Читать книгу Voices - Patrice Carolyn Forrester - Страница 7
The Education of Sally Plummer
ОглавлениеSouth Carolina Circa 1867
I
I was reared on Marsden Bluff
As long as I can remember
Worked up at the Big House
Hated it
Mistress always calling
Never resting
Never knew Mama
Sold her off when I was just a little girl
Way down South
Miz Clary said
I used to ask Miz Clary what Mama was like
Miz Clary would smile
Said I looked just like her
Big brown eyes
Wide smile
That made me smile
It made me sad too
II
As I worked in the Big House
I walked by young massa
As he read his book for reading lessons
I saw the words
He wrote down
I liked to hear him read
I began to memorize the words
Practiced writing them in the ground when I was alone
I began to recognize some of the words young massa wrote
As I dusted the books in the study
Young massa and Mistress
Would always say
“Sally sure is dumb”
Laughing
As I cleaned
During lessons
They never saw
I was playing dumb
So I could learn to read
III
Soon as Massa came home from the War
Yankees started following
Told us that we slaves were free