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"Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 7"

Dey's dissatisfied.
Dey didn't have time to git dey work done while dey was alive.
Dat greatgrandchild of mine, he kin see 'em too. Now my eight
grandchildren an' my three children what's alivin' none of 'em can see
de spirits. Guess dat greatgrandchild struck way back. I goes way back.
My ol' master what had to go to de war, little 'fore it was over told me
when he left dat I was 39 years old. Somebody figgured it out for me dat
I's 111 now. Dat makes me pretty old, don't it?
There was another fellow on a joinin' plantation. He was a witch doctor.
Brought him over from Africa. He didn't like his master, 'cause he was
mean. So he make a little man out of mud. An' he stick thorns in its
back. Sure 'nuff, his master got down with a misery in his back. An' de
witch doctor let de thorn stay in de mud-man until he thought his master
had got 'nuff punishment. When he tuck it out, his master got better.
Did I got to school. No ma'am. Not to book school. Dey wouldn't let
culled folks git no learnin'. When I was a little girl we skip rope an'
play high-spy (I Spy). All we had to do was to sweep de yard an go after
de cows an' de pigs an de sheep. An' dat was fun, cause dey was lots of
us children an we all did it together.
When I was 13 years old my ol' mistress put me wid a doctor who learned
me how to be a midwife.


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