Selected Prose of Heinrich Von Kleist Read Online Free PDF Page B

the artful ways necessity teaches the meek to survive their persecution, the shadow of kinship that covers our face wouldn’t do the trick, I assure you!” “That’s not possible!” the stranger cried; “and who on this island is after you?” “The owner of this house,” said the old woman, “the black man Congo Hoango! Ever since the death of Monsieur Guillaume, the former owner of this plantation, who fell to the blackguard’s hand at the start of the uprising, we, who, as the dead man’s next of kin, took charge of the place, attracted his wanton outbursts of rage. Every crust of bread, every liquid refreshment we give out of kindness to one or the other of the white fugitives who sometimes pass this way, we must pay for with his curses and abuse; and he craves nothing more than to goad the wrath of the blacks against us white and Creole half-dogs, as he calls us, in part to rid himself of us who check his savagery against the whites, in part to layhis thieving hands on the meager possessions we would leave behind.” “You poor unfortunates!” said the stranger. “You piteous souls! And where is that blackguard at the moment?” “He’s gone with the other blacks from this plantation to deliver a shipment of gunpowder and lead badly needed by General Dessalines,” the old woman replied. “We’re expecting him back in ten or twelve days, unless he sets out on other expeditions; and if upon his return, God forbid he should find out that we gave safe haven and shelter to a white on his way to Port au Prince, while he was busy exterminating their race on the island, I assure you we’d all soon be knocking at Heaven’s door.” “Merciful Heaven above,” said the stranger, “will protect you for the kindness you have shown a suffering soul!” Taking a step closer to the old woman, he added, “And since, in defying his orders this one time, you will doubtless have drawn the Negro’s eternal wrath, your subsequent subservience to his will, should you choose to return to the fold, would surely do you no good; might I then persuade you, ask what price you may, to give shelter for a day or two to my uncle and his family, worn out from the hardships of their journey, to let them recoup their strength?” “Young Sir,” said the old woman, taken aback, “do you know what you are asking? How in Heaven’s name is it possible to shelter a group as large as yours in a house on the highway without being found out and denounced by one of the locals?” “Why not?” retorted the stranger with great urgency. “What if I were to set off immediately for the seagull pond and lead them back to the house before daybreak; if you hid them all, masters and servants, in the same room, and to be extra-cautious, kept the doors and windows of that room shut tight?” The old woman replied, after weighing his suggestion a while: “If thegentleman attempted this very night to lead the group from their hideout to the plantation, on his way back he would surely fall into the hands of a troop of armed Negroes, alerted by scouts lying in wait on the highway.” “Very well then,” replied the stranger, “we’ll have to make do for the moment by sending them a basket of provisions, and put off the business of bringing them back to the plantation until tomorrow night. Will you do that for me, little mother?” “Alright,” she said, amidst a flurry of kisses from the stranger’s lips on her bony hands, “for the sake of the European, my daughter’s father, I will do you, his countryman, this favor. Sit yourself down at daybreak and write your kin a letter inviting them to make their way to the settlement; the boy you met in the yard will take them enough provisions to tide them over for the night, and if they accept the invitation, he will lead them back here at