Don't spec' you ebber did see a piggin. Dats a wooden bucket wid wire
hoops 'roun' it to keep it from leakin'. De wash place wuz nex' to de
spring. Pa fixed us up a big old stump whar us had to battle de clo'es
wid a battlin' stick. It tuk a sight of battlin' to git de dirt out
sometimes.

"If you turned a chunk over in de fire, bad luck wuz sho' to come to
you. If a dog howled a certain way at night, or if a scritch owl come in
de night, death wuz on de way to you, an' you always had to be keerful
so maybe bad spirits would leave you alone.

"Pa built us a new kitchen, jus' lak what de white folkses had dem days.
It sot out in de back yard, a little piece of a way from our house. He
made it out of logs an' put a big old chimbly wid a big fireplace at one
end. Benches wuz built 'roun' de sides for seats. Dere warn't no floor
in it, but jus' dirt floor. Dat wuz one gran' kitchen an' us wuz mighty
proud of it. [HW: p.4]

"My w'ite folkses begged me not to leave 'em, when I told 'em I wuz
gwine to marry Joe Telfair. I'd done been wukkin' for 'em nigh on to six
years, an' wuz mos' twenty years old. Dey gimme my weddin' clo'es, an'
when I seed dem clo'es I wuz one proud Nigger, 'cause dey wuz jus' lak I
wanted. De nightgown wuz made out of white bleachin' an' had lots of
tucks an' ruffles an' it even had puff sleeves. Sho' 'nough it did! De
petticoat had ruffles an' puffs plum up to de wais' ban'. Dere wuz a
cosset kiver dat wuz cut to fit an' all fancy wid tucks an' trimmin',
an' de drawers, dey sho' wuz pretty, jus' full of ruffles an' tucks
'roun' de legs. My dress wuz a cream buntin', lak what dey calls serge
dese days. It had a pretty lace front what my ma bought from one of de
Moss ladies. When I got all dressed up I wuz one mo' gran' lookin'