énorme glaçon craqua et s' abîma sous son poids.... mais elle ne s' y était point arrêtée une seconde. Cependant, poussant toujours ses cris sauvages, redoublant d' énergie avec le danger, elle sauta de glaçon en glaçon, glissant, se cramponnant, tombant, mais se relevant toujours ! Elle perd sa chaussure; ses bas sont arrachés de ses pieds; son sang marque sa route; mais elle ne voit rien, ne sent rien, jusqu' à ce qu' enfin.... obscurément.... comme dans un rêve, elle aperçoit l' autre rive, et un homme qui lui tend la main.
The huge green fragment of ice on which she alighted pitched and creaked as her weight came on it, but she staid there not a moment. With wild cries and desperate energy she leaped to another and still another cake; stumbling—leaping—slipping—springing upwards again! Her shoes are gone—her stockings cut from her feet—while blood marked every step; but she saw nothing, felt nothing, till dimly, as in a dream, she saw the Ohio side, and a man helping her up the bank.
“Yer a brave gal, now, whoever ye ar!” said the man, with an oath.
Eliza recognized the voice and face for a man who owned a farm not far from her old home.
“O, Mr. Symmes!—save me—do save me—do hide me!” said Elia.
“Why, what’s this?” said the man. “Why, if ’tan’t Shelby’s gal!”
“My child!—this boy!—he’d sold him! There is his Mas’r,” said she, pointing to the Kentucky shore. “O, Mr. Symmes, you’ve got a little boy!”
“So I have,” said the man, as he roughly, but kindly, drew her up the steep bank. “Besides, you’re a right brave gal. I like grit, wherever I see it.”
When they had gained the top of the bank, the man paused.
« Je serais heureux de faire quelque chose pour vous, dit -il; mais je n' ai pas où vous mettre. Ce que je puis faire de mieux, c' est de vous indiquer où vous devez aller; et il lui montra une grande maison blanche, qui se trouvait isolée dans la principale rue du village. Allez là; ce sont de bonnes gens. Il n' y a aucun danger.... ils vous assisteront.... ils sont accoutumés à ces sortes de choses.
“I’d be glad to do something for ye,” said he; “but then there’s nowhar I could take ye. The best I can do is to tell ye to go _thar_,” said he, pointing to a large white house which stood by itself, off the main street of the village. “Go thar; they’re kind folks. Thar’s no kind o’ danger but they’ll help you,—they’re up to all that sort o’ thing.”
-- Dieu vous bénisse ! dit vivement Élisa.
“The Lord bless you!” said Eliza, earnestly.
“No ’casion, no ’casion in the world,” said the man. “What I’ve done’s of no ’count.”
-- Bien sûr, monsieur, vous ne le direz à personne ?
“And, oh, surely, sir, you won’t tell any one!”
“Go to thunder, gal! What do you take a feller for? In course not,” said the man. “Come, now, go along like a likely, sensible gal, as you are. You’ve arnt your liberty, and you shall have it, for all me.”
The woman folded her child to her bosom, and walked firmly and swiftly away. The man stood and looked after her.
« Shelby ne trouvera peut-être pas que ce soit là un acte de très-bon voisinage; mais que faire ? s' il attrape jamais une de mes femmes dans les mêmes circonstances, il sera le bienvenu à me rendre la pareille. Je ne pouvais pourtant pas voir cette pauvre créature courant, luttant, les chiens après elle, et essayant de se sauver.... D'ailleurs, je ne suis pas chargé de chasser et de reprendre les esclaves des autres. »
“Shelby, now, mebbe won’t think this yer the most neighborly thing in the world; but what’s a feller to do? If he catches one of my gals in the same fix, he’s welcome to pay back. Somehow I never could see no kind o’ critter a strivin’ and pantin’, and trying to clar theirselves, with the dogs arter ’em and go agin ’em. Besides, I don’t see no kind of ’casion for me to be hunter and catcher for other folks, neither.”
So spoke this poor, heathenish Kentuckian, who had not been instructed in his constitutional relations, and consequently was betrayed into acting in a sort of Christianized manner, which, if he had been better situated and more enlightened, he would not have been left to do.
Haley had stood a perfectly amazed spectator of the scene, till Eliza had disappeared up the bank, when he turned a blank, inquiring look on Sam and Andy.
« Voilà une belle affaire, dit Samuel.
“That ar was a tolable fair stroke of business,” said Sam.
-- Il faut qu' elle ait sept diables dans le corps, reprit Haley.... elle bondissait comme un chat sauvage.
“The gal ’s got seven devils in her, I believe!” said Haley. “How like a wildcat she jumped!”
“Wal, now,” said Sam, scratching his head, “I hope Mas’r’ll ’scuse us trying dat ar road. Don’t think I feel spry enough for dat ar, no way!” and Sam gave a hoarse chuckle.
-- Vous riez ! hurla le marchand.
“_You_ laugh!” said the trader, with a growl.
-- Dieu vous bénisse, m' sieu ! je ne puis pas m' en empêcher, dit Samuel, donnant un libre cours à la joie longtemps contenue de son âme. Elle était si curieuse, sautant, bondissant, franchissant la glace !... Et seulement de l' entendre.... pouf ! pan ! crac ! hop ! Dieu ! comme elle allait ! Et Samuel et André rirent tant, que les larmes leur roulaient sur les joues.
“Lord bless you, Mas’r, I couldn’t help it now,” said Sam, giving way to the long pent-up delight of his soul. “She looked so curi’s, a leapin’ and springin’—ice a crackin’—and only to hear her,—plump! ker chunk! ker splash! Spring! Lord! how she goes it!” and Sam and Andy laughed till the tears rolled down their cheeks.
-- Je vais vous faire rire d' autre sorte, » s' écria -t-il en brandissant son fouet sur leurs têtes.
“I’ll make ye laugh t’ other side yer mouths!” said the trader, laying about their heads with his riding-whip.
Ils baissèrent le cou, s' élancèrent au haut de la berge avec des hourras, et se trouvèrent en selle avant qu' il fût remonté.
Both ducked, and ran shouting up the bank, and were on their horses before he was up.
« Bonsoir, m' sieu, dit Samuel avec beaucoup de gravité; j' ai grand'peur que madame ne soit inquiète de Jerry. M. Haley ne voudrait pas nous retenir plus longtemps. Madame ne serait pas contente que nous ayons fait passer la nuit à nos bêtes sur le pont de Lisa. « Et, après avoir donné un facétieux coup de poing dans les côtes d' André, il partit à toute vitesse, suivi de ce dernier. Peu à peu leurs joyeux éclats s' éteignirent dans le vent.
“Good-evening, Mas’r!” said Sam, with much gravity. “I berry much spect Missis be anxious ’bout Jerry. Mas’r Haley won’t want us no longer. Missis wouldn’t hear of our ridin’ the critters over Lizy’s bridge tonight;” and, with a facetious poke into Andy’s ribs, he started off, followed by the latter, at full speed,—their shouts of laughter coming faintly on the wind.
CHAPITRE VIII. ~~~ Les chasseurs d'hommes.
CHAPTER VIII Eliza’s Escape
Élisa avait miraculeusement traversé le fleuve aux dernières lueurs du crépuscule. Les grises vapeurs du soir, s' élevant lentement des eaux, la dérobèrent bientôt aux yeux. Le courant grossi et les monceaux de glaces flottantes mettaient une infranchissable barrière entre elle et son persécuteur. Haley, fort désappointé, retourna à la petite auberge pour réfléchir sur le parti qu' il avait à prendre. L' hôtesse lui ouvrit la porte d' un petit salon dont le plancher était couvert d' un tapis déchiré. Quant au tapis de la table, il brillait de taches d' huile. Tout était mesquin et dépareillé: des chaises avec de hauts dossiers de bois; des figurines de plâtre aux vives enluminures décoraient la cheminée. Un banc également en bois et d' une longueur désespérante s' étendait devant l' âtre. C' est là que Haley s' assit pour méditer sur l' instabilité des espérances et du bonheur des humains.
Eliza made her desperate retreat across the river just in the dusk of twilight. The gray mist of evening, rising slowly from the river, enveloped her as she disappeared up the bank, and the swollen current and floundering masses of ice presented a hopeless barrier between her and her pursuer. Haley therefore slowly and discontentedly returned to the little tavern, to ponder further what was to be done. The woman opened to him the door of a little parlor, covered with a rag carpet, where stood a table with a very shining black oil-cloth, sundry lank, high-backed wood chairs, with some plaster images in resplendent colors on the mantel-shelf, above a very dimly-smoking grate; a long hard-wood settle extended its uneasy length by the chimney, and here Haley sat him down to meditate on the instability of human hopes and happiness in general.
« Qu' avais -je besoin de ce marmot ? se demandait -il à lui-même. Me fourrer dans un tel guêpier ! Sot que je suis ! » Et Haley, pour retrouver un peu de calme, se récita des litanies d' imprécations contre lui-même. Nous reconnaissons volontiers qu' elles étaient assez bien méritées; nous demandons seulement la permission de ne pas les rapporter ici.
“What did I want with the little cuss, now,” he said to himself, “that I should have got myself treed like a coon, as I am, this yer way?” and Haley relieved himself by repeating over a not very select litany of imprecations on himself, which, though there was the best possible reason to consider them as true, we shall, as a matter of taste, omit.
He was startled by the loud and dissonant voice of a man who was apparently dismounting at the door. He hurried to the window.
“By the land! if this yer an’t the nearest, now, to what I’ve heard folks call Providence,” said Haley. “I do b’lieve that ar’s Tom Loker.”
Haley descendit en toute hâte. ~~~ Auprès du comptoir, dans un coin de la salle, un homme se tenait debout: teint bronzé, formes athlétiques, six pieds de haut, gros en proportion. Il était habillé d' une peau de buffle, le poil tourné en dehors, ce qui lui donnait un aspect sauvage et féroce, en complète harmonie avec l' air de son visage. Sur le front, sur la face, tous les traits, toutes les saillies qui indiquent la violence brutale et emportée, avaient pris le plus vaste développement. ~~~ Que nos lecteurs s' imaginent un boule-dogue changé en homme, et se promenant en veste et en chapeau: ils auront une assez juste idée de Tom Loker. Il avait un compagnon de voyage qui, sous beaucoup de rapports, offrait avec lui le contraste le plus frappant. Il était petit et mince; il avait dans les mouvements la souplesse doucereuse du chat; ses yeux noirs et perçants semblaient toujours guetter la souris: tous ses traits anguleux visaient pourtant à la sympathie. On eût dit que son nez long et fin voulait pénétrer toute chose. Ses cheveux noirs, rares et lisses, descendaient fort bas sur son front. On devinait dans tous ses gestes une finesse cauteleuse. Le premier de ces deux hommes se versa un grand verre d' eau-de-vie et l' avala sans mot dire; l' autre, debout sur la pointe des pieds, avançant la tête de tous côtés et flairant toutes les bouteilles, demanda avec circonspection, d' une voix maigre et chevrotante, un verre de liqueur de menthe. Quand on eut versé, il prit le verre, l' examina avec une attention complaisante, comme un homme content de ce qu' il a fait et qui vient de « frapper juste sur la tête du clou; » il se disposa ensuite à savourer à petites gorgées.
Haley hastened out. Standing by the bar, in the corner of the room, was a brawny, muscular man, full six feet in height, and broad in proportion. He was dressed in a coat of buffalo-skin, made with the hair outward, which gave him a shaggy and fierce appearance, perfectly in keeping with the whole air of his physiognomy. In the head and face every organ and lineament expressive of brutal and unhesitating violence was in a state of the highest possible development. Indeed, could our readers fancy a bull-dog come unto man’s estate, and walking about in a hat and coat, they would have no unapt idea of the general style and effect of his physique. He was accompanied by a travelling companion, in many respects an exact contrast to himself. He was short and slender, lithe and catlike in his motions, and had a peering, mousing expression about his keen black eyes, with which every feature of his face seemed sharpened into sympathy; his thin, long nose, ran out as if it was eager to bore into the nature of things in general; his sleek, thin, black hair was stuck eagerly forward, and all his motions and evolutions expressed a dry, cautious acuteness. The great man poured out a big tumbler half full of raw spirits, and gulped it down without a word. The little man stood tiptoe, and putting his head first to one side and then the other, and snuffing considerately in the directions of the various bottles, ordered at last a mint julep, in a thin and quivering voice, and with an air of great circumspection. When poured out, he took it and looked at it with a sharp, complacent air, like a man who thinks he has done about the right thing, and hit the nail on the head, and proceeded to dispose of it in short and well-advised sips.
“Wal, now, who’d a thought this yer luck ’ad come to me? Why, Loker, how are ye?” said Haley, coming forward, and extending his hand to the big man.
“The devil!” was the civil reply. “What brought you here, Haley?”
The mousing man, who bore the name of Marks, instantly stopped his sipping, and, poking his head forward, looked shrewdly on the new acquaintance, as a cat sometimes looks at a moving dry leaf, or some other possible object of pursuit.
“I say, Tom, this yer’s the luckiest thing in the world. I’m in a devil of a hobble, and you must help me out.”
“Ugh? aw! like enough!” grunted his complacent acquaintance. “A body may be pretty sure of that, when _you’re_ glad to see ’em; something to be made off of ’em. What’s the blow now?”
“You’ve got a friend here?” said Haley, looking doubtfully at Marks; “partner, perhaps?”
-- Oui, c' est Marks,... avec qui j' étais aux Natchez.
“Yes, I have. Here, Marks! here’s that ar feller that I was in with in Natchez.”
“Shall be pleased with his acquaintance,” said Marks, thrusting out a long, thin hand, like a raven’s claw. “Mr. Haley, I believe?”
-- Lui -même, monsieur, dit Haley; et maintenant, messieurs, puisque nous avons le bonheur de nous rencontrer, il me semble que nous pouvons causer un peu d' affaires. Là, dans cette salle.... Allons, vieux drôle, dit -il à l' homme du comptoir, de l' eau chaude, du sucre, des cigares et beaucoup d' _aff_... [ 7 ], et nous allons jaser. »
“The same, sir,” said Haley. “And now, gentlemen, seein’ as we’ve met so happily, I think I’ll stand up to a small matter of a treat in this here parlor. So, now, old coon,” said he to the man at the bar, “get us hot water, and sugar, and cigars, and plenty of the _real stuff_ and we’ll have a blow-out.”
Behold, then, the candles lighted, the fire stimulated to the burning point in the grate, and our three worthies seated round a table, well spread with all the accessories to good fellowship enumerated before.
Haley commença le récit pathétique de ses infortunes. Loker l' écouta bouche close, l' oeil terne et morne, avec la plus profonde attention. Marks, qui préparait avec grand soin un verre de punch à son goût, s' interrompit plusieurs fois dans cette grave occupation, et vint mettre le bout de son nez jusque dans la figure d' Haley. ~~~ Il avait également suivi le récit avec un vif intérêt; la fin parut l' amuser beaucoup. Ses côtes et ses épaules s' abandonnaient à un mouvement significatif, quoique silencieux. Il pinçait ses lèvres fines avec tous les signes d' une grande jubilation intérieure.
Haley began a pathetic recital of his peculiar troubles. Loker shut up his mouth, and listened to him with gruff and surly attention. Marks, who was anxiously and with much fidgeting compounding a tumbler of punch to his own peculiar taste, occasionally looked up from his employment, and, poking his sharp nose and chin almost into Haley’s face, gave the most earnest heed to the whole narrative. The conclusion of it appeared to amuse him extremely, for he shook his shoulders and sides in silence, and perked up his thin lips with an air of great internal enjoyment.
« Ainsi vous voilà tout à fait dedans ?... Hé ! hé ! c' est très-drôle !... Hé ! hé ! hé !
“So, then, ye’r fairly sewed up, an’t ye?” he said; “he! he! he! It’s neatly done, too.”
-- Ces maudits enfants causent bien des embarras dans le commerce, reprit Haley d' un ton piteux.
“This yer young-un business makes lots of trouble in the trade,” said Haley, dolefully.
-- Si nous pouvions, dit Marks, avoir une race de femmes qui n' eussent pas souci de leurs petits, ce serait le plus grand progrès de la civilisation moderne. » ~~~ Et Marks accompagna sa plaisanterie d' un rire calme et presque sérieux.
“If we could get a breed of gals that didn’t care, now, for their young uns,” said Marks; “tell ye, I think ’t would be ’bout the greatest mod’rn improvement I knows on,”—and Marks patronized his joke by a quiet introductory sniggle.
« Vrai, dit Haley, je n' ai jamais rien pu comprendre à cela. Ces petits sont pour elles une source d' ennuis. On croirait qu' elles devraient être enchantées de s' en débarrasser.... Eh bien, non; plus le petit leur cause de mal, plus il n' est bon à rien, plus elles s' y attachent !
“Jes so,” said Haley; “I never couldn’t see into it; young uns is heaps of trouble to ’em; one would think, now, they’d be glad to get clar on ’em; but they arn’t. And the more trouble a young un is, and the more good for nothing, as a gen’l thing, the tighter they sticks to ’em.”
-- Eh ! monsieur Haley, passez -moi donc l' eau chaude ! dit Marks.... Oui, monsieur, continua -t-il, vous dites là ce que j' ai souvent pensé moi-même, ce que nous avons pensé tous. Jadis, quand j' étais dans les affaires, j' achetai une femme solide, bien tournée, fort habile; elle avait un petit bonhomme malingre, souffreteux, bossu, contrefait. Je le donnai à un homme qui pensa pouvoir gagner dessus, parce qu' il ne lui coûtait rien. Vous ne vous imaginerez jamais comment la mère prit cela ! Si vous l' eussiez vue, Dieu ! je crois vraiment qu' elle l' aimait mieux encore parce qu' il était malade et qu' il la tourmentait ! Elle se démenait, criait, pleurait, cherchait partout, comme si elle eût perdu tous ses amis. C' est vraiment étrange ! On ne connaîtra jamais les femmes !
“Wal, Mr. Haley,” said Marks, “‘est pass the hot water. Yes, sir, you say ’est what I feel and all’us have. Now, I bought a gal once, when I was in the trade,—a tight, likely wench she was, too, and quite considerable smart,—and she had a young un that was mis’able sickly; it had a crooked back, or something or other; and I jest gin ’t away to a man that thought he’d take his chance raising on ’t, being it didn’t cost nothin’;—never thought, yer know, of the gal’s takin’ on about it,—but, Lord, yer oughter seen how she went on. Why, re’lly, she did seem to me to valley the child more ’cause _”t was_ sickly and cross, and plagued her; and she warn’t making b’lieve, neither,—cried about it, she did, and lopped round, as if she’d lost every friend she had. It re’lly was droll to think on ’t. Lord, there ain’t no end to women’s notions.”
-- Pareille chose m' est arrivée, dit Haley. L' été dernier, au bas de la Rivière-Rouge, j' achetai une femme avec un enfant assez gentil: des yeux aussi brillants que les vôtres. Quand je vins à le regarder de plus près, je m' aperçus qu' il avait la cataracte. La cataracte, monsieur ! Bon ! vous voyez que je n' en pouvais tirer parti. Je ne dis rien, mais je l' échangeai contre un baril de wisky. Quand il s' agit de le prendre à la mère, ce fut une tigresse ! Nous étions encore à l' ancre: les nègres n' étaient point enchaînés; elle grimpa comme une chatte sur une balle de coton, s' empara d' un couteau, et, je vous le jure, pendant une minute elle mit tout le monde en fuite. Elle vit bien que c' était une résistance inutile: alors elle se retourna et se précipita tête devant, elle et son enfant, dans le fleuve. Elle coula et ne reparut jamais.
“Wal, jest so with me,” said Haley. “Last summer, down on Red River, I got a gal traded off on me, with a likely lookin’ child enough, and his eyes looked as bright as yourn; but, come to look, I found him stone blind. Fact—he was stone blind. Wal, ye see, I thought there warn’t no harm in my jest passing him along, and not sayin’ nothin’; and I’d got him nicely swapped off for a keg o’ whiskey; but come to get him away from the gal, she was jest like a tiger. So ’t was before we started, and I hadn’t got my gang chained up; so what should she do but ups on a cotton-bale, like a cat, ketches a knife from one of the deck hands, and, I tell ye, she made all fly for a minit, till she saw ’t wan’t no use; and she jest turns round, and pitches head first, young un and all, into the river,—went down plump, and never ris.”
“Bah!” said Tom Loker, who had listened to these stories with ill-repressed disgust,—“shif’less, both on ye! _my_ gals don’t cut up no such shines, I tell ye!”
“Indeed! how do you help it?” said Marks, briskly.
-- Comment je fais ?... Quand j' achète une femme, et qu' elle a un enfant que je dois vendre, je m' approche d' elle, je lui mets mon poing sous le nez et je lui dis: Regarde cela ! Si tu dis un mot.... je t' aplatis la figure ! Je ne veux pas entendre un mot, le commencement d' un mot ! Je lui dis encore: Votre enfant est à moi et non à vous !... Vous n' avez plus à vous en occuper. Je vais peut-être le vendre.... Tâchez de ne pas me jouer de vos tours.... ou il vaudrait mieux pour vous n' être jamais née !... Voilà, messieurs, comme je leur parle: elles voient bien qu' avec moi ce n' est point un jeu. Je les rends muettes comme des poissons.... Si l' une d' elles s' avise de crier, alors.... » ~~~ Tom Loker frappa la table de son poing lourd. Ce fut le commentaire très-explicite de sa phrase elliptique.
“Help it? why, I buys a gal, and if she’s got a young un to be sold, I jest walks up and puts my fist to her face, and says, ‘Look here, now, if you give me one word out of your head, I’ll smash yer face in. I won’t hear one word—not the beginning of a word.’ I says to ’em, ‘This yer young un’s mine, and not yourn, and you’ve no kind o’ business with it. I’m going to sell it, first chance; mind, you don’t cut up none o’ yer shines about it, or I’ll make ye wish ye’d never been born.’ I tell ye, they sees it an’t no play, when I gets hold. I makes ’em as whist as fishes; and if one on ’em begins and gives a yelp, why,—” and Mr. Loker brought down his fist with a thump that fully explained the hiatus.
« Voilà ce que nous pouvons appeler de l' éloquence, dit Marks en poussant Haley du coude, et en recommençant son petit ricanement. Êtes -vous original, Tom ! Eh ! eh ! eh ! vous vous faites bien comprendre des têtes de laine, vous ! Les nègres savent toujours ce que vous voulez dire.... Si vous n' êtes pas le diable, Tom, vous êtes son jumeau. J' en répondrais pour vous. »
“That ar’s what ye may call _emphasis_,” said Marks, poking Haley in the side, and going into another small giggle. “An’t Tom peculiar? he! he! I say, Tom, I s’pect you make ’em _understand_, for all niggers’ heads is woolly. They don’t never have no doubt o’ your meaning, Tom. If you an’t the devil, Tom, you ’s his twin brother, I’ll say that for ye!”
Tom received the compliment with becoming modesty, and began to look as affable as was consistent, as John Bunyan says, “with his doggish nature.”
Haley, who had been imbibing very freely of the staple of the evening, began to feel a sensible elevation and enlargement of his moral faculties,—a phenomenon not unusual with gentlemen of a serious and reflective turn, under similar circumstances.
« Eh bien, Tom, eh bien, oui ! vous êtes réellement trop dur.... Je vous l' ai toujours dit. Vous savez, Tom, nous avions coutume de parler de cela, aux Natchez, et je vous prouvais que nous réussissions aussi bien dans ce monde en traitant les nègres doucement.... et que nous avions une chance de plus d' entrer dans le royaume de là-haut, quand la poussière retourne à la poussière.... et que le ciel est tout ce qui nous reste.
“Wal, now, Tom,” he said, “ye re’lly is too bad, as I al’ays have told ye; ye know, Tom, you and I used to talk over these yer matters down in Natchez, and I used to prove to ye that we made full as much, and was as well off for this yer world, by treatin’ on ’em well, besides keepin’ a better chance for comin’ in the kingdom at last, when wust comes to wust, and thar an’t nothing else left to get, ye know.”
“Boh!” said Tom, “_don’t_ I know?—don’t make me too sick with any yer stuff,—my stomach is a leetle riled now;” and Tom drank half a glass of raw brandy.
Haley se renversa sur sa chaise, et il reprit avec des gestes éloquents: ~~~ « Je dis, je dirai, j' ai toujours dit que j' entendais faire mon commerce, _primo d' abord_, de manière à gagner de l' argent autant que qui que ce soit. Mais le commerce n' est pas tout, parce que nous avons une âme. Peu m' importe qui m' écoute. Malédiction ! Il faut que je fasse vite mes affaires, car je crois à la religion, et, un de ces jours, dès que j' aurai mon petit magot, bien comme il faut, je m' occuperai de mon âme. A quoi bon être plus cruel qu' il n' est utile ? Cela ne me semble pas d'ailleurs très-prudent....
“I say,” said Haley, and leaning back in his chair and gesturing impressively, “I’ll say this now, I al’ays meant to drive my trade so as to make money on ’t _fust and foremost_, as much as any man; but, then, trade an’t everything, and money an’t everything, ’cause we ’s all got souls. I don’t care, now, who hears me say it,—and I think a cussed sight on it,—so I may as well come out with it. I b’lieve in religion, and one of these days, when I’ve got matters tight and snug, I calculates to tend to my soul and them ar matters; and so what’s the use of doin’ any more wickedness than ’s re’lly necessary?—it don’t seem to me it’s ’t all prudent.”
-- Vous occuper de votre âme ! fit Tom avec mépris.... Il faut y voir clair pour vous en trouver une ! Épargnez -vous ce souci ! Le diable vous passerait à travers un crible, qu' il ne vous en trouverait pas. Vous avez un peu plus de soin, vous paraissez avoir un peu plus de sentiment; c' est de la ruse et de l' hypocrisie.... Vous voulez tromper le diable et sauver votre peau: je vois cela ! et la religion, que vous aurez plus tard, comme vous dites.... qui s' y laissera prendre ? Vous faites un pacte avec le diable toute votre vie.... et vous ne voulez pas payer à l' échéance.... Chansons !
“Tend to yer soul!” repeated Tom, contemptuously; “take a bright lookout to find a soul in you,—save yourself any care on that score. If the devil sifts you through a hair sieve, he won’t find one.”
-- Vous prenez mal la chose, Tom. Comment pouvez -vous plaisanter, quand ce que l' on vous en dit est dans votre intérêt ?
“Why, Tom, you’re cross,” said Haley; “why can’t ye take it pleasant, now, when a feller’s talking for your good?”
“Stop that ar jaw o’ yourn, there,” said Tom, gruffly. “I can stand most any talk o’ yourn but your pious talk,—that kills me right up. After all, what’s the odds between me and you? ’Tan’t that you care one bit more, or have a bit more feelin’—it’s clean, sheer, dog meanness, wanting to cheat the devil and save your own skin; don’t I see through it? And your ‘gettin’ religion,’ as you call it, arter all, is too p’isin mean for any crittur;—run up a bill with the devil all your life, and then sneak out when pay time comes! Bob!”
-- Allons, allons, messieurs, ce n' est pas là la question, dit Marks: chacun voit les choses à sa manière. M. Haley est un très-aimable homme, sans aucun doute; il a sa conscience à lui, c' est un fait. Quant à vous, Tom, vous avez aussi votre manière d' agir, qui est excellente. Oui, excellente, mon cher Tom. Mais les querelles, vous le savez, n' aboutissent à rien. A l' oeuvre donc, à l' oeuvre ! Voyons, monsieur Haley, vous avez besoin de nous pour reprendre cette femme ?
“Come, come, gentlemen, I say; this isn’t business,” said Marks. “There’s different ways, you know, of looking at all subjects. Mr. Haley is a very nice man, no doubt, and has his own conscience; and, Tom, you have your ways, and very good ones, too, Tom; but quarrelling, you know, won’t answer no kind of purpose. Let’s go to business. Now, Mr. Haley, what is it?—you want us to undertake to catch this yer gal?”
“The gal’s no matter of mine,—she’s Shelby’s; it’s only the boy. I was a fool for buying the monkey!”
“You’re generally a fool!” said Tom, gruffly.
-- Allons, Tom, pas de vos rebuffades aujourd'hui, dit Marks en passant sa langue sur ses lèvres. Vous voyez que M. Haley nous met sur la voie d' une bonne affaire, je le reconnais. Ainsi, soyez calme; tout cela me regarde; laissez -moi faire. Voyons, monsieur Haley, cette femme, comment est -elle ? quelle est -elle ?
“Come, now, Loker, none of your huffs,” said Marks, licking his lips; “you see, Mr. Haley ’s a puttin’ us in a way of a good job, I reckon; just hold still—these yer arrangements is my forte. This yer gal, Mr. Haley, how is she? what is she?”
-- Eh bien ! blanche et belle, bien élevée. J' en offrais huit cents ou mille dollars à Shelby. ~~~ -- Blanche et belle, bien élevée ! » reprit Marks.
“Wal! white and handsome—well brought up. I’d a gin Shelby eight hundred or a thousand, and then made well on her.”
Ses yeux perçants, son nez, sa bouche, tout s' anima rien qu' à la pensée d' une bonne affaire. ~~~ « Attention, Loker; voilà une belle perspective.... Nous allons travailler ici pour notre compte. Nous les reprenons; l' enfant, tout naturellement, revient à M. Haley; nous autres, nous emmenons la mère à Orléans pour la vendre: n' est -ce pas superbe ? »
“White and handsome—well brought up!” said Marks, his sharp eyes, nose and mouth, all alive with enterprise. “Look here, now, Loker, a beautiful opening. We’ll do a business here on our own account;—we does the catchin’; the boy, of course, goes to Mr. Haley,—we takes the gal to Orleans to speculate on. An’t it beautiful?”
Tom, whose great heavy mouth had stood ajar during this communication, now suddenly snapped it together, as a big dog closes on a piece of meat, and seemed to be digesting the idea at his leisure.
« Voyez -vous, dit Marks à Haley, en remuant son punch, voyez -vous, dans ce pays, nous avons toujours le moyen de bien nous entendre avec les tribunaux. Tom ne sait qu' agir au dehors. Moi, quand il faut jurer, j' arrive en grande tenue, bottes vernies, toilette premier choix; il semble que je suis là dans tout l' éclat de l' orgueil professionnel. Un jour, je suis M. Twickem de la Nouvelle-Orléans. Un autre jour, j' arrive à l' instant de ma plantation, sur la rivière des Perles, où je fais travailler sept cents nègres. Une autre fois, je suis un parent éloigné de Henri Clay ou de toute autre illustration du Kentucky. Chacun a ses talents. Tom est bon quand il faut se battre et assommer. C' est son caractère; mais il ne sait pas mentir. Pour mon compte, s' il y a dans le pays un homme qui sache mieux que moi faire un serment sur quelqu'un ou sur quelque chose, et mieux imaginer les particularités et circonstances.... je serais curieux de le voir. Je ne dis que cela. Je glisse comme un serpent à travers les difficultés. Je voudrais parfois que la justice y regardât de plus près; cela serait plus amusant, vous comprenez ! »
“Ye see,” said Marks to Haley, stirring his punch as he did so, “ye see, we has justices convenient at all p’ints along shore, that does up any little jobs in our line quite reasonable. Tom, he does the knockin’ down and that ar; and I come in all dressed up—shining boots—everything first chop, when the swearin’ ’s to be done. You oughter see, now,” said Marks, in a glow of professional pride, “how I can tone it off. One day, I’m Mr. Twickem, from New Orleans; ’nother day, I’m just come from my plantation on Pearl River, where I works seven hundred niggers; then, again, I come out a distant relation of Henry Clay, or some old cock in Kentuck. Talents is different, you know. Now, Tom’s roarer when there’s any thumping or fighting to be done; but at lying he an’t good, Tom an’t,—ye see it don’t come natural to him; but, Lord, if thar’s a feller in the country that can swear to anything and everything, and put in all the circumstances and flourishes with a long face, and carry ’t through better ’n I can, why, I’d like to see him, that’s all! I b’lieve my heart, I could get along and snake through, even if justices were more particular than they is. Sometimes I rather wish they was more particular; ’t would be a heap more relishin’ if they was,—more fun, yer know.”
Tom Loker, who, as we have made it appear, was a man of slow thoughts and movements, here interrupted Marks by bringing his heavy fist down on the table, so as to make all ring again, _“It’ll do!”_ he said.
“Lord bless ye, Tom, ye needn’t break all the glasses!” said Marks; “save your fist for time o’ need.”
“But, gentlemen, an’t I to come in for a share of the profits?” said Haley.
-- Et n' est -ce pas assez que nous vous rattrapions l' enfant ? répondit Tom. Qu' est -ce qu' il vous faut donc ?
“An’t it enough we catch the boy for ye?” said Loker. “What do ye want?”
“Wal,” said Haley, “if I gives you the job, it’s worth something,—say ten per cent. on the profits, expenses paid.”
-- Ah çà ! dit Loker avec un épouvantable serment et en frappant la table de son poing pesant, est -ce que je ne vous connais pas, Daniel Haley ? Croyez -vous m' enfoncer ? Pensez -vous que Marks et moi nous ayons pris le métier de chasseurs d' esclaves pour obliger des gentlemen comme vous, sans profit pour nous ? Non pas, certes ! Nous aurons la femme à nous, et vous ne direz mot; ou nous aurons la mère et l' enfant. Vous nous avez montré le gibier, il nous appartient maintenant comme à vous. Si Shelby et vous avez l' intention de nous donner la chasse, voyez où sont les perdrix de l' an passé. Si vous les trouvez.... elles ou nous.... bravo !
“Now,” said Loker, with a tremendous oath, and striking the table with his heavy fist, “don’t I know _you_, Dan Haley? Don’t you think to come it over me! Suppose Marks and I have taken up the catchin’ trade, jest to ’commodate gentlemen like you, and get nothin’ for ourselves?—Not by a long chalk! we’ll have the gal out and out, and you keep quiet, or, ye see, we’ll have both,—what’s to hinder? Han’t you show’d us the game? It’s as free to us as you, I hope. If you or Shelby wants to chase us, look where the partridges was last year; if you find them or us, you’re quite welcome.”
“O, wal, certainly, jest let it go at that,” said Haley, alarmed; “you catch the boy for the job;—you allers did trade _far_ with me, Tom, and was up to yer word.”
“Ye know that,” said Tom; “I don’t pretend none of your snivelling ways, but I won’t lie in my ’counts with the devil himself. What I ses I’ll do, I will do,—you know _that_, Dan Haley.”
“Jes so, jes so,—I said so, Tom,” said Haley; “and if you’d only promise to have the boy for me in a week, at any point you’ll name, that’s all I want.”
“But it an’t all I want, by a long jump,” said Tom. “Ye don’t think I did business with you, down in Natchez, for nothing, Haley; I’ve learned to hold an eel, when I catch him. You’ve got to fork over fifty dollars, flat down, or this child don’t start a peg. I know yer.”
“Why, when you have a job in hand that may bring a clean profit of somewhere about a thousand or sixteen hundred, why, Tom, you’re onreasonable,” said Haley.
-- Nous avons de la besogne assurée pour cinq semaines. Nous allons la quitter pour courir après votre marmot, et, si nous ne prenons pas la mère.... les femmes, c' est le diable à prendre ! qui nous indemnisera, nous ? Est -ce vous ? ~~~ -- J' en réponds. ~~~ -- Non ! non ! argent bas. Si l' affaire se fait et qu' elle rapporte, je rends les cinquante dollars. Sinon, c' est pour payer notre peine. Hum ! Marks, n' est ce pas cela ?
“Yes, and hasn’t we business booked for five weeks to come,—all we can do? And suppose we leaves all, and goes to bush-whacking round arter yer young uns, and finally doesn’t catch the gal,—and gals allers is the devil _to_ catch,—what’s then? would you pay us a cent—would you? I think I see you a doin’ it—ugh! No, no; flap down your fifty. If we get the job, and it pays, I’ll hand it back; if we don’t, it’s for our trouble,—that’s _far_, an’t it, Marks?”
-- Sans doute, sans doute, dit Marks d' un ton conciliant. Ce ne sont que des honoraires, vous voyez bien.... hi ! hi ! hi ! ! ! Nous autres gens de loi, vous savez, nous sommes très-bons, très-accommodants, très-conciliants. Vous savez. Tom vous conduira l' enfant où vous voudrez.... n' est -ce pas, Tom ?
“Certainly, certainly,” said Marks, with a conciliatory tone; “it’s only a retaining fee, you see,—he! he! he!—we lawyers, you know. Wal, we must all keep good-natured,—keep easy, yer know. Tom’ll have the boy for yer, anywhere ye’ll name; won’t ye, Tom?”
“If I find the young un, I’ll bring him on to Cincinnati, and leave him at Granny Belcher’s, on the landing,” said Loker.
Marks tira de sa poche un portefeuille tout gras; il y prit un long papier, il s' assit, et, ses yeux perçants fixés sur le papier, il commença de lire entre ses dents: « Baines, comté de Shelby, le petit Jacques, trois cents dollars, mort ou vivant; Édouard, Dick et Lucy, mari et femme, six cents dollars; Rolly et ses deux enfants, six cents dollars sur sa tête.... Voici que j' examine nos affaires pour voir si nous pouvons nous charger de celle -ci. Loker, dit -il après une pause, il faut mettre Adams et Springer aux trousses de tous ceux -ci; il y a longtemps qu' ils sont enregistrés.
Marks had got from his pocket a greasy pocket-book, and taking a long paper from thence, he sat down, and fixing his keen black eyes on it, began mumbling over its contents: “Barnes—Shelby County—boy Jim, three hundred dollars for him, dead or alive.
“Edwards—Dick and Lucy—man and wife, six hundred dollars; wench Polly and two children—six hundred for her or her head.
-- J' arrangerai cela. Il n' y a pas très-longtemps qu' il sont dans les affaires; ils doivent s' attendre à travailler à bon marché. »
“I’m jest a runnin’ over our business, to see if we can take up this yer handily. Loker,” he said, after a pause, “we must set Adams and Springer on the track of these yer; they’ve been booked some time.”
Marks continua sa lecture.
“They’ll charge too much,” said Tom.
“I’ll manage that ar; they ’s young in the business, and must spect to work cheap,” said Marks, as he continued to read. “Ther’s three on ’em easy cases, ’cause all you’ve got to do is to shoot ’em, or swear they is shot; they couldn’t, of course, charge much for that. Them other cases,” he said, folding the paper, “will bear puttin’ off a spell. So now let’s come to the particulars. Now, Mr. Haley, you saw this yer gal when she landed?”
“To be sure,—plain as I see you.”
“And a man helpin’ on her up the bank?” said Loker.
--Oui.
“To be sure, I did.”
“Most likely,” said Marks, “she’s took in somewhere; but where, ’s a question. Tom, what do you say?”
“We must cross the river tonight, no mistake,” said Tom.
“But there’s no boat about,” said Marks. “The ice is running awfully, Tom; an’t it dangerous?”
“Don’no nothing ’bout that,—only it’s got to be done,” said Tom, decidedly.
“Dear me,” said Marks, fidgeting, “it’ll be—I say,” he said, walking to the window, “it’s dark as a wolf’s mouth, and, Tom—”
“The long and short is, you’re scared, Marks; but I can’t help that,—you’ve got to go. Suppose you want to lie by a day or two, till the gal ’s been carried on the underground line up to Sandusky or so, before you start.”
“O, no; I an’t a grain afraid,” said Marks, “only—”
--Seulement quoi? reprit Tom.
“Only what?” said Tom.
“Well, about the boat. Yer see there an’t any boat.”
“I heard the woman say there was one coming along this evening, and that a man was going to cross over in it. Neck or nothing, we must go with him,” said Tom.
“I s’pose you’ve got good dogs,” said Haley.
“First rate,” said Marks. “But what’s the use? you han’t got nothin’ o’ hers to smell on.”
-- Si fait ! dit Haley triomphant. Voilà son châle que, dans sa précipitation, elle a laissé sur le lit. Voilà aussi son chapeau.
“Yes, I have,” said Haley, triumphantly. “Here’s her shawl she left on the bed in her hurry; she left her bonnet, too.”
-- Quelle chance ! dit Locker. En avant !
“That ar’s lucky,” said Loker; “fork over.”
-- Les chiens pourront l' endommager s' ils se jettent sans précaution sur elle, dit Haley.
“Though the dogs might damage the gal, if they come on her unawars,” said Haley.
“That ar’s a consideration,” said Marks. “Our dogs tore a feller half to pieces, once, down in Mobile, ’fore we could get ’em off.”
“Well, ye see, for this sort that’s to be sold for their looks, that ar won’t answer, ye see,” said Haley.
“I do see,” said Marks. “Besides, if she’s got took in, ’tan’t no go, neither. Dogs is no ’count in these yer up states where these critters gets carried; of course, ye can’t get on their track. They only does down in plantations, where niggers, when they runs, has to do their own running, and don’t get no help.”
“Well,” said Loker, who had just stepped out to the bar to make some inquiries, “they say the man’s come with the boat; so, Marks—”
Le digne Marks jeta un regard de regret sur le confortable gîte qu' il abandonnait, puis il se leva lentement pour obéir. On échangea les derniers mots qui terminaient le marché; Haley donna d' assez mauvaise grâce cinquante dollars à Tom, et le digne trio se sépara.
That worthy cast a rueful look at the comfortable quarters he was leaving, but slowly rose to obey. After exchanging a few words of further arrangement, Haley, with visible reluctance, handed over the fifty dollars to Tom, and the worthy trio separated for the night.
Si quelques-uns de nos lecteurs civilisés et chrétiens nous blâment de les avoir introduits dans une telle compagnie, qu' ils veuillent bien s' efforcer de vaincre les préjugés de leur siècle. ~~~ La chasse aux nègres, qu' on nous permette de le rappeler, est en train de s' élever à la dignité d' une profession légale et patriotique. Si le vaste terrain qui s' étend entre le Mississipi et l' océan Pacifique devient le grand marché des corps et des âmes, si l' esclavage suit la progression rapide de toute chose en ce siècle, le chasseur et le marchand d' esclaves vont prendre rang parmi l' aristocratie américaine.
If any of our refined and Christian readers object to the society into which this scene introduces them, let us beg them to begin and conquer their prejudices in time. The catching business, we beg to remind them, is rising to the dignity of a lawful and patriotic profession. If all the broad land between the Mississippi and the Pacific becomes one great market for bodies and souls, and human property retains the locomotive tendencies of this nineteenth century, the trader and catcher may yet be among our aristocracy.
Pendant que cette scène se passait à la taverne, Samuel et André, se félicitant mutuellement, regagnaient le logis.
While this scene was going on at the tavern, Sam and Andy, in a state of high felicitation, pursued their way home.
Samuel était dans un état de surexcitation extraordinaire: il exprimait son allégresse par toutes sortes de hurlements et de cris sauvages, par les grimaces et les contorsions de toute sa personne. Quelquefois il s' asseyait à l' envers, le visage tourné vers la queue de son cheval, et puis, avec une culbute et une cabriole, il se remettait en selle; prenant alors une contenance grave, il se mettait à prêcher en termes emphatiques, ou bien à faire le fou pour amuser André. Quelquefois, se battant les flancs à tour de bras, il éclatait en rires bruyants qui faisaient retentir l' écho des vieux bois. Malgré ces excentricités, il maintint les chevaux à leur plus vive allure, si bien que, entre onze heures et minuit, le bruit de leurs sabots résonna sur les petits cailloux de la cour, au pied du perron de Mme Shelby. ~~~ Mme Shelby vola à leur rencontre.
Sam was in the highest possible feather, and expressed his exultation by all sorts of supernatural howls and ejaculations, by divers odd motions and contortions of his whole system. Sometimes he would sit backward, with his face to the horse’s tail and sides, and then, with a whoop and a somerset, come right side up in his place again, and, drawing on a grave face, begin to lecture Andy in high-sounding tones for laughing and playing the fool. Anon, slapping his sides with his arms, he would burst forth in peals of laughter, that made the old woods ring as they passed. With all these evolutions, he contrived to keep the horses up to the top of their speed, until, between ten and eleven, their heels resounded on the gravel at the end of the balcony. Mrs. Shelby flew to the railings.
« Est -ce vous, Sam ? Eh bien ?
“Is that you, Sam? Where are they?”
“Mas’r Haley ’s a-restin’ at the tavern; he’s drefful fatigued, Missis.”
--Mais Élisa, Samuel?
“And Eliza, Sam?”
“Wal, she’s clar ’cross Jordan. As a body may say, in the land o’ Canaan.”
“Why, Sam, what _do_ you mean?” said Mrs. Shelby, breathless, and almost faint, as the possible meaning of these words came over her.
“Wal, Missis, de Lord he persarves his own. Lizy’s done gone over the river into ’Hio, as ’markably as if de Lord took her over in a charrit of fire and two hosses.”
Sam’s vein of piety was always uncommonly fervent in his mistress’ presence; and he made great capital of scriptural figures and images.
« Venez ici, Samuel, dit M. Shelby, qui était arrivé à son tour sur le perron; venez ici, et dites à votre maîtresse ce qu' elle veut savoir. Venez, venez, Émilie, dit -il à sa femme en passant un bras autour d' elle. Vous avez froid, vous tremblez, vous vous livrez beaucoup trop à vos impressions....
“Come up here, Sam,” said Mr. Shelby, who had followed on to the verandah, “and tell your mistress what she wants. Come, come, Emily,” said he, passing his arm round her, “you are cold and all in a shiver; you allow yourself to feel too much.”
“Feel too much! Am not I a woman,—a mother? Are we not both responsible to God for this poor girl? My God! lay not this sin to our charge.”
“What sin, Emily? You see yourself that we have only done what we were obliged to.”
“There’s an awful feeling of guilt about it, though,” said Mrs. Shelby. “I can’t reason it away.”
“Here, Andy, you nigger, be alive!” called Sam, under the verandah; “take these yer hosses to der barn; don’t ye hear Mas’r a callin’?” and Sam soon appeared, palm-leaf in hand, at the parlor door.
“Now, Sam, tell us distinctly how the matter was,” said Mr. Shelby. “Where is Eliza, if you know?”
“Wal, Mas’r, I saw her, with my own eyes, a crossin’ on the floatin’ ice. She crossed most ’markably; it wasn’t no less nor a miracle; and I saw a man help her up the ’Hio side, and then she was lost in the dusk.”
“Sam, I think this rather apocryphal,—this miracle. Crossing on floating ice isn’t so easily done,” said Mr. Shelby.
-- Sans doute, m' sieu ! personne n' aurait fait cela sans le secours de Dieu. Mais voici: c' était juste sur notre route. M. Haley, Andy et moi nous arrivons à une petite taverne auprès de la rivière. Je marchais un peu en tête (j' avais tant d' envie de reprendre Lisa, que je ne pouvais me modérer ); j' arrive auprès de la fenêtre de la taverne. Je suis sûr que c' est elle, elle est en pleine vue, les deux autres sont sur mes talons. Bon ! je perds mon chapeau. Je pousse un hurlement à réveiller les morts.... Peut-être Lisa entendit -elle; mais, quand M. Haley arriva près de la porte, elle se rejeta vivement en arrière, et puis, comme je vous dis, elle s' échappa par une porte de côté et descendit jusqu' au bord de l' eau. M. Haley la vit et cria.... Lui, moi et André, nous courûmes après. Elle alla jusqu' au fleuve. Il y avait, à partir du bord, un courant de dix pieds de large, et de l' autre côté, çà et là, comme de grandes îles, des monceaux de glace. Nous arrivons juste derrière elle, et je pensais en moi-même que nous allions la prendre, quand elle poussa un cri comme je n' en ai jamais entendu, et s' élança de l' autre côté du courant, sur la glace, et elle allait criant et sautant. La glace faisait crac, cric, psitt ! et elle, elle bondissait comme une biche. Dam ! ces sauts -là ne sont pas communs. Voilà mon opinion. »
“Easy! couldn’t nobody a done it, without de Lord. Why, now,” said Sam, “‘t was jist dis yer way. Mas’r Haley, and me, and Andy, we comes up to de little tavern by the river, and I rides a leetle ahead,—(I’s so zealous to be a cotchin’ Lizy, that I couldn’t hold in, no way),—and when I comes by the tavern winder, sure enough there she was, right in plain sight, and dey diggin’ on behind. Wal, I loses off my hat, and sings out nuff to raise the dead. Course Lizy she hars, and she dodges back, when Mas’r Haley he goes past the door; and then, I tell ye, she clared out de side door; she went down de river bank;—Mas’r Haley he seed her, and yelled out, and him, and me, and Andy, we took arter. Down she come to the river, and thar was the current running ten feet wide by the shore, and over t’ other side ice a sawin’ and a jiggling up and down, kinder as ’t were a great island. We come right behind her, and I thought my soul he’d got her sure enough,—when she gin sich a screech as I never hearn, and thar she was, clar over t’ other side of the current, on the ice, and then on she went, a screeching and a jumpin’,—the ice went crack! c’wallop! cracking! chunk! and she a boundin’ like a buck! Lord, the spring that ar gal’s got in her an’t common, I’m o’ ’pinion.”
Mrs. Shelby sat perfectly silent, pale with excitement, while Sam told his story.
“God be praised, she isn’t dead!” she said; “but where is the poor child now?”
-- Le Seigneur y pourvoira, dit Samuel en tournant de l' oeil dévotement. Comme je le disais, c' est sans doute la Providence qui fait tout, ainsi que madame nous l' a appris. Nous ne sommes que des instruments pour faire la volonté de Dieu. Sans moi, aujourd'hui Élisa eût été prise une douzaine de fois.... N' est -ce pas moi, ce matin, qui ai lâché les chevaux et qui les ai fait courir jusqu' à l' heure du dîner ? Et ce soir, n' ai -je point égaré M. Haley à cinq milles de sa route ? Autrement, il eût repris Lisa comme un chien prend un mouton. Ainsi nous sommes tous des providences !
“De Lord will pervide,” said Sam, rolling up his eyes piously. “As I’ve been a sayin’, dis yer ’s a providence and no mistake, as Missis has allers been a instructin’ on us. Thar’s allers instruments ris up to do de Lord’s will. Now, if ’t hadn’t been for me today, she’d a been took a dozen times. Warn’t it I started off de hosses, dis yer mornin’ and kept ’em chasin’ till nigh dinner time? And didn’t I car Mas’r Haley night five miles out of de road, dis evening, or else he’d a come up with Lizy as easy as a dog arter a coon. These yer ’s all providences.”
“They are a kind of providences that you’ll have to be pretty sparing of, Master Sam. I allow no such practices with gentlemen on my place,” said Mr. Shelby, with as much sternness as he could command, under the circumstances.
Il est aussi difficile de feindre la colère avec un nègre qu' avec un enfant. L' un et l' autre voient parfaitement le sentiment vrai à travers les dissimulations dont on l' entoure. Samuel ne fut en aucune façon découragé par ce ton sévère: cependant il prit un air de gravité dolente, et les deux coins de sa bouche s' abaissèrent en signe de profond repentir.
Now, there is no more use in making believe be angry with a negro than with a child; both instinctively see the true state of the case, through all attempts to affect the contrary; and Sam was in no wise disheartened by this rebuke, though he assumed an air of doleful gravity, and stood with the corners of his mouth lowered in most penitential style.
« Maître a raison, tout à fait raison; c' est mal à moi, je ne me défends pas; maître et maîtresse ne peuvent pas encourager de telles choses, je le sens bien; mais un pauvre nègre comme moi est parfois bien tenté de mal faire, surtout quand il voit agir comme M. Haley.... M. Haley n' est pas un gentleman, et un individu élevé comme moi ne peut se retenir en voyant ces choses -là !
“Mas’r quite right,—quite; it was ugly on me,—there’s no disputin’ that ar; and of course Mas’r and Missis wouldn’t encourage no such works. I’m sensible of dat ar; but a poor nigger like me ’s ’mazin’ tempted to act ugly sometimes, when fellers will cut up such shines as dat ar Mas’r Haley; he an’t no gen’l’man no way; anybody’s been raised as I’ve been can’t help a seein’ dat ar.”
“Well, Sam,” said Mrs. Shelby, “as you appear to have a proper sense of your errors, you may go now and tell Aunt Chloe she may get you some of that cold ham that was left of dinner today. You and Andy must be hungry.”
“Missis is a heap too good for us,” said Sam, making his bow with alacrity, and departing.
On s' apercevra, et nous l' avons déjà dit ailleurs, que maître Samuel avait un talent naturel qui eût pu le mener loin dans la carrière politique: c' était de voir dans toute chose le côté qui pouvait profiter à son honneur et à sa gloire. Ayant fait valoir au salon son humilité et sa piété, il enfonça son chapeau de palmier sur sa tête avec une sorte de crânerie et d' insouciance, et il se dirigea vers le royaume de la mère Chloé, dans l' intention de recueillir les suffrages de la cuisine.
It will be perceived, as has been before intimated, that Master Sam had a native talent that might, undoubtedly, have raised him to eminence in political life,—a talent of making capital out of everything that turned up, to be invested for his own especial praise and glory; and having done up his piety and humility, as he trusted, to the satisfaction of the parlor, he clapped his palm-leaf on his head, with a sort of rakish, free-and-easy air, and proceeded to the dominions of Aunt Chloe, with the intention of flourishing largely in the kitchen.
“I’ll speechify these yer niggers,” said Sam to himself, “now I’ve got a chance. Lord, I’ll reel it off to make ’em stare!”
Nous devons faire observer qu' une des plus grandes joies de Samuel avait toujours été d' accompagner son maître dans les réunions politiques de toute espèce. Caché dans les haies, perché sur les arbres, il suivait attentivement les orateurs, avec toutes les marques d' une vive satisfaction; puis, redescendant parmi les frères de sa couleur qui se trouvaient dans les mêmes lieux, il les édifiait et les charmait par ses imitations burlesques, qu' il débitait avec un entrain et une gravité imperturbables. Souvent les blancs se mêlaient au sombre auditoire; ils écoutaient l' orateur en riant et en se regardant. Samuel voyait là un juste motif de s' adresser à lui-même ses propres félicitations. ~~~ Au fond, Samuel regardait l' éloquence comme sa véritable vocation, et il ne laissait jamais passer une occasion de déployer ses talents.
It must be observed that one of Sam’s especial delights had been to ride in attendance on his master to all kinds of political gatherings, where, roosted on some rail fence, or perched aloft in some tree, he would sit watching the orators, with the greatest apparent gusto, and then, descending among the various brethren of his own color, assembled on the same errand, he would edify and delight them with the most ludicrous burlesques and imitations, all delivered with the most imperturbable earnestness and solemnity; and though the auditors immediately about him were generally of his own color, it not infrequently happened that they were fringed pretty deeply with those of a fairer complexion, who listened, laughing and winking, to Sam’s great self-congratulation. In fact, Sam considered oratory as his vocation, and never let slip an opportunity of magnifying his office.
Entre Samuel et la tante Chloé il y avait, depuis longtemps, une certaine mésintelligence, ou plutôt une froideur marquée. Mais Samuel, ayant un projet sur le département des provisions comme base de ses opérations futures, résolut, dans la circonstance présente, de faire de la conciliation; il savait bien que, si les ordres de madame étaient toujours exécutés à la lettre, cependant il y aurait un immense profit pour lui à ce qu' on en suivît aussi l' esprit. ~~~ Il parut donc devant Chloé avec une expression touchante de soumission et de résignation, comme quelqu'un qui aurait cruellement souffert pour soulager un compagnon d' infortune. Il avait déjà pour lui l' approbation de madame, qui lui donnait droit à un _extra_ de solide et de liquide, et semblait ainsi reconnaître implicitement ses mérites. Les choses marchèrent en conséquence.
Now, between Sam and Aunt Chloe there had existed, from ancient times, a sort of chronic feud, or rather a decided coolness; but, as Sam was meditating something in the provision department, as the necessary and obvious foundation of his operations, he determined, on the present occasion, to be eminently conciliatory; for he well knew that although “Missis’ orders” would undoubtedly be followed to the letter, yet he should gain a considerable deal by enlisting the spirit also. He therefore appeared before Aunt Chloe with a touchingly subdued, resigned expression, like one who has suffered immeasurable hardships in behalf of a persecuted fellow-creature,—enlarged upon the fact that Missis had directed him to come to Aunt Chloe for whatever might be wanting to make up the balance in his solids and fluids,—and thus unequivocally acknowledged her right and supremacy in the cooking department, and all thereto pertaining.
Jamais électeur pauvre, simple, vertueux, ne fut l' objet des cajoleries et des attentions d' un candidat, comme la mère Chloé des tendresses et des flatteries de Samuel. L' enfant prodigue lui-même n' aurait pas été comblé de plus de marques de bonté maternelle. Il se trouva bientôt assis, choyé, glorieux, devant une large assiette d' étain, contenant, sous forme d' _olla podrida_, les débris de tout ce qui avait paru sur la table depuis deux ou trois jours. Excellents morceaux de jambon, fragments dorés de gâteaux, débris de pâtés de toutes les formes géométriques imaginables, ailes de poulet, cuisses et gésiers, apparaissaient dans un désordre pittoresque. Samuel, roi de tous ceux qui l' entouraient, était assis comme sur un trône, couronné de son chapeau de palmier joyeusement posé sur le côté. A sa droite était André, qu' il protégeait visiblement. ~~~ La cuisine était remplie de ses compagnons, qui étaient accourus de leurs cases respectives et qui l' entouraient, pour entendre le récit des exploits du jour.
The thing took accordingly. No poor, simple, virtuous body was ever cajoled by the attentions of an electioneering politician with more ease than Aunt Chloe was won over by Master Sam’s suavities; and if he had been the prodigal son himself, he could not have been overwhelmed with more maternal bountifulness; and he soon found himself seated, happy and glorious, over a large tin pan, containing a sort of _olla podrida_ of all that had appeared on the table for two or three days past. Savory morsels of ham, golden blocks of corn-cake, fragments of pie of every conceivable mathematical figure, chicken wings, gizzards, and drumsticks, all appeared in picturesque confusion; and Sam, as monarch of all he surveyed, sat with his palm-leaf cocked rejoicingly to one side, and patronizing Andy at his right hand.
Pour Samuel, c' était l' heure de la gloire. ~~~ L' histoire fut donc rehaussée de toutes sortes d' ornements et d' enluminures susceptibles d' en augmenter l' effet. Samuel, comme quelques-uns de nos dilettanti à la mode, ne permettait pas qu' une histoire perdît aucune de ses dorures en passant par ses mains. ~~~ Des éclats de rire saluaient le récit; ils étaient répétés et indéfiniment prolongés par la petite population qui jonchait le sol ou qui perchait dans les angles de la cuisine. Au plus fort de cette gaieté, Samuel conservait cependant une inaltérable gravité; de temps en temps seulement il roulait ses yeux, relevés tout à coup, et jetait à son auditoire des regards d' une inexprimable bouffonnerie: il ne descendait pas pour cela des hauteurs sentencieuses de son éloquence.
The kitchen was full of all his compeers, who had hurried and crowded in, from the various cabins, to hear the termination of the day’s exploits. Now was Sam’s hour of glory. The story of the day was rehearsed, with all kinds of ornament and varnishing which might be necessary to heighten its effect; for Sam, like some of our fashionable dilettanti, never allowed a story to lose any of its gilding by passing through his hands. Roars of laughter attended the narration, and were taken up and prolonged by all the smaller fry, who were lying, in any quantity, about on the floor, or perched in every corner. In the height of the uproar and laughter, Sam, however, preserved an immovable gravity, only from time to time rolling his eyes up, and giving his auditors divers inexpressibly droll glances, without departing from the sententious elevation of his oratory.
« Vous voyez, amis et compatriotes, disait Samuel en brandissant un pilon de dinde avec énergie, vous voyez maintenant ce que cet enfant, qui est moi, a fait seul pour la défense de tous, oui, de tous. Celui qui essaye de sauver un de vous, c' est comme s' il essayait de vous sauver tous; le principe est le même. C' est clair ! Quand quelqu'un de ces marchands d' esclaves viendra flairer et rôder autour de nous, qu' il me rencontre sur sa route, je suis l' homme à qui il aura affaire. Oui, mes frères, je me lèverai pour vos droits, je défendrai vos droits jusqu' au dernier soupir.
“Yer see, fellow-countrymen,” said Sam, elevating a turkey’s leg, with energy, “yer see, now what dis yer chile ’s up ter, for fendin’ yer all,—yes, all on yer. For him as tries to get one o’ our people is as good as tryin’ to get all; yer see the principle ’s de same,—dat ar’s clar. And any one o’ these yer drivers that comes smelling round arter any our people, why, he’s got _me_ in his way; _I’m_ the feller he’s got to set in with,—I’m the feller for yer all to come to, bredren,—I’ll stand up for yer rights,—I’ll fend ’em to the last breath!”
“Why, but Sam, yer telled me, only this mornin’, that you’d help this yer Mas’r to cotch Lizy; seems to me yer talk don’t hang together,” said Andy.
“I tell you now, Andy,” said Sam, with awful superiority, “don’t yer be a talkin’ ’bout what yer don’t know nothin’ on; boys like you, Andy, means well, but they can’t be spected to collusitate the great principles of action.”
Andy looked rebuked, particularly by the hard word collusitate, which most of the youngerly members of the company seemed to consider as a settler in the case, while Sam proceeded.
Samuel reprit: ~~~ « C' était par conscience, André, que je voulais aller reprendre Lisa. Je croyais vraiment que c' était l' intention du maître.... Mais, quand j' ai compris que la maîtresse voulait le contraire, j' ai vu que la conscience était plus encore de son côté. Il faut être du côté de la maîtresse.... Il y a plus à gagner. Ainsi, dans les deux cas, je restais fidèle à mes principes et attaché à ma conscience. Oui, les principes ! dit Samuel en imprimant un mouvement plein d' enthousiasme à un cou de poulet. Mais à quoi les principes servent -ils.... s' ils ne sont pas persistants.... je vous le demande à tous ?... Tenez ! André, vous pouvez prendre cet os, il y a encore quelque chose autour ! »
“Dat ar was _conscience_, Andy; when I thought of gwine arter Lizy, I railly spected Mas’r was sot dat way. When I found Missis was sot the contrar, dat ar was conscience _more yet_,—cause fellers allers gets more by stickin’ to Missis’ side,—so yer see I ’s persistent either way, and sticks up to conscience, and holds on to principles. Yes, _principles_,” said Sam, giving an enthusiastic toss to a chicken’s neck,—“what’s principles good for, if we isn’t persistent, I wanter know? Thar, Andy, you may have dat ar bone,—tan’t picked quite clean.”
Sam’s audience hanging on his words with open mouth, he could not but proceed.
« Ce sujet de la persistance, nègres, mes amis, dit Samuel de l' air d' un homme qui pénètre dans les profondeurs de l' abstraction, ce sujet est une chose qui n' a jamais été tirée au clair par personne ! Vous comprenez ! Quand un homme veut une chose un jour et une nuit, et que le lendemain il en veut une autre, on voit tout naturellement dans ce cas qu' il n' est pas persistant !... Passe -moi ce morceau de gâteau, André.... Pénétrons dans le sujet, reprit Samuel ! -- Les gentlemen et le beau sexe de cet auditoire excuseront ma comparaison usitée et vulgaire. Écoutez ! Je veux monter au sommet d' une meule de foin. Bien ! je mets mon échelle d' un côté.... Ça ne va pas ! alors, parce que je n' essaye pas de ce côté, mais que je porte mon échelle de l' autre, peut -on dire que je ne suis pas persistant ? Je suis persistant en ce sens que je veux toujours monter du côté où se trouve mon échelle.... Est -ce clair ?
“Dis yer matter ’bout persistence, feller-niggers,” said Sam, with the air of one entering into an abstruse subject, “dis yer ’sistency ’s a thing what an’t seed into very clar, by most anybody. Now, yer see, when a feller stands up for a thing one day and night, de contrar de next, folks ses (and nat’rally enough dey ses), why he an’t persistent,—hand me dat ar bit o’ corn-cake, Andy. But let’s look inter it. I hope the gen’lmen and der fair sex will scuse my usin’ an or’nary sort o’ ’parison. Here! I’m a trying to get top o’ der hay. Wal, I puts up my larder dis yer side; ’tan’t no go;—den, cause I don’t try dere no more, but puts my larder right de contrar side, an’t I persistent? I’m persistent in wantin’ to get up which ary side my larder is; don’t you see, all on yer?”
“It’s the only thing ye ever was persistent in, Lord knows!” muttered Aunt Chloe, who was getting rather restive; the merriment of the evening being to her somewhat after the Scripture comparison,—like “vinegar upon nitre.”
« Oui, sans doute, dit Samuel en se levant, plein de souper et de gloire, pour l' effort suprême de la péroraison, oui, amis et concitoyens, et vous, dames de l' autre sexe, j' ai des principes: c' est là mon orgueil ! je les ai conservés jusqu' ici, je les conserverai toujours.... J' ai des principes et je m' attache à eux fortement. Tout ce que je pense devient principes ! Je marche dans mes principes; peu m' importe s' ils me font brûler vivant ! je marcherai au bûcher !... Et maintenant, je dis: Je viens ici pour verser la dernière goutte de mon sang pour mes principes, pour mon pays, pour la défense des intérêts de la société !
“Yes, indeed!” said Sam, rising, full of supper and glory, for a closing effort. “Yes, my feller-citizens and ladies of de other sex in general, I has principles,—I’m proud to ’oon ’em,—they ’s perquisite to dese yer times, and ter _all_ times. I has principles, and I sticks to ’em like forty,—jest anything that I thinks is principle, I goes in to ’t;—I wouldn’t mind if dey burnt me ’live,—I’d walk right up to de stake, I would, and say, here I comes to shed my last blood fur my principles, fur my country, fur de gen’l interests of society.”
“Well,” said Aunt Chloe, “one o’ yer principles will have to be to get to bed some time tonight, and not be a keepin’ everybody up till mornin’; now, every one of you young uns that don’t want to be cracked, had better be scase, mighty sudden.”
“Niggers! all on yer,” said Sam, waving his palm-leaf with benignity, “I give yer my blessin’; go to bed now, and be good boys.”
Après cette bénédiction pathétique, l' assemblée se dispersa.
And, with this pathetic benediction, the assembly dispersed.
CHAPTER IX In Which It Appears That a Senator Is But a Man
Les lueurs d' un feu joyeux se reflétaient sur le tapis et les tentures d' un beau salon, et brillaient sur le ventre resplendissant d' une théière et de ses tasses. M. Bird, le sénateur, tirait ses bottes et se préparait à mettre à ses pieds une paire de pantoufles neuves, que sa femme venait d' achever pour lui pendant la session du sénat. Mme Bird, image vivante du bonheur, surveillait l' arrangement de la table, tout en adressant de temps en temps des admonestations à un certain nombre d' enfants turbulents, qui se livraient à tout le désordre et à toutes les malices qui font le tourment des mères depuis le déluge.
The light of the cheerful fire shone on the rug and carpet of a cosey parlor, and glittered on the sides of the tea-cups and well-brightened tea-pot, as Senator Bird was drawing off his boots, preparatory to inserting his feet in a pair of new handsome slippers, which his wife had been working for him while away on his senatorial tour. Mrs. Bird, looking the very picture of delight, was superintending the arrangements of the table, ever and anon mingling admonitory remarks to a number of frolicsome juveniles, who were effervescing in all those modes of untold gambol and mischief that have astonished mothers ever since the flood.
« Tom, laissez donc le bouton de la porte; là ! voilà qui est bien ! Mary, Mary ! ne tirez pas la queue du chat.... ce pauvre animal ! Jean, il ne faut pas monter sur la table ! non ! vous dis -je. » ~~~ Puis enfin, trouvant le moyen de parler à son mari: ~~~ « Vous ne savez pas, mon ami, quel plaisir c' est pour nous de vous avoir ici ce soir.
“Tom, let the door-knob alone,—there’s a man! Mary! Mary! don’t pull the cat’s tail,—poor pussy! Jim, you mustn’t climb on that table,—no, no!—You don’t know, my dear, what a surprise it is to us all, to see you here tonight!” said she, at last, when she found a space to say something to her husband.
“Yes, yes, I thought I’d just make a run down, spend the night, and have a little comfort at home. I’m tired to death, and my head aches!”
Mrs. Bird cast a glance at a camphor-bottle, which stood in the half-open closet, and appeared to meditate an approach to it, but her husband interposed.
“No, no, Mary, no doctoring! a cup of your good hot tea, and some of our good home living, is what I want. It’s a tiresome business, this legislating!”
Et le sénateur sourit, comme s' il se fût complu dans l' idée qu' il se sacrifiait à son pays.
And the senator smiled, as if he rather liked the idea of considering himself a sacrifice to his country.
“Well,” said his wife, after the business of the tea-table was getting rather slack, “and what have they been doing in the Senate?”
Now, it was a very unusual thing for gentle little Mrs. Bird ever to trouble her head with what was going on in the house of the state, very wisely considering that she had enough to do to mind her own. Mr. Bird, therefore, opened his eyes in surprise, and said,
“Not very much of importance.”
“Well; but is it true that they have been passing a law forbidding people to give meat and drink to those poor colored folks that come along? I heard they were talking of some such law, but I didn’t think any Christian legislature would pass it!”
“Why, Mary, you are getting to be a politician, all at once.”
“No, nonsense! I wouldn’t give a fig for all your politics, generally, but I think this is something downright cruel and unchristian. I hope, my dear, no such law has been passed.”
“There has been a law passed forbidding people to help off the slaves that come over from Kentucky, my dear; so much of that thing has been done by these reckless Abolitionists, that our brethren in Kentucky are very strongly excited, and it seems necessary, and no more than Christian and kind, that something should be done by our state to quiet the excitement.”
“And what is the law? It don’t forbid us to shelter those poor creatures a night, does it, and to give ’em something comfortable to eat, and a few old clothes, and send them quietly about their business?”
“Why, yes, my dear; that would be aiding and abetting, you know.”
Mme Bird était une petite femme timide et rougissante, d' à peu près quatre pieds de haut, avec deux yeux bleus, un teint de fleur de pêcher, et la plus jolie, la plus douce voix du monde; quant au courage, une poule d' Inde d' une taille médiocre la mettait en fuite au premier gloussement. Un chien de garde de médiocre apparence la réduisait à merci, rien qu' en lui montrant les dents. Son mari et ses enfants étaient tout son univers; elle les gouvernait par la douceur et la persuasion bien plus que par le raisonnement et l' autorité. Il n' y avait qu' une chose qui pût l' animer: tout ce qui ressemblait à de la cruauté la jetait dans une colère d'autant plus alarmante qu' elle faisait un contraste inexplicable avec la douceur habituelle de son caractère. Elle, qui était la plus indulgente et la plus tendre des mères, elle avait cependant infligé un très-sévère châtiment à ses enfants, qu' elle avait surpris un jour ligués avec de mauvais garnements du voisinage pour assommer à coups de pierres un pauvre petit chat sans défense.
Mrs. Bird was a timid, blushing little woman, of about four feet in height, and with mild blue eyes, and a peach-blow complexion, and the gentlest, sweetest voice in the world;—as for courage, a moderate-sized cock-turkey had been known to put her to rout at the very first gobble, and a stout house-dog, of moderate capacity, would bring her into subjection merely by a show of his teeth. Her husband and children were her entire world, and in these she ruled more by entreaty and persuasion than by command or argument. There was only one thing that was capable of arousing her, and that provocation came in on the side of her unusually gentle and sympathetic nature;—anything in the shape of cruelty would throw her into a passion, which was the more alarming and inexplicable in proportion to the general softness of her nature. Generally the most indulgent and easy to be entreated of all mothers, still her boys had a very reverent remembrance of a most vehement chastisement she once bestowed on them, because she found them leagued with several graceless boys of the neighborhood, stoning a defenceless kitten.
« J' en ai porté longtemps les marques, disait à ce sujet un des enfants. Ma mère vint à moi si furieuse, que je la crus folle. Je fus fouetté et envoyé au lit sans souper, avant même d' avoir eu le temps de savoir de quoi il s' agissait.... puis j' entendis ma mère qui pleurait derrière la porte; cela me fit encore plus de mal que tout le reste !... Je puis bien vous assurer, ajoutait -il, que depuis nous ne jetâmes plus de pierres aux chats. »........................
“I’ll tell you what,” Master Bill used to say, “I was scared that time. Mother came at me so that I thought she was crazy, and I was whipped and tumbled off to bed, without any supper, before I could get over wondering what had come about; and, after that, I heard mother crying outside the door, which made me feel worse than all the rest. I’ll tell you what,” he’d say, “we boys never stoned another kitten!”
On the present occasion, Mrs. Bird rose quickly, with very red cheeks, which quite improved her general appearance, and walked up to her husband, with quite a resolute air, and said, in a determined tone,
“Now, John, I want to know if you think such a law as that is right and Christian?”
“You won’t shoot me, now, Mary, if I say I do!”
“I never could have thought it of you, John; you didn’t vote for it?”
--Mon Dieu si, ma belle politique.
“Even so, my fair politician.”
-- Vous devriez avoir honte, John ! ces pauvres créatures, sans toit, sans asile ! Oh ! la loi honteuse, sans entrailles, abominable !... Je la violerai dès que j' en aurai l' occasion... et j' espère que je l' aurai, cette occasion.... Ah ! les choses en sont venues à un triste point, si une femme ne peut plus donner, sans crime, un souper chaud et un lit à ces pauvres malheureux mourant de faim, parce qu' ils sont esclaves, c'est-à-dire parce qu' ils ont été opprimés et torturés toute leur vie ! Pauvres êtres !
“You ought to be ashamed, John! Poor, homeless, houseless creatures! It’s a shameful, wicked, abominable law, and I’ll break it, for one, the first time I get a chance; and I hope I _shall_ have a chance, I do! Things have got to a pretty pass, if a woman can’t give a warm supper and a bed to poor, starving creatures, just because they are slaves, and have been abused and oppressed all their lives, poor things!”
-- Mais, chère Mary, écoutez -moi. Vos sentiments sont justes et humains, je vous aime parce que vous les avez. Mais, chère, il ne faut pas laisser aller nos sentiments sans notre jugement. Il ne s' agit pas ici de ce qu' on éprouve soi -même: de grands intérêts publics sont en question. Il y a une telle effervescence dans le peuple, que nous devons faire le sacrifice de nos propres sympathies.
“But, Mary, just listen to me. Your feelings are all quite right, dear, and interesting, and I love you for them; but, then, dear, we mustn’t suffer our feelings to run away with our judgment; you must consider it’s a matter of private feeling,—there are great public interests involved,—there is such a state of public agitation rising, that we must put aside our private feelings.”
“Now, John, I don’t know anything about politics, but I can read my Bible; and there I see that I must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the desolate; and that Bible I mean to follow.”
-- Mais dans le cas où votre action entraînerait un grand malheur public ?
“But in cases where your doing so would involve a great public evil—”
“Obeying God never brings on public evils. I know it can’t. It’s always safest, all round, to _do as He_ bids us.
“Now, listen to me, Mary, and I can state to you a very clear argument, to show—”
“O, nonsense, John! you can talk all night, but you wouldn’t do it. I put it to you, John,—would _you_ now turn away a poor, shivering, hungry creature from your door, because he was a runaway? _Would_ you, now?”
Maintenant, s' il faut dire vrai, notre sénateur avait le malheur d' être un homme d' une nature tendre et sensible: rebuter une créature dans la peine n' avait jamais été son fait, et ce qui était plus fâcheux pour lui, en présence d' un pareil argument, c' est que sa femme le connaissait bien, et qu' elle livrait l' assaut à une place sans défense.... Il avait donc recours à tous les moyens possibles de gagner du temps: il faisait des hum ! hum ! multipliés, il tirait son mouchoir, essuyait les verres de ses lunettes. Mme Bird, voyant que le territoire ennemi était à peu près découvert, n' en mettait que plus d' ardeur à pousser ses avantages.
Now, if the truth must be told, our senator had the misfortune to be a man who had a particularly humane and accessible nature, and turning away anybody that was in trouble never had been his forte; and what was worse for him in this particular pinch of the argument was, that his wife knew it, and, of course was making an assault on rather an indefensible point. So he had recourse to the usual means of gaining time for such cases made and provided; he said “ahem,” and coughed several times, took out his pocket-handkerchief, and began to wipe his glasses. Mrs. Bird, seeing the defenceless condition of the enemy’s territory, had no more conscience than to push her advantage.
“I should like to see you doing that, John—I really should! Turning a woman out of doors in a snowstorm, for instance; or may be you’d take her up and put her in jail, wouldn’t you? You would make a great hand at that!”
“Of course, it would be a very painful duty,” began Mr. Bird, in a moderate tone.
-- Un devoir, John ! Ne vous servez pas de ce mot -là. Vous savez que ce n' est pas un devoir: cela ne peut pas être un devoir. Si les gens veulent empêcher les esclaves de s' enfuir, qu' ils les traitent bien: voilà ma doctrine ! Si j' avais des esclaves (j' espère bien n' en avoir jamais ), je saurais bien les empêcher de fuir de chez moi et de chez vous, John ! Je vous le répète, on ne fuit pas quand on est heureux; quand ils fuient, les pauvres êtres, ils ont assez souffert de froid, de faim, de peur, sans que chacun se mette encore contre eux: aussi, loi ou non, je ne m' y soumettrai pas, moi, Dieu m' en garde !
“Duty, John! don’t use that word! You know it isn’t a duty—it can’t be a duty! If folks want to keep their slaves from running away, let ’em treat ’em well,—that’s my doctrine. If I had slaves (as I hope I never shall have), I’d risk their wanting to run away from me, or you either, John. I tell you folks don’t run away when they are happy; and when they do run, poor creatures! they suffer enough with cold and hunger and fear, without everybody’s turning against them; and, law or no law, I never will, so help me God!”
“Mary! Mary! My dear, let me reason with you.”
-- Je déteste de raisonner, John, principalement sur de pareils sujets. Vous autres politiques, vous tournez, vous tournez autour des choses les plus simples, et, dans la pratique, vous abandonnez vos théories. Je vous connais assez bien, John ! Vous ne croyez pas plus que moi que ce soit un droit, John, et vous agiriez comme moi, et même mieux. »
“I hate reasoning, John,—especially reasoning on such subjects. There’s a way you political folks have of coming round and round a plain right thing; and you don’t believe in it yourselves, when it comes to practice. I know _you_ well enough, John. You don’t believe it’s right any more than I do; and you wouldn’t do it any sooner than I.”
Au moment critique de la discussion, le vieux Cudjox, le noir factotum de la maison, montra sa tête; il pria madame de vouloir bien passer à la cuisine. Notre sénateur, soulagé à temps, suivit de l' oeil sa petite femme avec un capricieux mélange de plaisir et de contrariété, et, s' asseyant dans un fauteuil, il commença à lire des papiers.
At this critical juncture, old Cudjoe, the black man-of-all-work, put his head in at the door, and wished “Missis would come into the kitchen;” and our senator, tolerably relieved, looked after his little wife with a whimsical mixture of amusement and vexation, and, seating himself in the arm-chair, began to read the papers.
After a moment, his wife’s voice was heard at the door, in a quick, earnest tone,—“John! John! I do wish you’d come here, a moment.”
M. Bird quitta ses papiers et se rendit dans la cuisine. Il fut saisi d' étonnement et de stupeur au spectacle qui se présenta devant lui. Une jeune femme amaigrie, dont les vêtements déchirés étaient roidis par le froid, un soulier perdu, un bas arraché du pied coupé et sanglant, était renversée sur deux chaises, dans une pamoison mortelle.... On reconnaissait sur son visage les signes distinctifs de la race méprisée, mais on devinait en même temps sa beauté triste et passionnée; sa roideur de statue, son aspect glacé, immobile, où la mort se lisait, frappaient de stupeur tout d'abord. ~~~ M. Bird était là, la poitrine haletante, immobile, silencieux. Sa femme, leur unique domestique de couleur, et la mère Dina, s' occupaient activement à la faire revenir, tandis que le vieux Cudjox prenait l' enfant sur ses genoux, tirait ses souliers et ses bas, et réchauffait ses petits pieds.
He laid down his paper, and went into the kitchen, and started, quite amazed at the sight that presented itself:—A young and slender woman, with garments torn and frozen, with one shoe gone, and the stocking torn away from the cut and bleeding foot, was laid back in a deadly swoon upon two chairs. There was the impress of the despised race on her face, yet none could help feeling its mournful and pathetic beauty, while its stony sharpness, its cold, fixed, deathly aspect, struck a solemn chill over him. He drew his breath short, and stood in silence. His wife, and their only colored domestic, old Aunt Dinah, were busily engaged in restorative measures; while old Cudjoe had got the boy on his knee, and was busy pulling off his shoes and stockings, and chafing his little cold feet.
« Pauvre femme ! si cela ne fait pas peine à voir ! dit la vieille Dina d' un ton compatissant. Je pense que c' est la chaleur qui l' aura fait trouver mal,... elle était assez bien en entrant;... elle a demandé à se réchauffer une minute; je lui ai demandé d' où elle venait, quand elle est tombée tout de son long. Elle n' a jamais fait de rude ouvrage, si j' en crois ses mains.
“Sure, now, if she an’t a sight to behold!” said old Dinah, compassionately; “‘pears like ’t was the heat that made her faint. She was tol’able peart when she cum in, and asked if she couldn’t warm herself here a spell; and I was just a-askin’ her where she cum from, and she fainted right down. Never done much hard work, guess, by the looks of her hands.”
“Poor creature!” said Mrs. Bird, compassionately, as the woman slowly unclosed her large, dark eyes, and looked vacantly at her. Suddenly an expression of agony crossed her face, and she sprang up, saying, “O, my Harry! Have they got him?”
The boy, at this, jumped from Cudjoe’s knee, and running to her side put up his arms. “O, he’s here! he’s here!” she exclaimed.
« Oh ! le voilà ! le voilà ! » ~~~ Et, d' un air égaré, s' adressant à Mme Bird:
“O, ma’am!” said she, wildly, to Mrs. Bird, “do protect us! don’t let them get him!”
“Nobody shall hurt you here, poor woman,” said Mrs. Bird, encouragingly. “You are safe; don’t be afraid.”
-- Que Dieu vous récompense ! » dit l' esclave en couvrant son visage et en sanglotant. ~~~ Le petit enfant, la voyant pleurer, essaya de la presser dans ses bras.
“God bless you!” said the woman, covering her face and sobbing; while the little boy, seeing her crying, tried to get into her lap.
Elle se calma enfin, grâce à tous ces soins délicats et féminins que personne ne savait mieux donner que Mme Bird. Un lit fut provisoirement dressé pour elle auprès du feu, et elle tomba bientôt dans un profond sommeil, tenant entre ses bras son enfant, qui ne semblait pas moins épuisé qu' elle. Elle n' avait pas voulu s' en séparer; elle avait, au contraire, résisté, avec une sorte d' effroi nerveux, à tous les tendres efforts que l' on avait faits pour le lui ôter. Même dans le sommeil, son bras, passé autour de lui, le serrait d' une étreinte que rien n' eût pu dénouer, comme si elle eût voulu le défendre encore.
With many gentle and womanly offices, which none knew better how to render than Mrs. Bird, the poor woman was, in time, rendered more calm. A temporary bed was provided for her on the settle, near the fire; and, after a short time, she fell into a heavy slumber, with the child, who seemed no less weary, soundly sleeping on her arm; for the mother resisted, with nervous anxiety, the kindest attempts to take him from her; and, even in sleep, her arm encircled him with an unrelaxing clasp, as if she could not even then be beguiled of her vigilant hold.
Mr. and Mrs. Bird had gone back to the parlor, where, strange as it may appear, no reference was made, on either side, to the preceding conversation; but Mrs. Bird busied herself with her knitting-work, and Mr. Bird pretended to be reading the paper.
“I wonder who and what she is!” said Mr. Bird, at last, as he laid it down.
“When she wakes up and feels a little rested, we will see,” said Mrs. Bird.
“I say, wife!” said Mr. Bird after musing in silence over his newspaper.
--Quoi? mon ami....
“Well, dear!”
-- Ne pourrait -elle point porter une de vos robes, en l' allongeant un peu par le bas ? Il me semble qu' elle est plus grande que vous. »
“She couldn’t wear one of your gowns, could she, by any letting down, or such matter? She seems to be rather larger than you are.”
A quite perceptible smile glimmered on Mrs. Bird’s face, as she answered, “We’ll see.”
Second silence. M. Bird le rompit encore.
Another pause, and Mr. Bird again broke out,
« Dites -moi, chère amie !
“I say, wife!”
-- Oui. Qu' est -ce encore ?
“Well! What now?”
“Why, there’s that old bombazin cloak, that you keep on purpose to put over me when I take my afternoon’s nap; you might as well give her that,—she needs clothes.”
At this instant, Dinah looked in to say that the woman was awake, and wanted to see Missis.
Mr. and Mrs. Bird went into the kitchen, followed by the two eldest boys, the smaller fry having, by this time, been safely disposed of in bed.
The woman was now sitting up on the settle, by the fire. She was looking steadily into the blaze, with a calm, heart-broken expression, very different from her former agitated wildness.
“Did you want me?” said Mrs. Bird, in gentle tones. “I hope you feel better now, poor woman!”
A long-drawn, shivering sigh was the only answer; but she lifted her dark eyes, and fixed them on her with such a forlorn and imploring expression, that the tears came into the little woman’s eyes.
“You needn’t be afraid of anything; we are friends here, poor woman! Tell me where you came from, and what you want,” said she.
-- Je viens du Kentucky.
“I came from Kentucky,” said the woman.
“When?” said Mr. Bird, taking up the interogatory.
--Cette nuit.
“Tonight.”
“How did you come?”
“I crossed on the ice.”
-- Passé sur la glace ! répétèrent tous les assistants.
“Crossed on the ice!” said every one present.
“Yes,” said the woman, slowly, “I did. God helping me, I crossed on the ice; for they were behind me—right behind—and there was no other way!”
-- Dieu ! madame, s' écria Cudjox, la glace est brisée en grands blocs, coulant ou tournoyant dans le fleuve.
“Law, Missis,” said Cudjoe, “the ice is all in broken-up blocks, a swinging and a tetering up and down in the water!”
-- Je le sais, je le sais ! dit Élisa d' un air égaré. Je l' ai pourtant fait;... je ne croyais pas le pouvoir. Je ne pensais pas arriver à l' autre bord.... Mais qu' importe ? il fallait passer ou mourir. Dieu m' a aidée ! On ne sait pas à quel point il aide ceux qui essayent, ajouta -t-elle avec un éclair dans l' oeil.
“I know it was—I know it!” said she, wildly; “but I did it! I wouldn’t have thought I could,—I didn’t think I should get over, but I didn’t care! I could but die, if I didn’t. The Lord helped me; nobody knows how much the Lord can help ’em, till they try,” said the woman, with a flashing eye.
-- Étiez -vous esclave ? dit M. Bird.
“Were you a slave?” said Mr. Bird.
-- Oui, monsieur, j' appartenais à un homme du Kentucky.
“Yes, sir; I belonged to a man in Kentucky.”
-- Était -il cruel envers vous ?
“Was he unkind to you?”
-- Non, monsieur, c' était un bon maître.
“No, sir; he was a good master.”
-- Et votre maîtresse, était -elle dure ?
“And was your mistress unkind to you?”
“No, sir—no! my mistress was always good to me.”
“What could induce you to leave a good home, then, and run away, and go through such dangers?”
The woman looked up at Mrs. Bird, with a keen, scrutinizing glance, and it did not escape her that she was dressed in deep mourning.
“Ma’am,” she said, suddenly, “have you ever lost a child?”
The question was unexpected, and it was thrust on a new wound; for it was only a month since a darling child of the family had been laid in the grave.
M. Bird se détourna et alla vers la fenêtre; Mme Bird fondit en larmes, mais retrouvant bientôt la parole, elle lui dit:
Mr. Bird turned around and walked to the window, and Mrs. Bird burst into tears; but, recovering her voice, she said,
“Why do you ask that? I have lost a little one.”
-- Alors vous compatirez à ma peine. Moi j' en ai perdu deux, l' un après l' autre. Je les ai laissés dans la terre d' où je viens. Il ne me reste plus que celui -ci. Je n' ai pas dormi une nuit qu' il ne fût à mes côtés. C' était tout ce que j' avais au monde, ma consolation, mon orgueil, ma pensée du jour et de la nuit. Eh bien ! madame, ils allaient me l' arracher pour le vendre, le vendre aux marchands du sud, pour qu' il s' en allât tout seul, lui, pauvre enfant qui ne m' a jamais quittée de sa vie ! Je n' ai pas pu supporter cela, madame. Je savais bien que, si on l' emmenait, je ne serais plus capable de rien, et, quand j' ai su qu' il était vendu, que les papiers étaient signés, je l' ai pris et je suis partie pendant la nuit. Ils m' ont donné la chasse. Celui qui m' a achetée, et quelques-uns des esclaves du maître, ils me tenaient, je les entendais, je les sentais.... j' ai sauté sur les glaces. Comment ai -je passé ? je ne le sais pas; mais j' ai vu tout d'abord un homme qui m' aidait à gravir la rive. »
“Then you will feel for me. I have lost two, one after another,—left ’em buried there when I came away; and I had only this one left. I never slept a night without him; he was all I had. He was my comfort and pride, day and night; and, ma’am, they were going to take him away from me,—to _sell_ him,—sell him down south, ma’am, to go all alone,—a baby that had never been away from his mother in his life! I couldn’t stand it, ma’am. I knew I never should be good for anything, if they did; and when I knew the papers the papers were signed, and he was sold, I took him and came off in the night; and they chased me,—the man that bought him, and some of Mas’r’s folks,—and they were coming down right behind me, and I heard ’em. I jumped right on to the ice; and how I got across, I don’t know,—but, first I knew, a man was helping me up the bank.”
The woman did not sob nor weep. She had gone to a place where tears are dry; but every one around her was, in some way characteristic of themselves, showing signs of hearty sympathy.
Les deux petits enfants, après avoir inutilement fouillé dans leur poche pour y chercher ce mouchoir que les enfants n' y trouvent jamais (les mères le savent bien ! ), finirent par se jeter sur les jupes de leur mère, pleurant et sanglotant, et s' essuyant le nez et les yeux avec sa belle robe. Mme Bird s' était complétement caché le visage dans son mouchoir, et la vieille Dina, dont les larmes coulaient par torrents sur son honnête visage de négresse, s' écriait: « Que Dieu ait pitié de nous ! » On l' eût crue à quelques discours de mission. Le vieux Cudjox se frottait très-fort les yeux sur ses manches, faisait force grimaces, et répondait sur le même ton avec la plus vive ferveur. Notre sénateur, en sa qualité d' homme d' État, ne pouvait pleurer comme un autre homme: il tourna le dos à la compagnie, alla regarder à la fenêtre, soufflant, essuyant ses lunettes, mais se mouchant assez souvent pour faire naître des soupçons, s' il se fût trouvé là quelqu'un assez maître de soi pour faire des observations critiques.
The two little boys, after a desperate rummaging in their pockets, in search of those pocket-handkerchiefs which mothers know are never to be found there, had thrown themselves disconsolately into the skirts of their mother’s gown, where they were sobbing, and wiping their eyes and noses, to their hearts’ content;—Mrs. Bird had her face fairly hidden in her pocket-handkerchief; and old Dinah, with tears streaming down her black, honest face, was ejaculating, “Lord have mercy on us!” with all the fervor of a camp-meeting;—while old Cudjoe, rubbing his eyes very hard with his cuffs, and making a most uncommon variety of wry faces, occasionally responded in the same key, with great fervor. Our senator was a statesman, and of course could not be expected to cry, like other mortals; and so he turned his back to the company, and looked out of the window, and seemed particularly busy in clearing his throat and wiping his spectacle-glasses, occasionally blowing his nose in a manner that was calculated to excite suspicion, had any one been in a state to observe critically.
“How came you to tell me you had a kind master?” he suddenly exclaimed, gulping down very resolutely some kind of rising in his throat, and turning suddenly round upon the woman.
-- Je l' ai dit parce que cela est, reprit Élisa: il était bon; ma maîtresse était bonne aussi, mais ils ne pouvaient se suffire; ils devaient ! Je ne pourrais pas bien expliquer tout cela; mais il y avait un homme qui les tenait et qui leur faisait faire sa volonté. J' entendis monsieur dire à madame que mon enfant était vendu. Madame plaidait et suppliait en ma faveur; mais il disait qu' il ne pouvait pas, et que les papiers étaient signés. C' est alors que je pris mon enfant et que j' abandonnai la maison pour m' enfuir. Je savais bien que je ne pourrais plus vivre, lui parti, car c' est là tout ce que je possède en ce monde.
“Because he _was_ a kind master; I’ll say that of him, any way;—and my mistress was kind; but they couldn’t help themselves. They were owing money; and there was some way, I can’t tell how, that a man had a hold on them, and they were obliged to give him his will. I listened, and heard him telling mistress that, and she begging and pleading for me,—and he told her he couldn’t help himself, and that the papers were all drawn;—and then it was I took him and left my home, and came away. I knew ’t was no use of my trying to live, if they did it; for ’t ’pears like this child is all I have.”
-- N' avez -vous pas de mari ?
“Have you no husband?”
-- Pardon ! mais il appartient à un autre homme. Son maître est très-dur pour lui et ne veut pas lui permettre de venir me voir.... Il devient de plus en plus cruel. Il le menace à chaque instant de l' envoyer dans le sud pour l' y faire vendre.... C' est bien comme si je ne devais jamais le revoir. »
“Yes, but he belongs to another man. His master is real hard to him, and won’t let him come to see me, hardly ever; and he’s grown harder and harder upon us, and he threatens to sell him down south;—it’s like I’ll never see _him_ again!”
The quiet tone in which the woman pronounced these words might have led a superficial observer to think that she was entirely apathetic; but there was a calm, settled depth of anguish in her large, dark eye, that spoke of something far otherwise.
“And where do you mean to go, my poor woman?” said Mrs. Bird.
“To Canada, if I only knew where that was. Is it very far off, is Canada?” said she, looking up, with a simple, confiding air, to Mrs. Bird’s face.
-- Pauvre créature ! fit celle -ci involontairement.
“Poor thing!” said Mrs. Bird, involuntarily.
“Is ’t a very great way off, think?” said the woman, earnestly.
-- Bien plus loin que vous ne pensez, pauvre enfant. Mais nous allons essayer de faire quelque chose pour vous. Voyons, Dina, il faut lui faire un lit dans votre chambre, auprès de la cuisine. Je verrai, demain matin, quel parti prendre. Vous, cependant, ne craignez rien, pauvre femme. Mettez votre confiance en Dieu, il vous protégera. »
“Much further than you think, poor child!” said Mrs. Bird; “but we will try to think what can be done for you. Here, Dinah, make her up a bed in your own room, close by the kitchen, and I’ll think what to do for her in the morning. Meanwhile, never fear, poor woman; put your trust in God; he will protect you.”
Mrs. Bird and her husband reentered the parlor. She sat down in her little rocking-chair before the fire, swaying thoughtfully to and fro. Mr. Bird strode up and down the room, grumbling to himself, “Pish! pshaw! confounded awkward business!” At length, striding up to his wife, he said,
« Il faut, ma chère, qu' elle parte cette nuit même ! Le marchand sera sur ses traces demain de très-bonne heure. S' il n' y avait que la femme, elle pourrait se tenir tranquille jusqu' à ce qu' il fut passé; mais une armée à pied et à cheval ne pourrait avoir raison du bambin, il mettra le nez à la porte ou à la fenêtre et fera tout découvrir, je vous en réponds: ce serait une belle affaire pour moi d' être pris ici -même avec eux !... Non, il faut qu' ils partent cette nuit.
“I say, wife, she’ll have to get away from here, this very night. That fellow will be down on the scent bright and early tomorrow morning: if ’t was only the woman, she could lie quiet till it was over; but that little chap can’t be kept still by a troop of horse and foot, I’ll warrant me; he’ll bring it all out, popping his head out of some window or door. A pretty kettle of fish it would be for me, too, to be caught with them both here, just now! No; they’ll have to be got off tonight.”
“Tonight! How is it possible?—where to?”
“Well, I know pretty well where to,” said the senator, beginning to put on his boots, with a reflective air; and, stopping when his leg was half in, he embraced his knee with both hands, and seemed to go off in deep meditation.
“It’s a confounded awkward, ugly business,” said he, at last, beginning to tug at his boot-straps again, “and that’s a fact!” After one boot was fairly on, the senator sat with the other in his hand, profoundly studying the figure of the carpet. “It will have to be done, though, for aught I see,—hang it all!” and he drew the other boot anxiously on, and looked out of the window.
Cette petite Mme Bird était une femme discrète, une femme à qui on n' avait pas entendu dire une fois en sa vie: « Je vous l' avais bien dit ! » Dans l' occasion présente, bien qu' elle se doutât de la tournure que prenait la méditation de son mari, elle s' abstint très-prudemment de l' interrompre; elle s' assit en silence, se préparant à entendre la résolution de son légitime seigneur, quand il voudrait bien la lui faire connaître.
Now, little Mrs. Bird was a discreet woman,—a woman who never in her life said, “I told you so!” and, on the present occasion, though pretty well aware of the shape her husband’s meditations were taking, she very prudently forbore to meddle with them, only sat very quietly in her chair, and looked quite ready to hear her liege lord’s intentions, when he should think proper to utter them.
« Vous savez, dit -il, il y a mon ancien client, Van Trompe, qui est venu du Kentucky, et qui a affranchi tous ses esclaves. Il s' est établi à sept milles d' ici, de l' autre côté du gué, où personne ne va à moins d' y avoir affaire. C' est une place qu' on ne trouve pas tout de suite. Elle y sera assez en sûreté. L' ennui, c' est que personne ne peut y conduire une voiture cette nuit; personne que moi !
“You see,” he said, “there’s my old client, Van Trompe, has come over from Kentucky, and set all his slaves free; and he has bought a place seven miles up the creek, here, back in the woods, where nobody goes, unless they go on purpose; and it’s a place that isn’t found in a hurry. There she’d be safe enough; but the plague of the thing is, nobody could drive a carriage there tonight, but _me_.”
-- Mais Cudjox est un excellent cocher.
“Why not? Cudjoe is an excellent driver.”
-- Sans doute; mais voilà, il faut passer le gué deux fois. Le second passage est dangereux quand on ne le connaît pas comme moi. Je l' ai passé cent fois à cheval, et je sais juste où il faut tourner. Ainsi vous voyez, il n' y a pas d' autre moyen. Cudjox attellera les chevaux tranquillement vers minuit, et je l' emmènerai; pour donner une couleur à la chose, il me conduira à la prochaine taverne, pour prendre la voiture de Columbus, qui passe dans trois ou quatre heures. On pensera que je n' ai pris la voiture que pour cela. J' y ai des affaires dont je m' occuperai demain matin. Je ne sais pas trop quelle figure je ferais après tout ce qui a été dit et fait par moi sur la question des esclaves ! N' importe !
“Ay, ay, but here it is. The creek has to be crossed twice; and the second crossing is quite dangerous, unless one knows it as I do. I have crossed it a hundred times on horseback, and know exactly the turns to take. And so, you see, there’s no help for it. Cudjoe must put in the horses, as quietly as may be, about twelve o’clock, and I’ll take her over; and then, to give color to the matter, he must carry me on to the next tavern to take the stage for Columbus, that comes by about three or four, and so it will look as if I had had the carriage only for that. I shall get into business bright and early in the morning. But I’m thinking I shall feel rather cheap there, after all that’s been said and done; but, hang it, I can’t help it!”
-- Allez, John, votre coeur est meilleur que votre tête, dit Mme Bird en posant sa petite main blanche sur la main de son mari. Est -ce que je vous aurais jamais aimé.... si je ne vous avais pas connu mieux que vous ne vous connaissez vous -même ? » ~~~ Et la petite femme parut si jolie, ses yeux si brillants de larmes, que le sénateur pensa qu' il devait décidément être un habile homme pour avoir su inspirer à sa femme une admiration si passionnée. Qu' avait -il donc de mieux à faire que d' aller voir si on apprêtait la voiture ? Cependant, il s' arrêta à la porte, et, revenant sur ses pas, il dit avec un peu d' hésitation:
“Your heart is better than your head, in this case, John,” said the wife, laying her little white hand on his. “Could I ever have loved you, had I not known you better than you know yourself?” And the little woman looked so handsome, with the tears sparkling in her eyes, that the senator thought he must be a decidedly clever fellow, to get such a pretty creature into such a passionate admiration of him; and so, what could he do but walk off soberly, to see about the carriage. At the door, however, he stopped a moment, and then coming back, he said, with some hesitation.
“Mary, I don’t know how you’d feel about it, but there’s that drawer full of things—of—of—poor little Henry’s.” So saying, he turned quickly on his heel, and shut the door after him.
La femme ouvrit la porte d' une petite chambre à coucher contiguë à la sienne, posa un flambeau sur le secrétaire, et tirant une clef d' une petite cachette, elle la mit d' un air pensif dans la serrure d' un tiroir.... puis elle s' arrêta.... Les deux enfants, qui l' avaient suivie pas à pas, s' arrêtèrent aussi, jetant sur elle des regards expressifs dans leur silence. O mère qui lisez ces pages, dites, n' y a -t-il jamais eu dans votre maison un tiroir, un cabinet.... que vous ayez ouvert comme on rouvre un petit tombeau ? Heureuse, heureuse mère, si vous me répondez non !
His wife opened the little bed-room door adjoining her room and, taking the candle, set it down on the top of a bureau there; then from a small recess she took a key, and put it thoughtfully in the lock of a drawer, and made a sudden pause, while two boys, who, boy like, had followed close on her heels, stood looking, with silent, significant glances, at their mother. And oh! mother that reads this, has there never been in your house a drawer, or a closet, the opening of which has been to you like the opening again of a little grave? Ah! happy mother that you are, if it has not been so.
Mme Bird ouvrit lentement le tiroir. Il y avait de petites robes de toutes formes et de tous modèles, des collections de tabliers et des piles de petits bas.... Il y avait même de petits souliers. Ils avaient été portés; ils étaient usés au talon.... Le bout de ces petits souliers pointait à travers l' enveloppe de papier.... Il y avait aussi des jouets familiers.... le cheval, la charrette, la balle, la toupie. Chers petits souvenirs, recueillis avec bien des larmes et des brisements de coeur ! ~~~ Elle s' assit auprès de ce tiroir, mit sa tête dans ses mains, et pleura ! Les larmes coulaient à travers ses doigts et tombaient dans le tiroir ! Puis relevant tout à coup la tête.... avec une précipitation nerveuse, elle choisit parmi ces objets les plus solides et les meilleurs, et elle en fit un paquet.
Mrs. Bird slowly opened the drawer. There were little coats of many a form and pattern, piles of aprons, and rows of small stockings; and even a pair of little shoes, worn and rubbed at the toes, were peeping from the folds of a paper. There was a toy horse and wagon, a top, a ball,—memorials gathered with many a tear and many a heart-break! She sat down by the drawer, and, leaning her head on her hands over it, wept till the tears fell through her fingers into the drawer; then suddenly raising her head, she began, with nervous haste, selecting the plainest and most substantial articles, and gathering them into a bundle.
“Mamma,” said one of the boys, gently touching her arm, “you going to give away _those_ things?”
-- Mes enfants, dit -elle d' une voix émue et pénétrante, mes chers enfants, si votre pauvre petit Henri bien-aimé nous regarde du haut du ciel, il sera bien heureux de nous voir agir ainsi ! Allez ! je n' aurais pas voulu donner ces objets à des heureux de ce monde; mais je les donne à une mère dont le coeur a été blessé plus encore que le mien; je les donne ! Que Dieu donne avec eux ses bénédictions ! »
“My dear boys,” she said, softly and earnestly, “if our dear, loving little Henry looks down from heaven, he would be glad to have us do this. I could not find it in my heart to give them away to any common person—to anybody that was happy; but I give them to a mother more heart-broken and sorrowful than I am; and I hope God will send his blessings with them!”
Il y a dans ce monde des âmes choisies, dont les chagrins rejaillissent en joies pour les autres, dont les espérances terrestres, mises au tombeau avec des larmes, sont la semence d' où sort la fleur qui guérit, le baume qui console l' infortune et la douleur. ~~~ Telle était la jeune femme que nous voyons assise à côté de sa lampe, laissant couler lentement ses pleurs, tandis qu' elle se préparait à donner les doux souvenirs de l' enfant qu' elle avait perdu au pauvre enfant d' une autre, errante et poursuivie !
There are in this world blessed souls, whose sorrows all spring up into joys for others; whose earthly hopes, laid in the grave with many tears, are the seed from which spring healing flowers and balm for the desolate and the distressed. Among such was the delicate woman who sits there by the lamp, dropping slow tears, while she prepares the memorials of her own lost one for the outcast wanderer.
Au bout d' un instant, Mme Bird ouvrit une garde-robe, et, en tirant une ou deux robes simples, mais d' un bon user, et se plaçant à la table à ouvrage, l' aiguille, les ciseaux et le dé à la main, elle commença l' opération du rallongement dont son mari avait exprimé la nécessité. Elle travailla activement jusqu' à ce que la vieille horloge, placée dans un coin de la chambre, frappât les douze coups de minuit. Elle entendit alors le bruit sourd des roues s' arrêtant à la porte.
After a while, Mrs. Bird opened a wardrobe, and, taking from thence a plain, serviceable dress or two, she sat down busily to her work-table, and, with needle, scissors, and thimble, at hand, quietly commenced the “letting down” process which her husband had recommended, and continued busily at it till the old clock in the corner struck twelve, and she heard the low rattling of wheels at the door.
“Mary,” said her husband, coming in, with his overcoat in his hand, “you must wake her up now; we must be off.”
Mme Bird se hâta de mettre dans une petite boîte les divers objets qu' elle avait rassemblés; elle ferma la boîte, et pria son mari de la déposer dans la voiture. Elle courut éveiller l' étrangère. Bientôt, enveloppée d' un châle et d' un manteau, coiffée d' un chapeau de sa bienfaitrice, Élisa parut à la porte, son enfant entre les bras. « Montez ! montez ! » dit M. Bird. Mme Bird la poussa dans la voiture. Élisa s' appuya sur la portière et tendit sa main. Une main aussi belle et aussi blanche lui fut tendue en retour. Elle fixa son grand oeil noir, plein d' émotion et de reconnaissance, sur le visage de Mme Bird. Elle parut vouloir parler. Elle essaya une ou deux fois: ses lèvres remuèrent, mais il n' en sortit aucun son. Elle leva au ciel un de ces regards que l' on n' oublie jamais, se renversa sur le siége et couvrit son visage. La voiture partit.
Mrs. Bird hastily deposited the various articles she had collected in a small plain trunk, and locking it, desired her husband to see it in the carriage, and then proceeded to call the woman. Soon, arrayed in a cloak, bonnet, and shawl, that had belonged to her benefactress, she appeared at the door with her child in her arms. Mr. Bird hurried her into the carriage, and Mrs. Bird pressed on after her to the carriage steps. Eliza leaned out of the carriage, and put out her hand,—a hand as soft and beautiful as was given in return. She fixed her large, dark eyes, full of earnest meaning, on Mrs. Bird’s face, and seemed going to speak. Her lips moved,—she tried once or twice, but there was no sound,—and pointing upward, with a look never to be forgotten, she fell back in the seat, and covered her face. The door was shut, and the carriage drove on.
What a situation, now, for a patriotic senator, that had been all the week before spurring up the legislature of his native state to pass more stringent resolutions against escaping fugitives, their harborers and abettors!
Notre législateur n' avait été dépassé par aucun de ses confrères à Washington dans ce genre d' éloquence qui a porté si haut la gloire de nos sénateurs. Avec quelle sublimité s' était -il assis, les mains dans ses poches, raillant la sentimentale faiblesse de ceux qui placent le bien-être de quelque misérable fugitif avant les grands intérêts de l' État !
Our good senator in his native state had not been exceeded by any of his brethren at Washington, in the sort of eloquence which has won for them immortal renown! How sublimely he had sat with his hands in his pockets, and scouted all sentimental weakness of those who would put the welfare of a few miserable fugitives before great state interests!
Sur cette question -là, il était hardi comme un lion; il était « puissamment convaincu, » et il avait fait passer sa conviction dans l' âme de l' assemblée. Mais alors il ne connaissait d' un fugitif que les lettres qui écrivent ce nom, ou tout au plus la caricature, trouvée dans un journal, d' un homme qui passe avec sa canne et son paquet. Mais la magie toute-puissante d' un malheur réel et présent, un oeil humain qui implore, une main humaine, pâle et tremblante, l' appel désespéré d' une agonie sans secours.... voilà une épreuve qu' il n' avait jamais subie; il n' avait jamais songé que l' esclave en fuite pût être une malheureuse mère, un enfant sans défense, comme celui qui portait maintenant la petite casquette,- -il l' avait reconnue,--de son pauvre enfant mort ! ~~~ Aussi, comme notre bon sénateur n' était ni de marbre ni d' acier, comme il était un _homme_, et un homme au noble coeur, son patriotisme se trouvait fort mal à l' aise. Et ne chantez pas trop haut victoire, ô vous, nos bons frères du sud; nous soupçonnons fort qu' à sa place beaucoup d' entre vous n' eussent pas fait mieux. Oui, nous le savons, dans le Kentucky et dans le Mississipi, il y a de nobles et généreux coeurs, à qui jamais on n' a fait en vain le récit d' une infortune. Ah ! frères, est -ce bien à vous d' attendre de nous ces services que votre bon et généreux coeur ne vous permettrait pas de nous rendre.... si vous étiez à notre place ?
He was as bold as a lion about it, and “mightily convinced” not only himself, but everybody that heard him;—but then his idea of a fugitive was only an idea of the letters that spell the word,—or at the most, the image of a little newspaper picture of a man with a stick and bundle with “Ran away from the subscriber” under it. The magic of the real presence of distress,—the imploring human eye, the frail, trembling human hand, the despairing appeal of helpless agony,—these he had never tried. He had never thought that a fugitive might be a hapless mother, a defenceless child,—like that one which was now wearing his lost boy’s little well-known cap; and so, as our poor senator was not stone or steel,—as he was a man, and a downright noble-hearted one, too,—he was, as everybody must see, in a sad case for his patriotism. And you need not exult over him, good brother of the Southern States; for we have some inklings that many of you, under similar circumstances, would not do much better. We have reason to know, in Kentucky, as in Mississippi, are noble and generous hearts, to whom never was tale of suffering told in vain. Ah, good brother! is it fair for you to expect of us services which your own brave, honorable heart would not allow you to render, were you in our place?
Quoi qu' il en soit, si M. Bird était un pécheur politique, il était maintenant en train d' expier ses fautes par les épreuves de son voyage nocturne. Il avait plu depuis longtemps, et cette belle et riche terre de l' Ohio, si prompte à se changer en boue, était toute détrempée par la pluie: c' était une route avec des rails à la mode du bon vieux temps.
Be that as it may, if our good senator was a political sinner, he was in a fair way to expiate it by his night’s penance. There had been a long continuous period of rainy weather, and the soft, rich earth of Ohio, as every one knows, is admirably suited to the manufacture of mud—and the road was an Ohio railroad of the good old times.
“And pray, what sort of a road may that be?” says some eastern traveller, who has been accustomed to connect no ideas with a railroad, but those of smoothness or speed.
-- Apprenez donc, innocent ami de l' est, que dans ces benoîtes régions de l' ouest, où la boue atteint des profondeurs insondables et sublimes, les routes sont faites de grossières pièces de bois que l' on range transversalement côte à côte: on les recouvre de terre, de gazon et de tout ce qu' on a sous la main..., et les naturels du pays appellent cela une route et se réjouissent fort de marcher dessus. Avec le temps, la pluie qui tombe emporte l' herbe et le turf, promène les bois çà et là, les sème partout, les disperse dans un désordre pittoresque, ménageant çà et là des abîmes de fange noire.
Know, then, innocent eastern friend, that in benighted regions of the west, where the mud is of unfathomable and sublime depth, roads are made of round rough logs, arranged transversely side by side, and coated over in their pristine freshness with earth, turf, and whatsoever may come to hand, and then the rejoicing native calleth it a road, and straightway essayeth to ride thereupon. In process of time, the rains wash off all the turf and grass aforesaid, move the logs hither and thither, in picturesque positions, up, down and crosswise, with divers chasms and ruts of black mud intervening.
C' est par une route pareille que notre sénateur s' en allait bronchant, se livrant à des réflexions interrompues fréquemment par les accidents de la marche. Le char allait de cahots en ornières. On pourrait écrire le voyage en onomatopées: Boun ! pan ! han ! crac ! Le sénateur, la femme et l' enfant, sans cesse ballottés d' un côté à l' autre, changeaient à chaque instant de position respective. Au dehors Cudjox apostrophait les chevaux: on tire, on tourne; on halle: le sénateur perd patience. La voiture se relève, on marche. Les deux roues de devant retombent dans une autre fondrière. Le sénateur, la femme et l' enfant sont jetés sur le siége de devant. ~~~ Le chapeau du gentleman s' enfonce sur ses yeux et presque sur son nez, sans la moindre cérémonie. L' excellent homme se croit mort; l' enfant pleure. Cudjox adresse de nouveau la parole à ses chevaux, qui ruent, se cabrent et courent sous le fouet qui claque. La voiture se relève encore. Ce sont maintenant les roues de derrière qui s' enfoncent. Le sénateur, la femme et l' enfant sont replacés un peu trop vite sur le siége de derrière. Les deux chapeaux sont enfoncés. Enfin le précipice est franchi, et les chevaux s' arrêtent.... essoufflés. Le sénateur retrouve son chapeau, la femme redresse le sien et fait taire l' enfant. On se raffermit contre les périls à venir.
Over such a road as this our senator went stumbling along, making moral reflections as continuously as under the circumstances could be expected,—the carriage proceeding along much as follows,—bump! bump! bump! slush! down in the mud!—the senator, woman and child, reversing their positions so suddenly as to come, without any very accurate adjustment, against the windows of the down-hill side. Carriage sticks fast, while Cudjoe on the outside is heard making a great muster among the horses. After various ineffectual pullings and twitchings, just as the senator is losing all patience, the carriage suddenly rights itself with a bounce,—two front wheels go down into another abyss, and senator, woman, and child, all tumble promiscuously on to the front seat,—senator’s hat is jammed over his eyes and nose quite unceremoniously, and he considers himself fairly extinguished;—child cries, and Cudjoe on the outside delivers animated addresses to the horses, who are kicking, and floundering, and straining under repeated cracks of the whip. Carriage springs up, with another bounce,—down go the hind wheels,—senator, woman, and child, fly over on to the back seat, his elbows encountering her bonnet, and both her feet being jammed into his hat, which flies off in the concussion. After a few moments the “slough” is passed, and the horses stop, panting;—the senator finds his hat, the woman straightens her bonnet and hushes her child, and they brace themselves for what is yet to come.
Pendant quelque temps on en est quitte pour des ballottements et des cahots, des aïe et des hue, et des boum répétés. On commence à espérer que l' on s' en tirera sans trop de misère. Enfin un saut carré met tout le monde debout et rassied tout le monde avec une incroyable rapidité. La voiture s' arrête tout à fait; Cudjox apparaît à la portière.
For a while only the continuous bump! bump! intermingled, just by way of variety, with divers side plunges and compound shakes; and they begin to flatter themselves that they are not so badly off, after all. At last, with a square plunge, which puts all on to their feet and then down into their seats with incredible quickness, the carriage stops,—and, after much outside commotion, Cudjoe appears at the door.
“Please, sir, it’s powerful bad spot, this’ yer. I don’t know how we’s to get clar out. I’m a thinkin’ we’ll have to be a gettin’ rails.”
The senator despairingly steps out, picking gingerly for some firm foothold; down goes one foot an immeasurable depth,—he tries to pull it up, loses his balance, and tumbles over into the mud, and is fished out, in a very despairing condition, by Cudjoe.
But we forbear, out of sympathy to our readers’ bones. Western travellers, who have beguiled the midnight hour in the interesting process of pulling down rail fences, to pry their carriages out of mud holes, will have a respectful and mournful sympathy with our unfortunate hero. We beg them to drop a silent tear, and pass on.
La nuit était fort avancée quand l' équipage, enfin sorti du gué, s' arrêta devant la porte d' une vaste ferme. Il fallut assez de persistance pour réveiller les habitants. Enfin, le respectable propriétaire parut et ouvrit la porte. C' était un grand et robuste gaillard de six pieds et quelques pouces; il portait une blouse de chasse en flanelle rouge; ses cheveux, d' un jaune fade, présentaient l' aspect d' une forêt inculte. Une barbe, négligée depuis quelques jours, achevait de donner à ce digne homme un aspect qui ne prévenait pas complétement en sa faveur. Il resta quelques minutes, le flambeau à la main, contemplant les voyageurs avec un air de déconvenue le plus réjouissant du monde. Le sénateur eut beaucoup de peine à lui faire nettement comprendre ce dont il s' agissait.
It was full late in the night when the carriage emerged, dripping and bespattered, out of the creek, and stood at the door of a large farmhouse. ~~~ It took no inconsiderable perseverance to arouse the inmates; but at last the respectable proprietor appeared, and undid the door. He was a great, tall, bristling Orson of a fellow, full six feet and some inches in his stockings, and arrayed in a red flannel hunting-shirt. A very heavy mat of sandy hair, in a decidedly tousled condition, and a beard of some days’ growth, gave the worthy man an appearance, to say the least, not particularly prepossessing. He stood for a few minutes holding the candle aloft, and blinking on our travellers with a dismal and mystified expression that was truly ludicrous. It cost some effort of our senator to induce him to comprehend the case fully; and while he is doing his best at that, we shall give him a little introduction to our readers.
Tandis qu' il fait de son mieux pour y parvenir, nous présenterons à nos lecteurs cette nouvelle connaissance. ~~~ L' honnête John Van Tromp était jadis un riche fermier et possesseur d' esclaves, dans le Kentucky, « n' ayant rien de l' ours que la peau, » ayant au contraire reçu de la nature un grand coeur. Humain et généreux, il avait été longtemps le témoin désolé des tristes effets d' un système également funeste à l' oppresseur et à l' opprimé; enfin, il n' y put tenir davantage; ce coeur gonflé éclata: il prit son portefeuille, traversa l' Ohio, acheta une vaste propriété, affranchit ses esclaves, hommes, femmes et enfants, les emballa dans une voiture et les envoya coloniser sur sa terre. Quant à lui, il se dirigea vers la baie et se retira dans une ferme tranquille pour y jouir en paix de sa conscience.
Honest old John Van Trompe was once quite a considerable land-owner and slave-owner in the State of Kentucky. Having “nothing of the bear about him but the skin,” and being gifted by nature with a great, honest, just heart, quite equal to his gigantic frame, he had been for some years witnessing with repressed uneasiness the workings of a system equally bad for oppressor and oppressed. At last, one day, John’s great heart had swelled altogether too big to wear his bonds any longer; so he just took his pocket-book out of his desk, and went over into Ohio, and bought a quarter of a township of good, rich land, made out free papers for all his people,—men, women, and children,—packed them up in wagons, and sent them off to settle down; and then honest John turned his face up the creek, and sat quietly down on a snug, retired farm, to enjoy his conscience and his reflections.
« Voyons, dit nettement le sénateur, êtes -vous homme à donner asile à une pauvre femme et à un enfant que poursuivent les chasseurs d' esclaves ?
“Are you the man that will shelter a poor woman and child from slave-catchers?” said the senator, explicitly.
“I rather think I am,” said honest John, with some considerable emphasis.
-- Je le croyais aussi, dit le sénateur.
“I thought so,” said the senator.
-- S' ils viennent, dit le brave homme en développant sa grande taille athlétique, me voilà ! Et puis j' ai six fils, qui ont chacun six pieds de haut, et qui les attendent. Faites -leur bien mes compliments; dites -leur de venir quand ils voudront, ajouta -t-il, cela nous est bien égal. » ~~~ Il passa ses doigts dans les touffes de cheveux qui couvraient sa tête comme un toit de chaume, et il partit d' un grand éclat de rire.
“If there’s anybody comes,” said the good man, stretching his tall, muscular form upward, “why here I’m ready for him: and I’ve got seven sons, each six foot high, and they’ll be ready for ’em. Give our respects to ’em,” said John; “tell ’em it’s no matter how soon they call,—make no kinder difference to us,” said John, running his fingers through the shock of hair that thatched his head, and bursting out into a great laugh.
Tombant de fatigue, épuisée, à demi morte, Élisa se traîna jusqu' à la porte, tenant son enfant endormi dans ses bras. John, toujours brusque, lui approcha le flambeau du visage, et, faisant entendre un grognement plein de compassion émue, il ouvrit la porte d' une petite chambre à coucher qui donnait sur la vaste cuisine où ils se trouvaient. Il la fit entrer, alluma un autre flambeau qu' il posa sur la table, puis il lui dit:
Weary, jaded, and spiritless, Eliza dragged herself up to the door, with her child lying in a heavy sleep on her arm. The rough man held the candle to her face, and uttering a kind of compassionate grunt, opened the door of a small bed-room adjoining to the large kitchen where they were standing, and motioned her to go in. He took down a candle, and lighting it, set it upon the table, and then addressed himself to Eliza.
« Maintenant, ma fille, vous n' avez plus rien à craindre. Arrive qui voudra; je suis prêt à tout, dit -il en montrant deux ou trois carabines suspendues au-dessus du manteau de la cheminée. Ceux qui me connaissent savent bien qu' il ne serait pas sain de vouloir faire sortir quelqu'un de chez moi quand je ne veux pas. Et maintenant, mon enfant, dormez aussi tranquillement que si votre mère vous gardait. »
“Now, I say, gal, you needn’t be a bit afeard, let who will come here. I’m up to all that sort o’ thing,” said he, pointing to two or three goodly rifles over the mantel-piece; “and most people that know me know that ’t wouldn’t be healthy to try to get anybody out o’ my house when I’m agin it. So _now_ you jist go to sleep now, as quiet as if yer mother was a rockin’ ye,” said he, as he shut the door.
“Why, this is an uncommon handsome un,” he said to the senator. “Ah, well; handsome uns has the greatest cause to run, sometimes, if they has any kind o’ feelin, such as decent women should. I know all about that.”
Le sénateur raconta brièvement, en quelques mots, l' histoire d' Élisa.
The senator, in a few words, briefly explained Eliza’s history.
« Oh !... Hélas !... Quoi ! il serait vrai !... Je suis bien aise de savoir cela. Poursuivie ! poursuivie pour avoir obéi au cri de la nature ! Pauvre femme ! Chassée comme un daim ! chassée pour avoir fait ce qu' aucune mère ne pourrait pas ne pas faire ! Oh ! ces choses -là me feraient blasphémer.... » ~~~ Et John essuya ses yeux du revers de sa large main calleuse et brune. ~~~ « Eh bien ! monsieur, je vous l' avoue, je suis resté des années sans aller à l' église, parce que les ministres disaient en chaire que la Bible autorisait l' esclavage.... Je ne pouvais répondre à leur grec et à leur hébreu: aussi j' abandonnai tout, Bible et ministres. Je ne suis pas retourné à l' église, jusqu' à ce que j' aie trouvé un ministre qui fût contre l' esclavage, malgré le grec et le reste. Maintenant j' y retourne. » ~~~ Tout en parlant de la sorte, John faisait sauter le bouchon d' une bouteille de cidre mousseux, dont il offrit un verre à son interlocuteur.
“O! ou! aw! now, I want to know?” said the good man, pitifully; “sho! now sho! That’s natur now, poor crittur! hunted down now like a deer,—hunted down, jest for havin’ natural feelin’s, and doin’ what no kind o’ mother could help a doin’! I tell ye what, these yer things make me come the nighest to swearin’, now, o’ most anything,” said honest John, as he wiped his eyes with the back of a great, freckled, yellow hand. “I tell yer what, stranger, it was years and years before I’d jine the church, ’cause the ministers round in our parts used to preach that the Bible went in for these ere cuttings up,—and I couldn’t be up to ’em with their Greek and Hebrew, and so I took up agin ’em, Bible and all. I never jined the church till I found a minister that was up to ’em all in Greek and all that, and he said right the contrary; and then I took right hold, and jined the church,—I did now, fact,” said John, who had been all this time uncorking some very frisky bottled cider, which at this juncture he presented.
“Ye’d better jest put up here, now, till daylight,” said he, heartily, “and I’ll call up the old woman, and have a bed got ready for you in no time.”
“Thank you, my good friend,” said the senator, “I must be along, to take the night stage for Columbus.”
“Ah! well, then, if you must, I’ll go a piece with you, and show you a cross road that will take you there better than the road you came on. That road’s mighty bad.”
John equipped himself, and, with a lantern in hand, was soon seen guiding the senator’s carriage towards a road that ran down in a hollow, back of his dwelling. When they parted, the senator put into his hand a ten-dollar bill.
« Pour elle ! dit -il laconiquement.
“It’s for her,” he said, briefly.
-- Bien ! » répondit John avec une égale concision.
“Ay, ay,” said John, with equal conciseness.
Ils se serrèrent la main et se quittèrent.
They shook hands, and parted.
CHAPITRE X. ~~~ Livraison de la marchandise.
CHAPTER X The Property Is Carried Off
Un matin de février, morne et gris, éclairait les fenêtres de l' oncle Tom: les visages étaient bien tristes dans la case; les visages reflétaient la tristesse des coeurs. La petite table était dressée devant le feu et couverte de la nappe à repasser. Une ou deux chemises grossières, mais propres, étaient étendues sur le dos d' une chaise, devant la cheminée; une autre était déployée sur la table devant Chloé. Avec un soin minutieux, elle ouvrait et repassait chaque pli, et, de temps en temps, portait la main à son visage pour essuyer les larmes qui coulaient le long de ses joues.
The February morning looked gray and drizzling through the window of Uncle Tom’s cabin. It looked on downcast faces, the images of mournful hearts. The little table stood out before the fire, covered with an ironing-cloth; a coarse but clean shirt or two, fresh from the iron, hung on the back of a chair by the fire, and Aunt Chloe had another spread out before her on the table. Carefully she rubbed and ironed every fold and every hem, with the most scrupulous exactness, every now and then raising her hand to her face to wipe off the tears that were coursing down her cheeks.
Tom sat by, with his Testament open on his knee, and his head leaning upon his hand;—but neither spoke. It was yet early, and the children lay all asleep together in their little rude trundle-bed.
Tom avait au plus haut point ce culte des affections domestiques, qui, pour son malheur, est un des signes distinctifs de cette race: il se leva et s' approcha solennellement du lit pour contempler ses enfants.
Tom, who had, to the full, the gentle, domestic heart, which woe for them! has been a peculiar characteristic of his unhappy race, got up and walked silently to look at his children.
“It’s the last time,” he said.
Aunt Chloe did not answer, only rubbed away over and over on the coarse shirt, already as smooth as hands could make it; and finally setting her iron suddenly down with a despairing plunge, she sat down to the table, and “lifted up her voice and wept.”
« Je sais, dit -elle, qu' il faut être résignée; mais puis -je l' être, Seigneur ? Si je savais où vous allez, comment on vous traitera ! Madame dit bien qu' elle essayera de vous racheter dans un an ou deux. Mais, hélas ! ceux qui descendent vers le sud ne remontent jamais; ils les tuent ! Je sais bien comment on les traite dans les plantations.
“S’pose we must be resigned; but oh Lord! how ken I? If I know’d anything whar you ’s goin’, or how they’d sarve you! Missis says she’ll try and ’deem ye, in a year or two; but Lor! nobody never comes up that goes down thar! They kills ’em! I’ve hearn ’em tell how dey works ’em up on dem ar plantations.”
-- Ce sera là-bas le même Dieu qu' ici, Chloé.
“There’ll be the same God there, Chloe, that there is here.”
“Well,” said Aunt Chloe, “s’pose dere will; but de Lord lets drefful things happen, sometimes. I don’t seem to get no comfort dat way.”
-- Je suis dans les mains du Seigneur, dit Tom; rien ne peut aller plus loin qu' il ne le permettra. Il permet cela, je dois l' en remercier. C' est moi qui suis vendu et qui m' en vais, et non pas vous et les enfants. Ici vous êtes en sûreté. Ce qui doit arriver n' arrivera qu' à moi, et le Seigneur m' assistera. Oui, je sais qu' il m' assistera. »
“I’m in the Lord’s hands,” said Tom; “nothin’ can go no furder than he lets it;—and thar’s _one_ thing I can thank him for. It’s _me_ that’s sold and going down, and not you nur the chil’en. Here you’re safe;—what comes will come only on me; and the Lord, he’ll help me,—I know he will.”
Oh ! brave coeur, vrai coeur d' homme ! adoucissant ton propre chagrin pour consoler tes bien-aimés. ~~~ Tom avait peut-être la langue embarrassée; sa voix rauque s' arrêtait dans son gosier: mais il parlait avec un courage qui ne se démentait jamais.
Ah, brave, manly heart,—smothering thine own sorrow, to comfort thy beloved ones! Tom spoke with a thick utterance, and with a bitter choking in his throat,—but he spoke brave and strong.
« Ne pensons qu' aux bienfaits du ciel, ajouta -t-il en frissonnant, comme s' il éprouvait en effet le besoin d' y penser beaucoup.
“Let’s think on our marcies!” he added, tremulously, as if he was quite sure he needed to think on them very hard indeed.
-- Des bienfaits ! dit Chloé... Je ne puis pas voir des bienfaits là dedans ! Non, cela n' est pas juste ! non, cela ne devait pas être ! Le maître ne devait pas consentir à ce que vous fussiez le prix de ses dettes ! Vous lui aviez gagné deux fois plus. Il vous devait la liberté; il aurait dû vous la donner depuis des années. Il est possible qu' il soit gêné, mais je sens que ce qu' il fait est mal. Rien ne peut m' ôter cela de l' esprit. Une créature aussi fidèle que vous.... Toutes ses affaires, vous les faisiez ! Ah ! il était plus pour vous que votre femme et vos enfants !... Vendre l' amour du coeur, le sang du coeur, pour se tirer de l' usurier.... Dieu sera contre lui !
“Marcies!” said Aunt Chloe; “don’t see no marcy in ’t! ’tan’t right! tan’t right it should be so! Mas’r never ought ter left it so that ye _could_ be took for his debts. Ye’ve arnt him all he gets for ye, twice over. He owed ye yer freedom, and ought ter gin ’t to yer years ago. Mebbe he can’t help himself now, but I feel it’s wrong. Nothing can’t beat that ar out o’ me. Sich a faithful crittur as ye’ve been,—and allers sot his business ’fore yer own every way,—and reckoned on him more than yer own wife and chil’en! Them as sells heart’s love and heart’s blood, to get out thar scrapes, de Lord’ll be up to ’em!”
-- Chloé, si vous m' aimez, ne parlez pas ainsi; songez que peut-être nous ne nous reverrons jamais. Je dois vous le dire, c' est parler contre moi que de parler contre le maître: il a été placé dans mes bras quand il n' était encore qu' un enfant. Je devais faire beaucoup pour lui, c' est tout simple; mais lui n' avait pas à s' occuper beaucoup du pauvre Tom: les maîtres sont accoutumés à ce que l' on fasse tout pour eux, et naturellement ils n' y pensent guère. On ne peut pas s' attendre à autre chose.... mais il est bien meilleur que les autres, lui ! Qui donc a jamais été traité comme moi ? Non, il ne m' aurait pas laissé partir s' il eût pu faire autrement.... j' en suis sûr !
“Chloe! now, if ye love me, ye won’t talk so, when perhaps jest the last time we’ll ever have together! And I’ll tell ye, Chloe, it goes agin me to hear one word agin Mas’r. Wan’t he put in my arms a baby?—it’s natur I should think a heap of him. And he couldn’t be spected to think so much of poor Tom. Mas’rs is used to havin’ all these yer things done for ’em, and nat’lly they don’t think so much on ’t. They can’t be spected to, no way. Set him ’longside of other Mas’rs—who’s had the treatment and livin’ I’ve had? And he never would have let this yer come on me, if he could have seed it aforehand. I know he wouldn’t.”
“Wal, any way, thar’s wrong about it _somewhar_,” said Aunt Chloe, in whom a stubborn sense of justice was a predominant trait; “I can’t jest make out whar ’t is, but thar’s wrong somewhar, I’m _clar_ o’ that.”
“Yer ought ter look up to the Lord above—he’s above all—thar don’t a sparrow fall without him.”
“It don’t seem to comfort me, but I spect it orter,” said Aunt Chloe. “But dar’s no use talkin’; I’ll jes wet up de corn-cake, and get ye one good breakfast, ’cause nobody knows when you’ll get another.”
Pour comprendre la souffrance des nègres vendus aux marchands du sud, il faut se rappeler que toutes les affections instinctives de cette race sont d' une incroyable puissance. Ils s' attachent aux lieux qu' ils habitent.... ils n' ont pas l' audace entreprenante des aventures: ils ont toutes les affections domestiques. Ajoutez à cela les terreurs dont l' ignorance revêt toujours l' inconnu. Ajoutez qu' être vendu dans le sud est une perspective placée depuis l' enfance devant les yeux du nègre comme le plus sévère des châtiments. Il y a moins de terreur pour eux dans la menace du fouet et de la torture que dans la menace d' être conduit de l' autre côté de la rivière. Ces sentiments, nous les avons entendu nous-mêmes exprimer par eux; nous savons quelle horreur ils laissent voir à cette seule pensée; nous savons quelle terrible histoire, à l' heure des causeries intimes, il racontent à propos de cette rivière, qui leur semble la limite
In order to appreciate the sufferings of the negroes sold south, it must be remembered that all the instinctive affections of that race are peculiarly strong. Their local attachments are very abiding. They are not naturally daring and enterprising, but home-loving and affectionate. Add to this all the terrors with which ignorance invests the unknown, and add to this, again, that selling to the south is set before the negro from childhood as the last severity of punishment. The threat that terrifies more than whipping or torture of any kind is the threat of being sent down river. We have ourselves heard this feeling expressed by them, and seen the unaffected horror with which they will sit in their gossipping hours, and tell frightful stories of that “down river,” which to them is
D' un pays inconnu dont on ne revient pas !
“That undiscovered country, from whose bourn No traveller returns.”[1]
Un missionnaire, qui a vécu parmi les fugitifs du Canada, nous a confirmé dans cette opinion. Beaucoup de nègres lui ont avoué qu' ils avaient fui des maîtres comparativement bons, et que, dans presque tous les cas, ils avaient bravé les périls de la fuite sous l' influence du désespoir où les jetait la seule pensée d' être vendus dans le sud, destin souvent suspendu sur leurs têtes ou celles de leurs maris, de leurs femmes, de leurs enfants.... Cette seule pensée trempe dans l' héroïsme du courage les Africains, naturellement patients, timides et peu aventureux; elles les conduit à braver la faim, la soif, le froid, la fatigue, les périls du désert, et les châtiments plus terribles encore qui punissent la fuite !........................
[1] A slightly inaccurate quotation from _Hamlet_, Act III, scene I, lines 369-370. ~~~ A missionary figure among the fugitives in Canada told us that many of the fugitives confessed themselves to have escaped from comparatively kind masters, and that they were induced to brave the perils of escape, in almost every case, by the desperate horror with which they regarded being sold south,—a doom which was hanging either over themselves or their husbands, their wives or children. This nerves the African, naturally patient, timid and unenterprising, with heroic courage, and leads him to suffer hunger, cold, pain, the perils of the wilderness, and the more dread penalties of recapture.
Le modeste repas du matin fumait sur la table de Tom. Mme Shelby avait ce jour -là dispensé Chloé de tout service à l' habitation. La pauvre créature avait mis tout son courage à préparer ce déjeuner d' adieu. Elle avait tué et accommodé ses meilleurs poulets; le gâteau était juste au goût de Tom; elle avait également atteint certaine bouteille mystérieuse, et des conserves qui ne voyaient le jour que dans les grandes occasions.
The simple morning meal now smoked on the table, for Mrs. Shelby had excused Aunt Chloe’s attendance at the great house that morning. The poor soul had expended all her little energies on this farewell feast,—had killed and dressed her choicest chicken, and prepared her corn-cake with scrupulous exactness, just to her husband’s taste, and brought out certain mysterious jars on the mantel-piece, some preserves that were never produced except on extreme occasions.
“Lor, Pete,” said Mose, triumphantly, “han’t we got a buster of a breakfast!” at the same time catching at a fragment of the chicken.
Aunt Chloe gave him a sudden box on the ear. “Thar now! crowing over the last breakfast yer poor daddy’s gwine to have to home!”
-- Ah ! Chloé ! fit Tom d' une voix douce.
“O, Chloe!” said Tom, gently.
“Wal, I can’t help it,” said Aunt Chloe, hiding her face in her apron; “I ’s so tossed about it, it makes me act ugly.”
The boys stood quite still, looking first at their father and then at their mother, while the baby, climbing up her clothes, began an imperious, commanding cry.
“Thar!” said Aunt Chloe, wiping her eyes and taking up the baby; “now I’s done, I hope,—now do eat something. This yer’s my nicest chicken. Thar, boys, ye shall have some, poor critturs! Yer mammy’s been cross to yer.”
The boys needed no second invitation, and went in with great zeal for the eatables; and it was well they did so, as otherwise there would have been very little performed to any purpose by the party.
« Maintenant, dit Chloé, quittant vivement la table, je vais m' occuper de votre paquet. Peut-être ne vous le laissera -t-il pas emporter; je connais leurs façons. Voyons ! dans ce coin la flanelle pour votre rhumatisme. Ménagez -la; vous n' aurez plus personne pour vous en préparer d' autre ! Voilà vos vieilles chemises; voici les neuves. J' ai reprisé vos bas hier la nuit, j' y ai mis des talons.... Ah ! qui les raccommodera maintenant ? » ~~~ Ici Chloé appuya sa tête sur la petite malle et sanglota.... ~~~ « Et dire que personne au monde ne s' occupera plus de toi, continua -t-elle, bien portant ou malade !... Ah ! je sens que c' est fini ! je ne serai plus jamais bonne maintenant. »
“Now,” said Aunt Chloe, bustling about after breakfast, “I must put up yer clothes. Jest like as not, he’ll take ’em all away. I know thar ways—mean as dirt, they is! Wal, now, yer flannels for rhumatis is in this corner; so be careful, ’cause there won’t nobody make ye no more. Then here’s yer old shirts, and these yer is new ones. I toed off these yer stockings last night, and put de ball in ’em to mend with. But Lor! who’ll ever mend for ye?” and Aunt Chloe, again overcome, laid her head on the box side, and sobbed. “To think on ’t! no crittur to do for ye, sick or well! I don’t railly think I ought ter be good now!”
Les enfants, après avoir dévoré tout ce qui se trouvait sur la table, commencèrent à réfléchir sur ce qui se passait autour d' eux. Voyant leur mère pleurer et leur père tout triste, ils commencèrent à soupirer et à se frotter les yeux. L' oncle Tom prit sur ses genoux la petite fille, qui se livrait à son divertissement favori, égratignant le visage et tirant les cheveux du vieux nègre, et de temps en temps se livrant à des accès de gaieté retentissante, qui semblaient être le résultat de ses réflexions intimes.
The boys, having eaten everything there was on the breakfast-table, began now to take some thought of the case; and, seeing their mother crying, and their father looking very sad, began to whimper and put their hands to their eyes. Uncle Tom had the baby on his knee, and was letting her enjoy herself to the utmost extent, scratching his face and pulling his hair, and occasionally breaking out into clamorous explosions of delight, evidently arising out of her own internal reflections.
« Ris donc, ris, pauvre créature, s' écria Chloé; ton tour viendra aussi à toi: tu vivras pour voir ton mari vendu et peut-être pour être vendue toi-même ! et tes frères que voilà, ils seront vendus aussi, sans doute, dès qu' ils vaudront un peu d' argent... N' est -ce pas ainsi que l' on nous traite, nous autres nègres ? »
“Ay, crow away, poor crittur!” said Aunt Chloe; “ye’ll have to come to it, too! ye’ll live to see yer husband sold, or mebbe be sold yerself; and these yer boys, they’s to be sold, I s’pose, too, jest like as not, when dey gets good for somethin’; an’t no use in niggers havin’ nothin’!”
Here one of the boys called out, “Thar’s Missis a-comin’ in!”
“She can’t do no good; what’s she coming for?” said Aunt Chloe.
Mrs. Shelby entered. Aunt Chloe set a chair for her in a manner decidedly gruff and crusty. She did not seem to notice either the action or the manner. She looked pale and anxious.
“Tom,” she said, “I come to—” and stopping suddenly, and regarding the silent group, she sat down in the chair, and, covering her face with her handkerchief, began to sob.
« Ah ! madame, dit Chloé, ne.... ne.... » Et elle-même éclata.... et pendant un instant tous pleurèrent.... et dans ces larmes qu' ils versaient ensemble, elle riche, eux pauvres, s' adoucirent tout à coup le désespoir et la douleur amère qui brûle le coeur de l' opprimé. Oh ! vous qui visitez les malheureux, si vous saviez combien tout ce que l' on peut acheter avec votre or, donné d' un air froid, avec un visage qui se détourne, ne vaut pas une douce et bonne larme versée dans un moment de sympathie véritable !
“Lor, now, Missis, don’t—don’t!” said Aunt Chloe, bursting out in her turn; and for a few moments they all wept in company. And in those tears they all shed together, the high and the lowly, melted away all the heart-burnings and anger of the oppressed. O, ye who visit the distressed, do ye know that everything your money can buy, given with a cold, averted face, is not worth one honest tear shed in real sympathy?
« Mon pauvre Tom, dit Mme Shelby, présentement, je ne puis vous être utile. Si je vous donne de l' argent, on vous le prendra. Mais je vous jure solennellement devant Dieu que je ne vous perdrai pas de vue, et qu' aussitôt que je le pourrai, je vous ferai venir ici; jusque -là, ayez confiance en Dieu ! » ~~~ Les enfants s' écrièrent:
“My good fellow,” said Mrs. Shelby, “I can’t give you anything to do you any good. If I give you money, it will only be taken from you. But I tell you solemnly, and before God, that I will keep trace of you, and bring you back as soon as I can command the money;—and, till then, trust in God!”
Here the boys called out that Mas’r Haley was coming, and then an unceremonious kick pushed open the door. Haley stood there in very ill humor, having ridden hard the night before, and being not at all pacified by his ill success in recapturing his prey.
« Ici, nègre ! Êtes -vous prêt ?.... Madame, votre serviteur. » Et il tira son chapeau en apercevant Mme Shelby.
“Come,” said he, “ye nigger, ye’r ready? Servant, ma’am!” said he, taking off his hat, as he saw Mrs. Shelby.
Chloé ferma et ficela la boîte; elle regarda le marchand d' un air irrité. Ses larmes semblaient se changer en étincelles.
Aunt Chloe shut and corded the box, and, getting up, looked gruffly on the trader, her tears seeming suddenly turned to sparks of fire.
Tom rose up meekly, to follow his new master, and raised up his heavy box on his shoulder. His wife took the baby in her arms to go with him to the wagon, and the children, still crying, trailed on behind.
Mme Shelby alla droit au marchand et le retint un moment; elle lui parlait avec une extrême animation. Cependant toute la famille s' avançait vers la voiture, qui était attelée et près de la porte. Les esclaves jeunes et vieux se pressaient tout autour, pour dire adieu à leur vieux compagnon. Tom était regardé par tous comme le chef des esclaves et comme leur instituteur religieux. Son départ excitait de vifs et sympathiques regrets, surtout parmi les femmes.
Mrs. Shelby, walking up to the trader, detained him for a few moments, talking with him in an earnest manner; and while she was thus talking, the whole family party proceeded to a wagon, that stood ready harnessed at the door. A crowd of all the old and young hands on the place stood gathered around it, to bid farewell to their old associate. Tom had been looked up to, both as a head servant and a Christian teacher, by all the place, and there was much honest sympathy and grief about him, particularly among the women.
“Why, Chloe, you bar it better ’n we do!” said one of the women, who had been weeping freely, noticing the gloomy calmness with which Aunt Chloe stood by the wagon.
“I’s done _my_ tears!” she said, looking grimly at the trader, who was coming up. “I does not feel to cry ’fore dat ar old limb, no how!”
-- Montez ! » dit Haley à Tom, en traversant la foule des esclaves, qui le regardaient, le front soucieux.
“Get in!” said Haley to Tom, as he strode through the crowd of servants, who looked at him with lowering brows.
Tom got in, and Haley, drawing out from under the wagon seat a heavy pair of shackles, made them fast around each ankle.
A smothered groan of indignation ran through the whole circle, and Mrs. Shelby spoke from the verandah,—“Mr. Haley, I assure you that precaution is entirely unnecessary.”
“Don’ know, ma’am; I’ve lost one five hundred dollars from this yer place, and I can’t afford to run no more risks.”
-- Que peut -elle donc attendre de lui ? » dit la pauvre Chloé d' une voix indignée. Les deux enfants, qui semblaient maintenant comprendre le sort de leur père, se suspendirent à la robe de Chloé, criant, pleurant et gémissant.
“What else could she spect on him?” said Aunt Chloe, indignantly, while the two boys, who now seemed to comprehend at once their father’s destiny, clung to her gown, sobbing and groaning vehemently.
“I’m sorry,” said Tom, “that Mas’r George happened to be away.”
George had gone to spend two or three days with a companion on a neighboring estate, and having departed early in the morning, before Tom’s misfortune had been made public, had left without hearing of it.
«Vous exprimerez toute mon affection à M. Georges,» reprit-il d'un ton pénétré.
“Give my love to Mas’r George,” he said, earnestly.
Haley whipped up the horse, and, with a steady, mournful look, fixed to the last on the old place, Tom was whirled away.
Il avait vendu Tom sous la pression de la plus dure nécessité, et pour sortir des mains d' un homme qu' il redoutait. Sa première impression, quand l' acte fut accompli, fut comme un sentiment de délivrance. Les supplications de sa femme réveillèrent ses regrets à moitié endormi. Le désintéressement de Tom rendait son chagrin plus cuisant encore. C' est en vain qu' il se répétait à lui-même qu' il avait le droit d' agir ainsi, que tout le monde le ferait, sans même avoir comme lui l' excuse de la nécessité.... Il ne pouvait se convaincre, et, pour ne pas être témoin des dernières et tristes scènes de la séparation, il était parti le matin même, espérant que tout serait fini avant son retour.
Mr. Shelby at this time was not at home. He had sold Tom under the spur of a driving necessity, to get out of the power of a man whom he dreaded,—and his first feeling, after the consummation of the bargain, had been that of relief. But his wife’s expostulations awoke his half-slumbering regrets; and Tom’s manly disinterestedness increased the unpleasantness of his feelings. It was in vain that he said to himself that he had a _right_ to do it,—that everybody did it,—and that some did it without even the excuse of necessity;—he could not satisfy his own feelings; and that he might not witness the unpleasant scenes of the consummation, he had gone on a short business tour up the country, hoping that all would be over before he returned.
Tom et Haley roulaient dans un tourbillon de poussière. Tous les objets familiers à l' esclave passaient comme des fantômes. Les limites de la propriété furent bientôt franchies; on se trouva sur le chemin public. ~~~ Au bout d' un mille environ, Haley s' arrêta devant la boutique d' un maréchal, et il entra pour faire faire quelques changements à une paire de menottes.
Tom and Haley rattled on along the dusty road, whirling past every old familiar spot, until the bounds of the estate were fairly passed, and they found themselves out on the open pike. After they had ridden about a mile, Haley suddenly drew up at the door of a blacksmith’s shop, when, taking out with him a pair of handcuffs, he stepped into the shop, to have a little alteration in them.
“These yer ’s a little too small for his build,” said Haley, showing the fetters, and pointing out to Tom.
“Lor! now, if thar an’t Shelby’s Tom. He han’t sold him, now?” said the smith.
“Yes, he has,” said Haley.
“Now, ye don’t! well, reely,” said the smith, “who’d a thought it! Why, ye needn’t go to fetterin’ him up this yer way. He’s the faithfullest, best crittur—”
-- Oui, oui, dit Haley; mais ce sont les bons qui veulent s' enfuir, précisément. Les brutes se laissent mener où l' on veut.... Pourvu qu' ils aient à manger, ils ne s' inquiètent pas du reste. Mais les esclaves intelligents haïssent le changement comme le péché. Il n' y a qu' un moyen, c' est de les enchaîner. Si on leur laisse des jambes, ils s' en servent; comptez là-dessus.
“Yes, yes,” said Haley; “but your good fellers are just the critturs to want ter run off. Them stupid ones, as doesn’t care whar they go, and shifless, drunken ones, as don’t care for nothin’, they’ll stick by, and like as not be rather pleased to be toted round; but these yer prime fellers, they hates it like sin. No way but to fetter ’em; got legs,—they’ll use ’em,—no mistake.”
“Well,” said the smith, feeling among his tools, “them plantations down thar, stranger, an’t jest the place a Kentuck nigger wants to go to; they dies thar tol’able fast, don’t they?”
“Wal, yes, tol’able fast, ther dying is; what with the ’climating and one thing and another, they dies so as to keep the market up pretty brisk,” said Haley.
“Wal, now, a feller can’t help thinkin’ it’s a mighty pity to have a nice, quiet, likely feller, as good un as Tom is, go down to be fairly ground up on one of them ar sugar plantations.”
“Wal, he’s got a fa’r chance. I promised to do well by him. I’ll get him in house-servant in some good old family, and then, if he stands the fever and ’climating, he’ll have a berth good as any nigger ought ter ask for.”
“He leaves his wife and chil’en up here, s’pose?”
“Yes; but he’ll get another thar. Lord, thar’s women enough everywhar,” said Haley.
Pendant toute cette conversation, Tom était tristement assis dans la charrette, à la porte de la maison. Tout à coup il entendit le bruit sec, vif et court d' un sabot de cheval. Avant qu' il fût revenu de sa surprise, Georges, son jeune maître, s' élança dans la voiture, lui jeta vivement ses bras autour du cou en poussant un grand cri:
Tom was sitting very mournfully on the outside of the shop while this conversation was going on. Suddenly he heard the quick, short click of a horse’s hoof behind him; and, before he could fairly awake from his surprise, young Master George sprang into the wagon, threw his arms tumultuously round his neck, and was sobbing and scolding with energy.
“I declare, it’s real mean! I don’t care what they say, any of ’em! It’s a nasty, mean shame! If I was a man, they shouldn’t do it,—they should not, _so_!” said George, with a kind of subdued howl.
“O! Mas’r George! this does me good!” said Tom. “I couldn’t bar to go off without seein’ ye! It does me real good, ye can’t tell!” Here Tom made some movement of his feet, and George’s eye fell on the fetters.
“What a shame!” he exclaimed, lifting his hands. “I’ll knock that old fellow down—I will!”
-- Non, monsieur Georges, non; il ne faut même pas parler si haut.... cela ne m' avancerait à rien de le mettre en colère contre moi.
“No you won’t, Mas’r George; and you must not talk so loud. It won’t help me any, to anger him.”
“Well, I won’t, then, for your sake; but only to think of it—isn’t it a shame? They never sent for me, nor sent me any word, and, if it hadn’t been for Tom Lincon, I shouldn’t have heard it. I tell you, I blew ’em up well, all of ’em, at home!”
“That ar wasn’t right, I’m ’feard, Mas’r George.”
“Can’t help it! I say it’s a shame! Look here, Uncle Tom,” said he, turning his back to the shop, and speaking in a mysterious tone, _“I’ve brought you my dollar!”_
“O! I couldn’t think o’ takin’ on ’t, Mas’r George, no ways in the world!” said Tom, quite moved.
“But you _shall_ take it!” said George; “look here—I told Aunt Chloe I’d do it, and she advised me just to make a hole in it, and put a string through, so you could hang it round your neck, and keep it out of sight; else this mean scamp would take it away. I tell ye, Tom, I want to blow him up! it would do me good!”
-- Oh non, ne le faites pas; cela ne me soulagerait pas, moi !
“No, don’t Mas’r George, for it won’t do _me_ any good.”
-- Allons ! soit ! dit Georges en attachant le dollar autour du cou de Tom. Boutonnez maintenant votre habit par-dessus, conservez -le, et, chaque fois que vous le regarderez, souvenez -vous que j' irai vous chercher un jour là-bas, et que je vous ramènerai. Je l' ai dit à la mère Chloé, je lui ai dit de ne rien craindre. Je vais m' en occuper, et mon père, jusqu' à ce qu' il le fasse, je vais le tourmenter !
“Well, I won’t, for your sake,” said George, busily tying his dollar round Tom’s neck; “but there, now, button your coat tight over it, and keep it, and remember, every time you see it, that I’ll come down after you, and bring you back. Aunt Chloe and I have been talking about it. I told her not to fear; I’ll see to it, and I’ll tease father’s life out, if he don’t do it.”
-- Oh ! monsieur Georges, ne parlez pas ainsi de votre père !
“O! Mas’r George, ye mustn’t talk so ’bout yer father!”
-- Mon Dieu ! Tom, je n' ai pas de mauvaises intentions....
“Lor, Uncle Tom, I don’t mean anything bad.”
-- Et maintenant, monsieur Georges, dit Tom, il faut que vous soyez un bon jeune homme. N' oubliez pas combien de coeurs s' appuient sur vous. Ne tombez pas dans les folies de la jeunesse; obéissez à votre mère: n' allez pas croire que vous soyez trop grand pour cela. Dites -vous bien, monsieur Georges, qu' il y a une foule de choses heureuses que Dieu peut nous donner deux fois, mais qu' il ne nous donne qu' une mère.... D'ailleurs, monsieur Georges, vous ne rencontrerez jamais une femme comme elle, dussiez -vous vivre cent ans. Restez près d' elle, et maintenant que vous allez grandir, devenez son appui. Vous ferez cela, mon cher enfant; n' est -ce pas que vous le ferez ?
“And now, Mas’r George,” said Tom, “ye must be a good boy; ’member how many hearts is sot on ye. Al’ays keep close to yer mother. Don’t be gettin’ into any of them foolish ways boys has of gettin’ too big to mind their mothers. Tell ye what, Mas’r George, the Lord gives good many things twice over; but he don’t give ye a mother but once. Ye’ll never see sich another woman, Mas’r George, if ye live to be a hundred years old. So, now, you hold on to her, and grow up, and be a comfort to her, thar’s my own good boy,—you will now, won’t ye?”
“Yes, I will, Uncle Tom,” said George seriously.
-- Prenez bien garde à vos paroles, monsieur Georges !... les enfants, quand ils arrivent à votre âge, deviennent parfois volontaires; c' est la nature qui veut cela. Mais les enfants bien élevés, comme vous, ne manquent jamais de respect à leurs parents.- -Je ne vous offense pas, monsieur Georges ?
“And be careful of yer speaking, Mas’r George. Young boys, when they comes to your age, is wilful, sometimes—it is natur they should be. But real gentlemen, such as I hopes you’ll be, never lets fall on words that isn’t ’spectful to thar parents. Ye an’t ’fended, Mas’r George?”
“No, indeed, Uncle Tom; you always did give me good advice.”
-- Dam ! je suis plus vieux que vous, vous savez, » dit l' oncle Tom en caressant de sa large et forte main la belle tête bouclée de l' enfant. Puis, lui parlant d' une voix douce et tendre comme une voix de femme: ~~~ « Je comprends, lui dit -il, toutes vos obligations. Oh ! monsieur Georges, vous avez tout pour vous: éducation, lecture, écriture, rang, privilége ! Vous deviendrez un bon et brave homme. Tout le monde dans l' habitation, votre père, votre mère, tous seront fiers de vous. Soyez un bon maître comme votre père, un bon chrétien comme votre mère, et souvenez -vous de votre Créateur pendant les jours de votre jeunesse, monsieur Georges.
“I’s older, ye know,” said Tom, stroking the boy’s fine, curly head with his large, strong hand, but speaking in a voice as tender as a woman’s, “and I sees all that’s bound up in you. O, Mas’r George, you has everything,—l’arnin’, privileges, readin’, writin’,—and you’ll grow up to be a great, learned, good man and all the people on the place and your mother and father’ll be so proud on ye! Be a good Mas’r, like yer father; and be a Christian, like yer mother. ’Member yer Creator in the days o’ yer youth, Mas’r George.”
-- Oui, je serai vraiment bon, père Tom, c' est moi qui vous le dis. Je vais devenir de première qualité. Mais ne vous découragez pas ! Je vous ferai revenir. Comme je le disais à la mère Chloé ce matin, je ferai rebâtir votre case du haut en bas. Vous aurez un grand parloir, avec un tapis, dès que je serai grand. Oh ! vous aurez encore de beaux jours. »
“I’ll be _real_ good, Uncle Tom, I tell you,” said George. “I’m going to be a _first-rater_; and don’t you be discouraged. I’ll have you back to the place, yet. As I told Aunt Chloe this morning, I’ll build our house all over, and you shall have a room for a parlor with a carpet on it, when I’m a man. O, you’ll have good times yet!”
Haley sortit de la maison, les menottes à la main.
Haley now came to the door, with the handcuffs in his hands.
« Songez, monsieur, dit Georges d' un air de haute supériorité, que j' instruirai ma famille de la façon dont vous traitez Tom.
“Look here, now, Mister,” said George, with an air of great superiority, as he got out, “I shall let father and mother know how you treat Uncle Tom!”
-- Bien le bonjour ! répondit Haley.
“You’re welcome,” said the trader.
“I should think you’d be ashamed to spend all your life buying men and women, and chaining them, like cattle! I should think you’d feel mean!” said George.
-- Tant que vos illustres parents en achèteront, reprit Haley, je pourrai bien en vendre... C' est à peu près la même chose !...
“So long as your grand folks wants to buy men and women, I’m as good as they is,” said Haley; “‘tan’t any meaner sellin’ on ’em, that ’t is buyin’!”
“I’ll never do either, when I’m a man,” said George; “I’m ashamed, this day, that I’m a Kentuckian. I always was proud of it before;” and George sat very straight on his horse, and looked round with an air, as if he expected the state would be impressed with his opinion.
« Allons, père Tom ! adieu.... et du courage !
“Well, good-by, Uncle Tom; keep a stiff upper lip,” said George.
-- Adieu ! monsieur Georges, adieu ! dit Tom, le regardant avec une tendresse mêlée d' admiration. Que Dieu vous bénisse !... Le Kentucky n' en a guère qui vous vaillent ! » s' écria -t-il avec un élan du coeur. ~~~ Georges partit.... Tom regardait toujours: le bruit du cheval s' éteignit enfin dans le silence; Tom n' entendit plus, ne vit plus rien qui lui rappelât la maison Shelby.... Mais il y avait toujours comme une petite place chaude sur sa poitrine. C' était celle où les mains du jeune homme avaient attaché le dollar.... Tom le serra contre son coeur.
“Good-by, Mas’r George,” said Tom, looking fondly and admiringly at him. “God Almighty bless you! Ah! Kentucky han’t got many like you!” he said, in the fulness of his heart, as the frank, boyish face was lost to his view. Away he went, and Tom looked, till the clatter of his horse’s heels died away, the last sound or sight of his home. But over his heart there seemed to be a warm spot, where those young hands had placed that precious dollar. Tom put up his hand, and held it close to his heart.
« Maintenant, Tom, écoutez -moi, dit Haley en montant dans la voiture, où il jeta les menottes. Je veux vous bien traiter, comme je traite toujours mes nègres.... Je veux vous le dire en commençant: soyez bien avec moi, je serai bien avec vous. Je ne suis pas dur avec mes nègres, moi ! je suis aussi bon que possible. Soyez bien tranquille; ne me jouez pas de tours comme font les nègres. Avec moi ce serait inutile; je les connais tous. Mais si on est tranquille, et qu' on ne cherche point à s' en aller, on a du bon temps. Sinon, c' est la faute des gens, ce n' est pas la mienne ! »
“Now, I tell ye what, Tom,” said Haley, as he came up to the wagon, and threw in the handcuffs, “I mean to start fa’r with ye, as I gen’ally do with my niggers; and I’ll tell ye now, to begin with, you treat me fa’r, and I’ll treat you fa’r; I an’t never hard on my niggers. Calculates to do the best for ’em I can. Now, ye see, you’d better jest settle down comfortable, and not be tryin’ no tricks; because nigger’s tricks of all sorts I’m up to, and it’s no use. If niggers is quiet, and don’t try to get off, they has good times with me; and if they don’t, why, it’s thar fault, and not mine.”
L' exhortation était au moins inutile, s' adressant à un homme qui avait une lourde paire de fers aux pieds. Tom répondit qu' il n' avait pas l' intention de s' enfuir. ~~~ C' était l' habitude de Haley, après ces achats, de procéder par des insinuations de cette nature; il voulait inspirer un peu de confiance et de gaieté à sa marchandise, afin d' éviter les scènes désagréables.
Tom assured Haley that he had no present intentions of running off. In fact, the exhortation seemed rather a superfluous one to a man with a great pair of iron fetters on his feet. But Mr. Haley had got in the habit of commencing his relations with his stock with little exhortations of this nature, calculated, as he deemed, to inspire cheerfulness and confidence, and prevent the necessity of any unpleasant scenes.
And here, for the present, we take our leave of Tom, to pursue the fortunes of other characters in our story.
CHAPITRE XI.
CHAPTER XI In Which Property Gets into an Improper State of Mind
Vers le soir d' une brumeuse journée, un voyageur descendit à la porte d' une petite auberge de campagne, au village de N., dans le Kentucky. Il trouva, dans la salle commune, une compagnie assez mêlée; l' inclémence du temps contraignait tous ces voyageurs à chercher un abri; c' était la mise en scène ordinaire de ces sortes de réunions. Des habitants du Kentucky, grands, forts, osseux, vêtus de blouses de chasse, et couvrant de leurs vastes membres une superficie considérable, s' étendaient tout de leur long, avec la nonchalance particulière à leur race; des carnassières, des poires à poudre, des chiens de chasse et de petits nègres se roulaient pêle-mêle dans les angles. A chaque coin du foyer était assis un homme aux longues jambes, sa chaise à demi renversée, son chapeau sur la tête, et les talons de ses boites souillées de boue sur le manteau de la cheminée. Nous devons avertir nos lecteurs que c' est la position préférée de ceux qui fréquentent les tavernes de l' ouest. Cette attitude favorise chez eux l' exercice de la pensée.
It was late in a drizzly afternoon that a traveler alighted at the door of a small country hotel, in the village of N——, in Kentucky. In the barroom he found assembled quite a miscellaneous company, whom stress of weather had driven to harbor, and the place presented the usual scenery of such reunions. Great, tall, raw-boned Kentuckians, attired in hunting-shirts, and trailing their loose joints over a vast extent of territory, with the easy lounge peculiar to the race,—rifles stacked away in the corner, shot-pouches, game-bags, hunting-dogs, and little negroes, all rolled together in the corners,—were the characteristic features in the picture. At each end of the fireplace sat a long-legged gentleman, with his chair tipped back, his hat on his head, and the heels of his muddy boots reposing sublimely on the mantel-piece,—a position, we will inform our readers, decidedly favorable to the turn of reflection incident to western taverns, where travellers exhibit a decided preference for this particular mode of elevating their understandings.
Mine host, who stood behind the bar, like most of his country men, was great of stature, good-natured and loose-jointed, with an enormous shock of hair on his head, and a great tall hat on the top of that.
A vrai dire, chacun, dans l' appartement, portait cet emblème caractéristique de la souveraineté de l' homme. Qu' il fût de paille ou de palmier, de castor épais ou de soie brillante, le chapeau révélait chez tous l' indépendance républicaine. Le chapeau, c' est l' homme. Les uns le portaient crânement sur le côté: c' étaient les hommes de joyeuse humeur, les sans-gêne et les malins. Les autres l' enfonçaient jusque sur leur nez: c' étaient les indomptables et les tapageurs, qui portent ainsi leurs chapeaux, parce que c' est ainsi qu' ils veulent le porter. D' autres, au contraire, l' avaient renversé en arrière, hommes vifs et alertes qui veulent tout voir. Les autres, vrais sans-soucis, le placent de toutes sortes de façons. ~~~ Les chapeaux eussent mérité une étude de Shakespeare lui-même.
In fact, everybody in the room bore on his head this characteristic emblem of man’s sovereignty; whether it were felt hat, palm-leaf, greasy beaver, or fine new chapeau, there it reposed with true republican independence. In truth, it appeared to be the characteristic mark of every individual. Some wore them tipped rakishly to one side—these were your men of humor, jolly, free-and-easy dogs; some had them jammed independently down over their noses—these were your hard characters, thorough men, who, when they wore their hats, _wanted_ to wear them, and to wear them just as they had a mind to; there were those who had them set far over back—wide-awake men, who wanted a clear prospect; while careless men, who did not know, or care, how their hats sat, had them shaking about in all directions. The various hats, in fact, were quite a Shakespearean study.
Des nègres, fort à l' aise dans leurs larges pantalons et fort à l' étroit dans leurs chemises, circulaient de tous côtés, sans autre but que de prouver leur désir d' employer tous les objets de la création au service de leur maître et de ses hôtes. Ajoutez à ce tableau un beau feu, vif, pétillant, qui flambait de la façon la plus réjouissante du monde dans une vaste et large cheminée. La porte et les fenêtres étaient ouvertes; les rideaux de calicot flottaient et se gonflaient sous de grosses bouffées d' air humide et froid. Vous avez maintenant une idée des agréments d' une taverne du Kentucky.
Divers negroes, in very free-and-easy pantaloons, and with no redundancy in the shirt line, were scuttling about, hither and thither, without bringing to pass any very particular results, except expressing a generic willingness to turn over everything in creation generally for the benefit of Mas’r and his guests. Add to this picture a jolly, crackling, rollicking fire, going rejoicingly up a great wide chimney,—the outer door and every window being set wide open, and the calico window-curtain flopping and snapping in a good stiff breeze of damp raw air,—and you have an idea of the jollities of a Kentucky tavern.
Les habitants du Kentucky, à l' heure où nous écrivons, sont une preuve vivante à l' appui de la doctrine qui enseigne la transmission des instincts et des particularités distinctives des races. ~~~ Leurs pères étaient de grands chasseurs, vivant dans les bois, dormant sous le ciel, avec les étoiles pour flambeaux. Leurs descendants regardent la maison comme une tente, ont toujours le chapeau sur la tête, s' étendent partout, mettent le talon de leurs bottes sur le manteau des cheminées, comme leurs pères faisaient sur le tronc des arbres, tiennent les fenêtres et les portes ouvertes, hiver comme été, afin d' avoir assez d' air pour leurs vastes poumons, appellent tout le monde « étranger » avec une _nonchalante bonhomie_[8 ], et sont, du reste, les plus francs, les plus faciles et les plus gais de tous les hommes.
Your Kentuckian of the present day is a good illustration of the doctrine of transmitted instincts and peculiarities. His fathers were mighty hunters,—men who lived in the woods, and slept under the free, open heavens, with the stars to hold their candles; and their descendant to this day always acts as if the house were his camp,—wears his hat at all hours, tumbles himself about, and puts his heels on the tops of chairs or mantelpieces, just as his father rolled on the green sward, and put his upon trees and logs,—keeps all the windows and doors open, winter and summer, that he may get air enough for his great lungs,—calls everybody “stranger,” with nonchalant _bonhommie_, and is altogether the frankest, easiest, most jovial creature living.
[ 8 ] Ces mots sont en français dans le texte original. ~~~ Telle était la réunion dans laquelle pénétra notre voyageur. C' était un petit homme trapu, mis avec soin: toute l' apparence d' une bonne et franche nature, avec une certaine pointe d' originalité. Il accordait la plus grande attention à sa valise et à son parapluie; il entra, les portant lui-même à la main, et résistant avec opiniâtreté à toutes les offres de service des domestiques qui voulaient lui venir en aide. Il parcourut la salle d' un regard circulaire, où perçait une certaine inquiétude, et, se retirant vers le coin le plus chaud de l' appartement, il plaça ces objets sous sa chaise, s' assit enfin, et regarda avec anxiété le digne personnage dont les talons ornaient l' autre bout de la cheminée et qui crachait à droite et à gauche avec une force et une énergie bien capables d' effrayer un bourgeois minutieux et dont les nerfs sont trop susceptibles.
Into such an assembly of the free and easy our traveller entered. He was a short, thick-set man, carefully dressed, with a round, good-natured countenance, and something rather fussy and particular in his appearance. He was very careful of his valise and umbrella, bringing them in with his own hands, and resisting, pertinaciously, all offers from the various servants to relieve him of them. He looked round the barroom with rather an anxious air, and, retreating with his valuables to the warmest corner, disposed them under his chair, sat down, and looked rather apprehensively up at the worthy whose heels illustrated the end of the mantel-piece, who was spitting from right to left, with a courage and energy rather alarming to gentlemen of weak nerves and particular habits.
“I say, stranger, how are ye?” said the aforesaid gentleman, firing an honorary salute of tobacco-juice in the direction of the new arrival.
“Well, I reckon,” was the reply of the other, as he dodged, with some alarm, the threatening honor.
“Any news?” said the respondent, taking out a strip of tobacco and a large hunting-knife from his pocket.
-- Aucune que je sache, répondit l' étranger.
“Not that I know of,” said the man.
“Chaw?” said the first speaker, handing the old gentleman a bit of his tobacco, with a decidedly brotherly air.
-- Non, merci ! cela me fait mal, dit le petit homme en repoussant le tabac.
“No, thank ye—it don’t agree with me,” said the little man, edging off.
-- Ah ! vous n' en usez pas ! » fit -il familièrement; et il fourra le morceau dans sa bouche.
“Don’t, eh?” said the other, easily, and stowing away the morsel in his own mouth, in order to keep up the supply of tobacco-juice, for the general benefit of society.
Le vieux petit gentleman se reculait vivement chaque fois que son frère aux longues côtes crachait dans sa direction. Celui -ci, s' en apercevant, se détourna obliquement, et, dirigeant son artillerie d' un autre côté, il commença de battre en brèche un des landiers avec un déploiement de génie militaire suffisant pour prendre une ville.
The old gentleman uniformly gave a little start whenever his long-sided brother fired in his direction; and this being observed by his companion, he very good-naturedly turned his artillery to another quarter, and proceeded to storm one of the fire-irons with a degree of military talent fully sufficient to take a city.
“What’s that?” said the old gentleman, observing some of the company formed in a group around a large handbill.
-- Un nègre en fuite, » telle fut la réponse laconique d' un des lecteurs.
“Nigger advertised!” said one of the company, briefly.
Mr. Wilson, for that was the old gentleman’s name, rose up, and, after carefully adjusting his valise and umbrella, proceeded deliberately to take out his spectacles and fix them on his nose; and, this operation being performed, read as follows:
« S' est enfui de la maison du soussigné l' esclave mulâtre Georges, taille de six pieds[9 ], teint presque blanc, cheveux bruns bouclés, très-intelligent; parle bien, sait lire et écrire; il essayera probablement de se faire passer pour un blanc; il a de profondes cicatrices sur le dos et sur les épaules; la main droite a été marquée au feu de la lettre H. ~~~ « Quatre cents dollars à qui le ramènera vivant. La même somme sur preuve justificative qu' il a été tué. » ~~~ [ 9 ] Les pieds anglais et américains sont moins longs que notre _pied de roi_.
“Ran away from the subscriber, my mulatto boy, George. Said George six feet in height, a very light mulatto, brown curly hair; is very intelligent, speaks handsomely, can read and write, will probably try to pass for a white man, is deeply scarred on his back and shoulders, has been branded in his right hand with the letter H. “I will give four hundred dollars for him alive, and the same sum for satisfactory proof that he has been _killed.”_
The old gentleman read this advertisement from end to end in a low voice, as if he were studying it.
The long-legged veteran, who had been besieging the fire-iron, as before related, now took down his cumbrous length, and rearing aloft his tall form, walked up to the advertisement and very deliberately spit a full discharge of tobacco-juice on it.
“There’s my mind upon that!” said he, briefly, and sat down again.
“Why, now, stranger, what’s that for?” said mine host.
-- Je ferais la même chose à l' auteur s' il était ici, répondit l' homme aux longues jambes en reprenant son ancienne occupation, qui consistait à couper du tabac. Un homme qui possède un esclave de cette valeur et qui ne le traite pas mieux mérite de le perdre.... Des affiches comme celles -là sont une honte pour le Kentucky.... Voilà mon opinion, si quelqu'un veut la savoir.
“I’d do it all the same to the writer of that ar paper, if he was here,” said the long man, coolly resuming his old employment of cutting tobacco. “Any man that owns a boy like that, and can’t find any better way o’ treating on him, _deserves_ to lose him. Such papers as these is a shame to Kentucky; that’s my mind right out, if anybody wants to know!”
“Well, now, that’s a fact,” said mine host, as he made an entry in his book.
-- J' ai mon troupeau d' esclaves, monsieur, poursuivit l' homme aux longues jambes en reprenant son attaque contre les chenets, et je leur dis toujours: Garçons, décampez, fuyez, partez quand il vous plaira, je ne m' aviserai jamais de courir après vous.... Et voilà comme je les garde ! Persuadez -leur qu' ils sont libres de s' en aller quand ils voudront, cela leur en ôte l' envie. Bien plus, j' ai leurs papiers d' affranchissement tout prêts au cas où ils voudraient partir; ils le savent, et, je vous le dis, étranger, il n' y a pas dans mes parages un homme qui tire meilleur parti que moi de ses nègres. Mes esclaves sont allés maintes fois à Cincinnati avec des poulains pour cinq cents dollars, ils m' ont rapporté l' argent bien exactement, et je le comprends. Traitez -les comme des chiens, ils agiront comme des chiens; traitez -les comme des hommes, ils agiront comme des hommes. » ~~~ Et l' honnête maquignon, dans l' ardeur de ses démonstrations, pour donner plus d' éclat aux sentiments moraux qu' il exprimait, les accompagna d' un véritable feu d' artifice dirigé vers l' âtre.
“I’ve got a gang of boys, sir,” said the long man, resuming his attack on the fire-irons, “and I jest tells ’em—‘Boys,’ says I,—‘_run_ now! dig! put! jest when ye want to! I never shall come to look after you!’ That’s the way I keep mine. Let ’em know they are free to run any time, and it jest breaks up their wanting to. More ’n all, I’ve got free papers for ’em all recorded, in case I gets keeled up any o’ these times, and they know it; and I tell ye, stranger, there an’t a fellow in our parts gets more out of his niggers than I do. Why, my boys have been to Cincinnati, with five hundred dollars’ worth of colts, and brought me back the money, all straight, time and agin. It stands to reason they should. Treat ’em like dogs, and you’ll have dogs’ works and dogs’ actions. Treat ’em like men, and you’ll have men’s works.” And the honest drover, in his warmth, endorsed this moral sentiment by firing a perfect _feu de joi_ at the fireplace.
« Je crois, mon ami, que vous avez raison, dit M. Wilson, et l' esclave dont on donne ici le signalement est un individu remarquable: il n' y a point à s' y tromper; il a travaillé pour moi une demi-douzaine d' années dans ma fabrique de sacs; c' était mon meilleur ouvrier; c' est de plus un homme très-ingénieux; il a inventé une machine pour tiller le chanvre: c' est une excellente chose. On s' en sert dans diverses fabriques. Son maître en possède le brevet.
“I think you’re altogether right, friend,” said Mr. Wilson; “and this boy described here _is_ a fine fellow—no mistake about that. He worked for me some half-dozen years in my bagging factory, and he was my best hand, sir. He is an ingenious fellow, too: he invented a machine for the cleaning of hemp—a really valuable affair; it’s gone into use in several factories. His master holds the patent of it.”
“I’ll warrant ye,” said the drover, “holds it and makes money out of it, and then turns round and brands the boy in his right hand. If I had a fair chance, I’d mark him, I reckon so that he’d carry it _one_ while.”
“These yer knowin’ boys is allers aggravatin’ and sarcy,” said a coarse-looking fellow, from the other side of the room; “that’s why they gets cut up and marked so. If they behaved themselves, they wouldn’t.”
“That is to say, the Lord made ’em men, and it’s a hard squeeze gettin ’em down into beasts,” said the drover, dryly.
-- Les nègres distingués n' offrent aucun avantage à leur maître, reprit l' autre, bien retranché qu' il était contre le mépris de son adversaire dans sa stupide et grossière ignorance. A quoi bon le talent des esclaves puisqu' on ne peut s' en servir soi -même ? Ils ne l' emploient qu' à vous éclipser. J' ai eu un ou deux de ces individus. Je les ai fait vendre de l' autre côté de la rivière. Je savais bien que je les aurais perdus tôt ou tard....
“Bright niggers isn’t no kind of ’vantage to their masters,” continued the other, well entrenched, in a coarse, unconscious obtuseness, from the contempt of his opponent; “what’s the use o’ talents and them things, if you can’t get the use on ’em yourself? Why, all the use they make on ’t is to get round you. I’ve had one or two of these fellers, and I jest sold ’em down river. I knew I’d got to lose ’em, first or last, if I didn’t.”
“Better send orders up to the Lord, to make you a set, and leave out their souls entirely,” said the drover.
Ici la conversation fut interrompue par l' arrivée dans l' auberge d' un petit boguey à un seul cheval. Il avait une très-jolie apparence; un homme comme il faut, bien mis, était assis sur le siége avec un domestique de couleur qui conduisait.
Here the conversation was interrupted by the approach of a small one-horse buggy to the inn. It had a genteel appearance, and a well-dressed, gentlemanly man sat on the seat, with a colored servant driving.
Toute la compagnie l' examina avec l' intérêt qu' une réunion d' oisifs, retenus au logis par un temps pluvieux, accorde toujours à un nouvel arrivant. Il était très-grand, brun, une complexion espagnole, de beaux yeux noirs expressifs; des cheveux bouclés, également noirs, mais d' un noir sans reflet; son nez aquilin, irréprochable, ses lèvres fines et minces, l' admirable contour de ses membres bien proportionnés, frappèrent toute l' assistance. On pensa que ce devait être un personnage de très-haut rang. Il entra, salua avec une aisance parfaite, indiqua d' un geste à son domestique où il devait poser ses malles, et alla au comptoir, à pas lents, et le chapeau à la main; il se fit inscrire sous le nom d' Henri Butler, d' Oaklands, comté de Shelby; il se retourna, examina l' affiche et la lut de l' air le plus indifférent du monde.
The whole party examined the new comer with the interest with which a set of loafers in a rainy day usually examine every newcomer. He was very tall, with a dark, Spanish complexion, fine, expressive black eyes, and close-curling hair, also of a glossy blackness. His well-formed aquiline nose, straight thin lips, and the admirable contour of his finely-formed limbs, impressed the whole company instantly with the idea of something uncommon. He walked easily in among the company, and with a nod indicated to his waiter where to place his trunk, bowed to the company, and, with his hat in his hand, walked up leisurely to the bar, and gave in his name as Henry Butter, Oaklands, Shelby County. Turning, with an indifferent air, he sauntered up to the advertisement, and read it over.
“Jim,” he said to his man, “seems to me we met a boy something like this, up at Beman’s, didn’t we?”
“Yes, Mas’r,” said Jim, “only I an’t sure about the hand.”
“Well, I didn’t look, of course,” said the stranger with a careless yawn. Then walking up to the landlord, he desired him to furnish him with a private apartment, as he had some writing to do immediately.
L' aubergiste fit preuve du plus obséquieux empressement; une troupe de nègres, vieux et jeunes, mâles et femelles, petits et grands, se leva de tous les coins, avec le bruit d' une couvée de perdrix; ils se mirent à fureter, bouleverser, renverser partout, se marchant sur les talons, et tombant les uns sur les autres, dans l' excès de leur zèle à préparer la chambre de M' ssieu; lui cependant prit une chaise, s' assit au milieu de la compagnie et entama la conversation avec son voisin.
The landlord was all obsequious, and a relay of about seven negroes, old and young, male and female, little and big, were soon whizzing about, like a covey of partridges, bustling, hurrying, treading on each other’s toes, and tumbling over each other, in their zeal to get Mas’r’s room ready, while he seated himself easily on a chair in the middle of the room, and entered into conversation with the man who sat next to him.
Le manufacturier, M. Wilson, n' avait cessé de regarder l' étranger; c' était une curiosité avide, troublée, mal à l' aise.... Il s' imaginait reconnaître Butler, l' avoir rencontré quelque part; mais il ne pouvait préciser ses souvenirs. A chaque instant, quand l' étranger parlait, souriait, faisait un mouvement, il fixait les yeux sur lui...; puis, soudain, les détournait, quand il rencontrait l' oeil noir, brillant et calme de l' étranger. Enfin, tout à coup le souvenir vrai passa dans son esprit avec la rapidité de l' éclair; il se leva, et, d' un air de stupéfaction et de crainte, il s' avança vers Butler.
The manufacturer, Mr. Wilson, from the time of the entrance of the stranger, had regarded him with an air of disturbed and uneasy curiosity. He seemed to himself to have met and been acquainted with him somewhere, but he could not recollect. Every few moments, when the man spoke, or moved, or smiled, he would start and fix his eyes on him, and then suddenly withdraw them, as the bright, dark eyes met his with such unconcerned coolness. At last, a sudden recollection seemed to flash upon him, for he stared at the stranger with such an air of blank amazement and alarm, that he walked up to him.
“Mr. Wilson, I think,” said he, in a tone of recognition, and extending his hand. “I beg your pardon, I didn’t recollect you before. I see you remember me,—Mr. Butler, of Oaklands, Shelby County.”
“Ye—yes—yes, sir,” said Mr. Wilson, like one speaking in a dream.
Just then a negro boy entered, and announced that Mas’r’s room was ready.
“Jim, see to the trunks,” said the gentleman, negligently; then addressing himself to Mr. Wilson, he added—“I should like to have a few moments’ conversation with you on business, in my room, if you please.”
Mr. Wilson followed him, as one who walks in his sleep; and they proceeded to a large upper chamber, where a new-made fire was crackling, and various servants flying about, putting finishing touches to the arrangements.
When all was done, and the servants departed, the young man deliberately locked the door, and putting the key in his pocket, faced about, and folding his arms on his bosom, looked Mr. Wilson full in the face.
«Georges!
“George!” said Mr. Wilson.
“Yes, George,” said the young man. ~~~ “I couldn’t have thought it!” ~~~ “I am pretty well disguised, I fancy,” said the young man, with a smile. “A little walnut bark has made my yellow skin a genteel brown, and I’ve dyed my hair black; so you see I don’t answer to the advertisement at all.”
“O, George! but this is a dangerous game you are playing. I could not have advised you to it.”
“I can do it on my own responsibility,” said George, with the same proud smile.
Nous ferons remarquer en passant que Georges, par son père, était un blanc. Sa mère était une de ces infortunées que leur beauté désigne pour être les esclaves des passions de leurs maîtres, pauvres mères dont les enfants sont destinés à ne jamais connaître leur père ! Il devait à une des plus nobles familles du Kentucky les beaux traits d' un visage européen, et un caractère indomptable et superbe; il devait à sa mère une certaine couleur, amplement rachetée par de magnifiques yeux noirs. Avec un léger changement dans cette teinte de la peau et dans la couleur des cheveux, c' était maintenant un véritable Espagnol. Comme la grâce des formes et l' élégance des manières lui avaient toujours été naturelles, il n' éprouvait aucun embarras à remplir le rôle audacieux qu' il avait choisi: celui d' un gentleman en voyage.
We remark, _en passant_, that George was, by his father’s side, of white descent. His mother was one of those unfortunates of her race, marked out by personal beauty to be the slave of the passions of her possessor, and the mother of children who may never know a father. From one of the proudest families in Kentucky he had inherited a set of fine European features, and a high, indomitable spirit. From his mother he had received only a slight mulatto tinge, amply compensated by its accompanying rich, dark eye. A slight change in the tint of the skin and the color of his hair had metamorphosed him into the Spanish-looking fellow he then appeared; and as gracefulness of movement and gentlemanly manners had always been perfectly natural to him, he found no difficulty in playing the bold part he had adopted—that of a gentleman travelling with his domestic.
M. Wilson, bonne nature au fond, mais vieillard timide et minutieux, arpentait la chambre à grands pas, « roulant le chaos dans son âme, » selon l' expression de John Bunyan, déjà cité, partagé entre le désir de venir au secours de Georges et le sentiment confus de l' ordre et de la loi qu' il fallait faire respecter. Tout en continuant sa promenade, il s' exprima donc en ces termes:
Mr. Wilson, a good-natured but extremely fidgety and cautious old gentleman, ambled up and down the room, appearing, as John Bunyan hath it, “much tumbled up and down in his mind,” and divided between his wish to help George, and a certain confused notion of maintaining law and order: so, as he shambled about, he delivered himself as follows:
“Well, George, I s’pose you’re running away—leaving your lawful master, George—(I don’t wonder at it)—at the same time, I’m sorry, George,—yes, decidedly—I think I must say that, George—it’s my duty to tell you so.”
“Why are you sorry, sir?” said George, calmly.
“Why, to see you, as it were, setting yourself in opposition to the laws of your country.”
“_My_ country!” said George, with a strong and bitter emphasis; “what country have I, but the grave,—and I wish to God that I was laid there!”
-- Quoi ! Georges.... Oh ! non ! non ! il ne faut pas ! Cette façon de parler est mauvaise, contraire à l' Écriture ! Georges, vous avez un mauvais maître, je le sais; il se conduit mal. Je ne prétends pas le défendre; mais vous savez que l' ange contraignit Agar à retourner chez Sara et à ployer sous sa main; l' Apôtre a renvoyé Onésime à son maître !
“Why, George, no—no—it won’t do; this way of talking is wicked—unscriptural. George, you’ve got a hard master—in fact, he is—well he conducts himself reprehensibly—I can’t pretend to defend him. But you know how the angel commanded Hagar to return to her mistress, and submit herself under the hand;[1] and the apostle sent back Onesimus to his master.”[2]
[1] Gen. 16. The angel bade the pregnant Hagar return to her mistress Sarai, even though Sarai had dealt harshly with her.
-- Ne me citez pas la Bible de cette façon -là, monsieur Wilson, reprit Georges avec des éclairs dans les yeux. Non, ne le faites pas. Ma femme est chrétienne; je le serai moi-même si jamais j' arrive dans un lieu où je puisse l' être. Mais citer la Bible à un homme qui se trouve dans ma position.... tenez, c' est le pousser à faire le contraire de ce qui s' y trouve. J' en appelle au Dieu tout-puissant, je lui soumets le cas, je lui demande si j' ai tort de vouloir être libre.
[2] Phil. 1:10. Onesimus went back to his master to become no longer a servant but a “brother beloved.” ~~~ “Don’t quote Bible at me that way, Mr. Wilson,” said George, with a flashing eye, “don’t! for my wife is a Christian, and I mean to be, if ever I get to where I can; but to quote Bible to a fellow in my circumstances, is enough to make him give it up altogether. I appeal to God Almighty;—I’m willing to go with the case to Him, and ask Him if I do wrong to seek my freedom.”
-- Oui ! ces sentiments sont naturels, Georges, dit le bon vieillard en se mouchant.... Ils sont naturels.... Mais mon devoir n' est pas de vous encourager dans cette voie. Oui, mon cher enfant, je m' afflige pour vous.... Vous êtes dans une très-mauvaise condition, très-mauvaise. Mais l' Apôtre a dit: Que chacun conserve la condition à laquelle il a été appelé.... Nous devons nous soumettre aux volontés de la Providence.... Ne le pensez -vous pas ? »
“These feelings are quite natural, George,” said the good-natured man, blowing his nose. “Yes, they’re natural, but it is my duty not to encourage ’em in you. Yes, my boy, I’m sorry for you, now; it’s a bad case—very bad; but the apostle says, ‘Let everyone abide in the condition in which he is called.’ We must all submit to the indications of Providence, George,—don’t you see?”
Georges était debout, la tête rejetée en arrière, les bras croisés sur sa large poitrine; un sourire amer contractait ses lèvres.
George stood with his head drawn back, his arms folded tightly over his broad breast, and a bitter smile curling his lips.
« Je vous le demande, monsieur Wilson, si les Indiens vous emmenaient prisonnier, s' ils vous arrachaient à votre femme et à vos enfants, s' ils voulaient vous contraindre à moudre leur blé pendant toute votre vie, dites -moi un peu, penseriez -vous que c' est votre devoir de demeurer dans la condition à laquelle vous auriez été appelé ? Je serais plutôt porté à croire que vous regarderiez le premier cheval que vous pourriez attraper comme une indication plus certaine des volontés de la Providence ! N' est -ce point ? »
“I wonder, Mr. Wilson, if the Indians should come and take you a prisoner away from your wife and children, and want to keep you all your life hoeing corn for them, if you’d think it your duty to abide in the condition in which you were called. I rather think that you’d think the first stray horse you could find an indication of Providence—shouldn’t you?”
Le vieillard releva les yeux: c' était une nouvelle face de la question. Quoiqu' il ne fût pas un logicien très-distingué, il avait du moins sur beaucoup d' autres raisonneurs cette immense supériorité que, là où il n' y avait rien à dire, il ne disait rien ! Il se contenta donc de passer à diverses reprises la main sur son parapluie dont il régularisa et rabattit les plis avec le plus grand soin. Il continua ensuite ses exhortations, tout en se bornant à des développements très-généraux.
The little old gentleman stared with both eyes at this illustration of the case; but, though not much of a reasoner, he had the sense in which some logicians on this particular subject do not excel,—that of saying nothing, where nothing could be said. So, as he stood carefully stroking his umbrella, and folding and patting down all the creases in it, he proceeded on with his exhortations in a general way.
« Vous voyez, Georges, vous savez maintenant que j' ai toujours été votre ami. Tout ce que j' ai dit, je l' ai dit pour votre bien; il me semble qu' à présent vous courez de terribles dangers. Vous ne pouvez espérer de les surmonter. Si vous êtes pris, vous serez plus malheureux que jamais ! Vous serez accablé de mauvais traitements, à moitié tué et envoyé dans le sud. ~~~ -- Monsieur Wilson, je sais tout cela, dit Georges. Je cours la chance. »
“You see, George, you know, now, I always have stood your friend; and whatever I’ve said, I’ve said for your good. Now, here, it seems to me, you’re running an awful risk. You can’t hope to carry it out. If you’re taken, it will be worse with you than ever; they’ll only abuse you, and half kill you, and sell you down the river.”
Ici Georges entr'ouvrit son par-dessus et montra un coutelas et deux pistolets à sa ceinture. ~~~ « Voilà ! dit -il, je les attends.... Je n' irai jamais dans le sud. Si l' on en vient là, je saurai me conquérir au moins six pieds de sol libre.... le premier et le dernier morceau de terre que j' aurai dans le Kentucky !
“Mr. Wilson, I know all this,” said George. “I _do_ run a risk, but—” he threw open his overcoat, and showed two pistols and a bowie-knife. “There!” he said, “I’m ready for ’em! Down south I never _will_ go. No! if it comes to that, I can earn myself at least six feet of free soil,—the first and last I shall ever own in Kentucky!”
“Why, George, this state of mind is awful; it’s getting really desperate George. I’m concerned. Going to break the laws of your country!”
-- Encore mon pays ! Monsieur Wilson, vous avez un pays, vous, mais quel pays ai -je, moi, et ceux qui me ressemblent ? fils de mères esclaves, quelles lois y a -t-il pour nous ? Nous ne les faisons pas; nous ne les consentons pas; elles ne nous regardent point, elles font tout pour nous briser et nous abattre ! N' ai -je pas entendu vos discours du 4 juillet[10 ] ? Ne nous dites -vous pas une fois par an que les gouvernements ne tirent leur autorité que du consentement des sujets ? Et quand on entend cela, ne peut -on point penser et comparer ? » ~~~ [ 10 ] L' anniversaire de la proclamation de l' indépendance américaine.
“My country again! Mr. Wilson, _you_ have a country; but what country have _I_, or any one like me, born of slave mothers? What laws are there for us? We don’t make them,—we don’t consent to them,—we have nothing to do with them; all they do for us is to crush us, and keep us down. Haven’t I heard your Fourth-of-July speeches? Don’t you tell us all, once a year, that governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed? Can’t a fellow _think_, that hears such things? Can’t he put this and that together, and see what it comes to?”
L' esprit de M. Wilson pourrait être assez justement assimilé à une balle de coton, douce, moelleuse, embrouillée, sans résistance. Il plaignait Georges de tout son coeur; il comprenait vaguement, obscurément, les sentiments qui l' agitaient; mais il croyait qu' il était de son devoir de s' obstiner à lui adresser de bons discours.
Mr. Wilson’s mind was one of those that may not unaptly be represented by a bale of cotton,—downy, soft, benevolently fuzzy and confused. He really pitied George with all his heart, and had a sort of dim and cloudy perception of the style of feeling that agitated him; but he deemed it his duty to go on talking _good_ to him, with infinite pertinacity.
“George, this is bad. I must tell you, you know, as a friend, you’d better not be meddling with such notions; they are bad, George, very bad, for boys in your condition,—very;” and Mr. Wilson sat down to a table, and began nervously chewing the handle of his umbrella.
« Voyons, monsieur Wilson, dit Georges en s' approchant et s' asseyant résolûment tout près de lui, front contre front; voyons, regardez -moi donc ! ne suis -je pas un homme comme vous ? Voyez mon visage, voyez mes mains, voyez mon corps.... Et le jeune homme se leva fièrement.... Eh bien ! ne suis -je pas un homme.... autant que qui que ce soit ? Monsieur Wilson ! écoutez ce que je vais vous dire: j' ai eu pour père un de vos messieurs du Kentucky; il n' a même pas daigné s' occuper de moi.... Il m' a laissé vendre.... avec ses chiens et ses chevaux. J' ai vu ma mère et sept enfants à l' encan du shérif.... devant ses yeux.... un à un.... ils ont été vendus à sept maîtres différents; j' étais le plus jeune: elle vint et s' agenouilla devant le vieux maître qui m' achetait, le suppliant de l' acheter avec moi pour qu' elle pût avoir un de ses enfants; il la repoussa du talon de sa lourde botte !... Je l' ai vu faire. Le dernier souvenir que j' aie gardé de ma mère, c' est le bruit de ses sanglots et de ses cris, quand on m' attacha au cou du cheval qui allait m' emporter loin d' elle !
“See here, now, Mr. Wilson,” said George, coming up and sitting himself determinately down in front of him; “look at me, now. Don’t I sit before you, every way, just as much a man as you are? Look at my face,—look at my hands,—look at my body,” and the young man drew himself up proudly; “why am I _not_ a man, as much as anybody? Well, Mr. Wilson, hear what I can tell you. I had a father—one of your Kentucky gentlemen—who didn’t think enough of me to keep me from being sold with his dogs and horses, to satisfy the estate, when he died. I saw my mother put up at sheriff’s sale, with her seven children. They were sold before her eyes, one by one, all to different masters; and I was the youngest. She came and kneeled down before old Mas’r, and begged him to buy her with me, that she might have at least one child with her; and he kicked her away with his heavy boot. I saw him do it; and the last that I heard was her moans and screams, when I was tied to his horse’s neck, to be carried off to his place.”
--Et après?
“Well, then?”
-- Mon maître s' arrangea avec un des acheteurs, et il prit ma soeur aînée. Elle était pieuse et bonne, membre de l' Église des anabaptistes, et aussi belle que ma pauvre mère l' avait été ! elle était bien élevée et avait d' excellentes façons. Je fus d'abord heureux de la voir acheter: c' était une amie que j' avais près de moi. Hélas ! je dus bientôt m' en affliger. Monsieur ! je suis resté à la porte pendant qu' on la fouettait; il me semblait que chaque coup retombait à nu sur mon coeur. Et je ne pouvais rien.... rien pour la secourir ! Et elle était fouettée, monsieur, pour avoir voulu vivre d' une vie chaste et chrétienne: vos lois ne donnent point aux filles esclaves le droit de vivre ainsi ! Enfin, je l' ai vue enchaîner avec la troupe d' un marchand de chair humaine, qui l' emmenait à la Nouvelle-Orléans, et cela.... pour ce que je vous ai dit ! Depuis, je n' ai jamais entendu parler d' elle. Je grandis; des années, de longues années passèrent ! Ni mère, ni père, ni soeur ! Pas une âme vivante qui se souciât de moi plus que d' un chien !... Rien que le fouet, les injures et la faim ! Oui, monsieur, j' ai eu si faim, que j' étais heureux de manger les os qu' ils jetaient à leurs chiens ! Et pourtant, quand j' étais petit enfant et que je passais à pleurer mes nuits sans sommeil, ce n' était pas le fouet, ce n' était pas la faim qui me faisaient pleurer.... C' était ma mère et ma soeur ! Je pleurais parce que je n' avais point d' ami sur terre pour m' aimer. J' ignorais ce que pouvaient être la paix et le bonheur. Jusqu' au jour où j' entrai dans votre fabrique, on ne m' avait pas dit une bonne parole. Monsieur Wilson, vous m' avez doucement traité, vous m' avez encouragé à bien faire, à lire, à écrire, à faire quelque chose par moi-même. Dieu sait combien je vous en suis reconnaissant ! C' est à cette époque que j' ai rencontré ma femme. Vous l' avez vue. Vous savez combien elle est belle ! Quand j' ai senti qu' elle m' aimait, quand je l' ai épousée.... je ne me suis plus cru au nombre des vivants: j' étais si heureux ! Elle est bonne autant qu' elle est belle ! Mais quoi ! voilà que mon maître vient.... il m' arrache à mon travail, à mes amis, à tout ce que j' aime, et il me rejette dans la boue ! Et pourquoi ? parce que, dit -il, j' oublie qui je suis.... Il veut m' apprendre que je ne suis qu' un esclave ! mais voilà qui est la fin de tout, et pire que tout ! Il se met entre ma femme et moi.... Il veut que je l' abandonne et que j' en prenne une autre.... et tout cela, vos lois lui permettent de le faire.... en dépit de Dieu et des hommes ! Monsieur Wilson, prenez -y garde ! il n' y a pas une de ces choses qui ont brisé le coeur de ma mère, de ma soeur et de ma femme.... il n' y a pas une de ces choses qui ne soit permise par vos lois. Chaque homme, dans le Kentucky, peut faire cela, et personne ne peut lui dire _non_ ! Appelez -vous ces lois les lois de MON pays ? Monsieur, je n' ai pas plus de pays que je n' ai de père ! Mais j' en aurai un plus tard.... tout ce que je demande à votre pays, à vous, c' est qu' il me laisse, c' est que je puisse en sortir tranquillement. Si j' arrive au Canada, où les lois m' assisteront et me protégeront, le Canada sera mon pays, et j' obéirai à ses lois; et si l' on veut m' arrêter, que l' on prenne garde ! car je suis un désespéré ! je combattrai pour ma liberté jusqu' au dernier soupir de ma poitrine ! Vous dites que vos pères ont fait cela: s' ils ont eu raison, j' aurai raison aussi, moi ! »
“My master traded with one of the men, and bought my oldest sister. She was a pious, good girl,—a member of the Baptist church,—and as handsome as my poor mother had been. She was well brought up, and had good manners. At first, I was glad she was bought, for I had one friend near me. I was soon sorry for it. Sir, I have stood at the door and heard her whipped, when it seemed as if every blow cut into my naked heart, and I couldn’t do anything to help her; and she was whipped, sir, for wanting to live a decent Christian life, such as your laws give no slave girl a right to live; and at last I saw her chained with a trader’s gang, to be sent to market in Orleans,—sent there for nothing else but that,—and that’s the last I know of her. Well, I grew up,—long years and years,—no father, no mother, no sister, not a living soul that cared for me more than a dog; nothing but whipping, scolding, starving. Why, sir, I’ve been so hungry that I have been glad to take the bones they threw to their dogs; and yet, when I was a little fellow, and laid awake whole nights and cried, it wasn’t the hunger, it wasn’t the whipping, I cried for. No, sir, it was for _my mother_ and _my sisters_,—it was because I hadn’t a friend to love me on earth. I never knew what peace or comfort was. I never had a kind word spoken to me till I came to work in your factory. Mr. Wilson, you treated me well; you encouraged me to do well, and to learn to read and write, and to try to make something of myself; and God knows how grateful I am for it. Then, sir, I found my wife; you’ve seen her,—you know how beautiful she is. When I found she loved me, when I married her, I scarcely could believe I was alive, I was so happy; and, sir, she is as good as she is beautiful. But now what? Why, now comes my master, takes me right away from my work, and my friends, and all I like, and grinds me down into the very dirt! And why? Because, he says, I forgot who I was; he says, to teach me that I am only a nigger! After all, and last of all, he comes between me and my wife, and says I shall give her up, and live with another woman. And all this your laws give him power to do, in spite of God or man. Mr. Wilson, look at it! There isn’t _one_ of all these things, that have broken the hearts of my mother and my sister, and my wife and myself, but your laws allow, and give every man power to do, in Kentucky, and none can say to him nay! Do you call these the laws of _my_ country? Sir, I haven’t any country, anymore than I have any father. But I’m going to have one. I don’t want anything of _your_ country, except to be let alone,—to go peaceably out of it; and when I get to Canada, where the laws will own me and protect me, _that_ shall be my country, and its laws I will obey. But if any man tries to stop me, let him take care, for I am desperate. I’ll fight for my liberty to the last breath I breathe. You say your fathers did it; if it was right for them, it is right for me!”
Georges parla tantôt assis près de la table, tantôt debout et parcourant la chambre à grands pas; il parla avec des larmes et des éclairs dans les yeux, et des gestes désespérés. ~~~ C' en était beaucoup trop pour le vieillard auquel il s' adressait; il tira de sa poche un grand mouchoir de soie jaune et s' essuya le visage.
This speech, delivered partly while sitting at the table, and partly walking up and down the room,—delivered with tears, and flashing eyes, and despairing gestures,—was altogether too much for the good-natured old body to whom it was addressed, who had pulled out a great yellow silk pocket-handkerchief, and was mopping up his face with great energy.
« Que le diable emporte les maîtres ! s' écria -t-il dans une explosion de colère. Malédiction sur eux !... Ah ! est -ce que j' ai juré ? Allons, Georges, en avant, en avant ! mais soyez prudent, mon garçon ! Ne tuez personne, Georges, à moins que.... tenez, il vaudrait mieux ne pas tuer ! oui, cela vaudrait mieux. Pour moi, je ne voudrais faire de mal à personne, vous savez. Où est votre femme, Georges ? ajouta -t-il en se levant avec un mouvement nerveux, et en parcourant la chambre.
“Blast ’em all!” he suddenly broke out. “Haven’t I always said so—the infernal old cusses! I hope I an’t swearing, now. Well! go ahead, George, go ahead; but be careful, my boy; don’t shoot anybody, George, unless—well—you’d _better_ not shoot, I reckon; at least, I wouldn’t _hit_ anybody, you know. Where is your wife, George?” he added, as he nervously rose, and began walking the room.
-- Partie, monsieur, partie ! emportant son enfant dans ses bras. Où ? Dieu seul le sait ! Elle a pour guide l' étoile du Nord ! Quand nous retrouverons -nous ?... Nous retrouverons -nous sur cette terre ?... Personne ne pourrait le dire.
“Gone, sir gone, with her child in her arms, the Lord only knows where;—gone after the north star; and when we ever meet, or whether we meet at all in this world, no creature can tell.”
“Is it possible! astonishing! from such a kind family?”
-- Les bonnes familles contractent des dettes, et les lois de votre pays leur permettent d' arracher l' enfant du sein de sa mère pour payer la dette du maître ! dit Georges avec amertume.
“Kind families get in debt, and the laws of _our_ country allow them to sell the child out of its mother’s bosom to pay its master’s debts,” said George, bitterly.
“Well, well,” said the honest old man, fumbling in his pocket: “I s’pose, perhaps, I an’t following my judgment,—hang it, I _won’t_ follow my judgment!” he added, suddenly; “so here, George,” and, taking out a roll of bills from his pocket-book, he offered them to George.
“No, my kind, good sir!” said George, “you’ve done a great deal for me, and this might get you into trouble. I have money enough, I hope, to take me as far as I need it.”
“No; but you must, George. Money is a great help everywhere;—can’t have too much, if you get it honestly. Take it,—_do_ take it, _now_,—do, my boy!”
“On condition, sir, that I may repay it at some future time, I will,” said George, taking up the money.
“And now, George, how long are you going to travel in this way?—not long or far, I hope. It’s well carried on, but too bold. And this black fellow,—who is he?”
“A true fellow, who went to Canada more than a year ago. He heard, after he got there, that his master was so angry at him for going off that he had whipped his poor old mother; and he has come all the way back to comfort her, and get a chance to get her away.”
“Has he got her?”
“Not yet; he has been hanging about the place, and found no chance yet. Meanwhile, he is going with me as far as Ohio, to put me among friends that helped him, and then he will come back after her.
“Dangerous, very dangerous!” said the old man.
George drew himself up, and smiled disdainfully.
Le vieillard le regarda de la tête aux pieds avec une sorte d'admiration naïve.
The old gentleman eyed him from head to foot, with a sort of innocent wonder.
“George, something has brought you out wonderfully. You hold up your head, and speak and move like another man,” said Mr. Wilson.
“Because I’m a _freeman_!” said George, proudly. “Yes, sir; I’ve said Mas’r for the last time to any man. _I’m free!”_
“Take care! You are not sure,—you may be taken.”
“All men are free and equal _in the grave_, if it comes to that, Mr. Wilson,” said George.
-- En vérité, votre audace me confond, reprit Wilson. Venir ici, à la plus proche taverne !
“I’m perfectly dumb-founded with your boldness!” said Mr. Wilson,—“to come right here to the nearest tavern!”
-- Mais, monsieur Wilson, c' est si hardi, et cette taverne est si proche, qu' ils n' y penseront jamais. On ira me chercher plus loin.... et d'ailleurs, vous -même vous ne m' auriez pas reconnu. Le maître de Jim ne vit pas dans ce pays.... Jim y est tout à fait étranger; il est abandonné maintenant, on ne le cherche plus, et personne, je pense, ne me reconnaîtra au signalement de l' affiche. »
“Mr. Wilson, it is _so_ bold, and this tavern is so near, that they will never think of it; they will look for me on ahead, and you yourself wouldn’t know me. Jim’s master don’t live in this county; he isn’t known in these parts. Besides, he is given up; nobody is looking after him, and nobody will take me up from the advertisement, I think.” ~~~ “But the mark in your hand?”
Georges tira son gant et montra la cicatrice d' une blessure récemment guérie.
George drew off his glove, and showed a newly-healed scar in his hand.
“That is a parting proof of Mr. Harris’ regard,” he said, scornfully. “A fortnight ago, he took it into his head to give it to me, because he said he believed I should try to get away one of these days. Looks interesting, doesn’t it?” he said, drawing his glove on again.
“I declare, my very blood runs cold when I think of it,—your condition and your risks!” said Mr. Wilson.
-- Mon sang, à moi, a été glacé dans mes veines pendant des années.... il bouillonne maintenant ! Allons, cher monsieur, reprit -il après quelques instants de silence, j' ai vu que vous me reconnaissiez, et j' ai voulu causer un peu avec vous, pour que votre surprise ne me trahît pas. Mais adieu ! je pars demain matin de bonne heure, avant le jour. Demain soir, j' espère dormir en sécurité sur la rive de l' Ohio ! Je voyagerai de jour, descendrai aux meilleurs hôtels, et dînerai à la table commune, avec les maîtres de la terre ! Allons ! adieu, monsieur, si vous apprenez que je suis pris, vous saurez que je suis mort.... Adieu ! »
“Mine has run cold a good many years, Mr. Wilson; at present, it’s about up to the boiling point,” said George. ~~~ “Well, my good sir,” continued George, after a few moments’ silence, “I saw you knew me; I thought I’d just have this talk with you, lest your surprised looks should bring me out. I leave early tomorrow morning, before daylight; by tomorrow night I hope to sleep safe in Ohio. I shall travel by daylight, stop at the best hotels, go to the dinner-tables with the lords of the land. So, good-by, sir; if you hear that I’m taken, you may know that I’m dead!”
George stood up like a rock, and put out his hand with the air of a prince. The friendly little old man shook it heartily, and after a little shower of caution, he took his umbrella, and fumbled his way out of the room.
George stood thoughtfully looking at the door, as the old man closed it. A thought seemed to flash across his mind. He hastily stepped to it, and opening it, said,
«Monsieur Wilson, encore un mot!»
“Mr. Wilson, one word more.”
M. Wilson rentra. Georges ferma la porte à clef comme auparavant, attacha un instant ses yeux irrésolus sur le parquet, puis enfin relevant la tête par un soudain effort: ~~~ « Monsieur Wilson, vous vous êtes conduit avec moi comme un chrétien. J' ai besoin de vous demander encore un acte de bonté chrétienne.
The old gentleman entered again, and George, as before, locked the door, and then stood for a few moments looking on the floor, irresolutely. At last, raising his head with a sudden effort—“Mr. Wilson, you have shown yourself a Christian in your treatment of me,—I want to ask one last deed of Christian kindness of you.”
--Allez, Georges.
“Well, George.”
-- Eh bien ! monsieur, ce que vous disiez est vrai. Je cours un danger terrible; que je meure.... je ne connais pas en ce monde âme vivante qui seulement y prenne garde.... » On entendait les palpitations de sa poitrine haletante; il ajouta avec un pénible effort: « On me jettera là comme un chien, et, un jour après, personne n' y pensera.... excepté ma pauvre femme ! pauvre âme ! elle se désolera et pleurera.... Si vous vouliez bien essayer de lui faire passer cette petite épingle. C' est un présent de Noël qu' elle m' a fait. Chère, chère enfant ! Donnez -le -lui, et dites lui que je l' ai aimée jusqu' à la fin.... Voulez -vous, monsieur, voulez -vous ? reprit -il d' une voix émue.
“Well, sir,—what you said was true. I _am_ running a dreadful risk. There isn’t, on earth, a living soul to care if I die,” he added, drawing his breath hard, and speaking with a great effort,—“I shall be kicked out and buried like a dog, and nobody’ll think of it a day after,—_only my poor wife!_ Poor soul! she’ll mourn and grieve; and if you’d only contrive, Mr. Wilson, to send this little pin to her. She gave it to me for a Christmas present, poor child! Give it to her, and tell her I loved her to the last. Will you? _Will_ you?” he added, earnestly.
-- Oui, certes, pauvre jeune homme ! dit M. Wilson, les yeux humides et la voix tremblante.
“Yes, certainly—poor fellow!” said the old gentleman, taking the pin, with watery eyes, and a melancholy quiver in his voice.
-- Dites -lui encore, reprit Georges, qu' elle aille au Canada, si elle peut, c' est là mon dernier voeu. Peu importe que sa maîtresse soit bonne, peu importe qu' elle soit attachée à cette maison, l' esclavage finit toujours par la misère. Dites -lui de faire de notre enfant un homme libre.... et alors il ne souffrira pas comme j' ai souffert. Dites -lui cela, monsieur Wilson, voulez -vous ?
“Tell her one thing,” said George; “it’s my last wish, if she _can_ get to Canada, to go there. No matter how kind her mistress is,—no matter how much she loves her home; beg her not to go back,—for slavery always ends in misery. Tell her to bring up our boy a free man, and then he won’t suffer as I have. Tell her this, Mr. Wilson, will you?”
“Yes, George. I’ll tell her; but I trust you won’t die; take heart,—you’re a brave fellow. Trust in the Lord, George. I wish in my heart you were safe through, though,—that’s what I do.”
-- Y a -t-il un Dieu pour qu' on ait confiance en lui ? fit Georges avec tant d' amertume que la parole expira sur les lèvres du vieillard. Ah ! ce que j' ai vu dans ma vie me fait trop sentir qu' il ne peut pas y avoir de Dieu ! Vous ne savez pas, vous autres, chrétiens, ce que nous pensons de tout cela ! Il y a un Dieu pour vous, il n' y en a pas pour nous !
“_Is_ there a God to trust in?” said George, in such a tone of bitter despair as arrested the old gentleman’s words. “O, I’ve seen things all my life that have made me feel that there can’t be a God. You Christians don’t know how these things look to us. There’s a God for you, but is there any for us?”
-- Ah ! mon enfant, ne pensez pas ainsi, dit le vieillard avec des sanglots. Dieu existe.... il existe ! Autour de lui, il y a des nuages et de l' obscurité, mais son trône est placé entre la justice et la vérité. Il y a un Dieu, Georges; croyez en lui, confiez -vous en lui, et, j' en suis sûr, il vous assistera. Chaque chose sera mise à sa place, sinon en cette vie, au moins en l' autre ! »
“O, now, don’t—don’t, my boy!” said the old man, almost sobbing as he spoke; “don’t feel so! There is—there is; clouds and darkness are around about him, but righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. There’s a _God_, George,—believe it; trust in Him, and I’m sure He’ll help you. Everything will be set right,—if not in this life, in another.”
The real piety and benevolence of the simple old man invested him with a temporary dignity and authority, as he spoke. George stopped his distracted walk up and down the room, stood thoughtfully a moment, and then said, quietly,
“Thank you for saying that, my good friend; I’ll _think of that_.”
CHAPITRE XII. ~~~ Un commerce permis par la loi.
CHAPTER XII Select Incident of Lawful Trade
“In Ramah there was a voice heard,—weeping, and lamentation, and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted.”
LA BIBLE.
Jer. 31:15.
................................................ ~~~ M. Haley et Tom continuèrent leur route, absorbés l' un et l' autre dans leurs réflexions. C' est une chose curieuse que les réflexions de deux personnes assises l' une à côté de l' autre. Elles sont sur le même siége: elles ont les mêmes yeux, les mêmes oreilles, les mêmes mains, enfin les mêmes organes, et ce sont les mêmes objets qui passent devant leurs yeux.... Et cependant quelle profonde différence dans leur pensée !
Mr. Haley and Tom jogged onward in their wagon, each, for a time, absorbed in his own reflections. Now, the reflections of two men sitting side by side are a curious thing,—seated on the same seat, having the same eyes, ears, hands and organs of all sorts, and having pass before their eyes the same objects,—it is wonderful what a variety we shall find in these same reflections!
Voici, par exemple, M. Haley: eh bien ! il songe à la taille de Tom, à sa hauteur, à sa largeur, au prix qu' il en aura, s' il parvient à le conserver gras et en bon état jusqu' au marché; il se demande de combien de têtes il devra composer son troupeau; il suppute la valeur de certains arrangements d' hommes, de femmes et d' enfants.... puis il réfléchit à son humanité; il se dit que tant d' autres mettent les fers aux pieds et aux mains de leurs nègres, tandis que lui veut bien se contenter des fers aux pieds, et laisser à Tom l' usage de ses mains.... aussi longtemps du moins qu' il se conduira bien.... puis il soupire en pensant à l' ingratitude humaine, et il en arrive à se demander si Tom apprécie bien ses bontés.... Il a été tellement trompé par des nègres, qu' il avait pourtant bien traités.... il s' étonne de voir combien, malgré cela, il est cependant resté bon !
As, for example, Mr. Haley: he thought first of Tom’s length, and breadth, and height, and what he would sell for, if he was kept fat and in good case till he got him into market. He thought of how he should make out his gang; he thought of the respective market value of certain supposititious men and women and children who were to compose it, and other kindred topics of the business; then he thought of himself, and how humane he was, that whereas other men chained their “niggers” hand and foot both, he only put fetters on the feet, and left Tom the use of his hands, as long as he behaved well; and he sighed to think how ungrateful human nature was, so that there was even room to doubt whether Tom appreciated his mercies. He had been taken in so by “niggers” whom he had favored; but still he was astonished to consider how good-natured he yet remained!
Quant à Tom, il réfléchit à quelques mots d' un gros vieux livre, qui lui trottent par la tête. « Nous n' avons point ici-bas de demeure permanente, mais nous en cherchons une pour la vie à venir. C' est pourquoi Dieu lui-même n' a pas honte d' être appelé NOTRE Dieu, car il nous a préparé lui-même une cité. » Ces paroles d' un vieux livre, que consultent surtout les illettrés et les ignorants, ont eu, dans tous les temps, un étrange pouvoir sur l' esprit du pauvre et du simple; elles soulèvent l' esprit des profondeurs de l' abîme, et là où il n' y avait que le sombre désespoir, elles réveillent, comme l' appel de la trompette, le courage, l' énergie et l' enthousiasme....
As to Tom, he was thinking over some words of an unfashionable old book, which kept running through his head, again and again, as follows: “We have here no continuing city, but we seek one to come; wherefore God himself is not ashamed to be called our God; for he hath prepared for us a city.” These words of an ancient volume, got up principally by “ignorant and unlearned men,” have, through all time, kept up, somehow, a strange sort of power over the minds of poor, simple fellows, like Tom. They stir up the soul from its depths, and rouse, as with trumpet call, courage, energy, and enthusiasm, where before was only the blackness of despair.
Haley tira plusieurs journaux de sa poche et se mit à lire les annonces avec une attention qui l' absorbait complétement. Il n' était pas positivement fort sur la lecture; sa lecture à lui était une sorte de récitatif à demi-voix, comme s' il eût eu besoin du contrôle de ses oreilles, avant d' accepter le témoignage de ses yeux. Il voulait s' entendre. C' est ainsi qu' il récita lentement le paragraphe suivant:
Mr. Haley pulled out of his pocket sundry newspapers, and began looking over their advertisements, with absorbed interest. He was not a remarkably fluent reader, and was in the habit of reading in a sort of recitative half-aloud, by way of calling in his ears to verify the deductions of his eyes. In this tone he slowly recited the following paragraph:
VENTE PAR AUTORITÉ DE JUSTICE.--NÈGRES. ~~~ Conformément à l' arrêt de la cour, seront vendus le mardi 21 février, devant la porte du palais, en la ville de Washington, dans le Kentucky, les nègres dont les noms suivent: ~~~ Agar, âgée de 60 ans; John, âgé de 30 ans; Ben, âgé de 21 ans; Saül, âgé de 25 ans; Albert, âgé de 14 ans. ~~~ Ils seront vendus au bénéfice et pour le compte des créanciers et héritiers de la succession de Josse Blutchford, esquire.
“EXECUTOR’S SALE,—NEGROES!—Agreeably to order of court, will be sold, on Tuesday, February 20, before the Court-house door, in the town of Washington, Kentucky, the following negroes: Hagar, aged 60; John, aged 30; Ben, aged 21; Saul, aged 25; Albert, aged 14. Sold for the benefit of the creditors and heirs of the estate of Jesse Blutchford,
_Signé_: SAMUEL MORRIS, THOMAS PLENT, _syndics_.
“SAMUEL MORRIS, THOMAS FLINT, _Executors_.”
« Il faudra que je voie cela, dit Haley s' adressant à Tom, faute d' autre interlocuteur. Vous voyez, Tom, je vais avoir une belle troupe pour mettre avec vous.... cela vous sera une société. Rien n' est agréable comme la bonne compagnie, vous savez. Nous allons donc d'abord et avant tout nous rendre directement à Washington. Là je vais vous faire enfermer dans la prison, pendant que je ferai mes affaires. »
“This yer I must look at,” said he to Tom, for want of somebody else to talk to. ~~~ “Ye see, I’m going to get up a prime gang to take down with ye, Tom; it’ll make it sociable and pleasant like,—good company will, ye know. We must drive right to Washington first and foremost, and then I’ll clap you into jail, while I does the business.”
Tom reçut cette agréable nouvelle avec une douceur parfaite, mais il se demandait simplement dans son coeur combien de ces malheureux avaient des femmes et des enfants; il se demandait s' ils sentiraient autant que lui le chagrin de les quitter. Et puis, il faut bien l' avouer, ce naïf avertissement donné à Tom qu' on allait le jeter en prison, n' était nullement de nature à faire impression sur un pauvre homme qui avait mis tout son orgueil à tenir une ligne de conduite irréprochable.... Tom était un peu orgueilleux de son honnêteté; il n' avait que cela dont il pût être fier.... S' il eût appartenu aux classes élevées du monde, il n' eût pas été réduit à cette extrémité. La journée se passa, et, vers le soir, Haley et Tom se trouvèrent installés à Washington, celui -ci dans une prison, celui -là dans une taverne.
Tom received this agreeable intelligence quite meekly; simply wondering, in his own heart, how many of these doomed men had wives and children, and whether they would feel as he did about leaving them. It is to be confessed, too, that the naive, off-hand information that he was to be thrown into jail by no means produced an agreeable impression on a poor fellow who had always prided himself on a strictly honest and upright course of life. Yes, Tom, we must confess it, was rather proud of his honesty, poor fellow,—not having very much else to be proud of;—if he had belonged to some of the higher walks of society, he, perhaps, would never have been reduced to such straits. However, the day wore on, and the evening saw Haley and Tom comfortably accommodated in Washington,—the one in a tavern, and the other in a jail.
Le lendemain, vers onze heures, une foule très-mêlée se pressait au pied de l' escalier du tribunal: ceux -ci fumaient, ceux -là chiquaient; les uns crachaient, les autres parlaient, suivant les goûts respectifs des personnages. ~~~ On attendait l' ouverture des enchères. Les hommes et les femmes qu' on allait vendre formaient un groupe à part; ils se parlaient entre eux à voix basse. La femme désignée sous le nom d' Agar était une véritable Africaine de tournure et de visage; elle pouvait avoir soixante ans, mais elle en portait davantage: la maladie et les fatigues l' avaient vieillie avant l' âge. Elle était presque aveugle, et ses membres étaient perclus de rhumatismes. A côté d' elle se tenait le dernier de ses fils, Albert, petit, mais alerte et beau garçon de quatorze ans. C' était le dernier survivant d' une nombreuse famille que la malheureuse mère avait vu vendre pour les marchés du sud. La pauvre vieille appuyait sur lui ses deux mains tremblantes, et jetait un regard inquiet et timide sur tous ceux qui s' approchaient pour l' examiner.
About eleven o’clock the next day, a mixed throng was gathered around the court-house steps,—smoking, chewing, spitting, swearing, and conversing, according to their respective tastes and turns,—waiting for the auction to commence. The men and women to be sold sat in a group apart, talking in a low tone to each other. The woman who had been advertised by the name of Hagar was a regular African in feature and figure. She might have been sixty, but was older than that by hard work and disease, was partially blind, and somewhat crippled with rheumatism. By her side stood her only remaining son, Albert, a bright-looking little fellow of fourteen years. The boy was the only survivor of a large family, who had been successively sold away from her to a southern market. The mother held on to him with both her shaking hands, and eyed with intense trepidation every one who walked up to examine him.
[Illustration: THE AUCTION SALE.] ~~~ “Don’t be feard, Aunt Hagar,” said the oldest of the men, “I spoke to Mas’r Thomas ’bout it, and he thought he might manage to sell you in a lot both together.”
“Dey needn’t call me worn out yet,” said she, lifting her shaking hands. “I can cook yet, and scrub, and scour,—I’m wuth a buying, if I do come cheap;—tell em dat ar,—you _tell_ em,” she added, earnestly.
Cependant Haley fendit la foule, arriva au vieux nègre, lui fit ouvrir la bouche, examina la mâchoire, frappa de petits coups sur les dents, le fit lever, se dresser, courber le dos, et accomplir diverses évolutions pour montrer ses muscles. Puis il passa au suivant et lui fit subir le même examen. Il alla enfin vers Albert, lui tâta le bras, étendit ses mains, regarda ses doigts et le fit sauter pour voir sa souplesse.
Haley here forced his way into the group, walked up to the old man, pulled his mouth open and looked in, felt of his teeth, made him stand and straighten himself, bend his back, and perform various evolutions to show his muscles; and then passed on to the next, and put him through the same trial. Walking up last to the boy, he felt of his arms, straightened his hands, and looked at his fingers, and made him jump, to show his agility.
“He an’t gwine to be sold widout me!” said the old woman, with passionate eagerness; “he and I goes in a lot together; I ’s rail strong yet, Mas’r and can do heaps o’ work,—heaps on it, Mas’r.”
“On plantation?” said Haley, with a contemptuous glance. “Likely story!” and, as if satisfied with his examination, he walked out and looked, and stood with his hands in his pocket, his cigar in his mouth, and his hat cocked on one side, ready for action.
“What think of ’em?” said a man who had been following Haley’s examination, as if to make up his own mind from it.
“Wal,” said Haley, spitting, “I shall put in, I think, for the youngerly ones and the boy.”
“They want to sell the boy and the old woman together,” said the man.
“Find it a tight pull;—why, she’s an old rack o’ bones,—not worth her salt.”
-- Vous n' en voudriez donc pas ?
“You wouldn’t then?” said the man.
“Anybody ’d be a fool ’t would. She’s half blind, crooked with rheumatis, and foolish to boot.”
“Some buys up these yer old critturs, and ses there’s a sight more wear in ’em than a body ’d think,” said the man, reflectively.
“No go, ’t all,” said Haley; “wouldn’t take her for a present,—fact,—I’ve _seen_, now.”
“Wal, ’t is kinder pity, now, not to buy her with her son,—her heart seems so sot on him,—s’pose they fling her in cheap.”
“Them that’s got money to spend that ar way, it’s all well enough. I shall bid off on that ar boy for a plantation-hand;—wouldn’t be bothered with her, no way, not if they’d give her to me,” said Haley.
-- Elle va être désespérée.
“She’ll take on desp’t,” said the man.
-- Sans doute, » dit froidement Haley.
“Nat’lly, she will,” said the trader, coolly.
La conversation se trouva interrompue par le bruit de la foule tumultueuse. Le commissaire-priseur, petit homme trapu, à l' air affairé et important, se fraya un passage à l' aide de ses coudes. La pauvre vieille retint son souffle et s' attacha convulsivement à son fils.
The conversation was here interrupted by a busy hum in the audience; and the auctioneer, a short, bustling, important fellow, elbowed his way into the crowd. The old woman drew in her breath, and caught instinctively at her son.
“Keep close to yer mammy, Albert,—close,—dey’ll put us up togedder,” she said.
“O, mammy, I’m feard they won’t,” said the boy.
“Dey must, child; I can’t live, no ways, if they don’t” said the old creature, vehemently.
The stentorian tones of the auctioneer, calling out to clear the way, now announced that the sale was about to commence. A place was cleared, and the bidding began. The different men on the list were soon knocked off at prices which showed a pretty brisk demand in the market; two of them fell to Haley.
“Come, now, young un,” said the auctioneer, giving the boy a touch with his hammer, “be up and show your springs, now.”
“Put us two up togedder, togedder,—do please, Mas’r,” said the old woman, holding fast to her boy.
-- Au large ! répondit le commissaire d' un ton brutal, en lui faisant lâcher prise. Vous venez la dernière ! Allons ! noiraud, saute; » et en même temps il poussa l' enfant vers l' estrade. Un profond sanglot se fit entendre derrière lui; l' enfant s' arrêta et se retourna; mais il n' avait pas de temps à lui.... il dut marcher; les larmes tombaient de ses grands yeux brillants.
“Be off,” said the man, gruffly, pushing her hands away; “you come last. Now, darkey, spring;” and, with the word, he pushed the boy toward the block, while a deep, heavy groan rose behind him. The boy paused, and looked back; but there was no time to stay, and, dashing the tears from his large, bright eyes, he was up in a moment.
Son beau visage, sa tournure gracieuse, ses membres souples excitèrent vivement les concurrents. Une douzaine d' enchères vinrent simultanément assaillir l' oreille du commissaire. L' enfant inquiet, effrayé, jetait les yeux de tous côtés en entendant ce bruit et cette lutte des enchères se disputant sa personne. Enfin le marteau retomba. L' acquéreur était Haley. L' enfant fut poussé de l' estrade vers son nouveau maître. Il s' arrêta encore un instant pour regarder sa vieille mère, dont les membres tremblaient, et qui tendait vers lui ses mains émues.
His fine figure, alert limbs, and bright face, raised an instant competition, and half a dozen bids simultaneously met the ear of the auctioneer. Anxious, half-frightened, he looked from side to side, as he heard the clatter of contending bids,—now here, now there,—till the hammer fell. Haley had got him. He was pushed from the block toward his new master, but stopped one moment, and looked back, when his poor old mother, trembling in every limb, held out her shaking hands toward him.
“Buy me too, Mas’r, for de dear Lord’s sake!—buy me,—I shall die if you don’t!”
“You’ll die if I do, that’s the kink of it,” said Haley,—“no!” And he turned on his heel.
The bidding for the poor old creature was summary. The man who had addressed Haley, and who seemed not destitute of compassion, bought her for a trifle, and the spectators began to disperse.
The poor victims of the sale, who had been brought up in one place together for years, gathered round the despairing old mother, whose agony was pitiful to see.
“Couldn’t dey leave me one? Mas’r allers said I should have one,—he did,” she repeated over and over, in heart-broken tones.
-- Ayez confiance en Dieu, mère Agar, lui dit lentement le plus vieux des esclaves.
“Trust in the Lord, Aunt Hagar,” said the oldest of the men, sorrowfully.
“What good will it do?” said she, sobbing passionately.
“Mother, mother,—don’t! don’t!” said the boy. “They say you ’s got a good master.”
“I don’t care,—I don’t care. O, Albert! oh, my boy! you ’s my last baby. Lord, how ken I?”
“Come, take her off, can’t some of ye?” said Haley, dryly; “don’t do no good for her to go on that ar way.”
Le vieux nègre, moitié force, moitié persuasion, dénoua l' étreinte convulsive, et, tout en la conduisant vers la charrette de son nouveau maître, la troupe des esclaves s' efforça de la consoler.
The old men of the company, partly by persuasion and partly by force, loosed the poor creature’s last despairing hold, and, as they led her off to her new master’s wagon, strove to comfort her.
“Now!” said Haley, pushing his three purchases together, and producing a bundle of handcuffs, which he proceeded to put on their wrists; and fastening each handcuff to a long chain, he drove them before him to the jail.
A few days saw Haley, with his possessions, safely deposited on one of the Ohio boats. It was the commencement of his gang, to be augmented, as the boat moved on, by various other merchandise of the same kind, which he, or his agent, had stored for him in various points along shore.
_La Belle-Rivière_, brave et beau vaisseau (ni plus beau ni plus brave ne sillonna jamais les eaux d' un fleuve ), _la Belle-Rivière_ suivait gaiement le courant, sous un ciel splendide; à l' avant flottait le pavillon américain aux bandes semées d' étoiles. Le pont était couvert de gentlemen et de femmes en grande toilette qui se promenaient paisiblement et jouissaient des charmes d' une belle journée. Tout était vie, fête, animation. Mais le troupeau de Haley, entassé dans la cale avec les autres marchandises, ne paraissait pas apprécier les charmes de sa position. Ils étaient assis en cercle et causaient entre eux à voix basse.
The La Belle Riviere, as brave and beautiful a boat as ever walked the waters of her namesake river, was floating gayly down the stream, under a brilliant sky, the stripes and stars of free America waving and fluttering over head; the guards crowded with well-dressed ladies and gentlemen walking and enjoying the delightful day. All was full of life, buoyant and rejoicing;—all but Haley’s gang, who were stored, with other freight, on the lower deck, and who, somehow, did not seem to appreciate their various privileges, as they sat in a knot, talking to each other in low tones.
“Boys,” said Haley, coming up, briskly, “I hope you keep up good heart, and are cheerful. Now, no sulks, ye see; keep stiff upper lip, boys; do well by me, and I’ll do well by you.”
Les esclaves répondirent par leur invariable: « Oui, maître ! » C' est le mot de passe de cette pauvre Afrique. Mais nous devons avouer qu' ils ne paraissaient pas d' une gaieté parfaite: ils avaient tous certains petits préjugés à l' égard de leurs mères, de leurs femmes, de leurs enfants, qu' ils avaient vus pour la dernière fois, et, bien que la joie leur fût ordonnée par ceux -là même qui les désolaient, la joie venait assez difficilement.
The boys addressed responded the invariable “Yes, Mas’r,” for ages the watchword of poor Africa; but it’s to be owned they did not look particularly cheerful; they had their various little prejudices in favor of wives, mothers, sisters, and children, seen for the last time,—and though “they that wasted them required of them mirth,” it was not instantly forthcoming.
“I’ve got a wife,” spoke out the article enumerated as “John, aged thirty,” and he laid his chained hand on Tom’s knee,—“and she don’t know a word about this, poor girl!”
“Where does she live?” said Tom.
“In a tavern a piece down here,” said John; “I wish, now, I _could_ see her once more in this world,” he added.
Poor John! It _was_ rather natural; and the tears that fell, as he spoke, came as naturally as if he had been a white man. Tom drew a long breath from a sore heart, and tried, in his poor way, to comfort him.
Au-dessus de leur tête, dans la cabine, étaient assis des pères et des mères, maris et femmes, et, joyeux, sautillants, des enfants qui tournaient autour d' eux, comme autant de petits papillons.
And over head, in the cabin, sat fathers and mothers, husbands and wives; and merry, dancing children moved round among them, like so many little butterflies, and everything was going on quite easy and comfortable.
C' était une scène de la vie heureuse, confortable et facile.
“O, mamma,” said a boy, who had just come up from below, “there’s a negro trader on board, and he’s brought four or five slaves down there.”
“Poor creatures!” said the mother, in a tone between grief and indignation.
“What’s that?” said another lady.
“Some poor slaves below,” said the mother.
-- De pauvres esclaves au-dessous de nous, et ils ont des chaînes !
“And they’ve got chains on,” said the boy.
--Quelle honte pour notre pays qu'un tel spectacle!
“What a shame to our country that such sights are to be seen!” said another lady.
-- Oh ! il y a bien à dire pour et contre, disait une mère qui était assise et cousait à la porte de son salon particulier, tandis que son petit garçon et ses petites filles jouaient autour d' elle. J' ai voyagé dans le sud, et je dois dire que je suis persuadée que les esclaves sont plus heureux que s' ils étaient libres.
“O, there’s a great deal to be said on both sides of the subject,” said a genteel woman, who sat at her state-room door sewing, while her little girl and boy were playing round her. “I’ve been south, and I must say I think the negroes are better off than they would be to be free.”
-- Oui, sous certains rapports, quelques-uns sont fort bien, je vous l' accorde, reprit la femme à laquelle cette remarque s' adressait. Mais ce qu' il y a de plus révoltant pour moi dans l' esclavage, c' est cet outrage aux sentiments et aux affections, c' est la séparation cruelle de ceux qui s' aiment.
“In some respects, some of them are well off, I grant,” said the lady to whose remark she had answered. “The most dreadful part of slavery, to my mind, is its outrages on the feelings and affections,—the separating of families, for example.”
“That _is_ a bad thing, certainly,” said the other lady, holding up a baby’s dress she had just completed, and looking intently on its trimmings; “but then, I fancy, it don’t occur often.”
“O, it does,” said the first lady, eagerly; “I’ve lived many years in Kentucky and Virginia both, and I’ve seen enough to make any one’s heart sick. Suppose, ma’am, your two children, there, should be taken from you, and sold?”
-- On ne peut pas juger d'après nos sentiments des sentiments de cette classe, dit l' autre en atteignant quelque ouvrage de laine.
“We can’t reason from our feelings to those of this class of persons,” said the other lady, sorting out some worsteds on her lap.
“Indeed, ma’am, you can know nothing of them, if you say so,” answered the first lady, warmly. “I was born and brought up among them. I know they _do_ feel, just as keenly,—even more so, perhaps,—as we do.”
The lady said “Indeed!” yawned, and looked out the cabin window, and finally repeated, for a finale, the remark with which she had begun,—“After all, I think they are better off than they would be to be free.”
“It’s undoubtedly the intention of Providence that the African race should be servants,—kept in a low condition,” said a grave-looking gentleman in black, a clergyman, seated by the cabin door. “‘Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be,’ the scripture says.”[1]
[1] Gen. 9:25. his is what Noah says when he wakes out of drunkenness and realizes that his youngest son, Ham, father of Canaan, has seen him naked.
“I say, stranger, is that ar what that text means?” said a tall man, standing by.
“Undoubtedly. It pleased Providence, for some inscrutable reason, to doom the race to bondage, ages ago; and we must not set up our opinion against that.”
“Well, then, we’ll all go ahead and buy up niggers,” said the man, “if that’s the way of Providence,—won’t we, Squire?” said he, turning to Haley, who had been standing, with his hands in his pockets, by the stove and intently listening to the conversation.
[ 11 ] _Go-a-head_ est, on le sait, la devise de l' audace américaine. ~~~ -- Oui, continua l' homme à la grande taille, nous devons nous soumettre aux intentions de la Providence; les nègres doivent être vendus, traqués, opprimés. Ils sont faits pour cela.... Voilà une manière de voir tout à fait rassurante, n' est -ce pas, étranger ?... Et cette fois encore il s' adressa à notre ami Haley.
“Yes,” continued the tall man, “we must all be resigned to the decrees of Providence. Niggers must be sold, and trucked round, and kept under; it’s what they’s made for. ’Pears like this yer view ’s quite refreshing, an’t it, stranger?” said he to Haley.
“I never thought on ’t,” said Haley, “I couldn’t have said as much, myself; I ha’nt no larning. I took up the trade just to make a living; if ’tan’t right, I calculated to ’pent on ’t in time, ye know.”
-- Et maintenant vous avez soin de ne pas y penser, hein ? Voyez un peu ce que c' est pourtant que de connaître les saintes Écritures. Si, comme ce brave gentleman, vous aviez seulement lu la Bible, vous n' auriez pas même eu besoin de songer à vous repentir.... plus tard; c' eût été une peine d' épargnée. Vous auriez seulement dit: Maudit soit.... le nom m' échappe.... et vous eussiez tranquillement continué vos petites affaires. » ~~~ Et l' homme à la longue taille, qui n' était autre que l' honnête maquignon que nous avons présenté au lecteur dans la taverne du Kentucky, s' assit et se mit à fumer. Un sourire ironique passait sur son visage long et sec.
“And now you’ll save yerself the trouble, won’t ye?” said the tall man. “See what ’t is, now, to know scripture. If ye’d only studied yer Bible, like this yer good man, ye might have know’d it before, and saved ye a heap o’ trouble. Ye could jist have said, ’Cussed be’—what’s his name?—‘and ’t would all have come right.’” And the stranger, who was no other than the honest drover whom we introduced to our readers in the Kentucky tavern, sat down, and began smoking, with a curious smile on his long, dry face.
Un grand jeune homme maigre, dont la physionomie exprimait à la fois la sensibilité et l' intelligence, se mêlant à la conversation: ~~~ « Tout ce que vous voulez que l' on vous fasse, dit -il, faites -le vous -même aux autres; et il ajouta: Cela est aussi de l' Écriture, je pense, aussi bien que votre: Maudit soit Chanaan !
A tall, slender young man, with a face expressive of great feeling and intelligence, here broke in, and repeated the words, “‘All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them.’ I suppose,” he added, “_that_ is scripture, as much as ’Cursed be Canaan.’”
“Wal, it seems quite _as_ plain a text, stranger,” said John the drover, “to poor fellows like us, now;” and John smoked on like a volcano.
The young man paused, looked as if he was going to say more, when suddenly the boat stopped, and the company made the usual steamboat rush, to see where they were landing.
“Both them ar chaps parsons?” said John to one of the men, as they were going out.
Le voisin fit signe que oui.
The man nodded.
Au moment même où le bateau s' arrêta, une négresse s' élança sur la planche de débarquement, fendit la foule, et bondit jusqu' à la cale des esclaves; elle jeta ses bras autour du cou de cette marchandise désignée « John, âgé de trente ans, » et fit entendre des plaintes déchirantes mêlées de sanglots et de larmes.
As the boat stopped, a black woman came running wildly up the plank, darted into the crowd, flew up to where the slave gang sat, and threw her arms round that unfortunate piece of merchandise before enumerate—“John, aged thirty,” and with sobs and tears bemoaned him as her husband.
C' était le mari et la femme. ~~~ Mais à quoi bon raconter cette histoire, trop souvent racontée, racontée chaque jour ?... les liens du coeur déchirés et brisés ! Oui, les faibles brisés et déchirés au profit et pour l' avantage des forts.... Ces choses -là n' ont pas besoin d' être dites.... car chaque instant de la vie les redit.... et les redit aussi à l' oreille de CELUI qui n' est pas sourd, quoiqu' il demeure bien longtemps silencieux....
But what needs tell the story, told too oft,—every day told,—of heart-strings rent and broken,—the weak broken and torn for the profit and convenience of the strong! It needs not to be told;—every day is telling it,—telling it, too, in the ear of One who is not deaf, though he be long silent.
Le jeune homme qui avait plaidé la cause de l' humanité et de Dieu se tenait debout, les bras croisés et contemplant cette scène; il se retourna vers Haley, qui se tenait à ses côtés, et, d' une voix que l' émotion entrecoupait: « Mon ami ! lui dit -il, comment osez -vous, comment pouvez -vous faire un tel commerce ? Regardez ces pauvres créatures ! Ah ! je me réjouis d' aller rejoindre chez moi ma femme et mes enfants, et la même cloche qui donne le signal pour me réunir à eux va séparer pour toujours ce pauvre mari et cette pauvre femme.... Songez -y bien ! Dieu vous jugera là-dessus.... »
The young man who had spoken for the cause of humanity and God before stood with folded arms, looking on this scene. He turned, and Haley was standing at his side. “My friend,” he said, speaking with thick utterance, “how can you, how dare you, carry on a trade like this? Look at those poor creatures! Here I am, rejoicing in my heart that I am going home to my wife and child; and the same bell which is a signal to carry me onward towards them will part this poor man and his wife forever. Depend upon it, God will bring you into judgment for this.”
Le marchand d' esclaves s' éloigna en silence.
The trader turned away in silence.
“I say, now,” said the drover, touching his elbow, “there’s differences in parsons, an’t there? ’Cussed be Canaan’ don’t seem to go down with this ’un, does it?”
Haley gave an uneasy growl.
“And that ar an’t the worst on ’t,” said John; “mabbee it won’t go down with the Lord, neither, when ye come to settle with Him, one o’ these days, as all on us must, I reckon.”
Haley s' en alla tout pensif vers l' autre bout du bateau.
Haley walked reflectively to the other end of the boat.
“If I make pretty handsomely on one or two next gangs,” he thought, “I reckon I’ll stop off this yer; it’s really getting dangerous.” And he took out his pocket-book, and began adding over his accounts,—a process which many gentlemen besides Mr. Haley have found a specific for an uneasy conscience.
Les hommes causaient, mangeaient, lisaient, fumaient. Les femmes s' occupaient à coudre; les enfants jouaient à leurs pieds, et _la Belle-Rivière_ poursuivait sa marche paisible.
The boat swept proudly away from the shore, and all went on merrily, as before. Men talked, and loafed, and read, and smoked. Women sewed, and children played, and the boat passed on her way.
One day, when she lay to for a while at a small town in Kentucky, Haley went up into the place on a little matter of business.
Tom, à qui ses fers permettaient de marcher un peu, s' approcha du port et jeta un regard distrait sur les quais. Au bout d' un instant, il vit revenir Haley d' un pas rapide: il était accompagné d' une femme de couleur qui portait un enfant dans ses bras; elle avait une mise fort décente. Un mulâtre la suivait avec une petite malle. Elle marchait gaiement, en causant avec l' homme qui portait la malle; elle franchit la planche et entra dans le bateau. ~~~ La cloche sonna, la vapeur siffla, la machine mugit, et le bateau reprit sa course.
Tom, whose fetters did not prevent his taking a moderate circuit, had drawn near the side of the boat, and stood listlessly gazing over the railing. After a time, he saw the trader returning, with an alert step, in company with a colored woman, bearing in her arms a young child. She was dressed quite respectably, and a colored man followed her, bringing along a small trunk. The woman came cheerfully onward, talking, as she came, with the man who bore her trunk, and so passed up the plank into the boat. The bell rung, the steamer whizzed, the engine groaned and coughed, and away swept the boat down the river.
The woman walked forward among the boxes and bales of the lower deck, and, sitting down, busied herself with chirruping to her baby.
Haley made a turn or two about the boat, and then, coming up, seated himself near her, and began saying something to her in an indifferent undertone.
Tom soon noticed a heavy cloud passing over the woman’s brow; and that she answered rapidly, and with great vehemence.
“I don’t believe it,—I won’t believe it!” he heard her say. “You’re jist a foolin’ with me.”
“If you won’t believe it, look here!” said the man, drawing out a paper; “this yer’s the bill of sale, and there’s your master’s name to it; and I paid down good solid cash for it, too, I can tell you,—so, now!”
“I don’t believe Mas’r would cheat me so; it can’t be true!” said the woman, with increasing agitation.
“You can ask any of these men here, that can read writing. Here!” he said, to a man that was passing by, “jist read this yer, won’t you! This yer gal won’t believe me, when I tell her what ’t is.”
“Why, it’s a bill of sale, signed by John Fosdick,” said the man, “making over to you the girl Lucy and her child. It’s all straight enough, for aught I see.”
Les exclamations passionnées de la jeune femme rassemblèrent la foule, et le marchand expliqua la cause de son agitation.
The woman’s passionate exclamations collected a crowd around her, and the trader briefly explained to them the cause of the agitation.
“He told me that I was going down to Louisville, to hire out as cook to the same tavern where my husband works,—that’s what Mas’r told me, his own self; and I can’t believe he’d lie to me,” said the woman.
“But he has sold you, my poor woman, there’s no doubt about it,” said a good-natured looking man, who had been examining the papers; “he has done it, and no mistake.”
“Then it’s no account talking,” said the woman, suddenly growing quite calm; and, clasping her child tighter in her arms, she sat down on her box, turned her back round, and gazed listlessly into the river.
“Going to take it easy, after all!” said the trader. “Gal’s got grit, I see.”
La jeune femme semblait calme, en effet; une tiède et douce brise d' été passa sur son front, comme un souffle ami. Douce brise, qui ne se demande pas si le front qu' elle rafraîchit est d' ivoire ou d' ébène ! Elle voyait briller sur les eaux, en longs sillons d' or, les derniers rayons du soleil couchant; elle entendait des voix joyeuses, pleine de rire et de gaieté; mais son coeur ne se relevait plus: on eût dit qu' il y avait une grosse pierre dessus ! ~~~ Le baby se dressa contre elle, tapota ses joues avec ses petites mains, et se remuant, riant et criant, s' efforça de la tirer de sa stupeur.... Elle le prit tout à coup et le serra convulsivement dans ses bras. Puis, lentement, une à une, elle laissa tomber ses larmes sur ce doux visage innocent et étonné.... Puis elle retrouva encore une fois son calme, et s' occupa d' allaiter et de soigner l' enfant.
The woman looked calm, as the boat went on; and a beautiful soft summer breeze passed like a compassionate spirit over her head,—the gentle breeze, that never inquires whether the brow is dusky or fair that it fans. And she saw sunshine sparkling on the water, in golden ripples, and heard gay voices, full of ease and pleasure, talking around her everywhere; but her heart lay as if a great stone had fallen on it. Her baby raised himself up against her, and stroked her cheeks with his little hands; and, springing up and down, crowing and chatting, seemed determined to arouse her. She strained him suddenly and tightly in her arms, and slowly one tear after another fell on his wondering, unconscious face; and gradually she seemed, and little by little, to grow calmer, and busied herself with tending and nursing him.
The child, a boy of ten months, was uncommonly large and strong of his age, and very vigorous in his limbs. Never, for a moment, still, he kept his mother constantly busy in holding him, and guarding his springing activity.
“That’s a fine chap!” said a man, suddenly stopping opposite to him, with his hands in his pockets. “How old is he?”
-- Dix mois et demi, » répondit la mère.
“Ten months and a half,” said the mother.
The man whistled to the boy, and offered him part of a stick of candy, which he eagerly grabbed at, and very soon had it in a baby’s general depository, to wit, his mouth.
“Rum fellow!” said the man “Knows what’s what!” and he whistled, and walked on. When he had got to the other side of the boat, he came across Haley, who was smoking on top of a pile of boxes.
The stranger produced a match, and lighted a cigar, saying, as he did so,
“Decentish kind o’ wench you’ve got round there, stranger.”
“Why, I reckon she _is_ tol’able fair,” said Haley, blowing the smoke out of his mouth.
--Pour le sud?»
“Taking her down south?” said the man.
Haley nodded, and smoked on.
--Les plantations?
“Plantation hand?” said the man.
-- Oui; je remplis une commande, et je crois que je pourrai la faire passer. On m' assure qu' elle est bonne cuisinière, on pourra s' en servir en cette qualité ou la mettre à éplucher du coton; elle a les doigts à cela. Je l' ai examinée.... en tout cas, elle est facile à vendre.... Et Haley reprit son cigare.
“Wal,” said Haley, “I’m fillin’ out an order for a plantation, and I think I shall put her in. They telled me she was a good cook; and they can use her for that, or set her at the cotton-picking. She’s got the right fingers for that; I looked at ’em. Sell well, either way;” and Haley resumed his cigar.
-- Ils n' ont pas besoin du petit dans une plantation ?
“They won’t want the young ’un on the plantation,” said the man.
“I shall sell him, first chance I find,” said Haley, lighting another cigar.
“S’pose you’d be selling him tol’able cheap,” said the stranger, mounting the pile of boxes, and sitting down comfortably.
“Don’t know ’bout that,” said Haley; “he’s a pretty smart young ’un, straight, fat, strong; flesh as hard as a brick!”
“Very true, but then there’s the bother and expense of raisin’.”
“Nonsense!” said Haley; “they is raised as easy as any kind of critter there is going; they an’t a bit more trouble than pups. This yer chap will be running all around, in a month.”
“I’ve got a good place for raisin’, and I thought of takin’ in a little more stock,” said the man. “One cook lost a young ’un last week,—got drownded in a washtub, while she was a hangin’ out the clothes,—and I reckon it would be well enough to set her to raisin’ this yer.”
Haley and the stranger smoked a while in silence, neither seeming willing to broach the test question of the interview. At last the man resumed:
« Vous n' en voudriez pas demander plus de dix dollars, puisque aussi bien vous devez vous en débarrasser ! »
“You wouldn’t think of wantin’ more than ten dollars for that ar chap, seeing you _must_ get him off yer hand, any how?”
Haley shook his head, and spit impressively.
“That won’t do, no ways,” he said, and began his smoking again.
-- Eh bien ! étranger, combien donc en voulez -vous ?
“Well, stranger, what will you take?”
“Well, now,” said Haley, “I _could_ raise that ar chap myself, or get him raised; he’s oncommon likely and healthy, and he’d fetch a hundred dollars, six months hence; and, in a year or two, he’d bring two hundred, if I had him in the right spot; I shan’t take a cent less nor fifty for him now.”
-- Étranger, c' est exorbitant.
“O, stranger! that’s rediculous, altogether,” said the man.
“Fact!” said Haley, with a decisive nod of his head.
-- J' en offre trente, et pas un centime de plus !
“I’ll give thirty for him,” said the stranger, “but not a cent more.”
“Now, I’ll tell ye what I will do,” said Haley, spitting again, with renewed decision. “I’ll split the difference, and say forty-five; and that’s the most I will do.”
-- Convenu.
“Well, agreed!” said the man, after an interval.
“Done!” said Haley. “Where do you land?”
--A Louisville.
“At Louisville,” said the man.
-- A Louisville ! Parfaitement, nous y arriverons à la brune.... le petit dormira.... vous le prendrez sans bruit, sans le faire crier.... J' aime que tout se fasse tranquillement. Je déteste le bruit et l' agitation. » Les bank-notes passèrent de la poche de l' acquéreur dans celle du vendeur, et Haley reprit son cigare.
“Louisville,” said Haley. “Very fair, we get there about dusk. Chap will be asleep,—all fair,—get him off quietly, and no screaming,—happens beautiful,—I like to do everything quietly,—I hates all kind of agitation and fluster.” And so, after a transfer of certain bills had passed from the man’s pocket-book to the trader’s, he resumed his cigar.
C' était une brillante et tranquille soirée.... Le bateau s' arrêta au quai de Louisville. ~~~ La jeune femme était assise, son enfant dans ses bras; elle gardait un paisible silence. Quand elle entendit le nom de la ville, elle plaça rapidement l' enfant dans une sorte de crèche qui se trouvait naturellement creusée entre les malles; elle y avait auparavant soigneusement étendu son manteau. Puis elle s' élança rapidement du côté où l' on débarquait, espérant que, parmi les garçons d' hôtel qui se pressaient sur le port, elle apercevrait son mari. Elle se penchait en avant, son âme dans ses yeux, et s' efforçait, parmi toutes ces têtes, d' en retrouver une.
It was a bright, tranquil evening when the boat stopped at the wharf at Louisville. The woman had been sitting with her baby in her arms, now wrapped in a heavy sleep. When she heard the name of the place called out, she hastily laid the child down in a little cradle formed by the hollow among the boxes, first carefully spreading under it her cloak; and then she sprung to the side of the boat, in hopes that, among the various hotel-waiters who thronged the wharf, she might see her husband. In this hope, she pressed forward to the front rails, and, stretching far over them, strained her eyes intently on the moving heads on the shore, and the crowd pressed in between her and the child.
“Now’s your time,” said Haley, taking the sleeping child up, and handing him to the stranger. “Don’t wake him up, and set him to crying, now; it would make a devil of a fuss with the gal.” The man took the bundle carefully, and was soon lost in the crowd that went up the wharf.
When the boat, creaking, and groaning, and puffing, had loosed from the wharf, and was beginning slowly to strain herself along, the woman returned to her old seat. The trader was sitting there,—the child was gone!
« Quoi ! comment ! où ? s' écria -t-elle avec l' égarement de la surprise.
“Why, why,—where?” she began, in bewildered surprise.
“Lucy,” said the trader, “your child’s gone; you may as well know it first as last. You see, I know’d you couldn’t take him down south; and I got a chance to sell him to a first-rate family, that’ll raise him better than you can.”
Haley en était arrivé à ce point de perfection chrétienne et politique, que certains ministres et certains hommes d' État du nord ne cessent de nous prêcher, et qui consiste à étouffer toute faiblesse et tout préjugé humain. Son coeur était ce que le vôtre et le mien deviendront sans doute un jour, grâce à cette culture heureuse. Le regard sauvage de profonde angoisse et d' incurable désespoir que Lucy jeta sur Haley aurait troublé un homme moins endurci: mais lui était fait à tout ! Il avait rencontré ce regard -là cent fois ! Et vous aussi, ami lecteur, vous pourrez vous faire à ces choses -là ! ~~~ Pour Haley, cette suprême angoisse tourmentant un sombre visage, cette respiration étouffée, ces mains qui se crispaient.... ce n' étaient que les incidents nécessaires du commerce.... Il se demandait si elle n' allait pas crier et faire une scène tumultueuse sur le bateau; car, pareil en cela aux autres défenseurs de nos institutions, il ne pouvait souffrir le désordre.
The trader had arrived at that stage of Christian and political perfection which has been recommended by some preachers and politicians of the north, lately, in which he had completely overcome every humane weakness and prejudice. His heart was exactly where yours, sir, and mine could be brought, with proper effort and cultivation. The wild look of anguish and utter despair that the woman cast on him might have disturbed one less practised; but he was used to it. He had seen that same look hundreds of times. You can get used to such things, too, my friend; and it is the great object of recent efforts to make our whole northern community used to them, for the glory of the Union. So the trader only regarded the mortal anguish which he saw working in those dark features, those clenched hands, and suffocating breathings, as necessary incidents of the trade, and merely calculated whether she was going to scream, and get up a commotion on the boat; for, like other supporters of our peculiar institution, he decidedly disliked agitation.
But the woman did not scream. The shot had passed too straight and direct through the heart, for cry or tear.
Elle s' assit comme frappée de vertige. ~~~ Ses mains retombèrent sans vie à ses côtés; ses yeux regardèrent sans voir; le bruit, le tumulte bourdonnaient à son oreille comme à travers le trouble d' un songe.... et elle était là, sans cris et sans pleurs pour exprimer son désespoir. ~~~ Elle était calme !
Dizzily she sat down. Her slack hands fell lifeless by her side. Her eyes looked straight forward, but she saw nothing. All the noise and hum of the boat, the groaning of the machinery, mingled dreamily to her bewildered ear; and the poor, dumb-stricken heart had neither cry not tear to show for its utter misery. She was quite calm.
The trader, who, considering his advantages, was almost as humane as some of our politicians, seemed to feel called on to administer such consolation as the case admitted of.
“I know this yer comes kinder hard, at first, Lucy,” said he; “but such a smart, sensible gal as you are, won’t give way to it. You see it’s _necessary_, and can’t be helped!”
“O! don’t, Mas’r, don’t!” said the woman, with a voice like one that is smothering.
“You’re a smart wench, Lucy,” he persisted; “I mean to do well by ye, and get ye a nice place down river; and you’ll soon get another husband,—such a likely gal as you—”
“O! Mas’r, if you _only_ won’t talk to me now,” said the woman, in a voice of such quick and living anguish that the trader felt that there was something at present in the case beyond his style of operation. He got up, and the woman turned away, and buried her head in her cloak.
The trader walked up and down for a time, and occasionally stopped and looked at her.
“Takes it hard, rather,” he soliloquized, “but quiet, tho’;—let her sweat a while; she’ll come right, by and by!”
Tom avait tout vu, tout compris; pour lui, il y avait là quelque chose d' une indicible horreur. C' est que sa pauvre âme, simple, ignorante, une âme de nègre, n' avait pas appris à généraliser et à voir les choses de si haut !... Si seulement il avait été instruit par certains ministres de Jésus-Christ, il eût eu de plus saines idées. Il eût vu que ce n' était là qu' un incident journalier du commerce légal, un commerce qui est l' âme d' une institution à laquelle après tout on ne peut reprocher d' autres maux que les maux inséparables de toutes les relations de la vie sociale et domestique, comme dit si bien un théologien d' Amérique.
Tom had watched the whole transaction from first to last, and had a perfect understanding of its results. To him, it looked like something unutterably horrible and cruel, because, poor, ignorant black soul! he had not learned to generalize, and to take enlarged views. If he had only been instructed by certain ministers of Christianity, he might have thought better of it, and seen in it an every-day incident of a lawful trade; a trade which is the vital support of an institution which an American divine[2] tells us has _“no evils but such as are inseparable from any other relations in social and domestic life_.” But Tom, as we see, being a poor, ignorant fellow, whose reading had been confined entirely to the New Testament, could not comfort and solace himself with views like these. His very soul bled within him for what seemed to him the _wrongs_ of the poor suffering thing that lay like a crushed reed on the boxes; the feeling, living, bleeding, yet immortal _thing_, which American state law coolly classes with the bundles, and bales, and boxes, among which she is lying.
Mais Tom, pauvre et ignorant, dont la lecture s' était bornée au Nouveau-Testament, ne pouvait se consoler et se fortifier par d' aussi hautes pensées, et son âme saignait en dedans à la vue des malheurs de cette CHOSE infortunée, qu' il voyait là étendue sur un tas de malles.... comme une misérable plante flétrie ! que la loi constitutionnelle de l' Amérique classe froidement entre les paquets, les colis et les balles de marchandises au milieu desquels la voilà ! ~~~ Tom s' approcha d' elle, il essaya de lui dire quelque chose. ~~~ Elle ne répondit que par un gémissement.
[2] Dr. Joel Parker of Philadelphia. [Mrs. Stowe’s note.] Presbyterian clergyman (1798-1873), a friend of the Beecher family. Mrs. Stowe attempted unsuccessfully to have this identifying note removed from the stereotype-plate of the first edition.
Tom drew near, and tried to say something; but she only groaned. Honestly, and with tears running down his own cheeks, he spoke of a heart of love in the skies, of a pitying Jesus, and an eternal home; but the ear was deaf with anguish, and the palsied heart could not feel.
La nuit vint, nuit calme, sereine, glorieuse, solennelle, brillante de ses innombrables étoiles, splendides regards des anges abaissés sur la terre, nuit étincelante et silencieuse ! Ah ! ce ciel est trop haut ! ni voix émue, ni douce parole, ni main amie n' en descendirent.... L' un après l' autre, tous les bruits du travail et du plaisir s' éteignirent sur le bateau. On entendait distinctement le murmure du sillage que traçait la proue du vaisseau.... Tom s' étendit sur un coffre.... il entendait de temps en temps un cri ou un sanglot étouffé.... « Que ferai -je, Seigneur !... O mon Dieu ! secourez moi....»--Et ce bruit lui-même s' éteignit.
Night came on,—night calm, unmoved, and glorious, shining down with her innumerable and solemn angel eyes, twinkling, beautiful, but silent. There was no speech nor language, no pitying voice or helping hand, from that distant sky. One after another, the voices of business or pleasure died away; all on the boat were sleeping, and the ripples at the prow were plainly heard. Tom stretched himself out on a box, and there, as he lay, he heard, ever and anon, a smothered sob or cry from the prostrate creature,—“O! what shall I do? O Lord! O good Lord, do help me!” and so, ever and anon, until the murmur died away in silence.
Vers minuit, Tom fut réveillé en sursaut.... quelque chose de noir passa rapidement à côté de lui, il entendit la chute d' un corps dans l' eau. ~~~ Personne que lui n' entendit. Il releva la tête: la place de la femme était vide, il se leva et la chercha en vain. Le pauvre coeur était paisible maintenant; et le fleuve coulait, calme, limpide et brillant, comme s' il ne l' eût pas englouti dans ses abîmes.
At midnight, Tom waked, with a sudden start. Something black passed quickly by him to the side of the boat, and he heard a splash in the water. No one else saw or heard anything. He raised his head,—the woman’s place was vacant! He got up, and sought about him in vain. The poor bleeding heart was still, at last, and the river rippled and dimpled just as brightly as if it had not closed above it.
Patience ! patience ! vous dont la poitrine se gonfle d' indignation à de pareils récits. Pas un gémissement de l' angoisse, pas une larme de l' oppression ne seront oubliés par l' homme des douleurs, par le roi de gloire ! Lui, dans son sein patient et généreux, il porte les angoisses du monde; comme lui, supportez avec patience et souffrez avec amour: car, aussi vrai qu' il est Dieu, le temps de la rédemption approche !
Patience! patience! ye whose hearts swell indignant at wrongs like these. Not one throb of anguish, not one tear of the oppressed, is forgotten by the Man of Sorrows, the Lord of Glory. In his patient, generous bosom he bears the anguish of a world. Bear thou, like him, in patience, and labor in love; for sure as he is God, “the year of his redeemed _shall_ come.”
The trader waked up bright and early, and came out to see to his live stock. It was now his turn to look about in perplexity.
“Where alive is that gal?” he said to Tom.
Tom, who had learned the wisdom of keeping counsel, did not feel called upon to state his observations and suspicions, but said he did not know.
“She surely couldn’t have got off in the night at any of the landings, for I was awake, and on the lookout, whenever the boat stopped. I never trust these yer things to other folks.”
This speech was addressed to Tom quite confidentially, as if it was something that would be specially interesting to him. Tom made no answer.
The trader searched the boat from stem to stern, among boxes, bales and barrels, around the machinery, by the chimneys, in vain.
Ce fut en vain. ~~~ « Voyons, Tom, soyez franc... vous savez ce qu' il en est.... Ne dites pas non ! je suis sûr que vous le savez ! J' ai vu la femme couchée ici à dix heures.... je l' ai encore vue à minuit.... et même entre une heure et deux.... A quatre heures, elle n' y était plus. Vous dormiez tout à côté.... vous voyez bien que vous savez ! vous ne pouvez pas le nier !
“Now, I say, Tom, be fair about this yer,” he said, when, after a fruitless search, he came where Tom was standing. “You know something about it, now. Don’t tell me,—I know you do. I saw the gal stretched out here about ten o’clock, and ag’in at twelve, and ag’in between one and two; and then at four she was gone, and you was a sleeping right there all the time. Now, you know something,—you can’t help it.”
“Well, Mas’r,” said Tom, “towards morning something brushed by me, and I kinder half woke; and then I hearn a great splash, and then I clare woke up, and the gal was gone. That’s all I know on ’t.”
Le marchand ne fut ni troublé ni étonné: comme nous l' avons dit précédemment, il était fait à certaines choses. La présence terrible de la mort n' avait point pour lui de mystérieuse impression. La mort ! il l' avait souvent rencontrée.... c' était une circonstance de son commerce; il était familiarisé avec elle; il la regardait comme un douanier exigeant, qui entravait, fort mal à propos, ses opérations.... il ne voyait dans Lucy qu' un colis. Il se disait qu' il avait vraiment bien du guignon, et que, si cela continuait, il ne tirerait pas un sou de sa cargaison. En un mot, il se regardait comme un homme très-malheureux.... mais il n' y avait pas de remède: la femme avait passé dans un pays qui ne rend jamais les fugitifs, fussent -ils réclamés par la glorieuse Union tout entière....
The trader was not shocked nor amazed; because, as we said before, he was used to a great many things that you are not used to. Even the awful presence of Death struck no solemn chill upon him. He had seen Death many times,—met him in the way of trade, and got acquainted with him,—and he only thought of him as a hard customer, that embarrassed his property operations very unfairly; and so he only swore that the gal was a baggage, and that he was devilish unlucky, and that, if things went on in this way, he should not make a cent on the trip. In short, he seemed to consider himself an ill-used man, decidedly; but there was no help for it, as the woman had escaped into a state which _never will_ give up a fugitive,—not even at the demand of the whole glorious Union. The trader, therefore, sat discontentedly down, with his little account-book, and put down the missing body and soul under the head of _losses!_
“He’s a shocking creature, isn’t he,—this trader? so unfeeling! It’s dreadful, really!”
Mais aussi, comme ils sont mal considérés !... On les méprise.... On ne les reçoit pas dans la bonne compagnie.
“O, but nobody thinks anything of these traders! They are universally despised,—never received into any decent society.”
Soit ! mais qui fait le marchand ? Qui est le plus à blâmer ? l' homme intelligent, instruit, bien élevé, qui défend le système dont le marchand est l' inévitable résultat, ou le pauvre marchand lui-même ? C' est vous qui faites l' opinion publique complice de l' esclavage. C' est vous qui dépravez cet homme; c' est vous qui le débauchez au point qu' il ne sent plus sa honte !... En quoi donc êtes -vous meilleur que lui ?
But who, sir, makes the trader? Who is most to blame? The enlightened, cultivated, intelligent man, who supports the system of which the trader is the inevitable result, or the poor trader himself? You make the public statement that calls for his trade, that debauches and depraves him, till he feels no shame in it; and in what are you better than he?
Are you educated and he ignorant, you high and he low, you refined and he coarse, you talented and he simple?
In the day of a future judgment, these very considerations may make it more tolerable for him than for you.
In concluding these little incidents of lawful trade, we must beg the world not to think that American legislators are entirely destitute of humanity, as might, perhaps, be unfairly inferred from the great efforts made in our national body to protect and perpetuate this species of traffic.
Qui ne sait que nos grands hommes se surpassent eux-mêmes quand ils déclament contre la traite.... chez les étrangers ? Nous avons une armée de Clarkson et de Wilberforce, vraiment fort édifiante à entendre ! Faire la traite en Afrique, c' est horrible... ! c' est à n' y pas penser ! Mais la traite dans le Kentucky !... oh ! c' est une tout autre affaire !
Who does not know how our great men are outdoing themselves, in declaiming against the _foreign_ slave-trade. There are a perfect host of Clarksons and Wilberforces[3] risen up among us on that subject, most edifying to hear and behold. Trading negroes from Africa, dear reader, is so horrid! It is not to be thought of! But trading them from Kentucky,—that’s quite another thing!
[3] Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846) and William Wilberforce (1759- 1833), English philanthropists and anti-slavery agitators who helped to secure passage of the Emancipation Bill by Parliament in 1833.
CHAPITRE XIII. ~~~ Chez les quakers.
CHAPTER XIII The Quaker Settlement
Une scène heureuse et paisible se déroule maintenant devant nos yeux. Nous pénétrons dans une cuisine vaste et spacieuse; les murs sont rehaussés de riches couleurs; pas un atome de poussière sur les briques jaunes de l' aire, frottées et polies; des piles de vaisselle d' étain brillant excitent l' appétit, en vous faisant songer à une foule de bonnes choses. Le noir fourneau reluit; les chaises de bois, vieilles et massives, reluisent aussi. On aperçoit une petite chaise à bascule et qui se referme; le coussin est rapiécé. Tout auprès il y en a une plus grande, une chaise antique et maternelle, dont les larges bras ouverts semblent vous convier doucement à goûter l' hospitalité de ses coussins de plumes. C' est là un véritable siége attrayant, confortable, et qui, pour les honnêtes et chères joies du foyer, vaut vraiment bien une douzaine de vos chaises de velours ou de brocatelle des salons à la mode. ~~~ Dans cette chaise, où elle se balance doucement, les yeux attachés sur son ouvrage, se trouve notre ancienne amie, la fugitive Élisa. Oui, elle est là, plus pâle et plus maigre que dans le Kentucky; on devine sous ses longues paupières, on lit dans les plis de sa bouche une douleur à la fois calme et profonde. Il était facile de voir combien ce jeune coeur était devenu ferme et vaillant sous l' austère discipline du malheur. Elle relevait de temps en temps les yeux pour suivre les ébats du petit Henri, brillant et léger comme un papillon des tropiques. On découvrait chez elle une puissance de volonté, une inébranlable résolution inconnue à ses jeunes et heureuses années.
A quiet scene now rises before us. A large, roomy, neatly-painted kitchen, its yellow floor glossy and smooth, and without a particle of dust; a neat, well-blacked cooking-stove; rows of shining tin, suggestive of unmentionable good things to the appetite; glossy green wood chairs, old and firm; a small flag-bottomed rocking-chair, with a patch-work cushion in it, neatly contrived out of small pieces of different colored woollen goods, and a larger sized one, motherly and old, whose wide arms breathed hospitable invitation, seconded by the solicitation of its feather cushions,—a real comfortable, persuasive old chair, and worth, in the way of honest, homely enjoyment, a dozen of your plush or _brochetelle_ drawing-room gentry; and in the chair, gently swaying back and forward, her eyes bent on some fine sewing, sat our fine old friend Eliza. Yes, there she is, paler and thinner than in her Kentucky home, with a world of quiet sorrow lying under the shadow of her long eyelashes, and marking the outline of her gentle mouth! It was plain to see how old and firm the girlish heart was grown under the discipline of heavy sorrow; and when, anon, her large dark eye was raised to follow the gambols of her little Harry, who was sporting, like some tropical butterfly, hither and thither over the floor, she showed a depth of firmness and steady resolve that was never there in her earlier and happier days.
Auprès d' elle est une femme qui tient sur ses genoux un plat d' étain, dans lequel elle range soigneusement des pêches sèches. Elle peut avoir de cinquante-cinq à soixante ans, mais c' est un de ces visages que les années ne semblent toucher que pour les embellir. Sa cape de crêpe, blanche comme la neige, est exactement faite comme celle que portent les femmes des quakers; un mouchoir de simple mousseline blanche, croisé sur sa poitrine en longs plis paisibles, son châle, sa robe, tout révèle la communion à laquelle elle appartient. Son visage rond avait des couleurs roses, et ce doux et fin duvet qui rappelle la pêche déjà mûre. Ses cheveux, auxquels l' âge mêlait des fils d' argent, étaient rejetés en arrière et découvraient un front noble et élevé. Le temps n' y avait point tracé d' autre inscription que celle -ci: « Paix sur la terre aux hommes de bonne volonté[12 ] ! » Ses grands yeux bruns étaient lumineux, pleins de sentiment et de loyauté. Il suffisait de la regarder en face pour sentir que l' on voyait jusqu' au fond d' un coeur sincère et bon. On a tant célébré, tant chanté la beauté des jeunes filles ! pourquoi donc ne louerait -on pas la beauté des vieilles femmes ? Si quelqu'un a besoin d' inspiration pour ce thème nouveau, qu' il regarde notre amie, la bonne Rachel Halliday, assise dans sa petite chaise à bascule. La chaise craquait et criait; peut-être avait -elle pris froid dans ses jeunes années, ses nerfs étaient peut-être agacés, ou bien encore c' était une tendance à l' asthme: mais à chacun de ses mouvements elle faisait entendre un grincement qui eût été vraiment intolérable dans toute autre chaise; cependant le vieux Siméon Halliday déclarait souvent que pour lui ce bruit était aussi agréable qu' une musique, et les enfants prétendaient qu' ils n' auraient voulu pour rien au monde être privés du plaisir d' entendre la chaise de leur mère.... Pourquoi ? C' est que, depuis vingt ans et plus, des paroles aimantes, de douces morales, des tendresses maternelles, étaient descendues de cette chaise. Combien avait -elle guéri de coeurs et d' âmes malades ! Combien de difficultés résolues !... et tout cela avec quelques mots d' une femme aimante et bonne. ~~~ [ 12 ] Nous n' avons pas besoin d' avertir nos lecteurs que nous traduisons avec la plus scrupuleuse fidélité. ~~~ Que Dieu la bénisse !
By her side sat a woman with a bright tin pan in her lap, into which she was carefully sorting some dried peaches. She might be fifty-five or sixty; but hers was one of those faces that time seems to touch only to brighten and adorn. The snowy lisse crape cap, made after the strait Quaker pattern,—the plain white muslin handkerchief, lying in placid folds across her bosom,—the drab shawl and dress,—showed at once the community to which she belonged. Her face was round and rosy, with a healthful downy softness, suggestive of a ripe peach. Her hair, partially silvered by age, was parted smoothly back from a high placid forehead, on which time had written no inscription, except peace on earth, good will to men, and beneath shone a large pair of clear, honest, loving brown eyes; you only needed to look straight into them, to feel that you saw to the bottom of a heart as good and true as ever throbbed in woman’s bosom. So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why don’t somebody wake up to the beauty of old women? If any want to get up an inspiration under this head, we refer them to our good friend Rachel Halliday, just as she sits there in her little rocking-chair. It had a turn for quacking and squeaking,—that chair had,—either from having taken cold in early life, or from some asthmatic affection, or perhaps from nervous derangement; but, as she gently swung backward and forward, the chair kept up a kind of subdued “creechy crawchy,” that would have been intolerable in any other chair. But old Simeon Halliday often declared it was as good as any music to him, and the children all avowed that they wouldn’t miss of hearing mother’s chair for anything in the world. For why? for twenty years or more, nothing but loving words, and gentle moralities, and motherly loving kindness, had come from that chair;—head-aches and heart-aches innumerable had been cured there,—difficulties spiritual and temporal solved there,—all by one good, loving woman, God bless her!
« Eh bien ! Élisa, tu[13 ] comptes toujours passer au Canada ? dit -elle d' une voix douce en continuant de regarder ses pêches.
“And so thee still thinks of going to Canada, Eliza?” she said, as she was quietly looking over her peaches.
“Yes, ma’am,” said Eliza, firmly. “I must go onward. I dare not stop.”
“And what’ll thee do, when thee gets there? Thee must think about that, my daughter.”
_Ma fille_ était un mot qui venait tout naturellement sur les lèvres de Rachel Halliday, parce que ses traits et sa physionomie rappelaient sans cesse la douce idée qu' on se fait d' une mère....
“My daughter” came naturally from the lips of Rachel Halliday; for hers was just the face and form that made “mother” seem the most natural word in the world.
Eliza’s hands trembled, and some tears fell on her fine work; but she answered, firmly, ~~~ “I shall do—anything I can find. I hope I can find something.”
“Thee knows thee can stay here, as long as thee pleases,” said Rachel.
“O, thank you,” said Eliza, “but”—she pointed to Harry—“I can’t sleep nights; I can’t rest. Last night I dreamed I saw that man coming into the yard,” she said, shuddering.
“Poor child!” said Rachel, wiping her eyes; “but thee mustn’t feel so. The Lord hath ordered it so that never hath a fugitive been stolen from our village. I trust thine will not be the first.”
La porte s' ouvrit, et une petite femme courte, ronde, une vraie pelotte à épingles, se tint sur le seuil: rien n' égalait l' éclat de son visage en fleurs. Je ne puis la comparer qu' à une pomme mûre. Elle était vêtue comme Rachel: un gris sévère; un fichu de mousseline couvrait sa poitrine rebondie.
The door here opened, and a little short, round, pin-cushiony woman stood at the door, with a cheery, blooming face, like a ripe apple. She was dressed, like Rachel, in sober gray, with the muslin folded neatly across her round, plump little chest.
“Ruth Stedman,” said Rachel, coming joyfully forward; “how is thee, Ruth? she said, heartily taking both her hands.
-- A merveille, » dit Ruth en tirant son petit chapeau de quakeresse et l' époussetant avec son mouchoir; et elle découvrit une petite tête ronde sur laquelle le petit chapeau allait et venait, avec des airs tapageurs, malgré tous les efforts de la main qui voulait le retenir. Certaines boucles de cheveux frisés s' échappaient aussi çà et là et voulaient incessamment être remises à leur place, qu' elles quittaient toujours. La nouvelle arrivante, qui pouvait avoir vingt-cinq ans, abandonna enfin le miroir devant lequel elle avait fait tous ces petits arrangements. Elle parut très-contente d' elle -même. ~~~ Tout le monde l' eût été à sa place, car c' était une jolie petite femme, à l' air ouvert, à la figure rayonnante, et bien propre à réjouir le coeur d' un homme.
“Nicely,” said Ruth, taking off her little drab bonnet, and dusting it with her handkerchief, displaying, as she did so, a round little head, on which the Quaker cap sat with a sort of jaunty air, despite all the stroking and patting of the small fat hands, which were busily applied to arranging it. Certain stray locks of decidedly curly hair, too, had escaped here and there, and had to be coaxed and cajoled into their place again; and then the new comer, who might have been five-and-twenty, turned from the small looking-glass, before which she had been making these arrangements, and looked well pleased,—as most people who looked at her might have been,—for she was decidedly a wholesome, whole-hearted, chirruping little woman, as ever gladdened man’s heart withal.
“Ruth, this friend is Eliza Harris; and this is the little boy I told thee of.”
-- Je suis très-heureuse de te voir, Élisa, très-heureuse ! dit Ruth en lui serrant la main comme si Élisa eût été pour elle une vieille amie depuis longtemps attendue. Voilà ton cher petit garçon.... je lui apporte un gâteau. » ~~~ Elle présenta à Henry un coeur en pâtisserie, que l' enfant accepta timidement en regardant Ruth à travers ses longues boucles flottantes.
“I am glad to see thee, Eliza,—very,” said Ruth, shaking hands, as if Eliza were an old friend she had long been expecting; “and this is thy dear boy,—I brought a cake for him,” she said, holding out a little heart to the boy, who came up, gazing through his curls, and accepted it shyly.
“Where’s thy baby, Ruth?” said Rachel.
“O, he’s coming; but thy Mary caught him as I came in, and ran off with him to the barn, to show him to the children.”
Au même instant la porte s' ouvrit, et Mary, visage rose aux grands yeux bruns, le portrait de sa mère, entra dans la chambre avec le baby.
At this moment, the door opened, and Mary, an honest, rosy-looking girl, with large brown eyes, like her mother’s, came in with the baby.
“Ah! ha!” said Rachel, coming up, and taking the great, white, fat fellow in her arms, “how good he looks, and how he does grow!”
-- C' est vrai, c' est vrai, » dit Ruth. ~~~ Et elle prit l' enfant et le débarrassa d' un par-dessus de soie bleu et de divers châles et surtouts dont elle l' avait enveloppé; et donnant une chiquenaude ici, un coup de main là, elle l' arrangea, l' ajusta, le bichonna, l' embrassa de tout son coeur, et le déposa sur le plancher pour qu' il pût reprendre ses idées. ~~~ Le baby était sans doute habitué à ces façons d' agir, car il fourra son doigt dans sa bouche et parut bientôt absorbé dans ses propres réflexions, tandis que la mère, s' asseyant enfin, prit un long bas chiné de blanc et de bleu, et se mit à tricoter avec ardeur.
“To be sure, he does,” said little bustling Ruth, as she took the child, and began taking off a little blue silk hood, and various layers and wrappers of outer garments; and having given a twitch here, and a pull there, and variously adjusted and arranged him, and kissed him heartily, she set him on the floor to collect his thoughts. Baby seemed quite used to this mode of proceeding, for he put his thumb in his mouth (as if it were quite a thing of course), and seemed soon absorbed in his own reflections, while the mother seated herself, and taking out a long stocking of mixed blue and white yarn, began to knit with briskness.
“Mary, thee’d better fill the kettle, hadn’t thee?” gently suggested the mother.
Mary took the kettle to the well, and soon reappearing, placed it over the stove, where it was soon purring and steaming, a sort of censer of hospitality and good cheer. The peaches, moreover, in obedience to a few gentle whispers from Rachel, were soon deposited, by the same hand, in a stew-pan over the fire.
Rachel now took down a snowy moulding-board, and, tying on an apron, proceeded quietly to making up some biscuits, first saying to Mary,—“Mary, hadn’t thee better tell John to get a chicken ready?” and Mary disappeared accordingly.
“And how is Abigail Peters?” said Rachel, as she went on with her biscuits.
“O, she’s better,” said Ruth; “I was in, this morning; made the bed, tidied up the house. Leah Hills went in, this afternoon, and baked bread and pies enough to last some days; and I engaged to go back to get her up, this evening.”
-- J' irai demain, dit Rachel, je laverai et raccommoderai le linge.
“I will go in tomorrow, and do any cleaning there may be, and look over the mending,” said Rachel.
“Ah! that is well,” said Ruth. “I’ve heard,” she added, “that Hannah Stanwood is sick. John was up there, last night,—I must go there tomorrow.”
“John can come in here to his meals, if thee needs to stay all day,” suggested Rachel.
--Merci, Rachel; nous verrons demain.... Mais voici Siméon.»
“Thank thee, Rachel; will see, tomorrow; but, here comes Simeon.”
Simeon Halliday, a tall, straight, muscular man, in drab coat and pantaloons, and broad-brimmed hat, now entered.
“How is thee, Ruth?” he said, warmly, as he spread his broad open hand for her little fat palm; “and how is John?”
“O! John is well, and all the rest of our folks,” said Ruth, cheerily.
“Any news, father?” said Rachel, as she was putting her biscuits into the oven.
“Peter Stebbins told me that they should be along tonight, with _friends_,” said Simeon, significantly, as he was washing his hands at a neat sink, in a little back porch.
“Indeed!” said Rachel, looking thoughtfully, and glancing at Eliza.
“Did thee say thy name was Harris?” said Simeon to Eliza, as he reentered.
Rachel glanced quickly at her husband, as Eliza tremulously answered “yes;” her fears, ever uppermost, suggesting that possibly there might be advertisements out for her.
« Mère ! dit Siméon du fond du cabinet.
“Mother!” said Simeon, standing in the porch, and calling Rachel out.
“What does thee want, father?” said Rachel, rubbing her floury hands, as she went into the porch.
“This child’s husband is in the settlement, and will be here tonight,” said Simeon.
“Now, thee doesn’t say that, father?” said Rachel, all her face radiant with joy.
“It’s really true. Peter was down yesterday, with the wagon, to the other stand, and there he found an old woman and two men; and one said his name was George Harris; and from what he told of his history, I am certain who he is. He is a bright, likely fellow, too.”
“Shall we tell her now?” said Simeon. ~~~ “Let’s tell Ruth,” said Rachel. “Here, Ruth,—come here.”
Ruth laissa son tricot et accourut.
Ruth laid down her knitting-work, and was in the back porch in a moment.
“Ruth, what does thee think?” said Rachel. “Father says Eliza’s husband is in the last company, and will be here tonight.”
A burst of joy from the little Quakeress interrupted the speech. She gave such a bound from the floor, as she clapped her little hands, that two stray curls fell from under her Quaker cap, and lay brightly on her white neckerchief.
“Hush thee, dear!” said Rachel, gently; “hush, Ruth! Tell us, shall we tell her now?”
“Now! to be sure,—this very minute. Why, now, suppose ’t was my John, how should I feel? Do tell her, right off.”
“Thee uses thyself only to learn how to love thy neighbor, Ruth,” said Simeon, looking, with a beaming face, on Ruth.
“To be sure. Isn’t it what we are made for? If I didn’t love John and the baby, I should not know how to feel for her. Come, now do tell her,—do!” and she laid her hands persuasively on Rachel’s arm. “Take her into thy bed-room, there, and let me fry the chicken while thee does it.”
Rachel came out into the kitchen, where Eliza was sewing, and opening the door of a small bed-room, said, gently, “Come in here with me, my daughter; I have news to tell thee.”
The blood flushed in Eliza’s pale face; she rose, trembling with nervous anxiety, and looked towards her boy.
« Non ! non ! dit la petite Ruth en se levant et en lui prenant la main, non ! jamais !... Ne crains rien. Ce sont de bonnes nouvelles, Élisa.... ne crains rien. Va, va ! » Et elle la poussa vers la porte qu' elle ferma après elle. Puis, revenant sur ses pas, elle prit le petit Henri et se mit à l' embrasser.
“No, no,” said little Ruth, darting up, and seizing her hands. “Never thee fear; it’s good news, Eliza,—go in, go in!” And she gently pushed her to the door which closed after her; and then, turning round, she caught little Harry in her arms, and began kissing him.
“Thee’ll see thy father, little one. Does thee know it? Thy father is coming,” she said, over and over again, as the boy looked wonderingly at her.
Meanwhile, within the door, another scene was going on. Rachel Halliday drew Eliza toward her, and said, “The Lord hath had mercy on thee, daughter; thy husband hath escaped from the house of bondage.”
Un nuage de sang rose monta aux joues d' Élisa, puis il redescendit jusqu' à son coeur; elle s' assit pâle et presque inanimée.
The blood flushed to Eliza’s cheek in a sudden glow, and went back to her heart with as sudden a rush. She sat down, pale and faint.
“Have courage, child,” said Rachel, laying her hand on her head. “He is among friends, who will bring him here tonight.”
-- Cette nuit ! répétait Élisa; cette nuit ! »
“Tonight!” Eliza repeated, “tonight!” The words lost all meaning to her; her head was dreamy and confused; all was mist for a moment.
Quand elle revint à elle, elle se trouva sur un lit, enveloppée d' une couverture; la petite Ruth, à ses côtés, lui frottait les mains avec du camphre. Elle ouvrit les yeux avec une langueur pleine de délices; elle éprouvait le bonheur de celui qui a été longtemps chargé d' un lourd fardeau et qu' on en délivre. ~~~ Ses nerfs, toujours irrités depuis la première heure de sa fuite, se détendirent peu à peu. Un sentiment tout nouveau de repos et de sécurité descendit sur elle. Elle restait couchée, ses grands yeux noirs ouverts, et, comme dans un rêve paisible, elle suivait les mouvements de ceux qui l' entouraient. Elle voyait la porte de l' autre chambre ouverte, elle voyait la table du souper avec sa nappe blanche comme la neige. Elle entendait le murmure et la chanson de la théière, elle voyait Ruth trottant menu, portant des gâteaux, des conserves, et s' arrêtant de temps en temps pour mettre une galette entre les mains d' Henri, ou pour caresser sa petite tête, ou pour enrouler les jolies boucles de l' enfant autour de ses doigts blancs. Elle voyait la taille majestueuse et l' air maternel de Rachel, qui venait de temps en temps auprès du lit pour relever et arranger les couvertures. Il lui semblait voir descendre de ses grands yeux bruns comme de brillants rayons de soleil. Elle vit le mari de Ruth qui entrait; elle vit Ruth s' élancer vers lui, chuchoter tout bas, avec force gestes expressifs et montrant du doigt la chambre où elle était; elle la vit s' asseoir à la table du thé, son baby entre les bras. Elle les vit tous à table, et le petit Henri dans sa grande chaise, tout près de Rachel, et comme à l' ombre de ses ailes. Et puis elle entendait le doux murmure de la causerie, et le cliquetis des cuillers et le choc des tasses et des assiettes... C' était le rêve du repos heureux ! Élisa s' endormit comme elle n' avait jamais dormi depuis cette terrible heure de minuit, où, prenant son enfant dans ses bras, elle s' était enfuie à la lueur glacée des étoiles.
When she awoke, she found herself snugly tucked up on the bed, with a blanket over her, and little Ruth rubbing her hands with camphor. She opened her eyes in a state of dreamy, delicious languor, such as one who has long been bearing a heavy load, and now feels it gone, and would rest. The tension of the nerves, which had never ceased a moment since the first hour of her flight, had given way, and a strange feeling of security and rest came over her; and as she lay, with her large, dark eyes open, she followed, as in a quiet dream, the motions of those about her. She saw the door open into the other room; saw the supper-table, with its snowy cloth; heard the dreamy murmur of the singing tea-kettle; saw Ruth tripping backward and forward, with plates of cake and saucers of preserves, and ever and anon stopping to put a cake into Harry’s hand, or pat his head, or twine his long curls round her snowy fingers. She saw the ample, motherly form of Rachel, as she ever and anon came to the bedside, and smoothed and arranged something about the bedclothes, and gave a tuck here and there, by way of expressing her good-will; and was conscious of a kind of sunshine beaming down upon her from her large, clear, brown eyes. She saw Ruth’s husband come in,—saw her fly up to him, and commence whispering very earnestly, ever and anon, with impressive gesture, pointing her little finger toward the room. She saw her, with the baby in her arms, sitting down to tea; she saw them all at table, and little Harry in a high chair, under the shadow of Rachel’s ample wing; there were low murmurs of talk, gentle tinkling of tea-spoons, and musical clatter of cups and saucers, and all mingled in a delightful dream of rest; and Eliza slept, as she had not slept before, since the fearful midnight hour when she had taken her child and fled through the frosty starlight.
Elle rêvait d' un beau pays, d' une terre de repos, de rivages verdoyants, d' îles charmantes et de belles eaux, étincelantes sous le soleil. Là, dans une maison où des voix amies lui disaient qu' elle était chez elle, elle voyait jouer son enfant, son enfant heureux et libre; elle entendait les pas de son mari, elle devinait son approche, ses bras l' entouraient, les larmes de Georges tombaient sur son visage.... et elle s' éveillait. ~~~ Ce n' était point un rêve.
She dreamed of a beautiful country,—a land, it seemed to her, of rest,—green shores, pleasant islands, and beautifully glittering water; and there, in a house which kind voices told her was a home, she saw her boy playing, free and happy child. She heard her husband’s footsteps; she felt him coming nearer; his arms were around her, his tears falling on her face, and she awoke! It was no dream. The daylight had long faded; her child lay calmly sleeping by her side; a candle was burning dimly on the stand, and her husband was sobbing by her pillow.
Depuis longtemps la nuit était venue; son enfant dormait paisiblement à ses côtés. Un flambeau jetait dans la chambre ses clartés douteuses, et Georges sanglotait au chevet de son lit. ~~~ Le lendemain fut une heureuse matinée pour la maison du quaker. La mère fut debout dès l' aube, et entourée de filles et de garçons que nous n' avons pas eu le temps de présenter hier à nos lecteurs, et qui maintenant obéissaient avec amour à son « Vous ferez bien, » ou à son « Ne ferez -vous pas bien ? » Elle s' occupait activement des préparatifs du déjeuner. Le déjeuner, dans cette luxuriante vallée d' Indiana, est chose compliquée et qui nécessite le concours de bien des mains. Ève n' eût pas suffi à cueillir toutes les roses du paradis. ~~~ John cependant courait à la fontaine; Siméon le jeune passait au tamis la farine de maïs destinée aux gâteaux; Mary était chargée de moudre le café; Rachel était partout, faisant les gâteaux, apprêtant le poulet et répandant sur toute la scène comme un gai rayon de soleil. Le zèle des jeunes servants n' était pas toujours bien réglé, mais comme elle rétablissait vite le calme et la paix avec un « Allons ! Allons ! » ou un « Je ne voudrais pas ! » ~~~ Les poëtes ont chanté la ceinture de Vénus, qui fit tourner toutes les têtes du vieux monde. Pour notre compte, nous aimerions mieux la ceinture de Rachel Halliday, qui empêchait les têtes de tourner. ~~~ Elle serait plus appropriée que l' autre aux besoins des temps modernes, décidément.
The next morning was a cheerful one at the Quaker house. “Mother” was up betimes, and surrounded by busy girls and boys, whom we had scarce time to introduce to our readers yesterday, and who all moved obediently to Rachel’s gentle “Thee had better,” or more gentle “Hadn’t thee better?” in the work of getting breakfast; for a breakfast in the luxurious valleys of Indiana is a thing complicated and multiform, and, like picking up the rose-leaves and trimming the bushes in Paradise, asking other hands than those of the original mother. While, therefore, John ran to the spring for fresh water, and Simeon the second sifted meal for corn-cakes, and Mary ground coffee, Rachel moved gently, and quietly about, making biscuits, cutting up chicken, and diffusing a sort of sunny radiance over the whole proceeding generally. If there was any danger of friction or collision from the ill-regulated zeal of so many young operators, her gentle “Come! come!” or “I wouldn’t, now,” was quite sufficient to allay the difficulty. Bards have written of the cestus of Venus, that turned the heads of all the world in successive generations. We had rather, for our part, have the cestus of Rachel Halliday, that kept heads from being turned, and made everything go on harmoniously. We think it is more suited to our modern days, decidedly.
Pendant que ces petits préparatifs allaient leur train, Siméon l' aîné, en manches de chemises, se livrait à une opération anti-patriarcale: il faisait sa barbe ! ~~~ Tout allait si bien, si doucement, si harmonieusement dans la grande cuisine, que chacun semblait heureux de ce qu' il faisait; il y avait une telle atmosphère d' affectueuse confiance, les couteaux et les fourchettes, en s' en allant sur la table, avaient les uns contre les autres des retentissements si mélodieux, le poulet et le jambon chantaient si fort dans la poêle, ils semblaient si heureux d' être frits de cette façon -là et non pas d' une autre, le petit Henri, Élisa et Georges, quand ils parurent, reçurent un accueil si cordial et si réjouissant, qu' ils crurent moins à une réalité qu' à un rêve.
While all other preparations were going on, Simeon the elder stood in his shirt-sleeves before a little looking-glass in the corner, engaged in the anti-patriarchal operation of shaving. Everything went on so sociably, so quietly, so harmoniously, in the great kitchen,—it seemed so pleasant to every one to do just what they were doing, there was such an atmosphere of mutual confidence and good fellowship everywhere,—even the knives and forks had a social clatter as they went on to the table; and the chicken and ham had a cheerful and joyous fizzle in the pan, as if they rather enjoyed being cooked than otherwise;—and when George and Eliza and little Harry came out, they met such a hearty, rejoicing welcome, no wonder it seemed to them like a dream.
At last, they were all seated at breakfast, while Mary stood at the stove, baking griddle-cakes, which, as they gained the true exact golden-brown tint of perfection, were transferred quite handily to the table.
Rachel, au milieu de sa table, n' avait jamais paru si véritablement, si complétement heureuse. Elle trouvait le moyen de se montrer maternelle et cordiale rien que dans sa manière de vous passer un plat de gâteaux ou de vous verser une tasse de thé. On eût dit qu' elle mettait une âme dans la nourriture et le breuvage qu' elle vous offrait.
Rachel never looked so truly and benignly happy as at the head of her table. There was so much motherliness and full-heartedness even in the way she passed a plate of cakes or poured a cup of coffee, that it seemed to put a spirit into the food and drink she offered.
It was the first time that ever George had sat down on equal terms at any white man’s table; and he sat down, at first, with some constraint and awkwardness; but they all exhaled and went off like fog, in the genial morning rays of this simple, overflowing kindness.
C' était bien une maison: une maison ! un intérieur ! Georges n' avait jamais su ce que ce mot -là voulait dire. La croyance en Dieu, la confiance en sa providence, entourèrent pour la première fois son coeur d' un nuage doré d' espérance. Le doute sombre, misanthropique, athée et poignant, le désespoir amer, s' évanouirent devant la lumière de cet Évangile vivant, respirant sur des faces vivantes, prêché par des actes d' amour et de bon vouloir qui s' ignorent eux-mêmes, mais qui, pareils au verre d' eau donné au nom du Christ, ne perdront jamais leur récompense.
This, indeed, was a home,—_home_,—a word that George had never yet known a meaning for; and a belief in God, and trust in his providence, began to encircle his heart, as, with a golden cloud of protection and confidence, dark, misanthropic, pining atheistic doubts, and fierce despair, melted away before the light of a living Gospel, breathed in living faces, preached by a thousand unconscious acts of love and good will, which, like the cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple, shall never lose their reward.
« Père, si l' on te découvrait encore ? dit le jeune Siméon en étendant son beurre sur son gâteau.
“Father, what if thee should get found out again?” said Simeon second, as he buttered his cake.
“I should pay my fine,” said Simeon, quietly.
-- Mais s' ils te mettaient en prison ?
“But what if they put thee in prison?”
“Couldn’t thee and mother manage the farm?” said Simeon, smiling.
“Mother can do almost everything,” said the boy. “But isn’t it a shame to make such laws?”
“Thee mustn’t speak evil of thy rulers, Simeon,” said his father, gravely. “The Lord only gives us our worldly goods that we may do justice and mercy; if our rulers require a price of us for it, we must deliver it up.
“Well, I hate those old slaveholders!” said the boy, who felt as unchristian as became any modern reformer.
“I am surprised at thee, son,” said Simeon; “thy mother never taught thee so. I would do even the same for the slaveholder as for the slave, if the Lord brought him to my door in affliction.”
Simeon second blushed scarlet; but his mother only smiled, and said, “Simeon is my good boy; he will grow older, by and by, and then he will be like his father.”
“I hope, my good sir, that you are not exposed to any difficulty on our account,” said George, anxiously.
“Fear nothing, George, for therefore are we sent into the world. If we would not meet trouble for a good cause, we were not worthy of our name.”
-- Mais pour moi, dit Georges, je ne le souffrirai pas !
“But, for _me_,” said George, “I could not bear it.”
-- Ne crains rien, ami Georges; ce n' est pas pour toi, c' est pour Dieu et l' humanité, ce que nous en faisons.... Reste ici tranquillement tout le jour. Cette nuit, à dix heures, Phinéas Fletcher vous conduira tous à la prochaine station. Les persécuteurs se hâtent après toi, nous ne voulons pas te retenir.
“Fear not, then, friend George; it is not for thee, but for God and man, we do it,” said Simeon. “And now thou must lie by quietly this day, and tonight, at ten o’clock, Phineas Fletcher will carry thee onward to the next stand,—thee and the rest of thy company. The pursuers are hard after thee; we must not delay.”
“If that is the case, why wait till evening?” said George.
“Thou art safe here by daylight, for every one in the settlement is a Friend, and all are watching. It has been found safer to travel by night.”
CHAPITRE XIV. ~~~ Évangéline.
CHAPTER XIV Evangeline
“A young star! which shone O’er life—too sweet an image, for such glass! A lovely being, scarcely formed or moulded; A rose with all its sweetest leaves yet folded.”
The Mississippi! How, as by an enchanted wand, have its scenes been changed, since Chateaubriand wrote his prose-poetic description of it,[1] as a river of mighty, unbroken solitudes, rolling amid undreamed wonders of vegetable and animal existence.
Il semble qu' en une heure ce fleuve de la poésie et de l' imagination a été transporté dans les royaumes d' une réalité non moins splendide. Quel autre fleuve pareil dans ce monde porte ainsi jusqu' à l' Océan les richesses et l' audace d' une autre nation pareille ? Terre dont les produits embrassent le monde, touchant les deux tropiques et les deux pôles ! Oui, ses flots mugissants, tourbillonnants, écumeux, troublés, arrachant leurs rives, sont bien l' image de cette marée turbulente d' affaires qui se répand sur ses vagues avec la race la plus énergique et la plus violente que le monde ait jamais vue. Ah ! pourquoi faut -il que le sein du Messachebé porte aussi ce poids terrible, les larmes des opprimés.... les soupirs des malheureux.... et les peines amères des coeurs pauvres, coeurs ignorants qui s' adressent à un Dieu inconnu.... inconnu, invisible, silencieux; mais qui, pourtant, sortira un jour de son repos pour sauver tous les pauvres de la terre !
[1] _In Atala; or the Love and Constantcy of Two Savages in the Desert_ (1801) by Francois Auguste Rene, Vicomte de Chateaubriand (1768-1848). ~~~ But as in an hour, this river of dreams and wild romance has emerged to a reality scarcely less visionary and splendid. What other river of the world bears on its bosom to the ocean the wealth and enterprise of such another country?—a country whose products embrace all between the tropics and the poles! Those turbid waters, hurrying, foaming, tearing along, an apt resemblance of that headlong tide of business which is poured along its wave by a race more vehement and energetic than any the old world ever saw. Ah! would that they did not also bear along a more fearful freight,—the tears of the oppressed, the sighs of the helpless, the bitter prayers of poor, ignorant hearts to an unknown God—unknown, unseen and silent, but who will yet “come out of his place to save all the poor of the earth!”
Les derniers rayons du soleil couchant tremblent sur la vaste étendue de ce fleuve, large comme une mer. Les cannes frémissantes, les grands cyprès noirs auxquels la mousse sombre suspend ses guirlandes de deuil, étincellent dans la lumière dorée.
The slanting light of the setting sun quivers on the sea-like expanse of the river; the shivery canes, and the tall, dark cypress, hung with wreaths of dark, funereal moss, glow in the golden ray, as the heavily-laden steamboat marches onward.
Le steamer, pesamment chargé, continue sa marche. ~~~ Les balles de coton s' entassent en piles sur ses flancs, sur le pont, partout ! On dirait une gigantesque masse grise. Il nous faut un examen attentif pour découvrir notre humble ami Tom. Nous l' apercevons enfin à l' avant du navire, blotti entre les balles de coton.
Piled with cotton-bales, from many a plantation, up over deck and sides, till she seems in the distance a square, massive block of gray, she moves heavily onward to the nearing mart. We must look some time among its crowded decks before we shall find again our humble friend Tom. High on the upper deck, in a little nook among the everywhere predominant cotton-bales, at last we may find him.
Partly from confidence inspired by Mr. Shelby’s representations, and partly from the remarkably inoffensive and quiet character of the man, Tom had insensibly won his way far into the confidence even of such a man as Haley.
D'abord il l' avait étroitement surveillé pendant le jour, il n' avait laissé passer aucune nuit sans l' enchaîner.... et puis, peu à peu, le calme, la résignation de Tom, l' avaient gagné: il se relâchait de sa surveillance, se contentait d' une sorte de parole d' honneur, et lui permettait d' aller et de venir à sa guise sur le bateau.
At first he had watched him narrowly through the day, and never allowed him to sleep at night unfettered; but the uncomplaining patience and apparent contentment of Tom’s manner led him gradually to discontinue these restraints, and for some time Tom had enjoyed a sort of parole of honor, being permitted to come and go freely where he pleased on the boat.
Ever quiet and obliging, and more than ready to lend a hand in every emergency which occurred among the workmen below, he had won the good opinion of all the hands, and spent many hours in helping them with as hearty a good will as ever he worked on a Kentucky farm.
When there seemed to be nothing for him to do, he would climb to a nook among the cotton-bales of the upper deck, and busy himself in studying over his Bible,—and it is there we see him now.
A cent et quelques milles avant la Nouvelle-Orléans, le niveau du fleuve est plus élevé que la contrée qu' il traverse, il roule sa masse énorme entre de puissantes digues de vingt pieds; du haut du pont, comme du sommet de quelque tour flottante, le voyageur découvre tout le pays jusqu' à des distances presque infinies. Tom, en voyant se dérouler ainsi les plantations l' une après l' autre, avait pour ainsi dire sous les yeux la carte de l' existence qu' il allait mener.
For a hundred or more miles above New Orleans, the river is higher than the surrounding country, and rolls its tremendous volume between massive levees twenty feet in height. The traveller from the deck of the steamer, as from some floating castle top, overlooks the whole country for miles and miles around. Tom, therefore, had spread out full before him, in plantation after plantation, a map of the life to which he was approaching.
Il voyait dans le lointain les esclaves au travail, il voyait leurs villages de huttes, rangées en longues files, loin des superbes maisons et du parc du maître; et à mesure que se déroulait ce tableau vivant, son coeur retournait à la vieille ferme du Kentucky, cachée sous le feuillage des vieux hêtres ! Il revenait à la maison de Shelby, aux appartements vastes et frais, et à sa petite case à lui, toute festonnée de multiflores, toute parée de bignonies.... Il croyait reconnaître le visage familier de son camarade, élevé avec lui depuis l' enfance; il voyait sa femme occupée des apprêts du souper, il entendait le rire joyeux de ses enfants et le gazouillement du baby sur ses genoux.... puis tout s' évanouit.... Il ne vit plus que les cannes à sucre et les cyprès des plantations étincelantes; il n' entendit plus que le craquement et le mugissement de la machine, qui ne lui disait, hélas ! que trop clairement, que toute cette phase de sa vie était disparue pour toujours.
He saw the distant slaves at their toil; he saw afar their villages of huts gleaming out in long rows on many a plantation, distant from the stately mansions and pleasure-grounds of the master;—and as the moving picture passed on, his poor, foolish heart would be turning backward to the Kentucky farm, with its old shadowy beeches,—to the master’s house, with its wide, cool halls, and, near by, the little cabin overgrown with the multiflora and bignonia. There he seemed to see familiar faces of comrades who had grown up with him from infancy; he saw his busy wife, bustling in her preparations for his evening meals; he heard the merry laugh of his boys at their play, and the chirrup of the baby at his knee; and then, with a start, all faded, and he saw again the canebrakes and cypresses and gliding plantations, and heard again the creaking and groaning of the machinery, all telling him too plainly that all that phase of life had gone by forever.
Dans de pareilles circonstances, nous avons, nous, la lettre, cette joie amère ! nous écrivons à notre femme; nous envoyons des messagers à nos enfants. Mais Tom ne pouvait pas écrire: pour lui la poste n' existait pas. Pas un seul ami, pas un signal qui pût jeter un pont sur l' abîme de la séparation !
In such a case, you write to your wife, and send messages to your children; but Tom could not write,—the mail for him had no existence, and the gulf of separation was unbridged by even a friendly word or signal.
Comme tous ceux qui ont appris tard, Tom lisait lentement. Par bonheur pour lui, le livre qu' il tenait était un de ceux qu' on peut lire lentement sans lui faire tort; un livre dont les mots, comme des lingots d' or, ont besoin d' être pesés séparément, pour que l' esprit puisse en saisir l' inappréciable valeur ! ~~~ Écoutons -le donc ! voyons comme il lit, s' arrêtant sur chaque mot et le prononçant tout haut:
Is it strange, then, that some tears fall on the pages of his Bible, as he lays it on the cotton-bale, and, with patient finger, threading his slow way from word to word, traces out its promises? Having learned late in life, Tom was but a slow reader, and passed on laboriously from verse to verse. Fortunate for him was it that the book he was intent on was one which slow reading cannot injure,—nay, one whose words, like ingots of gold, seem often to need to be weighed separately, that the mind may take in their priceless value. Let us follow him a moment, as, pointing to each word, and pronouncing each half aloud, he reads,
«Que--votre--coeur--ne--se--trouble--point.--Dans--la--maison--de--mon --père--il--y--a--plusieurs--demeures.--Je--vais--préparer--une--place --pour--vous.»
“Let—not—your—heart—be—troubled. In—my—Father’s—house—are—many—mansions. I—go—to—prepare—a—place—for—you.”
Cicéron, quand il ensevelit sa fille unique et adorée, eut autant de chagrin que Tom, pas plus ! l' un comme l' autre ne sont que des hommes ! Mais Cicéron ne put méditer d' aussi sublimes paroles d' espérance, il ne put tourner ses regards vers la future réunion; et, s' il eût eu une de ces paroles sous les yeux, il n' y aurait pas cru, il se serait mis en tête mille scrupules sur l' authenticité du manuscrit ou la fidélité de la traduction. Mais pour Tom, il y avait là tout ce qu' il lui fallait, une vérité si évidente et si divine, que la possibilité d' un doute n' entrait même pas dans son cerveau !
Cicero, when he buried his darling and only daughter, had a heart as full of honest grief as poor Tom’s,—perhaps no fuller, for both were only men;—but Cicero could pause over no such sublime words of hope, and look to no such future reunion; and if he _had_ seen them, ten to one he would not have believed,—he must fill his head first with a thousand questions of authenticity of manuscript, and correctness of translation. But, to poor Tom, there it lay, just what he needed, so evidently true and divine that the possibility of a question never entered his simple head. It must be true; for, if not true, how could he live?
Il faut que cela soit vrai; car, si cela n' était pas vrai, comment pourrait -il vivre ? ~~~ La Bible de Tom n' avait point d' annotations à la marge ni de commentaires dus à de savants glossateurs. Cependant elle était enrichie de certaines marques et de points de repère de l' invention de Tom, qui lui servaient beaucoup plus que de savantes expositions. ~~~ Il avait l' habitude de se faire lire la Bible par les enfants de son maître, et surtout par le jeune Georges; et, pendant qu' on lisait, lui, avec une plume et de l' encre, faisait de grands et très-visibles signes sur la page, aux endroits qui avaient charmé son oreille ou touché son coeur. ~~~ Sa Bible était ainsi annotée d' un bout à l' autre avec une incroyable variété et une inépuisable richesse de typographie. ~~~ En un moment, et sans se donner la peine d' épeler le mot à mot, il trouvait le passage favori. Aussi cette Bible, toute pleine de son existence passée, cette Bible qui lui rappelait la scène du foyer et de la famille, cette Bible était pour lui le dernier souvenir de cette vie, et le gage et l' espérance de l' autre !
As for Tom’s Bible, though it had no annotations and helps in margin from learned commentators, still it had been embellished with certain way-marks and guide-boards of Tom’s own invention, and which helped him more than the most learned expositions could have done. It had been his custom to get the Bible read to him by his master’s children, in particular by young Master George; and, as they read, he would designate, by bold, strong marks and dashes, with pen and ink, the passages which more particularly gratified his ear or affected his heart. His Bible was thus marked through, from one end to the other, with a variety of styles and designations; so he could in a moment seize upon his favorite passages, without the labor of spelling out what lay between them;—and while it lay there before him, every passage breathing of some old home scene, and recalling some past enjoyment, his Bible seemed to him all of this life that remained, as well as the promise of a future one.
Among the passengers on the boat was a young gentleman of fortune and family, resident in New Orleans, who bore the name of St. Clare. He had with him a daughter between five and six years of age, together with a lady who seemed to claim relationship to both, and to have the little one especially under her charge.
Tom had often caught glimpses of this little girl,—for she was one of those busy, tripping creatures, that can be no more contained in one place than a sunbeam or a summer breeze,—nor was she one that, once seen, could be easily forgotten.
C' était l' idéal de la beauté enfantine, sans les joues bouffies et la rondeur trop pleine qui la déparent souvent. On suivait en elle comme une ligne onduleuse; c' était je ne sais quelle grâce aérienne; elle faisait rêver aux êtres allégoriques et aux créations brillantes de la mythologie. Son visage était moins remarquable par la beauté parfaite des traits que par une expression de rêverie singulière et profonde. Ceux qui cherchaient l' idéal étaient frappés en la voyant; les autres, le vulgaire grossier, se sentaient émus, sans trop savoir pourquoi. La forme de sa tête, l' élégance de son cou, son buste, avaient un caractère de noblesse singulière; ses longs cheveux d' un brun doré, qui flottaient autour d' elle comme un nuage; son oeil d' un bleu sombre, profond, intelligent, réfléchi, ombragé d' un épais rideau de cils bruns, tout semblait la distinguer des autres enfants, et attirer et fixer les regards, quand elle se glissait entre les passagers, insaisissable et légère. ~~~ Gardez -vous de croire cependant que ce fût un enfant grave et morose. ~~~ Loin de là: un air d' innocence heureuse semblait flotter sur son visage, comme l' ombre d' un feuillage d' été. Elle était toujours en mouvement; le sourire voltigeait sur sa bouche rose; elle chantait, courait et dansait. Son père, et la femme qui devait la garder, étaient toujours à sa poursuite; mais, quand ils croyaient l' avoir prise, elle échappait de leurs mains comme un nuage printanier. Et comme jamais, quoi qu' elle voulût faire, un mot de reproche ou de gronderie n' avait frappé ses oreilles, elle continuait sa course sur le bateau. Toujours vêtue de blanc, elle passait comme un fantôme sans se poser nulle part, sans s' arrêter jamais; il n' y avait pas un coin qu' elle ne connût, un recoin qu' elle n' eût fouillé, soit en haut, soit en bas. Ses pieds légers la portaient partout, vision à la tête blonde et dorée, aux yeux profonds et bleus.
Her form was the perfection of childish beauty, without its usual chubbiness and squareness of outline. There was about it an undulating and aerial grace, such as one might dream of for some mythic and allegorical being. Her face was remarkable less for its perfect beauty of feature than for a singular and dreamy earnestness of expression, which made the ideal start when they looked at her, and by which the dullest and most literal were impressed, without exactly knowing why. The shape of her head and the turn of her neck and bust was peculiarly noble, and the long golden-brown hair that floated like a cloud around it, the deep spiritual gravity of her violet blue eyes, shaded by heavy fringes of golden brown,—all marked her out from other children, and made every one turn and look after her, as she glided hither and thither on the boat. Nevertheless, the little one was not what you would have called either a grave child or a sad one. On the contrary, an airy and innocent playfulness seemed to flicker like the shadow of summer leaves over her childish face, and around her buoyant figure. She was always in motion, always with a half smile on her rosy mouth, flying hither and thither, with an undulating and cloud-like tread, singing to herself as she moved as in a happy dream. Her father and female guardian were incessantly busy in pursuit of her,—but, when caught, she melted from them again like a summer cloud; and as no word of chiding or reproof ever fell on her ear for whatever she chose to do, she pursued her own way all over the boat. Always dressed in white, she seemed to move like a shadow through all sorts of places, without contracting spot or stain; and there was not a corner or nook, above or below, where those fairy footsteps had not glided, and that visionary golden head, with its deep blue eyes, fleeted along.
Parfois le mécanicien, relevant ses regards de son travail, apercevait ses grands yeux qui plongeaient dans les tumultueuses profondeurs de la fournaise: elle semblait pleine de crainte et de pitié pour lui, comme si elle l' eût vu dans quelque affreux danger. Tantôt c' était le timonier qui s' arrêtait, la roue à la main, et souriant, parce qu' il avait vu ce doux visage, beau comme la peinture, paraître et disparaître à la fenêtre de sa cabine. Mille fois de grosses voix rudes l' avaient bénie, et des visages sévères s' étaient amollis à son approche en des douceurs infinies; quand elle s' avançait audacieusement jusqu' aux endroits dangereux, les mains calleuses et noircies se tendaient involontairement comme pour la sauver.
The fireman, as he looked up from his sweaty toil, sometimes found those eyes looking wonderingly into the raging depths of the furnace, and fearfully and pityingly at him, as if she thought him in some dreadful danger. Anon the steersman at the wheel paused and smiled, as the picture-like head gleamed through the window of the round house, and in a moment was gone again. A thousand times a day rough voices blessed her, and smiles of unwonted softness stole over hard faces, as she passed; and when she tripped fearlessly over dangerous places, rough, sooty hands were stretched involuntarily out to save her, and smooth her path.
Tom, qui avait toute l' impressionnabilité de sa race, toujours attiré vers la simplicité et l' enfance, suivait des yeux cette petite créature avec un intérêt qui croissait de jour en jour. Il voyait en elle quelque chose de divin; chaque fois qu' il apercevait cette tête blonde et ces yeux bleus entre deux balles de coton ou sur un monceau de colis, il lui semblait voir quelqu'un de ces anges dont parlait sa Bible.
Tom, who had the soft, impressible nature of his kindly race, ever yearning toward the simple and childlike, watched the little creature with daily increasing interest. To him she seemed something almost divine; and whenever her golden head and deep blue eyes peered out upon him from behind some dusky cotton-bale, or looked down upon him over some ridge of packages, he half believed that he saw one of the angels stepped out of his New Testament.
Souvent elle passait triste et pensive à côté du troupeau d' hommes et de femmes enchaînés. Elle glissait au milieu d' eux et les regardait d' un air triste et compatissant; parfois de ses petites mains elle essayait de soulever leurs fers. Puis elle soupirait et s' enfuyait. Mais elle revenait bientôt les mains pleines de sucreries, de noix et d' oranges qu' elle leur distribuait joyeusement; puis elle s' en retournait bien vite.
Often and often she walked mournfully round the place where Haley’s gang of men and women sat in their chains. She would glide in among them, and look at them with an air of perplexed and sorrowful earnestness; and sometimes she would lift their chains with her slender hands, and then sigh wofully, as she glided away. Several times she appeared suddenly among them, with her hands full of candy, nuts, and oranges, which she would distribute joyfully to them, and then be gone again.
Tom la regarda bien des fois avant de se hasarder à entamer avec elle les premières ouvertures. Mais il savait la manière d' apprivoiser et de captiver les enfants. Il se permit d' y mettre de l' habileté. Il savait faire de petits paniers avec des noyaux de cerises, tailler des figures grotesques dans la noix du cocotier; Pan lui-même ne l' eût pas égalé dans la fabrication des sifflets de toute nature et de toute dimension. Ses poches étaient pleines d' articles séducteurs, qu' il avait jadis façonnés pour les enfants de son maître, et dont il se servait maintenant avec choix et discernement pour se créer de nouvelles relations.
Tom watched the little lady a great deal, before he ventured on any overtures towards acquaintanceship. He knew an abundance of simple acts to propitiate and invite the approaches of the little people, and he resolved to play his part right skilfully. He could cut cunning little baskets out of cherry-stones, could make grotesque faces on hickory-nuts, or odd-jumping figures out of elder-pith, and he was a very Pan in the manufacture of whistles of all sizes and sorts. His pockets were full of miscellaneous articles of attraction, which he had hoarded in days of old for his master’s children, and which he now produced, with commendable prudence and economy, one by one, as overtures for acquaintance and friendship.
La petite se tenait sur la réserve; il était difficile de captiver son esprit mobile. Tout d'abord elle venait se percher sur quelque boîte, comme un oiseau des Canaries, dans le voisinage de Tom; elle acceptait timidement les petits objets que Tom lui présentait: enfin, on en arriva à la confiance presque intime.
The little one was shy, for all her busy interest in everything going on, and it was not easy to tame her. For a while, she would perch like a canary-bird on some box or package near Tom, while busy in the little arts afore-named, and take from him, with a kind of grave bashfulness, the little articles he offered. But at last they got on quite confidential terms.
“What’s little missy’s name?” said Tom, at last, when he thought matters were ripe to push such an inquiry.
“Evangeline St. Clare,” said the little one, “though papa and everybody else call me Eva. Now, what’s your name?”
“My name’s Tom; the little chil’en used to call me Uncle Tom, way back thar in Kentuck.”
“Then I mean to call you Uncle Tom, because, you see, I like you,” said Eva. “So, Uncle Tom, where are you going?”
“I don’t know, Miss Eva.”
-- Comment ! vous ne savez pas ?
“Don’t know?” said Eva.
“No, I am going to be sold to somebody. I don’t know who.”
“My papa can buy you,” said Eva, quickly; “and if he buys you, you will have good times. I mean to ask him, this very day.”
--Merci, ma petite demoiselle.»
“Thank you, my little lady,” said Tom.
The boat here stopped at a small landing to take in wood, and Eva, hearing her father’s voice, bounded nimbly away. Tom rose up, and went forward to offer his service in wooding, and soon was busy among the hands.
Éva et son père se tenaient près du parapet pour voir repartir le bateau. La roue fit deux ou trois évolutions: la pauvre enfant perdit l' équilibre et tomba par-dessus le bord.... Le père tout troublé, voulut plonger après elle: il fut retenu par quelques personnes qui avaient vu qu' un secours plus efficace allait lui être offert.
Eva and her father were standing together by the railings to see the boat start from the landing-place, the wheel had made two or three revolutions in the water, when, by some sudden movement, the little one suddenly lost her balance and fell sheer over the side of the boat into the water. Her father, scarce knowing what he did, was plunging in after her, but was held back by some behind him, who saw that more efficient aid had followed his child.
Tom était tout près d' elle au moment de l' accident, il la vit tomber; il s' élança: bras puissant, large poitrine, ce n' était rien pour lui que de se tenir un instant à flot pour la saisir au moment où elle reparaîtrait à la surface. ~~~ Il la saisit en effet, et nageant avec elle le long du bateau, il la tendit à l' étreinte de cent mains qui se penchaient vers elle comme si elles eussent appartenu à un seul homme. Un moment après, son père la portait dans la cabine des dames, où, comme on pouvait bien s' y attendre, les femmes, rivalisant de zèle, employèrent tous les moyens possibles.... pour l' empêcher de revenir à elle.
Tom was standing just under her on the lower deck, as she fell. He saw her strike the water, and sink, and was after her in a moment. A broad-chested, strong-armed fellow, it was nothing for him to keep afloat in the water, till, in a moment or two the child rose to the surface, and he caught her in his arms, and, swimming with her to the boat-side, handed her up, all dripping, to the grasp of hundreds of hands, which, as if they had all belonged to one man, were stretched eagerly out to receive her. A few moments more, and her father bore her, dripping and senseless, to the ladies’ cabin, where, as is usual in cases of the kind, there ensued a very well-meaning and kind-hearted strife among the female occupants generally, as to who should do the most things to make a disturbance, and to hinder her recovery in every way possible.
Le lendemain, vers le soir d' une journée accablante, le steamer approchait de la Nouvelle-Orléans. A bord, c' était un bruit, un tumulte étrange. Chacun retrouvait ses effets, les rassemblait et se préparait à descendre. Le vaguemestre, les femmes de chambre, frottaient, fourbissaient, polissaient pour faire leur bateau bien beau et le préparer à une grande et noble entrée.
It was a sultry, close day, the next day, as the steamer drew near to New Orleans. A general bustle of expectation and preparation was spread through the boat; in the cabin, one and another were gathering their things together, and arranging them, preparatory to going ashore. The steward and chambermaid, and all, were busily engaged in cleaning, furbishing, and arranging the splendid boat, preparatory to a grand entree.
On the lower deck sat our friend Tom, with his arms folded, and anxiously, from time to time, turning his eyes towards a group on the other side of the boat.
Dans ce groupe était la belle Évangéline, un peu plus pâle que la veille, mais ne portant du reste aucune trace de l' accident. Un homme encore jeune, gracieux, élégant, se tenait à côté d' elle, le coude négligemment appuyé sur une balle de coton. Un large portefeuille était ouvert devant lui. ~~~ Il suffisait d' un premier regard pour voir que ce jeune homme était le père d' Évangéline. ~~~ C' était la même coupe de visage, les mêmes yeux grands et bleus, la même chevelure d' un brun doré; mais l' expression était complétement différente. L' oeil clair, comme chez sa fille, également large et bleu, n' avait pourtant pas cette profondeur rêveuse et voilée. Tout cela était net, audacieux, brillant, mais c' était une lumière toute terrestre. La bouche aux fines ciselures avait de temps en temps une expression orgueilleuse et sarcastique. Un air de supériorité plein d' aisance donnait à ses mouvements une certaine fierté qui n' était pas sans grâce. Il écoutait négligemment, gaiement, avec une expression assez dédaigneuse, Haley qui lui détaillait avec une extrême volubilité toutes les qualités de l' article marchandé.
There stood the fair Evangeline, a little paler than the day before, but otherwise exhibiting no traces of the accident which had befallen her. A graceful, elegantly-formed young man stood by her, carelessly leaning one elbow on a bale of cotton while a large pocket-book lay open before him. It was quite evident, at a glance, that the gentleman was Eva’s father. There was the same noble cast of head, the same large blue eyes, the same golden-brown hair; yet the expression was wholly different. In the large, clear blue eyes, though in form and color exactly similar, there was wanting that misty, dreamy depth of expression; all was clear, bold, and bright, but with a light wholly of this world: the beautifully cut mouth had a proud and somewhat sarcastic expression, while an air of free-and-easy superiority sat not ungracefully in every turn and movement of his fine form. He was listening, with a good-humored, negligent air, half comic, half contemptuous, to Haley, who was very volubly expatiating on the quality of the article for which they were bargaining.
“All the moral and Christian virtues bound in black Morocco, complete!” he said, when Haley had finished. “Well, now, my good fellow, what’s the damage, as they say in Kentucky; in short, what’s to be paid out for this business? How much are you going to cheat me, now? Out with it!”
“Wal,” said Haley, “if I should say thirteen hundred dollars for that ar fellow, I shouldn’t but just save myself; I shouldn’t, now, re’ly.”
“Poor fellow!” said the young man, fixing his keen, mocking blue eye on him; “but I suppose you’d let me have him for that, out of a particular regard for me.”
“Well, the young lady here seems to be sot on him, and nat’lly enough.”
“O! certainly, there’s a call on your benevolence, my friend. Now, as a matter of Christian charity, how cheap could you afford to let him go, to oblige a young lady that’s particular sot on him?”
-- Mais regardez donc, disait le marchand. Voyez ces membres, cette large poitrine.... Il est fort comme un cheval ! Regardez sa tête ! ce front élevé, qui indique un nègre intelligent.... Il fera tout ce qu' on voudra ! j' ai remarqué ça. Un nègre de cette tournure et bâti comme lui vaut un bon prix, rien que pour son corps, et quand il serait stupide. Mais, si vous prenez garde à ses qualités intellectuelles, que je vous faisais observer tout à l' heure.... ça fait monter le prix.... il a un mérite extraordinaire pour les affaires.... il faisait marcher à lui seul la ferme de son maître.
“Wal, now, just think on ’t,” said the trader; “just look at them limbs,—broad-chested, strong as a horse. Look at his head; them high forrads allays shows calculatin niggers, that’ll do any kind o’ thing. I’ve, marked that ar. Now, a nigger of that ar heft and build is worth considerable, just as you may say, for his body, supposin he’s stupid; but come to put in his calculatin faculties, and them which I can show he has oncommon, why, of course, it makes him come higher. Why, that ar fellow managed his master’s whole farm. He has a strornary talent for business.”
-- Tant pis ! tant pis ! il en sait beaucoup trop, dit le jeune homme, gardant toujours sur ses lèvres le même sourire moqueur; on n' en tirera aucun parti ! Ces nègres intelligents décampent toujours, volent les chevaux et vous font des tours du diable.... Je crois que vous ferez bien de rabattre deux cents dollars pour sa trop grande intelligence.
“Bad, bad, very bad; knows altogether too much!” said the young man, with the same mocking smile playing about his mouth. “Never will do, in the world. Your smart fellows are always running off, stealing horses, and raising the devil generally. I think you’ll have to take off a couple of hundred for his smartness.”
-- Ce serait peut-être juste, ça, dit Haley, sans son caractère; mais je puis montrer les recommandations de son maître et d' autres personnes, pour prouver qu' il est vraiment pieux, plein de religion, humble.... la meilleure créature du monde. Dans l' endroit d' où il vient, on l' appelait le prédicateur, quoi !
“Wal, there might be something in that ar, if it warnt for his character; but I can show recommends from his master and others, to prove he is one of your real pious,—the most humble, prayin, pious crittur ye ever did see. Why, he’s been called a preacher in them parts he came from.”
“And I might use him for a family chaplain, possibly,” added the young man, dryly. “That’s quite an idea. Religion is a remarkably scarce article at our house.”
-- Vous plaisantez !
“You’re joking, now.”
“How do you know I am? Didn’t you just warrant him for a preacher? Has he been examined by any synod or council? Come, hand over your papers.”
Il n' en fut rien. Il atteignit au contraire un sale portefeuille, l' ouvrit, le posa sur une balle de coton, et se mit à étudier soigneusement certain papier. Le jeune homme le contemplait toujours d' un air indifférent et froidement railleur.
If the trader had not been sure, by a certain good-humored twinkle in the large eye, that all this banter was sure, in the long run, to turn out a cash concern, he might have been somewhat out of patience; as it was, he laid down a greasy pocket-book on the cotton-bales, and began anxiously studying over certain papers in it, the young man standing by, the while, looking down on him with an air of careless, easy drollery.
“Papa, do buy him! it’s no matter what you pay,” whispered Eva, softly, getting up on a package, and putting her arm around her father’s neck. “You have money enough, I know. I want him.”
“What for, pussy? Are you going to use him for a rattle-box, or a rocking-horse, or what?
“I want to make him happy.”
-- Eh bien ! voilà une raison, et bien trouvée ! »
“An original reason, certainly.”
Here the trader handed up a certificate, signed by Mr. Shelby, which the young man took with the tips of his long fingers, and glanced over carelessly.
« Écriture comme il faut, dit -il; et l' orthographe ! mais cette religion m' inquiète.... Ici l' expression mauvaise reparut dans ses yeux.... Le pays, dit -il, est presque ruiné par les gens pieux. Ce sont des gens pieux que nous avons comme candidats aux prochaines élections. Il y a tant de religion partout qu' on ne sait plus à qui se fier.... Je ne sais pas le prix de la religion au marché: il y a longtemps que je n' ai lu les journaux pour voir à combien c' est coté.... A combien de dollars estimez -vous la religion de votre Tom ?
“A gentlemanly hand,” he said, “and well spelt, too. Well, now, but I’m not sure, after all, about this religion,” said he, the old wicked expression returning to his eye; “the country is almost ruined with pious white people; such pious politicians as we have just before elections,—such pious goings on in all departments of church and state, that a fellow does not know who’ll cheat him next. I don’t know, either, about religion’s being up in the market, just now. I have not looked in the papers lately, to see how it sells. How many hundred dollars, now, do you put on for this religion?”
-- Vous plaisantez, dit Haley; mais il y a cependant quelque raison dans ce que vous dites. Il faut distinguer ! Il y a des meetings, des sermons, des cantiques, par des blancs ou par des noirs, ça sonne creux ! mais la piété de celui -ci est sincère et véritable. J' ai vu, parmi les noirs, des sujets honnêtes, rangés, pieux, que le monde entier n' aurait pu induire à faire mal. Voyez dans cette lettre ce que l' ancien maître de Tom pense de lui.
“You like to be jokin, now,” said the trader; “but, then, there’s _sense_ under all that ar. I know there’s differences in religion. Some kinds is mis’rable: there’s your meetin pious; there’s your singin, roarin pious; them ar an’t no account, in black or white;—but these rayly is; and I’ve seen it in niggers as often as any, your rail softly, quiet, stiddy, honest, pious, that the hull world couldn’t tempt ’em to do nothing that they thinks is wrong; and ye see in this letter what Tom’s old master says about him.”
“Now,” said the young man, stooping gravely over his book of bills, “if you can assure me that I really can buy _this_ kind of pious, and that it will be set down to my account in the book up above, as something belonging to me, I wouldn’t care if I did go a little extra for it. How d’ye say?”
“Wal, raily, I can’t do that,” said the trader. “I’m a thinkin that every man’ll have to hang on his own hook, in them ar quarters.”
-- Il est assez dur, reprit le jeune homme, quand on met le prix pour avoir la religion d' un esclave, de ne pouvoir en trafiquer dans le pays où cette marchandise a le plus de cours.... Enfin !... » ~~~ Et comme il avait fait, tout en parlant, un paquet de billets: ~~~ « Voyons ! mon vieux, comptez votre monnaie, dit -il au marchand en lui donnant le paquet.
“Rather hard on a fellow that pays extra on religion, and can’t trade with it in the state where he wants it most, an’t it, now?” said the young man, who had been making out a roll of bills while he was speaking. “There, count your money, old boy!” he added, as he handed the roll to the trader.
“All right,” said Haley, his face beaming with delight; and pulling out an old inkhorn, he proceeded to fill out a bill of sale, which, in a few moments, he handed to the young man.
« Si j' étais ainsi détaillé et inventorié, dit Saint-Clare, je me demande à combien je pourrais monter: tant pour la forme de ma tête, tant pour le front élevé, tant pour les mains, les bras, les jambes; tant pour l' éducation, le savoir, le talent, l' humilité, la religion. Diable ! ce serait peu pour ces derniers articles, je crois. Mais, voyons, Éva ! venez. » ~~~ Et, la prenant par la main, il alla avec elle jusqu' au bout du bateau, et, mettant le bout de son doigt sous le menton de Tom, il lui dit d' un ton de bonne humeur: ~~~ « Voyez, Tom, si votre nouveau maître vous convient ! » ~~~ Tom leva les yeux.
“I wonder, now, if I was divided up and inventoried,” said the latter as he ran over the paper, “how much I might bring. Say so much for the shape of my head, so much for a high forehead, so much for arms, and hands, and legs, and then so much for education, learning, talent, honesty, religion! Bless me! there would be small charge on that last, I’m thinking. But come, Eva,” he said; and taking the hand of his daughter, he stepped across the boat, and carelessly putting the tip of his finger under Tom’s chin, said, good-humoredly, “Look-up, Tom, and see how you like your new master.”
Tom looked up. It was not in nature to look into that gay, young, handsome face, without a feeling of pleasure; and Tom felt the tears start in his eyes as he said, heartily, “God bless you, Mas’r!”
“Well, I hope he will. What’s your name? Tom? Quite as likely to do it for your asking as mine, from all accounts. Can you drive horses, Tom?”
“I’ve been allays used to horses,” said Tom. “Mas’r Shelby raised heaps of ’em.”
-- Eh bien, je ferai de vous un cocher, à la condition que vous ne vous griserez qu' une fois la semaine, à moins que dans les grandes occasions.... »
“Well, I think I shall put you in coachy, on condition that you won’t be drunk more than once a week, unless in cases of emergency, Tom.”
Tom looked surprised, and rather hurt, and said, “I never drink, Mas’r.”
“I’ve heard that story before, Tom; but then we’ll see. It will be a special accommodation to all concerned, if you don’t. Never mind, my boy,” he added, good-humoredly, seeing Tom still looked grave; “I don’t doubt you mean to do well.”
-- Oh ! je vous en réponds, maître !
“I sartin do, Mas’r,” said Tom.
“And you shall have good times,” said Eva. “Papa is very good to everybody, only he always will laugh at them.”
“Papa is much obliged to you for his recommendation,” said St. Clare, laughing, as he turned on his heel and walked away.
CHAPITRE XV. ~~~ Le nouveau maître de Tom.
CHAPTER XV Of Tom’s New Master, and Various Other Matters
Puisque notre héros mêle la trame de son humble vie à la destinée des grands, il faut bien que nous nous occupions aussi des grands.
Since the thread of our humble hero’s life has now become interwoven with that of higher ones, it is necessary to give some brief introduction to them.
Augustin Saint-Clare était fils d' un riche planteur de la Louisiane; sa famille était originaire du Canada. De deux frères, assez semblables d' humeur et de tempérament, l' un s' était établi dans une ferme opulente du Vermont, l' autre était devenu un riche planteur de la Louisiane. ~~~ La mère d' Augustin était une protestante française dont la famille avait émigré à la Louisiane, à l' époque des premiers établissements. Augustin et un autre frère étaient les seuls enfants de leurs parents. Augustin, ayant reçu de sa mère une constitution extrêmement délicate, fut, d'après le conseil des médecins, envoyé dans le Vermont, chez son oncle, où il passa une grande partie de son enfance. On pensait que ce climat froid et salubre fortifierait sa santé.
Augustine St. Clare was the son of a wealthy planter of Louisiana. The family had its origin in Canada. Of two brothers, very similar in temperament and character, one had settled on a flourishing farm in Vermont, and the other became an opulent planter in Louisiana. The mother of Augustine was a Huguenot French lady, whose family had emigrated to Louisiana during the days of its early settlement. Augustine and another brother were the only children of their parents. Having inherited from his mother an exceeding delicacy of constitution, he was, at the instance of physicians, during many years of his boyhood, sent to the care of his uncle in Vermont, in order that his constitution might be strengthened by the cold of a more bracing climate.
Dès son enfance, Augustin se fit remarquer par une sensibilité extrême, qui tenait beaucoup plus de la douceur de la femme que de la rudesse habituelle de son sexe; le temps recouvrit cette douceur d' une dure écorce; il devint homme, et bien peu surent à quel point il gardait fraîche et vivante cette sensibilité dans son âme. C' était ce que l' on appelle un homme du premier mérite, mais il avait une préférence marquée pour l' esthétique et l' idéal: de là venait chez lui, comme chez tous ses pareils, une souveraine répugnance pour le commerce et le tracas des affaires. Presque au sortir du collége il avait éprouvé une passion romanesque. C' était bien la passion dans toute son effervescence, dans toute son intensité; son heure était venue, cette heure qui ne vient qu' une fois. Son étoile s' était levée à l' horizon, cette étoile, hélas ! qui se lève si souvent en vain.... et dont on ne se souvient que comme d' un songe ! Pour lui, aussi, l' étoile se leva vainement ! Il obtint l' amour d' une jeune fille aussi belle que distinguée: ils furent fiancés. Elle demeurait dans un des États du nord. Lui dut retourner dans le midi pour régler les derniers arrangements de famille. Tout à coup ses lettres lui furent renvoyées par la poste, avec une courte note du tuteur de la jeune fille. La note disait qu' avant même qu' il ne l' eût reçue, sa fiancée serait la femme d' un autre. ~~~ Il crut qu' il en deviendrait fou; puis, comme bien d' autres, il espéra pouvoir arracher de son coeur cette flèche mortelle. Trop fier pour prier, trop orgueilleux pour demander une explication, il se jeta dans le tourbillon du plaisir; il devint bientôt le soupirant avoué de la reine du jour. Tout fut promptement réglé, et il épousa une jolie figure, deux beaux yeux noirs et cent mille dollars. Comme on dut le croire heureux ! ~~~ Les mariés passèrent la lune de miel au milieu d' un cercle brillant d' amis, dans leur splendide villa, au bord du lac Pontchartrain. Un jour on apporta au jeune mari une lettre de cette écriture qu' il se rappelait si bien.
In childhood, he was remarkable for an extreme and marked sensitiveness of character, more akin to the softness of woman than the ordinary hardness of his own sex. Time, however, overgrew this softness with the rough bark of manhood, and but few knew how living and fresh it still lay at the core. His talents were of the very first order, although his mind showed a preference always for the ideal and the æsthetic, and there was about him that repugnance to the actual business of life which is the common result of this balance of the faculties. Soon after the completion of his college course, his whole nature was kindled into one intense and passionate effervescence of romantic passion. His hour came,—the hour that comes only once; his star rose in the horizon,—that star that rises so often in vain, to be remembered only as a thing of dreams; and it rose for him in vain. To drop the figure,—he saw and won the love of a high-minded and beautiful woman, in one of the northern states, and they were affianced. He returned south to make arrangements for their marriage, when, most unexpectedly, his letters were returned to him by mail, with a short note from her guardian, stating to him that ere this reached him the lady would be the wife of another. Stung to madness, he vainly hoped, as many another has done, to fling the whole thing from his heart by one desperate effort. Too proud to supplicate or seek explanation, he threw himself at once into a whirl of fashionable society, and in a fortnight from the time of the fatal letter was the accepted lover of the reigning belle of the season; and as soon as arrangements could be made, he became the husband of a fine figure, a pair of bright dark eyes, and a hundred thousand dollars; and, of course, everybody thought him a happy fellow.
Elle lui fut remise en plein salon. La causerie était gaie, vive, étincelante de mots. ~~~ En reconnaissant l' écriture, il devint pâle comme la mort; il se contint cependant et poussa jusqu' au bout un assaut d' esprit et d' enjouement où il avait une femme pour adversaire. Il sortit bientôt. Une fois seul dans sa chambre, il ouvrit cette lettre.... désormais inutile, plus qu' inutile, hélas ! C' était une lettre d' elle; elle racontait longuement les persécutions de la famille de son tuteur; on voulait lui faire épouser le fils de cet homme. On avait d'abord supprimé les lettres d' Augustin.... elle avait longtemps continué d' écrire.... puis étaient venus le chagrin et le doute. Au milieu de ces anxiétés poignantes elle était tombée malade. A la fin elle avait découvert le complot.... La lettre racontait tout cela, elle finissait par des expressions de reconnaissance et d' espoir, et des protestations d' une éternelle affection, plus cruelles que la mort même pour l' infortuné jeune homme. ~~~ Il lui répondit immédiatement:
The married couple were enjoying their honeymoon, and entertaining a brilliant circle of friends in their splendid villa, near Lake Pontchartrain, when, one day, a letter was brought to him in _that_ well-remembered writing. It was handed to him while he was in full tide of gay and successful conversation, in a whole room-full of company. He turned deadly pale when he saw the writing, but still preserved his composure, and finished the playful warfare of badinage which he was at the moment carrying on with a lady opposite; and, a short time after, was missed from the circle. In his room, alone, he opened and read the letter, now worse than idle and useless to be read. It was from her, giving a long account of a persecution to which she had been exposed by her guardian’s family, to lead her to unite herself with their son: and she related how, for a long time, his letters had ceased to arrive; how she had written time and again, till she became weary and doubtful; how her health had failed under her anxieties, and how, at last, she had discovered the whole fraud which had been practised on them both. The letter ended with expressions of hope and thankfulness, and professions of undying affection, which were more bitter than death to the unhappy young man. He wrote to her immediately:
“I have received yours,—but too late. I believed all I heard. I was desperate. _I am married_, and all is over. Only forget,—it is all that remains for either of us.”
Ainsi se termina le roman et l' idéal dans la vie d' Augustin Saint-Clare. Il lui restait le positif; le positif, c'est-à-dire la vase noire, nauséabonde et fétide, que le reflux nous laisse, tandis que là-bas étincelle la vague bleue, emportant ses flottilles de barques brillantes et ses voiles étendues, blanches ailes des vaisseaux, et les avirons aux cadences harmonieuses, et tout le gai murmure de ses eaux.... Et puis tout cela disparaît, s' évanouit, tombe dans l' abîme, et il nous reste à nous rêveurs.... la vase, le positif !
Au fait, dans un roman, on brise le coeur des gens, on les tue même, et tout est dit: la fable est intéressante, que vous faut -il de plus ? Mais, hélas ! dans la vie réelle, nous ne mourons pas dès que nous avons vu mourir pour nous ce qui nous faisait la vie brillante et radieuse ! Il nous reste l' ennui des nécessités. On boit, on mange, on s' habille, on se promène, on visite, on parle, on lit, on vend, on achète ! C' est ce qu' on appelle vulgairement la vie. On passe à travers cela.... et cela restait à Augustin. Si du moins sa femme eût été vraiment une femme, elle aurait pu, une femme peut toujours, essayer de renouer cette trame d' une existence brisée, et mêler encore des fleurs au tissu reformé;... mais Marie Saint-Clare ne pouvait même pas voir que la trame était rompue. Nous l' avons déjà dit, Mme Saint-Clare, c' était une belle figure, deux yeux magnifiques, et cent mille dollars. Rien de cela ne guérit une âme malade.
Quand on trouva Augustin étendu sur le sofa, la mort sur le visage, et qu' il eut prétexté une migraine, elle lui recommanda de respirer de la corne de cerf. Quand elle vit que la pâleur et la migraine persistaient pendant de longues semaines, elle se contenta de dire qu' elle n' eût jamais cru M. Saint-Clare aussi maladif.... mais qu' il paraissait être très-sujet aux maux de tête, et que c' était bien fâcheux pour elle, et qu' il paraissait singulier de la voir toujours seule après un mois de mariage.
And thus ended the whole romance and ideal of life for Augustine St. Clare. But the _real_ remained,—the _real_, like the flat, bare, oozy tide-mud, when the blue sparkling wave, with all its company of gliding boats and white-winged ships, its music of oars and chiming waters, has gone down, and there it lies, flat, slimy, bare,—exceedingly real.
Au fond de l' âme, Augustin se réjouit d' avoir épousé une compagne si peu clairvoyante. Mais, quand les fêtes et les visites de la lune de miel furent passées, il s' aperçut qu' une belle jeune femme qui, toute sa vie, avait été adulée et gâtée, pouvait être dans un ménage une maîtresse bien tyrannique. Marie n' avait jamais été très-susceptible d' attachement. Elle manquait de sensibilité; le peu qu' elle en avait se trouvait étouffé par un égoïsme sans bornes, un de ces égoïsmes misérables qui ne reconnaissent d' autres droits que leurs droits. Depuis son enfance, elle avait été entourée de serviteurs occupés à prévenir ses caprices.... elle n' avait jamais songé, elle n' avait même pas soupçonné qu' ils pussent vouloir ou désirer autre chose.
Of course, in a novel, people’s hearts break, and they die, and that is the end of it; and in a story this is very convenient. But in real life we do not die when all that makes life bright dies to us. There is a most busy and important round of eating, drinking, dressing, walking, visiting, buying, selling, talking, reading, and all that makes up what is commonly called _living_, yet to be gone through; and this yet remained to Augustine. Had his wife been a whole woman, she might yet have done something—as woman can—to mend the broken threads of life, and weave again into a tissue of brightness. But Marie St. Clare could not even see that they had been broken. As before stated, she consisted of a fine figure, a pair of splendid eyes, and a hundred thousand dollars; and none of these items were precisely the ones to minister to a mind diseased.
Son père, dont elle était l' unique enfant, ne lui avait jamais rien refusé: avec lui le possible était toujours fait. Au moment de son entrée dans le monde, belle, accomplie, héritière, elle vit soupirer à ses pieds tous les hommes, éligibles ou non, de la ville qu' elle habitait. Elle ne douta pas un instant qu' Augustin ne fût très-heureux de l' obtenir. ~~~ Il ne faut pas croire qu' une femme sans coeur soit un créancier commode dans l' échange de l' affection.... Personne n' exige l' amour des autres plus impérieusement qu' une femme égoïste.... Seulement, elle devient d'autant moins aimable qu' elle veut être plus aimée. Quand Saint-Clare commença à négliger ces galanteries et ces petits soins d' un homme qui fait sa cour, il se trouva en face d' une sultane qui n' était pas résignée à perdre son esclave. Il y eut abondance de larmes, il y eut des bouderies et de petites tempêtes; puis des mécontentements, des coups d' épingle et des accès de colère. Saint-Clare, dont la nature était bonne et indulgente, essaya d' apaiser sa femme par des présents et des flatteries. Quand Marie devint mère d' une belle petite fille, il sentit s' éveiller en lui quelque chose comme de la tendresse.
When Augustine, pale as death, was found lying on the sofa, and pleaded sudden sick-headache as the cause of his distress, she recommended to him to smell of hartshorn; and when the paleness and headache came on week after week, she only said that she never thought Mr. St. Clare was sickly; but it seems he was very liable to sick-headaches, and that it was a very unfortunate thing for her, because he didn’t enjoy going into company with her, and it seemed odd to go so much alone, when they were just married. Augustine was glad in his heart that he had married so undiscerning a woman; but as the glosses and civilities of the honeymoon wore away, he discovered that a beautiful young woman, who has lived all her life to be caressed and waited on, might prove quite a hard mistress in domestic life. Marie never had possessed much capability of affection, or much sensibility, and the little that she had, had been merged into a most intense and unconscious selfishness; a selfishness the more hopeless, from its quiet obtuseness, its utter ignorance of any claims but her own. From her infancy, she had been surrounded with servants, who lived only to study her caprices; the idea that they had either feelings or rights had never dawned upon her, even in distant perspective. Her father, whose only child she had been, had never denied her anything that lay within the compass of human possibility; and when she entered life, beautiful, accomplished, and an heiress, she had, of course, all the eligibles and non-eligibles of the other sex sighing at her feet, and she had no doubt that Augustine was a most fortunate man in having obtained her. It is a great mistake to suppose that a woman with no heart will be an easy creditor in the exchange of affection. There is not on earth a more merciless exactor of love from others than a thoroughly selfish woman; and the more unlovely she grows, the more jealously and scrupulously she exacts love, to the uttermost farthing. When, therefore, St. Clare began to drop off those gallantries and small attentions which flowed at first through the habitude of courtship, he found his sultana no way ready to resign her slave; there were abundance of tears, poutings, and small tempests, there were discontents, pinings, upbraidings. St. Clare was good-natured and self-indulgent, and sought to buy off with presents and flatteries; and when Marie became mother to a beautiful daughter, he really felt awakened, for a time, to something like tenderness.
Saint-Clare avait eu pour mère une femme d' un caractère aussi pur qu' élevé; il donna à son enfant le nom de sa mère, heureux de penser que peut-être elle lui en rendrait aussi l' image. Sa femme en ressentit une violente jalousie. Le profond amour d' Augustin pour sa fille ne lui inspirait qu' un mécontentement soupçonneux. Tout ce qui était donné à la fille semblait être ravi à l' épouse. Depuis la naissance de cette enfant, sa santé déclina sensiblement. Une vie d' inaction constante, dans la torpeur de l' âme et du corps, l' influence d' un éternel ennui, jointe à la faiblesse ordinaire de cette période de la maternité, changèrent bientôt cette belle jeunesse florissante en une femme pâle, étiolée, maladive, dont le temps était partagé entre une foule de maux imaginaires, et qui se regardait comme la plus à plaindre et la plus infortunée des femmes.
St. Clare’s mother had been a woman of uncommon elevation and purity of character, and he gave to his child his mother’s name, fondly fancying that she would prove a reproduction of her image. The thing had been remarked with petulant jealousy by his wife, and she regarded her husband’s absorbing devotion to the child with suspicion and dislike; all that was given to her seemed so much taken from herself. From the time of the birth of this child, her health gradually sunk. A life of constant inaction, bodily and mental,—the friction of ceaseless ennui and discontent, united to the ordinary weakness which attended the period of maternity,—in course of a few years changed the blooming young belle into a yellow faded, sickly woman, whose time was divided among a variety of fanciful diseases, and who considered herself, in every sense, the most ill-used and suffering person in existence.
C' étaient des lamentations sans fin. La migraine la confinait dans sa chambre au moins trois jours sur six; toute la direction du ménage fut donc abandonnée aux domestiques. Saint-Clare trouva son intérieur très-peu confortable. Sa fille était extrêmement délicate, et il craignait qu' ainsi abandonnée sans surveillance et sans attention, sa santé, et même sa vie, ne fussent compromises par l' indifférence maternelle. Il l' emmena avec lui dans le Vermont, où il allait faire un voyage, et il engagea sa cousine, miss Ophélia Saint-Clare, à revenir avec eux dans sa résidence du sud. ~~~ Ils étaient sur le bateau qui les ramenait quand nous les avons rencontrés.
There was no end of her various complaints; but her principal forte appeared to lie in sick-headache, which sometimes would confine her to her room three days out of six. As, of course, all family arrangements fell into the hands of servants, St. Clare found his menage anything but comfortable. His only daughter was exceedingly delicate, and he feared that, with no one to look after her and attend to her, her health and life might yet fall a sacrifice to her mother’s inefficiency. He had taken her with him on a tour to Vermont, and had persuaded his cousin, Miss Ophelia St. Clare, to return with him to his southern residence; and they are now returning on this boat, where we have introduced them to our readers.
And now, while the distant domes and spires of New Orleans rise to our view, there is yet time for an introduction to Miss Ophelia.
Tous ceux qui ont voyagé dans la Nouvelle-Angleterre se rappelleront avoir remarqué, dans quelque frais village, une vaste ferme avec sa cour de gazon toujours propre, ombragée par l' épais et lourd feuillage de l' érable à sucre. Ils se rappelleront l' ordre, la tranquillité et l' inaltérable repos de toute chose. Rien de perdu: tout à sa place; pas un barreau de travers dans une clôture, pas un brin de paille sur le tapis vert de la cour; les buissons de lilas montent sous les fenêtres. A l' intérieur, les appartements sont larges et propres; il n' y a rien à faire, rien à reprendre, tout est exactement à sa place et pour toujours, tout marche avec la même régularité ponctuelle que la vieille horloge placée dans un des coins du salon. Dans la pièce où se tient la famille se dresse la vieille et respectable bibliothèque aux portes vitrées. L' _Histoire de Rollin_, le _Paradis perdu_ de Milton, le _Voyage du Pèlerin_, par Bunyan, sont rangés côte à côte dans un ordre majestueux, avec une multitude d' autres livres également solennels et respectables. Il n' y a point dans la maison d' autre servante que la maîtresse, en bonnet blanc, les lunettes sur le nez, qui, chaque après-midi, s' assied et coud au milieu de ses filles. L' ouvrage est fini si matin, qu' on ne se rappelle plus exactement l' heure; mais, à quelque moment que vous veniez, tout est toujours fait.... Sur l' aire de la vieille cuisine pas une tache, pas une souillure; les chaises, les ustensiles du ménage semblent n' avoir jamais été dérangés, bien qu' on fasse là trois ou quatre repas par jour, bien qu' on lave et qu' on repasse là tout le linge de la famille, bien qu' on y fasse le beurre et le fromage, mais silencieusement et mystérieusement.
Whoever has travelled in the New England States will remember, in some cool village, the large farmhouse, with its clean-swept grassy yard, shaded by the dense and massive foliage of the sugar maple; and remember the air of order and stillness, of perpetuity and unchanging repose, that seemed to breathe over the whole place. Nothing lost, or out of order; not a picket loose in the fence, not a particle of litter in the turfy yard, with its clumps of lilac bushes growing up under the windows. Within, he will remember wide, clean rooms, where nothing ever seems to be doing or going to be done, where everything is once and forever rigidly in place, and where all household arrangements move with the punctual exactness of the old clock in the corner. In the family “keeping-room,” as it is termed, he will remember the staid, respectable old book-case, with its glass doors, where Rollin’s History,[1] Milton’s Paradise Lost, Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, and Scott’s Family Bible,[2] stand side by side in decorous order, with multitudes of other books, equally solemn and respectable. There are no servants in the house, but the lady in the snowy cap, with the spectacles, who sits sewing every afternoon among her daughters, as if nothing ever had been done, or were to be done,—she and her girls, in some long-forgotten fore part of the day, “_did up the work_,” and for the rest of the time, probably, at all hours when you would see them, it is “_done up_.” The old kitchen floor never seems stained or spotted; the tables, the chairs, and the various cooking utensils, never seem deranged or disordered; though three and sometimes four meals a day are got there, though the family washing and ironing is there performed, and though pounds of butter and cheese are in some silent and mysterious manner there brought into existence. ~~~ [1] _The Ancient History_, ten volumes (1730-1738), by the French historian Charles Rollin (1661-1741).
C' est dans une telle ferme, une telle maison, une telle famille, que miss Ophélia avait passé quelque quarante-cinq ans d' une heureuse existence, quand son cousin vint la chercher pour visiter ses propriétés du sud. Ophélia était l' aînée d' une nombreuse famille; pour le père et la mère, elle était toujours rangée parmi les enfants, et la proposition d' aller à la Nouvelle-Orléans fut quelque chose de bien grave aux yeux de la famille. Le père, à la tête grise, prit l' atlas de Morse dans la bibliothèque, mesura exactement la longitude et la latitude, puis il lut le Voyage de Flint dans le sud et dans l' ouest, pour se familiariser avec le pays.
[2] _Scott’s Family Bible_ (1788-1792), edited with notes by the English Biblical commentator, Thomas Scott (1747-1821). ~~~ On such a farm, in such a house and family, Miss Ophelia had spent a quiet existence of some forty-five years, when her cousin invited her to visit his southern mansion. The eldest of a large family, she was still considered by her father and mother as one of “the children,” and the proposal that she should go to _Orleans_ was a most momentous one to the family circle. The old gray-headed father took down Morse’s Atlas[3] out of the book-case, and looked out the exact latitude and longitude; and read Flint’s Travels in the South and West,[4] to make up his own mind as to the nature of the country.
[3] _The Cerographic Atlas of the United States_ (1842-1845), by Sidney Edwards Morse (1794-1871), son of the geographer, Jedidiah Morse, and brother of the painter-inventor, Samuel F. B. Morse.
On sut chez le pasteur, chez le médecin et chez miss Rabody, la marchande de modes, qu' Ophélia Saint-Clare parlait d' aller à Orléans avec son cousin. Ce sujet important fut bientôt la matière de toutes les conversations du village. Le pasteur, qui penchait fortement du côté des abolitionnistes, se demandait si un pareil voyage n' était point un encouragement donné aux possesseurs d' esclaves. Le docteur, au contraire, qui était tout à fait partisan de la colonisation, voulait que miss Ophélia fît le voyage, pour montrer aux habitants de la Nouvelle-Orléans que leurs frères du nord, après tout, n' étaient pas si mal disposés contre eux. ~~~ Il pensait, lui, qu' il fallait encourager le sud !
[4] _Recollections of the Last Ten Years_ (1826) by Timothy Flint (1780-1840), missionary of Presbyterianism to the trans-Allegheny West.
The good mother inquired, anxiously, “if Orleans wasn’t an awful wicked place,” saying, “that it seemed to her most equal to going to the Sandwich Islands, or anywhere among the heathen.”
Miss Moseley, chargée de compléter la garde-robe de voyage, en acquit aux yeux de tous une notable importance. On admit généralement que l' esquire Saint-Clare avait compté cinquante dollars à miss Ophélia, en lui disant d' acheter les plus beaux vêtements.... On ajoutait que deux robes de soie et un chapeau lui avaient été expédiés de Boston.... Quant à la question de convenance, elle divisait les esprits: les uns soutenaient qu' on pouvait bien se permettre une pareille dépense une fois dans sa vie; les autres prétendaient au contraire qu' il eût mieux valu envoyer l' argent aux missionnaires; tout le monde reconnaissait du reste que l' on n' avait jamais vu une plus riche ombrelle, et que, quelque opinion que l' on pût avoir de sa maîtresse, il fallait bien avouer que la robe de soie se tenait debout toute seule. Le mouchoir de poche excita d' incroyables rumeurs: on le disait garni de dentelles et brodé aux coins. Cette dernière assertion ne fut jamais vérifiée: c' est un point encore douteux aujourd'hui.
It was known at the minister’s and at the doctor’s, and at Miss Peabody’s milliner shop, that Ophelia St. Clare was “talking about” going away down to Orleans with her cousin; and of course the whole village could do no less than help this very important process of _talking about_ the matter. The minister, who inclined strongly to abolitionist views, was quite doubtful whether such a step might not tend somewhat to encourage the southerners in holding on to their slaves; while the doctor, who was a stanch colonizationist, inclined to the opinion that Miss Ophelia ought to go, to show the Orleans people that we don’t think hardly of them, after all. He was of opinion, in fact, that southern people needed encouraging. When however, the fact that she had resolved to go was fully before the public mind, she was solemnly invited out to tea by all her friends and neighbors for the space of a fortnight, and her prospects and plans duly canvassed and inquired into. Miss Moseley, who came into the house to help to do the dress-making, acquired daily accessions of importance from the developments with regard to Miss Ophelia’s wardrobe which she had been enabled to make. It was credibly ascertained that Squire Sinclare, as his name was commonly contracted in the neighborhood, had counted out fifty dollars, and given them to Miss Ophelia, and told her to buy any clothes she thought best; and that two new silk dresses, and a bonnet, had been sent for from Boston. As to the propriety of this extraordinary outlay, the public mind was divided,—some affirming that it was well enough, all things considered, for once in one’s life, and others stoutly affirming that the money had better have been sent to the missionaries; but all parties agreed that there had been no such parasol seen in those parts as had been sent on from New York, and that she had one silk dress that might fairly be trusted to stand alone, whatever might be said of its mistress. There were credible rumors, also, of a hemstitched pocket-handkerchief; and report even went so far as to state that Miss Ophelia had one pocket-handkerchief with lace all around it,—it was even added that it was worked in the corners; but this latter point was never satisfactorily ascertained, and remains, in fact, unsettled to this day.
Miss Ophélia, telle que nous la voyons dans sa belle robe de voyage en toile brune, est grande, carrée, anguleuse. Sa face est maigre: toutes les lignes en sont aiguës. Elles serre les lèvres comme les personnes qui ont sur toutes choses des résolutions arrêtées. Ses yeux noirs et perçants étaient inquisiteurs, rusés, et furetaient partout, comme si elle eût eu sans cesse quelque chose à remettre en ordre.
Miss Ophelia, as you now behold her, stands before you, in a very shining brown linen travelling-dress, tall, square-formed, and angular. Her face was thin, and rather sharp in its outlines; the lips compressed, like those of a person who is in the habit of making up her mind definitely on all subjects; while the keen, dark eyes had a peculiarly searching, advised movement, and travelled over everything, as if they were looking for something to take care of.
All her movements were sharp, decided, and energetic; and, though she was never much of a talker, her words were remarkably direct, and to the purpose, when she did speak.
Comme habitude, c' était l' ordre, l' exactitude, la méthode incarnée. Elle était réglée comme une horloge, inexorable comme une locomotive. De plus, elle détestait tout ce qui ne lui ressemblait pas.
In her habits, she was a living impersonation of order, method, and exactness. In punctuality, she was as inevitable as a clock, and as inexorable as a railroad engine; and she held in most decided contempt and abomination anything of a contrary character.
A ses yeux, le plus grand des péchés, le résumé de tous les maux, c' était la légèreté. L' ultimatum de son mépris, c' était le mot _inconséquent_, prononcé d' une certaine façon.... Elle prodiguait ce terme à tout ce qui ne rentrait pas complétement dans le cercle inflexible qu' elle -même avait tracé. Elle avait un souverain dédain pour les gens qui ne faisaient rien, ou qui ne savaient pas ce qu' ils faisaient, ou qui ne le faisaient pas précisément de la façon voulue. Ce dédain, elle ne le témoignait pas toujours par ses paroles, mais souvent par une sorte de grimace et de roideur glaciale, comme si elle eût craint de s' abaisser jusqu' à la parole pour de tels sujets.
The great sin of sins, in her eyes,—the sum of all evils,—was expressed by one very common and important word in her vocabulary—“shiftlessness.” Her finale and ultimatum of contempt consisted in a very emphatic pronunciation of the word “shiftless;” and by this she characterized all modes of procedure which had not a direct and inevitable relation to accomplishment of some purpose then definitely had in mind. People who did nothing, or who did not know exactly what they were going to do, or who did not take the most direct way to accomplish what they set their hands to, were objects of her entire contempt,—a contempt shown less frequently by anything she said, than by a kind of stony grimness, as if she scorned to say anything about the matter.
Sous le rapport intellectuel, c' était un esprit net, puissant, actif; elle avait lu l' histoire et les vieux classiques anglais. Renfermée dans de certaines limites, sa pensée était forte; ses doctrines religieuses étaient condensées en formules nettes, étiquetées et en petits paquets; elle en avait un compte, elle n' en élevait jamais le chiffre. Il en était de même quant à ses idées pratiques dans la vie ordinaire, quant à ses relations de voisinage ou d' amitié. Mais au-dessous et au-dessus de tout il y avait pour elle le sentiment du devoir: la conscience. Nulle part la conscience ne domine et n' absorbe comme chez les femmes de la Nouvelle-Angleterre; c' est pour elles le granit fondamental du globe, plongeant dans les entrailles de la terre et dominant la cime des montagnes. ~~~ Ophélia était l' esclave du devoir.
As to mental cultivation,—she had a clear, strong, active mind, was well and thoroughly read in history and the older English classics, and thought with great strength within certain narrow limits. Her theological tenets were all made up, labelled in most positive and distinct forms, and put by, like the bundles in her patch trunk; there were just so many of them, and there were never to be any more. So, also, were her ideas with regard to most matters of practical life,—such as housekeeping in all its branches, and the various political relations of her native village. And, underlying all, deeper than anything else, higher and broader, lay the strongest principle of her being—conscientiousness. Nowhere is conscience so dominant and all-absorbing as with New England women. It is the granite formation, which lies deepest, and rises out, even to the tops of the highest mountains.
Prouvez -lui que le sentier du devoir, comme elle disait, suit telle ou telle direction, ni l' eau, ni le feu ne pourront l' en détourner. Pour le devoir elle se fût jetée dans un puits, elle eût marché devant la bouche des canons. Mais ce sentiment du devoir était si dominateur, il comprenait tant de choses, il était si sévèrement minutieux, il faisait si peu de concessions à la fragilité humaine, que, malgré l' héroïsme de ses efforts, miss Ophélia n' atteignait jamais son idéal; et elle était comme accablée sous le fardeau de son insuffisance et de sa faiblesse. ~~~ Cette prédisposition jetait comme une teinte sombre sur son caractère religieux.
Miss Ophelia was the absolute bond-slave of the “_ought_.” Once make her certain that the “path of duty,” as she commonly phrased it, lay in any given direction, and fire and water could not keep her from it. She would walk straight down into a well, or up to a loaded cannon’s mouth, if she were only quite sure that there the path lay. Her standard of right was so high, so all-embracing, so minute, and making so few concessions to human frailty, that, though she strove with heroic ardor to reach it, she never actually did so, and of course was burdened with a constant and often harassing sense of deficiency;—this gave a severe and somewhat gloomy cast to her religious character.
Comment miss Ophélia pouvait -elle sympathiser avec Augustin Saint-Clare, gai, léger, inexact, sceptique, et, pour ainsi dire, marchant avec une liberté insolente et nonchalante sur tous les principes et sur toutes les opinions qu' elle respectait ?
But, how in the world can Miss Ophelia get along with Augustine St. Clare,—gay, easy, unpunctual, unpractical, sceptical,—in short,—walking with impudent and nonchalant freedom over every one of her most cherished habits and opinions?
Pour dire le vrai, elle l' aimait ! ~~~ Quand il était enfant, c' était elle qui lui apprenait son catéchisme et qui l' entourait des soins du premier âge. Son coeur avait encore un côté chaud. Ce côté -là, Augustin l' avait pris. Il avait fait avec elle comme avec beaucoup de gens: il avait monopolisé. C' est ainsi qu' il lui avait persuadé que le sentier du devoir était dans la direction d' Orléans, et qu' elle devait venir avec lui pour veiller sur Éva et empêcher, dans sa maison, la ruine de toute chose. L' idée d' un intérieur dont personne ne s' occupait alla droit au coeur de miss Ophélia.... Elle aimait aussi la jeune Éva... Qui ne l' eût pas aimée, cette charmante petite fille ?... Et, quoiqu' elle regardât Augustin comme un païen, cependant, nous l' avons dit, elle l' aimait, elle riait de ses plaisanteries et poussait l' indulgence à son égard jusqu' à des limites fabuleuses. ~~~ Mais miss Ophélia se fera elle-même suffisamment connaître dans la suite de cette histoire.
To tell the truth, then, Miss Ophelia loved him. When a boy, it had been hers to teach him his catechism, mend his clothes, comb his hair, and bring him up generally in the way he should go; and her heart having a warm side to it, Augustine had, as he usually did with most people, monopolized a large share of it for himself, and therefore it was that he succeeded very easily in persuading her that the “path of duty” lay in the direction of New Orleans, and that she must go with him to take care of Eva, and keep everything from going to wreck and ruin during the frequent illnesses of his wife. The idea of a house without anybody to take care of it went to her heart; then she loved the lovely little girl, as few could help doing; and though she regarded Augustine as very much of a heathen, yet she loved him, laughed at his jokes, and forbore with his failings, to an extent which those who knew him thought perfectly incredible. But what more or other is to be known of Miss Ophelia our reader must discover by a personal acquaintance.
Nous la retrouvons maintenant dans la chambre, sur le bateau, au milieu d' une foule de sacs, de boîtes, de cartons, de parures, qu' elle attache, qu' elle serre, qu' elle lie en grande hâte et d' un air inquiet.
There she is, sitting now in her state-room, surrounded by a mixed multitude of little and big carpet-bags, boxes, baskets, each containing some separate responsibility which she is tying, binding up, packing, or fastening, with a face of great earnestness.
« Eh bien ! Éva, avez -vous compté vos affaires ? Vous n' y avez peut-être pas songé ? Voilà comme sont les enfants ! Il y a le sac de nuit en moquette mouchetée, et la petite boîte bleue avec votre beau chapeau, cela fait deux; la boîte en caoutchouc, ça fait trois; ma boîte à aiguille, quatre; mon nécessaire, cinq; ma boîte à cols, six, et une toute petite malle de cuir, sept. Qu' avez -vous fait de votre ombrelle ? donnez -la moi, je vais mettre du papier autour, et l' attacher avec la mienne à mon parapluie. C' est cela !
“Now, Eva, have you kept count of your things? Of course you haven’t,—children never do: there’s the spotted carpet-bag and the little blue band-box with your best bonnet,—that’s two; then the India rubber satchel is three; and my tape and needle box is four; and my band-box, five; and my collar-box; and that little hair trunk, seven. What have you done with your sunshade? Give it to me, and let me put a paper round it, and tie it to my umbrella with my shade;—there, now.”
-- Mais, ma cousine, à quoi bon ? nous n' allons qu' à la maison !
“Why, aunty, we are only going up home;—what is the use?”
“To keep it nice, child; people must take care of their things, if they ever mean to have anything; and now, Eva, is your thimble put up?”
-- Je ne sais pas !
“Really, aunty, I don’t know.”
“Well, never mind; I’ll look your box over,—thimble, wax, two spools, scissors, knife, tape-needle; all right,—put it in here. What did you ever do, child, when you were coming on with only your papa. I should have thought you’d a lost everything you had.”
“Well, aunty, I did lose a great many; and then, when we stopped anywhere, papa would buy some more of whatever it was.”
--Ah! ma chère.... quel système!
“Mercy on us, child,—what a way!”
-- Mais c' est très-commode !
“It was a very easy way, aunty,” said Eva.
-- C' est une impardonnable légèreté !
“It’s a dreadful shiftless one,” said aunty.
“Why, aunty, what’ll you do now?” said Eva; “that trunk is too full to be shut down.”
“It _must_ shut down,” said aunty, with the air of a general, as she squeezed the things in, and sprung upon the lid;—still a little gap remained about the mouth of the trunk.
“Get up here, Eva!” said Miss Ophelia, courageously; “what has been done can be done again. This trunk has _got to be_ shut and locked—there are no two ways about it.”
And the trunk, intimidated, doubtless, by this resolute statement, gave in. The hasp snapped sharply in its hole, and Miss Ophelia turned the key, and pocketed it in triumph.
“Now we’re ready. Where’s your papa? I think it time this baggage was set out. Do look out, Eva, and see if you see your papa.”
“O, yes, he’s down the other end of the gentlemen’s cabin, eating an orange.”
“He can’t know how near we are coming,” said aunty; “hadn’t you better run and speak to him?”
“Papa never is in a hurry about anything,” said Eva, “and we haven’t come to the landing. Do step on the guards, aunty. Look! there’s our house, up that street!”
The boat now began, with heavy groans, like some vast, tired monster, to prepare to push up among the multiplied steamers at the levee. Eva joyously pointed out the various spires, domes, and way-marks, by which she recognized her native city.
“Yes, yes, dear; very fine,” said Miss Ophelia. “But mercy on us! the boat has stopped! where is your father?”
And now ensued the usual turmoil of landing—waiters running twenty ways at once—men tugging trunks, carpet-bags, boxes—women anxiously calling to their children, and everybody crowding in a dense mass to the plank towards the landing.
Miss Ophélia s' assit résolûment sur la malle qu' elle venait de vaincre, et aligna tout son régiment de sacs, de boîtes et de cartons, avec une symétrie toute militaire, se disposant à les défendre vigoureusement. ~~~ « Votre malle, madame.... ~~~ -- Vos bagages, madame.... ~~~ -- C' est à moi que ça revient, madame !
Miss Ophelia seated herself resolutely on the lately vanquished trunk, and marshalling all her goods and chattels in fine military order, seemed resolved to defend them to the last.
-- Non ! c' est à moi ! » ~~~ Ophélia restait assise. Sa détermination éclatait sur son visage.... Elle se tenait droite comme une aiguille fichée dans une planche, tenant d' une main son paquet de parapluies et d' ombrelles, et se défendant avec une énergie capable de mettre en fuite un cocher de fiacre...; et, s' adressant de temps en temps à Éva, elle lui demandait, d' un air profondément étonné, à quoi donc son père pouvait penser.... « Il n' est pas tombé à l' eau, j' imagine.... mais il faut qu' il lui soit arrivé quelque chose.... Je commence à m' inquiéter ! » ~~~ Au même moment, Augustin parut, avec sa démarche lente et insouciante.... Il donna un quartier d' orange à Éva.
“Shall I take your trunk, ma’am?” “Shall I take your baggage?” “Let me ’tend to your baggage, Missis?” “Shan’t I carry out these yer, Missis?” rained down upon her unheeded. She sat with grim determination, upright as a darning-needle stuck in a board, holding on her bundle of umbrella and parasols, and replying with a determination that was enough to strike dismay even into a hackman, wondering to Eva, in each interval, “what upon earth her papa could be thinking of; he couldn’t have fallen over, now,—but something must have happened;”—and just as she had begun to work herself into a real distress, he came up, with his usually careless motion, and giving Eva a quarter of the orange he was eating, said,
“Well, Cousin Vermont, I suppose you are all ready.”
-- Voilà une heure que je suis prête et que j' attends, dit Ophélia; je commençais à être inquiète de vous.
“I’ve been ready, waiting, nearly an hour,” said Miss Ophelia; “I began to be really concerned about you.
-- Voici un habile garçon.... dit Saint-Clare, en se tournant vers un commissionnaire. Allons, bien ! la voiture nous attend, la foule s' est écoulée.... On peut maintenant marcher doucement, sans être poussé et bousculé... Ici ! ajouta -t-il en s' adressant à un cocher qui se tenait derrière lui, prenez ces bagages.
“That’s a clever fellow, now,” said he. “Well, the carriage is waiting, and the crowd are now off, so that one can walk out in a decent and Christian manner, and not be pushed and shoved. Here,” he added to a driver who stood behind him, “take these things.”
-- Je vais l' accompagner pour le voir charger.
“I’ll go and see to his putting them in,” said Miss Ophelia.
--Fi donc! cousine.... et pourquoi cela?
“O, pshaw, cousin, what’s the use?” said St. Clare.
-- Du moins je vais porter ceci, cela, et ceci encore.... dit miss Ophélia en réunissant les trois boîtes à un petit sac de nuit !
“Well, at any rate, I’ll carry this, and this, and this,” said Miss Ophelia, singling out three boxes and a small carpet-bag.
-- Ma chère miss Vermont, vous ne pouvez décidément pas nous apporter ici les habitudes des Montagnes Vertes.... Il faut adopter quelque chose des façons du sud, et ne pas marcher dans la rue avec des paquets; on vous prendrait pour votre femme de chambre.... Donnez tout à ce garçon.... il le portera comme des oeufs. »
“My dear Miss Vermont, positively you mustn’t come the Green Mountains over us that way. You must adopt at least a piece of a southern principle, and not walk out under all that load. They’ll take you for a waiting-maid; give them to this fellow; he’ll put them down as if they were eggs, now.”
Miss Ophelia looked despairingly as her cousin took all her treasures from her, and rejoiced to find herself once more in the carriage with them, in a state of preservation.
“Where’s Tom?” said Eva.
“O, he’s on the outside, Pussy. I’m going to take Tom up to mother for a peace-offering, to make up for that drunken fellow that upset the carriage.”
“O, Tom will make a splendid driver, I know,” said Eva; “he’ll never get drunk.”
La voiture s' arrêta devant la façade d' une ancienne maison, bâtie dans les styles mêlés de France et d' Espagne. On retrouve encore, à la Nouvelle-Orléans, quelques échantillons de ce type. L' équipage franchit un portail voûté et pénétra dans une cour entourée de bâtiments carrés: c' était une cour à la mauresque. L' intérieur de cette cour révélait un goût plein de recherche: de larges galeries couraient tout autour. Leurs piliers mauresques, leurs minces colonnes, les arabesques des ornements, tout ramenait l' esprit vers ce règne brillant de l' Orient dans l' Espagne romantique. Au milieu de la cour, une fontaine épanchait ses ondes argentées, qui tombaient en flocons d' écume dans un bassin de marbre bordé de larges plates-bandes de violettes; dans l' eau de cette fontaine, transparente comme le cristal, s' ébattaient des myriades de poissons d' or et d' argent, qui étincelaient comme autant de bijoux vivants. On avait ménagé autour de la fontaine une promenade pavée de mosaïques, dispersées en mille dessins capricieux. Le gazon recommençait après, doux comme un tapis de velours vert. Le chemin des équipages longeait la galerie mauresque: deux grands orangers versaient leur ombre avec leurs parfums. On avait rangé en cercle au bord du gazon des vases de marbre sculptés qui contenaient les plus précieuses fleurs des tropiques; d' immenses grenadiers aux feuilles lustrées, aux fleurs de feu, des jasmins d' Arabie aux feuilles sombres, aux étoiles d' argent, des géraniums, des rosiers luxuriants, ployant sous le faix de leur moisson de fleurs, des jasmins jaunes, des verveines, confondant leur éclat et leur parfum, tandis que çà et là un vieil aloès mystérieux, étrange, au milieu de son feuillage massif, semblait un enchanteur des temps passés, regardant du haut de sa grandeur immuable toute cette végétation passagère, qui vivait et mourait à ses pieds.
The carriage stopped in front of an ancient mansion, built in that odd mixture of Spanish and French style, of which there are specimens in some parts of New Orleans. It was built in the Moorish fashion,—a square building enclosing a court-yard, into which the carriage drove through an arched gateway. The court, in the inside, had evidently been arranged to gratify a picturesque and voluptuous ideality. Wide galleries ran all around the four sides, whose Moorish arches, slender pillars, and arabesque ornaments, carried the mind back, as in a dream, to the reign of oriental romance in Spain. In the middle of the court, a fountain threw high its silvery water, falling in a never-ceasing spray into a marble basin, fringed with a deep border of fragrant violets. The water in the fountain, pellucid as crystal, was alive with myriads of gold and silver fishes, twinkling and darting through it like so many living jewels. Around the fountain ran a walk, paved with a mosaic of pebbles, laid in various fanciful patterns; and this, again, was surrounded by turf, smooth as green velvet, while a carriage-drive enclosed the whole. Two large orange-trees, now fragrant with blossoms, threw a delicious shade; and, ranged in a circle round upon the turf, were marble vases of arabesque sculpture, containing the choicest flowering plants of the tropics. Huge pomegranate trees, with their glossy leaves and flame-colored flowers, dark-leaved Arabian jessamines, with their silvery stars, geraniums, luxuriant roses bending beneath their heavy abundance of flowers, golden jessamines, lemon-scented verbenum, all united their bloom and fragrance, while here and there a mystic old aloe, with its strange, massive leaves, sat looking like some old enchanter, sitting in weird grandeur among the more perishable bloom and fragrance around it.
The galleries that surrounded the court were festooned with a curtain of some kind of Moorish stuff, and could be drawn down at pleasure, to exclude the beams of the sun. On the whole, the appearance of the place was luxurious and romantic.
As the carriage drove in, Eva seemed like a bird ready to burst from a cage, with the wild eagerness of her delight.
“O, isn’t it beautiful, lovely! my own dear, darling home!” she said to Miss Ophelia. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
-- Oui, l' endroit est joli, dit miss Ophélia en descendant; mais cela me semble, à moi, un peu antique et bien païen. »
“’T is a pretty place,” said Miss Ophelia, as she alighted; “though it looks rather old and heathenish to me.”
Tom descendit et promena autour de lui un regard de satisfaction calme et paisible. Il faut se le rappeler, les nègres nous arrivent du pays le plus splendide et le plus magnifique qui soit au monde; ils gardent au fond de l' âme une véritable passion pour tout ce qui est beau, riche, éclatant et fantasque; ils s' abandonnent, sans le contrôle d' un goût sévère, à cette passion qui leur attire les sarcasmes et l' ironie de la race blanche, plus correcte et plus froide.
Tom got down from the carriage, and looked about with an air of calm, still enjoyment. The negro, it must be remembered, is an exotic of the most gorgeous and superb countries of the world, and he has, deep in his heart, a passion for all that is splendid, rich, and fanciful; a passion which, rudely indulged by an untrained taste, draws on them the ridicule of the colder and more correct white race.
St. Clare, who was in heart a poetical voluptuary, smiled as Miss Ophelia made her remark on his premises, and, turning to Tom, who was standing looking round, his beaming black face perfectly radiant with admiration, he said,
“Tom, my boy, this seems to suit you.”
“Yes, Mas’r, it looks about the right thing,” said Tom.
Tout ceci se passa en un clin d' oeil, pendant que les paquets étaient déchargés et le cocher payé. Une foule de serviteurs de tout âge, de toute taille, hommes, femmes, enfants, accoururent d' en haut, d' en bas, de partout, pour voir entrer le maître. En avant de tous les autres on apercevait un jeune mulâtre, dont la toilette se distinguait par toutes les exagérations de la mode. Il agitait, en se donnant des grâces, un mouchoir de batiste parfumé.
All this passed in a moment, while trunks were being hustled off, hackman paid, and while a crowd, of all ages and sizes,—men, women, and children,—came running through the galleries, both above and below to see Mas’r come in. Foremost among them was a highly-dressed young mulatto man, evidently a very _distingue_ personage, attired in the ultra extreme of the mode, and gracefully waving a scented cambric handkerchief in his hand.
This personage had been exerting himself, with great alacrity, in driving all the flock of domestics to the other end of the verandah.
« Arrière tous ! disait -il d' un ton d' autorité. Voulez -vous point importuner monsieur dès le premier moment de son retour ? »
“Back! all of you. I am ashamed of you,” he said, in a tone of authority. “Would you intrude on Master’s domestic relations, in the first hour of his return?”
Abasourdis par une aussi belle phrase et par l' air dont elle était dite, tous les esclaves reculèrent et se tinrent désormais à une distance respectueuse, à l' exception de deux robustes porteurs qui chargeaient les bagages.
All looked abashed at this elegant speech, delivered with quite an air, and stood huddled together at a respectful distance, except two stout porters, who came up and began conveying away the baggage.
Owing to Mr. Adolph’s systematic arrangements, when St. Clare turned round from paying the hackman, there was nobody in view but Mr. Adolph himself, conspicuous in satin vest, gold guard-chain, and white pants, and bowing with inexpressible grace and suavity.
“Ah, Adolph, is it you?” said his master, offering his hand to him; “how are you, boy?” while Adolph poured forth, with great fluency, an extemporary speech, which he had been preparing, with great care, for a fortnight before.
“Well, well,” said St. Clare, passing on, with his usual air of negligent drollery, “that’s very well got up, Adolph. See that the baggage is well bestowed. I’ll come to the people in a minute;” and, so saying, he led Miss Ophelia to a large parlor that opened on the verandah.
While this had been passing, Eva had flown like a bird, through the porch and parlor, to a little boudoir opening likewise on the verandah.
Une grande femme pâle, aux yeux noirs, se souleva à demi sur son lit de repos.
A tall, dark-eyed, sallow woman, half rose from a couch on which she was reclining.
« Maman ! dit Éva avec une sorte d' ivresse en se jetant à son cou et l' embrassant mille fois.
“Mamma!” said Eva, in a sort of a rapture, throwing herself on her neck, and embracing her over and over again.
“That’ll do,—take care, child,—don’t, you make my head ache,” said the mother, after she had languidly kissed her.
Saint-Clare entra, embrassa sa femme conformément aux règles de l' orthodoxie conjugale, puis il lui présenta sa cousine. Marie leva ses grands yeux sur la cousine et la regarda avec un certain air de curiosité; elle l' accueillit du reste avec sa politesse languissante. Cependant la troupe des serviteurs se pressait à la porte. Parmi eux, ou plutôt en avant de tous les autres, on remarquait une mulâtresse d' une quarantaine d' années, qui se tenait là dans une attente joyeuse et tremblante.
St. Clare came in, embraced his wife in true, orthodox, husbandly fashion, and then presented to her his cousin. Marie lifted her large eyes on her cousin with an air of some curiosity, and received her with languid politeness. A crowd of servants now pressed to the entry door, and among them a middle-aged mulatto woman, of very respectable appearance, stood foremost, in a tremor of expectation and joy, at the door.
« Ah ! voilà Mammy, » dit Éva en traversant la chambre; et, se jetant dans les bras de Mammy, elle l' embrassa avec la plus naïve effusion.
“O, there’s Mammy!” said Eva, as she flew across the room; and, throwing herself into her arms, she kissed her repeatedly.
Mammy ne dit pas qu' elle lui faisait mal à la tête, mais elle la serra sur sa poitrine, riant et pleurant tout à la fois.... On eût pu croire qu' elle ne jouissait pas précisément de toute sa raison.... Enfin elle relâcha Éva, qui passait d' un esclave à l' autre, donnant la main à celui -ci, embrassant celle -là. ~~~ Miss Ophélia déclara depuis que tout cela lui avait fait assez mal au coeur.
This woman did not tell her that she made her head ache, but, on the contrary, she hugged her, and laughed, and cried, till her sanity was a thing to be doubted of; and when released from her, Eva flew from one to another, shaking hands and kissing, in a way that Miss Ophelia afterwards declared fairly turned her stomach.
“Well!” said Miss Ophelia, “you southern children can do something that _I_ couldn’t.”
“What, now, pray?” said St. Clare.
“Well, I want to be kind to everybody, and I wouldn’t have anything hurt; but as to kissing—”
-- Des nègres.... ah ! vous n' êtes pas accoutumée à cela, n' est -ce pas ?
“Niggers,” said St. Clare, “that you’re not up to,—hey?”
“Yes, that’s it. How can she?”
Saint-Clare alla en riant dans le vestibule. ~~~ « Allons ! hé ! arrivez -vous ? Mammy, Jemmy, Polly, Suckey ! vous êtes contents de voir le maître.... » Et il alla de l' un à l' autre leur serrant les mains.... Prenez garde aux enfants, ajouta -t-il en poussant du pied un petit moricaud qui marchait à quatre pattes sur le plancher. Si j' écrase quelqu'un, que l' on m' avertisse ! »
St. Clare laughed, as he went into the passage. “Halloa, here, what’s to pay out here? Here, you all—Mammy, Jimmy, Polly, Sukey—glad to see Mas’r?” he said, as he went shaking hands from one to another. “Look out for the babies!” he added, as he stumbled over a sooty little urchin, who was crawling upon all fours. “If I step upon anybody, let ’em mention it.”
C' étaient de toutes parts des rires et des bénédictions. Saint-Clare leur distribua de petites pièces de monnaie.
There was an abundance of laughing and blessing Mas’r, as St. Clare distributed small pieces of change among them.
“Come, now, take yourselves off, like good boys and girls,” he said; and the whole assemblage, dark and light, disappeared through a door into a large verandah, followed by Eva, who carried a large satchel, which she had been filling with apples, nuts, candy, ribbons, laces, and toys of every description, during her whole homeward journey.
As St. Clare turned to go back his eye fell upon Tom, who was standing uneasily, shifting from one foot to the other, while Adolph stood negligently leaning against the banisters, examining Tom through an opera-glass, with an air that would have done credit to any dandy living.
“Puh! you puppy,” said his master, striking down the opera glass; “is that the way you treat your company? Seems to me, Dolph,” he added, laying his finger on the elegant figured satin vest that Adolph was sporting, “seems to me that’s _my_ vest.”
“O! Master, this vest all stained with wine; of course, a gentleman in Master’s standing never wears a vest like this. I understood I was to take it. It does for a poor nigger-fellow, like me.”
And Adolph tossed his head, and passed his fingers through his scented hair, with a grace.
“So, that’s it, is it?” said St. Clare, carelessly. “Well, here, I’m going to show this Tom to his mistress, and then you take him to the kitchen; and mind you don’t put on any of your airs to him. He’s worth two such puppies as you.”
“Master always will have his joke,” said Adolph, laughing. “I’m delighted to see Master in such spirits.”
-- Venez, Tom, » dit Saint-Clare.
“Here, Tom,” said St. Clare, beckoning.
Tom entra dans le salon; il regardait silencieusement les tapis de velours et cette splendeur, qu' il n' avait pas même rêvée, des glaces, des peintures, des tableaux, des statues, des rideaux; et, semblable à la reine de Saba devant Salomon, « il n' y avait plus d' esprit en lui; » il n' osait même pas marcher par terre.
Tom entered the room. He looked wistfully on the velvet carpets, and the before unimagined splendors of mirrors, pictures, statues, and curtains, and, like the Queen of Sheba before Solomon, there was no more spirit in him. He looked afraid even to set his feet down.
“See here, Marie,” said St. Clare to his wife, “I’ve bought you a coachman, at last, to order. I tell you, he’s a regular hearse for blackness and sobriety, and will drive you like a funeral, if you want. Open your eyes, now, and look at him. Now, don’t say I never think about you when I’m gone.”
Marie opened her eyes, and fixed them on Tom, without rising.
“I know he’ll get drunk,” she said.
“No, he’s warranted a pious and sober article.”
“Well, I hope he may turn out well,” said the lady; “it’s more than I expect, though.”
“Dolph,” said St. Clare, “show Tom down stairs; and, mind yourself,” he added; “remember what I told you.”
Adolph tripped gracefully forward, and Tom, with lumbering tread, went after.
“He’s a perfect behemoth!” said Marie.
“Come, now, Marie,” said St. Clare, seating himself on a stool beside her sofa, “be gracious, and say something pretty to a fellow.”
“You’ve been gone a fortnight beyond the time,” said the lady, pouting.
“Well, you know I wrote you the reason.”
--Une lettre si courte et si froide!
“Such a short, cold letter!” said the lady.
“Dear me! the mail was just going, and it had to be that or nothing.”
-- C' est toujours ainsi, dit la femme, on trouve le moyen d' allonger le voyage et de raccourcir les lettres....
“That’s just the way, always,” said the lady; “always something to make your journeys long, and letters short.”
“See here, now,” he added, drawing an elegant velvet case out of his pocket, and opening it, “here’s a present I got for you in New York.” ~~~ It was a daguerreotype, clear and soft as an engraving, representing Eva and her father sitting hand in hand.
Marie regarda le portrait d' un air mécontent.
Marie looked at it with a dissatisfied air.
“What made you sit in such an awkward position?” she said.
“Well, the position may be a matter of opinion; but what do you think of the likeness?”
“If you don’t think anything of my opinion in one case, I suppose you wouldn’t in another,” said the lady, shutting the daguerreotype.
“Hang the woman!” said St. Clare, mentally; but aloud he added, “Come, now, Marie, what do you think of the likeness? Don’t be nonsensical, now.”
“It’s very inconsiderate of you, St. Clare,” said the lady, “to insist on my talking and looking at things. You know I’ve been lying all day with the sick-headache; and there’s been such a tumult made ever since you came, I’m half dead.”
“You’re subject to the sick-headache, ma’am!” said Miss Ophelia, suddenly rising from the depths of the large arm-chair, where she had sat quietly, taking an inventory of the furniture, and calculating its expense.
“Yes, I’m a perfect martyr to it,” said the lady.
“Juniper-berry tea is good for sick-headache,” said Miss Ophelia; “at least, Auguste, Deacon Abraham Perry’s wife, used to say so; and she was a great nurse.”
-- Adolphe, dites à Mammy de venir. » ~~~ La mulâtresse qu' Éva avait si joyeusement embrassée entra, coiffée, par Éva elle-même, d' un turban rouge et jaune que l' enfant venait de lui donner. ~~~ « Mammy, dit Saint-Clare, je confie madame à vos soins. Elle est fatiguée et a besoin de repos. Conduisez -la à sa chambre, et que tout soit confortable. » ~~~ Mammy sortit, précédant miss Ophélia.
“I’ll have the first juniper-berries that get ripe in our garden by the lake brought in for that special purpose,” said St. Clare, gravely pulling the bell as he did so; “meanwhile, cousin, you must be wanting to retire to your apartment, and refresh yourself a little, after your journey. Dolph,” he added, “tell Mammy to come here.” The decent mulatto woman whom Eva had caressed so rapturously soon entered; she was dressed neatly, with a high red and yellow turban on her head, the recent gift of Eva, and which the child had been arranging on her head. “Mammy,” said St. Clare, “I put this lady under your care; she is tired, and wants rest; take her to her chamber, and be sure she is made comfortable,” and Miss Ophelia disappeared in the rear of Mammy.
CHAPITRE XVI. ~~~ La maîtresse de Tom et ses opinions.
CHAPTER XVI Tom’s Mistress and Her Opinions
« Maintenant, Marie, dit Saint-Clare, voici l' aurore de vos jours dorés. Je vous ai amené notre cousine de la Nouvelle-Angleterre, la femme pratique, qui va décharger vos épaules du poids des soucis, et vous donner le temps de redevenir jeune et belle. L' ennui de donner les clefs ne vous tourmentera plus. »
“And now, Marie,” said St. Clare, “your golden days are dawning. Here is our practical, business-like New England cousin, who will take the whole budget of cares off your shoulders, and give you time to refresh yourself, and grow young and handsome. The ceremony of delivering the keys had better come off forthwith.”
This remark was made at the breakfast-table, a few mornings after Miss Ophelia had arrived.
“I’m sure she’s welcome,” said Marie, leaning her head languidly on her hand. “I think she’ll find one thing, if she does, and that is, that it’s we mistresses that are the slaves, down here.”
“O, certainly, she will discover that, and a world of wholesome truths besides, no doubt,” said St. Clare.
-- On nous reproche de garder nos esclaves ! fit Marie; comme si c' était pour notre avantage ! Si nous ne consultions que cela, nous les renverrions tous d' un seul coup. »
“Talk about our keeping slaves, as if we did it for our _convenience_,” said Marie. “I’m sure, if we consulted _that_, we might let them all go at once.”
Évangéline fixa sur le visage de sa mère ses grands yeux sérieux; elle ne semblait pas comprendre parfaitement cette réponse. Elle dit très-simplement:
Evangeline fixed her large, serious eyes on her mother’s face, with an earnest and perplexed expression, and said, simply, “What do you keep them for, mamma?”
“I don’t know, I’m sure, except for a plague; they are the plague of my life. I believe that more of my ill health is caused by them than by any one thing; and ours, I know, are the very worst that ever anybody was plagued with.”
“O, come, Marie, you’ve got the blues, this morning,” said St. Clare. “You know ’t isn’t so. There’s Mammy, the best creature living,—what could you do without her?”
“Mammy is the best I ever knew,” said Marie; “and yet Mammy, now, is selfish—dreadfully selfish; it’s the fault of the whole race.”
“Selfishness _is_ a dreadful fault,” said St. Clare, gravely.
-- Par exemple, reprit Marie, n' est -ce point de l' égoïsme, cela, d' avoir le sommeil si pesant ?... Elle sait que j' ai besoin de petites attentions, presque à chaque heure, quand mes crises reviennent; eh bien ! il est très-difficile de la réveiller. Ce sont mes efforts de la nuit dernière qui me rendent si faible ce matin.
“Well, now, there’s Mammy,” said Marie, “I think it’s selfish of her to sleep so sound nights; she knows I need little attentions almost every hour, when my worst turns are on, and yet she’s so hard to wake. I absolutely am worse, this very morning, for the efforts I had to make to wake her last night.”
“Hasn’t she sat up with you a good many nights, lately, mamma?” said Eva.
“How should you know that?” said Marie, sharply; “she’s been complaining, I suppose.”
“She didn’t complain; she only told me what bad nights you’d had,—so many in succession.”
-- Pourquoi donc, dit Saint-Clare, ne faites -vous pas prendre sa place une nuit ou deux à Jane et à Rosa ? elle se reposerait !
“Why don’t you let Jane or Rosa take her place, a night or two,” said St. Clare, “and let her rest?”
-- Comment pouvez -vous me proposer cela, Saint-Clare ? vous êtes vraiment bien irréfléchi ! Nerveuse comme je suis, le moindre souffle me tue ! une main étrangère autour de moi me jetterait dans des convulsions. Si Mammy avait pour moi l' intérêt qu' elle devrait avoir, elle veillerait plus aisément. J' ai entendu parler de gens qui avaient des serviteurs si dévoués.... mais ce bonheur n' a jamais été pour moi ! » Et Marie poussa un soupir.
“How can you propose it?” said Marie. “St. Clare, you really are inconsiderate. So nervous as I am, the least breath disturbs me; and a strange hand about me would drive me absolutely frantic. If Mammy felt the interest in me she ought to, she’d wake easier,—of course, she would. I’ve heard of people who had such devoted servants, but it never was _my_ luck;” and Marie sighed.
Miss Ophelia had listened to this conversation with an air of shrewd, observant gravity; and she still kept her lips tightly compressed, as if determined fully to ascertain her longitude and position, before she committed herself.
« Sans doute Mammy a une sorte de bonté, dit Marie; elle est douce et respectueuse, mais au fond du coeur elle est égoïste, elle ne cessera de regretter et de redemander son mari. Quand je me mariai, je l' amenai ici. Mon père garda son mari; il est maréchal, et par conséquent très-utile; je pensai et je dis alors que, ne pouvant plus vivre ensemble, ils feraient bien de se regarder comme séparés tout à fait. J' aurais dû insister et marier Mammy à quelque autre. Je ne le fis point: je fus trop indulgente et trop faible. Je dis alors à Mammy qu' elle ne devait plus s' attendre à revoir son mari plus d' une ou deux fois en sa vie, parce que l' air du pays, chez mon père, ne convenait pas à ma santé, et que je ne pouvais pas y retourner; je lui conseillai donc de prendre quelqu'un ici, mais non ! elle ne voulut pas.... Mammy a parfois une sorte d' obstination dont les autres ne peuvent pas s' apercevoir comme moi.
“Now, Mammy has a _sort_ of goodness,” said Marie; “she’s smooth and respectful, but she’s selfish at heart. Now, she never will be done fidgeting and worrying about that husband of hers. You see, when I was married and came to live here, of course, I had to bring her with me, and her husband my father couldn’t spare. He was a blacksmith, and, of course, very necessary; and I thought and said, at the time, that Mammy and he had better give each other up, as it wasn’t likely to be convenient for them ever to live together again. I wish, now, I’d insisted on it, and married Mammy to somebody else; but I was foolish and indulgent, and didn’t want to insist. I told Mammy, at the time, that she mustn’t ever expect to see him more than once or twice in her life again, for the air of father’s place doesn’t agree with my health, and I can’t go there; and I advised her to take up with somebody else; but no—she wouldn’t. Mammy has a kind of obstinacy about her, in spots, that everybody don’t see as I do.”
“Has she children?” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Oui, elle en a deux.
“Yes; she has two.”
“I suppose she feels the separation from them?”
-- Peut-être bien; mais je ne pouvais les amener ici.... c' étaient deux petits êtres malpropres, je n' aurais pu les souffrir. Et puis, ils lui prenaient tout son temps. Je pense au fond que Mammy a toujours été un peu attristée de tout cela; elle ne veut prendre personne, et je crois que maintenant, bien qu' elle sache qu' elle m' est nécessaire, si elle le pouvait, elle retournerait dès demain vers son mari. Oui, je le crois.... Les gens sont si égoïstes maintenant.... même les meilleurs !
“Well, of course, I couldn’t bring them. They were little dirty things—I couldn’t have them about; and, besides, they took up too much of her time; but I believe that Mammy has always kept up a sort of sulkiness about this. She won’t marry anybody else; and I do believe, now, though she knows how necessary she is to me, and how feeble my health is, she would go back to her husband tomorrow, if she only could. I _do_, indeed,” said Marie; “they are just so selfish, now, the best of them.”
“It’s distressing to reflect upon,” said St. Clare, dryly.
Miss Ophelia looked keenly at him, and saw the flush of mortification and repressed vexation, and the sarcastic curl of the lip, as he spoke.
« Mammy a toujours été ma favorite, reprit Mme Saint-Clare. Je voudrais pouvoir montrer sa garde-robe à vos domestiques du nord: soies, mousselines et véritables batistes ! J' ai quelquefois passé des après-midi à lui arranger des chapeaux pour aller à des parties de plaisir. Elle a toujours été bien traitée, elle n' a pas reçu le fouet plus d' une ou deux fois dans sa vie. Elle a tous les jours du thé ou du café fort, avec du sucre blanc. C' est un abus; mais c' est ainsi que Saint-Clare veut que l' on soit traité à l' office. Ils font tout ce qu' ils veulent. C' est notre faute si nos esclaves sont égoïstes; ils se conduisent comme des enfants gâtés. Je l' ai tant répété à Saint-Clare que j' en suis fatiguée.
“Now, Mammy has always been a pet with me,” said Marie. “I wish some of your northern servants could look at her closets of dresses,—silks and muslins, and one real linen cambric, she has hanging there. I’ve worked sometimes whole afternoons, trimming her caps, and getting her ready to go to a party. As to abuse, she don’t know what it is. She never was whipped more than once or twice in her whole life. She has her strong coffee or her tea every day, with white sugar in it. It’s abominable, to be sure; but St. Clare will have high life below-stairs, and they every one of them live just as they please. The fact is, our servants are over-indulged. I suppose it is partly our fault that they are selfish, and act like spoiled children; but I’ve talked to St. Clare till I am tired.”
“And I, too,” said St. Clare, taking up the morning paper.
Eva, the beautiful Eva, had stood listening to her mother, with that expression of deep and mystic earnestness which was peculiar to her. She walked softly round to her mother’s chair, and put her arms round her neck.
« Eh bien ! Éva, qu' est -ce encore ?
“Well, Eva, what now?” said Marie.
“Mamma, couldn’t I take care of you one night—just one? I know I shouldn’t make you nervous, and I shouldn’t sleep. I often lie awake nights, thinking—”
-- Quelle folie, enfant, quelle folie ! Vous êtes une étrange créature !
“O, nonsense, child—nonsense!” said Marie; “you are such a strange child!”
“But may I, mamma? I think,” she said, timidly, “that Mammy isn’t well. She told me her head ached all the time, lately.”
-- Oh ! c' est encore là une des bizarreries de Mammy.... Mammy est comme tous les autres nègres: fait -elle du bruit pour un mal de tête ou un mal de doigt ! Il ne faut pas les encourager à cela: jamais ! Chez moi, c' est un principe, fit -elle en se retournant vers miss Ophélia. Vous -même vous en sentirez bientôt la nécessité !.... Si vous encouragez les esclaves à se plaindre ainsi pour rien, vous ne saurez bientôt plus auquel entendre. Moi, je ne me plains jamais.... personne ne sait ce que je souffre. Je pense que c' est un devoir de souffrir sans rien dire; aussi c' est ce que je fais. »
“O, that’s just one of Mammy’s fidgets! Mammy is just like all the rest of them—makes such a fuss about every little headache or finger-ache; it’ll never do to encourage it—never! I’m principled about this matter,” said she, turning to Miss Ophelia; “you’ll find the necessity of it. If you encourage servants in giving way to every little disagreeable feeling, and complaining of every little ailment, you’ll have your hands full. I never complain myself—nobody knows what I endure. I feel it a duty to bear it quietly, and I do.”
A cette péroraison inattendue, les yeux ronds de miss Ophélia exprimèrent un étonnement qu' elle ne put déguiser.... Quant à Saint-Clare, il partit d' un immense éclat de rire.
Miss Ophelia’s round eyes expressed an undisguised amazement at this peroration, which struck St. Clare as so supremely ludicrous, that he burst into a loud laugh.
“St. Clare always laughs when I make the least allusion to my ill health,” said Marie, with the voice of a suffering martyr. “I only hope the day won’t come when he’ll remember it!” and Marie put her handkerchief to her eyes.
Of course, there was rather a foolish silence. Finally, St. Clare got up, looked at his watch, and said he had an engagement down street. Eva tripped away after him, and Miss Ophelia and Marie remained at the table alone.
« Voilà comme est Saint-Clare, dit Marie en retirant son mouchoir, il ne comprend pas.... il ne comprendra jamais ce que je souffre depuis des années.... Il aurait raison, si j' étais jamais à me plaindre et à parler de moi.... mais je me suis tue, je me suis résignée.... résignée ! Et Saint-Clare à présent croit que je puis tout tolérer. »
“Now, that’s just like St. Clare!” said the latter, withdrawing her handkerchief with somewhat of a spirited flourish when the criminal to be affected by it was no longer in sight. “He never realizes, never can, never will, what I suffer, and have, for years. If I was one of the complaining sort, or ever made any fuss about my ailments, there would be some reason for it. Men do get tired, naturally, of a complaining wife. But I’ve kept things to myself, and borne, and borne, till St. Clare has got in the way of thinking I can bear anything.”
Miss Ophelia did not exactly know what she was expected to answer to this.
Pendant qu' elle y réfléchissait, Marie essuyait ses larmes et lissait son plumage, comme ferait une colombe après la pluie. Puis elle commença avec Ophélia une conversation de ménage, concernant les porcelaines, les appartements, les provisions, toutes choses dont il était sous-entendu que miss Ophélia prendrait la direction. Elle fit tant de recommandations, de réflexions et d' observations, qu' une tête moins systématique et moins bien organisée que celle de miss Ophélia n' eût certes pu y résister.
While she was thinking what to say, Marie gradually wiped away her tears, and smoothed her plumage in a general sort of way, as a dove might be supposed to make toilet after a shower, and began a housewifely chat with Miss Ophelia, concerning cupboards, closets, linen-presses, store-rooms, and other matters, of which the latter was, by common understanding, to assume the direction,—giving her so many cautious directions and charges, that a head less systematic and business-like than Miss Ophelia’s would have been utterly dizzied and confounded.
« Maintenant, dit Marie, je crois que j' ai tout dit. La première fois que mes crises me reprendront, vous pourrez marcher sans me consulter. Seulement, ayez l' oeil sur Éva, il faut la surveiller !
“And now,” said Marie, “I believe I’ve told you everything; so that, when my next sick turn comes on, you’ll be able to go forward entirely, without consulting me;—only about Eva,—she requires watching.”
“She seems to be a good child, very,” said Miss Ophelia; “I never saw a better child.”
“Eva’s peculiar,” said her mother, “very. There are things about her so singular; she isn’t like me, now, a particle;” and Marie sighed, as if this was a truly melancholy consideration.
Miss Ophelia in her own heart said, “I hope she isn’t,” but had prudence enough to keep it down.
« Éva a toujours aimé la compagnie des esclaves. Mon Dieu ! je sais bien que tous les enfants sont comme cela. Moi-même, je jouais avec les petits nègres de mon père.... mais cela n' a jamais eu aucun effet sur moi. Mais Éva a parfois l' air de se mettre sur un pied d' égalité avec tous les gens qui l' approchent !... Je n' ai jamais pu l' en déshabituer. Je crois que Saint-Clare l' y encourage.... Saint-Clare gâte tout sous son toit.... excepté sa femme ! »
“Eva always was disposed to be with servants; and I think that well enough with some children. Now, I always played with father’s little negroes—it never did me any harm. But Eva somehow always seems to put herself on an equality with every creature that comes near her. It’s a strange thing about the child. I never have been able to break her of it. St. Clare, I believe, encourages her in it. The fact is, St. Clare indulges every creature under this roof but his own wife.”
Again Miss Ophelia sat in blank silence.
« Il n' y a pas deux manières d' être avec les esclaves, reprit Marie: il faut leur faire sentir leur infériorité et les mater solidement ! cela m' a toujours été naturellement facile depuis la plus tendre enfance.... Mais Éva est capable à elle seule de gâter toute une maison. Que fera -t-elle quand elle tiendra une maison elle-même ? Je déclare que je ne m' en doute pas. Je tiens à être bonne avec les esclaves.... je le suis; mais il faut leur faire sentir leur position.... c' est ce qu' Éva ne fait pas.... Impossible de lui mettre la moindre idée de cela dans la tête. Vous l' avez entendue offrir de me soigner la nuit pour que Mammy puisse dormir. C' est un échantillon de ce qu' elle ferait si elle était laissée à elle-même.
“Now, there’s no way with servants,” said Marie, “but to _put them down_, and keep them down. It was always natural to me, from a child. Eva is enough to spoil a whole house-full. What she will do when she comes to keep house herself, I’m sure I don’t know. I hold to being _kind_ to servants—I always am; but you must make ’em _know their place_. Eva never does; there’s no getting into the child’s head the first beginning of an idea what a servant’s place is! You heard her offering to take care of me nights, to let Mammy sleep! That’s just a specimen of the way the child would be doing all the time, if she was left to herself.”
“Why,” said Miss Ophelia, bluntly, “I suppose you think your servants are human creatures, and ought to have some rest when they are tired.”
-- Certainement, certainement. Je veux qu' ils aient tout ce qui est juste, tout ce qui est convenable !... Mammy peut dormir dans un instant ou dans l' autre; il n' y a pas de difficulté à cela.... Mais c' est bien la chose la plus dormeuse que j' aie jamais vue ! Assise, debout, à l' ouvrage, partout elle dort ! Il n' y a pas de danger qu' elle ne dorme pas assez, celle -là !... Voyez -vous, traiter les esclaves comme des fleurs exotiques ou des porcelaines de Chine, c' est vraiment ridicule, dit Marie, en plongeant dans les profondeurs d' un volumineux coussin, dont elle retira un élégant flacon de cristal.
“Certainly, of course. I’m very particular in letting them have everything that comes convenient,—anything that doesn’t put one at all out of the way, you know. Mammy can make up her sleep, some time or other; there’s no difficulty about that. She’s the sleepiest concern that ever I saw; sewing, standing, or sitting, that creature will go to sleep, and sleep anywhere and everywhere. No danger but Mammy gets sleep enough. But this treating servants as if they were exotic flowers, or china vases, is really ridiculous,” said Marie, as she plunged languidly into the depths of a voluminous and pillowy lounge, and drew towards her an elegant cut-glass vinaigrette.
-- Vous voyez, dit -elle d' une voix mourante, douce comme la brise qui passe entre les jasmins d' Arabie, ou comme toute autre chose également éthérée; vous voyez, cousine Ophélia, que je ne parle pas souvent de moi, ce n' est pas mon habitude.... Je n' aime pas cela !... A vrai dire, je n' en ai pas la force. Mais il y a des points sur lesquels nous différons, Saint-Clare et moi. Saint-Clare ne m' a jamais comprise, jamais appréciée. Je crois que cela tient à l' état de ma santé. Saint-Clare a de bonnes intentions, je suis portée à le croire; mais les hommes sont égoïstes: c' est dans leur constitution; ils ne comprennent pas les femmes.... Telle est du moins mon impression. »
“You see,” she continued, in a faint and lady-like voice, like the last dying breath of an Arabian jessamine, or something equally ethereal, “you see, Cousin Ophelia, I don’t often speak of myself. It isn’t my _habit_; ’t isn’t agreeable to me. In fact, I haven’t strength to do it. But there are points where St. Clare and I differ. St. Clare never understood me, never appreciated me. I think it lies at the root of all my ill health. St. Clare means well, I am bound to believe; but men are constitutionally selfish and inconsiderate to woman. That, at least, is my impression.”
Miss Ophélia, qui avait toute la prudence naturelle aux habitants de la Nouvelle-Angleterre et une horreur toute particulière des difficultés de famille, miss Ophélia prévit le sort qui la menaçait; elle se fit un visage impénétrable, et tirant un long bas qu' elle tenait en réserve contre les dangers de l' oisiveté, elle commença de tricoter avec une rare énergie, pinçant les lèvres d' un air qui semblait dire: « Vous voulez me faire parler, mais je n' ai pas besoin de me mêler de vos affaires. » Son visage exprimait autant de sympathies qu' un lion de pierre. ~~~ Marie n' y prit pas garde; elle avait quelqu'un à qui parler. Elle sentait qu' elle devait parler; cela lui suffisait. Elle respira de nouveau son flacon pour se redonner quelque force et poursuivit:
Miss Ophelia, who had not a small share of the genuine New England caution, and a very particular horror of being drawn into family difficulties, now began to foresee something of this kind impending; so, composing her face into a grim neutrality, and drawing out of her pocket about a yard and a quarter of stocking, which she kept as a specific against what Dr. Watts asserts to be a personal habit of Satan when people have idle hands, she proceeded to knit most energetically, shutting her lips together in a way that said, as plain as words could, “You needn’t try to make me speak. I don’t want anything to do with your affairs,”—in fact, she looked about as sympathizing as a stone lion. But Marie didn’t care for that. She had got somebody to talk to, and she felt it her duty to talk, and that was enough; and reinforcing herself by smelling again at her vinaigrette, she went on.
« Voyez -vous bien ? lorsque j' ai épousé Saint-Clare, je lui ai apporté mon bien et mes esclaves; j' ai donc le droit d' en user comme il me plaît.... Saint-Clare a sa fortune et ses esclaves.... qu' il les traite à sa guise. Mais les miens !... Il a sur beaucoup de choses des idées extravagantes.... particulièrement sur la manière de traiter les esclaves. Il agit comme s' il les mettait avant moi et avant lui-même.... Il leur laisse tout faire sans même lever le doigt ! Sur certaines choses, Saint-Clare est effrayant.... il m' effraye moi-même.... quoiqu' il paraisse, en général, avoir une assez bonne nature.... Il a décidé que pas un coup, quoi qu' il arrive, ne serait donné dans la maison, à moins que de sa main ou de la mienne !... Il a dit cela de telle façon que je ne puis pas aller contre. Vous voyez où cela mène.... On lui marcherait sur le corps, qu' il ne lèverait pas la main.... Pour moi, vous comprenez quelle cruauté ce serait que de me demander un tel effort.... Les esclaves sont de grands enfants !
“You see, I brought my own property and servants into the connection, when I married St. Clare, and I am legally entitled to manage them my own way. St. Clare had his fortune and his servants, and I’m well enough content he should manage them his way; but St. Clare will be interfering. He has wild, extravagant notions about things, particularly about the treatment of servants. He really does act as if he set his servants before me, and before himself, too; for he lets them make him all sorts of trouble, and never lifts a finger. Now, about some things, St. Clare is really frightful—he frightens me—good-natured as he looks, in general. Now, he has set down his foot that, come what will, there shall not be a blow struck in this house, except what he or I strike; and he does it in a way that I really dare not cross him. Well, you may see what that leads to; for St. Clare wouldn’t raise his hand, if every one of them walked over him, and I—you see how cruel it would be to require me to make the exertion. Now, you know these servants are nothing but grown-up children.”
“I don’t know anything about it, and I thank the Lord that I don’t!” said Miss Ophelia, shortly.
“Well, but you will have to know something, and know it to your cost, if you stay here. You don’t know what a provoking, stupid, careless, unreasonable, childish, ungrateful set of wretches they are.”
Marie retrouvait ses forces, comme par miracle, quand elle était sur ce chapitre; elle ouvrit donc tout à fait les yeux et parut oublier sa langueur.
Marie seemed wonderfully supported, always, when she got upon this topic; and she now opened her eyes, and seemed quite to forget her languor.
« Vous n' avez pas une idée des épreuves auxquelles ils soumettent les maîtresses de maison, chaque jour et à chaque heure !... Mais il est inutile de se plaindre à Saint-Clare; il fait de si étranges réponses !... Il dit que c' est nous qui les avons faits ce qu' ils sont, et que nous devons les prendre ainsi; il dit que leur faute vient de nous, et qu' alors il serait cruel de les punir; il dit que nous ne ferions pas mieux à leur place.... comme si on pouvait raisonner d' eux à nous !
“You don’t know, and you can’t, the daily, hourly trials that beset a housekeeper from them, everywhere and every way. But it’s no use to complain to St. Clare. He talks the strangest stuff. He says we have made them what they are, and ought to bear with them. He says their faults are all owing to us, and that it would be cruel to make the fault and punish it too. He says we shouldn’t do any better, in their place; just as if one could reason from them to us, you know.”
“Don’t you believe that the Lord made them of one blood with us?” said Miss Ophelia, shortly.
“No, indeed not I! A pretty story, truly! They are a degraded race.”
“Don’t you think they’ve got immortal souls?” said Miss Ophelia, with increasing indignation.
-- Je ne dis pas non, fit Marie en bâillant. Pour cela, personne n' en doute. Quant à ce qui est de comparer leurs âmes avec les nôtres, c' est impossible. Saint-Clare a bien prétendu que séparer Mammy de son mari, c' était la même chose que de me séparer de lui !... J' ai beau lui dire qu' il y a une différence, il ne peut pas la voir.... C' est comme si on disait que Mammy aime ses petits souillons d' enfants comme j' aime Éva ! Pourtant Saint-Clare a prétendu froidement, sérieusement, que je devais, faible comme je suis, renvoyer Mammy et prendre quelque autre personne à sa place.... C' était un peu trop fort.... même pour moi ! Je ne fais pas souvent voir mes sentiments. J' ai pour principe de tout souffrir en silence.... mais, cette fois -là, j' éclatai.... Il n' y est pas revenu. Mais depuis j' ai compris, à certains regards et à certaines paroles, qu' il est toujours dans les mêmes idées; et il est si obstiné, si provoquant ! »
“O, well,” said Marie, yawning, “that, of course—nobody doubts that. But as to putting them on any sort of equality with us, you know, as if we could be compared, why, it’s impossible! Now, St. Clare really has talked to me as if keeping Mammy from her husband was like keeping me from mine. There’s no comparing in this way. Mammy couldn’t have the feelings that I should. It’s a different thing altogether,—of course, it is,—and yet St. Clare pretends not to see it. And just as if Mammy could love her little dirty babies as I love Eva! Yet St. Clare once really and soberly tried to persuade me that it was my duty, with my weak health, and all I suffer, to let Mammy go back, and take somebody else in her place. That was a little too much even for _me_ to bear. I don’t often show my feelings, I make it a principle to endure everything in silence; it’s a wife’s hard lot, and I bear it. But I did break out, that time; so that he has never alluded to the subject since. But I know by his looks, and little things that he says, that he thinks so as much as ever; and it’s so trying, so provoking!”
Miss Ophelia looked very much as if she was afraid she should say something; but she rattled away with her needles in a way that had volumes of meaning in it, if Marie could only have understood it.
« Vous voyez donc bien, continua -t-elle, quel gouvernement vous prenez.... une maison sans règle, où les esclaves ont ce qu' ils veulent, font ce qu' ils veulent,... excepté quand j' ai la force.... Je prends quelquefois mon nerf de boeuf, mais cela me tue ! Si seulement Saint-Clare voulait faire comme les autres !
“So, you just see,” she continued, “what you’ve got to manage. A household without any rule; where servants have it all their own way, do what they please, and have what they please, except so far as I, with my feeble health, have kept up government. I keep my cowhide about, and sometimes I do lay it on; but the exertion is always too much for me. If St. Clare would only have this thing done as others do—”
--Quoi donc?
“And how’s that?”
-- Eh mais, les envoyer à la _Calebasse_, ou en tout autre lieu où on les fouette. Il n' y a pas d' autre moyen.... Si je n' étais pas si débile, je gouvernerais avec deux fois plus d' énergie que Saint-Clare.
“Why, send them to the calaboose, or some of the other places to be flogged. That’s the only way. If I wasn’t such a poor, feeble piece, I believe I should manage with twice the energy that St. Clare does.”
“And how does St. Clare contrive to manage?” said Miss Ophelia. “You say he never strikes a blow.”
-- Mon Dieu ! les hommes ont une manière de commander.... Cela leur est plus facile ! Et puis, si vous regardez bien dans l' oeil de Saint-Clare, il y a quelque chose d' étrange ! Cet oeil, quand il parle sévèrement, a comme un éclair. Moi-même j' en ai peur, et les esclaves savent bien qu' il faut prendre garde à eux dans ces moments -là ! Je ne ferais pas tant, avec des tempêtes de coups, que Saint-Clare avec un clignement d' oeil, quand il est ému ! On ne fait pas de bruit quand Saint-Clare est là. C' est pour cela qu' il n' a pas plus de pitié de moi !... Mais, quand vous aurez la direction, vous verrez qu' il n' y a pas moyen de s' en tirer sans sévérité.... Ils sont si méchants, si trompeurs, si paresseux !
“Well, men have a more commanding way, you know; it is easier for them; besides, if you ever looked full in his eye, it’s peculiar,—that eye,—and if he speaks decidedly, there’s a kind of flash. I’m afraid of it, myself; and the servants know they must mind. I couldn’t do as much by a regular storm and scolding as St. Clare can by one turn of his eye, if once he is in earnest. O, there’s no trouble about St. Clare; that’s the reason he’s no more feeling for me. But you’ll find, when you come to manage, that there’s no getting along without severity,—they are so bad, so deceitful, so lazy.”
-- Ah ! toujours la vieille chanson ! dit Saint-Clare en entrant tout à coup.... Quel terrible compte ces misérables auront à rendre au jour du jugement, surtout pour leur paresse !... Vous voyez que, Marie et moi, nous ne leur en donnons pas l' exemple, dit -il en s' étendant tout de son long sur un canapé en face de sa femme.
“The old tune,” said St. Clare, sauntering in. “What an awful account these wicked creatures will have to settle, at last, especially for being lazy! You see, cousin,” said he, as he stretched himself at full length on a lounge opposite to Marie, “it’s wholly inexcusable in them, in the light of the example that Marie and I set them,—this laziness.”
-- Vous êtes bien méchant, Saint-Clare !
“Come, now, St. Clare, you are too bad!” said Marie.
“Am I, now? Why, I thought I was talking good, quite remarkably for me. I try to enforce your remarks, Marie, always.”
“You know you meant no such thing, St. Clare,” said Marie.
“O, I must have been mistaken, then. Thank you, my dear, for setting me right.”
“You do really try to be provoking,” said Marie.
“O, come, Marie, the day is growing warm, and I have just had a long quarrel with Dolph, which has fatigued me excessively; so, pray be agreeable, now, and let a fellow repose in the light of your smile.”
“What’s the matter about Dolph?” said Marie. “That fellow’s impudence has been growing to a point that is perfectly intolerable to me. I only wish I had the undisputed management of him a while. I’d bring him down!”
-- Ce que vous dites là, ma chère, est marqué au coin de votre finesse et de votre bon sens ordinaire; quant à Adolphe, voici le cas: il s' est si longtemps appliqué à imiter mes grâces et mes perfections, qu' il a fini par se prendre pour son maître.... et j' ai été obligé de lui montrer à la fin sa méprise.
“What you say, my dear, is marked with your usual acuteness and good sense,” said St. Clare. “As to Dolph, the case is this: that he has so long been engaged in imitating my graces and perfections, that he has, at last, really mistaken himself for his master; and I have been obliged to give him a little insight into his mistake.”
--Comment cela?
“How?” said Marie.
-- Eh bien, il a fallu lui faire comprendre que je voulais conserver quelques-uns de mes vêtements pour mon usage personnel.... J' ai dû aussi mettre des bornes à son trop magnifique emploi de l' eau de Cologne. J' ai même poussé la cruauté jusqu' à le réduire à une seule douzaine de mes mouchoirs de batiste.... Adolphe portait tout cela avec des fanfaronnades que j' ai dû également modérer par mes conseils paternels.
“Why, I was obliged to let him understand explicitly that I preferred to keep _some_ of my clothes for my own personal wearing; also, I put his magnificence upon an allowance of cologne-water, and actually was so cruel as to restrict him to one dozen of my cambric handkerchiefs. Dolph was particularly huffy about it, and I had to talk to him like a father, to bring him round.”
-- Ah ! Saint-Clare, voilà une indulgence vraiment intolérable ! Quand apprendrez -vous donc comment on traite des esclaves ?
“O! St. Clare, when will you learn how to treat your servants? It’s abominable, the way you indulge them!” said Marie.
“Why, after all, what’s the harm of the poor dog’s wanting to be like his master; and if I haven’t brought him up any better than to find his chief good in cologne and cambric handkerchiefs, why shouldn’t I give them to him?”
“And why haven’t you brought him up better?” said Miss Ophelia, with blunt determination.
“Too much trouble,—laziness, cousin, laziness,—which ruins more souls than you can shake a stick at. If it weren’t for laziness, I should have been a perfect angel, myself. I’m inclined to think that laziness is what your old Dr. Botherem, up in Vermont, used to call the ‘essence of moral evil.’ It’s an awful consideration, certainly.”
-- Je pense, reprit Ophélia, que vous autres possesseurs d' esclaves vous prenez une terrible responsabilité.... je ne voudrais pas l' assumer sur moi pour mille mondes ! Vous devez élever vos esclaves, vous devez les traiter comme des créatures raisonnables, comme des âmes immortelles, dont vous aurez à rendre compte un jour au tribunal de Dieu ! Telle est mon opinion. » ~~~ Le zèle si longtemps contenu de miss Ophélia éclatait enfin.
“I think you slaveholders have an awful responsibility upon you,” said Miss Ophelia. “I wouldn’t have it, for a thousand worlds. You ought to educate your slaves, and treat them like reasonable creatures,—like immortal creatures, that you’ve got to stand before the bar of God with. That’s my mind,” said the good lady, breaking suddenly out with a tide of zeal that had been gaining strength in her mind all the morning.
« Allons, allons ! dit Saint-Clare en se levant, est -ce que vous nous connaissez ? » ~~~ Et il se mit au piano et joua un air gai. ~~~ Saint-Clare était un véritable musicien. Sa touche était brillante et nette. Ses doigts voltigeaient sur le clavier avec la légèreté aérienne d' un oiseau. Il avait un jeu à la fois brillant et puissant; il passait d' un morceau à l' autre, comme un homme qui veut se mettre en verve; puis, abandonnant tout à coup la musique, il se leva et dit gaiement: « Ma foi ! cousine, vous avez parlé d' or et bien fait votre devoir; je ne vous en estime que davantage. Je ne doute pas que vous ne nous ayez montré tout à l' heure un diamant de vérité.... et de la plus belle eau; mais vous m' avez envoyé les rayons tellement en plein visage.... que je n' en ai pas tout d'abord apprécié la valeur.
“O! come, come,” said St. Clare, getting up quickly; “what do you know about us?” And he sat down to the piano, and rattled a lively piece of music. St. Clare had a decided genius for music. His touch was brilliant and firm, and his fingers flew over the keys with a rapid and bird-like motion, airy, and yet decided. He played piece after piece, like a man who is trying to play himself into a good humor. After pushing the music aside, he rose up, and said, gayly, “Well, now, cousin, you’ve given us a good talk and done your duty; on the whole, I think the better of you for it. I make no manner of doubt that you threw a very diamond of truth at me, though you see it hit me so directly in the face that it wasn’t exactly appreciated, at first.”
-- Pour mon compte, dit Marie, je ne vois pas l' utilité de l' observation de la cousine... S' il y a au monde des gens qui fassent plus que nous pour leurs esclaves... qu' on me les montre !... mais ils n' en profitent pas; au contraire, ils n' en deviennent que pires. Quant à ce qui est de leur parler, je leur ai parlé... à m' en fatiguer; je leur ai enseigné leurs devoirs, tout enfin ! ils peuvent aller à l' église quand ils veulent... bien qu' ils ne puissent comprendre un mot du sermon !... Ainsi cela est assez inutile, comme vous voyez !... Mais ils y vont... ils ont tous les moyens de s' améliorer, vous voyez. Mais, comme je vous le disais, c' est une race dégradée.... Il n' y a pas de remède... Vous ne pouvez rien faire pour eux ! Vous voyez, cousine Ophélia, j' ai essayé, et vous non... et je suis née, et j' ai été élevée au milieu d' eux... Je les connais ! »
“For my part, I don’t see any use in such sort of talk,” said Marie. “I’m sure, if anybody does more for servants than we do, I’d like to know who; and it don’t do ’em a bit good,—not a particle,—they get worse and worse. As to talking to them, or anything like that, I’m sure I have talked till I was tired and hoarse, telling them their duty, and all that; and I’m sure they can go to church when they like, though they don’t understand a word of the sermon, more than so many pigs,—so it isn’t of any great use for them to go, as I see; but they do go, and so they have every chance; but, as I said before, they are a degraded race, and always will be, and there isn’t any help for them; you can’t make anything of them, if you try. You see, Cousin Ophelia, I’ve tried, and you haven’t; I was born and bred among them, and I know.”
Miss Ophelia thought she had said enough, and therefore sat silent. St. Clare whistled a tune.
“St. Clare, I wish you wouldn’t whistle,” said Marie; “it makes my head worse.”
“I won’t,” said St. Clare. “Is there anything else you wouldn’t wish me to do?”
“I wish you _would_ have some kind of sympathy for my trials; you never have any feeling for me.”
--Cher ange accusateur!
“My dear accusing angel!” said St. Clare.
“It’s provoking to be talked to in that way.”
“Then, how will you be talked to? I’ll talk to order,—any way you’ll mention,—only to give satisfaction.”
De joyeux éclats de rire, partis de la cour, pénétrèrent à travers les rideaux de soie. Saint-Clare alla au balcon, entr'ouvrit les rideaux et rit aussi.
A gay laugh from the court rang through the silken curtains of the verandah. St. Clare stepped out, and lifting up the curtain, laughed too.
« Qu' est -ce ? » dit miss Ophélia en approchant.
“What is it?” said Miss Ophelia, coming to the railing.
Tom était assis dans la cour sur un petit siége de mousse: chacune de ses boutonnières était fleurie de jasmins du Cap; Évangéline, heureuse et souriante, lui passait une guirlande de roses autour du cou. Quand ce fut fait, elle vint, riant toujours, se poser sur ses genoux, comme un oiseau familier.
There sat Tom, on a little mossy seat in the court, every one of his button-holes stuck full of cape jessamines, and Eva, gayly laughing, was hanging a wreath of roses round his neck; and then she sat down on his knee, like a chip-sparrow, still laughing.
« O Tom ! que vous avez une drôle de figure ainsi ! »
“O, Tom, you look so funny!”
Tom had a sober, benevolent smile, and seemed, in his quiet way, to be enjoying the fun quite as much as his little mistress. He lifted his eyes, when he saw his master, with a half-deprecating, apologetic air.
“How can you let her?” said Miss Ophelia.
--Et pourquoi non?
“Why not?” said St. Clare.
“Why, I don’t know, it seems so dreadful!”
-- Vous savez bien qu' un enfant peut, sans danger, caresser un gros chien... même quand il est noir !... Et quand c' est une créature qui pense, qui raisonne, qui sent, qui est immortelle ? Vous frissonnez ! avouez -le, cousine. Je vous connais bien, vous autres Américains du nord. Ce n' est pas pour nous vanter, mais l' habitude fait chez nous ce que le christianisme devrait faire. Elle tue les préjugés... C' est une observation que j' ai souvent faite dans mes voyages du nord. Vous traitez les nègres comme des crapauds ou des serpents... mais vous vous indignez de leurs griefs ! Vous ne voulez pas qu' on les maltraite, mais vous ne voulez rien avoir à démêler avec eux ! Vous voudriez les renvoyer en Afrique pour ne plus les voir ni les sentir... et vous leur expédieriez un ou deux missionnaires pour les convertir... Est -ce bien cela, cousine ?
“You would think no harm in a child’s caressing a large dog, even if he was black; but a creature that can think, and reason, and feel, and is immortal, you shudder at; confess it, cousin. I know the feeling among some of you northerners well enough. Not that there is a particle of virtue in our not having it; but custom with us does what Christianity ought to do,—obliterates the feeling of personal prejudice. I have often noticed, in my travels north, how much stronger this was with you than with us. You loathe them as you would a snake or a toad, yet you are indignant at their wrongs. You would not have them abused; but you don’t want to have anything to do with them yourselves. You would send them to Africa, out of your sight and smell, and then send a missionary or two to do up all the self-denial of elevating them compendiously. Isn’t that it?”
“Well, cousin,” said Miss Ophelia, thoughtfully, “there may be some truth in this.”
-- Que seraient ces pauvres gens sans les enfants, dit Saint-Clare en s' appuyant au balcon et en regardant courir Évangéline qui entraînait Tom à sa suite. Le petit enfant est le seul vrai démocrate. Tenez, voici Éva ! pour elle Tom est un héros ! Ses histoires lui semblent merveilleuses, ses chansons, ses hymnes méthodistes la réjouissent plus qu' un opéra. Sa poche, pleine de colifichets, est pour elle une mine de Golconde, et lui c' est le plus étonnant des Toms qui aient jamais porté une peau noire. Oui, Éva, c' est une de ces roses de l' Éden, que le Seigneur a laissée tomber sur la terre pour les pauvres et les humbles... qui moissonnent d'ailleurs assez d' épines !
“What would the poor and lowly do, without children?” said St. Clare, leaning on the railing, and watching Eva, as she tripped off, leading Tom with her. “Your little child is your only true democrat. Tom, now is a hero to Eva; his stories are wonders in her eyes, his songs and Methodist hymns are better than an opera, and the traps and little bits of trash in his pocket a mine of jewels, and he the most wonderful Tom that ever wore a black skin. This is one of the roses of Eden that the Lord has dropped down expressly for the poor and lowly, who get few enough of any other kind.”
“It’s strange, cousin,” said Miss Ophelia, “one might almost think you were a _professor_, to hear you talk.”
--Un professeur?
“A professor?” said St. Clare.
--Oui, un professeur de religion!
“Yes; a professor of religion.”
“Not at all; not a professor, as your town-folks have it; and, what is worse, I’m afraid, not a _practiser_, either.”
“What makes you talk so, then?”
-- Rien n' est plus aisé que de parler, dit Saint-Clare. Je crois que Shakspeare a fait dire à un de ses personnages: « Il me serait plus facile d' apprendre à vingt personnes ce qui serait bon à faire, que d' être moi-même une des vingt personnes qui pratiqueraient mes maximes ! » Il n' y a rien de tel que la division du travail: mon fort à moi, c' est de parler; le vôtre, cousine, c' est d' agir ! »
“Nothing is easier than talking,” said St. Clare. “I believe Shakespeare makes somebody say, ’I could sooner show twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow my own showing.‘[1] Nothing like division of labor. My forte lies in talking, and yours, cousin, lies in doing.”
[1] _The Merchant of Venice_, Act 1, scene 2, lines 17-18. ~~~
Une fantaisie de la petite Éva, ou plutôt la reconnaissance et la grâce aimante d' une noble nature, l' avaient poussée à prier M. Saint-Clare d' attacher l' esclave à son service spécial. Tom reçut donc l' ordre de tout quitter pour le service d' Éva, chaque fois qu' elle le réclamerait. Tom était ravi. Il était fort bien vêtu: la livrée était un des luxes de Saint-Clare.... Pour Tom, le service des écuries était une sinécure. Il avait lui-même des esclaves sous ses ordres. Il se contentait d' une simple inspection. Marie Saint-Clare avait déclaré qu' elle ne tolérerait pas qu' il sentît le cheval quand il approcherait d' elle. Elle avait donc exigé qu' on ne lui imposât aucune corvée dont les conséquences pussent réagir sur son système nerveux, fort incapable, disait -elle, de subir de pareilles épreuves. Une odeur nauséabonde eût suffi pour mettre fin à toutes ses épreuves terrestres ! Tom, dans son habit de drap bien brossé, coiffé d' un chapeau de castor, chaussé de bottes luisantes, avec un col et des manchettes irréprochables, et sa face noire et bienveillante, semblait assez respectable pour occuper le siége épiscopal de Carthage, qu' obtinrent autrefois des gens de sa couleur.
In Tom’s external situation, at this time, there was, as the world says, nothing to complain of Little Eva’s fancy for him—the instinctive gratitude and loveliness of a noble nature—had led her to petition her father that he might be her especial attendant, whenever she needed the escort of a servant, in her walks or rides; and Tom had general orders to let everything else go, and attend to Miss Eva whenever she wanted him,—orders which our readers may fancy were far from disagreeable to him. He was kept well dressed, for St. Clare was fastidiously particular on this point. His stable services were merely a sinecure, and consisted simply in a daily care and inspection, and directing an under-servant in his duties; for Marie St. Clare declared that she could not have any smell of the horses about him when he came near her, and that he must positively not be put to any service that would make him unpleasant to her, as her nervous system was entirely inadequate to any trial of that nature; one snuff of anything disagreeable being, according to her account, quite sufficient to close the scene, and put an end to all her earthly trials at once. Tom, therefore, in his well-brushed broadcloth suit, smooth beaver, glossy boots, faultless wristbands and collar, with his grave, good-natured black face, looked respectable enough to be a Bishop of Carthage, as men of his color were, in other ages.
Il habitait un charmant séjour, considération à laquelle sa race sensitive n' est jamais indifférente. Il jouissait avec un bonheur tranquille des oiseaux, des fleurs, des fontaines, des parfums, de la lumière même, et de la beauté de la cour; des rideaux de soie, des peintures, des lustres, des statuettes, des dorures, qui faisaient à ses yeux, des splendeurs du salon, un véritable palais d' Aladdin.
Then, too, he was in a beautiful place, a consideration to which his sensitive race was never indifferent; and he did enjoy with a quiet joy the birds, the flowers, the fountains, the perfume, and light and beauty of the court, the silken hangings, and pictures, and lustres, and statuettes, and gilding, that made the parlors within a kind of Aladdin’s palace to him.
Si l' Afrique doit jamais produire une race cultivée et civilisée--et le temps doit venir où l' Afrique tiendra son rang dans cette marche incessante du progrès humain- -la vie s' éveillera là avec une splendeur et une magnificence inconnue à nos froides tribus de l' Ouest. Oui, dans cette terre mystique de l' or, des perles, des épices ardentes, des palmiers ondoyants, des fleurs merveilleuses et de la fertilité sans bornes, l' art produira des formes nouvelles, et la magnificence saura revêtir un éclat nouveau. La race nègre, qui ne sera plus alors méprisée et foulée aux pieds, produira sans doute la dernière et la plus superbe manifestation de la vie humaine. Oui, dans leur douceur, dans leur humble docilité de coeur, dans leur aptitude à se confier à un esprit supérieur et à s' en remettre au pouvoir d' en haut; dans la simplicité enfantine de leur affection, dans leur oubli des injures reçues, ils réaliseront, dans sa forme la plus élevée, la véritable vie chrétienne. Dieu châtie ceux qu' il aime; il a choisi la pauvre Afrique, dans cette fournaise de l' affliction, pour la placer au premier rang en ce royaume suprême qu' il établira, quand tout autre royaume aura été jugé... et détruit; car les premiers seront les derniers, et les derniers seront les premiers.
If ever Africa shall show an elevated and cultivated race,—and come it must, some time, her turn to figure in the great drama of human improvement.—life will awake there with a gorgeousness and splendor of which our cold western tribes faintly have conceived. In that far-off mystic land of gold, and gems, and spices, and waving palms, and wondrous flowers, and miraculous fertility, will awake new forms of art, new styles of splendor; and the negro race, no longer despised and trodden down, will, perhaps, show forth some of the latest and most magnificent revelations of human life. Certainly they will, in their gentleness, their lowly docility of heart, their aptitude to repose on a superior mind and rest on a higher power, their childlike simplicity of affection, and facility of forgiveness. In all these they will exhibit the highest form of the peculiarly _Christian life_, and, perhaps, as God chasteneth whom he loveth, he hath chosen poor Africa in the furnace of affliction, to make her the highest and noblest in that kingdom which he will set up, when every other kingdom has been tried, and failed; for the first shall be last, and the last first.
Étaient -ce là les idées qui préoccupaient Marie Saint-Clare le matin de certain dimanche, quand elle se tenait debout, magnifiquement parée, sur le perron de son palais, fermant un bracelet de diamants sur son mince poignet ? Vraisemblablement c' était cela.... ou quelque chose d' équivalent, car Marie patronnait les bonnes oeuvres et elle allait en toilette superbe, diamants, soie, dentelles, joyaux et tout enfin, elle allait à je ne sais plus quelle église à la mode pour y être très-pieuse. Marie, c' était chez elle un principe, était très-pieuse tous les dimanches ! Il fallait la voir sous son vestibule, si élancée, si élégante, tellement aérienne et ondoyante dans tous ses mouvements.... c' est à peine si ses dentelles l' enveloppaient comme un brouillard tissé ! C' était une gracieuse créature ! ses pensées devaient lui ressembler. Miss Ophélia était, à ses côtés, un vivant contraste. Ce n' est pas qu' elle n' eût mis une aussi belle robe de soie, un aussi beau châle, un aussi beau mouchoir; mais elle était carrée, roide et anguleuse.... elle avait aussi son atmosphère à elle qui l' entourait, et si on ne voyait pas cette atmosphère, on la devinait aussi bien que la grâce de sa belle voisine.... Cette grâce, ce n' était pas du reste la grâce de Dieu, tant s' en faut !
Was this what Marie St. Clare was thinking of, as she stood, gorgeously dressed, on the verandah, on Sunday morning, clasping a diamond bracelet on her slender wrist? Most likely it was. Or, if it wasn’t that, it was something else; for Marie patronized good things, and she was going now, in full force,—diamonds, silk, and lace, and jewels, and all,—to a fashionable church, to be very religious. Marie always made a point to be very pious on Sundays. There she stood, so slender, so elegant, so airy and undulating in all her motions, her lace scarf enveloping her like a mist. She looked a graceful creature, and she felt very good and very elegant indeed. Miss Ophelia stood at her side, a perfect contrast. It was not that she had not as handsome a silk dress and shawl, and as fine a pocket-handkerchief; but stiffness and squareness, and bolt-uprightness, enveloped her with as indefinite yet appreciable a presence as did grace her elegant neighbor; not the grace of God, however,—that is quite another thing!
“Where’s Eva?” said Marie.
“The child stopped on the stairs, to say something to Mammy.”
And what was Eva saying to Mammy on the stairs? Listen, reader, and you will hear, though Marie does not.
“Dear Mammy, I know your head is aching dreadfully.”
“Lord bless you, Miss Eva! my head allers aches lately. You don’t need to worry.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re going out; and here,”—and the little girl threw her arms around her,—“Mammy, you shall take my vinaigrette.”
“What! your beautiful gold thing, thar, with them diamonds! Lor, Miss, ’t wouldn’t be proper, no ways.”
“Why not? You need it, and I don’t. Mamma always uses it for headache, and it’ll make you feel better. No, you shall take it, to please me, now.”
-- Comme elle parle, cher trésor ! dit Mammy, pendant qu' Évangéline lui coulait le flacon dans la poitrine, l' embrassait et descendait quatre à quatre.
“Do hear the darlin talk!” said Mammy, as Eva thrust it into her bosom, and kissing her, ran down stairs to her mother.
“What were you stopping for?”
-- Je donnais mon flacon à Mammy, pour qu' elle l' emportât à l' église.
“I was just stopping to give Mammy my vinaigrette, to take to church with her.”
“Eva” said Marie, stamping impatiently,—“your gold vinaigrette to _Mammy!_ When will you learn what’s _proper_? Go right and take it back this moment!”
Eva looked downcast and aggrieved, and turned slowly.
“I say, Marie, let the child alone; she shall do as she pleases,” said St. Clare.
“St. Clare, how will she ever get along in the world?” said Marie.
“The Lord knows,” said St. Clare, “but she’ll get along in heaven better than you or I.”
“O, papa, don’t,” said Eva, softly touching his elbow; “it troubles mother.” ~~~ “Well, cousin, are you ready to go to meeting?” said Miss Ophelia, turning square about on St. Clare.
-- Je n' y vais pas. Merci bien.
“I’m not going, thank you.”
“I do wish St. Clare ever would go to church,” said Marie; “but he hasn’t a particle of religion about him. It really isn’t respectable.”
“I know it,” said St. Clare. “You ladies go to church to learn how to get along in the world, I suppose, and your piety sheds respectability on us. If I did go at all, I would go where Mammy goes; there’s something to keep a fellow awake there, at least.”
--Quoi! ces braillards de méthodistes!... fi! l'horreur!
“What! those shouting Methodists? Horrible!” said Marie.
“Anything but the dead sea of your respectable churches, Marie. Positively, it’s too much to ask of a man. Eva, do you like to go? Come, stay at home and play with me.”
“Thank you, papa; but I’d rather go to church.”
-- Mais c' est mortellement ennuyeux !
“Isn’t it dreadful tiresome?” said St. Clare.
“I think it is tiresome, some,” said Eva, “and I am sleepy, too, but I try to keep awake.”
-- Que faites -vous pour cela ?
“What do you go for, then?”
“Why, you know, papa,” she said, in a whisper, “cousin told me that God wants to have us; and he gives us everything, you know; and it isn’t much to do it, if he wants us to. It isn’t so very tiresome after all.”
-- Chère et charmante petite âme ! dit Saint-Clare en l' embrassant, va ! et prie pour moi.
“You sweet, little obliging soul!” said St. Clare, kissing her; “go along, that’s a good girl, and pray for me.”
“Certainly, I always do,” said the child, as she sprang after her mother into the carriage.
St. Clare stood on the steps and kissed his hand to her, as the carriage drove away; large tears were in his eyes.
“O, Evangeline! rightly named,” he said; “hath not God made thee an evangel to me?”
So he felt a moment; and then he smoked a cigar, and read the Picayune, and forgot his little gospel. Was he much unlike other folks?
[ 14 ] Journal de la Nouvelle-Orléans. ~~~ « Voyez -vous, Évangéline, disait la mère chemin faisant, il est toujours bien d' être bon avec les gens.... mais il ne faut pas les traiter comme nos relations, comme les gens de notre classe ! Si Mammy était malade, vous ne la feriez pas mettre dans votre lit ?...
“You see, Evangeline,” said her mother, “it’s always right and proper to be kind to servants, but it isn’t proper to treat them _just_ as we would our relations, or people in our own class of life. Now, if Mammy was sick, you wouldn’t want to put her in your own bed.”
“I should feel just like it, mamma,” said Eva, “because then it would be handier to take care of her, and because, you know, my bed is better than hers.”
Marie was in utter despair at the entire want of moral perception evinced in this reply.
« Mais comment parvenir à me faire comprendre de cette enfant ? dit -elle.
“What can I do to make this child understand me?” she said.
“Nothing,” said Miss Ophelia, significantly.
Éva parut un moment déconcertée et toute chagrine; mais, par bonheur, les enfants ne gardent pas longtemps la même impression: bientôt elle rit aux éclats des mille choses plus ou moins drolatiques et bizarres qu' elle apercevait à travers les vitres de la portière.........................
Eva looked sorry and disconcerted for a moment; but children, luckily, do not keep to one impression long, and in a few moments she was merrily laughing at various things which she saw from the coach-windows, as it rattled along.
“Well, ladies,” said St. Clare, as they were comfortably seated at the dinner-table, “and what was the bill of fare at church today?”
“O, Dr. G—— preached a splendid sermon,” said Marie. “It was just such a sermon as you ought to hear; it expressed all my views exactly.”
-- Longs développements, alors ! le sujet est vaste.
“It must have been very improving,” said St. Clare. “The subject must have been an extensive one.”
-- J' entends toutes mes idées sur la société. Il avait pris pour texte cette pensée: « Il a fait toutes choses belles dans leur saison. » Il a montré comment toutes les classes, toutes les distinctions sociales venaient de Dieu; il a dit qu' il était convenable et juste qu' il y eût des petits et des grands; que les uns étaient nés pour commander et les autres pour obéir. Il a si bien répondu à toutes les objections qu' on fait maintenant à l' esclavage ! Il a prouvé que la Bible était évidemment de notre côté.... J' aurais seulement désiré que vous l' eussiez entendu !
“Well, I mean all my views about society, and such things,” said Marie. “The text was, ‘He hath made everything beautiful in its season;’ and he showed how all the orders and distinctions in society came from God; and that it was so appropriate, you know, and beautiful, that some should be high and some low, and that some were born to rule and some to serve, and all that, you know; and he applied it so well to all this ridiculous fuss that is made about slavery, and he proved distinctly that the Bible was on our side, and supported all our institutions so convincingly. I only wish you’d heard him.”
“O, I didn’t need it,” said St. Clare. “I can learn what does me as much good as that from the Picayune, any time, and smoke a cigar besides; which I can’t do, you know, in a church.”
“Why,” said Miss Ophelia, “don’t you believe in these views?”
-- Qui ? moi ! Vous savez que je ne suis qu' un pauvre pécheur que la grâce n' a pas touché.... Le côté religieux de ces choses -là me laisse tout à fait indifférent ! Si je voulais parler sur la question de l' esclavage, je dirais net et clair: Nous sommes pour l' esclavage; nous l' avons, nous le gardons; c' est dans notre intérêt ! et cela nous convient ! et voilà tout ! sans ambages et sans maximes plus ou moins saintes. Je crois que tout le monde pourrait me comprendre.
“Who,—I? You know I’m such a graceless dog that these religious aspects of such subjects don’t edify me much. If I was to say anything on this slavery matter, I would say out, fair and square, ‘We’re in for it; we’ve got ’em, and mean to keep ’em,—it’s for our convenience and our interest;’ for that’s the long and short of it,—that’s just the whole of what all this sanctified stuff amounts to, after all; and I think that it will be intelligible to everybody, everywhere.”
“I do think, Augustine, you are so irreverent!” said Marie. “I think it’s shocking to hear you talk.”
-- Révoltant, c' est le mot !... Mais pourquoi ne pas pousser plus loin les explications religieuses ? Pourquoi ne pas prouver qu' il est beau en sa saison de boire un coup de trop, de rester trop tard à jouer aux cartes, et de se livrer à une foule d' autres petites distractions que la Providence nous ménage.... et qui sont assez en usage parmi les jeunes gens ?... Je serais enchanté d' entendre prouver que cela aussi est bien en sa saison !
“Shocking! it’s the truth. This religious talk on such matters,—why don’t they carry it a little further, and show the beauty, in its season, of a fellow’s taking a glass too much, and sitting a little too late over his cards, and various providential arrangements of that sort, which are pretty frequent among us young men;—we’d like to hear that those are right and godly, too.”
“Well,” said Miss Ophelia, “do you think slavery right or wrong?”
-- Dans votre Nouvelle-Angleterre, dit gaiement Saint-Clare, vous avez une affreuse logique; si je réponds à cette question, vous allez m' en faire six autres, toujours de plus en plus difficiles.... Je ne veux pas m' enferrer. Je passe ma vie à jeter des cailloux dans les vitres de mes voisins.... Je me garde bien de faire mettre des vitres chez moi.
“I’m not going to have any of your horrid New England directness, cousin,” said St. Clare, gayly. “If I answer that question, I know you’ll be at me with half a dozen others, each one harder than the last; and I’m not a going to define my position. I am one of the sort that lives by throwing stones at other people’s glass houses, but I never mean to put up one for them to stone.”
“That’s just the way he’s always talking,” said Marie; “you can’t get any satisfaction out of him. I believe it’s just because he don’t like religion, that he’s always running out in this way he’s been doing.”
-- De la religion ! dit Saint-Clare d' un ton qui fit lever les yeux aux deux femmes, de la religion ! Est -ce ce que vous entendez au temple que vous appelez de la religion ? cette doctrine qui se ploie, qui s' assouplit, qui monte, qui descend, pour suivre dans ses caprices une société égoïste et mondaine ! Une religion ! cela qui est moins scrupuleux, moins généreux, moins juste, moins digne d' un homme que ma méchante et aveugle nature, à moi ! Non ! quand je veux voir de la religion, je regarde au-dessus et non pas au-dessous de moi !
“Religion!” said St. Clare, in a tone that made both ladies look at him. “Religion! Is what you hear at church, religion? Is that which can bend and turn, and descend and ascend, to fit every crooked phase of selfish, worldly society, religion? Is that religion which is less scrupulous, less generous, less just, less considerate for man, than even my own ungodly, worldly, blinded nature? No! When I look for a religion, I must look for something above me, and not something beneath.”
“Then you don’t believe that the Bible justifies slavery,” said Miss Ophelia.
-- La Bible était le livre de ma mère, reprit Saint-Clare.... elle a vécu et elle est morte avec ce livre.... Il me serait triste de penser qu' il en fût ainsi !... C' est comme si on disait que ma mère buvait de l' eau-de-vie, chiquait du tabac et jurait.... pour me prouver que j' ai raison d' en faire autant ! Non, je n' aurais pas plus raison pour cela, continua -t-il, et cela me priverait du bonheur de respecter ma mère !... Et c' est un bonheur, vous le savez, d' avoir dans ce monde quelque chose que l' on puisse respecter.... Vous voyez donc bien, continua -t-il, en reprenant son ton léger, que ce qu' il faut, c' est que chaque chose soit à sa place. L' édifice social, en Europe et en Amérique, est quelquefois composé d' éléments qui supporteraient difficilement la critique d' un examen sévère.... On ne vise pas au bien absolu.... on se contente de ne pas faire plus mal que les autres. Maintenant, qu' on vienne me dire: L' esclavage nous est nécessaire, nous ne pouvons pas nous en passer, il nous le faut, ou nous sommes réduits à la mendicité ! voilà qui est positif, net et clair, et honorable comme la vérité.... Mais que l' on vienne, avec une mine allongée et hypocrite, me citer l' Écriture.... non ! non ! voilà ce que je n' approuverai jamais !
“The Bible was my _mother’s_ book,” said St. Clare. “By it she lived and died, and I would be very sorry to think it did. I’d as soon desire to have it proved that my mother could drink brandy, chew tobacco, and swear, by way of satisfying me that I did right in doing the same. It wouldn’t make me at all more satisfied with these things in myself, and it would take from me the comfort of respecting her; and it really is a comfort, in this world, to have anything one can respect. In short, you see,” said he, suddenly resuming his gay tone, “all I want is that different things be kept in different boxes. The whole frame-work of society, both in Europe and America, is made up of various things which will not stand the scrutiny of any very ideal standard of morality. It’s pretty generally understood that men don’t aspire after the absolute right, but only to do about as well as the rest of the world. Now, when any one speaks up, like a man, and says slavery is necessary to us, we can’t get along without it, we should be beggared if we give it up, and, of course, we mean to hold on to it,—this is strong, clear, well-defined language; it has the respectability of truth to it; and, if we may judge by their practice, the majority of the world will bear us out in it. But when he begins to put on a long face, and snuffle, and quote Scripture, I incline to think he isn’t much better than he should be.”
“You are very uncharitable,” said Marie.
-- Voyons, poursuivit Saint-Clare, mettons à présent que le prix du coton baisse de jour en jour et fasse des esclaves une propriété qui se donne sur le marché.... ne pensez -vous pas que nous aurons aussitôt une tout autre explication de l' Écriture ? Quels flots de lumière se répandront tout à coup dans l' Église !... Comme il sera démontré que la raison et la Bible veulent toute autre chose !
“Well,” said St. Clare, “suppose that something should bring down the price of cotton once and forever, and make the whole slave property a drug in the market, don’t you think we should soon have another version of the Scripture doctrine? What a flood of light would pour into the church, all at once, and how immediately it would be discovered that everything in the Bible and reason went the other way!”
“Well, at any rate,” said Marie, as she reclined herself on a lounge, “I’m thankful I’m born where slavery exists; and I believe it’s right,—indeed, I feel it must be; and, at any rate, I’m sure I couldn’t get along without it.”
“I say, what do you think, Pussy?” said her father to Eva, who came in at this moment, with a flower in her hand.
--Sur quoi, papa?
“What about, papa?”
“Why, which do you like the best,—to live as they do at your uncle’s, up in Vermont, or to have a house-full of servants, as we do?”
“O, of course, our way is the pleasantest,” said Eva.
“Why so?” said St. Clare, stroking her head.
“Why, it makes so many more round you to love, you know,” said Eva, looking up earnestly.
-- Ah ! voilà bien Éva, dit Marie, voilà bien une de ses sottes réponses.
“Now, that’s just like Eva,” said Marie; “just one of her odd speeches.”
“Is it an odd speech, papa?” said Eva, whisperingly, as she got upon his knee.
“Rather, as this world goes, Pussy,” said St. Clare. “But where has my little Eva been, all dinner-time?”
“O, I’ve been up in Tom’s room, hearing him sing, and Aunt Dinah gave me my dinner.”
“Hearing Tom sing, hey?”
-- Oui; il chante de si belles choses sur la Nouvelle-Jérusalem, sur les anges tout radieux, sur la terre de Chanaan....
“O, yes! he sings such beautiful things about the New Jerusalem, and bright angels, and the land of Canaan.”
“I dare say; it’s better than the opera, isn’t it?”
-- Oh ! oui; il m' apprendra tout cela.
“Yes, and he’s going to teach them to me.”
--Ah! des leçons de musique!
“Singing lessons, hey?—you _are_ coming on.”
“Yes, he sings for me, and I read to him in my Bible; and he explains what it means, you know.”
“On my word,” said Marie, laughing, “that is the latest joke of the season.”
-- Je gage, dit Saint-Clare, que Tom n' explique pas si mal l' Écriture. Cet esclave a le génie de la religion.... J' avais besoin des chevaux de bonne heure ce matin.... Je suis monté à sa chambre, au-dessus de l' écurie.... Il faisait sa prière.... Je n' ai rien entendu d' aussi touchant.... Il m' y recommandait à Dieu avec un zèle tout apostolique....
“Tom isn’t a bad hand, now, at explaining Scripture, I’ll dare swear,” said St. Clare. “Tom has a natural genius for religion. I wanted the horses out early, this morning, and I stole up to Tom’s cubiculum there, over the stables, and there I heard him holding a meeting by himself; and, in fact, I haven’t heard anything quite so savory as Tom’s prayer, this some time. He put in for me, with a zeal that was quite apostolic.”
“Perhaps he guessed you were listening. I’ve heard of that trick before.”
“If he did, he wasn’t very polite; for he gave the Lord his opinion of me, pretty freely. Tom seemed to think there was decidedly room for improvement in me, and seemed very earnest that I should be converted.”
“I hope you’ll lay it to heart,” said Miss Ophelia.
“I suppose you are much of the same opinion,” said St. Clare. “Well, we shall see,—shan’t we, Eva?”
CHAPITRE XVII. ~~~ Comment se défend un homme libre.
CHAPTER XVII The Freeman’s Defence
Nous retournons maintenant chez les quakers. Le soir approche; il y a un peu d' agitation au logis. Rachel Halliday va d' une place à l' autre; elle met ses provisions à contribution pour fournir un petit viatique aux amis qui vont partir. Les ombres du soir s' allongent vers l' Orient; à l' horizon le soleil rougissant s' arrête tout pensif et verse ses rayons calmes et dorés dans la petite chambre où sont assis l' un près de l' autre Georges et Élisa. Georges a l' enfant sur ses genoux, et dans sa main la main de sa femme. Ils paraissent sérieux et tristes, il y a sur leurs joues des traces de larmes.
There was a gentle bustle at the Quaker house, as the afternoon drew to a close. Rachel Halliday moved quietly to and fro, collecting from her household stores such needments as could be arranged in the smallest compass, for the wanderers who were to go forth that night. The afternoon shadows stretched eastward, and the round red sun stood thoughtfully on the horizon, and his beams shone yellow and calm into the little bed-room where George and his wife were sitting. He was sitting with his child on his knee, and his wife’s hand in his. Both looked thoughtful and serious and traces of tears were on their cheeks.
« Oui, Élisa, disait Georges, je reconnais que tout ce que vous dites est vrai: vous valez bien des fois mieux que moi ! J' essayerai de faire comme vous voulez..... J' essayerai d' avoir des sentiments dignes d' un homme libre, dignes d' un chrétien ! Le Dieu tout-puissant sait que j' ai voulu bien faire.... que j' ai péniblement essayé de bien faire, quand tout était contre moi !... et maintenant, je vais oublier le passé.... je vais rejeter loin de moi tout sentiment amer et dur.... je vais lire ma Bible et apprendre à être bon.
“Yes, Eliza,” said George, “I know all you say is true. You are a good child,—a great deal better than I am; and I will try to do as you say. I’ll try to act worthy of a free man. I’ll try to feel like a Christian. God Almighty knows that I’ve meant to do well,—tried hard to do well,—when everything has been against me; and now I’ll forget all the past, and put away every hard and bitter feeling, and read my Bible, and learn to be a good man.”
“And when we get to Canada,” said Eliza, “I can help you. I can do dress-making very well; and I understand fine washing and ironing; and between us we can find something to live on.”
-- Oui, Élisa, tant que chacun de nous aura l' autre et que tous deux nous aurons notre enfant. Oh ! Élisa, si ces gens savaient quel bonheur c' est pour un homme de sentir que sa femme et son enfant sont à lui !... Je me suis souvent étonné que des hommes qui pouvaient vraiment dire: « ma femme, mes enfants, » eussent le coeur de penser et de vouloir autre chose. Nous n' avons que nos bras, et pourtant je me sens riche et fort.... Il me semble que je ne pourrais rien demander de plus à Dieu.... Oui, j' ai travaillé jour et nuit jusqu' à vingt et un ans, et je n' ai pas un sou vaillant.... Je n' ai pas un toit de chaume pour abriter ma tête, pas un pouce de terre que je puisse dire mien.... Mais qu' ils me laissent en paix, et je serai heureux et reconnaissant. Je travaillerai et j' enverrai aux Shelby le prix du rachat pour vous et pour l' enfant.... Quant à mon ancien maître, il est payé au centuple; je ne lui dois rien.
“Yes, Eliza, so long as we have each other and our boy. O! Eliza, if these people only knew what a blessing it is for a man to feel that his wife and child belong to _him_! I’ve often wondered to see men that could call their wives and children _their own_ fretting and worrying about anything else. Why, I feel rich and strong, though we have nothing but our bare hands. I feel as if I could scarcely ask God for any more. Yes, though I’ve worked hard every day, till I am twenty-five years old, and have not a cent of money, nor a roof to cover me, nor a spot of land to call my own, yet, if they will only let me alone now, I will be satisfied,—thankful; I will work, and send back the money for you and my boy. As to my old master, he has been paid five times over for all he ever spent for me. I don’t owe him anything.”
“But yet we are not quite out of danger,” said Eliza; “we are not yet in Canada.”
“True,” said George, “but it seems as if I smelt the free air, and it makes me strong.”
A ce moment on entendit des voix à l' extérieur; on frappa à la porte.... Élisa l' ouvrit en tressaillant.
At this moment, voices were heard in the outer apartment, in earnest conversation, and very soon a rap was heard on the door. Eliza started and opened it.
Siméon était là avec un autre quaker, qu' il introduisit et présenta sous le nom de Phinéas Fletcher. Phinéas était grand, maigre comme une perche, rouge de cheveux, avec une expression de visage pleine de finesse et de perspicacité; il était loin d' avoir la physionomie calme, placide, détachée du monde, de Siméon Halliday. C' était au contraire un homme très-éveillé, très au fait, et qui paraissait s' estimer d'autant plus qu' il savait ce dont il était capable.... Tout cela du reste s' accordait assez mal, nous le reconnaissons, avec le chapeau à larges bords et la phraséologie de sa communion.
Simeon Halliday was there, and with him a Quaker brother, whom he introduced as Phineas Fletcher. Phineas was tall and lathy, red-haired, with an expression of great acuteness and shrewdness in his face. He had not the placid, quiet, unworldly air of Simeon Halliday; on the contrary, a particularly wide-awake and _au fait_ appearance, like a man who rather prides himself on knowing what he is about, and keeping a bright lookout ahead; peculiarities which sorted rather oddly with his broad brim and formal phraseology.
“Our friend Phineas hath discovered something of importance to the interests of thee and thy party, George,” said Simeon; “it were well for thee to hear it.”
-- C' est vrai, dit Phinéas, et cela montre une fois de plus qu' il est bon, dans certains endroits, de ne dormir que d' une oreille. La nuit dernière, je me suis arrêté dans une petite taverne solitaire, de l' autre côté de la route. Tu te rappelles, Siméon, cet endroit où, l' an passé, nous avons vendu des pommes à une grosse femme qui avait de longues boucles d' oreilles ?.... J' étais fatigué de ma route; je m' étendis, dans un coin, sur une pile de sacs, et je jetai une peau de bison sur moi... en attendant que mon lit fût prêt.... Qu' est -ce que je fais ?... Je m' endors.
“That I have,” said Phineas, “and it shows the use of a man’s always sleeping with one ear open, in certain places, as I’ve always said. Last night I stopped at a little lone tavern, back on the road. Thee remembers the place, Simeon, where we sold some apples, last year, to that fat woman, with the great ear-rings. Well, I was tired with hard driving; and, after my supper I stretched myself down on a pile of bags in the corner, and pulled a buffalo over me, to wait till my bed was ready; and what does I do, but get fast asleep.”
-- Avec une oreille ouverte, Phinéas ? dit tranquillement Siméon.
“With one ear open, Phineas?” said Simeon, quietly.
-- Non, de toutes mes oreilles, une heure ou deux ! J' étais très-fatigué. Quand je revins un peu à moi, il y avait des hommes dans l' appartement, assis autour d' une table, buvant et causant.... Comme j' avais entendu dire un mot des quakers, j' écoutai un peu. « Ainsi, disait l' un, ils sont chez les quakers, sans aucun doute ! » Ici, j' écoutai des deux oreilles. C' était de vous autres qu' ils parlaient. J' entendis tout leur plan. Georges devait être renvoyé à son maître, dans le Kentucky, pour qu' on en fît un exemple capable de terrifier à jamais les nègres qui veulent fuir; deux d' entre eux devaient aller vendre Élisa à la Nouvelle-Orléans.... ils espéraient en tirer seize à dix-huit cents dollars; l' enfant devait être rendu à un marchand qui l' avait acheté; Jim et sa mère seraient également renvoyés à leur maître, dans le Kentucky. Ils disaient que dans la ville voisine il y avait deux constables qu' ils emmenaient avec eux pour reprendre les fugitifs.... que la jeune femme serait conduite devant le juge, et qu' un de ces individus, qui est petit et qui a la voix douce, jurerait qu' elle était à lui.... Ils savaient du reste le chemin que nous allons suivre, et viendraient à sept ou huit à notre poursuite. Et maintenant que faut -il faire ? »
“No; I slept, ears and all, for an hour or two, for I was pretty well tired; but when I came to myself a little, I found that there were some men in the room, sitting round a table, drinking and talking; and I thought, before I made much muster, I’d just see what they were up to, especially as I heard them say something about the Quakers. ‘So,’ says one, ‘they are up in the Quaker settlement, no doubt,’ says he. Then I listened with both ears, and I found that they were talking about this very party. So I lay and heard them lay off all their plans. This young man, they said, was to be sent back to Kentucky, to his master, who was going to make an example of him, to keep all niggers from running away; and his wife two of them were going to run down to New Orleans to sell, on their own account, and they calculated to get sixteen or eighteen hundred dollars for her; and the child, they said, was going to a trader, who had bought him; and then there was the boy, Jim, and his mother, they were to go back to their masters in Kentucky. They said that there were two constables, in a town a little piece ahead, who would go in with ’em to get ’em taken up, and the young woman was to be taken before a judge; and one of the fellows, who is small and smooth-spoken, was to swear to her for his property, and get her delivered over to him to take south. They’ve got a right notion of the track we are going tonight; and they’ll be down after us, six or eight strong. So now, what’s to be done?”
Pendant cette communication, le groupe gardait une attitude vraiment digne de la peinture. Rachel Halliday, qui venait de quitter ses gâteaux pour écouter les nouvelles, levait au ciel ses mains blanches de farine; l' inquiétude se lisait sur son visage. Siméon réfléchissait profondément. Élisa entourait Georges de ses bras, et n' en pouvait détacher ses yeux. Georges serrait les poings, son oeil lançait des éclairs.... il avait le port et l' attitude d' un homme qui sait qu' on veut livrer son fils et vendre sa femme à l' encan.... et cela sous la protection des lois d' une nation chrétienne !
The group that stood in various attitudes, after this communication, were worthy of a painter. Rachel Halliday, who had taken her hands out of a batch of biscuit, to hear the news, stood with them upraised and floury, and with a face of the deepest concern. Simeon looked profoundly thoughtful; Eliza had thrown her arms around her husband, and was looking up to him. George stood with clenched hands and glowing eyes, and looking as any other man might look, whose wife was to be sold at auction, and son sent to a trader, all under the shelter of a Christian nation’s laws.
“What _shall_ we do, George?” said Eliza faintly.
“I know what _I_ shall do,” said George, as he stepped into the little room, and began examining pistols.
“Ay, ay,” said Phineas, nodding his head to Simeon; “thou seest, Simeon, how it will work.”
“I see,” said Simeon, sighing; “I pray it come not to that.”
“I don’t want to involve any one with or for me,” said George. “If you will lend me your vehicle and direct me, I will drive alone to the next stand. Jim is a giant in strength, and brave as death and despair, and so am I.”
“Ah, well, friend,” said Phineas, “but thee’ll need a driver, for all that. Thee’s quite welcome to do all the fighting, thee knows; but I know a thing or two about the road, that thee doesn’t.”
-- Mais je ne veux pas vous compromettre, dit Georges.
“But I don’t want to involve you,” said George.
-- Compromettre ! dit Phinéas avec une expression de malice et de ruse. En quoi me compromettre, s' il te plaît ?
“Involve,” said Phineas, with a curious and keen expression of face, “When thee does involve me, please to let me know.”
“Phineas is a wise and skilful man,” said Simeon. “Thee does well, George, to abide by his judgment; and,” he added, laying his hand kindly on George’s shoulder, and pointing to the pistols, “be not over hasty with these,—young blood is hot.”
Il s' arrêta, son front s' obscurcit, et une expression terrible passa sur son visage. ~~~ « J' ai eu une soeur vendue sur le marché de la Nouvelle-Orléans.... je sais pourquoi faire ! et je resterais paisible pendant qu' on m' enlèverait ma femme pour la vendre.... alors que Dieu m' a donné des bras vaillants pour la défendre ! Non ! Dieu m' en garde ! avant de me laisser prendre ma femme et mon fils, je combattrai jusqu' au dernier soupir. Pouvez -vous me blâmer ?
“I will attack no man,” said George. “All I ask of this country is to be let alone, and I will go out peaceably; but,”—he paused, and his brow darkened and his face worked,—“I’ve had a sister sold in that New Orleans market. I know what they are sold for; and am I going to stand by and see them take my wife and sell her, when God has given me a pair of strong arms to defend her? No; God help me! I’ll fight to the last breath, before they shall take my wife and son. Can you blame me?”
“Mortal man cannot blame thee, George. Flesh and blood could not do otherwise,” said Simeon. “Woe unto the world because of offences, but woe unto them through whom the offence cometh.”
--Ne feriez-vous pas la même chose à ma place, monsieur?
“Would not even you, sir, do the same, in my place?”
“I pray that I be not tried,” said Simeon; “the flesh is weak.”
“I think my flesh would be pretty tolerable strong, in such a case,” said Phineas, stretching out a pair of arms like the sails of a windmill. “I an’t sure, friend George, that I shouldn’t hold a fellow for thee, if thee had any accounts to settle with him.”
-- Ah ! s' il est jamais permis de résister au mal par la force, c' est maintenant, c' est à Georges que cela est permis !... Mais les pasteurs du peuple nous ont montré une voie meilleure; ce n' est point par la colère de l' homme que la justice de Dieu opère ses oeuvres. La justice de Dieu va au contraire contre nos instincts corrompus, et nul ne la reçoit que celui à qui elle a été donnée par le ciel; prions donc le ciel de n' être point tentés.
“If man should _ever_ resist evil,” said Simeon, “then George should feel free to do it now: but the leaders of our people taught a more excellent way; for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God; but it goes sorely against the corrupt will of man, and none can receive it save they to whom it is given. Let us pray the Lord that we be not tempted.”
“And so _I_ do,” said Phineas; “but if we are tempted too much—why, let them look out, that’s all.”
“It’s quite plain thee wasn’t born a Friend,” said Simeon, smiling. “The old nature hath its way in thee pretty strong as yet.”
Pour dire vrai, Phinéas avait été longtemps un coureur de bois, intrépide chasseur, redoutable au gros gibier.... Mais il s' était épris d' une belle quakeresse, et touché par ses charmes, il était entré dans sa communion; mais, quoiqu' il en fût maintenant un digne et irréprochable membre, les plus fervents lui reprochaient encore un certain levain de l' ancien monde.
To tell the truth, Phineas had been a hearty, two-fisted backwoodsman, a vigorous hunter, and a dead shot at a buck; but, having wooed a pretty Quakeress, had been moved by the power of her charms to join the society in his neighborhood; and though he was an honest, sober, and efficient member, and nothing particular could be alleged against him, yet the more spiritual among them could not but discern an exceeding lack of savor in his developments.
“Friend Phineas will ever have ways of his own,” said Rachel Halliday, smiling; “but we all think that his heart is in the right place, after all.”
“Well,” said George, “isn’t it best that we hasten our flight?”
-- Je me suis levé à quatre heures et je suis venu à toute vitesse, reprit Phinéas. S' ils ont suivi leur plan, j' ai sur eux deux ou trois heures d' avance.... Il n' est pas prudent d'ailleurs de partir avant la chute du jour. Il y a dans le village trois ou quatre mauvais drôles qui pourraient nous inquiéter et nous retarder.... Nous pourrons nous risquer dans deux heures. Je vais aller trouver l' ami Michaël Cross et le prier de nous suivre, sur son petit bidet, pour éclairer la route et nous avertir. Ce petit bidet -là va bien; s' il y a quelque danger, Michaël nous préviendra. Je vais avertir Jim et la vieille femme de se tenir prêts et de voir aux chevaux. Nous avons des chances d' atteindre notre première station avant d' être attaqués. Du courage donc, ami Georges ! ce n' est pas la première passe difficile où je me trouve avec les tiens. »
“I got up at four o’clock, and came on with all speed, full two or three hours ahead of them, if they start at the time they planned. It isn’t safe to start till dark, at any rate; for there are some evil persons in the villages ahead, that might be disposed to meddle with us, if they saw our wagon, and that would delay us more than the waiting; but in two hours I think we may venture. I will go over to Michael Cross, and engage him to come behind on his swift nag, and keep a bright lookout on the road, and warn us if any company of men come on. Michael keeps a horse that can soon get ahead of most other horses; and he could shoot ahead and let us know, if there were any danger. I am going out now to warn Jim and the old woman to be in readiness, and to see about the horse. We have a pretty fair start, and stand a good chance to get to the stand before they can come up with us. So, have good courage, friend George; this isn’t the first ugly scrape that I’ve been in with thy people,” said Phineas, as he closed the door.
“Phineas is pretty shrewd,” said Simeon. “He will do the best that can be done for thee, George.”
“All I am sorry for,” said George, “is the risk to you.”
“Thee’ll much oblige us, friend George, to say no more about that. What we do we are conscience bound to do; we can do no other way. And now, mother,” said he, turning to Rachel, “hurry thy preparations for these friends, for we must not send them away fasting.”
Pendant que Rachel et ses enfants achevaient les gâteaux de maïs et faisaient cuire le poulet et le jambon, Georges et sa femme étaient assis dans le petit salon, les bras entrelacés, songeant que, dans quelques heures, ils seraient peut-être séparés pour toujours.
And while Rachel and her children were busy making corn-cake, and cooking ham and chicken, and hurrying on the _et ceteras_ of the evening meal, George and his wife sat in their little room, with their arms folded about each other, in such talk as husband and wife have when they know that a few hours may part them forever.
« Élisa, lui disait Georges, les gens qui ont des amis, des maisons, des terres, de l' argent, ne peuvent s' aimer comme nous faisons, nous qui n' avons que nous-mêmes. Jusqu' à ce que je vous aie connue, Élisa, personne ne m' aima, que ma soeur et ma mère, ce pauvre coeur brisé !... Je me rappelle cette chère Émilie, le matin du jour où le marchand l' emmena. Elle vint à moi, dans le coin où je dormais.... « Pauvre Georges, disait -elle, c' est ta dernière amie qui s' en va ! qu' adviendra -t-il de toi, pauvre enfant ? » Je me levai, je l' entourai de mes bras.... je sanglotai.... je pleurai.... elle pleurait aussi, et ce furent les dernières paroles affectueuses que j' entendis.... Deux ans se passèrent, et mon coeur se flétrit et se dessécha comme le sable.... jusqu' à ce que je vous aie vue.... Votre amour fut pour moi une résurrection.... Vous me rappeliez d' entre les morts. Depuis, j' ai été un homme nouveau. Et, maintenant, sachez -le bien, Élisa, je vais peut-être verser la dernière goutte de mon sang.... Mais ils ne vous arracheront point à moi.... Pour vous prendre, il faudra passer sur mon cadavre.
“Eliza,” said George, “people that have friends, and houses, and lands, and money, and all those things _can’t_ love as we do, who have nothing but each other. Till I knew you, Eliza, no creature had loved me, but my poor, heart-broken mother and sister. I saw poor Emily that morning the trader carried her off. She came to the corner where I was lying asleep, and said, ’Poor George, your last friend is going. What will become of you, poor boy?’ And I got up and threw my arms round her, and cried and sobbed, and she cried too; and those were the last kind words I got for ten long years; and my heart all withered up, and felt as dry as ashes, till I met you. And your loving me,—why, it was almost like raising one from the dead! I’ve been a new man ever since! And now, Eliza, I’ll give my last drop of blood, but they _shall not_ take you from me. Whoever gets you must walk over my dead body.”
“O, Lord, have mercy!” said Eliza, sobbing. “If he will only let us get out of this country together, that is all we ask.”
-- Dieu est -il de leur côté ? dit Georges, songeant moins à parler à sa femme qu' à épancher ses amères pensées. Voit -il tout ce qu' ils font ? comment permet -il que de telles choses arrivent ?... Ils disent que la Bible est pour eux ! C' est le pouvoir qui est pour eux. Ils sont riches, heureux; ils sont membres des églises; ils s' attendent à aller au ciel. Ils ont tout ce qu' ils veulent dans ce monde, et d' autres chrétiens, pauvres, honnêtes et fidèles, aussi bons et meilleurs qu' eux, sont couchés dans la poussière, sous leurs pieds ! Ils les achètent, les vendent ! Ils trafiquent du sang de leur coeur, de leurs soupirs et de leurs larmes.... et Dieu le permet !
“Is God on their side?” said George, speaking less to his wife than pouring out his own bitter thoughts. “Does he see all they do? Why does he let such things happen? And they tell us that the Bible is on their side; certainly all the power is. They are rich, and healthy, and happy; they are members of churches, expecting to go to heaven; and they get along so easy in the world, and have it all their own way; and poor, honest, faithful Christians,—Christians as good or better than they,—are lying in the very dust under their feet. They buy ’em and sell ’em, and make trade of their heart’s blood, and groans and tears,—and God _lets_ them.”
“Friend George,” said Simeon, from the kitchen, “listen to this Psalm; it may do thee good.”
George drew his seat near the door, and Eliza, wiping her tears, came forward also to listen, while Simeon read as follows:
« Ils ne participent point aux travaux et aux misères des autres hommes.
“But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well-nigh slipped. For I was envious of the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They are not in trouble like other men, neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore, pride compasseth them as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression; they speak loftily. Therefore his people return, and the waters of a full cup are wrung out to them, and they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?”
“Is not that the way thee feels, George?”
« C' est pourquoi le peuple, se retournant et voyant la coupe pleine, se dit:
“It is so indeed,” said George,—“as well as I could have written it myself.”
-- Écoute donc encore, reprit Siméon. ~~~ « Quand j' eus ces pensées, elles me furent amères. Mais j' entrai dans le sanctuaire de Dieu, et je compris. ~~~ « Seigneur ! tu les as placés dans des endroits glissants, tu les as précipités vers la destruction. ~~~ « Comme le rêve d' un homme qui s' éveille, ô Dieu ! en te réveillant tu briseras leur image ! ~~~ « Cependant je suis continuellement avec toi, et tu m' as tenu par la main droite. ~~~ « Tu me guideras par tes conseils et tu me recevras dans ta gloire !
“Then, hear,” said Simeon: “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me until I went unto the sanctuary of God. Then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places, thou castedst them down to destruction. As a dream when one awaketh, so, oh Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me by thy counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory. It is good for me to draw near unto God. I have put my trust in the Lord God.”[1]
[1] Ps. 73, “The End of the Wicked contrasted with that of the Righteous.”
Ces paroles de la sagesse divine, prononcées par la bouche amie du vieillard, passèrent, comme une musique sacrée, sur l' âme malade et irritée du jeune homme: et, sur ses beaux traits, une expression de douceur soumise remplaça la haine farouche.
The words of holy trust, breathed by the friendly old man, stole like sacred music over the harassed and chafed spirit of George; and after he ceased, he sat with a gentle and subdued expression on his fine features.
« Si ce monde était tout, Georges, reprit Siméon, tu pourrais en effet demander où est le Seigneur. Mais souvent ce sont ceux -là même qui ont eu le moins ici-bas qu' il choisit pour les placer dans son royaume ! Mets ta confiance en lui, peu importe ce qui t' arrivera ici; tout sera remis à sa place un jour. »
“If this world were all, George,” said Simeon, “thee might, indeed, ask where is the Lord? But it is often those who have least of all in this life whom he chooseth for the kingdom. Put thy trust in him and, no matter what befalls thee here, he will make all right hereafter.”
Si ces paroles eussent été prononcées par quelque orateur à son aise, indulgent pour lui-même, qui les eût laissées tomber de sa bouche comme des fleurs de rhétorique à l' usage des malheureux, elles n' auraient pas produit grand effet; mais, venant d' un homme qui chaque jour, et avec un calme suprême, bravait l' amende et la prison pour la cause de Dieu et de l' homme, elles avaient un poids qui faisait tout céder. Les deux pauvres fugitifs sentaient le calme et la force pénétrer dans leur âme.
If these words had been spoken by some easy, self-indulgent exhorter, from whose mouth they might have come merely as pious and rhetorical flourish, proper to be used to people in distress, perhaps they might not have had much effect; but coming from one who daily and calmly risked fine and imprisonment for the cause of God and man, they had a weight that could not but be felt, and both the poor, desolate fugitives found calmness and strength breathing into them from it.
And now Rachel took Eliza’s hand kindly, and led the way to the supper-table. As they were sitting down, a light tap sounded at the door, and Ruth entered.
« J' ai couru, dit -elle, pour apporter à l' enfant ces trois petites paires de bas propres, chauds et en laine. Il fait si froid, tu sais, au Canada !... Toujours du courage, Élisa ! » dit -elle en se mettant à table auprès de la jeune femme, et lui serrant affectueusement la main. ~~~ Et elle glissa un gâteau entre les doigts d' Henri. ~~~ « Je lui en ai apporté d' autres, dit -elle en fouillant dans sa poche.... Les enfants, tu sais, ça mange toujours !
“I just ran in,” she said, “with these little stockings for the boy,—three pair, nice, warm woollen ones. It will be so cold, thee knows, in Canada. Does thee keep up good courage, Eliza?” she added, tripping round to Eliza’s side of the table, and shaking her warmly by the hand, and slipping a seed-cake into Harry’s hand. “I brought a little parcel of these for him,” she said, tugging at her pocket to get out the package. “Children, thee knows, will always be eating.”
“O, thank you; you are too kind,” said Eliza.
-- Voyons, Ruth, assieds -toi et soupe, dit Rachel.
“Come, Ruth, sit down to supper,” said Rachel.
-- Impossible ! Imagine -toi, j' ai laissé John avec le baby.... et des gâteaux au four.... Si je m' arrête une minute, John va laisser brûler les gâteaux et donner à l' enfant tout ce qu' il y a de sucre à la maison. C' est son caractère, dit la petite quakeresse en riant. Ainsi, adieu Élisa ! adieu Georges ! que Dieu protége votre voyage !... » ~~~ Et elle disparut en sautillant.
“I couldn’t, any way. I left John with the baby, and some biscuits in the oven; and I can’t stay a moment, else John will burn up all the biscuits, and give the baby all the sugar in the bowl. That’s the way he does,” said the little Quakeress, laughing. “So, good-by, Eliza; good-by, George; the Lord grant thee a safe journey;” and, with a few tripping steps, Ruth was out of the apartment.
Un moment après, une grande voiture couverte s' arrêta devant la porte. La nuit était claire et toute scintillante d' étoiles. Phinéas sauta vivement à bas de son siége pour faire placer les voyageurs. Georges sortit; il tenait son enfant d' une main, sa femme de l' autre. Son pas était ferme, son visage plein de courage et de résignation. Rachel et Siméon venaient après lui.
A little while after supper, a large covered-wagon drew up before the door; the night was clear starlight; and Phineas jumped briskly down from his seat to arrange his passengers. George walked out of the door, with his child on one arm and his wife on the other. His step was firm, his face settled and resolute. Rachel and Simeon came out after them.
« Descendez un peu, vous autres, dit Phinéas à ceux qui se trouvaient déjà dans la voiture, que j' arrange le fond pour les femmes et pour l' enfant.
“You get out, a moment,” said Phineas to those inside, “and let me fix the back of the wagon, there, for the women-folks and the boy.”
“Here are the two buffaloes,” said Rachel. “Make the seats as comfortable as may be; it’s hard riding all night.”
Jim came out first, and carefully assisted out his old mother, who clung to his arm, and looked anxiously about, as if she expected the pursuer every moment.
“Jim, are your pistols all in order?” said George, in a low, firm voice. ~~~ “Yes, indeed,” said Jim.
“And you’ve no doubt what you shall do, if they come?” ~~~ “I rather think I haven’t,” said Jim, throwing open his broad chest, and taking a deep breath. “Do you think I’ll let them get mother again?”
Pendant qu' il échangeait ces quelques mots, Élisa avait pris congé de sa bonne amie Rachel. Siméon la plaça dans la voiture, et elle s' y installa dans le fond avec son enfant. La vieille femme vint se placer à côté d' elle. Georges et Jim se placèrent devant elle sur un banc grossier, et Phinéas sur le siége.
During this brief colloquy, Eliza had been taking her leave of her kind friend, Rachel, and was handed into the carriage by Simeon, and, creeping into the back part with her boy, sat down among the buffalo-skins. The old woman was next handed in and seated and George and Jim placed on a rough board seat front of them, and Phineas mounted in front.
« Adieu, mes amis ! dit Siméon.
“Farewell, my friends,” said Simeon, from without.
-- Dieu vous bénisse ! » répondit -on.
“God bless you!” answered all from within.
And the wagon drove off, rattling and jolting over the frozen road.
Il n' y avait pas moyen de causer. ~~~ On roula à travers les chemins du bois à demi défriché; on franchit de larges plaines, on gravit des collines, on descendit dans les vallées, et les heures passaient. ~~~ L' enfant s' endormit bientôt et tomba lourdement sur le sein de sa mère. La pauvre vieille négresse oublia ses craintes, et, vers le point du jour, Élisa elle-même ferma les yeux. Phinéas était le plus gai de la compagnie; il sifflait, pour abréger la route, certains airs un peu profanes... pour un quaker.
There was no opportunity for conversation, on account of the roughness of the way and the noise of the wheels. The vehicle, therefore, rumbled on, through long, dark stretches of woodland,—over wide dreary plains,—up hills, and down valleys,—and on, on, on they jogged, hour after hour. The child soon fell asleep, and lay heavily in his mother’s lap. The poor, frightened old woman at last forgot her fears; and, even Eliza, as the night waned, found all her anxieties insufficient to keep her eyes from closing. Phineas seemed, on the whole, the briskest of the company, and beguiled his long drive with whistling certain very unquaker-like songs, as he went on.
But about three o’clock George’s ear caught the hasty and decided click of a horse’s hoof coming behind them at some distance and jogged Phineas by the elbow. Phineas pulled up his horses, and listened.
“That must be Michael,” he said; “I think I know the sound of his gallop;” and he rose up and stretched his head anxiously back over the road.
Ils aperçurent, au sommet d' une colline assez éloignée, un homme qui venait vers eux à fond de train.
A man riding in hot haste was now dimly descried at the top of a distant hill.
« C' est lui ! » dit Phinéas. ~~~ Georges et Jim sautèrent à bas avant de savoir trop ce qu' ils allaient faire; ils se tournèrent silencieusement du côté où ils voyaient venir le messager attendu. Il avançait toujours; une hauteur le déroba un instant, mais ils entendaient toujours l' allure précipitée: enfin on l' aperçut au sommet d' une éminence, et à portée de la voix.
“There he is, I do believe!” said Phineas. George and Jim both sprang out of the wagon before they knew what they were doing. All stood intensely silent, with their faces turned towards the expected messenger. On he came. Now he went down into a valley, where they could not see him; but they heard the sharp, hasty tramp, rising nearer and nearer; at last they saw him emerge on the top of an eminence, within hail.
« Oui ! c' est Michaël. Holà ! ici, par ici, Michaël !
“Yes, that’s Michael!” said Phineas; and, raising his voice, “Halloa, there, Michael!”
-- Phinéas ! est -ce toi ?
“Phineas! is that thee?”
--Oui.
-- Quelle nouvelle ? Viennent -ils ?
“Yes; what news—they coming?”
“Right on behind, eight or ten of them, hot with brandy, swearing and foaming like so many wolves.”
And, just as he spoke, a breeze brought the faint sound of galloping horsemen towards them.
« Remontez ! Vite, vite en voiture, dit Phinéas. Si vous voulez combattre, attendez que je vous choisisse l' endroit.... » ~~~ Ils remontèrent. Phinéas lança les chevaux au galop. Michaël se tenait à côté d' eux. Les femmes entendaient.... elles voyaient dans le lointain une troupe d' hommes, dont la silhouette brune se découpait sur les bandes roses du ciel matinal. Encore une colline franchie, et les ravisseurs allaient apercevoir la voiture, si reconnaissable à la blancheur de sa bâche.... On entendit un cri de triomphe brutal.... Élisa, prête à se trouver mal, serrait son enfant sur son coeur; la vieille femme priait et soupirait; Georges et Jim saisirent leurs pistolets d' une main convulsive. ~~~ Les ennemis gagnaient du terrain; la voiture tourna brusquement et s' arrêta près d' un bloc de rochers escarpés, surplombants, dont la masse solitaire s' élevait au milieu d' un vaste terrain doux et uni. Cette pyramide isolée montait, gigantesque et sombre, dans le ciel brillant, et semblait promettre un abri inviolable. Phinéas connaissait parfaitement l' endroit; il y était souvent venu dans ses courses de chasseur. C' était pour l' atteindre qu' il avait si vivement poussé ses chevaux.
“In with you,—quick, boys, _in!_” said Phineas. “If you must fight, wait till I get you a piece ahead.” And, with the word, both jumped in, and Phineas lashed the horses to a run, the horseman keeping close beside them. The wagon rattled, jumped, almost flew, over the frozen ground; but plainer, and still plainer, came the noise of pursuing horsemen behind. The women heard it, and, looking anxiously out, saw, far in the rear, on the brow of a distant hill, a party of men looming up against the red-streaked sky of early dawn. Another hill, and their pursuers had evidently caught sight of their wagon, whose white cloth-covered top made it conspicuous at some distance, and a loud yell of brutal triumph came forward on the wind. Eliza sickened, and strained her child closer to her bosom; the old woman prayed and groaned, and George and Jim clenched their pistols with the grasp of despair. The pursuers gained on them fast; the carriage made a sudden turn, and brought them near a ledge of a steep overhanging rock, that rose in an isolated ridge or clump in a large lot, which was, all around it, quite clear and smooth. This isolated pile, or range of rocks, rose up black and heavy against the brightening sky, and seemed to promise shelter and concealment. It was a place well known to Phineas, who had been familiar with the spot in his hunting days; and it was to gain this point he had been racing his horses.
“Now for it!” said he, suddenly checking his horses, and springing from his seat to the ground. “Out with you, in a twinkling, every one, and up into these rocks with me. Michael, thee tie thy horse to the wagon, and drive ahead to Amariah’s and get him and his boys to come back and talk to these fellows.”
In a twinkling they were all out of the carriage.
“There,” said Phineas, catching up Harry, “you, each of you, see to the women; and run, _now_ if you ever _did_ run!”
They needed no exhortation. Quicker than we can say it, the whole party were over the fence, making with all speed for the rocks, while Michael, throwing himself from his horse, and fastening the bridle to the wagon, began driving it rapidly away.
« Avancez, dit Phinéas, au moment où, déjà plus près du rocher, ils distinguaient, aux lueurs mêlées de l' aube et des étoiles, la trace d' un sentier âpre, mais nettement marqué, qui conduisait au coeur du roc. Voilà une de nos cavernes de chasse.... Venez ! »
“Come ahead,” said Phineas, as they reached the rocks, and saw in the mingled starlight and dawn, the traces of a rude but plainly marked foot-path leading up among them; “this is one of our old hunting-dens. Come up!”
Phinéas allait devant, bondissant comme une chèvre, de pic en pic, et portant l' enfant dans ses bras. Jim venait ensuite, chargé de sa vieille mère. Georges et Élisa fermaient la marche. ~~~ Les cavaliers arrivèrent à la haie, et descendirent en proférant des cris et des serments; ils se préparaient à suivre les fugitifs. Après quelques minutes d' escalade, ceux -ci se trouvèrent au sommet du roc. Le sentier passait alors à travers un étroit défilé où l' on ne pouvait marcher qu' un de front. Tout à coup ils arrivèrent à une crevasse d' à peu près trois pieds de large et de trente pieds de profondeur, qui séparait en deux la masse des rochers; précipice escarpé, perpendiculaire comme les murs d' un château fort. Phinéas franchit aisément la crevasse et déposa l' enfant sur un épais tapis de mousse blanche. ~~~ « Allons, allons, vous autres, sautez tous ! il y va de la vie.... »
Phineas went before, springing up the rocks like a goat, with the boy in his arms. Jim came second, bearing his trembling old mother over his shoulder, and George and Eliza brought up the rear. The party of horsemen came up to the fence, and, with mingled shouts and oaths, were dismounting, to prepare to follow them. A few moments’ scrambling brought them to the top of the ledge; the path then passed between a narrow defile, where only one could walk at a time, till suddenly they came to a rift or chasm more than a yard in breadth, and beyond which lay a pile of rocks, separate from the rest of the ledge, standing full thirty feet high, with its sides steep and perpendicular as those of a castle. Phineas easily leaped the chasm, and sat down the boy on a smooth, flat platform of crisp white moss, that covered the top of the rock.
“Over with you!” he called; “spring, now, once, for your lives!” said he, as one after another sprang across. Several fragments of loose stone formed a kind of breast-work, which sheltered their position from the observation of those below.
“Well, here we all are,” said Phineas, peeping over the stone breast-work to watch the assailants, who were coming tumultuously up under the rocks. “Let ’em get us, if they can. Whoever comes here has to walk single file between those two rocks, in fair range of your pistols, boys, d’ye see?”
“I do see,” said George! “and now, as this matter is ours, let us take all the risk, and do all the fighting.”
-- Mon Dieu ! Georges, combats tout à ton aise, dit Phinéas en mâchant quelque feuille de mûrier sauvage, mais tu me laisseras bien le plaisir de regarder, j' imagine. Vois -les donc délibérer et lever la tête, comme des poules qui vont sauter sur le perchoir. Ne ferais -tu pas bien de leur dire un mot d' avertissement avant de les laisser monter ?... Dis -leur seulement qu' on va tirer dessus ! »
“Thee’s quite welcome to do the fighting, George,” said Phineas, chewing some checkerberry-leaves as he spoke; “but I may have the fun of looking on, I suppose. But see, these fellows are kinder debating down there, and looking up, like hens when they are going to fly up on to the roost. Hadn’t thee better give ’em a word of advice, before they come up, just to tell ’em handsomely they’ll be shot if they do?”
La troupe, que l' on pouvait maintenant très-nettement distinguer, se composait de nos anciennes connaissances, Tom Loker et Marks, de deux constables et d' un renfort de chenapans, recrutés à la taverne pour quelques verres d' eau-de-vie.
The party beneath, now more apparent in the light of the dawn, consisted of our old acquaintances, Tom Loker and Marks, with two constables, and a posse consisting of such rowdies at the last tavern as could be engaged by a little brandy to go and help the fun of trapping a set of niggers.
“Well, Tom, yer coons are farly treed,” said one.
“Yes, I see ’em go up right here,” said Tom; “and here’s a path. I’m for going right up. They can’t jump down in a hurry, and it won’t take long to ferret ’em out.”
“But, Tom, they might fire at us from behind the rocks,” said Marks. “That would be ugly, you know.”
“Ugh!” said Tom, with a sneer. “Always for saving your skin, Marks! No danger! niggers are too plaguy scared!”
“I don’t know why I _shouldn’t_ save my skin,” said Marks. “It’s the best I’ve got; and niggers _do_ fight like the devil, sometimes.”
At this moment, George appeared on the top of a rock above them, and, speaking in a calm, clear voice, said,
“Gentlemen, who are you, down there, and what do you want?”
-- Nous venons reprendre un troupeau de nègres en fuite, dit Loker, Georges et Élisa Harris et leur fils, Jim Selden et une vieille femme. Nous avons avec nous des constables et un warrant[15 ] pour les prendre.... et nous allons les prendre. Vous entendez ? Êtes -vous Georges Harris, appartenant à M. Harris, du comté de Shelby, dans le Kentucky ?
“We want a party of runaway niggers,” said Tom Loker. “One George Harris, and Eliza Harris, and their son, and Jim Selden, and an old woman. We’ve got the officers, here, and a warrant to take ’em; and we’re going to have ’em, too. D’ye hear? An’t you George Harris, that belongs to Mr. Harris, of Shelby county, Kentucky?”
[ 15 ] Autorisation de justice. ~~~ -- Je suis Georges Harris. Un monsieur Harris, du Kentucky, dit que je suis à lui. Mais maintenant je suis un homme libre, sur le sol libre de Dieu ! et je revendique comme miens ma femme et mon enfant. Jim et sa mère sont ici.... Nous avons des armes pour nous défendre.... et nous comptons nous défendre. Vous pouvez monter si vous voulez.... mais le premier qui se montre à la portée de nos balles est un homme mort, et le second aussi, et le troisième, et ainsi de suite jusqu' au dernier.
“I am George Harris. A Mr. Harris, of Kentucky, did call me his property. But now I’m a free man, standing on God’s free soil; and my wife and my child I claim as mine. Jim and his mother are here. We have arms to defend ourselves, and we mean to do it. You can come up, if you like; but the first one of you that comes within the range of our bullets is a dead man, and the next, and the next; and so on till the last.”
-- Allons, allons ! jeune homme, dit un personnage court et poussif qui s' avança en se mouchant, tous ces discours ne sont pas convenables dans votre bouche. Vous voyez que nous sommes des officiers de justice.... nous avons la loi de notre côté, et le pouvoir, et tout ! Ce que vous avez de mieux à faire, voyez -vous, c' est de vous rendre paisiblement.... aussi bien tôt ou tard il va falloir que vous en veniez là !
“O, come! come!” said a short, puffy man, stepping forward, and blowing his nose as he did so. “Young man, this an’t no kind of talk at all for you. You see, we’re officers of justice. We’ve got the law on our side, and the power, and so forth; so you’d better give up peaceably, you see; for you’ll certainly have to give up, at last.”
-- Je sais bien que vous avez le pouvoir et la loi de votre côté, répondit Georges avec amertume.... Vous voulez vous emparer de ma femme, pour la vendre à la Nouvelle-Orléans. Vous voulez étaler mon fils comme un veau dans le parc d' un marchand ! Vous voulez renvoyer la vieille mère de Jim à la bête brute qui la fouettait et qui la maltraitait, parce qu' elle ne pouvait pas maltraiter Jim lui-même. Moi et Jim, vous voulez nous rendre au fouet et à la torture.... Vous voulez nous faire écraser sous le talon de ceux que vous appelez nos maîtres.... et vos lois vous protégent.... Eh bien ! honte à vos lois et à vous ! Mais vous ne nous tenez pas encore ! Nous ne reconnaissons pas vos lois, nous ne reconnaissons pas votre pays. Nous sommes ici sous le ciel de Dieu, aussi libres que vous-mêmes; et, par ce grand Dieu qui nous a faits, je vous le jure, nous allons combattre pour notre liberté jusqu' à la mort ! »
“I know very well that you’ve got the law on your side, and the power,” said George, bitterly. “You mean to take my wife to sell in New Orleans, and put my boy like a calf in a trader’s pen, and send Jim’s old mother to the brute that whipped and abused her before, because he couldn’t abuse her son. You want to send Jim and me back to be whipped and tortured, and ground down under the heels of them that you call masters; and your laws _will_ bear you out in it,—more shame for you and them! But you haven’t got us. We don’t own your laws; we don’t own your country; we stand here as free, under God’s sky, as you are; and, by the great God that made us, we’ll fight for our liberty till we die.”
Pendant qu' il faisait cette déclaration d' indépendance, Georges se tenait debout, en pleine lumière, sur le rocher. Les rayons de l' aurore éclairaient son visage basané; l' indignation suprême et le désespoir mettaient des flammes dans ses yeux, et en parlant il élevait sa main vers le ciel comme s' il en eût appelé de l' homme à la justice de Dieu.
George stood out in fair sight, on the top of the rock, as he made his declaration of independence; the glow of dawn gave a flush to his swarthy cheek, and bitter indignation and despair gave fire to his dark eye; and, as if appealing from man to the justice of God, he raised his hand to heaven as he spoke.
Ah ! si Georges eût été quelque jeune Hongrois défendant au milieu de ses montagnes la retraite des proscrits fuyant l' Autriche pour gagner l' Amérique.... on eût appelé cela un sublime héroïsme ! Mais, comme Georges n' était qu' un Africain, défendant une retraite des États-Unis au Canada, nous sommes trop bien élevés et trop patriotes pour voir là aucune espèce d' héroïsme. ~~~ Si quelques-uns de nos lecteurs y veulent en trouver malgré nous, que ce soit à leurs risques et périls ! Oui, quand les Hongrois désespérés échappent aux autorités légitimes de leur pays, la presse et le gouvernement américain sonnent en leur faveur des fanfares de triomphe et leur souhaitent la bienvenue.... Mais, quand les nègres fugitifs font la même chose, c' est.... oui ! qu' est -ce que c' est ?
If it had been only a Hungarian youth, now bravely defending in some mountain fastness the retreat of fugitives escaping from Austria into America, this would have been sublime heroism; but as it was a youth of African descent, defending the retreat of fugitives through America into Canada, of course we are too well instructed and patriotic to see any heroism in it; and if any of our readers do, they must do it on their own private responsibility. When despairing Hungarian fugitives make their way, against all the search-warrants and authorities of their lawful government, to America, press and political cabinet ring with applause and welcome. When despairing African fugitives do the same thing,—it is—what _is_ it?
N' importe ! Ce qu' il y a de certain, c' est que l' attitude, l' oeil, la voix, tout l' orateur, enfin, réduisit au silence la troupe de Tom Loker. Il y a dans l' intrépidité et le courage quelque chose qui fascine un moment même la plus grossière nature. Marks fut le seul qui n' éprouva aucune émotion. Il arma résolûment son pistolet, et, pendant l' instant de silence qui suivit le discours de Georges, il fit feu sur lui.
Be it as it may, it is certain that the attitude, eye, voice, manner, of the speaker for a moment struck the party below to silence. There is something in boldness and determination that for a time hushes even the rudest nature. Marks was the only one who remained wholly untouched. He was deliberately cocking his pistol, and, in the momentary silence that followed George’s speech, he fired at him. ~~~ [Illustration: THE FREEMAN’S DEFENCE.]
“Ye see ye get jist as much for him dead as alive in Kentucky,” he said coolly, as he wiped his pistol on his coat-sleeve.
George sprang backward,—Eliza uttered a shriek,—the ball had passed close to his hair, had nearly grazed the cheek of his wife, and struck in the tree above.
“It’s nothing, Eliza,” said George, quickly.
“Thee’d better keep out of sight, with thy speechifying,” said Phineas; “they’re mean scamps.”
“Now, Jim,” said George, “look that your pistols are all right, and watch that pass with me. The first man that shows himself I fire at; you take the second, and so on. It won’t do, you know, to waste two shots on one.”
-- Mais si vous ne touchez pas ?
“But what if you don’t hit?”
“I _shall_ hit,” said George, coolly.
“Good! now, there’s stuff in that fellow,” muttered Phineas, between his teeth.
Cependant, après le coup de pistolet de Marks, les assaillants s' arrêtèrent irrésolus.
The party below, after Marks had fired, stood, for a moment, rather undecided.
“I think you must have hit some on ’em,” said one of the men. “I heard a squeal!”
“I’m going right up for one,” said Tom. “I never was afraid of niggers, and I an’t going to be now. Who goes after?” he said, springing up the rocks.
George heard the words distinctly. He drew up his pistol, examined it, pointed it towards that point in the defile where the first man would appear.
Un des plus courageux de la bande suivait Tom; les autres venaient après; les derniers poussaient même les premiers un peu plus vite que ceux -ci n' eussent voulu. Ils approchaient; bientôt la forme massive de Tom apparut au bord de la crevasse.
One of the most courageous of the party followed Tom, and, the way being thus made, the whole party began pushing up the rock,—the hindermost pushing the front ones faster than they would have gone of themselves. On they came, and in a moment the burly form of Tom appeared in sight, almost at the verge of the chasm.
George fired,—the shot entered his side,—but, though wounded, he would not retreat, but, with a yell like that of a mad bull, he was leaping right across the chasm into the party.
“Friend,” said Phineas, suddenly stepping to the front, and meeting him with a push from his long arms, “thee isn’t wanted here.”
Down he fell into the chasm, crackling down among trees, bushes, logs, loose stones, till he lay bruised and groaning thirty feet below. The fall might have killed him, had it not been broken and moderated by his clothes catching in the branches of a large tree; but he came down with some force, however,—more than was at all agreeable or convenient.
“Lord help us, they are perfect devils!” said Marks, heading the retreat down the rocks with much more of a will than he had joined the ascent, while all the party came tumbling precipitately after him,—the fat constable, in particular, blowing and puffing in a very energetic manner.
“I say, fellers,” said Marks, “you jist go round and pick up Tom, there, while I run and get on to my horse to go back for help,—that’s you;” and, without minding the hootings and jeers of his company, Marks was as good as his word, and was soon seen galloping away.
“Was ever such a sneaking varmint?” said one of the men; “to come on his business, and he clear out and leave us this yer way!”
“Well, we must pick up that feller,” said another. “Cuss me if I much care whether he is dead or alive.”
The men, led by the groans of Tom, scrambled and crackled through stumps, logs and bushes, to where that hero lay groaning and swearing with alternate vehemence.
“Ye keep it agoing pretty loud, Tom,” said one. “Ye much hurt?”
“Don’t know. Get me up, can’t ye? Blast that infernal Quaker! If it hadn’t been for him, I’d a pitched some on ’em down here, to see how they liked it.”
With much labor and groaning, the fallen hero was assisted to rise; and, with one holding him up under each shoulder, they got him as far as the horses.
“If you could only get me a mile back to that ar tavern. Give me a handkerchief or something, to stuff into this place, and stop this infernal bleeding.”
George looked over the rocks, and saw them trying to lift the burly form of Tom into the saddle. After two or three ineffectual attempts, he reeled, and fell heavily to the ground.
« J' espère qu' il n' est pas mort, dit Élisa, qui, avec ses compagnons, surveillait toute cette scène.
“O, I hope he isn’t killed!” said Eliza, who, with all the party, stood watching the proceeding.
“Why not?” said Phineas; “serves him right.”
“Because after death comes the judgment,” said Eliza.
“Yes,” said the old woman, who had been groaning and praying, in her Methodist fashion, during all the encounter, “it’s an awful case for the poor crittur’s soul.”
-- Sur ma parole ! je crois qu' ils l' abandonnent, » dit Phinéas.
“On my word, they’re leaving him, I do believe,” said Phineas.
It was true; for after some appearance of irresolution and consultation, the whole party got on their horses and rode away. When they were quite out of sight, Phineas began to bestir himself.
« Voyons, dit -il, il faut descendre et marcher. J' ai dit à Michaël d' aller à la ferme, de nous ramener des secours, et de revenir avec la voiture, mais je pense que nous devons marcher un peu au-devant de lui. Dieu veuille qu' il soit bientôt ici ! il est de bonne heure. Nous ne tarderons pas à le rejoindre; nous ne sommes pas à plus de deux milles de notre station. Si la route n' avait pas été si dure cette nuit, nous aurions pu les éviter. »
“Well, we must go down and walk a piece,” he said. “I told Michael to go forward and bring help, and be along back here with the wagon; but we shall have to walk a piece along the road, I reckon, to meet them. The Lord grant he be along soon! It’s early in the day; there won’t be much travel afoot yet a while; we an’t much more than two miles from our stopping-place. If the road hadn’t been so rough last night, we could have outrun ’em entirely.”
En s' approchant de la haie, Phinéas aperçut la voiture, qui revenait avec les amis.
As the party neared the fence, they discovered in the distance, along the road, their own wagon coming back, accompanied by some men on horseback.
“Well, now, there’s Michael, and Stephen and Amariah,” exclaimed Phineas, joyfully. “Now we _are_ made—as safe as if we’d got there.”
“Well “Well, do stop, then,” said Eliza, “and do something for that poor man; roaning dreadfully.”
“It would be no more than Christian,” said George; “let’s take him up and carry him on.”
-- Et nous le soignerons parmi les quakers, dit Phinéas; c' est bien, cela ! je ne m' y oppose certes pas ! Voyons -le ! » ~~~ Et Phinéas qui, dans sa vie de chasseur et de maraudeur, avait acquis certaine notion de la chirurgie primitive, s' agenouilla auprès du blessé et commença un examen attentif.
“And doctor him up among the Quakers!” said Phineas; “pretty well, that! Well, I don’t care if we do. Here, let’s have a look at him;” and Phineas, who in the course of his hunting and backwoods life had acquired some rude experience of surgery, kneeled down by the wounded man, and began a careful examination of his condition.
“Marks,” said Tom, feebly, “is that you, Marks?”
“No; I reckon ’tan’t friend,” said Phineas. “Much Marks cares for thee, if his own skin’s safe. He’s off, long ago.”
“I believe I’m done for,” said Tom. “The cussed sneaking dog, to leave me to die alone! My poor old mother always told me ’t would be so.”
“La sakes! jist hear the poor crittur. He’s got a mammy, now,” said the old negress. “I can’t help kinder pityin’ on him.”
“Softly, softly; don’t thee snap and snarl, friend,” said Phineas, as Tom winced and pushed his hand away. “Thee has no chance, unless I stop the bleeding.” And Phineas busied himself with making some off-hand surgical arrangements with his own pocket-handkerchief, and such as could be mustered in the company.
“You pushed me down there,” said Tom, faintly.
-- Mais sans cela tu nous aurais précipités nous-mêmes, tu vois bien ! dit Phinéas en appliquant le bandage. Allons, allons, laisse -moi panser cela; nous n' y entendons pas malice, nous autres; nous te voulons du bien. Nous allons te mener dans une maison où l' on te gardera comme si c' était ta mère. »
“Well if I hadn’t thee would have pushed us down, thee sees,” said Phineas, as he stooped to apply his bandage. “There, there,—let me fix this bandage. We mean well to thee; we bear no malice. Thee shall be taken to a house where they’ll nurse thee first rate, well as thy own mother could.”
Tom groaned, and shut his eyes. In men of his class, vigor and resolution are entirely a physical matter, and ooze out with the flowing of the blood; and the gigantic fellow really looked piteous in his helplessness.
Cependant Michaël était là avec la voiture: on tira les bancs, on doubla les peaux de buffle, on les plaça d' un seul côté, et quatre hommes, avec de grands efforts, placèrent Tom dans la voiture. Il s' évanouit entièrement. La vieille négresse, tout émue, s' assit au fond et mit la tête du blessé sur ses genoux; Élisa, Georges et Jim se casèrent comme ils purent, et l' on repartit.
The other party now came up. The seats were taken out of the wagon. The buffalo-skins, doubled in fours, were spread all along one side, and four men, with great difficulty, lifted the heavy form of Tom into it. Before he was gotten in, he fainted entirely. The old negress, in the abundance of her compassion, sat down on the bottom, and took his head in her lap. Eliza, George and Jim, bestowed themselves, as well as they could, in the remaining space and the whole party set forward.
“What do you think of him?” said George, who sat by Phineas in front.
“Well it’s only a pretty deep flesh-wound; but, then, tumbling and scratching down that place didn’t help him much. It has bled pretty freely,—pretty much drained him out, courage and all,—but he’ll get over it, and may be learn a thing or two by it.”
“I’m glad to hear you say so,” said George. “It would always be a heavy thought to me, if I’d caused his death, even in a just cause.”
-- Oui, dit Phinéas, tuer est une mauvaise chose, de quelque façon que ce soit.... homme ou bête.... Dans mon temps, j' ai été un grand chasseur.... Un jour j' ai vu tomber un daim.... il allait mourir. Il me regardait avec un oeil !... on sentait que c' était mal de l' avoir tué ! Les créatures humaines, c' est encore pire, parce que, comme dit ta femme: « Après la mort, vient le jugement ! » Je ne trouve pas nos idées à nous trop sévères là-dessus.
“Yes,” said Phineas, “killing is an ugly operation, any way they’ll fix it,—man or beast. I’ve seen a buck that was shot down and a dying, look that way on a feller with his eye, that it reely most made a feller feel wicked for killing on him; and human creatures is a more serious consideration yet, bein’, as thy wife says, that the judgment comes to ’em after death. So I don’t know as our people’s notions on these matters is too strict; and, considerin’ how I was raised, I fell in with them pretty considerably.”
“What shall you do with this poor fellow?” said George.
“O, carry him along to Amariah’s. There’s old Grandmam Stephens there,—Dorcas, they call her,—she’s most an amazin’ nurse. She takes to nursing real natural, and an’t never better suited than when she gets a sick body to tend. We may reckon on turning him over to her for a fortnight or so.”
Une heure après, nos voyageurs arrivaient dans une jolie ferme, où les attendait un excellent déjeûner. Tom fut déposé avec soin sur un lit plus propre et plus doux que ceux dont il se servait d' habitude. Sa blessure fut pansée et bandée: comme un enfant fatigué, il ouvrait et fermait languissamment ses yeux, et les reposait sur les rideaux blancs de ses fenêtres pendant que les joyeux amis glissaient devant lui dans sa chambre de malade.
A ride of about an hour more brought the party to a neat farmhouse, where the weary travellers were received to an abundant breakfast. Tom Loker was soon carefully deposited in a much cleaner and softer bed than he had ever been in the habit of occupying. His wound was carefully dressed and bandaged, and he lay languidly opening and shutting his eyes on the white window-curtains and gently-gliding figures of his sick room, like a weary child. And here, for the present, we shall take our leave of one party.
CHAPITRE XVIII. ~~~ Expériences et opinions de miss Ophélia.
CHAPTER XVIII Miss Ophelia’s Experiences and Opinions
Our friend Tom, in his own simple musings, often compared his more fortunate lot, in the bondage into which he was cast, with that of Joseph in Egypt; and, in fact, as time went on, and he developed more and more under the eye of his master, the strength of the parallel increased.
Saint-Clare était indolent de sa nature et n' avait aucun souci de l' argent. Jusque -là le marché et l' approvisionnement avaient été confiés aux soins d' Adolphe, aussi insouciant lui-même et aussi extravagant que son maître. Avec eux la dissipation et le gaspillage allaient leur train. Tom, en entrant chez Saint-Clare, accoutumé depuis des années à regarder la fortune de ses maîtres comme une chose livrée à sa garde, Tom voyait avec un malaise qu' il ne pouvait dissimuler toutes les dépenses de la maison, et, avec cette habileté dans l' emploi des insinuations détournées, que possèdent les gens de sa classe, il faisait parfois d' humbles remontrances.
St. Clare was indolent and careless of money. Hitherto the providing and marketing had been principally done by Adolph, who was, to the full, as careless and extravagant as his master; and, between them both, they had carried on the dispersing process with great alacrity. Accustomed, for many years, to regard his master’s property as his own care, Tom saw, with an uneasiness he could scarcely repress, the wasteful expenditure of the establishment; and, in the quiet, indirect way which his class often acquire, would sometimes make his own suggestions.
St. Clare at first employed him occasionally; but, struck with his soundness of mind and good business capacity, he confided in him more and more, till gradually all the marketing and providing for the family were intrusted to him.
“No, no, Adolph,” he said, one day, as Adolph was deprecating the passing of power out of his hands; “let Tom alone. You only understand what you want; Tom understands cost and come to; and there may be some end to money, bye and bye if we don’t let somebody do that.”
Investi de la confiance sans bornes d' un maître négligent, qui lui remettait des billets sans en regarder le chiffre, et qui recevait le change sans compter, Tom avait toutes les facilités et toutes les tentations de l' infidélité; il lui fallait pour se sauver toute l' honnête simplicité de sa nature, raffermie encore par la foi chrétienne. Mais pour lui la confiance devenait un lien de plus, et une obligation nouvelle.
Trusted to an unlimited extent by a careless master, who handed him a bill without looking at it, and pocketed the change without counting it, Tom had every facility and temptation to dishonesty; and nothing but an impregnable simplicity of nature, strengthened by Christian faith, could have kept him from it. But, to that nature, the very unbounded trust reposed in him was bond and seal for the most scrupulous accuracy.
Avec Adolphe, tout le contraire était arrivé. Léger, indifférent, ne se sentant pas retenu par un maître qui trouvait l' indulgence plus facile que l' ordre, Adolphe en était venu à confondre d' une si étrange façon le tien et le mien, vis-à-vis de son maître, que Saint-Clare lui-même commençait à s' en effrayer. Son bon sens l' avertissait qu' une telle conduite était à la fois injuste et dangereuse. ~~~ Il n' était pas assez fort pour en changer; mais il portait ou il lui semblait porter en lui-même une sorte de remords chronique qui aboutissait finalement à une indulgence toujours grande. Il passait légèrement sur les fautes les plus graves, parce qu' il se disait que ses esclaves feraient mieux leur devoir si lui-même avait mieux fait le sien.
With Adolph the case had been different. Thoughtless and self-indulgent, and unrestrained by a master who found it easier to indulge than to regulate, he had fallen into an absolute confusion as to _meum tuum_ with regard to himself and his master, which sometimes troubled even St. Clare. His own good sense taught him that such a training of his servants was unjust and dangerous. A sort of chronic remorse went with him everywhere, although not strong enough to make any decided change in his course; and this very remorse reacted again into indulgence. He passed lightly over the most serious faults, because he told himself that, if he had done his part, his dependents had not fallen into them.
Tom avait pour son jeune et beau maître un singulier mélange de respect, de dévouement et de sollicitude paternelle. Il remarquait qu' il ne lisait jamais la Bible, qu' il n' allait point à l' église, qu' il plaisantait de tout, qu' il allait au théâtre, même le dimanche ! qu' il fréquentait les clubs, les soupers fins, qu' il buvait ! Tom remarquait cela comme tout le monde, et Tom avait la conviction que son maître n' était pas chrétien. Cette conviction, Tom n' aurait voulu l' avouer à personne; mais elle était pour lui l' occasion et la cause de bien des peines, quand il était renfermé dans sa petite chambre. ~~~ Ce n' est pas que Tom ne sût exprimer sa pensée avec une certaine habileté d' insinuation. Une nuit, Saint-Clare, après un festin, avec des convives choisis, rentrait au logis entre une ou deux heures, dans un état où il n' était que trop évident que la matière l' emportait sur l' esprit. Tom et Adolphe le mirent au lit. Le dernier était enchanté, il trouvait le tour excellent.... il riait de tout son coeur de la naïve désolation de Tom, qui resta toute la nuit éveillé, priant pour son jeune maître.
Tom regarded his gay, airy, handsome young master with an odd mixture of fealty, reverence, and fatherly solicitude. That he never read the Bible; never went to church; that he jested and made free with any and every thing that came in the way of his wit; that he spent his Sunday evenings at the opera or theatre; that he went to wine parties, and clubs, and suppers, oftener than was at all expedient,—were all things that Tom could see as plainly as anybody, and on which he based a conviction that “Mas’r wasn’t a Christian;”—a conviction, however, which he would have been very slow to express to any one else, but on which he founded many prayers, in his own simple fashion, when he was by himself in his little dormitory. Not that Tom had not his own way of speaking his mind occasionally, with something of the tact often observable in his class; as, for example, the very day after the Sabbath we have described, St. Clare was invited out to a convivial party of choice spirits, and was helped home, between one and two o’clock at night, in a condition when the physical had decidedly attained the upper hand of the intellectual. Tom and Adolph assisted to get him composed for the night, the latter in high spirits, evidently regarding the matter as a good joke, and laughing heartily at the rusticity of Tom’s horror, who really was simple enough to lie awake most of the rest of the night, praying for his young master.
« Pourquoi ne vous êtes -vous pas couché, Tom ? lui demandait le lendemain Saint-Clare, en pantoufles et en robe de chambre dans sa bibliothèque. Y a -t-il quelque chose qui vous inquiète ? ajouta -t-il, voyant que Tom attendait toujours. Il se rappelait qu' il lui avait donné des ordres et remis de l' argent.
“Well, Tom, what are you waiting for?” said St. Clare, the next day, as he sat in his library, in dressing-gown and slippers. St. Clare had just been entrusting Tom with some money, and various commissions. “Isn’t all right there, Tom?” he added, as Tom still stood waiting.
“I’m ’fraid not, Mas’r,” said Tom, with a grave face.
St. Clare laid down his paper, and set down his coffee-cup, and looked at Tom.
“Why Tom, what’s the case? You look as solemn as a coffin.”
“I feel very bad, Mas’r. I allays have thought that Mas’r would be good to everybody.”
“Well, Tom, haven’t I been? Come, now, what do you want? There’s something you haven’t got, I suppose, and this is the preface.”
“Mas’r allays been good to me. I haven’t nothing to complain of on that head. But there is one that Mas’r isn’t good to.”
“Why, Tom, what’s got into you? Speak out; what do you mean?”
-- La nuit dernière, entre une ou deux heures, je réfléchissais à cela.... Je me disais: Le maître n' est pas bon pour lui-même. »
“Last night, between one and two, I thought so. I studied upon the matter then. Mas’r isn’t good to _himself_.”
Tom said this with his back to his master, and his hand on the door-knob. St. Clare felt his face flush crimson, but he laughed.
“O, that’s all, is it?” he said, gayly.
“All!” said Tom, turning suddenly round and falling on his knees. “O, my dear young Mas’r; I’m ’fraid it will be _loss of all—all_—body and soul. The good Book says, ’it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder!’ my dear Mas’r!”
La voix de Tom tremblait dans sa gorge, et les larmes ruisselaient le long de ses joues.
Tom’s voice choked, and the tears ran down his cheeks.
“You poor, silly fool!” said St. Clare, with tears in his own eyes. “Get up, Tom. I’m not worth crying over.”
Mais Tom ne se retirait pas.... il paraissait toujours supplier.
But Tom wouldn’t rise, and looked imploring.
« Soit, Tom, je ne veux plus partager leurs folies. Non, sur l' honneur, je ne veux plus. Il y a longtemps que je les déteste, et que je me déteste moi-même à cause d' elles. Ainsi, Tom, séchez vos yeux et allez à vos affaires.... Voyons, voyons, pas de bénédictions.... je ne suis déjà pas si bon !... Et il mit doucement Tom à la porte de la bibliothèque.... Je vous jure, Tom, que vous ne me reverrez jamais dans cet état ! » ~~~ Tom s' en alla, essuyant ses yeux et la joie dans l' âme.
“Well, I won’t go to any more of their cursed nonsense, Tom,” said St. Clare; “on my honor, I won’t. I don’t know why I haven’t stopped long ago. I’ve always despised _it_, and myself for it,—so now, Tom, wipe up your eyes, and go about your errands. Come, come,” he added, “no blessings. I’m not so wonderfully good, now,” he said, as he gently pushed Tom to the door. “There, I’ll pledge my honor to you, Tom, you don’t see me so again,” he said; and Tom went off, wiping his eyes, with great satisfaction.
“I’ll keep my faith with him, too,” said St. Clare, as he closed the door.
And St. Clare did so,—for gross sensualism, in any form, was not the peculiar temptation of his nature.
But, all this time, who shall detail the tribulations manifold of our friend Miss Ophelia, who had begun the labors of a Southern housekeeper?
There is all the difference in the world in the servants of Southern establishments, according to the character and capacity of the mistresses who have brought them up.
Dans le sud, aussi bien que dans le nord, il y a des femmes qui ont à un haut degré la science de commander et l' art d' élever les esclaves. Avec une apparente facilité, sans déploiement de rigueur, elles se font obéir. Elles établissent l' ordre et l' harmonie entre les diverses capacités qu' elles gouvernent, corrigeant, par l' excès de l' une, l' insuffisance de l' autre, jusqu' à ce qu' elles rencontrent l' équilibre du système.
South as well as north, there are women who have an extraordinary talent for command, and tact in educating. Such are enabled, with apparent ease, and without severity, to subject to their will, and bring into harmonious and systematic order, the various members of their small estate,—to regulate their peculiarities, and so balance and compensate the deficiencies of one by the excess of another, as to produce a harmonious and orderly system.
Telle était, par exemple, Mme Shelby. ~~~ Si de telles maîtresses de maison sont rares dans le sud, c' est qu' à vrai dire elles sont rares dans le monde entier. On en trouve autant dans le sud que partout ailleurs; et, quand elles s' y rencontrent, l' état social du pays leur donne l' occasion de déployer toute leur habileté.
Such a housekeeper was Mrs. Shelby, whom we have already described; and such our readers may remember to have met with. If they are not common at the South, it is because they are not common in the world. They are to be found there as often as anywhere; and, when existing, find in that peculiar state of society a brilliant opportunity to exhibit their domestic talent.
Such a housekeeper Marie St. Clare was not, nor her mother before her. Indolent and childish, unsystematic and improvident, it was not to be expected that servants trained under her care should not be so likewise; and she had very justly described to Miss Ophelia the state of confusion she would find in the family, though she had not ascribed it to the proper cause.
The first morning of her regency, Miss Ophelia was up at four o’clock; and having attended to all the adjustments of her own chamber, as she had done ever since she came there, to the great amazement of the chambermaid, she prepared for a vigorous onslaught on the cupboards and closets of the establishment of which she had the keys.
Le premier jour de son administration, miss Ophélia fut debout à quatre heures, et, après avoir fait le ménage de sa propre chambre, ce qu' elle faisait toujours depuis son arrivée chez Saint-Clare, au grand étonnement de sa femme de chambre, elle se mit en devoir de commencer une sévère inspection sur les armoires et cabinets dont elle avait les clefs.
The store-room, the linen-presses, the china-closet, the kitchen and cellar, that day, all went under an awful review. Hidden things of darkness were brought to light to an extent that alarmed all the principalities and powers of kitchen and chamber, and caused many wonderings and murmurings about “dese yer northern ladies” from the domestic cabinet.
Old Dinah, the head cook, and principal of all rule and authority in the kitchen department, was filled with wrath at what she considered an invasion of privilege. No feudal baron in _Magna Charta_ times could have more thoroughly resented some incursion of the crown.
La vieille Dinah, passée cordon-bleu, directrice générale au département de la cuisine, se mit en grande colère contre ces empiétements sur son pouvoir. Les barons féodaux, aux temps de la Grande Charte, n' éprouvèrent pas de plus vif ressentiment en présence des usurpations de la couronne.
Dinah was a character in her own way, and it would be injustice to her memory not to give the reader a little idea of her. She was a native and essential cook, as much as Aunt Chloe,—cooking being an indigenous talent of the African race; but Chloe was a trained and methodical one, who moved in an orderly domestic harness, while Dinah was a self-taught genius, and, like geniuses in general, was positive, opinionated and erratic, to the last degree.
Dinah était un caractère. Ce serait outrager sa mémoire que de ne pas donner d' elle une juste idée au lecteur. Elle était née cuisinière aussi bien que Chloé. Le talent de la cuisine est un mérite indigène dans la race africaine. Mais Chloé était dirigée, commandée; elle avait sa place dans une hiérarchie. Dinah était au contraire un génie prime-sautier, et, comme tous les génies en général, elle était passionnée, entêtée, sujette au caprice. Pareille en cela à une certaine catégorie de philosophes modernes, Dinah méprisait souverainement la logique et la raison; elle s' en rapportait à l' intuition instinctive. L' instinct était pour elle une forteresse imprenable. Ni le talent, ni l' autorité, ni la raison ne pouvaient faire croire qu' il y eût au monde un système qui valût le sien, ou qu' elle dût modifier sa pratique dans les plus légers détails. Ce point avait été concédé par son ancienne maîtresse, et miss Marie, comme elle appelait toujours Mme Saint-Clare, même après son mariage, avait mieux aimé se soumettre que de lutter. Ainsi Dinah avait un pouvoir absolu. Sa position était d'autant plus aisément conservée qu' elle était passée maîtresse en science diplomatique, unissant l' obséquiosité des manières à l' inflexibilité des principes.
Like a certain class of modern philosophers, Dinah perfectly scorned logic and reason in every shape, and always took refuge in intuitive certainty; and here she was perfectly impregnable. No possible amount of talent, or authority, or explanation, could ever make her believe that any other way was better than her own, or that the course she had pursued in the smallest matter could be in the least modified. This had been a conceded point with her old mistress, Marie’s mother; and “Miss Marie,” as Dinah always called her young mistress, even after her marriage, found it easier to submit than contend; and so Dinah had ruled supreme. This was the easier, in that she was perfect mistress of that diplomatic art which unites the utmost subservience of manner with the utmost inflexibility as to measure.
Dinah avait l' art suprême des explications et des excuses. La cuisinière est infaillible ! Voilà un de ses axiomes. Ajoutons que, dans une maison du sud, une cuisinière trouve toujours autour d' elle une foule de têtes et d' épaules sur lesquelles elle peut faire retomber ses péchés pour garder intacte sa pureté immaculée. Chaque erreur avait cinquante causes étrangères à Dinah; chaque faute, cinquante coupables qu' elle punissait avec un zèle sans égal.
Dinah was mistress of the whole art and mystery of excuse-making, in all its branches. Indeed, it was an axiom with her that the cook can do no wrong; and a cook in a Southern kitchen finds abundance of heads and shoulders on which to lay off every sin and frailty, so as to maintain her own immaculateness entire. If any part of the dinner was a failure, there were fifty indisputably good reasons for it; and it was the fault undeniably of fifty other people, whom Dinah berated with unsparing zeal.
Mais, en dernière analyse, on n' avait presque jamais rien à lui reprocher.... Elle se distinguait par les résultats. Elle suivait bien des routes sinueuses et détournées, mais elle arrivait; elle ne tenait compte ni du temps ni du lieu.... Sa cuisine était toujours dans un état assez propre à donner l' idée qu' une tempête était chargée d' y mettre tout en ordre; elle avait pour chaque chose autant de places qu' il y a de jours à l' année.... Mais laissez -la faire, ne la poussez pas trop, et vous aller avoir un repas.... à satisfaire un épicurien....
But it was very seldom that there was any failure in Dinah’s last results. Though her mode of doing everything was peculiarly meandering and circuitous, and without any sort of calculation as to time and place,—though her kitchen generally looked as if it had been arranged by a hurricane blowing through it, and she had about as many places for each cooking utensil as there were days in the year,—yet, if one would have patience to wait her own good time, up would come her dinner in perfect order, and in a style of preparation with which an epicure could find no fault.
C' était l' heure où commencent les préparatifs du dîner. Mère Dinah, qui avait besoin de réflexion et de repos, et qui, d'ailleurs, prenait toujours ses aises, était assise sur le plancher de sa cuisine, fumant un vieux culot de pipe auquel elle tenait beaucoup, et qu' elle allumait toujours, comme un encensoir, quand elle était à la recherche de l' inspiration. C' est ainsi que Dinah invoquait les muses domestiques.
It was now the season of incipient preparation for dinner. Dinah, who required large intervals of reflection and repose, and was studious of ease in all her arrangements, was seated on the kitchen floor, smoking a short, stumpy pipe, to which she was much addicted, and which she always kindled up, as a sort of censer, whenever she felt the need of an inspiration in her arrangements. It was Dinah’s mode of invoking the domestic Muses.
Autour d' elle étaient assis les divers membres de cette florissante famille qui pullule dans les maisons du sud. Ils écossaient les pois, pelaient les pommes de terre, ou arrachaient le fin duvet des volailles. Dinah, de temps en temps, interrompait sa méditation pour donner un coup de poing sur la tête de quelqu'un de ses jeunes aides, ou envoyer à quelque autre un avertissement au bout de sa cuiller à pouding. En un mot, Dinah faisait ployer toutes ces têtes laineuses sous un sceptre de fer. Elle pensait que tous ces nègres n' avaient d' autre destinée en ce monde que de lui épargner des pas, selon sa propre expression. Elle avait grandi dans cette opinion, et elle la poussait maintenant jusqu' à ses plus lointains développements.
Seated around her were various members of that rising race with which a Southern household abounds, engaged in shelling peas, peeling potatoes, picking pin-feathers out of fowls, and other preparatory arrangements,—Dinah every once in a while interrupting her meditations to give a poke, or a rap on the head, to some of the young operators, with the pudding-stick that lay by her side. In fact, Dinah ruled over the woolly heads of the younger members with a rod of iron, and seemed to consider them born for no earthly purpose but to “save her steps,” as she phrased it. It was the spirit of the system under which she had grown up, and she carried it out to its full extent.
Miss Ophelia, after passing on her reformatory tour through all the other parts of the establishment, now entered the kitchen. Dinah had heard, from various sources, what was going on, and resolved to stand on defensive and conservative ground,—mentally determined to oppose and ignore every new measure, without any actual observable contest.
La cuisine était une vaste pièce, pavée de briques. Une large cheminée à l' ancienne mode en occupait tout un côté. Saint-Clare avait vainement essayé de la remplacer par un fourneau. Dinah n' avait pas voulu. Pas de pusséyste, pas de conservateur d' aucune école n' était plus inflexiblement attaché que Dinah aux abus qui avaient pour eux la sanction du temps.
The kitchen was a large brick-floored apartment, with a great old-fashioned fireplace stretching along one side of it,—an arrangement which St. Clare had vainly tried to persuade Dinah to exchange for the convenience of a modern cook-stove. Not she. No Puseyite,[1] or conservative of any school, was ever more inflexibly attached to time-honored inconveniences than Dinah.
[1] Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882), champion of the orthodoxy of revealed religion, defender of the Oxford movement, and Regius professor of Hebrew and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford.
La première fois que Saint-Clare revint du nord, frappé de l' ordre et de la régularité qui régnait dans la cuisine de son oncle, il avait amplement garni la sienne de buffets, de vaisselliers et de tous les appareils imaginables qu' il croyait capables de venir en aide à Dinah dans ses efforts pour rétablir un peu de symétrie et d' arrangement. Ce fut comme s' il eût importé du nord une pie ou un écureuil. Plus il y eut de buffets et de tiroirs, plus il y eut aussi de trous et de cachettes où Dinah put fourrer ses chiffons, ses peignes, ses vieux souliers, ses rubans, ses fleurs artificielles, et autres objets de fantaisie qui faisaient la joie de son âme.
When St. Clare had first returned from the north, impressed with the system and order of his uncle’s kitchen arrangements, he had largely provided his own with an array of cupboards, drawers, and various apparatus, to induce systematic regulation, under the sanguine illusion that it would be of any possible assistance to Dinah in her arrangements. He might as well have provided them for a squirrel or a magpie. The more drawers and closets there were, the more hiding-holes could Dinah make for the accommodation of old rags, hair-combs, old shoes, ribbons, cast-off artificial flowers, and other articles of _vertu_, wherein her soul delighted.
When Miss Ophelia entered the kitchen Dinah did not rise, but smoked on in sublime tranquillity, regarding her movements obliquely out of the corner of her eye, but apparently intent only on the operations around her.
Miss Ophelia commenced opening a set of drawers.
-- Toute espèce de choses, _missis_ ! » répondit la vieille Dinah.
“What is this drawer for, Dinah?” she said.
La réponse paraissait juste: il y avait de tout dans le tiroir. Miss Ophélia en retira d'abord une superbe nappe damassée, toute tachée de sang, qui avait évidemment servi à envelopper de la viande crue.
“It’s handy for most anything, Missis,” said Dinah. So it appeared to be. From the variety it contained, Miss Ophelia pulled out first a fine damask table-cloth stained with blood, having evidently been used to envelop some raw meat.
« Qu' est -ce cela, Dinah ? Vous n' enveloppez pas la viande dans le plus beau linge de table de votre maîtresse, j' imagine ?
“What’s this, Dinah? You don’t wrap up meat in your mistress’ best table-cloths?”
“O Lor, Missis, no; the towels was all a missin’—so I jest did it. I laid out to wash that a,—that’s why I put it thar.”
-- Étourdie ! » dit miss Ophélia en se parlant à elle-même, et elle continua à fureter dans le tiroir.... Elle y trouva une râpe et deux ou trois noix de muscade, un livre de cantiques méthodistes, des madras déchirés, de la laine, un tricot, du tabac, une pipe, des pétards, deux sauciers dorés et de la pommade dedans, de vieux souliers fins, un morceau de flanelle très soigneusement piqué, renfermant de petits oignons blancs, des nappes damassées et de grosses serviettes, des aiguilles à tricoter, et des enveloppes déchirées d' où s' échappaient de ces herbes odoriférantes, à qui le soleil du midi sait donner de si ardents parfums.
“Shif’less!” said Miss Ophelia to herself, proceeding to tumble over the drawer, where she found a nutmeg-grater and two or three nutmegs, a Methodist hymn-book, a couple of soiled Madras handkerchiefs, some yarn and knitting-work, a paper of tobacco and a pipe, a few crackers, one or two gilded china-saucers with some pomade in them, one or two thin old shoes, a piece of flannel carefully pinned up enclosing some small white onions, several damask table-napkins, some coarse crash towels, some twine and darning-needles, and several broken papers, from which sundry sweet herbs were sifting into the drawer.
“Where do you keep your nutmegs, Dinah?” said Miss Ophelia, with the air of one who prayed for patience.
“Most anywhar, Missis; there’s some in that cracked tea-cup, up there, and there’s some over in that ar cupboard.”
-- Il y en a aussi dans la râpe, dit miss Ophélia en les atteignant.
“Here are some in the grater,” said Miss Ophelia, holding them up.
“Laws, yes, I put ’em there this morning,—I likes to keep my things handy,” said Dinah. “You, Jake! what are you stopping for! You’ll cotch it! Be still, thar!” she added, with a dive of her stick at the criminal.
« Qu' est cela ? fit miss Ophélia, en atteignant le saucier plein de pommade.
“What’s this?” said Miss Ophelia, holding up the saucer of pomade.
“Laws, it’s my har _grease_;—I put it thar to have it handy.”
“Do you use your mistress’ best saucers for that?”
“Law! it was cause I was driv, and in sich a hurry;—I was gwine to change it this very day.”
--Voici du linge de table.
“Here are two damask table-napkins.”
“Them table-napkins I put thar, to get ’em washed out, some day.”
“Don’t you have some place here on purpose for things to be washed?”
“Well, Mas’r St. Clare got dat ar chest, he said, for dat; but I likes to mix up biscuit and hev my things on it some days, and then it an’t handy a liftin’ up the lid.”
--Et pourquoi pas sur cette table faite exprès?
“Why don’t you mix your biscuits on the pastry-table, there?”
“Law, Missis, it gets sot so full of dishes, and one thing and another, der an’t no room, noway—”
“But you should _wash_ your dishes, and clear them away.”
-- Laver ma vaisselle ! s' écria Dinah en prenant les notes aiguës; la colère lui faisait oublier la réserve habituelle de ses manières. Qu' est -ce que les dames connaissent à cela ? Je voudrais bien le savoir !... Quand m' sieu aurait -il son dîner, si je passais mon temps à nettoyer et à ranger les plats ? Jamais miss Marie ne me parle de cela !
“Wash my dishes!” said Dinah, in a high key, as her wrath began to rise over her habitual respect of manner; “what does ladies know ’bout work, I want to know? When ’d Mas’r ever get his dinner, if I vas to spend all my time a washin’ and a puttin’ up dishes? Miss Marie never telled me so, nohow.”
--Voici des oignons!
“Well, here are these onions.”
“Laws, yes!” said Dinah; “thar _is_ whar I put ’em, now. I couldn’t ’member. Them ’s particular onions I was a savin’ for dis yer very stew. I’d forgot they was in dat ar old flannel.”
Miss Ophélia souleva le papier aux herbes odoriférantes.
Miss Ophelia lifted out the sifting papers of sweet herbs.
“I wish Missis wouldn’t touch dem ar. I likes to keep my things where I knows whar to go to ’em,” said Dinah, rather decidedly.
“But you don’t want these holes in the papers.”
-- On prend plus aisément.
“Them ’s handy for siftin’ on ’t out,” said Dinah.
“But you see it spills all over the drawer.”
-- Sans doute.... si missis ravage tout ainsi !... C' est missis qui a tout éparpillé.... Et Dinah tout émue s' approcha du tiroir. Si missis voulait remonter au salon jusqu' à l' heure où je pourrai ranger.... je vais remettre de l' ordre, mais je ne puis rien faire quand les dames sont là sur mes épaules.... Voyons, Sam ! ne donnez donc pas le sucrier à cet enfant.... je vais vous arranger !
“Laws, yes! if Missis will go a tumblin’ things all up so, it will. Missis has spilt lots dat ar way,” said Dinah, coming uneasily to the drawers. “If Missis only will go up stars till my clarin’ up time comes, I’ll have everything right; but I can’t do nothin’ when ladies is round, a henderin’. You, Sam, don’t you gib the baby dat ar sugar-bowl! I’ll crack ye over, if ye don’t mind!”
“I’m going through the kitchen, and going to put everything in order, _once_, Dinah; and then I’ll expect you to _keep_ it so.”
-- Ah ! ciel ! miss Phélia, ce n' est pas aux dames à faire cela. Non, je n' ai jamais vu faire cela aux dames.... ni à ma vieille maîtresse, ni à miss Marie.... non ! » ~~~ Et Dinah, indignée, marchait à grands pas, tandis que miss Ophélia elle-même, de ses propres mains, rangeait, empilait, frottait, nettoyait, disposait, assortissait les objets, avec une rapidité dont Dinah était comme éblouie.
“Lor, now! Miss Phelia; dat ar an’t no way for ladies to do. I never did see ladies doin’ no sich; my old Missis nor Miss Marie never did, and I don’t see no kinder need on ’t;” and Dinah stalked indignantly about, while Miss Ophelia piled and sorted dishes, emptied dozens of scattering bowls of sugar into one receptacle, sorted napkins, table-cloths, and towels, for washing; washing, wiping, and arranging with her own hands, and with a speed and alacrity which perfectly amazed Dinah.
« Si c' est ainsi que font les dames du nord, ce ne sont pas des dames, fit -elle à quelques-unes de ses satellites, quand miss Ophélia ne put l' entendre. Je fais les choses aussi bien qu' une autre quand c' est l' heure de laver; mais je ne veux pas que les dames se mêlent de mes affaires et les mettent à des places où je ne pourrai pas les retrouver. »
“Lor now! if dat ar de way dem northern ladies do, dey an’t ladies, nohow,” she said to some of her satellites, when at a safe hearing distance. “I has things as straight as anybody, when my clarin’ up times comes; but I don’t want ladies round, a henderin’, and getting my things all where I can’t find ’em.”
Pour être juste envers Dinah, il faut bien dire qu' à certaines périodes assez régulières elle éprouvait comme un besoin d' ordre intérieur et d' arrangement: c' était ce qu' elle appelait ses grands jours. Alors elle bouleversait le tiroir de fond en comble, vidait les buffets sur la table ou par terre, et la confusion était alors sept fois plus confuse; puis elle allumait sa pipe pour surveiller à loisir ses opérations, se contentant de faire agir la jeune population, qui augmentait notamment le désordre et le trouble de toute chose. Tels étaient les grands jours de Dinah. Dinah s' imaginait qu' elle était l' ordre en personne, et que tout le dérangement venait des esclaves inférieurs. Quand donc les plats d' étain étaient bien écurés, la table blanche comme neige, et tout ce qui pouvait blesser la vue éloigné et caché, Dinah faisait un bout de toilette, mettait un tablier blanc, un turban de madras éclatant, puis elle faisait déguerpir tous nos jeunes drôles de la cuisine, pour tenir tout propre. Du reste, ce zèle périodique n' était pas sans inconvénients: Dinah concevait un tel amour pour l' étain écuré qu' elle ne voulait plus qu' on s' en servît sous aucun prétexte, jusqu' à ce que cette grande ardeur de propreté se fût naturellement refroidie.
To do Dinah justice, she had, at irregular periods, paroxyms of reformation and arrangement, which she called “clarin’ up times,” when she would begin with great zeal, and turn every drawer and closet wrong side outward, on to the floor or tables, and make the ordinary confusion seven-fold more confounded. Then she would light her pipe, and leisurely go over her arrangements, looking things over, and discoursing upon them; making all the young fry scour most vigorously on the tin things, and keeping up for several hours a most energetic state of confusion, which she would explain to the satisfaction of all inquirers, by the remark that she was a “clarin’ up.” “She couldn’t hev things a gwine on so as they had been, and she was gwine to make these yer young ones keep better order;” for Dinah herself, somehow, indulged the illusion that she, herself, was the soul of order, and it was only the _young uns_, and the everybody else in the house, that were the cause of anything that fell short of perfection in this respect. When all the tins were scoured, and the tables scrubbed snowy white, and everything that could offend tucked out of sight in holes and corners, Dinah would dress herself up in a smart dress, clean apron, and high, brilliant Madras turban, and tell all marauding “young uns” to keep out of the kitchen, for she was gwine to have things kept nice. Indeed, these periodic seasons were often an inconvenience to the whole household; for Dinah would contract such an immoderate attachment to her scoured tin, as to insist upon it that it shouldn’t be used again for any possible purpose,—at least, till the ardor of the “clarin’ up” period abated.
Miss Ophelia, in a few days, thoroughly reformed every department of the house to a systematic pattern; but her labors in all departments that depended on the cooperation of servants were like those of Sisyphus or the Danaides. In despair, she one day appealed to St. Clare.
“There is no such thing as getting anything like a system in this family!”
-- C' est bien vrai.
“To be sure, there isn’t,” said St. Clare.
“Such shiftless management, such waste, such confusion, I never saw!”
-- J' en conviens.
“I dare say you didn’t.”
“You would not take it so coolly, if you were housekeeper.”
-- Chère cousine, comprenez donc une fois pour toutes que, nous autres maîtres, nous sommes divisés en deux classes, les oppresseurs et les opprimés. Nous qui sommes bons et qui détestons d' être sévères, nous nous soumettons à une foule d' inconvénients. Puisque nous voulons entretenir une bande de sacripants dans nos maisons, il faut que nous en subissions les conséquences. Il est bien rare, et il faut pour cela un tact tout particulier, il est bien rare que l' on puisse obtenir l' ordre sans la sévérité. Je n' ai pas ce talent -là; aussi voilà longtemps que je me résigne à laisser aller les choses comme elles vont. Je ne voudrais pas faire fouetter et déchirer ces pauvres diables.... Ils le savent bien.... et peut-être qu' ils en abusent.
“My dear cousin, you may as well understand, once for all, that we masters are divided into two classes, oppressors and oppressed. We who are good-natured and hate severity make up our minds to a good deal of inconvenience. If we _will keep_ a shambling, loose, untaught set in the community, for our convenience, why, we must take the consequence. Some rare cases I have seen, of persons, who, by a peculiar tact, can produce order and system without severity; but I’m not one of them,—and so I made up my mind, long ago, to let things go just as they do. I will not have the poor devils thrashed and cut to pieces, and they know it,—and, of course, they know the staff is in their own hands.”
“But to have no time, no place, no order,—all going on in this shiftless way!”
-- Ma chère Vermont, vous autres gens du pôle nord, vous faites du temps un cas vraiment ridicule. Qu' est -ce que le temps, je vous prie, pour un homme qui en a deux fois plus qu' il n' en peut employer ? Quant à l' ordre, à la régularité, lorsqu' on n' a rien à faire qu' à s' étendre sur un sofa, qu' importe que le déjeuner ou le dîner soit prêt une heure plus tôt ou une heure plus tard ? Dinah nous compose de vrais festins, potages, ragoûts, rôti, dessert, crème à la glace, et tout ! Elle crée tout cela du chaos et de l' antique nuit ! C' est sublime, voyez -vous ! mais que le ciel nous bénisse si jamais nous nous avisons de descendre dans la cuisine et de voir les préparatifs.... nous n' oserions plus goûter de rien ! Ma bonne cousine, épargnez -vous ce souci; ce serait pire qu' une pénitence catholique[16 ], et tout aussi inutile. Vous y perdriez votre sérénité d' âme, et vous feriez perdre la tête à Dinah. Qu' elle aille son train ! ~~~ [ 16 ] Mrs Beecher est la femme d' un ministre protestant.
“My dear Vermont, you natives up by the North Pole set an extravagant value on time! What on earth is the use of time to a fellow who has twice as much of it as he knows what to do with? As to order and system, where there is nothing to be done but to lounge on the sofa and read, an hour sooner or later in breakfast or dinner isn’t of much account. Now, there’s Dinah gets you a capital dinner,—soup, ragout, roast fowl, dessert, ice-creams and all,—and she creates it all out of chaos and old night down there, in that kitchen. I think it really sublime, the way she manages. But, Heaven bless us! if we are to go down there, and view all the smoking and squatting about, and hurryscurryation of the preparatory process, we should never eat more! My good cousin, absolve yourself from that! It’s more than a Catholic penance, and does no more good. You’ll only lose your own temper, and utterly confound Dinah. Let her go her own way.”
“But, Augustine, you don’t know how I found things.”
-- Vous croyez ! Est -ce que je ne sais pas que le rouleau à pâtisserie est sous son lit... la râpe dans sa poche avec son tabac ? qu' il y a soixante-cinq sucriers dans autant de trous différents.... qu' elle essuie sa vaisselle un jour avec du linge de table, et le lendemain avec un morceau de sa vieille jupe ?... Mais la merveille, c' est qu' elle me fait des dîners superbes, et du café.... quel café ! Il faut la juger comme les généraux et les hommes d' État... sur le succès !
“Don’t I? Don’t I know that the rolling-pin is under her bed, and the nutmeg-grater in her pocket with her tobacco,—that there are sixty-five different sugar-bowls, one in every hole in the house,—that she washes dishes with a dinner-napkin one day, and with a fragment of an old petticoat the next? But the upshot is, she gets up glorious dinners, makes superb coffee; and you must judge her as warriors and statesmen are judged, _by her success_.”
--Mais le gaspillage! la dépense!
“But the waste,—the expense!”
“O, well! Lock everything you can, and keep the key. Give out by driblets, and never inquire for odds and ends,—it isn’t best.”
“That troubles me, Augustine. I can’t help feeling as if these servants were not _strictly honest_. Are you sure they can be relied on?”
Augustine laughed immoderately at the grave and anxious face with which Miss Ophelia propounded the question.
“O, cousin, that’s too good,—_honest!_—as if that’s a thing to be expected! Honest!—why, of course, they arn’t. Why should they be? What upon earth is to make them so?”
-- Pourquoi ne les instruisez -vous pas ?
“Why don’t you instruct?”
“Instruct! O, fiddlestick! What instructing do you think I should do? I look like it! As to Marie, she has spirit enough, to be sure, to kill off a whole plantation, if I’d let her manage; but she wouldn’t get the cheatery out of them.”
-- N' y en a -t-il point quelques-uns d' honnêtes ?...
“Are there no honest ones?”
-- Oui vraiment; de temps en temps la nature s' amuse à en faire un, si simple, si naïf, si fidèle, que les plus détestables influences n' y peuvent rien ! Mais, voyez -vous, depuis le sein de leur mère les enfants de couleur comprennent qu' ils ne peuvent arriver que par des voies clandestines. Il n' y a que ce moyen -là, avec les parents, avec les maîtres et les enfants des maîtres, compagnons de leurs jeux ! La ruse, le mensonge, deviennent des habitudes nécessaires, inévitables. On ne peut attendre rien autre chose de l' esclave; il ne faut même pas le punir pour cela. On le retient dans une sorte de demi-enfance qui l' empêche toujours de comprendre que le bien de son maître n' est pas à lui.... s' il peut le prendre.... Pour ma part, je ne vois pas comment les esclaves pourraient être probes.... Un individu comme Tom me semble un miracle moral.
“Well, now and then one, whom Nature makes so impracticably simple, truthful and faithful, that the worst possible influence can’t destroy it. But, you see, from the mother’s breast the colored child feels and sees that there are none but underhand ways open to it. It can get along no other way with its parents, its mistress, its young master and missie play-fellows. Cunning and deception become necessary, inevitable habits. It isn’t fair to expect anything else of him. He ought not to be punished for it. As to honesty, the slave is kept in that dependent, semi-childish state, that there is no making him realize the rights of property, or feel that his master’s goods are not his own, if he can get them. For my part, I don’t see how they _can_ be honest. Such a fellow as Tom, here, is,—is a moral miracle!”
-- Et qu' advient -il de leur âme ?
“And what becomes of their souls?” said Miss Ophelia.
“That isn’t my affair, as I know of,” said St. Clare; “I am only dealing in facts of the present life. The fact is, that the whole race are pretty generally understood to be turned over to the devil, for our benefit, in this world, however it may turn out in another!”
“This is perfectly horrible!” said Miss Ophelia; “you ought to be ashamed of yourselves!”
-- Je ne sais trop ! nous sommes en bonne compagnie.... Je suis la grande route. Voyez en haut et en bas, partout, c' est la même histoire. La classe inférieure est sacrifiée à l' autre, corps et âme. Il en est de même en Angleterre et partout; et cependant toute la chrétienté se dresse contre nous et s' indigne, parce que nous faisons la même chose qu' elle, mais pas tout à fait de la même manière.
“I don’t know as I am. We are in pretty good company, for all that,” said St. Clare, “as people in the broad road generally are. Look at the high and the low, all the world over, and it’s the same story,—the lower class used up, body, soul and spirit, for the good of the upper. It is so in England; it is so everywhere; and yet all Christendom stands aghast, with virtuous indignation, because we do the thing in a little different shape from what they do it.”
-- Il n' en est pas ainsi dans le Vermont.
“It isn’t so in Vermont.”
“Ah, well, in New England, and in the free States, you have the better of us, I grant. But there’s the bell; so, Cousin, let us for a while lay aside our sectional prejudices, and come out to dinner.”
Vers le soir, miss Ophélia se trouvait dans la cuisine. Un des négrillons s' écria: « Voici venir la mère Prue, grommelant, comme toujours.... »
As Miss Ophelia was in the kitchen in the latter part of the afternoon, some of the sable children called out, “La, sakes! thar’s Prue a coming, grunting along like she allers does.”
Une femme de couleur, grande, osseuse, entra dans la cuisine, portant sur la tête un panier de biscottes et de petits pains chauds.
A tall, bony colored woman now entered the kitchen, bearing on her head a basket of rusks and hot rolls.
« Eh bien ! Prue, vous voilà ! » dit la cuisinière.
“Ho, Prue! you’ve come,” said Dinah.
Prue had a peculiar scowling expression of countenance, and a sullen, grumbling voice. She set down her basket, squatted herself down, and resting her elbows on her knees said,
“O Lord! I wish’t I ’s dead!”
“Why do you wish you were dead?” said Miss Ophelia.
“I’d be out o’ my misery,” said the woman, gruffly, without taking her eyes from the floor.
“What need you getting drunk, then, and cutting up, Prue?” said a spruce quadroon chambermaid, dangling, as she spoke, a pair of coral ear-drops.
Prue lui jeta un regard sombre et farouche.
The woman looked at her with a sour surly glance.
“Maybe you’ll come to it, one of these yer days. I’d be glad to see you, I would; then you’ll be glad of a drop, like me, to forget your misery.”
“Come, Prue,” said Dinah, “let’s look at your rusks. Here’s Missis will pay for them.”
Miss Ophélia en prit deux douzaines.
Miss Ophelia took out a couple of dozen.
“Thar’s some tickets in that ar old cracked jug on the top shelf,” said Dinah. “You, Jake, climb up and get it down.”
“Tickets,—what are they for?” said Miss Ophelia.
“We buy tickets of her Mas’r, and she gives us bread for ’em.”
“And they counts my money and tickets, when I gets home, to see if I ’s got the change; and if I han’t, they half kills me.”
“And serves you right,” said Jane, the pert chambermaid, “if you will take their money to get drunk on. That’s what she does, Missis.”
“And that’s what I _will_ do,—I can’t live no other ways,—drink and forget my misery.”
“You are very wicked and very foolish,” said Miss Ophelia, “to steal your master’s money to make yourself a brute with.”
-- J' en conviens; mais je le ferai encore, je le ferai toujours ! Je voudrais être morte et délivrée de tous mes maux ! » Et lentement et péniblement la vieille femme se releva et remit le panier sur sa tête; mais, avant de sortir, elle regarda encore une fois la femme de chambre, qui jouait toujours avec ses pendants d' oreilles.
“It’s mighty likely, Missis; but I will do it,—yes, I will. O Lord! I wish I ’s dead, I do,—I wish I ’s dead, and out of my misery!” and slowly and stiffly the old creature rose, and got her basket on her head again; but before she went out, she looked at the quadroon girl, who still stood playing with her ear-drops.
« Vous croyez que vous êtes bien belle, avec ces colifichets ? vous remuez la tête et vous regardez le monde du haut en bas.... Bien, bien ! vous serez un jour une pauvre vieille créature comme moi, j' espère bien; et vous verrez alors si vous ne voulez pas boire, boire, boire ! Gardez -vous bien, en attendant ! Hue !... Et elle sortit en poussant un ricanement sauvage !
“Ye think ye’re mighty fine with them ar, a frolickin’ and a tossin’ your head, and a lookin’ down on everybody. Well, never mind,—you may live to be a poor, old, cut-up crittur, like me. Hope to the Lord ye will, I do; then see if ye won’t drink,—drink,—drink,—yerself into torment; and sarve ye right, too—ugh!” and, with a malignant howl, the woman left the room.
“Disgusting old beast!” said Adolph, who was getting his master’s shaving-water. “If I was her master, I’d cut her up worse than she is.”
“Ye couldn’t do that ar, no ways,” said Dinah. “Her back’s a far sight now,—she can’t never get a dress together over it.”
“I think such low creatures ought not to be allowed to go round to genteel families,” said Miss Jane. “What do you think, Mr. St. Clare?” she said, coquettishly tossing her head at Adolph.
It must be observed that, among other appropriations from his master’s stock, Adolph was in the habit of adopting his name and address; and that the style under which he moved, among the colored circles of New Orleans, was that of _Mr. St. Clare_.
“I’m certainly of your opinion, Miss Benoir,” said Adolph. ~~~ Benoir was the name of Marie St. Clare’s family, and Jane was one of her servants.
“Pray, Miss Benoir, may I be allowed to ask if those drops are for the ball, tomorrow night? They are certainly bewitching!”
“I wonder, now, Mr. St. Clare, what the impudence of you men will come to!” said Jane, tossing her pretty head ’til the ear-drops twinkled again. “I shan’t dance with you for a whole evening, if you go to asking me any more questions.”
“O, you couldn’t be so cruel, now! I was just dying to know whether you would appear in your pink tarletane,” said Adolph.
-- Qu' est -ce ? fit Rosa, vive et piquante quarteronne qui descendait en ce moment.
“What is it?” said Rosa, a bright, piquant little quadroon who came skipping down stairs at this moment.
-- Ah ! M. Saint-Clare est si impertinent !
“Why, Mr. St. Clare’s so impudent!”
“On my honor,” said Adolph, “I’ll leave it to Miss Rosa now.”
“I know he’s always a saucy creature,” said Rosa, poising herself on one of her little feet, and looking maliciously at Adolph. “He’s always getting me so angry with him.”
“O! ladies, ladies, you will certainly break my heart, between you,” said Adolph. “I shall be found dead in my bed, some morning, and you’ll have it to answer for.”
“Do hear the horrid creature talk!” said both ladies, laughing immoderately.
“Come,—clar out, you! I can’t have you cluttering up the kitchen,” said Dinah; “in my way, foolin’ round here.”
“Aunt Dinah’s glum, because she can’t go to the ball,” said Rosa.
“Don’t want none o’ your light-colored balls,” said Dinah; “cuttin’ round, makin’ b’lieve you’s white folks. Arter all, you’s niggers, much as I am.”
“Aunt Dinah greases her wool stiff, every day, to make it lie straight,” said Jane.
“And it will be wool, after all,” said Rosa, maliciously shaking down her long, silky curls.
“Well, in the Lord’s sight, an’t wool as good as har, any time?” said Dinah. “I’d like to have Missis say which is worth the most,—a couple such as you, or one like me. Get out wid ye, ye trumpery,—I won’t have ye round!”
Here the conversation was interrupted in a two-fold manner. St. Clare’s voice was heard at the head of the stairs, asking Adolph if he meant to stay all night with his shaving-water; and Miss Ophelia, coming out of the dining-room, said,
« Eh bien ! Jane, Rosa, pourquoi perdez -vous votre temps ici ? Rentrez, et à vos mousselines ! »
“Jane and Rosa, what are you wasting your time for, here? Go in and attend to your muslins.”
Cependant Tom, qui s' était trouvé dans la cuisine pendant la conversation avec la vieille Prue, la suivit jusque dans la rue; il la vit s' en aller en poussant, par intervalle, un gémissement étouffé.... Enfin, elle posa le panier sur le pas d' une porte et arrangea son vieux châle sur ses épaules.
Our friend Tom, who had been in the kitchen during the conversation with the old rusk-woman, had followed her out into the street. He saw her go on, giving every once in a while a suppressed groan. At last she set her basket down on a doorstep, and began arranging the old, faded shawl which covered her shoulders.
“I’ll carry your basket a piece,” said Tom, compassionately.
“Why should ye?” said the woman. “I don’t want no help.”
“You seem to be sick, or in trouble, or somethin’,” said Tom.
“I an’t sick,” said the woman, shortly.
“I wish,” said Tom, looking at her earnestly,—“I wish I could persuade you to leave off drinking. Don’t you know it will be the ruin of ye, body and soul?”
“I knows I’m gwine to torment,” said the woman, sullenly. “Ye don’t need to tell me that ar. I ’s ugly, I ’s wicked,—I ’s gwine straight to torment. O, Lord! I wish I ’s thar!”
Tom ne put s' empêcher de frissonner en entendant ces terribles paroles, prononcées avec la colère sombre du désespoir.
Tom shuddered at these frightful words, spoken with a sullen, impassioned earnestness.
“O, Lord have mercy on ye! poor crittur. Han’t ye never heard of Jesus Christ?”
“Jesus Christ,—who’s he?”
-- C' est le Seigneur !
“Why, he’s _the Lord_,” said Tom.
“I think I’ve hearn tell o’ the Lord, and the judgment and torment. I’ve heard o’ that.”
“But didn’t anybody ever tell you of the Lord Jesus, that loved us poor sinners, and died for us?”
“Don’t know nothin’ ’bout that,” said the woman; “nobody han’t never loved me, since my old man died.”
“Where was you raised?” said Tom.
“Up in Kentuck. A man kept me to breed chil’en for market, and sold ’em as fast as they got big enough; last of all, he sold me to a speculator, and my Mas’r got me o’ him.”
“What set you into this bad way of drinkin’?”
-- Le besoin d' oublier ma misère ! J' ai eu un enfant après être arrivée ici. J' espérais qu' on me le laisserait élever, parce que mon maître n' était pas un spéculateur. Ma maîtresse l' aimait bien d'abord.... C' était le plus charmant petit être ! Il ne criait jamais. Il était beau et gras. Mais ma maîtresse devint malade. Je la veillai. Je pris la fièvre.... Mon lait me quitta. L' enfant n' avait plus que la peau et les os. Ma maîtresse ne voulut pas acheter de lait pour lui. Elle disait que je pouvais le nourrir de ce que les autres gens mangeaient.... L' enfant criait et pleurait jour et nuit. Madame se mit en colère contre lui; elle disait qu' il était insupportable; qu' elle voudrait qu' il fût mort.... Elle ajoutait qu' elle ne me le laisserait pas la nuit, parce qu' il m' empêchait de dormir, et qu' ensuite je n' étais plus bonne à rien. Elle me fit coucher dans sa chambre. Je dus écarter l' enfant, le mettre dans une sorte de petit grenier.... et là, une nuit, il pleura.... jusqu' à mourir. Et moi, je me suis mise à boire pour m' ôter ces cris de l' oreille.... et je boirai !... oui, quand je devrais aller en enfer après ! Mon maître me dit que j' irai un jour en enfer; et je lui réponds que j' y suis déjà.
“To get shet o’ my misery. I had one child after I come here; and I thought then I’d have one to raise, cause Mas’r wasn’t a speculator. It was de peartest little thing! and Missis she seemed to think a heap on ’t, at first; it never cried,—it was likely and fat. But Missis tuck sick, and I tended her; and I tuck the fever, and my milk all left me, and the child it pined to skin and bone, and Missis wouldn’t buy milk for it. She wouldn’t hear to me, when I telled her I hadn’t milk. She said she knowed I could feed it on what other folks eat; and the child kinder pined, and cried, and cried, and cried, day and night, and got all gone to skin and bones, and Missis got sot agin it and she said ’t wan’t nothin’ but crossness. She wished it was dead, she said; and she wouldn’t let me have it o’ nights, cause, she said, it kept me awake, and made me good for nothing. She made me sleep in her room; and I had to put it away off in a little kind o’ garret, and thar it cried itself to death, one night. It did; and I tuck to drinkin’, to keep its crying out of my ears! I did,—and I will drink! I will, if I do go to torment for it! Mas’r says I shall go to torment, and I tell him I’ve got thar now!”
“O, ye poor crittur!” said Tom, “han’t nobody never telled ye how the Lord Jesus loved ye, and died for ye? Han’t they telled ye that he’ll help ye, and ye can go to heaven, and have rest, at last?”
-- Oui, je pense quelquefois à aller au ciel.... Est -ce que les blancs n' y vont pas, hein ?... Ils me prendraient encore ! J' aime mieux l' enfer loin de mon maître et de ma maîtresse; oui, j' aime mieux ça !... » ~~~ Et poussant son gémissement accoutumé, elle remit le panier sur sa tête et s' éloigna lentement.
“I looks like gwine to heaven,” said the woman; “an’t thar where white folks is gwine? S’pose they’d have me thar? I’d rather go to torment, and get away from Mas’r and Missis. I had _so_,” she said, as with her usual groan, she got her basket on her head, and walked sullenly away.
Tom turned, and walked sorrowfully back to the house. In the court he met little Eva,—a crown of tuberoses on her head, and her eyes radiant with delight.
“O, Tom! here you are. I’m glad I’ve found you. Papa says you may get out the ponies, and take me in my little new carriage,” she said, catching his hand. “But what’s the matter Tom?—you look sober.”
“I feel bad, Miss Eva,” said Tom, sorrowfully. “But I’ll get the horses for you.”
“But do tell me, Tom, what is the matter. I saw you talking to cross old Prue.”
Tom, avec simplicité, mais avec émotion, raconta à la petite Évangéline toute l' histoire de la pauvre femme. Évangéline ne se récria pas, ne pleura pas, comme eussent fait d' autres enfants; mais ses joues devinrent pâles, un nuage sombre passa sur ses yeux. Elle mit ses deux mains sur sa poitrine et poussa un profond soupir.
Tom, in simple, earnest phrase, told Eva the woman’s history. She did not exclaim or wonder, or weep, as other children do. Her cheeks grew pale, and a deep, earnest shadow passed over her eyes. She laid both hands on her bosom, and sighed heavily.
CHAPITRE XIX.
VOLUME II
Où l' on parle encore des expériences et des opinions de miss Ophélia.
CHAPTER XIX Miss Ophelia’s Experiences and Opinions Continued
“Tom, you needn’t get me the horses. I don’t want to go,” she said.
“Why not, Miss Eva?”
“These things sink into my heart, Tom,” said Eva,—“they sink into my heart,” she repeated, earnestly. “I don’t want to go;” and she turned from Tom, and went into the house.
A few days after, another woman came, in old Prue’s place, to bring the rusks; Miss Ophelia was in the kitchen.
“Lor!” said Dinah, “what’s got Prue?”
“Prue isn’t coming any more,” said the woman, mysteriously.
-- Pourquoi donc ? Elle n' est pas morte ?
“Why not?” said Dinah, “she an’t dead, is she?”
“We doesn’t exactly know. She’s down cellar,” said the woman, glancing at Miss Ophelia.
After Miss Ophelia had taken the rusks, Dinah followed the woman to the door.
“What _has_ got Prue, any how?” she said.
The woman seemed desirous, yet reluctant, to speak, and answered, in low, mysterious tone.
“Well, you mustn’t tell nobody, Prue, she got drunk agin,—and they had her down cellar,—and thar they left her all day,—and I hearn ’em saying that the _flies had got to her_,—and _she’s dead_!”
Dinah held up her hands, and, turning, saw close by her side the spirit-like form of Evangeline, her large, mystic eyes dilated with horror, and every drop of blood driven from her lips and cheeks.
“Lor bless us! Miss Eva’s gwine to faint away! What go us all, to let her har such talk? Her pa’ll be rail mad.”
“I shan’t faint, Dinah,” said the child, firmly; “and why shouldn’t I hear it? It an’t so much for me to hear it, as for poor Prue to suffer it.”
“_Lor sakes_! it isn’t for sweet, delicate young ladies, like you,—these yer stories isn’t; it’s enough to kill ’em!”
Eva sighed again, and walked up stairs with a slow and melancholy step.
Miss Ophelia anxiously inquired the woman’s story. Dinah gave a very garrulous version of it, to which Tom added the particulars which he had drawn from her that morning.
“An abominable business,—perfectly horrible!” she exclaimed, as she entered the room where St. Clare lay reading his paper.
--Quelle nouvelle iniquité?
“Pray, what iniquity has turned up now?” said he.
-- Quoi ! ils ont fouetté la vieille Prue jusqu' à la mort ! » ~~~ Et miss Ophélia raconta l' histoire, s' appesantissant sur les circonstances les plus navrantes.
“What now? why, those folks have whipped Prue to death!” said Miss Ophelia, going on, with great strength of detail, into the story, and enlarging on its most shocking particulars.
“I thought it would come to that, some time,” said St. Clare, going on with his paper.
“Thought so!—an’t you going to _do_ anything about it?” said Miss Ophelia. “Haven’t you got any _selectmen_, or anybody, to interfere and look after such matters?”
“It’s commonly supposed that the _property_ interest is a sufficient guard in these cases. If people choose to ruin their own possessions, I don’t know what’s to be done. It seems the poor creature was a thief and a drunkard; and so there won’t be much hope to get up sympathy for her.”
“It is perfectly outrageous,—it is horrid, Augustine! It will certainly bring down vengeance upon you.”
-- Ma chère cousine, ce n' est pas moi qui l' ai fait et je ne pouvais l' empêcher.... Je l' aurais empêché si je l' avais pu. Que des misérables sans coeur, pleins de brutalité, agissent cruellement.... que puis -je à cela ? Ils sont absolus, irresponsables.... Ils n' ont aucun contrôle à subir. L' intervention serait inutile. Il n' y a pas de loi efficace en pareil cas. Ce que nous avons de mieux à faire, c' est de fermer les yeux et les oreilles et de laisser aller les choses !... Nous n' avons pas d' autre ressource.
“My dear cousin, I didn’t do it, and I can’t help it; I would, if I could. If low-minded, brutal people will act like themselves, what am I to do? they have absolute control; they are irresponsible despots. There would be no use in interfering; there is no law that amounts to anything practically, for such a case. The best we can do is to shut our eyes and ears, and let it alone. It’s the only resource left us.”
“How can you shut your eyes and ears? How can you let such things alone?”
-- Ma chère enfant, que voulez -vous ? Voici une classe tout entière avilie, sans éducation, insolente, provocante.... Elle est livrée entièrement, sans conditions, à des gens comme ceux qui font la majorité dans ce monde, à des gens qui n' ont à redouter aucun contrôle, et qui ne sont même pas assez éclairés pour connaître leurs véritables intérêts.... C' est là le cas, soyez -en sûre, de plus de la moitié du genre humain ! Eh bien ! dans une société ainsi organisée, que peut faire un homme dont les sentiments sont nobles et humains ?... Que peut -il ? sinon fermer les yeux et s' endurcir le coeur ! Je ne puis pas acheter tous les malheureux que je vois; je ne puis pas me faire chevalier errant et redresser tous les torts dans une ville comme celle -ci. Tout ce que je puis faire, c' est d' essayer de ne pas marcher moi-même dans cette voie. »
“My dear child, what do you expect? Here is a whole class,—debased, uneducated, indolent, provoking,—put, without any sort of terms or conditions, entirely into the hands of such people as the majority in our world are; people who have neither consideration nor self-control, who haven’t even an enlightened regard to their own interest,—for that’s the case with the largest half of mankind. Of course, in a community so organized, what can a man of honorable and humane feelings do, but shut his eyes all he can, and harden his heart? I can’t buy every poor wretch I see. I can’t turn knight-errant, and undertake to redress every individual case of wrong in such a city as this. The most I can do is to try and keep out of the way of it.”
St. Clare’s fine countenance was for a moment overcast; he said,
« Allons, cousine, ne restez pas là debout comme une fée. Vous avez regardé à travers le trou du rideau, voilà tout; ce n' est là qu' un échantillon de ce qui se passe dans le monde, d' une façon ou d' une autre. Si nous examinions tous les malheurs de cette vie, nous n' aurions plus de coeur à rien. C' est comme la cuisine de Dinah. » ~~~ Et, s' étendant sur un canapé, Saint-Clare reprit son journal.
“Come, cousin, don’t stand there looking like one of the Fates; you’ve only seen a peep through the curtain,—a specimen of what is going on, the world over, in some shape or other. If we are to be prying and spying into all the dismals of life, we should have no heart to anything. ’T is like looking too close into the details of Dinah’s kitchen;” and St. Clare lay back on the sofa, and busied himself with his paper.
Miss Ophélia s' assit, tira son tricot, prit une contenance sévère, et tricota, tricota, tricota ! Cependant le feu couvait en silence. Bientôt il éclata. ~~~ « Tenez, Augustin, vous pouvez peut-être prendre votre parti là-dessus. Moi, je ne le puis pas ! C' est abominable à vous de défendre un tel système. Voilà mon opinion !
Miss Ophelia sat down, and pulled out her knitting-work, and sat there grim with indignation. She knit and knit, but while she mused the fire burned; at last she broke out—“I tell you, Augustine, I can’t get over things so, if you can. It’s a perfect abomination for you to defend such a system,—that’s _my_ mind!”
“What now?” said St. Clare, looking up. “At it again, hey?”
“I say it’s perfectly abominable for you to defend such a system!” said Miss Ophelia, with increasing warmth.
“_I_ defend it, my dear lady? Who ever said I did defend it?” said St. Clare.
“Of course, you defend it,—you all do,—all you Southerners. What do you have slaves for, if you don’t?”
“Are you such a sweet innocent as to suppose nobody in this world ever does what they don’t think is right? Don’t you, or didn’t you ever, do anything that you did not think quite right?”
“If I do, I repent of it, I hope,” said Miss Ophelia, rattling her needles with energy.
“So do I,” said St. Clare, peeling his orange; “I’m repenting of it all the time.”
-- Pourquoi continuez -vous, alors ?
“What do you keep on doing it for?”
“Didn’t you ever keep on doing wrong, after you’d repented, my good cousin?”
“Well, only when I’ve been very much tempted,” said Miss Ophelia.
“Well, I’m very much tempted,” said St. Clare; “that’s just my difficulty.”
-- Moi, du moins, je prenais la résolution de ne plus recommencer et de rompre l' habitude.
“But I always resolve I won’t and I try to break off.”
“Well, I have been resolving I won’t, off and on, these ten years,” said St. Clare; “but I haven’t, some how, got clear. Have you got clear of all your sins, cousin?”
-- Augustin, dit Ophélia d' un ton sérieux en déposant son ouvrage, je mérite que vous me reprochiez mes écarts, je reconnais que tout ce que vous dites est vrai.... personne ne le sent plus vivement que moi ! mais il me semble après tout qu' il y a quelque différence entre vous et moi. J' aimerais mieux me couper la main droite que de persévérer dans une conduite que je croirais mauvaise... Mais cependant mes actions sont si peu d'accord avec mes paroles, que je comprends bien que vous me blâmiez !
“Cousin Augustine,” said Miss Ophelia, seriously, and laying down her knitting-work, “I suppose I deserve that you should reprove my short-comings. I know all you say is true enough; nobody else feels them more than I do; but it does seem to me, after all, there is some difference between me and you. It seems to me I would cut off my right hand sooner than keep on, from day to day, doing what I thought was wrong. But, then, my conduct is so inconsistent with my profession, I don’t wonder you reprove me.”
-- Allons, cousine, dit Augustin, s' asseyant par terre à ses pieds et posant sa tête sur ses genoux, ne prenez pas un air si terriblement sérieux. Vous savez que je n' ai jamais été qu' un propre à rien, un rien qui vaille; j' aime à plaisanter un peu avec vous, et voilà tout.... pour vous faire mettre un peu en colère; mais je pense que vous êtes bonne.... Faire le malheur, le désespoir des gens, rien que d' y penser.... cela me fatigue à mourir !
“O, now, cousin,” said Augustine, sitting down on the floor, and laying his head back in her lap, “don’t take on so awfully serious! You know what a good-for-nothing, saucy boy I always was. I love to poke you up,—that’s all,—just to see you get earnest. I do think you are desperately, distressingly good; it tires me to death to think of it.”
“But this is a serious subject, my boy, Auguste,” said Miss Ophelia, laying her hand on his forehead.
-- Bien trop grave, dit -il, et je n' aime pas les sujets graves quand il fait chaud. Avec les moustiques et tout le reste, il est impossible d' atteindre à la sublimité de la morale.... Et se relevant tout à coup: C' est une idée cela, dit -il, et une théorie ! Je comprends maintenant pourquoi les nations du nord ont toujours été plus vertueuses que celles du midi. Je pénètre au coeur du sujet.
“Dismally so,” said he; “and I—well, I never want to talk seriously in hot weather. What with mosquitos and all, a fellow can’t get himself up to any very sublime moral flights; and I believe,” said St. Clare, suddenly rousing himself up, “there’s a theory, now! I understand now why northern nations are always more virtuous than southern ones,—I see into that whole subject.”
--Auguste, vous serez toujours un écervelé.
“O, Augustine, you are a sad rattle-brain!”
-- En vérité ? au fait, cela se peut bien ! Mais je veux être sérieux au moins une fois; donnez -moi ce panier d' oranges. Vous allez _me récompenser avec des flacons et me réconforter avec des pommes_, si je fais cet effort. Et maintenant, dit -il, en attirant à lui le panier, je commence. Si, par l' effet des événements humains, il arrive qu' il soit nécessaire à un individu de retenir en captivité deux ou trois douzaines de ses semblables, un coup d' oeil jeté sur la société....
“Am I? Well, so I am, I suppose; but for once I will be serious, now; but you must hand me that basket of oranges;—you see, you’ll have to ‘stay me with flagons and comfort me with apples,’ if I’m going to make this effort. Now,” said Augustine, drawing the basket up, “I’ll begin: When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a fellow to hold two or three dozen of his fellow-worms in captivity, a decent regard to the opinions of society requires—”
“I don’t see that you are growing more serious,” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Attendez.... j' arrive.... vous allez voir.... m' y voici.... dit -il; et son beau visage prit tout à coup une expression sérieuse et passionnée. Sur la question de l' esclavage, il ne peut y avoir qu' une opinion. Les planteurs qui profitent de l' esclavage, les ministres qui veulent plaire aux planteurs, les politiques qui veulent gouverner, peuvent asservir le langage et assouplir l' éloquence de manière à étonner le monde; ils peuvent torturer la nature et la Bible, et je ne sais quoi encore: mais ni eux ni le monde n' y croient davantage. L' esclavage vient du diable, voilà ! et c' est un assez bel échantillon de ce qu' il peut faire dans sa partie. »
“Wait,—I’m coming on,—you’ll hear. The short of the matter is, cousin,” said he, his handsome face suddenly settling into an earnest and serious expression, “on this abstract question of slavery there can, as I think, be but one opinion. Planters, who have money to make by it,—clergymen, who have planters to please,—politicians, who want to rule by it,—may warp and bend language and ethics to a degree that shall astonish the world at their ingenuity; they can press nature and the Bible, and nobody knows what else, into the service; but, after all, neither they nor the world believe in it one particle the more. It comes from the devil, that’s the short of it;—and, to my mind, it’s a pretty respectable specimen of what he can do in his own line.”
Miss Ophelia stopped her knitting, and looked surprised, and St. Clare, apparently enjoying her astonishment, went on.
« Vous semblez soupirer ! Mais écoutez, que je vous parle net. Cette maudite institution, oui, maudite de Dieu et des hommes, quelle est -elle ? Dépouillez -la de ses ornements, soumettez -la à l' analyse.... voyez -la au fond ! Quelle est -elle ? Quoi ! parce que mon frère noir est ignorant et faible, et que je suis instruit et fort, parce que je sais et que je puis, j' ai le droit de le dépouiller de ce qu' il a et de ne lui donner que ce qu' il plaît à mon caprice ! Ce qui est trop pénible, trop dur, trop dégoûtant pour moi, je vais dire au noir de le faire ! Je n' aime pas à travailler, le noir travaillera ! Le soleil me brûle, le noir restera au soleil ! Le noir gagnera l' argent, et je le dépenserai; le noir s' enfoncera dans le marécage pour que je puisse marcher à pied sec; le noir fera ma volonté et pas la sienne, tous les jours de sa vie mortelle.... et il n' aura d' autre chance de gagner le ciel que celle qu' il me plaira de lui donner. Voilà ce que c' est que l' esclavage. Je défie qui que ce soit sur terre de lire notre code noir et de dire qu' il est autre chose. On parle des abus de l' esclavage; mensonge ! La chose elle-même est l' essence de l' abus. Et la seule raison pour laquelle la terre ne s' entr'ouvre pas sous lui, comme jadis sous Gomorrhe et Sodome, c' est que l' usage de l' esclavage est cent fois plus doux que l' esclavage même. Mais, par pitié et par honte, parce que nous sommes des hommes sortis du sein des femmes et non du ventre des bêtes, nous ne voulons pas, nous n' osons pas, nous ne daignons pas user du plein pouvoir que ces lois sauvages mettent en nos mains. Celui qui va le plus loin et qui fait le plus de mal ne va pas même jusqu' aux limites de la loi. »
“You seem to wonder; but if you will get me fairly at it, I’ll make a clean breast of it. This cursed business, accursed of God and man, what is it? Strip it of all its ornament, run it down to the root and nucleus of the whole, and what is it? Why, because my brother Quashy is ignorant and weak, and I am intelligent and strong,—because I know how, and _can_ do it,—therefore, I may steal all he has, keep it, and give him only such and so much as suits my fancy. Whatever is too hard, too dirty, too disagreeable, for me, I may set Quashy to doing. Because I don’t like work, Quashy shall work. Because the sun burns me, Quashy shall stay in the sun. Quashy shall earn the money, and I will spend it. Quashy shall lie down in every puddle, that I may walk over dry-shod. Quashy shall do my will, and not his, all the days of his mortal life, and have such chance of getting to heaven, at last, as I find convenient. This I take to be about what slavery _is_. I defy anybody on earth to read our slave-code, as it stands in our law-books, and make anything else of it. Talk of the _abuses_ of slavery! Humbug! The _thing itself_ is the essence of all abuse! And the only reason why the land don’t sink under it, like Sodom and Gomorrah, is because it is _used_ in a way infinitely better than it is. For pity’s sake, for shame’s sake, because we are men born of women, and not savage beasts, many of us do not, and dare not,—we would _scorn_ to use the full power which our savage laws put into our hands. And he who goes the furthest, and does the worst, only uses within limits the power that the law gives him.”
Saint-Clare s' était levé, et, comme il lui arrivait toujours dans ses moments d' émotion, il marchait à grands pas. Son noble visage, empreint de la beauté classique des statues grecques, semblait brûler de toute l' ardeur de ses sentiments. Ses grands yeux bleus lançaient des éclairs, son geste avait une énergie puissante. Ophélia ne l' avait jamais vu ainsi. Elle gardait le plus profond silence.
St. Clare had started up, and, as his manner was when excited, was walking, with hurried steps, up and down the floor. His fine face, classic as that of a Greek statue, seemed actually to burn with the fervor of his feelings. His large blue eyes flashed, and he gestured with an unconscious eagerness. Miss Ophelia had never seen him in this mood before, and she sat perfectly silent.
« Je vous le déclare, dit -il en s' arrêtant tout à coup devant sa cousine--mais à quoi donc aboutissent paroles ou sentiments sur un tel sujet ? -- je vous le déclare: je me suis dit bien des fois que, si ce pays devait s' abîmer dans les entrailles du monde, pour engloutir et dérober à la lumière toutes ces misères et tous ces malheurs, je consentirais volontiers à m' engloutir avec lui ! Quand j' ai voyagé sur nos bâtiments ou dans nos campagnes, quand j' ai vu tous ces individus stupides, brutaux, dégoûtants.... à qui nos lois permettent de devenir les despotes d'autant d' hommes qu' ils en pourront acheter avec l' argent escroqué, volé, filouté.... quand j' ai pensé qu' ils sont les maîtres des femmes, des enfants, des jeunes filles.... ah ! j' ai été sur le point de maudire mon pays.... de maudire la race humaine !
“I declare to you,” said he, suddenly stopping before his cousin “(It’s no sort of use to talk or to feel on this subject), but I declare to you, there have been times when I have thought, if the whole country would sink, and hide all this injustice and misery from the light, I would willingly sink with it. When I have been travelling up and down on our boats, or about on my collecting tours, and reflected that every brutal, disgusting, mean, low-lived fellow I met, was allowed by our laws to become absolute despot of as many men, women and children, as he could cheat, steal, or gamble money enough to buy,—when I have seen such men in actual ownership of helpless children, of young girls and women,—I have been ready to curse my country, to curse the human race!”
“Augustine! Augustine!” said Miss Ophelia, “I’m sure you’ve said enough. I never, in my life, heard anything like this, even at the North.”
“At the North!” said St. Clare, with a sudden change of expression, and resuming something of his habitual careless tone. “Pooh! your northern folks are cold-blooded; you are cool in everything! You can’t begin to curse up hill and down as we can, when we get fairly at it.”
-- Mais la question est de....
“Well, but the question is,” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Oui, Ophélia, la question est une diable de question ! la question est de savoir comment j' en suis arrivé à cet état de péché et de misère. Je vais tâcher de reprendre dans les bons vieux termes que vous m' avez enseignés autrefois. Le péché m' est venu par héritage. Mes esclaves étant à mon père, et qui plus est à ma mère, ils sont à moi maintenant, eux et leur postérité, qui a pris un assez large développement. Mon père vint de la Nouvelle-Angleterre: c' était un tout autre homme que le vôtre, un véritable vieux Romain, altier, énergique, noble esprit, mais volonté de fer. Votre père s' établit dans la Nouvelle-Angleterre, pour régner parmi les rochers et contraindre la nature à le nourrir. Le mien vint dans la Louisiane pour gouverner des hommes et des femmes, et les contraindre à travailler pour lui; ma mère.... » Et Saint-Clare se leva et alla contempler un portrait suspendu à la muraille; sa vénération éclatait sur ses traits.
“O, yes, to be sure, the _question is_,—and a deuce of a question it is! How came _you_ in this state of sin and misery? Well, I shall answer in the good old words you used to teach me, Sundays. I came so by ordinary generation. My servants were my father’s, and, what is more, my mother’s; and now they are mine, they and their increase, which bids fair to be a pretty considerable item. My father, you know, came first from New England; and he was just such another man as your father,—a regular old Roman,—upright, energetic, noble-minded, with an iron will. Your father settled down in New England, to rule over rocks and stones, and to force an existence out of Nature; and mine settled in Louisiana, to rule over men and women, and force existence out of them. My mother,” said St. Clare, getting up and walking to a picture at the end of the room, and gazing upward with a face fervent with veneration, “_she was divine!_ Don’t look at me so!—you know what I mean! She probably was of mortal birth; but, as far as ever I could observe, there was no trace of any human weakness or error about her; and everybody that lives to remember her, whether bond or free, servant, acquaintance, relation, all say the same. Why, cousin, that mother has been all that has stood between me and utter unbelief for years. She was a direct embodiment and personification of the New Testament,—a living fact, to be accounted for, and to be accounted for in no other way than by its truth. O, mother! mother!” said St. Clare, clasping his hands, in a sort of transport; and then suddenly checking himself, he came back, and seating himself on an ottoman, he went on:
« Ma mère, elle était divine ! Ne me regardez pas ainsi, Ophélia. Vous savez ce que je veux dire. Elle était sans doute d' une origine mortelle, mais je n' ai jamais vu en elle aucune trace de faiblesses ou d' erreurs mortelles. Tous ceux qui se souviennent d' elle, libres ou esclaves, amis, domestiques, parents, relations, tous disent la même chose. Que vous dirai -je, cousine ? Longtemps cette mère s' est tenue debout entre moi et l' incrédulité. Elle était à mes yeux l' incarnation du Nouveau-Testament, la vérité vivante. O ma mère ! ma mère ! » Et Saint-Clare joignit les mains dans une sorte de transport; puis, se calmant tout à coup, il revint auprès d' Ophélia et s' assit sur une ottomane.
“My brother and I were twins; and they say, you know, that twins ought to resemble each other; but we were in all points a contrast. He had black, fiery eyes, coal-black hair, a strong, fine Roman profile, and a rich brown complexion. I had blue eyes, golden hair, a Greek outline, and fair complexion. He was active and observing, I dreamy and inactive. He was generous to his friends and equals, but proud, dominant, overbearing, to inferiors, and utterly unmerciful to whatever set itself up against him. Truthful we both were; he from pride and courage, I from a sort of abstract ideality. We loved each other about as boys generally do,—off and on, and in general;—he was my father’s pet, and I my mother’s.
« Mon frère et moi, reprit -il, nous étions jumeaux. On dit que les jumeaux doivent se ressembler. Mon frère et moi nous formions un contraste parfait. Il avait des yeux noirs et fiers, des cheveux de jais, le type romain, le teint brun. Moi j' avais le teint blanc, les yeux bleus, les cheveux d' un blond doré et le profil grec. Il était actif et observateur; j' étais rêveur et indolent. Il était généreux envers ses amis et ses égaux, mais orgueilleux, dominateur, superbe avec ses inférieurs, sans pitié pour tout ce qui tentait de lui résister. Nous étions tous deux fidèles à notre parole: lui, par orgueil et par courage; moi, par suite d' une sorte d' idéal que je m' étais fait. Nous nous aimions comme font les enfants, tantôt plus, tantôt moins; il était le favori de mon père, j' étais celui de ma mère. Il y avait en moi, et pour toute chose, une sensibilité maladive, une délicatesse d' impression que ni lui ni mon père ne s' avisèrent jamais de comprendre, et qu' il ne leur aurait pas été possible de partager; c' était, au contraire, ce qui me valait les sympathies de ma mère. Quand nous nous querellions, Alfred et moi, et que mon père me regardait trop sévèrement, je montais à la chambre de ma mère et je m' asseyais auprès d' elle.... Oh ! je la vois encore: son front pâle, son oeil sérieux, profond et doux, sa robe blanche.... elle était toujours en blanc.... C' est à elle que je pensais dans mes lectures qui parlaient des saintes vêtues de longs voiles blancs et brillants; c' était une femme d' un haut mérite, grande musicienne. Souvent elle s' asseyait à son orgue, jouant cette antique et majestueuse musique, et chantant, plutôt avec une voix d' ange qu' avec une voix de femme, les chants du culte catholique.... Alors je mettais ma tête sur ses genoux, je pleurais, je rêvais.... et j' éprouvais des émotions.... Oh ! les profondes émotions.... et qu' aucune langue ne saurait rendre !
“There was a morbid sensitiveness and acuteness of feeling in me on all possible subjects, of which he and my father had no kind of understanding, and with which they could have no possible sympathy. But mother did; and so, when I had quarreled with Alfred, and father looked sternly on me, I used to go off to mother’s room, and sit by her. I remember just how she used to look, with her pale cheeks, her deep, soft, serious eyes, her white dress,—she always wore white; and I used to think of her whenever I read in Revelations about the saints that were arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. She had a great deal of genius of one sort and another, particularly in music; and she used to sit at her organ, playing fine old majestic music of the Catholic church, and singing with a voice more like an angel than a mortal woman; and I would lay my head down on her lap, and cry, and dream, and feel,—oh, immeasurably!—things that I had no language to say!
“In those days, this matter of slavery had never been canvassed as it has now; nobody dreamed of any harm in it.
“My father was a born aristocrat. I think, in some preexistent state, he must have been in the higher circles of spirits, and brought all his old court pride along with him; for it was ingrain, bred in the bone, though he was originally of poor and not in any way of noble family. My brother was begotten in his image.
« Vous savez ce que c' est qu' un aristocrate. Ses sympathies s' arrêtent à une certaine classe sociale, dont il est; passé cela, le genre humain n' existe plus pour lui. En Angleterre la limite est ici, en Amérique elle est là, chez les Birmans elle est ailleurs.... Mais il y a toujours une limite, et les aristocrates ne la dépassent jamais.... Ce qui, dans sa classe, serait un malheur, une calamité, une souveraine injustice, n' est plus ailleurs qu' un fait bien indifférent.... Pour mon père, la ligne de démarcation était la couleur des gens. Avec ses égaux, il n' y eut jamais d' homme plus juste et plus généreux. Quant aux nègres de toutes les nuances, il ne les considérait que comme des animaux intermédiaires entre l' homme et la brute. Ses idées de justice et de générosité étaient en harmonie avec ce principe. Je suis bien persuadé que, si on lui eût demandé à l' improviste et sans préparation: les nègres ont -ils des âmes ? il eût hésité et réfléchi avant de répondre: oui ! Du reste, mon père se préoccupait fort peu de métaphysique; il n' avait aucun sentiment religieux, et ne voyait en Dieu que le chef des classes supérieures. ~~~ « Mon père faisait travailler cinq cents nègres; c' était en affaires un homme minutieux, exigeant, dur. Tout chez lui devait être fait systématiquement, avec une précision et une exactitude que rien ne dérangeait.
“Now, an aristocrat, you know, the world over, has no human sympathies, beyond a certain line in society. In England the line is in one place, in Burmah in another, and in America in another; but the aristocrat of all these countries never goes over it. What would be hardship and distress and injustice in his own class, is a cool matter of course in another one. My father’s dividing line was that of color. _Among his equals_, never was a man more just and generous; but he considered the negro, through all possible gradations of color, as an intermediate link between man and animals, and graded all his ideas of justice or generosity on this hypothesis. I suppose, to be sure, if anybody had asked him, plump and fair, whether they had human immortal souls, he might have hemmed and hawed, and said yes. But my father was not a man much troubled with spiritualism; religious sentiment he had none, beyond a veneration for God, as decidedly the head of the upper classes.
« Maintenant, si vous réfléchissez que tout cela devait être fait par une bande de travailleurs paresseux, indolents, étourdis, et qui dans toute leur vie n' avaient jamais appris qu' à manger, vous comprendrez bien vite qu' il devait se passer dans nos plantations des choses horribles, épouvantables pour un enfant sensible comme moi. Ajoutez à cela que le gérant de la plantation, fils d' un renégat du Vermont (je vous en demande bien pardon, cousine ), était un homme vigoureux et brutal, qui avait fait longtemps l' apprentissage de la dureté et pris tous ses degrés avant d' entrer dans la pratique. Ni ma mère ni moi ne pûmes jamais le souffrir; mais il avait pris un ascendant souverain sur mon père: c' était le tyran de la plantation.
“Well, my father worked some five hundred negroes; he was an inflexible, driving, punctilious business man; everything was to move by system,—to be sustained with unfailing accuracy and precision. Now, if you take into account that all this was to be worked out by a set of lazy, twaddling, shiftless laborers, who had grown up, all their lives, in the absence of every possible motive to learn how to do anything but ‘shirk,’ as you Vermonters say, and you’ll see that there might naturally be, on his plantation, a great many things that looked horrible and distressing to a sensitive child, like me.
« Je n' étais alors qu' un tout petit bonhomme, mais j' avais déjà, comme maintenant, l' amour de toutes les choses humaines, une sorte de passion pour l' étude de l' humanité ! sous quelque forme que l' humanité se révélât. Souvent on me trouvait dans la case de quelque nègre ou parmi les travailleurs des champs. ~~~ « J' étais le favori des nègres.
“Besides all, he had an overseer,—great, tall, slab-sided, two-fisted renegade son of Vermont—(begging your pardon),—who had gone through a regular apprenticeship in hardness and brutality and taken his degree to be admitted to practice. My mother never could endure him, nor I; but he obtained an entire ascendency over my father; and this man was the absolute despot of the estate.
« C' était à mon oreille que se murmuraient toutes les plaintes; je les redisais à ma mère, et nous faisions à nous deux un petit comité pour le redressement des torts. Nous avons arrêté et réprimé bien des cruautés; nous nous étions déjà plus d' une fois réjouis du bien que nous avions su faire. Malheureusement, comme il arrive toujours, j' y mis trop de zèle. Stubbs se plaignit à mon père; il dit qu' il ne pouvait plus régir la propriété, et qu' il allait résigner ses fonctions. Mon père était un mari bon et facile; mais rien n' eût pu le faire renoncer à ce qu' il croyait nécessaire. Il se planta comme un roc entre nous et les esclaves qui travaillaient dans la campagne. Il dit à ma mère, avec une déférence pleine de respect, mais d' un ton qui n' admettait pas de réplique, qu' elle serait la maîtresse absolue des esclaves occupés à l' intérieur, mais qu' elle ne devait pas intervenir dans ce qui se passait au dehors. Il la révérait plus que tout au monde, mais il en eût dit autant à la vierge Marie, si elle eût voulu déranger son système !
“I was a little fellow then, but I had the same love that I have now for all kinds of human things,—a kind of passion for the study of humanity, come in what shape it would. I was found in the cabins and among the field-hands a great deal, and, of course, was a great favorite; and all sorts of complaints and grievances were breathed in my ear; and I told them to mother, and we, between us, formed a sort of committee for a redress of grievances. We hindered and repressed a great deal of cruelty, and congratulated ourselves on doing a vast deal of good, till, as often happens, my zeal overacted. Stubbs complained to my father that he couldn’t manage the hands, and must resign his position. Father was a fond, indulgent husband, but a man that never flinched from anything that he thought necessary; and so he put down his foot, like a rock, between us and the field-hands. He told my mother, in language perfectly respectful and deferential, but quite explicit, that over the house-servants she should be entire mistress, but that with the field-hands he could allow no interference. He revered and respected her above all living beings; but he would have said it all the same to the virgin Mary herself, if she had come in the way of his system.
« Quelquefois j' entendais ma mère raisonner avec lui, et s' efforcer de réveiller ses sympathies. Il écoutait les appels les plus pathétiques avec une politesse et une égalité d' âme vraiment décourageantes. « Tout se résume en un mot, disait -il, faut -il garder ou renvoyer Stubbs ? Stubbs est la ponctualité même; il est honnête, il est capable, expérimenté.... et humain.... mon Dieu ! autant qu' on peut l' être. Nous ne pouvons pas espérer la perfection. Eh bien, si je le garde, je dois soutenir son administration..., toute son administration, quand bien même il y aurait çà et là des détails... exceptionnels.... Tout gouvernement a ses indispensables rigueurs. Les règles générales sont quelquefois dures dans leurs applications particulières. » Cette dernière phrase était pour mon père l' excuse de toutes les cruautés. Quand il avait dit cette phrase -là, il mettait les pieds sur le canapé, comme un homme qui vient de terminer une grande affaire, et il s' accordait une heure de sommeil, ou lisait un journal, suivant le cas.
“I used sometimes to hear my mother reasoning cases with him,—endeavoring to excite his sympathies. He would listen to the most pathetic appeals with the most discouraging politeness and equanimity. ‘It all resolves itself into this,’ he would say; ‘must I part with Stubbs, or keep him? Stubbs is the soul of punctuality, honesty, and efficiency,—a thorough business hand, and as humane as the general run. We can’t have perfection; and if I keep him, I must sustain his administration as a _whole_, even if there are, now and then, things that are exceptionable. All government includes some necessary hardness. General rules will bear hard on particular cases.’ This last maxim my father seemed to consider a settler in most alleged cases of cruelty. After he had said _that_, he commonly drew up his feet on the sofa, like a man that has disposed of a business, and betook himself to a nap, or the newspaper, as the case might be.
« Mon père avait toutes les qualités de l' homme d' État. Il eût partagé la Pologne comme une orange, et opprimé l' Irlande tout comme un autre, avec l' impassibilité d' un système. Ma mère, désespérée, renonça à la tâche.... On ne saura jamais, avant le dernier jour, ce qu' auront souffert ces natures délicates et généreuses jetées dans des abîmes d' injustice et de cruauté, dont seules elles voient la cruauté et l' injustice ! Il y a pour elles des siècles de poignantes douleurs dans ce monde sorti de l' enfer !... Que restait -il à ma mère... sinon d' élever ses enfants et de leur donner son âme ?... Mais, quoi qu' on dise de l' éducation, les enfants grandissent et restent ce que la nature les a faits. On ne change pas ! Dès le berceau, Alfred fut un aristocrate. En grandissant, il se développa aristocratiquement. Quant aux exhortations maternelles, autant en emporta le vent. Chez moi, au contraire, toutes ses paroles se gravaient profondément. Jamais elle ne contredisait formellement notre père, jamais elle ne sembla complétement différer d' avis avec lui; mais, de toutes les forces de sa nature sympathique, ardente et généreuse, elle gravait en moi, comme avec du feu, l' idée ineffaçable du prix et de la dignité du dernier des hommes. Avec quel respect solennel je regardais son visage quand le soir, me montrant les étoiles, elle me disait: « Voyez, Auguste; la plus humble, la plus obscure d' entre ces pauvres âmes de nos esclaves, après que ces étoiles se seront pour toujours éteintes, vivra aussi longtemps que Dieu lui-même ! »
“The fact is my father showed the exact sort of talent for a statesman. He could have divided Poland as easily as an orange, or trod on Ireland as quietly and systematically as any man living. At last my mother gave up, in despair. It never will be known, till the last account, what noble and sensitive natures like hers have felt, cast, utterly helpless, into what seems to them an abyss of injustice and cruelty, and which seems so to nobody about them. It has been an age of long sorrow of such natures, in such a hell-begotten sort of world as ours. What remained for her, but to train her children in her own views and sentiments? Well, after all you say about training, children will grow up substantially what they _are_ by nature, and only that. From the cradle, Alfred was an aristocrat; and as he grew up, instinctively, all his sympathies and all his reasonings were in that line, and all mother’s exhortations went to the winds. As to me, they sunk deep into me. She never contradicted, in form, anything my father said, or seemed directly to differ from him; but she impressed, burnt into my very soul, with all the force of her deep, earnest nature, an idea of the dignity and worth of the meanest human soul. I have looked in her face with solemn awe, when she would point up to the stars in the evening, and say to me, ’See there, Auguste! the poorest, meanest soul on our place will be living, when all these stars are gone forever,—will live as long as God lives!’
« Elle avait quelques beaux et anciens tableaux, un entre autres: _Jésus guérissant un malade_. Ces tableaux nous causaient toujours une impression profonde.... « Voyez, Auguste, me disait -elle encore, cet aveugle était un mendiant couvert de haillons.... Aussi le Seigneur ne voulut -il pas le guérir de loin; mais il le fit approcher, et il posa sa main sur lui. Rappelez -vous cela, mon enfant.... » Ah ! si j' avais vécu sous la tutelle de ma mère !... elle aurait mis en moi je ne sais quel enthousiasme !... J' aurais été un saint, un réformateur, un martyr !... Mais, hélas ! hélas ! je la quittai à treize ans.... et je ne la revis jamais ! »
“She had some fine old paintings; one, in particular, of Jesus healing a blind man. They were very fine, and used to impress me strongly. ‘See there, Auguste,’ she would say; ‘the blind man was a beggar, poor and loathsome; therefore, he would not heal him _afar off!_ He called him to him, and put _his hands on him!_ Remember this, my boy.’ If I had lived to grow up under her care, she might have stimulated me to I know not what of enthusiasm. I might have been a saint, reformer, martyr,—but, alas! alas! I went from her when I was only thirteen, and I never saw her again!”
St. Clare rested his head on his hands, and did not speak for some minutes. After a while, he looked up, and went on:
« Voyons ! qu' est -ce au fond que la vertu humaine ? ~~~ « Une affaire de latitude et de longitude, une question de géographie et de tempérament; la plus grosse part n' est qu' un accident. Ainsi, par exemple, voilà votre père.... Il s' établit dans le Vermont, dans une ville où, par le fait, tout le monde est libre et égal.... Il devient membre de l' Église régulière, il devient diacre, avec le temps il devient abolitionniste, et il nous regarde comme des païens, ou peu s' en faut. Et cependant, sous bien des rapports, ce n' est qu' une seconde édition de mon père; c' est le même esprit puissant, hautain, dominateur. Vous savez fort bien qu' il y a dans votre village une foule de gens à qui vous ne persuaderez pas que l' esquire Saint-Clare ne se mette beaucoup au-dessus d' eux. Le fait est que, bien qu' il vive à une époque démocratique et qu' il ait adopté les idées démocratiques..., au fond du coeur c' est un aristocrate autant que mon père, qui tenait sous ses lois cinq ou six cents esclaves. »
“What poor, mean trash this whole business of human virtue is! A mere matter, for the most part, of latitude and longitude, and geographical position, acting with natural temperament. The greater part is nothing but an accident! Your father, for example, settles in Vermont, in a town where all are, in fact, free and equal; becomes a regular church member and deacon, and in due time joins an Abolition society, and thinks us all little better than heathens. Yet he is, for all the world, in constitution and habit, a duplicate of my father. I can see it leaking out in fifty different ways,—just the same strong, overbearing, dominant spirit. You know very well how impossible it is to persuade some of the folks in your village that Squire Sinclair does not feel above them. The fact is, though he has fallen on democratic times, and embraced a democratic theory, he is to the heart an aristocrat, as much as my father, who ruled over five or six hundred slaves.”
Miss Ophelia felt rather disposed to cavil at this picture, and was laying down her knitting to begin, but St. Clare stopped her.
« Je sais ce que vous allez dire. Je ne prétends pas qu' ils soient égaux en fait: l' un d' eux fut placé dans des circonstances où tout luttait contre ses tendances naturelles; chez l' autre, tout les secondait. Celui -ci devint un vieux démocrate, obstiné, fier et hautain; celui -là, un vieux despote, fier, hautain, obstiné.... et voilà ! Faites -les tous deux planteurs à la Louisiane, et ils se ressembleront comme deux balles fondues dans le même moule.
“Now, I know every word you are going to say. I do not say they _were_ alike, in fact. One fell into a condition where everything acted against the natural tendency, and the other where everything acted for it; and so one turned out a pretty wilful, stout, overbearing old democrat, and the other a wilful, stout old despot. If both had owned plantations in Louisiana, they would have been as like as two old bullets cast in the same mould.”
“What an undutiful boy you are!” said Miss Ophelia.
“I don’t mean them any disrespect,” said St. Clare. “You know reverence is not my forte. But, to go back to my history:
« Mon père mourut, laissant à mon frère et à moi toute sa propriété à partager comme nous l' entendions. Il n' y avait pas sur la terre de Dieu une âme plus généreuse, un esprit plus noble qu' Alfred dans tous ses rapports avec des égaux. Toutes ces questions d' intérêt ne soulevèrent point entre nous le moindre nuage. Nous entreprîmes de faire valoir la plantation en commun. Alfred, qui, dans la vie active et la pratique des affaires, en valait deux comme moi, devint un planteur aussi enthousiaste qu' heureux.
“When father died, he left the whole property to us twin boys, to be divided as we should agree. There does not breathe on God’s earth a nobler-souled, more generous fellow, than Alfred, in all that concerns his equals; and we got on admirably with this property question, without a single unbrotherly word or feeling. We undertook to work the plantation together; and Alfred, whose outward life and capabilities had double the strength of mine, became an enthusiastic planter, and a wonderfully successful one.
« Deux années d' expérience me démontrèrent que je ne pouvais partager plus longtemps cette existence. ~~~ « Avoir un troupeau de sept cents esclaves que je ne pouvais connaître personnellement, pour lesquels je ne pouvais éprouver individuellement aucun intérêt; esclaves que l' on vendait, que l' on achetait, que l' on nourrissait, que l' on menait comme autant de bêtes à cornes; songer combien on s' inquiétait peu de leur refuser les moindres jouissances de la vie la plus grossière; être obligé d' avoir des surveillants, des régisseurs; être obligé d' employer le fouet comme moyen suprême de gouvernement: tout cela devint pour moi une insupportable torture !... Et, quand je venais à penser à tout le cas que ma mère faisait de ces pauvres âmes humaines..., je tremblais !
“But two years’ trial satisfied me that I could not be a partner in that matter. To have a great gang of seven hundred, whom I could not know personally, or feel any individual interest in, bought and driven, housed, fed, worked like so many horned cattle, strained up to military precision,—the question of how little of life’s commonest enjoyments would keep them in working order being a constantly recurring problem,—the necessity of drivers and overseers,—the ever-necessary whip, first, last, and only argument,—the whole thing was insufferably disgusting and loathsome to me; and when I thought of my mother’s estimate of one poor human soul, it became even frightful!
« C' est une absurdité que de parler du bonheur que peuvent goûter les esclaves. Je perds patience quand j' entends ces singulières apologies des hommes du nord, qui essayent ainsi de pallier nos fautes ! Nous savons mieux ce qui en est. Osez me dire qu' un homme doit travailler toute sa vie, depuis l' aube jusqu' au soir, sous l' oeil vigilant d' un maître, sans pouvoir manifester une fois une volonté irresponsable.... courbé sous la même tâche, monotone et terrible, et cela pour deux paires de pantalons et une paire de souliers par an, avec tout juste assez de nourriture pour être en état de continuer sa tâche.... oui, qu' un homme me dise qu' il est indifférent à une créature humaine de se voir traitée de cette façon.... et cet homme, ce chien ! je l' achète et je le ferai travailler sans scrupule, lui !
“It’s all nonsense to talk to me about slaves _enjoying_ all this! To this day, I have no patience with the unutterable trash that some of your patronizing Northerners have made up, as in their zeal to apologize for our sins. We all know better. Tell me that any man living wants to work all his days, from day-dawn till dark, under the constant eye of a master, without the power of putting forth one irresponsible volition, on the same dreary, monotonous, unchanging toil, and all for two pairs of pantaloons and a pair of shoes a year, with enough food and shelter to keep him in working order! Any man who thinks that human beings can, as a general thing, be made about as comfortable that way as any other, I wish he might try it. I’d buy the dog, and work him, with a clear conscience!”
“I always have supposed,” said Miss Ophelia, “that you, all of you, approved of these things, and thought them _right_—according to Scripture.”
-- Non, nous n' en sommes pas encore réduits là; Alfred, qui est le despote le plus déterminé qu' on puisse voir, ne prétend pas à ce genre de défense. Non; il se tient debout, ferme et fier, sur ce bon vieux et respectable terrain, le droit du plus fort. Il dit, et il a raison, que les planteurs américains font, à leur manière, ce que font l' aristocratie et la finance d' Angleterre. Pour ceux -là, les esclaves sont les basses classes.... Et que font -ils ? ils se les approprient, corps et âme, chair et esprit, et les emploient à leurs besoins.... Et il défend cette conduite par des arguments au moins spécieux: il dit qu' il ne peut point y avoir de haute civilisation sans l' esclavage des masses. Qu' on le nomme ou qu' on ne le nomme pas esclavage, peu importe ! il faut, dit -il, qu' il y ait une classe inférieure condamnée au travail physique, et réduite à la vie animale, et une classe élevée en qui résident la richesse et le loisir, une classe qui développe son intelligence, marche en tête du progrès et dirige le reste du monde. Ainsi raisonne -t-il, parce que, dit -il, il est né aristocrate.... Moi, au contraire, je repousse ce système.... parce que je suis né démocrate.
“Humbug! We are not quite reduced to that yet. Alfred who is as determined a despot as ever walked, does not pretend to this kind of defence;—no, he stands, high and haughty, on that good old respectable ground, _the right of the strongest_; and he says, and I think quite sensibly, that the American planter is ‘only doing, in another form, what the English aristocracy and capitalists are doing by the lower classes;’ that is, I take it, _appropriating_ them, body and bone, soul and spirit, to their use and convenience. He defends both,—and I think, at least, _consistently_. He says that there can be no high civilization without enslavement of the masses, either nominal or real. There must, he says, be a lower class, given up to physical toil and confined to an animal nature; and a higher one thereby acquires leisure and wealth for a more expanded intelligence and improvement, and becomes the directing soul of the lower. So he reasons, because, as I said, he is born an aristocrat;—so I don’t believe, because I was born a democrat.”
“How in the world can the two things be compared?” said Miss Ophelia. “The English laborer is not sold, traded, parted from his family, whipped.”
-- Il est autant à la discrétion de celui qui l' emploie que s' il lui était réellement vendu. Le maître peut frapper l' esclave jusqu' à ce que mort s' ensuive.... mais le capitaliste anglais peut affamer jusqu' à la mort ! Et, quant à la sécurité de la famille, je ne sais pas en vérité où elle est le plus menacée.... Celui -ci voit vendre ses enfants; celui -là les voit mourir de faim chez lui !
“He is as much at the will of his employer as if he were sold to him. The slave-owner can whip his refractory slave to death,—the capitalist can starve him to death. As to family security, it is hard to say which is the worst,—to have one’s children sold, or see them starve to death at home.”
“But it’s no kind of apology for slavery, to prove that it isn’t worse than some other bad thing.”
-- Je ne prétends pas le justifier. Je dis plus: je dis que notre esclavage est la plus audacieuse violation des droits humains. Acheter un homme comme un cheval, lui regarder à la dent, faire craquer ses jointures, le faire trotter et le payer ! avoir des spéculateurs, des éleveurs, des négociants, des courtiers du corps et de l' âme des hommes.... oui, tout cela rend l' abus plus visible aux yeux du monde civilisé, bien qu' en réalité la chose soit à peu près la même en Angleterre et en Amérique: l' exploitation d' une classe par l' autre.
“I didn’t give it for one,—nay, I’ll say, besides, that ours is the more bold and palpable infringement of human rights; actually buying a man up, like a horse,—looking at his teeth, cracking his joints, and trying his paces and then paying down for him,—having speculators, breeders, traders, and brokers in human bodies and souls,—sets the thing before the eyes of the civilized world in a more tangible form, though the thing done be, after all, in its nature, the same; that is, appropriating one set of human beings to the use and improvement of another without any regard to their own.”
“I never thought of the matter in this light,” said Miss Ophelia.
-- J' ai voyagé en Angleterre, j' ai recueilli de nombreux documents sur l' état des classes inférieures, et je ne pense pas que l' on puisse contredire Alfred, quand il dit que la position de ses esclaves est meilleure que celle d' une grande partie des ouvriers de l' Angleterre. Ne concluez pas de ce que je dis qu' Alfred soit un maître dur. Non, il ne l' est pas. Il est despote; il est sans pitié contre l' insubordination; il tuerait un homme comme un daim, si cet homme lui résistait; mais, en général, il met son orgueil à ce que ses esclaves soient bien traités et bien nourris. Pendant que j' étais avec lui, j' insistai plusieurs fois pour qu' on s' occupât un peu de leur instruction. Par égard pour moi, il se procura un aumônier. Il les faisait catéchiser le dimanche.... Je crois qu' au fond de l' âme il s' imaginait que c' était à peu près comme s' il eût donné un aumônier à ses chevaux et à ses chiens !... Et le fait est qu' une âme qui, depuis l' heure de la naissance, a été soumise à toutes les influences qui avilissent et dégradent, livrée toute la semaine à des oeuvres où la pensée n' est pas, ne saurait tirer grand avantage de quelques heures qu' on lui abandonne chaque dimanche. Les directeurs des écoles du dimanche parmi la population manufacturière de l' Angleterre pourraient peut-être nous dire que le résultat est le même ici et là. Cependant il y a parmi nous quelques exceptions frappantes, parce que le nègre est naturellement plus susceptible que le blanc d' éprouver le sentiment religieux.
“Well, I’ve travelled in England some, and I’ve looked over a good many documents as to the state of their lower classes; and I really think there is no denying Alfred, when he says that his slaves are better off than a large class of the population of England. You see, you must not infer, from what I have told you, that Alfred is what is called a hard master; for he isn’t. He is despotic, and unmerciful to insubordination; he would shoot a fellow down with as little remorse as he would shoot a buck, if he opposed him. But, in general, he takes a sort of pride in having his slaves comfortably fed and accommodated. ~~~ “When I was with him, I insisted that he should do something for their instruction; and, to please me, he did get a chaplain, and used to have them catechized Sunday, though, I believe, in his heart, that he thought it would do about as much good to set a chaplain over his dogs and horses. And the fact is, that a mind stupefied and animalized by every bad influence from the hour of birth, spending the whole of every week-day in unreflecting toil, cannot be done much with by a few hours on Sunday. The teachers of Sunday-schools among the manufacturing population of England, and among plantation-hands in our country, could perhaps testify to the same result, _there and here_. Yet some striking exceptions there are among us, from the fact that the negro is naturally more impressible to religious sentiment than the white.”
“Well,” said Miss Ophelia, “how came you to give up your plantation life?”
-- Nous marchâmes d'accord quelque temps; puis Alfred s' aperçut que je n' étais pas un planteur. Il trouva mauvais, après avoir changé, réformé, amélioré pour me plaire, que je ne me tinsse point encore pour satisfait. Et, en vérité, c' était la chose elle-même que je haïssais. C' était la perpétration de cette brutalité, de cette ignorance et de cette misère; c' était l' emploi de ces hommes et de ces femmes travaillant à gagner de l' argent pour moi ! Et puis, j' avais le tort d' intervenir sans cesse dans les détails: étant moi-même le plus paresseux des hommes, je n' étais que trop porté à sympathiser avec les paresseux de mon espèce.
“Well, we jogged on together some time, till Alfred saw plainly that I was no planter. He thought it absurd, after he had reformed, and altered, and improved everywhere, to suit my notions, that I still remained unsatisfied. The fact was, it was, after all, the THING that I hated—the using these men and women, the perpetuation of all this ignorance, brutality and vice,—just to make money for me!
« Quand de pauvres diables, indolents et étourdis, mettaient des pierres au fond de leurs balles de coton pour les rendre plus pesantes, ou remplissaient leurs sacs de poussière avec du coton par-dessus, il me semblait si bien qu' à leur place j' en aurais fait tout autant, que je ne pouvais pas consentir à leur laisser donner le fouet.... Il n' y eut bientôt plus de discipline dans la plantation. J' en vins avec Alfred au point où j' en étais, quelques années auparavant, avec mon honoré père.... Il me dit que j' avais une sentimentalité de femme, et que je ne ferais jamais d' affaires au moyen des esclaves. Il me conseilla de prendre la maison de banque et l' habitation de famille à Orléans.... et de faire des vers.... Il garderait, lui, la direction de la plantation. Nous nous séparâmes donc, et je vins ici.
“Besides, I was always interfering in the details. Being myself one of the laziest of mortals, I had altogether too much fellow-feeling for the lazy; and when poor, shiftless dogs put stones at the bottom of their cotton-baskets to make them weigh heavier, or filled their sacks with dirt, with cotton at the top, it seemed so exactly like what I should do if I were they, I couldn’t and wouldn’t have them flogged for it. Well, of course, there was an end of plantation discipline; and Alf and I came to about the same point that I and my respected father did, years before. So he told me that I was a womanish sentimentalist, and would never do for business life; and advised me to take the bank-stock and the New Orleans family mansion, and go to writing poetry, and let him manage the plantation. So we parted, and I came here.”
“But why didn’t you free your slaves?”
-- Je n' en ai pas eu le courage. Les employer comme des instruments pour gagner de l' argent, je ne pouvais pas ! Les garder pour dépenser mon argent avec eux, cela me parut moins mal.... Quelques-uns étaient des esclaves d' intérieur; j' y étais fort attaché.... Les plus jeunes étaient les enfants des plus vieux..., ils étaient tous enchantés de leur sort avec moi.... »
“Well, I wasn’t up to that. To hold them as tools for money-making, I could not;—have them to help spend money, you know, didn’t look quite so ugly to me. Some of them were old house-servants, to whom I was much attached; and the younger ones were children to the old. All were well satisfied to be as they were.” He paused, and walked reflectively up and down the room.
Ici Saint-Clare se tut un moment et se mit à marcher tout pensif dans le salon. ~~~ « Il y eut, reprit -il bientôt, il y eut un temps dans ma vie où j' eus des projets et des espérances.... Je voulais alors faire quelque chose et non pas me laisser aller au flot et au courant; j' eus comme le vague instinct de devenir un émancipateur, de laver ma patrie de cette tache et de cette honte.... Tous les jeunes gens, j' imagine, ont de pareils accès de fièvre, au moins une fois.
“There was,” said St. Clare, “a time in my life when I had plans and hopes of doing something in this world, more than to float and drift. I had vague, indistinct yearnings to be a sort of emancipator,—to free my native land from this spot and stain. All young men have had such fever-fits, I suppose, some time,—but then—”
“Why didn’t you?” said Miss Ophelia;—“you ought not to put your hand to the plough, and look back.”
-- Les choses ne tournèrent pas comme je m' y attendais, et j' eus, comme Salomon, le désespoir de la vie ! Chez moi, comme chez lui, c' était peut-être la condition nécessaire de la sagesse.... Mais enfin, pour une cause ou pour une autre, au lieu de prendre une place dans ce monde et de le régénérer, je devins un morceau de bois flottant, emporté et rapporté par chaque marée.... Alfred m' attaque chaque fois que nous nous rencontrons, et il a facilement raison de moi. Sa vie est le résultat logique de ses principes, tandis qu' avec moi les principes sont d' un côté et la vie de l' autre.
“O, well, things didn’t go with me as I expected, and I got the despair of living that Solomon did. I suppose it was a necessary incident to wisdom in us both; but, some how or other, instead of being actor and regenerator in society, I became a piece of driftwood, and have been floating and eddying about, ever since. Alfred scolds me, every time we meet; and he has the better of me, I grant,—for he really does something; his life is a logical result of his opinions and mine is a contemptible _non sequitur_.”
“My dear cousin, can you be satisfied with such a way of spending your probation?”
-- Me complaire ! mais je la déteste, cette vie !... Où en étions -nous ? Ah ! vous parliez de l' affranchissement ! Je ne crois pas que mes sentiments sur l' esclavage me soient particuliers. Je rencontre beaucoup d' hommes qui, au fond de l' âme, pensent absolument comme moi.... La terre sanglote sous l' esclavage; et, si malheureux qu' il soit pour l' esclave, il est encore pire pour le maître.... Il n' y a pas besoin de lunettes pour voir qu' une nombreuse classe dégradée, vicieuse, paresseuse, vivant au milieu de nous, est pour nous un grand mal.... La finance et l' aristocratie anglaise ont du moins le bonheur de ne pas être mêlées à la classe qu' elles dégradent.... Mais ici cette classe est dans nos propres maisons; elle se mêle à nos enfants, elle a sur eux plus d' influence que nous-mêmes; c' est une race à laquelle les enfants s' attachent, à laquelle ils voudront toujours s' assimiler. Si Évangéline n' était pas un ange plutôt qu' un enfant ordinaire, Évangéline serait perdue.... Il vaudrait autant laisser courir la petite vérole parmi nous et croire que nos enfants ne l' attraperont pas, que de laisser avec eux cette ignorance et ces vices, sans en redouter la contagion. Nos lois cependant s' opposent à toute mesure efficace d' éducation générale, et elles font bien. Instruisez une seule génération, et nous sommes ruinés de fond en comble.... Si nous ne leur donnons pas la liberté, ils la prendront.
“Satisfied! Was I not just telling you I despised it? But, then, to come back to this point,—we were on this liberation business. I don’t think my feelings about slavery are peculiar. I find many men who, in their hearts, think of it just as I do. The land groans under it; and, bad as it is for the slave, it is worse, if anything, for the master. It takes no spectacles to see that a great class of vicious, improvident, degraded people, among us, are an evil to us, as well as to themselves. The capitalist and aristocrat of England cannot feel that as we do, because they do not mingle with the class they degrade as we do. They are in our homes; they are the associates of our children, and they form their minds faster than we can; for they are a race that children always will cling to and assimilate with. If Eva, now, was not more angel than ordinary, she would be ruined. We might as well allow the small-pox to run among them, and think our children would not take it, as to let them be uninstructed and vicious, and think our children will not be affected by that. Yet our laws positively and utterly forbid any efficient general educational system, and they do it wisely, too; for, just begin and thoroughly educate one generation, and the whole thing would be blown sky high. If we did not give them liberty, they would take it.”
-- Et quelle sera, selon vous, la fin de tout ceci ?
“And what do you think will be the end of this?” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Je ne sais; ce qu' il y a de certain, c' est qu' aujourd'hui une colère sourde gronde à travers les masses dans le monde entier: je sens venir.... ou demain, ou plus tard.... un terrible _Dies iræ_.... Les mêmes événements se préparent en Europe, en Angleterre du moins, et dans ce pays. Ma mère avait coutume de parler d' un millésime qui approchait et qui verrait le règne du Christ, et la liberté et le bonheur de tous les hommes. Quand j' étais enfant elle m' apprenait à prier pour l' avénement de ce règne. Quelquefois je songe que ce soupir, ce murmure, ce froissement que l' on entend maintenant parmi les ossements desséchés, prédit le prochain avénement de ce règne.... Mais qui pourra vivre le jour où il apparaîtra ?
“I don’t know. One thing is certain,—that there is a mustering among the masses, the world over; and there is a _dies iræ_ coming on, sooner or later. The same thing is working in Europe, in England, and in this country. My mother used to tell me of a millennium that was coming, when Christ should reign, and all men should be free and happy. And she taught me, when I was a boy, to pray, ’thy kingdom come.’ Sometimes I think all this sighing, and groaning, and stirring among the dry bones foretells what she used to tell me was coming. But who may abide the day of His appearing?”
“Augustine, sometimes I think you are not far from the kingdom,” said Miss Ophelia, laying down her knitting, and looking anxiously at her cousin.
-- Merci, cousine, de votre bonne opinion.... J' ai des hauts et des bas ! En théorie, je touche aux portes du ciel.... S' agit -il de pratique, je suis dans la poussière de la terre.... Mais on sonne pour le thé.... Venez, cousine.... J' espère maintenant que vous ne direz plus que je n' ai pas parlé sérieusement une fois en ma vie.... »
“Thank you for your good opinion, but it’s up and down with me,—up to heaven’s gate in theory, down in earth’s dust in practice. But there’s the teabell,—do let’s go,—and don’t say, now, I haven’t had one downright serious talk, for once in my life.”
At table, Marie alluded to the incident of Prue. “I suppose you’ll think, cousin,” she said, “that we are all barbarians.”
“I think that’s a barbarous thing,” said Miss Ophelia, “but I don’t think you are all barbarians.”
-- Il y a de ces nègres, dit Marie, dont il est vraiment impossible d' avoir raison; ils sont si méchants qu' ils ne doivent pas vivre.... Je ne me sens pas la moindre compassion pour eux ! S' ils se conduisaient mieux, cela n' arriverait pas.
“Well, now,” said Marie, “I know it’s impossible to get along with some of these creatures. They are so bad they ought not to live. I don’t feel a particle of sympathy for such cases. If they’d only behave themselves, it would not happen.”
“But, mamma,” said Eva, “the poor creature was unhappy; that’s what made her drink.”
-- Ah bien, si c' est là une excuse ! Je suis malheureuse aussi, moi ! Très-souvent je pense, ajouta -t-elle d' un air rêveur, que j' ai eu à subir de plus terribles épreuves que les siennes ! La misère des noirs provient de leur méchanceté; il y en a que les plus terribles sévérités du monde ne sauraient dompter.... Je me rappelle que mon père eut jadis un homme qui était si paresseux, qu' il s' enfuit pour ne pas travailler; il errait dans les savanes, volant et commettant toutes sortes de méfaits: cet homme fut pris et fouetté.... Il recommença, on le fouetta encore; cela ne servit de rien. A la fin il rampa encore jusqu' aux savanes, bien qu' il pût à peine marcher.... il y mourut, et notez qu' il n' avait aucun motif d' agir ainsi, car chez mon père les nègres étaient toujours bien traités.
“O, fiddlestick! as if that were any excuse! I’m unhappy, very often. I presume,” she said, pensively, “that I’ve had greater trials than ever she had. It’s just because they are so bad. There’s some of them that you cannot break in by any kind of severity. I remember father had a man that was so lazy he would run away just to get rid of work, and lie round in the swamps, stealing and doing all sorts of horrid things. That man was caught and whipped, time and again, and it never did him any good; and the last time he crawled off, though he couldn’t but just go, and died in the swamp. There was no sort of reason for it, for father’s hands were always treated kindly.”
“I broke a fellow in, once,” said St. Clare, “that all the overseers and masters had tried their hands on in vain.”
“You!” said Marie; “well, I’d be glad to know when _you_ ever did anything of the sort.”
-- C' était un Africain, un hercule, un géant. On sentait en lui je ne sais quel puissant instinct de liberté.... Je n' ai jamais rencontré d' homme plus indomptable; c' était un vrai lion d' Afrique. On l' appelait Scipion. On n' avait jamais pu rien en faire. Les surveillants, d' une plantation à l' autre, le vendaient et le revendaient. Enfin Alfred l' acheta, comptant pouvoir le réduire. Un jour il assomma le surveillant et se sauva dans les savanes. Je visitai la plantation d' Alfred; c' était après notre partage. Alfred était dans un état d' exaspération terrible. Je lui dis que c' était sa faute, et que je gageais bien de mater le rebelle. On convint que si je le prenais il serait à moi pour que je pusse expérimenter sur lui. Nous nous mîmes en chasse à six ou sept, avec des fusils et des chiens. Vous savez qu' on peut mettre autant d' enthousiasme à la chasse de l' homme qu' à celle du daim; tout cela est affaire d' habitude. Je me sentais moi-même un peu excité, quoique je ne me fusse posé que comme médiateur, au cas où il serait repris.
“Well, he was a powerful, gigantic fellow,—a native-born African; and he appeared to have the rude instinct of freedom in him to an uncommon degree. He was a regular African lion. They called him Scipio. Nobody could do anything with him; and he was sold round from overseer to overseer, till at last Alfred bought him, because he thought he could manage him. Well, one day he knocked down the overseer, and was fairly off into the swamps. I was on a visit to Alf’s plantation, for it was after we had dissolved partnership. Alfred was greatly exasperated; but I told him that it was his own fault, and laid him any wager that I could break the man; and finally it was agreed that, if I caught him, I should have him to experiment on. So they mustered out a party of some six or seven, with guns and dogs, for the hunt. People, you know, can get up as much enthusiasm in hunting a man as a deer, if it is only customary; in fact, I got a little excited myself, though I had only put in as a sort of mediator, in case he was caught.
« Nous lançons nos chevaux. Les chiens aboient sur la piste. Nous le débusquons. Il courait et bondissait comme un chevreuil: il nous laissa longtemps en arrière. Enfin il se trouva arrêté par un épais fourré de cannes à sucre. Il se retourna pour nous faire face, et je dois dire qu' il combattit bravement les chiens; rien qu' avec ses poings il en assomma deux ou trois qu' il envoya rouler à droite et à gauche. Un coup de fusil l' abattit; il vint tomber tout sanglant à mes pieds. Le pauvre homme leva vers moi des yeux où il y avait à la fois du désespoir et du courage. Je rappelai les gens et les chiens, qui allaient se jeter sur lui, et je le revendiquai comme mon prisonnier: ce fut tout ce que je pus faire que de les empêcher de le fusiller dans l' ivresse du triomphe. Je tins au marché et je l' achetai d' Alfred. Je l' entrepris donc.... Je l' avais rendu, au bout de quinze jours, aussi doux et aussi soumis qu' un agneau.
“Well, the dogs bayed and howled, and we rode and scampered, and finally we started him. He ran and bounded like a buck, and kept us well in the rear for some time; but at last he got caught in an impenetrable thicket of cane; then he turned to bay, and I tell you he fought the dogs right gallantly. He dashed them to right and left, and actually killed three of them with only his naked fists, when a shot from a gun brought him down, and he fell, wounded and bleeding, almost at my feet. The poor fellow looked up at me with manhood and despair both in his eye. I kept back the dogs and the party, as they came pressing up, and claimed him as my prisoner. It was all I could do to keep them from shooting him, in the flush of success; but I persisted in my bargain, and Alfred sold him to me. Well, I took him in hand, and in one fortnight I had him tamed down as submissive and tractable as heart could desire.”
-- Que lui fîtes -vous ? s' écria Marie.
“What in the world did you do to him?” said Marie.
“Well, it was quite a simple process. I took him to my own room, had a good bed made for him, dressed his wounds, and tended him myself, until he got fairly on his feet again. And, in process of time, I had free papers made out for him, and told him he might go where he liked.”
“And did he go?” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Non; l' imbécile déchira le papier en deux et refusa de me quitter.... Je n' ai jamais eu un serviteur plus dévoué.... fidèle et vrai comme l' acier !... Quelque temps après il se fit chrétien et devint doux comme un enfant.... Il surveilla mon habitation sur le lac et s' acquitta de ce soin d' une façon irréprochable; le choléra l' a emporté.... Je puis dire qu' il a donné sa vie pour moi.... J' étais malade à la mort; c' était une vraie panique; tout le monde m' abandonnait. Scipion fit des efforts inouïs... et me rappela à la vie; mais le pauvre homme fut pris lui-même; on ne put le sauver.... Je n' ai perdu personne que j' aie regretté davantage. »
“No. The foolish fellow tore the paper in two, and absolutely refused to leave me. I never had a braver, better fellow,—trusty and true as steel. He embraced Christianity afterwards, and became as gentle as a child. He used to oversee my place on the lake, and did it capitally, too. I lost him the first cholera season. In fact, he laid down his life for me. For I was sick, almost to death; and when, through the panic, everybody else fled, Scipio worked for me like a giant, and actually brought me back into life again. But, poor fellow! he was taken, right after, and there was no saving him. I never felt anybody’s loss more.”
Éva, pendant ce récit, s' était peu à peu rapprochée de son père, ses petites lèvres entr'ouvertes, ses yeux dilatés, et, sur son visage, toutes les marques d' un intérêt absorbant.
Eva had come gradually nearer and nearer to her father, as he told the story,—her small lips apart, her eyes wide and earnest with absorbing interest.
As he finished, she suddenly threw her arms around his neck, burst into tears, and sobbed convulsively.
“Eva, dear child! what is the matter?” said St. Clare, as the child’s small frame trembled and shook with the violence of her feelings. “This child,” he added, “ought not to hear any of this kind of thing,—she’s nervous.”
“No, papa, I’m not nervous,” said Eva, controlling herself, suddenly, with a strength of resolution singular in such a child. “I’m not nervous, but these things _sink into my heart_.”
“What do you mean, Eva?”
“I can’t tell you, papa, I think a great many thoughts. Perhaps some day I shall tell you.”
“Well, think away, dear,—only don’t cry and worry your papa,” said St. Clare, “Look here,—see what a beautiful peach I have got for you.”
Eva took it and smiled, though there was still a nervous twiching about the corners of her mouth.
“Come, look at the gold-fish,” said St. Clare, taking her hand and stepping on to the verandah. A few moments, and merry laughs were heard through the silken curtains, as Eva and St. Clare were pelting each other with roses, and chasing each other among the alleys of the court.
Notre humble ami Tom court, je crois, grand risque de se trouver négligé au milieu des aventures de tous ces nobles personnages; mais, si nos lecteurs veulent bien nous accompagner dans une petite chambre au-dessus des écuries, ils pourront se mettre bien vite au courant de ses affaires. ~~~ C' était une chambre décente; elle contenait un lit, une chaise, une petite table en bois grossier, sur laquelle on voyait la Bible de Tom et son livre de cantiques. Tom est maintenant assis à cette table, son ardoise devant lui, appliqué à quelque travail qui absorbe toute l' attention de sa pensée.
There is danger that our humble friend Tom be neglected amid the adventures of the higher born; but, if our readers will accompany us up to a little loft over the stable, they may, perhaps, learn a little of his affairs. It was a decent room, containing a bed, a chair, and a small, rough stand, where lay Tom’s Bible and hymn-book; and where he sits, at present, with his slate before him, intent on something that seems to cost him a great deal of anxious thought.
Les sentiments et le regret de la famille étaient devenus si puissants dans le coeur de Tom, qu' il avait demandé à Éva une feuille de papier à lettre, et, appelant à lui toute la science calligraphique qu' il devait aux soins de M. Georges, il avait pris la résolution audacieuse d' écrire une lettre; il en faisait d'abord le brouillon sur son ardoise. Tom était dans le plus grand embarras.... Il avait oublié la forme de certaines lettres, et il ne se rappelait pas trop la valeur des autres.... Pendant qu' il cherchait péniblement, Éva, légère comme un oiseau, vint se poser derrière sa chaise et regarda par-dessus son épaule.
The fact was, that Tom’s home-yearnings had become so strong that he had begged a sheet of writing-paper of Eva, and, mustering up all his small stock of literary attainment acquired by Mas’r George’s instructions, he conceived the bold idea of writing a letter; and he was busy now, on his slate, getting out his first draft. Tom was in a good deal of trouble, for the forms of some of the letters he had forgotten entirely; and of what he did remember, he did not know exactly which to use. And while he was working, and breathing very hard, in his earnestness, Eva alighted, like a bird, on the round of his chair behind him, and peeped over his shoulder.
« O père Tom ! quelles drôles de choses vous faites là !
“O, Uncle Tom! what funny things you _are_ making, there!”
“I’m trying to write to my poor old woman, Miss Eva, and my little chil’en,” said Tom, drawing the back of his hand over his eyes; “but, some how, I’m feard I shan’t make it out.”
“I wish I could help you, Tom! I’ve learnt to write some. Last year I could make all the letters, but I’m afraid I’ve forgotten.”
Éva rapprocha sa petite tête blonde de la grosse tête noire de Tom, et ils entamèrent à eux deux une discussion sérieuse; ils étaient aussi ignorants l' un que l' autre. Après beaucoup d' efforts, de réflexion et de tentatives, la chose commença à prendre un air d' écriture.
So Eva put her golden head close to his, and the two commenced a grave and anxious discussion, each one equally earnest, and about equally ignorant; and, with a deal of consulting and advising over every word, the composition began, as they both felt very sanguine, to look quite like writing.
“Yes, Uncle Tom, it really begins to look beautiful,” said Eva, gazing delightedly on it. “How pleased your wife’ll be, and the poor little children! O, it’s a shame you ever had to go away from them! I mean to ask papa to let you go back, some time.”
“Missis said that she would send down money for me, as soon as they could get it together,” said Tom. “I’m ’spectin, she will. Young Mas’r George, he said he’d come for me; and he gave me this yer dollar as a sign;” and Tom drew from under his clothes the precious dollar.
“O, he’ll certainly come, then!” said Eva. “I’m so glad!”
“And I wanted to send a letter, you know, to let ’em know whar I was, and tell poor Chloe that I was well off,—cause she felt so drefful, poor soul!”
“I say Tom!” said St. Clare’s voice, coming in the door at this moment.
Tom et Éva se levèrent en même temps.
Tom and Eva both started.
« Qu' est -ce ? fit Saint-Clare en s' approchant et en regardant l' ardoise....
“What’s here?” said St. Clare, coming up and looking at the slate.
“O, it’s Tom’s letter. I’m helping him to write it,” said Eva; “isn’t it nice?”
-- Je ne voudrais vous décourager ni l' un ni l' autre.... mais je crois, Tom, que vous feriez mieux de me prier de vous l' écrire.... C' est ce que je vais faire en descendant de cheval....
“I wouldn’t discourage either of you,” said St. Clare, “but I rather think, Tom, you’d better get me to write your letter for you. I’ll do it, when I come home from my ride.”
“It’s very important he should write,” said Eva, “because his mistress is going to send down money to redeem him, you know, papa; he told me they told him so.”
Saint-Clare pensa en lui-même que c' était probablement une de ces promesses téméraires, comme en font les maîtres bienveillants pour adoucir dans l' âme de l' esclave l' horreur qu' il a d' être vendu; mais il se garda bien de faire tout haut le commentaire de sa pensée.... il se contenta d' ordonner à Tom de seller les chevaux.
St. Clare thought, in his heart, that this was probably only one of those things which good-natured owners say to their servants, to alleviate their horror of being sold, without any intention of fulfilling the expectation thus excited. But he did not make any audible comment upon it,—only ordered Tom to get the horses out for a ride.
Tom’s letter was written in due form for him that evening, and safely lodged in the post-office.
Cependant miss Ophélia persévérait dans sa ligne de conduite et poursuivait les réformes. Dans la maison, depuis Dinah jusqu' au plus mince moricaud, on s' accordait à dire qu' elle était très-curieuse; c' est le terme dont se servent les esclaves du sud pour donner à entendre que leurs maîtres ne leur conviennent point....
Miss Ophelia still persevered in her labors in the housekeeping line. It was universally agreed, among all the household, from Dinah down to the youngest urchin, that Miss Ophelia was decidedly “curis,”—a term by which a southern servant implies that his or her betters don’t exactly suit them.
L' élite de la domesticité, Adolphe, Jane et Rosa, assuraient que ce n' était point une dame, les dames ne s' occupant pas ainsi de tout comme elle; elle n' avait pas _d'air_[17 ]; ils s' étonnaient qu' elle pût être apparentée aux Saint-Clare.
[ 17 ] Le mot _français_ se trouve dans le texte américain. ~~~ M. Saint-Clare, de son côté, déclarait qu' il était fatigant de voir Ophélia aussi occupée. L' activité d' Ophélia était vraiment assez grande pour donner quelque prétexte à la plainte. Elle cousait et rapiéçait depuis l' aube jusqu' à la nuit, comme si elle eût été sous la tyrannie de quelques pressantes nécessités.... Le soir venu, elle repliait l' ouvrage.... mais pour reprendre immédiatement le tricot.... et les aiguilles d' aller, d' aller, d' aller ! Oui, c' était vraiment une fatigue de la voir.
The higher circle in the family—to wit, Adolph, Jane and Rosa—agreed that she was no lady; ladies never keep working about as she did,—that she had no _air_ at all; and they were surprised that she should be any relation of the St. Clares. Even Marie declared that it was absolutely fatiguing to see Cousin Ophelia always so busy. And, in fact, Miss Ophelia’s industry was so incessant as to lay some foundation for the complaint. She sewed and stitched away, from daylight till dark, with the energy of one who is pressed on by some immediate urgency; and then, when the light faded, and the work was folded away, with one turn out came the ever-ready knitting-work, and there she was again, going on as briskly as ever. It really was a labor to see her.
CHAPITRE XX.
CHAPTER XX Topsy
One morning, while Miss Ophelia was busy in some of her domestic cares, St. Clare’s voice was heard, calling her at the foot of the stairs.
“Come down here, Cousin, I’ve something to show you.”
-- Qu' est -ce ? fit miss Ophélia en descendant sa couture à la main.
“What is it?” said Miss Ophelia, coming down, with her sewing in her hand.
“I’ve made a purchase for your department,—see here,” said St. Clare; and, with the word, he pulled along a little negro girl, about eight or nine years of age.
C' était bien un des plus noirs visages de sa race.... Ses yeux ronds avaient l' éclat des grains de verroterie; ils se tournaient avec une incessante mobilité vers tous les objets qui se trouvaient dans l' appartement. Sa bouche, à moitié ouverte par l' étonnement que lui causaient tant de merveilles, découvrait une étincelante rangée de dents blanches. Sa chevelure laineuse était divisée en petites tresses qui s' éparpillaient autour de sa tête. L' expression de sa physionomie était un étonnant mélange de finesse et de ruse, sur lesquelles s' étendait, comme un voile, une sorte de gravité solennelle et dolente.... Elle n' avait pour tout vêtement qu' un vieux sac déchiré. Elle tenait ses mains obstinément croisées sur sa poitrine. Il y avait dans toute sa personne un je ne sais quoi de bizarre et de fantastique. Ce n' était point une femme: c' était une apparition. Miss Ophélia était déconcertée.... elle lui trouvait un air païen. Enfin, se retournant vers Saint-Clare:
She was one of the blackest of her race; and her round shining eyes, glittering as glass beads, moved with quick and restless glances over everything in the room. Her mouth, half open with astonishment at the wonders of the new Mas’r’s parlor, displayed a white and brilliant set of teeth. Her woolly hair was braided in sundry little tails, which stuck out in every direction. The expression of her face was an odd mixture of shrewdness and cunning, over which was oddly drawn, like a kind of veil, an expression of the most doleful gravity and solemnity. She was dressed in a single filthy, ragged garment, made of bagging; and stood with her hands demurely folded before her. Altogether, there was something odd and goblin-like about her appearance,—something, as Miss Ophelia afterwards said, “so heathenish,” as to inspire that good lady with utter dismay; and turning to St. Clare, she said,
“Augustine, what in the world have you brought that thing here for?”
-- Eh mais, pour que vous puissiez l' instruire et l' élever comme il faut. J' ai pensé que c' était un assez joli petit échantillon de la race des corbeaux. Ici, Topsy ! ajouta -t-il, en sifflant comme un homme qui veut fixer l' attention d' un chien; voyons ! chante -nous une de tes chansons et fais -nous voir une de tes danses. »
“For you to educate, to be sure, and train in the way she should go. I thought she was rather a funny specimen in the Jim Crow line. Here, Topsy,” he added, giving a whistle, as a man would to call the attention of a dog, “give us a song, now, and show us some of your dancing.”
On vit briller dans les yeux de verre une sorte de drôlerie malicieuse, et d' une voix claire et perçante elle chanta une vieille mélodie nègre; elle accompagnait son chant d' un mouvement mesuré des mains et des pieds.... elle frappait dans ses mains, elle bondissait, elle entrechoquait ses genoux: c' était un rhythme étrange et sauvage.... Elle faisait entendre aussi de temps en temps ces sons rauques et gutturaux qui distinguent la musique de sa race; enfin, après deux ou trois cabrioles, elle poussa une note finale suraiguë, aussi étrangère aux gammes des mélodies humaines que le sifflet d' une locomotive, puis elle se laissa tomber sur le parquet, resta les mains jointes, et une expression de douceur et de solennité extatique reparut sur son visage.... Mais il partait toujours du coin de son oeil des regards furtifs et astucieux.
The black, glassy eyes glittered with a kind of wicked drollery, and the thing struck up, in a clear shrill voice, an odd negro melody, to which she kept time with her hands and feet, spinning round, clapping her hands, knocking her knees together, in a wild, fantastic sort of time, and producing in her throat all those odd guttural sounds which distinguish the native music of her race; and finally, turning a summerset or two, and giving a prolonged closing note, as odd and unearthly as that of a steam-whistle, she came suddenly down on the carpet, and stood with her hands folded, and a most sanctimonious expression of meekness and solemnity over her face, only broken by the cunning glances which she shot askance from the corners of her eyes.
Miss Ophelia stood silent, perfectly paralyzed with amazement. St. Clare, like a mischievous fellow as he was, appeared to enjoy her astonishment; and, addressing the child again, said,
“Topsy, this is your new mistress. I’m going to give you up to her; see now that you behave yourself.”
“Yes, Mas’r,” said Topsy, with sanctimonious gravity, her wicked eyes twinkling as she spoke.
“You’re going to be good, Topsy, you understand,” said St. Clare.
“O yes, Mas’r,” said Topsy, with another twinkle, her hands still devoutly folded.
-- Voyons, Augustin, qu' est -ce que cela veut dire ? reprit enfin miss Ophélia; votre maison est déjà pleine de ces petites pestes; on ne peut pas faire un pas sans marcher dessus.... Je me lève le matin, je trouve un négrillon endormi derrière la porte.... ici c' est une tête noire qui se montre sous la table; un autre est étendu sur le paillasson; ils fourmillent, ils crient, ils grimpent.... et vous avez besoin d' en amener encore !... mais pourquoi faire, bon Dieu ?
“Now, Augustine, what upon earth is this for?” said Miss Ophelia. “Your house is so full of these little plagues, now, that a body can’t set down their foot without treading on ’em. I get up in the morning, and find one asleep behind the door, and see one black head poking out from under the table, one lying on the door-mat,—and they are mopping and mowing and grinning between all the railings, and tumbling over the kitchen floor! What on earth did you want to bring this one for?”
“For you to educate—didn’t I tell you? You’re always preaching about educating. I thought I would make you a present of a fresh-caught specimen, and let you try your hand on her, and bring her up in the way she should go.”
“_I_ don’t want her, I am sure;—I have more to do with ’em now than I want to.”
-- Voilà comme vous êtes tous, vous autres chrétiens. Vous formez des associations, et vous envoyez quelque pauvre missionnaire passer sa vie parmi les païens. Mais qu' on me montre un seul de vous qui prenne avec lui un de ces malheureux et qui se donne la peine de le convertir ! Non ! quand on en arrive là.... ils sont sales et désagréables, dit -on, c' est trop de soin.... et ceci, et cela !
“That’s you Christians, all over!—you’ll get up a society, and get some poor missionary to spend all his days among just such heathen. But let me see one of you that would take one into your house with you, and take the labor of their conversion on yourselves! No; when it comes to that, they are dirty and disagreeable, and it’s too much care, and so on.”
“Augustine, you know I didn’t think of it in that light,” said Miss Ophelia, evidently softening. “Well, it might be a real missionary work,” said she, looking rather more favorably on the child.
St. Clare had touched the right string. Miss Ophelia’s conscientiousness was ever on the alert. “But,” she added, “I really didn’t see the need of buying this one;—there are enough now, in your house, to take all my time and skill.”
-- Allons ! soit, cousine, dit Saint-Clare en se retirant, je dois vous demander pardon de tous ces propos; vous êtes si bonne qu' ils ne sauraient vous toucher. Voici le fait: cette petite appartenait à un couple d' ivrognes qui tiennent une misérable gargote.... Je passe devant leur porte tous les jours; j' étais fatigué de les entendre, celle -ci pleurer, les autres jurer après et la battre.... elle paraissait espiègle et drôle.... j' ai cru que l' on pouvait en tirer quelque chose.... je l' ai achetée pour vous l' offrir.... Essayez maintenant de lui donner une éducation orthodoxe, à la façon de la Nouvelle-Angleterre.... nous verrons comment cela tournera.... Je n' ai pas, moi, de dispositions pour l' enseignement, mais je serai enchanté de vous voir essayer.
“Well, then, Cousin,” said St. Clare, drawing her aside, “I ought to beg your pardon for my good-for-nothing speeches. You are so good, after all, that there’s no sense in them. Why, the fact is, this concern belonged to a couple of drunken creatures that keep a low restaurant that I have to pass by every day, and I was tired of hearing her screaming, and them beating and swearing at her. She looked bright and funny, too, as if something might be made of her;—so I bought her, and I’ll give her to you. Try, now, and give her a good orthodox New England bringing up, and see what it’ll make of her. You know I haven’t any gift that way; but I’d like you to try.”
“Well, I’ll do what I can,” said Miss Ophelia; and she approached her new subject very much as a person might be supposed to approach a black spider, supposing them to have benevolent designs toward it.
« Elle est affreusement sale et presque nue....
“She’s dreadfully dirty, and half naked,” she said.
“Well, take her down stairs, and make some of them clean and clothe her up.”
Miss Ophélia la conduisit vers les régions de la cuisine.
Miss Ophelia carried her to the kitchen regions.
“Don’t see what Mas’r St. Clare wants of ’nother nigger!” said Dinah, surveying the new arrival with no friendly air. “Won’t have her around under _my_ feet, _I_ know!”
“Pah!” said Rosa and Jane, with supreme disgust; “let her keep out of our way! What in the world Mas’r wanted another of these low niggers for, I can’t see!”
“You go long! No more nigger dan you be, Miss Rosa,” said Dinah, who felt this last remark a reflection on herself. “You seem to tink yourself white folks. You an’t nerry one, black _nor_ white, I’d like to be one or turrer.”
Miss Ophelia saw that there was nobody in the camp that would undertake to oversee the cleansing and dressing of the new arrival; and so she was forced to do it herself, with some very ungracious and reluctant assistance from Jane.
Il ne serait peut-être pas très-convenable de faire devant des natures délicates le récit détaillé de cette toilette d' une enfant jusque -là négligée et maltraitée.... Hélas ! dans ce monde, des multitudes d' êtres vivent dans un état tel, que les nerfs de leurs semblables ne peuvent en supporter la simple description. Miss Ophélia était une femme pratique, pleine de résolution et de fermeté; elle brava tous les inconvénients, non pas, il est vrai, sans quelque répugnance.... mais elle remplit la tâche. Ses principes ne pouvaient l' obliger à faire davantage. Quand elle découvrit, sur les épaules et sur le dos de l' enfant, de larges cicatrices et des callosités nombreuses, marques du système sous lequel on l' avait élevée, elle sentit en elle-même son coeur ému de compassion.
It is not for ears polite to hear the particulars of the first toilet of a neglected, abused child. In fact, in this world, multitudes must live and die in a state that it would be too great a shock to the nerves of their fellow-mortals even to hear described. Miss Ophelia had a good, strong, practical deal of resolution; and she went through all the disgusting details with heroic thoroughness, though, it must be confessed, with no very gracious air,—for endurance was the utmost to which her principles could bring her. When she saw, on the back and shoulders of the child, great welts and calloused spots, ineffaceable marks of the system under which she had grown up thus far, her heart became pitiful within her.
“See there!” said Jane, pointing to the marks, “don’t that show she’s a limb? We’ll have fine works with her, I reckon. I hate these nigger young uns! so disgusting! I wonder that Mas’r would buy her!”
Topsy écoutait ces commentaires dont elle était l' objet avec son air dolent et sournois; seulement ses yeux vifs et perçants se portaient à chaque instant sur les pendants d' oreille de Jane. Quand elle fut complétement vêtue, et assez convenablement, quand enfin on lui eut coupé les cheveux, miss Ophélia éprouva une certaine satisfaction, et dit qu' elle avait ainsi l' air plus chrétien qu' auparavant. Elle commença même à méditer quelque plan d' éducation.
The “young un” alluded to heard all these comments with the subdued and doleful air which seemed habitual to her, only scanning, with a keen and furtive glance of her flickering eyes, the ornaments which Jane wore in her ears. When arrayed at last in a suit of decent and whole clothing, her hair cropped short to her head, Miss Ophelia, with some satisfaction, said she looked more Christian-like than she did, and in her own mind began to mature some plans for her instruction.
Elle s' assit devant la jeune esclave et se mit à l' interroger.
Sitting down before her, she began to question her.
« Quel âge avez -vous, Topsy ?
“How old are you, Topsy?”
“Dun no, Missis,” said the image, with a grin that showed all her teeth.
“Don’t know how old you are? Didn’t anybody ever tell you? Who was your mother?”
“Never had none!” said the child, with another grin.
“Never had any mother? What do you mean? Where were you born?”
-- Je suis jamais née, » continua Topsy avec des grimaces tellement diaboliques que, si miss Orphélia eût été nerveuse, elle eût pu se croire en face de quelque affreux petit gnome du pays des chimères. Mais miss Orphélia n' était pas nerveuse du tout; c' était une femme de bon sens, énergique et intrépide; elle reprit donc avec un peu de sévérité:
“Never was born!” persisted Topsy, with another grin, that looked so goblin-like, that, if Miss Ophelia had been at all nervous, she might have fancied that she had got hold of some sooty gnome from the land of Diablerie; but Miss Ophelia was not nervous, but plain and business-like, and she said, with some sternness,
“You mustn’t answer me in that way, child; I’m not playing with you. Tell me where you were born, and who your father and mother were.”
“Never was born,” reiterated the creature, more emphatically; “never had no father nor mother, nor nothin’. I was raised by a speculator, with lots of others. Old Aunt Sue used to take car on us.”
The child was evidently sincere, and Jane, breaking into a short laugh, said,
“Laws, Missis, there’s heaps of ’em. Speculators buys ’em up cheap, when they’s little, and gets ’em raised for market.”
“How long have you lived with your master and mistress?”
-- Je sais pas.
“Dun no, Missis.”
--Un an? plus? moins?
“Is it a year, or more, or less?”
--Sais pas.
“Dun no, Missis.”
“Laws, Missis, those low negroes,—they can’t tell; they don’t know anything about time,” said Jane; “they don’t know what a year is; they don’t know their own ages.
“Have you ever heard anything about God, Topsy?”
The child looked bewildered, but grinned as usual. ~~~ “Do you know who made you?”
“Nobody, as I knows on,” said the child, with a short laugh.
The idea appeared to amuse her considerably; for her eyes twinkled, and she added,
“I spect I grow’d. Don’t think nobody never made me.”
“Do you know how to sew?” said Miss Ophelia, who thought she would turn her inquiries to something more tangible.
--Non.
“No, Missis.”
“What can you do?—what did you do for your master and mistress?”
“Fetch water, and wash dishes, and rub knives, and wait on folks.”
-- Étaient -ils bons pour vous ?
“Were they good to you?”
“Spect they was,” said the child, scanning Miss Ophelia cunningly.
Miss Ophelia rose from this encouraging colloquy; St. Clare was leaning over the back of her chair.
“You find virgin soil there, Cousin; put in your own ideas,—you won’t find many to pull up.”
Les idées de miss Ophélia sur l' éducation, de même que toutes ses autres idées, étaient nettement déterminées. C' étaient les idées qui prévalaient, il y a cent ans, dans la Nouvelle-Angleterre, et qui persistent encore dans certaines parties du pays à l' abri de la corruption (là où il n' y a pas de chemin de fer ). Ces idées peuvent du reste s' exprimer en peu de mots. Apprendre aux enfants quand ils doivent parler, leur enseigner le catéchisme, la lecture, l' écriture, les fouetter quand ils mentent.... Que ce système soit de beaucoup dépassé, aujourd'hui que l' on verse sur l' éducation des _torrents de lumière_, c' est possible, mais on n' en conviendra pas moins que nos grand'mères, avec ce régime dont tant de gens se souviennent, sont parvenues à élever des hommes et des femmes qui en valaient bien d' autres.
Miss Ophelia’s ideas of education, like all her other ideas, were very set and definite; and of the kind that prevailed in New England a century ago, and which are still preserved in some very retired and unsophisticated parts, where there are no railroads. As nearly as could be expressed, they could be comprised in very few words: to teach them to mind when they were spoken to; to teach them the catechism, sewing, and reading; and to whip them if they told lies. And though, of course, in the flood of light that is now poured on education, these are left far away in the rear, yet it is an undisputed fact that our grandmothers raised some tolerably fair men and women under this regime, as many of us can remember and testify. At all events, Miss Ophelia knew of nothing else to do; and, therefore, applied her mind to her heathen with the best diligence she could command.
En tout cas, miss Ophélia ne connaissait pas d' autre système, et elle s' empressait d' appliquer celui -ci à sa petite païenne. ~~~ Il y eut une déclaration des droits: Topsy fut considérée comme appartenant à miss Ophélia. Celle -ci, voyant l' accueil peu gracieux que l' enfant recevait à l' office, résolut de borner à sa propre chambre la sphère de ses opérations. Avec un dévouement que quelques-unes de nos lectrices apprécieront, au lieu de se préparer de ses propres mains un lit confortable, de balayer elle-même et d' épousseter sa chambre, elle se condamna au martyre volontaire d' apprendre à Topsy comment on fait toutes ces choses. C' était rude ! Si jamais nos lectrices en viennent là, elles comprendront le mérite de ce sacrifice.
The child was announced and considered in the family as Miss Ophelia’s girl; and, as she was looked upon with no gracious eye in the kitchen, Miss Ophelia resolved to confine her sphere of operation and instruction chiefly to her own chamber. With a self-sacrifice which some of our readers will appreciate, she resolved, instead of comfortably making her own bed, sweeping and dusting her own chamber,—which she had hitherto done, in utter scorn of all offers of help from the chambermaid of the establishment,—to condemn herself to the martyrdom of instructing Topsy to perform these operations,—ah, woe the day! Did any of our readers ever do the same, they will appreciate the amount of her self-sacrifice.
Miss Ophélia fit donc venir Topsy dans sa chambre dès le premier matin, et elle commença solennellement à l' instruire dans l' art mystérieux de faire un lit. Voyez donc Topsy ! Elle est décrassée; on l' a débarrassée de toutes ces petites queues tressées qui faisaient jadis la joie de son coeur; elle a une robe propre; elle a un tablier bien empesé; elle se tient respectueusement devant miss Ophélia avec un air solennel vraiment digne d' un enterrement.
Miss Ophelia began with Topsy by taking her into her chamber, the first morning, and solemnly commencing a course of instruction in the art and mystery of bed-making. ~~~ Behold, then, Topsy, washed and shorn of all the little braided tails wherein her heart had delighted, arrayed in a clean gown, with well-starched apron, standing reverently before Miss Ophelia, with an expression of solemnity well befitting a funeral.
“Now, Topsy, I’m going to show you just how my bed is to be made. I am very particular about my bed. You must learn exactly how to do it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” says Topsy, with a deep sigh, and a face of woful earnestness.
-- Regardez, Topsy, voici le haut bout du drap, voici l' envers, voici l' endroit. Vous vous rappellerez, n' est -ce pas ?
“Now, Topsy, look here;—this is the hem of the sheet,—this is the right side of the sheet, and this is the wrong;—will you remember?”
-- Oui, madame, dit Topsy avec toutes les marques d' une profonde attention.
“Yes, ma’am,” says Topsy, with another sigh.
“Well, now, the under sheet you must bring over the bolster,—so—and tuck it clear down under the mattress nice and smooth,—so,—do you see?”
--Oui, madame.»
“Yes, ma’am,” said Topsy, with profound attention.
“But the upper sheet,” said Miss Ophelia, “must be brought down in this way, and tucked under firm and smooth at the foot,—so,—the narrow hem at the foot.”
Ajoutons que, pendant que miss Ophélia avait tourné le dos pour joindre l' exemple au précepte, la jeune élève était parvenue à s' emparer d' une paire de gants et d' un ruban qu' elle avait adroitement coulés dans ses manches. Les mains étaient revenues promptement se croiser sur la poitrine, dans la position la plus inoffensive.
“Yes, ma’am,” said Topsy, as before;—but we will add, what Miss Ophelia did not see, that, during the time when the good lady’s back was turned in the zeal of her manipulations, the young disciple had contrived to snatch a pair of gloves and a ribbon, which she had adroitly slipped into her sleeves, and stood with her hands dutifully folded, as before.
“Now, Topsy, let’s see _you_ do this,” said Miss Ophelia, pulling off the clothes, and seating herself.
Topsy s' acquitta de sa tâche avec autant d' adresse que de gravité, à la complète satisfaction de miss Ophélia. Elle étira les draps, rabattit jusqu' au moindre pli, et montra un sérieux et une attention qui édifiaient son institutrice. Mais un mouvement malheureux fit passer un bout de ruban qui flotta hors de la manche et attira tout à coup l' attention de miss Ophélia. Elle s' élança vers l' infortuné ruban. ~~~ « Qu' est -ce, vilaine ? méchante enfant, vous avez volé cela ! »
Topsy, with great gravity and adroitness, went through the exercise completely to Miss Ophelia’s satisfaction; smoothing the sheets, patting out every wrinkle, and exhibiting, through the whole process, a gravity and seriousness with which her instructress was greatly edified. By an unlucky slip, however, a fluttering fragment of the ribbon hung out of one of her sleeves, just as she was finishing, and caught Miss Ophelia’s attention. Instantly, she pounced upon it. “What’s this? You naughty, wicked child,—you’ve been stealing this!”
Le ruban tombait de la manche de Topsy; elle ne fut cependant pas trop déconcertée.... Elle le regarda avec un air d' innocence et de stupéfaction profonde.
The ribbon was pulled out of Topsy’s own sleeve, yet was she not in the least disconcerted; she only looked at it with an air of the most surprised and unconscious innocence.
“Laws! why, that ar’s Miss Feely’s ribbon, an’t it? How could it a got caught in my sleeve?
“Topsy, you naughty girl, don’t you tell me a lie,—you stole that ribbon!”
“Missis, I declar for ’t, I didn’t;—never seed it till dis yer blessed minnit.”
“Topsy,” said Miss Ophelia, “don’t you know it’s wicked to tell lies?”
“I never tell no lies, Miss Feely,” said Topsy, with virtuous gravity; “it’s jist the truth I’ve been a tellin now, and an’t nothin else.”
“Topsy, I shall have to whip you, if you tell lies so.”
“Laws, Missis, if you’s to whip all day, couldn’t say no other way,” said Topsy, beginning to blubber. “I never seed dat ar,—it must a got caught in my sleeve. Miss Feeley must have left it on the bed, and it got caught in the clothes, and so got in my sleeve.”
Miss Ophelia was so indignant at the barefaced lie, that she caught the child and shook her.
« Ne me répétez pas cela ! »
“Don’t you tell me that again!”
The shake brought the glove on to the floor, from the other sleeve.
“There, you!” said Miss Ophelia, “will you tell me now, you didn’t steal the ribbon?”
Topsy now confessed to the gloves, but still persisted in denying the ribbon.
“Now, Topsy,” said Miss Ophelia, “if you’ll confess all about it, I won’t whip you this time.” Thus adjured, Topsy confessed to the ribbon and gloves, with woful protestations of penitence.
“Well, now, tell me. I know you must have taken other things since you have been in the house, for I let you run about all day yesterday. Now, tell me if you took anything, and I shan’t whip you.”
“Laws, Missis! I took Miss Eva’s red thing she wars on her neck.”
--Méchante créature! et quoi encore?
“You did, you naughty child!—Well, what else?”
“I took Rosa’s yer-rings,—them red ones.”
“Go bring them to me this minute, both of ’em.”
“Laws, Missis! I can’t,—they ’s burnt up!”
-- Brûlé ! quel mensonge !... Allons, tout de suite... ou le fouet ! »
“Burnt up!—what a story! Go get ’em, or I’ll whip you.”
Topsy, with loud protestations, and tears, and groans, declared that she _could_ not. “They ’s burnt up,—they was.”
“What did you burn ’em for?” said Miss Ophelia.
“Cause I ’s wicked,—I is. I ’s mighty wicked, any how. I can’t help it.”
Au même instant Éva entra fort innocemment dans la chambre, son collier rouge au cou.
Just at this moment, Eva came innocently into the room, with the identical coral necklace on her neck.
“Why, Eva, where did you get your necklace?” said Miss Ophelia.
“Get it? Why, I’ve had it on all day,” said Eva.
--Hier?
“Did you have it on yesterday?”
“Yes; and what is funny, Aunty, I had it on all night. I forgot to take it off when I went to bed.”
Miss Ophelia looked perfectly bewildered; the more so, as Rosa, at that instant, came into the room, with a basket of newly-ironed linen poised on her head, and the coral ear-drops shaking in her ears!
“I’m sure I can’t tell anything what to do with such a child!” she said, in despair. “What in the world did you tell me you took those things for, Topsy?”
“Why, Missis said I must ’fess; and I couldn’t think of nothin’ else to ’fess,” said Topsy, rubbing her eyes.
“But, of course, I didn’t want you to confess things you didn’t do,” said Miss Ophelia; “that’s telling a lie, just as much as the other.”
“Laws, now, is it?” said Topsy, with an air of innocent wonder.
“La, there an’t any such thing as truth in that limb,” said Rosa, looking indignantly at Topsy. “If I was Mas’r St. Clare, I’d whip her till the blood run. I would,—I’d let her catch it!”
“No, no Rosa,” said Eva, with an air of command, which the child could assume at times; “you mustn’t talk so, Rosa. I can’t bear to hear it.”
“La sakes! Miss Eva, you ’s so good, you don’t know nothing how to get along with niggers. There’s no way but to cut ’em well up, I tell ye.”
“Rosa!” said Eva, “hush! Don’t you say another word of that sort!” and the eye of the child flashed, and her cheek deepened its color.
Rosa was cowed in a moment.
“Miss Eva has got the St. Clare blood in her, that’s plain. She can speak, for all the world, just like her papa,” she said, as she passed out of the room.
Évangéline regardait Topsy.
Eva stood looking at Topsy.
Voici donc deux enfants qui représentent les deux pôles du monde social. Voici la blanche et noble enfant, aux cheveux d' or, à l' oeil profond, au front intelligent et superbe, aux mouvements aristocratiques; et tout près d' elle, rampante, noire, défiante, rusée, subtile et menteuse, une autre enfant. Oui, voilà bien deux types et deux races: la race saxonne, produit de la civilisation, portée dans les entrailles des siècles, et qui a derrière elle et pour elle de longues années de commandement, d' éducation et de suprématie morale et matérielle, et la race africaine, cette fille des siècles opprimés, ce produit de l' asservissement, de l' ignorance, de la misère et du vice....
There stood the two children representatives of the two extremes of society. The fair, high-bred child, with her golden head, her deep eyes, her spiritual, noble brow, and prince-like movements; and her black, keen, subtle, cringing, yet acute neighbor. They stood the representatives of their races. The Saxon, born of ages of cultivation, command, education, physical and moral eminence; the Afric, born of ages of oppression, submission, ignorance, toil and vice!
Peut-être que quelque chose de ces pensées traversait l' âme d' Éva. Mais les pensées des enfants ne sont que des pensées vagues, des instincts obscurs.... Cependant ces instincts se remuaient sourdement dans le noble coeur de la jeune fille, sans qu' elle trouvât encore de mots pour les exprimer. Quand miss Ophélia s' emporta en reproches violents contre la méchante conduite de Topsy, Éva parut triste et incertaine, puis elle dit d' une voix bien douce:
Something, perhaps, of such thoughts struggled through Eva’s mind. But a child’s thoughts are rather dim, undefined instincts; and in Eva’s noble nature many such were yearning and working, for which she had no power of utterance. When Miss Ophelia expatiated on Topsy’s naughty, wicked conduct, the child looked perplexed and sorrowful, but said, sweetly.
“Poor Topsy, why need you steal? You’re going to be taken good care of now. I’m sure I’d rather give you anything of mine, than have you steal it.”
C' était la première parole de bonté que Topsy eût jamais entendue. La douceur de cette voix, le charme de ces façons, agirent étrangement sur ce coeur sauvage et indompté.... et dans cet oeil rond, perçant et vif, on vit briller quelque chose comme une larme. Puis on entendit un petit rire sec, et Topsy fit sa grimace habituelle. Non ! l' oreille qui n' a jamais entendu que des mots durs et cruels est nécessairement incrédule la première fois qu' elle entend la parole de cette céleste chose, la tendresse et la bonté ! Pour Topsy, ce que disait Évangéline était tout simplement drôle et incompréhensible. Elle n' y croyait pas !
It was the first word of kindness the child had ever heard in her life; and the sweet tone and manner struck strangely on the wild, rude heart, and a sparkle of something like a tear shone in the keen, round, glittering eye; but it was followed by the short laugh and habitual grin. No! the ear that has never heard anything but abuse is strangely incredulous of anything so heavenly as kindness; and Topsy only thought Eva’s speech something funny and inexplicable,—she did not believe it.
Mais comment donc s' y prendre avec Topsy ? Miss Ophélia y perdait son latin. Son plan ne semblait guère applicable.... Elle voulait avoir le temps d' y penser.... et, pour avoir ce temps -là, elle enferma Topsy dans un cabinet noir. Elle croyait à l' influence morale des cabinets noirs sur les enfants !
But what was to be done with Topsy? Miss Ophelia found the case a puzzler; her rules for bringing up didn’t seem to apply. She thought she would take time to think of it; and, by the way of gaining time, and in hopes of some indefinite moral virtues supposed to be inherent in dark closets, Miss Ophelia shut Topsy up in one till she had arranged her ideas further on the subject.
“I don’t see,” said Miss Ophelia to St. Clare, “how I’m going to manage that child, without whipping her.”
“Well, whip her, then, to your heart’s content; I’ll give you full power to do what you like.”
“Children always have to be whipped,” said Miss Ophelia; “I never heard of bringing them up without.”
-- C' est évident ! reprit Saint-Clare, riant en lui même. Faites comme vous l' entendrez.... Je vous ferai une simple observation. J' ai vu frapper cette enfant avec la pelle à feu; je l' ai vu assommer à coups de pincettes.... enfin, avec tout ce qui leur tombait sous la main.... elle est faite à tout cela; voyez -vous, il faudra que vous la fassiez fouetter bien vigoureusement pour que cela puisse avoir quelque effet.
“O, well, certainly,” said St. Clare; “do as you think best. Only I’ll make one suggestion: I’ve seen this child whipped with a poker, knocked down with the shovel or tongs, whichever came handiest, &c.; and, seeing that she is used to that style of operation, I think your whippings will have to be pretty energetic, to make much impression.”
-- Que faire alors ?
“What is to be done with her, then?” said Miss Ophelia.
“You have started a serious question,” said St. Clare; “I wish you’d answer it. What is to be done with a human being that can be governed only by the lash,—_that_ fails,—it’s a very common state of things down here!”
“I’m sure I don’t know; I never saw such a child as this.”
“Such children are very common among us, and such men and women, too. How are they to be governed?” said St. Clare.
“I’m sure it’s more than I can say,” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Ni moi non plus, dit Saint-Clare. Les horribles cruautés, les sévices dont on remplit parfois les journaux, la mort de Prue, par exemple, quelle en est la cause ? On la trouve souvent dans la blâmable conduite des uns et des autres.... Le maître devient de plus en plus cruel, l' esclave de plus en plus endurci. Il en est du fouet et des mauvais traitements comme du laudanum; il faut doubler la dose quand la sensibilité diminue. J' ai vu cela bien vite quand je suis devenu possesseur d' esclaves.... Je résolus de ne pas commencer, parce que je ne saurais pas où finir. Je voulus du moins sauver ma moralité, à moi.... Aussi mes esclaves se conduisent comme des enfants gâtés.... Je crois que cela vaut mieux pour eux et pour moi que de nous endurcir et de nous dégrader tous ensemble. Vous avez beaucoup parlé de notre responsabilité dans l' éducation, cousine.... J' avais véritablement besoin de vous voir essayer avec une enfant qui n' est, après tout, qu' un échantillon de mille autres.
“Or I either,” said St. Clare. “The horrid cruelties and outrages that once and a while find their way into the papers,—such cases as Prue’s, for example,—what do they come from? In many cases, it is a gradual hardening process on both sides,—the owner growing more and more cruel, as the servant more and more callous. Whipping and abuse are like laudanum; you have to double the dose as the sensibilities decline. I saw this very early when I became an owner; and I resolved never to begin, because I did not know when I should stop,—and I resolved, at least, to protect my own moral nature. The consequence is, that my servants act like spoiled children; but I think that better than for us both to be brutalized together. You have talked a great deal about our responsibilities in educating, Cousin. I really wanted you to _try_ with one child, who is a specimen of thousands among us.”
“It is your system makes such children,” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Je ne puis pas vous remercier de l' expérience, mais je vois là un devoir; je persévérerai, et je tâcherai de faire de mon mieux. »
“I know it; but they are _made_,—they exist,—and what _is_ to be done with them?”
“Well, I can’t say I thank you for the experiment. But, then, as it appears to be a duty, I shall persevere and try, and do the best I can,” said Miss Ophelia; and Miss Ophelia, after this, did labor, with a commendable degree of zeal and energy, on her new subject. She instituted regular hours and employments for her, and undertook to teach her to read and sew.
La lecture marcha assez bien. Topsy apprit ses lettres, que c' était une merveille.... elle lut bientôt couramment.... la couture offrit plus de difficultés. Souple comme un chat, remuante comme un singe, elle avait en horreur l' immobilité qu' exige ce genre de travail.... elle brisait les aiguilles, les jetait par la fenêtre, ou les glissait dans les fentes du mur. Elle cassait ou emmêlait son fil, ou bien encore, d' un geste subtil et invisible, elle escamotait les bobines tout entières: elle avait la rapidité de doigts d' un prestidigitateur, et composait son visage avec une incroyable puissance. Miss Ophélia avait beau se dire que de tels accidents, si répétés, ne pouvaient arriver tout seuls, jamais, malgré la plus active surveillance, elle ne pouvait la trouver en défaut.
In the former art, the child was quick enough. She learned her letters as if by magic, and was very soon able to read plain reading; but the sewing was a more difficult matter. The creature was as lithe as a cat, and as active as a monkey, and the confinement of sewing was her abomination; so she broke her needles, threw them slyly out of the window, or down in chinks of the walls; she tangled, broke, and dirtied her thread, or, with a sly movement, would throw a spool away altogether. Her motions were almost as quick as those of a practised conjurer, and her command of her face quite as great; and though Miss Ophelia could not help feeling that so many accidents could not possibly happen in succession, yet she could not, without a watchfulness which would leave her no time for anything else, detect her.
Topsy fut bientôt remarquée dans la maison; elle avait d' inépuisables ressources; elle mimait, singeait et grimaçait; elle dansait, sautait, grimpait, pirouettait, sifflait et imitait tous les cris et toutes les intonations imaginables. Aux heures de récréation, elle avait invariablement à ses trousses tous les enfants de la maison, qui la suivaient, la bouche béante, admirant et étonnés. Miss Éva était elle-même comme éblouie de toute cette diablerie fantastique; l' oeil magique du serpent ne fascine -t-il point la colombe ? Miss Ophélia regrettait qu' Éva prît tant de goût à la société de Topsy; elle priait Saint-Clare d' y mettre ordre.
Topsy was soon a noted character in the establishment. Her talent for every species of drollery, grimace, and mimicry,—for dancing, tumbling, climbing, singing, whistling, imitating every sound that hit her fancy,—seemed inexhaustible. In her play-hours, she invariably had every child in the establishment at her heels, open-mouthed with admiration and wonder,—not excepting Miss Eva, who appeared to be fascinated by her wild diablerie, as a dove is sometimes charmed by a glittering serpent. Miss Ophelia was uneasy that Eva should fancy Topsy’s society so much, and implored St. Clare to forbid it.
“Poh! let the child alone,” said St. Clare. “Topsy will do her good.”
“But so depraved a child,—are you not afraid she will teach her some mischief?”
“She can’t teach her mischief; she might teach it to some children, but evil rolls off Eva’s mind like dew off a cabbage-leaf,—not a drop sinks in.”
-- Ce n' est jamais sûr. Je sais bien pour mon compte que je ne laisserais pas mes enfants jouer avec Topsy.
“Don’t be too sure,” said Miss Ophelia. “I know I’d never let a child of mine play with Topsy.”
“Well, your children needn’t,” said St. Clare, “but mine may; if Eva could have been spoiled, it would have been done years ago.”
Topsy avait d'abord été dédaignée et méprisée par les autres esclaves. ~~~ Ils comprirent bientôt qu' il fallait revenir sur son compte. On s' aperçut que ceux dont elle avait à se plaindre recevaient un châtiment qui ne se faisait jamais attendre. C' était une paire de boucles d' oreilles, c' était quelque bijou favori qu' on ne retrouvait plus. C' était un objet de toilette tout gâté.... ou bien on trébuchait par accident contre un baquet rempli d' eau bouillante.... Ou bien encore une libation d' eau sale tombait comme un déluge sur des épaules en habit de gala.... Ordonnait -on une enquête ? impossible de découvrir l' auteur du délit.... Topsy était citée devant les grandes assises de la cuisine.... Elle parvenait toujours à établir son innocence. ~~~ On n' avait pas le moindre doute, mais on n' avait pas non plus la moindre preuve, et miss Ophélia était trop juste pour sévir sans preuves.
Topsy was at first despised and contemned by the upper servants. They soon found reason to alter their opinion. It was very soon discovered that whoever cast an indignity on Topsy was sure to meet with some inconvenient accident shortly after;—either a pair of ear-rings or some cherished trinket would be missing, or an article of dress would be suddenly found utterly ruined, or the person would stumble accidently into a pail of hot water, or a libation of dirty slop would unaccountably deluge them from above when in full gala dress;-and on all these occasions, when investigation was made, there was nobody found to stand sponsor for the indignity. Topsy was cited, and had up before all the domestic judicatories, time and again; but always sustained her examinations with most edifying innocence and gravity of appearance. Nobody in the world ever doubted who did the things; but not a scrap of any direct evidence could be found to establish the suppositions, and Miss Ophelia was too just to feel at liberty to proceed to any length without it.
L' instant, d'ailleurs, était toujours si bien choisi qu' il n' était pas possible de découvrir le coupable. Avait -elle à se venger de Jane ou de Rosa, elle attendait le moment (ce moment -là arrivait toujours ) où elles étaient en disgrâce auprès de leur maîtresse, peu disposée alors à favorablement accueillir leurs griefs. En un mot, Topsy fit bientôt comprendre à tout le monde qu' il fallait la laisser en repos. C' est ce que l' on fit.
The mischiefs done were always so nicely timed, also, as further to shelter the aggressor. Thus, the times for revenge on Rosa and Jane, the two chamber maids, were always chosen in those seasons when (as not unfrequently happened) they were in disgrace with their mistress, when any complaint from them would of course meet with no sympathy. In short, Topsy soon made the household understand the propriety of letting her alone; and she was let alone, accordingly.
Topsy avait la main habile et preste. Elle apprenait avec une étonnante vivacité tout ce qu' on voulait lui montrer. En quelques leçons elle sut faire la chambre de miss Ophélia comme celle -ci voulait qu' elle fût faite, et, malgré ses exigences, miss Ophélia ne pouvait la trouver en faute. Il était impossible de mieux tendre le drap, de mieux poser l' oreiller, de mieux balayer, épousseter, arranger, que ne faisait Topsy, quand elle le voulait; mais par malheur elle ne voulait pas souvent. ~~~ Si miss Ophélia, après deux ou trois jours de surveillance attentive, s' imaginait que Topsy était maintenant tout à fait dans la bonne voie, et que, s' occupant d' autres choses, elle l' abandonnât à elle-même, Topsy, pendant une ou deux heures, faisait de la chambre un vrai chaos. Au lieu de faire le lit, elle enlevait les taies d' oreiller, et, passant sa tête laineuse entre les traversins, elle se couronnait d' un bizarre diadème de plumes, qui pointaient dans toutes les directions; elle grimpait au ciel du lit, et de là se suspendait la tête en bas; elle étendait les draps comme un tapis dans l' appartement, elle habillait le traversin avec la camisole de nuit de miss Ophélia; et au milieu de tout cela elle chantait, sifflait, se regardait dans la glace, se faisait des grimaces: pour tout dire, un vrai diable !
Topsy was smart and energetic in all manual operations, learning everything that was taught her with surprising quickness. With a few lessons, she had learned to do the proprieties of Miss Ophelia’s chamber in a way with which even that particular lady could find no fault. Mortal hands could not lay spread smoother, adjust pillows more accurately, sweep and dust and arrange more perfectly, than Topsy, when she chose,—but she didn’t very often choose. If Miss Ophelia, after three or four days of careful patient supervision, was so sanguine as to suppose that Topsy had at last fallen into her way, could do without over-looking, and so go off and busy herself about something else, Topsy would hold a perfect carnival of confusion, for some one or two hours. Instead of making the bed, she would amuse herself with pulling off the pillowcases, butting her woolly head among the pillows, till it would sometimes be grotesquely ornamented with feathers sticking out in various directions; she would climb the posts, and hang head downward from the tops; flourish the sheets and spreads all over the apartment; dress the bolster up in Miss Ophelia’s night-clothes, and enact various performances with that,—singing and whistling, and making grimaces at herself in the looking-glass; in short, as Miss Ophelia phrased it, “raising Cain” generally.
Un jour, miss Ophélia, par une négligence bien étrange chez une femme comme elle, avait oublié la clef sur son tiroir. En rentrant, elle trouva Topsy parée de son beau châle rouge en crêpe de Chine, qu' elle avait enroulé en turban autour de sa tête; elle marchait devant la glace avec des airs de reine de théâtre en répétition.
On one occasion, Miss Ophelia found Topsy with her very best scarlet India Canton crape shawl wound round her head for a turban, going on with her rehearsals before the glass in great style,—Miss Ophelia having, with carelessness most unheard-of in her, left the key for once in her drawer.
“Topsy!” she would say, when at the end of all patience, “what does make you act so?”
“Dunno, Missis,—I spects cause I ’s so wicked!”
“I don’t know anything what I shall do with you, Topsy.”
-- Faut me fouetter, m' ame ! mon ancienne maîtresse me fouettait toujours; j' ai besoin de ça pour travailler !
“Law, Missis, you must whip me; my old Missis allers whipped me. I an’t used to workin’ unless I gets whipped.”
“Why, Topsy, I don’t want to whip you. You can do well, if you’ve a mind to; what is the reason you won’t?”
“Laws, Missis, I ’s used to whippin’; I spects it’s good for me.”
Miss Ophélia usait parfois de la recette; Topsy ne manquait jamais d' entrer en convulsions.... elle poussait des cris perçants, elle sanglotait, pleurait, gémissait.... Une demi-heure après, perchée sur quelque saillie du balcon, entourée de la troupe des petits négrillons, elle témoignait le plus profond dédain pour tout ce qui s' était passé.
Miss Ophelia tried the recipe, and Topsy invariably made a terrible commotion, screaming, groaning and imploring, though half an hour afterwards, when roosted on some projection of the balcony, and surrounded by a flock of admiring “young uns,” she would express the utmost contempt of the whole affair.
“Law, Miss Feely whip!—wouldn’t kill a skeeter, her whippins. Oughter see how old Mas’r made the flesh fly; old Mas’r know’d how!”
Topsy faisait parade de ses monstruosités; elle les considérait comme une distinction flatteuse.
Topsy always made great capital of her own sins and enormities, evidently considering them as something peculiarly distinguishing.
« Voyons, négrillons ! disait -elle à ses auditeurs, savez -vous que vous êtes tous pécheurs. Oui, vous l' êtes, tout le monde l' est ! Les blancs aussi sont pécheurs ! C' est miss Phélia qui l' a dit.... Mais je crois que les nègres sont les plus gros pécheurs.... Personne ne l' est plus que moi ! Je suis si méchante qu' on ne peut rien faire de moi ! Mon ancienne maîtresse jurait après moi la moitié du temps. Je crois que je suis la plus méchante créature du monde ! » ~~~ Et faisant une gambade, Topsy, vive et légère, s' élançait sur quelque grillage élevé, se pavanant dans ses malices.
“Law, you niggers,” she would say to some of her auditors, “does you know you ’s all sinners? Well, you is—everybody is. White folks is sinners too,—Miss Feely says so; but I spects niggers is the biggest ones; but lor! ye an’t any on ye up to me. I ’s so awful wicked there can’t nobody do nothin’ with me. I used to keep old Missis a swarin’ at me half de time. I spects I ’s the wickedest critter in the world;” and Topsy would cut a summerset, and come up brisk and shining on to a higher perch, and evidently plume herself on the distinction.
Miss Ophelia busied herself very earnestly on Sundays, teaching Topsy the catechism. Topsy had an uncommon verbal memory, and committed with a fluency that greatly encouraged her instructress.
“What good do you expect it is going to do her?” said St. Clare.
“Why, it always has done children good. It’s what children always have to learn, you know,” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Qu' ils comprennent ou non ?
“Understand it or not,” said St. Clare.
-- Oh ! les enfants ne comprennent jamais tout d'abord, mais ça leur vient en grandissant.
“O, children never understand it at the time; but, after they are grown up, it’ll come to them.”
“Mine hasn’t come to me yet,” said St. Clare, “though I’ll bear testimony that you put it into me pretty thoroughly when I was a boy.”’
“Ah, you were always good at learning, Augustine. I used to have great hopes of you,” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Eh bien ! est -ce que....
“Well, haven’t you now?” said St. Clare.
“I wish you were as good as you were when you were a boy, Augustine.”
-- Je le voudrais bien aussi, cousine, allez ! Mais continuez.... catéchisez Topsy; peut-être en ferez -vous quelque chose ! »
“So do I, that’s a fact, Cousin,” said St. Clare. “Well, go ahead and catechize Topsy; may be you’ll make out something yet.”
Topsy, who had stood like a black statue during this discussion, with hands decently folded, now, at a signal from Miss Ophelia, went on:
“Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the state wherein they were created.”
Topsy’s eyes twinkled, and she looked inquiringly.
“What is it, Topsy?” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Cet état, missis, était -ce l' État de Kentucky ?
“Please, Missis, was dat ar state Kintuck?”
--Quel état, Topsy?
“What state, Topsy?”
“Dat state dey fell out of. I used to hear Mas’r tell how we came down from Kintuck.”
St. Clare laughed.
“You’ll have to give her a meaning, or she’ll make one,” said he. “There seems to be a theory of emigration suggested there.”
-- Taisez -vous donc, Augustin.... Que puis -je faire, si vous plaisantez ainsi ?
“O! Augustine, be still,” said Miss Ophelia; “how can I do anything, if you will be laughing?”
-- D' honneur, je ne veux plus troubler la leçon, » dit Saint-Clare. Il prit son journal et s' assit en silence. La récitation allait assez bien; seulement, de temps en temps, quelque mot important se trouvait changé de place d' une façon assez bizarre.... On avait beau faire, Topsy s' obstinait dans sa transposition; et, malgré toutes ses promesses, Saint-Clare prenait un malin plaisir à ces méprises: il appelait Topsy et se faisait répéter le passage avec une joie diabolique, malgré les vertueuses remontrances de miss Ophélia.
“Well, I won’t disturb the exercises again, on my honor;” and St. Clare took his paper into the parlor, and sat down, till Topsy had finished her recitations. They were all very well, only that now and then she would oddly transpose some important words, and persist in the mistake, in spite of every effort to the contrary; and St. Clare, after all his promises of goodness, took a wicked pleasure in these mistakes, calling Topsy to him whenever he had a mind to amuse himself, and getting her to repeat the offending passages, in spite of Miss Ophelia’s remonstrances.
“How do you think I can do anything with the child, if you will go on so, Augustine?” she would say.
“Well, it is too bad,—I won’t again; but I do like to hear the droll little image stumble over those big words!”
-- Vous la faites persévérer dans ses torts....
“But you confirm her in the wrong way.”
“What’s the odds? One word is as good as another to her.”
“You wanted me to bring her up right; and you ought to remember she is a reasonable creature, and be careful of your influence over her.”
“O, dismal! so I ought; but, as Topsy herself says, ’I ’s so wicked!’”
Ainsi se poursuivit, pendant un an ou deux, l' éducation de Topsy. Miss Ophélia s' habitua de jour en jour à elle comme on s' habitue aux maladies chroniques, à la névralgie et à la migraine.
In very much this way Topsy’s training proceeded, for a year or two,—Miss Ophelia worrying herself, from day to day, with her, as a kind of chronic plague, to whose inflictions she became, in time, as accustomed, as persons sometimes do to the neuralgia or sick headache.
Saint-Clare s' en amusait comme on s' amuse d' un perroquet ou d' un chien d' arrêt. Quand les fautes de Topsy lui fermaient tout autre asile, elle venait se réfugier derrière sa chaise, et Saint-Clare trouvait toujours le moyen de faire sa paix; elle trouvait, elle, le moyen de lui soutirer quelque monnaie pour acheter des noix ou du sucre candi qu' elle distribuait avec une inépuisable générosité aux autres enfants de la maison: car, pour être juste, nous devons dire que Topsy était libérale, et qu' elle avait le coeur très-haut.... Elle ne faisait de mal qu' à elle. ~~~ Et maintenant que la voilà introduite dans notre corps de ballet, elle y figurera, à son tour, avec nos autres personnages.
St. Clare took the same kind of amusement in the child that a man might in the tricks of a parrot or a pointer. Topsy, whenever her sins brought her into disgrace in other quarters, always took refuge behind his chair; and St. Clare, in one way or other, would make peace for her. From him she got many a stray picayune, which she laid out in nuts and candies, and distributed, with careless generosity, to all the children in the family; for Topsy, to do her justice, was good-natured and liberal, and only spiteful in self-defence. She is fairly introduced into our _corps de ballet_, and will figure, from time to time, in her turn, with other performers.
CHAPITRE XXI.
CHAPTER XXI Kentuck
Our readers may not be unwilling to glance back, for a brief interval, at Uncle Tom’s Cabin, on the Kentucky farm, and see what has been transpiring among those whom he had left behind.
C' est le soir, le soir d' un jour d' été.... les portes et les fenêtres du grand salon sont ouvertes.... on attend la brise qui rafraîchit: on la désire, on l' appelle. M. Shelby est assis dans une vaste pièce qui communique avec le salon, et qui s' étend sur toute la façade de la maison.... il est à demi renversé sur une chaise, les pieds étendus sur une autre; il fume le cigare de l' après-dînée. Mme Shelby est assise à la porte de l' appartement, elle travaille à quelque belle couture. On voit qu' elle a quelque chose sur l' esprit et qu' elle cherche l' occasion et le moment favorable pour le dire.
It was late in the summer afternoon, and the doors and windows of the large parlor all stood open, to invite any stray breeze, that might feel in a good humor, to enter. Mr. Shelby sat in a large hall opening into the room, and running through the whole length of the house, to a balcony on either end. Leisurely tipped back on one chair, with his heels in another, he was enjoying his after-dinner cigar. Mrs. Shelby sat in the door, busy about some fine sewing; she seemed like one who had something on her mind, which she was seeking an opportunity to introduce.
“Do you know,” she said, “that Chloe has had a letter from Tom?”
“Ah! has she? Tom ’s got some friend there, it seems. How is the old boy?”
“He has been bought by a very fine family, I should think,” said Mrs. Shelby,—“is kindly treated, and has not much to do.”
“Ah! well, I’m glad of it,—very glad,” said Mr. Shelby, heartily. “Tom, I suppose, will get reconciled to a Southern residence;—hardly want to come up here again.”
“On the contrary he inquires very anxiously,” said Mrs. Shelby, “when the money for his redemption is to be raised.”
-- Cela, je n' en sais rien, dit M. Shelby. Quand les affaires commencent à tourner mal, on ne sait pas où cela s' arrête. C' est comme dans une savane, où l' on tombe d' un bourbier dans un autre. Emprunter de l' un pour payer l' autre, prendre à celui -ci pour rendre à celui -là.... les échéances arrivent avant qu' on ait eu le temps de fumer un cigare et de se retourner. Ah ! les factures ! et les recouvrements !... la grêle !
“I’m sure _I_ don’t know,” said Mr. Shelby. “Once get business running wrong, there does seem to be no end to it. It’s like jumping from one bog to another, all through a swamp; borrow of one to pay another, and then borrow of another to pay one,—and these confounded notes falling due before a man has time to smoke a cigar and turn round,—dunning letters and dunning messages,—all scamper and hurry-scurry.”
“It does seem to me, my dear, that something might be done to straighten matters. Suppose we sell off all the horses, and sell one of your farms, and pay up square?”
“O, ridiculous, Emily! You are the finest woman in Kentucky; but still you haven’t sense to know that you don’t understand business;—women never do, and never can.
-- Ne pourriez -vous du moins m' initier un peu aux vôtres ? me donner, par exemple, la note de ce que vous devez et de ce qu' on vous doit.... J' essayerais, je verrais s' il m' est possible de vous aider à économiser....
“But, at least,” said Mrs. Shelby, “could not you give me some little insight into yours; a list of all your debts, at least, and of all that is owed to you, and let me try and see if I can’t help you to economize.”
“O, bother! don’t plague me, Emily!—I can’t tell exactly. I know somewhere about what things are likely to be; but there’s no trimming and squaring my affairs, as Chloe trims crust off her pies. You don’t know anything about business, I tell you.”
And Mr. Shelby, not knowing any other way of enforcing his ideas, raised his voice,—a mode of arguing very convenient and convincing, when a gentleman is discussing matters of business with his wife.
Mme Shelby se tut et soupira un peu: bien qu' elle ne fût qu' une femme, comme disait son mari, elle avait cependant une intelligence nette, claire et pratique, et une force de caractère supérieure à son mari; elle était beaucoup plus capable que M. Shelby ne se l' imaginait. Elle avait à coeur d' accomplir les promesses faites à Tom et à Chloé, et elle se désolait de voir les obstacles se multiplier autour d' elle.
Mrs. Shelby ceased talking, with something of a sigh. The fact was, that though her husband had stated she was a woman, she had a clear, energetic, practical mind, and a force of character every way superior to that of her husband; so that it would not have been so very absurd a supposition, to have allowed her capable of managing, as Mr. Shelby supposed. Her heart was set on performing her promise to Tom and Aunt Chloe, and she sighed as discouragements thickened around her.
“Don’t you think we might in some way contrive to raise that money? Poor Aunt Chloe! her heart is so set on it!”
“I’m sorry, if it is. I think I was premature in promising. I’m not sure, now, but it’s the best way to tell Chloe, and let her make up her mind to it. Tom’ll have another wife, in a year or two; and she had better take up with somebody else.”
“Mr. Shelby, I have taught my people that their marriages are as sacred as ours. I never could think of giving Chloe such advice.”
“It’s a pity, wife, that you have burdened them with a morality above their condition and prospects. I always thought so.”
-- Ce n' est que la morale de la Bible, monsieur.
“It’s only the morality of the Bible, Mr. Shelby.”
“Well, well, Emily, I don’t pretend to interfere with your religious notions; only they seem extremely unfitted for people in that condition.”
-- Oui ! vous avez raison.... elles ne conviennent pas à cette condition.... C' est pourquoi je hais cette condition.... Je vous le déclare mon ami, je me regarde comme liée par les promesses que j' ai faites à ces malheureux.... Si je ne puis avoir d' argent d' une autre façon.... eh bien ! je donnerai des leçons de musique. Je gagnerai assez.... et je compléterai ainsi, à moi seule, la somme nécessaire.
“They are, indeed,” said Mrs. Shelby, “and that is why, from my soul, I hate the whole thing. I tell you, my dear, _I_ cannot absolve myself from the promises I make to these helpless creatures. If I can get the money no other way I will take music-scholars;—I could get enough, I know, and earn the money myself.”
-- Je n' y consentirai jamais.... Vous ne voudriez pas, Émilie, vous dégrader à ce point....
“You wouldn’t degrade yourself that way, Emily? I never could consent to it.”
“Degrade! would it degrade me as much as to break my faith with the helpless? No, indeed!”
-- Allons ! vous êtes toujours héroïque et transcendantale, mais vous ferez bien d' y réfléchir avant d' entreprendre cet oeuvre de don Quichottisme.... »
“Well, you are always heroic and transcendental,” said Mr. Shelby, “but I think you had better think before you undertake such a piece of Quixotism.”
Cette conversation fut interrompue par l' apparition de la mère Chloé au bout de la véranda.
Here the conversation was interrupted by the appearance of Aunt Chloe, at the end of the verandah.
“If you please, Missis,” said she.
“Well, Chloe, what is it?” said her mistress, rising, and going to the end of the balcony.
“If Missis would come and look at dis yer lot o’ poetry.”
[ 18 ] Nous avons le regret d' avouer que notre fidélité de traducteur se trouve ici en défaut. Il nous a été impossible de rendre en français le jeu de mots américains que Mme Beecher met dans la bouche de Chloé. La consonnance des mots anglais qui veulent dire _poëte_ et _poulet_ ont fourni à notre auteur l' idée de ce calembour _par à peu près_ dont la pauvre Chloé est fort innocente: son excuse est de ne pas comprendre ce qu' elle dit. Nous en souhaitons autant à tous les faiseurs de calembours.
Chloe had a particular fancy for calling poultry poetry,—an application of language in which she always persisted, notwithstanding frequent corrections and advisings from the young members of the family. ~~~ “La sakes!” she would say, “I can’t see; one jis good as turry,—poetry suthin good, any how;” and so poetry Chloe continued to call it.
Mme Shelby s' approcha.
Mrs. Shelby smiled as she saw a prostrate lot of chickens and ducks, over which Chloe stood, with a very grave face of consideration.
“I’m a thinkin whether Missis would be a havin a chicken pie o’ dese yer.”
“Really, Aunt Chloe, I don’t much care;—serve them any way you like.”
Chloe stood handling them over abstractedly; it was quite evident that the chickens were not what she was thinking of. At last, with the short laugh with which her tribe often introduce a doubtful proposal, she said,
“Laws me, Missis! what should Mas’r and Missis be a troublin theirselves ’bout de money, and not a usin what’s right in der hands?” and Chloe laughed again.
“I don’t understand you, Chloe,” said Mrs. Shelby, nothing doubting, from her knowledge of Chloe’s manner, that she had heard every word of the conversation that had passed between her and her husband.
“Why, laws me, Missis!” said Chloe, laughing again, “other folks hires out der niggers and makes money on ’em! Don’t keep sich a tribe eatin ’em out of house and home.”
“Well, Chloe, who do you propose that we should hire out?”
“Laws! I an’t a proposin nothin; only Sam he said der was one of dese yer _perfectioners_, dey calls ’em, in Louisville, said he wanted a good hand at cake and pastry; and said he’d give four dollars a week to one, he did.”
--Eh bien, Chloé?
“Well, Chloe.”
-- Mais, madame, je pense qu' il est bientôt temps que Sally fasse quelque chose. Sally a toujours été sous moi; maintenant, elle en sait autant que moi, voyez -vous bien ! et, si madame voulait me laisser aller, je gagnerais de l' argent là-bas.... pour les gâteaux et les pâtés, je ne crains pas un _chabricant_.
“Well, laws, I ’s a thinkin, Missis, it’s time Sally was put along to be doin’ something. Sally ’s been under my care, now, dis some time, and she does most as well as me, considerin; and if Missis would only let me go, I would help fetch up de money. I an’t afraid to put my cake, nor pies nother, ’long side no _perfectioner’s_.
--Un fabricant, Chloé, un fabricant!
“Confectioner’s, Chloe.”
“Law sakes, Missis! ’tan’t no odds;—words is so curis, can’t never get ’em right!”
-- Ainsi, Chloé, vous consentiriez à quitter vos enfants ?
“But, Chloe, do you want to leave your children?”
“Laws, Missis! de boys is big enough to do day’s works; dey does well enough; and Sally, she’ll take de baby,—she’s such a peart young un, she won’t take no lookin arter.”
-- Louisville est bien loin d' ici.
“Louisville is a good way off.”
“Law sakes! who’s afeard?—it’s down river, somer near my old man, perhaps?” said Chloe, speaking the last in the tone of a question, and looking at Mrs. Shelby.
« Hélas ! Chloé, c' est à plus de cent milles de distance ! »
“No, Chloe; it’s many a hundred miles off,” said Mrs. Shelby.
Chloé fut comme abattue.
Chloe’s countenance fell.
« N' importe, Chloé, reprit Mme Shelby, cela vous rapprochera toujours.... et tout ce que vous gagnerez sera mis de côté pour le rachat de votre mari. »
“Never mind; your going there shall bring you nearer, Chloe. Yes, you may go; and your wages shall every cent of them be laid aside for your husband’s redemption.”
As when a bright sunbeam turns a dark cloud to silver, so Chloe’s dark face brightened immediately,—it really shone.
“Laws! if Missis isn’t too good! I was thinking of dat ar very thing; cause I shouldn’t need no clothes, nor shoes, nor nothin,—I could save every cent. How many weeks is der in a year, Missis?”
--Cinquante-deux, Chloé.
“Fifty-two,” said Mrs. Shelby.
-- Cinquante-deux ! à quatre dollars par semaine.... combien cela fait -il ?
“Laws! now, dere is? and four dollars for each on em. Why, how much ’d dat ar be?”
--Deux cent huit dollars par an.
“Two hundred and eight dollars,” said Mrs. Shelby.
“Why-e!” said Chloe, with an accent of surprise and delight; “and how long would it take me to work it out, Missis?”
“Some four or five years, Chloe; but, then, you needn’t do it all,—I shall add something to it.”
“I wouldn’t hear to Missis’ givin lessons nor nothin. Mas’r’s quite right in dat ar;—‘t wouldn’t do, no ways. I hope none our family ever be brought to dat ar, while I ’s got hands.”
“Don’t fear, Chloe; I’ll take care of the honor of the family,” said Mrs. Shelby, smiling. “But when do you expect to go?”
-- Mais je ne comptais sur rien.... Seulement Sam va descendre la rivière pour conduire des poulains.... Il dit qu' il m' emmènerait bien avec lui.... J' ai mis mes affaires ensemble. Si madame voulait, je partirais demain matin avec Sam.... Si madame voulait écrire ma passe et me donner une recommandation....
“Well, I want spectin nothin; only Sam, he’s a gwine to de river with some colts, and he said I could go ’long with him; so I jes put my things together. If Missis was willin, I’d go with Sam tomorrow morning, if Missis would write my pass, and write me a commendation.”
“Well, Chloe, I’ll attend to it, if Mr. Shelby has no objections. I must speak to him.”
Mrs. Shelby went up stairs, and Aunt Chloe, delighted, went out to her cabin, to make her preparation.
« Vous ne savez pas, monsieur Georges ? je pars demain pour Louisville, dit -elle au jeune homme qui entra dans la case, et la trouva occupée de mettre en ordre les petits effets du baby.... Je fais le paquet de Suzette, j' arrange tout. Je pars, monsieur Georges, je pars.... Quatre dollars la semaine.... et madame les mettra de côté pour racheter mon vieil homme.
“Law sakes, Mas’r George! ye didn’t know I ’s a gwine to Louisville tomorrow!” she said to George, as entering her cabin, he found her busy in sorting over her baby’s clothes. “I thought I’d jis look over sis’s things, and get ’em straightened up. But I’m gwine, Mas’r George,—gwine to have four dollars a week; and Missis is gwine to lay it all up, to buy back my old man agin!”
“Whew!” said George, “here’s a stroke of business, to be sure! How are you going?”
“Tomorrow, wid Sam. And now, Mas’r George, I knows you’ll jis sit down and write to my old man, and tell him all about it,—won’t ye?”
“To be sure,” said George; “Uncle Tom’ll be right glad to hear from us. I’ll go right in the house, for paper and ink; and then, you know, Aunt Chloe, I can tell about the new colts and all.”
“Sartin, sartin, Mas’r George; you go ’long, and I’ll get ye up a bit o’ chicken, or some sich; ye won’t have many more suppers wid yer poor old aunty.”
CHAPITRE XXII. ~~~ L' arbre se flétrit.- -La fleur se fane.
CHAPTER XXII “The Grass Withereth—the Flower Fadeth”
La vie passe jour après jour; ainsi s' écoulèrent deux années de l' existence de notre ami Tom. Il était séparé de tout ce que son coeur aimait; il soupirait après tout ce qu' il avait laissé derrière lui, et cependant nous ne pouvons pas dire qu' il fût malheureux.... La harpe des sentiments humains est ainsi tendue, que si un choc n' en brise pas à la fois toutes les cordes, il leur reste toujours quelques harmonies. Si nous jetons les yeux en arrière, vers les époques de nos épreuves et de nos malheurs, nous voyons que chaque heure, en passant, nous apporta ses douceurs et ses allégements, et que, si nous n' avons pas été complétement heureux, nous n' avons pas été non plus complétement malheureux....
Life passes, with us all, a day at a time; so it passed with our friend Tom, till two years were gone. Though parted from all his soul held dear, and though often yearning for what lay beyond, still was he never positively and consciously miserable; for, so well is the harp of human feeling strung, that nothing but a crash that breaks every string can wholly mar its harmony; and, on looking back to seasons which in review appear to us as those of deprivation and trial, we can remember that each hour, as it glided, brought its diversions and alleviations, so that, though not happy wholly, we were not, either, wholly miserable.
Tom read, in his only literary cabinet, of one who had “learned in whatsoever state he was, therewith to be content.” It seemed to him good and reasonable doctrine, and accorded well with the settled and thoughtful habit which he had acquired from the reading of that same book.
Comme nous l' avons déjà dit, Georges avait répondu exactement à sa lettre, et d' une belle et bonne écriture d' écolier que Tom pouvait lire, à ce qu' il disait, d' un bout de la chambre à l' autre. Cette lettre lui donnait de nombreux détails domestiques; nos lecteurs les connaissent déjà. Elle annonçait que Chloé était en location à Louisville, où, par son habileté dans tout ce qui touchait aux pâtes fines, elle gagnait beaucoup d' argent.... On disait à Tom que cet argent était destiné à son rachat. Moïse et Pierre travaillaient bien, et le baby trottait dans la maison, sous la surveillance de Sally en particulier, et de tout le monde en général.
His letter homeward, as we related in the last chapter, was in due time answered by Master George, in a good, round, school-boy hand, that Tom said might be read “most acrost the room.” It contained various refreshing items of home intelligence, with which our reader is fully acquainted: stated how Aunt Chloe had been hired out to a confectioner in Louisville, where her skill in the pastry line was gaining wonderful sums of money, all of which, Tom was informed, was to be laid up to go to make up the sum of his redemption money; Mose and Pete were thriving, and the baby was trotting all about the house, under the care of Sally and the family generally.
Tom’s cabin was shut up for the present; but George expatiated brilliantly on ornaments and additions to be made to it when Tom came back.
Le reste de l' épître contenait la liste des travaux scolaires de Georges. Chaque article avait reçu l' honneur d' une majuscule fleurie. Georges disait aussi le nom de quatre nouveaux poulains venus au monde depuis le départ de Tom. Georges ajoutait, à ce propos, que le père et la mère se portaient bien. ~~~ Le style de Georges était net et concis; aux yeux de Tom cette lettre était la plus magnifique composition des temps modernes.... Il ne se lassait jamais de la contempler.... Il tint même conseil avec Éva pour savoir comment on pourrait l' encadrer, afin de l' accrocher dans sa chambre.... Il ne fut arrêté que par la difficulté de trouver le moyen de faire voir à la fois les deux côtés de la page.
The rest of this letter gave a list of George’s school studies, each one headed by a flourishing capital; and also told the names of four new colts that appeared on the premises since Tom left; and stated, in the same connection, that father and mother were well. The style of the letter was decidedly concise and terse; but Tom thought it the most wonderful specimen of composition that had appeared in modern times. He was never tired of looking at it, and even held a council with Eva on the expediency of getting it framed, to hang up in his room. Nothing but the difficulty of arranging it so that both sides of the page would show at once stood in the way of this undertaking.
L' amitié de Tom et d' Éva grandissait à mesure que l' enfant grandissait elle-même.... Il serait difficile de dire quelle place elle tenait dans l' âme douce et impressionnable du fidèle serviteur. Il aimait Éva comme quelque chose de fragile et de terrestre, mais il la vénérait aussi comme quelque chose de céleste et de divin. Il la contemplait comme un matelot italien contemple l' Enfant Jésus, avec un mélange de tendresse et de respect.... Son plus grand bonheur, c' était de satisfaire les gracieuses fantaisies d' Éva et de contenter ces mille désirs enfantins qui assiégent les jeunes coeurs, mobiles et changeants comme les couleurs de l' arc-en-ciel. Allait -il au marché le matin, ce qu' il recherchait tout d'abord c' était l' étalage du fleuriste; il voulait pour elle le plus beau bouquet, pour elle la plus belle pêche et la plus grosse orange. Ce qui le charmait surtout, c' était d' apercevoir au retour cette jolie tête, dorée comme un rayon de soleil, l' attendant sur le seuil de la porte, toute prête à lui faire sa question ingénue: « Eh bien ! père Tom, que m' apportez -vous aujourd'hui ? »
The friendship between Tom and Eva had grown with the child’s growth. It would be hard to say what place she held in the soft, impressible heart of her faithful attendant. He loved her as something frail and earthly, yet almost worshipped her as something heavenly and divine. He gazed on her as the Italian sailor gazes on his image of the child Jesus,—with a mixture of reverence and tenderness; and to humor her graceful fancies, and meet those thousand simple wants which invest childhood like a many-colored rainbow, was Tom’s chief delight. In the market, at morning, his eyes were always on the flower-stalls for rare bouquets for her, and the choicest peach or orange was slipped into his pocket to give to her when he came back; and the sight that pleased him most was her sunny head looking out the gate for his distant approach, and her childish questions,—“Well, Uncle Tom, what have you got for me today?”
L' affection d' Éva n' était pas moins zélée dans sa reconnaissance. Ce n' était qu' une enfant, mais elle avait le suprême talent de bien lire. Son oreille délicate et musicale, son imagination vive et poétique, un instinct sympathique qui lui révélait tout à coup le grand et le beau, la rendaient propre à faire de la Bible une lecture telle, que Tom n' en avait jamais entendu de pareille. Elle lut d'abord pour plaire à son humble ami; puis cette ardente nature, comme une jeune vigne jetant ses vrilles flexibles et souples, se suspendit bientôt à l' arbre majestueux du peuple juif. Éva s' éprit de ce livre parce qu' il la touchait et qu' il produisait en elle ces émotions profondes et obscures, si chères à l' imagination des enfants.
Nor was Eva less zealous in kind offices, in return. Though a child, she was a beautiful reader;—a fine musical ear, a quick poetic fancy, and an instinctive sympathy with what’s grand and noble, made her such a reader of the Bible as Tom had never before heard. At first, she read to please her humble friend; but soon her own earnest nature threw out its tendrils, and wound itself around the majestic book; and Eva loved it, because it woke in her strange yearnings, and strong, dim emotions, such as impassioned, imaginative children love to feel.
Ce qui lui plaisait surtout, c' était la révélation et les prophéties. Les images merveilleuses et mystiques et le langage ardent l' impressionnaient d'autant plus qu' elle les saisissait moins. La jeune enfant et le vieil enfant étaient toujours dans un merveilleux accord. Tout ce qu' ils savaient, c' est que le livre leur parlait d' une gloire qui leur serait révélée plus tard, de quelque chose de meilleur qui arriverait un jour et qui ferait la joie de leur âme, sans qu' ils comprissent pourtant comment cela se pourrait faire.... Mais, s' il n' en est pas ainsi dans les sciences physiques, dans les sciences morales, du moins, il n' est pas besoin de comprendre pour profiter.... L' âme, une étrangère timide, s' éveille entre deux éternités confuses: l' éternel passé, l' éternel avenir ! La lumière ne brille autour d' elle que dans un bien étroit espace; il faut donc qu' elle s' élance vers l' inconnu, et les voix mystérieuses, et les ombres mouvantes qui viennent à elle, se détachant de la colonne obscure de l' inspiration, trouvent toujours des échos et des réponses dans cette nature humaine, pleine d' attente.... Les images mystiques sont comme autant de perles et de talismans couverts d' hiéroglyphes incompréhensibles, que l' on enferme dans son sein, en attendant le jour où l' on pourra les lire.
The parts that pleased her most were the Revelations and the Prophecies,—parts whose dim and wondrous imagery, and fervent language, impressed her the more, that she questioned vainly of their meaning;—and she and her simple friend, the old child and the young one, felt just alike about it. All that they knew was, that they spoke of a glory to be revealed,—a wondrous something yet to come, wherein their soul rejoiced, yet knew not why; and though it be not so in the physical, yet in moral science that which cannot be understood is not always profitless. For the soul awakes, a trembling stranger, between two dim eternities,—the eternal past, the eternal future. The light shines only on a small space around her; therefore, she needs must yearn towards the unknown; and the voices and shadowy movings which come to her from out the cloudy pillar of inspiration have each one echoes and answers in her own expecting nature. Its mystic imagery are so many talismans and gems inscribed with unknown hieroglyphics; she folds them in her bosom, and expects to read them when she passes beyond the veil. ~~~ [Illustration: LITTLE EVA READING THE BIBLE TO UNCLE TOM IN THE ARBOR.]
At this time in our story, the whole St. Clare establishment is, for the time being, removed to their villa on Lake Pontchartrain. The heats of summer had driven all who were able to leave the sultry and unhealthy city, to seek the shores of the lake, and its cool sea-breezes.
La villa de Saint-Clare était un cottage comme on en voit dans les Indes Orientales. Elle était entourée de légères galeries en bambous, et s' ouvrait de toutes parts sur des jardins et des parcs. Le grand salon dominait un jardin embaumé des fleurs des tropiques, et où se rencontraient les plus merveilleuses plantes. Des sentiers, qui se contournaient en spirales tortueuses, descendaient jusqu' au bord du lac, dont la nappe argentée miroitait sous les rayons du soleil, tableau changeant toujours, toujours charmant !
St. Clare’s villa was an East Indian cottage, surrounded by light verandahs of bamboo-work, and opening on all sides into gardens and pleasure-grounds. The common sitting-room opened on to a large garden, fragrant with every picturesque plant and flower of the tropics, where winding paths ran down to the very shores of the lake, whose silvery sheet of water lay there, rising and falling in the sunbeams,—a picture never for an hour the same, yet every hour more beautiful.
Maintenant le soleil se couche dans ses torrents d' or fluide, qui semblent inonder l' horizon d' un déluge de rayons et faire des eaux comme un autre ciel étincelant. Le lac était rayé de pourpre et d' or; çà et là brillaient les blanches ailes des vaisseaux comme autant de fantômes qui passent; l' oeil des petites étoiles scintillait sous leur paupière d' or, pendant qu' elles se regardaient toutes tremblantes dans le miroir des eaux.
It is now one of those intensely golden sunsets which kindles the whole horizon into one blaze of glory, and makes the water another sky. The lake lay in rosy or golden streaks, save where white-winged vessels glided hither and thither, like so many spirits, and little golden stars twinkled through the glow, and looked down at themselves as they trembled in the water.
Tom and Eva were seated on a little mossy seat, in an arbor, at the foot of the garden. It was Sunday evening, and Eva’s Bible lay open on her knee. She read,—“And I saw a sea of glass, mingled with fire.”
« Et je vis une mer de verre mêlée de feu. » ~~~ « Tom, dit -elle en s' interrompant tout à coup et en montrant le lac, c' est bien cela !
“Tom,” said Eva, suddenly stopping, and pointing to the lake, “there ’t is.”
“What, Miss Eva?”
“Don’t you see,—there?” said the child, pointing to the glassy water, which, as it rose and fell, reflected the golden glow of the sky. “There’s a ’sea of glass, mingled with fire.’”
“True enough, Miss Eva,” said Tom; and Tom sang—
Si j' avais du matin l' aile de pourpre et d' or, J' irais de Chanaan voir la rive éternelle, Et les anges brillants guideraient mon essor Jérusalem, vers ta cité nouvelle !
“O, had I the wings of the morning, I’d fly away to Canaan’s shore; Bright angels should convey me home, To the new Jerusalem.”
“Where do you suppose new Jerusalem is, Uncle Tom?” said Eva.
-- Là-haut, dans les nuages, miss Éva !
“O, up in the clouds, Miss Eva.”
“Then I think I see it,” said Eva. “Look in those clouds!—they look like great gates of pearl; and you can see beyond them—far, far off—it’s all gold. Tom, sing about ’spirits bright.’”
Tom sung the words of a well-known Methodist hymn,
“I see a band of spirits bright, That taste the glories there; They all are robed in spotless white, And conquering palms they bear.”
“Uncle Tom, I’ve seen _them_,” said Eva.
Tom had no doubt of it at all; it did not surprise him in the least. If Eva had told him she had been to heaven, he would have thought it entirely probable.
“They come to me sometimes in my sleep, those spirits;” and Eva’s eyes grew dreamy, and she hummed, in a low voice,
“They are all robed in spotless white, And conquering palms they bear.”
“Uncle Tom,” said Eva, “I’m going there.”
-- Là ! où, miss Éva ? »
“Where, Miss Eva?”
The child rose, and pointed her little hand to the sky; the glow of evening lit her golden hair and flushed cheek with a kind of unearthly radiance, and her eyes were bent earnestly on the skies.
“I’m going _there_,” she said, “to the spirits bright, Tom; _I’m going, before long_.”
Le pauvre vieux coeur fidèle ressentit comme un choc.... et Tom se rappela combien de fois, depuis six mois, il avait remarqué que les petites mains d' Évangeline devenaient plus fines, et sa peau plus transparente, et sa respiration plus courte.... Il se rappela, quand elle jouait et courait dans les jardins, combien elle était vite fatiguée et languissante. Il avait entendu miss Ophélia parler d' une toux que les médicaments ne pouvaient guérir.... Et maintenant encore les mains, les joues ardentes étaient comme brûlantes de fièvre.... et cependant, la pensée qui se cachait derrière les paroles d' Éva ne s' était jamais présentée à son esprit !
The faithful old heart felt a sudden thrust; and Tom thought how often he had noticed, within six months, that Eva’s little hands had grown thinner, and her skin more transparent, and her breath shorter; and how, when she ran or played in the garden, as she once could for hours, she became soon so tired and languid. He had heard Miss Ophelia speak often of a cough, that all her medicaments could not cure; and even now that fervent cheek and little hand were burning with hectic fever; and yet the thought that Eva’s words suggested had never come to him till now.
A -t-il jamais existé un enfant comme Éva ? Oui, sans doute; mais le nom de ces êtres charmants ne se retrouve que sur la pierre des tombeaux. Leur doux sourire, leurs yeux célestes, leurs paroles étranges sont maintenant parmi les trésors ensevelis des coeurs qui regrettent !... Dans combien de familles entendez -vous la légende de ces êtres, qui étaient toute grâce et toute bonté.... et auprès de qui les vivants ne sont rien ! Le ciel n' a -t-il point une troupe d' anges destinés à séjourner quelque temps parmi nous pour attendrir le rude coeur des hommes ? Quand vous voyez dans l' oeil cette lumière profonde, quand la jeune âme se révèle en des mots plus tendres et plus sages qu' on n' en trouve dans la bouche des enfants, n' espérez pas que vous garderez cette chère créature.... le sceau du ciel est déjà posé sur elle, et cette lumière de ses yeux, c' est la lumière de l' immortalité !
Has there ever been a child like Eva? Yes, there have been; but their names are always on grave-stones, and their sweet smiles, their heavenly eyes, their singular words and ways, are among the buried treasures of yearning hearts. In how many families do you hear the legend that all the goodness and graces of the living are nothing to the peculiar charms of one who _is not_. It is as if heaven had an especial band of angels, whose office it was to sojourn for a season here, and endear to them the wayward human heart, that they might bear it upward with them in their homeward flight. When you see that deep, spiritual light in the eye,—when the little soul reveals itself in words sweeter and wiser than the ordinary words of children,—hope not to retain that child; for the seal of heaven is on it, and the light of immortality looks out from its eyes.
Even so, beloved Eva! fair star of thy dwelling! Thou art passing away; but they that love thee dearest know it not.
La conversation de Tom et d' Éva fut interrompue par un soudain appel de miss Ophélia.
The colloquy between Tom and Eva was interrupted by a hasty call from Miss Ophelia.
“Eva—Eva!—why, child, the dew is falling; you mustn’t be out there!”
Eva and Tom hastened in.
La vieille miss Ophélia était excellente pour les malades. Elle était de la Nouvelle-Angleterre. Elle avait remarqué les premiers et terribles progrès de ce mal silencieux et perfide qui enlève par milliers les plus chers et les plus beaux, et, avant qu' une seule fibre de la vie soit brisée, semble les marquer irrévocablement pour la mort.
Miss Ophelia was old, and skilled in the tactics of nursing. She was from New England, and knew well the first guileful footsteps of that soft, insidious disease, which sweeps away so many of the fairest and loveliest, and, before one fibre of life seems broken, seals them irrevocably for death.
She had noted the slight, dry cough, the daily brightening cheek; nor could the lustre of the eye, and the airy buoyancy born of fever, deceive her.
She tried to communicate her fears to St. Clare; but he threw back her suggestions with a restless petulance, unlike his usual careless good-humor.
“Don’t be croaking, Cousin,—I hate it!” he would say; “don’t you see that the child is only growing. Children always lose strength when they grow fast.”
--Mais cette toux?...
“But she has that cough!”
“O! nonsense of that cough!—it is not anything. She has taken a little cold, perhaps.”
“Well, that was just the way Eliza Jane was taken, and Ellen and Maria Sanders.”
-- Assez de discours funèbres !... Vous autres, vieilles gens, vous devenez si sages, qu' un enfant ne peut tousser ou éternuer sans que vous ne voyiez là le désespoir ou la mort.... Je ne vous demande qu' une chose: surveillez bien Éva, préservez -la de l' air du soir, ne la laissez pas trop s' échauffer au jeu.... et tout ira bien. »
“O! stop these hobgoblin’ nurse legends. You old hands got so wise, that a child cannot cough, or sneeze, but you see desperation and ruin at hand. Only take care of the child, keep her from the night air, and don’t let her play too hard, and she’ll do well enough.”
Ainsi parla Saint-Clare. ~~~ Au fond de l' âme il se sentait inquiet. Il épiait Éva jour par jour, avec une anxiété fiévreuse.... Il répétait trop souvent: « Éva est très-bien,... cette toux n' est rien.... » Il ne la quittait presque plus; il l' emmenait plus souvent avec lui dans ses promenades à cheval.... Chaque jour il rapportait quelque boisson fortifiante, quelque recette nouvelle; non pas, ajoutait -il, que l' enfant en eût besoin; mais cela ne pouvait pas lui faire de mal.
So St. Clare said; but he grew nervous and restless. He watched Eva feverishly day by day, as might be told by the frequency with which he repeated over that “the child was quite well”—that there wasn’t anything in that cough,—it was only some little stomach affection, such as children often had. But he kept by her more than before, took her oftener to ride with him, brought home every few days some receipt or strengthening mixture,—“not,” he said, “that the child _needed_ it, but then it would not do her any harm.”
S' il faut le dire, ce qui jetait dans son coeur une angoisse plus profonde, c' était cette maturité précoce et toujours croissante de l' âme et des sentiments d' Éva.... Elle gardait sans doute toutes les grâces charmantes de l' enfance; mais parfois aussi, sans même en avoir conscience, elle laissait tomber des mots d' une telle portée et d' une si étrange profondeur, qu' on était forcé de les prendre pour une sorte de révélation. Dans ces moments -là, Saint-Clare éprouvait comme un malaise intérieur.... un frisson passait sur lui.... et il serrait sa fille dans ses bras, comme si cette douce étreinte eût pu la sauver.... et il lui prenait des envies farouches de ne la plus quitter.... de ne pas la laisser sortir de ses bras....
If it must be told, the thing that struck a deeper pang to his heart than anything else was the daily increasing maturity of the child’s mind and feelings. While still retaining all a child’s fanciful graces, yet she often dropped, unconsciously, words of such a reach of thought, and strange unworldly wisdom, that they seemed to be an inspiration. At such times, St. Clare would feel a sudden thrill, and clasp her in his arms, as if that fond clasp could save her; and his heart rose up with wild determination to keep her, never to let her go.
Cependant, le coeur et l' âme de l' enfant semblaient se fondre en paroles d' amour et de tendresse; elle avait toujours été généreuse, mais, par une sorte d' impulsion instinctive. Il y avait maintenant en elle ce je ne sais quoi de touchant et de réfléchi qui révèle la femme. Elle aimait bien encore à jouer avec Topsy et les autres petits nègres; mais elle paraissait plutôt regarder leurs jeux qu' y prendre part. Elle restait quelquefois une demi-heure à rire des tours et des malices de Topsy.... puis tout à coup un nuage passait sur ses traits.... il y avait dans ses yeux comme un brouillard.... et ses pensées étaient bien loin, bien loin....
The child’s whole heart and soul seemed absorbed in works of love and kindness. Impulsively generous she had always been; but there was a touching and womanly thoughtfulness about her now, that every one noticed. She still loved to play with Topsy, and the various colored children; but she now seemed rather a spectator than an actor of their plays, and she would sit for half an hour at a time, laughing at the odd tricks of Topsy,—and then a shadow would seem to pass across her face, her eyes grew misty, and her thoughts were afar.
“Mamma,” she said, suddenly, to her mother, one day, “why don’t we teach our servants to read?”
-- Quelle question ! On ne fait jamais cela.
“What a question child! People never do.”
-- Pourquoi ne le fait -on pas ?
“Why don’t they?” said Eva.
-- Parce que cela ne leur servirait pas. Cela ne les ferait pas mieux travailler.... et ils n' ont été créés que pour travailler.
“Because it is no use for them to read. It don’t help them to work any better, and they are not made for anything else.”
“But they ought to read the Bible, mamma, to learn God’s will.”
“O! they can get that read to them all _they_ need.”
“It seems to me, mamma, the Bible is for every one to read themselves. They need it a great many times when there is nobody to read it.”
-- Éva ! vous êtes une enfant bien singulière !
“Eva, you are an odd child,” said her mother.
“Miss Ophelia has taught Topsy to read,” continued Eva.
“Yes, and you see how much good it does. Topsy is the worst creature I ever saw!”
“Here’s poor Mammy!” said Eva. “She does love the Bible so much, and wishes so she could read! And what will she do when I can’t read to her?”
Mme Saint-Clare, tout occupée à fouiller dans ses tiroirs, répondit d' un ton distrait: « Oui, oui, sans doute; mais vous aurez bientôt autre chose à quoi penser.... Vous ne pourrez pas lire la Bible à vos esclaves toute votre vie.... non pas que ce ne soit une très-bonne chose, que j' ai faite moi-même quand je me portais bien.... mais, quand il faudra vous habiller, aller dans le monde, vous n' aurez pas le temps.... Voyez, ajouta -t-elle, les bijoux que je vous donnerai quand vous sortirez.... ce sont ceux que je portais à mon premier bal. Je puis vous dire, Éva, que je fis sensation. »
Marie was busy, turning over the contents of a drawer, as she answered, ~~~ “Well, of course, by and by, Eva, you will have other things to think of besides reading the Bible round to servants. Not but that is very proper; I’ve done it myself, when I had health. But when you come to be dressing and going into company, you won’t have time. See here!” she added, “these jewels I’m going to give you when you come out. I wore them to my first ball. I can tell you, Eva, I made a sensation.”
Éva prit le coffret, elle en tira un collier de diamants... Ses grands yeux pensifs s' arrêtèrent un instant sur lui.... Mais ses pensées étaient ailleurs.
Eva took the jewel-case, and lifted from it a diamond necklace. Her large, thoughtful eyes rested on them, but it was plain her thoughts were elsewhere.
« Comme vous semblez rêveuse, mon enfant !
“How sober you look child!” said Marie.
“Are these worth a great deal of money, mamma?”
“To be sure, they are. Father sent to France for them. They are worth a small fortune.”
“I wish I had them,” said Eva, “to do what I pleased with!”
-- Et qu' en voudriez -vous faire ?
“What would you do with them?”
“I’d sell them, and buy a place in the free states, and take all our people there, and hire teachers, to teach them to read and write.”
Éva fut interrompue par les éclats de rire de sa mère.
Eva was cut short by her mother’s laughing.
« Tenir une pension.... ah ! ah ! ah !.... Vous leur apprendriez aussi à jouer du piano et à peindre sur velours ?
“Set up a boarding-school! Wouldn’t you teach them to play on the piano, and paint on velvet?”
“I’d teach them to read their own Bible, and write their own letters, and read letters that are written to them,” said Eva, steadily. “I know, mamma, it does come very hard on them that they can’t do these things. Tom feels it—Mammy does,—a great many of them do. I think it’s wrong.”
-- Allons, c' est bien ! Vous n' êtes qu' une enfant.... Vous ne connaissez rien à tout cela.... Et puis, vous me faites mal à la tête.... »
“Come, come, Eva; you are only a child! You don’t know anything about these things,” said Marie; “besides, your talking makes my head ache.”
Marie always had a headache on hand for any conversation that did not exactly suit her.
Eva stole away; but after that, she assiduously gave Mammy reading lessons.
CHAPITRE XXIII. ~~~ Henrique.
CHAPTER XXIII Henrique
About this time, St. Clare’s brother Alfred, with his eldest son, a boy of twelve, spent a day or two with the family at the lake.
No sight could be more singular and beautiful than that of these twin brothers. Nature, instead of instituting resemblances between them, had made them opposites on every point; yet a mysterious tie seemed to unite them in a closer friendship than ordinary.
Ils avaient l' habitude de se promener ensemble, bras dessus bras dessous, dans les allées du jardin, et l' on pouvait seulement alors bien comparer Augustin, les yeux bleus, les cheveux blonds comme l' or, les traits vifs et toutes les formes ondoyantes et aériennes, et Alfred, l' oeil noir, le profil romain et fier, les membres puissants et la tournure hardie. Ils n' étaient jamais d'accord et ne s' ennuyaient jamais d' être ensemble: le contraste même devenait un lien.
They used to saunter, arm in arm, up and down the alleys and walks of the garden. Augustine, with his blue eyes and golden hair, his ethereally flexible form and vivacious features; and Alfred, dark-eyed, with haughty Roman profile, firmly-knit limbs, and decided bearing. They were always abusing each other’s opinions and practices, and yet never a whit the less absorbed in each other’s society; in fact, the very contrariety seemed to unite them, like the attraction between opposite poles of the magnet.
Henrique, the eldest son of Alfred, was a noble, dark-eyed, princely boy, full of vivacity and spirit; and, from the first moment of introduction, seemed to be perfectly fascinated by the spirituelle graces of his cousin Evangeline.
[ 19 ] Nous avons laissé le mot _spirituelles_, que nous trouvons en français dans le texte, quoique ce ne soit peut-être pas le mot propre. Il est bien évident que l' écrivain _yankee_ veut opposer les grâces de l' âme aux perfections physiques; mais, ces grâces qui séduisent et qui attirent, ce ne sont pas toujours les grâces _spirituelles_, dans le sens que donnerait à cette expression le peuple le plus _spirituel_ du monde.
Évangéline avait un petit poney favori, blanc comme la neige. Il était commode _comme un berceau_ et aussi doux que sa petite maîtresse. ~~~ Tom conduisait ce poney derrière la véranda au moment même où un jeune mulâtre de treize à quatorze ans amenait à Henrique un petit cheval arabe, tout noir, qu' on avait fait venir à grands frais pour lui.
Eva had a little pet pony, of a snowy whiteness. It was easy as a cradle, and as gentle as its little mistress; and this pony was now brought up to the back verandah by Tom, while a little mulatto boy of about thirteen led along a small black Arabian, which had just been imported, at a great expense, for Henrique.
Henrique had a boy’s pride in his new possession; and, as he advanced and took the reins out of the hands of his little groom, he looked carefully over him, and his brow darkened.
“What’s this, Dodo, you little lazy dog! you haven’t rubbed my horse down, this morning.”
“Yes, Mas’r,” said Dodo, submissively; “he got that dust on his own self.”
“You rascal, shut your mouth!” said Henrique, violently raising his riding-whip. “How dare you speak?”
The boy was a handsome, bright-eyed mulatto, of just Henrique’s size, and his curling hair hung round a high, bold forehead. He had white blood in his veins, as could be seen by the quick flush in his cheek, and the sparkle of his eye, as he eagerly tried to speak.
«M'sieu Henrique!»
“Mas’r Henrique!—” he began.
Henrique struck him across the face with his riding-whip, and, seizing one of his arms, forced him on to his knees, and beat him till he was out of breath.
“There, you impudent dog! Now will you learn not to answer back when I speak to you? Take the horse back, and clean him properly. I’ll teach you your place!”
“Young Mas’r,” said Tom, “I specs what he was gwine to say was, that the horse would roll when he was bringing him up from the stable; he’s so full of spirits,—that’s the way he got that dirt on him; I looked to his cleaning.”
“You hold your tongue till you’re asked to speak!” said Henrique, turning on his heel, and walking up the steps to speak to Eva, who stood in her riding-dress.
“Dear Cousin, I’m sorry this stupid fellow has kept you waiting,” he said. “Let’s sit down here, on this seat till they come. What’s the matter, Cousin?—you look sober.”
“How could you be so cruel and wicked to poor Dodo?” asked Eva.
“Cruel,—wicked!” said the boy, with unaffected surprise. “What do you mean, dear Eva?”
“I don’t want you to call me dear Eva, when you do so,” said Eva.
“Dear Cousin, you don’t know Dodo; it’s the only way to manage him, he’s so full of lies and excuses. The only way is to put him down at once,—not let him open his mouth; that’s the way papa manages.”
“But Uncle Tom said it was an accident, and he never tells what isn’t true.”
“He’s an uncommon old nigger, then!” said Henrique. “Dodo will lie as fast as he can speak.”
“You frighten him into deceiving, if you treat him so.”
“Why, Eva, you’ve really taken such a fancy to Dodo, that I shall be jealous.”
“But you beat him,—and he didn’t deserve it.”
“O, well, it may go for some time when he does, and don’t get it. A few cuts never come amiss with Dodo,—he’s a regular spirit, I can tell you; but I won’t beat him again before you, if it troubles you.”
Eva was not satisfied, but found it in vain to try to make her handsome cousin understand her feelings.
Dodo apparut bientôt avec les chevaux.
Dodo soon appeared, with the horses.
“Well, Dodo, you’ve done pretty well, this time,” said his young master, with a more gracious air. “Come, now, and hold Miss Eva’s horse while I put her on to the saddle.”
Dodo came and stood by Eva’s pony. His face was troubled; his eyes looked as if he had been crying.
Henri, très-fier de ses façons aristocratiques, de son adresse et de sa courtoisie chevaleresque, eut bientôt mis en selle sa jolie cousine, puis, rassemblant les rênes, il les lui plaça dans la main.
Henrique, who valued himself on his gentlemanly adroitness in all matters of gallantry, soon had his fair cousin in the saddle, and, gathering the reins, placed them in her hands.
But Eva bent to the other side of the horse, where Dodo was standing, and said, as he relinquished the reins,—“That’s a good boy, Dodo;—thank you!”
Dodo looked up in amazement into the sweet young face; the blood rushed to his cheeks, and the tears to his eyes.
« Ici, Dodo ! » s' écria Henrique d' une voix impérieuse.
“Here, Dodo,” said his master, imperiously.
Dodo sprang and held the horse, while his master mounted.
“There’s a picayune for you to buy candy with, Dodo,” said Henrique; “go get some.”
Les deux enfants s' éloignèrent. ~~~ Dodo les suivit des yeux: l' un d' eux lui avait donné de l' argent.... l' autre lui avait donné.... ce qu' il désirait bien davantage: une bonne parole dite avec bonté ! ~~~ Il n' y avait que quelques mois que Dodo était séparé de sa mère. Son maître l' avait acheté dans un entrepôt d' esclaves à cause de sa belle figure. Il allait bien avec le beau poney ! Il faisait ses débuts sous Henrique.
And Henrique cantered down the walk after Eva. Dodo stood looking after the two children. One had given him money; and one had given him what he wanted far more,—a kind word, kindly spoken. Dodo had been only a few months away from his mother. His master had bought him at a slave warehouse, for his handsome face, to be a match to the handsome pony; and he was now getting his breaking in, at the hands of his young master.
La scène avait eu pour témoin les deux frères Saint-Clare, qui se promenaient dans le jardin.
The scene of the beating had been witnessed by the two brothers St. Clare, from another part of the garden.
Augustine’s cheek flushed; but he only observed, with his usual sarcastic carelessness.
“I suppose that’s what we may call republican education, Alfred?”
“Henrique is a devil of a fellow, when his blood’s up,” said Alfred, carelessly.
“I suppose you consider this an instructive practice for him,” said Augustine, drily.
“I couldn’t help it, if I didn’t. Henrique is a regular little tempest;—his mother and I have given him up, long ago. But, then, that Dodo is a perfect sprite,—no amount of whipping can hurt him.”
“And this by way of teaching Henrique the first verse of a republican’s catechism, ’All men are born free and equal!’”
“Poh!” said Alfred; “one of Tom Jefferson’s pieces of French sentiment and humbug. It’s perfectly ridiculous to have that going the rounds among us, to this day.”
“I think it is,” said St. Clare, significantly.
-- Nous voyons assez clairement, reprit Alfred, que tous les hommes ne sont pas nés libres ni égaux.... tant s' en faut ! Pour ma part, je crois qu' il y a moitié de vrai dans cette facétie républicaine. Les gens riches, instruits, bien élevés, civilisés, en un mot, doivent avoir entre eux des droits égaux. Mais pas la canaille !
“Because,” said Alfred, “we can see plainly enough that all men are _not_ born free, nor born equal; they are born anything else. For my part, I think half this republican talk sheer humbug. It is the educated, the intelligent, the wealthy, the refined, who ought to have equal rights and not the canaille.”
“If you can keep the canaille of that opinion,” said Augustine. “They took _their_ turn once, in France.”
“Of course, they must be _kept down_, consistently, steadily, as I _should_,” said Alfred, setting his foot hard down as if he were standing on somebody.
“It makes a terrible slip when they get up,” said Augustine,—“in St. Domingo, for instance.”
“Poh!” said Alfred, “we’ll take care of that, in this country. We must set our face against all this educating, elevating talk, that is getting about now; the lower class must not be educated.”
-- Il n' est plus temps de parler ainsi.... Ils reçoivent une éducation.... seulement nous ne savons pas laquelle. Notre système actuel est brutal et barbare. Nous brisons tous les liens humains, et avec des hommes nous faisons des bêtes.... Qu' ils aient le dessus, et nous les retrouverons.... ce que nous les aurons faits !
“That is past praying for,” said Augustine; “educated they will be, and we have only to say how. Our system is educating them in barbarism and brutality. We are breaking all humanizing ties, and making them brute beasts; and, if they get the upper hand, such we shall find them.”
-- Mais ils n' auront jamais le dessus !
“They shall never get the upper hand!” said Alfred.
“That’s right,” said St. Clare; “put on the steam, fasten down the escape-valve, and sit on it, and see where you’ll land.”
-- Eh oui, nous verrons. Je ne craindrai pas pour mon compte de m' asseoir sur la soupape, tant que la chaudière sera solide et que la machine fonctionnera bien.
“Well,” said Alfred, “we _will_ see. I’m not afraid to sit on the escape-valve, as long as the boilers are strong, and the machinery works well.”
“The nobles in Louis XVI.‘s time thought just so; and Austria and Pius IX. think so now; and, some pleasant morning, you may all be caught up to meet each other in the air, _when the boilers burst_.”
“_Dies declarabit_,” said Alfred, laughing.
“I tell you,” said Augustine, “if there is anything that is revealed with the strength of a divine law in our times, it is that the masses are to rise, and the under class become the upper one.”
“That’s one of your red republican humbugs, Augustine! Why didn’t you ever take to the stump;—you’d make a famous stump orator! Well, I hope I shall be dead before this millennium of your greasy masses comes on.”
“Greasy or not greasy, they will govern _you_, when their time comes,” said Augustine; “and they will be just such rulers as you make them. The French noblesse chose to have the people ’_sans culottes_,’ and they had ’_sans culotte_’ governors to their hearts’ content. The people of Hayti—”
“O, come, Augustine! as if we hadn’t had enough of that abominable, contemptible Hayti![1] The Haytiens were not Anglo Saxons; if they had been there would have been another story. The Anglo Saxon is the dominant race of the world, and _is to be so_.”
-- Oui ! mais savez -vous qu' il y a pas mal de sang anglo-saxon infusé dans les veines de nos esclaves ?... Il y en a beaucoup parmi eux à qui maintenant il ne reste de l' Afrique.... que ce qu' il leur en faut pour embraser de ses ardeurs tropicales notre fermeté calme et prévoyante.... Oui, si le tocsin de Saint-Domingue sonne l' heure fatale parmi nous, ce sera vraiment la race anglo-saxonne qui dirigera la révolte: les fils des hommes blancs, dont le sang charrie nos sentiments hautains dans leurs veines brûlantes, ne seront pas toujours vendus, achetés et livrés.... Ils se lèveront.... et ils soulèveront avec eux la race maternelle !
[1] In August 1791, as a consequence of the French Revolution, the black slaves and mulattoes on Haiti rose in revolt against the whites, and in the period of turmoil that followed enormous cruelties were practised by both sides. The “Emperor” Dessalines, come to power in 1804, massacred all the whites on the island. Haitian bloodshed became an argument to show the barbarous nature of the Negro, a doctrine Wendell Phillips sought to combat in his celebrated lecture on Toussaint L’Ouverture. ~~~ “Well, there is a pretty fair infusion of Anglo Saxon blood among our slaves, now,” said Augustine. “There are plenty among them who have only enough of the African to give a sort of tropical warmth and fervor to our calculating firmness and foresight. If ever the San Domingo hour comes, Anglo Saxon blood will lead on the day. Sons of white fathers, with all our haughty feelings burning in their veins, will not always be bought and sold and traded. They will rise, and raise with them their mother’s race.”
--Sottises, folies, que tout cela!
“Stuff!—nonsense!”
-- C' est ce qu' on dit depuis longtemps, fit Augustin; c' était ainsi du temps de Noé... et ce sera toujours ainsi.... Ils mangeaient, ils buvaient; ils plantaient, ils bâtissaient.... et ils ne s' apercevaient pas que le flot montait pour les prendre.
“Well,” said Augustine, “there goes an old saying to this effect, ’As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be;—they ate, they drank, they planted, they builded, and knew not till the flood came and took them.’”
-- Allons ! vous auriez un vrai talent pour la propagande, fit Alfred en riant, mais ne craignez rien pour nous. Nos possessions sont assurées. Nous avons la force.... Et, appuyant encore une fois son pied sur le sol, il ajouta: Cette race est par terre.... elle y restera ! Nous avons assez d' énergie pour ménager notre poudre.
“On the whole, Augustine, I think your talents might do for a circuit rider,” said Alfred, laughing. “Never you fear for us; possession is our nine points. We’ve got the power. This subject race,” said he, stamping firmly, “is down and shall _stay_ down! We have energy enough to manage our own powder.”
“Sons trained like your Henrique will be grand guardians of your powder-magazines,” said Augustine,—“so cool and self-possessed! The proverb says, ’They that cannot govern themselves cannot govern others.’”
-- Oui, il y a là une difficulté, dit Alfred tout pensif; notre système embarrasse l' éducation des enfants.... Il donne un trop libre cours aux passions, qui sont déjà si violentes sous ce climat. Henrique m' inquiète parfois.... Il est généreux, il a le coeur chaud.... mais quand il est excité, c' est une véritable fusée ! Je crois que je l' enverrai dans le nord, où l' obéissance est plus en honneur, où il verra plus de ses égaux et moins de ses inférieurs.
“There is a trouble there” said Alfred, thoughtfully; “there’s no doubt that our system is a difficult one to train children under. It gives too free scope to the passions, altogether, which, in our climate, are hot enough. I find trouble with Henrique. The boy is generous and warm-hearted, but a perfect fire-cracker when excited. I believe I shall send him North for his education, where obedience is more fashionable, and where he will associate more with equals, and less with dependents.”
-- Si l' éducation des enfants est l' oeuvre la plus importante de l' humanité, poursuivit Augustin, ce que vous avouez là est bien une preuve que notre système à nous est mauvais.
“Since training children is the staple work of the human race,” said Augustine, “I should think it something of a consideration that our system does not work well there.”
-- Il a ses avantages et ses désavantages.... Il nous donne des enfants mâles et courageux.... Les vices de la race abjecte fortifient en nous les vertus contraires.... Henrique a un sentiment plus vif de la vérité, depuis qu' il voit que la fourberie et le mensonge sont le lot ordinaire de l' esclavage.
“It does not for some things,” said Alfred; “for others, again, it does. It makes boys manly and courageous; and the very vices of an abject race tend to strengthen in them the opposite virtues. I think Henrique, now, has a keener sense of the beauty of truth, from seeing lying and deception the universal badge of slavery.”
“A Christian-like view of the subject, certainly!” said Augustine.
--Eh! mon Dieu! ni plus ni moins chrétienne que la plupart des choses de ce monde.
“It’s true, Christian-like or not; and is about as Christian-like as most other things in the world,” said Alfred.
“That may be,” said St. Clare.
“Well, there’s no use in talking, Augustine. I believe we’ve been round and round this old track five hundred times, more or less. What do you say to a game of backgammon?”
Les deux frères remontèrent sous la véranda, et s' assirent à une petite table de bambou, le casier devant eux. Pendant qu' ils rangeaient les pièces, Alfred dit:
The two brothers ran up the verandah steps, and were soon seated at a light bamboo stand, with the backgammon-board between them. As they were setting their men, Alfred said,
« En vérité, Augustin, si je pensais comme vous, je ferais une chose....
“I tell you, Augustine, if I thought as you do, I should do something.”
“I dare say you would,—you are one of the doing sort,—but what?”
-- Mais, élevez et instruisez vos esclaves.... comme échantillon. » ~~~ Et Alfred sourit assez dédaigneusement.
“Why, elevate your own servants, for a specimen,” said Alfred, with a half-scornful smile.
« Me dire d' élever mes esclaves, quand ils sont écrasés sous la masse des abus sociaux ! Autant vaudrait placer sur eux le mont Etna et leur dire de se redresser ! Un homme ne peut rien contre la société.... Pour que l' éducation fasse quelque chose, il faut que ce soit l' éducation de l' État.... il faut du moins que l' État n' y mette point d' entraves !
“You might as well set Mount Ætna on them flat, and tell them to stand up under it, as tell me to elevate my servants under all the superincumbent mass of society upon them. One man can do nothing, against the whole action of a community. Education, to do anything, must be a state education; or there must be enough agreed in it to make a current.”
-- A vous le dé ! » dit Alfred. ~~~ Et les deux frères jouèrent silencieusement jusqu' à ce qu' ils entendissent le bruit des chevaux qui rentraient.
“You take the first throw,” said Alfred; and the brothers were soon lost in the game, and heard no more till the scraping of horses’ feet was heard under the verandah.
« Voici venir les enfants, dit Augustin en se levant; voyez, frère, avez -vous jamais rien vu d' aussi beau ? » ~~~ C' était vraiment une charmante chose que ces deux enfants. Henrique, avec sa tête hardie, ses boucles noires et lustrées, ses yeux brillants, son rire joyeux, se penchait vers sa belle cousine. Éva portait la toque bleue et un habit de cheval de la même couleur; l' exercice avait donné à ses joues un incarnat plus vif, et rendait vraiment étrange la transparence de son teint et ses cheveux dorés comme une auréole.
“There come the children,” said Augustine, rising. “Look here, Alf! Did you ever see anything so beautiful?” And, in truth, it _was_ a beautiful sight. Henrique, with his bold brow, and dark, glossy curls, and glowing cheek, was laughing gayly as he bent towards his fair cousin, as they came on. She was dressed in a blue riding dress, with a cap of the same color. Exercise had given a brilliant hue to her cheeks, and heightened the effect of her singularly transparent skin, and golden hair.
“Good heavens! what perfectly dazzling beauty!” said Alfred. “I tell you, Auguste, won’t she make some hearts ache, one of these days?”
“She will, too truly,—God knows I’m afraid so!” said St. Clare, in a tone of sudden bitterness, as he hurried down to take her off her horse.
Et il s' élança pour la recevoir comme elle descendait de cheval.
“Eva darling! you’re not much tired?” he said, as he clasped her in his arms.
“No, papa,” said the child; but her short, hard breathing alarmed her father.
-- Non, papa. » ~~~ Mais Saint-Clare sentait sa respiration courte et embarrassée.... et il tremblait.
“How could you ride so fast, dear?—you know it’s bad for you.”
“I felt so well, papa, and liked it so much, I forgot.”
St. Clare carried her in his arms into the parlor, and laid her on the sofa.
“Henrique, you must be careful of Eva,” said he; “you mustn’t ride fast with her.”
“I’ll take her under my care,” said Henrique, seating himself by the sofa, and taking Eva’s hand.
Eva soon found herself much better. Her father and uncle resumed their game, and the children were left together.
« Savez -vous bien, Éva, que je suis tout triste que papa ne reste que deux jours ici ? Je vais être si longtemps sans vous voir ! Si j' étais avec vous, j' essayerais de devenir bon, de ne plus battre Dodo.... Je n' ai pas l' intention de lui faire de mal.... mais, vous savez, je suis si vif !... Je vous assure que je ne suis pas mauvais pour lui ! Je lui donne un picaillon de temps en temps... et vous voyez que je l' habille bien.... En somme, Dodo est assez heureux.
“Do you know, Eva, I’m sorry papa is only going to stay two days here, and then I shan’t see you again for ever so long! If I stay with you, I’d try to be good, and not be cross to Dodo, and so on. I don’t mean to treat Dodo ill; but, you know, I’ve got such a quick temper. I’m not really bad to him, though. I give him a picayune, now and then; and you see he dresses well. I think, on the whole, Dodo ’s pretty well off.”
“Would you think you were well off, if there were not one creature in the world near you to love you?”
--Moi? non, sans doute!
“I?—Well, of course not.”
“And you have taken Dodo away from all the friends he ever had, and now he has not a creature to love him;—nobody can be good that way.”
“Well, I can’t help it, as I know of. I can’t get his mother and I can’t love him myself, nor anybody else, as I know of.”
“Why can’t you?” said Eva.
“_Love_ Dodo! Why, Eva, you wouldn’t have me! I may _like_ him well enough; but you don’t _love_ your servants.”
--Sans doute.
“I do, indeed.”
--Quelle folie!
“How odd!”
“Don’t the Bible say we must love everybody?”
“O, the Bible! To be sure, it says a great many such things; but, then, nobody ever thinks of doing them,—you know, Eva, nobody does.”
Eva did not speak; her eyes were fixed and thoughtful for a few moments.
« En tout cas, reprit -elle, aimez Dodo, par égard pour moi, mon cher cousin, et soyez bon pour lui !
“At any rate,” she said, “dear Cousin, do love poor Dodo, and be kind to him, for my sake!”
-- Pour vous, chère, j' aimerais tout au monde, car vous êtes bien la plus aimable créature que j' aie jamais vue. » ~~~ Henrique prononça ces mots avec une vivacité qui fit monter le sang à son beau visage. Éva reçut sa promesse avec une simplicité parfaite et sans aucune émotion. ~~~ « Je suis bien aise, mon cher Henrique, répondit -elle, que vous pensiez ainsi; vous ne l' oublierez pas, j' espère. »
“I could love anything, for your sake, dear Cousin; for I really think you are the loveliest creature that I ever saw!” And Henrique spoke with an earnestness that flushed his handsome face. Eva received it with perfect simplicity, without even a change of feature; merely saying, “I’m glad you feel so, dear Henrique! I hope you will remember.”
The dinner-bell put an end to the interview.
CHAPITRE XXIV. ~~~ Sinistres présages.
CHAPTER XXIV Foreshadowings
Deux jours après cette petite scène, Alfred et Augustin se séparaient. Éva, que la compagnie de son jeune cousin avait un peu excitée, s' était livrée à des exercices au-dessus de ses forces; elle commença à décliner rapidement. Saint-Clare songea donc à consulter. Il avait toujours reculé. Appeler un médecin, n' était -ce pas reconnaître la triste vérité ? Mais Éva ayant été assez mal pour garder deux jours la chambre, le médecin fut appelé.
Two days after this, Alfred St. Clare and Augustine parted; and Eva, who had been stimulated, by the society of her young cousin, to exertions beyond her strength, began to fail rapidly. St. Clare was at last willing to call in medical advice,—a thing from which he had always shrunk, because it was the admission of an unwelcome truth. ~~~ But, for a day or two, Eva was so unwell as to be confined to the house; and the doctor was called.
Marie Saint-Clare n' avait pas remarqué ce déclin rapide de la force et de la santé de sa fille. Elle était alors absorbée par l' étude de deux ou trois maladies nouvelles, dont elle-même se croyait atteinte, mais elle ne croyait pas que personne pût souffrir autant qu' elle: c' était son premier article de foi. Elle repoussait avec une sorte d' indignation l' idée que quelqu'un pût être malade autour d' elle. Elle était toujours certaine que, pour les autres, c' était paresse ou manque d' énergie. « S' ils avaient eu, pensait -elle, tous les maux qui l' accablaient, ils auraient bientôt vu la différence ! »
Marie St. Clare had taken no notice of the child’s gradually decaying health and strength, because she was completely absorbed in studying out two or three new forms of disease to which she believed she herself was a victim. It was the first principle of Marie’s belief that nobody ever was or could be so great a sufferer as _herself_; and, therefore, she always repelled quite indignantly any suggestion that any one around her could be sick. She was always sure, in such a case, that it was nothing but laziness, or want of energy; and that, if they had had the suffering _she_ had, they would soon know the difference.
Miss Ophelia had several times tried to awaken her maternal fears about Eva; but to no avail.
“I don’t see as anything ails the child,” she would say; “she runs about, and plays.”
-- Mais elle a une toux !
“But she has a cough.”
“Cough! you don’t need to tell _me_ about a cough. I’ve always been subject to a cough, all my days. When I was of Eva’s age, they thought I was in a consumption. Night after night, Mammy used to sit up with me. O! Eva’s cough is not anything.”
--Mais cette faiblesse.... cette respiration courte....
“But she gets weak, and is short-breathed.”
“Law! I’ve had that, years and years; it’s only a nervous affection.”
-- Mais, la nuit, elle a des sueurs....
“But she sweats so, nights!”
“Well, I have, these ten years. Very often, night after night, my clothes will be wringing wet. There won’t be a dry thread in my night-clothes and the sheets will be so that Mammy has to hang them up to dry! Eva doesn’t sweat anything like that!”
Miss Ophélia se tut pendant quelques jours.
Miss Ophelia shut her mouth for a season. But, now that Eva was fairly and visibly prostrated, and a doctor called, Marie, all on a sudden, took a new turn.
Quand la maladie d' Éva devint trop visible, quand le médecin eut été appelé, Marie se jeta dans un autre extrême. Elle savait bien, disait -elle, elle en avait toujours eu le pressentiment, elle savait bien qu' elle était destinée à être la plus malheureuse des mères.... Malade comme elle était, il lui faudrait voir son enfant unique et bien-aimée emportée avant elle. Et Marie tourmentait Mammy toutes les nuits, et le jour elle criait et se lamentait sur ce nouveau, sur cet affreux malheur.
“She knew it,” she said; “she always felt it, that she was destined to be the most miserable of mothers. Here she was, with her wretched health, and her only darling child going down to the grave before her eyes;”—and Marie routed up Mammy nights, and rumpussed and scolded, with more energy than ever, all day, on the strength of this new misery.
« Ma chère Marie, ne parlez pas ainsi, disait Saint-Clare; il ne faut point se désespérer tout de suite !
“My dear Marie, don’t talk so!” said St. Clare. “You ought not to give up the case so, at once.”
-- Ah ! Saint-Clare, vous n' avez pas le coeur d' une mère ! vous ne pouvez pas comprendre.... non, jamais vous ne me comprendrez !
“You have not a mother’s feelings, St. Clare! You never could understand me!—you don’t now.”
-- Mais, Marie, le mal n' est pas sans remède.
“But don’t talk so, as if it were a gone case!”
“I can’t take it as indifferently as you can, St. Clare. If _you_ don’t feel when your only child is in this alarming state, I do. It’s a blow too much for me, with all I was bearing before.”
-- Il est vrai, reprenait Saint-Clare, qu' Éva est bien délicate, je l' ai toujours remarqué; elle a grandi si vite que la croissance l' a épuisée.... elle est dans une période critique.... Mais ce qui l' accable maintenant, ce sont les chaleurs de l' été, et puis elle s' est trop fatiguée avec son cousin.... Le médecin dit qu' il y a bien de l' espoir encore.
“It’s true,” said St. Clare, “that Eva is very delicate, _that_ I always knew; and that she has grown so rapidly as to exhaust her strength; and that her situation is critical. But just now she is only prostrated by the heat of the weather, and by the excitement of her cousin’s visit, and the exertions she made. The physician says there is room for hope.”
-- Allons ! si vous pouvez ainsi voir les choses en beau, tant mieux ! Il est heureux que tout le monde n' ait pas des délicatesses de sensitive.... Je voudrais bien, pour mon compte, ne pas sentir comme je fais; cela n' aboutit qu' à me rendre complétement malheureuse ! J' aimerais mieux avoir votre calme d' esprit. »
“Well, of course, if you can look on the bright side, pray do; it’s a mercy if people haven’t sensitive feelings, in this world. I am sure I wish I didn’t feel as I do; it only makes me completely wretched! I wish I _could_ be as easy as the rest of you!”
Tout le monde dans la maison souhaitait en effet ce calme à Marie, car elle faisait parade de son nouveau malheur et en profitait pour tourmenter tous ceux qui l' approchaient.... Tout ce qu' on disait, tout ce qu' on faisait, tout ce qu' on ne faisait pas, lui démontrait, disait -elle, qu' elle était environnée de coeurs durs, d' êtres insensibles, qui ne prenaient aucun souci de ses tourments. La pauvre Éva l' entendait parfois, et elle pleurait de compassion pour les tristesses de sa mère, s' affligeant tout bas de la tourmenter ainsi.
And the “rest of them” had good reason to breathe the same prayer, for Marie paraded her new misery as the reason and apology for all sorts of inflictions on every one about her. Every word that was spoken by anybody, everything that was done or was not done everywhere, was only a new proof that she was surrounded by hard-hearted, insensible beings, who were unmindful of her peculiar sorrows. Poor Eva heard some of these speeches; and nearly cried her little eyes out, in pity for her mamma, and in sorrow that she should make her so much distress.
Au bout d' une quinzaine de jours il y eut une grande amélioration dans les symptômes. Il y eut une de ces trêves décevantes que ce mal inexorable accorde si souvent à ses victimes, pour se jouer de l' espérance sur le bord même du tombeau. Éva promène encore ses petits pas dans le jardin, elle court encore autour des galeries.... Elle joue, elle rit.... et son père, ivre de joie, dit à tout le monde qu' elle a retrouvé sa belle santé.... Seuls le médecin et miss Ophélia ne partagent point cette mortelle sécurité. Il y avait aussi un autre coeur qui ne s' y trompait pas, c' était le pauvre petit coeur d' Éva. Quelle voix vient donc parfois dire à l' âme, une voix si douce et si claire ! que ses jours terrestres sont comptés ?... Ah ! c' est le secret instinct de la nature qui se sent défaillir, ou c' est l' élan enthousiaste de l' âme qui pressent l' approche de l' immortalité.... Qu' importe ? il y avait dans le coeur d' Éva une certitude calme, douce, prophétique, qu' elle était maintenant près du ciel. Oui, calme comme un beau coucher de soleil ! Oui, douce comme la sérénité brillante d' une après-midi d' automne ! Et dans cette certitude même le jeune coeur trouvait un repos qui n' était troublé que par la pensée du chagrin de ceux qui l' aimaient si chèrement.
In a week or two, there was a great improvement of symptoms,—one of those deceitful lulls, by which her inexorable disease so often beguiles the anxious heart, even on the verge of the grave. Eva’s step was again in the garden,—in the balconies; she played and laughed again,—and her father, in a transport, declared that they should soon have her as hearty as anybody. Miss Ophelia and the physician alone felt no encouragement from this illusive truce. There was one other heart, too, that felt the same certainty, and that was the little heart of Eva. What is it that sometimes speaks in the soul so calmly, so clearly, that its earthly time is short? Is it the secret instinct of decaying nature, or the soul’s impulsive throb, as immortality draws on? Be it what it may, it rested in the heart of Eva, a calm, sweet, prophetic certainty that Heaven was near; calm as the light of sunset, sweet as the bright stillness of autumn, there her little heart reposed, only troubled by sorrow for those who loved her so dearly.
For the child, though nursed so tenderly, and though life was unfolding before her with every brightness that love and wealth could give, had no regret for herself in dying.
Dans ce livre qu' elle avait lu si souvent avec son vieil ami, elle avait vu, l' espoir dans le coeur, l' image de celui qui aima tant les petits enfants. Elle y avait tant pensé, elle l' avait regardé si souvent, que pour elle il avait cessé d' être une image et une peinture d' un passé lointain, mais il était devenu une réalité vivante, qui l' entourait à chaque instant ! L' amour de celui -là remplissait son coeur d' une tendresse surhumaine. C' était à lui, disait -elle, c' était à lui, c' était vers sa demeure qu' elle allait !
In that book which she and her simple old friend had read so much together, she had seen and taken to her young heart the image of one who loved the little child; and, as she gazed and mused, He had ceased to be an image and a picture of the distant past, and come to be a living, all-surrounding reality. His love enfolded her childish heart with more than mortal tenderness; and it was to Him, she said, she was going, and to his home.
Et cependant elle éprouvait les angoisses d' une amère tendresse, quand elle songeait à tous ceux qu' elle allait laisser derrière elle, à son père surtout ! Sans peut-être s' en rendre compte bien distinctement, elle sentait pourtant qu' elle était plus dans ce coeur -là que dans tout autre. Elle aimait sa mère.... elle était si aimante ! mais l' égoïsme de Mme Saint-Clare l' affligeait et l' embarrassait à la fois, car elle croyait bien fort que sa mère devait toujours avoir raison.... Il y avait bien quelque chose qu' elle ne pouvait pas s' expliquer; mais elle se disait: Après tout, c' est maman !... et elle l' aimait bien !
But her heart yearned with sad tenderness for all that she was to leave behind. Her father most,—for Eva, though she never distinctly thought so, had an instinctive perception that she was more in his heart than any other. She loved her mother because she was so loving a creature, and all the selfishness that she had seen in her only saddened and perplexed her; for she had a child’s implicit trust that her mother could not do wrong. There was something about her that Eva never could make out; and she always smoothed it over with thinking that, after all, it was mamma, and she loved her very dearly indeed.
Elle regrettait aussi ces bons et fidèles esclaves pour lesquels elle était comme la lumière du jour, comme le rayon du soleil ! Les enfants ont rarement des idées générales.... mais Éva n' était point un enfant ordinaire. Les maux de l' esclavage, dont elle avait été le témoin, étaient tombés un à un dans les profondeurs de cette âme pensive et réfléchie: elle avait le vague désir de faire quelque chose pour eux, de soulager et de sauver, non pas seulement les siens, mais tous ceux -là qui souffraient comme eux; et il y avait comme un pénible contraste entre l' ardeur de ses désirs et la fragilité de sa frêle enveloppe.
She felt, too, for those fond, faithful servants, to whom she was as daylight and sunshine. Children do not usually generalize; but Eva was an uncommonly mature child, and the things that she had witnessed of the evils of the system under which they were living had fallen, one by one, into the depths of her thoughtful, pondering heart. She had vague longings to do something for them,—to bless and save not only them, but all in their condition,—longings that contrasted sadly with the feebleness of her little frame.
“Uncle Tom,” she said, one day, when she was reading to her friend, “I can understand why Jesus _wanted_ to die for us.”
-- Pourquoi ? miss Éva.
“Why, Miss Eva?”
“Because I’ve felt so, too.”
“What is it Miss Eva?—I don’t understand.”
-- Je ne saurais vous expliquer; mais sur le bateau, vous vous rappelez ? quand je vis ces pauvres créatures.... les unes avaient perdu leurs maris, les autres leurs mères.... il y avait des mères aussi qui pleuraient leurs petits enfants.... Plus tard, quand j' entendis l' histoire de Prue (n' était -ce pas terrible ? )... enfin bien d' autres fois encore, je sentis que je mourrais avec joie si ma mort pouvait mettre fin à toutes ces misères.... Oui, je voudrais mourir pour eux, » reprit -elle avec une profonde émotion, en posant sa petite main fine sur la main de Tom.
“I can’t tell you; but, when I saw those poor creatures on the boat, you know, when you came up and I,—some had lost their mothers, and some their husbands, and some mothers cried for their little children—and when I heard about poor Prue,—oh, wasn’t that dreadful!—and a great many other times, I’ve felt that I would be glad to die, if my dying could stop all this misery. _I would_ die for them, Tom, if I could,” said the child, earnestly, laying her little thin hand on his.
Tom looked at the child with awe; and when she, hearing her father’s voice, glided away, he wiped his eyes many times, as he looked after her.
“It’s jest no use tryin’ to keep Miss Eva here,” he said to Mammy, whom he met a moment after. “She’s got the Lord’s mark in her forehead.”
-- Oui, oui, fit Mammy en élevant ses mains vers le ciel, c' est ce que j' ai toujours dit. Elle n' a jamais ressemblé aux enfants qui doivent vivre ! Il y a toujours eu quelque chose de profond dans ses yeux. J' en ai bien souvent parlé à madame.... Voilà que cela approche.... nous le voyons bien tous.... Pauvre petit agneau du bon Dieu ! »
“Ah, yes, yes,” said Mammy, raising her hands; “I’ve allers said so. She wasn’t never like a child that’s to live—there was allers something deep in her eyes. I’ve told Missis so, many the time; it’s a comin’ true,—we all sees it,—dear, little, blessed lamb!”
Évangéline vint en courant rejoindre son père sous la galerie. Le soleil descendait à l' horizon, et semait derrière elle comme des rayons de gloire. Elle était en robe blanche, ses cheveux blonds flottaient, ses joues étaient animées, et la fièvre, qui brûlait son sang, donnait à ses yeux un éclat surnaturel.
Eva came tripping up the verandah steps to her father. It was late in the afternoon, and the rays of the sun formed a kind of glory behind her, as she came forward in her white dress, with her golden hair and glowing cheeks, her eyes unnaturally bright with the slow fever that burned in her veins.
Saint-Clare l' avait appelée pour lui montrer une statuette qu' il venait de lui acheter. Mais son seul aspect le frappa d' une émotion aussi soudaine que pénible. Il y a un genre de beauté à la fois si parfaite et si fragile que nous ne pouvons en supporter la vue. Le pauvre père la serra tout à coup dans ses bras et oublia ce qu' il voulait lui dire.
St. Clare had called her to show a statuette that he had been buying for her; but her appearance, as she came on, impressed him suddenly and painfully. There is a kind of beauty so intense, yet so fragile, that we cannot bear to look at it. Her father folded her suddenly in his arms, and almost forgot what he was going to tell her.
“Eva, dear, you are better now-a-days,—are you not?”
“Papa,” said Eva, with sudden firmness “I’ve had things I wanted to say to you, a great while. I want to say them now, before I get weaker.”
St. Clare trembled as Eva seated herself in his lap. She laid her head on his bosom, and said,
“It’s all no use, papa, to keep it to myself any longer. The time is coming that I am going to leave you. I am going, and never to come back!” and Eva sobbed.
“O, now, my dear little Eva!” said St. Clare, trembling as he spoke, but speaking cheerfully, “you’ve got nervous and low-spirited; you mustn’t indulge such gloomy thoughts. See here, I’ve bought a statuette for you!”
-- Non, père, dit Éva en repoussant doucement l' objet, il ne faut pas vous y tromper.... Je ne suis pas mieux, je le vois bien.... Je vais partir avant peu.... Je ne suis pas nerveuse, je ne me laisse pas abattre.... Si ce n' était pour vous, père, et pour ceux qui m' aiment, je serais parfaitement heureuse.... Il faut que je m' en aille... bien loin, bien loin !
“No, papa,” said Eva, putting it gently away, “don’t deceive yourself!—I am _not_ any better, I know it perfectly well,—and I am going, before long. I am not nervous,—I am not low-spirited. If it were not for you, papa, and my friends, I should be perfectly happy. I want to go,—I long to go!”
“Why, dear child, what has made your poor little heart so sad? You have had everything, to make you happy, that could be given you.”
-- J' aime mieux aller au ciel: cependant, à cause de ceux que j' aime, je voudrais bien consentir à vivre encore. Il y a bien des choses ici qui m' attristent, qui me semblent terribles.... J' aimerais mieux être là-haut.... et pourtant je ne voudrais pas vous quitter.... Tenez ! cela me brise le coeur.
“I had rather be in heaven; though, only for my friends’ sake, I would be willing to live. There are a great many things here that make me sad, that seem dreadful to me; I had rather be there; but I don’t want to leave you,—it almost breaks my heart!”
“What makes you sad, and seems dreadful, Eva?”
“O, things that are done, and done all the time. I feel sad for our poor people; they love me dearly, and they are all good and kind to me. I wish, papa, they were all _free_.”
“Why, Eva, child, don’t you think they are well enough off now?”
-- Oui, papa; mais, s' il vous arrivait quelque chose, que deviendraient -ils ?... Il y a très-peu d' hommes comme vous, papa.... Mon oncle Alfred n' est pas comme vous, ni maman non plus.... Pensez aux maîtres de la pauvre Prue.... Oh ! quelles affreuses choses ! les gens font et peuvent faire !... Elle frissonna.
“O, but, papa, if anything should happen to you, what would become of them? There are very few men like you, papa. Uncle Alfred isn’t like you, and mamma isn’t; and then, think of poor old Prue’s owners! What horrid things people do, and can do!” and Eva shuddered.
“My dear child, you are too sensitive. I’m sorry I ever let you hear such stories.”
-- Eh bien oui, père, c' est là ce qui me tourmente ! Vous voulez que je vive heureuse.... que je n' aie ni peines ni souffrances.... que je n' entende pas même une histoire triste.... quand il y a de pauvres gens qui n' ont que des douleurs et du chagrin toute leur vie.... Cela me semble égoïste !... Il faut que je connaisse ces douleurs.... il faut que j' y compatisse.... Tenez, père, ces choses -là tombent dans mon coeur et s' y enfoncent profondément.... Cela me fait penser.... penser ! Papa, est -ce qu' il n' y aurait vraiment pas du tout moyen de rendre la liberté à tous les esclaves ?
“O, that’s what troubles me, papa. You want me to live so happy, and never to have any pain,—never suffer anything,—not even hear a sad story, when other poor creatures have nothing but pain and sorrow, all their lives;—it seems selfish. I ought to know such things, I ought to feel about them! Such things always sunk into my heart; they went down deep; I’ve thought and thought about them. Papa, isn’t there any way to have all slaves made free?”
“That’s a difficult question, dearest. There’s no doubt that this way is a very bad one; a great many people think so; I do myself; I heartily wish that there were not a slave in the land; but, then, I don’t know what is to be done about it!”
-- Papa ! vous êtes si bienveillant, si affectueux, si bon, vous savez si bien toucher en parlant !... Ne pouvez -vous point aller un peu dans les habitations... et essayer de persuader aux gens de faire... ce qu' il faut ? Quand je serai morte, père, vous penserez à moi.... et, pour l' amour de moi, vous ferez cela.... Je le ferais moi-même si je pouvais !
“Papa, you are such a good man, and so noble, and kind, and you always have a way of saying things that is so pleasant, couldn’t you go all round and try to persuade people to do right about this? When I am dead, papa, then you will think of me, and do it for my sake. I would do it, if I could.”
“When you are dead, Eva,” said St. Clare, passionately. “O, child, don’t talk to me so! You are all I have on earth.”
-- L' enfant de cette pauvre vieille Prue était aussi tout ce qu' elle possédait !... et elle l' a entendu pleurer sans pouvoir le secourir. Papa ! ces pauvres créatures aiment leurs enfants autant que vous m' aimez.... Oh ! faites quelque chose pour elles ! Tenez, cette pauvre Mammy aime ses enfants.... je l' ai vue pleurer en parlant d' eux ! Tom aime aussi ses enfants, dont il est séparé.... Ah ! père, c' est terrible de voir ces choses -là tous les jours.
“Poor old Prue’s child was all that she had,—and yet she had to hear it crying, and she couldn’t help it! Papa, these poor creatures love their children as much as you do me. O! do something for them! There’s poor Mammy loves her children; I’ve seen her cry when she talked about them. And Tom loves his children; and it’s dreadful, papa, that such things are happening, all the time!”
“There, there, darling,” said St. Clare, soothingly; “only don’t distress yourself, don’t talk of dying, and I will do anything you wish.”
“And promise me, dear father, that Tom shall have his freedom as soon as”—she stopped, and said, in a hesitating tone—“I am gone!”
-- Oui, chère, je ferai tout ce que vous me demanderez.
“Yes, dear, I will do anything in the world,—anything you could ask me to.”
“Dear papa,” said the child, laying her burning cheek against his, “how I wish we could go together!”
--Et où donc, chère?
“Where, dearest?” said St. Clare.
“To our Saviour’s home; it’s so sweet and peaceful there—it is all so loving there!” The child spoke unconsciously, as of a place where she had often been. “Don’t you want to go, papa?” she said.
Saint-Clare la pressa contre sa poitrine, mais il ne répondit rien.
St. Clare drew her closer to him, but was silent.
“You will come to me,” said the child, speaking in a voice of calm certainty which she often used unconsciously.
“I shall come after you. I shall not forget you.”
Cependant le soir versait autour d' eux une ombre plus solennelle. Saint-Clare s' assit. Il ne parlait plus, mais il serrait contre son coeur cette forme frêle et charmante. Il ne voyait plus le regard profond, mais la voix venait encore à lui, pareille à la voix d' un esprit; et alors, comme une sorte de vision du jugement dernier, il lui sembla revoir tout le passé de sa vie, qui se levait devant ses yeux. Il entendait les prières et les cantiques de sa mère; il sentait de nouveau ses jeunes désirs et ses aspirations vers le bien; et puis, entre ces moments bénis et l' heure présente, il y avait les années sceptiques et mondaines, ce que l' on appelle la vie comme il faut ! Ah ! nous pensons beaucoup, beaucoup dans un tel moment.... Les réflexions et les sentiments se pressaient dans l' âme de Saint-Clare, mais il ne trouvait pas de paroles.
The shadows of the solemn evening closed round them deeper and deeper, as St. Clare sat silently holding the little frail form to his bosom. He saw no more the deep eyes, but the voice came over him as a spirit voice, and, as in a sort of judgment vision, his whole past life rose in a moment before his eyes: his mother’s prayers and hymns; his own early yearnings and aspirings for good; and, between them and this hour, years of worldliness and scepticism, and what man calls respectable living. We can think _much_, very much, in a moment. St. Clare saw and felt many things, but spoke nothing; and, as it grew darker, he took his child to her bed-room; and, when she was prepared for rest; he sent away the attendants, and rocked her in his arms, and sung to her till she was asleep.
CHAPITRE XXV. ~~~ La petite Évangéliste.
CHAPTER XXV The Little Evangelist
C' était une après-midi de dimanche. Saint-Clare était étendu sur une chaise longue. Il fumait sous la véranda. Marie était couchée sur un sofa, contre la fenêtre du salon qui s' ouvrait sur la galerie. Elle était protégée contre les moustiques par un voile de gaze. Elle tenait, d' une main languissante, un livre de prières élégamment relié; elle tenait ce livre parce que c' était dimanche, et elle s' imaginait qu' elle l' avait lu, bien qu' en réalité elle se fût contentée de faire quelques petits sommes, le livre à la main.
It was Sunday afternoon. St. Clare was stretched on a bamboo lounge in the verandah, solacing himself with a cigar. Marie lay reclined on a sofa, opposite the window opening on the verandah, closely secluded, under an awning of transparent gauze, from the outrages of the mosquitos, and languidly holding in her hand an elegantly bound prayer-book. She was holding it because it was Sunday, and she imagined she had been reading it,—though, in fact, she had been only taking a succession of short naps, with it open in her hand.
Miss Ophelia, who, after some rummaging, had hunted up a small Methodist meeting within riding distance, had gone out, with Tom as driver, to attend it; and Eva had accompanied them.
“I say, Augustine,” said Marie after dozing a while, “I must send to the city after my old Doctor Posey; I’m sure I’ve got the complaint of the heart.”
“Well; why need you send for him? This doctor that attends Eva seems skilful.”
“I would not trust him in a critical case,” said Marie; “and I think I may say mine is becoming so! I’ve been thinking of it, these two or three nights past; I have such distressing pains, and such strange feelings.”
-- Imaginations ! Marie ! Je ne crois pas à votre maladie de coeur....
“O, Marie, you are blue; I don’t believe it’s heart complaint.”
“I dare say _you_ don’t,” said Marie; “I was prepared to expect _that_. You can be alarmed enough, if Eva coughs, or has the least thing the matter with her; but you never think of me.”
-- Mon Dieu ! ma chère, si vous y tenez, après tout, à avoir une maladie de coeur.... je soutiendrai, envers et contre tous, que vous en avez une.... seulement, je ne le savais pas !...
“If it’s particularly agreeable to you to have heart disease, why, I’ll try and maintain you have it,” said St. Clare; “I didn’t know it was.”
“Well, I only hope you won’t be sorry for this, when it’s too late!” said Marie; “but, believe it or not, my distress about Eva, and the exertions I have made with that dear child, have developed what I have long suspected.”
Il eût été assez difficile de dire quelles peines Marie s' était données. C' est la réflexion que Saint-Clare se fit à part lui en s' en allant fumer plus loin, comme un vrai mari sans coeur, jusqu' à ce que la voiture revint, ramenant miss Ophélia et sa nièce Éva, qui descendirent au pied du perron.
What the _exertions_ were which Marie referred to, it would have been difficult to state. St. Clare quietly made this commentary to himself, and went on smoking, like a hard-hearted wretch of a man as he was, till a carriage drove up before the verandah, and Eva and Miss Ophelia alighted.
Miss Ophelia marched straight to her own chamber, to put away her bonnet and shawl, as was always her manner, before she spoke a word on any subject; while Eva came, at St. Clare’s call, and was sitting on his knee, giving him an account of the services they had heard.
Ils entendirent bientôt les retentissantes exclamations de miss Ophélia, dont la chambre s' ouvrait aussi sur la véranda. Miss Ophélia adressait de violents reproches à quelqu'un.
They soon heard loud exclamations from Miss Ophelia’s room, which, like the one in which they were sitting, opened on to the verandah and violent reproof addressed to somebody.
“What new witchcraft has Tops been brewing?” asked St. Clare. “That commotion is of her raising, I’ll be bound!”
And, in a moment after, Miss Ophelia, in high indignation, came dragging the culprit along.
“Come out here, now!” she said. “I _will_ tell your master!”
“What’s the case now?” asked Augustine.
-- Il y a que je ne veux plus être tourmentée par cette petite peste. Je ne puis la souffrir davantage. C' est plus que la chair et le sang n' en peuvent supporter. Figurez -vous ! je l' avais enfermée là-haut, et je lui avais donné une hymne à étudier. Que fait -elle ? Elle épie l' endroit où je mets ma clef, elle va à ma commode, prend une garniture de chapeau et la taille en pièces pour faire des robes de poupées. Je n' ai de ma vie rien vu de pareil !
“The case is, that I cannot be plagued with this child, any longer! It’s past all bearing; flesh and blood cannot endure it! Here, I locked her up, and gave her a hymn to study; and what does she do, but spy out where I put my key, and has gone to my bureau, and got a bonnet-trimming, and cut it all to pieces to make dolls’ jackets! I never saw anything like it, in my life!”
-- Je vous disais bien, cousine, fit Marie, que vous vous apercevriez un jour qu' on ne peut élever ces créatures -là sans sévérité. S' il m' était permis, ajouta -t-elle en lançant un regard plein de reproches à son mari, s' il m' était permis d' agir comme je l' entends.... j' enverrais cette créature à la correction.... je la ferais fouetter.... jusqu' à ce qu' elle ne pût tenir sur ses jambes....
“I told you, Cousin,” said Marie, “that you’d find out that these creatures can’t be brought up without severity. If I had _my_ way, now,” she said, looking reproachfully at St. Clare, “I’d send that child out, and have her thoroughly whipped; I’d have her whipped till she couldn’t stand!”
“I don’t doubt it,” said St. Clare. “Tell me of the lovely rule of woman! I never saw above a dozen women that wouldn’t half kill a horse, or a servant, either, if they had their own way with them!—let alone a man.”
“There is no use in this shilly-shally way of yours, St. Clare!” said Marie. “Cousin is a woman of sense, and she sees it now, as plain as I do.”
Miss Ophélia était susceptible de l' indignation que peut éprouver, à ses heures, une sage et calme maîtresse de maison. Cette indignation avait été assez justement excitée par la conduite de Topsy, et, à sa place, beaucoup de nos lectrices eussent fait comme elle; mais les paroles de Marie, qui allaient bien au delà du but, la refroidirent singulièrement.
Miss Ophelia had just the capability of indignation that belongs to the thorough-paced housekeeper, and this had been pretty actively roused by the artifice and wastefulness of the child; in fact, many of my lady readers must own that they should have felt just so in her circumstances; but Marie’s words went beyond her, and she felt less heat.
« Pour rien au monde, dit -elle, je ne saurais voir traiter cet enfant aussi cruellement. Mais je vous l' avoue, Augustin, je suis à bout de voie. Je lui ai donné leçons sur leçons.... je l' ai sermonnée à m' en fatiguer.... je l' ai même fouettée.... punie de toutes les manières.... et rien ! elle est aujourd'hui ce qu' elle était le premier jour.
“I wouldn’t have the child treated so, for the world,” she said; “but, I am sure, Augustine, I don’t know what to do. I’ve taught and taught; I’ve talked till I’m tired; I’ve whipped her; I’ve punished her in every way I can think of, and she’s just what she was at first.”
“Come here, Tops, you monkey!” said St. Clare, calling the child up to him.
Topsy approcha. Ses yeux ronds et malins brillaient et clignotaient. On y voyait un mélange de crainte et d' espièglerie.
Topsy came up; her round, hard eyes glittering and blinking with a mixture of apprehensiveness and their usual odd drollery.
« Pourquoi vous conduire ainsi ? demanda Saint-Clare, que cette étrange physionomie intéressait toujours.
“What makes you behave so?” said St. Clare, who could not help being amused with the child’s expression.
“Spects it’s my wicked heart,” said Topsy, demurely; “Miss Feely says so.”
“Don’t you see how much Miss Ophelia has done for you? She says she has done everything she can think of.”
-- Las ! m' sieu, ma vieille maîtresse en disait autant aussi.... Elle me fouettait un petit peu plus fort, elle m' arrachait les cheveux et me cognait la tête contre la porte.... mais ça n' me faisait pas de bien ! Je crois que, si on m' avait arraché tous les cheveux brin à brin, ça n' m' aurait pas fait davantage !... J' suis si méchante ! Las ! m' sieu, vous savez, je n' suis qu' une négresse ! c' est comme cela que nous sommes, nous autres !
“Lor, yes, Mas’r! old Missis used to say so, too. She whipped me a heap harder, and used to pull my har, and knock my head agin the door; but it didn’t do me no good! I spects, if they ’s to pull every spire o’ har out o’ my head, it wouldn’t do no good, neither,—I ’s so wicked! Laws! I ’s nothin but a nigger, no ways!”
“Well, I shall have to give her up,” said Miss Ophelia; “I can’t have that trouble any longer.”
“Well, I’d just like to ask one question,” said St. Clare.
--Laquelle?
“What is it?”
-- Si votre Évangile n' est pas assez fort pour convertir un de ces pauvres petits païens que vous avez là entre les mains, à vous toute seule, à quoi bon envoyer deux malheureux missionnaires parmi des milliers d' individus qui ne valent pas mieux que Topsy ? Topsy est un échantillon d' un million d' autres ! »
“Why, if your Gospel is not strong enough to save one heathen child, that you can have at home here, all to yourself, what’s the use of sending one or two poor missionaries off with it among thousands of just such? I suppose this child is about a fair sample of what thousands of your heathen are.”
Miss Ophelia did not make an immediate answer; and Eva, who had stood a silent spectator of the scene thus far, made a silent sign to Topsy to follow her. There was a little glass-room at the corner of the verandah, which St. Clare used as a sort of reading-room; and Eva and Topsy disappeared into this place.
“What’s Eva going about, now?” said St. Clare; “I mean to see.”
Et, s' avançant sur la pointe des pieds, il souleva le rideau de la porte vitrée et regarda, puis, mettant un doigt sur ses lèvres, il fit signe à miss Ophélia de s' approcher tout doucement. ~~~ Les deux enfants étaient assises sur le plancher, le visage tourné du côté de la porte.... Topsy avait son air d' insouciance et de malice habituelle. Mais, au contraire, Éva, en face d' elle, paraissait profondément émue; il y avait des larmes dans ses grands yeux.
And, advancing on tiptoe, he lifted up a curtain that covered the glass-door, and looked in. In a moment, laying his finger on his lips, he made a silent gesture to Miss Ophelia to come and look. There sat the two children on the floor, with their side faces towards them. Topsy, with her usual air of careless drollery and unconcern; but, opposite to her, Eva, her whole face fervent with feeling, and tears in her large eyes.
“What does make you so bad, Topsy? Why won’t you try and be good? Don’t you love _anybody_, Topsy?”
“Donno nothing ’bout love; I loves candy and sich, that’s all,” said Topsy.
-- Mais vous aimez votre père et votre mère.
“But you love your father and mother?”
“Never had none, ye know. I telled ye that, Miss Eva.”
“O, I know,” said Eva, sadly; “but hadn’t you any brother, or sister, or aunt, or—”
--Non, non.... ni rien, ni personne!
“No, none on ’em,—never had nothing nor nobody.”
“But, Topsy, if you’d only try to be good, you might—”
“Couldn’t never be nothin’ but a nigger, if I was ever so good,” said Topsy. “If I could be skinned, and come white, I’d try then.”
“But people can love you, if you are black, Topsy. Miss Ophelia would love you, if you were good.”
Topsy gave the short, blunt laugh that was her common mode of expressing incredulity.
« Vous ne croyez pas ? reprit Éva.
“Don’t you think so?” said Eva.
“No; she can’t bar me, ’cause I’m a nigger!—she’d ’s soon have a toad touch her! There can’t nobody love niggers, and niggers can’t do nothin’! _I_ don’t care,” said Topsy, beginning to whistle.
-- O Topsy, pauvre enfant, je vous aime, moi ! fit Éva, dont le coeur éclata tout d' un coup; et elle appuya sa petite main fine et blanche sur l' épaule de Topsy. Oui, je vous aime, reprit -elle, parce que vous n' avez ni père, ni mère, ni amis.... parce que vous êtes une pauvre fille maltraitée.... Je vous aime ! et je veux que vous soyez bonne.... Tenez, Topsy, je suis bien malade, et je crois que je ne vivrai pas longtemps.... Eh bien ! cela me fait de la peine de vous voir méchante.... je voudrais vous voir essayer d' être bonne par amour pour moi. Mon Dieu ! je n' ai que bien peu de temps à rester avec vous ! »
“O, Topsy, poor child, _I_ love you!” said Eva, with a sudden burst of feeling, and laying her little thin, white hand on Topsy’s shoulder; “I love you, because you haven’t had any father, or mother, or friends;—because you’ve been a poor, abused child! I love you, and I want you to be good. I am very unwell, Topsy, and I think I shan’t live a great while; and it really grieves me, to have you be so naughty. I wish you would try to be good, for my sake;—it’s only a little while I shall be with you.”
Et les larmes débordèrent des yeux perçants de la petite négresse et roulant lentement, une à une, elles tombèrent sur la petite main blanche d' Éva. Oui, dans cet instant, un éclair de la vraie foi, un rayon de la clarté céleste traversa les ténèbres de cette âme païenne; elle posa sa tête entre ses genoux et pleura et sanglota. Cependant l' autre belle enfant, penchée sur elle, semblait l' ange brillant du Seigneur, qui s' incline pour relever le pécheur abattu.
The round, keen eyes of the black child were overcast with tears;—large, bright drops rolled heavily down, one by one, and fell on the little white hand. Yes, in that moment, a ray of real belief, a ray of heavenly love, had penetrated the darkness of her heathen soul! She laid her head down between her knees, and wept and sobbed,—while the beautiful child, bending over her, looked like the picture of some bright angel stooping to reclaim a sinner.
« Pauvre Topsy ! reprit Éva, ne savez -vous pas que Jésus nous aime tous également ? il veut vous aimer aussi bien que moi.... il vous aime comme je fais, mais il vous aime plus parce qu' il est meilleur.... il vous aidera à être bonne, et à la fin vous pourrez aller au ciel et devenir un bel ange pour toujours, aussi bien que si vous aviez été blanche. Songez -y bien, Topsy, vous pouvez être un jour un de ces esprits tout brillants, comme il y en a dans les cantiques de Tom.
“Poor Topsy!” said Eva, “don’t you know that Jesus loves all alike? He is just as willing to love you, as me. He loves you just as I do,—only more, because he is better. He will help you to be good; and you can go to Heaven at last, and be an angel forever, just as much as if you were white. Only think of it, Topsy!—_you_ can be one of those spirits bright, Uncle Tom sings about.”
“O, dear Miss Eva, dear Miss Eva!” said the child; “I will try, I will try; I never did care nothin’ about it before.”
St. Clare, at this instant, dropped the curtain. “It puts me in mind of mother,” he said to Miss Ophelia. “It is true what she told me; if we want to give sight to the blind, we must be willing to do as Christ did,—call them to us, and _put our hands on them_.”
“I’ve always had a prejudice against negroes,” said Miss Ophelia, “and it’s a fact, I never could bear to have that child touch me; but, I don’t think she knew it.”
“Trust any child to find that out,” said St. Clare; “there’s no keeping it from them. But I believe that all the trying in the world to benefit a child, and all the substantial favors you can do them, will never excite one emotion of gratitude, while that feeling of repugnance remains in the heart;—it’s a queer kind of a fact,—but so it is.”
“I don’t know how I can help it,” said Miss Ophelia; “they _are_ disagreeable to me,—this child in particular,—how can I help feeling so?”
-- Voyez Éva !
“Eva does, it seems.”
“Well, she’s so loving! After all, though, she’s no more than Christ-like,” said Miss Ophelia; “I wish I were like her. She might teach me a lesson.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time a little child had been used to instruct an old disciple, if it _were_ so,” said St. Clare.
CHAPITRE XXVI.
CHAPTER XXVI Death
La mort.
Weep not for those whom the veil of the tomb, In life’s early morning, hath hid from our eyes.[1]
[1] “Weep Not for Those,” a poem by Thomas Moore (1779-1852).
La chambre à coucher d' Éva était très-grande; comme toutes les autres, elle ouvrait sur la véranda. Cette chambre communiquait d' un côté avec l' appartement de ses parents, de l' autre avec celui de miss Ophélia. Saint-Clare s' était donné cette joie du coeur et des yeux, de décorer l' appartement de façon à le mettre en harmonie avec la personne à qui il était destiné. Les fenêtres étaient tendues de mousseline blanche et rose. Le tapis, exécuté à Paris sur ses dessins, était encadré de feuilles et de boutons de roses. Au milieu, c' étaient des touffes de roses épanouies.... Le bois du lit, les chaises, les fauteuils de bambou étaient travaillés en mille formes de la plus gracieuse fantaisie. Au-dessus du lit, sur une console d' albâtre, un ange, admirablement sculpté, déployait ses ailes et tendait une couronne de feuilles de myrte.... De cette couronne descendaient sur le lit de légers rideaux de gaze rose rayée d' argent, protection indispensable du sommeil, sous ce climat livré aux moustiques. Les beaux sofas de bambou étaient garnis de coussins de damas rose, tandis que des figures posées sur le dossier laissaient tomber des tentures pareilles aux rideaux du lit. Au milieu de l' appartement, sur une petite table de bambou, on voyait un vase en marbre de Paros, taillé en forme de lis entouré de ses blancs boutons: son calice était toujours rempli de fleurs. C' était sur cette table qu' Éva plaçait ses livres, ses petits bijoux et son pupitre d' ivoire sculpté. Son père le lui avait donné quand il vit qu' elle voulait sérieusement apprendre à écrire. ~~~ On avait mis sur la cheminée une statuette de Jésus appelant à lui les petits enfants; de chaque côté, des vases de marbre. C' était la joie et l' orgueil de Tom de les garnir de fleurs chaque matin. Il y avait aussi dans la chambre deux ou trois beaux tableaux, représentant des enfants dans diverses attitudes. En un mot, l' oeil ne rencontrait partout que les images de l' enfance, de la beauté et de la paix; et, quand les yeux d' Éva s' entr'ouvraient au rayon matinal, ils ne manquaient jamais de se reposer sur des objets qui lui inspiraient de gracieuses et charmantes pensées.
Eva’s bed-room was a spacious apartment, which, like all the other rooms in the house, opened on to the broad verandah. The room communicated, on one side, with her father and mother’s apartment; on the other, with that appropriated to Miss Ophelia. St. Clare had gratified his own eye and taste, in furnishing this room in a style that had a peculiar keeping with the character of her for whom it was intended. The windows were hung with curtains of rose-colored and white muslin, the floor was spread with a matting which had been ordered in Paris, to a pattern of his own device, having round it a border of rose-buds and leaves, and a centre-piece with full-flown roses. The bedstead, chairs, and lounges, were of bamboo, wrought in peculiarly graceful and fanciful patterns. Over the head of the bed was an alabaster bracket, on which a beautiful sculptured angel stood, with drooping wings, holding out a crown of myrtle-leaves. From this depended, over the bed, light curtains of rose-colored gauze, striped with silver, supplying that protection from mosquitos which is an indispensable addition to all sleeping accommodation in that climate. The graceful bamboo lounges were amply supplied with cushions of rose-colored damask, while over them, depending from the hands of sculptured figures, were gauze curtains similar to those of the bed. A light, fanciful bamboo table stood in the middle of the room, where a Parian vase, wrought in the shape of a white lily, with its buds, stood, ever filled with flowers. On this table lay Eva’s books and little trinkets, with an elegantly wrought alabaster writing-stand, which her father had supplied to her when he saw her trying to improve herself in writing. There was a fireplace in the room, and on the marble mantle above stood a beautifully wrought statuette of Jesus receiving little children, and on either side marble vases, for which it was Tom’s pride and delight to offer bouquets every morning. Two or three exquisite paintings of children, in various attitudes, embellished the wall. In short, the eye could turn nowhere without meeting images of childhood, of beauty, and of peace. Those little eyes never opened, in the morning light, without falling on something which suggested to the heart soothing and beautiful thoughts.
La force trompeuse qui avait soutenu Éva pendant quelque temps s' était évanouie, ses pas légers sous la véranda ne se faisaient entendre qu' à des intervalles de plus en plus éloignés.... Mais on la voyait plus souvent étendue sur sa chaise longue, près de la fenêtre ouverte, ses grands yeux profonds fixés sur le lac, dont les eaux s' élèvent et s' abaissent tour à tour.
The deceitful strength which had buoyed Eva up for a little while was fast passing away; seldom and more seldom her light footstep was heard in the verandah, and oftener and oftener she was found reclined on a little lounge by the open window, her large, deep eyes fixed on the rising and falling waters of the lake.
C' était au milieu de l' après-midi; sa Bible, devant elle, était à moitié ouverte.... Ses doigts transparents glissaient, inattentifs, entre les feuillets du livre.... Elle entendit la voix de sa mère montée sur les notes aiguës.
It was towards the middle of the afternoon, as she was so reclining,—her Bible half open, her little transparent fingers lying listlessly between the leaves,—suddenly she heard her mother’s voice, in sharp tones, in the verandah.
“What now, you baggage!—what new piece of mischief! You’ve been picking the flowers, hey?” and Eva heard the sound of a smart slap.
“Law, Missis! they ’s for Miss Eva,” she heard a voice say, which she knew belonged to Topsy.
“Miss Eva! A pretty excuse!—you suppose she wants _your_ flowers, you good-for-nothing nigger! Get along off with you!”
In a moment, Eva was off from her lounge, and in the verandah.
“O, don’t, mother! I should like the flowers; do give them to me; I want them!”
“Why, Eva, your room is full now.”
“I can’t have too many,” said Eva. “Topsy, do bring them here.”
Topsy, who had stood sullenly, holding down her head, now came up and offered her flowers. She did it with a look of hesitation and bashfulness, quite unlike the eldrich boldness and brightness which was usual with her.
“It’s a beautiful bouquet!” said Eva, looking at it. ~~~ It was rather a singular one,—a brilliant scarlet geranium, and one single white japonica, with its glossy leaves. It was tied up with an evident eye to the contrast of color, and the arrangement of every leaf had carefully been studied.
Topsy looked pleased, as Eva said,—“Topsy, you arrange flowers very prettily. Here,” she said, “is this vase I haven’t any flowers for. I wish you’d arrange something every day for it.”
“Well, that’s odd!” said Marie. “What in the world do you want that for?”
“Never mind, mamma; you’d as lief as not Topsy should do it,—had you not?”
-- Comme vous voudrez, chère, comme vous voudrez ! Topsy, vous entendez votre jeune maîtresse. Faites ! »
“Of course, anything you please, dear! Topsy, you hear your young mistress;—see that you mind.”
Topsy fit une courte révérence et baissa les yeux. Comme elle se retournait, Évangéline vit une larme qui roulait sur ses joues noires....
Topsy made a short courtesy, and looked down; and, as she turned away, Eva saw a tear roll down her dark cheek.
“You see, mamma, I knew poor Topsy wanted to do something for me,” said Eva to her mother.
“O, nonsense! it’s only because she likes to do mischief. She knows she mustn’t pick flowers,—so she does it; that’s all there is to it. But, if you fancy to have her pluck them, so be it.”
“Mamma, I think Topsy is different from what she used to be; she’s trying to be a good girl.”
“She’ll have to try a good while before _she_ gets to be good,” said Marie, with a careless laugh.
“Well, you know, mamma, poor Topsy! everything has always been against her.”
“Not since she’s been here, I’m sure. If she hasn’t been talked to, and preached to, and every earthly thing done that anybody could do;—and she’s just so ugly, and always will be; you can’t make anything of the creature!”
“But, mamma, it’s so different to be brought up as I’ve been, with so many friends, so many things to make me good and happy; and to be brought up as she’s been, all the time, till she came here!”
“Most likely,” said Marie, yawning,—“dear me, how hot it is!”
“Mamma, you believe, don’t you, that Topsy could become an angel, as well as any of us, if she were a Christian?”
“Topsy! what a ridiculous idea! Nobody but you would ever think of it. I suppose she could, though.”
“But, mamma, isn’t God her father, as much as ours? Isn’t Jesus her Saviour?”
“Well, that may be. I suppose God made everybody,” said Marie. “Where is my smelling-bottle?”
“It’s such a pity,—oh! _such_ a pity!” said Eva, looking out on the distant lake, and speaking half to herself.
--Une pitié!... quoi?
“What’s a pity?” said Marie.
“Why, that any one, who could be a bright angel, and live with angels, should go all down, down down, and nobody help them!—oh dear!”
“Well, we can’t help it; it’s no use worrying, Eva! I don’t know what’s to be done; we ought to be thankful for our own advantages.”
“I hardly can be,” said Eva, “I’m so sorry to think of poor folks that haven’t any.”
“That’s odd enough,” said Marie;—“I’m sure my religion makes me thankful for my advantages.”
“Mamma,” said Eva, “I want to have some of my hair cut off,—a good deal of it.”
--Pourquoi?
“What for?” said Marie.
“Mamma, I want to give some away to my friends, while I am able to give it to them myself. Won’t you ask aunty to come and cut it for me?”
Marie raised her voice, and called Miss Ophelia, from the other room.
The child half rose from her pillow as she came in, and, shaking down her long golden-brown curls, said, rather playfully, “Come aunty, shear the sheep!”
“What’s that?” said St. Clare, who just then entered with some fruit he had been out to get for her.
“Papa, I just want aunty to cut off some of my hair;—there’s too much of it, and it makes my head hot. Besides, I want to give some of it away.”
Miss Ophélia entra avec des ciseaux.
Miss Ophelia came, with her scissors.
“Take care,—don’t spoil the looks of it!” said her father; “cut underneath, where it won’t show. Eva’s curls are my pride.”
-- Oh, papa ! dit Éva d' une voix triste.
“O, papa!” said Eva, sadly.
“Yes, and I want them kept handsome against the time I take you up to your uncle’s plantation, to see Cousin Henrique,” said St. Clare, in a gay tone.
“I shall never go there, papa;—I am going to a better country. O, do believe me! Don’t you see, papa, that I get weaker, every day?”
“Why do you insist that I shall believe such a cruel thing, Eva?” said her father.
“Only because it is _true_, papa: and, if you will believe it now, perhaps you will get to feel about it as I do.”
St. Clare closed his lips, and stood gloomily eying the long, beautiful curls, which, as they were separated from the child’s head, were laid, one by one, in her lap. She raised them up, looked earnestly at them, twined them around her thin fingers, and looked from time to time, anxiously at her father.
“It’s just what I’ve been foreboding!” said Marie; “it’s just what has been preying on my health, from day to day, bringing me downward to the grave, though nobody regards it. I have seen this, long. St. Clare, you will see, after a while, that I was right.”
“Which will afford you great consolation, no doubt!” said St. Clare, in a dry, bitter tone.
Marie lay back on a lounge, and covered her face with her cambric handkerchief.
Eva’s clear blue eye looked earnestly from one to the other. It was the calm, comprehending gaze of a soul half loosed from its earthly bonds; it was evident she saw, felt, and appreciated, the difference between the two.
She beckoned with her hand to her father. He came and sat down by her.
“Papa, my strength fades away every day, and I know I must go. There are some things I want to say and do,—that I ought to do; and you are so unwilling to have me speak a word on this subject. But it must come; there’s no putting it off. Do be willing I should speak now!”
“My child, I _am_ willing!” said St. Clare, covering his eyes with one hand, and holding up Eva’s hand with the other.
“Then, I want to see all our people together. I have some things I _must_ say to them,” said Eva.
-- Bien ! » dit Saint-Clare d' une voix sourde.
“_Well_,” said St. Clare, in a tone of dry endurance.
Miss Ophélia fit prévenir, et bientôt tous les esclaves arrivèrent.
Miss Ophelia despatched a messenger, and soon the whole of the servants were convened in the room.
Éva était renversée sur ses coussins; ses cheveux flottaient autour de son visage, ses joues empourprées offraient un pénible contraste avec la blancheur ordinaire de son teint et le contour amaigri de ses membres et de ses traits. Ses grands yeux pleins d' âme se fixaient avec une indicible expression sur chacun des assistants.
Eva lay back on her pillows; her hair hanging loosely about her face, her crimson cheeks contrasting painfully with the intense whiteness of her complexion and the thin contour of her limbs and features, and her large, soul-like eyes fixed earnestly on every one.
Les esclaves furent frappés d' une émotion soudaine. Ce beau visage, ces longues boucles de cheveux coupés et posés sur ses genoux.... son père qui cachait ses yeux.... sa mère qui sanglotait.... tout cela remuait le coeur de cette race impressionnable et sensible.... Quand ils entrèrent dans la chambre, ils se regardèrent entre eux, soupirèrent et baissèrent la tête.... et il se fit un silence profond, un silence de mort....
The servants were struck with a sudden emotion. The spiritual face, the long locks of hair cut off and lying by her, her father’s averted face, and Marie’s sobs, struck at once upon the feelings of a sensitive and impressible race; and, as they came in, they looked one on another, sighed, and shook their heads. There was a deep silence, like that of a funeral.
La jeune fille se souleva, promenant sur tous ses longs regards attendris.... Tous paraissaient profondément affligés et sous l' impression d' une attente pénible.... Les femmes se cachaient la tête dans leur tablier.
Eva raised herself, and looked long and earnestly round at every one. All looked sad and apprehensive. Many of the women hid their faces in their aprons.
“I sent for you all, my dear friends,” said Eva, “because I love you. I love you all; and I have something to say to you, which I want you always to remember. . . . I am going to leave you. In a few more weeks you will see me no more—”
Ici l' enfant fut interrompue par des sanglots, des gémissements, des lamentations, qui éclatèrent de toutes parts et qui couvrirent sa faible voix. Elle attendit un moment, et d' un ton qui fit taire les sanglots de tous, elle dit:
Here the child was interrupted by bursts of groans, sobs, and lamentations, which broke from all present, and in which her slender voice was lost entirely. She waited a moment, and then, speaking in a tone that checked the sobs of all, she said,
« Si vous m' aimez, il ne faut pas m' interrompre. Écoutez bien ce que je dis.... c' est de vos âmes que je parle.... Hélas ! beaucoup d' entre vous n' y pensent pas.... vous ne pensez qu' à ce monde.... Il faut vous rappeler qu' il y a un autre monde beaucoup plus beau, où est Jésus ! Je vais là, et vous pouvez y venir aussi. Ce monde -là est fait pour vous aussi bien que pour moi; mais, si vous voulez y aller, il ne faut pas vivre d' une vie indifférente, paresseuse et sans pensée. Il faut être chrétiens.... Souvenez -vous que chacun de vous peut devenir un ange.... être un ange à jamais ! Si vous êtes chrétiens, Jésus vous assistera.... Il faut le prier, il faut lire.... »
“If you love me, you must not interrupt me so. Listen to what I say. I want to speak to you about your souls. . . . Many of you, I am afraid, are very careless. You are thinking only about this world. I want you to remember that there is a beautiful world, where Jesus is. I am going there, and you can go there. It is for you, as much as me. But, if you want to go there, you must not live idle, careless, thoughtless lives. You must be Christians. You must remember that each one of you can become angels, and be angels forever. . . . If you want to be Christians, Jesus will help you. You must pray to him; you must read—”
The child checked herself, looked piteously at them, and said, sorrowfully,
« Hélas ! pauvres gens, vous ne savez pas lire, dit -elle, pauvres âmes ! » ~~~ Elle cacha sa tête dans les coussins et sanglota. ~~~ Les gémissements de ceux qui l' écoutaient la rappelèrent à elle: tous les esclaves s' étaient mis à genoux....
“O dear! you _can’t_ read—poor souls!” and she hid her face in the pillow and sobbed, while many a smothered sob from those she was addressing, who were kneeling on the floor, aroused her.
« N' importe ! dit -elle en relevant son visage et en laissant voir un brillant sourire au milieu de ses larmes.... j' ai prié pour vous, et je sens que Jésus vous assistera, quand même vous ne sauriez pas lire.... Faites de votre mieux.... puis, chaque jour, demandez -lui de vous assister.... faites -vous lire la Bible chaque fois que vous pourrez, et j' espère que je vous verrai tous au ciel....
“Never mind,” she said, raising her face and smiling brightly through her tears, “I have prayed for you; and I know Jesus will help you, even if you can’t read. Try all to do the best you can; pray every day; ask Him to help you, and get the Bible read to you whenever you can; and I think I shall see you all in heaven.”
-- Amen ! » murmurèrent discrètement Tom et Mammy, et quelques-uns des plus vieux esclaves, qui appartenaient à l' Église méthodiste. ~~~ Les autres pleuraient, la tête appuyée sur leurs genoux.
“Amen,” was the murmured response from the lips of Tom and Mammy, and some of the elder ones, who belonged to the Methodist church. The younger and more thoughtless ones, for the time completely overcome, were sobbing, with their heads bowed upon their knees.
“I know,” said Eva, “you all love me.”
-- Oh ! oui.... oui, oui ! tous ! Dieu vous bénisse ! » Telles étaient les réponses qui s' échappaient de toutes les lèvres.
“Yes; oh, yes! indeed we do! Lord bless her!” was the involuntary answer of all.
« Oui, je le sais bien ! il n' y en a pas un seul parmi vous qui n' ait toujours été bon pour moi. Je vais vous donner quelque chose qui, quand vous le regarderez, vous fera penser à moi.... je vais vous donner à tous une boucle de mes cheveux. Oui, quand vous la regarderez, pensez que je vous aimais tous.... que je suis partie au ciel.... et que j' espère vous y revoir !... »
“Yes, I know you do! There isn’t one of you that hasn’t always been very kind to me; and I want to give you something that, when you look at, you shall always remember me, I’m going to give all of you a curl of my hair; and, when you look at it, think that I loved you and am gone to heaven, and that I want to see you all there.”
Il est impossible de décrire une pareille scène, pleine de larmes et de gémissements. Ils se pressaient autour de la chère créature, ils recevaient de ses mains cette dernière marque d' amour.... Ils s' agenouillaient, ils pleuraient, ils priaient, ils baisaient le bas de ses vêtements.... et les plus anciens laissaient tomber, selon l' usage de leur race enthousiaste, des paroles de tendresse, des bénédictions et des prières....
It is impossible to describe the scene, as, with tears and sobs, they gathered round the little creature, and took from her hands what seemed to them a last mark of her love. They fell on their knees; they sobbed, and prayed, and kissed the hem of her garment; and the elder ones poured forth words of endearment, mingled in prayers and blessings, after the manner of their susceptible race.
Miss Ophélia, qui connaissait l' effet de cette scène sur la petite malade, les faisait successivement sortir dès qu' ils avaient reçu leur présent.
As each one took their gift, Miss Ophelia, who was apprehensive for the effect of all this excitement on her little patient, signed to each one to pass out of the apartment.
Il ne resta bientôt plus que Tom et Mammy.
At last, all were gone but Tom and Mammy.
« Tenez, père Tom, dit Éva, en voici une belle pour vous ! Oh ! je suis bien heureuse, père Tom, de penser que je vous reverrai dans le ciel.... Et vous, Mammy, chère, bonne et tendre Mammy, lui dit -elle en jetant affectueusement ses bras autour du cou de la vieille nourrice, je sais bien que vous aussi vous irez au ciel !
“Here, Uncle Tom,” said Eva, “is a beautiful one for you. O, I am so happy, Uncle Tom, to think I shall see you in heaven,—for I’m sure I shall; and Mammy,—dear, good, kind Mammy!” she said, fondly throwing her arms round her old nurse,—“I know you’ll be there, too.”
“O, Miss Eva, don’t see how I can live without ye, no how!” said the faithful creature. “‘Pears like it’s just taking everything off the place to oncet!” and Mammy gave way to a passion of grief.
Miss Ophelia pushed her and Tom gently from the apartment, and thought they were all gone; but, as she turned, Topsy was standing there.
“Where did you start up from?” she said, suddenly.
“I was here,” said Topsy, wiping the tears from her eyes. “O, Miss Eva, I’ve been a bad girl; but won’t you give _me_ one, too?”
“Yes, poor Topsy! to be sure, I will. There—every time you look at that, think that I love you, and wanted you to be a good girl!”
“O, Miss Eva, I _is_ tryin!” said Topsy, earnestly; “but, Lor, it’s so hard to be good! ’Pears like I an’t used to it, no ways!”
“Jesus knows it, Topsy; he is sorry for you; he will help you.”
Topsy, with her eyes hid in her apron, was silently passed from the apartment by Miss Ophelia; but, as she went, she hid the precious curl in her bosom.
All being gone, Miss Ophelia shut the door. That worthy lady had wiped away many tears of her own, during the scene; but concern for the consequence of such an excitement to her young charge was uppermost in her mind.
St. Clare had been sitting, during the whole time, with his hand shading his eyes, in the same attitude.
When they were all gone, he sat so still. ~~~ “Papa!” said Eva, gently, laying her hand on his.
He gave a sudden start and shiver; but made no answer.
«Cher papa! reprit Éva.
“Dear papa!” said Eva.
“_I cannot_,” said St. Clare, rising, “I _cannot_ have it so! The Almighty hath dealt _very bitterly_ with me!” and St. Clare pronounced these words with a bitter emphasis, indeed.
“Augustine! has not God a right to do what he will with his own?” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Oui, sans doute, mais cela ne console pas, reprit -il avec une sécheresse sans larmes.
“Perhaps so; but that doesn’t make it any easier to bear,” said he, with a dry, hard, tearless manner, as he turned away.
“Papa, you break my heart!” said Eva, rising and throwing herself into his arms; “you must not feel so!” and the child sobbed and wept with a violence which alarmed them all, and turned her father’s thoughts at once to another channel.
“There, Eva,—there, dearest! Hush! hush! I was wrong; I was wicked. I will feel any way, do any way,—only don’t distress yourself; don’t sob so. I will be resigned; I was wicked to speak as I did.”
Eva soon lay like a wearied dove in her father’s arms; and he, bending over her, soothed her by every tender word he could think of.
Marie rose and threw herself out of the apartment into her own, when she fell into violent hysterics.
“You didn’t give me a curl, Eva,” said her father, smiling sadly.
-- Celles -ci sont toutes pour vous et pour maman, père; mais vous en donnerez à cette bonne cousine Ophélia autant qu' elle en voudra.... Seulement, j' ai voulu en donner moi-même à ces pauvres gens, de peur qu' ils ne fussent oubliés après, et puis j' espérais que cela pourrait les faire se ressouvenir.... Vous êtes chrétien, père, n' est -ce pas ? dit Éva d' une voix où perçait le doute.
“They are all yours, papa,” said she, smiling—“yours and mamma’s; and you must give dear aunty as many as she wants. I only gave them to our poor people myself, because you know, papa, they might be forgotten when I am gone, and because I hoped it might help them remember. . . . You are a Christian, are you not, papa?” said Eva, doubtfully.
-- Pourquoi me demandez -vous cela ?
“Why do you ask me?”
“I don’t know. You are so good, I don’t see how you can help it.”
“What is being a Christian, Eva?”
“Loving Christ most of all,” said Eva.
“Do you, Eva?”
--Oh, oui!
“Certainly I do.”
“You never saw him,” said St. Clare.
“That makes no difference,” said Eva. “I believe him, and in a few days I shall _see_ him;” and the young face grew fervent, radiant with joy.
St. Clare said no more. It was a feeling which he had seen before in his mother; but no chord within vibrated to it.
Éva descendait la pente rapide. Le doute n' était plus permis, et les plus tendres espérances ne pouvaient s' aveugler davantage. Sa belle chambre n' était plus qu' une chambre de malade. Jour et nuit miss Ophélia remplissait assidûment son office de garde attentive. Jamais les Saint-Clare n' avaient été plus à portée d' apprécier tout son mérite. C' était une main si habile, un oeil si perspicace, une telle adresse, une telle expérience ! elle savait si bien choisir le moment !... Sa tête était si nette et si ferme !... elle n' oubliait rien, ne négligeait rien, ne se trompait en rien. On avait bien parfois haussé les épaules à ses manies et à ses étrangetés, si différentes de cet insouciant abandon des gens du sud; mais il fallut bien reconnaître que, dans les circonstances présentes, la personne indispensable, c' était elle.
Eva, after this, declined rapidly; there was no more any doubt of the event; the fondest hope could not be blinded. Her beautiful room was avowedly a sick room; and Miss Ophelia day and night performed the duties of a nurse,—and never did her friends appreciate her value more than in that capacity. With so well-trained a hand and eye, such perfect adroitness and practice in every art which could promote neatness and comfort, and keep out of sight every disagreeable incident of sickness,—with such a perfect sense of time, such a clear, untroubled head, such exact accuracy in remembering every prescription and direction of the doctors,—she was everything to him. They who had shrugged their shoulders at her little peculiarities and setnesses, so unlike the careless freedom of southern manners, acknowledged that now she was the exact person that was wanted.
Tom était souvent dans la chambre d' Éva.... Éva était en proie à une irritation nerveuse.... elle éprouvait un grand soulagement à être portée. C' était le bonheur de Tom de la poser sur un oreiller et de la promener dans ses bras, ou sous la galerie, ou dans les appartements.... et quand la brise plus fraîche soufflait du lac, et qu' Évangéline, le matin, se trouvait un peu mieux, il se promenait avec elle sous les orangers du jardin, ou bien ils s' asseyaient, et Tom lui chantait quelques-uns de ses vieux cantiques favoris....
Uncle Tom was much in Eva’s room. The child suffered much from nervous restlessness, and it was a relief to her to be carried; and it was Tom’s greatest delight to carry her little frail form in his arms, resting on a pillow, now up and down her room, now out into the verandah; and when the fresh sea-breezes blew from the lake,—and the child felt freshest in the morning,—he would sometimes walk with her under the orange-trees in the garden, or, sitting down in some of their old seats, sing to her their favorite old hymns.
Her father often did the same thing; but his frame was slighter, and when he was weary, Eva would say to him,
“O, papa, let Tom take me. Poor fellow! it pleases him; and you know it’s all he can do now, and he wants to do something!”
-- Et moi, Éva ? répondait -il.
“So do I, Eva!” said her father.
“Well, papa, you can do everything, and are everything to me. You read to me,—you sit up nights,—and Tom has only this one thing, and his singing; and I know, too, he does it easier than you can. He carries me so strong!”
The desire to do something was not confined to Tom. Every servant in the establishment showed the same feeling, and in their way did what they could.
Le coeur de la pauvre Mammy volait toujours vers sa chère petite maîtresse.... mais c' était l' occasion qui lui manquait toujours.... Mme Saint-Clare avait déclaré que, dans l' état où elle était, il lui était impossible de dormir.... Il eût été contraire à ses principes de laisser dormir personne.... Vingt fois par nuit elle faisait lever Mammy pour lui frotter les pieds ou lui baigner la tête, pour lui trouver son mouchoir de poche, pour voir quel était ce bruit que l' on faisait dans la chambre d' Éva, pour abaisser un rideau parce qu' elle avait trop de lumière, ou pour le relever parce qu' elle n' en avait pas assez.... Le jour, au contraire, si la bonne négresse voulait aller soigner sa favorite, Marie était mille fois ingénieuse à l' occuper ici et là, et même autour de sa personne.... Des minutes volées, un coup d' oeil furtif,... voilà tout ce qu' elle pouvait obtenir....
Poor Mammy’s heart yearned towards her darling; but she found no opportunity, night or day, as Marie declared that the state of her mind was such, it was impossible for her to rest; and, of course, it was against her principles to let any one else rest. Twenty times in a night, Mammy would be roused to rub her feet, to bathe her head, to find her pocket-handkerchief, to see what the noise was in Eva’s room, to let down a curtain because it was too light, or to put it up because it was too dark; and, in the daytime, when she longed to have some share in the nursing of her pet, Marie seemed unusually ingenious in keeping her busy anywhere and everywhere all over the house, or about her own person; so that stolen interviews and momentary glimpses were all she could obtain.
“I feel it my duty to be particularly careful of myself, now,” she would say, “feeble as I am, and with the whole care and nursing of that dear child upon me.”
“Indeed, my dear,” said St. Clare, “I thought our cousin relieved you of that.”
“You talk like a man, St. Clare,—just as if a mother _could_ be relieved of the care of a child in that state; but, then, it’s all alike,—no one ever knows what I feel! I can’t throw things off, as you do.”
Saint-Clare souriait; il ne pouvait s' en empêcher.... Pardonnez -lui de pouvoir sourire encore; mais l' adieu de cette chère âme était si paisible !... Une brise si douce et si parfumée emportait la petite barque vers les plages du ciel, qu' on ne pouvait songer que ce fût la mort qui venait ! L' enfant ne souffrait pas: elle n' éprouvait qu' une sorte de faiblesse douce et tranquille, qui augmentait de jour en jour, mais insensiblement. Et elle était si aimante, si résignée, si belle, que l' on ne pouvait résister à la douce influence de cette atmosphère de paix et d' innocence que l' on respirait autour d' elle. Saint-Clare sentait venir en lui je ne sais quel calme étrange.... Ce n' était pas l' espérance.... elle était impossible.... ce n' était pas la résignation.... c' était une sorte de paisible repos dans un présent qui lui semblait si beau, qu' il ne voulait pas songer à l' avenir; c' était quelque chose de semblable à la mélancolie que nous ressentons au milieu de ce doux éclat des forêts aux jours d' automne, quand la rougeur maladive colore les feuilles des arbres, et que les dernières fleurs se penchent au bord des ruisseaux.... Et nous jouissons plus avidement de ce charme et de cette beauté, parce que nous sentons que bientôt tout va s' évanouir et disparaître !
St. Clare smiled. You must excuse him, he couldn’t help it,—for St. Clare could smile yet. For so bright and placid was the farewell voyage of the little spirit,—by such sweet and fragrant breezes was the small bark borne towards the heavenly shores,—that it was impossible to realize that it was death that was approaching. The child felt no pain,—only a tranquil, soft weakness, daily and almost insensibly increasing; and she was so beautiful, so loving, so trustful, so happy, that one could not resist the soothing influence of that air of innocence and peace which seemed to breathe around her. St. Clare found a strange calm coming over him. It was not hope,—that was impossible; it was not resignation; it was only a calm resting in the present, which seemed so beautiful that he wished to think of no future. It was like that hush of spirit which we feel amid the bright, mild woods of autumn, when the bright hectic flush is on the trees, and the last lingering flowers by the brook; and we joy in it all the more, because we know that soon it will all pass away.
Tom était l' ami qui connaissait le plus et le mieux les rêves et les pressentiments d' Éva. Elle lui disait ce qu' elle n' eût pas dit à son père, de crainte de l' affliger.... Elle lui faisait part de ces mystérieux avertissements qui frappent une âme au moment où se détendent pour toujours les cordes de la vie.
The friend who knew most of Eva’s own imaginings and foreshadowings was her faithful bearer, Tom. To him she said what she would not disturb her father by saying. To him she imparted those mysterious intimations which the soul feels, as the cords begin to unbind, ere it leaves its clay forever.
Tom, at last, would not sleep in his room, but lay all night in the outer verandah, ready to rouse at every call.
“Uncle Tom, what alive have you taken to sleeping anywhere and everywhere, like a dog, for?” said Miss Ophelia. “I thought you was one of the orderly sort, that liked to lie in bed in a Christian way.”
“I do, Miss Feely,” said Tom, mysteriously. “I do, but now—”
--Eh bien! quoi, à présent?
“Well, what now?”
“We mustn’t speak loud; Mas’r St. Clare won’t hear on ’t; but Miss Feely, you know there must be somebody watchin’ for the bridegroom.”
“What do you mean, Tom?”
“You know it says in Scripture, ‘At midnight there was a great cry made. Behold, the bridegroom cometh.’ That’s what I’m spectin now, every night, Miss Feely,—and I couldn’t sleep out o’ hearin, no ways.”
“Why, Uncle Tom, what makes you think so?”
“Miss Eva, she talks to me. The Lord, he sends his messenger in the soul. I must be thar, Miss Feely; for when that ar blessed child goes into the kingdom, they’ll open the door so wide, we’ll all get a look in at the glory, Miss Feely.”
“Uncle Tom, did Miss Eva say she felt more unwell than usual tonight?”
“No; but she telled me, this morning, she was coming nearer,—thar’s them that tells it to the child, Miss Feely. It’s the angels,—‘it’s the trumpet sound afore the break o’ day,’” said Tom, quoting from a favorite hymn.
This dialogue passed between Miss Ophelia and Tom, between ten and eleven, one evening, after her arrangements had all been made for the night, when, on going to bolt her outer door, she found Tom stretched along by it, in the outer verandah.
Miss Ophélia n' était ni impressionnable ni nerveuse; mais les manières solennelles et émues du nègre la touchèrent vivement. Éva, toute l' après-midi, avait été d' une animation et d' une gaieté peu ordinaires; elle était longtemps restée assise dans son lit, regardant ses petits bijoux et toutes ses choses précieuses, désignant celles de ses amies à qui l' on devait les offrir: elle avait eu plus d' entrain, elle avait parlé d' une voix plus naturelle.... Le père avait dit, dans la soirée, qu' elle ne s' était pas encore trouvée si bien depuis sa maladie, et quand il l' embrassa, au moment de se retirer, il dit à miss Ophélia: ~~~ « Cousine ! nous la sauverons peut-être.... elle est mieux ! » ~~~ Et il sortit ce soir -là le coeur plus léger.
She was not nervous or impressible; but the solemn, heart-felt manner struck her. Eva had been unusually bright and cheerful, that afternoon, and had sat raised in her bed, and looked over all her little trinkets and precious things, and designated the friends to whom she would have them given; and her manner was more animated, and her voice more natural, than they had known it for weeks. Her father had been in, in the evening, and had said that Eva appeared more like her former self than ever she had done since her sickness; and when he kissed her for the night, he said to Miss Ophelia,—“Cousin, we may keep her with us, after all; she is certainly better;” and he had retired with a lighter heart in his bosom than he had had there for weeks.
But at midnight,—strange, mystic hour!—when the veil between the frail present and the eternal future grows thin,—then came the messenger!
Il se fit un bruit dans la chambre comme le bruit d' un pas calme; c' était le pas de miss Ophélia: elle avait résolu de veiller toute la nuit. Elle venait d' observer ce que les gardes expérimentées appellent un changement. La porte de la galerie s' ouvrit, et Tom, qui était toujours sur le qui-vive, fut bien vite debout.
There was a sound in that chamber, first of one who stepped quickly. It was Miss Ophelia, who had resolved to sit up all night with her little charge, and who, at the turn of the night, had discerned what experienced nurses significantly call “a change.” The outer door was quickly opened, and Tom, who was watching outside, was on the alert, in a moment.
“Go for the doctor, Tom! lose not a moment,” said Miss Ophelia; and, stepping across the room, she rapped at St. Clare’s door.
“Cousin,” she said, “I wish you would come.”
Those words fell on his heart like clods upon a coffin. Why did they? He was up and in the room in an instant, and bending over Eva, who still slept.
Que vit -il donc qui calma tout à coup son coeur ? Pourquoi pas un mot d' échangé entre eux ? ~~~ Ah ! vous pouvez le dire, vous qui avez vu cette expression sur une face chérie.... Cet aspect indescriptible qui tue l' espérance, qui ne permet pas le doute, et qui vous dit que déjà votre bien-aimé n' est plus à vous !
What was it he saw that made his heart stand still? Why was no word spoken between the two? Thou canst say, who hast seen that same expression on the face dearest to thee;—that look indescribable, hopeless, unmistakable, that says to thee that thy beloved is no longer thine.
On the face of the child, however, there was no ghastly imprint,—only a high and almost sublime expression,—the overshadowing presence of spiritual natures, the dawning of immortal life in that childish soul.
They stood there so still, gazing upon her, that even the ticking of the watch seemed too loud. In a few moments, Tom returned, with the doctor. He entered, gave one look, and stood silent as the rest.
« Quand ce changement ? dit le docteur à l' oreille de miss Ophélia.
“When did this change take place?” said he, in a low whisper, to Miss Ophelia.
--Vers minuit.»
“About the turn of the night,” was the reply.
Marie, roused by the entrance of the doctor, appeared, hurriedly, from the next room.
«Augustin!... cousine!... Oh! quoi? quoi?
“Augustine! Cousin!—O!—what!” she hurriedly began.
“Hush!” said St. Clare, hoarsely; _“she is dying!”_
Mammy entendit ces paroles; elle courut éveiller les esclaves. Toute la maison fut bientôt sur pied; on aperçut des lumières, on entendit le bruit des pas; des figures inquiètes passaient et repassaient sous les longues galeries; des yeux pleins de larmes regardaient à travers les portes. Saint-Clare n' entendait et ne voyait rien.... il ne voyait plus que le visage de son enfant.
Mammy heard the words, and flew to awaken the servants. The house was soon roused,—lights were seen, footsteps heard, anxious faces thronged the verandah, and looked tearfully through the glass doors; but St. Clare heard and said nothing,—he saw only _that look_ on the face of the little sleeper.
“O, if she would only wake, and speak once more!” he said; and, stooping over her, he spoke in her ear,—“Eva, darling!”
Ses grands yeux bleus se rouvrirent, un sourire passa sur ses lèvres, elle essaya de soulever sa tête et de parler.
The large blue eyes unclosed—a smile passed over her face;—she tried to raise her head, and to speak.
« Me reconnais -tu, Éva ?
“Do you know me, Eva?”
“Dear papa,” said the child, with a last effort, throwing her arms about his neck. In a moment they dropped again; and, as St. Clare raised his head, he saw a spasm of mortal agony pass over the face,—she struggled for breath, and threw up her little hands.
“O, God, this is dreadful!” he said, turning away in agony, and wringing Tom’s hand, scarce conscious what he was doing. “O, Tom, my boy, it is killing me!”
Tom had his master’s hands between his own; and, with tears streaming down his dark cheeks, looked up for help where he had always been used to look.
“Pray that this may be cut short!” said St. Clare,—“this wrings my heart.”
“O, bless the Lord! it’s over,—it’s over, dear Master!” said Tom; “look at her.”
L' enfant était retombée sur l' oreiller, haletante... épuisée; ses yeux se relevaient parfois et restaient immobiles... Ah ! que disaient -ils, ces yeux qui si souvent parlèrent au coeur ?... C' en était fait de la terre et des peines de la terre... mais il y avait sur ce visage un éclat si victorieux, si mystérieux et si solennel, qu' il apaisait les sanglots du désespoir... Ils se pressaient tous autour du lit dans une sorte de recueillement calme...
The child lay panting on her pillows, as one exhausted,—the large clear eyes rolled up and fixed. Ah, what said those eyes, that spoke so much of heaven! Earth was past,—and earthly pain; but so solemn, so mysterious, was the triumphant brightness of that face, that it checked even the sobs of sorrow. They pressed around her, in breathless stillness.
« Éva ! » dit Saint-Clare d' une voix douce.
“Eva,” said St. Clare, gently.
Elle n' entendit pas.
She did not hear.
“O, Eva, tell us what you see! What is it?” said her father.
Un radieux sourire passa sur son visage, et d' une voix entrecoupée elle murmura: ~~~ « Oh ! amour... joie... paix ! » Puis elle poussa un soupir... et elle passa de la mort à la vraie vie.
A bright, a glorious smile passed over her face, and she said, brokenly,—“O! love,—joy,—peace!” gave one sigh and passed from death unto life!
Et maintenant, adieu, ô bien-aimée ! les portes étincelantes, les portes éternelles se sont refermées sur toi... ton doux visage, nous ne le verrons plus... oh ! malheur à ceux qui t' ont vue monter dans les cieux.... malheur à eux, quand ils se réveilleront, et qu' ils ne retrouveront plus que les nuages froids et gris de la vie quotidienne... toi absente pour toujours !
“Farewell, beloved child! the bright, eternal doors have closed after thee; we shall see thy sweet face no more. O, woe for them who watched thy entrance into heaven, when they shall wake and find only the cold gray sky of daily life, and thou gone forever!”
CHAPITRE XXVII.
CHAPTER XXVII “This Is the Last of Earth”[1]
La fin de tout ce qui est terrestre.
[1] “This is the last of Earth! I am content,” last words of John Quincy Adams, uttered February 21, 1848.
Les statuettes et les peintures de la chambre d' Éva furent recouvertes de voiles blancs; on n' entendait que des murmures, des soupirs et des pas furtifs... la lumière glissait à travers les stores abaissés, comme pour éclairer ces ténèbres solennelles.
The statuettes and pictures in Eva’s room were shrouded in white napkins, and only hushed breathings and muffled footfalls were heard there, and the light stole in solemnly through windows partially darkened by closed blinds.
The bed was draped in white; and there, beneath the drooping angel-figure, lay a little sleeping form,—sleeping never to waken!
Elle reposait, vêtue de cette simple robe blanche que, pendant sa vie, elle avait si souvent portée.... Cette lumière rose, tamisée par le rideau de la chambre, versait comme un chaud rayon sur cette froide glace de la mort... Les longs cils retombaient sur la joue si pure, la tête était inclinée comme dans le vrai sommeil; mais sur tous les traits du visage on voyait répandue cette expression céleste, mélange de repos et d' extase, qui montre que ce n' est pas là le sommeil d' une heure, mais ce long et sacré sommeil que Dieu donne à ceux qu' il aime... « Pour tes pareilles, ô chère Éva ! il n' y a pas de mort, il n' y a pas d' ombres... il n' y a pas de ténèbres de la mort.... Vous autres, vous vous éteignez dans la lumière... pareilles à l' étoile du matin qui s' évanouit dans les rayons roses de l' aurore.... A toi, Éva, la victoire sans la bataille, la couronne sans la lutte ! »
There she lay, robed in one of the simple white dresses she had been wont to wear when living; the rose-colored light through the curtains cast over the icy coldness of death a warm glow. The heavy eyelashes drooped softly on the pure cheek; the head was turned a little to one side, as if in natural sleep, but there was diffused over every lineament of the face that high celestial expression, that mingling of rapture and repose, which showed it was no earthly or temporary sleep, but the long, sacred rest which “He giveth to his beloved.” ~~~ There is no death to such as thou, dear Eva! neither darkness nor shadow of death; only such a bright fading as when the morning star fades in the golden dawn. Thine is the victory without the battle,—the crown without the conflict.
Telles étaient les pensées de Saint-Clare, pendant que, debout et les bras croisés, il regardait Éva. Oh ! ces pensées, qui pourra les redire ? Depuis l' heure où, dans la chambre mortuaire, une voix avait dit: Elle est partie ! il y avait eu devant ses yeux comme une obscurité terrible; il était enveloppé « des nuages épais de la douleur.... » Il entendait des voix autour de lui.... On lui faisait des questions... il y répondait.... on lui demandait à quand les funérailles... on lui demandait où il voulait la mettre... il répondait impatiemment que cela lui était indifférent...
So did St. Clare think, as, with folded arms, he stood there gazing. Ah! who shall say what he did think? for, from the hour that voices had said, in the dying chamber, “she is gone,” it had been all a dreary mist, a heavy “dimness of anguish.” He had heard voices around him; he had had questions asked, and answered them; they had asked him when he would have the funeral, and where they should lay her; and he had answered, impatiently, that he cared not.
Adolphe et Rosa avaient arrangé la chambre; étourdis, légers, véritables enfants, ils n' en avaient pas moins un bon coeur et une extrême sensibilité... Miss Ophélia présidait aux mesures d' ordre général.... mais c' étaient eux qui donnaient à tous les arrangements ce caractère poétique et charmant, qui enlevait à la chambre funèbre l' aspect sombre et terrible qui caractérise trop souvent les funérailles dans la Nouvelle-Angleterre.
Adolph and Rosa had arranged the chamber; volatile, fickle and childish, as they generally were, they were soft-hearted and full of feeling; and, while Miss Ophelia presided over the general details of order and neatness, it was their hands that added those soft, poetic touches to the arrangements, that took from the death-room the grim and ghastly air which too often marks a New England funeral.
Il y avait encore des fleurs sur les étagères, blanches, délicates, odorantes, aux feuilles retombant avec grâce; sur la petite table d' Éva, recouverte aussi de blanches draperies, on avait posé son vase favori, dans lequel on avait mis un simple bouton de rose mousseuse blanche; les plis des tentures et l' arrangement des rideaux, confiés aux soins d' Adolphe et de Rosa, offraient cette netteté et cette symétrie qui caractérisent leur race. Pendant que Saint-Clare était livré à ses pensées, la jeune Rosa entra doucement dans la chambre avec un panier de roses blanches. Elle fit un pas en arrière et s' arrêta respectueusement en apercevant Saint-Clare; mais, voyant qu' il ne prenait pas garde à elle, elle s' approcha du lit, pour déposer ses fleurs autour de la morte. Saint-Clare la vit, comme on voit dans un rêve, au moment où elle plaçait entre ses petites mains un bouquet de jasmin du Cap, disposant avec un goût parfait les autres fleurs autour de la couche.
There were still flowers on the shelves,—all white, delicate and fragrant, with graceful, drooping leaves. Eva’s little table, covered with white, bore on it her favorite vase, with a single white moss rose-bud in it. The folds of the drapery, the fall of the curtains, had been arranged and rearranged, by Adolph and Rosa, with that nicety of eye which characterizes their race. Even now, while St. Clare stood there thinking, little Rosa tripped softly into the chamber with a basket of white flowers. She stepped back when she saw St. Clare, and stopped respectfully; but, seeing that he did not observe her, she came forward to place them around the dead. St. Clare saw her as in a dream, while she placed in the small hands a fair cape jessamine, and, with admirable taste, disposed other flowers around the couch.
The door opened again, and Topsy, her eyes swelled with crying, appeared, holding something under her apron. Rosa made a quick forbidding gesture; but she took a step into the room.
“You must go out,” said Rosa, in a sharp, positive whisper; “_you_ haven’t any business here!”
“O, do let me! I brought a flower,—such a pretty one!” said Topsy, holding up a half-blown tea rose-bud. “Do let me put just one there.”
-- Sortez ! dit Rosa avec plus d' énergie encore.
“Get along!” said Rosa, more decidedly.
“Let her stay!” said St. Clare, suddenly stamping his foot. “She shall come.”
Rosa suddenly retreated, and Topsy came forward and laid her offering at the feet of the corpse; then suddenly, with a wild and bitter cry, she threw herself on the floor alongside the bed, and wept, and moaned aloud.
Miss Ophelia hastened into the room, and tried to raise and silence her; but in vain.
“O, Miss Eva! oh, Miss Eva! I wish I ’s dead, too,—I do!”
There was a piercing wildness in the cry; the blood flushed into St. Clare’s white, marble-like face, and the first tears he had shed since Eva died stood in his eyes.
“Get up, child,” said Miss Ophelia, in a softened voice; “don’t cry so. Miss Eva is gone to heaven; she is an angel.”
-- Mais je ne puis la voir, dit Topsy... je ne la reverrai jamais ! » Et elle sanglotait de nouveau.
“But I can’t see her!” said Topsy. “I never shall see her!” and she sobbed again.
Il y eut un moment de silence.
They all stood a moment in silence.
“_She_ said she _loved_ me,” said Topsy,—“she did! O, dear! oh, dear! there an’t _nobody_ left now,—there an’t!”
“That’s true enough” said St. Clare; “but do,” he said to Miss Ophelia, “see if you can’t comfort the poor creature.”
“I jist wish I hadn’t never been born,” said Topsy. “I didn’t want to be born, no ways; and I don’t see no use on ’t.”
Miss Ophélia la releva avec bonté, mais avec fermeté, et la fit sortir de la chambre.... et, tout en la reconduisant, elle-même pleurait.
Miss Ophelia raised her gently, but firmly, and took her from the room; but, as she did so, some tears fell from her eyes.
Elle la mena dans son appartement. ~~~ « Topsy, pauvre enfant.... lui disait -elle, ne vous affligez pas.... je puis aussi vous aimer, moi, quoique je ne sois pas bonne comme cette chère petite enfant.... J' espère pourtant que j' ai appris par elle quelque chose de l' amour du Christ.... Je puis vous aimer.... je vous aime.... et je vous aiderai à devenir une bonne fille et une chrétienne. »
“Topsy, you poor child,” she said, as she led her into her room, “don’t give up! _I_ can love you, though I am not like that dear little child. I hope I’ve learnt something of the love of Christ from her. I can love you; I do, and I’ll try to help you to grow up a good Christian girl.”
Miss Ophelia’s voice was more than her words, and more than that were the honest tears that fell down her face. From that hour, she acquired an influence over the mind of the destitute child that she never lost.
“O, my Eva, whose little hour on earth did so much of good,” thought St. Clare, “what account have I to give for my long years?”
Il n' y eut plus dans la chambre que des paroles murmurées à voix basse et des pas qui glissaient silencieusement.... Ils venaient tous, l' un après l' autre, contempler la morte.... puis la bière arriva. Ce fut le commencement des funérailles.... Les voitures s' arrêtèrent à la porte. Les étrangers vinrent et furent introduits. Il y eut des écharpes et des rubans blancs, et des pleureurs vêtus de crêpes noirs.... ~~~ On lut la Bible et les prières furent offertes au ciel.... et Saint-Clare vivait ! il marchait ! il allait, pareil à un homme qui aurait versé toutes ses larmes.... Mais bientôt il ne vit plus qu' une chose: la blonde tête dans le cercueil.... Puis il vit le drap qu' on rejetait sur elle.... et le couvercle se refermer.... Il marcha au milieu des autres.... On arriva au bout du jardin, auprès du siége de mousse, où elle venait souvent avec Tom causer, chanter et lire. C' est là qu' était creusée la petite fosse. Saint-Clare se tenait tout près, le regard perdu. Il vit descendre le cercueil. Il entendit les paroles solennelles: « Je suis la résurrection et la vie ! Celui qui a cru en moi, fût -il mort, vivra ! » Et la terre fut rejetée et la tombe remplie.... Et il ne pouvait croire que ce fût là son Éva, qui était ainsi et pour toujours ravie à ses yeux.
There were, for a while, soft whisperings and footfalls in the chamber, as one after another stole in, to look at the dead; and then came the little coffin; and then there was a funeral, and carriages drove to the door, and strangers came and were seated; and there were white scarfs and ribbons, and crape bands, and mourners dressed in black crape; and there were words read from the Bible, and prayers offered; and St. Clare lived, and walked, and moved, as one who has shed every tear;—to the last he saw only one thing, that golden head in the coffin; but then he saw the cloth spread over it, the lid of the coffin closed; and he walked, when he was put beside the others, down to a little place at the bottom of the garden, and there, by the mossy seat where she and Tom had talked, and sung, and read so often, was the little grave. St. Clare stood beside it,—looked vacantly down; he saw them lower the little coffin; he heard, dimly, the solemn words, “I am the resurrection and the Life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live;” and, as the earth was cast in and filled up the little grave, he could not realize that it was his Eva that they were hiding from his sight.
Tous se retirèrent, et, le coeur désolé, revinrent à cette demeure qui ne devait plus la revoir.
Nor was it!—not Eva, but only the frail seed of that bright, immortal form with which she shall yet come forth, in the day of the Lord Jesus!
La chambre de Marie fut hermétiquement close. Elle s' étendit sur un lit, sanglotant et gémissant avec toutes les marques d' une invincible douleur, réclamant à chaque minute les soins de tous ses serviteurs.... Elle ne leur laissait pas le temps de pleurer.... Pourquoi eussent -ils pleuré ? cette douleur était sa douleur, et elle était bien fermement convaincue que personne au monde ne savait, ne voulait et ne pouvait la ressentir comme elle.
And then all were gone, and the mourners went back to the place which should know her no more; and Marie’s room was darkened, and she lay on the bed, sobbing and moaning in uncontrollable grief, and calling every moment for the attentions of all her servants. Of course, they had no time to cry,—why should they? the grief was _her_ grief, and she was fully convinced that nobody on earth did, could, or would feel it as she did.
“St. Clare did not shed a tear,” she said; “he didn’t sympathize with her; it was perfectly wonderful to think how hard-hearted and unfeeling he was, when he must know how she suffered.”
Nous sommes tellement les esclaves de ce que nous voyons et de ce que nous entendons, que beaucoup des gens de la maison pensaient que Madame était vraiment la plus affligée.... surtout quand Marie eut des spasmes, qu' elle envoya chercher le docteur et qu' elle déclara qu' elle -même elle allait mourir.... Il y eut force allées et venues. On apporta des bouteilles chaudes, on fit des frictions de flanelle.... Enfin ce fut une diversion.
So much are people the slave of their eye and ear, that many of the servants really thought that Missis was the principal sufferer in the case, especially as Marie began to have hysterical spasms, and sent for the doctor, and at last declared herself dying; and, in the running and scampering, and bringing up hot bottles, and heating of flannels, and chafing, and fussing, that ensued, there was quite a diversion.
Tom avait au fond du coeur un sentiment ému qui l' attirait toujours vers son maître. Partout où il allait, silencieux et triste, Tom le suivait. Quand il le voyait s' asseoir si pâle et si tranquille dans la chambre d' Éva, tenant ouverte devant ses yeux la petite Bible de l' enfant, sans voir une parole, une lettre du texte.... il y avait pour Tom, dans ces yeux calmes, immobiles et sans larmes, plus de douleur que dans les gémissements et les lamentations de Marie.
Tom, however, had a feeling at his own heart, that drew him to his master. He followed him wherever he walked, wistfully and sadly; and when he saw him sitting, so pale and quiet, in Eva’s room, holding before his eyes her little open Bible, though seeing no letter or word of what was in it, there was more sorrow to Tom in that still, fixed, tearless eye, than in all Marie’s moans and lamentations.
La famille Saint-Clare retourna bientôt à la ville. A l' âme inquiète et tourmentée d' Augustin, il fallait un de ces changements de scène qui détournent en même temps le cours des pensées.... Ils quittèrent donc l' habitation.... et le jardin.... et le petit tombeau.... et revinrent à la Nouvelle-Orléans. Saint-Clare parcourait les rues d' un air affairé.... il lui fallait le bruit, le tumulte, l' agitation.... il essayait de combler cet abîme qui s' était fait dans son coeur.... Les gens qui le voyaient dans la rue, ou qui le rencontraient au café, ne s' apercevaient de la perte qu' il avait faite qu' en voyant le crêpe de son chapeau. Il était là, souriant, causant, lisant les journaux, discutant la politique ou s' intéressant au commerce.... Qui donc eût pu deviner que ces dehors souriants cachaient un coeur silencieux et sombre comme un tombeau ?
In a few days the St. Clare family were back again in the city; Augustine, with the restlessness of grief, longing for another scene, to change the current of his thoughts. So they left the house and garden, with its little grave, and came back to New Orleans; and St. Clare walked the streets busily, and strove to fill up the chasm in his heart with hurry and bustle, and change of place; and people who saw him in the street, or met him at the cafe, knew of his loss only by the weed on his hat; for there he was, smiling and talking, and reading the newspaper, and speculating on politics, and attending to business matters; and who could see that all this smiling outside was but a hollowed shell over a heart that was a dark and silent sepulchre?
« M. Saint-Clare est un homme bien singulier, disait d' un ton dolent Marie à miss Ophélia.... Oui, vraiment, je croyais que, s' il y avait quelque chose au monde qu' il aimât, c' était notre chère petite Éva.... mais il me paraît l' oublier bien aisément. Je ne puis l' amener à en parler avec moi.... Ah ! je croyais qu' il eût montré plus de sentiment !
“Mr. St. Clare is a singular man,” said Marie to Miss Ophelia, in a complaining tone. “I used to think, if there was anything in the world he did love, it was our dear little Eva; but he seems to be forgetting her very easily. I cannot ever get him to talk about her. I really did think he would show more feeling!”
“Still waters run deepest, they used to tell me,” said Miss Ophelia, oracularly.
“O, I don’t believe in such things; it’s all talk. If people have feeling, they will show it,—they can’t help it; but, then, it’s a great misfortune to have feeling. I’d rather have been made like St. Clare. My feelings prey upon me so!”
“Sure, Missis, Mas’r St. Clare is gettin’ thin as a shader. They say, he don’t never eat nothin’,” said Mammy. “I know he don’t forget Miss Eva; I know there couldn’t nobody,—dear, little, blessed cretur!” she added, wiping her eyes.
“Well, at all events, he has no consideration for me,” said Marie; “he hasn’t spoken one word of sympathy, and he must know how much more a mother feels than any man can.”
“The heart knoweth its own bitterness,” said Miss Ophelia, gravely.
“That’s just what I think. I know just what I feel,—nobody else seems to. Eva used to, but she is gone!” and Marie lay back on her lounge, and began to sob disconsolately.
Marie was one of those unfortunately constituted mortals, in whose eyes whatever is lost and gone assumes a value which it never had in possession. Whatever she had, she seemed to survey only to pick flaws in it; but, once fairly away, there was no end to her valuation of it.
While this conversation was taking place in the parlor another was going on in St. Clare’s library.
Tom, qui ne quittait plus son maître, l' avait vu entrer dans cette pièce; il avait longtemps épié sa sortie.... enfin il se décida à entrer lui-même. ~~~ Il entra doucement: Saint-Clare était couché sur un sopha, à l' autre bout de l' appartement.... il était tourné le visage contre terre.... la Bible d' Éva était ouverte devant lui à quelque distance. ~~~ Tom fit quelques pas et se tint immobile auprès du sopha. Il hésitait.... Saint-Clare se leva tout à coup.... L' honnête visage de Tom était si rempli de douleur, il avait une expression de si affectueuse sympathie..., un visage qui priait !... Il émut profondément Saint-Clare.... Celui -ci posa sa main sur la main de Tom et pencha son front vers lui.
Tom, who was always uneasily following his master about, had seen him go to his library, some hours before; and, after vainly waiting for him to come out, determined, at last, to make an errand in. He entered softly. St. Clare lay on his lounge, at the further end of the room. He was lying on his face, with Eva’s Bible open before him, at a little distance. Tom walked up, and stood by the sofa. He hesitated; and, while he was hesitating, St. Clare suddenly raised himself up. The honest face, so full of grief, and with such an imploring expression of affection and sympathy, struck his master. He laid his hand on Tom’s, and bowed down his forehead on it.
« Oh ! Tom, mon ami, le monde est vide comme une coquille d' oeuf !
“O, Tom, my boy, the whole world is as empty as an egg-shell.”
“I know it, Mas’r,—I know it,” said Tom; “but, oh, if Mas’r could only look up,—up where our dear Miss Eva is,—up to the dear Lord Jesus!”
“Ah, Tom! I do look up; but the trouble is, I don’t see anything, when I do, I wish I could.”
Tom poussa un gros soupir.
Tom sighed heavily.
“It seems to be given to children, and poor, honest fellows, like you, to see what we can’t,” said St. Clare. “How comes it?”
“Thou has ’hid from the wise and prudent, and revealed unto babes,’” murmured Tom; “‘even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.’”
“Tom, I don’t believe,—I can’t believe,—I’ve got the habit of doubting,” said St. Clare. “I want to believe this Bible,—and I can’t.”
“Dear Mas’r, pray to the good Lord,—‘Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.’”
-- Qui sait rien de rien ? dit Saint-Clare, les yeux errants, rêveur et se parlant à lui-même. Tout ce bel amour, toute cette foi, ce n' est peut-être qu' une de ces phases fugitives du sentiment humain. Rien de réel sur quoi l' on puisse se reposer. Quelque chose qui s' évanouit comme un souffle. Plus d' Éva, plus de ciel, plus de Christ, rien ! rien !
“Who knows anything about anything?” said St. Clare, his eyes wandering dreamily, and speaking to himself. “Was all that beautiful love and faith only one of the ever-shifting phases of human feeling, having nothing real to rest on, passing away with the little breath? And is there no more Eva,—no heaven,—no Christ,—nothing?”
“O, dear Mas’r, there is! I know it; I’m sure of it,” said Tom, falling on his knees. “Do, do, dear Mas’r, believe it!”
“How do you know there’s any Christ, Tom! You never saw the Lord.”
-- Je l' ai senti dans mon âme, ô maître !... et maintenant encore je le sens !... Tenez, maître.... quand je fus vendu, arraché à ma vieille femme et à mes petits enfants,... cela me brisa.... il me sembla que tout était fini pour moi.... qu' il n' y avait plus rien. Mais le Seigneur se tint à côté de moi, et il me dit: Tom ! ne crains rien. Et il apporta la lumière et la joie dans l' âme d' un pauvre esclave.... il y fit la paix.... et je suis heureux, et j' aime tout le monde, et je sens que je veux être au Seigneur et faire sa volonté.... et devenir ce qu' il veut que je sois.... Et je sais bien que tout cela ne pouvait pas venir de moi, qui ne suis qu' une pauvre créature. Cela venait du Seigneur.... et il fera tout aussi pour mon maître ! »
“Felt Him in my soul, Mas’r,—feel Him now! O, Mas’r, when I was sold away from my old woman and the children, I was jest a’most broke up. I felt as if there warn’t nothin’ left; and then the good Lord, he stood by me, and he says, ‘Fear not, Tom;’ and he brings light and joy in a poor feller’s soul,—makes all peace; and I ’s so happy, and loves everybody, and feels willin’ jest to be the Lord’s, and have the Lord’s will done, and be put jest where the Lord wants to put me. I know it couldn’t come from me, cause I ’s a poor, complainin’ cretur; it comes from the Lord; and I know He’s willin’ to do for Mas’r.”
Tom spoke with fast-running tears and choking voice. St. Clare leaned his head on his shoulder, and wrung the hard, faithful, black hand.
« Tom, vous m' aimez !
“Tom, you love me,” he said.
“I ’s willin’ to lay down my life, this blessed day, to see Mas’r a Christian.”
“Poor, foolish boy!” said St. Clare, half-raising himself. “I’m not worth the love of one good, honest heart, like yours.”
“O, Mas’r, dere’s more than me loves you,—the blessed Lord Jesus loves you.”
-- Comment le savez -vous, Tom ?
“How do you know that Tom?” said St. Clare.
“Feels it in my soul. O, Mas’r! ’the love of Christ, that passeth knowledge.’”
-- C' est étrange ! murmura Saint-Clare en faisant quelques pas. L' histoire d' un homme qui a vécu et qui est mort, il y a dix-huit cents ans.... peut encore aujourd'hui ébranler les hommes.... Mais il n' était pas un homme ! Jamais homme n' eut un pouvoir aussi durable, aussi vivant ! Oh ! si je pouvais croire ce que ma mère m' enseignait !... Si je pouvais prier comme je priais quand j' étais enfant !...
“Singular!” said St. Clare, turning away, “that the story of a man that lived and died eighteen hundred years ago can affect people so yet. But he was no man,” he added, suddenly. “No man ever had such long and living power! O, that I could believe what my mother taught me, and pray as I did when I was a boy!”
“If Mas’r pleases,” said Tom, “Miss Eva used to read this so beautifully. I wish Mas’r’d be so good as read it. Don’t get no readin’, hardly, now Miss Eva’s gone.”
The chapter was the eleventh of John,—the touching account of the raising of Lazarus, St. Clare read it aloud, often pausing to wrestle down feelings which were roused by the pathos of the story. Tom knelt before him, with clasped hands, and with an absorbed expression of love, trust, adoration, on his quiet face.
“Tom,” said his Master, “this is all _real_ to you!”
“I can jest fairly _see_ it Mas’r,” said Tom.
-- Que n' ai -je vos yeux, Tom !...
“I wish I had your eyes, Tom.”
“I wish, to the dear Lord, Mas’r had!”
“But, Tom, you know that I have a great deal more knowledge than you; what if I should tell you that I don’t believe this Bible?”
“O, Mas’r!” said Tom, holding up his hands, with a deprecating gesture.
-- Cela n' ébranlerait -il pas votre foi, Tom ?
“Wouldn’t it shake your faith some, Tom?”
--Pas du tout!
“Not a grain,” said Tom.
“Why, Tom, you must know I know the most.”
“O, Mas’r, haven’t you jest read how he hides from the wise and prudent, and reveals unto babes? But Mas’r wasn’t in earnest, for sartin, now?” said Tom, anxiously.
“No, Tom, I was not. I don’t disbelieve, and I think there is reason to believe; and still I don’t. It’s a troublesome bad habit I’ve got, Tom.”
“If Mas’r would only pray!”
“How do you know I don’t, Tom?”
-- Ah ! est -ce que.... ?
“Does Mas’r?”
“I would, Tom, if there was anybody there when I pray; but it’s all speaking unto nothing, when I do. But come, Tom, you pray now, and show me how.”
Le coeur de Tom était plein; il se répandit dans la prière, comme des eaux trop longtemps contenues. On voyait que Tom était convaincu que quelqu'un l' écoutait, absent ou présent ! Saint-Clare se sentit soulevé par cet océan de foi sincère et de charité, et porté jusqu' au seuil de ce ciel que Tom se représentait avec une si vive ardeur; il lui semblait être maintenant près d' Éva !
Tom’s heart was full; he poured it out in prayer, like waters that have been long suppressed. One thing was plain enough; Tom thought there was somebody to hear, whether there were or not. In fact, St. Clare felt himself borne, on the tide of his faith and feeling, almost to the gates of that heaven he seemed so vividly to conceive. It seemed to bring him nearer to Eva.
“Thank you, my boy,” said St. Clare, when Tom rose. “I like to hear you, Tom; but go, now, and leave me alone; some other time, I’ll talk more.”
Tom se retira silencieusement.
Tom silently left the room.
CHAPITRE XXVIII. ~~~ Réunion.
CHAPTER XXVIII Reunion
L' une après l' autre, les semaines s' écoulaient dans la maison de Saint-Clare, et les flots de la vie reprenaient leur cours, se refermant sur le frêle esquif disparu.... Oh ! les réalités de chaque jour, dures, froides, impitoyables, impérieuses.... comme elles foulent aux pieds les sentiments de nos coeurs ! Il faut manger, il faut boire, il faut dormir.... il faut même s' éveiller ! Il faut acheter, il faut vendre, il faut interroger, il faut répondre !... En un mot, il faut poursuivre des ombres, quand on a perdu les réalités.... L' habitude machinale et glacée de la vie survit à la vie même !
Week after week glided away in the St. Clare mansion, and the waves of life settled back to their usual flow, where that little bark had gone down. For how imperiously, how coolly, in disregard of all one’s feeling, does the hard, cold, uninteresting course of daily realities move on! Still must we eat, and drink, and sleep, and wake again,—still bargain, buy, sell, ask and answer questions,—pursue, in short, a thousand shadows, though all interest in them be over; the cold mechanical habit of living remaining, after all vital interest in it has fled.
Les espérances de Saint-Clare, ses intérêts, sans qu' il en eût conscience, s' étaient enlacés autour de cette enfant.... C' était pour Éva qu' il soignait, qu' il embellissait sa propriété. Son temps, c' était à elle qu' il le donnait.... Tout chez lui était à Éva, pour Éva ! Il ne faisait rien qui ne fût pour elle.... Elle absente.... il perdait à la fois et l' action et la pensée !
All the interests and hopes of St. Clare’s life had unconsciously wound themselves around this child. It was for Eva that he had managed his property; it was for Eva that he had planned the disposal of his time; and, to do this and that for Eva,—to buy, improve, alter, and arrange, or dispose something for her,—had been so long his habit, that now she was gone, there seemed nothing to be thought of, and nothing to be done.
Oui, il y a une autre vie.... une vie qui donne, quand on y croit, une portée et une signification nouvelles aux chiffres du temps, qui leur donne tout à coup une valeur mystérieuse et inconnue. Saint-Clare le savait. Bien souvent, dans ses heures désolées, il entendait une faible voix d' enfant qui l' appelait aux cieux.... il voyait une petite main qui lui indiquait la route de la vie.... Mais la sombre léthargie de la douleur s' était abattue sur lui.... il ne pouvait pas se relever.... c' était une nature capable d' arriver à la conception nette des idées religieuses par ses instincts et la force de ses perceptions, bien plutôt qu' un chrétien pratique. Le don d' apprécier et le mérite de sentir les beautés et les rapports de l' ordre moral ont été souvent l' attribut et le privilége de gens dont toute la vie active s' est passée à les méconnaître. Moore, Byron, Goethe, ont trouvé, pour peindre le sentiment religieux, des paroles bien plus éloquentes que ceux -là mêmes dont la vie était une religion.... Ah ! pour de telles âmes, ce mépris de la religion est une bien plus terrible trahison.... un péché plus mortel cent fois !
True, there was another life,—a life which, once believed in, stands as a solemn, significant figure before the otherwise unmeaning ciphers of time, changing them to orders of mysterious, untold value. St. Clare knew this well; and often, in many a weary hour, he heard that slender, childish voice calling him to the skies, and saw that little hand pointing to him the way of life; but a heavy lethargy of sorrow lay on him,—he could not arise. He had one of those natures which could better and more clearly conceive of religious things from its own perceptions and instincts, than many a matter-of-fact and practical Christian. The gift to appreciate and the sense to feel the finer shades and relations of moral things, often seems an attribute of those whose whole life shows a careless disregard of them. Hence Moore, Byron, Goethe, often speak words more wisely descriptive of the true religious sentiment, than another man, whose whole life is governed by it. In such minds, disregard of religion is a more fearful treason,—a more deadly sin.
Saint-Clare n' avait jamais prétendu se gouverner d'après des principes religieux. Sa belle nature lui donnait une sorte de vue instinctive des exigences et de l' étendue du christianisme, et il reculait à l' avance devant les tyrannies de conscience auxquelles il se serait soumis, s' il avait jamais été chrétien. Telle est, en effet, l' inconséquence de la nature humaine, dans ces questions surtout où l' idéal est en jeu, qu' elle aime mieux ne pas entreprendre que de faire à demi.
St. Clare had never pretended to govern himself by any religious obligation; and a certain fineness of nature gave him such an instinctive view of the extent of the requirements of Christianity, that he shrank, by anticipation, from what he felt would be the exactions of his own conscience, if he once did resolve to assume them. For, so inconsistent is human nature, especially in the ideal, that not to undertake a thing at all seems better than to undertake and come short.
Et pourtant Saint-Clare était devenu un autre homme.... il lisait sérieusement, honnêtement, la Bible de sa petite Éva. Il avait des idées plus saines et plus pratiques sur toutes ses relations avec les esclaves.... Il en était arrivé à être mécontent du passé et du présent.... Aussitôt après son retour à Orléans, il commença, pour arriver à l' émancipation de Tom, les démarches légales qu' il devait compléter dès que les indispensables formalités seraient accomplies. De jour en jour il s' attachait davantage à l' esclave.... C' est que, dans ce monde vide pour lui, rien ne semblait lui rappeler davantage la chère image d' Éva; il voulait l' avoir constamment auprès de lui... Dédaigneux et inabordable pour tous les autres, il pensait tout haut devant Tom ! On ne s' en fût pas étonné, si l' on eût vu avec quelle affection et quel dévouement Tom suivait constamment son jeune maître.
Still St. Clare was, in many respects, another man. He read his little Eva’s Bible seriously and honestly; he thought more soberly and practically of his relations to his servants,—enough to make him extremely dissatisfied with both his past and present course; and one thing he did, soon after his return to New Orleans, and that was to commence the legal steps necessary to Tom’s emancipation, which was to be perfected as soon as he could get through the necessary formalities. Meantime, he attached himself to Tom more and more, every day. In all the wide world, there was nothing that seemed to remind him so much of Eva; and he would insist on keeping him constantly about him, and, fastidious and unapproachable as he was with regard to his deeper feelings, he almost thought aloud to Tom. Nor would any one have wondered at it, who had seen the expression of affection and devotion with which Tom continually followed his young master.
“Well, Tom,” said St. Clare, the day after he had commenced the legal formalities for his enfranchisement, “I’m going to make a free man of you;—so have your trunk packed, and get ready to set out for Kentuck.”
The sudden light of joy that shone in Tom’s face as he raised his hands to heaven, his emphatic “Bless the Lord!” rather discomposed St. Clare; he did not like it that Tom should be so ready to leave him.
“You haven’t had such very bad times here, that you need be in such a rapture, Tom,” he said drily.
“No, no, Mas’r! ’tan’t that,—it’s bein’ a _freeman!_ that’s what I’m joyin’ for.”
“Why, Tom, don’t you think, for your own part, you’ve been better off than to be free?”
-- Non certainement ! m' sieu Saint-Clare, dit Tom avec une soudaine énergie, non certainement !
“_No, indeed_, Mas’r St. Clare,” said Tom, with a flash of energy. “No, indeed!”
“Why, Tom, you couldn’t possibly have earned, by your work, such clothes and such living as I have given you.”
“Knows all that, Mas’r St. Clare; Mas’r’s been too good; but, Mas’r, I’d rather have poor clothes, poor house, poor everything, and have ’em _mine_, than have the best, and have ’em any man’s else,—I had _so_, Mas’r; I think it’s natur, Mas’r.”
“I suppose so, Tom, and you’ll be going off and leaving me, in a month or so,” he added, rather discontentedly. “Though why you shouldn’t, no mortal knows,” he said, in a gayer tone; and, getting up, he began to walk the floor.
“Not while Mas’r is in trouble,” said Tom. “I’ll stay with Mas’r as long as he wants me,—so as I can be any use.”
“Not while I’m in trouble, Tom?” said St. Clare, looking sadly out of the window. . . . “And when will _my_ trouble be over?”
-- Quand M. Saint-Clare sera chrétien !
“When Mas’r St. Clare’s a Christian,” said Tom.
-- Et vous avez vraiment l' intention de rester avec moi jusqu' à ce moment -là ? dit Saint-Clare avec un demi-sourire. Et, quittant la fenêtre, il posa sa main sur l' épaule de Tom.... Ah ! Tom ! brave et digne garçon, je ne veux pas vous garder si longtemps; allez retrouver votre femme et vos enfants.... et dites -leur que je les aime bien.....
“And you really mean to stay by till that day comes?” said St. Clare, half smiling, as he turned from the window, and laid his hand on Tom’s shoulder. “Ah, Tom, you soft, silly boy! I won’t keep you till that day. Go home to your wife and children, and give my love to all.”
“I ’s faith to believe that day will come,” said Tom, earnestly, and with tears in his eyes; “the Lord has a work for Mas’r.”
“A work, hey?” said St. Clare, “well, now, Tom, give me your views on what sort of a work it is;—let’s hear.”
-- Hélas ! un pauvre esclave comme moi peut bien travailler pour le Seigneur !.... et M. Saint-Clare, qui a la fortune, la science, des amis.... combien ne peut -il pas faire davantage !
“Why, even a poor fellow like me has a work from the Lord; and Mas’r St. Clare, that has larnin, and riches, and friends,—how much he might do for the Lord!”
“Tom, you seem to think the Lord needs a great deal done for him,” said St. Clare, smiling.
-- Quand nous travaillons pour ses créatures, nous travaillons pour Dieu, dit Tom.
“We does for the Lord when we does for his critturs,” said Tom.
-- Bonne théologie, Tom ! bien meilleure, je le jure, que celle du docteur B***. »
“Good theology, Tom; better than Dr. B. preaches, I dare swear,” said St. Clare.
Ici la conversation fut interrompue par l' arrivée de quelques visites.
The conversation was here interrupted by the announcement of some visitors.
Marie Saint-Clare ressentait la perte d' Éva autant qu' il lui était possible de ressentir quelque chose, et, comme elle était femme à rendre malheureux de son malheur tous ceux qui l' approchaient, les esclaves attachés à son service n' avaient que trop de raisons de regretter la jeune maîtresse dont les douces façons et l' aimable intercession les avaient si souvent protégés contre la tyrannie et les égoïstes exigences de sa mère. Mammy surtout, la pauvre Mammy, dont l' âme, sevrée de toutes les tendresses de la famille, s' était consolée par l' affection de cet être charmant, Mammy n' était plus qu' un coeur brisé.... Nuit et jour elle pleurait.... et l' excès même de son chagrin la rendait moins habile et moins prompte.... ce qui attirait une tempête d' invectives sur sa tête, désormais sans défense....
Marie St. Clare felt the loss of Eva as deeply as she could feel anything; and, as she was a woman that had a great faculty of making everybody unhappy when she was, her immediate attendants had still stronger reason to regret the loss of their young mistress, whose winning ways and gentle intercessions had so often been a shield to them from the tyrannical and selfish exactions of her mother. Poor old Mammy, in particular, whose heart, severed from all natural domestic ties, had consoled itself with this one beautiful being, was almost heart-broken. She cried day and night, and was, from excess of sorrow, less skilful and alert in her ministrations of her mistress than usual, which drew down a constant storm of invectives on her defenceless head.
Miss Ophélia ressentait aussi cette perte; mais dans ce coeur honnête et bon la douleur portait les fruits de l' autre vie, la vie qui ne finira pas. Elle était plus facile et plus douce.... aussi zélée pour chaque devoir, elle avait quelque chose de plus calme et de plus modeste.... on voyait qu' elle rentrait plus souvent en son coeur, et ce n' était pas en vain: elle s' occupait plus activement de l' éducation de Topsy. Elle lui apprenait des passages de la Bible. Elle ne frissonnait plus à son approche, elle n' avait plus à cacher une répugnance qu' elle n' éprouvait pas ! Elle la voyait à travers ce milieu si doucement évoqué devant ses yeux par Éva; et ce qu' elle voyait en elle, c' était une créature immortelle, que Dieu lui avait envoyée pour qu' elle la conduisît à la gloire et à la vertu.... Topsy n' était pas devenue une sainte tout d' un coup; mais cependant la vie et la mort d' Éva avaient produit en elle un notable changement. ~~~ La dure indifférence était partie.... il y avait maintenant en elle de la sensibilité, et l' espérance, le désir, l' effort du bien, effort irrégulier, suspendu, interrompu.... mais renouvelé.
Miss Ophelia felt the loss; but, in her good and honest heart, it bore fruit unto everlasting life. She was more softened, more gentle; and, though equally assiduous in every duty, it was with a chastened and quiet air, as one who communed with her own heart not in vain. She was more diligent in teaching Topsy,—taught her mainly from the Bible,—did not any longer shrink from her touch, or manifest an ill-repressed disgust, because she felt none. She viewed her now through the softened medium that Eva’s hand had first held before her eyes, and saw in her only an immortal creature, whom God had sent to be led by her to glory and virtue. Topsy did not become at once a saint; but the life and death of Eva did work a marked change in her. The callous indifference was gone; there was now sensibility, hope, desire, and the striving for good,—a strife irregular, interrupted, suspended oft, but yet renewed again.
One day, when Topsy had been sent for by Miss Ophelia, she came, hastily thrusting something into her bosom.
“What are you doing there, you limb? You’ve been stealing something, I’ll be bound,” said the imperious little Rosa, who had been sent to call her, seizing her, at the same time, roughly by the arm.
« Laissez -moi, miss Rosa, dit Topsy en se débarrassant d' elle, cela ne vous regarde pas !...
“You go ’long, Miss Rosa!” said Topsy, pulling from her; “‘tan’t none o’ your business!”
-- Encore un de vos tours.... Je vous connais ! je vous ai vue cacher quelque chose.... » ~~~ Rosa la prit par le bras et voulut la fouiller. ~~~ Topsy, furieuse, frappait des mains et des pieds et combattait violemment pour ce qu' elle regardait comme son droit. ~~~ Les clameurs et le bruit de la bataille attirèrent miss Ophélia et Saint-Clare.
“None o’ your sa’ce!” said Rosa, “I saw you hiding something,—I know yer tricks,” and Rosa seized her arm, and tried to force her hand into her bosom, while Topsy, enraged, kicked and fought valiantly for what she considered her rights. The clamor and confusion of the battle drew Miss Ophelia and St. Clare both to the spot.
“She’s been stealing!” said Rosa.
--Non! non! vociférait Topsy avec des sanglots pleins de colère.
“I han’t, neither!” vociferated Topsy, sobbing with passion.
“Give me that, whatever it is!” said Miss Ophelia, firmly.
Topsy hesitated; but, on a second order, pulled out of her bosom a little parcel done up in the foot of one of her own old stockings.
Miss Ophelia turned it out. There was a small book, which had been given to Topsy by Eva, containing a single verse of Scripture, arranged for every day in the year, and in a paper the curl of hair that she had given her on that memorable day when she had taken her last farewell.
St. Clare was a good deal affected at the sight of it; the little book had been rolled in a long strip of black crape, torn from the funeral weeds.
“What did you wrap _this_ round the book for?” said St. Clare, holding up the crape.
“Cause,—cause,—cause ’t was Miss Eva. O, don’t take ’em away, please!” she said; and, sitting flat down on the floor, and putting her apron over her head, she began to sob vehemently.
It was a curious mixture of the pathetic and the ludicrous,—the little old stockings,—black crape,—text-book,—fair, soft curl,—and Topsy’s utter distress.
St. Clare smiled; but there were tears in his eyes, as he said,
“Come, come,—don’t cry; you shall have them!” and, putting them together, he threw them into her lap, and drew Miss Ophelia with him into the parlor.
“I really think you can make something of that concern,” he said, pointing with his thumb backward over his shoulder. “Any mind that is capable of a _real sorrow_ is capable of good. You must try and do something with her.”
“The child has improved greatly,” said Miss Ophelia. “I have great hopes of her; but, Augustine,” she said, laying her hand on his arm, “one thing I want to ask; whose is this child to be?—yours or mine?”
“Why, I gave her to you,” said Augustine.
“But not legally;—I want her to be mine legally,” said Miss Ophelia.
“Whew! cousin,” said Augustine. “What will the Abolition Society think? They’ll have a day of fasting appointed for this backsliding, if you become a slaveholder!”
“O, nonsense! I want her mine, that I may have a right to take her to the free States, and give her her liberty, that all I am trying to do be not undone.”
-- Ah ! cousine ! vous avez là des projets bien subversifs.... Je ne puis les encourager....
“O, cousin, what an awful ’doing evil that good may come’! I can’t encourage it.”
“I don’t want you to joke, but to reason,” said Miss Ophelia. “There is no use in my trying to make this child a Christian child, unless I save her from all the chances and reverses of slavery; and, if you really are willing I should have her, I want you to give me a deed of gift, or some legal paper.”
“Well, well,” said St. Clare, “I will;” and he sat down, and unfolded a newspaper to read.
“But I want it done now,” said Miss Ophelia.
--Quelle hâte!
“What’s your hurry?”
“Because now is the only time there ever is to do a thing in,” said Miss Ophelia. “Come, now, here’s paper, pen, and ink; just write a paper.”
St. Clare, like most men of his class of mind, cordially hated the present tense of action, generally; and, therefore, he was considerably annoyed by Miss Ophelia’s downrightness.
“Why, what’s the matter?” said he. “Can’t you take my word? One would think you had taken lessons of the Jews, coming at a fellow so!”
“I want to make sure of it,” said Miss Ophelia. “You may die, or fail, and then Topsy be hustled off to auction, spite of all I can do.”
-- Allons ! vous pensez à tout.... puisque je suis dans la main d' une Yankee, ce que j' ai de mieux à faire, c' est de m' exécuter. » ~~~ Saint-Clare écrivit l' acte rapidement; il connaissait les affaires.... rien ne fut plus aisé.... il signa son nom en majuscules largement étalées, et termina le tout par un parafe flamboyant....
“Really, you are quite provident. Well, seeing I’m in the hands of a Yankee, there is nothing for it but to concede;” and St. Clare rapidly wrote off a deed of gift, which, as he was well versed in the forms of law, he could easily do, and signed his name to it in sprawling capitals, concluding by a tremendous flourish.
“There, isn’t that black and white, now, Miss Vermont?” he said, as he handed it to her.
“Good boy,” said Miss Ophelia, smiling. “But must it not be witnessed?”
“O, bother!—yes. Here,” he said, opening the door into Marie’s apartment, “Marie, Cousin wants your autograph; just put your name down here.”
“What’s this?” said Marie, as she ran over the paper. “Ridiculous! I thought Cousin was too pious for such horrid things,” she added, as she carelessly wrote her name; “but, if she has a fancy for that article, I am sure she’s welcome.”
“There, now, she’s yours, body and soul,” said St. Clare, handing the paper.
“No more mine now than she was before,” Miss Ophelia. “Nobody but God has a right to give her to me; but I can protect her now.”
“Well, she’s yours by a fiction of law, then,” said St. Clare, as he turned back into the parlor, and sat down to his paper.
Miss Ophélia, qui ne recherchait pas précisément la société de Marie, l' y suivit bientôt, après toutefois qu' elle eut serré son papier.
Miss Ophelia, who seldom sat much in Marie’s company, followed him into the parlor, having first carefully laid away the paper.
“Augustine,” she said, suddenly, as she sat knitting, “have you ever made any provision for your servants, in case of your death?”
-- Non ! » ~~~ Et il continua sa lecture.
“No,” said St. Clare, as he read on.
“Then all your indulgence to them may prove a great cruelty, by and by.”
St. Clare had often thought the same thing himself; but he answered, negligently.
“Well, I mean to make a provision, by and by.”
--Quand? ~~~ --Plus tard....
“When?” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Et si vous mourriez auparavant ?...
“O, one of these days.”
“What if you should die first?”
“Cousin, what’s the matter?” said St. Clare, laying down his paper and looking at her. “Do you think I show symptoms of yellow fever or cholera, that you are making post mortem arrangements with such zeal?”
-- En pleine vie, nous sommes dans la mort ! »
“‘In the midst of life we are in death,’” said Miss Ophelia.
Saint-Clare se leva, rejeta le journal et marcha avec assez d' insouciance jusqu' à la porte qui s' ouvrait sur la véranda. Il voulait mettre fin à cette conversation qui lui était désagréable; mais tout seul et machinalement il répétait ce mot, la mort !... Il s' appuya sur le balcon et regarda le jet d' eau étincelant, qui s' élançait et retombait dans le bassin. Puis, comme à travers un brouillard épais et gris, il aperçut vaguement les fleurs, les arbres, les vases de la cour, et il répéta encore ce mot mystérieux, ce mot qu' on trouve dans toutes les bouches, ce mot terrible: ~~~ LA MORT ! ~~~ « Il est vraiment étrange, se disait -il, qu' il y ait un tel mot et une telle chose, et que nous l' oubliions toujours !... On vit, on est ardent, on est jeune, on est beau, plein d' espérances, de désirs, de besoins, et le lendemain on est parti.... parti sans retour, pour toujours parti !... »
St. Clare rose up, and laying the paper down, carelessly, walked to the door that stood open on the verandah, to put an end to a conversation that was not agreeable to him. Mechanically, he repeated the last word again,—_“Death!”_—and, as he leaned against the railings, and watched the sparkling water as it rose and fell in the fountain; and, as in a dim and dizzy haze, saw flowers and trees and vases of the courts, he repeated, again the mystic word so common in every mouth, yet of such fearful power,—“DEATH!” “Strange that there should be such a word,” he said, “and such a thing, and we ever forget it; that one should be living, warm and beautiful, full of hopes, desires and wants, one day, and the next be gone, utterly gone, and forever!”
It was a warm, golden evening; and, as he walked to the other end of the verandah, he saw Tom busily intent on his Bible, pointing, as he did so, with his finger to each successive word, and whispering them to himself with an earnest air.
“Want me to read to you, Tom?” said St. Clare, seating himself carelessly by him.
“If Mas’r pleases,” said Tom, gratefully, “Mas’r makes it so much plainer.”
St. Clare took the book and glanced at the place, and began reading one of the passages which Tom had designated by the heavy marks around it. It ran as follows:
« Quand le Fils de l' homme viendra dans sa gloire, et les saints anges avec lui, il s' assiéra sur le trône de sa gloire, et devant lui seront rassemblées toutes les nations.... Et il séparera les hommes les uns d' avec les autres, comme le berger sépare les brebis d' avec les boucs. » ~~~ Saint-Clare lut d' une voix animée jusqu' à ce qu' il arrivât au dernier verset....
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all his holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.” St. Clare read on in an animated voice, till he came to the last of the verses.
« Et alors ils lui répondront: ~~~ « Seigneur, quand donc avons -nous vu que vous aviez faim, que vous aviez soif, que vous étiez sans asile, que vous étiez nu, que vous étiez malade, que vous étiez en prison.... et ne vous avons -nous pas assisté ? » ~~~ « Et il leur répondra: ~~~ « Chaque fois que vous avez refusé d' assister le dernier d' entre mes frères.... c' est moi-même que vous avez refusé. »
“Then shall the king say unto him on his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: I was sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they answer unto Him, Lord when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he say unto them, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not to me.”
St. Clare seemed struck with this last passage, for he read it twice,—the second time slowly, and as if he were revolving the words in his mind.
“Tom,” he said, “these folks that get such hard measure seem to have been doing just what I have,—living good, easy, respectable lives; and not troubling themselves to inquire how many of their brethren were hungry or athirst, or sick, or in prison.”
Tom ne répondit pas.
Tom did not answer.
St. Clare rose up and walked thoughtfully up and down the verandah, seeming to forget everything in his own thoughts; so absorbed was he, that Tom had to remind him twice that the teabell had rung, before he could get his attention.
St. Clare was absent and thoughtful, all tea-time. After tea, he and Marie and Miss Ophelia took possession of the parlor almost in silence.
Saint-Clare s' assit devant le piano; il joua un air doux et mélancolique. On l' eût dit plongé dans une profonde rêverie.... Il se parlait à lui-même avec la musique. Au bout d' un instant, il ouvrit un des tiroirs, il en tira un vieux livre dont les années avaient jauni les feuilles.... Il les tournait l' une après l' autre.
Marie disposed herself on a lounge, under a silken mosquito curtain, and was soon sound asleep. Miss Ophelia silently busied herself with her knitting. St. Clare sat down to the piano, and began playing a soft and melancholy movement with the Æolian accompaniment. He seemed in a deep reverie, and to be soliloquizing to himself by music. After a little, he opened one of the drawers, took out an old music-book whose leaves were yellow with age, and began turning it over.
“There,” he said to Miss Ophelia, “this was one of my mother’s books,—and here is her handwriting,—come and look at it. She copied and arranged this from Mozart’s Requiem.” Miss Ophelia came accordingly.
“It was something she used to sing often,” said St. Clare. “I think I can hear her now.”
He struck a few majestic chords, and began singing that grand old Latin piece, the “Dies Iræ.”
Dies iræ, etc. ~~~ Tom, qui écoutait du dehors, fut attiré par la musique jusqu' à la porte du salon, contre laquelle il se tint dans une profonde attention. Il ne comprenait pas sans doute les paroles; mais la musique, mais la manière de chanter le touchaient vivement, surtout quand Saint-Clare chanta les grandes strophes pathétiques. Et pourtant, que la sympathie de son coeur eût été plus ardente, s' il eût compris le sens de ces belles paroles:
Tom, who was listening in the outer verandah, was drawn by the sound to the very door, where he stood earnestly. He did not understand the words, of course; but the music and manner of singing appeared to affect him strongly, especially when St. Clare sang the more pathetic parts. Tom would have sympathized more heartily, if he had known the meaning of the beautiful words:—
“Recordare Jesu pie Quod sum causa tuær viæ Ne me perdas, illa die Quærens me sedisti lassus Redemisti crucem passus Tantus labor non sit cassus.”[1]
Quærens me, sedisti lassus; Redemisti, crucem passus: Tantus labor non sit cassus!
[1] These lines have been thus rather inadequately translated:
“Think, O Jesus, for what reason Thou endured’st earth’s spite and treason, Nor me lose, in that dread season; Seeking me, thy worn feet hasted, On the cross thy soul death tasted, Let not all these toils be wasted.”
Saint-Clare jetait sur ces mots une expression pathétique et passionnée. Le voile des années s' était déchiré, il lui semblait entendre la voix de sa mère guidant la sienne. La voix et l' instrument vivaient et versaient à flots cette harmonie sympathique et profonde dont le divin Mozart trouva pour la première fois le secret, quand il voulut chanter le _Requiem_ de sa messe de mort.
[Mrs. Stowe’s note.] ~~~ St. Clare threw a deep and pathetic expression into the words; for the shadowy veil of years seemed drawn away, and he seemed to hear his mother’s voice leading his. Voice and instrument seemed both living, and threw out with vivid sympathy those strains which the ethereal Mozart first conceived as his own dying requiem.
When St. Clare had done singing, he sat leaning his head upon his hand a few moments, and then began walking up and down the floor.
“What a sublime conception is that of a last judgment!” said he,—“a righting of all the wrongs of ages!—a solving of all moral problems, by an unanswerable wisdom! It is, indeed, a wonderful image.”
“It is a fearful one to us,” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Oui, terrible pour moi, dit Saint-Clare en s' arrêtant tout pensif. Cette après-midi, je lisais à Tom un chapitre de saint Matthieu, qui décrit ce jugement. Cela m' a frappé. » On s' imaginerait que pour être exclu du ciel il faut avoir commis de terribles crimes. Eh bien, non ! ils sont condamnés pour n' avoir pas fait le bien, comme si cela seul renfermait tous les torts !
“It ought to be to me, I suppose,” said St. Clare stopping, thoughtfully. “I was reading to Tom, this afternoon, that chapter in Matthew that gives an account of it, and I have been quite struck with it. One should have expected some terrible enormities charged to those who are excluded from Heaven, as the reason; but no,—they are condemned for _not_ doing positive good, as if that included every possible harm.”
“Perhaps,” said Miss Ophelia, “it is impossible for a person who does no good not to do harm.”
-- Eh bien ! dit Saint-Clare se parlant à lui-même et avec une extrême agitation, que dire de celui que son coeur, son éducation, ses relations sociales appelaient à quelque noble rôle..., et qui est resté incertain, rêveur, indifférent, neutre, en face des luttes, des agonies, du désespoir de l' humanité..., quand il eût pu agir ?
“And what,” said St. Clare, speaking abstractedly, but with deep feeling, “what shall be said of one whose own heart, whose education, and the wants of society, have called in vain to some noble purpose; who has floated on, a dreamy, neutral spectator of the struggles, agonies, and wrongs of man, when he should have been a worker?”
“I should say,” said Miss Ophelia, “that he ought to repent, and begin now.”
-- Toujours pratique ! toujours au noeud de la difficulté ! reprit Augustin, dont le visage s' éclaira d' un sourire.... Ainsi, cousine, vous ne me laissez jamais le temps des réflexions générales. Vous me heurtez toujours contre les actualités présentes. Vous avez dans l' esprit un éternel _maintenant_.
“Always practical and to the point!” said St. Clare, his face breaking out into a smile. “You never leave me any time for general reflections, Cousin; you always bring me short up against the actual present; you have a kind of eternal _now_, always in your mind.”
“_Now_ is all the time I have anything to do with,” said Miss Ophelia.
“Dear little Eva,—poor child!” said St. Clare, “she had set her little simple soul on a good work for me.”
It was the first time since Eva’s death that he had ever said as many words as these to her, and he spoke now evidently repressing very strong feeling.
« Mes idées sur le christianisme sont telles, reprit -il bientôt, que je ne pense pas qu' un homme puisse être chrétien sans se jeter de tout son poids contre ce monstrueux système d' injustice, qui est pourtant le fondement de notre société.... Oui, s' il le faut, un chrétien doit sacrifier sa vie dans le combat de cette cause ! Moi, du moins, je ne pourrais pas être chrétien autrement.... Mais j' ai rencontré des chrétiens éclairés dont ce n' était pas l' avis. Eh bien ! je confesse que l' apathie des gens religieux sur ce sujet, leur indifférence pour les maux de leurs frères, m' ont rempli d' horreur, et ont été plus que tout le reste, la cause de mon scepticisme.
“My view of Christianity is such,” he added, “that I think no man can consistently profess it without throwing the whole weight of his being against this monstrous system of injustice that lies at the foundation of all our society; and, if need be, sacrificing himself in the battle. That is, I mean that _I_ could not be a Christian otherwise, though I have certainly had intercourse with a great many enlightened and Christian people who did no such thing; and I confess that the apathy of religious people on this subject, their want of perception of wrongs that filled me with horror, have engendered in me more scepticism than any other thing.”
“If you knew all this,” said Miss Ophelia, “why didn’t you do it?”
“O, because I have had only that kind of benevolence which consists in lying on a sofa, and cursing the church and clergy for not being martyrs and confessors. One can see, you know, very easily, how others ought to be martyrs.”
“Well, are you going to do differently now?” said Miss Ophelia.
“God only knows the future,” said St. Clare. “I am braver than I was, because I have lost all; and he who has nothing to lose can afford all risks.”
“And what are you going to do?”
-- Mon devoir, je l' espère, autant que je le pourrai, envers ces malheureux.... Je vais commencer par mes pauvres esclaves pour qui je n' ai encore rien fait.... et peut-être quelque jour me sera -t-il possible de faire quelque chose pour cette classe tout entière ! quelque chose pour sauver mon pays de cette honte qui le couvre devant toutes les nations civilisées !...
“My duty, I hope, to the poor and lowly, as fast as I find it out,” said St. Clare, “beginning with my own servants, for whom I have yet done nothing; and, perhaps, at some future day, it may appear that I can do something for a whole class; something to save my country from the disgrace of that false position in which she now stands before all civilized nations.”
“Do you suppose it possible that a nation ever will voluntarily emancipate?” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Je ne sais.... Voici le temps des grandes actions.... Çà et là l' héroïsme et le dévouement se lèvent sur cette terre.... Les nobles de la Hongrie affranchissent des milliers de serfs. Comme argent, c' est une perte immense. Peut-être parmi nous se trouvera -t-il des coeurs généreux, qui n' évalueront pas l' homme en dollars et en centimes.
“I don’t know,” said St. Clare. “This is a day of great deeds. Heroism and disinterestedness are rising up, here and there, in the earth. The Hungarian nobles set free millions of serfs, at an immense pecuniary loss; and, perhaps, among us may be found generous spirits, who do not estimate honor and justice by dollars and cents.”
“I hardly think so,” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Supposez que nous nous levions demain, et que nous affranchissions ces milliers d' esclaves, qui les instruira ? qui leur apprendra à bien user de leur liberté ? Ils ne pourront jamais faire grand'chose parmi nous. Nous sommes nous-mêmes trop paresseux et trop peu pratiques pour leur donner cette industrie et cette énergie sans lesquelles on ne pourra pas en faire des hommes ! Ils iront dans le nord, où le travail est à la mode, où tout le monde travaille. Mais dites -moi, dans le nord, la philanthropie chrétienne est -elle assez grande pour suffire à la tâche de cette tutelle et de cette éducation ? Vous envoyez des dollars par milliers aux missions étrangères; mais souffrirez -vous qu' on envoie ces païens dans vos villes et dans vos villages ?... donnerez -vous votre temps, vos pensées, votre argent pour les enrôler sous la bannière du Christ ? voilà ce que je voudrais savoir ! Si nous émancipons, élèverez -vous ? Combien de familles, dans vos villes, prendront un ménage nègre pour l' instruire et le convertir ? Combien de marchands prendraient Adolphe, si j' en voulais faire un commis ? combien de fabricants, si je lui apprenais le commerce ? Si je voulais mettre Jane et Rosa à l' école, combien d' écoles voudraient les recevoir dans vos États du nord ? Combien de familles les accueilleraient ?... et pourtant elles sont aussi blanches que bien des femmes du midi ou du nord. Vous voyez, cousine, que je suis juste. Notre position est mauvaise. Nous sommes les oppresseurs officiels des nègres; mais les préjugés anti-chrétiens du nord ne les oppriment pas moins cruellement....
“But, suppose we should rise up tomorrow and emancipate, who would educate these millions, and teach them how to use their freedom? They never would rise to do much among us. The fact is, we are too lazy and unpractical, ourselves, ever to give them much of an idea of that industry and energy which is necessary to form them into men. They will have to go north, where labor is the fashion,—the universal custom; and tell me, now, is there enough Christian philanthropy, among your northern states, to bear with the process of their education and elevation? You send thousands of dollars to foreign missions; but could you endure to have the heathen sent into your towns and villages, and give your time, and thoughts, and money, to raise them to the Christian standard? That’s what I want to know. If we emancipate, are you willing to educate? How many families, in your town, would take a negro man and woman, teach them, bear with them, and seek to make them Christians? How many merchants would take Adolph, if I wanted to make him a clerk; or mechanics, if I wanted him taught a trade? If I wanted to put Jane and Rosa to a school, how many schools are there in the northern states that would take them in? how many families that would board them? and yet they are as white as many a woman, north or south. You see, Cousin, I want justice done us. We are in a bad position. We are the more _obvious_ oppressors of the negro; but the unchristian prejudice of the north is an oppressor almost equally severe.”
-- C' est vrai, cousin, je le sais; c' était vrai même avec moi.... jusqu' à ce que je sois parvenue à vaincre mes répugnances.... Mais elles sont vaincues.... et je crois qu' il y a dans le nord une foule de braves gens qui n' ont besoin que d' apprendre leur devoir.... Il faut sans doute plus de dévouement pour recevoir ces païens parmi nous que pour leur envoyer des missionnaires chez eux.... Je crois pourtant que nous le ferons.
“Well, Cousin, I know it is so,” said Miss Ophelia,—“I know it was so with me, till I saw that it was my duty to overcome it; but, I trust I have overcome it; and I know there are many good people at the north, who in this matter need only to be _taught_ what their duty is, to do it. It would certainly be a greater self-denial to receive heathen among us, than to send missionaries to them; but I think we would do it.”
-- Vous, oui ! je sais que vous ferez tout ce que vous regarderez comme votre devoir.
“_You_ would, I know,” said St. Clare. “I’d like to see anything you wouldn’t do, if you thought it your duty!”
-- Mon Dieu ! je ne suis déjà pas si bonne, dit miss Ophélia. Les autres feront comme moi, s' ils voient comme moi. J' ai l' intention de ramener Topsy chez nous. On s' étonnera bien un peu tout d'abord, mais ils arriveront à partager mes vues. Je sais d'ailleurs qu' il y a, dans le nord, bon nombre de gens qui font ce que vous disiez tout à l' heure.
“Well, I’m not uncommonly good,” said Miss Ophelia. “Others would, if they saw things as I do. I intend to take Topsy home, when I go. I suppose our folks will wonder, at first; but I think they will be brought to see as I do. Besides, I know there are many people at the north who do exactly what you said.”
-- Oui... une minorité ! et, si nos émancipations sont trop nombreuses, nous entendrons bientôt de vos nouvelles. »
“Yes, but they are a minority; and, if we should begin to emancipate to any extent, we should soon hear from you.”
Miss Ophelia did not reply. There was a pause of some moments; and St. Clare’s countenance was overcast by a sad, dreamy expression.
« Je ne sais, dit -il, ce qui me fait ce soir si souvent penser à ma mère. Je me sens dans l' âme je ne sais quels attendrissements, comme si ma mère était près de moi. Je pense à tout ce qu' elle avait l' habitude de me dire.... Quelle étrange chose que parfois le passé revienne à nous si vivant ! »
“I don’t know what makes me think of my mother so much, tonight,” he said. “I have a strange kind of feeling, as if she were near me. I keep thinking of things she used to say. Strange, what brings these past things so vividly back to us, sometimes!”
Saint-Clare marcha encore quelques instants dans le salon.
St. Clare walked up and down the room for some minutes more, and then said,
“I believe I’ll go down street, a few moments, and hear the news, tonight.”
He took his hat, and passed out.
Tom le suivit jusqu' à la porte de la cour et lui demanda s' il devait l' accompagner.
Tom followed him to the passage, out of the court, and asked if he should attend him.
« Non, mon garçon, je serai ici dans une heure... »
“No, my boy,” said St. Clare. “I shall be back in an hour.”
Tom s' assit sous la véranda. ~~~ C' était une splendide soirée: Tom regardait le jet d' eau, dont l' écume s' argentait sous les rayons d' un magnifique clair de lune.... il écoutait le murmure des eaux.... il pensait à sa famille et à sa maison.... Il se disait que bientôt il serait libre..., que bientôt il pourrait les revoir.... il se disait qu' à force de travail il rachèterait sa femme et ses enfants.... Il éprouvait une sorte de joie à sentir les muscles de ses bras puissants, en songeant que bientôt ses bras seraient à lui, et qu' ils conquerraient la liberté de sa famille.... Il pensa à son jeune maître, et adressa pour lui au ciel sa prière accoutumée.... Puis il pensa encore à cette belle Évangéline, maintenant parmi les anges.... et bientôt il s' imagina que ce visage brillant et ces cheveux d' or sortaient de l' écume étincelante de la fontaine et paraissaient devant lui.... Il s' endormit et il rêva qu' il la voyait venir à lui, légère et bondissante comme autrefois.... une guirlande de jasmin dans ses cheveux, les joues animées et l' oeil rayonnant de joie. Puis, pendant qu' il la regardait, elle s' éleva lentement du sol, ses joues devinrent plus pâles, ses yeux profonds avaient des rayons divins, un nimbe d' or entourait sa tête.... Et la vision s' évanouit. ~~~ Tom fut réveillé par un violent coup de marteau et un bruit de pas et de voix à la porte.
Tom sat down in the verandah. It was a beautiful moonlight evening, and he sat watching the rising and falling spray of the fountain, and listening to its murmur. Tom thought of his home, and that he should soon be a free man, and able to return to it at will. He thought how he should work to buy his wife and boys. He felt the muscles of his brawny arms with a sort of joy, as he thought they would soon belong to himself, and how much they could do to work out the freedom of his family. Then he thought of his noble young master, and, ever second to that, came the habitual prayer that he had always offered for him; and then his thoughts passed on to the beautiful Eva, whom he now thought of among the angels; and he thought till he almost fancied that that bright face and golden hair were looking upon him, out of the spray of the fountain. And, so musing, he fell asleep, and dreamed he saw her coming bounding towards him, just as she used to come, with a wreath of jessamine in her hair, her cheeks bright, and her eyes radiant with delight; but, as he looked, she seemed to rise from the ground; her cheeks wore a paler hue,—her eyes had a deep, divine radiance, a golden halo seemed around her head,—and she vanished from his sight; and Tom was awakened by a loud knocking, and a sound of many voices at the gate.
Il courut ouvrir.... Des hommes entrèrent.... Ils portaient sur une civière un corps enveloppé dans un manteau: la lumière de la lampe tombait en plein sur le visage. Tom poussa un cri perçant.... le cri de l' effroi et du désespoir.... Ce cri retentit dans toute la maison.... Les hommes s' avancèrent, avec leur fardeau, jusqu' à la porte du salon, où miss Ophélia tricotait.
He hastened to undo it; and, with smothered voices and heavy tread, came several men, bringing a body, wrapped in a cloak, and lying on a shutter. The light of the lamp fell full on the face; and Tom gave a wild cry of amazement and despair, that rung through all the galleries, as the men advanced, with their burden, to the open parlor door, where Miss Ophelia still sat knitting.
Saint-Clare était entré dans un café, pour lire un journal du soir. Une querelle s' était élevée entre deux hommes, un peu excités par la boisson. Saint-Clare et quelques autres personnes avaient voulu les séparer. Saint-Clare, en s' efforçant de désarmer un des deux hommes, avait reçu un coup de couteau dans le côté.
St. Clare had turned into a cafe, to look over an evening paper. As he was reading, an affray arose between two gentlemen in the room, who were both partially intoxicated. St. Clare and one or two others made an effort to separate them, and St. Clare received a fatal stab in the side with a bowie-knife, which he was attempting to wrest from one of them.
La maison se remplit bientôt de gémissements, de pleurs, de cris et de lamentations; les esclaves désespérés s' arrachaient les cheveux, se jetaient par terre, ou couraient, éperdus, dans toutes les directions; Marie avait des crises nerveuses; Tom et miss Ophélia gardaient seuls quelque présence d' esprit. Miss Ophélia fit disposer un des sofas du salon; on étendit dessus le blessé tout sanglant. Saint-Clare s' était évanoui de douleur et de faiblesse, à bout de sang. Miss Ophélia lui fit respirer des sels. Il revint à lui, ouvrit les yeux, les promena tout autour de l' appartement, et les arrêta enfin sur le portrait de sa mère.
The house was full of cries and lamentations, shrieks and screams, servants frantically tearing their hair, throwing themselves on the ground, or running distractedly about, lamenting. Tom and Miss Ophelia alone seemed to have any presence of mind; for Marie was in strong hysteric convulsions. At Miss Ophelia’s direction, one of the lounges in the parlor was hastily prepared, and the bleeding form laid upon it. St. Clare had fainted, through pain and loss of blood; but, as Miss Ophelia applied restoratives, he revived, opened his eyes, looked fixedly on them, looked earnestly around the room, his eyes travelling wistfully over every object, and finally they rested on his mother’s picture.
The physician now arrived, and made his examination. It was evident, from the expression of his face, that there was no hope; but he applied himself to dressing the wound, and he and Miss Ophelia and Tom proceeded composedly with this work, amid the lamentations and sobs and cries of the affrighted servants, who had clustered about the doors and windows of the verandah.
“Now,” said the physician, “we must turn all these creatures out; all depends on his being kept quiet.”
Saint-Clare ouvrit les yeux et regarda fixement les malheureux êtres que miss Ophélia et le docteur s' efforçaient de faire sortir du salon. « Pauvres gens ! » dit -il, et l' on vit sur son visage l' ombre d' un remords. Adolphe refusa de sortir. La terreur l' avait complétement égaré; il se coucha sur le parquet, et rien ne put le faire se relever. Les autres cédèrent aux instantes recommandations de miss Ophélia et se retirèrent, pensant que le salut de leur maître dépendait de leur obéissance et de leur calme.
St. Clare opened his eyes, and looked fixedly on the distressed beings, whom Miss Ophelia and the doctor were trying to urge from the apartment. “Poor creatures!” he said, and an expression of bitter self-reproach passed over his face. Adolph absolutely refused to go. Terror had deprived him of all presence of mind; he threw himself along the floor, and nothing could persuade him to rise. The rest yielded to Miss Ophelia’s urgent representations, that their master’s safety depended on their stillness and obedience.
St. Clare could say but little; he lay with his eyes shut, but it was evident that he wrestled with bitter thoughts. After a while, he laid his hand on Tom’s, who was kneeling beside him, and said, “Tom! poor fellow!”
«Tom! pauvre Tom! ~~~ --Eh bien, maître?
“What, Mas’r?” said Tom, earnestly.
“I am dying!” said St. Clare, pressing his hand; “pray!”
“If you would like a clergyman—” said the physician.
St. Clare hastily shook his head, and said again to Tom, more earnestly, “Pray!”
And Tom did pray, with all his mind and strength, for the soul that was passing,—the soul that seemed looking so steadily and mournfully from those large, melancholy blue eyes. It was literally prayer offered with strong crying and tears.
Quand Tom eut fini, Saint-Clare lui prit la main et le regarda sans rien dire. Puis il referma les yeux, tout en retenant la main.... Aux portes de l' éternité, la main blanche et la main noire se serrent d' une égale étreinte.... Cependant, doucement et d' une voix entrecoupée, Saint-Clare murmurait:
When Tom ceased to speak, St. Clare reached out and took his hand, looking earnestly at him, but saying nothing. He closed his eyes, but still retained his hold; for, in the gates of eternity, the black hand and the white hold each other with an equal clasp. He murmured softly to himself, at broken intervals,
Recordare, Jesu pie,............. Ne me perdas.... illa die !............. Quærens me.... sedisti lassus,...
“Recordare Jesu pie— * * * * Ne me perdas—illa die Quærens me—sedisti lassus.”
Les paroles qu' il avait chantées dans la soirée lui revenaient à l' esprit....; paroles de supplication, adressées à la miséricorde infinie. Il entr'ouvrait encore les lèvres, et les fragments de l' hymne en tombaient....
It was evident that the words he had been singing that evening were passing through his mind,—words of entreaty addressed to Infinite Pity. His lips moved at intervals, as parts of the hymn fell brokenly from them.
“His mind is wandering,” said the doctor.
“No! it is coming HOME, at last!” said St. Clare, energetically; “at last! at last!”
The effort of speaking exhausted him. The sinking paleness of death fell on him; but with it there fell, as if shed from the wings of some pitying spirit, a beautiful expression of peace, like that of a wearied child who sleeps.
So he lay for a few moments. They saw that the mighty hand was on him. Just before the spirit parted, he opened his eyes, with a sudden light, as of joy and recognition, and said _“Mother!”_ and then he was gone!
CHAPITRE XXIX. ~~~ Les abandonnés.
CHAPTER XXIX The Unprotected
We hear often of the distress of the negro servants, on the loss of a kind master; and with good reason, for no creature on God’s earth is left more utterly unprotected and desolate than the slave in these circumstances.
L' enfant qui a perdu son père a du moins pour lui la protection de ses amis et de la loi. Il est quelque chose.... il peut quelque chose.... il a une position, il a des droits reconnus. L' esclave.... rien ! la loi ne lui reconnaît pas de droits: c' est un paquet.... une marchandise.... Si jamais on a reconnu en lui quelques-uns des désirs et des besoins d' une créature humaine.... et immortelle.... il le doit à la volonté souveraine et irresponsable de son maître. Ce maître une fois disparu.... il n' y a plus rien !
The child who has lost a father has still the protection of friends, and of the law; he is something, and can do something,—has acknowledged rights and position; the slave has none. The law regards him, in every respect, as devoid of rights as a bale of merchandise. The only possible acknowledgment of any of the longings and wants of a human and immortal creature, which are given to him, comes to him through the sovereign and irresponsible will of his master; and when that master is stricken down, nothing remains.
Il est petit, le nombre de ceux qui savent user humainement et généreusement d' un pouvoir irresponsable et souverain ! Chacun sait cela: l' esclave le sait mieux que personne.... Il y a dix chances de rencontrer le maître tyrannique et cruel.... une chance de trouver le maître clément et bon. La perte d' un bon maître doit être suivie de longs gémissements.........................
The number of those men who know how to use wholly irresponsible power humanely and generously is small. Everybody knows this, and the slave knows it best of all; so that he feels that there are ten chances of his finding an abusive and tyrannical master, to one of his finding a considerate and kind one. Therefore is it that the wail over a kind master is loud and long, as well it may be.
Quand Saint-Clare eut rendu le dernier soupir, la terreur et la consternation s' emparèrent de toute la maison.... Il avait été abattu en un moment, dans la force et dans la fleur de ses années. Toute l' habitation retentissait de sanglots et de cris désespérés. Marie, dont les nerfs étaient affaiblis par la constante mollesse de sa vie, était bien incapable de supporter un pareil choc.... Pendant l' agonie de son mari, elle sortait d' un évanouissement pour retomber dans un autre.... Et celui auquel elle avait été unie par le lien mystérieux du mariage la quitta pour toujours, sans qu' ils eussent même échangé une parole d' adieu !
When St. Clare breathed his last, terror and consternation took hold of all his household. He had been stricken down so in a moment, in the flower and strength of his youth! Every room and gallery of the house resounded with sobs and shrieks of despair.
Miss Ophélia, avec la force et l' empire sur elle-même qui la caractérisaient, n' avait point quitté son cousin un seul instant. Elle était tout oeil, tout oreille, tout attention.... faisait tout ce qu' il fallait faire, et, du fond de son coeur, s' unissait à ces prières tendres et passionnées, que le pauvre esclave répandait devant Dieu pour l' âme de son maître mourant.
Marie, whose nervous system had been enervated by a constant course of self-indulgence, had nothing to support the terror of the shock, and, at the time her husband breathed his last, was passing from one fainting fit to another; and he to whom she had been joined in the mysterious tie of marriage passed from her forever, without the possibility of even a parting word.
En l' arrangeant pour le dernier sommeil, ils trouvèrent sur sa poitrine un petit médaillon très-simple, et s' ouvrant par un ressort. Il renfermait le portrait d' une belle et noble femme, et de l' autre côté, encadré sous le verre, une boucle de cheveux noirs.... Ils remirent ce médaillon sur cette poitrine sans battement.... Poussière contre poussière !.... Pauvres et tristes reliques des rêves printaniers.... qui jadis firent battre avec tant d' ardeur ce coeur maintenant éteint !
Miss Ophelia, with characteristic strength and self-control, had remained with her kinsman to the last,—all eye, all ear, all attention; doing everything of the little that could be done, and joining with her whole soul in the tender and impassioned prayers which the poor slave had poured forth for the soul of his dying master.
L' âme de Tom était remplie des pensées de l' éternité, et, pendant qu' il rendait les derniers devoirs à cette poussière inanimée, il était loin de croire que ce coup l' avait plongé dans un esclavage désormais sans espérance.... Il était rassuré sur le compte de Saint-Clare: au moment où il avait répandu sa prière dans le sein de son Père.... il avait senti dans son propre coeur une paix et une espérance qui semblaient être la réponse du ciel.... Dans les profondeurs de cette nature affectueuse, il y avait parfois comme une effusion de l' amour divin.... L' antique oracle n' a -t-il pas dit: « Celui qui demeure dans l' amour demeure en Dieu, et Dieu en lui ! »
When they were arranging him for his last rest, they found upon his bosom a small, plain miniature case, opening with a spring. It was the miniature of a noble and beautiful female face; and on the reverse, under a crystal, a lock of dark hair. They laid them back on the lifeless breast,—dust to dust,—poor mournful relics of early dreams, which once made that cold heart beat so warmly!
Tom croyait, il espérait, il avait la paix. ~~~ Les funérailles furent célébrées avec tout leur attirail de crêpes et de tentures noires.... leurs prières.... leurs visages solennels.... Puis les vagues froides de la vie quotidienne coulèrent de nouveau dans leur lit fangeux.... puis revint la triste et monotone question: Que faire ?
Tom’s whole soul was filled with thoughts of eternity; and while he ministered around the lifeless clay, he did not once think that the sudden stroke had left him in hopeless slavery. He felt at peace about his master; for in that hour, when he had poured forth his prayer into the bosom of his Father, he had found an answer of quietness and assurance springing up within himself. In the depths of his own affectionate nature, he felt able to perceive something of the fulness of Divine love; for an old oracle hath thus written,—“He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” Tom hoped and trusted, and was at peace.
But the funeral passed, with all its pageant of black crape, and prayers, and solemn faces; and back rolled the cool, muddy waves of every-day life; and up came the everlasting hard inquiry of “What is to be done next?”
C' est à quoi songeait aussi miss Ophélia, dont les pensées se tournaient déjà vers sa maison du nord. ~~~ C' est à quoi songeaient également, pleins de terreur, ces esclaves qui connaissaient le caractère tyrannique et impitoyable de la maîtresse aux mains de laquelle ils étaient tombés.... ils savaient tous que l' indulgence ne venait pas de la maîtresse, mais du maître, et que, lui absent, il n' y avait plus d' obstacles protecteurs entre eux et les exigences d' une femme aigrie par la douleur.
It rose to the mind of Marie, as, dressed in loose morning-robes, and surrounded by anxious servants, she sat up in a great easy-chair, and inspected samples of crape and bombazine. It rose to Miss Ophelia, who began to turn her thoughts towards her northern home. It rose, in silent terrors, to the minds of the servants, who well knew the unfeeling, tyrannical character of the mistress in whose hands they were left. All knew, very well, that the indulgences which had been accorded to them were not from their mistress, but from their master; and that, now he was gone, there would be no screen between them and every tyrannous infliction which a temper soured by affliction might devise.
It was about a fortnight after the funeral, that Miss Ophelia, busied one day in her apartment, heard a gentle tap at the door. She opened it, and there stood Rosa, the pretty young quadroon, whom we have before often noticed, her hair in disorder, and her eyes swelled with crying.
“O, Miss Feeley,” she said, falling on her knees, and catching the skirt of her dress, “_do, do go_ to Miss Marie for me! do plead for me! She’s goin’ to send me out to be whipped—look there!” And she handed to Miss Ophelia a paper.
It was an order, written in Marie’s delicate Italian hand, to the master of a whipping-establishment to give the bearer fifteen lashes.
“What have you been doing?” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Vous savez, miss Phélia.... j' ai un si mauvais caractère.... c' est bien mal à moi.... J' essayais une robe à miss Marie.... elle m' a donné un soufflet.... J' ai parlé avant de réfléchir.... je n' ai pas été polie.... elle a dit qu' elle saurait bien me réduire et m' apprendre une fois pour toutes à ne pas tant lever la tête.... et elle a écrit cela et m' a dit d' aller le porter.... J' aimerais autant qu' on me tuât tout de suite ! »
“You know, Miss Feely, I’ve got such a bad temper; it’s very bad of me. I was trying on Miss Marie’s dress, and she slapped my face; and I spoke out before I thought, and was saucy; and she said that she’d bring me down, and have me know, once for all, that I wasn’t going to be so topping as I had been; and she wrote this, and says I shall carry it. I’d rather she’d kill me, right out.”
Miss Ophélia, le billet à la main, réfléchit un instant.
Miss Ophelia stood considering, with the paper in her hand.
“You see, Miss Feely,” said Rosa, “I don’t mind the whipping so much, if Miss Marie or you was to do it; but, to be sent to a _man!_ and such a horrid man,—the shame of it, Miss Feely!”
Miss Ophélia savait parfaitement qu' il était d' usage d' envoyer ainsi les femmes et les jeunes filles dans des maisons de correction pour être fouettées par les hommes les plus vils.... assez vils pour exercer leur métier !.... Elle connaissait la honte et les dangers de tels châtiments.... Oui, elle savait tout cela.... mais elle ne l' avait pas vu ! Aussi, quand Rosa parut devant ses yeux.... corps frêle et élégant, à demi brisé par les convulsions du désespoir, le sang de la femme bondit dans ses veines.... Ce sang généreux et libre de la Nouvelle-Angleterre monta à ses joues.... et redescendit à son coeur pour en précipiter les palpitations indignées.... Mais, toujours prudente et maîtresse d' elle -même, elle se contint.... elle froissa le papier dans ses mains, et d' une voix calme:
Miss Ophelia well knew that it was the universal custom to send women and young girls to whipping-houses, to the hands of the lowest of men,—men vile enough to make this their profession,—there to be subjected to brutal exposure and shameful correction. She had _known_ it before; but hitherto she had never realized it, till she saw the slender form of Rosa almost convulsed with distress. All the honest blood of womanhood, the strong New England blood of liberty, flushed to her cheeks, and throbbed bitterly in her indignant heart; but, with habitual prudence and self-control, she mastered herself, and, crushing the paper firmly in her hand, she merely said to Rosa,
“Sit down, child, while I go to your mistress.” ~~~ “Shameful! monstrous! outrageous!” she said to herself, as she was crossing the parlor.
Elle trouva Marie dans son grand fauteuil. Mammy la peignait et Jane lui frictionnait les pieds.
She found Marie sitting up in her easy-chair, with Mammy standing by her, combing her hair; Jane sat on the ground before her, busy in chafing her feet.
“How do you find yourself, today?” said Miss Ophelia.
Un profond soupir, des yeux qui se fermèrent, telle fut la première réponse de Marie. Elle ajouta bientôt: ~~~ « Oh ! je ne sais pas, cousine.... aussi bien, je pense, qu' il me soit jamais possible d' aller.... Et elle essuya ses yeux avec un mouchoir de batiste, encadré dans une bordure noire d' un pouce de large.
A deep sigh, and a closing of the eyes, was the only reply, for a moment; and then Marie answered, “O, I don’t know, Cousin; I suppose I’m as well as I ever shall be!” and Marie wiped her eyes with a cambric handkerchief, bordered with an inch deep of black.
“I came,” said Miss Ophelia, with a short, dry cough, such as commonly introduces a difficult subject,—“I came to speak with you about poor Rosa.”
Marie’s eyes were open wide enough now, and a flush rose to her sallow cheeks, as she answered, sharply,
« Eh bien ! qu' est -ce ?
“Well, what about her?”
-- Elle se repent de sa faute !
“She is very sorry for her fault.”
“She is, is she? She’ll be sorrier, before I’ve done with her! I’ve endured that child’s impudence long enough; and now I’ll bring her down,—I’ll make her lie in the dust!”
“But could not you punish her some other way,—some way that would be less shameful?”
“I mean to shame her; that’s just what I want. She has all her life presumed on her delicacy, and her good looks, and her lady-like airs, till she forgets who she is;—and I’ll give her one lesson that will bring her down, I fancy!”
“But, Cousin, consider that, if you destroy delicacy and a sense of shame in a young girl, you deprave her very fast.”
“Delicacy!” said Marie, with a scornful laugh,—“a fine word for such as she! I’ll teach her, with all her airs, that she’s no better than the raggedest black wench that walks the streets! She’ll take no more airs with me!”
“You will answer to God for such cruelty!” said Miss Ophelia, with energy.
“Cruelty,—I’d like to know what the cruelty is! I wrote orders for only fifteen lashes, and told him to put them on lightly. I’m sure there’s no cruelty there!”
“No cruelty!” said Miss Ophelia. “I’m sure any girl might rather be killed outright!”
-- Peut-être bien, avec vos sentiments.... mais toutes ces créatures sont accoutumées à cela, il n' y a pas d' autre moyen d' en avoir raison.... laissez -leur prendre une fois ces façons.... et vous ne pouvez plus vous en aider.... C' est ce qui m' est arrivé avec mes esclaves.... Maintenant, je commence à les réduire, et je vais leur faire savoir qu' ils iront tous au fouet, s' ils ne se corrigent pas. » Marie promena autour d' elle un regard décidé.
“It might seem so to anybody with your feeling; but all these creatures get used to it; it’s the only way they can be kept in order. Once let them feel that they are to take any airs about delicacy, and all that, and they’ll run all over you, just as my servants always have. I’ve begun now to bring them under; and I’ll have them all to know that I’ll send one out to be whipped, as soon as another, if they don’t mind themselves!” said Marie, looking around her decidedly.
Jane baissa la tête et trembla, comme si elle eût compris que ceci lui était particulièrement adressé.... Miss Ophélia s' assit un instant, comme si elle eût avalé quelque mélange susceptible de faire explosion.... Elle paraissait prête à éclater.... mais se rappelant l' inutilité de toute discussion avec une telle nature, elle resta bouche close, se recueillit et sortit de la chambre.
Jane hung her head and cowered at this, for she felt as if it was particularly directed to her. Miss Ophelia sat for a moment, as if she had swallowed some explosive mixture, and were ready to burst. Then, recollecting the utter uselessness of contention with such a nature, she shut her lips resolutely, gathered herself up, and walked out of the room.
It was hard to go back and tell Rosa that she could do nothing for her; and, shortly after, one of the man-servants came to say that her mistress had ordered him to take Rosa with him to the whipping-house, whither she was hurried, in spite of her tears and entreaties.
Quelques jours après cette scène, Tom, rêveur, se tenait sur le balcon; il fut rejoint par Adolphe, abattu et désolé depuis la mort de son maître.... Adolphe savait bien qu' il avait toujours déplu à Marie; pendant que son maître vivait, il n' y prenait pas garde; maintenant il vivait « dans la crainte et le tremblement, » ne sachant pas trop ce qu' il adviendrait de lui. ~~~ Marie avait eu plusieurs conférences avec ses hommes d' affaires. Après avoir pris l' avis de son beau-frère, elle se résolut à vendre l' habitation ainsi que tous les esclaves, ne se réservant que ceux qui lui appartenaient en propre: quant à ceux -ci, elle les ramènerait avec elle chez son père.
A few days after, Tom was standing musing by the balconies, when he was joined by Adolph, who, since the death of his master, had been entirely crest-fallen and disconsolate. Adolph knew that he had always been an object of dislike to Marie; but while his master lived he had paid but little attention to it. Now that he was gone, he had moved about in daily dread and trembling, not knowing what might befall him next. Marie had held several consultations with her lawyer; after communicating with St. Clare’s brother, it was determined to sell the place, and all the servants, except her own personal property, and these she intended to take with her, and go back to her father’s plantation.
“Do ye know, Tom, that we’ve all got to be sold?” said Adolph.
“How did you hear that?” said Tom.
“I hid myself behind the curtains when Missis was talking with the lawyer. In a few days we shall be sent off to auction, Tom.”
“The Lord’s will be done!” said Tom, folding his arms and sighing heavily.
“We’ll never get another such a master,” said Adolph, apprehensively; “but I’d rather be sold than take my chance under Missis.”
Tom se détourna: son coeur était plein.... L' espérance et la liberté, la pensée lointaine de sa femme et de ses enfants, s' étaient tout à coup levées devant son âme patiente, comme devant les yeux du matelot qui sombre en touchant le port se dressent la flèche de l' église et les toits aimés du village natal, aperçus derrière la vague sombre comme pour envoyer et recevoir un dernier adieu. Tom serra plus étroitement ses bras contre sa poitrine.... Il refoula ses larmes amères et il essaya de prier.... Le pauvre esclave éprouvait maintenant un désir de liberté tellement irrésistible que plus il répétait: « Seigneur, que ta volonté soit faite ! » plus il était désespéré.
Tom turned away; his heart was full. The hope of liberty, the thought of distant wife and children, rose up before his patient soul, as to the mariner shipwrecked almost in port rises the vision of the church-spire and loving roofs of his native village, seen over the top of some black wave only for one last farewell. He drew his arms tightly over his bosom, and choked back the bitter tears, and tried to pray. The poor old soul had such a singular, unaccountable prejudice in favor of liberty, that it was a hard wrench for him; and the more he said, “Thy will be done,” the worse he felt.
He sought Miss Ophelia, who, ever since Eva’s death, had treated him with marked and respectful kindness.
“Miss Feely,” he said, “Mas’r St. Clare promised me my freedom. He told me that he had begun to take it out for me; and now, perhaps, if Miss Feely would be good enough to speak bout it to Missis, she would feel like goin’ on with it, was it as Mas’r St. Clare’s wish.”
“I’ll speak for you, Tom, and do my best,” said Miss Ophelia; “but, if it depends on Mrs. St. Clare, I can’t hope much for you;—nevertheless, I will try.”
This incident occurred a few days after that of Rosa, while Miss Ophelia was busied in preparations to return north.
En y réfléchissant sérieusement, elle se dit qu' elle avait, sans nul doute, mis trop de chaleur dans sa première discussion avec Marie, et elle résolut, pour cette fois, de modérer son zèle et d' être aussi conciliante que possible. Elle se recueillit, prit son tricot, et alla dans la chambre de Marie, bien résolue à se montrer très-aimable et à négocier l' affaire de Tom avec toute l' habileté de sa diplomatie.
Seriously reflecting within herself, she considered that perhaps she had shown too hasty a warmth of language in her former interview with Marie; and she resolved that she would now endeavor to moderate her zeal, and to be as conciliatory as possible. So the good soul gathered herself up, and, taking her knitting, resolved to go into Marie’s room, be as agreeable as possible, and negotiate Tom’s case with all the diplomatic skill of which she was mistress.
She found Marie reclining at length upon a lounge, supporting herself on one elbow by pillows, while Jane, who had been out shopping, was displaying before her certain samples of thin black stuffs.
« Voilà qui fera l' affaire.... dit Marie en choisissant; seulement je ne sais pas si c' est bien deuil.
“That will do,” said Marie, selecting one; “only I’m not sure about its being properly mourning.”
“Laws, Missis,” said Jane, volubly, “Mrs. General Derbennon wore just this very thing, after the General died, last summer; it makes up lovely!”
“What do you think?” said Marie to Miss Ophelia.
“It’s a matter of custom, I suppose,” said Miss Ophelia. “You can judge about it better than I.”
“The fact is,” said Marie, “that I haven’t a dress in the world that I can wear; and, as I am going to break up the establishment, and go off, next week, I must decide upon something.”
-- Ah ! vous partez si tôt ?
“Are you going so soon?”
“Yes. St. Clare’s brother has written, and he and the lawyer think that the servants and furniture had better be put up at auction, and the place left with our lawyer.”
“There’s one thing I wanted to speak with you about,” said Miss Ophelia. “Augustine promised Tom his liberty, and began the legal forms necessary to it. I hope you will use your influence to have it perfected.”
“Indeed, I shall do no such thing!” said Marie, sharply. “Tom is one of the most valuable servants on the place,—it couldn’t be afforded, any way. Besides, what does he want of liberty? He’s a great deal better off as he is.”
“But he does desire it, very earnestly, and his master promised it,” said Miss Ophelia.
-- Eh mon Dieu ! oui, il la désire, ils la désirent tous.... une race de mécontents qui veut toujours ce qu' elle n' a pas.... Moi, je suis, en principe, contre l' émancipation, dans tous les cas. Gardez un nègre, il ira bien, et se conduira bien; renvoyez -le, il sera paresseux, ne travaillera pas, s' enivrera.... il deviendra très-mauvais sujet: j' ai eu cent exemples de cela sous les yeux.... Il n' y a pas de raison pour les affranchir !...
“I dare say he does want it,” said Marie; “they all want it, just because they are a discontented set,—always wanting what they haven’t got. Now, I’m principled against emancipating, in any case. Keep a negro under the care of a master, and he does well enough, and is respectable; but set them free, and they get lazy, and won’t work, and take to drinking, and go all down to be mean, worthless fellows, I’ve seen it tried, hundreds of times. It’s no favor to set them free.”
“But Tom is so steady, industrious, and pious.”
“O, you needn’t tell me! I’ve see a hundred like him. He’ll do very well, as long as he’s taken care of,—that’s all.”
“But, then, consider,” said Miss Ophelia, “when you set him up for sale, the chances of his getting a bad master.”
“O, that’s all humbug!” said Marie; “it isn’t one time in a hundred that a good fellow gets a bad master; most masters are good, for all the talk that is made. I’ve lived and grown up here, in the South, and I never yet was acquainted with a master that didn’t treat his servants well,—quite as well as is worth while. I don’t feel any fears on that head.”
“Well,” said Miss Ophelia, energetically, “I know it was one of the last wishes of your husband that Tom should have his liberty; it was one of the promises that he made to dear little Eva on her death-bed, and I should not think you would feel at liberty to disregard it.”
Marie had her face covered with her handkerchief at this appeal, and began sobbing and using her smelling-bottle, with great vehemence.
« Tout le monde est contre moi, fit -elle; on n' a d' égards pour rien.... Je n' aurais pas cru que vous m' eussiez rappelé ainsi le souvenir de mes infortunes.... c' est un manque d' égards.... Des égards ! on n' en a pas pour moi. Ah ! j' ai bien du malheur ! Je n' avais qu' une fille unique.... je l' ai perdue ! J' avais le mari qui me convenait.... et tout le monde ne pouvait me convenir, à moi ! Mon mari m' est enlevé aussi, et vous avez assez peu de tendresse pour me rappeler ces souvenirs.... quand vous voyez si bien qu' ils m' accablent.... Ah ! vous avez de bonnes intentions.... mais vous êtes bien imprudente.... bien imprudente ! » ~~~ Et Marie sanglota à perdre haleine et appela Mammy pour ouvrir la fenêtre, lui donner son flacon de camphre, baigner sa tête, ouvrir sa robe.... Ce fut un moment de confusion dont miss Ophélia profita pour regagner son appartement.
“Everybody goes against me!” she said. “Everybody is so inconsiderate! I shouldn’t have expected that _you_ would bring up all these remembrances of my troubles to me,—it’s so inconsiderate! But nobody ever does consider,—my trials are so peculiar! It’s so hard, that when I had only one daughter, she should have been taken!—and when I had a husband that just exactly suited me,—and I’m so hard to be suited!—he should be taken! And you seem to have so little feeling for me, and keep bringing it up to me so carelessly,—when you know how it overcomes me! I suppose you mean well; but it is very inconsiderate,—very!” And Marie sobbed, and gasped for breath, and called Mammy to open the window, and to bring her the camphor-bottle, and to bathe her head, and unhook her dress. And, in the general confusion that ensued, Miss Ophelia made her escape to her apartment.
Miss Ophélia vit bien que tout était inutile; Mme Saint-Clare trouvait des ressources inépuisables d' arguments dans ses attaques de nerfs: c' était sa réponse dès qu' on lui rappelait les voeux de sa fille et de son mari. Miss Ophélia prit le meilleur parti qui lui restât: elle écrivit à Mme Shelby, exposant les malheurs de Tom et réclamant une prompte assistance.
She saw, at once, that it would do no good to say anything more; for Marie had an indefinite capacity for hysteric fits; and, after this, whenever her husband’s or Eva’s wishes with regard to the servants were alluded to, she always found it convenient to set one in operation. Miss Ophelia, therefore, did the next best thing she could for Tom,—she wrote a letter to Mrs. Shelby for him, stating his troubles, and urging them to send to his relief.
The next day, Tom and Adolph, and some half a dozen other servants, were marched down to a slave-warehouse, to await the convenience of the trader, who was going to make up a lot for auction.
CHAPITRE XXX. ~~~ Un magasin d'esclaves.
CHAPTER XXX The Slave Warehouse
Un magasin d' esclaves ! Peut-être ce mot seul évoque -t-il, devant quelques-uns de mes lecteurs, des visions horribles; ils se figurent quelque horrible Tartare, bien noir et bien affreux. ~~~...... Informe, ingens, cui lumen ademptum ! ~~~ Eh non, innocent lecteur ! les hommes d' aujourd'hui ont trouvé le moyen de pécher habilement, doucement, de façon à ne pas blesser les yeux et la sensibilité de la bonne compagnie. La marchandise humaine est avantageuse sur la place; on a donc soin qu' elle soit bien nourrie, bien vêtue, bien soignée, bien traitée, pour qu' elle arrive au marché forte, grasse et brillante ! Un magasin d' esclaves, à la Nouvelle-Orléans, ressemble, extérieurement du moins, à toutes les autres maisons; il est tenu fort proprement; mais chaque jour, sous une espèce d' auvent, dans la rue, vous voyez étalées des rangées d' hommes et de femmes, comme échantillon de ce que l' on vend à l' intérieur.
A slave warehouse! Perhaps some of my readers conjure up horrible visions of such a place. They fancy some foul, obscure den, some horrible _Tartarus “informis, ingens, cui lumen ademptum.”_ But no, innocent friend; in these days men have learned the art of sinning expertly and genteelly, so as not to shock the eyes and senses of respectable society. Human property is high in the market; and is, therefore, well fed, well cleaned, tended, and looked after, that it may come to sale sleek, and strong, and shining. A slave-warehouse in New Orleans is a house externally not much unlike many others, kept with neatness; and where every day you may see arranged, under a sort of shed along the outside, rows of men and women, who stand there as a sign of the property sold within.
On vous invite courtoisement à entrer et à examiner. On vous annonce que vous trouverez là une grande quantité de maris, de femmes, de frères, de soeurs, de pères, de mères, de jeunes enfants, à vendre ensemble ou séparément, à la volonté de l' acquéreur; et cette âme immortelle, rachetée par le sang et les angoisses du Fils de Dieu.... au milieu des tremblements de terre, des rochers déchirés, des tombeaux ouverts.... cette âme est vendue, louée, engagée, échangée pour de l' épicerie ou toute autre denrée, selon que l' aura voulu le caprice du marchand ou la nécessité présente du commerce.
Then you shall be courteously entreated to call and examine, and shall find an abundance of husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, and young children, to be “sold separately, or in lots to suit the convenience of the purchaser;” and that soul immortal, once bought with blood and anguish by the Son of God, when the earth shook, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened, can be sold, leased, mortgaged, exchanged for groceries or dry goods, to suit the phases of trade, or the fancy of the purchaser.
It was a day or two after the conversation between Marie and Miss Ophelia, that Tom, Adolph, and about half a dozen others of the St. Clare estate, were turned over to the loving kindness of Mr. Skeggs, the keeper of a depot on —— street, to await the auction, next day.
Tom avait, comme plusieurs autres, une malle pleine d' effets à lui. ~~~ Les esclaves furent mis, pour la nuit, dans une longue pièce où se trouvaient rassemblés beaucoup d' autres hommes de tout âge, de toute taille et de toute couleur, et d' où partaient les éclats de rire d' une gaieté hébétée.
Tom had with him quite a sizable trunk full of clothing, as had most others of them. They were ushered, for the night, into a long room, where many other men, of all ages, sizes, and shades of complexion, were assembled, and from which roars of laughter and unthinking merriment were proceeding.
“Ah, ha! that’s right. Go it, boys,—go it!” said Mr. Skeggs, the keeper. “My people are always so merry! Sambo, I see!” he said, speaking approvingly to a burly negro who was performing tricks of low buffoonery, which occasioned the shouts which Tom had heard.
As might be imagined, Tom was in no humor to join these proceedings; and, therefore, setting his trunk as far as possible from the noisy group, he sat down on it, and leaned his face against the wall.
Ceux qui trafiquent de la marchandise humaine s' efforcent, avec une persévérance systématique, d' entretenir parmi les esclaves une gaieté bruyante; c' est le moyen de noyer chez eux la réflexion et de les rendre insensibles à leurs maux. Le but du commerçant, depuis le premier moment où il a pris le nègre dans les marchés du nord pour le vendre dans les marchés du sud, c' est de le rendre insensible, indifférent, brutal. Le trafiquant complète sa cargaison dans la Virginie et dans le Kentucky; il la conduit ensuite dans quelque endroit convenable et sain, souvent aux eaux, dans le but de l' engraisser. On les fait manger à discrétion, et, comme quelques-uns peuvent prendre de la mélancolie, le marchand a soin de se procurer un violon, et on les fait danser.... Et celui qui ne veut pas s' amuser, celui dont les pensées se reportent trop vivement sur sa femme, sur ses enfants, sur sa maison.... et qui ne peut pas être gai.... on le regarde comme un sournois dangereux, et l' on fait retomber sur lui toutes les vexations que peut inventer le mauvais vouloir d' un maître cruel et sans contrôle. L' insouciance, la pétulance, la gaieté.... surtout quand il y a des témoins, voilà ce que l' on veut des esclaves.... On espère ainsi trouver un bon acheteur, et l' on ne craint pas d' éprouver des pertes sérieuses.
The dealers in the human article make scrupulous and systematic efforts to promote noisy mirth among them, as a means of drowning reflection, and rendering them insensible to their condition. The whole object of the training to which the negro is put, from the time he is sold in the northern market till he arrives south, is systematically directed towards making him callous, unthinking, and brutal. The slave-dealer collects his gang in Virginia or Kentucky, and drives them to some convenient, healthy place,—often a watering place,—to be fattened. Here they are fed full daily; and, because some incline to pine, a fiddle is kept commonly going among them, and they are made to dance daily; and he who refuses to be merry—in whose soul thoughts of wife, or child, or home, are too strong for him to be gay—is marked as sullen and dangerous, and subjected to all the evils which the ill will of an utterly irresponsible and hardened man can inflict upon him. Briskness, alertness, and cheerfulness of appearance, especially before observers, are constantly enforced upon them, both by the hope of thereby getting a good master, and the fear of all that the driver may bring upon them if they prove unsalable.
“What dat ar nigger doin here?” said Sambo, coming up to Tom, after Mr. Skeggs had left the room. Sambo was a full black, of great size, very lively, voluble, and full of trick and grimace.
“What you doin here?” said Sambo, coming up to Tom, and poking him facetiously in the side. “Meditatin’, eh?”
“I am to be sold at the auction tomorrow!” said Tom, quietly.
-- Vendu aux enchères !... Ah ! ah ! garçons,... en voilà une plaisanterie !... Je voudrais bien être de la partie.... Eh bien, vous autres, n' est -il pas risible, celui -là ?... Eh mais, votre compagnon, celui -ci, doit -il être vendu aussi demain ? dit Sambo en posant familièrement sa main sur l' épaule d' Adolphe.
“Sold at auction,—haw! haw! boys, an’t this yer fun? I wish’t I was gwine that ar way!—tell ye, wouldn’t I make em laugh? But how is it,—dis yer whole lot gwine tomorrow?” said Sambo, laying his hand freely on Adolph’s shoulder.
“Please to let me alone!” said Adolph, fiercely, straightening himself up, with extreme disgust.
-- Ah ! ah ! garçons, voilà un vrai modèle de nègre blanc.... blanc comme lait et qui sent ! fit -il, en s' avançant encore et en flairant. Oh ! Dieu, comme il ferait bien l' affaire chez un débitant de tabac !... Il parfumerait la marchandise.... oui.... il embaumerait la boutique, parole !
“Law, now, boys! dis yer’s one o’ yer white niggers,—kind o’ cream color, ye know, scented!” said he, coming up to Adolph and snuffing. “O Lor! he’d do for a tobaccer-shop; they could keep him to scent snuff! Lor, he’d keep a whole shope agwine,—he would!”
“I say, keep off, can’t you?” said Adolph, enraged.
“Lor, now, how touchy we is,—we white niggers! Look at us now!” and Sambo gave a ludicrous imitation of Adolph’s manner; “here’s de airs and graces. We’s been in a good family, I specs.”
“Yes,” said Adolph; “I had a master that could have bought you all for old truck!”
“Laws, now, only think,” said Sambo, “the gentlemens that we is!”
-- J' appartenais à la famille Saint-Clare, dit Adolphe d' un ton fier.
“I belonged to the St. Clare family,” said Adolph, proudly.
“Lor, you did! Be hanged if they ar’n’t lucky to get shet of ye. Spects they’s gwine to trade ye off with a lot o’ cracked tea-pots and sich like!” said Sambo, with a provoking grin.
Adolph, enraged at this taunt, flew furiously at his adversary, swearing and striking on every side of him. The rest laughed and shouted, and the uproar brought the keeper to the door.
« Qu' est -ce donc, garçons ? la paix, la paix ! » dit -il en brandissant un long fouet.
“What now, boys? Order,—order!” he said, coming in and flourishing a large whip.
All fled in different directions, except Sambo, who, presuming on the favor which the keeper had to him as a licensed wag, stood his ground, ducking his head with a facetious grin, whenever the master made a dive at him.
“Lor, Mas’r, ’tan’t us,—we ’s reglar stiddy,—it’s these yer new hands; they ’s real aggravatin’,—kinder pickin’ at us, all time!”
The keeper, at this, turned upon Tom and Adolph, and distributing a few kicks and cuffs without much inquiry, and leaving general orders for all to be good boys and go to sleep, left the apartment.
Pendant que cette scène se passait dans le dortoir des hommes, voyons ce que l' on faisait dans l' appartement des femmes. ~~~ Les femmes étaient étendues sur le plancher en diverses attitudes. Rien ne saurait offrir un spectacle plus étrange que toutes ces femmes endormies.... Il y en avait de toutes les nuances, depuis le marbre blanc jusqu' à l' ébène sombre et lustré. Il y en avait de tous les âges, depuis l' enfance jusqu' à la vieillesse. Voici une belle et brillante enfant de dix ans. Sa mère a été vendue hier même, et maintenant elle pleure, la pauvre petite, parce qu' il n' y a plus personne pour veiller sur son sommeil. Voici une vieille négresse hors d' âge; ses bras amaigris, ses doigts calleux, révèlent les durs travaux. On la donnera demain, par-dessus le marché, pour ce qu' on en pourra tirer. En voilà partout ! quarante, cinquante ! la tête enveloppée de linges, de couvertures, de ce qu' elles trouvent. ~~~ Dans un coin, séparées du reste de la foule, et plus dignes d' intérêt, on peut remarquer deux femmes. ~~~ L' une d' elles est une mulâtresse au costume décent, à l' oeil doux, à la physionomie attrayante; elle peut avoir de quarante à cinquante ans; elle est coiffée d' un turban de Madras rouge, très-beau d' étoffe; elle est proprement vêtue. On voit qu' elle sort d' une maison où l' on avait soin d' elle.... Tout près d' elle, blottie contre elle, comme un oiseau dans son nid, est une jeune fille de quinze ans, sa fille. C' est une quarteronne, on peut le voir à sa carnation plus blanche.... Elle a du reste les traits de sa mère: c' est le même oeil, doux et noir, avec de plus longs cils; ses cheveux bouclés ont les teintes brunes les plus riches.... Elle aussi est mise avec une grande propreté; ses petites mains, délicates et blanches, ne semblent pas connaître les oeuvres serviles. Ces deux femmes seront vendues demain, avec les esclaves de Saint-Clare. Le gentleman à qui elles appartiennent, et qui recevra le prix de leur vente, est un membre de l' Église chrétienne de New-York. Oui, il touchera l' argent.... et il ira s' asseoir au banquet de son Dieu, qui est leur Dieu !.... et il n' y pensera plus !
While this scene was going on in the men’s sleeping-room, the reader may be curious to take a peep at the corresponding apartment allotted to the women. Stretched out in various attitudes over the floor, he may see numberless sleeping forms of every shade of complexion, from the purest ebony to white, and of all years, from childhood to old age, lying now asleep. Here is a fine bright girl, of ten years, whose mother was sold out yesterday, and who tonight cried herself to sleep when nobody was looking at her. Here, a worn old negress, whose thin arms and callous fingers tell of hard toil, waiting to be sold tomorrow, as a cast-off article, for what can be got for her; and some forty or fifty others, with heads variously enveloped in blankets or articles of clothing, lie stretched around them. But, in a corner, sitting apart from the rest, are two females of a more interesting appearance than common. One of these is a respectably-dressed mulatto woman between forty and fifty, with soft eyes and a gentle and pleasing physiognomy. She has on her head a high-raised turban, made of a gay red Madras handkerchief, of the first quality, her dress is neatly fitted, and of good material, showing that she has been provided for with a careful hand. By her side, and nestling closely to her, is a young girl of fifteen,—her daughter. She is a quadroon, as may be seen from her fairer complexion, though her likeness to her mother is quite discernible. She has the same soft, dark eye, with longer lashes, and her curling hair is of a luxuriant brown. She also is dressed with great neatness, and her white, delicate hands betray very little acquaintance with servile toil. These two are to be sold tomorrow, in the same lot with the St. Clare servants; and the gentleman to whom they belong, and to whom the money for their sale is to be transmitted, is a member of a Christian church in New York, who will receive the money, and go thereafter to the sacrament of his Lord and theirs, and think no more of it.
Ces deux femmes, que nous appellerons Suzanne et Emmeline, avaient été longtemps attachées à la personne d' une aimable et pieuse dame de la Nouvelle-Orléans. On leur avait appris à lire et à écrire, on les avait instruites des vérités de la religion, et, pendant longtemps, elles avaient eu le sort le plus heureux que puisse espérer une femme de leur condition. Mais le fils unique de leur protectrice avait seul la direction de la fortune maternelle, et, soit incapacité, soit négligence, il éprouva des embarras et fit faillite. Au nombre de ses plus forts créanciers était la maison B. et Cie de New-York. B. et Cie firent écrire à leur homme d' affaires de la Nouvelle-Orléans; celui -ci pratiqua une saisie. Les deux femmes et une troupe d' esclaves planteurs étaient ce qu' il y avait de mieux dans l' actif du failli; l' homme d' affaires en informa ses commettants de New-York. B., nous l' avons dit, était chrétien; il habitait un État libre. Cette nouvelle le mit assez mal à son aise.... Il n' aimait pas ce commerce d' âmes humaines.... il ne voulait pas le faire ! Mais il avait trente mille dollars d' engagés. C' était bien de l' argent pour un principe ! Il réfléchit largement, consulta ceux dont il connaissait l' avis.... Puis il écrivit à son homme d' affaires d' agir comme il l' entendrait et pour le mieux de ses intérêts.
These two, whom we shall call Susan and Emmeline, had been the personal attendants of an amiable and pious lady of New Orleans, by whom they had been carefully and piously instructed and trained. They had been taught to read and write, diligently instructed in the truths of religion, and their lot had been as happy an one as in their condition it was possible to be. But the only son of their protectress had the management of her property; and, by carelessness and extravagance involved it to a large amount, and at last failed. One of the largest creditors was the respectable firm of B. & Co., in New York. B. & Co. wrote to their lawyer in New Orleans, who attached the real estate (these two articles and a lot of plantation hands formed the most valuable part of it), and wrote word to that effect to New York. Brother B., being, as we have said, a Christian man, and a resident in a free State, felt some uneasiness on the subject. He didn’t like trading in slaves and souls of men,—of course, he didn’t; but, then, there were thirty thousand dollars in the case, and that was rather too much money to be lost for a principle; and so, after much considering, and asking advice from those that he knew would advise to suit him, Brother B. wrote to his lawyer to dispose of the business in the way that seemed to him the most suitable, and remit the proceeds.
La lettre arriva à la Nouvelle-Orléans. Le lendemain Emmeline et Suzanne furent envoyées au dépôt pour attendre les prochaines enchères. Nous pouvons les apercevoir sous le pâle rayon de la lune qui glisse à travers la fenêtre. Écoutons leur conversation.... toutes deux pleurent; mais chacune d' elles pleure tout bas, pour que l' autre ne puisse pas l' entendre.
The day after the letter arrived in New Orleans, Susan and Emmeline were attached, and sent to the depot to await a general auction on the following morning; and as they glimmer faintly upon us in the moonlight which steals through the grated window, we may listen to their conversation. Both are weeping, but each quietly, that the other may not hear.
“Mother, just lay your head on my lap, and see if you can’t sleep a little,” says the girl, trying to appear calm.
“I haven’t any heart to sleep, Em; I can’t; it’s the last night we may be together!”
“O, mother, don’t say so! perhaps we shall get sold together,—who knows?”
“If ’t was anybody’s else case, I should say so, too, Em,” said the woman; “but I’m so feard of losin’ you that I don’t see anything but the danger.”
“Why, mother, the man said we were both likely, and would sell well.”
Suzanne se souvint des regards de cet homme aussi bien que de ses paroles.... Elle se rappelait, avec une inexprimable angoisse, comment il avait examiné les mains d' Emmeline, soulevé les boucles luisantes de ses cheveux et déclaré que c' était là un article de premier choix.... Suzanne avait été élevée comme une chrétienne, lisant chaque jour sa Bible, et, comme toute mère chrétienne à sa place, elle ressentait une profonde horreur à la pensée que sa fille serait livrée à une vie de honte.... ~~~ Mais elle n' avait ni espérance ni protection....
Susan remembered the man’s looks and words. With a deadly sickness at her heart, she remembered how he had looked at Emmeline’s hands, and lifted up her curly hair, and pronounced her a first-rate article. Susan had been trained as a Christian, brought up in the daily reading of the Bible, and had the same horror of her child’s being sold to a life of shame that any other Christian mother might have; but she had no hope,—no protection.
« Mère, soyez sûre que nous serons bien placées.... vous, comme cuisinière, moi, comme femme de chambre.... ou bien pour la couture.... dans quelque bonne famille.... Oh ! oui, vous verrez !... Il faut être aussi bien.... aussi aimables que nous pourrons.... et dire tout ce que nous savons faire ! vous verrez que cela ira bien !
“Mother, I think we might do first rate, if you could get a place as cook, and I as chambermaid or seamstress, in some family. I dare say we shall. Let’s both look as bright and lively as we can, and tell all we can do, and perhaps we shall,” said Emmeline.
-- Demain, Lina, je défriserai vos cheveux, je les brosserai au rebours....
“I want you to brush your hair all back straight, tomorrow,” said Susan.
-- Ah ! pourquoi, mère ? je ne serai plus aussi bien !
“What for, mother? I don’t look near so well, that way.”
-- Peut-être.... mais vous serez mieux vendue !
“Yes, but you’ll sell better so.”
“I don’t see why!” said the child.
“Respectable families would be more apt to buy you, if they saw you looked plain and decent, as if you wasn’t trying to look handsome. I know their ways better ’n you do,” said Susan.
--Eh bien! mère, comme vous voudrez.
“Well, mother, then I will.”
-- Emmeline, si nous ne devons plus nous revoir, si je suis vendue d' un côté et vous de l' autre, souvenez -vous comment vous avez été élevée; rappelez -vous tout ce que madame vous a dit; emportez partout votre Bible et votre livre de cantiques; si vous êtes fidèle à Dieu, Dieu aussi vous sera fidèle. »
“And, Emmeline, if we shouldn’t ever see each other again, after tomorrow,—if I’m sold way up on a plantation somewhere, and you somewhere else,—always remember how you’ve been brought up, and all Missis has told you; take your Bible with you, and your hymn-book; and if you’re faithful to the Lord, he’ll be faithful to you.”
Ainsi parlait cette pauvre femme, amèrement découragée; car elle savait que demain le premier venu, vil, brutal, impie, sans coeur, deviendrait, s' il avait de l' argent pour la payer, le possesseur de sa fille, corps et âme ! Et sera -t-il alors, sera -t-il possible à l' enfant de rester fidèle à Dieu ? Elle pense à tout cela en serrant sa fille dans ses bras, et elle regrette de la voir si belle et si charmante; elle regrette qu' elle ait été si purement, si pieusement élevée; elle regrette qu' elle soit au-dessus de sa classe. Mais elle n' a maintenant d' autre ressource que de prier. Ah ! bien des prières semblables ont monté jusqu' à Dieu, qui partaient de ces prisons d' esclaves si élégantes et si coquettes, et un jour on verra bien que ces prières -là, Dieu ne les a point oubliées; car il est écrit: « Quant à celui qui aura offensé un de ces petits, il vaudrait mieux pour lui qu' avec une pierre de moulin attachée à son cou il eût été englouti dans les abîmes de la mer ! »
So speaks the poor soul, in sore discouragement; for she knows that tomorrow any man, however vile and brutal, however godless and merciless, if he only has money to pay for her, may become owner of her daughter, body and soul; and then, how is the child to be faithful? She thinks of all this, as she holds her daughter in her arms, and wishes that she were not handsome and attractive. It seems almost an aggravation to her to remember how purely and piously, how much above the ordinary lot, she has been brought up. But she has no resort but to _pray_; and many such prayers to God have gone up from those same trim, neatly-arranged, respectable slave-prisons,—prayers which God has not forgotten, as a coming day shall show; for it is written, “Who causeth one of these little ones to offend, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea.”
Le rayon de la lune, paisible, doux et calme, projetait l' ombre des barreaux sur les corps endormis. La mère et la fille chantaient une sorte de complainte mélancolique, qui sert d' hymne funèbre aux esclaves.
The soft, earnest, quiet moonbeam looks in fixedly, marking the bars of the grated windows on the prostrate, sleeping forms. The mother and daughter are singing together a wild and melancholy dirge, common as a funeral hymn among the slaves:
“O, where is weeping Mary? O, where is weeping Mary? ’Rived in the goodly land. She is dead and gone to Heaven; She is dead and gone to Heaven; ’Rived in the goodly land.”
Ces paroles, chantées par des voix dont le timbre a je ne sais quelle douceur émue et pénétrante, notées sur un air qu' on eût pris pour le soupir du désespoir de la terre qui aspire aux célestes espérances, ces paroles flottaient dans la sombre prison, se balançaient sur un rhythme pathétique, et la complainte se déroulait, vers après vers !
These words, sung by voices of a peculiar and melancholy sweetness, in an air which seemed like the sighing of earthy despair after heavenly hope, floated through the dark prison rooms with a pathetic cadence, as verse after verse was breathed out:
“O, where are Paul and Silas? O, where are Paul and Silas? Gone to the goodly land. They are dead and gone to Heaven; They are dead and gone to Heaven; ’Rived in the goodly land.”
Sing on poor souls! The night is short, and the morning will part you forever!
Mais le voici déjà, le matin ! tout le monde est sur pied. Le digne M. Skeggs est affairé, il est vif.... Il faut qu' il arrange un beau lot pour les enchères.... Il faut qu' il surveille la toilette, il faut que chacun prenne son beau visage et fasse bonne contenance.... On les fait mettre en cercle pour la dernière revue, avant qu' ils aillent au marché.
But now it is morning, and everybody is astir; and the worthy Mr. Skeggs is busy and bright, for a lot of goods is to be fitted out for auction. There is a brisk lookout on the toilet; injunctions passed around to every one to put on their best face and be spry; and now all are arranged in a circle for a last review, before they are marched up to the Bourse.
Mr. Skeggs, with his palmetto on and his cigar in his mouth, walks around to put farewell touches on his wares.
“How’s this?” he said, stepping in front of Susan and Emmeline. “Where’s your curls, gal?”
La jeune fille regarda timidement sa mère: celle -ci, avec la ruse particulière aux femmes de sa classe:
The girl looked timidly at her mother, who, with the smooth adroitness common among her class, answers,
“I was telling her, last night, to put up her hair smooth and neat, and not havin’ it flying about in curls; looks more respectable so.”
-- Allons donc ! fit l' homme d' un ton qui n' admettait pas de réplique; et se tournant vers la jeune fille: Vite ! qu' on se dépêche.... frisez -vous ! allez et revenez à l' instant.... vous, allez lui aider ! dit -il à la mère, en faisant siffler sa badine.... Ces boucles -là, ajoutait -il, font une différence de cent dollars sur le prix de vente ! »........................
“Bother!” said the man, peremptorily, turning to the girl; “you go right along, and curl yourself real smart!” He added, giving a crack to a rattan he held in his hand, “And be back in quick time, too!” ~~~ “You go and help her,” he added, to the mother. “Them curls may make a hundred dollars difference in the sale of her.”
Sous un dôme splendide, sur un pavé de marbre, se promènent des hommes de toutes les nations; de tous les côtés de l' enceinte circulaire on a placé des tribunes pour les crieurs et les commissaires-priseurs. Deux de ces tribunes, aux extrémités opposées de l' enceinte, sont occupées par de beaux et brillants parleurs qui, avec une éloquence mélangée de français et d' anglais, s' efforcent de faire monter les enchères des connaisseurs; un troisième, encore inoccupé, était au milieu d' un groupe qui attendait l' ouverture de la vente. Nous reconnaissons là les esclaves de Saint-Clare, Tom, Adolphe, et les autres; à côté d' eux, voici Suzanne et Emmeline, le front baissé, tristes, dévorées d' inquiétudes.... et attendant leur tour.... Différents spectateurs, qui vont acheter, ou ne pas acheter.... comme il leur plaira.... se pressent autour du groupe.... ils touchent.... ils regardent.... ils discutent.... comme des jockeys feraient autour d' un cheval !
Beneath a splendid dome were men of all nations, moving to and fro, over the marble pave. On every side of the circular area were little tribunes, or stations, for the use of speakers and auctioneers. Two of these, on opposite sides of the area, were now occupied by brilliant and talented gentlemen, enthusiastically forcing up, in English and French commingled, the bids of connoisseurs in their various wares. A third one, on the other side, still unoccupied, was surrounded by a group, waiting the moment of sale to begin. And here we may recognize the St. Clare servants,—Tom, Adolph, and others; and there, too, Susan and Emmeline, awaiting their turn with anxious and dejected faces. Various spectators, intending to purchase, or not intending, examining, and commenting on their various points and faces with the same freedom that a set of jockeys discuss the merits of a horse.
“Hulloa, Alf! what brings you here?” said a young exquisite, slapping the shoulder of a sprucely-dressed young man, who was examining Adolph through an eye-glass.
“Well! I was wanting a valet, and I heard that St. Clare’s lot was going. I thought I’d just look at his—”
“Catch me ever buying any of St. Clare’s people! Spoilt niggers, every one. Impudent as the devil!” said the other.
“Never fear that!” said the first. “If I get ’em, I’ll soon have their airs out of them; they’ll soon find that they’ve another kind of master to deal with than Monsieur St. Clare. ’Pon my word, I’ll buy that fellow. I like the shape of him.”
“You’ll find it’ll take all you’ve got to keep him. He’s deucedly extravagant!”
“Yes, but my lord will find that he _can’t_ be extravagant with _me_. Just let him be sent to the calaboose a few times, and thoroughly dressed down! I’ll tell you if it don’t bring him to a sense of his ways! O, I’ll reform him, up hill and down,—you’ll see. I buy him, that’s flat!”
Cependant Tom était là, tout pensif, regardant tous ces visages qui se pressaient autour de lui, et se demandant lequel il voudrait appeler son maître. Ah ! lecteurs, si jamais vous vous trouviez dans la nécessité de choisir, entre deux cents hommes, celui qui devrait être votre souverain absolu, peut-être penseriez vous, comme Tom, que le choix est toujours difficile et fort peu rassurant.... Tom vit bien des gens, grands, petits, gras, maigres, ronds, efflanqués, carrés, de toute sorte et de toute espèce.... il vit surtout des hommes communs et grossiers, de ces hommes qui ramassent leurs semblables comme on ramasse des copeaux pour les mettre dans un panier ou les jeter au feu.... sans y prendre garde ! il ne vit pas un second Saint-Clare.
Tom had been standing wistfully examining the multitude of faces thronging around him, for one whom he would wish to call master. And if you should ever be under the necessity, sir, of selecting, out of two hundred men, one who was to become your absolute owner and disposer, you would, perhaps, realize, just as Tom did, how few there were that you would feel at all comfortable in being made over to. Tom saw abundance of men,—great, burly, gruff men; little, chirping, dried men; long-favored, lank, hard men; and every variety of stubbed-looking, commonplace men, who pick up their fellow-men as one picks up chips, putting them into the fire or a basket with equal unconcern, according to their convenience; but he saw no St. Clare.
Quelques instants avant la vente, un homme court, large et trapu, dont la chemise déchiquetée bâillait sur sa poitrine, portant des pantalons sales et usés, se fraya un passage à travers la foule, en jouant des coudes, comme un homme qui va vite en besogne. Il approcha du groupe et se livra à un minutieux examen. ~~~ Tom ne l' eut pas plutôt aperçu, qu' il éprouva pour lui une invincible horreur. Ce sentiment augmentait à mesure que l' homme s' approchait de lui.... Quoiqu' il fût petit, on devinait en lui une force d' athlète. Il avait la tête ronde comme une boule, de grands yeux gris-vert, ombragés de sourcils jaunâtres et touffus, des cheveux roides et rouges. Tout cela, comme on voit, n' était guère attrayant.... Il avait les joues gonflées d' une chique de tabac, dont il rejetait le jus avec autant d' énergie que de décision. Ses mains étaient d' une grosseur démesurée, calleuses, poilues, brûlées du soleil, et garnies d' ongles fort mal tenus. ~~~ Cet homme examina notre lot d' esclaves avec beaucoup de sans-façon. Il prit Tom par le menton, lui fit ouvrir la bouche pour regarder ses dents, étendre les bras pour montrer ses muscles.... Il tourna autour de lui, et le fit sauter en hauteur et en largeur, pour connaître la force de ses jambes.
A little before the sale commenced, a short, broad, muscular man, in a checked shirt considerably open at the bosom, and pantaloons much the worse for dirt and wear, elbowed his way through the crowd, like one who is going actively into a business; and, coming up to the group, began to examine them systematically. From the moment that Tom saw him approaching, he felt an immediate and revolting horror at him, that increased as he came near. He was evidently, though short, of gigantic strength. His round, bullet head, large, light-gray eyes, with their shaggy, sandy eyebrows, and stiff, wiry, sun-burned hair, were rather unprepossessing items, it is to be confessed; his large, coarse mouth was distended with tobacco, the juice of which, from time to time, he ejected from him with great decision and explosive force; his hands were immensely large, hairy, sun-burned, freckled, and very dirty, and garnished with long nails, in a very foul condition. This man proceeded to a very free personal examination of the lot. He seized Tom by the jaw, and pulled open his mouth to inspect his teeth; made him strip up his sleeve, to show his muscle; turned him round, made him jump and spring, to show his paces.
“Where was you raised?” he added, briefly, to these investigations.
“In Kintuck, Mas’r,” said Tom, looking about, as if for deliverance.
--Que faisiez-vous?
“What have you done?”
--Je soignais la ferme.
-- En voilà une histoire ! » Et il passa outre.
“Had care of Mas’r’s farm,” said Tom.
Il s' arrêta devant Adolphe, lança sur ses bottes bien cirées une gorgée de tabac, grommela je ne sais quel terme injurieux..., et passa ! ~~~ Il s' arrêta encore devant Suzanne et Emmeline, il avança sa lourde et sale main, et attira la jeune fille à lui.... Il passait cette main sur le cou, sur la poitrine.... il tâtait les bras.... il regardait les dents.... Enfin il la repoussa contre sa mère, dont le visage avait reflété toutes les émotions que lui faisaient éprouver les façons de ce hideux étranger.
“Likely story!” said the other, shortly, as he passed on. He paused a moment before Dolph; then spitting a discharge of tobacco-juice on his well-blacked boots, and giving a contemptuous umph, he walked on. Again he stopped before Susan and Emmeline. He put out his heavy, dirty hand, and drew the girl towards him; passed it over her neck and bust, felt her arms, looked at her teeth, and then pushed her back against her mother, whose patient face showed the suffering she had been going through at every motion of the hideous stranger.
The girl was frightened, and began to cry.
“Stop that, you minx!” said the salesman; “no whimpering here,—the sale is going to begin.” And accordingly the sale begun.
Adolph was knocked off, at a good sum, to the young gentlemen who had previously stated his intention of buying him; and the other servants of the St. Clare lot went to various bidders.
“Now, up with you, boy! d’ye hear?” said the auctioneer to Tom.
Tom monta sur le tréteau, jetant autour de lui des regards inquiets. On entendait un bruit confus, sourd, où l' on ne pouvait plus rien distinguer. Le glapissement du crieur, qui hurlait ses qualités en anglais et en français, se mêlait au tumulte des enchères des deux nations. Enfin, le marteau retentit; on entendit sonner nette et claire la dernière syllabe du mot dollar ! C' en était fait, Tom était adjugé, il avait un maître.
Tom stepped upon the block, gave a few anxious looks round; all seemed mingled in a common, indistinct noise,—the clatter of the salesman crying off his qualifications in French and English, the quick fire of French and English bids; and almost in a moment came the final thump of the hammer, and the clear ring on the last syllable of the word _“dollars,”_ as the auctioneer announced his price, and Tom was made over.—He had a master!
He was pushed from the block;—the short, bullet-headed man seizing him roughly by the shoulder, pushed him to one side, saying, in a harsh voice, “Stand there, _you!_”
Tom n' avait plus conscience de rien.... Les enchères continuaient, sonores, éclatantes, françaises, anglaises, ou mélangées des deux langues. Le marteau retombe encore.... Cette fois, c' est Suzanne qui est vendue.... Elle descend de l' estrade, s' arrête, se retourne, regarde.... Sa fille lui tend les bras... Elle, la mort sur le visage, elle regarde celui qui vient de l' acheter: c' est un homme entre deux âges.... il est bien.... il paraît bon.
Tom hardly realized anything; but still the bidding went on,—ratting, clattering, now French, now English. Down goes the hammer again,—Susan is sold! She goes down from the block, stops, looks wistfully back,—her daughter stretches her hands towards her. She looks with agony in the face of the man who has bought her,—a respectable middle-aged man, of benevolent countenance.
“O, Mas’r, please do buy my daughter!”
“I’d like to, but I’m afraid I can’t afford it!” said the gentleman, looking, with painful interest, as the young girl mounted the block, and looked around her with a frightened and timid glance.
Le sang reflue à ses joues pâles.... le feu de la fièvre est dans ses yeux. La mère gémit en voyant qu' elle est plus belle que jamais. Le vendeur voit ses avantages.... il les exploite.... Les enchères montent rapidement. ~~~ « Je ferai tout ce qui me sera possible, » dit l' honnête gentleman en poussant avec les autres.
The blood flushes painfully in her otherwise colorless cheek, her eye has a feverish fire, and her mother groans to see that she looks more beautiful than she ever saw her before. The auctioneer sees his advantage, and expatiates volubly in mingled French and English, and bids rise in rapid succession.
Bientôt il ne peut plus suivre.... il se tait. Le commissaire s' échauffe.... Il y a moins de concurrents. La lutte est entre un vieil habitant de la Nouvelle-Orléans, très-aristocrate de sa nature, et le petit homme à la tête de boule. L' aristocrate continue le feu, en jetant à son adversaire un coup d' oeil de mépris. Mais le petit homme a sur lui le double avantage de l' obstination et de l' argent. La lutte ne dure qu' un instant. Le marteau retombe.... A lui la jeune fille, corps et âme, si Dieu ne vient en aide à l' innocence.
“I’ll do anything in reason,” said the benevolent-looking gentleman, pressing in and joining with the bids. In a few moments they have run beyond his purse. He is silent; the auctioneer grows warmer; but bids gradually drop off. It lies now between an aristocratic old citizen and our bullet-headed acquaintance. The citizen bids for a few turns, contemptuously measuring his opponent; but the bullet-head has the advantage over him, both in obstinacy and concealed length of purse, and the controversy lasts but a moment; the hammer falls,—he has got the girl, body and soul, unless God help her!
Her master is Mr. Legree, who owns a cotton plantation on the Red River. She is pushed along into the same lot with Tom and two other men, and goes off, weeping as she goes.
The benevolent gentleman is sorry; but, then, the thing happens every day! One sees girls and mothers crying, at these sales, _always!_ it can’t be helped, &c.; and he walks off, with his acquisition, in another direction.
Deux jours après l' homme de loi de la maison chrétienne B. et Cie de New-York envoyait l' argent à ses commettants. Ah ! sur le revers de la traite qui paye ce marché, écrivons ces mots du grand PAYEUR GÉNÉRAL, à qui un jour tous viendront rendre leurs comptes: « Il fera une enquête sur le sang, et il n' oubliera pas les pleurs des humbles ! »
Two days after, the lawyer of the Christian firm of B. & Co., New York, send on their money to them. On the reverse of that draft, so obtained, let them write these words of the great Paymaster, to whom they shall make up their account in a future day: _“When he maketh inquisition for blood, he forgetteth not the cry of the humble!”_
CHAPITRE XXXI. ~~~ La traversée.
CHAPTER XXXI The Middle Passage
“Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?”—HAB. 1: 13.
Au fond d' un bateau, qui remontait la rivière Rouge, Tom était assis, les chaînes aux mains, les chaînes aux pieds.... et sur le coeur un froid plus pesant que ses chaînes ! Pour lui, toutes les clartés étaient éteintes dans les cieux, et la lune et les étoiles; et, devant ses yeux, pareils aux arbres de la rive, tous ses rêves s' étaient enfuis à jamais.... et la ferme de Kentucky, et sa femme et ses enfants, et ses bons maîtres, et la maison Saint-Clare, avec ses splendeurs et son opulence, et la blonde tête d' Éva, et son regard angélique, et Saint-Clare, fier, superbe, triomphant, beau, insouciant parfois, mais toujours bon, et ces heures paresseuses, et ce loisir indulgent..., tout cela était parti, parti pour toujours; et à la place, que restait -il ?
On the lower part of a small, mean boat, on the Red River, Tom sat,—chains on his wrists, chains on his feet, and a weight heavier than chains lay on his heart. All had faded from his sky,—moon and star; all had passed by him, as the trees and banks were now passing, to return no more. Kentucky home, with wife and children, and indulgent owners; St. Clare home, with all its refinements and splendors; the golden head of Eva, with its saint-like eyes; the proud, gay, handsome, seemingly careless, yet ever-kind St. Clare; hours of ease and indulgent leisure,—all gone! and in place thereof, _what_ remains?
C' est là une des plus grandes misères de l' esclavage. Un nègre, au caractère sympathique et liant, rencontre une famille distinguée, il y acquiert les sentiments et les goûts qui forment en quelque sorte l' atmosphère du luxe; puis il tombe entre des mains grossières et brutales, comme le meuble qui décorait jadis un salon superbe, avili et souillé, tombe au comptoir d' une taverne.... ou plus bas encore ! Il y a une différence pourtant: la chaise ou la table avilie ne peut pas sentir, et l' homme le peut. La fiction légale a beau dire qu' il sera réputé, pris et adjugé comme un meuble, on n' a cependant pas pu chasser son âme ni étouffer ce monde de souvenirs, d' espérances, d' amour, de crainte et de désirs qu' elle porte en elle....
It is one of the bitterest apportionments of a lot of slavery, that the negro, sympathetic and assimilative, after acquiring, in a refined family, the tastes and feelings which form the atmosphere of such a place, is not the less liable to become the bond-slave of the coarsest and most brutal,—just as a chair or table, which once decorated the superb saloon, comes, at last, battered and defaced, to the barroom of some filthy tavern, or some low haunt of vulgar debauchery. The great difference is, that the table and chair cannot feel, and the _man_ can; for even a legal enactment that he shall be “taken, reputed, adjudged in law, to be a chattel personal,” cannot blot out his soul, with its own private little world of memories, hopes, loves, fears, and desires.
Quand M. Simon Legree, le nouveau maître de Tom, eut acheté çà et là, à la Nouvelle-Orléans, huit esclaves, il les conduisit, les menottes aux mains, et enchaînés deux à deux, à bord du steamer _le Pirate_, qui stationnait dans le port, tout prêt à remonter la rivière Rouge.
Mr. Simon Legree, Tom’s master, had purchased slaves at one place and another, in New Orleans, to the number of eight, and driven them, handcuffed, in couples of two and two, down to the good steamer Pirate, which lay at the levee, ready for a trip up the Red River.
Legree les embarqua, le navire partit. ~~~ Alors, maître Legree, avec l' air que nous lui connaissons, voulut les passer en revue. Il s' arrêta en face de Tom. On avait fait prendre à Tom son meilleur vêtement pour la vente publique. Il avait une belle chemise empesée et des bottes cirées. Legree lui adressa la parole en ces termes: ~~~ « Levez -vous ! »
Having got them fairly on board, and the boat being off, he came round, with that air of efficiency which ever characterized him, to take a review of them. Stopping opposite to Tom, who had been attired for sale in his best broadcloth suit, with well-starched linen and shining boots, he briefly expressed himself as follows:
Tom se leva.
“Stand up.”
«Otez cela!»
Tom stood up.
Et comme le père Tom, embarrassé par les menottes, n' allait pas assez vite à son gré, il lui aida, en arrachant brutalement le col, qu' il mit dans sa poche.
“Take off that stock!” and, as Tom, encumbered by his fetters, proceeded to do it, he assisted him, by pulling it, with no gentle hand, from his neck, and putting it in his pocket.
Il se dirigea ensuite vers la malle de Tom, qu' il avait d'abord eu soin de visiter; il en tira une paire de vieux pantalons et une veste délabrée, que Tom ne mettait que quand il descendait aux écuries.... Le maître débarrassa l' esclave de ses fers, et lui montrant une sorte de niche entre les colis:
Legree now turned to Tom’s trunk, which, previous to this, he had been ransacking, and, taking from it a pair of old pantaloons and dilapidated coat, which Tom had been wont to put on about his stable-work, he said, liberating Tom’s hands from the handcuffs, and pointing to a recess in among the boxes,
“You go there, and put these on.”
Tom obeyed, and in a few moments returned.
« Tirez vos bottes ! »
“Take off your boots,” said Mr. Legree.
Tom les tira.
Tom did so.
“There,” said the former, throwing him a pair of coarse, stout shoes, such as were common among the slaves, “put these on.”
Tom, malgré la rapidité de ce changement d' habit, avait pourtant fait passer sa chère Bible d' une poche à l' autre; bien lui en prit, car M. Legree, après lui avoir remis les menottes, commença l' inspection du contenu des poches. Il en retira un mouchoir de soie qu' il prit pour lui, différentes bagatelles, trésor recueilli par Tom parce qu' il avait fait la joie d' Éva, devinrent l' objet des dédains du marchand, qui les jeta à l' eau par-dessus son épaule.
In Tom’s hurried exchange, he had not forgotten to transfer his cherished Bible to his pocket. It was well he did so; for Mr. Legree, having refitted Tom’s handcuffs, proceeded deliberately to investigate the contents of his pockets. He drew out a silk handkerchief, and put it into his own pocket. Several little trifles, which Tom had treasured, chiefly because they had amused Eva, he looked upon with a contemptuous grunt, and tossed them over his shoulder into the river.
Tom’s Methodist hymn-book, which, in his hurry, he had forgotten, he now held up and turned over.
“Humph! pious, to be sure. So, what’s yer name,—you belong to the church, eh?”
-- Oui, maître, répondit Tom avec fermeté.
“Yes, Mas’r,” said Tom, firmly.
-- Eh bien ! vous n' en serez bientôt plus.... Je n' entends pas avoir chez moi de ces nègres qui chantent, qui prient et qui braillent.... souvenez -vous -en et prenez -y garde ! Et, en disant cela, il frappa violemment du pied, et darda sur Tom le regard farouche de ses yeux gris.... Je suis maintenant votre Église ! Vous entendez ? faites comme je dis ! »
“Well, I’ll soon have _that_ out of you. I have none o’ yer bawling, praying, singing niggers on my place; so remember. Now, mind yourself,” he said, with a stamp and a fierce glance of his gray eye, directed at Tom, “_I’m_ your church now! You understand,—you’ve got to be as _I_ say.”
Le nègre se tut, mais il y avait en lui comme une voix qui répondait: « Non ! » et, comme répétés par un invisible écho, ces mots d' une vieille prophétie, que si souvent Évangéline lui avait lue, revenaient sans cesse à ses oreilles: « Ne crains rien, car je t' ai racheté, je t' ai appelé de mon nom, tu es à moi ! »
Something within the silent black man answered _No!_ and, as if repeated by an invisible voice, came the words of an old prophetic scroll, as Eva had often read them to him,—“Fear not! for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by name. Thou art MINE!”
Mais Simon Legree n' entendit pas cette voix -là. Cette voix -là, il ne l' entendait jamais ! Il regarda un instant la physionomie attristée de Tom et s' éloigna. Il prit la malle de Tom, qui contenait une provision abondante de vêtements propres, et alla sur l' avant du bateau, où il fut bientôt entouré des ouvriers et employés du bord. Alors, riant beaucoup des nègres qui veulent faire les messieurs, il vendit tout ce qu' il y avait dans la malle, et la malle elle-même; et ils pensaient tous que c' était là un très-bon tour, et ils se divertissaient à voir de quel oeil Tom suivait ses effets, que l' on dispersait à droite et à gauche. La mise aux enchères de la malle fut regardée comme la meilleure farce du monde, et donna lieu à une foule de mots spirituels.
But Simon Legree heard no voice. That voice is one he never shall hear. He only glared for a moment on the downcast face of Tom, and walked off. He took Tom’s trunk, which contained a very neat and abundant wardrobe, to the forecastle, where it was soon surrounded by various hands of the boat. With much laughing, at the expense of niggers who tried to be gentlemen, the articles very readily were sold to one and another, and the empty trunk finally put up at auction. It was a good joke, they all thought, especially to see how Tom looked after his things, as they were going this way and that; and then the auction of the trunk, that was funnier than all, and occasioned abundant witticisms.
This little affair being over, Simon sauntered up again to his property.
“Now, Tom, I’ve relieved you of any extra baggage, you see. Take mighty good care of them clothes. It’ll be long enough ’fore you get more. I go in for making niggers careful; one suit has to do for one year, on my place.”
Simon next walked up to the place where Emmeline was sitting, chained to another woman.
“Well, my dear,” he said, chucking her under the chin, “keep up your spirits.”
The involuntary look of horror, fright and aversion, with which the girl regarded him, did not escape his eye. He frowned fiercely.
« Allons donc, la fille !... il faut faire bon visage quand je vous parle, entendez -vous ? Et vous, la vieille peau jaune, dit -il en poussant la mulâtresse à laquelle Emmeline était enchaînée, n' ayez donc pas cette mine -là ! il faut être plus gaie que cela, je vous dis ! Allons ! vous tous, fit -il en se reculant d' un pas ou deux en arrière, regardez -moi ! regardez -moi dans l' oeil !... bien droit !... là ! » ~~~ Et il frappait du pied à chaque mot. ~~~ Comme s' il les eût fascinés, tous les yeux se fixèrent sur son oeil gris étincelant.
“None o’ your shines, gal! you’s got to keep a pleasant face, when I speak to ye,—d’ye hear? And you, you old yellow poco moonshine!” he said, giving a shove to the mulatto woman to whom Emmeline was chained, “don’t you carry that sort of face! You’s got to look chipper, I tell ye!”
« Maintenant, dit -il en grossissant son énorme poing pesant, qui ressemblait assez au marteau d' un forgeron, vous voyez ce poing !... pesez -le !... »
“I say, all on ye,” he said retreating a pace or two back, “look at me,—look at me,—look me right in the eye,—_straight_, now!” said he, stamping his foot at every pause.
As by a fascination, every eye was now directed to the glaring greenish-gray eye of Simon.
« Moi, reprit -il, je n' ai aucun de ces maudits surveillants.... je suis mon propre surveillant.... et je vous préviens que je vois tout.... Il faut emboîter le pas.... droit et prompt.... du moment que je parle. Avec moi, il n' y a que ce moyen -là ! Vous ne trouverez jamais chez moi la moindre douceur.... je suis sans pitié. »
“Now,” said he, doubling his great, heavy fist into something resembling a blacksmith’s hammer, “d’ye see this fist? Heft it!” he said, bringing it down on Tom’s hand. “Look at these yer bones! Well, I tell ye this yer fist has got as hard as iron _knocking down niggers_. I never see the nigger, yet, I couldn’t bring down with one crack,” said he, bringing his fist down so near to the face of Tom that he winked and drew back. “I don’t keep none o’ yer cussed overseers; I does my own overseeing; and I tell you things _is_ seen to. You’s every one on ye got to toe the mark, I tell ye; quick,—straight,—the moment I speak. That’s the way to keep in with me. Ye won’t find no soft spot in me, nowhere. So, now, mind yerselves; for I don’t show no mercy!”
Les pauvres femmes n' osaient plus respirer; toute la troupe des esclaves s' assit par terre saisie d' effroi et les traits bouleversés. Le maître tourna sur ses talons.... et alla boire un petit verre !
The women involuntarily drew in their breath, and the whole gang sat with downcast, dejected faces. Meanwhile, Simon turned on his heel, and marched up to the bar of the boat for a dram.
“That’s the way I begin with my niggers,” he said, to a gentlemanly man, who had stood by him during his speech. “It’s my system to begin strong,—just let ’em know what to expect.”
“Indeed!” said the stranger, looking upon him with the curiosity of a naturalist studying some out-of-the-way specimen.
-- Oui, en vérité, reprit Simon. Je ne suis pas, moi, un de vos gentilshommes planteurs aux doigts blancs comme le lis, qui se laissent duper et voler par les damnés gérants. Voyez mes articulations ! hein ? Voyez mon poing ! Voyez -vous ça ? Là-dessus la chair est devenue dure comme la pierre, elle a durci sur les nègres.... tâtez ! »
“Yes, indeed. I’m none o’ yer gentlemen planters, with lily fingers, to slop round and be cheated by some old cuss of an overseer! Just feel of my knuckles, now; look at my fist. Tell ye, sir, the flesh on ’t has come jest like a stone, practising on nigger—feel on it.”
The stranger applied his fingers to the implement in question, and simply said,
“’T is hard enough; and, I suppose,” he added, “practice has made your heart just like it.”
“Why, yes, I may say so,” said Simon, with a hearty laugh. “I reckon there’s as little soft in me as in any one going. Tell you, nobody comes it over me! Niggers never gets round me, neither with squalling nor soft soap,—that’s a fact.”
-- Vous avez là un très-joli assortiment !
“You have a fine lot there.”
-- C' est vrai ! dit Simon. Il y a ce Tom, là-bas, il paraît que c' est un sujet rare, je l' ai payé un peu cher, pour en faire un cocher ou un directeur de travaux. Son défaut, c' est de ne pas vouloir être traité comme il faut que les nègres soient traités.... mais ça lui passera.... La femme jaune.... dame ! elle est un peu malade, je l' ai prise pour ce qu' elle vaut.... elle peut durer un an ou deux, je ne m' attache pas à épargner les nègres.... Non, ma foi ! Je les use et j' en achète d' autres, c' est moins de soin et moins de dépense.
“Real,” said Simon. “There’s that Tom, they telled me he was suthin’ uncommon. I paid a little high for him, tendin’ him for a driver and a managing chap; only get the notions out that he’s larnt by bein’ treated as niggers never ought to be, he’ll do prime! The yellow woman I got took in on. I rayther think she’s sickly, but I shall put her through for what she’s worth; she may last a year or two. I don’t go for savin’ niggers. Use up, and buy more, ’s my way;-makes you less trouble, and I’m quite sure it comes cheaper in the end;” and Simon sipped his glass.
“And how long do they generally last?” said the stranger.
-- Mon Dieu ! je ne sais pas trop.... ça dépend de leur constitution ! Les individus robustes durent six ou sept ans, les faibles sont ruinés en deux ou trois. Dans les premiers temps, je me donnais toutes les peines du monde pour les conserver. Quand ils étaient malades, je les soignais, je leur donnais des vêtements, des couvertures, enfin tout ! Maintenant, malades ou bien portants, c' est toujours le même régime.... Ça ne servait à rien.... Je me donnais bien du mal et je perdais de l' argent. Maintenant, quand un nègre meurt, j' en achète un autre.... je trouve que c' est meilleur marché.... et, en tout cas, bien plus commode ! »
“Well, donno; ’cordin’ as their constitution is. Stout fellers last six or seven years; trashy ones gets worked up in two or three. I used to, when I fust begun, have considerable trouble fussin’ with ’em and trying to make ’em hold out,—doctorin’ on ’em up when they’s sick, and givin’ on ’em clothes and blankets, and what not, tryin’ to keep ’em all sort o’ decent and comfortable. Law, ’t wasn’t no sort o’ use; I lost money on ’em, and ’t was heaps o’ trouble. Now, you see, I just put ’em straight through, sick or well. When one nigger’s dead, I buy another; and I find it comes cheaper and easier, every way.”
The stranger turned away, and seated himself beside a gentleman, who had been listening to the conversation with repressed uneasiness.
“You must not take that fellow to be any specimen of Southern planters,” said he.
-- Non, certes ! s' écria le jeune homme.
“I should hope not,” said the young gentleman, with emphasis.
-- C' est un vilain et misérable drôle !
“He is a mean, low, brutal fellow!” said the other.
“And yet your laws allow him to hold any number of human beings subject to his absolute will, without even a shadow of protection; and, low as he is, you cannot say that there are not many such.”
-- Mais parmi les planteurs il y a beaucoup d' hommes intelligents et vraiment humains.
“Well,” said the other, “there are also many considerate and humane men among planters.”
-- Je le veux bien, dit le jeune homme. Mais, dans mon opinion à moi, ce sont ceux -là, ce sont ceux -là mêmes, avec leur intelligence et leur humanité, qui sont responsables des outrages et des violences que subissent chaque jour ces malheureux. Sans votre influence et votre sanction, tout le système ne tiendrait pas debout une heure de plus... S' il n' y avait que des planteurs comme celui -là, fit -il en désignant du doigt Simon, qui leur tournait le dos, l' esclavage serait coulé à fond comme une meule de moulin... Votre honorabilité et votre humanité sauvent et protègent sa brutalité !
“Granted,” said the young man; “but, in my opinion, it is you considerate, humane men, that are responsible for all the brutality and outrage wrought by these wretches; because, if it were not for your sanction and influence, the whole system could not keep foothold for an hour. If there were no planters except such as that one,” said he, pointing with his finger to Legree, who stood with his back to them, “the whole thing would go down like a millstone. It is your respectability and humanity that licenses and protects his brutality.”
-- Vous avez certes une haute opinion de ma bonne nature, dit le planteur en souriant; mais ne parlez pas si haut: il y a peut-être sur le bateau des gens qui ne seraient pas aussi tolérants que moi. Attendez que nous soyons arrivés à ma plantation, et alors vous pourrez à votre aise nous maltraiter. »
“You certainly have a high opinion of my good nature,” said the planter, smiling, “but I advise you not to talk quite so loud, as there are people on board the boat who might not be quite so tolerant to opinion as I am. You had better wait till I get up to my plantation, and there you may abuse us all, quite at your leisure.”
Le jeune homme rougit et sourit, et les deux voyageurs commencèrent une partie de trictrac. ~~~ Cependant une autre conversation s' engageait entre Emmeline et la mulâtresse avec laquelle elle était enchaînée. Elles échangeaient les particularités de leur histoire: quoi de plus naturel dans leur position ?
The young gentleman colored and smiled, and the two were soon busy in a game of backgammon. Meanwhile, another conversation was going on in the lower part of the boat, between Emmeline and the mulatto woman with whom she was confined. As was natural, they were exchanging with each other some particulars of their history.
« A qui apparteniez -vous ? disait Emmeline.
“Who did you belong to?” said Emmeline.
“Well, my Mas’r was Mr. Ellis,—lived on Levee-street. P’raps you’ve seen the house.”
-- Était -il bon pour vous ?
“Was he good to you?” said Emmeline.
-- Assez, jusqu' au moment où il tomba malade; mais il a été malade plus de six mois, et il était devenu bien difficile. Il ne voulait pas qu' on dormît... ni jour ni nuit. Personne ne lui convenait: il devenait plus difficile de jour en jour. Il me garda je ne sais combien de nuits... Je tombais d' épuisement... Un matin, il me trouva endormie: il entra dans une si grande colère, qu' il résolut de me vendre au plus dur maître qu' il pourrait trouver; et pourtant il m' avait promis qu' à sa mort j' aurais ma liberté.
“Mostly, till he tuk sick. He’s lain sick, off and on, more than six months, and been orful oneasy. ’Pears like he warnt willin’ to have nobody rest, day or night; and got so curous, there couldn’t nobody suit him. ’Pears like he just grew crosser, every day; kep me up nights till I got farly beat out, and couldn’t keep awake no longer; and cause I got to sleep, one night, Lors, he talk so orful to me, and he tell me he’d sell me to just the hardest master he could find; and he’d promised me my freedom, too, when he died.”
--Aviez-vous des amis?
“Had you any friends?” said Emmeline.
“Yes, my husband,—he’s a blacksmith. Mas’r gen’ly hired him out. They took me off so quick, I didn’t even have time to see him; and I’s got four children. O, dear me!” said the woman, covering her face with her hands.
It is a natural impulse, in every one, when they hear a tale of distress, to think of something to say by way of consolation. Emmeline wanted to say something, but she could not think of anything to say. What was there to be said? As by a common consent, they both avoided, with fear and dread, all mention of the horrible man who was now their master.
Pour les plus sombres heures, il y a les consolations religieuses, je le sais. La mulâtresse appartenait à l' Église méthodiste. Sa piété n' était pas éclairée sans doute, mais elle était sincère. Emmeline avait reçu une éducation plus soignée, elle avait appris à lire et à écrire. Elle connaissait la Bible; elle avait reçu les soins d' une pieuse et bonne maîtresse. Et cependant, même pour la plus robuste foi chrétienne, n' est -ce point une bien rude épreuve que de se voir, du moins en apparence, abandonnée de Dieu et entre les mains d' une violence que rien n' émeut ? et combien cette foi doit être encore plus ébranlée dans de jeunes âmes faibles et ignorantes !
True, there is religious trust for even the darkest hour. The mulatto woman was a member of the Methodist church, and had an unenlightened but very sincere spirit of piety. Emmeline had been educated much more intelligently,—taught to read and write, and diligently instructed in the Bible, by the care of a faithful and pious mistress; yet, would it not try the faith of the firmest Christian, to find themselves abandoned, apparently, of God, in the grasp of ruthless violence? How much more must it shake the faith of Christ’s poor little ones, weak in knowledge and tender in years!
Le bateau s' avançait, portant son fret de douleurs ! il remontait le courant fangeux et agité, à travers les sinuosités abruptes et capricieuses de la rivière Rouge. Les yeux attristés rencontraient partout devant eux ses bords escarpés, rouges comme ses ondes, qui les éblouissaient de leur éternelle et terrible uniformité.
The boat moved on,—freighted with its weight of sorrow,—up the red, muddy, turbid current, through the abrupt tortuous windings of the Red river; and sad eyes gazed wearily on the steep red-clay banks, as they glided by in dreary sameness. At last the boat stopped at a small town, and Legree, with his party, disembarked.
CHAPITRE XXXII.
CHAPTER XXXII Dark Places
Lieux sombres. ~~~ « La terre est couverte de ténèbres et pleine de cruauté. »
“The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.”[1]
Tom et ses compagnons se rangèrent derrière une lourde voiture, et s' avancèrent péniblement par une route malaisée.
[1] Ps. 74:20. ~~~ Trailing wearily behind a rude wagon, and over a ruder road, Tom and his associates faced onward.
In the wagon was seated Simon Legree and the two women, still fettered together, were stowed away with some baggage in the back part of it, and the whole company were seeking Legree’s plantation, which lay a good distance off.
C' était une route déserte et sauvage, qui se glissait, avec mille détours, à travers un bois de sapins: le vent gémissait dans leurs rameaux; de chaque côté d' une chaussée garnie de troncs d' arbres, les cyprès, s' élançant d' un sol humide et visqueux, laissaient retomber leurs funèbres guirlandes de mousses noirâtres. Çà et là quelques serpents aux formes hideuses se glissaient à travers les souches renversées et les branches éparses, qui pourrissaient dans l' eau.
It was a wild, forsaken road, now winding through dreary pine barrens, where the wind whispered mournfully, and now over log causeways, through long cypress swamps, the doleful trees rising out of the slimy, spongy ground, hung with long wreaths of funeral black moss, while ever and anon the loathsome form of the mocassin snake might be seen sliding among broken stumps and shattered branches that lay here and there, rotting in the water.
C' était une affreuse route vraiment; triste même pour l' homme qui, monté sur un bon cheval et le gousset garni, la suivait pour aller à ses affaires. Combien plus terrible et plus triste pour ces infortunés que chacun de leurs pas pénibles éloigne, éloigne pour toujours de tout ce que l' homme regrette, de tout ce que l' homme désire !
It is disconsolate enough, this riding, to the stranger, who, with well-filled pocket and well-appointed horse, threads the lonely way on some errand of business; but wilder, drearier, to the man enthralled, whom every weary step bears further from all that man loves and prays for.
So one should have thought, that witnessed the sunken and dejected expression on those dark faces; the wistful, patient weariness with which those sad eyes rested on object after object that passed them in their sad journey.
Simon rode on, however, apparently well pleased, occasionally pulling away at a flask of spirit, which he kept in his pocket.
“I say, _you!_” he said, as he turned back and caught a glance at the dispirited faces behind him. “Strike up a song, boys,—come!”
Les esclaves s' entre-regardèrent... ~~~ « Allons donc ! » répéta Simon en faisant claquer son fouet.
The men looked at each other, and the “_come_” was repeated, with a smart crack of the whip which the driver carried in his hands. Tom began a Methodist hymn.
Tom commença un hymne méthodiste:
“Jerusalem, my happy home, Name ever dear to me! When shall my sorrows have an end, Thy joys when shall—“[2]
[2] _Jerusalem, my happy home_,” anonymous hymn dating from the latter part of the sixteenth century, sung to the tune of “St. Stephen.” Words derive from St. Augustine’s _Meditations_.
“Shut up, you black cuss!” roared Legree; “did ye think I wanted any o’ yer infernal old Methodism? I say, tune up, now, something real rowdy,—quick!”
One of the other men struck up one of those unmeaning songs, common among the slaves.
“Mas’r see’d me cotch a coon, High boys, high! He laughed to split,—d’ye see the moon, Ho! ho! ho! boys, ho! Ho! yo! hi—e! _oh!”_
The singer appeared to make up the song to his own pleasure, generally hitting on rhyme, without much attempt at reason; and the party took up the chorus, at intervals,
“Ho! ho! ho! boys, ho! High—e—oh! high—e—oh!”
Tout ceci était chanté à pleins poumons. Ils voulaient être gais ! mais ni les soupirs du désespoir, ni les paroles les plus passionnées de la prière n' auraient pu exprimer une plus profonde douleur que ces notes sauvages reprises à l' unisson. Pauvre coeur torturé, menacé, enchaîné, et qui s' élance dans la musique, comme dans un sanctuaire, pour faire monter son invocation à Dieu... oui ! dans ces chants, il y avait une invocation que Simon ne pouvait entendre. Il n' entendait, lui, qu' une chanson retentissante qui lui plaisait, parce qu' elle mettait, disait -il, ses nègres en belle humeur.
It was sung very boisterouly, and with a forced attempt at merriment; but no wail of despair, no words of impassioned prayer, could have had such a depth of woe in them as the wild notes of the chorus. As if the poor, dumb heart, threatened,—prisoned,—took refuge in that inarticulate sanctuary of music, and found there a language in which to breathe its prayer to God! There was a prayer in it, which Simon could not hear. He only heard the boys singing noisily, and was well pleased; he was making them “keep up their spirits.”
« Eh bien ! ma petite amie, fit -il en se retournant vers Emmeline, et lui posant la main sur l' épaule, nous voici bientôt chez nous ! »
“Well, my little dear,” said he, turning to Emmeline, and laying his hand on her shoulder, “we’re almost home!”
Les emportements et les violences de Legree terrifiaient Emmeline.... Mais quand elle sentit le contact de sa main qui voulait caresser: ~~~ « J' aimerais mieux qu' il me battît, » pensa -t-elle. ~~~ Elle frissonna, et son coeur cessa de battre en apercevant l' expression de ses regards; elle se pressa contre la mulâtresse, comme elle eût fait contre sa mère.
When Legree scolded and stormed, Emmeline was terrified; but when he laid his hand on her, and spoke as he now did, she felt as if she had rather he would strike her. The expression of his eyes made her soul sick, and her flesh creep. Involuntarily she clung closer to the mulatto woman by her side, as if she were her mother.
“You didn’t ever wear ear-rings,” he said, taking hold of her small ear with his coarse fingers.
“No, Mas’r!” said Emmeline, trembling and looking down.
-- Eh bien ! je vous en donnerai une paire, quand nous serons arrivés.... si vous êtes bonne fille.... Voyons ! n' ayez donc pas peur, je ne veux pas vous faire faire de gros ouvrages: vous aurez du bon temps avec moi; vous vivrez comme une dame.... mais il faut être bonne fille. » ~~~ Legree avait assez bu pour sentir le besoin d' être aimable.
“Well, I’ll give you a pair, when we get home, if you’re a good girl. You needn’t be so frightened; I don’t mean to make you work very hard. You’ll have fine times with me, and live like a lady,—only be a good girl.”
On arrivait en vue de la plantation. ~~~ Elle avait appartenu d'abord à un gentleman riche et plein de goût, qui l' avait singulièrement embellie.... Il était mort insolvable. Legree s' était rendu acquéreur, et il se servait de cette propriété, comme il se servait de tout, pour gagner de l' argent. La plantation avait donc cet air dévasté et désolé que prend si vite la terre qui passe des mains soigneuses aux mains négligentes.
Legree had been drinking to that degree that he was inclining to be very gracious; and it was about this time that the enclosures of the plantation rose to view. The estate had formerly belonged to a gentleman of opulence and taste, who had bestowed some considerable attention to the adornment of his grounds. Having died insolvent, it had been purchased, at a bargain, by Legree, who used it, as he did everything else, merely as an implement for money-making. The place had that ragged, forlorn appearance, which is always produced by the evidence that the care of the former owner has been left to go to utter decay.
Devant la maison, ce qui jadis avait été une pelouse au gazon ras, toute pleine d' arbres d' agrément, n' était plus maintenant qu' une pièce d' herbe touffue, _émaillée_ de paille, de tessons de bouteilles et de toutes sortes d' immondices. Çà et là l' herbe était enlevée et la terre écorchée au vif. Les jasmins éplorés, les beaux chèvrefeuilles retombaient des colonnes à demi renversées sous l' effort des chevaux qu' on y attachait maintenant sans plus de cérémonie. Le vaste jardin était envahi par les mauvaises herbes, au milieu desquelles, çà et là, quelque plante exotique élevait sa tête solitaire et négligée.... Les serres n' avaient plus de vitres à leurs châssis; sur leurs tablettes moisies on voyait encore quelques pots à fleurs desséchées, oubliées.... des tiges flétries, des feuilles mortes, prouvaient que jadis cela avait été une plante !
What was once a smooth-shaven lawn before the house, dotted here and there with ornamental shrubs, was now covered with frowsy tangled grass, with horseposts set up, here and there, in it, where the turf was stamped away, and the ground littered with broken pails, cobs of corn, and other slovenly remains. Here and there, a mildewed jessamine or honeysuckle hung raggedly from some ornamental support, which had been pushed to one side by being used as a horse-post. What once was a large garden was now all grown over with weeds, through which, here and there, some solitary exotic reared its forsaken head. What had been a conservatory had now no window-shades, and on the mouldering shelves stood some dry, forsaken flower-pots, with sticks in them, whose dried leaves showed they had once been plants.
La voiture roula sur une allée, sablée autrefois, envahie maintenant par toutes sortes d' herbes, entre deux superbes rangées d' arbres de la Chine, dont les formes gracieuses et le feuillage toujours vert semblaient être la seule chose que l' insouciance du maître n' avait pu abattre ou dompter: tels ces nobles esprits, si profondément enracinés dans le bien, qu' ils s' épanouissent et se développent plus puissants et plus beaux au milieu des épreuves et du malheur.
The wagon rolled up a weedy gravel walk, under a noble avenue of China trees, whose graceful forms and ever-springing foliage seemed to be the only things there that neglect could not daunt or alter,—like noble spirits, so deeply rooted in goodness, as to flourish and grow stronger amid discouragement and decay.
La maison avait été grande et belle. Elle était bâtie dans un style que l' on rencontre assez souvent dans cette partie de l' Amérique. Elle était, de toutes parts, entourée d' une véranda de deux étages, sur laquelle s' ouvraient toutes les portes de la maison. La partie inférieure s' appuyait sur des assises de briques.
The house had been large and handsome. It was built in a manner common at the South; a wide verandah of two stories running round every part of the house, into which every outer door opened, the lower tier being supported by brick pillars.
But the place looked desolate and uncomfortable; some windows stopped up with boards, some with shattered panes, and shutters hanging by a single hinge,—all telling of coarse neglect and discomfort.
Le sol était jonché de pailles, de morceaux de bois, de débris de caisses et de barils. Trois ou quatre chiens à l' air féroce, réveillés par le bruit des roues, accouraient tout prêts à déchirer.... il fallut tout l' effort des esclaves du logis pour les empêcher de mettre en pièces Tom et ses compagnons.
Bits of board, straw, old decayed barrels and boxes, garnished the ground in all directions; and three or four ferocious-looking dogs, roused by the sound of the wagon-wheels, came tearing out, and were with difficulty restrained from laying hold of Tom and his companions, by the effort of the ragged servants who came after them.
-- Vous voyez ce qui vous attend, dit Legree en caressant les chiens avec une satisfaction qui faisait mal à voir, et se retournant vers les esclaves.... Vous voyez ce qui vous attend, si vous voulez vous enfuir.... Ces chiens ont été dressés à la chasse des nègres; ils vous avaleraient aussi aisément que leur souper.... Prenez donc garde à vous ! Eh bien ! Sambo, dit -il à un individu en haillons, dont le chapeau n' avait plus de bords, et qui s' empressait autour de lui. Comment les choses ont -elles été ?
“Ye see what ye’d get!” said Legree, caressing the dogs with grim satisfaction, and turning to Tom and his companions. “Ye see what ye’d get, if ye try to run off. These yer dogs has been raised to track niggers; and they’d jest as soon chaw one on ye up as eat their supper. So, mind yerself! How now, Sambo!” he said, to a ragged fellow, without any brim to his hat, who was officious in his attentions. “How have things been going?”
--Très-bien, maître.
“Fust rate, Mas’r.”
“Quimbo,” said Legree to another, who was making zealous demonstrations to attract his attention, “ye minded what I telled ye?”
-- Je crois bien ! »
“Guess I did, didn’t I?”
These two colored men were the two principal hands on the plantation. Legree had trained them in savageness and brutality as systematically as he had his bull-dogs; and, by long practice in hardness and cruelty, brought their whole nature to about the same range of capacities. It is a common remark, and one that is thought to militate strongly against the character of the race, that the negro overseer is always more tyrannical and cruel than the white one. This is simply saying that the negro mind has been more crushed and debased than the white. It is no more true of this race than of every oppressed race, the world over. The slave is always a tyrant, if he can get a chance to be one.
On a remarqué que les surveillants noirs sont beaucoup plus cruels que les blancs. On tire de ce fait une conclusion fâcheuse contre la race nègre. Cela ne prouve qu' une chose, à savoir que la race nègre est plus avilie et plus dégradée que la race blanche, et voici ce qui n' est pas plus vrai de cette race que de toute autre: L' esclave est un tyran, dès qu' il peut !
Legree, like some potentates we read of in history, governed his plantation by a sort of resolution of forces. Sambo and Quimbo cordially hated each other; the plantation hands, one and all, cordially hated them; and, by playing off one against another, he was pretty sure, through one or the other of the three parties, to get informed of whatever was on foot in the place.
Legree, comme beaucoup de potentats dont parle l' histoire, gouvernait ses États par l' antagonisme des puissances. Sambo et Quimbo se détestaient cordialement, et, dans la plantation, on les détestait également tous les deux.... Ainsi, celui -ci par celui -là, et tous les autres par eux deux, et ces deux -là par tous les autres ! c' était une surveillance générale et complète, établie au profit de Legree. Rien ne lui échappait.
Nobody can live entirely without social intercourse; and Legree encouraged his two black satellites to a kind of coarse familiarity with him,—a familiarity, however, at any moment liable to get one or the other of them into trouble; for, on the slightest provocation, one of them always stood ready, at a nod, to be a minister of his vengeance on the other.
Personne ne peut vivre sans relations amicales. Legree permettait à ses deux satellites une certaine familiarité avec lui, familiarité qui pouvait être dangereuse pour eux; car, sur la moindre provocation, au moindre signe du maître, l' un des deux était toujours prêt à égorger l' autre. A les voir tous deux auprès de Legree, ils ne prouvaient que trop combien l' homme brutal est au-dessous de la bête. Leurs traits noirs, lourds et durs, leurs grands yeux qui s' épiaient, pleins d' envie, leurs voix rauques et bestiales, leurs vêtements en lambeaux et flottant au vent.... tout cela était en harmonie parfaite avec l' aspect général de la scène sur laquelle ils se trouvaient.
As they stood there now by Legree, they seemed an apt illustration of the fact that brutal men are lower even than animals. Their coarse, dark, heavy features; their great eyes, rolling enviously on each other; their barbarous, guttural, half-brute intonation; their dilapidated garments fluttering in the wind,—were all in admirable keeping with the vile and unwholesome character of everything about the place.
“Here, you Sambo,” said Legree, “take these yer boys down to the quarters; and here’s a gal I’ve got for _you_,” said he, as he separated the mulatto woman from Emmeline, and pushed her towards him;—“I promised to bring you one, you know.”
The woman gave a start, and drawing back, said, suddenly,
“O, Mas’r! I left my old man in New Orleans.”
“What of that, you—; won’t you want one here? None o’ your words,—go long!” said Legree, raising his whip.
“Come, mistress,” he said to Emmeline, “you go in here with me.”
A ce moment, une face noire et sauvage apparut à une des fenêtres. Comme Legree ouvrait la porte, on entendit une voix de femme, impérieuse et violente.... Tom, qui suivait Emmeline des yeux avec un véritable intérêt, entendit cette voix.... Legree, irrité, répondit: « Taisez -vous ! avec vous tous, je ferai ce qui me plaira. »
A dark, wild face was seen, for a moment, to glance at the window of the house; and, as Legree opened the door, a female voice said something, in a quick, imperative tone. Tom, who was looking, with anxious interest, after Emmeline, as she went in, noticed this, and heard Legree answer, angrily, “You may hold your tongue! I’ll do as I please, for all you!”
Tom ne put en entendre davantage; il dut suivre Sambo et se rendre aux quartiers. ~~~ Les quartiers formaient une sorte de rue bordée de huttes grossières, à une certaine distance de l' habitation. C' était d' un aspect sombre, triste et dégoûtant. Tom se sentait défaillir. Il se réjouissait déjà à la pensée d' une petite case, bien simple sans doute, mais qu' il aurait pu rendre tranquille et calme, où il aurait eu une planchette enfin pour mettre sa Bible, une petite retraite où venir penser, après les rudes heures du travail; il entra dans plusieurs huttes. Ce n' était que des abris.... Pour tout meuble, un monceau de paille, pleine d' ordures, jetée sur l' aire; l' aire, c' était la terre nue, battue par mille pieds !
Tom heard no more; for he was soon following Sambo to the quarters. The quarters was a little sort of street of rude shanties, in a row, in a part of the plantation, far off from the house. They had a forlorn, brutal, forsaken air. Tom’s heart sunk when he saw them. He had been comforting himself with the thought of a cottage, rude, indeed, but one which he might make neat and quiet, and where he might have a shelf for his Bible, and a place to be alone out of his laboring hours. He looked into several; they were mere rude shells, destitute of any species of furniture, except a heap of straw, foul with dirt, spread confusedly over the floor, which was merely the bare ground, trodden hard by the tramping of innumerable feet.
“Which of these will be mine?” said he, to Sambo, submissively.
“Dunno; ken turn in here, I spose,” said Sambo; “spects thar’s room for another thar; thar’s a pretty smart heap o’ niggers to each on ’em, now; sure, I dunno what I ’s to do with more.”
Il était déjà tard quand le troupeau des travailleurs regagna ses misérables huttes, hommes et femmes, vêtus de haillons souillés et misérables ! fort peu disposés sans doute à voir d' un bon oeil les nouveaux arrivants. Les bruits qui partaient du hameau n' avaient rien de bien attrayant; des voix gutturales et rauques se disputaient autour des moulins à main, où il fallait moudre le mauvais grain destiné au gâteau du soir, triste et maigre souper ! Ils étaient dans les champs, depuis l' aube matinale, courbés vers la rude tâche sous le fouet vigilant du gardien. C' était le moment le plus terrible de la saison.... l' ouvrage pressait.... et on voulait tirer de chacun tout ce que chacun pouvait donner.... Mon Dieu ! dira quelque oisif, il n' est déjà pas si pénible d' éplucher du coton ! En vérité ! mais il n' est pas non plus si pénible de recevoir une goutte d' eau sur la tête.... Eh bien ! l' inquisition elle-même, n' a pu trouver de supplice plus atroce qu' un peu d' eau, tombant goutte à goutte, incessamment, avec une succession monotone, à la même place !... Un travail assez doux par lui-même devient insupportable par la continuité des heures, par la monotonie de l' occupation.... et par cette affreuse pensée que ce travail, on est obligé de le faire. ~~~ Pendant que la troupe défilait, Tom cherchait des yeux s' il n' apercevait pas quelque visage sociable. Les hommes étaient sombres, misérables, abrutis; les femmes faibles, tristes, découragées.... Il y en avait qui n' étaient même pas des femmes ! Les forts tyrannisaient les faibles. C' était l' égoïsme brutal et grossier, dont on ne peut plus rien attendre de bon. Traités comme des bêtes, ces malheureux étaient descendus aussi bas que la nature humaine puisse tomber ! Le grincement de la roue se prolongea fort avant dans la nuit. Il y avait peu de moulins, et, comme les grands chassaient les petits, le tour de ceux -ci ne vint que bien tard.
It was late in the evening when the weary occupants of the shanties came flocking home,—men and women, in soiled and tattered garments, surly and uncomfortable, and in no mood to look pleasantly on new-comers. The small village was alive with no inviting sounds; hoarse, guttural voices contending at the hand-mills where their morsel of hard corn was yet to be ground into meal, to fit it for the cake that was to constitute their only supper. From the earliest dawn of the day, they had been in the fields, pressed to work under the driving lash of the overseers; for it was now in the very heat and hurry of the season, and no means was left untried to press every one up to the top of their capabilities. “True,” says the negligent lounger; “picking cotton isn’t hard work.” Isn’t it? And it isn’t much inconvenience, either, to have one drop of water fall on your head; yet the worst torture of the inquisition is produced by drop after drop, drop after drop, falling moment after moment, with monotonous succession, on the same spot; and work, in itself not hard, becomes so, by being pressed, hour after hour, with unvarying, unrelenting sameness, with not even the consciousness of free-will to take from its tediousness. Tom looked in vain among the gang, as they poured along, for companionable faces. He saw only sullen, scowling, imbruted men, and feeble, discouraged women, or women that were not women,—the strong pushing away the weak,—the gross, unrestricted animal selfishness of human beings, of whom nothing good was expected and desired; and who, treated in every way like brutes, had sunk as nearly to their level as it was possible for human beings to do. To a late hour in the night the sound of the grinding was protracted; for the mills were few in number compared with the grinders, and the weary and feeble ones were driven back by the strong, and came on last in their turn.
“Ho yo!” said Sambo, coming to the mulatto woman, and throwing down a bag of corn before her; “what a cuss yo name?”
--Lucy.
“Lucy,” said the woman.
“Wal, Lucy, yo my woman now. Yo grind dis yer corn, and get _my_ supper baked, ye har?”
“I an’t your woman, and I won’t be!” said the woman, with the sharp, sudden courage of despair; “you go long!”
-- Des coups de pied, alors ! fit Sambo avec un geste de menace.
“I’ll kick yo, then!” said Sambo, raising his foot threateningly.
“Ye may kill me, if ye choose,—the sooner the better! Wish’t I was dead!” said she.
-- Eh bien ! Sambo, voilà comme vous tourmentez les gens !... je le dirai à votre maître, fit Quimbo, occupé autour d' un moulin, d' où il avait chassé deux ou trois malheureuses femmes qui attendaient leur tour.
“I say, Sambo, you go to spilin’ the hands, I’ll tell Mas’r o’ you,” said Quimbo, who was busy at the mill, from which he had viciously driven two or three tired women, who were waiting to grind their corn.
“And, I’ll tell him ye won’t let the women come to the mills, yo old nigger!” said Sambo. “Yo jes keep to yo own row.”
Tom was hungry with his day’s journey, and almost faint for want of food.
“Thar, yo!” said Quimbo, throwing down a coarse bag, which contained a peck of corn; “thar, nigger, grab, take car on ’t,—yo won’t get no more, _dis_ yer week.”
Tom attendit longtemps avant d' avoir sa place au moulin. Touché de la faiblesse de deux pauvres femmes qui essayaient en vain de faire tourner la roue, il se mit à moudre pour elles.... il raviva le feu, où tant de gâteaux avaient déjà cuit, et il prépara son maigre souper. Tom avait fait bien peu pour ces femmes; mais une oeuvre de charité.... si peu que ce fût.... était chose nouvelle pour elles.... et cette charité fit résonner dans leur coeur une corde sensible; une expression de tendresse rayonna sur leur visage: la femme renaissait.... Elles-mêmes, elles voulurent préparer son gâteau et le faire cuire. Tom s' assit alors auprès du foyer et tira sa Bible.... il avait besoin de consolations.
Tom waited till a late hour, to get a place at the mills; and then, moved by the utter weariness of two women, whom he saw trying to grind their corn there, he ground for them, put together the decaying brands of the fire, where many had baked cakes before them, and then went about getting his own supper. It was a new kind of work there,—a deed of charity, small as it was; but it woke an answering touch in their hearts,—an expression of womanly kindness came over their hard faces; they mixed his cake for him, and tended its baking; and Tom sat down by the light of the fire, and drew out his Bible,—for he had need for comfort.
« Qu' est -ce que cela ?
“What’s that?” said one of the woman.
--Une Bible!
“A Bible,” said Tom.
“Good Lord! han’t seen un since I was in Kentuck.”
“Was you raised in Kentuck?” said Tom, with interest.
“Yes, and well raised, too; never ’spected to come to dis yer!” said the woman, sighing.
“What’s dat ar book, any way?” said the other woman.
--La Bible, donc!
“Why, the Bible.”
-- La Bible ! qu' est -ce que ça, la Bible ?
“Laws a me! what’s dat?” said the woman.
“Do tell! you never hearn on ’t?” said the other woman. “I used to har Missis a readin’ on ’t, sometimes, in Kentuck; but, laws o’ me! we don’t har nothin’ here but crackin’ and swarin’.”
-- Lisez-m'en un peu pour voir, » dit la femme en remarquant l' attention de Tom. ~~~ Tom lut:
“Read a piece, anyways!” said the first woman, curiously, seeing Tom attentively poring over it.
« Venez à moi, vous tous qui souffrez et qui êtes surchargés, et je vous soulagerai. »
Tom read,—“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
“Them’s good words, enough,” said the woman; “who says ’em?”
-- Le Seigneur, répondit Tom.
“The Lord,” said Tom.
-- Je voudrais bien savoir où le trouver, dit la femme, j' irais à lui. Hélas ! ajouta -t-elle, je n' ai jamais été soulagée, moi ! et ma chair est bien malade. Tout mon corps tremble. Sambo est toujours après moi, parce que je n' épluche pas assez vite. Il est minuit avant que je puisse souper, et je n' ai pas fermé les yeux que déjà j' entends les sons du cor.... c' est le matin: il faut repartir ! Ah ! si je savais où est le Seigneur, comme j' irais lui dire cela !
“I jest wish I know’d whar to find Him,” said the woman. “I would go; ’pears like I never should get rested again. My flesh is fairly sore, and I tremble all over, every day, and Sambo’s allers a jawin’ at me, ’cause I doesn’t pick faster; and nights it’s most midnight ’fore I can get my supper; and den ’pears like I don’t turn over and shut my eyes, ’fore I hear de horn blow to get up, and at it agin in de mornin’. If I knew whar de Lor was, I’d tell him.”
“He’s here, he’s everywhere,” said Tom.
“Lor, you an’t gwine to make me believe dat ar! I know de Lord an’t here,” said the woman; “‘tan’t no use talking, though. I’s jest gwine to camp down, and sleep while I ken.”
Les femmes se retirèrent dans leurs cases, et Tom resta seul assis au foyer, dont les lueurs mourantes jetaient de rouges reflets sur son visage.
The women went off to their cabins, and Tom sat alone, by the smouldering fire, that flickered up redly in his face.
La lune, au beau front d' argent, se levait dans les nuages pourpres du ciel, et, calme, silencieuse, comme le regard de Dieu abaissé sur la misère et l' esclavage, elle contemplait le pauvre nègre, abandonné, seul, et qui, les bras croisés, ne voyait plus au monde que sa Bible. ~~~ Dieu est -il ici ?
The silver, fair-browed moon rose in the purple sky, and looked down, calm and silent, as God looks on the scene of misery and oppression,—looked calmly on the lone black man, as he sat, with his arms folded, and his Bible on his knee.
Ah ! je le demande, pour des coeurs ignorants, est -il possible de garder une foi inébranlable, en face d' une injustice évidente, palpable et impunie ? ~~~ Un rude combat se livrait dans le coeur de Tom. Le sentiment terrible de ses griefs.... la perspective de tout un avenir de misère.... le naufrage de toutes ses espérances passées.... tout cela se levait et passait tristement devant ses yeux, comme devant le marin, que la vague engloutit, les cadavres de sa femme, de ses enfants, de ses amis. ~~~ Ah ! dites -le -moi, pour Tom était -il facile de s' attacher, avec une inébranlable étreinte, à cette grande croyance du monde chrétien ?
“Is God HERE?” Ah, how is it possible for the untaught heart to keep its faith, unswerving, in the face of dire misrule, and palpable, unrebuked injustice? In that simple heart waged a fierce conflict; the crushing sense of wrong, the foreshadowing, of a whole life of future misery, the wreck of all past hopes, mournfully tossing in the soul’s sight, like dead corpses of wife, and child, and friend, rising from the dark wave, and surging in the face of the half-drowned mariner! Ah, was it easy _here_ to believe and hold fast the great password of Christian faith, that “God IS, and is the REWARDER of them that diligently seek Him”?
Dieu est ici, et il récompensera ceux qui l' auront toujours aimé ! ~~~ Tom se leva, en proie au désespoir, et il entra dans la case qui lui avait été désignée. ~~~ Le sol était couvert de dormeurs épuisés. L' air corrompu le repoussa. Mais la rosée de la nuit tombait, pénétrante et glacée; ses membres étaient rompus. Il s' enveloppa dans une couverture en lambeaux: c' était tout son coucher. Il s' étendit sur la paille et dormit.
Tom rose, disconsolate, and stumbled into the cabin that had been allotted to him. The floor was already strewn with weary sleepers, and the foul air of the place almost repelled him; but the heavy night-dews were chill, and his limbs weary, and, wrapping about him a tattered blanket, which formed his only bed-clothing, he stretched himself in the straw and fell asleep.
In dreams, a gentle voice came over his ear; he was sitting on the mossy seat in the garden by Lake Pontchartrain, and Eva, with her serious eyes bent downward, was reading to him from the Bible; and he heard her read.
« Si tu passes à travers les eaux, je serai avec toi, et les eaux ne t' engloutiront pas; si tu passes à travers le feu, les flammes ne s' attacheront point à toi, et tu ne seras pas brûlé: car je suis le Seigneur ton Dieu, le seul Dieu d' Israël, ton Sauveur ! »
“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and the rivers they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee; for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.”
Et peu à peu les mots semblaient se fondre en une musique divine. L' enfant relevait ses grands yeux et les fixait doucement sur lui; et de ces doux yeux vers son coeur il s' échappait comme de chauds et bienfaisants effluves de rayons. Et puis, comme emportée par la musique, elle s' éleva sur des ailes brillantes d' où tombaient des étincelles d' or, pareilles à des étoiles, et elle disparut.
Gradually the words seemed to melt and fade, as in a divine music; the child raised her deep eyes, and fixed them lovingly on him, and rays of warmth and comfort seemed to go from them to his heart; and, as if wafted on the music, she seemed to rise on shining wings, from which flakes and spangles of gold fell off like stars, and she was gone.
Tom woke. Was it a dream? Let it pass for one. But who shall say that that sweet young spirit, which in life so yearned to comfort and console the distressed, was forbidden of God to assume this ministry after death?
It is a beautiful belief, That ever round our head Are hovering, on angel wings, The spirits of the dead.
CHAPITRE XXXIII.
CHAPTER XXXIII Cassy
“And behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter.”—ECCL. 4:1
Il ne fallut pas beaucoup de temps à Tom pour savoir ce qu' il avait à craindre ou à espérer de son genre de vie; dans tout ce qu' il entreprenait, c' était un homme habile et capable. Par principe et par habitude, il était laborieux et fidèle. Tranquille et rangé, il comptait, à force de diligence, éloigner de lui, du moins en partie, les maux ordinaires de sa position. Il voyait assez de vexations et d' injustices pour être triste et malheureux, mais il avait pris la résolution de tout supporter avec une religieuse patience, s' en remettant à celui dont les jugements sont conformes à la justice. Il se disait aussi que peut-être une chance de salut s' offrirait à lui.
It took but a short time to familiarize Tom with all that was to be hoped or feared in his new way of life. He was an expert and efficient workman in whatever he undertook; and was, both from habit and principle, prompt and faithful. Quiet and peaceable in his disposition, he hoped, by unremitting diligence, to avert from himself at least a portion of the evils of his condition. He saw enough of abuse and misery to make him sick and weary; but he determined to toil on, with religious patience, committing himself to Him that judgeth righteously, not without hope that some way of escape might yet be opened to him.
Legree prit note des bonnes qualités de Tom; il le rangea tout de suite parmi les esclaves de premier choix, et pourtant il ressentait une sorte d' aversion contre lui: l' antipathie naturelle des méchants contre les bons; il s' irrita de voir que sa violence et sa brutalité ne tombaient jamais sur le faible et le malheureux sans que Tom le remarquât. L' opinion des autres nous pénètre sans paroles, subtile comme l' atmosphère, et l' opinion d' un esclave peut gêner son maître. Legree, de son côté, était jaloux de cette tendresse d' âme et de cette commisération pour le malheur, si inconnue aux esclaves, et que ceux -ci devinaient dans Tom. En achetant Tom, il avait songé que plus tard il en pourrait faire une sorte de surveillant, auquel, pendant ses absences, il confierait ses affaires. Mais, selon lui, pour ce poste, la première, la seconde et la troisième condition, c' était la dureté. Tom n' était pas dur: Legree se mit dans la tête de l' endurcir. Au bout de quelques semaines, il voulut commencer son éducation. Un matin, comme on allait partir pour les champs, l' attention de Tom fut attirée par une nouvelle venue, dont la tournure et les façons le frappèrent.
Legree took a silent note of Tom’s availability. He rated him as a first-class hand; and yet he felt a secret dislike to him,—the native antipathy of bad to good. He saw, plainly, that when, as was often the case, his violence and brutality fell on the helpless, Tom took notice of it; for, so subtle is the atmosphere of opinion, that it will make itself felt, without words; and the opinion even of a slave may annoy a master. Tom in various ways manifested a tenderness of feeling, a commiseration for his fellow-sufferers, strange and new to them, which was watched with a jealous eye by Legree. He had purchased Tom with a view of eventually making him a sort of overseer, with whom he might, at times, intrust his affairs, in short absences; and, in his view, the first, second, and third requisite for that place, was _hardness_. Legree made up his mind, that, as Tom was not hard to his hand, he would harden him forthwith; and some few weeks after Tom had been on the place, he determined to commence the process.
C' était une grande femme élancée: ses mains et ses pieds étaient d' une beauté remarquable; ses vêtements propres et décents. On pouvait lui donner de trente-cinq à quarante ans. Son visage était un de ceux qu' on n' oubliait pas dès qu' on l' avait vu, un de ces visages qui nous font deviner à première vue des histoires romanesques, pleines de terreurs et de larmes. Son front était haut, ses sourcils d' une irréprochable pureté, son nez droit et bien fait, sa bouche finement ciselée; les contours gracieux de sa tête et de son cou attestaient à quel point elle avait dû être belle. Mais on voyait aussi sur son visage ces rides profondes qui révèlent l' amertume d' un chagrin qu' on porte avec orgueil. Elle paraissait souffrante et maladive. Ses joues étaient maigres, ses traits aigus; tout en elle était comme épuisé. Ce qu' il fallait surtout remarquer, c' étaient ses yeux, si grands, si noirs, ombragés de longs cils plus noirs encore ! On voyait au fond de ces yeux le désespoir sauvage, inconsolable. Chaque ligne de son visage, chaque pli de sa lèvre flexible, chaque mouvement de son corps trahissait un de ces orgueils indomptables qui défient le monde.... Mais dans ses yeux, l' angoisse, comme une nuit, versait toutes ses ombres, et cette expression d' un immuable désespoir formait un étrange contraste avec le dédain superbe qu' on devinait dans tout le reste de sa personne.
One morning, when the hands were mustered for the field, Tom noticed, with surprise, a new comer among them, whose appearance excited his attention. It was a woman, tall and slenderly formed, with remarkably delicate hands and feet, and dressed in neat and respectable garments. By the appearance of her face, she might have been between thirty-five and forty; and it was a face that, once seen, could never be forgotten,—one of those that, at a glance, seem to convey to us an idea of a wild, painful, and romantic history. Her forehead was high, and her eyebrows marked with beautiful clearness. Her straight, well-formed nose, her finely-cut mouth, and the graceful contour of her head and neck, showed that she must once have been beautiful; but her face was deeply wrinkled with lines of pain, and of proud and bitter endurance. Her complexion was sallow and unhealthy, her cheeks thin, her features sharp, and her whole form emaciated. But her eye was the most remarkable feature,—so large, so heavily black, overshadowed by long lashes of equal darkness, and so wildly, mournfully despairing. There was a fierce pride and defiance in every line of her face, in every curve of the flexible lip, in every motion of her body; but in her eye was a deep, settled night of anguish,—an expression so hopeless and unchanging as to contrast fearfully with the scorn and pride expressed by her whole demeanor.
D' où venait -elle ? Qui était -elle ? Tom l' ignorait. C' était la première fois qu' il la voyait. Elle marchait à côté de lui, fière et superbe, aux lueurs blanchissantes de l' aube. Les autres esclaves la connaissaient. Tous les yeux, toutes les têtes se tournèrent vers elle.... Il y eut comme un murmure de triomphe parmi ces misérables créatures affamées et à demi nues.
Where she came from, or who she was, Tom did not know. The first he did know, she was walking by his side, erect and proud, in the dim gray of the dawn. To the gang, however, she was known; for there was much looking and turning of heads, and a smothered yet apparent exultation among the miserable, ragged, half-starved creatures by whom she was surrounded.
«Ah! la voilà enfin.... bravo!
“Got to come to it, at last,—glad of it!” said one.
-- Eh ! eh ! missis, vous verrez quel plaisir cela fait !
“He! he! he!” said another; “you’ll know how good it is, Misse!”
-- Nous la verrons à l' oeuvre.
“We’ll see her work!”
“Wonder if she’ll get a cutting up, at night, like the rest of us!”
“I’d be glad to see her down for a flogging, I’ll bound!” said another.
La femme, sans prendre garde à ces sarcasmes, continua sa route avec la même expression de dédain irrité, comme si elle n' eût rien entendu. Tom avait toujours vécu dans la bonne compagnie; il comprit instinctivement que c' était à cette classe de la société que l' esclave devait appartenir.... Comment et pourquoi elle était tombée si bas, voilà ce qu' il ne pouvait pas dire. La femme ne lui adressa ni un regard ni une parole, bien qu' elle fît à côté de lui toute la route du village aux champs.
The woman took no notice of these taunts, but walked on, with the same expression of angry scorn, as if she heard nothing. Tom had always lived among refined, and cultivated people, and he felt intuitively, from her air and bearing, that she belonged to that class; but how or why she could be fallen to those degrading circumstances, he could not tell. The woman neither looked at him nor spoke to him, though, all the way to the field, she kept close at his side.
Tom se mit activement à l' oeuvre; mais, comme la femme ne s' était pas fort éloignée, il put la regarder de temps en temps à la dérobée. Il vit que son habileté et sa dextérité naturelles lui rendaient la tâche plus aisée qu' à beaucoup d' autres. Elle faisait vite et bien, mais dédaigneusement, et comme si elle eût également méprisé et son travail et sa condition présente.
Tom was soon busy at his work; but, as the woman was at no great distance from him, he often glanced an eye to her, at her work. He saw, at a glance, that a native adroitness and handiness made the task to her an easier one than it proved to many. She picked very fast and very clean, and with an air of scorn, as if she despised both the work and the disgrace and humiliation of the circumstances in which she was placed.
Tom, ce jour -là, travailla à côté de la mulâtresse achetée avec lui. On voyait qu' elle souffrait beaucoup: elle tremblait et semblait à chaque instant prête à défaillir. Tom l' entendit prier. Il s' approcha d' elle sans dire une parole, et tirant de son propre sac quelques poignées de coton, il les fit passer dans le sac de la pauvre femme.
In the course of the day, Tom was working near the mulatto woman who had been bought in the same lot with himself. She was evidently in a condition of great suffering, and Tom often heard her praying, as she wavered and trembled, and seemed about to fall down. Tom silently as he came near to her, transferred several handfuls of cotton from his own sack to hers.
“O, don’t, don’t!” said the woman, looking surprised; “it’ll get you into trouble.”
Just then Sambo came up. He seemed to have a special spite against this woman; and, flourishing his whip, said, in brutal, guttural tones, “What dis yer, Luce,—foolin’ a’” and, with the word, kicking the woman with his heavy cowhide shoe, he struck Tom across the face with his whip.
Tom silently resumed his task; but the woman, before at the last point of exhaustion, fainted.
Tom reprit sa tâche sans rien dire; mais la femme, épuisée, émue, s' évanouit. ~~~ « Je vais bien la faire revenir, dit brutalement Sambo,... j' ai quelque chose qui vaut mieux pour cela que le camphre.... » Et prenant une épingle sur la manche de sa veste, il l' enfonça jusqu' à la tête dans la chair de cette malheureuse.... Elle poussa un gémissement et se leva à moitié.... « Debout ! sotte bête, et travaillez !... entendez -vous ?... ou je recommence ! »
“I’ll bring her to!” said the driver, with a brutal grin. “I’ll give her something better than camphire!” and, taking a pin from his coat-sleeve, he buried it to the head in her flesh. The woman groaned, and half rose. “Get up, you beast, and work, will yer, or I’ll show yer a trick more!”
La femme parut un instant aiguillonnée par une énergie nouvelle.... elle avait une force surnaturelle.... elle travaillait avec l' ardeur du désespoir....
« Tâchez de ne pas vous interrompre, fit Sambo, ou je vous traite de telle sorte que vous aimerez mieux mourir !
The woman seemed stimulated, for a few moments, to an unnatural strength, and worked with desperate eagerness.
“See that you keep to dat ar,” said the man, “or yer’ll wish yer’s dead tonight, I reckin!”
“That I do now!” Tom heard her say; and again he heard her say, “O, Lord, how long! O, Lord, why don’t you help us?”
At the risk of all that he might suffer, Tom came forward again, and put all the cotton in his sack into the woman’s.
“O, you mustn’t! you donno what they’ll do to ye!” said the woman.
“I can bar it!” said Tom, “better ’n you;” and he was at his place again. It passed in a moment.
Suddenly, the stranger woman whom we have described, and who had, in the course of her work, come near enough to hear Tom’s last words, raised her heavy black eyes, and fixed them, for a second, on him; then, taking a quantity of cotton from her basket, she placed it in his.
“You know nothing about this place,” she said, “or you wouldn’t have done that. When you’ve been here a month, you’ll be done helping anybody; you’ll find it hard enough to take care of your own skin!”
“The Lord forbid, Missis!” said Tom, using instinctively to his field companion the respectful form proper to the high bred with whom he had lived.
“The Lord never visits these parts,” said the woman, bitterly, as she went nimbly forward with her work; and again the scornful smile curled her lips.
But the action of the woman had been seen by the driver, across the field; and, flourishing his whip, he came up to her.
Le surveillant l' avait aperçue; il courut à elle en brandissant son fouet:
“What! what!” he said to the woman, with an air of triumph, “You a foolin’? Go along! yer under me now,—mind yourself, or yer’ll cotch it!”
A glance like sheet-lightning suddenly flashed from those black eyes; and, facing about, with quivering lip and dilated nostrils, she drew herself up, and fixed a glance, blazing with rage and scorn, on the driver.
“Dog!” she said, “touch _me_, if you dare! I’ve power enough, yet, to have you torn by the dogs, burnt alive, cut to inches! I’ve only to say the word!”
“What de devil you here for, den?” said the man, evidently cowed, and sullenly retreating a step or two. “Didn’t mean no harm, Misse Cassy!”
“Keep your distance, then!” said the woman. And, in truth, the man seemed greatly inclined to attend to something at the other end of the field, and started off in quick time.
-- Décampez, alors... » ~~~ La femme se remit à l' ouvrage; elle travaillait avec une rapidité prodigieuse. Tom était ébloui; l' ouvrage se faisait comme par enchantement. Avant la fin du jour, elle avait rempli son panier jusqu' au bord. C' était tassé et empilé. Plusieurs fois cependant elle était venue au secours de Tom. Longtemps après le coucher du soleil, les esclaves, fatigués, le panier sur la tête, et marchant à la file, se rendirent aux bâtiments où le coton était pesé et emmagasiné. ~~~ Legree se livrait à une conversation fort animée avec ses deux surveillants.
The woman suddenly turned to her work, and labored with a despatch that was perfectly astonishing to Tom. She seemed to work by magic. Before the day was through, her basket was filled, crowded down, and piled, and she had several times put largely into Tom’s. Long after dusk, the whole weary train, with their baskets on their heads, defiled up to the building appropriated to the storing and weighing the cotton. Legree was there, busily conversing with the two drivers.
« Tom va mettre le trouble ici. Je l' ai pris mettant du coton dans le panier de Lucy. Un de ces jours il persuadera aux nègres qu' ils sont maltraités, si le maître ne le surveille pas. » ~~~ Ainsi parlait Sambo.
“Dat ar Tom’s gwine to make a powerful deal o’ trouble; kept a puttin’ into Lucy’s basket.—One o’ these yer dat will get all der niggers to feelin’ ’bused, if Masir don’t watch him!” said Sambo.
“Hey-dey! The black cuss!” said Legree. “He’ll have to get a breakin’ in, won’t he, boys?”
Les deux nègres firent une épouvantable grimace.
Both negroes grinned a horrid grin, at this intimation.
“Ay, ay! Let Mas’r Legree alone, for breakin’ in! De debil heself couldn’t beat Mas’r at dat!” said Quimbo.
“Wal, boys, the best way is to give him the flogging to do, till he gets over his notions. Break him in!”
“Lord, Mas’r’ll have hard work to get dat out o’ him!”
“It’ll have to come out of him, though!” said Legree, as he rolled his tobacco in his mouth.
-- Ah ! voici maintenant Lucy, la plus scélérate, la plus misérable coquine, poursuivit Sambo.
“Now, dar’s Lucy,—de aggravatinest, ugliest wench on de place!” pursued Sambo.
“Take care, Sam; I shall begin to think what’s the reason for your spite agin Lucy.”
“Well, Mas’r knows she sot herself up agin Mas’r, and wouldn’t have me, when he telled her to.”
“I’d a flogged her into ’t,” said Legree, spitting, “only there’s such a press o’ work, it don’t seem wuth a while to upset her jist now. She’s slender; but these yer slender gals will bear half killin’ to get their own way!”
“Wal, Lucy was real aggravatin’ and lazy, sulkin’ round; wouldn’t do nothin,—and Tom he stuck up for her.”
“He did, eh! Wal, then, Tom shall have the pleasure of flogging her. It’ll be a good practice for him, and he won’t put it on to the gal like you devils, neither.”
“Ho, ho! haw! haw! haw!” laughed both the sooty wretches; and the diabolical sounds seemed, in truth, a not unapt expression of the fiendish character which Legree gave them.
“Wal, but, Mas’r, Tom and Misse Cassy, and dey among ’em, filled Lucy’s basket. I ruther guess der weight ’s in it, Mas’r!”
“_I do the weighing!_” said Legree, emphatically.
Both the drivers again laughed their diabolical laugh.
“So!” he added, “Misse Cassy did her day’s work.”
-- Elle épluche comme le diable et toutes ses légions.
“She picks like de debil and all his angels!”
“She’s got ’em all in her, I believe!” said Legree; and, growling a brutal oath, he proceeded to the weighing-room.
Lentement, un à un, accablés de fatigue, les travailleurs arrivaient, et, avec une hésitation craintive, présentaient leurs paniers.
Slowly the weary, dispirited creatures, wound their way into the room, and, with crouching reluctance, presented their baskets to be weighed.
Legree noted on a slate, on the side of which was pasted a list of names, the amount.
Tom’s basket was weighed and approved; and he looked, with an anxious glance, for the success of the woman he had befriended.
Tottering with weakness, she came forward, and delivered her basket. It was of full weight, as Legree well perceived; but, affecting anger, he said,
“What, you lazy beast! short again! stand aside, you’ll catch it, pretty soon!”
The woman gave a groan of utter despair, and sat down on a board.
The person who had been called Misse Cassy now came forward, and, with a haughty, negligent air, delivered her basket. As she delivered it, Legree looked in her eyes with a sneering yet inquiring glance.
Que lui dit -elle ? personne ne le sut; mais, pendant qu' elle parlait, le visage de Legree prit une expression infernale: il leva la main comme pour la frapper, elle vit le geste, montra le plus insolent dédain, se détourna et s' éloigna lentement. ~~~ « Maintenant, Tom, venez ici, » fit Legree. ~~~ Tom s' approcha.
She fixed her black eyes steadily on him, her lips moved slightly, and she said something in French. What it was, no one knew; but Legree’s face became perfectly demoniacal in its expression, as she spoke; he half raised his hand, as if to strike,—a gesture which she regarded with fierce disdain, as she turned and walked away.
« Vous savez, Tom, que je ne vous ai pas acheté pour faire un travail grossier: je vous l' ai dit. Je vais vous donner de l' avancement, vous conduirez les travaux; ce soir vous commencerez à vous faire la main. Prenez cette femme et donnez -lui le fouet; vous savez ce que c' est; vous en avez assez vu !
“And now,” said Legree, “come here, you Tom. You see, I telled ye I didn’t buy ye jest for the common work; I mean to promote ye, and make a driver of ye; and tonight ye may jest as well begin to get yer hand in. Now, ye jest take this yer gal and flog her; ye’ve seen enough on’t to know how.”
“I beg Mas’r’s pardon,” said Tom; “hopes Mas’r won’t set me at that. It’s what I an’t used to,—never did,—and can’t do, no way possible.”
“Ye’ll larn a pretty smart chance of things ye never did know, before I’ve done with ye!” said Legree, taking up a cowhide, and striking Tom a heavy blow cross the cheek, and following up the infliction by a shower of blows.
“There!” he said, as he stopped to rest; “now, will ye tell me ye can’t do it?”
-- Oui, maître, dit Tom en essuyant avec sa main le sang qui ruisselait sur son visage. Oui, je travaillerai jour et nuit, tant qu' il y aura en moi un souffle de vie; mais cela, je ne crois pas que ce soit juste, et jamais je ne le ferai, non... jamais ! »
“Yes, Mas’r,” said Tom, putting up his hand, to wipe the blood, that trickled down his face. “I’m willin’ to work, night and day, and work while there’s life and breath in me; but this yer thing I can’t feel it right to do;—and, Mas’r, I _never_ shall do it,—_never_!”
Tom avait une voix d' une extrême douceur; ses manières étaient respectueuses. Legree s' était imaginé qu' on en viendrait facilement à bout. Quand l' esclave prononça ces dernières paroles, un frémissement courut dans la foule étonnée; la pauvre femme joignit les mains en disant: « Seigneur !... » et involontairement tous ces malheureux se regardaient les uns les autres, et retenaient leur souffle, comme à l' approche d' une tempête. ~~~ Legree parut tout d'abord stupéfait, confondu; enfin il éclata.
Tom had a remarkably smooth, soft voice, and a habitually respectful manner, that had given Legree an idea that he would be cowardly, and easily subdued. When he spoke these last words, a thrill of amazement went through every one; the poor woman clasped her hands, and said, “O Lord!” and every one involuntarily looked at each other and drew in their breath, as if to prepare for the storm that was about to burst.
« Comment ! misérable bête noire ! vous ne trouvez pas juste de faire ce que je dis ! Est -ce qu' un misérable troupeau d' animaux comme vous sait ce qui est juste ou non ?... Je mettrai bien un terme à tout cela !... Que croyez -vous donc être ?... Vous vous prenez, sans doute, pour un gentleman, monsieur Tom... Ah ! vous dites à votre maître ce qui est juste et ce qui ne l' est pas.... Vous prétendez donc qu' on ne doit pas fouetter cette femme !
Legree looked stupefied and confounded; but at last burst forth,—“What! ye blasted black beast! tell _me_ ye don’t think it _right_ to do what I tell ye! What have any of you cussed cattle to do with thinking what’s right? I’ll put a stop to it! Why, what do ye think ye are? May be ye think ye’r a gentleman master, Tom, to be a telling your master what’s right, and what ain’t! So you pretend it’s wrong to flog the gal!”
“I think so, Mas’r,” said Tom; “the poor crittur’s sick and feeble; ’t would be downright cruel, and it’s what I never will do, nor begin to. Mas’r, if you mean to kill me, kill me; but, as to my raising my hand agin any one here, I never shall,—I’ll die first!”
Tom parlait toujours de sa bonne et douce voix; mais il était facile de voir à quel point sa résolution était inébranlable. Legree tremblait de colère; ses yeux verts étincelaient; les poils de ses favoris se tordaient... Mais, comme certains animaux féroces qui jouent avec leur victime avant de la dévorer, il contint d'abord sa violence et railla Tom avec amertume.
Tom spoke in a mild voice, but with a decision that could not be mistaken. Legree shook with anger; his greenish eyes glared fiercely, and his very whiskers seemed to curl with passion; but, like some ferocious beast, that plays with its victim before he devours it, he kept back his strong impulse to proceed to immediate violence, and broke out into bitter raillery.
« Enfin, disait -il, voilà un chien dévot qui tombe parmi nous autres pécheurs.... Un saint.... un gentleman ! qui va vouloir nous convertir... Ah ! ce doit être un homme fièrement puissant.... Ici, misérable ! Ah ! vous voulez vous faire passer pour un homme pieux.... Vous ne connaissez donc pas la Bible, qui dit: « Serviteurs, obéissez à vos maîtres ! » Ne suis -je pas votre maître ? N' ai -je pas payé douze cents dollars pour tout ce qu' il y a dans ta maudite carcasse noire ?... N' es -tu pas mien à présent, corps et âme ?... » ~~~ Et de sa botte pesante, il donna à Tom un grand coup de pied. ~~~ « Réponds -moi ! »
“Well, here’s a pious dog, at last, let down among us sinners!—a saint, a gentleman, and no less, to talk to us sinners about our sins! Powerful holy critter, he must be! Here, you rascal, you make believe to be so pious,—didn’t you never hear, out of yer Bible, ’Servants, obey yer masters’? An’t I yer master? Didn’t I pay down twelve hundred dollars, cash, for all there is inside yer old cussed black shell? An’t yer mine, now, body and soul?” he said, giving Tom a violent kick with his heavy boot; “tell me!”
Tom était brisé par la souffrance physique: l' oppression tyrannique le courbait jusqu' à terre, et pourtant cette question fit passer dans son âme comme un rayon de joie. Il se redressa de toute sa hauteur, il regarda le ciel avec un noble enthousiasme, et, pendant que sur son visage coulaient et le sang et les larmes:
In the very depth of physical suffering, bowed by brutal oppression, this question shot a gleam of joy and triumph through Tom’s soul. He suddenly stretched himself up, and, looking earnestly to heaven, while the tears and blood that flowed down his face mingled, he exclaimed,
“No! no! no! my soul an’t yours, Mas’r! You haven’t bought it,—ye can’t buy it! It’s been bought and paid for, by one that is able to keep it;—no matter, no matter, you can’t harm me!”
“I can’t!” said Legree, with a sneer; “we’ll see,—we’ll see! Here, Sambo, Quimbo, give this dog such a breakin’ in as he won’t get over, this month!”
Les deux gigantesques noirs s' emparèrent de Tom. On voyait sur leur visage le triomphe de la férocité. C' était la personnification de la puissance des ténèbres. La pauvre mulâtresse jeta un cri de douleur; tous les esclaves se levèrent d' un même élan; Quimbo et Sambo emmenèrent Tom qui ne résistait pas.
The two gigantic negroes that now laid hold of Tom, with fiendish exultation in their faces, might have formed no unapt personification of powers of darkness. The poor woman screamed with apprehension, and all rose, as by a general impulse, while they dragged him unresisting from the place.
CHAPITRE XXXIV.
CHAPTER XXXIV The Quadroon’s Story
Histoire de la quarteronne.
And behold the tears of such as are oppressed; and on the side of their oppressors there was power. Wherefore I praised the dead that are already dead more than the living that are yet alive.—ECCL. 4:1.
It was late at night, and Tom lay groaning and bleeding alone, in an old forsaken room of the gin-house, among pieces of broken machinery, piles of damaged cotton, and other rubbish which had there accumulated.
L' obscurité est profonde; dans l' atmosphère épaisse bourdonnent par essaims des myriades de moustiques; une soif brûlante, le plus cruel des supplices, comble la dernière mesure des angoisses de Tom.
The night was damp and close, and the thick air swarmed with myriads of mosquitos, which increased the restless torture of his wounds; whilst a burning thirst—a torture beyond all others—filled up the uttermost measure of physical anguish.
“O, good Lord! _Do_ look down,—give me the victory!—give me the victory over all!” prayed poor Tom, in his anguish.
A footstep entered the room, behind him, and the light of a lantern flashed on his eyes.
“Who’s there? O, for the Lord’s massy, please give me some water!”
The woman Cassy—for it was she,—set down her lantern, and, pouring water from a bottle, raised his head, and gave him drink. Another and another cup were drained, with feverish eagerness.
[Illustration: CASSY MINISTERING TO UNCLE TOM AFTER HIS WHIPPING.]
“Drink all ye want,” she said; “I knew how it would be. It isn’t the first time I’ve been out in the night, carrying water to such as you.”
“Thank you, Missis,” said Tom, when he had done drinking.
-- Ne m' appelez pas madame; je ne suis comme vous qu' une misérable esclave... plus misérable encore que vous ne pourrez l' être jamais.... Et sa voix devint amère.... Mais voyons, dit -elle en allant vers la porte et tirant à elle une petite paillasse sur laquelle elle avait étendu des draps imbibés d' eau fraîche, voyons, mon pauvre homme, tâchez de vous mettre là-dessus.... »
“Don’t call me Missis! I’m a miserable slave, like yourself,—a lower one than you can ever be!” said she, bitterly; “but now,” said she, going to the door, and dragging in a small pallaise, over which she had spread linen cloths wet with cold water, “try, my poor fellow, to roll yourself on to this.”
Stiff with wounds and bruises, Tom was a long time in accomplishing this movement; but, when done, he felt a sensible relief from the cooling application to his wounds.
The woman, whom long practice with the victims of brutality had made familiar with many healing arts, went on to make many applications to Tom’s wounds, by means of which he was soon somewhat relieved.
“Now,” said the woman, when she had raised his head on a roll of damaged cotton, which served for a pillow, “there’s the best I can do for you.”
Tom la remercia. Elle s' assit par terre, ramena vers elle ses genoux, qu' elle entoura de ses bras. Elle regarda fixement devant elle. Son chapeau se détacha, et, comme un noir torrent, ses cheveux ruisselèrent en vagues épaisses autour de son visage mélancolique.
Tom thanked her; and the woman, sitting down on the floor, drew up her knees, and embracing them with her arms, looked fixedly before her, with a bitter and painful expression of countenance. Her bonnet fell back, and long wavy streams of black hair fell around her singular and melancholy-face.
“It’s no use, my poor fellow!” she broke out, at last, “it’s of no use, this you’ve been trying to do. You were a brave fellow,—you had the right on your side; but it’s all in vain, and out of the question, for you to struggle. You are in the devil’s hands;—he is the strongest, and you must give up!”
Céder ! ah ! la faiblesse humaine et l' agonie n' avaient -elle pas déjà murmuré cette parole à ses oreilles ? Tom se redressa. Cette femme, dont on devinait les secrètes amertumes, cette femme à la voix mélancolique, à l' oeil sauvage, cette femme lui semblait la tentation en personne, la tentation contre laquelle il avait lutté !
Give up! and, had not human weakness and physical agony whispered that, before? Tom started; for the bitter woman, with her wild eyes and melancholy voice, seemed to him an embodiment of the temptation with which he had been wrestling.
“O Lord! O Lord!” he groaned, “how can I give up?”
-- Il est inutile d' appeler le Seigneur, il n' entend jamais, reprit la femme d' une voix énergique. Je crois qu' il n' y a pas de Dieu; mais, s' il y en a un, il a pris parti contre nous !... Oui, tout est contre nous, le ciel et la terre.... Tout nous pousse vers l' enfer; pourquoi n' y point aller ? »
“There’s no use calling on the Lord,—he never hears,” said the woman, steadily; “there isn’t any God, I believe; or, if there is, he’s taken sides against us. All goes against us, heaven and earth. Everything is pushing us into hell. Why shouldn’t we go?”
Tom closed his eyes, and shuddered at the dark, atheistic words.
« Vous voyez bien ! reprit la femme, vous ne connaissez rien à cela. Moi, si ! voilà cinq ans que je suis ici, corps et âme sous le talon de cet homme, et je le hais comme le diable. Vous êtes sur une plantation solitaire... à dix milles de toute autre... dans les savanes. Pas un blanc qui puisse témoigner que vous avez été brûlé vif, déchiré par morceaux, écorché, jeté aux chiens et fouetté jusqu' à la mort... Ici pas de loi, ou divine ou humaine, qui puisse nous faire le moindre bien, à vous ni à personne. Je ferais claquer les dents et dresser les cheveux, si je disais ce que j' ai vu et su.... Mais il est inutile de lutter.... Est -ce que je voulais vivre avec lui ? N' étais -je pas une femme délicatement élevée ? Et lui ! Dieu du ciel !... quel était -il, et quel est -il ?... Et cependant j' ai vécu avec lui cinq ans, maudissant chaque instant de ma vie, et le jour et la nuit.... Et maintenant il en a une autre.... une jeune.... qui n' a que quinze ans !... Et elle a été pieusement élevée, dit -elle. Sa bonne maîtresse lui avait appris à lire la Bible, et elle a apporté sa Bible ici.... Au diable, elle et sa Bible ! » ~~~ Et la femme fit entendre un rire sauvage et douloureux, qui retentit avec je ne sais quel éclat étrange et surnaturel à travers les ruines.
“You see,” said the woman, “_you_ don’t know anything about it—I do. I’ve been on this place five years, body and soul, under this man’s foot; and I hate him as I do the devil! Here you are, on a lone plantation, ten miles from any other, in the swamps; not a white person here, who could testify, if you were burned alive,—if you were scalded, cut into inch-pieces, set up for the dogs to tear, or hung up and whipped to death. There’s no law here, of God or man, that can do you, or any one of us, the least good; and, this man! there’s no earthly thing that he’s too good to do. I could make any one’s hair rise, and their teeth chatter, if I should only tell what I’ve seen and been knowing to, here,—and it’s no use resisting! Did I _want_ to live with him? Wasn’t I a woman delicately bred; and he,—God in heaven! what was he, and is he? And yet, I’ve lived with him, these five years, and cursed every moment of my life,—night and day! And now, he’s got a new one,—a young thing, only fifteen, and she brought up, she says, piously. Her good mistress taught her to read the Bible; and she’s brought her Bible here—to hell with her!”—and the woman laughed a wild and doleful laugh, that rung, with a strange, supernatural sound, through the old ruined shed.
Tom folded his hands; all was darkness and horror.
“O Jesus! Lord Jesus! have you quite forgot us poor critturs?” burst forth, at last;—“help, Lord, I perish!”
La terrible femme continua:
The woman sternly continued:
« Et que sont donc ces misérables chiens, vos compagnons, pour que vous vouliez souffrir à cause d' eux ? Pas un qui, à la première occasion, ne se tourne contre vous ! Ils sont aussi bas et aussi cruels que possible les uns envers les autres. Souffrir, comme vous faites, pour ne pas leur faire du mal.... c' est bien inutile, allez !
“And what are these miserable low dogs you work with, that you should suffer on their account? Every one of them would turn against you, the first time they got a chance. They are all of ’em as low and cruel to each other as they can be; there’s no use in your suffering to keep from hurting them.”
-- Pauvres créatures, dit Tom, qui est -ce qui les a rendues cruelles ?... Si je cède, moi aussi, petit à petit, comme eux-mêmes, je vais devenir cruel.... Non ! non ! madame ! j' ai tout perdu.... femme, enfants, maison, un bon maître qui m' eût affranchi s' il eût vécu huit jours de plus. J' ai perdu, perdu sans espérance tout ce que j' avais dans ce monde.... Il ne faut pas que je perde encore le ciel.... Non, après tout, je ne veux pas devenir méchant !
“Poor critturs!” said Tom,—“what made ’em cruel?—and, if I give out, I shall get used to ’t, and grow, little by little, just like ’em! No, no, Missis! I’ve lost everything,—wife, and children, and home, and a kind Mas’r,—and he would have set me free, if he’d only lived a week longer; I’ve lost everything in _this_ world, and it’s clean gone, forever,—and now I _can’t_ lose Heaven, too; no, I can’t get to be wicked, besides all!”
“But it can’t be that the Lord will lay sin to our account,” said the woman; “he won’t charge it to us, when we’re forced to it; he’ll charge it to them that drove us to it.”
“Yes,” said Tom; “but that won’t keep us from growing wicked. If I get to be as hard-hearted as that ar’ Sambo, and as wicked, it won’t make much odds to me how I come so; it’s the bein’ so,—that ar’s what I’m a dreadin’.”
The woman fixed a wild and startled look on Tom, as if a new thought had struck her; and then, heavily groaning, said,
“O God a’ mercy! you speak the truth! O—O—O!”—and, with groans, she fell on the floor, like one crushed and writhing under the extremity of mental anguish.
There was a silence, a while, in which the breathing of both parties could be heard, when Tom faintly said, “O, please, Missis!”
The woman suddenly rose up, with her face composed to its usual stern, melancholy expression.
“Please, Missis, I saw ’em throw my coat in that ar’ corner, and in my coat-pocket is my Bible;—if Missis would please get it for me.”
Cassy went and got it. Tom opened, at once, to a heavily marked passage, much worn, of the last scenes in the life of Him by whose stripes we are healed.
“If Missis would only be so good as read that ar’,—it’s better than water.”
Cassy, d' un air sec et orgueilleux, prit le livre et jeta les yeux sur le passage indiqué; puis elle lut tout haut, d' une voix douce, et avec une beauté d' intonation vraiment étrange, toute cette histoire pleine d' angoisses et de gloire. Sa voix s' altérait par intervalles. Souvent elle lui manquait tout à fait; et alors elle s' arrêtait, conservant un maintien glacial, jusqu' à ce qu' elle fût redevenue maîtresse d' elle -même. Quand elle en vint à ces touchantes paroles: « Mon père, pardonnez -leur, car ils ne savent ce qu' ils font, » elle rejeta le livre, et, ensevelissant son visage sous le voile épais de ses cheveux, elle éclata en sanglots violents et convulsifs.
Cassy took the book, with a dry, proud air, and looked over the passage. She then read aloud, in a soft voice, and with a beauty of intonation that was peculiar, that touching account of anguish and of glory. Often, as she read, her voice faltered, and sometimes failed her altogether, when she would stop, with an air of frigid composure, till she had mastered herself. When she came to the touching words, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,” she threw down the book, and, burying her face in the heavy masses of her hair, she sobbed aloud, with a convulsive violence.
Tom was weeping, also, and occasionally uttering a smothered ejaculation.
“If we only could keep up to that ar’!” said Tom;—“it seemed to come so natural to him, and we have to fight so hard for ’t! O Lord, help us! O blessed Lord Jesus, do help us!”
-- Madame, reprit Tom au bout d' un instant, je vois que vous m' êtes supérieure en tout. Et pourtant il y a une chose que madame pourrait apprendre de ce pauvre Tom. Vous disiez que Dieu se met contre nous, parce qu' il nous laisse ainsi maltraiter et assommer. Mais voyez ce qui arriva à son propre Fils, le roi de gloire !... Ne fut -il pas toujours pauvre ? Et nous-mêmes, si bas que nous soyons, pouvons -nous dire qu' aucun de nous soit aussi bas que lui ? Le Seigneur ne nous a pas oubliés, j' en suis sûr. Si nous souffrons avec lui, nous régnerons avec lui, l' Écriture le dit. Mais si nous le renions, lui-même nous reniera. N' ont -ils pas souffert, Dieu et les siens ? Le Livre nous apprend qu' ils furent chassés à coups de pierres, livrés à la faim, errants à demi nus par le monde, abandonnés, affligés, torturés. Non, la souffrance ne doit pas nous faire croire que Dieu est contre nous. C' est le contraire.... pourvu que nous-mêmes nous nous attachions à Dieu et que nous ne nous livrions pas au péché !
“Missis,” said Tom, after a while, “I can see that, some how, you’re quite ’bove me in everything; but there’s one thing Missis might learn even from poor Tom. Ye said the Lord took sides against us, because he lets us be ’bused and knocked round; but ye see what come on his own Son,—the blessed Lord of Glory,—wan’t he allays poor? and have we, any on us, yet come so low as he come? The Lord han’t forgot us,—I’m sartin’ o’ that ar’. If we suffer with him, we shall also reign, Scripture says; but, if we deny Him, he also will deny us. Didn’t they all suffer?—the Lord and all his? It tells how they was stoned and sawn asunder, and wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, and was destitute, afflicted, tormented. Sufferin’ an’t no reason to make us think the Lord’s turned agin us; but jest the contrary, if only we hold on to him, and doesn’t give up to sin.”
“But why does he put us where we can’t help but sin?” said the woman.
-- Ce n' est jamais impossible !
“I think we _can_ help it,” said Tom.
“You’ll see,” said Cassy; “what’ll you do? Tomorrow they’ll be at you again. I know ’em; I’ve seen all their doings; I can’t bear to think of all they’ll bring you to;—and they’ll make you give out, at last!”
“Lord Jesus!” said Tom, “you _will_ take care of my soul? O Lord, do!—don’t let me give out!”
“O dear!” said Cassy; “I’ve heard all this crying and praying before; and yet, they’ve been broken down, and brought under. There’s Emmeline, she’s trying to hold on, and you’re trying,—but what use? You must give up, or be killed by inches.”
-- Eh bien ! alors je mourrai.... j' y consens !... qu' ils prolongent mon supplice, ils ne m' empêcheront pas de mourir un jour, après tout !.... Mourir ! que peuvent -ils de plus ?... Je les attends.... je suis prêt.... Dieu m' assistera.... je le sais. »
“Well, then, I _will_ die!” said Tom. “Spin it out as long as they can, they can’t help my dying, some time!—and, after that, they can’t do no more. I’m clar, I’m set! I _know_ the Lord’ll help me, and bring me through.”
The woman did not answer; she sat with her black eyes intently fixed on the floor.
« Peut-être il a raison, murmurait -elle tout bas.... Mais pour ceux qui ont une fois cédé.... tout est fini.... il n' y a plus d' espérance.... non, plus, plus ! Nous vivons de la vie d' un songe, objet de dégoût pour les autres.... pour nous-mêmes !... et nous tardons à mourir.... nous n' osons pas nous donner la mort ! Plus d' espoir, plus d' espoir, plus d' espoir !... Cette jeune fille, tout juste mon âge.... Vous me voyez, dit -elle à Tom, en parlant avec volubilité.... regardez -moi, comme me voilà ! Eh bien ! j' ai été élevée dans le luxe.... Mes premiers souvenirs me rappellent à moi-même, jeune enfant, jouant dans des salons splendides.... J' étais vêtue comme une poupée.... les amis, les visiteurs louaient mes belles grâces.... il y avait un salon dont les fenêtres s' ouvraient sur un jardin.... je jouais à cache-cache sous les orangers, avec mes frères et mes soeurs.... Je fus mise au couvent.... J' appris la musique, le français, la broderie.... que n' appris -je pas ? J' avais quatorze ans quand on me fit sortir pour assister aux funérailles de mon père.... Il était mort subitement. Quand on vint à liquider, on trouva qu' il y avait à peine de quoi payer les dettes.... Les créanciers firent un inventaire de la propriété; je m' y trouvai comprise. Ma mère était esclave ! Mon père avait toujours voulu m' affranchir.... mais il ne l' avait pas fait.... J' avais toujours ignoré mon état.... jamais je n' y avais songé.... Est -ce qu' on pense jamais qu' un homme fort et plein de santé va mourir ?... Mon père fut emporté en quatre heures.... ce fut un des premiers cas de choléra de la Nouvelle-Orléans. Le lendemain, la femme de mon père retourna avec ses enfants à la plantation de son propre père.... Il me sembla qu' on me traitait d' étrange sorte.... mais je n' y prenais pas garde.... Il y avait un jeune avocat chargé d' arranger les affaires. Il venait chaque jour et parcourait toute la maison et me parlait fort poliment. Un jour il amena avec lui un jeune homme.... je n' avais jamais vu un homme plus beau.... Oh ! je n' oublierai pas cette soirée -là. Je me promenai avec lui dans le jardin.... J' étais seule et bien triste.... Il était si plein de bonté et de tendresse pour moi !... Il me dit qu' il m' avait vue avant que je n' allasse au couvent, qu' il m' aimait beaucoup, et qu' il voulait être mon protecteur et mon ami. En un mot, bien qu' il ne m' eût pas dit qu' il avait payé dix mille dollars pour que je fusse à lui, j' étais sienne, vraiment, car je l' aimais !... Je l' aimais, dit -elle en s' arrêtant.... Oh ! comme je l' aimais, cet homme ! comme je l' aime, comme je l' aimerai.... tant qu' il me restera un souffle ! Il était si beau, si élevé, si noble ! Il me donna une maison superbe, des domestiques, des chevaux, des voitures, des meubles, des toilettes.... tout ce que l' argent peut acheter, il me le donna. Je n' y prenais pas garde.... je n' aimais que lui, je l' aimais plus que Dieu, plus que mon âme.... et, quand même je l' aurais voulu, je n' aurais pu résister à un seul de ses désirs. Je ne désirais qu' une chose, moi.... je désirais qu' il m' épousât ! je pensais que, s' il m' aimait autant qu' il le disait, si j' étais réellement pour lui ce qu' il paraissait croire, il s' empresserait de m' épouser et de m' affranchir.... Il me démontra que c' était impossible.... il me dit que, si nous étions fidèles l' un à l' autre, ce serait un vrai mariage devant Dieu.... Ah ! si cela était vrai.... n' étais -je vraiment pas sa femme ?... N' étais -je pas fidèle ?... Pendant sept ans j' épiai chacun de ses regards, chacun de ses mouvements, je ne respirai que pour lui plaire ! il eut la fièvre jaune.... vingt jours et vingt nuits je le veillai.... moi seule.... je le soignai.... je fis tout ! il m' appela son bon ange, et il dit que je lui avais sauvé la vie. Nous eûmes deux beaux enfants: le premier était un garçon; nous l' appelâmes Henri. C' était l' image de son père.... il avait ses beaux yeux, son front, et ses cheveux retombant en boucles autour de son visage.... il avait aussi l' esprit et le talent de son père. Il disait, au contraire, que la petite Élisa me ressemblait.... il répétait sans cesse que j' étais la plus belle femme de la Louisiane.... il était si fier de moi et de nos enfants ! Souvent il me disait de les parer, puis il nous promenait tous en voiture découverte, pour entendre ce que l' on disait de nous.... et il me répétait tout ce que l' on avait dit de plus charmant sur les enfants et sur moi. Oh ! c' étaient là d' heureux jours ! je me trouvais heureuse, autant qu' on puisse l' être. Vinrent ensuite les temps mauvais. Un de ses cousins, son ami intime, vint à la Nouvelle-Orléans. Il en faisait le plus grand cas.... mais moi.... du premier instant que je l' aperçus.... je le redoutai.... je sentais qu' il allait attirer le malheur sur nous.... Souvent il emmenait Henri dehors.... et il ne rentrait qu' à deux ou trois heures dans la nuit.... Je n' avais rien à dire; Henri était si ombrageux !... mais j' avais bien peur.... Il l' emmenait dans des maisons de jeu, et il était ainsi fait, qu' une fois entré là il n' en pouvait plus sortir.... Son ami le présenta à une autre femme.... je vis bientôt que son coeur n' était plus à moi; il ne me le dit jamais, mais je le vis bien.... Oh ! jour après jour je le voyais s' éloigner.... Mon coeur se brisait.... Le misérable lui offrit de m' acheter avec les enfants, pour payer les dettes de jeu qui l' empêchaient de se marier comme il l' entendait; et il nous vendit !... Il me dit qu' il avait affaire à la campagne, et qu' il y resterait deux ou trois semaines; il me parla avec plus de tendresse que d' habitude, me dit qu' il reviendrait; mais il ne me trompa point.... Je sentais que le temps était venu.... il me semblait que j' étais changée en statue. Je ne pouvais ni dire une parole, ni verser une larme. Il m' embrassa; il embrassa les enfants à plusieurs reprises, et il sortit. Je le vis monter à cheval.... Tant que je pus, je le suivis des yeux. Quand je ne le vis plus, je tombai et je m' évanouis.
“May be it’s the way,” she murmured to herself; “but those that _have_ given up, there’s no hope for them!—none! We live in filth, and grow loathsome, till we loathe ourselves! And we long to die, and we don’t dare to kill ourselves!—No hope! no hope! no hope?—this girl now,—just as old as I was! ~~~ “You see me now,” she said, speaking to Tom very rapidly; “see what I am! Well, I was brought up in luxury; the first I remember is, playing about, when I was a child, in splendid parlors,—when I was kept dressed up like a doll, and company and visitors used to praise me. There was a garden opening from the saloon windows; and there I used to play hide-and-go-seek, under the orange-trees, with my brothers and sisters. I went to a convent, and there I learned music, French and embroidery, and what not; and when I was fourteen, I came out to my father’s funeral. He died very suddenly, and when the property came to be settled, they found that there was scarcely enough to cover the debts; and when the creditors took an inventory of the property, I was set down in it. My mother was a slave woman, and my father had always meant to set me free; but he had not done it, and so I was set down in the list. I’d always known who I was, but never thought much about it. Nobody ever expects that a strong, healthy man is going to die. My father was a well man only four hours before he died;—it was one of the first cholera cases in New Orleans. The day after the funeral, my father’s wife took her children, and went up to her father’s plantation. I thought they treated me strangely, but didn’t know. There was a young lawyer who they left to settle the business; and he came every day, and was about the house, and spoke very politely to me. He brought with him, one day, a young man, whom I thought the handsomest I had ever seen. I shall never forget that evening. I walked with him in the garden. I was lonesome and full of sorrow, and he was so kind and gentle to me; and he told me that he had seen me before I went to the convent, and that he had loved me a great while, and that he would be my friend and protector;—in short, though he didn’t tell me, he had paid two thousand dollars for me, and I was his property,—I became his willingly, for I loved him. Loved!” said the woman, stopping. “O, how I _did_ love that man! How I love him now,—and always shall, while I breathe! He was so beautiful, so high, so noble! He put me into a beautiful house, with servants, horses, and carriages, and furniture, and dresses. Everything that money could buy, he gave me; but I didn’t set any value on all that,—I only cared for him. I loved him better than my God and my own soul, and, if I tried, I couldn’t do any other way from what he wanted me to. ~~~ “I wanted only one thing—I did want him to _marry_ me. I thought, if he loved me as he said he did, and if I was what he seemed to think I was, he would be willing to marry me and set me free. But he convinced me that it would be impossible; and he told me that, if we were only faithful to each other, it was marriage before God. If that is true, wasn’t I that man’s wife? Wasn’t I faithful? For seven years, didn’t I study every look and motion, and only live and breathe to please him? He had the yellow fever, and for twenty days and nights I watched with him. I alone,—and gave him all his medicine, and did everything for him; and then he called me his good angel, and said I’d saved his life. We had two beautiful children. The first was a boy, and we called him Henry. He was the image of his father,—he had such beautiful eyes, such a forehead, and his hair hung all in curls around it; and he had all his father’s spirit, and his talent, too. Little Elise, he said, looked like me. He used to tell me that I was the most beautiful woman in Louisiana, he was so proud of me and the children. He used to love to have me dress them up, and take them and me about in an open carriage, and hear the remarks that people would make on us; and he used to fill my ears constantly with the fine things that were said in praise of me and the children. O, those were happy days! I thought I was as happy as any one could be; but then there came evil times. He had a cousin come to New Orleans, who was his particular friend,—he thought all the world of him;—but, from the first time I saw him, I couldn’t tell why, I dreaded him; for I felt sure he was going to bring misery on us. He got Henry to going out with him, and often he would not come home nights till two or three o’clock. I did not dare say a word; for Henry was so high spirited, I was afraid to. He got him to the gaming-houses; and he was one of the sort that, when he once got a going there, there was no holding back. And then he introduced him to another lady, and I saw soon that his heart was gone from me. He never told me, but I saw it,—I knew it, day after day,—I felt my heart breaking, but I could not say a word! At this, the wretch offered to buy me and the children of Henry, to clear off his gambling debts, which stood in the way of his marrying as he wished;—and _he sold us_. He told me, one day, that he had business in the country, and should be gone two or three weeks. He spoke kinder than usual, and said he should come back; but it didn’t deceive me. I knew that the time had come; I was just like one turned into stone; I couldn’t speak, nor shed a tear. He kissed me and kissed the children, a good many times, and went out. I saw him get on his horse, and I watched him till he was quite out of sight; and then I fell down, and fainted.
« Alors il vint, l' autre, le misérable ! il vint prendre possession.... Il me dit qu' il m' avait achetée, moi et les enfants.... il me montra les papiers.... Je le maudis devant Dieu, et je lui dis que je mourrais plutôt que de vivre avec lui !... « A votre aise, dit -il; mais, si vous n' êtes pas raisonnable, je vendrai les deux enfants, et vous ne les reverrez jamais.... »
“Then _he_ came, the cursed wretch! he came to take possession. He told me that he had bought me and my children; and showed me the papers. I cursed him before God, and told him I’d die sooner than live with him.”
« Il me dit qu' il m' avait désirée du jour où il m' avait vue.... qu' il avait attiré Henri, et qu' il l' avait endetté pour le faire consentir à me vendre.... qu' il l' avait rendu amoureux d' une autre femme, et que je devais être bien certaine, après tout cela, qu' il se souciait peu de mes larmes.
“‘Just as you please,’ said he; ‘but, if you don’t behave reasonably, I’ll sell both the children, where you shall never see them again.’ He told me that he always had meant to have me, from the first time he saw me; and that he had drawn Henry on, and got him in debt, on purpose to make him willing to sell me. That he got him in love with another woman; and that I might know, after all that, that he should not give up for a few airs and tears, and things of that sort.
« Il fallut céder. J' avais les mains liées.... Mes enfants n' étaient -ils pas en son pouvoir ?... A la moindre résistance il parlait de les vendre.... Il me rendait ainsi l' esclave de ses moindres désirs. Oh ! quelle vie c' était là ! vivre le coeur brisé chaque jour.... continuer d' aimer, quand l' amour était le malheur, et être enchaînée corps et âme à celui que je haïssais ! J' aimais à faire la lecture, à jouer, à chanter pour Henri, à valser avec lui.... Mais pour celui -ci, tout ce que je faisais était un supplice; et cependant je n' osais rien lui refuser. Il était impérieux et dur avec les enfants. Élisa était une petite créature timide; mais Henri était audacieux et emporté comme son père: il n' avait jamais plié sous personne. ~~~ « Cet homme le prenait toujours en faute. Il se disputait sans cesse avec lui. Mes jours se passaient dans la crainte et le tremblement. Je m' efforçais de rendre l' enfant plus respectueux; je tâchais de les éloigner l' un de l' autre.... Tout fut inutile.... il vendit les deux enfants ! Un jour, il m' emmena faire une partie de cheval.... Quand je revins, on ne les trouva plus. Il me dit qu' on les avait vendus.... il me montra l' argent.... le prix du sang !... Il me sembla que tout m' abandonnait à la fois. Je tempêtai, je maudis.... oui ! je maudis Dieu et les hommes.... Il eut peur de moi, mais il ne céda pas.... Il me dit que les enfants étaient vendus, mais qu' il dépendait de moi de les revoir; que, si je me conduisais mal, ce seraient eux qui en souffriraient.... Ah ! l' on peut tout faire de la femme à qui l' on prend ses enfants.... je me soumis, je me calmai.... lui me fit espérer qu' il les rachèterait un jour. Les choses marchèrent ainsi une semaine ou deux. Un jour, en me promenant, je passai devant la calebasse: il y avait foule à la porte.... j' entendis une voix d' enfant. Tout à coup Henri, mon Henri ! échappa à deux ou trois hommes qui le tenaient; il s' enfuit en poussant des cris, et vint s' attacher à ma robe.... Ils s' élancèrent après lui, et l' un d' eux--oh ! jamais je n' oublierai son visage--dit à Henri qu' il allait le reprendre, l' emmener dans la calebasse, et lui donner une leçon dont il se souviendrait toujours.... Je suppliais, j' invoquais.... ils riaient ! Le pauvre enfant poussait des cris.... il me regardait.... il s' attachait à moi.... enfin ils déchirèrent mes vêtements et me l' arrachèrent.... lui criait toujours: « Mère ! mère ! mère ! » Un homme, parmi les spectateurs, semblait éprouver quelque pitié.... je lui offris tout ce que j' avais d' argent pour intervenir.... il hocha la tête et me répondit que le maître de mon fils prétendait que, depuis qu' il l' avait, l' enfant était insolent et désobéissant, et qu' il allait le réduire pour toujours.... Je m' enfuis en courant.... il me semblait entendre les lamentations de mon enfant.... je rentrai à la maison.... je me précipitai dans le salon, hors d' haleine.... j' y trouvai Butler, mon maître; je lui dis tout.... je le suppliai d' intervenir.... Il ne fit qu' en rire.... il me dit que l' enfant avait ce qu' il méritait.... qu' il avait besoin d' être maté, et que le plus tôt serait le mieux... Il me demanda ce que je comptais donc en faire.
“I gave up, for my hands were tied. He had my children;—whenever I resisted his will anywhere, he would talk about selling them, and he made me as submissive as he desired. O, what a life it was! to live with my heart breaking, every day,—to keep on, on, on, loving, when it was only misery; and to be bound, body and soul, to one I hated. I used to love to read to Henry, to play to him, to waltz with him, and sing to him; but everything I did for this one was a perfect drag,—yet I was afraid to refuse anything. He was very imperious, and harsh to the children. Elise was a timid little thing; but Henry was bold and high-spirited, like his father, and he had never been brought under, in the least, by any one. He was always finding fault, and quarrelling with him; and I used to live in daily fear and dread. I tried to make the child respectful;—I tried to keep them apart, for I held on to those children like death; but it did no good. _He sold both those children_. He took me to ride, one day, and when I came home, they were nowhere to be found! He told me he had sold them; he showed me the money, the price of their blood. Then it seemed as if all good forsook me. I raved and cursed,—cursed God and man; and, for a while, I believe, he really was afraid of me. But he didn’t give up so. He told me that my children were sold, but whether I ever saw their faces again, depended on him; and that, if I wasn’t quiet, they should smart for it. Well, you can do anything with a woman, when you’ve got her children. He made me submit; he made me be peaceable; he flattered me with hopes that, perhaps, he would buy them back; and so things went on, a week or two. One day, I was out walking, and passed by the calaboose; I saw a crowd about the gate, and heard a child’s voice,—and suddenly my Henry broke away from two or three men who were holding him, and ran, screaming, and caught my dress. They came up to him, swearing dreadfully; and one man, whose face I shall never forget, told him that he wouldn’t get away so; that he was going with him into the calaboose, and he’d get a lesson there he’d never forget. I tried to beg and plead,—they only laughed; the poor boy screamed and looked into my face, and held on to me, until, in tearing him off, they tore the skirt of my dress half away; and they carried him in, screaming ’Mother! mother! mother!’ There was one man stood there seemed to pity me. I offered him all the money I had, if he’d only interfere. He shook his head, and said that the boy had been impudent and disobedient, ever since he bought him; that he was going to break him in, once for all. I turned and ran; and every step of the way, I thought that I heard him scream. I got into the house; ran, all out of breath, to the parlor, where I found Butler. I told him, and begged him to go and interfere. He only laughed, and told me the boy had got his deserts. He’d got to be broken in,—the sooner the better; ’what did I expect?’ he asked.
« A ce moment, il me sembla que quelque chose se détraquait dans ma tête.... je devins furieuse, égarée.... Je me rappelle que j' aperçus un grand couteau à lame recourbée.... il me semble que je le pris et que je m' élançai sur cet homme.... puis tout devint sombre.... et de longtemps je ne sus rien....
“It seemed to me something in my head snapped, at that moment. I felt dizzy and furious. I remember seeing a great sharp bowie-knife on the table; I remember something about catching it, and flying upon him; and then all grew dark, and I didn’t know any more,—not for days and days.
« Quand je revins à moi, j' étais dans une chambre propre, mais qui n' était pas ma chambre. Une vieille négresse veillait auprès de moi.... Un médecin venait me voir; j' étais entourée de soins. Je sus bientôt que Butler m' avait abandonnée et laissée là pour être vendue; je compris alors pourquoi j' étais si bien soignée....
“When I came to myself, I was in a nice room,—but not mine. An old black woman tended me; and a doctor came to see me, and there was a great deal of care taken of me. After a while, I found that he had gone away, and left me at this house to be sold; and that’s why they took such pains with me.
« Je ne désirais pas revenir à la vie, j' espérais n' y pas revenir; mais, quoi que j' en eusse, la fièvre me quitta, la santé reparut, je fus bientôt rétablie.... Chaque jour on me parait; des hommes élégants venaient chez moi; ils y restaient, ils y fumaient. Ils me regardaient, ils me faisaient des questions et me marchandaient; mais j' étais tellement triste et silencieuse qu' aucun d' eux ne voulait de moi. Les gens de la maison me menaçaient alors du fouet, si je ne voulais pas être gaie et me montrer aimable.... ~~~ « Il vint enfin un gentleman du nom de Stuart. Il parut avoir quelque sympathie pour moi.... il vit bien que j' avais un poids terrible sur le coeur.... Il vint souvent me voir aux heures où j' étais seule; je lui contai mes malheurs. Il m' acheta et me promit de tout faire pour me rendre mes enfants. Il alla lui-même à l' hôtel où se trouvait mon petit Henri. On lui dit qu' il avait été vendu à un planteur de la rivière de la Perle. Je n' en ai jamais entendu parler depuis. Il retrouva ma fille; elle était gardée par une vieille femme. Il en offrit des sommes considérables: on ne voulut pas la vendre. Butler découvrit que c' était pour moi qu' on la voulait, il ne consentit point à la laisser partir; il me fit dire que je ne l' aurais jamais. Le capitaine Stuart était bon pour moi: il possédait une magnifique plantation, il m' y emmena. Dans le courant de l' année, j' eus un fils.... pauvre chère petite créature !... comme je l' aimais ! c' était le portrait de mon pauvre Henri ! Je m' étais mis dans la tête, oh ! invinciblement !... que je n' élèverais plus jamais d' enfant.... Je pris le pauvre petit dans mes bras, il pouvait avoir quinze jours, je le couvris de baisers et de larmes, puis je lui fis prendre du laudanum, et je le serrai sur mon coeur pendant qu' il s' endormait dans la mort.... Que de regrets et que de pleurs !... On crut à une erreur de ma part.... Tenez, Tom ! c' est une des choses que je m' applaudis le plus d' avoir faites. Ah ! celui -là du moins est affranchi de toute peine ! Pauvre enfant ! que pouvais -je lui donner de meilleur que la mort ? Bientôt vint le choléra. Le capitaine Stuart mourut.... Ah ! tous ceux -là mouraient qui auraient dû vivre !... Et moi.... moi.... je fus à deux doigts de la mort.... et je ne mourus pas ! Je fus encore vendue.... Je passai de main en main.... jusqu' à ce qu' enfin je devinsse flétrie et ridée, malade.... Ce misérable Legree m' acheta.... m' amena ici.... et m' y voilà ! »
“I didn’t mean to get well, and hoped I shouldn’t; but, in spite of me the fever went off and I grew healthy, and finally got up. Then, they made me dress up, every day; and gentlemen used to come in and stand and smoke their cigars, and look at me, and ask questions, and debate my price. I was so gloomy and silent, that none of them wanted me. They threatened to whip me, if I wasn’t gayer, and didn’t take some pains to make myself agreeable. At length, one day, came a gentleman named Stuart. He seemed to have some feeling for me; he saw that something dreadful was on my heart, and he came to see me alone, a great many times, and finally persuaded me to tell him. He bought me, at last, and promised to do all he could to find and buy back my children. He went to the hotel where my Henry was; they told him he had been sold to a planter up on Pearl River; that was the last that I ever heard. Then he found where my daughter was; an old woman was keeping her. He offered an immense sum for her, but they would not sell her. Butler found out that it was for me he wanted her; and he sent me word that I should never have her. Captain Stuart was very kind to me; he had a splendid plantation, and took me to it. In the course of a year, I had a son born. O, that child!—how I loved it! How just like my poor Henry the little thing looked! But I had made up my mind,—yes, I had. I would never again let a child live to grow up! I took the little fellow in my arms, when he was two weeks old, and kissed him, and cried over him; and then I gave him laudanum, and held him close to my bosom, while he slept to death. How I mourned and cried over it! and who ever dreamed that it was anything but a mistake, that had made me give it the laudanum? but it’s one of the few things that I’m glad of, now. I am not sorry, to this day; he, at least, is out of pain. What better than death could I give him, poor child! After a while, the cholera came, and Captain Stuart died; everybody died that wanted to live,—and I,—I, though I went down to death’s door,—_I lived!_ Then I was sold, and passed from hand to hand, till I grew faded and wrinkled, and I had a fever; and then this wretch bought me, and brought me here,—and here I am!”
La femme s' arrêta tout à coup. Elle avait fait ce récit avec une éloquence entraînante et passionnée, tantôt s' adressant à Tom et tantôt paraissant se parler à elle-même, comme dans un monologue. Et il y avait dans ses paroles une telle puissance et une si grande énergie, qu' en l' écoutant Tom oubliait jusqu' à ses douleurs.... Il se soulevait sur ses coudes et la suivait des yeux, tandis qu' elle arpentait la chambre à grands pas, secouant autour d' elle, à chaque mouvement, sa longue chevelure noire qui l' inondait.
The woman stopped. She had hurried on through her story, with a wild, passionate utterance; sometimes seeming to address it to Tom, and sometimes speaking as in a soliloquy. So vehement and overpowering was the force with which she spoke, that, for a season, Tom was beguiled even from the pain of his wounds, and, raising himself on one elbow, watched her as she paced restlessly up and down, her long black hair swaying heavily about her, as she moved.
« Vous me disiez, reprit -elle après un instant de silence, qu' il y a un Dieu, et que ce Dieu regarde et voit toutes choses. Cela se peut bien ! Au couvent où j' étais, les soeurs me parlaient d' un jour de jugement où tout sera découvert.... Oh ! y aura -t-il des vengeances, alors ! Elles pensent que ce n' est rien, ce que nous souffrons, rien, ce que souffrent nos enfants.... Oh ! non !... ce n' est rien.... et pourtant.... quand je parcourais les rues, il me semblait, par instants, que j' avais assez de haine au coeur pour anéantir toute une ville. Oui, je désirais que les maisons s' écroulassent sur ma tête, ou que les rues s' entr'ouvrissent sous mes pas.... Oui ! et au jour de ce jugement je me lèverai devant Dieu, et je porterai témoignage contre ceux qui m' ont perdue, moi et mes enfants.... perdue corps et âme !...
“You tell me,” she said, after a pause, “that there is a God,—a God that looks down and sees all these things. May be it’s so. The sisters in the convent used to tell me of a day of judgment, when everything is coming to light;—won’t there be vengeance, then!
« Quand j' étais jeune fille, j' étais religieuse; j' aimais Dieu, je le priais.... Maintenant je suis une âme perdue.... poursuivie par les démons, qui me tourmentent nuit et jour.... Ils me tiennent sans relâche.... ils me poussent en avant.... toujours.... toujours.... et un moment viendra où je.... oui !... »
“They think it’s nothing, what we suffer,—nothing, what our children suffer! It’s all a small matter; yet I’ve walked the streets when it seemed as if I had misery enough in my one heart to sink the city. I’ve wished the houses would fall on me, or the stones sink under me. Yes! and, in the judgment day, I will stand up before God, a witness against those that have ruined me and my children, body and soul!
“When I was a girl, I thought I was religious; I used to love God and prayer. Now, I’m a lost soul, pursued by devils that torment me day and night; they keep pushing me on and on—and I’ll do it, too, some of these days!” she said, clenching her hand, while an insane light glanced in her heavy black eyes. “I’ll send him where he belongs,—a short way, too,—one of these nights, if they burn me alive for it!” A wild, long laugh rang through the deserted room, and ended in a hysteric sob; she threw herself on the floor, in convulsive sobbing and struggles.
In a few moments, the frenzy fit seemed to pass off; she rose slowly, and seemed to collect herself.
Ce ne fut qu' un instant: elle se releva lentement et parut se recueillir.
« Puis -je faire quelque chose pour vous, mon pauvre homme ? dit -elle en s' approchant de Tom, toujours gisant. Voulez -vous encore de l' eau ? »
“Can I do anything more for you, my poor fellow?” she said, approaching where Tom lay; “shall I give you some more water?”
There was a graceful and compassionate sweetness in her voice and manner, as she said this, that formed a strange contrast with the former wildness.
Tom but encore, et la regarda avec intérêt et attendrissement.
Tom drank the water, and looked earnestly and pitifully into her face.
“O, Missis, I wish you’d go to him that can give you living waters!”
“Go to him! Where is he? Who is he?” said Cassy.
-- C' est celui dont tout à l' heure vous me lisiez l' histoire.... le Seigneur !
“Him that you read of to me,—the Lord.”
“I used to see the picture of him, over the altar, when I was a girl,” said Cassy, her dark eyes fixing themselves in an expression of mournful reverie; “but, _he isn’t here!_ there’s nothing here, but sin and long, long, long despair! O!” She laid her hand on her breast and drew in her breath, as if to lift a heavy weight.
Tom looked as if he would speak again; but she cut him short, with a decided gesture.
“Don’t talk, my poor fellow. Try to sleep, if you can.” And, placing water in his reach, and making whatever little arrangements for his comforts she could, Cassy left the shed.
CHAPITRE XXXV.
CHAPTER XXXV The Tokens
Les gages de tendresse. ~~~ Et souvent ce sont de bien petites choses qui font retomber sur le coeur ce poids qu' il voulait rejeter pour toujours; c' est un son, une fleur.... le vent, l' Océan.... qui rouvrent la blessure, en donnant un choc à cette chaîne électrique qui nous enserre dans ses noirs anneaux.
“And slight, withal, may be the things that bring Back on the heart the weight which it would fling Aside forever; it may be a sound, A flower, the wind, the ocean, which shall wound,— Striking the electric chain wherewith we’re darkly bound.”
BYRON, _Childe-Harold_, chant IV.
_Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Can_. 4.
Le salon de Simon Legree était une longue et large pièce, garnie d' une ample et vaste cheminée; il avait été jadis tendu d' un riche et splendide papier. Ce papier, moisi, déchiré, décoloré, pendait des murs par lambeaux. On y respirait cette odeur nauséabonde et malsaine qui vient de l' abandon, de l' humidité, de la ruine, et que l' on trouve souvent dans les vieilles maisons depuis longtemps fermées. Ce papier était souillé de taches de bière et de vin. En plusieurs endroits il portait des inscriptions à la craie. Il y avait dans la cheminée un brasier de charbon. Le temps n' était pas précisément froid; mais, dans cette vaste salle, les soirées étaient toujours d' une humidité pénétrante, et puis il fallait bien à Legree du feu pour allumer son cigare et faire chauffer l' eau de son punch. La lueur rougeâtre du charbon embrasé permettait à l' oeil de découvrir le spectacle très-peu gracieux des selles, des brosses, des harnais, des fouets, des par-dessus et de tout l' attirail de la toilette répandu et semé dans un désordre confus. Les énormes chiens dont nous avons déjà parlé avaient choisi là un gîte à leur convenance.
The sitting-room of Legree’s establishment was a large, long room, with a wide, ample fireplace. It had once been hung with a showy and expensive paper, which now hung mouldering, torn and discolored, from the damp walls. The place had that peculiar sickening, unwholesome smell, compounded of mingled damp, dirt and decay, which one often notices in close old houses. The wall-paper was defaced, in spots, by slops of beer and wine; or garnished with chalk memorandums, and long sums footed up, as if somebody had been practising arithmetic there. In the fireplace stood a brazier full of burning charcoal; for, though the weather was not cold, the evenings always seemed damp and chilly in that great room; and Legree, moreover, wanted a place to light his cigars, and heat his water for punch. The ruddy glare of the charcoal displayed the confused and unpromising aspect of the room,—saddles, bridles, several sorts of harness, riding-whips, overcoats, and various articles of clothing, scattered up and down the room in confused variety; and the dogs, of whom we have before spoken, had encamped themselves among them, to suit their own taste and convenience.
Legree was just mixing himself a tumbler of punch, pouring his hot water from a cracked and broken-nosed pitcher, grumbling, as he did so,
« Ce gueux de Sambo !... faire naître cette dispute entre moi et mes nouveaux esclaves !... Voilà maintenant Tom incapable de travailler pendant une semaine.... quand l' ouvrage presse !
“Plague on that Sambo, to kick up this yer row between me and the new hands! The fellow won’t be fit to work for a week, now,—right in the press of the season!”
“Yes, just like you,” said a voice, behind his chair. It was the woman Cassy, who had stolen upon his soliloquy.
“Hah! you she-devil! you’ve come back, have you?”
« Ah ! vous voilà, diablesse ? Vous revenez, hein !
“Yes, I have,” she said, coolly; “come to have my own way, too!”
“You lie, you jade! I’ll be up to my word. Either behave yourself, or stay down to the quarters, and fare and work with the rest.”
“I’d rather, ten thousand times,” said the woman, “live in the dirtiest hole at the quarters, than be under your hoof!”
“But you _are_ under my hoof, for all that,” said he, turning upon her, with a savage grin; “that’s one comfort. So, sit down here on my knee, my dear, and hear to reason,” said he, laying hold on her wrist.
“Simon Legree, take care!” said the woman, with a sharp flash of her eye, a glance so wild and insane in its light as to be almost appalling. “You’re afraid of me, Simon,” she said, deliberately; “and you’ve reason to be! But be careful, for I’ve got the devil in me!”
Ces deux mots, prononcés à l' oreille de Simon, s' échappèrent avec un sifflement.
The last words she whispered in a hissing tone, close to his ear.
“Get out! I believe, to my soul, you have!” said Legree, pushing her from him, and looking uncomfortably at her. “After all, Cassy,” he said, “why can’t you be friends with me, as you used to?”
-- Comme d' habitude ! » murmura -t-elle d' une voix amère.... Mais elle s' arrêta. Un monde de sentiments, qui s' entre-choquaient dans son coeur, ne lui permettait pas de trouver des paroles.
“Used to!” said she, bitterly. She stopped short,—a word of choking feelings, rising in her heart, kept her silent.
Cassy avait toujours eu sur Legree cette sorte d' influence qu' une femme énergique et passionnée aura toujours.... même sur le plus vil des hommes; mais dans ces derniers temps elle était devenue de plus en plus irritable et frémissante, sous le joug d' une servitude détestée. Son irritabilité s' emportait parfois jusqu' à la folie, et cette folie même faisait d' elle un objet d' effroi pour Legree, qui partageait l' horreur superstitieuse que les hommes grossiers et sans éducation ressentent toujours pour les insensés. Quand Legree ramena Emmeline à l' habitation, tous les sentiments de dignité féminine, endormis dans le coeur fatigué de Cassy, se réveillèrent et se ranimèrent tout à coup; elle prit parti pour la jeune fille. Il s' ensuivit une violente querelle entre elle et Legree; Legree jura que, si elle ne restait pas calme, elle irait travailler aux champs. Cassy, dédaigneuse et superbe, déclara qu' elle voulait aller aux champs.... et elle y travailla un jour en effet, pour montrer à quel point elle dédaignait la menace.
Cassy had always kept over Legree the kind of influence that a strong, impassioned woman can ever keep over the most brutal man; but, of late, she had grown more and more irritable and restless, under the hideous yoke of her servitude, and her irritability, at times, broke out into raving insanity; and this liability made her a sort of object of dread to Legree, who had that superstitious horror of insane persons which is common to coarse and uninstructed minds. When Legree brought Emmeline to the house, all the smouldering embers of womanly feeling flashed up in the worn heart of Cassy, and she took part with the girl; and a fierce quarrel ensued between her and Legree. Legree, in a fury, swore she should be put to field service, if she would not be peaceable. Cassy, with proud scorn, declared she _would_ go to the field. And she worked there one day, as we have described, to show how perfectly she scorned the threat.
Tout ce jour -là, Legree se sentit mal à l' aise. Cassy avait sur lui un empire dont il ne s' affranchissait pas. Quand elle présenta son panier aux balances, il espérait quelques mots de soumission: il lui parla d' un ton à demi moqueur, à demi conciliant. Elle répondit avec une amertume méprisante.
Legree was secretly uneasy, all day; for Cassy had an influence over him from which he could not free himself. When she presented her basket at the scales, he had hoped for some concession, and addressed her in a sort of half conciliatory, half scornful tone; and she had answered with the bitterest contempt.
The outrageous treatment of poor Tom had roused her still more; and she had followed Legree to the house, with no particular intention, but to upbraid him for his brutality.
« Je désire, Cassy, que vous vous conduisiez décemment.
“I wish, Cassy,” said Legree, “you’d behave yourself decently.”
“_You_ talk about behaving decently! And what have you been doing?—you, who haven’t even sense enough to keep from spoiling one of your best hands, right in the most pressing season, just for your devilish temper!”
“I was a fool, it’s a fact, to let any such brangle come up,” said Legree; “but, when the boy set up his will, he had to be broke in.”
“I reckon you won’t break _him_ in!”
“Won’t I?” said Legree, rising, passionately. “I’d like to know if I won’t? He’ll be the first nigger that ever came it round me! I’ll break every bone in his body, but he _shall_ give up!”
En ce moment la porte s' ouvrit. Sambo entra. Il s' avança en faisant des saluts et en présentant quelque chose enveloppé dans un papier.
Just then the door opened, and Sambo entered. He came forward, bowing, and holding out something in a paper.
« Qu' est -ce encore, chien ?
“What’s that, you dog?” said Legree.
--Un sortilége, maître.
“It’s a witch thing, Mas’r!”
--Un quoi?
“A what?”
“Something that niggers gets from witches. Keeps ’em from feelin’ when they ’s flogged. He had it tied round his neck, with a black string.”
Legree, like most godless and cruel men, was superstitious. He took the paper, and opened it uneasily.
Il en sortit un dollar d' argent, et une longue et brillante boucle de cheveux blonds. Ces cheveux, comme une chose vivante, s' enroulèrent d' eux -mêmes aux doigts de Legree.
There dropped out of it a silver dollar, and a long, shining curl of fair hair,—hair which, like a living thing, twined itself round Legree’s fingers.
“Damnation!” he screamed, in sudden passion, stamping on the floor, and pulling furiously at the hair, as if it burned him. “Where did this come from? Take it off!—burn it up!—burn it up!” he screamed, tearing it off, and throwing it into the charcoal. “What did you bring it to me for?”
Sambo stood, with his heavy mouth wide open, and aghast with wonder; and Cassy, who was preparing to leave the apartment, stopped, and looked at him in perfect amazement.
“Don’t you bring me any more of your devilish things!” said he, shaking his fist at Sambo, who retreated hastily towards the door; and, picking up the silver dollar, he sent it smashing through the window-pane, out into the darkness.
Sambo was glad to make his escape. When he was gone, Legree seemed a little ashamed of his fit of alarm. He sat doggedly down in his chair, and began sullenly sipping his tumbler of punch.
Cassy prepared herself for going out, unobserved by him; and slipped away to minister to poor Tom, as we have already related.
Pour répondre à cette question, il nous faut ramener le lecteur en arrière. ~~~ Si dur, si réprouvé, si impie que soit maintenant cet homme, il y a eu un temps où il était bercé sur le sein d' une mère.... On murmurait à son chevet des prières et des cantiques; son front brûlant fut humecté des saintes eaux du baptême.... Pendant sa première enfance, au son de la cloche du dimanche, une femme aux cheveux blonds le conduisait dans le temple pour adorer et pour prier. Là-bas, bien loin, dans la Nouvelle-Angleterre, cette mère avait élevé son fils unique avec un amour que rien ne put lasser, avec des soins que rien n' avait interrompus; mais, fils d' un père au coeur dur, sur lequel cette tendre femme avait en vain répandu tous les trésors de son amour, il avait suivi ses traces maudites.... Tapageur, déréglé, tyrannique, il méprisa les conseils de sa mère, et ne supporta point ses reproches. Bien jeune encore, il s' éloigna d' elle pour chercher fortune sur mer. Il n' était revenu qu' une fois au logis; sa mère, avec les aspirations d' un coeur qui veut aimer quelque chose, et qui n' a rien à aimer, s' attacha à lui, et s' efforça, par ses exhortations et ses supplications, de l' arracher à cette vie de péché, mort de son âme ! ~~~ Pour Legree ce furent là les jours de grâce ! ~~~ Les bons anges l' appelaient à eux.... Il fut presque touché.... la miséricorde le prit par la main. ~~~ Mais son coeur résista.... il y eut comme une lutte.... le péché fut vainqueur, et il tourna toutes les forces de cette nature violente contre les convictions de sa conscience. Il but, il jura, il devint plus brutal que jamais.
And what was the matter with Legree? and what was there in a simple curl of fair hair to appall that brutal man, familiar with every form of cruelty? To answer this, we must carry the reader backward in his history. Hard and reprobate as the godless man seemed now, there had been a time when he had been rocked on the bosom of a mother,—cradled with prayers and pious hymns,—his now seared brow bedewed with the waters of holy baptism. In early childhood, a fair-haired woman had led him, at the sound of Sabbath bell, to worship and to pray. Far in New England that mother had trained her only son, with long, unwearied love, and patient prayers. Born of a hard-tempered sire, on whom that gentle woman had wasted a world of unvalued love, Legree had followed in the steps of his father. Boisterous, unruly, and tyrannical, he despised all her counsel, and would none of her reproof; and, at an early age, broke from her, to seek his fortunes at sea. He never came home but once, after; and then, his mother, with the yearning of a heart that must love something, and has nothing else to love, clung to him, and sought, with passionate prayers and entreaties, to win him from a life of sin, to his soul’s eternal good.
Une nuit, dans la suprême agonie du désespoir, sa mère s' agenouilla à ses pieds; mais il la repoussa loin de lui, il la rejeta évanouie sur le sol, et, avec des malédictions impies, il s' élança vers son navire. ~~~ La dernière fois que Legree entendit parler de sa mère, ce fut dans l' orgie d' une nuit de débauche.... Il était au milieu de ses compagnons abrutis; on lui remit une lettre dans la main.... Il l' ouvrit.... et il en tomba une longue boucle de cheveux, qui s' enroulèrent, eux aussi, autour de ses doigts. ~~~ La lettre disait que sa mère était morte, et qu' en mourant elle lui avait pardonné et l' avait béni.
That was Legree’s day of grace; then good angels called him; then he was almost persuaded, and mercy held him by the hand. His heart inly relented,—there was a conflict,—but sin got the victory, and he set all the force of his rough nature against the conviction of his conscience. He drank and swore,—was wilder and more brutal than ever. And, one night, when his mother, in the last agony of her despair, knelt at his feet, he spurned her from him,—threw her senseless on the floor, and, with brutal curses, fled to his ship. The next Legree heard of his mother was, when, one night, as he was carousing among drunken companions, a letter was put into his hand. He opened it, and a lock of long, curling hair fell from it, and twined about his fingers. The letter told him his mother was dead, and that, dying, she blest and forgave him.
Le mal a sa fatale et sombre nécromancie, qui, des choses les plus charmantes et les plus simples, crée des fantômes pleins d' horreur et d' effroi. Cette pauvre mère si aimante, ses dernières prières, son amour qui pardonnait, ne furent pour ce coeur de démon.... ce coeur de péché.... qu' une sentence de damnation. Elle faisait voir dans une terrible perspective le jugement suprême et l' indignation de Dieu ! Legree brûla la lettre, il brûla les cheveux; mais quand il les vit se tordre et pétiller sur la flamme, il frissonna à la pensée des feux éternels.... Alors il voulut boire, s' étourdir, et chasser à jamais ce souvenir importun.... Mais souvent, dans la nuit profonde, quand le silence solennel condamne l' esprit des méchants à s' entretenir avec lui-même, il voyait sa mère se dresser toute pâle au chevet de son lit, et autour de ses doigts il sentait s' enrouler ses cheveux.... et la sueur froide coulait sur son visage.... et il bondissait hors de son lit.... plein d' horreur ! ~~~ O vous, qui vous étonnez de lire dans le même Évangile: « Dieu est amour, » et plus loin: « Dieu est un feu qui dévore, » ne voyez -vous pas comment, pour une âme abîmée dans le mal, l' amour parfait devient la plus terrible des tortures, la sentence fatale et le sceau même du désespoir ?...
There is a dread, unhallowed necromancy of evil, that turns things sweetest and holiest to phantoms of horror and affright. That pale, loving mother,—her dying prayers, her forgiving love,—wrought in that demoniac heart of sin only as a damning sentence, bringing with it a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation. Legree burned the hair, and burned the letter; and when he saw them hissing and crackling in the flame, inly shuddered as he thought of everlasting fires. He tried to drink, and revel, and swear away the memory; but often, in the deep night, whose solemn stillness arraigns the bad soul in forced communion with herself, he had seen that pale mother rising by his bedside, and felt the soft twining of that hair around his fingers, till the cold sweat would roll down his face, and he would spring from his bed in horror. Ye who have wondered to hear, in the same evangel, that God is love, and that God is a consuming fire, see ye not how, to the soul resolved in evil, perfect love is the most fearful torture, the seal and sentence of the direst despair?
« Malédiction ! se dit Legree en vidant son verre, où a -t-il eu cela ? si ce n' était pas tout comme.... Oh ! je croyais que j' avais oublié.... Oublier ! est -ce qu' on oublie ? Damnation !... je suis seul.... Il faut que j' appelle Emmeline.... elle me hait.... la guenon ! N' importe ! je vais bien la faire venir.... »
“Blast it!” said Legree to himself, as he sipped his liquor; “where did he get that? If it didn’t look just like—whoo! I thought I’d forgot that. Curse me, if I think there’s any such thing as forgetting anything, any how,—hang it! I’m lonesome! I mean to call Em. She hates me—the monkey! I don’t care,—I’ll _make_ her come!”
Legree s' avança dans un large vestibule qui conduisait à l' escalier. Il y avait eu jadis un magnifique escalier tournant: le passage était maintenant encombré de caisses et d' une immonde litière. Il n' y avait pas de tapis sur les marches.... Cet escalier semblait tourner dans les ténèbres et monter on ne savait où. Le pâle rayon de la lune se glissait à travers le vitrage qui surmontait la porte. L' air était humide et froid comme dans une cave.
Legree stepped out into a large entry, which went up stairs, by what had formerly been a superb winding staircase; but the passage-way was dirty and dreary, encumbered with boxes and unsightly litter. The stairs, uncarpeted, seemed winding up, in the gloom, to nobody knew where! The pale moonlight streamed through a shattered fanlight over the door; the air was unwholesome and chilly, like that of a vault.
Legree stopped at the foot of the stairs, and heard a voice singing. It seemed strange and ghostlike in that dreary old house, perhaps because of the already tremulous state of his nerves. Hark! what is it?
A wild, pathetic voice, chants a hymn common among the slaves:
Combien de pleurs, de pleurs, de pleurs, Quand le Christ viendra nous juger[21 ] !
“O there’ll be mourning, mourning, mourning, O there’ll be mourning, at the judgment-seat of Christ!”
“Blast the girl!” said Legree. “I’ll choke her.—Em! Em!” he called, harshly; but only a mocking echo from the walls answered him. The sweet voice still sung on:
Et seul l'écho moqueur répondit: Lina! Lina!
Et la douce voix chantait toujours: ~~~ Parents, enfants se quitteront, Parents, enfants se quitteront, Et jamais ne se reverront !
“Parents and children there shall part! Parents and children there shall part! Shall part to meet no more!”
Et le refrain net et sonore vibra dans les vastes salles désertes.
And clear and loud swelled through the empty halls the refrain,
“O there’ll be mourning, mourning, mourning, O there’ll be mourning, at the judgment-seat of Christ!”
Legree s' arrêta encore. Il eût eu honte de le dire.... mais de grosses gouttes de sueur perlaient sur son front, et la crainte faisait battre son coeur à coups pressés.... Il crut voir quelque chose de blanc qui se levait et glissait devant lui dans la chambre, et il frissonna en se disant que peut-être l' ombre de sa mère allait paraître devant ses yeux.
Legree stopped. He would have been ashamed to tell of it, but large drops of sweat stood on his forehead, his heart beat heavy and thick with fear; he even thought he saw something white rising and glimmering in the gloom before him, and shuddered to think what if the form of his dead mother should suddenly appear to him.
« Allons ! je sais bien une chose, dit -il en rentrant dans le salon, où il s' assit; maintenant, il faut laisser ce garçon tranquille.... Qu' avais -je besoin de ce maudit papier ? Je crois que je suis ensorcelé.... en vérité ! J' ai eu le frisson et la sueur depuis ce moment -là.... Où a -t-il eu cette boucle de cheveux ?... Ce ne peut pas être celle.... oh ! non.... je l' ai brûlée.... je suis sûr que je l' ai brûlée.... Ce serait trop drôle si les cheveux pouvaient quitter d' eux -mêmes la tête des morts. »
“I know one thing,” he said to himself, as he stumbled back in the sitting-room, and sat down; “I’ll let that fellow alone, after this! What did I want of his cussed paper? I b’lieve I am bewitched, sure enough! I’ve been shivering and sweating, ever since! Where did he get that hair? It couldn’t have been _that!_ I burnt _that_ up, I know I did! It would be a joke, if hair could rise from the dead!”
Ah, Legree! that golden tress _was_ charmed; each hair had in it a spell of terror and remorse for thee, and was used by a mightier power to bind thy cruel hands from inflicting uttermost evil on the helpless!
“I say,” said Legree, stamping and whistling to the dogs, “wake up, some of you, and keep me company!” but the dogs only opened one eye at him, sleepily, and closed it again.
“I’ll have Sambo and Quimbo up here, to sing and dance one of their hell dances, and keep off these horrid notions,” said Legree; and, putting on his hat, he went on to the verandah, and blew a horn, with which he commonly summoned his two sable drivers.
Legree was often wont, when in a gracious humor, to get these two worthies into his sitting-room, and, after warming them up with whiskey, amuse himself by setting them to singing, dancing or fighting, as the humor took him.
It was between one and two o’clock at night, as Cassy was returning from her ministrations to poor Tom, that she heard the sound of wild shrieking, whooping, halloing, and singing, from the sitting-room, mingled with the barking of dogs, and other symptoms of general uproar.
Elle s' approcha et regarda. ~~~ Legree et les deux surveillants, dans un état d' ivresse furieuse, chantaient, hurlaient, renversaient les chaises et se faisaient les uns aux autres les plus affreuses grimaces.
She came up on the verandah steps, and looked in. Legree and both the drivers, in a state of furious intoxication, were singing, whooping, upsetting chairs, and making all manner of ludicrous and horrid grimaces at each other.
She rested her small, slender hand on the window-blind, and looked fixedly at them;—there was a world of anguish, scorn, and fierce bitterness, in her black eyes, as she did so. “Would it be a sin to rid the world of such a wretch?” she said to herself.
She turned hurriedly away, and, passing round to a back door, glided up stairs, and tapped at Emmeline’s door.
CHAPITRE XXXVI.
CHAPTER XXXVI Emmeline and Cassy
Emmeline et Cassy. ~~~ Cassy entra dans la chambre et trouva Emmeline, pâle de terreur, assise à l' extrémité la plus éloignée de la porte. Quand elle entra, la jeune fille se leva par un mouvement nerveux.... mais, en reconnaissant Cassy, elle s' élança vers elle, et lui prenant le bras: ~~~ « Oh ! Cassy, est -ce vous ? Je suis si heureuse que vous veniez.... j' avais si peur que ce ne fût !... Vous ne savez pas quel terrible tapage ils ont fait toute la nuit....
Cassy entered the room, and found Emmeline sitting, pale with fear, in the furthest corner of it. As she came in, the girl started up nervously; but, on seeing who it was, rushed forward, and catching her arm, said, “O Cassy, is it you? I’m so glad you’ve come! I was afraid it was—. O, you don’t know what a horrid noise there has been, down stairs, all this evening!”
“I ought to know,” said Cassy, dryly. “I’ve heard it often enough.”
“O Cassy! do tell me,—couldn’t we get away from this place? I don’t care where,—into the swamp among the snakes,—anywhere! _Couldn’t_ we get _somewhere_ away from here?”
--Nulle part que dans le tombeau....
“Nowhere, but into our graves,” said Cassy.
“Did you ever try?”
“I’ve seen enough of trying and what comes of it,” said Cassy.
“I’d be willing to live in the swamps, and gnaw the bark from trees. I an’t afraid of snakes! I’d rather have one near me than him,” said Emmeline, eagerly.
“There have been a good many here of your opinion,” said Cassy; “but you couldn’t stay in the swamps,—you’d be tracked by the dogs, and brought back, and then—then—”
“What would he do?” said the girl, looking, with breathless interest, into her face.
« Ah ! plutôt demandez: Que ne ferait -il pas ? Il a appris son métier parmi les pirates des Indes occidentales. Vous ne dormiriez plus, si je vous racontais tout ce que j' ai vu et ce qu' il raconte, lui, en manière de plaisanterie.... J' ai entendu ici des cris qui me sont restés dans la tête pendant des semaines. Tenez ! là-bas, du côté du quartier, il y a un endroit où vous pourrez voir un arbre noirci et dépouillé; le terrain tout autour est couvert de cendres. Demandez ce qu' on a fait là, et vous verrez si on ose vous répondre !
“What _wouldn’t_ he do, you’d better ask,” said Cassy. “He’s learned his trade well, among the pirates in the West Indies. You wouldn’t sleep much, if I should tell you things I’ve seen,—things that he tells of, sometimes, for good jokes. I’ve heard screams here that I haven’t been able to get out of my head for weeks and weeks. There’s a place way out down by the quarters, where you can see a black, blasted tree, and the ground all covered with black ashes. Ask anyone what was done there, and see if they will dare to tell you.”
“O! what do you mean?”
“I won’t tell you. I hate to think of it. And I tell you, the Lord only knows what we may see tomorrow, if that poor fellow holds out as he’s begun.”
“Horrid!” said Emmeline, every drop of blood receding from her cheeks. “O, Cassy, do tell me what I shall do!”
“What I’ve done. Do the best you can,—do what you must,—and make it up in hating and cursing.”
“He wanted to make me drink some of his hateful brandy,” said Emmeline; “and I hate it so—”
“You’d better drink,” said Cassy. “I hated it, too; and now I can’t live without it. One must have something;—things don’t look so dreadful, when you take that.”
“Mother used to tell me never to touch any such thing,” said Emmeline.
-- Ah ! votre mère.... Et Cassy prononça ce mot de mère avec une expression de sombre tristesse.... Qu' est -ce que les mères ont à dire ? Vous êtes achetées et payées, vos âmes appartiennent à vos maîtres.... ainsi va le monde ! Buvez de l' eau-de-vie ! buvez tant que vous pourrez, les choses n' en iront que mieux !
“_Mother_ told you!” said Cassy, with a thrilling and bitter emphasis on the word mother. “What use is it for mothers to say anything? You are all to be bought and paid for, and your souls belong to whoever gets you. That’s the way it goes. I say, _drink_ brandy; drink all you can, and it’ll make things come easier.”
-- Oh ! Cassy, ayez pitié de moi !
“O, Cassy! do pity me!”
-- Pitié de vous !... Oh ! n' ai -je pas pitié de vous ? n' ai -je pas eu une fille ? Dieu sait où elle est et à qui elle est à présent ! Elle a marché sans doute sur les traces de sa mère, comme ses enfants marcheront sur les siennes; il n' y aura pas de fin à cela: la malédiction sur nous est éternelle !
“Pity you!—don’t I? Haven’t I a daughter,—Lord knows where she is, and whose she is, now,—going the way her mother went, before her, I suppose, and that her children must go, after her! There’s no end to the curse—forever!”
“I wish I’d never been born!” said Emmeline, wringing her hands.
“That’s an old wish with me,” said Cassy. “I’ve got used to wishing that. I’d die, if I dared to,” she said, looking out into the darkness, with that still, fixed despair which was the habitual expression of her face when at rest.
“It would be wicked to kill one’s self,” said Emmeline.
“I don’t know why,—no wickeder than things we live and do, day after day. But the sisters told me things, when I was in the convent, that make me afraid to die. If it would only be the end of us, why, then—”
Emmeline turned away, and hid her face in her hands.
Tandis que cette conversation avait lieu dans la chambre d' Emmeline, Legree, dompté par l' ivresse, était tombé de sommeil dans le salon. ~~~ L' ivresse, chez Legree, n' était pas une habitude: sa constitution robuste pouvait braver les excès qui auraient ruiné une organisation plus délicate; mais sa prudence, défiante et rusée, ne lui permettait pas de s' abandonner souvent à ses instincts au point de perdre la raison.
While this conversation was passing in the chamber, Legree, overcome with his carouse, had sunk to sleep in the room below. Legree was not an habitual drunkard. His coarse, strong nature craved, and could endure, a continual stimulation, that would have utterly wrecked and crazed a finer one. But a deep, underlying spirit of cautiousness prevented his often yielding to appetite in such measure as to lose control of himself.
Cette nuit -là, dans ses fiévreux efforts pour chasser le remords et le chagrin qui le dévoraient, il s' était livré complétement; quand il eut renvoyé ses deux compagnons, il s' étendit sur un siége du salon et s' endormit.... ~~~ Oh ! comment les méchants osent -ils pénétrer dans ce monde inconnu du sommeil, terre que ses horizons incertains séparent à peine du royaume mystérieux de la suprême justice ?
This night, however, in his feverish efforts to banish from his mind those fearful elements of woe and remorse which woke within him, he had indulged more than common; so that, when he had discharged his sable attendants, he fell heavily on a settle in the room, and was sound asleep.
Legree rêvait. ~~~ Au milieu de ce lourd sommeil tourmenté, une femme voilée se dressa bientôt à ses côtés, et posa sur lui une main douce, mais froide. Il crut la reconnaître, quoiqu' elle fût voilée.... et il frémit.... Il crut encore sentir la longue boucle de cheveux autour de ses doigts.... puis elle passait autour de son cou, elle s' y nouait, et elle le serrait, le serrait, jusqu' à ce qu' il ne lui fût plus possible de respirer.... Et il crut entendre des voix qui murmuraient.... et ce qu' elles murmuraient le glaçait d' horreur.... Il lui semblait encore qu' il marchait au bord d' un abîme, se retenant et luttant dans les angoisses de la peur.... Puis des mains noires s' emparaient de lui, le suspendaient au-dessus de l' abîme et le précipitaient. Alors survenait Cassy, qui riait et le poussait encore.... Et la figure solennelle et voilée se leva, elle tira son voile: c' était sa mère !... Elle se détourna de lui, et il tomba, tomba, tomba, tomba, au milieu d' un bruit confus de sanglots, de soupirs, de cris et de rires de démons.... ~~~ Legree s' éveilla.
O! how dares the bad soul to enter the shadowy world of sleep?—that land whose dim outlines lie so fearfully near to the mystic scene of retribution! Legree dreamed. In his heavy and feverish sleep, a veiled form stood beside him, and laid a cold, soft hand upon him. He thought he knew who it was; and shuddered, with creeping horror, though the face was veiled. Then he thought he felt _that hair_ twining round his fingers; and then, that it slid smoothly round his neck, and tightened and tightened, and he could not draw his breath; and then he thought voices _whispered_ to him,—whispers that chilled him with horror. Then it seemed to him he was on the edge of a frightful abyss, holding on and struggling in mortal fear, while dark hands stretched up, and were pulling him over; and Cassy came behind him laughing, and pushed him. And then rose up that solemn veiled figure, and drew aside the veil. It was his mother; and she turned away from him, and he fell down, down, down, amid a confused noise of shrieks, and groans, and shouts of demon laughter,—and Legree awoke.
Calmes et roses, les lueurs de l' aurore glissèrent dans le salon. L' étoile du matin, l' étoile solennelle entr'ouvrit son oeil béni, et, du haut de son ciel brillant, regarda l' homme du péché. Oh ! quelle solennité, quelle beauté, quelle fraîcheur entoure la naissance de chaque jour, comme pour dire à l' homme insensé: « Regarde ! c' est une chance de plus qui t' est donnée.... Combats pour la gloire immortelle ! » Ah ! il n' y a plus ni langage ni discours possible, là où cette voix n' est plus entendue.... L' homme audacieux et pervers ne l' entendit pas.... Il se réveilla avec un juron et une malédiction.... Qu' étaient -ce donc pour lui, cette pourpre et cet or, miracles renaissants, merveille de chaque matin ? Qu' était -ce donc pour lui, la sainte pureté de cette étoile, que le Fils de Dieu a choisie pour emblème ?... Véritable brute, il voyait sans voir.... Il fit quelques pas, se versa un verre d' eau-de-vie et en avala la moitié.
Calmly the rosy hue of dawn was stealing into the room. The morning star stood, with its solemn, holy eye of light, looking down on the man of sin, from out the brightening sky. O, with what freshness, what solemnity and beauty, is each new day born; as if to say to insensate man, “Behold! thou hast one more chance! _Strive_ for immortal glory!” There is no speech nor language where this voice is not heard; but the bold, bad man heard it not. He woke with an oath and a curse. What to him was the gold and purple, the daily miracle of morning! What to him the sanctity of the star which the Son of God has hallowed as his own emblem? Brute-like, he saw without perceiving; and, stumbling forward, poured out a tumbler of brandy, and drank half of it.
“I’ve had a h—l of a night!” he said to Cassy, who just then entered from an opposite door.
“You’ll get plenty of the same sort, by and by,” said she, dryly.
“What do you mean, you minx?”
“You’ll find out, one of these days,” returned Cassy, in the same tone. “Now Simon, I’ve one piece of advice to give you.”
--Au diable!
“The devil, you have!”
“My advice is,” said Cassy, steadily, as she began adjusting some things about the room, “that you let Tom alone.”
“What business is ’t of yours?”
“What? To be sure, I don’t know what it should be. If you want to pay twelve hundred for a fellow, and use him right up in the press of the season, just to serve your own spite, it’s no business of mine, I’ve done what I could for him.”
“You have? What business have you meddling in my matters?”
-- Au fait, c' est vrai; pourquoi ? Je vous ai sauvé quelques milliers de dollars en prenant soin de vos esclaves.... Voilà comme on me remercie ! Si votre récolte est inférieure à celle des autres, vous perdrez votre pari, voilà tout.... Tom Kiris l' emportera sur vous et vous payerez comme une femme.... voilà tout !... Il me semble que je vous y vois ! »
“None, to be sure. I’ve saved you some thousands of dollars, at different times, by taking care of your hands,—that’s all the thanks I get. If your crop comes shorter into market than any of theirs, you won’t lose your bet, I suppose? Tompkins won’t lord it over you, I suppose,—and you’ll pay down your money like a lady, won’t you? I think I see you doing it!”
Legree, like many other planters, had but one form of ambition,—to have in the heaviest crop of the season,—and he had several bets on this very present season pending in the next town. Cassy, therefore, with woman’s tact, touched the only string that could be made to vibrate.
“Well, I’ll let him off at what he’s got,” said Legree; “but he shall beg my pardon, and promise better fashions.”
“That he won’t do,” said Cassy.
-- Il ne le fera pas !
“Won’t,—eh?”
-- Ah ! il ne le fera pas ? ~~~ -- Non !
“No, he won’t,” said Cassy.
-- Et pourquoi cela, madame ? demanda Legree avec un sourire méprisant.
“I’d like to know _why_, Mistress,” said Legree, in the extreme of scorn.
“Because he’s done right, and he knows it, and won’t say he’s done wrong.”
“Who a cuss cares what he knows? The nigger shall say what I please, or—”
“Or, you’ll lose your bet on the cotton crop, by keeping him out of the field, just at this very press.”
“But he _will_ give up,—course, he will; don’t I know what niggers is? He’ll beg like a dog, this morning.”
-- Non, Simon ! vous ne connaissez pas les gens de cette espèce -là.... vous pouvez le tuer en détail.... vous ne lui arracherez pas le premier mot d' un aveu.
“He won’t, Simon; you don’t know this kind. You may kill him by inches,—you won’t get the first word of confession out of him.”
“We’ll see,—where is he?” said Legree, going out.
--Dans la grande salle du magasin.»
“In the waste-room of the gin-house,” said Cassy.
Legree, bien qu' il parlât résolument à Cassy, n' en éprouvait pas moins une certaine émotion intérieure; il était fort irrésolu en sortant du salon. Les rêves de la nuit et les conseils de prudence que lui donnait Cassy ébranlaient fortement son âme. Il voulut que personne n' assistât à son entrevue avec Tom. Il voulait, s' il ne parvenait pas à le réduire par des menaces, différer du moins sa vengeance et choisir son temps.
Legree, though he talked so stoutly to Cassy, still sallied forth from the house with a degree of misgiving which was not common with him. His dreams of the past night, mingled with Cassy’s prudential suggestions, considerably affected his mind. He resolved that nobody should be witness of his encounter with Tom; and determined, if he could not subdue him by bullying, to defer his vengeance, to be wreaked in a more convenient season.
La lueur solennelle de l' aube, les angéliques rayons de l' étoile du matin avaient pénétré dans l' humble asile de l' esclave, et, avec ses doux rayons, dans leur calme majestueux, descendaient sur lui ces paroles: « Je suis le rejeton de David, la brillante étoile du matin. » Les avertissements et les conseils de Cassy n' avaient pas abattu son âme; au contraire, elle s' était relevée comme à un appel qui lui venait d' en haut.... Il se disait que peut-être c' était son dernier jour qui se levait maintenant dans le ciel; et son coeur battait d' une émotion suprême.... pleine de désirs.... Il pensait que peut-être ce tout mystérieux, qu' il avait si souvent rêvé, ce grand trône éclatant de blancheur, entouré de ses arcs-en-ciel lumineux, cette multitude vêtue de robes blanches, dont la voix est douce comme le murmure des eaux, les couronnes, les palmes, les harpes d' or, tout allait enfin apparaître à ses yeux avant la fin du jour. Aussi, sans frissonner, sans trembler, il entendit le pas et la voix de son bourreau.
The solemn light of dawn—the angelic glory of the morning-star—had looked in through the rude window of the shed where Tom was lying; and, as if descending on that star-beam, came the solemn words, “I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” The mysterious warnings and intimations of Cassy, so far from discouraging his soul, in the end had roused it as with a heavenly call. He did not know but that the day of his death was dawning in the sky; and his heart throbbed with solemn throes of joy and desire, as he thought that the wondrous _all_, of which he had often pondered,—the great white throne, with its ever radiant rainbow; the white-robed multitude, with voices as many waters; the crowns, the palms, the harps,—might all break upon his vision before that sun should set again. And, therefore, without shuddering or trembling, he heard the voice of his persecutor, as he drew near.
« Eh bien ! garçon, dit Legree, en le touchant dédaigneusement du pied, comment vous trouvez -vous ?... Ne vous avais -je pas bien dit que je vous apprendrais une chose ou deux ?... Comment trouvez -vous cela.... hein ? La leçon vous convient -elle ? Êtes -vous aussi crâne qu' hier soir ? Êtes -vous disposé à régaler le pauvre pécheur d' un bout de sermon.... hein ? »
“Well, my boy,” said Legree, with a contemptuous kick, “how do you find yourself? Didn’t I tell yer I could larn yer a thing or two? How do yer like it—eh? How did yer whaling agree with yer, Tom? An’t quite so crank as ye was last night. Ye couldn’t treat a poor sinner, now, to a bit of sermon, could ye,—eh?”
Tom ne répondit rien.
Tom answered nothing.
“Get up, you beast!” said Legree, kicking him again.
This was a difficult matter for one so bruised and faint; and, as Tom made efforts to do so, Legree laughed brutally.
“What makes ye so spry, this morning, Tom? Cotched cold, may be, last night.”
Tom by this time had gained his feet, and was confronting his master with a steady, unmoved front.
“The devil, you can!” said Legree, looking him over. “I believe you haven’t got enough yet. Now, Tom, get right down on yer knees and beg my pardon, for yer shines last night.”
Tom ne fit pas un mouvement.
Tom did not move.
“Down, you dog!” said Legree, striking him with his riding-whip.
“Mas’r Legree,” said Tom, “I can’t do it. I did only what I thought was right. I shall do just so again, if ever the time comes. I never will do a cruel thing, come what may.”
“Yes, but ye don’t know what may come, Master Tom. Ye think what you’ve got is something. I tell you ’tan’t anything,—nothing ’t all. How would ye like to be tied to a tree, and have a slow fire lit up around ye;—wouldn’t that be pleasant,—eh, Tom?”
“Mas’r,” said Tom, “I know ye can do dreadful things; but,”—he stretched himself upward and clasped his hands,—“but, after ye’ve killed the body, there an’t no more ye can do. And O, there’s all ETERNITY to come, after that!”
ETERNITY,—the word thrilled through the black man’s soul with light and power, as he spoke; it thrilled through the sinner’s soul, too, like the bite of a scorpion. Legree gnashed on him with his teeth, but rage kept him silent; and Tom, like a man disenthralled, spoke, in a clear and cheerful voice,
« Monsieur Legree, vous m' avez acheté, je vous serai un bon et fidèle esclave; je vous donnerai tout le travail de mes mains, tout mon temps, toute ma force.... Mais mon âme ! je ne veux pas la donner à un homme mortel.... je la garde pour Dieu: ses commandements, à lui, je les mets avant tout, avant la vie, avant la mort.... Vous pouvez en être sûr, monsieur Legree, je n' ai pas le moins du monde peur de la mort.... je l' attends.... dès qu' on voudra ! Vous pouvez me fouetter.... me faire mourir de faim.... me brûler.... ce sera m' envoyer plus tôt où je dois aller !
“Mas’r Legree, as ye bought me, I’ll be a true and faithful servant to ye. I’ll give ye all the work of my hands, all my time, all my strength; but my soul I won’t give up to mortal man. I will hold on to the Lord, and put his commands before all,—die or live; you may be sure on ’t. Mas’r Legree, I ain’t a grain afeard to die. I’d as soon die as not. Ye may whip me, starve me, burn me,—it’ll only send me sooner where I want to go.”
-- Vous céderez auparavant, dit Legree furieux.
“I’ll make ye give out, though, ’fore I’ve done!” said Legree, in a rage.
“I shall have _help_,” said Tom; “you’ll never do it.”
“Who the devil’s going to help you?” said Legree, scornfully.
--Le Seigneur tout-puissant.
“The Lord Almighty,” said Tom.
-- Damnation ! » ~~~ Et d' un seul coup de poing Legree renversa Tom.
“D—n you!” said Legree, as with one blow of his fist he felled Tom to the earth.
Une petite main douce, mais glacée, se posa sur son épaule.... il se retourna.... c' était la main de Cassy.... Ce seul contact, doux et froid, lui rappela ses rêves de la nuit, et toutes les sentences effrayantes murmurées dans les songes traversèrent son cerveau ébranlé, ramenant avec eux leur lugubre cortége d' horreurs.
A cold soft hand fell on Legree’s at this moment. He turned,—it was Cassy’s; but the cold soft touch recalled his dream of the night before, and, flashing through the chambers of his brain, came all the fearful images of the night-watches, with a portion of the horror that accompanied them.
“Will you be a fool?” said Cassy, in French. “Let him go! Let me alone to get him fit to be in the field again. Isn’t it just as I told you?”
They say the alligator, the rhinoceros, though enclosed in bullet-proof mail, have each a spot where they are vulnerable; and fierce, reckless, unbelieving reprobates, have commonly this point in superstitious dread.
Legree turned away, determined to let the point go for the time.
« Soit ! à votre guise, fit -il à Cassy d' un ton bourru. Et vous, prenez garde, dit -il à Tom; je vous laisse en repos maintenant, parce que la besogne presse et que j' ai besoin de tout mon monde: mais je n' oublie jamais.... j' inscris cela à votre compte, et je me payerai sur votre vieille peau noire ! Souvenez -vous -en ! »
“Well, have it your own way,” he said, doggedly, to Cassy. ~~~ “Hark, ye!” he said to Tom; “I won’t deal with ye now, because the business is pressing, and I want all my hands; but I _never_ forget. I’ll score it against ye, and sometime I’ll have my pay out o’ yer old black hide,—mind ye!”
Et Legree sortit.
Legree turned, and went out.
“There you go,” said Cassy, looking darkly after him; “your reckoning’s to come, yet!—My poor fellow, how are you?”
“The Lord God hath sent his angel, and shut the lion’s mouth, for this time,” said Tom.
“For this time, to be sure,” said Cassy; “but now you’ve got his ill will upon you, to follow you day in, day out, hanging like a dog on your throat,—sucking your blood, bleeding away your life, drop by drop. I know the man.”
CHAPITRE XXXVII.
CHAPTER XXXVII Liberty
“No matter with what solemnities he may have been devoted upon the altar of slavery, the moment he touches the sacred soil of Britain, the altar and the God sink together in the dust, and he stands redeemed, regenerated, and disenthralled, by the irresistible genius of universal emancipation.”—_Curran_.[1]
CURRAN.
[1] John Philpot Curran (1750-1817), Irish orator and judge who worked for Catholic emancipation.
Laissons, pour quelque temps du moins, le pauvre Tom aux mains de ses persécuteurs, et voyons ce que deviennent Georges et sa femme, que nous avons abandonnés au milieu de leur fuite.
A while we must leave Tom in the hands of his persecutors, while we turn to pursue the fortunes of George and his wife, whom we left in friendly hands, in a farmhouse on the road-side.
Tom Loker we left groaning and touzling in a most immaculately clean Quaker bed, under the motherly supervision of Aunt Dorcas, who found him to the full as tractable a patient as a sick bison.
Imaginez -vous une grande femme, aimable, digne et réservée. Un bonnet de mousseline cache à moitié ses cheveux blancs et bouclés, partagés sur un front large et lumineux; ses yeux sont gris, pleins de pensées. Un mouchoir de crêpe lisse, blanc comme la neige, se croise chastement sur sa poitrine. Sa robe de soie, brune et brillante, fait entendre son frôlement pacifique chaque fois qu' elle traverse la chambre. ~~~ Telle est la mère Dorcas.
Imagine a tall, dignified, spiritual woman, whose clear muslin cap shades waves of silvery hair, parted on a broad, clear forehead, which overarches thoughtful gray eyes. A snowy handkerchief of lisse crape is folded neatly across her bosom; her glossy brown silk dress rustles peacefully, as she glides up and down the chamber.
“The devil!” says Tom Loker, giving a great throw to the bedclothes.
“I must request thee, Thomas, not to use such language,” says Aunt Dorcas, as she quietly rearranged the bed.
“Well, I won’t, granny, if I can help it,” says Tom; “but it is enough to make a fellow swear,—so cursedly hot!”
Dorcas removed a comforter from the bed, straightened the clothes again, and tucked them in till Tom looked something like a chrysalis; remarking, as she did so,
“I wish, friend, thee would leave off cursing and swearing, and think upon thy ways.”
-- Ah ! ah ! ma conduite, c' est bien la dernière chose dont je m' occupe.... tonnerre ! » ~~~ Et Tom Loker fit un soubresaut, bouleversant les couvertures et mettant le lit dans un désordre effroyable.
“What the devil,” said Tom, “should I think of _them_ for? Last thing ever _I_ want to think of—hang it all!” And Tom flounced over, untucking and disarranging everything, in a manner frightful to behold.
“That fellow and gal are here, I s’pose,” said he, sullenly, after a pause.
-- Oui, répondit Dorcas.
“They are so,” said Dorcas.
“They’d better be off up to the lake,” said Tom; “the quicker the better.”
“Probably they will do so,” said Aunt Dorcas, knitting peacefully.
“And hark ye,” said Tom; “we’ve got correspondents in Sandusky, that watch the boats for us. I don’t care if I tell, now. I hope they _will_ get away, just to spite Marks,—the cursed puppy!—d—n him!”
--Eh bien, Thomas!
“Thomas!” said Dorcas.
“I tell you, granny, if you bottle a fellow up too tight, I shall split,” said Tom. “But about the gal,—tell ’em to dress her up some way, so’s to alter her. Her description’s out in Sandusky.”
-- Nous y veillerons, » reprit Dorcas avec son flegme habituel.
“We will attend to that matter,” said Dorcas, with characteristic composure.
Tom Loker, que nous ne devons plus revoir, resta trois semaines malade chez les quakers. Il eut une fièvre rhumatismale qui s' ajouta à toutes ses autres incommodités. Il quitta le lit un peu plus triste, mais un peu plus sage. Au lieu de se livrer à la chasse des esclaves, il s' établit dans une contrée de défrichements, et il appliqua ses talents avec plus de bonheur à la chasse des ours, des loups et des autres habitants des forêts. Il s' acquit par ses exploits une certaine renommée. Il parla toujours des quakers avec respect: « De braves gens, disait -il, de braves gens; ils ont voulu me convertir; ils n' ont pas réussi tout à fait. Mais dites -vous bien, étranger, qu' ils s' entendent à soigner un malade.... Oh ! très-bien, et personne ne fait mieux qu' eux la pâtisserie et un tas de petits bric-à-brac ! »
As we at this place take leave of Tom Loker, we may as well say, that, having lain three weeks at the Quaker dwelling, sick with a rheumatic fever, which set in, in company with his other afflictions, Tom arose from his bed a somewhat sadder and wiser man; and, in place of slave-catching, betook himself to life in one of the new settlements, where his talents developed themselves more happily in trapping bears, wolves, and other inhabitants of the forest, in which he made himself quite a name in the land. Tom always spoke reverently of the Quakers. “Nice people,” he would say; “wanted to convert me, but couldn’t come it, exactly. But, tell ye what, stranger, they do fix up a sick fellow first rate,—no mistake. Make jist the tallest kind o’ broth and knicknacks.”
Nos fugitifs savaient qu' on allait les épier dans le Sandusky; ils se divisèrent. Jim et sa vieille mère se détachèrent en avant-garde. Une ou deux nuits après, Georges, Élisa et l' enfant furent conduits à leur tour dans le Sandusky, et trouvèrent asile sous un toit hospitalier, avant de s' embarquer sur le lac.
As Tom had informed them that their party would be looked for in Sandusky, it was thought prudent to divide them. Jim, with his old mother, was forwarded separately; and a night or two after, George and Eliza, with their child, were driven privately into Sandusky, and lodged beneath a hospital roof, preparatory to taking their last passage on the lake.
La nuit achevait son cours; l' étoile du matin qui devait éclairer leur liberté se levait toute radieuse devant eux. Liberté ! mot magique, qui donc es -tu ? N' es -tu qu' un mot, une fleur de rhétorique ? Pourquoi donc, hommes et femmes de l' Amérique, à ce seul mot le sang de vos coeurs coule -t-il plus vite ?
Their night was now far spent, and the morning star of liberty rose fair before them!—electric word! What is it? Is there anything more in it than a name—a rhetorical flourish? Why, men and women of America, does your heart’s blood thrill at that word, for which your fathers bled, and your braver mothers were willing that their noblest and best should die?
Ah ! pour ce mot, vos pères ont versé leur sang, et, plus courageuses encore, vos mères envoyaient à la mort les meilleurs et les plus nobles d' entre leurs fils ! ~~~ Y a -t-il dans ce mot quelque chose qui le rende plus glorieux et plus cher à une nation qu' à un homme ? La liberté serait -elle donc autre chose pour un peuple que pour les hommes qui le composent ? Qu' est -ce que la liberté pour Georges que voici, les bras croisés sur sa large poitrine, la teinte du sang africain sur ses joues, et tous les feux de l' Afrique dans ses yeux noirs ?... Oui, qu' est -ce que la liberté pour Georges Harris ? Pour vos pères, la liberté, c' était le droit qu' a toute nation d' être une nation; pour lui c' est le droit qu' a tout homme d' être un homme, et non une brute ! Le droit d' appeler la femme de son coeur sa femme, de la protéger contre toute violence illégale, le droit de protéger et d' élever ses enfants, le droit d' avoir à lui sa maison, sa religion, ses principes, sans dépendre de la volonté d' un autre.
Is there anything in it glorious and dear for a nation, that is not also glorious and dear for a man? What is freedom to a nation, but freedom to the individuals in it? What is freedom to that young man, who sits there, with his arms folded over his broad chest, the tint of African blood in his cheek, its dark fires in his eyes,—what is freedom to George Harris? To your fathers, freedom was the right of a nation to be a nation. To him, it is the right of a man to be a man, and not a brute; the right to call the wife of his bosom his wife, and to protect her from lawless violence; the right to protect and educate his child; the right to have a home of his own, a religion of his own, a character of his own, unsubject to the will of another. All these thoughts were rolling and seething in George’s breast, as he was pensively leaning his head on his hand, watching his wife, as she was adapting to her slender and pretty form the articles of man’s attire, in which it was deemed safest she should make her escape.
Telles étaient les pensées qui s' agitaient et qui fermentaient dans la poitrine de Georges, et il appuyait sa tête rêveuse dans sa main, tout en regardant sa femme, qui s' efforçait d' accommoder des habits d' homme à sa taille élégante et fine. On avait cru que sous ce déguisement il lui serait plus facile d' échapper.
“Now for it,” said she, as she stood before the glass, and shook down her silky abundance of black curly hair. “I say, George, it’s almost a pity, isn’t it,” she said, as she held up some of it, playfully,—“pity it’s all got to come off?”
George smiled sadly, and made no answer.
Élisa se retourna vers la glace, les ciseaux brillèrent, et, une à une, tombèrent les longues boucles opulentes.
Eliza turned to the glass, and the scissors glittered as one long lock after another was detached from her head.
“There, now, that’ll do,” she said, taking up a hair-brush; “now for a few fancy touches.” ~~~ “There, an’t I a pretty young fellow?” she said, turning around to her husband, laughing and blushing at the same time.
-- Vous serez toujours charmante, de toute façon, dit Georges.
“You always will be pretty, do what you will,” said George.
“What does make you so sober?” said Eliza, kneeling on one knee, and laying her hand on his. “We are only within twenty-four hours of Canada, they say. Only a day and a night on the lake, and then—oh, then!—”
“O, Eliza!” said George, drawing her towards him; “that is it! Now my fate is all narrowing down to a point. To come so near, to be almost in sight, and then lose all. I should never live under it, Eliza.”
“Don’t fear,” said his wife, hopefully. “The good Lord would not have brought us so far, if he didn’t mean to carry us through. I seem to feel him with us, George.”
“You are a blessed woman, Eliza!” said George, clasping her with a convulsive grasp. “But,—oh, tell me! can this great mercy be for us? Will these years and years of misery come to an end?—shall we be free?
“I am sure of it, George,” said Eliza, looking upward, while tears of hope and enthusiasm shone on her long, dark lashes. “I feel it in me, that God is going to bring us out of bondage, this very day.”
-- Je veux vous croire, Élisa, dit Georges en se levant d' un bond, oui, je veux vous croire.... Partons.... Oui, dit -il en la tenant à distance, à la longueur du bras, oui, vous êtes un charmant petit garçon; cette masse de petites boucles courtes vous va vraiment à ravir. Voyons ! votre casquette.... bien.... un peu plus sur le côté. Vous ne m' avez jamais paru si charmante. Mais voici l' heure de la voiture.... Je me demande si Mme Smyth s' est occupée du costume d' Henri. »
“I will believe you, Eliza,” said George, rising suddenly up, “I will believe,—come let’s be off. Well, indeed,” said he, holding her off at arm’s length, and looking admiringly at her, “you _are_ a pretty little fellow. That crop of little, short curls, is quite becoming. Put on your cap. So—a little to one side. I never saw you look quite so pretty. But, it’s almost time for the carriage;—I wonder if Mrs. Smyth has got Harry rigged?”
La porte s' ouvrit; une respectable dame, entre deux âges, entra conduisant Henri déguisé en petite fille.
The door opened, and a respectable, middle-aged woman entered, leading little Harry, dressed in girl’s clothes.
« Quelle délicieuse fille ! dit Élisa en tournant autour de lui. Nous l' appellerons Henriette. Est -ce que ce nom -là ne fait pas très-bien ? »
“What a pretty girl he makes,” said Eliza, turning him round. “We call him Harriet, you see;—don’t the name come nicely?”
The child stood gravely regarding his mother in her new and strange attire, observing a profound silence, and occasionally drawing deep sighs, and peeping at her from under his dark curls.
“Does Harry know mamma?” said Eliza, stretching her hands toward him.
The child clung shyly to the woman.
“Come Eliza, why do you try to coax him, when you know that he has got to be kept away from you?”
“I know it’s foolish,” said Eliza; “yet, I can’t bear to have him turn away from me. But come,—where’s my cloak? Here,—how is it men put on cloaks, George?”
“You must wear it so,” said her husband, throwing it over his shoulders.
“So, then,” said Eliza, imitating the motion,—“and I must stamp, and take long steps, and try to look saucy.”
“Don’t exert yourself,” said George. “There is, now and then, a modest young man; and I think it would be easier for you to act that character.”
-- Et ces gants ! miséricorde !... mes mains s' y perdent.
“And these gloves! mercy upon us!” said Eliza; “why, my hands are lost in them.”
“I advise you to keep them on pretty strictly,” said George. “Your slender paw might bring us all out. Now, Mrs. Smyth, you are to go under our charge, and be our aunty,—you mind.”
“I’ve heard,” said Mrs. Smyth, “that there have been men down, warning all the packet captains against a man and woman, with a little boy.”
“They have!” said George. “Well, if we see any such people, we can tell them.”
A hack now drove to the door, and the friendly family who had received the fugitives crowded around them with farewell greetings.
Les déguisements avaient été pris d'après le conseil de Loker. Mme Smyth, respectable femme du Canada, y retournait à cette époque; elle avait consenti à passer pour la tante du petit Henri; elle seule en avait pris soin, pendant ces deux derniers jours; un extra de gâteaux, de galettes et de sucre candi avait cimenté une alliance intime entre elle et ce jeune monsieur.
The disguises the party had assumed were in accordance with the hints of Tom Loker. Mrs. Smyth, a respectable woman from the settlement in Canada, whither they were fleeing, being fortunately about crossing the lake to return thither, had consented to appear as the aunt of little Harry; and, in order to attach him to her, he had been allowed to remain, the two last days, under her sole charge; and an extra amount of petting, jointed to an indefinite amount of seed-cakes and candy, had cemented a very close attachment on the part of the young gentleman.
La voiture s' arrêta sur le quai. Les deux jeunes hommes franchirent la planche. Élisa donnait galamment le bras à Mme Smyth. Georges surveillait les bagages.
The hack drove to the wharf. The two young men, as they appeared, walked up the plank into the boat, Eliza gallantly giving her arm to Mrs. Smyth, and George attending to their baggage.
George was standing at the captain’s office, settling for his party, when he overheard two men talking by his side.
“I’ve watched every one that came on board,” said one, “and I know they’re not on this boat.”
The voice was that of the clerk of the boat. The speaker whom he addressed was our sometime friend Marks, who, with that valuable perseverance which characterized him, had come on to Sandusky, seeking whom he might devour.
“You would scarcely know the woman from a white one,” said Marks. “The man is a very light mulatto; he has a brand in one of his hands.”
The hand with which George was taking the tickets and change trembled a little; but he turned coolly around, fixed an unconcerned glance on the face of the speaker, and walked leisurely toward another part of the boat, where Eliza stood waiting for him.
Mrs. Smyth, with little Harry, sought the seclusion of the ladies’ cabin, where the dark beauty of the supposed little girl drew many flattering comments from the passengers.
George had the satisfaction, as the bell rang out its farewell peal, to see Marks walk down the plank to the shore; and drew a long sigh of relief, when the boat had put a returnless distance between them.
C' était une magnifique journée. Les vagues azurées du lac Érié bondissaient, lumineuses, étincelantes, sous les rayons d' or. Une fraîche brise soufflait du rivage, et le noble vaisseau traçait fièrement son sillon à travers les flots.
It was a superb day. The blue waves of Lake Erie danced, rippling and sparkling, in the sun-light. A fresh breeze blew from the shore, and the lordly boat ploughed her way right gallantly onward.
Oh ! quel monde mystérieux le coeur de l' homme renferme dans ses profondeurs !... Qui donc, en voyant Georges se promener tranquillement avec son timide compagnon sur le pont du vaisseau, qui donc eût deviné les pensées brûlantes qui dévoraient son sein ? Ce bonheur dont il approchait lui semblait trop doux et trop beau pour devenir jamais une réalité. Il éprouvait comme une inquiétude jalouse; il craignait à chaque instant de se voir arracher sa dernière espérance.
O, what an untold world there is in one human heart! Who thought, as George walked calmly up and down the deck of the steamer, with his shy companion at his side, of all that was burning in his bosom? The mighty good that seemed approaching seemed too good, too fair, even to be a reality; and he felt a jealous dread, every moment of the day, that something would rise to snatch it from him.
Mais le vaisseau marchait toujours, les heures s' écoulaient, et enfin, visible et rapproché, s' éleva le rivage anglais.... rivage qu' enchante une syllabe magique, et dont le seul contact fait évanouir toute la conjuration de l' esclavage, en quelque langue qu' on ait prononcé ses paroles fatales, quel que soit le pouvoir qui ait voulu la protéger....
But the boat swept on. Hours fleeted, and, at last, clear and full rose the blessed English shores; shores charmed by a mighty spell,—with one touch to dissolve every incantation of slavery, no matter in what language pronounced, or by what national power confirmed. ~~~ [Illustration: THE FUGITIVES ARE SAVE IN A FREE LAND.]
On approchait de la petite ville d' Amherstberg, dans le Canada. Georges prit le bras de sa femme.... sa respiration devint courte et embarrassée.... un brouillard passa devant ses yeux; il pressa silencieusement la petite main qui tremblait sur son bras; la cloche sonna, le bateau s' arrêta.... Georges ne savait plus trop ce qu' il faisait.... il rassembla ses bagages, il réunit son monde, on le débarqua; ils attendirent que tout le monde fût parti, et alors le mari et la femme, tenant dans leurs bras leur enfant étonné, s' agenouillèrent sur le rivage et élevèrent leur coeur jusqu' à Dieu.
George and his wife stood arm in arm, as the boat neared the small town of Amherstberg, in Canada. His breath grew thick and short; a mist gathered before his eyes; he silently pressed the little hand that lay trembling on his arm. The bell rang; the boat stopped. Scarcely seeing what he did, he looked out his baggage, and gathered his little party. The little company were landed on the shore. They stood still till the boat had cleared; and then, with tears and embracings, the husband and wife, with their wondering child in their arms, knelt down and lifted up their hearts to God!
De la mort à la vie ainsi l' homme s' élance; Ainsi, pour revêtir la tunique des cieux, Il rejette au tombeau le linceul odieux, Vêtement de la mort et voile du silence ! Il échappe au péché, d' un bond victorieux, Et les liens brisés de son âme asservie Tombent; et le pardon avec la liberté Descendent sur le seuil de sa nouvelle vie, Qui s' appelle immortalité !
“’T was something like the burst from death to life; From the grave’s cerements to the robes of heaven; From sin’s dominion, and from passion’s strife, To the pure freedom of a soul forgiven; Where all the bonds of death and hell are riven, And mortal puts on immortality, When Mercy’s hand hath turned the golden key, And Mercy’s voice hath said, _Rejoice, thy soul is free.”_
The little party were soon guided, by Mrs. Smyth, to the hospitable abode of a good missionary, whom Christian charity has placed here as a shepherd to the outcast and wandering, who are constantly finding an asylum on this shore.
Qui pourra jamais dire les ravissements de ce premier jour de liberté ? ~~~ Oh ! il y a un sixième sens, le sens de la liberté, plus noble et plus élevé cent fois que les autres sens ! Se mouvoir, parler, respirer, aller, venir, sans contrôle et sans danger ! Qui pourra jamais dire ce repos béni, qui descend sur l' oreiller d' un homme libre, à qui les lois assurent la jouissance des droits que Dieu lui a donnés ? Qu' il était charmant et beau pour sa mère, ce visage endormi d' un enfant que le souvenir de mille dangers rendait plus cher !... Oh ! pour eux, dans l' exubérance de leur félicité, le sommeil ne leur était pas possible: et cependant ils n' avaient pas un pouce de terre à eux, pas un toit qui leur appartînt; ils avaient dépensé jusqu' à leur dernier dollar.... Ils avaient ce qu' a l' oiseau dans les airs, la fleur dans les champs.... et ils ne pouvaient pas dormir à force de bonheur ! ~~~ Ah ! vous qui prenez à l' homme la liberté, quelles paroles trouverez -vous pour répondre à Dieu ?
Who can speak the blessedness of that first day of freedom? Is not the _sense_ of liberty a higher and a finer one than any of the five? To move, speak and breathe,—go out and come in unwatched, and free from danger! Who can speak the blessings of that rest which comes down on the free man’s pillow, under laws which insure to him the rights that God has given to man? How fair and precious to that mother was that sleeping child’s face, endeared by the memory of a thousand dangers! How impossible was it to sleep, in the exuberant possession of such blessedness! And yet, these two had not one acre of ground,—not a roof that they could call their own,—they had spent their all, to the last dollar. They had nothing more than the birds of the air, or the flowers of the field,—yet they could not sleep for joy. “O, ye who take freedom from man, with what words shall ye answer it to God?”
CHAPITRE XXXVIII.
CHAPTER XXXVIII The Victory
“Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory.”[1]
La victoire.
[1] I Cor. 15:57.
Have not many of us, in the weary way of life, felt, in some hours, how far easier it were to die than to live?
Le martyr, en face de la mort pleine d' horreurs, de tourments et d' angoisses, trouve dans les terreurs mêmes de son destin un aiguillon et un soutien; il y a comme une excitation vive, une fièvre, une ardeur qui nous fait bravement traverser cette crise de souffrance- -le sentiment de l' éternelle gloire.
The martyr, when faced even by a death of bodily anguish and horror, finds in the very terror of his doom a strong stimulant and tonic. There is a vivid excitement, a thrill and fervor, which may carry through any crisis of suffering that is the birth-hour of eternal glory and rest.
Mais vivre, mais porter jour après jour le poids, l' amertume, la honte de la servitude.... sentir chacun de ses nerfs torturé, toutes les fibres de la sensibilité l' une après l' autre émoussées.... souffrir ce long martyre du coeur.... voir s' écouler lentement, goutte à goutte, le sang, le meilleur sang de la vie.... ah ! voilà la pierre de touche qui fait voir ce qu' il y a vraiment dans un homme ou dans une femme.
But to live,—to wear on, day after day, of mean, bitter, low, harassing servitude, every nerve dampened and depressed, every power of feeling gradually smothered,—this long and wasting heart-martyrdom, this slow, daily bleeding away of the inward life, drop by drop, hour after hour,—this is the true searching test of what there may be in man or woman.
Quand Tom se trouva face à face avec son persécuteur, quand il entendit ses menaces, quand il crut que son heure était venue, son coeur battit brave et joyeux dans sa poitrine, il sentit qu' il pouvait supporter les tortures et le feu.... tout, en un mot.... en reportant ses yeux sur la vision bénie de Jésus et du ciel. Mais quand le bourreau fut parti, quand l' excitation présente se fut calmée, alors revint le sentiment de la douleur, alors il s' aperçut que ses membres étaient brisés et moulus, alors il comprit à quel point il était abandonné, dégradé, avili, et sans espoir.
When Tom stood face to face with his persecutor, and heard his threats, and thought in his very soul that his hour was come, his heart swelled bravely in him, and he thought he could bear torture and fire, bear anything, with the vision of Jesus and heaven but just a step beyond; but, when he was gone, and the present excitement passed off, came back the pain of his bruised and weary limbs,—came back the sense of his utterly degraded, hopeless, forlorn estate; and the day passed wearily enough.
Ce fut une pénible et longue journée. ~~~ Longtemps avant qu' il fût guéri de sa blessure, Legree exigea qu' il reprît le travail des champs. Ce furent des tyrannies, des vexations, des injustices de toutes sortes.... tout ce que pouvait inventer l' esprit d' un homme aussi vil que méchant. Celui de nous qui a fait vraiment l' épreuve du malheur, même avec tous les allégements que notre position nous accorde, sait à quel point nous devenons irritables et nerveux. Tom ne s' étonna plus de la sombre tristesse de ses compagnons.... il voyait s' enfuir cette sereine et douce résignation de sa vie, chassée enfin par l' invasion de ce même désespoir dont il était le témoin; il s' était flatté de pouvoir lire la Bible à ses moments de loisirs.... il vit bientôt que chez Legree il n' y avait point de loisir.... Quand la saison pressait, Legree faisait, sans remords, travailler fête et dimanche. Et pourquoi donc ne l' eût -il pas fait ? c' était le moyen d' avoir plus de coton et de gagner son pari.... cela lui faisait bien perdre quelques esclaves de plus.... mais cela lui permettait aussi d' en avoir d' autres.... et de meilleurs.... D'abord Tom avait lu chaque soir, au retour de la tâche quotidienne, aux lueurs vacillantes du foyer, un ou deux versets de la Bible. Mais après le cruel traitement qu' il avait reçu, quand il revenait des champs, s' il essayait de lire, sa tête bourdonnait, ses yeux se troublaient, et, tout épuisé, il s' étendait sur le sol avec ses compagnons.
Long before his wounds were healed, Legree insisted that he should be put to the regular field-work; and then came day after day of pain and weariness, aggravated by every kind of injustice and indignity that the ill-will of a mean and malicious mind could devise. Whoever, in _our_ circumstances, has made trial of pain, even with all the alleviations which, for us, usually attend it, must know the irritation that comes with it. Tom no longer wondered at the habitual surliness of his associates; nay, he found the placid, sunny temper, which had been the habitude of his life, broken in on, and sorely strained, by the inroads of the same thing. He had flattered himself on leisure to read his Bible; but there was no such thing as leisure there. In the height of the season, Legree did not hesitate to press all his hands through, Sundays and week-days alike. Why shouldn’t he?—he made more cotton by it, and gained his wager; and if it wore out a few more hands, he could buy better ones. At first, Tom used to read a verse or two of his Bible, by the flicker of the fire, after he had returned from his daily toil; but, after the cruel treatment he received, he used to come home so exhausted, that his head swam and his eyes failed when he tried to read; and he was fain to stretch himself down, with the others, in utter exhaustion.
La paix religieuse, la confiance en Dieu qui l' avait soutenu jusque -là, faisaient place maintenant à de sombres accès de doute et de désespoir. Il avait sans cesse devant les yeux le ténébreux problème de sa destinée.... les âmes brisées et terrassées, le mal triomphant, et Dieu silencieux !... Il y avait des semaines, des mois, où son âme douloureuse était remplie de ténèbres et d' amertume. Il pensait à la lettre que miss Ophélia avait écrite à ses amis du Kentucky, et il priait Dieu ardemment d' envoyer quelqu'un pour le délivrer.... Chaque jour il avait le vague espoir de voir arriver quelqu'un pour le racheter.... Personne ne venait, et dans son coeur, sa pensée retombait plus désolée encore et plus navrante !... Il était donc bien inutile de servir Dieu.... puisque Dieu oubliait ainsi ! Quelquefois il voyait Cassy; quelquefois, quand il était appelé à l' habitation, il entrevoyait Emmeline, languissante et abattue.... Il ne s' occupait plus guère d' elle.... il n' avait, hélas ! le temps de s' occuper de personne !
Is it strange that the religious peace and trust, which had upborne him hitherto, should give way to tossings of soul and despondent darkness? The gloomiest problem of this mysterious life was constantly before his eyes,—souls crushed and ruined, evil triumphant, and God silent. It was weeks and months that Tom wrestled, in his own soul, in darkness and sorrow. He thought of Miss Ophelia’s letter to his Kentucky friends, and would pray earnestly that God would send him deliverance. And then he would watch, day after day, in the vague hope of seeing somebody sent to redeem him; and, when nobody came, he would crush back to his soul bitter thoughts,—that it was vain to serve God, that God had forgotten him. He sometimes saw Cassy; and sometimes, when summoned to the house, caught a glimpse of the dejected form of Emmeline, but held very little communion with either; in fact, there was no time for him to commune with anybody.
Un soir, auprès de quelques maigres tisons qui faisaient cuire son souper, il était assis dans un état de prostration et d' accablement complet. Il jeta quelques broussailles sur le feu pour obtenir quelques lueurs, et il tira sa Bible de sa poche; il trouva tous ces passages remarqués qui souvent avaient fait battre son coeur, ces paroles des patriarches et des prophètes, des poëtes et des sages, les voix qui sortent de cette « grande nuée de témoins, » comme parle l' Écriture, qui nous entoure sur le chemin de la vie.... Les mots sacrés avaient -ils perdu leur pouvoir, l' oeil obscurci et presque éteint n' en pouvait -il retrouver le sens ? Rien ne répondait -il plus à cette inspiration jadis toute-puissante ? ~~~ Tom soupira profondément.... et il remit le livre dans sa poche. ~~~ Un gros éclat de rire retentit tout près de lui. ~~~ Tom releva les yeux; il aperçut Legree.
One evening, he was sitting, in utter dejection and prostration, by a few decaying brands, where his coarse supper was baking. He put a few bits of brushwood on the fire, and strove to raise the light, and then drew his worn Bible from his pocket. There were all the marked passages, which had thrilled his soul so often,—words of patriarchs and seers, poets and sages, who from early time had spoken courage to man,—voices from the great cloud of witnesses who ever surround us in the race of life. Had the word lost its power, or could the failing eye and weary sense no longer answer to the touch of that mighty inspiration? Heavily sighing, he put it in his pocket. A coarse laugh roused him; he looked up,—Legree was standing opposite to him.
« Eh bien ! vieux, vous trouvez à la fin que la religion ne sert pas à grand'chose.... Je savais bien que je fourrerais cela dans votre tête de laine ! »
“Well, old boy,” he said, “you find your religion don’t work, it seems! I thought I should get that through your wool, at last!”
Ce sarcasme fut plus cruel pour Tom que la faim, que le froid, que la nudité !
The cruel taunt was more than hunger and cold and nakedness. Tom was silent.
Il ne répondit rien. ~~~ « Vous êtes une bête ! reprit Legree: quand je vous achetai, j' avais de bonnes intentions pour vous. Vous auriez été ici beaucoup mieux que Sambo et Quimbo, vous auriez eu du bon temps: au lieu d' être fouetté tous les jours ou tous les deux jours, c' est vous qui auriez fouetté les autres; vous vous seriez promené partout, et de temps en temps, pour vous réchauffer, on vous aurait donné un verre de punch ou de wisky.... Allons ! est -ce que cela n' eût pas été bien plus raisonnable ? Voyons, jetez -moi au feu ce paquet de bêtises, et entrez dans mon Église.
“You were a fool,” said Legree; “for I meant to do well by you, when I bought you. You might have been better off than Sambo, or Quimbo either, and had easy times; and, instead of getting cut up and thrashed, every day or two, ye might have had liberty to lord it round, and cut up the other niggers; and ye might have had, now and then, a good warming of whiskey punch. Come, Tom, don’t you think you’d better be reasonable?—heave that ar old pack of trash in the fire, and join my church!”
“The Lord forbid!” said Tom, fervently.
“You see the Lord an’t going to help you; if he had been, he wouldn’t have let _me_ get you! This yer religion is all a mess of lying trumpery, Tom. I know all about it. Ye’d better hold to me; I’m somebody, and can do something!”
-- Non, maître, dit Tom, non ! que le Seigneur m' assiste ou qu' il m' abandonne, je m' attacherai à lui, je croirai en lui jusqu' à la fin.
“No, Mas’r,” said Tom; “I’ll hold on. The Lord may help me, or not help; but I’ll hold to him, and believe him to the last!”
“The more fool you!” said Legree, spitting scornfully at him, and spurning him with his foot. “Never mind; I’ll chase you down, yet, and bring you under,—you’ll see!” and Legree turned away.
When a heavy weight presses the soul to the lowest level at which endurance is possible, there is an instant and desperate effort of every physical and moral nerve to throw off the weight; and hence the heaviest anguish often precedes a return tide of joy and courage. So was it now with Tom. The atheistic taunts of his cruel master sunk his before dejected soul to the lowest ebb; and, though the hand of faith still held to the eternal rock, it was a numb, despairing grasp. Tom sat, like one stunned, at the fire. Suddenly everything around him seemed to fade, and a vision rose before him of one crowned with thorns, buffeted and bleeding. Tom gazed, in awe and wonder, at the majestic patience of the face; the deep, pathetic eyes thrilled him to his inmost heart; his soul woke, as, with floods of emotion, he stretched out his hands and fell upon his knees,—when, gradually, the vision changed: the sharp thorns became rays of glory; and, in splendor inconceivable, he saw that same face bending compassionately towards him, and a voice said, “He that overcometh shall sit down with me on my throne, even as I also overcome, and am set down with my Father on his throne.”
Le sarcasme athée et cruel de son maître acheva d' abattre son âme; il se cramponnait encore d' une main fidèle au roc de la foi, mais par une étreinte désespérée et bientôt vaincue.... il restait assis auprès du feu, dans une immobilité de statue. Tout à coup il lui sembla qu' autour de lui les objets disparaissaient, et une vision passa devant ses yeux. Il voyait une tête couronnée d' épines, souffletée et sanglante. Il contemplait, avec autant d' étonnement que de respect, la majestueuse patience de ce visage; le regard mélancolique et profond de ces yeux lui remuait le coeur; il sentait couler en lui des torrents d' émotion, il étendit les bras et tomba à genoux.... Mais tout à coup la vision changea: les épines aiguës devinrent des rayons de gloire, et ce même visage, éclatant d' ineffables splendeurs, se pencha, plein de tendresse et de compassion, vers lui, et une voix dit:
How long Tom lay there, he knew not. When he came to himself, the fire was gone out, his clothes were wet with the chill and drenching dews; but the dread soul-crisis was past, and, in the joy that filled him, he no longer felt hunger, cold, degradation, disappointment, wretchedness. From his deepest soul, he that hour loosed and parted from every hope in life that now is, and offered his own will an unquestioning sacrifice to the Infinite. Tom looked up to the silent, ever-living stars,—types of the angelic hosts who ever look down on man; and the solitude of the night rung with the triumphant words of a hymn, which he had sung often in happier days, but never with such feeling as now:
“The earth shall be dissolved like snow, The sun shall cease to shine; But God, who called me here below, Shall be forever mine.
Combien de temps dura cette extase, Tom lui-même ne le sut jamais. Quand il revint à lui, le feu s' était éteint, la rosée abondante et pénétrante avait mouillé ses vêtements; mais la crise terrible était passée, et, dans la joie qui remplissait son âme, il ne sentait ni la faim, ni le froid, ni l' outrage, ni la misère ! Oui, dans le plus profond de son coeur, à ce même instant, il renonça pour jamais à toutes les espérances de la vie présente, et il offrit sa propre volonté en sacrifice d' immolation au Dieu infini ! puis il porta ses regards vers ces étoiles, silencieuses, éternelles images de ces troupes d' anges qui ne cessent jamais d' abaisser leurs regards sur l' homme, et dans la solitude de la nuit il entendit retentir les paroles triomphantes d' un hymne qu' il avait souvent chanté dans des jours plus heureux, mais jamais avec un tel sentiment:
“And when this mortal life shall fail, And flesh and sense shall cease, I shall possess within the veil A life of joy and peace. ~~~ “When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining like the sun, We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we first begun.”
La terre se fondra comme se fond la neige, Et le soleil s' éteindra dans les cieux; Mais le Seigneur, mon Dieu, qui me protége, D' un éternel éclat brille devant mes yeux. Je meurs ! Au séjour des étoiles Les anges dans leurs bras m' ont déjà transporté, Et ma main soulève les voiles Qui cachent les secrets de l' immortalité. Passez, passez toujours, fugitives années ! Les siècles par milliers sur nous s' en vont glissant; De rayons éternels nos têtes couronnées Auront, à tout moment du cycle renaissant; Autant de jours qu' en commençant !
Ceux de nos lecteurs qui ont étudié les moeurs religieuses des esclaves ont dû entendre plusieurs fois des récits pareils à ceux que nous venons de faire. Nous en avons nous -même, et de leurs lèvres, recueilli de fort touchants. Les psychologues nous parlent d' un certain état dans lequel les sentiments et les idées acquièrent une telle influence et une telle intensité, qu' ils s' emparent des sens extérieurs et les contraignent à leur obéir et à rendre palpable et visible le rêve intérieur. Qui pourra jamais dire jusqu' où l' esprit souverain et dominateur peut amener notre pauvre machine humaine ? Qui connaît tous les moyens qu' on emploie pour consoler les affligés ? Si le pauvre esclave abandonné croit que Jésus lui est apparu et lui a parlé, qui donc osera le contredire ? N' a -t-il pas annoncé que sa mission était de soulager ceux qui souffrent et de délivrer ceux qu' on opprime ?
Those who have been familiar with the religious histories of the slave population know that relations like what we have narrated are very common among them. We have heard some from their own lips, of a very touching and affecting character. The psychologist tells us of a state, in which the affections and images of the mind become so dominant and overpowering, that they press into their service the outward imagining. Who shall measure what an all-pervading Spirit may do with these capabilities of our mortality, or the ways in which He may encourage the desponding souls of the desolate? If the poor forgotten slave believes that Jesus hath appeared and spoken to him, who shall contradict him? Did He not say that his mission, in all ages, was to bind up the broken-hearted, and set at liberty them that are bruised?
Les lueurs blanchâtres de l' aube rappelèrent les travailleurs aux champs. Parmi ces malheureux chancelants, accablés, il y en avait un qui marchait d' un pas triomphant; car plus ferme que le sol même sur lequel il marchait était sa foi dans le souverain, dans l' éternel amour ! Ah ! Legree, tu peux maintenant essayer tes forces ! le chagrin, l' humiliation, l' angoisse, le besoin, la perte de toute chose ne feront que le précipiter dans la voie qui le conduira au sanctuaire éternel, où il sera pontife et roi dans le sein de Dieu !
When the dim gray of dawn woke the slumberers to go forth to the field, there was among those tattered and shivering wretches one who walked with an exultant tread; for firmer than the ground he trod on was his strong faith in Almighty, eternal love. Ah, Legree, try all your forces now! Utmost agony, woe, degradation, want, and loss of all things, shall only hasten on the process by which he shall be made a king and a priest unto God!
Depuis cet instant, une impénétrable atmosphère de calme et de paix entoura l' humble coeur de l' opprimé. Le Sauveur, toujours présent, faisait sa demeure dans son âme ! C' en est fait de ces regrets terrestres, de ces regrets qui saignent ! c' en est fait de ces fluctuations, et l' espérance, la crainte et le désir, la volonté humaine, résistante, luttante, sanglante, était abîmée dans la volonté de Dieu. Il sentait si bien que c' était la fin du voyage, l' éternel bonheur lui semblait si proche, si vivant, que la vie était maintenant désarmée; elle ne pouvait plus rien contre lui !
From this time, an inviolable sphere of peace encompassed the lowly heart of the oppressed one,—an ever-present Saviour hallowed it as a temple. Past now the bleeding of earthly regrets; past its fluctuations of hope, and fear, and desire; the human will, bent, and bleeding, and struggling long, was now entirely merged in the Divine. So short now seemed the remaining voyage of life,—so near, so vivid, seemed eternal blessedness,—that life’s uttermost woes fell from him unharming.
All noticed the change in his appearance. Cheerfulness and alertness seemed to return to him, and a quietness which no insult or injury could ruffle seemed to possess him.
“What the devil’s got into Tom?” Legree said to Sambo. “A while ago he was all down in the mouth, and now he’s peart as a cricket.”
“Dunno, Mas’r; gwine to run off, mebbe.”
“Like to see him try that,” said Legree, with a savage grin, “wouldn’t we, Sambo?”
-- Hi ! hi ! ça ferait bien ! dit l' horrible gnome, avec un rire obséquieux. Dieu ! que ce serait drôle de le voir patauger dans la boue, courant, passant à travers les branches.... et les chiens sur lui !... Ah ! Dieu ! que je rirais donc ! comme quand nous avons repris Molly.... Je croyais que les chiens l' auraient dévorée avant que je pusse les retirer.... Elle en porte encore les marques maintenant.
“Guess we would! Haw! haw! ho!” said the sooty gnome, laughing obsequiously. “Lord, de fun! To see him stickin’ in de mud,—chasin’ and tarin’ through de bushes, dogs a holdin’ on to him! Lord, I laughed fit to split, dat ar time we cotched Molly. I thought they’d a had her all stripped up afore I could get ’em off. She car’s de marks o’ dat ar spree yet.”
“I reckon she will, to her grave,” said Legree. “But now, Sambo, you look sharp. If the nigger’s got anything of this sort going, trip him up.”
-- Maître, rapportez -vous -en à moi, dit Sambo; je reprendrai le lapin.... Ah ! ah ! ah ! »
“Mas’r, let me lone for dat,” said Sambo, “I’ll tree de coon. Ho, ho, ho!”
This was spoken as Legree was getting on his horse, to go to the neighboring town. That night, as he was returning, he thought he would turn his horse and ride round the quarters, and see if all was safe.
La nuit était splendide. La lune brillait au ciel; les grandes ombres des beaux arbres de Chine dessinaient sur le gazon leurs maigres silhouettes amincies. Il y avait dans l' air cette sorte de tranquillité transparente qu' on ne trouble pas sans crime. Comme Legree approchait des quartiers, il entendit une voix qui chantait.... C' était rare d' entendre chanter dans un tel lieu; il s' arrêta pour écouter. C' était une voix de ténor; elle chantait:
It was a superb moonlight night, and the shadows of the graceful China trees lay minutely pencilled on the turf below, and there was that transparent stillness in the air which it seems almost unholy to disturb. Legree was a little distance from the quarters, when he heard the voice of some one singing. It was not a usual sound there, and he paused to listen. A musical tenor voice sang, ~~~ “When I can read my title clear To mansions in the skies, I’ll bid farewell to every fear, And wipe my weeping eyes
“Should earth against my soul engage, And hellish darts be hurled, Then I can smile at Satan’s rage, And face a frowning world.
“Let cares like a wild deluge come, And storms of sorrow fall, May I but safely reach my home, My God, my Heaven, my All.”[2]
[2] “On My Journey Home,” hymn by Isaac Watts, found in many of the southern country songbooks of the ante bellum period.
« Oh, oh ! se dit Legree, est -ce qu' il croit cela ? le croit -il ? Comme je hais ces maudits hymnes méthodistes !... Ici, nègre, ici ! fit -il en s' élançant sur Tom et en levant son fouet.... Comment osez -vous bien être encore debout quand vous devriez être au lit ?... Fermez votre vieille mâchoire noire et rentrez chez vous.... vite !
“So ho!” said Legree to himself, “he thinks so, does he? How I hate these cursed Methodist hymns! Here, you nigger,” said he, coming suddenly out upon Tom, and raising his riding-whip, “how dare you be gettin’ up this yer row, when you ought to be in bed? Shut yer old black gash, and get along in with you!”
“Yes, Mas’r,” said Tom, with ready cheerfulness, as he rose to go in.
Legree was provoked beyond measure by Tom’s evident happiness; and riding up to him, belabored him over his head and shoulders.
“There, you dog,” he said, “see if you’ll feel so comfortable, after that!”
Les coups ne tombaient que sur l' homme extérieur, ils ne tombaient plus sur le coeur, comme auparavant. Tom resta calme et soumis, et cependant Legree sentit que son pouvoir lui échappait.... sa victime n' était plus sensible. Tom rentra dans sa case. Legree fit faire une volte à son cheval; un éclair passa dans cette âme sombre et méfiante, et y fit briller les lueurs fulgurantes de la conscience. Il comprit que c' était Dieu qui se dressait entre lui et sa victime, et il blasphéma Dieu ! Cet homme soumis et silencieux, que ni les railleries, ni les menaces, ni les cruautés ne pouvaient plus émouvoir, réveilla en lui une voix pareille à celle que le divin Maître faisait parler dans l' âme des possédés. Cette voix disait: « Qu' avons -nous à démêler avec toi, Jésus de Nazareth ? es -tu venu pour nous tourmenter avant le temps ? »
But the blows fell now only on the outer man, and not, as before, on the heart. Tom stood perfectly submissive; and yet Legree could not hide from himself that his power over his bond thrall was somehow gone. And, as Tom disappeared in his cabin, and he wheeled his horse suddenly round, there passed through his mind one of those vivid flashes that often send the lightning of conscience across the dark and wicked soul. He understood full well that it was GOD who was standing between him and his victim, and he blasphemed him. That submissive and silent man, whom taunts, nor threats, nor stripes, nor cruelties, could disturb, roused a voice within him, such as of old his Master roused in the demoniac soul, saying, “What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?—art thou come to torment us before the time?”
L' âme de Tom débordait de pitié et de sympathie pour tous les pauvres malheureux qui l' entouraient; il lui semblait que les chagrins de sa vie étaient désormais passés, et, de ce trésor de paix et de joie dont le ciel lui avait fait don, il voulait épancher les richesses sur ceux qui souffraient à ses côtés. Il est vrai qu' il en avait rarement l' occasion; mais en allant aux champs, en revenant aux quartiers, pendant les heures du travail, il trouvait encore le moyen de réconforter et de soulager les faibles et les découragés. Ces pauvres créatures, épuisées, abruties, ne pouvaient pas comprendre une pareille conduite; et pourtant, quand ils virent pendant de longues semaines et de longs mois la persévérance de cette bonté, ils sentirent se remuer et vibrer les cordes les plus intimes de leur coeur ! Graduellement, insensiblement, cet homme étrange, silencieux, patient, toujours prêt à porter le fardeau de chacun sans réclamer pour lui l' assistance de personne; qui se tenait à part de tout, se montrait le dernier partout, prenait moins que personne et partageait encore avec les autres; qui, dans les nuits glacées, abandonnait sa misérable couverture à quelque pauvre femme tremblante de fièvre; qui dans les champs remplissait le panier des plus faibles, au risque, terrible risque ! de ne pas avoir son poids lui-même; qui, sans cesse poursuivi par ce cruel et implacable tyran, leur tyran à tous, ne se permettait jamais, cependant, une parole de blâme, une injure, une malédiction: cet homme acquit sur eux un étrange pouvoir ! Quand la presse du travail se fut ralentie, quand on permit aux esclaves de jouir enfin de leurs dimanches, ils se rassemblèrent autour de Tom pour l' entendre parler de Jésus ! Ils eussent été bien heureux de se réunir librement pour parler de Dieu, pour prier et pour chanter ! Legree ne le voulait pas. Plus d' une fois, avec des jurements et des violences, il dispersa leurs petites réunions. La bonne nouvelle de l' Évangile ne pouvait plus s' annoncer que tout bas, du coeur à l' oreille. Plus d' entretien en commun ! ~~~ Et cependant, qui pourrait dire avec quel bonheur simple et touchant quelques-uns de ces pauvres esclaves, pour qui la vie, hélas ! n' était qu' un voyage sans joie vers un inconnu sans espérance, entendaient parler d' un Rédempteur plein de compassion et d' amour, et d' une patrie céleste ? Tous les missionnaires vous diront qu' il n' y a point une race d' hommes sur la terre qui ait accueilli l' Évangile avec une docilité plus empressée que la race africaine. Le principe de la foi sans contrôle et de la confiance sans bornes est en quelque sorte un des éléments naturels de cette race. Maintes fois la semence d' une vérité, portée par le vent du hasard dans les coeurs les plus ignorants, a germé en fruits dont la saveur et l' abondance feraient honte aux cultures les plus habiles.
Tom’s whole soul overflowed with compassion and sympathy for the poor wretches by whom he was surrounded. To him it seemed as if his life-sorrows were now over, and as if, out of that strange treasury of peace and joy, with which he had been endowed from above, he longed to pour out something for the relief of their woes. It is true, opportunities were scanty; but, on the way to the fields, and back again, and during the hours of labor, chances fell in his way of extending a helping-hand to the weary, the disheartened and discouraged. The poor, worn-down, brutalized creatures, at first, could scarce comprehend this; but, when it was continued week after week, and month after month, it began to awaken long-silent chords in their benumbed hearts. Gradually and imperceptibly the strange, silent, patient man, who was ready to bear every one’s burden, and sought help from none,—who stood aside for all, and came last, and took least, yet was foremost to share his little all with any who needed,—the man who, in cold nights, would give up his tattered blanket to add to the comfort of some woman who shivered with sickness, and who filled the baskets of the weaker ones in the field, at the terrible risk of coming short in his own measure,—and who, though pursued with unrelenting cruelty by their common tyrant, never joined in uttering a word of reviling or cursing,—this man, at last, began to have a strange power over them; and, when the more pressing season was past, and they were allowed again their Sundays for their own use, many would gather together to hear from him of Jesus. They would gladly have met to hear, and pray, and sing, in some place, together; but Legree would not permit it, and more than once broke up such attempts, with oaths and brutal execrations,—so that the blessed news had to circulate from individual to individual. Yet who can speak the simple joy with which some of those poor outcasts, to whom life was a joyless journey to a dark unknown, heard of a compassionate Redeemer and a heavenly home? It is the statement of missionaries, that, of all races of the earth, none have received the Gospel with such eager docility as the African. The principle of reliance and unquestioning faith, which is its foundation, is more a native element in this race than any other; and it has often been found among them, that a stray seed of truth, borne on some breeze of accident into hearts the most ignorant, has sprung up into fruit, whose abundance has shamed that of higher and more skilful culture.
La pauvre mulâtresse, dont la simple foi avait été brisée et engloutie sous cette avalanche de cruautés et d' injures, sentait maintenant son âme se relever sous l' influence de la sainte Écriture et des hymnes que, sur le chemin du travail, Tom, l' humble missionnaire, murmurait à son oreille. Cassy elle-même, cette âme troublée, cette intelligence égarée, retrouvait un peu de calme et de douceur auprès de cette candeur aimante !
The poor mulatto woman, whose simple faith had been well-nigh crushed and overwhelmed, by the avalanche of cruelty and wrong which had fallen upon her, felt her soul raised up by the hymns and passages of Holy Writ, which this lowly missionary breathed into her ear in intervals, as they were going to and returning from work; and even the half-crazed and wandering mind of Cassy was soothed and calmed by his simple and unobtrusive influences.
Stung to madness and despair by the crushing agonies of a life, Cassy had often resolved in her soul an hour of retribution, when her hand should avenge on her oppressor all the injustice and cruelty to which she had been witness, or which _she_ had in her own person suffered.
One night, after all in Tom’s cabin were sunk in sleep, he was suddenly aroused by seeing her face at the hole between the logs, that served for a window. She made a silent gesture for him to come out.
Tom sortit. ~~~ Il pouvait être une ou deux heures du matin. Il faisait un magnifique clair de lune. Autour d' eux, tout était silence et calme. Un rayon de lumière tomba sur le visage de Cassy. Tom vit passer comme une flamme ardente dans ses yeux noirs et sauvages: ce n' était plus son morne désespoir.
Tom came out the door. It was between one and two o’clock at night,—broad, calm, still moonlight. Tom remarked, as the light of the moon fell upon Cassy’s large, black eyes, that there was a wild and peculiar glare in them, unlike their wonted fixed despair.
“Come here, Father Tom,” she said, laying her small hand on his wrist, and drawing him forward with a force as if the hand were of steel; “come here,—I’ve news for you.”
“What, Misse Cassy?” said Tom, anxiously.
-- Tom, voudriez -vous être libre ?
“Tom, wouldn’t you like your liberty?”
“I shall have it, Misse, in God’s time,” said Tom. “Ay, but you may have it tonight,” said Cassy, with a flash of sudden energy. “Come on.”
Tom hésita.
Tom hesitated.
« Venez ! reprit -elle à voix basse, et en fixant sur lui ses grands yeux, venez ! il dort profondément.... J' en ai mis assez dans son eau-de-vie pour qu' il dorme longtemps; si j' en avais eu davantage, je n' aurais pas eu besoin de vous.... mais venez.... la porte de derrière est ouverte; il y a une hache auprès, c' est moi qui l' y ai mise. La porte de sa chambre est ouverte, je vais vous montrer le chemin. J' aurais tout fait moi-même, mais je n' ai plus de force ! Allons, venez donc !
“Come!” said she, in a whisper, fixing her black eyes on him. “Come along! He’s asleep—sound. I put enough into his brandy to keep him so. I wish I’d had more,—I shouldn’t have wanted you. But come, the back door is unlocked; there’s an axe there, I put it there,—his room door is open; I’ll show you the way. I’d a done it myself, only my arms are so weak. Come along!”
“Not for ten thousand worlds, Misse!” said Tom, firmly, stopping and holding her back, as she was pressing forward.
“But think of all these poor creatures,” said Cassy. “We might set them all free, and go somewhere in the swamps, and find an island, and live by ourselves; I’ve heard of its being done. Any life is better than this.”
“No!” said Tom, firmly. “No! good never comes of wickedness. I’d sooner chop my right hand off!”
“Then _I_ shall do it,” said Cassy, turning.
“O, Misse Cassy!” said Tom, throwing himself before her, “for the dear Lord’s sake that died for ye, don’t sell your precious soul to the devil, that way! Nothing but evil will come of it. The Lord hasn’t called us to wrath. We must suffer, and wait his time.”
-- Attendre ! dit Cassy; attendre ! mais n' ai -je pas tant attendu déjà que mon coeur en est malade et ma raison obscurcie ? Que ne m' a -t-il pas fait souffrir.... à moi.... et à toutes ces misérables créatures ?... et vous -même, n' épuise -t-il pas goutte à goutte le sang de votre vie ?... Oui.... je suis appelée.... oui ! on m' appelle à la vengeance !... son tour est venu ! je veux avoir le sang de son coeur !
“Wait!” said Cassy. “Haven’t I waited?—waited till my head is dizzy and my heart sick? What has he made me suffer? What has he made hundreds of poor creatures suffer? Isn’t he wringing the life-blood out of you? I’m called on; they call me! His time’s come, and I’ll have his heart’s blood!”
-- Non ! non ! dit Tom en s' emparant de ses mains qui se tordaient avec des mouvements convulsifs. Non ! pauvre âme perdue ! il ne faut pas, il ne faut pas ! Le doux Seigneur n' a jamais versé d' autre sang que le sien, et il l' a versé pour nous quand nous étions ses ennemis.... Seigneur ! aidez -nous à suivre vos traces et à aimer nos ennemis !
“No, no, no!” said Tom, holding her small hands, which were clenched with spasmodic violence. “No, ye poor, lost soul, that ye mustn’t do. The dear, blessed Lord never shed no blood but his own, and that he poured out for us when we was enemies. Lord, help us to follow his steps, and love our enemies.”
“Love!” said Cassy, with a fierce glare; “love _such_ enemies! It isn’t in flesh and blood.”
-- Non, madame, ce n' est pas dans la nature.... mais c' est dans la grâce.... et cela s' appelle la victoire !... Quand nous pouvons aimer et prier, partout et malgré tout, la bataille est finie, et la victoire est venue ! gloire à Dieu !... » Et l' oeil humide, la voix tremblante, Tom regarda les cieux.
“No, Misse, it isn’t,” said Tom, looking up; “but _He_ gives it to us, and that’s the victory. When we can love and pray over all and through all, the battle’s past, and the victory’s come,—glory be to God!” And, with streaming eyes and choking voice, the black man looked up to heaven.
And this, oh Africa! latest called of nations,—called to the crown of thorns, the scourge, the bloody sweat, the cross of agony,—this is to be _thy_ victory; by this shalt thou reign with Christ when his kingdom shall come on earth.
The deep fervor of Tom’s feelings, the softness of his voice, his tears, fell like dew on the wild, unsettled spirit of the poor woman. A softness gathered over the lurid fires of her eye; she looked down, and Tom could feel the relaxing muscles of her hands, as she said,
« Est -ce que je ne vous ai pas dit, reprit -elle, que les méchants esprits me suivaient ? O père Tom ! je ne puis pas prier.... je voudrais bien pouvoir ! Je n' ai pas prié depuis que mes enfants ont été vendus. Ce que vous dites doit être juste.... oui, cela doit être !... Mais, quand je veux prier, je ne puis que haïr et maudire ! non ! je ne puis prier !...
“Didn’t I tell you that evil spirits followed me? O! Father Tom, I can’t pray,—I wish I could. I never have prayed since my children were sold! What you say must be right, I know it must; but when I try to pray, I can only hate and curse. I can’t pray!”
“Poor soul!” said Tom, compassionately. “Satan desires to have ye, and sift ye as wheat. I pray the Lord for ye. O! Misse Cassy, turn to the dear Lord Jesus. He came to bind up the broken-hearted, and comfort all that mourn.”
Cassy stood silent, while large, heavy tears dropped from her downcast eyes.
“Misse Cassy,” said Tom, in a hesitating tone, after surveying her in silence, “if ye only could get away from here,—if the thing was possible,—I’d ’vise ye and Emmeline to do it; that is, if ye could go without blood-guiltiness,—not otherwise.”
--Tenterez-vous la chance avec nous, père Tom?
“Would you try it with us, Father Tom?”
-- Non. Il y a un temps où je l' aurais fait.... mais Dieu m' a confié une tâche à remplir auprès de ces malheureux.... Je resterai avec eux; avec eux je porterai ma croix jusqu' à la fin ! Il n' en est pas de même pour vous.... vous êtes trop tentée.... vous ne pourriez peut-être pas résister.... il vaut mieux que vous vous en alliez.... si vous pouvez.
“No,” said Tom; “time was when I would; but the Lord’s given me a work among these yer poor souls, and I’ll stay with ’em and bear my cross with ’em till the end. It’s different with you; it’s a snare to you,—it’s more’n you can stand,—and you’d better go, if you can.”
-- Je ne connais d' autre fuite que le tombeau ! Il n' est point de bête sur la terre ou sous les eaux qui n' ait où se reposer; le serpent et l' alligator trouvent un gîte pour dormir en paix.... Pour nous seuls il n' y a rien !... Là-bas, au fond des savanes les plus épaisses, les chiens nous chasseront et nous trouveront.... Chacun et tout est contre nous.... jusqu' aux bêtes.... Où irai -je ? »
“I know no way but through the grave,” said Cassy. “There’s no beast or bird but can find a home some where; even the snakes and the alligators have their places to lie down and be quiet; but there’s no place for us. Down in the darkest swamps, their dogs will hunt us out, and find us. Everybody and everything is against us; even the very beasts side against us,—and where shall we go?”
Tom n' osait répondre; mais enfin:
Tom stood silent; at length he said,
« Allez, dit -il, à celui qui a sauvé Daniel de la gueule des lions, à celui qui a sauvé les trois Hébreux du feu de la fournaise, à celui qui a marché sur les flots et ordonné aux vents d' être calmes. Il vit toujours, et j' ai la ferme confiance qu' il peut vous délivrer ! Essayez ! et je prierai pour vous de toute ma force ! »
“Him that saved Daniel in the den of lions,—that saved the children in the fiery furnace,—Him that walked on the sea, and bade the winds be still,—He’s alive yet; and I’ve faith to believe he can deliver you. Try it, and I’ll pray, with all my might, for you.”
By what strange law of mind is it that an idea long overlooked, and trodden under foot as a useless stone, suddenly sparkles out in new light, as a discovered diamond?
Cassy, pendant de longues heures, avait médité toutes les probabilités d' une évasion possible, elle avait formé mille plans qu' elle avait bientôt rejetés comme impraticables.... et maintenant il se présentait à elle une idée si simple, si complétement réalisable, qu' elle se sentait toute remplie d' espérances....
Cassy had often revolved, for hours, all possible or probable schemes of escape, and dismissed them all, as hopeless and impracticable; but at this moment there flashed through her mind a plan, so simple and feasible in all its details, as to awaken an instant hope.
« Père Tom, j' essayerai !
“Father Tom, I’ll try it!” she said, suddenly.
“Amen!” said Tom; “the Lord help ye!”
CHAPITRE XXXIX. ~~~ Le stratagème.
CHAPTER XXXIX The Stratagem
“The way of the wicked is as darkness; he knoweth not at what he stumbleth.”[1]
PROVERBES, IV, 19.
[1] Prov. 4:19.
Le grenier de Simon Legree était, comme tous les greniers du monde, un lieu désolé, immense, plein de poussière, tendu de toiles d' araignée et jonché de débris de toute espèce. L' opulente famille qui avait occupé cette maison aux jours de sa splendeur y avait apporté des meubles magnifiques. On en avait repris une partie; le reste avait été laissé là, oublié, négligé, moisissant dans la chambre ou entassé dans ce grenier. Deux immenses caisses d' emballage se tenaient debout, appuyées au mur du grenier. Il n' y avait qu' une petite fenêtre; à travers sa vitre terne et souillée glissait un jour douteux et rare qui tombait sur des chaises aux grands dossiers, sur des tables poudreuses qui avaient eu jadis de plus brillantes destinées. Ce grenier faisait rêver sorcières et revenants. Il avait aussi ses légendes qui augmentaient encore la terreur superstitieuse des nègres.
The garret of the house that Legree occupied, like most other garrets, was a great, desolate space, dusty, hung with cobwebs, and littered with cast-off lumber. The opulent family that had inhabited the house in the days of its splendor had imported a great deal of splendid furniture, some of which they had taken away with them, while some remained standing desolate in mouldering, unoccupied rooms, or stored away in this place. One or two immense packing-boxes, in which this furniture was brought, stood against the sides of the garret. There was a small window there, which let in, through its dingy, dusty panes, a scanty, uncertain light on the tall, high-backed chairs and dusty tables, that had once seen better days. Altogether, it was a weird and ghostly place; but, ghostly as it was, it wanted not in legends among the superstitious negroes, to increase its terrors. Some few years before, a negro woman, who had incurred Legree’s displeasure, was confined there for several weeks. What passed there, we do not say; the negroes used to whisper darkly to each other; but it was known that the body of the unfortunate creature was one day taken down from there, and buried; and, after that, it was said that oaths and cursings, and the sound of violent blows, used to ring through that old garret, and mingled with wailings and groans of despair. Once, when Legree chanced to overhear something of this kind, he flew into a violent passion, and swore that the next one that told stories about that garret should have an opportunity of knowing what was there, for he would chain them up there for a week. This hint was enough to repress talking, though, of course, it did not disturb the credit of the story in the least.
Il y avait de cela quelques années, une négresse qui avait encouru la disgrâce de Legree y avait été renfermée plusieurs semaines. Que se passa -t-il là ? Nous ne le dirons pas !... Mais un beau jour, on en retira le corps de cette malheureuse pour le porter en terre.... Et depuis, le bruit courut que l' on entendait des jurements, des malédictions et des coups retentissants, mêlés à des voix plaintives et aux gémissements du désespoir ! Ces légendes parvinrent aux oreilles de Legree; il entra dans une violente colère, et fit serment que le premier qui s' aviserait jamais d' en reparler aurait l' occasion d' aller voir par lui-même ce qu' il en fallait croire.... Legree ne menaçait de rien moins que d' enchaîner le coupable dans le grenier toute une semaine; cette menace n' ébranla pas la croyance des nègres, mais elle suffit pour leur imposer silence.
Gradually, the staircase that led to the garret, and even the passage-way to the staircase, were avoided by every one in the house, from every one fearing to speak of it, and the legend was gradually falling into desuetude. It had suddenly occurred to Cassy to make use of the superstitious excitability, which was so great in Legree, for the purpose of her liberation, and that of her fellow-sufferer.
Peu à peu l' escalier qui conduisait au grenier, et même le vestibule qui conduisait à l' escalier, furent bientôt abandonnés de tout le monde. La peur empêchait de parler; on oublia.
The sleeping-room of Cassy was directly under the garret. One day, without consulting Legree, she suddenly took it upon her, with some considerable ostentation, to change all the furniture and appurtenances of the room to one at some considerable distance. The under-servants, who were called on to effect this movement, were running and bustling about with great zeal and confusion, when Legree returned from a ride.
“Hallo! you Cass!” said Legree, “what’s in the wind now?”
Cassy couchait sous le grenier même.
“Nothing; only I choose to have another room,” said Cassy, doggedly.
Un jour, sans consulter Legree, elle prit sur elle de faire très-ostensiblement enlever ses meubles, qu' on alla porter dans une chambre très-éloignée. Les esclaves qu' on avait chargés de cette tâche causaient et s' agitaient avec grand bruit et grand fracas au moment où Legree rentra d' une promenade à cheval. ~~~ « Eh bien ! Cassy ! qu' est -ce donc ? De quel côté souffle le vent aujourd'hui ?
“And what for, pray?” said Legree.
“I choose to,” said Cassy.
-- Eh que diable ! pourquoi ? vous dis -je.
“The devil you do! and what for?”
“I’d like to get some sleep, now and then.”
-- Dormir !... et qui vous en empêche ?
“Sleep! well, what hinders your sleeping?”
“I could tell, I suppose, if you want to hear,” said Cassy, dryly.
--Parlez donc, gueuse.
“Speak out, you minx!” said Legree.
“O! nothing. I suppose it wouldn’t disturb _you!_ Only groans, and people scuffing, and rolling round on the garret floor, half the night, from twelve to morning!”
“People up garret!” said Legree, uneasily, but forcing a laugh; “who are they, Cassy?”
Cassy raised her sharp, black eyes, and looked in the face of Legree, with an expression that went through his bones, as she said, “To be sure, Simon, who are they? I’d like to have _you_ tell me. You don’t know, I suppose!”
With an oath, Legree struck at her with his riding-whip; but she glided to one side, and passed through the door, and looking back, said, “If you’ll sleep in that room, you’ll know all about it. Perhaps you’d better try it!” and then immediately she shut and locked the door.
Legree tempêta, jura, menaça de jeter la porte à terre.... ce qu' il ne fit toutefois pas; il se ravisa et arpenta la chambre d' un pas inquiet. Cassy vit bien que la flèche avait touché le but, et depuis ce moment, avec la plus habile persévérance, elle ne cessa d' accroître les vaines terreurs de son maître.
Legree blustered and swore, and threatened to break down the door; but apparently thought better of it, and walked uneasily into the sitting-room. Cassy perceived that her shaft had struck home; and, from that hour, with the most exquisite address, she never ceased to continue the train of influences she had begun.
In a knot-hole of the garret, that had opened, she had inserted the neck of an old bottle, in such a manner that when there was the least wind, most doleful and lugubrious wailing sounds proceeded from it, which, in a high wind, increased to a perfect shriek, such as to credulous and superstitious ears might easily seem to be that of horror and despair.
Quelquefois les esclaves entendaient tous ces bruits étranges, et le souvenir de la vieille légende leur revenait à l' esprit. Une sorte de terreur mystérieuse planait sur toute la maison. On n' osait pas s' en entretenir devant Legree; mais cette atmosphère d' invincible horreur l' enveloppait et pesait sur lui.
These sounds were, from time to time, heard by the servants, and revived in full force the memory of the old ghost legend. A superstitious creeping horror seemed to fill the house; and though no one dared to breathe it to Legree, he found himself encompassed by it, as by an atmosphere.
Il n' y a au monde que l' athée pour être superstitieux. ~~~ Le chrétien se repose plein de calme dans sa foi en un père sage et souverain régulateur, dont la présence remplit d' ordre et de lumière le vide de l' inconnu.... Mais pour l' homme qui a détrôné Dieu, le monde des esprits est, suivant l' expression du poëte hébreu « un monde de ténèbres et l' ombre de la mort ! » Pour lui, la vie et la mort sont peuplées de spectres et de fantômes terriblement inconnus, mystérieusement vagues !
No one is so thoroughly superstitious as the godless man. The Christian is composed by the belief of a wise, all-ruling Father, whose presence fills the void unknown with light and order; but to the man who has dethroned God, the spirit-land is, indeed, in the words of the Hebrew poet, “a land of darkness and the shadow of death,” without any order, where the light is as darkness. Life and death to him are haunted grounds, filled with goblin forms of vague and shadowy dread.
L' élément moral, endormi dans l' âme de Legree, avait été réveillé à chacune de ses rencontres avec Tom, mais réveillé pour rencontrer les terribles résistances de l' esprit du mal; et cependant il y avait en lui un frémissement, une émotion qui se faisait sentir jusque dans les abîmes du monde intérieur, chaque fois qu' il entendait une syllabe de ces prières et de ces hymnes.... et tout cela se convertissait en mystérieuses terreurs.
Legree had had the slumbering moral elements in him roused by his encounters with Tom,—roused, only to be resisted by the determinate force of evil; but still there was a thrill and commotion of the dark, inner world, produced by every word, or prayer, or hymn, that reacted in superstitious dread.
Rien de plus étrange que l' influence de Cassy sur cet homme. ~~~ Il était son maître, son tyran, son bourreau.... elle était dans ses mains, sans appui, sans protection.... tout entière ! il le savait ! Mais l' homme le plus grossier ne peut vivre sans cesse à côté d' une femme de quelque supériorité sans en ressentir l' influence. Quand il l' acheta, c' était, comme elle-même l' avait dit à Tom, une femme délicate.... Lui, sans remords, sous le talon de sa botte, il la brisa ! Mais le temps, le désespoir, des influences fâcheuses émoussèrent chez elle les grâces féminines; le feu des violentes passions s' alluma.... elle le maîtrisa, jusqu' à un certain point.... et Legree la tyrannisait et la redoutait tout à la fois....
The influence of Cassy over him was of a strange and singular kind. He was her owner, her tyrant and tormentor. She was, as he knew, wholly, and without any possibility of help or redress, in his hands; and yet so it is, that the most brutal man cannot live in constant association with a strong female influence, and not be greatly controlled by it. When he first bought her, she was, as she said, a woman delicately bred; and then he crushed her, without scruple, beneath the foot of his brutality. But, as time, and debasing influences, and despair, hardened womanhood within her, and waked the fires of fiercer passions, she had become in a measure his mistress, and he alternately tyrannized over and dreaded her.
This influence had become more harassing and decided, since partial insanity had given a strange, weird, unsettled cast to all her words and language.
Une nuit ou deux après cette petite scène, Legree était assis dans le vieux salon, auprès d' un feu de bois vacillant, qui jetait tout autour ses lueurs incertaines. C' était une de ces nuits, pleines de tempête et de vent, qui soulèvent dans les vieilles maisons en ruines des escadrons de bruits indescriptibles ! Les fenêtres craquaient, les volets battaient, les vents mugissaient, hurlaient et se précipitaient en tourbillonnant dans la cheminée, rejetant dans la chambre des cendres et de la fumée, comme si une légion de démons fût descendue avec eux. Legree s' était d'abord occupé de faire des comptes, puis il avait lu les journaux: Cassy était assise dans un coin, regardant le feu tristement. ~~~ Legree rejeta le journal et prit un vieux livre qui se trouvait sur la table: Cassy l' avait lu pendant une partie de la soirée. Legree se mit à le feuilleter. C' était un de ces recueils d' affreuses histoires, meurtres sanglants, légendes fantastiques, visions surnaturelles; édition grossière, illustrations enluminées, mais qui vous empoignent et vous fascinent dès que vous les avez seulement ouverts !
A night or two after this, Legree was sitting in the old sitting-room, by the side of a flickering wood fire, that threw uncertain glances round the room. It was a stormy, windy night, such as raises whole squadrons of nondescript noises in rickety old houses. Windows were rattling, shutters flapping, and wind carousing, rumbling, and tumbling down the chimney, and, every once in a while, puffing out smoke and ashes, as if a legion of spirits were coming after them. Legree had been casting up accounts and reading newspapers for some hours, while Cassy sat in the corner; sullenly looking into the fire. Legree laid down his paper, and seeing an old book lying on the table, which he had noticed Cassy reading, the first part of the evening, took it up, and began to turn it over. It was one of those collections of stories of bloody murders, ghostly legends, and supernatural visitations, which, coarsely got up and illustrated, have a strange fascination for one who once begins to read them.
Legree poohed and pished, but read, turning page after page, till, finally, after reading some way, he threw down the book, with an oath.
“You don’t believe in ghosts, do you, Cass?” said he, taking the tongs and settling the fire. “I thought you’d more sense than to let noises scare _you_.”
“No matter what I believe,” said Cassy, sullenly.
“Fellows used to try to frighten me with their yarns at sea,” said Legree. “Never come it round me that way. I’m too tough for any such trash, tell ye.”
Cassy sat looking intensely at him in the shadow of the corner. There was that strange light in her eyes that always impressed Legree with uneasiness.
“Them noises was nothing but rats and the wind,” said Legree. “Rats will make a devil of a noise. I used to hear ’em sometimes down in the hold of the ship; and wind,—Lord’s sake! ye can make anything out o’ wind.”
Cassy knew Legree was uneasy under her eyes, and, therefore, she made no answer, but sat fixing them on him, with that strange, unearthly expression, as before.
“Come, speak out, woman,—don’t you think so?” said Legree.
“Can rats walk down stairs, and come walking through the entry, and open a door when you’ve locked it and set a chair against it?” said Cassy; “and come walk, walk, walking right up to your bed, and put out their hand, so?”
Cassy kept her glittering eyes fixed on Legree, as she spoke, and he stared at her like a man in the nightmare, till, when she finished by laying her hand, icy cold, on his, he sprung back, with an oath.
“Woman! what do you mean? Nobody did?”
“O, no,—of course not,—did I say they did?” said Cassy, with a smile of chilling derision.
“But—did—have you really seen?—Come, Cass, what is it, now,—speak out!”
“You may sleep there, yourself,” said Cassy, “if you want to know.”
-- Venait -il du grenier ?
“Did it come from the garret, Cassy?”
--Il!... Quoi, il?
“_It_,—what?” said Cassy.
-- Mais.... ce que vous dites !
“Why, what you told of—”
“I didn’t tell you anything,” said Cassy, with dogged sullenness.
Legree, de plus en plus troublé, mesura le salon de long en large.
Legree walked up and down the room, uneasily.
“I’ll have this yer thing examined. I’ll look into it, this very night. I’ll take my pistols—”
“Do,” said Cassy; “sleep in that room. I’d like to see you doing it. Fire your pistols,—do!”
Legree stamped his foot, and swore violently.
“Don’t swear,” said Cassy; “nobody knows who may be hearing you. Hark! What was that?”
“What?” said Legree, starting.
A heavy old Dutch clock, that stood in the corner of the room, began, and slowly struck twelve.
For some reason or other, Legree neither spoke nor moved; a vague horror fell on him; while Cassy, with a keen, sneering glitter in her eyes, stood looking at him, counting the strokes.
“Twelve o’clock; well _now_ we’ll see,” said she, turning, and opening the door into the passage-way, and standing as if listening.
“Hark! What’s that?” said she, raising her finger.
“It’s only the wind,” said Legree. “Don’t you hear how cursedly it blows?”
“Simon, come here,” said Cassy, in a whisper, laying her hand on his, and leading him to the foot of the stairs: “do you know what _that_ is? Hark!”
A wild shriek came pealing down the stairway. It came from the garret. Legree’s knees knocked together; his face grew white with fear.
“Hadn’t you better get your pistols?” said Cassy, with a sneer that froze Legree’s blood. “It’s time this thing was looked into, you know. I’d like to have you go up now; _they’re at it_.”
“I won’t go!” said Legree, with an oath.
“Why not? There an’t any such thing as ghosts, you know! Come!” and Cassy flitted up the winding stairway, laughing, and looking back after him. “Come on.”
“I believe you _are_ the devil!” said Legree. “Come back you hag,—come back, Cass! You shan’t go!”
But Cassy laughed wildly, and fled on. He heard her open the entry doors that led to the garret. A wild gust of wind swept down, extinguishing the candle he held in his hand, and with it the fearful, unearthly screams; they seemed to be shrieked in his very ear.
Legree fled frantically into the parlor, whither, in a few moments, he was followed by Cassy, pale, calm, cold as an avenging spirit, and with that same fearful light in her eye.
“I hope you are satisfied,” said she.
-- Que le diable vous emporte !
“Blast you, Cass!” said Legree.
“What for?” said Cassy. “I only went up and shut the doors. _What’s the matter with that garret_, Simon, do you suppose?” said she.
-- Cela ne vous regarde pas !
“None of your business!” said Legree.
“O, it an’t? Well,” said Cassy, “at any rate, I’m glad _I_ don’t sleep under it.”
Anticipating the rising of the wind, that very evening, Cassy had been up and opened the garret window. Of course, the moment the doors were opened, the wind had drafted down, and extinguished the light.
Ceci peut donner une idée des tours de toute façon que Cassy jouait à Legree. Il eût mieux aimé mettre sa main dans la gueule d' un lion que de faire une visite domiciliaire dans son grenier. La nuit, quand tout le monde dormait, Cassy transportait force provisions dans le grenier. Elle y fit passer une partie de sa garde-robe et de celle d' Emmeline. Tout était prêt: elle n' attendait plus qu' une occasion.
This may serve as a specimen of the game that Cassy played with Legree, until he would sooner have put his head into a lion’s mouth than to have explored that garret. Meanwhile, in the night, when everybody else was asleep, Cassy slowly and carefully accumulated there a stock of provisions sufficient to afford subsistence for some time; she transferred, article by article, a greater part of her own and Emmeline’s wardrobe. All things being arranged, they only waited a fitting opportunity to put their plan in execution.
Au moyen de quelques cajoleries faites à Legree, et profitant d' un accès de bonne humeur, elle obtint de lui qu' il l' emmenât un jour à la ville voisine, située précisément sur le bord de la rivière Rouge. Douée d' une de ces mémoires prodigieuses qui daguerréotypent les lieux, elle nota toutes les particularités de la route et calcula le temps que l' on mettrait à la parcourir.
By cajoling Legree, and taking advantage of a good-natured interval, Cassy had got him to take her with him to the neighboring town, which was situated directly on the Red River. With a memory sharpened to almost preternatural clearness, she remarked every turn in the road, and formed a mental estimate of the time to be occupied in traversing it.
At the time when all was matured for action, our readers may, perhaps, like to look behind the scenes, and see the final _coup d’état_.
Le soir approche, Legree est absent: il est allé voir une de ses fermes. Depuis plusieurs jours Cassy s' est montrée envers lui d' une prévenance et d' une égalité d' humeur auxquelles il n' est pas accoutumé. Ils sont dans les meilleurs termes, du moins en apparence ! Cassy est dans la chambre d' Emmeline: Emmeline est avec elle: elles préparent deux petits paquets.
It was now near evening, Legree had been absent, on a ride to a neighboring farm. For many days Cassy had been unusually gracious and accommodating in her humors; and Legree and she had been, apparently, on the best of terms. At present, we may behold her and Emmeline in the room of the latter, busy in sorting and arranging two small bundles.
“There, these will be large enough,” said Cassy. “Now put on your bonnet, and let’s start; it’s just about the right time.”
“Why, they can see us yet,” said Emmeline.
-- Eh ! sans doute, répondit froidement Cassy; mais ne savez -vous pas que, de quelque façon qu' on s' y prenne, on aura toujours la chasse ? Nous nous y prenons de la bonne façon. Nous sortirons par la porte de derrière et nous gagnerons le bas des quartiers.... Sambo ou Quimbo nous verront, c' est sûr ! ils nous donneront la chasse. Nous nous jetterons alors dans la savane; ils ne pourront pas nous suivre avant d' avoir donné l' alarme et mis les chiens sur nos traces.... C' est du temps de gagné.... ~~~ « Tandis qu' ici ils crient et se bousculent, comme ils font toujours, vous et moi nous atteignons l' extrémité de la crique qui longe la maison; nous marchons dans l' eau jusqu' à la porte. Ceci mettra les chiens en défaut; dans l' eau ils perdront le flair. Ils quitteront tous la maison pour se mettre à nos trousses. Nous autres, alors, nous rentrons par la porte de derrière et nous grimpons au grenier, où j' ai préparé un bon lit dans une des grandes caisses. Il faudra rester quelque temps dans le grenier; car, voyez -vous, pour nous retrouver, il remuera ciel et terre ! il mettra sur pied les plus malins surveillants des autres plantations; on fouillera jusqu' au plus petit coin de terre dans la savane.... il se vante que personne ne peut lui échapper. Ainsi, vous voyez, il faudra le laisser chasser à coeur joie.
“I mean they shall,” said Cassy, coolly. “Don’t you know that they must have their chase after us, at any rate? The way of the thing is to be just this:—We will steal out of the back door, and run down by the quarters. Sambo or Quimbo will be sure to see us. They will give chase, and we will get into the swamp; then, they can’t follow us any further till they go up and give the alarm, and turn out the dogs, and so on; and, while they are blundering round, and tumbling over each other, as they always do, you and I will slip along to the creek, that runs back of the house, and wade along in it, till we get opposite the back door. That will put the dogs all at fault; for scent won’t lie in the water. Every one will run out of the house to look after us, and then we’ll whip in at the back door, and up into the garret, where I’ve got a nice bed made up in one of the great boxes. We must stay in that garret a good while, for, I tell you, he will raise heaven and earth after us. He’ll muster some of those old overseers on the other plantations, and have a great hunt; and they’ll go over every inch of ground in that swamp. He makes it his boast that nobody ever got away from him. So let him hunt at his leisure.”
“Cassy, how well you have planned it!” said Emmeline. “Who ever would have thought of it, but you?”
There was neither pleasure nor exultation in Cassy’s eyes,—only a despairing firmness.
“Come,” she said, reaching her hand to Emmeline.
Les deux fugitives sortirent sans bruit de la maison, et, grâce aux ombres du soir déjà plus épaisses, elles purent pénétrer dans les quartiers. ~~~ Le croissant de la lune, posé comme un signet d' argent, à l' occident du ciel, retardait un peu l' approche de la nuit sombre. Au moment où elles touchaient à la lisière de la savane qui entourait la plantation comme un vaste cercle, elles entendirent, comme Cassy l' avait prédit, une voix qui les appelait: ce n' était pas la voix de Sambo, cependant; c' était celle de Legree, qui les poursuivait avec toutes les marques de la plus violente colère. ~~~ A cette voix, la pauvre Emmeline se sentit faiblir.... elle saisit le bras de Cassy: ~~~ « O Cassy ! je vais m' évanouir.... ~~~ -- Si vous vous évanouissez, je vous tue ! »
The two fugitives glided noiselessly from the house, and flitted, through the gathering shadows of evening, along by the quarters. The crescent moon, set like a silver signet in the western sky, delayed a little the approach of night. As Cassy expected, when quite near the verge of the swamps that encircled the plantation, they heard a voice calling to them to stop. It was not Sambo, however, but Legree, who was pursuing them with violent execrations. At the sound, the feebler spirit of Emmeline gave way; and, laying hold of Cassy’s arm, she said, “O, Cassy, I’m going to faint!”
“If you do, I’ll kill you!” said Cassy, drawing a small, glittering stiletto, and flashing it before the eyes of the girl.
Ce procédé eut un plein succès. Emmeline ne s' évanouit pas, elle réussit à se glisser avec Cassy dans le labyrinthe de la savane, si sombre et si profonde que Legree ne pouvait entreprendre de les y poursuivre seul.
The diversion accomplished the purpose. Emmeline did not faint, and succeeded in plunging, with Cassy, into a part of the labyrinth of swamp, so deep and dark that it was perfectly hopeless for Legree to think of following them, without assistance.
“Well,” said he, chuckling brutally; “at any rate, they’ve got themselves into a trap now—the baggage! They’re safe enough. They shall sweat for it!”
“Hulloa, there! Sambo! Quimbo! All hands!” called Legree, coming to the quarters, when the men and women were just returning from work. “There’s two runaways in the swamps. I’ll give five dollars to any nigger as catches ’em. Turn out the dogs! Turn out Tiger, and Fury, and the rest!”
La nouvelle de l' évasion produisit en un instant la sensation la plus vive. Les esclaves accoururent de toutes parts pour offrir leurs services: ceux -ci dans l' espoir de la récompense, ceux -là par un effet de cette obséquiosité rampante qui est une déplorable conséquence de l' esclavage. On courait, on allumait les torches de résine; on découplait les chiens, dont les sauvages et rauques aboiements ajoutaient encore au désordre de toute la scène.
The sensation produced by this news was immediate. Many of the men sprang forward, officiously, to offer their services, either from the hope of the reward, or from that cringing subserviency which is one of the most baleful effects of slavery. Some ran one way, and some another. Some were for getting flambeaux of pine-knots. Some were uncoupling the dogs, whose hoarse, savage bay added not a little to the animation of the scene.
“Mas’r, shall we shoot ’em, if can’t cotch ’em?” said Sambo, to whom his master brought out a rifle.
“You may fire on Cass, if you like; it’s time she was gone to the devil, where she belongs; but the gal, not,” said Legree. “And now, boys, be spry and smart. Five dollars for him that gets ’em; and a glass of spirits to every one of you, anyhow.”
On vit alors, à la lueur résineuse des torches, au milieu des jurements, des cris sauvages, des aboiements retentissants, toute la troupe, hommes et bêtes, se précipiter vers la savane.... Le reste des esclaves suivait à quelque distance.... La maison était déserte quand Emmeline et Cassy rentrèrent. Les clameurs de ceux qui les poursuivaient remplissaient les airs. Cependant Emmeline et Cassy, des fenêtres du salon, suivaient de l' oeil le mouvement des flambeaux qui se dispersaient sur les lisières lointaines.
The whole band, with the glare of blazing torches, and whoop, and shout, and savage yell, of man and beast, proceeded down to the swamp, followed, at some distance, by every servant in the house. The establishment was, of a consequence, wholly deserted, when Cassy and Emmeline glided into it the back way. The whooping and shouts of their pursuers were still filling the air; and, looking from the sitting-room windows, Cassy and Emmeline could see the troop, with their flambeaux, just dispersing themselves along the edge of the swamp.
“See there!” said Emmeline, pointing to Cassy; “the hunt is begun! Look how those lights dance about! Hark! the dogs! Don’t you hear? If we were only _there_, our chances wouldn’t be worth a picayune. O, for pity’s sake, do let’s hide ourselves. Quick!”
-- Il n' y a pas besoin de se presser, répondit froidement Cassy.... Les voilà tous en chasse; c' est l' amusement de la soirée.... Montons l' escalier tout doucement; cependant, ajouta -t-elle en prenant résolûment une clef dans la poche d' un habit que Legree avait jeté là dans sa précipitation, cependant je vais prendre quelque chose pour payer notre passage. »
“There’s no occasion for hurry,” said Cassy, coolly; “they are all out after the hunt,—that’s the amusement of the evening! We’ll go up stairs, by and by. Meanwhile,” said she, deliberately taking a key from the pocket of a coat that Legree had thrown down in his hurry, “meanwhile I shall take something to pay our passage.”
She unlocked the desk, took from it a roll of bills, which she counted over rapidly.
“O, don’t let’s do that!” said Emmeline.
“Don’t!” said Cassy; “why not? Would you have us starve in the swamps, or have that that will pay our way to the free states. Money will do anything, girl.” And, as she spoke, she put the money in her bosom.
“It would be stealing,” said Emmeline, in a distressed whisper.
-- Voler ! dit Cassy avec un rire de mépris.... Que peuvent -ils donc nous reprocher, eux qui nous volent nos corps et nos âmes ? Chacun de ces billets aussi est volé à de pauvres créatures, mourant de faim et de misère, qui vont au diable, finalement, pour le plus grand intérêt de Simon Legree !... Ah ! je voudrais bien l' entendre parler de vol, lui ! Mais venez, montons; j' ai une provision de chandelles et des livres pour passer le temps. Vous pouvez être certaine qu' ils ne viendront pas nous chercher là. S' ils y viennent, je remplis le rôle de fantôme pour les divertir. »
“Stealing!” said Cassy, with a scornful laugh. “They who steal body and soul needn’t talk to us. Every one of these bills is stolen,—stolen from poor, starving, sweating creatures, who must go to the devil at last, for his profit. Let _him_ talk about stealing! But come, we may as well go up garret; I’ve got a stock of candles there, and some books to pass away the time. You may be pretty sure they won’t come _there_ to inquire after us. If they do, I’ll play ghost for them.”
Quand Emmeline arriva au grenier, elle aperçut une immense caisse, qui avait jadis servi à l' emballage des gros meubles: cette caisse était placée sur le côté, de telle sorte que l' ouverture faisait face à la charpente du toit. Cassy alluma une petite lampe, et les deux femmes se glissant, et presque rampant, parvinrent à s' établir dans la boîte. La boîte était garnie d' une paire de petits matelas et de quelques coussins; il y avait dans une autre boîte des vêtements et des provisions de toute sorte pour le voyage. Cassy avait réduit tout cela à un volume incroyablement petit.
When Emmeline reached the garret, she found an immense box, in which some heavy pieces of furniture had once been brought, turned on its side, so that the opening faced the wall, or rather the eaves. Cassy lit a small lamp, and creeping round under the eaves, they established themselves in it. It was spread with a couple of small mattresses and some pillows; a box near by was plentifully stored with candles, provisions, and all the clothing necessary to their journey, which Cassy had arranged into bundles of an astonishingly small compass.
“There,” said Cassy, as she fixed the lamp into a small hook, which she had driven into the side of the box for that purpose; “this is to be our home for the present. How do you like it?”
-- Croyez -vous qu' ils ne fouilleront pas le grenier ?
“Are you sure they won’t come and search the garret?”
“I’d like to see Simon Legree doing that,” said Cassy. “No, indeed; he will be too glad to keep away. As to the servants, they would any of them stand and be shot, sooner than show their faces here.”
Emmeline, un peu rassurée, s' accouda sur son coussin.
Somewhat reassured, Emmeline settled herself back on her pillow.
“What did you mean, Cassy, by saying you would kill me?” she said, simply.
Emmeline faisait cette question avec la plus extrême candeur. ~~~ « Je voulais vous empêcher de vous évanouir, et j' ai réussi, vous voyez bien. Et maintenant, Emmeline, il faut vous habituer à ne pas vous évanouir: quoi qu' il arrive, cela ne sert à rien. Si je ne vous avais pas empêchée tantôt, ce misérable vous aurait maintenant en son pouvoir.... »
“I meant to stop your fainting,” said Cassy, “and I did do it. And now I tell you, Emmeline, you must make up your mind _not_ to faint, let what will come; there’s no sort of need of it. If I had not stopped you, that wretch might have had his hands on you now.”
Emmeline frissonna.
Emmeline shuddered.
The two remained some time in silence. Cassy busied herself with a French book; Emmeline, overcome with the exhaustion, fell into a doze, and slept some time. She was awakened by loud shouts and outcries, the tramp of horses’ feet, and the baying of dogs. She started up, with a faint shriek.
« C' est la chasse qui revient, dit froidement Cassy. Ne craignez rien ! Regardez par cette lucarne !... Ne les voyez -vous pas tous là-bas ?... Il faut que Simon y renonce pour cette nuit. Son cheval est -il couvert de boue à force d' avoir galopé dans la savane ! Les chevaux aussi ont l' oreille basse.... Ah ! mon bon monsieur, il vous faudra recommencer la chasse plus d' une fois.... Ce n' est pas là qu' est le gibier !
“Only the hunt coming back,” said Cassy, coolly; “never fear. Look out of this knot-hole. Don’t you see ’em all down there? Simon has to give up, for this night. Look, how muddy his horse is, flouncing about in the swamp; the dogs, too, look rather crestfallen. Ah, my good sir, you’ll have to try the race again and again,—the game isn’t there.”
-- Oh ! taisez -vous, dit Emmeline, s' ils vous entendaient !
“O, don’t speak a word!” said Emmeline; “what if they should hear you?”
“If they do hear anything, it will make them very particular to keep away,” said Cassy. “No danger; we may make any noise we please, and it will only add to the effect.”
Enfin le silence de minuit descendit sur la maison; Legree, maudissant sa mauvaise chance et méditant pour le lendemain de terribles vengeances, alla prosaïquement se mettre au lit.
At length the stillness of midnight settled down over the house. Legree, cursing his ill luck, and vowing dire vengeance on the morrow, went to bed.
CHAPITRE XL. ~~~ Le martyr.
CHAPTER XL The Martyr
Non le ciel n' oublie pas le juste: la vie peut lui refuser ses vulgaires faveurs; méprisé des hommes, brisé, le coeur saignant, il peut mourir; mais Dieu a marqué tous ses jours de douleur, il a accepté toutes ses larmes amères, et, dans le ciel, de longues années de bonheur le payeront de tout ce que ses enfants souffrent ici-bas.
“Deem not the just by Heaven forgot! Though life its common gifts deny,— Though, with a crushed and bleeding heart, And spurned of man, he goes to die! For God hath marked each sorrowing day, And numbered every bitter tear, And heaven’s long years of bliss shall pay For all his children suffer here.” BRYANT.[1]
BRYANT. ~~~ Le plus long voyage a son terme, la nuit la plus sombre aboutit à une aurore.... La fuite incessante, inexorable des heures, pousse le jour du méchant vers l' éternelle nuit, et la nuit du bon vers le jour éternel. Nous avons marché bien longtemps avec notre humble ami dans la vallée de l' esclavage. Nous avons traversé les champs en fleur de l' indulgence et de la bonté. Nous avons assisté aux séparations qui brisent le coeur, quand l' homme est arraché à tout ce qui lui est cher. Nous avons abordé avec lui dans cette île pleine de soleil, où des mains généreuses cachaient les chaînes sous les guirlandes de fleurs. Enfin, toujours près de lui, nous avons vu les derniers rayons de l' espérance terrestre s' éteindre dans les ombres. Nous avons vu comment, dans l' horreur des plus profondes ténèbres, le firmament de l' inconnu s' était tout à coup illuminé des splendeurs prophétiques des nouvelles étoiles.
[1] This poem does not appear in the collected works of William Cullen Bryant, nor in the collected poems of his brother, John Howard Bryant. It was probably copied from a newspaper or magazine. ~~~ The longest way must have its close,—the gloomiest night will wear on to a morning. An eternal, inexorable lapse of moments is ever hurrying the day of the evil to an eternal night, and the night of the just to an eternal day. We have walked with our humble friend thus far in the valley of slavery; first through flowery fields of ease and indulgence, then through heart-breaking separations from all that man holds dear. Again, we have waited with him in a sunny island, where generous hands concealed his chains with flowers; and, lastly, we have followed him when the last ray of earthly hope went out in night, and seen how, in the blackness of earthly darkness, the firmament of the unseen has blazed with stars of new and significant lustre.
The morning-star now stands over the tops of the mountains, and gales and breezes, not of earth, show that the gates of day are unclosing.
La fuite d' Emmeline et de Cassy irrita au dernier point le caractère déjà si terrible de Legree. Ainsi qu' on devait bien s' y attendre, sa colère retomba sur la tête de Tom, innocent et sans défense. Quand Legree annonça cette fuite aux esclaves, il y eut chez Tom un éclair des yeux, un geste des mains, qui se tendirent vers le ciel. Legree vit tout. Il remarqua que Tom ne se joignait point à la meute des persécuteurs. Il songea bien à l' y contraindre, mais il connaissait l' inflexibilité des principes de Tom; il était trop pressé pour entrer maintenant en lutte avec lui.
The escape of Cassy and Emmeline irritated the before surly temper of Legree to the last degree; and his fury, as was to be expected, fell upon the defenceless head of Tom. When he hurriedly announced the tidings among his hands, there was a sudden light in Tom’s eye, a sudden upraising of his hands, that did not escape him. He saw that he did not join the muster of the pursuers. He thought of forcing him to do it; but, having had, of old, experience of his inflexibility when commanded to take part in any deed of inhumanity, he would not, in his hurry, stop to enter into any conflict with him.
Tom, therefore, remained behind, with a few who had learned of him to pray, and offered up prayers for the escape of the fugitives.
Quand Legree revint, furieux et désappointé, la colère depuis longtemps amassée contre son esclave prit une expression de rage folle. Cet homme ne l' avait -il pas bravé avec ses résolutions inébranlables ? bravé depuis le premier moment où il l' avait acheté ? Et ne sentait -on pas en lui un esprit, silencieux peut-être, mais qui n' en dévorait pas moins, comme les flammes de l' enfer ?
When Legree returned, baffled and disappointed, all the long-working hatred of his soul towards his slave began to gather in a deadly and desperate form. Had not this man braved him,—steadily, powerfully, resistlessly,—ever since he bought him? Was there not a spirit in him which, silent as it was, burned on him like the fires of perdition?
“I _hate_ him!” said Legree, that night, as he sat up in his bed; “I _hate_ him! And isn’t he MINE? Can’t I do what I like with him? Who’s to hinder, I wonder?” And Legree clenched his fist, and shook it, as if he had something in his hands that he could rend in pieces.
But, then, Tom was a faithful, valuable servant; and, although Legree hated him the more for that, yet the consideration was still somewhat of a restraint to him.
Le lendemain, il ne voulut rien dire encore.... il résolut d' assembler les planteurs voisins, avec des chiens et des fusils, d' entourer la savane et de faire une chasse en règle. S' il réussissait, c' était bien; sinon, il ferait comparaître Tom devant lui, et alors....--à cette pensée ses dents claquaient, et son sang bouillait ! -- alors il le briserait, ou bien.... Il lui vint une pensée infernale.... et il accueillit cette pensée !
The next morning, he determined to say nothing, as yet; to assemble a party, from some neighboring plantations, with dogs and guns; to surround the swamp, and go about the hunt systematically. If it succeeded, well and good; if not, he would summon Tom before him, and—his teeth clenched and his blood boiled—_then_ he would break the fellow down, or—there was a dire inward whisper, to which his soul assented.
Ye say that the _interest_ of the master is a sufficient safeguard for the slave. In the fury of man’s mad will, he will wittingly, and with open eye, sell his own soul to the devil to gain his ends; and will he be more careful of his neighbor’s body?
« Bien ! dit Cassy, faisant une reconnaissance par la lucarne, voilà que la chasse va recommencer aujourd'hui. »
“Well,” said Cassy, the next day, from the garret, as she reconnoitred through the knot-hole, “the hunt’s going to begin again, today!”
Quelques cavaliers caracolaient devant la maison, et des couples de chiens étrangers voulaient échapper aux esclaves; ils aboyaient et se mordaient.
Three or four mounted horsemen were curvetting about, on the space in front of the house; and one or two leashes of strange dogs were struggling with the negroes who held them, baying and barking at each other.
Deux de ces hommes étaient les surveillants des plantations voisines; les autres étaient des connaissances de taverne, rencontrées par Legree à la ville voisine; ils se joignaient à la chasse en amateurs. On imaginerait difficilement un plus affreux assemblage. Legree versait l' eau-de-vie à flots, il la faisait circuler parmi les esclaves venus des autres plantations. On veut faire de cette corvée une partie de plaisir pour les nègres.
The men are, two of them, overseers of plantations in the vicinity; and others were some of Legree’s associates at the tavern-bar of a neighboring city, who had come for the interest of the sport. A more hard-favored set, perhaps, could not be imagined. Legree was serving brandy, profusely, round among them, as also among the negroes, who had been detailed from the various plantations for this service; for it was an object to make every service of this kind, among the negroes, as much of a holiday as possible.
Cassy approcha son oreille de la lucarne; le vent frais du matin, qui soufflait vers elle, lui apportait la conversation presque tout entière. Une ironie amère se répandit sur son visage sévère et sombre; quand elle les entendit se partager le terrain, discuter le mérite de leurs chiens, dire quand il faudrait faire feu et décider quel traitement on ferait à chacune des fugitives une fois reprises, elle se rejeta en arrière, les mains jointes et les yeux au ciel.
Cassy placed her ear at the knot-hole; and, as the morning air blew directly towards the house, she could overhear a good deal of the conversation. A grave sneer overcast the dark, severe gravity of her face, as she listened, and heard them divide out the ground, discuss the rival merits of the dogs, give orders about firing, and the treatment of each, in case of capture.
Cassy drew back; and, clasping her hands, looked upward, and said, “O, great Almighty God! we are _all_ sinners; but what have _we_ done, more than all the rest of the world, that we should be treated so?”
Et, sur son visage comme dans sa voix, il y avait une émotion terrible.
There was a terrible earnestness in her face and voice, as she spoke.
“If it wasn’t for _you_, child,” she said, looking at Emmeline, “I’d _go_ out to them; and I’d thank any one of them that _would_ shoot me down; for what use will freedom be to me? Can it give me back my children, or make me what I used to be?”
Emmeline, in her child-like simplicity, was half afraid of the dark moods of Cassy. She looked perplexed, but made no answer. She only took her hand, with a gentle, caressing movement.
« Pauvre Cassy ! n' ayez pas de ces pensées..., Si Dieu vous rend la liberté, il vous rendra aussi votre fille, peut-être.... Moi, du moins, je serai toujours pour vous comme une fille. Hélas ! je sais bien que je ne reverrai jamais ma pauvre vieille mère.... Je vous aimerai, Cassy, que vous m' aimiez ou non ! »
“Don’t!” said Cassy, trying to draw it away; “you’ll get me to loving you; and I never mean to love anything, again!” ~~~ “Poor Cassy!” said Emmeline, “don’t feel so! If the Lord gives us liberty, perhaps he’ll give you back your daughter; at any rate, I’ll be like a daughter to you. I know I’ll never see my poor old mother again! I shall love you, Cassy, whether you love me or not!”
The gentle, child-like spirit conquered. Cassy sat down by her, put her arm round her neck, stroked her soft, brown hair; and Emmeline then wondered at the beauty of her magnificent eyes, now soft with tears.
“O, Em!” said Cassy, “I’ve hungered for my children, and thirsted for them, and my eyes fail with longing for them! Here! here!” she said, striking her breast, “it’s all desolate, all empty! If God would give me back my children, then I could pray.”
“You must trust him, Cassy,” said Emmeline; “he is our Father!”
-- Sa fureur s' appesantit sur nous, et il s' est détourné dans sa colère.
“His wrath is upon us,” said Cassy; “he has turned away in anger.”
“No, Cassy! He will be good to us! Let us hope in Him,” said Emmeline,—“I always have had hope.”
La chasse fut longue, vive, animée, mais sans résultat. Cassy jeta un regard ironique de triomphe sur Legree qui descendait de cheval, fatigué et découragé.
The hunt was long, animated, and thorough, but unsuccessful; and, with grave, ironic exultation, Cassy looked down on Legree, as, weary and dispirited, he alighted from his horse.
“Now, Quimbo,” said Legree, as he stretched himself down in the sitting-room, “you jest go and walk that Tom up here, right away! The old cuss is at the bottom of this yer whole matter; and I’ll have it out of his old black hide, or I’ll know the reason why!”
Sambo et Quimbo, qui se détestaient l' un l' autre, n' étaient d'accord que dans leur haine contre Tom.... Legree leur avait dit tout d'abord qu' il avait acheté Tom pour en faire un surveillant général pendant son absence. Ce fut l' origine de leur mauvais vouloir. Il s' accrut encore chez ces natures basses et viles, dès qu' ils surent l' esclave dans la disgrâce du maître. On comprendra l' empressement que Quimbo dut mettre à exécuter les ordres de Simon.
Sambo and Quimbo, both, though hating each other, were joined in one mind by a no less cordial hatred of Tom. Legree had told them, at first, that he had bought him for a general overseer, in his absence; and this had begun an ill will, on their part, which had increased, in their debased and servile natures, as they saw him becoming obnoxious to their master’s displeasure. Quimbo, therefore, departed, with a will, to execute his orders.
Tom, en recevant le message, eut comme un pressentiment dans l' âme: il connaissait le plan des fugitives; il savait où elles se trouvaient maintenant. Il connaissait le terrible caractère de l' homme avec lequel il avait à lutter; il connaissait son pouvoir despotique; mais il savait aussi que Dieu lui donnerait la force de braver la mort plutôt que de trahir la faiblesse et le malheur.
Tom heard the message with a forewarning heart; for he knew all the plan of the fugitives’ escape, and the place of their present concealment;—he knew the deadly character of the man he had to deal with, and his despotic power. But he felt strong in God to meet death, rather than betray the helpless.
He sat his basket down by the row, and, looking up, said, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit! Thou hast redeemed me, oh Lord God of truth!” and then quietly yielded himself to the rough, brutal grasp with which Quimbo seized him.
“Ay, ay!” said the giant, as he dragged him along; “ye’ll cotch it, now! I’ll boun’ Mas’r’s back ’s up _high!_ No sneaking out, now! Tell ye, ye’ll get it, and no mistake! See how ye’ll look, now, helpin’ Mas’r’s niggers to run away! See what ye’ll get!”
Pas une seule de ces paroles sauvages n' atteignit l' oreille de Tom; une voix qui parlait plus haut lui disait: « Ne crains pas ceux qui peuvent tuer le corps et qui après cela ne peuvent plus rien ! » Et à ces mots les os et les nerfs de ce pauvre esclave vibraient en lui comme s' ils eussent été touchés par le doigt de Dieu ! Et dans une seule âme il avait la force de dix mille ! Il marchait, et les arbres, les buissons, les huttes de l' esclavage, et toute cette nature, témoin de sa dégradation, passaient confusément devant ses yeux, comme le paysage s' enfuit devant le char emporté par une course rapide. Son coeur battait.... il entrevoyait la patrie céleste.... il sentait que son heure était proche !
The savage words none of them reached that ear!—a higher voice there was saying, “Fear not them that kill the body, and, after that, have no more that they can do.” Nerve and bone of that poor man’s body vibrated to those words, as if touched by the finger of God; and he felt the strength of a thousand souls in one. As he passed along, the trees and bushes, the huts of his servitude, the whole scene of his degradation, seemed to whirl by him as the landscape by the rushing ear. His soul throbbed,—his home was in sight,—and the hour of release seemed at hand.
“Well, Tom!” said Legree, walking up, and seizing him grimly by the collar of his coat, and speaking through his teeth, in a paroxysm of determined rage, “do you know I’ve made up my mind to KILL YOU?”
“It’s very likely, Mas’r,” said Tom, calmly.
“I _have_,” said Legree, with a grim, terrible calmness, “_done—just—that—thing_, Tom, unless you’ll tell me what you know about these yer gals!”
Tom se tut.
Tom stood silent.
« Entendez -vous ? fit Legree en trépignant, et avec un rugissement de lion en fureur; parlez !
“D’ye hear?” said Legree, stamping, with a roar like that of an incensed lion. “Speak!”
“_I han’t got nothing to tell, Mas’r_,” said Tom, with a slow, firm, deliberate utterance.
“Do you dare to tell me, ye old black Christian, ye don’t _know_?” said Legree.
Tom resta silencieux.
Tom was silent.
“Speak!” thundered Legree, striking him furiously. “Do you know anything?”
“I know, Mas’r; but I can’t tell anything. _I can die!_”
Legree respira avec effort; il contint sa rage, prit Tom par le bras, et s' approchant, visage contre visage, il lui dit d' une voix terrible: ~~~ « Écoutez bien ! vous croyez que, parce qu' une fois déjà je vous ai laissé là, je ne sais pas ce que je dis.... Mais cette fois mon parti est pris. J' ai calculé la dépense ! Vous m' avez toujours résisté.... Eh bien ! je vais vous dompter ou vous tuer ! L' un ou l' autre ! Je compterai les gouttes de sang qu' il y a dans vos veines.... et je les prendrai une à une jusqu' à ce que vous cédiez ! »
Legree drew in a long breath; and, suppressing his rage, took Tom by the arm, and, approaching his face almost to his, said, in a terrible voice, “Hark ’e, Tom!—ye think, ’cause I’ve let you off before, I don’t mean what I say; but, this time, _I’ve made up my mind_, and counted the cost. You’ve always stood it out again’ me: now, _I’ll conquer ye, or kill ye!_—one or t’ other. I’ll count every drop of blood there is in you, and take ’em, one by one, till ye give up!”
Tom releva les yeux sur son maître et répondit: ~~~ « Maître, si vous étiez dans la peine, malade, mourant, et que je pusse vous sauver.... Oh ! je donnerais tout le sang de mon coeur. Oui ! si tout ce qu' il y a de sang dans ce pauvre vieux corps pouvait sauver votre âme précieuse, je le donnerais aussi volontiers que le Seigneur a lui-même donné pour moi son propre sang !... O maître, ne vous chargez pas de ce grand péché ! vous vous ferez plus de mal qu' à moi ! Quoi que vous puissiez faire, mes souffrances seront bientôt passées; mais, si vous ne vous repentez pas, les vôtres n' auront jamais de fin ! »
Tom looked up to his master, and answered, “Mas’r, if you was sick, or in trouble, or dying, and I could save ye, I’d _give_ ye my heart’s blood; and, if taking every drop of blood in this poor old body would save your precious soul, I’d give ’em freely, as the Lord gave his for me. O, Mas’r! don’t bring this great sin on your soul! It will hurt you more than ’t will me! Do the worst you can, my troubles’ll be over soon; but, if ye don’t repent, yours won’t _never_ end!”
Les paroles de Tom, au milieu des violences de Legree, étaient comme une bouffée de musique céleste entre deux rafales de tempête ! Cette expansion de tendresse fut suivie d' un moment de silence. Legree s' arrêta, immobile, hagard. Le calme devint si profond, qu' on entendait le tic-tac de la vieille horloge, dont l' aiguille silencieuse et vigilante mesurait les derniers instants de miséricorde et d' épreuve accordés à ce coeur endurci !
Like a strange snatch of heavenly music, heard in the lull of a tempest, this burst of feeling made a moment’s blank pause. Legree stood aghast, and looked at Tom; and there was such a silence, that the tick of the old clock could be heard, measuring, with silent touch, the last moments of mercy and probation to that hardened heart.
It was but a moment. There was one hesitating pause,—one irresolute, relenting thrill,—and the spirit of evil came back, with seven-fold vehemence; and Legree, foaming with rage, smote his victim to the ground.
Les scènes de cruauté révoltent notre coeur et blessent notre oreille. On a la force de faire ce que l' on n' a pas la force d' entendre. Cela vient des nerfs ! Ce qu' un de nos semblables, un de nos frères en Jésus-Christ peut souffrir, cela même ne peut pas se dire tout bas; tout cela vous trouble l' âme ! Et cependant, Amérique, ô mon pays ! ces choses, on les fait tous les jours à l' ombre de tes lois ! O Christ ! ton Église les voit.... et elle se tait !
Scenes of blood and cruelty are shocking to our ear and heart. What man has nerve to do, man has not nerve to hear. What brother-man and brother-Christian must suffer, cannot be told us, even in our secret chamber, it so harrows the soul! And yet, oh my country! these things are done under the shadow of thy laws! O, Christ! thy church sees them, almost in silence!
Mais il y eut autrefois quelqu'un dont les souffrances firent de l' instrument des tortures, de la dégradation et de la honte, un symbole d' honneur, de gloire et d' immortalité. Là où se trouve l' esprit de celui -là, ni le sang, ni la dégradation, ni l' insulte, ne sauront empêcher la dernière lutte du chrétien de devenir son triomphe.
But, of old, there was One whose suffering changed an instrument of torture, degradation and shame, into a symbol of glory, honor, and immortal life; and, where His spirit is, neither degrading stripes, nor blood, nor insults, can make the Christian’s last struggle less than glorious.
Was he alone, that long night, whose brave, loving spirit was bearing up, in that old shed, against buffeting and brutal stripes?
Nay! There stood by him ONE,—seen by him alone,—“like unto the Son of God.”
Le tentateur aussi se tenait à côté de lui, aveuglé par le despotisme furieux et voulant souiller l' agonie par la trahison ! Mais ce brave coeur fidèle se tint ferme sur le roc éternel. Comme le divin Maître, il savait que, s' il pouvait sauver les autres, il ne pouvait pas se sauver lui-même.... et aucune torture ne put lui arracher d' autres paroles que des paroles de prière et de foi !
The tempter stood by him, too,—blinded by furious, despotic will,—every moment pressing him to shun that agony by the betrayal of the innocent. But the brave, true heart was firm on the Eternal Rock. Like his Master, he knew that, if he saved others, himself he could not save; nor could utmost extremity wring from him words, save of prayers and holy trust.
“He’s most gone, Mas’r,” said Sambo, touched, in spite of himself, by the patience of his victim.
“Pay away, till he gives up! Give it to him!—give it to him!” shouted Legree. “I’ll take every drop of blood he has, unless he confesses!”
Tom opened his eyes, and looked upon his master. “Ye poor miserable critter!” he said, “there ain’t no more ye can do! I forgive ye, with all my soul!” and he fainted entirely away.
“I b’lieve, my soul, he’s done for, finally,” said Legree, stepping forward, to look at him. “Yes, he is! Well, his mouth’s shut up, at last,—that’s one comfort!”
Yes, Legree; but who shall shut up that voice in thy soul? that soul, past repentance, past prayer, past hope, in whom the fire that never shall be quenched is already burning!
Tom n' était pas tout à fait mort. Ses pieuses prières, ses étranges paroles firent une profonde impression sur les deux misérables dont on avait fait les instruments de son supplice. Quand Legree fut parti, ils le relevèrent et s' efforcèrent de le rappeler à la vie.... Quelle faveur pour lui !
Yet Tom was not quite gone. His wondrous words and pious prayers had struck upon the hearts of the imbruted blacks, who had been the instruments of cruelty upon him; and, the instant Legree withdrew, they took him down, and, in their ignorance, sought to call him back to life,—as if _that_ were any favor to him.
“Sartin, we ’s been doin’ a drefful wicked thing!” said Sambo; “hopes Mas’r’ll have to ’count for it, and not we.”
They washed his wounds,—they provided a rude bed, of some refuse cotton, for him to lie down on; and one of them, stealing up to the house, begged a drink of brandy of Legree, pretending that he was tired, and wanted it for himself. He brought it back, and poured it down Tom’s throat.
“O, Tom!” said Quimbo, “we’s been awful wicked to ye!”
“I forgive ye, with all my heart!” said Tom, faintly.
“O, Tom! do tell us who is _Jesus_, anyhow?” said Sambo;—“Jesus, that’s been a standin’ by you so, all this night!—Who is he?”
Ces mots ranimèrent l' esprit défaillant. Il dit, en quelques phrases brèves, mais énergiques, quel était ce Jésus ! il dit sa vie et sa mort, et sa présence partout, et sa puissance qui sauve !
The word roused the failing, fainting spirit. He poured forth a few energetic sentences of that wondrous One,—his life, his death, his everlasting presence, and power to save.
Et ils pleurèrent.... ces deux hommes farouches !
They wept,—both the two savage men.
“Why didn’t I never hear this before?” said Sambo; “but I do believe!—I can’t help it! Lord Jesus, have mercy on us!”
“Poor critters!” said Tom, “I’d be willing to bar all I have, if it’ll only bring ye to Christ! O, Lord! give me these two more souls, I pray!”
Dieu entendit cette prière.
That prayer was answered!
CHAPITRE XLI. ~~~ Le jeune maître.
CHAPTER XLI The Young Master
Deux jours plus tard, un jeune homme, conduisant une légère voiture, traversait l' avenue bordée des arbres de Chine. Il jeta vivement les rênes sur le cou des chevaux et demanda où était le maître du logis. ~~~ Ce jeune homme était Georges Shelby.
Two days after, a young man drove a light wagon up through the avenue of China trees, and, throwing the reins hastily on the horse’s neck, sprang out and inquired for the owner of the place.
It was George Shelby; and, to show how he came to be there, we must go back in our story.
The letter of Miss Ophelia to Mrs. Shelby had, by some unfortunate accident, been detained, for a month or two, at some remote post-office, before it reached its destination; and, of course, before it was received, Tom was already lost to view among the distant swamps of the Red River.
Cette nouvelle affligea vivement Mme Shelby; pour le moment il n' y avait rien à faire. Elle veillait au chevet de son mari, dangereusement malade et souvent en proie au délire de la fièvre. Georges Shelby était devenu un grand jeune homme, il aidait sa mère et surveillait l' administration générale des affaires de la famille. Miss Ophélia avait eu soin d' indiquer l' adresse de l' homme d' affaires de Saint-Clare. On lui écrivit pour avoir des renseignements; la position de la famille ne permettait pas de faire davantage. La mort de M. Shelby vint apporter d' autres préoccupations.
Mrs. Shelby read the intelligence with the deepest concern; but any immediate action upon it was an impossibility. She was then in attendance on the sick-bed of her husband, who lay delirious in the crisis of a fever. Master George Shelby, who, in the interval, had changed from a boy to a tall young man, was her constant and faithful assistant, and her only reliance in superintending his father’s affairs. Miss Ophelia had taken the precaution to send them the name of the lawyer who did business for the St. Clares; and the most that, in the emergency, could be done, was to address a letter of inquiry to him. The sudden death of Mr. Shelby, a few days after, brought, of course, an absorbing pressure of other interests, for a season.
Mr. Shelby showed his confidence in his wife’s ability, by appointing her sole executrix upon his estates; and thus immediately a large and complicated amount of business was brought upon her hands.
Mme Shelby, avec son énergie habituelle, entreprit de démêler l' écheveau embrouillé. Elle et Georges s' occupèrent tout d'abord d' examiner et de vérifier les comptes, de vendre et de payer. Mme Shelby voulait liquider et purger, quoi qu' il advînt. C' est à cette époque que Mme Shelby reçut une réponse de l' homme d' affaires: il ne savait rien. Tom avait été vendu aux enchères, il avait touché le prix pour M. Saint-Clare: il ne fallait pas lui en demander davantage.
Mrs. Shelby, with characteristic energy, applied herself to the work of straightening the entangled web of affairs; and she and George were for some time occupied with collecting and examining accounts, selling property and settling debts; for Mrs. Shelby was determined that everything should be brought into tangible and recognizable shape, let the consequences to her prove what they might. In the mean time, they received a letter from the lawyer to whom Miss Ophelia had referred them, saying that he knew nothing of the matter; that the man was sold at a public auction, and that, beyond receiving the money, he knew nothing of the affair.
Ni Georges ni Mme Shelby ne pouvaient se contenter d' une telle réponse. Au bout de six mois les affaires de Mme Shelby appelèrent Georges au bas de l' Ohio; il résolut de visiter la Nouvelle-Orléans et de prendre des renseignements sur le pauvre Tom.
Neither George nor Mrs. Shelby could be easy at this result; and, accordingly, some six months after, the latter, having business for his mother, down the river, resolved to visit New Orleans, in person, and push his inquiries, in hopes of discovering Tom’s whereabouts, and restoring him.
After some months of unsuccessful search, by the merest accident, George fell in with a man, in New Orleans, who happened to be possessed of the desired information; and with his money in his pocket, our hero took steamboat for Red River, resolving to find out and re-purchase his old friend.
Legree reçut le jeune étranger avec une politesse assez brusque.
He was soon introduced into the house, where he found Legree in the sitting-room.
Legree received the stranger with a kind of surly hospitality,
“I understand,” said the young man, “that you bought, in New Orleans, a boy, named Tom. He used to be on my father’s place, and I came to see if I couldn’t buy him back.”
« Oui, dit -il, en effet, j' ai acheté un individu de ce nom.... C' est un marché du diable que j' ai fait là ! Un chien impudent ! un mauvais drôle toujours en révolte ! Il poussait mes nègres à fuir.... Il a fait partir d' ici deux filles qui valaient mille dollars pièce. Il en est convenu, et, quand je lui ai ordonné de me dire où elles étaient, il a fièrement répondu qu' il le savait bien, mais qu' il ne voulait pas le dire.... et il s' est obstiné, quoique je l' aie fait fouetter d' importance et à plusieurs reprises. Je crois qu' il est en train d' essayer de mourir, mais je ne sais s' il y réussira....
Legree’s brow grew dark, and he broke out, passionately: “Yes, I did buy such a fellow,—and a h—l of a bargain I had of it, too! The most rebellious, saucy, impudent dog! Set up my niggers to run away; got off two gals, worth eight hundred or a thousand apiece. He owned to that, and, when I bid him tell me where they was, he up and said he knew, but he wouldn’t tell; and stood to it, though I gave him the cussedest flogging I ever gave nigger yet. I b’lieve he’s trying to die; but I don’t know as he’ll make it out.”
“Where is he?” said George, impetuously. “Let me see him.” The cheeks of the young man were crimson, and his eyes flashed fire; but he prudently said nothing, as yet.
“He’s in dat ar shed,” said a little fellow, who stood holding George’s horse.
Legree kicked the boy, and swore at him; but George, without saying another word, turned and strode to the spot.
Tom était resté couché deux jours depuis cette fatale nuit. Il ne souffrait plus.... tous les nerfs qui font sentir la souffrance étaient brisés ou émoussés.... il était dans une sorte de stupeur tranquille. Une organisation robuste et vaillante ne relâche pas tout d' un coup l' âme qu' elle emprisonnait; de temps en temps, pendant la nuit, les esclaves prenaient, sur les heures de leur repos, au moins quelques instants pour lui rendre ces pieux devoirs et ces consolations de l' affection, dont il avait été si prodigue envers eux.... Pauvres gens ! qui avaient bien peu à donner- -le verre d' eau de l' Évangile ! -- mais qui donnaient avec le coeur.
Tom had been lying two days since the fatal night, not suffering, for every nerve of suffering was blunted and destroyed. He lay, for the most part, in a quiet stupor; for the laws of a powerful and well-knit frame would not at once release the imprisoned spirit. By stealth, there had been there, in the darkness of the night, poor desolated creatures, who stole from their scanty hours’ rest, that they might repay to him some of those ministrations of love in which he had always been so abundant. Truly, those poor disciples had little to give,—only the cup of cold water; but it was given with full hearts.
Sur ce visage, insensible déjà, leurs larmes étaient tombées.... larmes d' un repentir tardif dans ces âmes païennes, que son amour, sa tendresse et sa résignation avaient enfin touchées.... On murmurait sur lui des prières douloureuses, adressées à ce Sauveur enfin trouvé, dont ils ne connaissaient guère que le nom, mais que jamais n' invoquera en vain le coeur ignorant qui a la foi !
Tears had fallen on that honest, insensible face,—tears of late repentance in the poor, ignorant heathen, whom his dying love and patience had awakened to repentance, and bitter prayers, breathed over him to a late-found Saviour, of whom they scarce knew more than the name, but whom the yearning ignorant heart of man never implores in vain.
Cassy, qui s' était glissée hors de sa retraite et qui rôdait partout, l' oreille aux aguets, apprit le sacrifice que Tom avait fait pour Emmeline et pour elle. La nuit précédente, bravant le danger d' être découverte, elle était venue. Elle avait été touchée des dernières paroles qui s' étaient exhalées de cette bouche aimante, et la glace du désespoir, cet hiver de l' âme, s' était peu à peu fondue, et cette créature sombre et hautaine avait pleuré et prié.
Cassy, who had glided out of her place of concealment, and, by overhearing, learned the sacrifice that had been made for her and Emmeline, had been there, the night before, defying the danger of detection; and, moved by the last few words which the affectionate soul had yet strength to breathe, the long winter of despair, the ice of years, had given way, and the dark, despairing woman had wept and prayed.
When George entered the shed, he felt his head giddy and his heart sick.
« Est -il possible ? est -il possible, père Tom ? Mon pauvre vieil ami ! » ~~~ Et il s' agenouilla par terre à côté de Tom.
“Is it possible,—is it possible?” said he, kneeling down by him. “Uncle Tom, my poor, poor old friend!”
Something in the voice penetrated to the ear of the dying. He moved his head gently, smiled, and said,
« Dieu fait mon lit de mort plus doux que le duvet ! »
“Jesus can make a dying-bed Feel soft as down pillows are.”
Tears which did honor to his manly heart fell from the young man’s eyes, as he bent over his poor friend.
« Père Tom ! mon cher ami, réveillez -vous ! parlez encore un peu.... regardez -moi ! c' est M. Georges, votre petit M. Georges.... ne me connaissez -vous pas ?
“O, dear Uncle Tom! do wake,—do speak once more! Look up! Here’s Mas’r George,—your own little Mas’r George. Don’t you know me?”
“Mas’r George!” said Tom, opening his eyes, and speaking in a feeble voice; “Mas’r George!” He looked bewildered.
Puis lentement et peu à peu les idées revenaient dans son esprit.... l' oeil errant devenait fixe et brillait ! tout le visage s' éclaira, ses mains calleuses se joignirent et, le long de ses joues, les larmes coulèrent.
Slowly the idea seemed to fill his soul; and the vacant eye became fixed and brightened, the whole face lighted up, the hard hands clasped, and tears ran down the cheeks.
“Bless the Lord! it is,—it is,—it’s all I wanted! They haven’t forgot me. It warms my soul; it does my heart good! Now I shall die content! Bless the Lord, on my soul!”
“You shan’t die! you _mustn’t_ die, nor think of it! I’ve come to buy you, and take you home,” said George, with impetuous vehemence.
“O, Mas’r George, ye’re too late. The Lord’s bought me, and is going to take me home,—and I long to go. Heaven is better than Kintuck.”
“O, don’t die! It’ll kill me!—it’ll break my heart to think what you’ve suffered,—and lying in this old shed, here! Poor, poor fellow!”
“Don’t call me poor fellow!” said Tom, solemnly, “I _have_ been poor fellow; but that’s all past and gone, now. I’m right in the door, going into glory! O, Mas’r George! _Heaven has come!_ I’ve got the victory!—the Lord Jesus has given it to me! Glory be to His name!”
Georges était frappé de respect et d' étonnement en voyant avec quelle puissance et quelle force ces phrases brisées et suspendues étaient prononcées par Tom.... Il admirait et se taisait....
George was awe-struck at the force, the vehemence, the power, with which these broken sentences were uttered. He sat gazing in silence.
Tom prit la main de son jeune maître, et la serrant dans la sienne: ~~~ « Il ne faut pas dire à Chloé dans quel état vous m' avez trouvé.... Pauvre chère âme ! ce serait pour elle un coup trop affreux.... dites -lui seulement que vous m' avez vu allant à la gloire, et que je ne pouvais rester pour personne. Dites -lui que Dieu a été à mes côtés, partout et toujours, et que pour moi il a rendu tout facile et léger ! Et mes pauvres enfants, et le tout petit.... la petite fille.... Oh ! mon pauvre vieux coeur a été bien brisé en pensant à eux ! dites -leur à tous de me suivre.... de me suivre ! Assurez de mes bons sentiments mon maître et ma bonne maîtresse, enfin tout le monde là-bas ! Vous ne savez pas, monsieur Georges, il me semble que j' aime tout, toutes les créatures, partout.... Aimer, il n' y a que cela au monde ! O monsieur Georges ! quelle chose que d' être chrétien ! »
Tom grasped his hand, and continued,—“Ye mustn’t, now, tell Chloe, poor soul! how ye found me;—‘t would be so drefful to her. Only tell her ye found me going into glory; and that I couldn’t stay for no one. And tell her the Lord’s stood by me everywhere and al’ays, and made everything light and easy. And oh, the poor chil’en, and the baby;—my old heart’s been most broke for ’em, time and agin! Tell ’em all to follow me—follow me! Give my love to Mas’r, and dear good Missis, and everybody in the place! Ye don’t know! ’Pears like I loves ’em all! I loves every creature everywhar!—it’s nothing _but_ love! O, Mas’r George! what a thing ’t is to be a Christian!”
At this moment, Legree sauntered up to the door of the shed, looked in, with a dogged air of affected carelessness, and turned away.
“The old Satan!” said George, in his indignation. “It’s a comfort to think the devil will pay _him_ for this, some of these days!”
“O, don’t!—oh, ye mustn’t!” said Tom, grasping his hand; “he’s a poor mis’able critter! it’s awful to think on ’t! Oh, if he only could repent, the Lord would forgive him now; but I’m ’feared he never will!”
“I hope he won’t!” said George; “I never want to see _him_ in heaven!”
“Hush, Mas’r George!—it worries me! Don’t feel so! He an’t done me no real harm,—only opened the gate of the kingdom for me; that’s all!”
A ce moment, la force fiévreuse que la joie de revoir son jeune maître avait rendue au mourant s' évanouit pour ne plus revenir.... une soudaine faiblesse s' empara de lui.... ses yeux se fermèrent, et l' on vit passer sur sa joue ce mystérieux et sublime changement qui annonce l' approche des autres mondes....
At this moment, the sudden flush of strength which the joy of meeting his young master had infused into the dying man gave way. A sudden sinking fell upon him; he closed his eyes; and that mysterious and sublime change passed over his face, that told the approach of other worlds.
La respiration s' embarrassa, elle devint courte et pénible; la vaste poitrine se soulevait et s' abaissait péniblement, mais le visage gardait toujours une expression sérieuse et triomphante.
He began to draw his breath with long, deep inspirations; and his broad chest rose and fell, heavily. The expression of his face was that of a conqueror.
“Who,—who,—who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” he said, in a voice that contended with mortal weakness; and, with a smile, he fell asleep.
George sat fixed with solemn awe. It seemed to him that the place was holy; and, as he closed the lifeless eyes, and rose up from the dead, only one thought possessed him,—that expressed by his simple old friend,—“What a thing it is to be a Christian!”
He turned: Legree was standing, sullenly, behind him.
Something in that dying scene had checked the natural fierceness of youthful passion. The presence of the man was simply loathsome to George; and he felt only an impulse to get away from him, with as few words as possible.
Fixing his keen dark eyes on Legree, he simply said, pointing to the dead, “You have got all you ever can of him. What shall I pay you for the body? I will take it away, and bury it decently.”
“I don’t sell dead niggers,” said Legree, doggedly. “You are welcome to bury him where and when you like.”
-- Enfants, dit Georges, d' un ton d' autorité, à deux ou trois nègres qui se trouvaient là et qui regardaient le corps, aidez -moi à le soulever et à le mettre dans ma voiture: ensuite vous me donnerez une bêche ! »
“Boys,” said George, in an authoritative tone, to two or three negroes, who were looking at the body, “help me lift him up, and carry him to my wagon; and get me a spade.”
One of them ran for a spade; the other two assisted George to carry the body to the wagon.
George neither spoke to nor looked at Legree, who did not countermand his orders, but stood, whistling, with an air of forced unconcern. He sulkily followed them to where the wagon stood at the door.
George spread his cloak in the wagon, and had the body carefully disposed of in it,—moving the seat, so as to give it room. Then he turned, fixed his eyes on Legree, and said, with forced composure,
« Je ne vous ai pas encore dit ce que je pense de cette atroce affaire; ce n' est ni le lieu ni le moment. Mais, monsieur, ce sang innocent sera vengé. Je proclamerai ce meurtre.... J' irai trouver le magistrat et je vous dénoncerai !
“I have not, as yet, said to you what I think of this most atrocious affair;—this is not the time and place. But, sir, this innocent blood shall have justice. I will proclaim this murder. I will go to the very first magistrate, and expose you.”
“Do!” said Legree, snapping his fingers, scornfully. “I’d like to see you doing it. Where you going to get witnesses?—how you going to prove it?—Come, now!”
Georges ne sentit que trop la force de ce défi ! Il n' y avait pas un blanc dans l' habitation, et dans les cours du sud le témoignage du sang mêlé n' est rien !... Il crut un moment qu' il allait déchirer la voûte des cieux, en poussant le cri de vengeance de son coeur indigné.... Le ciel resta sourd !
George saw, at once, the force of this defiance. There was not a white person on the place; and, in all southern courts, the testimony of colored blood is nothing. He felt, at that moment, as if he could have rent the heavens with his heart’s indignant cry for justice; but in vain.
« Après tout, fit Legree, voilà bien du tapage pour un nègre mort ! »
“After all, what a fuss, for a dead nigger!” said Legree.
Ce mot -là fut une étincelle sur un baril de poudre. La prudence n' était pas une des vertus cardinales de ce jeune enfant du Kentucky. Georges se retourna sur lui, et d' un coup terrible, frappé en plein visage, il le renversa. Et alors, le foulant aux pieds, brûlant de colère, le défi dans l' oeil, il ressemblait assez à son glorieux homonyme, triomphant du dragon.
The word was as a spark to a powder magazine. Prudence was never a cardinal virtue of the Kentucky boy. George turned, and, with one indignant blow, knocked Legree flat upon his face; and, as he stood over him, blazing with wrath and defiance, he would have formed no bad personification of his great namesake triumphing over the dragon.
Décidément, il y a des gens qui gagnent à être battus; couchez -les dans la poussière, ils vont être remplis de respect pour vous.... Legree était de ces gens -là. Il se releva, secoua ses vêtements poudreux et suivit de l' oeil la voiture qui s' éloigna lentement.... On voyait qu' il respectait Georges; il n' ouvrit pas la bouche avant que tout eût disparu.
Some men, however, are decidedly bettered by being knocked down. If a man lays them fairly flat in the dust, they seem immediately to conceive a respect for him; and Legree was one of this sort. As he rose, therefore, and brushed the dust from his clothes, he eyed the slowly-retreating wagon with some evident consideration; nor did he open his mouth till it was out of sight.
Beyond the boundaries of the plantation, George had noticed a dry, sandy knoll, shaded by a few trees; there they made the grave.
“Shall we take off the cloak, Mas’r?” said the negroes, when the grave was ready.
-- Non, non, ensevelissez -le avec ! Pauvre Tom, c' est tout ce que je puis te donner maintenant; mais cela, du moins, tu l' auras ! »
“No, no,—bury it with him! It’s all I can give you, now, poor Tom, and you shall have it.”
Tom fut descendu dans la fosse; les esclaves la remplirent en silence; ils dressèrent la modeste tombe, et la recouvrirent de gazons verts.
They laid him in; and the men shovelled away, silently. They banked it up, and laid green turf over it.
“You may go, boys,” said George, slipping a quarter into the hand of each. They lingered about, however.
Eux, cependant, ne s'en allèrent pas.
“If young Mas’r would please buy us—” said one.
-- Nous vous servirions si fidèlement ! reprenait l' autre.
“We’d serve him so faithful!” said the other.
“Hard times here, Mas’r!” said the first. “Do, Mas’r, buy us, please!”
“I can’t!—I can’t!” said George, with difficulty, motioning them off; “it’s impossible!”
Georges s' agenouilla sur la tombe de son humble ami.
The poor fellows looked dejected, and walked off in silence.
“Witness, eternal God!” said George, kneeling on the grave of his poor friend; “oh, witness, that, from this hour, I will do _what one man can_ to drive out this curse of slavery from my land!”
There is no monument to mark the last resting-place of our friend. He needs none! His Lord knows where he lies, and will raise him up, immortal, to appear with him when he shall appear in his glory.
Ne le plaignez point: ni cette vie ni cette mort ne demandent votre pitié. Ce n' est pas dans les splendeurs de la puissance que Dieu place ses héros; c' est dans le dévouement, c' est dans le sacrifice, c' est dans l' amour qui souffre.... Bénis soient les hommes appelés à partager le sort de Jésus, et à porter avec patience sa croix sur leurs épaules ! C' est d' eux qu' il a été écrit: ~~~ « Bienheureux ceux qui pleurent ! car ils seront consolés. »
Pity him not! Such a life and death is not for pity! Not in the riches of omnipotence is the chief glory of God; but in self-denying, suffering love! And blessed are the men whom he calls to fellowship with him, bearing their cross after him with patience. Of such it is written, “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
CHAPITRE XLII. ~~~ Une histoire de revenants véritable.
CHAPTER XLII An Authentic Ghost Story
On comprendra facilement que les histoires de revenants et de fantômes durent se propager activement parmi les esclaves de Legree.
For some remarkable reason, ghostly legends were uncommonly rife, about this time, among the servants on Legree’s place.
On se disait à l' oreille que, pendant la nuit, on entendait des bruits de pas qui descendaient l' escalier du grenier et parcouraient toute la maison. C' est en vain que l' on avait fermé au verrou la porte des étages supérieurs. Le fantôme avait une double clef dans sa poche, ou bien, en vertu du privilége qu' ont eu de tout temps les fantômes, il passait à travers le trou de la serrure, et continuait sa promenade, comme devant, avec une liberté vraiment alarmante.
It was whisperingly asserted that footsteps, in the dead of night, had been heard descending the garret stairs, and patrolling the house. In vain the doors of the upper entry had been locked; the ghost either carried a duplicate key in its pocket, or availed itself of a ghost’s immemorial privilege of coming through the keyhole, and promenaded as before, with a freedom that was alarming.
Quelle forme extérieure l' esprit revêtait -il ? les avis étaient partagés. Les nègres, et quelquefois les blancs, ont l' habitude de fermer les yeux et de se couvrir la tête de leurs habits ou de leurs couvertures dès qu' il se présente le moindre revenant. Mais jamais les yeux de l' âme n' ont une perspicacité plus éveillée que quand les yeux du corps sont fermés. On faisait donc, dans toutes les cases, les portraits en pied du fantôme, tous jurés et certifiés véritables; et, comme il arrive souvent aux portraits, aucun ne ressemblait aux autres. Je me trompe: il y avait chez tous le signe particulier des fantômes, le long suaire blanc pour vêtement. Les pauvres gens n' étaient pas versés dans l' histoire ancienne, et ils ignoraient que ce costume a maintenant pour lui l' autorité de Shakspeare, qui a dit:
Authorities were somewhat divided, as to the outward form of the spirit, owing to a custom quite prevalent among negroes,—and, for aught we know, among whites, too,—of invariably shutting the eyes, and covering up heads under blankets, petticoats, or whatever else might come in use for a shelter, on these occasions. Of course, as everybody knows, when the bodily eyes are thus out of the lists, the spiritual eyes are uncommonly vivacious and perspicuous; and, therefore, there were abundance of full-length portraits of the ghost, abundantly sworn and testified to, which, as is often the case with portraits, agreed with each other in no particular, except the common family peculiarity of the ghost tribe,—the wearing of a _white sheet_. The poor souls were not versed in ancient history, and did not know that Shakspeare had authenticated this costume, by telling how ~~~ “The _sheeted_ dead Did squeak and gibber in the streets of Rome.”[1]
Les morts en blancs linceuls parcourent les cités !
[1] _Hamlet_, Act I, scene 1, lines 115-116
And, therefore, their all hitting upon this is a striking fact in pneumatology, which we recommend to the attention of spiritual media generally.
Quoi qu' il en soit, nous avons, nous, des raisons particulières de croire qu' une grande figure, vêtue d' un drap blanc, se promenait, à l' heure des fantômes, autour des appartements de Legree; elle ouvrait les portes, circulait dans la maison; elle apparaissait et disparaissait, puis, traversant encore une fois l' escalier silencieux, elle remontait jusqu' au grenier.... et cependant, le lendemain matin, on retrouvait les portes fermées et verrouillées aussi solidement que jamais.
Be it as it may, we have private reasons for knowing that a tall figure in a white sheet did walk, at the most approved ghostly hours, around the Legree premises,—pass out the doors, glide about the house,—disappear at intervals, and, reappearing, pass up the silent stairway, into that fatal garret; and that, in the morning, the entry doors were all found shut and locked as firm as ever.
Le murmure de ces conversations arrivait jusqu' à Legree. Plus on voulait le lui cacher et plus il en fut impressionné. Il but plus d' eau-de-vie que jamais, eut la tête toujours échauffée, et jura un peu plus fort qu' auparavant.... pendant le jour. La nuit, il rêvait, et ses visions prenaient un caractère de moins en moins agréable. La nuit qui suivit l' enterrement de Tom, il se rendit à la ville voisine pour faire une orgie. Elle fut complète. Il revint tard, fatigué, ferma sa porte, retira la clef et se mit au lit.
Legree could not help overhearing this whispering; and it was all the more exciting to him, from the pains that were taken to conceal it from him. He drank more brandy than usual; held up his head briskly, and swore louder than ever in the daytime; but he had bad dreams, and the visions of his head on his bed were anything but agreeable. The night after Tom’s body had been carried away, he rode to the next town for a carouse, and had a high one. Got home late and tired; locked his door, took out the key, and went to bed.
On a beau dire, quelque peine qu' il se donne pour la soumettre, l' âme d' un méchant homme est pour lui une hôtesse inquiète et terrible ! Qui peut comprendre ses doutes et ses terreurs ? Qui pourra sonder ses formidables _peut-être_ ? ces frissons et ces tremblements, qu' il ne peut pas plus réprimer qu' il ne peut anéantir l' éternité qui l' attend ? Oh ! le fou qui ferme sa porte pour empêcher les fantômes d' entrer, et qui renferme dans sa poitrine un fantôme qu' il n' ose pas affronter seul, et dont la voix étouffée, et comme accablée par la montagne que le monde jette dessus, retentit pourtant, comme la trompette du jugement dernier !
After all, let a man take what pains he may to hush it down, a human soul is an awful ghostly, unquiet possession, for a bad man to have. Who knows the metes and bounds of it? Who knows all its awful perhapses,—those shudderings and tremblings, which it can no more live down than it can outlive its own eternity! What a fool is he who locks his door to keep out spirits, who has in his own bosom a spirit he dares not meet alone,—whose voice, smothered far down, and piled over with mountains of earthliness, is yet like the forewarning trumpet of doom!
But Legree locked his door and set a chair against it; he set a night-lamp at the head of his bed; and put his pistols there. He examined the catches and fastenings of the windows, and then swore he “didn’t care for the devil and all his angels,” and went to sleep.
Il s' endormit. ~~~ Il dormit, car il était fatigué; il dormit profondément. Mais il passa bientôt comme une ombre sur son sommeil, une terreur, la crainte vague de quelque chose d' affreux; il crut reconnaître le linceul de sa mère; mais c' était Cassy qui le portait; elle le tenait, elle le montrait à Legree.... Il entendit un bruit confus de cris et de gémissements, et au milieu de tout cela il sentait qu' il dormait, et il faisait mille efforts pour se réveiller. Il se réveilla à moitié.... Il était bien sûr que quelque chose venait dans sa chambre. Il s' apercevait que la porte était ouverte.... mais il ne pouvait remuer ni les pieds, ni les mains.... Enfin il se retourna d' une pièce..... La porte était ouverte; il vit une main qui éteignait la lampe.
Well, he slept, for he was tired,—slept soundly. But, finally, there came over his sleep a shadow, a horror, an apprehension of something dreadful hanging over him. It was his mother’s shroud, he thought; but Cassy had it, holding it up, and showing it to him. He heard a confused noise of screams and groanings; and, with it all, he knew he was asleep, and he struggled to wake himself. He was half awake. He was sure something was coming into his room. He knew the door was opening, but he could not stir hand or foot. At last he turned, with a start; the door _was_ open, and he saw a hand putting out his light.
La lune était voilée de nuages et de brouillards, et il vit pourtant, il vit quelque chose de blanc qui glissait.... Il entendit le petit frôlement des vêtements du fantôme.... Le fantôme se tint immobile auprès de son lit.... Une forte main toucha sa main trois fois, et une voix qui parlait tout bas, mais avec un accent terrible, répéta par trois fois: « Viens ! viens ! viens !... » Il suait de peur; mais, sans qu' il sût quand ni comment, la chose avait disparu. Legree sauta du lit, il courut à la porte; elle était fermée et verrouillée.... Legree perdit connaissance.
It was a cloudy, misty moonlight, and there he saw it!—something white, gliding in! He heard the still rustle of its ghostly garments. It stood still by his bed;—a cold hand touched his; a voice said, three times, in a low, fearful whisper, “Come! come! come!” And, while he lay sweating with terror, he knew not when or how, the thing was gone. He sprang out of bed, and pulled at the door. It was shut and locked, and the man fell down in a swoon.
After this, Legree became a harder drinker than ever before. He no longer drank cautiously, prudently, but imprudently and recklessly.
Le bruit se répandit bientôt dans le pays que Legree était malade, puis qu' il se mourait. Il était puni de ses excès par cette affreuse maladie qui semble projeter sur la vie présente comme l' ombre des châtiments de l' autre vie. Personne ne pouvait supporter les horreurs de son agonie: il criait, il sanglotait, il jurait.... et le seul récit des visions qui passaient devant ses yeux glaçait le sang dans les veines. A son lit de mort, immobile, sombre, inexorable, une grande figure de femme se tenait debout et disait: ~~~ « Viens.... viens.... viens !... »
There were reports around the country, soon after that he was sick and dying. Excess had brought on that frightful disease that seems to throw the lurid shadows of a coming retribution back into the present life. None could bear the horrors of that sick room, when he raved and screamed, and spoke of sights which almost stopped the blood of those who heard him; and, at his dying bed, stood a stern, white, inexorable figure, saying, “Come! come! come!”
Par une singulière coïncidence, la nuit même de sa dernière vision, on trouva toutes les portes de la maison grandes ouvertes. Quelques-uns des nègres assurèrent avoir vu deux formes blanches qui se glissaient à travers les arbres de l' avenue et qui gagnaient la grande route.
By a singular coincidence, on the very night that this vision appeared to Legree, the house-door was found open in the morning, and some of the negroes had seen two white figures gliding down the avenue towards the high-road.
Le soleil se levait: Cassy et Emmeline s' arrêtèrent sur un tertre d' arbres, tout près de la ville.
It was near sunrise when Cassy and Emmeline paused, for a moment, in a little knot of trees near the town.
Cassy was dressed after the manner of the Creole Spanish ladies,—wholly in black. A small black bonnet on her head, covered by a veil thick with embroidery, concealed her face. It had been agreed that, in their escape, she was to personate the character of a Creole lady, and Emmeline that of her servant.
Brought up, from early life, in connection with the highest society, the language, movements and air of Cassy, were all in agreement with this idea; and she had still enough remaining with her, of a once splendid wardrobe, and sets of jewels, to enable her to personate the thing to advantage.
Elle s' arrêta dans une maison du faubourg où elle avait remarqué des malles à vendre: elle en acheta une fort belle; elle se fit suivre par un homme qui la portait, accompagné d' un serviteur chargé du gros bagage, et d' une femme de chambre qui tenait à la main son sac de nuit et des paquets poudreux; elle fit une entrée triomphale dans la petite taverne.
She stopped in the outskirts of the town, where she had noticed trunks for sale, and purchased a handsome one. This she requested the man to send along with her. And, accordingly, thus escorted by a boy wheeling her trunk, and Emmeline behind her, carrying her carpet-bag and sundry bundles, she made her appearance at the small tavern, like a lady of consideration.
The first person that struck her, after her arrival, was George Shelby, who was staying there, awaiting the next boat.
Cassy, du haut de son observatoire dans le grenier, avait aperçu le jeune homme... elle l' avait vu emporter le corps de Tom, elle avait observé, avec une joie secrète, toutes les circonstances de son entrevue avec Legree. Elle avait assez entendu parler de lui aux nègres, elle savait qui il était et par lui-même, et par rapport à Tom. Elle se sentit tout à coup pleine de confiance, quand elle vit qu' il attendait le bateau comme elle.
Cassy had remarked the young man from her loophole in the garret, and seen him bear away the body of Tom, and observed with secret exultation, his rencontre with Legree. Subsequently she had gathered, from the conversations she had overheard among the negroes, as she glided about in her ghostly disguise, after nightfall, who he was, and in what relation he stood to Tom. She, therefore, felt an immediate accession of confidence, when she found that he was, like herself, awaiting the next boat.
L' air, les façons, le langage de Cassy et son argent qui sonnait éloignaient tout soupçon chez les gens de l' hôtel.... Est -ce qu' on soupçonne jamais ceux qui payent bien ?... c' est le point capital !... Cassy ne l' avait point oublié en garnissant son porte-monnaie.
Cassy’s air and manner, address, and evident command of money, prevented any rising disposition to suspicion in the hotel. People never inquire too closely into those who are fair on the main point, of paying well,—a thing which Cassy had foreseen when she provided herself with money.
In the edge of the evening, a boat was heard coming along, and George Shelby handed Cassy aboard, with the politeness which comes naturally to every Kentuckian, and exerted himself to provide her with a good state-room.
Cassy kept her room and bed, on pretext of illness, during the whole time they were on Red River; and was waited on, with obsequious devotion, by her attendant.
On arriva sur le Mississipi. Georges, apprenant que l' étrangère, aussi bien que lui, continuait sa route, lui proposa de prendre une chambre sur le même bateau qu' elle. Avec son bon coeur ordinaire, il était plein de compassion pour cette santé languissante; et il entoura Cassy de ses prévenances et de ses bons offices.
When they arrived at the Mississippi river, George, having learned that the course of the strange lady was upward, like his own, proposed to take a state-room for her on the same boat with himself,—good-naturedly compassionating her feeble health, and desirous to do what he could to assist her.
Behold, therefore, the whole party safely transferred to the good steamer Cincinnati, and sweeping up the river under a powerful head of steam.
Cassy’s health was much better. She sat upon the guards, came to the table, and was remarked upon in the boat as a lady that must have been very handsome.
Depuis le premier instant que Georges avait aperçu son visage, il avait été frappé d' une de ces ressemblances indéfinissables et vagues, dont chacun a été préoccupé au moins une fois en sa vie... il ne pouvait s' empêcher de la regarder, de l' examiner sans cesse. Qu' elle fût à table, ou assise à la porte de sa cabine, elle rencontrait toujours les yeux du jeune homme fixés sur elle; il est vrai qu' il les détournait poliment, quand elle lui faisait voir que cet examen la gênait.
From the moment that George got the first glimpse of her face, he was troubled with one of those fleeting and indefinite likenesses, which almost every body can remember, and has been, at times, perplexed with. He could not keep himself from looking at her, and watching her perpetually. At table, or sitting at her state-room door, still she would encounter the young man’s eyes fixed on her, and politely withdrawn, when she showed, by her countenance, that she was sensible to the observation.
Cassy se trouva bientôt mal à son aise. Elle crut que Georges soupçonnait quelque chose. Enfin elle résolut de s' en remettre à sa générosité: elle lui confia son histoire.
Cassy became uneasy. She began to think that he suspected something; and finally resolved to throw herself entirely on his generosity, and intrusted him with her whole history.
Georges était tout plein de sympathie pour une personne qui avait échappé à Legree. Il ne pouvait parler de cette plantation, il ne pouvait y penser de sang-froid; et, avec cette courageuse insouciance des résultats, qui caractérise son âge et sa position, il lui donna l' assurance qu' il ferait tout pour la sauver.
George was heartily disposed to sympathize with any one who had escaped from Legree’s plantation,—a place that he could not remember or speak of with patience,—and, with the courageous disregard of consequences which is characteristic of his age and state, he assured her that he would do all in his power to protect and bring them through.
The next state-room to Cassy’s was occupied by a French lady, named De Thoux, who was accompanied by a fine little daughter, a child of some twelve summers.
This lady, having gathered, from George’s conversation, that he was from Kentucky, seemed evidently disposed to cultivate his acquaintance; in which design she was seconded by the graces of her little girl, who was about as pretty a plaything as ever diverted the weariness of a fortnight’s trip on a steamboat.
George’s chair was often placed at her state-room door; and Cassy, as she sat upon the guards, could hear their conversation.
Mme de Thou faisait les plus minutieuses questions sur le Kentucky, où elle avait, disait -elle, passé sa première enfance. ~~~ Georges fut surpris d' apprendre qu' elle avait vécu dans son propre voisinage; il n' était pas moins étonné qu' elle connût si parfaitement et les personnes et les choses de son pays.
Madame de Thoux was very minute in her inquiries as to Kentucky, where she said she had resided in a former period of her life. George discovered, to his surprise, that her former residence must have been in his own vicinity; and her inquiries showed a knowledge of people and things in his vicinity, that was perfectly surprising to him.
« Connaissez -vous, lui dit un jour Mme de Thou, un homme de votre voisinage du nom de Harris ?
“Do you know,” said Madame de Thoux to him, one day, “of any man, in your neighborhood, of the name of Harris?”
“There is an old fellow, of that name, lives not far from my father’s place,” said George. “We never have had much intercourse with him, though.”
“He is a large slave-owner, I believe,” said Madame de Thoux, with a manner which seemed to betray more interest than she was exactly willing to show.
“He is,” said George, looking rather surprised at her manner.
“Did you ever know of his having—perhaps, you may have heard of his having a mulatto boy, named George?”
“O, certainly,—George Harris,—I know him well; he married a servant of my mother’s, but has escaped, now, to Canada.”
“He has?” said Madame de Thoux, quickly. “Thank God!”
George looked a surprised inquiry, but said nothing.
Mme de Thou appuya sa tête dans sa main et fondit en larmes.
Madame de Thoux leaned her head on her hand, and burst into tears.
“He is my brother,” she said.
-- Quoi ! dit Georges d' un ton de profonde surprise.
“Madame!” said George, with a strong accent of surprise.
“Yes,” said Madame de Thoux, lifting her head, proudly, and wiping her tears, “Mr. Shelby, George Harris is my brother!”
-- Je suis stupéfait, dit Georges; et il recula un peu sa chaise pour contempler attentivement Mme de Thou.
“I am perfectly astonished,” said George, pushing back his chair a pace or two, and looking at Madame de Thoux.
“I was sold to the South when he was a boy,” said she. “I was bought by a good and generous man. He took me with him to the West Indies, set me free, and married me. It is but lately that he died; and I was going up to Kentucky, to see if I could find and redeem my brother.”
“I heard him speak of a sister Emily, that was sold South,” said George.
“Yes, indeed! I am the one,” said Madame de Thoux;—“tell me what sort of a—”
“A very fine young man,” said George, “notwithstanding the curse of slavery that lay on him. He sustained a first rate character, both for intelligence and principle. I know, you see,” he said; “because he married in our family.”
--Et sa femme?
“What sort of a girl?” said Madame de Thoux, eagerly.
“A treasure,” said George; “a beautiful, intelligent, amiable girl. Very pious. My mother had brought her up, and trained her as carefully, almost, as a daughter. She could read and write, embroider and sew, beautifully; and was a beautiful singer.”
“Was she born in your house?” said Madame de Thoux.
-- Non ! mon père l' acheta dans un de ses voyages à la Nouvelle-Orléans et en fit présent à ma mère.... Elle avait huit ou neuf ans. Mon père ne voulut jamais dire ce qu' elle lui avait coûté.... mais l' autre jour, en parcourant ses vieux papiers, nous avons retrouvé le billet de vente.... C' est un prix fabuleux.... mais elle était si belle ! »
“No. Father bought her once, in one of his trips to New Orleans, and brought her up as a present to mother. She was about eight or nine years old, then. Father would never tell mother what he gave for her; but, the other day, in looking over his old papers, we came across the bill of sale. He paid an extravagant sum for her, to be sure. I suppose, on account of her extraordinary beauty.”
George sat with his back to Cassy, and did not see the absorbed expression of her countenance, as he was giving these details.
At this point in the story, she touched his arm, and, with a face perfectly white with interest, said, “Do you know the names of the people he bought her of?”
“A man of the name of Simmons, I think, was the principal in the transaction. At least, I think that was the name on the bill of sale.”
-- O Dieu ! » ~~~ Et Cassy tomba sans connaissance sur le plancher.
“O, my God!” said Cassy, and fell insensible on the floor of the cabin.
Georges et Mme de Thou s' élancèrent au secours de Cassy.... ils montrèrent l' agitation convenable en pareille circonstance; mais ni l' un ni l' autre ne se doutait de la cause de cet évanouissement. Georges, dans l' ardeur de son zèle, renversa une cruche et brisa deux vases.... Dès qu' elles entendirent parler d' un évanouissement, les femmes accoururent; elles se pressèrent autour de Cassy, et interceptèrent ainsi l' air qui l' eût fait revenir.... En somme, tout se passa comme on devait s' y attendre.
George was wide awake now, and so was Madame de Thoux. Though neither of them could conjecture what was the cause of Cassy’s fainting, still they made all the tumult which is proper in such cases;—George upsetting a wash-pitcher, and breaking two tumblers, in the warmth of his humanity; and various ladies in the cabin, hearing that somebody had fainted, crowded the state-room door, and kept out all the air they possibly could, so that, on the whole, everything was done that could be expected.
Pauvre Cassy ! Quand elle fut revenue à elle, elle se tourna du côté du mur, et pleura et sanglota comme un enfant. O mères qui me lisez ! vous pouvez peut-être dire quelles étaient alors ses pensées. Peut-être aussi ne le pouvez -vous pas ! Mais, en ce moment, elle sentit que Dieu avait pitié d' elle et qu' elle reverrait sa fille.... ~~~ Et en effet, quelques mois après.... ~~~ Mais n' anticipons point sur les événements.
Poor Cassy! when she recovered, turned her face to the wall, and wept and sobbed like a child,—perhaps, mother, you can tell what she was thinking of! Perhaps you cannot,—but she felt as sure, in that hour, that God had had mercy on her, and that she should see her daughter,—as she did, months afterwards,—when—but we anticipate.
CHAPITRE XLIII. ~~~ Résultats.
CHAPTER XLIII Results
Le reste de l' histoire sera bientôt dit. ~~~ Georges Shelby, comme tout jeune homme l' eût été à sa place, fut vivement intéressé par ce qu' il y avait de romanesque dans ce nouvel incident.... Il était d'ailleurs humain et bon. Il fit parvenir à Cassy le billet de vente d' Élisa; la date, le nom, tout coïncidait. Il ne restait plus dans son esprit le moindre doute sur l' identité de l' enfant. Il n' y avait plus qu' une chose à faire: se mettre sur la trace des fugitifs.
The rest of our story is soon told. George Shelby, interested, as any other young man might be, by the romance of the incident, no less than by feelings of humanity, was at the pains to send to Cassy the bill of sale of Eliza; whose date and name all corresponded with her own knowledge of facts, and felt no doubt upon her mind as to the identity of her child. It remained now only for her to trace out the path of the fugitives.
Cassy et Mme de Thou, ainsi réunies par la communauté de leur destinée, passèrent immédiatement au Canada et visitèrent les stations où sont accueillis les nombreux fugitifs qui passent la frontière. ~~~ Elles trouvèrent à Amherstberg le missionnaire qui avait reçu Élisa et Georges à leur arrivée. Elles purent, grâce à ses indications, suivre les traces de la famille jusqu' à Montréal.
Madame de Thoux and she, thus drawn together by the singular coincidence of their fortunes, proceeded immediately to Canada, and began a tour of inquiry among the stations, where the numerous fugitives from slavery are located. At Amherstberg they found the missionary with whom George and Eliza had taken shelter, on their first arrival in Canada; and through him were enabled to trace the family to Montreal.
George and Eliza had now been five years free. George had found constant occupation in the shop of a worthy machinist, where he had been earning a competent support for his family, which, in the mean time, had been increased by the addition of another daughter.
Little Harry—a fine bright boy—had been put to a good school, and was making rapid proficiency in knowledge.
Le digne missionnaire d' Amherstberg s' intéressa si vivement au succès des recherches de Mme de Thou et de Cassy, qu' il céda à leurs sollicitations et les accompagna à Montréal; Mme de Thou paya la dépense[22 ]. ~~~ [ 22 ] Ce dernier détail ne laisse pas que d' avoir la _couleur_ anglo-américaine.
The worthy pastor of the station, in Amherstberg, where George had first landed, was so much interested in the statements of Madame de Thoux and Cassy, that he yielded to the solicitations of the former, to accompany them to Montreal, in their search,—she bearing all the expense of the expedition.
Ici changement de scène: nous sommes dans une charmante petite maison du faubourg de Montréal. C' est le soir. Le feu pétille dans l' âtre. La table est mise pour le thé. La nappe étincelle dans sa blancheur de neige. Dans un coin de la chambre on voit une autre table, couverte d' un tapis vert et garnie d' un petit pupitre.... Voici des plumes et du papier; au-dessus, des rayons de livres.
The scene now changes to a small, neat tenement, in the outskirts of Montreal; the time, evening. A cheerful fire blazes on the hearth; a tea-table, covered with a snowy cloth, stands prepared for the evening meal. In one corner of the room was a table covered with a green cloth, where was an open writing-desk, pens, paper, and over it a shelf of well-selected books.
This was George’s study. The same zeal for self-improvement, which led him to steal the much coveted arts of reading and writing, amid all the toil and discouragements of his early life, still led him to devote all his leisure time to self-cultivation.
At this present time, he is seated at the table, making notes from a volume of the family library he has been reading.
“Come, George,” says Eliza, “you’ve been gone all day. Do put down that book, and let’s talk, while I’m getting tea,—do.”
And little Eliza seconds the effort, by toddling up to her father, and trying to pull the book out of his hand, and install herself on his knee as a substitute.
“O, you little witch!” says George, yielding, as, in such circumstances, man always must.
“That’s right,” says Eliza, as she begins to cut a loaf of bread. A little older she looks; her form a little fuller; her air more matronly than of yore; but evidently contented and happy as woman need be.
“Harry, my boy, how did you come on in that sum, today?” says George, as he laid his hand on his son’s head.
Harry has lost his long curls; but he can never lose those eyes and eyelashes, and that fine, bold brow, that flushes with triumph, as he answers, “I did it, every bit of it, _myself_, father; and _nobody_ helped me!”
“That’s right,” says his father; “depend on yourself, my son. You have a better chance than ever your poor father had.”
At this moment, there is a rap at the door; and Eliza goes and opens it. The delighted—“Why! this you?”—calls up her husband; and the good pastor of Amherstberg is welcomed. There are two more women with him, and Eliza asks them to sit down.
Now, if the truth must be told, the honest pastor had arranged a little programme, according to which this affair was to develop itself; and, on the way up, all had very cautiously and prudently exhorted each other not to let things out, except according to previous arrangement.
Quelle fut donc sa consternation quand, après avoir fait asseoir les deux femmes et tiré son mouchoir pour s' essuyer la bouche et préparer son éloquence, il vit Mme de Thou déranger toutes ses combinaisons en jetant ses bras au cou de Georges avec ce cri qui disait tout: « Georges, ne me reconnais -tu pas ?... ta soeur.... Émilie ? »
What was the good man’s consternation, therefore, just as he had motioned to the ladies to be seated, and was taking out his pocket-handkerchief to wipe his mouth, so as to proceed to his introductory speech in good order, when Madame de Thoux upset the whole plan, by throwing her arms around George’s neck, and letting all out at once, by saying, “O, George! don’t you know me? I’m your sister Emily.”
Cassy, au contraire, s' était assise avec calme; elle voulait, elle, se conformer au programme; mais la petite Élise se montrant à elle tout à coup, la taille, le visage, la tournure, chaque trait, chaque boucle de cheveux, comme Élisa, le jour où elle la vit pour la dernière fois, et la petite créature la regardant si fixement.... elle ne put s' empêcher de la saisir dans ses bras et de la serrer contre son coeur en s' écriant: « Chère petite, je suis ta mère ! »
Cassy had seated herself more composedly, and would have carried on her part very well, had not little Eliza suddenly appeared before her in exact shape and form, every outline and curl, just as her daughter was when she saw her last. The little thing peered up in her face; and Cassy caught her up in her arms, pressed her to her bosom, saying, what, at the moment she really believed, “Darling, I’m your mother!”
Ah ! vraiment, il était bien difficile de suivre le programme du bon pasteur. Il réussit, cependant, à calmer tout le monde et à prononcer le petit discours qu' il avait préparé. Il le débita avec une telle onction, que tous fondirent en larmes. Il y avait de quoi satisfaire l' orateur le plus exigeant des temps anciens et des temps modernes.
In fact, it was a troublesome matter to do up exactly in proper order; but the good pastor, at last, succeeded in getting everybody quiet, and delivering the speech with which he had intended to open the exercises; and in which, at last, he succeeded so well, that his whole audience were sobbing about him in a manner that ought to satisfy any orator, ancient or modern.
Tout le monde s' agenouilla, et le missionnaire pria.... Il est des sentiments si agités et si tumultueux qu' ils ne peuvent trouver de repos qu' en s' épanchant dans le sein de l' éternel amour !... Ils se relevèrent, et toute cette famille retrouvée s' embrassa avec une souveraine confiance dans celui qui, les retirant de tant de périls et de dangers, les avait conduits par des voies si inconnues, et enfin réunis pour toujours.
They knelt together, and the good man prayed,—for there are some feelings so agitated and tumultuous, that they can find rest only by being poured into the bosom of Almighty love,—and then, rising up, the new-found family embraced each other, with a holy trust in Him, who from such peril and dangers, and by such unknown ways, had brought them together.
Les notes des missionnaires parmi les fugitifs du Canada contiennent souvent des récits véritables plus étranges que les fictions. ~~~ Et pourrait -il en être autrement, sous l' empire d' un système qui éparpille et disperse les familles, comme les tourbillons du vent d' automne dispersent et éparpillent les feuilles ? ~~~ Ce rivage du refuge, comme l' éternel rivage, rassemble parfois, dans une joyeuse union, des coeurs qui bien longtemps se sont crus perdus et se sont pleurés. Il n' y a pas d' expression pour rendre ces émotions profondes qui accueillent l' arrivée de chaque nouveau venu qui peut apporter des nouvelles d' une mère, d' une soeur, d' un enfant, dérobés aux regards qui les aiment par l' ombre de l' esclavage !
The note-book of a missionary, among the Canadian fugitives, contains truth stranger than fiction. How can it be otherwise, when a system prevails which whirls families and scatters their members, as the wind whirls and scatters the leaves of autumn? These shores of refuge, like the eternal shore, often unite again, in glad communion, hearts that for long years have mourned each other as lost. And affecting beyond expression is the earnestness with which every new arrival among them is met, if, perchance, it may bring tidings of mother, sister, child or wife, still lost to view in the shadows of slavery.
Deeds of heroism are wrought here more than those of romance, when defying torture, and braving death itself, the fugitive voluntarily threads his way back to the terrors and perils of that dark land, that he may bring out his sister, or mother, or wife.
Un jeune homme, dont un missionnaire nous a raconté l' histoire, après avoir été repris deux fois, après avoir subi les plus affreuses tortures, était parvenu à s' échapper encore. Dans une lettre que nous avons entendu lire il annonce à ses amis qu' il recommence pour la troisième fois sa terrible expédition et qu' il espère enfin délivrer sa soeur. Lecteurs, mes amis, dites -moi si cet homme est un criminel ou un héros; n' en feriez -vous pas autant pour votre soeur.... et pouvez -vous le blâmer ?
One young man, of whom a missionary has told us, twice re-captured, and suffering shameful stripes for his heroism, had escaped again; and, in a letter which we heard read, tells his friends that he is going back a third time, that he may, at last, bring away his sister. My good sir, is this man a hero, or a criminal? Would not you do as much for your sister? And can you blame him?
Mais revenons à nos amis. Nous les avons laissés essuyant leurs yeux: ils se remirent enfin de cette joie trop grande et trop soudaine. ~~~ En ce moment, ils sont tous assis autour de la table de famille, fort ravis d' être ensemble et parfaitement d'accord. Seulement Cassy, qui tient la petite Élise sur ses genoux, la serre parfois d' une façon dont l' enfant s' étonne.... elle ne veut pas non plus se laisser fourrer dans la bouche autant de gâteau qu' il plairait à l' enfant.... elle dit qu' elle a quelque chose qui vaut bien mieux que le gâteau, et qu' elle n' en veut pas; ce qui étonne beaucoup l' enfant.
But, to return to our friends, whom we left wiping their eyes, and recovering themselves from too great and sudden a joy. They are now seated around the social board, and are getting decidedly companionable; only that Cassy, who keeps little Eliza on her lap, occasionally squeezes the little thing, in a manner that rather astonishes her, and obstinately refuses to have her mouth stuffed with cake to the extent the little one desires,—alleging, what the child rather wonders at, that she has got something better than cake, and doesn’t want it.
Deux ou trois jours ont suffi pour changer Cassy à tel point que nos lecteurs mêmes la reconnaîtraient à peine. La douce confiance a remplacé le désespoir qu' on voyait dans ses yeux hagards.... Elle se jetait tout entière dans le sein de la famille.... elle portait ses petits enfants dans son coeur, comme quelque chose dont elle avait longtemps manqué. Son amour semblait tout naturellement se répandre sur la petite Élise plus encore que sur sa propre fille: la petite Élise était l' image de sa fille telle qu' elle l' avait perdue ! Cette chère petite était comme un lien de fleurs entre sa mère et sa grand'mère; elle portait la familiarité et l' affection de l' une à l' autre. La piété d' Élisa, solide, égale, réglée par la lecture constante de l' Écriture sainte, était le guide nécessaire à l' âme ébranlée et fatiguée de sa mère. Cassy cédait, et cédait de tout son coeur, à toutes les bonnes influences: elle devenait une dévote et tendre chrétienne.
And, indeed, in two or three days, such a change has passed over Cassy, that our readers would scarcely know her. The despairing, haggard expression of her face had given way to one of gentle trust. She seemed to sink, at once, into the bosom of the family, and take the little ones into her heart, as something for which it long had waited. Indeed, her love seemed to flow more naturally to the little Eliza than to her own daughter; for she was the exact image and body of the child whom she had lost. The little one was a flowery bond between mother and daughter, through whom grew up acquaintanceship and affection. Eliza’s steady, consistent piety, regulated by the constant reading of the sacred word, made her a proper guide for the shattered and wearied mind of her mother. Cassy yielded at once, and with her whole soul, to every good influence, and became a devout and tender Christian.
After a day or two, Madame de Thoux told her brother more particularly of her affairs. The death of her husband had left her an ample fortune, which she generously offered to share with the family. When she asked George what way she could best apply it for him, he answered, “Give me an education, Emily; that has always been my heart’s desire. Then, I can do all the rest.”
On mature deliberation, it was decided that the whole family should go, for some years, to France; whither they sailed, carrying Emmeline with them.
The good looks of the latter won the affection of the first mate of the vessel; and, shortly after entering the port, she became his wife.
George remained four years at a French university, and, applying himself with an unintermitted zeal, obtained a very thorough education.
Political troubles in France, at last, led the family again to seek an asylum in this country.
George’s feelings and views, as an educated man, may be best expressed in a letter to one of his friends.
« Je ne laisse pas que d' être assez embarrassé de mon avenir.... Je conviens que je pourrais me mêler aux blancs, comme vous le dites fort bien. Ma teinte est si légère !... celle de ma femme et de mes enfants est à peine reconnaissable.... Oui, je le pourrais.... mais, pour vous dire le vrai, je n' en ai pas trop d' envie.
“I feel somewhat at a loss, as to my future course. True, as you have said to me, I might mingle in the circles of the whites, in this country, my shade of color is so slight, and that of my wife and family scarce perceptible. Well, perhaps, on sufferance, I might. But, to tell you the truth, I have no wish to.
« Mes sympathies ne sont plus pour la race de mon père; elles appartiennent toutes à la race de ma mère.... Pour mon père, je n' étais qu' un beau chien ou un beau cheval.... pas beaucoup plus ! Mais pour ma mère, pauvre coeur brisé, j' étais un enfant ! Depuis cette vente fatale, qui nous sépara pour jamais, je ne l' ai pas revue. Mais je sais qu' elle m' aime toujours chèrement; c' est mon coeur qui me le dit. Quand je pense à tout ce qu' elle a souffert, quand je pense aux douleurs de mon premier âge, aux luttes et aux angoisses de mon héroïque femme, de ma soeur, vendue sur le marché de la Nouvelle-Orléans.... j' espère que je n' ai pas de sentiments indignes d' un chrétien.... mais j' espère aussi qu' on me pardonnera de dire que je n' ai pas un extrême désir de passer pour un Américain, ou de me mêler aux Américains. C' est à la race africaine que je m' identifie.... la race opprimée.... la race esclave.... Si je désirais quelque chose, je me souhaiterais plutôt deux degrés de plus dans les teintes brunes qu' un degré de plus dans les teintes blanches....
“My sympathies are not for my father’s race, but for my mother’s. To him I was no more than a fine dog or horse: to my poor heart-broken mother I was a _child_; and, though I never saw her, after the cruel sale that separated us, till she died, yet I _know_ she always loved me dearly. I know it by my own heart. When I think of all she suffered, of my own early sufferings, of the distresses and struggles of my heroic wife, of my sister, sold in the New Orleans slave-market,—though I hope to have no unchristian sentiments, yet I may be excused for saying, I have no wish to pass for an American, or to identify myself with them. ~~~ “It is with the oppressed, enslaved African race that I cast in my lot; and, if I wished anything, I would wish myself two shades darker, rather than one lighter.
« Le désir, le voeu de mon âme, c' est de fonder une nationalité africaine. Je veux un peuple qui ait une existence séparée, indépendante, propre à lui. Où sera la patrie de ce peuple ? Je regarde autour de moi ! Ce n' est point dans Haïti; il n' y a pas là d' éléments: les ruisseaux ne remontent pas leur cours, la race qui a formé le caractère des Haïtiens était abâtardie, épuisée, alanguie; il faudra des siècles pour qu' Haïti devienne quelque chose.
“The desire and yearning of my soul is for an African _nationality_. I want a people that shall have a tangible, separate existence of its own; and where am I to look for it? Not in Hayti; for in Hayti they had nothing to start with. A stream cannot rise above its fountain. The race that formed the character of the Haytiens was a worn-out, effeminate one; and, of course, the subject race will be centuries in rising to anything.
« Où donc aller ? ~~~ « Sur la côte d' Afrique je vois une république, une république formée d' hommes choisis, qui, par leur énergie et une instruction qu' ils se sont donnée à eux-mêmes, se sont, pour la plupart, individuellement élevés au-dessus de leur primitive condition d' esclaves. Cette république a fait le stage de sa faiblesse, et elle est enfin devenue une nation à la face du monde, une nation reconnue par la France et par l' Angleterre.... ~~~ « Voilà où je veux aller: voilà le peuple dont je veux être.
“Where, then, shall I look? On the shores of Africa I see a republic,—a republic formed of picked men, who, by energy and self-educating force, have, in many cases, individually, raised themselves above a condition of slavery. Having gone through a preparatory stage of feebleness, this republic has, at last, become an acknowledged nation on the face of the earth,—acknowledged by both France and England. There it is my wish to go, and find myself a people.
« Je sais bien que vous serez contre moi; mais avant de frapper, écoutez ! ~~~ « Pendant mon séjour en France, j' ai suivi de l' oeil, avec le plus profond intérêt, les péripéties de ma race en Amérique. J' ai pris garde aux luttes des abolitionnistes et des colons. A cette distance, étant simple spectateur, j' ai reçu des impressions qui n' auraient pas été les mêmes, si j' eusse pris part à la querelle.
“I am aware, now, that I shall have you all against me; but, before you strike, hear me. During my stay in France, I have followed up, with intense interest, the history of my people in America. I have noted the struggle between abolitionist and colonizationist, and have received some impressions, as a distant spectator, which could never have occurred to me as a participator.
« Je sais que, dans la bouche de mes adversaires, cette Libéria a fourni toute sorte d' arguments contre nous: on en a fait des portraits de fantaisie, pour retarder l' heure de notre émancipation. Mais, au-dessus de tous ces inventeurs, n' y a -t-il pas Dieu ? Pour moi, voilà la question: ses lois ne sont -elles pas au-dessus des défenses des hommes, et ne peut -il pas fonder notre nationalité ?
“I grant that this Liberia may have subserved all sorts of purposes, by being played off, in the hands of our oppressors, against us. Doubtless the scheme may have been used, in unjustifiable ways, as a means of retarding our emancipation. But the question to me is, Is there not a God above all man’s schemes? May He not have over-ruled their designs, and founded for us a nation by them?
« A notre époque, une nation se crée en un jour. Aujourd'hui une nation jaillit du sol et trouve, résolus à l' avance et sous sa main, tous les problèmes de la vie sociale et républicaine: on n' a pas à découvrir; il ne reste plus que la peine d' appliquer. Réunissons donc tous ensemble nos communs efforts, et voyons ce que nous pourrons faire de cette entreprise nouvelle. Le continent tout entier de cette splendide Afrique s' étend devant nous et devant nos enfants....
“In these days, a nation is born in a day. A nation starts, now, with all the great problems of republican life and civilization wrought out to its hand;—it has not to discover, but only to apply. Let us, then, all take hold together, with all our might, and see what we can do with this new enterprise, and the whole splendid continent of Africa opens before us and our children. _Our nation_ shall roll the tide of civilization and Christianity along its shores, and plant there mighty republics, that, growing with the rapidity of tropical vegetation, shall be for all coming ages.
“Do you say that I am deserting my enslaved brethren? I think not. If I forget them one hour, one moment of my life, so may God forget me! But, what can I do for them, here? Can I break their chains? No, not as an individual; but, let me go and form part of a nation, which shall have a voice in the councils of nations, and then we can speak. A nation has a right to argue, remonstrate, implore, and present the cause of its race,—which an individual has not.
« Direz -vous que je déserte la cause de mes frères ? Non ! si je les oublie un jour, une heure de ma vie, que Dieu m' oublie à mon tour ! Mais que puis -je faire pour eux ici ? Puis -je briser leurs chaînes ? Non; comme individu, je ne le puis.... Laissez -moi donc m' éloigner ! que je fasse partie d' une nation.... que j' aie ma voix dans les conseils d' un peuple, et alors je parlerai ! une nation a le droit de demander, d' exiger, de discuter, de plaider la cause de sa race.... Ce droit, un individu ne l' a pas !
“If Europe ever becomes a grand council of free nations,—as I trust in God it will,—if, there, serfdom, and all unjust and oppressive social inequalities, are done away; and if they, as France and England have done, acknowledge our position,—then, in the great congress of nations, we will make our appeal, and present the cause of our enslaved and suffering race; and it cannot be that free, enlightened America will not then desire to wipe from her escutcheon that bar sinister which disgraces her among nations, and is as truly a curse to her as to the enslaved.
« Si jamais l' Europe devient une grande fédération, et j' ai trop de foi en Dieu pour ne pas l' espérer ! si elle abolit le servage, et tout ce qu' il y a d' oppressif et d' injuste dans les inégalités sociales.... si, comme la France et l' Angleterre, elle reconnaît notre position.... alors nous porterons notre appel devant le grand congrès des nations, et nous plaiderons la cause de notre race vaincue et enchaînée ! et alors il ne sera pas possible que cette intelligente et libre Amérique ne veuille pas effacer de son écusson cette barre sinistre qui la dégrade parmi les nations, et qui est une malédiction pour elle aussi bien que pour ses esclaves ! ~~~ « Vous me direz que notre race a le droit de se mêler à la république américaine aussi bien que les Irlandais, les Allemands, les Suédois.
“But, you will tell me, our race have equal rights to mingle in the American republic as the Irishman, the German, the Swede. Granted, they have. We _ought_ to be free to meet and mingle,—to rise by our individual worth, without any consideration of caste or color; and they who deny us this right are false to their own professed principles of human equality. We ought, in particular, to be allowed _here_. We have _more_ than the rights of common men;—we have the claim of an injured race for reparation. But, then, _I do not want it_; I want a country, a nation, of my own. I think that the African race has peculiarities, yet to be unfolded in the light of civilization and Christianity, which, if not the same with those of the Anglo-Saxon, may prove to be, morally, of even a higher type.
« Soit ! ~~~ « Nous devrions être libres de nous rencontrer avec les Américains, de nous mêler à eux.... et de nous élever par notre mérite personnel sans aucune considération de caste ou de couleur.... Ceux qui nous refusent ce droit sont inconséquents avec le principe d' égalité humaine si hautement professé, et ce droit, c' est ici surtout qu' on devrait nous le reconnaître. Nous avons plus que les simples droits de l' homme, nous pouvons demander la réparation de l' injure faite à notre race.... Mais je ne demande pas cela.... ce que je demande, c' est un pays.... c' est une nation dont je sois ! Je crois que parmi la race africaine, ces principes se développeront un jour à la lumière de la civilisation chrétienne. Vos mérites ne sont pas les mêmes que ceux de la race anglo-saxonne, mais je crois qu' ils sont d' un degré plus haut dans l' ordre moral. Les destinées du monde ont été confiées à la race anglo-saxonne, à l' époque violente du défrichement et de la lutte. Elle possède tout ce qu' il fallait pour cette mission, la rudesse, l' énergie, l' inflexibilité.... Comme chrétien, j' attends qu' il s' ouvre une ère nouvelle. Nous sommes sur le point de la voir paraître.... les convulsions qui bouleversent aujourd'hui les peuples ne sont, je l' espère, que l' enfantement douloureux de la paix et de la fraternité universelles.
“To the Anglo-Saxon race has been intrusted the destinies of the world, during its pioneer period of struggle and conflict. To that mission its stern, inflexible, energetic elements, were well adapted; but, as a Christian, I look for another era to arise. On its borders I trust we stand; and the throes that now convulse the nations are, to my hope, but the birth-pangs of an hour of universal peace and brotherhood.
« J' en ai la confiance; le développement de l' Afrique sera chrétien. Si nous ne sommes point la race de la domination et du commandement, nous sommes, du moins, la race de l' affection, de la magnanimité et du pardon. Après avoir été précipités dans la fournaise ardente de l' injustice, il faut que nous nous attachions plus étroitement que les autres à cette sublime doctrine du pardon et de l' amour; là sera notre victoire. Notre mission est de la répandre sur le continent africain.
“I trust that the development of Africa is to be essentially a Christian one. If not a dominant and commanding race, they are, at least, an affectionate, magnanimous, and forgiving one. Having been called in the furnace of injustice and oppression, they have need to bind closer to their hearts that sublime doctrine of love and forgiveness, through which alone they are to conquer, which it is to be their mission to spread over the continent of Africa.
« Je me rends justice, je sens que je suis trop faible pour cette mission.... J' ai dans les veines trop de ce sang brûlé et corrompu des Saxons.... Mais j' ai tout près de moi un éloquent prédicateur de l' Évangile.... ma femme.... ma belle Élisa ! Quand je m' égare, son doux esprit me retient; elle remet sous mes yeux la mission chrétienne de notre race. Comme patriote chrétien, comme prédicateur de l' Évangile, je retourne vers mon pays, ma glorieuse Afrique, la terre de mon choix ! C' est à elle, dans mon coeur, que j' applique parfois ces splendides paroles des prophètes: « Parce que tu es abandonnée et détestée, et que les hommes ne voulaient plus te traverser, je te donnerai une éternelle suprématie, qui fera la joie de tes générations sans nombre ! »
“In myself, I confess, I am feeble for this,—full half the blood in my veins is the hot and hasty Saxon; but I have an eloquent preacher of the Gospel ever by my side, in the person of my beautiful wife. When I wander, her gentler spirit ever restores me, and keeps before my eyes the Christian calling and mission of our race. As a Christian patriot, as a teacher of Christianity, I go to _my country_,—my chosen, my glorious Africa!—and to her, in my heart, I sometimes apply those splendid words of prophecy: ’Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee; _I_ will make thee an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations!’
« Vous me direz que je suis un enthousiaste, que je n' ai pas réfléchi à ce que j' entreprends.... Au contraire, j' ai pesé et calculé. Je vais à Libéria, non pas comme à un Élysée romanesque, mais comme à un champ de travail.... et je travaillerai des deux mains.... je travaillerai dur.... malgré les difficultés et les obstacles.... je travaillerai jusqu' à ce que je meure ! Voilà pourquoi je pars.... je n' aurai pas de déceptions.
“You will call me an enthusiast: you will tell me that I have not well considered what I am undertaking. But I have considered, and counted the cost. I go to _Liberia_, not as an Elysium of romance, but as to _a field of work_. I expect to work with both hands,—to work _hard_; to work against all sorts of difficulties and discouragements; and to work till I die. This is what I go for; and in this I am quite sure I shall not be disappointed.
“Whatever you may think of my determination, do not divorce me from your confidence; and think that, in whatever I do, I act with a heart wholly given to my people.
«GEORGES HARRIS.»
“GEORGE HARRIS.”
........................ ~~~ Quelques semaines après, Georges, sa soeur, sa mère, sa femme et ses enfants s' embarquaient pour l' Afrique. Nous nous trompons fort, ou le monde entendra encore parler de lui !
George, with his wife, children, sister and mother, embarked for Africa, some few weeks after. If we are not mistaken, the world will yet hear from him there.
Of our other characters we have nothing very particular to write, except a word relating to Miss Ophelia and Topsy, and a farewell chapter, which we shall dedicate to George Shelby.
Miss Ophélia emmena Topsy avec elle dans le Vermont. Grande fut la surprise de ce respectable corps délibérant, qu' une bouche de la Nouvelle-Angleterre appelle toujours « nos gens. » Nos gens pensèrent donc tout d'abord que c' était une addition aussi bizarre qu' inutile à leur maison, très-complétement montée. Mais les efforts de miss Ophélia pour remplir le devoir d' éducation qu' elle avait accepté avaient été couronnés d' un tel succès, que Topsy se concilia rapidement les bonnes grâces et les faveurs de la famille et de tout le voisinage. Parvenue à l' adolescence, elle demanda à être baptisée, et elle devint membre de l' Église chrétienne de sa ville. Elle montra tant d' intelligence, de zèle, d' activité et un si vif désir de faire le bien, qu' on l' envoya, en qualité de missionnaire, dans une des stations d' Afrique; et cet actif et ingénieux esprit, qui avait fait d' elle un enfant si remuant et si vif, elle l' employa, d' une façon plus utile et plus noble, à instruire les enfants de son pays.
Miss Ophelia took Topsy home to Vermont with her, much to the surprise of the grave deliberative body whom a New Englander recognizes under the term “_Our folks_.” “Our folks,” at first, thought it an odd and unnecessary addition to their well-trained domestic establishment; but, so thoroughly efficient was Miss Ophelia in her conscientious endeavor to do her duty by her _ilhve_, that the child rapidly grew in grace and in favor with the family and neighborhood. At the age of womanhood, she was, by her own request, baptized, and became a member of the Christian church in the place; and showed so much intelligence, activity and zeal, and desire to do good in the world, that she was at last recommended, and approved as a missionary to one of the stations in Africa; and we have heard that the same activity and ingenuity which, when a child, made her so multiform and restless in her developments, is now employed, in a safer and wholesomer manner, in teaching the children of her own country.
Peut-être quelques mères seront heureuses d' apprendre que les recherches de Mme de Thou la mirent enfin sur les traces du fils de Cassy. C' était un grand jeune homme énergique; il avait réussi à s' enfuir quelques années avant sa mère. Il avait été accueilli et instruit dans le nord par des amis dévoués au malheur. Il rejoindra bientôt sa famille en Afrique.
P.S.—It will be a satisfaction to some mother, also, to state, that some inquiries, which were set on foot by Madame de Thoux, have resulted recently in the discovery of Cassy’s son. Being a young man of energy, he had escaped, some years before his mother, and been received and educated by friends of the oppressed in the north. He will soon follow his family to Africa.
CHAPITRE XLIV. ~~~ Le libérateur.
CHAPTER XLIV The Liberator
Georges Shelby n' avait écrit qu' une seule ligne à sa mère pour lui apprendre le moment de son retour. Il n' avait pas eu le coeur de raconter la scène de mort à laquelle il avait assisté; il avait essayé plusieurs fois.... ses souvenirs l' avaient comme suffoqué. Il finissait toujours par déchirer son papier, essuyait ses yeux et sortait pour retrouver un peu de calme.
George Shelby had written to his mother merely a line, stating the day that she might expect him home. Of the death scene of his old friend he had not the heart to write. He had tried several times, and only succeeded in half choking himself; and invariably finished by tearing up the paper, wiping his eyes, and rushing somewhere to get quiet.
There was a pleased bustle all through the Shelby mansion, that day, in expectation of the arrival of young Mas’r George.
Mme Shelby était assise dans son salon. Un bon feu chassait l' humidité des derniers soirs d' automne. Sur la table du souper brillaient la riche vaisselle et les cristaux à facettes. ~~~ La mère Chloé présidait à tout l' arrangement.
Mrs. Shelby was seated in her comfortable parlor, where a cheerful hickory fire was dispelling the chill of the late autumn evening. A supper-table, glittering with plate and cut glass, was set out, on whose arrangements our former friend, old Chloe, was presiding.
Arrayed in a new calico dress, with clean, white apron, and high, well-starched turban, her black polished face glowing with satisfaction, she lingered, with needless punctiliousness, around the arrangements of the table, merely as an excuse for talking a little to her mistress.
« Oh ! là ! comme il va se trouver bien ! dit -elle. Là ! je mets son couvert à la place qu' il aime, du côté du feu. M. Georges veut toujours une place chaude. Eh bien ! pourquoi Sally n' a -t-elle point sorti la meilleure théière ? La petite neuve que M. Georges a achetée pour madame à la Noël.... Je vais la prendre. Madame a reçu des nouvelles de M. Georges ? ajouta -t-elle d' un ton assez inquiet....
“Laws, now! won’t it look natural to him?” she said. “Thar,—I set his plate just whar he likes it round by the fire. Mas’r George allers wants de warm seat. O, go way!—why didn’t Sally get out de _best_ tea-pot,—de little new one, Mas’r George got for Missis, Christmas? I’ll have it out! And Missis has heard from Mas’r George?” she said, inquiringly.
“Yes, Chloe; but only a line, just to say he would be home tonight, if he could,—that’s all.”
-- Et pas un mot de mon pauvre vieil homme ? dit Chloé en retournant les tasses.
“Didn’t say nothin’ ’bout my old man, s’pose?” said Chloe, still fidgeting with the tea-cups.
“No, he didn’t. He did not speak of anything, Chloe. He said he would tell all, when he got home.”
“Jes like Mas’r George,—he’s allers so ferce for tellin’ everything hisself. I allers minded dat ar in Mas’r George. Don’t see, for my part, how white people gen’lly can bar to hev to write things much as they do, writin’ ’s such slow, oneasy kind o’ work.”
Mme Shelby sourit.
Mrs. Shelby smiled.
« Je crois bien que mon pauvre vieil homme ne reconnaîtra pas les enfants.... Et la petite ? Dame ! est -elle forte maintenant ! Elle est bonne aussi, et jolie, jolie ! Elle est maintenant à la maison pour surveiller le gâteau.... Je lui ai fait un gâteau juste comme il les aime.... et la cuisson à point pour lui. Il est comme celui.... le matin.... quand il partit ! Dieu ! comme j' étais, moi, ce matin -là ! »
“I’m a thinkin’ my old man won’t know de boys and de baby. Lor’! she’s de biggest gal, now,—good she is, too, and peart, Polly is. She’s out to the house, now, watchin’ de hoe-cake. I ’s got jist de very pattern my old man liked so much, a bakin’. Jist sich as I gin him the mornin’ he was took off. Lord bless us! how I felt, dat ar morning!”
Mme Shelby soupira. Elle avait un poids sur le coeur.... Elle était tourmentée depuis qu' elle avait reçu la lettre de son fils.... Elle pressentait quelque malheur derrière ce voile du silence.
Mrs. Shelby sighed, and felt a heavy weight on her heart, at this allusion. She had felt uneasy, ever since she received her son’s letter, lest something should prove to be hidden behind the veil of silence which he had drawn.
“Missis has got dem bills?” said Chloe, anxiously.
--Oui, Chloé.
“Yes, Chloe.”
-- C' est que je veux montrer les mêmes billets à mon pauvre homme, les mêmes que le _chabricant_ m' a donnés.... « Chloé ! » me dit -il, « je voudrais vous garder plus longtemps ! -- Merci ! maître, lui dis -je, mais mon pauvre homme revient, et madame ne peut se passer de moi plus longtemps.... » Voilà juste ce que je lui dis.... Un très-joli homme, ce M. Jones ! »
“‘Cause I wants to show my old man dem very bills de _perfectioner_ gave me. ‘And,’ say he, ‘Chloe, I wish you’d stay longer.’ ‘Thank you, Mas’r,’ says I, ‘I would, only my old man’s coming home, and Missis,—she can’t do without me no longer.’ There’s jist what I telled him. Berry nice man, dat Mas’r Jones was.”
Chloe had pertinaciously insisted that the very bills in which her wages had been paid should be preserved, to show her husband, in memorial of her capability. And Mrs. Shelby had readily consented to humor her in the request.
« Il ne connaît pas Polly, mon vieil homme.... non ! il ne la connaît pas !... oh ! voilà cinq ans qu' ils l' ont pris !... elle n' était qu' un baby.... elle ne pouvait pas se tenir debout. Vous souvenez -vous, madame, comme il avait peur qu' elle ne tombât quand elle essayait de marcher.... pauvre cher homme ! »
“He won’t know Polly,—my old man won’t. Laws, it’s five year since they tuck him! She was a baby den,—couldn’t but jist stand. Remember how tickled he used to be, cause she would keep a fallin’ over, when she sot out to walk. Laws a me!”
On entendit un bruit de roues.
The rattling of wheels now was heard.
« Monsieur Georges ! » Et Chloé bondit vers la fenêtre.
“Mas’r George!” said Aunt Chloe, starting to the window.
Mrs. Shelby ran to the entry door, and was folded in the arms of her son. Aunt Chloe stood anxiously straining her eyes out into the darkness.
“O, _poor_ Aunt Chloe!” said George, stopping compassionately, and taking her hard, black hand between both his; “I’d have given all my fortune to have brought him with me, but he’s gone to a better country.”
There was a passionate exclamation from Mrs. Shelby, but Aunt Chloe said nothing.
The party entered the supper-room. The money, of which Chloe was so proud, was still lying on the table.
“Thar,” said she, gathering it up, and holding it, with a trembling hand, to her mistress, “don’t never want to see nor hear on ’t again. Jist as I knew ’t would be,—sold, and murdered on dem ar’ old plantations!”
Chloe turned, and was walking proudly out of the room. Mrs. Shelby followed her softly, and took one of her hands, drew her down into a chair, and sat down by her.
«Ma pauvre bonne Chloé!»
“My poor, good Chloe!” said she.
Chloe leaned her head on her mistress’ shoulder, and sobbed out, “O Missis! ’scuse me, my heart’s broke,—dat’s all!”
“I know it is,” said Mrs. Shelby, as her tears fell fast; “and _I_ cannot heal it, but Jesus can. He healeth the broken hearted, and bindeth up their wounds.”
Il y eut quelques instants de silence, et ils pleurèrent tous ensemble.
There was a silence for some time, and all wept together. At last, George, sitting down beside the mourner, took her hand, and, with simple pathos, repeated the triumphant scene of her husband’s death, and his last messages of love.
About a month after this, one morning, all the servants of the Shelby estate were convened together in the great hall that ran through the house, to hear a few words from their young master.
To the surprise of all, he appeared among them with a bundle of papers in his hand, containing a certificate of freedom to every one on the place, which he read successively, and presented, amid the sobs and tears and shouts of all present.
Beaucoup cependant le supplièrent de ne pas les renvoyer; ils se pressaient autour de lui et voulaient le forcer de reprendre ses billets.
Many, however, pressed around him, earnestly begging him not to send them away; and, with anxious faces, tendering back their free papers.
« Nous n' avons pas besoin d' être plus libres que nous le sommes; nous ne voulons pas quitter notre vieille maison, ni monsieur, ni madame, ni le reste....--Mes bons amis, dit Georges, dès qu' il put obtenir un instant de silence, vous n' avez pas besoin de me quitter: la ferme veut autant de mains que par le passé; mais, hommes et femmes, vous êtes tous libres.... Je vous payerai pour votre travail des gages dont nous conviendrons. Si je meurs, ou si je me ruine, choses qui, après tout, peuvent arriver, vous aurez du moins l' avantage de ne pas être saisis et vendus. Je resterai sur la ferme, et je vous apprendrai.... il faudra peut-être un peu de temps pour cela.... à user de vos droits d' hommes libres. J' espère que vous serez bons et tout disposés à apprendre. Dieu me donne la confiance que moi, de mon côté, je serai fidèle à la mission que j' accepte de vous instruire. Et maintenant, mes amis, regardez le ciel, et remerciez Dieu de ce bienfait de la liberté ! »
“We don’t want to be no freer than we are. We’s allers had all we wanted. We don’t want to leave de ole place, and Mas’r and Missis, and de rest!” ~~~ “My good friends,” said George, as soon as he could get a silence, “there’ll be no need for you to leave me. The place wants as many hands to work it as it did before. We need the same about the house that we did before. But, you are now free men and free women. I shall pay you wages for your work, such as we shall agree on. The advantage is, that in case of my getting in debt, or dying,—things that might happen,—you cannot now be taken up and sold. I expect to carry on the estate, and to teach you what, perhaps, it will take you some time to learn,—how to use the rights I give you as free men and women. I expect you to be good, and willing to learn; and I trust in God that I shall be faithful, and willing to teach. And now, my friends, look up, and thank God for the blessing of freedom.”
Un vieux nègre, patriarche blanchi sur la ferme, et maintenant aveugle, se leva, étendit ses mains tremblantes et s' écria: « Remercions le Seigneur ! » Tous s' agenouillèrent. Jamais _Te Deum_ plus touchant, plus sincèrement parti du coeur ne s' élança vers le ciel: il n' avait pas, il est vrai, pour accompagnement les grandes voix de l' orgue, le son des cloches et le grondement du canon; mais il partait d' un coeur honnête !
An aged, partriarchal negro, who had grown gray and blind on the estate, now rose, and, lifting his trembling hand said, “Let us give thanks unto the Lord!” As all kneeled by one consent, a more touching and hearty _Te Deum_ never ascended to heaven, though borne on the peal of organ, bell and cannon, than came from that honest old heart.
On rising, another struck up a Methodist hymn, of which the burden was,
“The year of Jubilee is come,— Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.”
“One thing more,” said George, as he stopped the congratulations of the throng; “you all remember our good old Uncle Tom?”
George here gave a short narration of the scene of his death, and of his loving farewell to all on the place, and added,
Il ajouta: ~~~ « C' est sur son tombeau, mes amis, que j' ai résolu devant Dieu que je ne posséderais jamais un esclave, tant qu' il me serait possible de l' affranchir.... et que personne, à cause de moi, ne courrait le risque d' être arraché à son foyer, à sa famille, pour aller mourir, comme il est mort, sur une plantation solitaire.... Amis ! chaque fois que vous vous réjouirez d' être libres, songez que votre liberté, vous la devez à cette pauvre bonne âme, et payez votre dette en tendresse à sa femme et à ses enfants.... Pensez à votre liberté chaque fois que vous verrez la case de l' oncle Tom; qu' elle vous rappelle l' exemple qu' il vous a laissé, marchez sur ses traces, et, comme lui, soyez honnêtes, fidèles et chrétiens. »
“It was on his grave, my friends, that I resolved, before God, that I would never own another slave, while it was possible to free him; that nobody, through me, should ever run the risk of being parted from home and friends, and dying on a lonely plantation, as he died. So, when you rejoice in your freedom, think that you owe it to that good old soul, and pay it back in kindness to his wife and children. Think of your freedom, every time you see UNCLE TOM’S CABIN; and let it be a memorial to put you all in mind to follow in his steps, and be honest and faithful and Christian as he was.”
CHAPITRE XLV.
CHAPTER XLV Concluding Remarks
The writer has often been inquired of, by correspondents from different parts of the country, whether this narrative is a true one; and to these inquiries she will give one general answer.
Tous les épisodes qui composent ce récit sont de la plus sévère authenticité. L' auteur en a été le témoin ou il les tient de ses amis personnels. Les caractères sont des portraits d'après nature. La plupart des paroles qu' il met dans la bouche des personnes ont été prononcées par elles; c' est une fidélité textuelle.
The separate incidents that compose the narrative are, to a very great extent, authentic, occurring, many of them, either under her own observation, or that of her personal friends. She or her friends have observed characters the counterpart of almost all that are here introduced; and many of the sayings are word for word as heard herself, or reported to her.
Élisa, par exemple, est un portrait, au moral comme au physique; l' incorruptible fidélité, la piété de Tom ont plus d' un modèle. Quelques-unes des scènes les plus romanesques et les plus tragiques de ce livre ont un pendant dans les réalités les plus positives. ~~~ Rien de plus connu que le fait de cette mère traversant l' Ohio sur la glace. Un frère de l' auteur, receveur dans une maison de commerce de la Nouvelle-Orléans, lui a conté l' histoire de la mère Prue, et lui a fait connaître le type de Legree: ce frère, après une visite à la plantation, écrivait: ~~~ « Il m' a fait tâter son poing, qui était comme un marteau de forgeron, en me disant qu' il s' était endurci à force d' assommer les nègres. Quand je quittai l' habitation, je poussai un grand soupir, comme si je sortais de l' antre d' un ogre ! »
The personal appearance of Eliza, the character ascribed to her, are sketches drawn from life. The incorruptible fidelity, piety and honesty, of Uncle Tom, had more than one development, to her personal knowledge. Some of the most deeply tragic and romantic, some of the most terrible incidents, have also their parallels in reality. The incident of the mother’s crossing the Ohio river on the ice is a well-known fact. The story of “old Prue,” in the second volume, was an incident that fell under the personal observation of a brother of the writer, then collecting-clerk to a large mercantile house, in New Orleans. From the same source was derived the character of the planter Legree. Of him her brother thus wrote, speaking of visiting his plantation, on a collecting tour; “He actually made me feel of his fist, which was like a blacksmith’s hammer, or a nodule of iron, telling me that it was ‘calloused with knocking down niggers.’ When I left the plantation, I drew a long breath, and felt as if I had escaped from an ogre’s den.”
Quant au destin si lugubre de Tom, on n' en a eu que de trop nombreux exemples; des témoins vivants sont là pour attester le récit ! Si l' on veut bien se rappeler que dans les États du sud c' est un principe de jurisprudence qu' une personne de couleur ne peut déposer en justice contre un blanc, on croira facilement qu' il peut se rencontrer, dans bien des cas, un maître en qui les passions dominent l' intérêt même, et un esclave qui possède assez de vertus et de courage pour lui résister. Eh bien ! aujourd'hui la modération du maître est la seule sauvegarde de l' esclave.... des faits, trop odieux pour qu' ils passent chaque jour sous les yeux du public, viennent pourtant assez souvent à sa connaissance.... le commentaire est plus odieux que le fait lui-même ! ~~~ « Ces choses -là, dit -on, peuvent bien arriver quelquefois, mais ce n' est pas l' usage ! » ~~~ Si les lois de la Nouvelle-Angleterre permettaient à un maître de torturer quelquefois.... et jusqu' à ce que mort s' ensuive, les ouvriers qu' il a chez lui, aurait -on le même calme et dirait -on encore: ~~~ « Ces choses -là peuvent bien arriver quelquefois, mais ce n' est pas l' usage ! » ~~~ C' est là une injustice inhérente au système de l' esclavage; sans l' esclavage elle n' existerait pas ! ~~~ Les incidents qui ont suivi la capture du navire _la Perle_ ont donné assez de notoriété à la vente publique et scandaleuse de quelques belles jeunes filles, quarteronnes ou mulâtresses. Laissons parler l' honorable M. Horace Mann, un des avocats des défendeurs: ~~~ « Au nombre des soixante-six personnes qui tentèrent en 1848 de s' échapper du district de Colomba sur le schooner _la Perle_, il y avait plusieurs belles jeunes filles, douées de ces charmes particuliers de forme et de visage, que prisent tant les amateurs.
That the tragical fate of Tom, also, has too many times had its parallel, there are living witnesses, all over our land, to testify. Let it be remembered that in all southern states it is a principle of jurisprudence that no person of colored lineage can testify in a suit against a white, and it will be easy to see that such a case may occur, wherever there is a man whose passions outweigh his interests, and a slave who has manhood or principle enough to resist his will. There is, actually, nothing to protect the slave’s life, but the _character_ of the master. Facts too shocking to be contemplated occasionally force their way to the public ear, and the comment that one often hears made on them is more shocking than the thing itself. It is said, “Very likely such cases may now and then occur, but they are no sample of general practice.” If the laws of New England were so arranged that a master could _now and then_ torture an apprentice to death, would it be received with equal composure? Would it be said, “These cases are rare, and no samples of general practice”? This injustice is an _inherent_ one in the slave system,—it cannot exist without it.
« Une d' elles était Élisabeth Russell. ~~~ « Elle tomba bientôt dans les griffes du marchand d' esclaves et fut destinée au marché de la Nouvelle-Orléans. Ceux qui la virent sentirent leur coeur touché de compassion. On offrit dix-huit cent dollars pour la racheter; pour quelques-uns, c' était offrir tout ce qu' ils avaient.... mais le damné marchand fut inexorable, on l' envoya à la Nouvelle-Orléans. Dieu eut pitié d' elle, elle mourut en chemin. ~~~ « Il y avait encore deux jeunes filles nommées Edmundson. Comme on allait les envoyer au marché, leur soeur aînée vint à l' étal, pour supplier ce misérable, au nom de Dieu, d' épargner ses victimes.... il se moqua de ses prières, et répondit qu' elles auraient de belles robes et de belles parures. ~~~ « Oui ! dit la jeune fille, ce sera bien dans cette vie.... mais dans l' autre ! » ~~~ « Elles furent envoyées à la Nouvelle-Orléans.... Il est vrai que quelque temps après elles furent rachetées à grand prix. » ~~~ Peut -on maintenant se récrier à propos de l' histoire d' Emmeline et de Cassy ? ~~~ La justice nous ordonne aussi de reconnaître que l' on rencontre parfois de nobles et généreuses âmes, comme celle de Saint-Clare.
The public and shameless sale of beautiful mulatto and quadroon girls has acquired a notoriety, from the incidents following the capture of the Pearl. We extract the following from the speech of Hon. Horace Mann, one of the legal counsel for the defendants in that case. He says: “In that company of seventy-six persons, who attempted, in 1848, to escape from the District of Columbia in the schooner Pearl, and whose officers I assisted in defending, there were several young and healthy girls, who had those peculiar attractions of form and feature which connoisseurs prize so highly. Elizabeth Russel was one of them. She immediately fell into the slave-trader’s fangs, and was doomed for the New Orleans market. The hearts of those that saw her were touched with pity for her fate. They offered eighteen hundred dollars to redeem her; and some there were who offered to give, that would not have much left after the gift; but the fiend of a slave-trader was inexorable. She was despatched to New Orleans; but, when about half way there, God had mercy on her, and smote her with death. There were two girls named Edmundson in the same company. When about to be sent to the same market, an older sister went to the shambles, to plead with the wretch who owned them, for the love of God, to spare his victims. He bantered her, telling what fine dresses and fine furniture they would have. ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘that may do very well in this life, but what will become of them in the next?’ They too were sent to New Orleans; but were afterwards redeemed, at an enormous ransom, and brought back.” Is it not plain, from this, that the histories of Emmeline and Cassy may have many counterparts?
L' anecdote suivante le prouvera. ~~~ Il y a quelques années, un jeune homme du sud était à Cincinnati, avec un esclave favori, qui, depuis l' enfance, avait été à son service personnel. L' occasion tenta l' esclave; il voulut assurer sa liberté, et s' enfuit chez un quaker dont la réputation était faite depuis longtemps. Le maître entra dans une violente colère.... il avait toujours traité son esclave avec tant de bonté, il avait une telle confiance en lui, qu' il pensa tout d'abord qu' on l' avait corrompu pour l' encourager à fuir. Il se rendit chez le quaker, tout plein de ressentiment; mais comme, après tout, c' était un homme d' une rare candeur, il se calma bientôt et céda aux représentations de son hôte. Il y avait un côté de la question qu' il n' avait encore jamais envisagé. Il dit au quaker que, si son esclave lui disait à sa face qu' il voulait être libre, il s' engageait à l' affranchir. ~~~ On arrangea une entrevue entre le maître et l' esclave; le jeune homme demanda à Nathan s' il avait eu jamais aucun motif de se plaindre.
Justice, too, obliges the author to state that the fairness of mind and generosity attributed to St. Clare are not without a parallel, as the following anecdote will show. A few years since, a young southern gentleman was in Cincinnati, with a favorite servant, who had been his personal attendant from a boy. The young man took advantage of this opportunity to secure his own freedom, and fled to the protection of a Quaker, who was quite noted in affairs of this kind. The owner was exceedingly indignant. He had always treated the slave with such indulgence, and his confidence in his affection was such, that he believed he must have been practised upon to induce him to revolt from him. He visited the Quaker, in high anger; but, being possessed of uncommon candor and fairness, was soon quieted by his arguments and representations. It was a side of the subject which he never had heard,—never had thought on; and he immediately told the Quaker that, if his slave would, to his own face, say that it was his desire to be free, he would liberate him. An interview was forthwith procured, and Nathan was asked by his young master whether he had ever had any reason to complain of his treatment, in any respect.
“No, Mas’r,” said Nathan; “you’ve always been good to me.”
“Well, then, why do you want to leave me?”
-- Mon maître peut mourir.... et alors, qui m' achèterait ? J' aime mieux être libre ! »
“Mas’r may die, and then who get me?—I’d rather be a free man.”
After some deliberation, the young master replied, “Nathan, in your place, I think I should feel very much so, myself. You are free.”
Il régularisa au même instant l' affranchissement, et déposa une somme entre les mains du quaker pour aider le jeune homme à ses débuts dans la vie; il lui laissa de plus entre les mains une lettre pleine d' affection et de bonté. Cette lettre, nous l' avons lue.
He immediately made him out free papers; deposited a sum of money in the hands of the Quaker, to be judiciously used in assisting him to start in life, and left a very sensible and kind letter of advice to the young man. That letter was for some time in the writer’s hands.
L' auteur espère avoir rendu justice à la noblesse, à la générosité, à l' humanité qui caractérisent un si grand nombre d' habitants du sud. Leur exemple nous empêche de désespérer de la race humaine.... Mais nous le demanderons à tous ceux qui connaissent le monde, de tels caractères sont -ils communs, où que ce soit qu' on veuille les chercher ?
The author hopes she has done justice to that nobility, generosity, and humanity, which in many cases characterize individuals at the South. Such instances save us from utter despair of our kind. But, she asks any person, who knows the world, are such characters _common_, anywhere?
Pendant de longues années, l' auteur évita dans ses conversations et dans ses lectures de s' occuper de l' esclavage. C' était un sujet trop pénible pour qu' il osât y porter ses investigations.... Il espérait d'ailleurs que les progrès de la civilisation en auraient fait prompte et bonne justice. Mais depuis l' acte législatif de 1850, depuis qu' il a appris, avec autant de surprise que d' effroi, qu' un peuple humain et chrétien imposait comme un devoir aux citoyens de faire réintégrer l' esclave fugitif; depuis que des hommes honorables, bons, compatissants, si l' on veut, ont délibéré et discuté sur le point de vue religieux de la question, l' auteur s' est dit: « Non ! ces hommes, ces chrétiens ne savent pas ce que c' est que l' esclavage ! S' ils le savaient, ils n' auraient jamais soutenu une telle discussion ! » Depuis ce moment l' auteur n' eut plus qu' un seul désir: faire voir l' esclavage dans un drame d' une réalité vivante. Il a essayé de montrer tout: le pire et le meilleur. Il pense en avoir présenté assez heureusement les aspects favorables.... Mais qui révélera, qui révélera jamais les mystères cachés sous l' ombre fatale, dans cette vallée de douleurs ? Habitants du sud ! hommes et femmes au coeur noble et généreux, dont la vertu et la magnanimité ont grandi en même temps que grandissaient vos épreuves, c' est à vous que nous ferons appel !...
For many years of her life, the author avoided all reading upon or allusion to the subject of slavery, considering it as too painful to be inquired into, and one which advancing light and civilization would certainly live down. But, since the legislative act of 1850, when she heard, with perfect surprise and consternation, Christian and humane people actually recommending the remanding escaped fugitives into slavery, as a duty binding on good citizens,—when she heard, on all hands, from kind, compassionate and estimable people, in the free states of the North, deliberations and discussions as to what Christian duty could be on this head,—she could only think, These men and Christians cannot know what slavery is; if they did, such a question could never be open for discussion. And from this arose a desire to exhibit it in a _living dramatic reality_. She has endeavored to show it fairly, in its best and its worst phases. In its _best_ aspect, she has, perhaps, been successful; but, oh! who shall say what yet remains untold in that valley and shadow of death, that lies the other side?
Dans le secret de vos âmes, dans vos conversations intimes, n' avez -vous pas maintes fois senti qu' il y a dans ce système maudit des maux et des douleurs dont nos tableaux ne sont que l' imparfaite esquisse ? Pourrait -il en être autrement ? L' homme est -il donc une créature à qui l' on puisse confier un pouvoir irresponsable ? Et le système de l' esclavage, en refusant à l' esclave tout droit légal de témoignage ne fait -il pas de chaque propriétaire un despote irresponsable ? Ne voit -on pas trop clairement les conséquences qui doivent résulter de cette théorie ?... Oui, hommes d' honneur, hommes justes et humains, il y a parmi vous un sentiment public, mais il y a aussi un autre sentiment public parmi de vils coquins pleins de brutalité !... Et ces vils coquins, la loi ne leur accorde -t-elle pas le droit de posséder des esclaves, aussi bien qu' aux plus purs et aux meilleurs d' entre vous ? Et qui donc osera dire que l' honneur, la justice, l' élévation et la tendresse des sentiments soient quelque part en ce monde le lot de la majorité ?
To you, generous, noble-minded men and women, of the South,—you, whose virtue, and magnanimity and purity of character, are the greater for the severer trial it has encountered,—to you is her appeal. Have you not, in your own secret souls, in your own private conversings, felt that there are woes and evils, in this accursed system, far beyond what are here shadowed, or can be shadowed? Can it be otherwise? Is _man_ ever a creature to be trusted with wholly irresponsible power? And does not the slave system, by denying the slave all legal right of testimony, make every individual owner an irresponsible despot? Can anybody fail to make the inference what the practical result will be? If there is, as we admit, a public sentiment among you, men of honor, justice and humanity, is there not also another kind of public sentiment among the ruffian, the brutal and debased? And cannot the ruffian, the brutal, the debased, by slave law, own just as many slaves as the best and purest? Are the honorable, the just, the high-minded and compassionate, the majority anywhere in this world?
The slave-trade is now, by American law, considered as piracy. But a slave-trade, as systematic as ever was carried on on the coast of Africa, is an inevitable attendant and result of American slavery. And its heart-break and its horrors, can they be told?
Nous n' avons donné qu' une faible esquisse, qu' une peinture effacée des angoisses et du désespoir qui, maintenant encore, au moment même où nous écrivons, déchirent des milliers d' âmes par la dispersion des familles, par toutes les tortures infligées à une race sensible et sans défense. Ne voit -on pas chaque jour des mères poussées au meurtre de leurs enfants ? et elles-mêmes, ne les voit -on pas chercher dans la mort un refuge contre des maux plus cruels que la mort ? Qui donc inventera des tragédies plus poignantes que les scènes qui se passent chaque jour et à chaque heure dans notre pays, à l' ombre des lois américaines, à l' ombre de la croix du Christ ?
The writer has given only a faint shadow, a dim picture, of the anguish and despair that are, at this very moment, riving thousands of hearts, shattering thousands of families, and driving a helpless and sensitive race to frenzy and despair. There are those living who know the mothers whom this accursed traffic has driven to the murder of their children; and themselves seeking in death a shelter from woes more dreaded than death. Nothing of tragedy can be written, can be spoken, can be conceived, that equals the frightful reality of scenes daily and hourly acting on our shores, beneath the shadow of American law, and the shadow of the cross of Christ.
Et maintenant, hommes et femmes de l' Amérique, dites -moi si c' est une chose qu' il faille traiter légèrement, qu' il faille défendre, ou seulement qu' il faille taire ! Fermiers du Massachussets, du New-Hampshire, du Vermont, du Connecticut, qui lisez ce livre près de la flamme joyeuse de votre feu d' hiver, armateurs du Maine, marins au coeur vaillant, est -ce là une chose que vous deviez encourager ! Braves et généreux habitants de New-York, fermiers de ce riche et brillant Ohio ou des vastes prairies, répondez ! est -ce là une chose que vous deviez protéger ? Et vous, mères américaines, vous qui avez appris, auprès du berceau de vos enfants, à aimer l' humanité, à compatir à ses maux, par l' amour sacré que vous avez pour votre enfant, par la joie que vous donne ce premier-né, si beau dans son innocence.... par la pitié, par la tendresse maternelle avec laquelle vous avez guidé ses croissantes années, au nom des inquiétudes qu' il vous a causées, des prières que vous avez soupirées pour le salut de son âme éternelle, je vous en conjure ! ayez pitié de ces mères qui ont autant d' affection que vous, et qui n' ont pas le droit légal de protéger, de guider, d' élever l' enfant de leurs entrailles ! Oh ! par l' heure terrible de la maladie, par le regard de ces yeux mourants que vous n' oublierez jamais, par ces derniers cris que vous avez entendus, quand déjà vous ne pouviez plus ni sauver ni soulager, par ce petit berceau vide, silencieuse et douloureuse demeure, je vous en conjure ! pitié pour ces mères condamnées à pleurer éternellement leurs enfants !... O mères américaines, dites -moi ! l' esclavage est -il une chose qu' il faille défendre, encourager, ou seulement passer sous silence ?
And now, men and women of America, is this a thing to be trifled with, apologized for, and passed over in silence? Farmers of Massachusetts, of New Hampshire, of Vermont, of Connecticut, who read this book by the blaze of your winter-evening fire,—strong-hearted, generous sailors and ship-owners of Maine,—is this a thing for you to countenance and encourage? Brave and generous men of New York, farmers of rich and joyous Ohio, and ye of the wide prairie states,—answer, is this a thing for you to protect and countenance? And you, mothers of America,—you who have learned, by the cradles of your own children, to love and feel for all mankind,—by the sacred love you bear your child; by your joy in his beautiful, spotless infancy; by the motherly pity and tenderness with which you guide his growing years; by the anxieties of his education; by the prayers you breathe for his soul’s eternal good;—I beseech you, pity the mother who has all your affections, and not one legal right to protect, guide, or educate, the child of her bosom! By the sick hour of your child; by those dying eyes, which you can never forget; by those last cries, that wrung your heart when you could neither help nor save; by the desolation of that empty cradle, that silent nursery,—I beseech you, pity those mothers that are constantly made childless by the American slave-trade! And say, mothers of America, is this a thing to be defended, sympathized with, passed over in silence?
Direz -vous que les habitants des États libres n' ont rien à faire, ne peuvent rien faire pour ou contre lui ? Plût à Dieu que cela fût ! mais cela n' est pas ! Les États libres ont soutenu, défendu, protégé; et devant Dieu ils sont plus coupables encore que ceux du sud, parce qu' ils n' ont pas pour eux l' excuse de l' éducation et de l' habitude.
Do you say that the people of the free state have nothing to do with it, and can do nothing? Would to God this were true! But it is not true. The people of the free states have defended, encouraged, and participated; and are more guilty for it, before God, than the South, in that they have not the apology of education or custom.
Si autrefois les mères des États libres eussent eu les sentiments qu' elles devaient avoir, les fils des États libres n' eussent pas été les plus terribles maîtres des esclaves, leur cruauté ne fût pas devenue proverbiale, ils n' auraient pas été les complices de l' extension de l' esclavage dans notre commune patrie, et, à l' heure qu' il est, ils ne trafiqueraient pas, comme d' une marchandise, du corps et de l' âme des hommes, qui jouent le même rôle que l' argent dans leurs transactions commerciales ! Dans les cités mêmes du nord, on vend et on achète une multitude d' esclaves qui passent sur le marché.... Prétendra -t-on, dans ce cas -là, que le sud soit seul coupable ?
If the mothers of the free states had all felt as they should, in times past, the sons of the free states would not have been the holders, and, proverbially, the hardest masters of slaves; the sons of the free states would not have connived at the extension of slavery, in our national body; the sons of the free states would not, as they do, trade the souls and bodies of men as an equivalent to money, in their mercantile dealings. There are multitudes of slaves temporarily owned, and sold again, by merchants in northern cities; and shall the whole guilt or obloquy of slavery fall only on the South?
Northern men, northern mothers, northern Christians, have something more to do than denounce their brethren at the South; they have to look to the evil among themselves.
Quelle est l' autorité d' un individu ? C' est à quoi tout individu peut répondre: il y a une chose que chacun peut faire; c' est un signe auquel il reconnaîtra s' il pense bien.... Chaque être humain est en quelque sorte environné d' une atmosphère de sympathique influence. L' homme qui a des sentiments justes et droits sur les grands intérêts de l' humanité est chaque jour de sa vie le bienfaiteur de la race humaine; voyez donc quelles sont vos sympathies, et, prenez -y garde, sont -elles en harmonie avec les sympathies du Christ ? Ont -elles été au contraire corrompues et perverties par les sophismes du monde ?
But, what can any individual do? Of that, every individual can judge. There is one thing that every individual can do,—they can see to it that _they feel right_. An atmosphere of sympathetic influence encircles every human being; and the man or woman who _feels_ strongly, healthily and justly, on the great interests of humanity, is a constant benefactor to the human race. See, then, to your sympathies in this matter! Are they in harmony with the sympathies of Christ? or are they swayed and perverted by the sophistries of worldly policy?
Chrétiens du nord, vous avez encore une autre puissance, vous pouvez prier ! Croyez -vous à la prière ? N' est -elle pour vous qu' une tradition vague des temps apostoliques ? Vous priez pour les païens du dehors, priez pour les païens du dedans. Priez pour ces malheureux chrétiens dont toute la chance d' amélioration religieuse se borne à un accident de commerce ! pour qui toute adhésion aux principes du Christ est souvent une impossibilité, s' ils n' ont reçu d' en haut le courage et la grâce du martyre.... ~~~ Vous pouvez plus encore !
Christian men and women of the North! still further,—you have another power; you can _pray!_ Do you believe in prayer? or has it become an indistinct apostolic tradition? You pray for the heathen abroad; pray also for the heathen at home. And pray for those distressed Christians whose whole chance of religious improvement is an accident of trade and sale; from whom any adherence to the morals of Christianity is, in many cases, an impossibility, unless they have given them, from above, the courage and grace of martyrdom.
Sur les rivages de nos libres États on voit aborder, pauvres, errants, sans toit et misérables, des débris de familles, hommes et femmes, échappés par un miracle de la Providence aux flots de l' esclavage; ils savent peu de chose ! leur moralité doute et chancelle.... C' est le résultat d' un système qui confond tous les principes du christianisme et de la morale.... ils viennent chercher un refuge parmi vous, ils viennent chercher l' éducation, le christianisme !
But, still more. On the shores of our free states are emerging the poor, shattered, broken remnants of families,—men and women, escaped, by miraculous providences from the surges of slavery,—feeble in knowledge, and, in many cases, infirm in moral constitution, from a system which confounds and confuses every principle of Christianity and morality. They come to seek a refuge among you; they come to seek education, knowledge, Christianity.
O chrétiens ! que devez -vous à ces infortunés ? ~~~ Chaque chrétien d' Amérique doit s' efforcer de réparer les torts que la nation américaine a causés aux enfants de l' Afrique ! Les portes des églises et des écoles se fermeront -elles devant eux ? Les États se lèveront -ils pour les chasser loin d' eux ? L' Église du Christ écoutera -t-elle en silence le sarcasme qu' on lance contre eux ? Se détournera -t-elle sans pitié de ces mains tendues vers elle ? Encouragera -t-elle, en se taisant, la cruauté qui voudrait les chasser de nos frontières ? S' il en doit être ainsi, ce sera là un lamentable spectacle ! S' il en doit être ainsi, ce pays aura raison de trembler, quand il se rappellera que le destin est dans la main de celui qui est plein de pitié et de compassion tendre !
What do you owe to these poor unfortunates, oh Christians? Does not every American Christian owe to the African race some effort at reparation for the wrongs that the American nation has brought upon them? Shall the doors of churches and school-houses be shut upon them? Shall states arise and shake them out? Shall the church of Christ hear in silence the taunt that is thrown at them, and shrink away from the helpless hand that they stretch out; and, by her silence, encourage the cruelty that would chase them from our borders? If it must be so, it will be a mournful spectacle. If it must be so, the country will have reason to tremble, when it remembers that the fate of nations is in the hands of One who is very pitiful, and of tender compassion.
Do you say, “We don’t want them here; let them go to Africa”?
That the providence of God has provided a refuge in Africa, is, indeed, a great and noticeable fact; but that is no reason why the church of Christ should throw off that responsibility to this outcast race which her profession demands of her.
Remplir Libéria d' une race inexpérimentée, à demi barbare, qui vient d' échapper aux chaînes de l' esclavage, ce serait prolonger pour des siècles les luttes et les conflits qui suivent toujours l' inexpérience des entreprises nouvelles. Que l' Église du nord reçoive ces infortunés, selon les intentions du Christ; qu' ils puissent profiter des avantages d' une éducation chrétienne, jusqu' à ce qu' eux -mêmes aient cueilli les fruits de la maturité intellectuelle et morale.... et alors vous les aiderez à gagner les rivages de leur Afrique, où ils mettront en pratique les leçons reçues chez vous !
To fill up Liberia with an ignorant, inexperienced, half-barbarized race, just escaped from the chains of slavery, would be only to prolong, for ages, the period of struggle and conflict which attends the inception of new enterprises. Let the church of the north receive these poor sufferers in the spirit of Christ; receive them to the educating advantages of Christian republican society and schools, until they have attained to somewhat of a moral and intellectual maturity, and then assist them in their passage to those shores, where they may put in practice the lessons they have learned in America.
Il y a dans le nord une société trop peu nombreuse, hélas ! qui a fait cela.... et ce pays a déjà pu voir des hommes, jadis esclaves, qui ont rapidement acquis l' instruction, la fortune et la réputation. Ils ont fait preuve d' un talent qui, eu égard aux circonstances, était vraiment remarquable.... ils ont également, pour le rachat et la délivrance de leurs frères encore esclaves, donné des preuves éclatantes d' affection, de tendresse, de dévouement et d' héroïsme.
There is a body of men at the north, comparatively small, who have been doing this; and, as the result, this country has already seen examples of men, formerly slaves, who have rapidly acquired property, reputation, and education. Talent has been developed, which, considering the circumstances, is certainly remarkable; and, for moral traits of honesty, kindness, tenderness of feeling,—for heroic efforts and self-denials, endured for the ransom of brethren and friends yet in slavery,—they have been remarkable to a degree that, considering the influence under which they were born, is surprising.
Nous avons vécu plusieurs années sur la limite frontière des États où règne encore l' esclavage. Nous avons eu l' occasion de faire de nombreuses observations sur des hommes qui avaient été précédemment esclaves. Nous en avons eu pour domestiques; souvent, à défaut d' autre école, ils ont reçu nos leçons, mêlés à nos enfants, à l' école de la famille. Le témoignage des missionnaires du Canada est venu encore renforcer notre expérience. Il y a tout à espérer de l' intelligence de cette race.
The writer has lived, for many years, on the frontier-line of slave states, and has had great opportunities of observation among those who formerly were slaves. They have been in her family as servants; and, in default of any other school to receive them, she has, in many cases, had them instructed in a family school, with her own children. She has also the testimony of missionaries, among the fugitives in Canada, in coincidence with her own experience; and her deductions, with regard to the capabilities of the race, are encouraging in the highest degree.
Le plus vif désir de l' esclave émancipé, c' est d' acquérir de l' instruction; ils feront tout, ils donneront tout, pour que leurs enfants soient instruits; ils sont intelligents et apprennent vite. On nous le dit et nous l' avons vu; on en a des preuves plus convaincantes encore dans les résultats que nous offrent les écoles fondées pour eux dans le Canada.
The first desire of the emancipated slave, generally, is for _education_. There is nothing that they are not willing to give or do to have their children instructed, and, so far as the writer has observed herself, or taken the testimony of teachers among them, they are remarkably intelligent and quick to learn. The results of schools, founded for them by benevolent individuals in Cincinnati, fully establish this.
Nous croyons devoir mettre sous les yeux de nos lecteurs les résultats suivants, qui nous sont fournis par C. E. Stowe, alors professeur au séminaire de Lane, dans l' Ohio, aujourd'hui résidant à Cincinnati: ils montreront tout ce dont la race est capable, même quand elle n' a pour elle aucune sorte d' encouragement et d' appui.
The author gives the following statement of facts, on the authority of Professor C. E. Stowe, then of Lane Seminary, Ohio, with regard to emancipated slaves, now resident in Cincinnati; given to show the capability of the race, even without any very particular assistance or encouragement.
The initial letters alone are given. They are all residents of Cincinnati.
B..., fabricant de meubles, depuis vingt ans dans cette ville, possède dix mille dollars, prix de son travail; anabaptiste.
“B——. Furniture maker; twenty years in the city; worth ten thousand dollars, all his own earnings; a Baptist.
“C——. Full black; stolen from Africa; sold in New Orleans; been free fifteen years; paid for himself six hundred dollars; a farmer; owns several farms in Indiana; Presbyterian; probably worth fifteen or twenty thousand dollars, all earned by himself.
“K——. Full black; dealer in real estate; worth thirty thousand dollars; about forty years old; free six years; paid eighteen hundred dollars for his family; member of the Baptist church; received a legacy from his master, which he has taken good care of, and increased.
“G——. Full black; coal dealer; about thirty years old; worth eighteen thousand dollars; paid for himself twice, being once defrauded to the amount of sixteen hundred dollars; made all his money by his own efforts—much of it while a slave, hiring his time of his master, and doing business for himself; a fine, gentlemanly fellow.
“W——. Three-fourths black; barber and waiter; from Kentucky; nineteen years free; paid for self and family over three thousand dollars; deacon in the Baptist church.
“G. D——. Three-fourths black; white-washer; from Kentucky; nine years free; paid fifteen hundred dollars for self and family; recently died, aged sixty; worth six thousand dollars.”
Professor Stowe says, “With all these, except G——, I have been, for some years, personally acquainted, and make my statements from my own knowledge.”
L' auteur se rappelle encore une femme de couleur, avancée en âge, qui était blanchisseuse dans la famille de son père. La fille de cette femme, d' une activité et d' une intelligence remarquables, à force de travail, de privations, d' économie, de dévouement infatigable, mit de côté deux cents dollars pour racheter son mari. Elle les portait, au fur et à mesure de son gain, chez le maître de l' esclave: elle mourut; il manquait encore cent dollars.... le maître ne rendit rien !
The writer well remembers an aged colored woman, who was employed as a washerwoman in her father’s family. The daughter of this woman married a slave. She was a remarkably active and capable young woman, and, by her industry and thrift, and the most persevering self-denial, raised nine hundred dollars for her husband’s freedom, which she paid, as she raised it, into the hands of his master. She yet wanted a hundred dollars of the price, when he died. She never recovered any of the money.
These are but few facts, among multitudes which might be adduced, to show the self-denial, energy, patience, and honesty, which the slave has exhibited in a state of freedom.
Et, qu' on ne l' oublie pas, pour arriver à la conquête d' une certaine fortune et d' une position sociale, ils ont eu à lutter contre tous les obstacles et contre tous les découragements ! L' homme de couleur, d'après la loi de l' Ohio, ne peut pas voter; jusqu' à ces dernières années, il ne pouvait non plus déposer en justice dans une affaire contre un blanc. ~~~ Ces exemples ne sont pas renfermés dans les limites de l' Ohio. ~~~ Dans tous les États de l' Union, nous voyons des hommes échappés d' hier au lien de l' esclavage, et qui, en se donnant eux-mêmes une solide éducation, se sont élevés à des positions sociales éminentes.... Pennington dans le clergé, Douglas et Ward parmi les éditeurs, en sont des exemples bien connus.
And let it be remembered that these individuals have thus bravely succeeded in conquering for themselves comparative wealth and social position, in the face of every disadvantage and discouragement. The colored man, by the law of Ohio, cannot be a voter, and, till within a few years, was even denied the right of testimony in legal suits with the white. Nor are these instances confined to the State of Ohio. In all states of the Union we see men, but yesterday burst from the shackles of slavery, who, by a self-educating force, which cannot be too much admired, have risen to highly respectable stations in society. Pennington, among clergymen, Douglas and Ward, among editors, are well known instances.
If this persecuted race, with every discouragement and disadvantage, have done thus much, how much more they might do if the Christian church would act towards them in the spirit of her Lord!
Aujourd'hui l' on voit les nations trembler et chanceler ! Une influence secrète et puissante les élève et les abaisse, comme fait la terre dans ses ébranlements. L' Amérique est -elle en sûreté ? Les peuples qui portent dans leur sein de grandes injustices irréparées portent en même temps les éléments de ce tremblement de terre du monde moral.
This is an age of the world when nations are trembling and convulsed. A mighty influence is abroad, surging and heaving the world, as with an earthquake. And is America safe? Every nation that carries in its bosom great and unredressed injustice has in it the elements of this last convulsion.
For what is this mighty influence thus rousing in all nations and languages those groanings that cannot be uttered, for man’s freedom and equality?
O, Church of Christ, read the signs of the times! Is not this power the spirit of Him whose kingdom is yet to come, and whose will to be done on earth as it is in heaven?
Mais qui pourra donc habiter le jour de son apparition ? « Car ce jour brûlera comme une fournaise, et il apparaîtra, irrécusable témoin, contre ceux qui volent le salaire des pauvres, qui dépouillent l' orphelin et la veuve et qui violent les droits de l' étranger, et il mettra en pièces l' oppresseur. »
But who may abide the day of his appearing? “for that day shall burn as an oven: and he shall appear as a swift witness against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and that _turn aside the stranger in his right_: and he shall break in pieces the oppressor.”
Ah ! ces terribles paroles ne sont -elles point adressées à la nation qui porte dans son sein une si grande injustice ? Chrétiens ! chaque fois que vous priez pour l' avènement du royaume du Christ, pouvez -vous oublier les menaçantes prophéties qui l' accompagnent ? Redoutable association ! le jour des vengeances dans l' année de la Rédemption !
Are not these dread words for a nation bearing in her bosom so mighty an injustice? Christians! every time that you pray that the kingdom of Christ may come, can you forget that prophecy associates, in dread fellowship, the _day of vengeance_ with the year of his redeemed?
Et cependant, un jour de grâce nous est accordé. Le nord comme le sud a été coupable devant Dieu, et l' Église du Christ a un terrible compte à rendre ! Ce n' est pas en se réunissant pour protéger l' injustice et la cruauté, et en mettant en commun leur capital de péchés, que les États de l' Union américaine parviendront à se sauver: ils se sauveront par le repentir, par la justice, par la pitié. La loi éternelle de la pesanteur qui précipite la meule de moulin au fond de l' Océan n' est pas plus certaine que cette loi, éternelle aussi, qui veut que l' injustice et la cruauté fassent descendre sur les nations la colère du Dieu tout-puissant !
A day of grace is yet held out to us. Both North and South have been guilty before God; and the _Christian church_ has a heavy account to answer. Not by combining together, to protect injustice and cruelty, and making a common capital of sin, is this Union to be saved,—but by repentance, justice and mercy; for, not surer is the eternal law by which the millstone sinks in the ocean, than that stronger law, by which injustice and cruelty shall bring on nations the wrath of Almighty God!