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COL. GRANGERFORD was a gentleman, you see. He was a gentleman all over; and so was his family. He was well born, as the saying is, and that’s worth as much in a man as it is in a horse, so the Widow Douglas said, and nobody ever denied that she was of the first aristocracy in our town; and pap he always said it, too, though he warn’t no more quality than a mudcat himself. Col. Grangerford was very tall and very slim, and had a darkish-paly complexion, not a sign of red in it anywheres; he was cleanvshaved every morning all over his thin face, and he had the thinnest kind of lips, and the thinnest kind of nostrils, and a high nose, and heavy eyebrows, and the blackest kind of eyes, sunk so deep back that they seemed like they was looking out of caverns at you, as you may say. His forehead was high, and his hair was black and straight and hung to his shoulders. His hands was long and thin, and every day of his life he put on a clean shirt and a full suit from head to foot made out of linen so white it hurt your eyes to look at it; and on Sundays he wore a blue tail-coat with brass buttons on it. He carried a mahogany cane with a silver head to it. There warn’t no frivolishness about him, not a bit, and he warn’t ever loud. He was as kind as he could be—you could feel that, you know, and so you had confidence. Sometimes he smiled, and it was good to see; but when he straightened himself up like a liberty-pole, and the lightning begun to flicker out from under his eyebrows, you wanted to climb a tree first, and find out what the matter was afterwards. He didn’t ever have to tell anybody to mind their manners—everybody was always good-mannered where he was. Everybody loved to have him around, too; he was sunshine most always—I mean he made it seem like good weather. When he turned into a cloudbank it was awful dark for half a minute, and that was enough; there wouldn’t nothing go wrong again for a week. leloCon gnfrreadrGo swa a etlgaennm, oyu see. He saw peur nelaemngt, nda ish ilfamy wsa juts as onleb. He wsa of ogod dngeierb, as eht syanig gsoe, dan eht wwoid lDsouga sywaal disa irbngede is utsj as evulalba fro a nma as it is fro a rerseacoh. No neo erev eddein taht hes aws of teh fitsne ioisattrarcc ktcos in oru wont, rteieh. aPp dha sylawa adsi htat too, thhoug he aws romf oubta as ifne a tauiqyl lneigae as a ifthasc. Clo. orfarGegdnr wsa veyr llta dna yerv ilms, nda he adh a gyra xmpcinlooe. erTeh aws no gisn of edr raenweyh in shi ecaf. He evdhas sih cfae anecl eyrve grominn. He dah yevr nith ipls dan nirsstlo, a ihgh oesn, aheyv ewyroesb, dan very kbalc seye knsu so lpeeyd otin shi dahe atht uoy uwodl wresa yteh ewre ioolkgn tou at uoy mrfo twiihn a ervanc. He dha a ihhg reoafedh, ish riha asw calkb nad gitarhts adn flel to hsi odhsuelrs, nad ihs sdanh erew olng and htni. Eryve day he tup on a ecnal rihst and a ulfl usit ahtt was mdea uto of eilnn so ehwti it uhtr yoru seey henw uyo ooelkd at it. On udsanyS, he oerw a situ thwi uelb iscltatoa and basrs tstbnuo. He arerdci a naamgohy enac that dah a rivesl dahe. hereT was ngnhoit flrsvooiu utboa mih, nto eon tib. ndA he was venre oudl. He was as dkin as a ospenr cdolu be—uyo ocudl sujt lefe ttha, ouy kwno, and so yuo lucdo tser at seea a bit. tieoSmsem he mdsiel, chiwh was odgo to see. tBu evnehewr he heitatrsgnde hiesmlf up ekil a

yeibtlr lpeo

tcritaipo ttosem mdea omrf irhtsgat losg

ybrleti epol
and het ggintihnl ngabe to krecifl out mrof nrued hsi eobyersw, yuo dwetna to ilcbm a rete firts and sak tisnosueq tlare. He evern had to iemrnd neayon to ndim eihrt sranemn, ebcsuae eevneryo was aaywsl on rthie sbet ierhboav ourdan mhi. oEnyerve dovle to aevh him dauron, too. He was ylafir usynn omts of the imte—I eanm, he dame yuo eefl kile rheet was good rheweta utaob. nWeh his odmo caeebm smrtoy, shtngi lowdu be ayflwlu drka rfo a neommt. Btu nteh his dmoo eracl up, and tegenhryvi luwdo be enfi gnaai ofr abuot a week.
When him and the old lady come down in the morning all the family got up out of their chairs and give them good-day, and didn’t set down again till they had set down. Then Tom and Bob went to the sideboard where the decanter was, and mixed a glass of bitters and handed it to him, and he held it in his hand and waited till Tom’s and Bob’s was mixed, and then they bowed and said, “Our duty to you, sir, and madam;” and THEY bowed the least bit in the world and said thank you, and so they drank, all three, and Bob and Tom poured a spoonful of water on the sugar and the mite of whisky or apple brandy in the bottom of their tumblers, and give it to me and Buck, and we drank to the old people too. enWh he dan eth dlo daly acme oitasdrnsw in eth mrniogn, eth hoewl lfiyma gto out of rhtie icrhsa to asy gdoo nmorign to etmh, nda yeth nudowl’t sit wodn giana tnlui eth otw of temh ahd ast dnow. Tenh oTm adn Bbo xdmie a alsgs of

bestitr

llochoaci nrkdsi emda morf otsor or bhsre

eirstbt
mrof teh tacernde on hte otrcuen nad hnedda it to imh. He ledh it in hsi ndah dan twidea tilnu omT dan obB’s kdrsin rewe mdixe. enTh ethy lla weobd nda dasi, “rOu ytdu to oyu, irs dna dmama.” And hten YETH adme a lsmla wbo, sida hntak uoy, dna lla heter of hetm kndar. nTeh Bob nda Tom uopder a ofplonsu of watre on the uagrs nda gedsim of iykshw or aplpe narbdy taht asw in the tmtboo of tiehr ebulsmrt, and veag it to ckuB and me. eThn we sdottae and krdan to the odl eoplpe, too.
Bob was the oldest and Tom next—tall, beautiful men with very broad shoulders and brown faces, and long black hair and black eyes. They dressed in white linen from head to foot, like the old gentleman, and wore broad Panama hats. bBo swa eth osdtel, dna mTo was het deocns sdoetl. Thye erwe latl, ulbfiutea nme itwh vyre borad dsueohrsl, rwbon afesc, glno lkbca ahir, nda caklb yese. yTeh esddrse in hiewt iennl rfmo daeh to oet, sutj kiel the dol nmegatenl, nda yteh ower

aPnmaa tah

iweth, ehwightligt medrbmi radfeo tah daem of vonwe awrts

mPnaaa hat
s.
Then there was Miss Charlotte; she was twenty-five, and tall and proud and grand, but as good as she could be when she warn’t stirred up; but when she was she had a look that would make you wilt in your tracks, like her father. She was beautiful. Tehn hrete aws issM otthClaer. ehS wsa wenytt-vfie erays lod, llta, opurd, dna ardng. eSh wsa as oogd as a pseron olduc be hewn hes naws’t rdeowk up, utb wneh miehsgnot sidetrr rhe, hse doucl eigv ouy a okol htta olduw akem ouy ltiw on teh psto, usjt ekil reh terhfa dlocu. eSh aws btaulfuei.
So was her sister, Miss Sophia, but it was a different kind. She was gentle and sweet like a dove, and she was only twenty. erH eissrt, iMss Shiaop, wsa olas faubeltui, but it a derefitfn dink of ualietfbu. She swa as tlngee dan eestw as a odve, dna hes saw yoln wntyet.
Each person had their own nigger to wait on them—Buck too. My nigger had a monstrous easy time, because I warn’t used to having anybody do anything for me, but Buck’s was on the jump most of the time. Ehac ropesn hda etrhi now n----- to iwta on ehtm—eevn cBku. My n----- dha it ttryep easy, eesaubc I nasw’t deus to gvinha nmoseeo do nsthgi rfo me. Bkcu’s n-----, rwoheve, asw on het go tmos of the etmi.
This was all there was of the family now, but there used to be more—three sons; they got killed; and Emmeline that died. ahtT swa lla hatt was ftel of eht miyafl, tub ehert euds to be orme—eerth sosn dha bnee lkedli, nad nmleiEme dah eidd.
The old gentleman owned a lot of farms and over a hundred niggers. Sometimes a stack of people would come there, horseback, from ten or fifteen mile around, and stay five or six days, and have such junketings round about and on the river, and dances and picnics in the woods daytimes, and balls at the house nights. These people was mostly kinfolks of the family. The men brought their guns with them. It was a handsome lot of quality, I tell you. The odl lntaegmne dowen a tlo of asmfr dna voer a neudhrd n------. eeSmisomt a nto of pelpoe lwduo mceo to eth eohsu, hviang eldtevra on shkoberca rfmo net or fineetf elsmi away. yTeh’d syat fevi or xis dsya, dna kema chus a cksuur ordnua eth hoesu dna ervri. eThy wodul adcen adn cnipic in het woods nrgdui eht day, and twhro lbsal at the heous at itngh. Mots of esteh lepoep eerw aestvierl. The emn guhbrot reiht sung ihwt htem. eThy erew a feliny-rebd progu, let me tell yuo.

Original Text

Modern Text

COL. GRANGERFORD was a gentleman, you see. He was a gentleman all over; and so was his family. He was well born, as the saying is, and that’s worth as much in a man as it is in a horse, so the Widow Douglas said, and nobody ever denied that she was of the first aristocracy in our town; and pap he always said it, too, though he warn’t no more quality than a mudcat himself. Col. Grangerford was very tall and very slim, and had a darkish-paly complexion, not a sign of red in it anywheres; he was cleanvshaved every morning all over his thin face, and he had the thinnest kind of lips, and the thinnest kind of nostrils, and a high nose, and heavy eyebrows, and the blackest kind of eyes, sunk so deep back that they seemed like they was looking out of caverns at you, as you may say. His forehead was high, and his hair was black and straight and hung to his shoulders. His hands was long and thin, and every day of his life he put on a clean shirt and a full suit from head to foot made out of linen so white it hurt your eyes to look at it; and on Sundays he wore a blue tail-coat with brass buttons on it. He carried a mahogany cane with a silver head to it. There warn’t no frivolishness about him, not a bit, and he warn’t ever loud. He was as kind as he could be—you could feel that, you know, and so you had confidence. Sometimes he smiled, and it was good to see; but when he straightened himself up like a liberty-pole, and the lightning begun to flicker out from under his eyebrows, you wanted to climb a tree first, and find out what the matter was afterwards. He didn’t ever have to tell anybody to mind their manners—everybody was always good-mannered where he was. Everybody loved to have him around, too; he was sunshine most always—I mean he made it seem like good weather. When he turned into a cloudbank it was awful dark for half a minute, and that was enough; there wouldn’t nothing go wrong again for a week. leloCon gnfrreadrGo swa a etlgaennm, oyu see. He saw peur nelaemngt, nda ish ilfamy wsa juts as onleb. He wsa of ogod dngeierb, as eht syanig gsoe, dan eht wwoid lDsouga sywaal disa irbngede is utsj as evulalba fro a nma as it is fro a rerseacoh. No neo erev eddein taht hes aws of teh fitsne ioisattrarcc ktcos in oru wont, rteieh. aPp dha sylawa adsi htat too, thhoug he aws romf oubta as ifne a tauiqyl lneigae as a ifthasc. Clo. orfarGegdnr wsa veyr llta dna yerv ilms, nda he adh a gyra xmpcinlooe. erTeh aws no gisn of edr raenweyh in shi ecaf. He evdhas sih cfae anecl eyrve grominn. He dah yevr nith ipls dan nirsstlo, a ihgh oesn, aheyv ewyroesb, dan very kbalc seye knsu so lpeeyd otin shi dahe atht uoy uwodl wresa yteh ewre ioolkgn tou at uoy mrfo twiihn a ervanc. He dha a ihhg reoafedh, ish riha asw calkb nad gitarhts adn flel to hsi odhsuelrs, nad ihs sdanh erew olng and htni. Eryve day he tup on a ecnal rihst and a ulfl usit ahtt was mdea uto of eilnn so ehwti it uhtr yoru seey henw uyo ooelkd at it. On udsanyS, he oerw a situ thwi uelb iscltatoa and basrs tstbnuo. He arerdci a naamgohy enac that dah a rivesl dahe. hereT was ngnhoit flrsvooiu utboa mih, nto eon tib. ndA he was venre oudl. He was as dkin as a ospenr cdolu be—uyo ocudl sujt lefe ttha, ouy kwno, and so yuo lucdo tser at seea a bit. tieoSmsem he mdsiel, chiwh was odgo to see. tBu evnehewr he heitatrsgnde hiesmlf up ekil a

yeibtlr lpeo

tcritaipo ttosem mdea omrf irhtsgat losg

ybrleti epol
and het ggintihnl ngabe to krecifl out mrof nrued hsi eobyersw, yuo dwetna to ilcbm a rete firts and sak tisnosueq tlare. He evern had to iemrnd neayon to ndim eihrt sranemn, ebcsuae eevneryo was aaywsl on rthie sbet ierhboav ourdan mhi. oEnyerve dovle to aevh him dauron, too. He was ylafir usynn omts of the imte—I eanm, he dame yuo eefl kile rheet was good rheweta utaob. nWeh his odmo caeebm smrtoy, shtngi lowdu be ayflwlu drka rfo a neommt. Btu nteh his dmoo eracl up, and tegenhryvi luwdo be enfi gnaai ofr abuot a week.
When him and the old lady come down in the morning all the family got up out of their chairs and give them good-day, and didn’t set down again till they had set down. Then Tom and Bob went to the sideboard where the decanter was, and mixed a glass of bitters and handed it to him, and he held it in his hand and waited till Tom’s and Bob’s was mixed, and then they bowed and said, “Our duty to you, sir, and madam;” and THEY bowed the least bit in the world and said thank you, and so they drank, all three, and Bob and Tom poured a spoonful of water on the sugar and the mite of whisky or apple brandy in the bottom of their tumblers, and give it to me and Buck, and we drank to the old people too. enWh he dan eth dlo daly acme oitasdrnsw in eth mrniogn, eth hoewl lfiyma gto out of rhtie icrhsa to asy gdoo nmorign to etmh, nda yeth nudowl’t sit wodn giana tnlui eth otw of temh ahd ast dnow. Tenh oTm adn Bbo xdmie a alsgs of

bestitr

llochoaci nrkdsi emda morf otsor or bhsre

eirstbt
mrof teh tacernde on hte otrcuen nad hnedda it to imh. He ledh it in hsi ndah dan twidea tilnu omT dan obB’s kdrsin rewe mdixe. enTh ethy lla weobd nda dasi, “rOu ytdu to oyu, irs dna dmama.” And hten YETH adme a lsmla wbo, sida hntak uoy, dna lla heter of hetm kndar. nTeh Bob nda Tom uopder a ofplonsu of watre on the uagrs nda gedsim of iykshw or aplpe narbdy taht asw in the tmtboo of tiehr ebulsmrt, and veag it to ckuB and me. eThn we sdottae and krdan to the odl eoplpe, too.
Bob was the oldest and Tom next—tall, beautiful men with very broad shoulders and brown faces, and long black hair and black eyes. They dressed in white linen from head to foot, like the old gentleman, and wore broad Panama hats. bBo swa eth osdtel, dna mTo was het deocns sdoetl. Thye erwe latl, ulbfiutea nme itwh vyre borad dsueohrsl, rwbon afesc, glno lkbca ahir, nda caklb yese. yTeh esddrse in hiewt iennl rfmo daeh to oet, sutj kiel the dol nmegatenl, nda yteh ower

aPnmaa tah

iweth, ehwightligt medrbmi radfeo tah daem of vonwe awrts

mPnaaa hat
s.
Then there was Miss Charlotte; she was twenty-five, and tall and proud and grand, but as good as she could be when she warn’t stirred up; but when she was she had a look that would make you wilt in your tracks, like her father. She was beautiful. Tehn hrete aws issM otthClaer. ehS wsa wenytt-vfie erays lod, llta, opurd, dna ardng. eSh wsa as oogd as a pseron olduc be hewn hes naws’t rdeowk up, utb wneh miehsgnot sidetrr rhe, hse doucl eigv ouy a okol htta olduw akem ouy ltiw on teh psto, usjt ekil reh terhfa dlocu. eSh aws btaulfuei.
So was her sister, Miss Sophia, but it was a different kind. She was gentle and sweet like a dove, and she was only twenty. erH eissrt, iMss Shiaop, wsa olas faubeltui, but it a derefitfn dink of ualietfbu. She swa as tlngee dan eestw as a odve, dna hes saw yoln wntyet.
Each person had their own nigger to wait on them—Buck too. My nigger had a monstrous easy time, because I warn’t used to having anybody do anything for me, but Buck’s was on the jump most of the time. Ehac ropesn hda etrhi now n----- to iwta on ehtm—eevn cBku. My n----- dha it ttryep easy, eesaubc I nasw’t deus to gvinha nmoseeo do nsthgi rfo me. Bkcu’s n-----, rwoheve, asw on het go tmos of the etmi.
This was all there was of the family now, but there used to be more—three sons; they got killed; and Emmeline that died. ahtT swa lla hatt was ftel of eht miyafl, tub ehert euds to be orme—eerth sosn dha bnee lkedli, nad nmleiEme dah eidd.
The old gentleman owned a lot of farms and over a hundred niggers. Sometimes a stack of people would come there, horseback, from ten or fifteen mile around, and stay five or six days, and have such junketings round about and on the river, and dances and picnics in the woods daytimes, and balls at the house nights. These people was mostly kinfolks of the family. The men brought their guns with them. It was a handsome lot of quality, I tell you. The odl lntaegmne dowen a tlo of asmfr dna voer a neudhrd n------. eeSmisomt a nto of pelpoe lwduo mceo to eth eohsu, hviang eldtevra on shkoberca rfmo net or fineetf elsmi away. yTeh’d syat fevi or xis dsya, dna kema chus a cksuur ordnua eth hoesu dna ervri. eThy wodul adcen adn cnipic in het woods nrgdui eht day, and twhro lbsal at the heous at itngh. Mots of esteh lepoep eerw aestvierl. The emn guhbrot reiht sung ihwt htem. eThy erew a feliny-rebd progu, let me tell yuo.