The Narrative of Sojourner Truth | Page 5

After this event, she was often surprised to find her mother in tears; and
when, in her simplicity, she inquired, 'Mau-mau, what makes you cry?'
she would answer, 'Oh, my child, I am thinking of your brothers and
sisters that have been sold away from me.' And she would proceed to
detail many circumstances respecting them. But Isabella long since
concluded that it was the impending fate of her only remaining children,
which her mother but too well understood, even then, that called up

those memories from the past, and made them crucify her heart afresh.
In the evening, when her mother's work was done, she would sit down
under the sparkling vault of heaven, and calling her children to her,
would talk to them of the only Being that could effectually aid or
protect them. Her teachings were delivered in Low Dutch, her only
language, and, translated into English, ran nearly as follows:-
'My children, there is a God, who hears and sees you.' 'A God,
mau-mau! Where does he live?' asked the children. 'He lives in the sky,'
she replied; 'and when you are beaten, or cruelly treated, or fall into any
trouble, you must ask help of him, and he will always hear and help
you.' She taught them to kneel and say the Lord's Prayer. She entreated
them to refrain from lying and stealing, and to strive to obey their
masters.
At times, a groan would escape her, and she would break out in the
language of the Psalmist-'Oh Lord, how long?' 'Oh Lord, how long?'
And in reply to Isabella's question-'What ails you, mau-mau?' her only
answer was, 'Oh, a good deal ails me'-'Enough ails me.' Then again, she
would point them to the stars, and say, in her peculiar language, 'Those
are the same stars, and that is the same moon, that look down upon
your brothers and sisters, and which they see as they look up to them,
though they are ever so far away from us, and each other.'
Thus, in her humble way, did she endeavor to show them their
Heavenly Father, as the only being who could protect them in their
perilous condition; at the same time, she would strengthen and brighten
the chain of family affection, which she trusted extended itself
sufficiently to connect the widely scattered members of her precious
flock. These instructions of the mother were treasured up and held
sacred by Isabella, as our future narrative will show.

THE AUCTION.
At length, the never-to-be-forgotten day of the terrible auction arrived,
when the 'slaves, horses, and other cattle' of Charles Ardinburgh,
deceased, were to be put under the hammer, and again change masters.
Not only Isabella and Peter, but their mother, were now destined to the
auction block, and would have been struck off with the rest to the
highest bidder, but for the following circumstance: A question arose
among the heirs, 'Who shall be burdened with Bomefree, when we have

sent away his faithful Mau-mau Bett?' He was becoming weak and
infirm; his limbs were painfully rheumatic and distorted-more from
exposure and hardship than from old age, though he was several years
older than Mau-mau Bett: he was no longer considered of value, but
must soon be a burden and care to some one. After some contention on
the point at issue, none being willing to be burdened with him, it was
finally agreed, as most expedient for the heirs, that the price of
Mau-mau Bett should be sacrificed, and she receive her freedom, on
condition that she take care of and support her faithful James,- faithful,
not only to her as a husband, but proverbially faithful as a slave to
those who would not willingly sacrifice a dollar for his comfort, now
that he had commenced his descent into the dark vale of decrepitude
and suffering. This important decision was received as joyful news
indeed to our ancient couple, who were the objects of it, and who were
trying to prepare their hearts for a severe struggle, and one altogether
new to them, as they had never before been separated; for, though
ignorant, helpless, crushed in spirit, and weighed down with hardship
and cruel bereavement, they were still human, and their human hearts
beat within them with as true an affection as ever caused a human heart
to beat. And their anticipated separation now, in the decline of life,
after the last child had been torn from them, must have been truly
appalling. Another privilege was granted them-that of remaining
occupants of the same dark, humid cellar I have before described:
otherwise, they were to support themselves as they best could. And as
her mother was still able to do considerable work, and her father a little,
they got on for some time very comfortably. The