American library books Ā» Other Ā» The Conjure Woman by Charles W. Chesnutt (7 ebook reader .TXT) šŸ“•

Read book online Ā«The Conjure Woman by Charles W. Chesnutt (7 ebook reader .TXT) šŸ“•Ā».   Author   -   Charles W. Chesnutt



1 ... 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 ... 57
Go to page:
wā€™y he didnā€™ come en heā€™p her. En Dan ā€™lowed ter hisseā€™f heā€™d ruther ā€™aā€™ beā€™n killt a dozen times ā€™n ter ā€™aā€™ done wā€™at he had ter Mahaly.

ā€œDan wuz mighty nigh ā€™stracted, but wā€™en Mahaly wuz dead en he got his minā€™ straightenā€™ out a little, it didnā€™ take ā€™im moā€™ dā€™n a minute er so fer ter see thā€™oo all de cunjuh manā€™s lies, en how de cunjuh man had fooled ā€™im en made ā€™im kill Mahaly, fer ter git eben wid ā€™im fer killinā€™ er his son. He kepā€™ gittinā€™ madder en madder, en Mahaly hadnā€™ much moā€™ dā€™n drawed herā€™ las bref befoā€™ he staā€™ted back ter de cunjuh manā€™s cabin haā€™d ez he could run.

ā€œWā€™en he got dere, de doā€™ wuz stanā€™inā€™ open; a lighterd-knot wuz flickā€™rinā€™ on de hā€™aā€™th, en de ole cunjuh man wuz settinā€™ dere noddinā€™ in de corner. Dan leā€™pā€™ in de doā€™ en jumpā€™ fer dis manā€™s thā€™oat, en got de same grip on ā€™im wā€™at de cunjuh man had tolā€™ ā€™im ā€™bout half aā€™ hour befoā€™. It wuz haā€™d wuk dis time, fer de ole manā€™s neck wuz monstā€™us tough en stringy, but Dan hilt on long ernuff ter be shoā€™ his job wuz done right. En eben den he didnā€™ holā€™ on long ernuff; fer wā€™en he tuā€™nt de cunjuh man loose en he fell ober on de floā€™, de cunjuh man rollt his eyes at Dan, en sezee:ā ā€”

ā€œā€Šā€˜Iā€™s eben wid you, Brer Dan, en you er eben wid me; you killt my son en I killt yoā€™ ā€™oman. En ez I doan want no moā€™ dā€™n wā€™atā€™s fair ā€™bout dis thing, ef youā€™ll retch up wid yoā€™ paw en take down dat goā€™d hanginā€™ on dat peg ober de chimbly, en take a sip er dat mixtry, itā€™ll tuā€™n you back ter a nigger agā€™in, en I kin die moā€™ sadā€™sfied ā€™n ef I lefā€™ you lack you is.ā€™

ā€œDan nebber ā€™lowed fer a minute dat a man would lie wid his lasā€™ bref, en coā€™se he seed de sense er gittinā€™ tuā€™nt back befoā€™ de cunjuh man died; so he clumb on a chair en retchā€™ fer de goā€™d, en tuk a sip er de mixtry. En ez soon ez heā€™d done dat de cunjuh man lafft his lasā€™ laf, en gapsed out wid ā€™is lasā€™ gaps:ā ā€”

ā€œā€Šā€˜Uh huh! I reckon Iā€™s square wid you now fer killinā€™ me, too; fer dat goopher on you is done fixā€™ en sot now fer good, en all de cunjā€™inā€™ in de worlā€™ wonā€™t nebber take it off.

ā€˜Wolf you is en wolf you stays,
All de rest er yoā€™ bawn days.ā€™

ā€œCoā€™se Brer Dan couldnā€™ do nuffin. He knowed it waā€™nā€™t no use, but he clumb up on de chimbly en got down de goā€™ds en bottles en yuther cunjuh fixinā€™s, en tried ā€™em all on hisseā€™f, but dey didnā€™ do no good. Den he run down ter ole Aunā€™ Peggy, but she didnā€™ know de wolf langwidge, en couldnā€™t ā€™aā€™ tuk off dis yuther goopher nohow, eben ef sheā€™d ā€™aā€™ unnerstood wā€™at Dan wuz sayinā€™. So poā€™ Dan wuz bleedgd ter be a wolf all de rest er his bawn days.

ā€œDey founā€™ Mahaly down by her own cabin nexā€™ mawninā€™, en eveā€™ybody made a great ā€™miration ā€™bout how sheā€™d beā€™n killt. De niggers ā€™lowed a wolf had bit her. De wā€™ite folks say no, dey ainā€™ beā€™n no wolves ā€™rounā€™ dere fer ten yeahs er moā€™; en dey didnā€™ know wā€™at ter make outā€™n it. En wā€™en dey couldnā€™ finā€™ Dan nowhar, dey ā€™lowed heā€™d quoā€™lled wid Mahaly en killt her, en run erway; en dey didnā€™ know wā€™at ter make er dat, fer Dan en Mahaly wuz de mosā€™ lovinā€™ couple on de plantation. Dey put de dawgs on Danā€™s scent, en trackā€™ ā€™im down ter ole Unkā€™ Jubeā€™s cabin, en founā€™ de ole man dead, en dey didnā€™ know wā€™at ter make er dat; en den Danā€™s scent gun out, en dey didnā€™ know wā€™at ter make er dat. Mars Dugalā€™ tuk on a heap ā€™bout losinā€™ two er his besā€™ hanā€™s in one day, en ole missis ā€™lowed it wuz a jedgment on ā€™im fer sumpā€™n heā€™d done. But dat fall de craps wuz monstā€™us big, so Mars Dugalā€™ say de Lawd had temperā€™ de winā€™ ter de shoā€™n ram, en make up ter ā€™im fer wā€™at he had losā€™.

ā€œDey buried Mahaly down in dat piece er low grounā€™ you er talkinā€™ ā€™bout clā€™arinā€™ up. Ez fer poā€™ Dan, he didnā€™ hab nowhar eā€™se ter go, so he des stayed ā€™rounā€™ Mahalyā€™s grabe, wā€™en he waā€™nā€™t out in de yuther woods gittinā€™ sumpā€™n ter eat. En sometimes, wā€™en night would come, de niggers useter heah him howlinā€™ en howlinā€™ down dere, des fittinā€™ ter break his heaā€™t. En den some moā€™ un ā€™em said dey seed Mahalyā€™s haā€™nt dere ā€™bunā€™ance er times, colloguinā€™ wid dis gray wolf. En eben now, fifty yeahs sence, long atter ole Dan has died en dried up in de woods, his haā€™nt en Mahalyā€™s hangs ā€™rounā€™ dat piece er low grounā€™, en eveā€™body wā€™at goes ā€™bout dere has some bad luck er ā€™nuther; fer haā€™nts doan lack ter be ā€™sturbā€™ on dey own stompinā€™-grounā€™.ā€

The air had darkened while the old man related this harrowing tale. The rising wind whistled around the eaves, slammed the loose window-shutters, and, still increasing, drove the rain in fiercer gusts into the piazza. As Julius finished his story and we rose to seek shelter within doors, the blast caught the angle of some chimney or gable in the rear of the house, and bore to our ears a long, wailing note, an epitome, as it were, of remorse and hopelessness.

ā€œDatā€™s des lack poā€™ ole Dan useter howl,ā€ observed Julius, as he reached for his umbrella, ā€œen wā€™at I beā€™n tellinā€™ you is de reason I doan lack ter see dat neck er woods clā€™ared up. Coā€™se it bā€™longs ter you, en a man kin do ez he chooseā€™

1 ... 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 ... 57
Go to page:

Free e-book: Ā«The Conjure Woman by Charles W. Chesnutt (7 ebook reader .TXT) šŸ“•Ā»   -   read online now on website american library books (americanlibrarybooks.com)

Comments (0)

There are no comments yet. You can be the first!
Add a comment