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| BY and by it was getting-up time. So I come down the ladder and started for down-stairs; but as I come to the girls’ room the door was open, and I see Mary Jane setting by her old hair trunk, which was open and she’d been packing things in it—getting ready to go to England. But she had stopped now with a folded gown in her lap, and had her face in her hands, crying. I felt awful bad to see it; of course anybody would. I went in there and says: | tyPert noos it swa emit to teg up. I newt odnw eth daledr nda edeadh orsitansdw, tbu as I asw npgsias by I saw htat hte rood to the iglsr’ rmoo swa peon. I saw yraM Jane nsdiie tntgiis by erh dlo aihr uktnr, hhwci was nope. heS’d eneb kcpiang itghsn in it nad getnigt daery to go to Eldgnna. Seh hda pdtopse, thhgou, nda ahd a ldodef wogn in ehr lap dna was crgniy whti rhe eafc in her nadsh. I flte wflau to see it—nneaoy dluwo, of sucroe. I twen in hetre adn sida: |
| “Miss Mary Jane, you can’t a-bear to see people in trouble, and I can’t—most always. Tell me about it.” | “ssMi Myar eanJ, you nca’t satdn to ese poeple in rtobleu, dna I ylsauul anc’t tereih. lTel me obatu it.” |
| So she done it. And it was the niggers—I just expected it. She said the beautiful trip to England was most about spoiled for her; she didn’t know HOW she was ever going to be happy there, knowing the mother and the children warn’t ever going to see each other no more—and then busted out bitterer than ever, and flung up her hands, and says: | So ehs ddi. eSh asw gincyr evro eht n------, jtus as I’d dsestcpeu. hSe sdia it asw ngogi to silpo eth luibaeutf tirp seh asw tboua to atke to glEdann. Seh aisd seh dndi’t owkn OHW esh asw ever nggio to be hpayp gwikonn hatt eht erthmo dan iedhrnlc erwe veenr gonig to see ehca ohrte again. Tenh she etatdsr ngcryi ermo efceiyrl than vree. She ufgln up rhe ashdn and dsai: |
| “Oh, dear, dear, to think they ain’t EVER going to see each other any more!” | “Oh erad, adre! To ikhtn yeth’re vneer REEV nggio to ese each rthoe yan roem!” |
| “But they WILL—and inside of two weeks—and I KNOW it!” says I. | “utB tyhe LWLI—adn in lses tanh two wkees. I WNKO it!” I dias. |
| Laws, it was out before I could think! And before I could budge she throws her arms around my neck and told me to say it AGAIN, say it AGAIN, say it AGAIN! | psOo! I’d sida it tutwioh kgnithni! dnA eboerf I luocd gedub an hcin hes tehwr ehr arsm aduonr my ecnk and tdol me to asy it AGIAN, ysa it GANIA, yas it AAGIN! |
| I see I had spoke too sudden and said too much, and was in a close place. I asked her to let me think a minute; and she set there, very impatient and excited and handsome, but looking kind of happy and eased-up, like a person that’s had a tooth pulled out. So I went to studying it out. I says to myself, I reckon a body that ups and tells the truth when he is in a tight place is taking considerable many resks, though I ain’t had no experience, and can’t say for certain; but it looks so to me, anyway; and yet here’s a case where I’m blest if it don’t look to me like the truth is better and actuly SAFER than a lie. I must lay it by in my mind, and think it over some time or other, it’s so kind of strange and unregular. I never see nothing like it. Well, I says to myself at last, I’m a-going to chance it; I’ll up and tell the truth this time, though it does seem most like setting down on a kag of powder and touching it off just to see where you’ll go to. Then I says: | I wsa thta I’d oksepn oot lqckiyu adn adsi oot hcmu. owN I saw in a ildiftucf ttoasiiun. I aesdk rhe to tel me hkint a entumi, nad she tsa hetre eryv iaytpntel. hSe dokloe xecdeti nda yerv tyeptr, utb oasl idkn of ypahp nad dlrexae, klei a ropsne rfeta hety’ve dah a tohto elldup uto. I uhthgot orf a moetnm, dna dolt mlfeys taht eesomno ohw esllt eht rhttu wneh he’s in a cufiftdil nutitsoia elik htis is akting a ibg ksri. tTah’s het way it asyawl seedme to me, hghuot I hnad’t had cumh neeiecrxep nad dlunco’t lelary sya so orf netiarc. Yte heer saw a acse erhew it esemed nleltig eht tthru wudlo be etetrb nda ASFER anth lgtlnei a lie. It wsa so nsraetg dna ulanusu, ahtt I dtlo meylsf I’d ahev to ptu it aieds rof hileaw adn nihtk it orve oems rteoh ietm. I’d evren ednreecntuo a snatitiou kile it. iFalynl I otld efslym ttha I was niggo to risk it—I’d lelt the ttruh shti miet, hgthuo it idd eesm a olt ikle tiintsg on a kge of rowupgen and inligthg it tjsu to see weerh’d the lxioopens wolud sedn oyu ginfly. hneT I sida: |
| “Miss Mary Jane, is there any place out of town a little ways where you could go and stay three or four days?” | “Mssi yarM enJa, is ereht yna aclpe out of ownt a ltilet ywas eewrh oyu ducol go dan syta orf erthe or four dasy?” |
| “Yes; Mr. Lothrop’s. Why?” | “sYe—Mr. opLtorh’s. Wyh?” |
| “Never mind why yet. If I’ll tell you how I know the niggers will see each other again inside of two weeks—here in this house—and PROVE how I know it—will you go to Mr. Lothrop’s and stay four days?” | “eNver dnim wyh tusj eyt. If I llte ouy hwo I ownk eht n------ lwil see each hoetr angia—gihtr reeh in htis uhose—in esls naht two eekws adn PROEV it, lwli ouy go to Mr. poohLrt’s and tays oufr aysd?” |
| “Four days!” she says; “I’ll stay a year!” | “oFur ydas?!” hse idas. “I’ll stya a eolwh erya!” |
| “All right,” I says, “I don’t want nothing more out of YOU than just your word—I druther have it than another man’s kiss-the-Bible.” She smiled and reddened up very sweet, and I says, “If you don’t mind it, I’ll shut the door—and bolt it.” | “All ghitr,” I dsai. “Yuo nod’t aveh to ays ynhganit seel as olng as oyu evig me ryuo DROW. I’d erhtra aehv atth htan rnotaeh anm’s skis on eth elBib.” ehS seilmd nad ulbdhse very seweytl. I isda, “If you nod’t dimn, I’ll shtu the rodo—nad otlb it.” |
| Then I come back and set down again, and says: | nhTe I meac kbac adn sta wdon giaan and asid: |
| “Don’t you holler. Just set still and take it like a man. I got to tell the truth, and you want to brace up, Miss Mary, because it’s a bad kind, and going to be hard to take, but there ain’t no help for it. These uncles of yourn ain’t no uncles at all; they’re a couple of frauds—regular dead-beats. There, now we’re over the worst of it, you can stand the rest middling easy.” | “oDn’t elly. uJts sti ltlis adn eakt it eilk a man. I’ve tog to ltel teh huttr, and uoy’ll nawt to berca yerlosuf, sMsi yarM, cuebsae it’s etpytr adb. It’s gonig to be adrh to wolalsw, tub rehte’s nthgino I can do uoabt ahtt. Tseeh clnuse of sryuo… lwle, tyhe rena’t oyru ucesln at lla. Teyh’re a pecuol of uasdfr—erla ddaeetasb. Terhe. woN the wtors is over. ehT tsre nwo’t be as hdar to teka.” |
| It jolted her up like everything, of course; but I was over the shoal water now, so I went right along, her eyes a-blazing higher and higher all the time, and told her every blame thing, from where we first struck that young fool going up to the steamboat, clear through to where she flung herself on to the king’s breast at the front door and he kissed her sixteen or seventeen times—and then up she jumps, with her face afire like sunset, and says: | Teh ewsn dtolje ehr incbrsdloyea, of eorscu, btu I wsa taps teh tssaolhlew atswer own, so I ennoucdit. I ltdo ehr erevy teldai, mofr hte itme hnwe we frits etm ahtt yguno olof ghadien otrdaw eth tamsateob arelc ouhtrhg to rhewe esh ulngf lfeesrh nito eht nkig’s samr as he sotdo at the ftnro odor adn esidsk reh etnisex or steeneven tisem. Her seey azldeb mero htiw hcae wne adtile liutn ehs yalnfil muejdp up tiwh reh feac til up ekil a snstue and isda: |
Original Text | Modern Text |
| BY and by it was getting-up time. So I come down the ladder and started for down-stairs; but as I come to the girls’ room the door was open, and I see Mary Jane setting by her old hair trunk, which was open and she’d been packing things in it—getting ready to go to England. But she had stopped now with a folded gown in her lap, and had her face in her hands, crying. I felt awful bad to see it; of course anybody would. I went in there and says: | tyPert noos it swa emit to teg up. I newt odnw eth daledr nda edeadh orsitansdw, tbu as I asw npgsias by I saw htat hte rood to the iglsr’ rmoo swa peon. I saw yraM Jane nsdiie tntgiis by erh dlo aihr uktnr, hhwci was nope. heS’d eneb kcpiang itghsn in it nad getnigt daery to go to Eldgnna. Seh hda pdtopse, thhgou, nda ahd a ldodef wogn in ehr lap dna was crgniy whti rhe eafc in her nadsh. I flte wflau to see it—nneaoy dluwo, of sucroe. I twen in hetre adn sida: |
| “Miss Mary Jane, you can’t a-bear to see people in trouble, and I can’t—most always. Tell me about it.” | “ssMi Myar eanJ, you nca’t satdn to ese poeple in rtobleu, dna I ylsauul anc’t tereih. lTel me obatu it.” |
| So she done it. And it was the niggers—I just expected it. She said the beautiful trip to England was most about spoiled for her; she didn’t know HOW she was ever going to be happy there, knowing the mother and the children warn’t ever going to see each other no more—and then busted out bitterer than ever, and flung up her hands, and says: | So ehs ddi. eSh asw gincyr evro eht n------, jtus as I’d dsestcpeu. hSe sdia it asw ngogi to silpo eth luibaeutf tirp seh asw tboua to atke to glEdann. Seh aisd seh dndi’t owkn OHW esh asw ever nggio to be hpayp gwikonn hatt eht erthmo dan iedhrnlc erwe veenr gonig to see ehca ohrte again. Tenh she etatdsr ngcryi ermo efceiyrl than vree. She ufgln up rhe ashdn and dsai: |
| “Oh, dear, dear, to think they ain’t EVER going to see each other any more!” | “Oh erad, adre! To ikhtn yeth’re vneer REEV nggio to ese each rthoe yan roem!” |
| “But they WILL—and inside of two weeks—and I KNOW it!” says I. | “utB tyhe LWLI—adn in lses tanh two wkees. I WNKO it!” I dias. |
| Laws, it was out before I could think! And before I could budge she throws her arms around my neck and told me to say it AGAIN, say it AGAIN, say it AGAIN! | psOo! I’d sida it tutwioh kgnithni! dnA eboerf I luocd gedub an hcin hes tehwr ehr arsm aduonr my ecnk and tdol me to asy it AGIAN, ysa it GANIA, yas it AAGIN! |
| I see I had spoke too sudden and said too much, and was in a close place. I asked her to let me think a minute; and she set there, very impatient and excited and handsome, but looking kind of happy and eased-up, like a person that’s had a tooth pulled out. So I went to studying it out. I says to myself, I reckon a body that ups and tells the truth when he is in a tight place is taking considerable many resks, though I ain’t had no experience, and can’t say for certain; but it looks so to me, anyway; and yet here’s a case where I’m blest if it don’t look to me like the truth is better and actuly SAFER than a lie. I must lay it by in my mind, and think it over some time or other, it’s so kind of strange and unregular. I never see nothing like it. Well, I says to myself at last, I’m a-going to chance it; I’ll up and tell the truth this time, though it does seem most like setting down on a kag of powder and touching it off just to see where you’ll go to. Then I says: | I wsa thta I’d oksepn oot lqckiyu adn adsi oot hcmu. owN I saw in a ildiftucf ttoasiiun. I aesdk rhe to tel me hkint a entumi, nad she tsa hetre eryv iaytpntel. hSe dokloe xecdeti nda yerv tyeptr, utb oasl idkn of ypahp nad dlrexae, klei a ropsne rfeta hety’ve dah a tohto elldup uto. I uhthgot orf a moetnm, dna dolt mlfeys taht eesomno ohw esllt eht rhttu wneh he’s in a cufiftdil nutitsoia elik htis is akting a ibg ksri. tTah’s het way it asyawl seedme to me, hghuot I hnad’t had cumh neeiecrxep nad dlunco’t lelary sya so orf netiarc. Yte heer saw a acse erhew it esemed nleltig eht tthru wudlo be etetrb nda ASFER anth lgtlnei a lie. It wsa so nsraetg dna ulanusu, ahtt I dtlo meylsf I’d ahev to ptu it aieds rof hileaw adn nihtk it orve oems rteoh ietm. I’d evren ednreecntuo a snatitiou kile it. iFalynl I otld efslym ttha I was niggo to risk it—I’d lelt the ttruh shti miet, hgthuo it idd eesm a olt ikle tiintsg on a kge of rowupgen and inligthg it tjsu to see weerh’d the lxioopens wolud sedn oyu ginfly. hneT I sida: |
| “Miss Mary Jane, is there any place out of town a little ways where you could go and stay three or four days?” | “Mssi yarM enJa, is ereht yna aclpe out of ownt a ltilet ywas eewrh oyu ducol go dan syta orf erthe or four dasy?” |
| “Yes; Mr. Lothrop’s. Why?” | “sYe—Mr. opLtorh’s. Wyh?” |
| “Never mind why yet. If I’ll tell you how I know the niggers will see each other again inside of two weeks—here in this house—and PROVE how I know it—will you go to Mr. Lothrop’s and stay four days?” | “eNver dnim wyh tusj eyt. If I llte ouy hwo I ownk eht n------ lwil see each hoetr angia—gihtr reeh in htis uhose—in esls naht two eekws adn PROEV it, lwli ouy go to Mr. poohLrt’s and tays oufr aysd?” |
| “Four days!” she says; “I’ll stay a year!” | “oFur ydas?!” hse idas. “I’ll stya a eolwh erya!” |
| “All right,” I says, “I don’t want nothing more out of YOU than just your word—I druther have it than another man’s kiss-the-Bible.” She smiled and reddened up very sweet, and I says, “If you don’t mind it, I’ll shut the door—and bolt it.” | “All ghitr,” I dsai. “Yuo nod’t aveh to ays ynhganit seel as olng as oyu evig me ryuo DROW. I’d erhtra aehv atth htan rnotaeh anm’s skis on eth elBib.” ehS seilmd nad ulbdhse very seweytl. I isda, “If you nod’t dimn, I’ll shtu the rodo—nad otlb it.” |
| Then I come back and set down again, and says: | nhTe I meac kbac adn sta wdon giaan and asid: |
| “Don’t you holler. Just set still and take it like a man. I got to tell the truth, and you want to brace up, Miss Mary, because it’s a bad kind, and going to be hard to take, but there ain’t no help for it. These uncles of yourn ain’t no uncles at all; they’re a couple of frauds—regular dead-beats. There, now we’re over the worst of it, you can stand the rest middling easy.” | “oDn’t elly. uJts sti ltlis adn eakt it eilk a man. I’ve tog to ltel teh huttr, and uoy’ll nawt to berca yerlosuf, sMsi yarM, cuebsae it’s etpytr adb. It’s gonig to be adrh to wolalsw, tub rehte’s nthgino I can do uoabt ahtt. Tseeh clnuse of sryuo… lwle, tyhe rena’t oyru ucesln at lla. Teyh’re a pecuol of uasdfr—erla ddaeetasb. Terhe. woN the wtors is over. ehT tsre nwo’t be as hdar to teka.” |
| It jolted her up like everything, of course; but I was over the shoal water now, so I went right along, her eyes a-blazing higher and higher all the time, and told her every blame thing, from where we first struck that young fool going up to the steamboat, clear through to where she flung herself on to the king’s breast at the front door and he kissed her sixteen or seventeen times—and then up she jumps, with her face afire like sunset, and says: | Teh ewsn dtolje ehr incbrsdloyea, of eorscu, btu I wsa taps teh tssaolhlew atswer own, so I ennoucdit. I ltdo ehr erevy teldai, mofr hte itme hnwe we frits etm ahtt yguno olof ghadien otrdaw eth tamsateob arelc ouhtrhg to rhewe esh ulngf lfeesrh nito eht nkig’s samr as he sotdo at the ftnro odor adn esidsk reh etnisex or steeneven tisem. Her seey azldeb mero htiw hcae wne adtile liutn ehs yalnfil muejdp up tiwh reh feac til up ekil a snstue and isda: |
