The History of Mary Prince | Page 7

to my own. I
had now to milk eleven cows every morning before sunrise, sitting
among the damp weeds; to take care of the cattle as well as the children;
and to do the work of the house. There was no end to my toils--no end
to my blows. I lay down at night and rose up in the morning in fear and
sorrow; and often wished that like poor Hetty I could escape from this
cruel bondage and be at rest in the grave. But the hand of that God
whom then I knew not, was stretched over me; and I was mercifully
preserved for better things. It was then, however, my heavy lot to weep,
weep, weep, and that for years; to pass from one misery to another, and
from one cruel master to a worse. But I must go on with the thread of
my story.

One day a heavy squall of wind and rain came on suddenly, and my
mistress sent me round the corner of the house to empty a large earthen
jar. The jar was already cracked with an old deep crack that divided it
in the middle, and in turning it upside down to empty it, it parted in my
hand. I could not help the accident, but I was dreadfully frightened,
looking forward to a severe punishment. I ran crying to my mistress, "O
mistress, the jar has come in two." "You have broken it, have you?" she
replied; "come directly here to me." I came trembling; she stripped and
flogged me long and severely with the cow-skin; as long as she had
strength to use the lash, for she did not give over till she was quite
tired.--When my master came home at night, she told him of my fault;
and oh, frightful! how he fell a swearing. After abusing me with every
ill name he could think of, (too, too bad to speak in England,) and
giving me several heavy blows with his hand, he said, "I shall come
home to-morrow morning at twelve, on purpose to give you a round
hundred." He kept his word--Oh sad for me! I cannot easily forget it.
He tied me up upon a ladder, and gave me a hundred lashes with his
own hand, and master Benjy stood by to count them for him. When he
had licked me for some time he sat down to take breath; then after
resting, he beat me again and again, until he was quite wearied, and so
hot (for the weather was very sultry), that he sank back in his chair,
almost like to faint. While my mistress went to bring him drink, there
was a dreadful earthquake. Part of the roof fell down, and every thing
in the house went--clatter, clatter, clatter. Oh I thought the end of all
things near at hand; and I was so sore with the flogging, that I scarcely
cared whether I lived or died. The earth was groaning and shaking;
every thing tumbling about; and my mistress and the slaves were
shrieking and crying out, "The earthquake! the earthquake!" It was an
awful day for us all.
During the confusion I crawled away on my hands and knees, and laid
myself down under the steps of the piazza, in front of the house. I was
in a dreadful state--my body all blood and bruises, and I could not help
moaning piteously. The other slaves, when they saw me, shook their
heads and said, "Poor child! poor child!"--I lay there till the morning,
careless of what might happen, for life was very weak in me, and I
wished more than ever to die. But when we are very young, death

always seems a great way off, and it would not come that night to me.
The next morning I was forced by my master to rise and go about my
usual work, though my body and limbs were so stiff and sore, that I
could not move without the greatest pain.--Nevertheless, even after all
this severe punishment, I never heard the last of that jar; my mistress
was always throwing it in my face.
Some little time after this, one of the cows got loose from the stake, and
eat one of the sweet-potatoe slips. I was milking when my master found
it out. He came to me, and without any more ado, stooped down, and
taking off his heavy boot, he struck me such a severe blow in the small
of my back, that I shrieked with agony, and thought I was killed; and I
feel a weakness in that part to this day. The cow was frightened at his
violence, and kicked down the pail and spilt the milk all about. My
master knew that this accident was his own