I is asked to speak down to de white chilluns' school once, an' dis is what I speak:  De cherries are ripe, De cherries are ripe; Oh, give de baby one De baby is too little to chew; De robbin I see up in de tree Eatin' his full an' shakin' his bill, An' down his throat dey run. Missus say dat been sho' 'nough poetry. 'Nother one ole Missus taught me, an' I speak it too: "Terbacco is an Indian weed, An' from de devil doth proceed; It robs de pocket an' burns de clothes, An' makes a chimney ob de nose.  I ain't like dis one, but ole Miss' say it been elevatin.' She make all she own chillun learn it. I ain't never git no bad whippin's. But dey was plenty dat did. I 'members one little nigger gal I used ter play wid. Her name was Alice, an' I sho' used to like dat gal. Ebery chance I got I run out an' play wid her. Ole Missus Simpson done sold her off, to de Johnsons what was neighbors ob ours. When Alice belong to Missus Thomas she have a habit; she allus stand in front ob de fire to warm herself. Ole Miss' don't care. But one day when she been over to Missus Johnson house 'bout a month, ole Miss' Johnson walk in an' see Alice in front de fire. It been a cold day. Ole Missus Johnson say,  Well, now, if you like warm yo' self by my parlor fire, jes' go on warmin' yo'self." An' she make dat girl stand dere. She stand an' watch. Alice stand dere till her legs so bad burned dat de skin cracked up an' some ob it dropped off. Missus Simpson found out about it she give dat woman her money back an' take Alice home wid her. Ole Marse Simpson died when I was 'bout 15 year old. He was sick a long time. Dar he lay from de open' ob spring, 'bout de time de flies come, till wheat sowin' time in de fall. An' it's de gawd's trufe, all dat time he a-layin' dere he made my little brother Jim stand at de side ob his bed--keepin' de flies off him. He was jes' seben years ole, but dere he had to stand, day an' night, night an' day. Co'se he'd go to sleep sometimes, but dat was jes' when ole Marse was sleepin' too. Sometimes when he'd dose his brush would fall on ole Marse face. Den ole Marse would take he stick an' whack Jim a few across de haid. Den he'd say, Now I dare you to cry.  Jim would cry, but ole Marse wouldn't see him do it.  But at last he died. Missus Simpson came in an' said,  He's dead. You can go out an' play now, Jim .  She used to come in to de ole Marse an' say,  Why don't you let him go out an' play an' let someone else stand here awhile?  But he say,  No. I want Jim !  So now Jim run outside. He meed Alice an' he say, "By God, he's dead!" He didn't know he was cussin'. She say, "I gonna tell you' mammy on you.  But he so glad to be out he runs till he meet Uncle Jake , an' he say, By God, he's dead!" Den he runs on till he meets mammy an' he tells her, "By God, he's dead!" She oughta scold him, but she can't. She jes' turn her back on him so he can't see her shoulder a-shakin'. She were laughin'.

Sometimes Sunday evenin' we could all set 'round de big fire in de kitchen to de big house. But we couldn't set there 'less we was doin' somethin'. Each 'un had a task to do. Some ob dem was cardin' an' spinnin', and some was pickin' peanuts, an' some was sewing. All de littlest chillun gathered up close to de fire to set potatoes to roast for de breaffast an' watch 'em. If you wouldn't git finished wid what you doin' you was tied on a hoghead barrel or a log an' whipped. Ole Aunt Sarah would come in an' tell us stories, an' watch what we was doin. She had to watch de sewing. Can't nobody do it to suit ole Miss but her. Aunt Sarah sho' had a taste for stories 'bout bad slaves and hants and things. 'Pear like she don't know nothin' else. I 'members one story she told us: Dere was a ole Marse have 'bout two hundred slaves. Dere was two name Mose and Sam dat was berry bad niggers. Had a oberseer name Tom . He were a good nigger. Done everything de Massa tole him. One day dem bad niggers, Sam and Mose , talk back to de Massa and dey know dey gonna get whipped. De ole Massa pick up he gun an' went out to catch 'em. When he come back he ain't have neither ob 'em wid him. De Missus say, Didn't you catch 'em, William . But he ain't say nothin', He jes' smile an' walk on off an' de ole Massa didn't 'pear to do nothin' more to catch dem niggers. The slaves thought dey done gone for good. First day dey run off Sam is got lost from Mose. Mose can't find him nowhere. De Massa didn't come after him, but he find he can't git out ob de south woods to save his life. Everytime he make a move to come out of dose woods he see de patterollers standin' dere. Look like dey on all sides ob him. So Mose stay in dem woods for 'bout a week. Nobody come at all. De ole Massa done told de slaves if dey go down to de south woods he goin' kill 'em all. Mose can't find nothin' to eat. He keep gittin' hungrier an' hungrier, an' pick up a few weed an' stuff to eat. Every day he think he make a break for de ribber, but every time he see dem patterollers standin' dere wid dey guns. An' he know dey is watchin' for him. On de seventh day he been in de wood Mose look up in de air an' see de buzards flyin' roun. He think maybe dey is a cow got in de wood by mistake an' died, or maybe some other animal. Think maybe he can drive dem buzzards off an' git a little somethin' to eat. He drag heself ober to de spot, an' look up in a tree, an' see a skeleton settin' dere. He hair stand up on end. De meat almost gone off dem bones, but he can still tell it been ole Sam ! Mose say 'Lawd, God, ole Sam , I never thought I goin' find you here like dis.' An' he so sorry an' scared de tears was arunnin' down his face. Den de skeleton talk back to him. Skeleton say, My mouth bring me here. I done talk nasty to de cap'n. Dat Mose been so scared he ain't rightly know what he do. He tore out an' run. He run straight up to de ole Massa's house cryin' an' hollerin'. He met de Massa and tell him 'bout dat skeleton. Ole Marse say "Some more damn nigger talk." Mose say to de old Marse, Cap'n Boss, I can take you straight back dere an' it'll talk to you. Ole Marse jes' smile an' don't say nothin', but he go wid Mose to de tree. Mose say to dat skeleton, Po' ole Sam, I never thought I'd see you here like dis! Dat skeleton ain't say nothin. Boss say, 'If it don't talk I'm going' to shoot you, Mose .' An' Mose stand dere a'cryin' an' a-beggin' ole Sam to say somethin' to him. But dat skeleton ain't say nothin'. De ole Marse shoot Mose dead, an' set him up in de tree by de side of ole Sam . Den both dem skeletons talk. Dey say, Mouth brung me here. An' de ole Marse jes' turn on he heel and walk away, laughin' an' laughin'. He call back over he shoulder, Come on down, Tom , we're goin' home now!