Eliza had been brought up by her mistress, from girlhood, as a petted and indulged favorite.
The traveller in the south must often have remarked that peculiar1 air of refinement2, that softness of voice and manner, which seems in many cases to be a particular gift to the quadroon and mulatto women. These natural graces in the quadroon are often united with beauty of the most dazzling kind, and in almost every case with a personal appearance prepossessing and agreeable. Eliza, such as we have described her, is not a fancy sketch3, but taken from remembrance, as we saw her, years ago, in Kentucky. Safe under the protecting care of her mistress, Eliza had reached maturity4 without those temptations which make beauty so fatal an inheritance to a slave. She had been married to a bright and talented young mulatto man, who was a slave on a neighboring estate, and bore the name of George Harris.
This young man had been hired out by his master to work in a bagging factory, where his adroitness5 and ingenuity6 caused him to be considered the first hand in the place. He had invented a machine for the cleaning of the hemp7, which, considering the education and circumstances of the inventor, displayed quite as much mechanical genius as Whitney's cotton-gin.[1]
[1] A machine of this description was really the invention of a young colored man in Kentucky. [Mrs. Stowe's note.]
He was possessed8 of a handsome person and pleasing manners, and was a general favorite in the factory. Nevertheless, as this young man was in the eye of the law not a man, but a thing, all these superior qualifications were subject to the control of a vulgar, narrow-minded, tyrannical master. This same gentleman, having heard of the fame of George's invention, took a ride over to the factory, to see what this intelligent chattel9 had been about. He was received with great enthusiasm by the employer, who congratulated him on possessing so valuable a slave.
He was waited upon over the factory, shown the machinery10 by George, who, in high spirits, talked so fluently, held himself so erect11, looked so handsome and manly12, that his master began to feel an uneasy consciousness of inferiority. What business had his slave to be marching round the country, inventing machines, and holding up his head among gentlemen? He'd soon put a stop to it. He'd take him back, and put him to hoeing and digging, and "see if he'd step about so smart." Accordingly, the manufacturer and all hands concerned were astounded13 when he suddenly demanded George's wages, and announced his intention of taking him home.
"But, Mr. Harris," remonstrated14 the manufacturer, "isn't this rather sudden?"
"What if it is?--isn't the man _mine_?"
"We would be willing, sir, to increase the rate of compensation."
"No object at all, sir. I don't need to hire any of my hands out, unless I've a mind to."
"But, sir, he seems peculiarly adapted to this business."
"Dare say he may be; never was much adapted to anything that I set him about, I'll be bound."
"But only think of his inventing this machine," interposed one of the workmen, rather unluckily.
"O yes! a machine for saving work, is it? He'd invent that, I'll be bound; let a nigger alone for that, any time. They are all labor-saving machines themselves, every one of 'em. No, he shall tramp!"
George had stood like one transfixed, at hearing his doom15 thus suddenly pronounced by a power that he knew was irresistible16. He folded his arms, tightly pressed in his lips, but a whole volcano of bitter feelings burned in his bosom17, and sent streams of fire through his veins18. He breathed short, and his large dark eyes flashed like live coals; and he might have broken out into some dangerous ebullition, had not the kindly19 manufacturer touched him on the arm, and said, in a low tone,
"Give way, George; go with him for the present. We'll try to help you, yet."
The tyrant20 observed the whisper, and conjectured21 its import, though he could not hear what was said; and he inwardly strengthened himself in his determination to keep the power he possessed over his victim.
George was taken home, and put to the meanest drudgery22 of the farm. He had been able to repress every disrespectful word; but the flashing eye, the gloomy and troubled brow, were part of a natural language that could not be repressed,--indubitable signs, which showed too plainly that the man could not become a thing.
It was during the happy period of his employment in the factory that George had seen and married his wife. During that period,--being much trusted and favored by his employer,--he had free liberty to come and go at discretion23. The marriage was highly approved of by Mrs. Shelby, who, with a little womanly complacency in match-making, felt pleased to unite her handsome favorite with one of her own class who seemed in every way suited to her; and so they were married in her mistress' great parlor24, and her mistress herself adorned25 the bride's beautiful hair with orange-blossoms, and threw over it the bridal veil, which certainly could scarce have rested on a fairer head; and there was no lack of white gloves, and cake and wine,--of admiring guests to praise the bride's beauty, and her mistress' indulgence and liberality. For a year or two Eliza saw her husband frequently, and there was nothing to interrupt their happiness, except the loss of two infant children, to whom she was passionately27 attached, and whom she mourned with a grief so intense as to call for gentle remonstrance28 from her mistress, who sought, with maternal29 anxiety, to direct her naturally passionate26 feelings within the bounds of reason and religion.
After the birth of little Harry30, however, she had gradually become tranquillized and settled; and every bleeding tie and throbbing31 nerve, once more entwined with that little life, seemed to become sound and healthful, and Eliza was a happy woman up to the time that her husband was rudely torn from his kind employer, and brought under the iron sway of his legal owner.
The manufacturer, true to his word, visited Mr. Harris a week or two after George had been taken away, when, as he hoped, the heat of the occasion had passed away, and tried every possible inducement to lead him to restore him to his former employment.
"You needn't trouble yourself to talk any longer," said he, doggedly32; "I know my own business, sir."
"I did not presume to interfere33 with it, sir. I only thought that you might think it for your interest to let your man to us on the terms proposed."
"O, I understand the matter well enough. I saw your winking34 and whispering, the day I took him out of the factory; but you don't come it over me that way. It's a free country, sir; the man's _mine_, and I do what I please with him,--that's it!"
And so fell George's last hope;--nothing before him but a life of toil35 and drudgery, rendered more bitter by every little smarting vexation and indignity36 which tyrannical ingenuity could devise.
A very humane37 jurist once said, The worst use you can put a man to is to hang him. No; there is another use that a man can be put to that is WORSE!
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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adroitness
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ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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hemp
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| n.大麻；纤维 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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chattel
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| n.动产；奴隶 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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conjectured
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| 推测，猜测，猜想( conjecture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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drudgery
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| n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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remonstrance
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| n抗议，抱怨 | |
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maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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winking
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| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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indignity
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| n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑 | |
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humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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