3 Becoming a Man

Chapter 3 Becoming a Man While Frederick was in Baltimore, Captain Anthony died. This meant Frederick was now the property of Miss Lucretia and her husband, Thomas. It wasn't long before Lucretia died, too. When Frederick was fifteen, Hugh and Thomas Auld had an argument. Thomas demanded that Frederick be sent to him where he was now living, in the run-down port of Saint Michaels, near Frederick's birthplace. This was bad news for Frederick. Thomas Auld was a stingy master. Frederick and the other slaves had to beg and steal for food, while bread and meat sat spoiling in Master Thomas's storehouses. Frederick sometimes let his master's horse run off just so he could go after it. The horse liked the neighbor's pasture, and Frederick liked the bread he got from the cook there.

弗雷德里克在巴尔的摩的时候，安东尼上尉死了。 这意味着弗雷德里克现在是卢克丽霞小姐和她丈夫托马斯的财产。 没过多久，卢克丽霞也死了。 弗雷德里克十五岁时，休和托马斯·奥尔德吵了一架。 托马斯要求把腓特烈送到他现在住的地方，在腓特烈出生地附近的一个破旧的港口圣迈克尔。 这对弗雷德里克来说是个坏消息。 托马斯·奥尔德是个吝啬的主人。 弗雷德里克和其他奴隶不得不乞讨和偷窃食物，而面包和肉却在托马斯主人的仓库里腐烂。 弗雷德里克有时会让主人的马跑掉，这样他就可以去追它。 这匹马喜欢邻居家的牧场，弗雷德里克也喜欢那里厨师给他做的面包。

Master Thomas knew what Frederick was doing and decided that city life had "ruined" his slave. He was "spoiled." To make Frederick more obedient, Master Thomas hired him out to a brutal "slave breaker" named Edward Covey. Mr. Covey rented a farm seven miles away on Chesapeake Bay. Mr. Covey made Frederick and the other slaves work in the fields in all weather, sometimes until midnight. "It was never too hot or too cold; it could

主人托马斯知道弗雷德里克在做什么，并认为城市生活“毁了”他的奴隶。 他被“宠坏了”。为了让弗雷德里克更听话，托马斯主人把他雇佣给一个叫爱德华·柯维的残忍的“奴隶破坏者”。 柯维先生在七英里外的切萨皮克湾租了一个农场。 柯维先生让弗雷德里克和其他奴隶不分天气地在地里干活，有时一直干到半夜。 “天气既不太热也不太冷；它可以

never rain, blow, hail, or snow too hard for us to work in the field," Frederick remembered. One blazing August day, Frederick and a few others were separating wheat from straw. Suddenly Frederick, dizzy and shaking, collapsed from the heat and hard work. Covey kicked him

永远不要下太大的雨、风、冰雹或雪，我们不能在地里干活，”弗雷德里克回忆道。 八月里一个炎热的日子，弗雷德里克和其他几个人正在把小麦和稻草分开。 突然，由于高温和繁重的工作，弗雷德里克头晕目眩，浑身发抖，瘫倒在地。 柯维踢了他一脚

and told him to get up. When Frederick couldn't, Covey hit him over the head with a slat of wood. Blood ran freely from Frederick's head as Covey continued to kick him and shout. Finally, Covey left Frederick lying in the dirt. Not long after, Frederick was tending the horses when he felt a rope slip around his ankles. Covey meant to take him down. But something in Frederick snapped. He had been worked like an animal long enough! Frederick grabbed Covey's throat and didn't let go. It was rare—and

叫他起来。当弗雷德里克做不到时，柯维用一块木板打了他的头。 血从弗雷德里克的头上自由地流了出来，柯维继续踢他，大喊大叫。 最后，柯维离开了躺在泥土里的弗雷德里克。 不久之后，弗雷德里克正在照看马，突然感到一根绳子从他的脚踝上滑了下来。 柯维想干掉他。 但是弗雷德里克的内心突然崩溃了。 他已经像动物一样受够了折磨！弗雷德里克抓住柯维的喉咙，不松手。 它很稀有

dangerous—for a slave to attack a white man. After nearly two hours of fighting, Covey gave up. He never laid a hand on Frederick again. The fight with Covey was a turning point in Frederick's life as a slave. "I was nothing before; I was a man now," Frederick later wrote. His desire to be free grew stronger than ever.

对一个奴隶来说，攻击一个白人很危险。 经过近两个小时的战斗，柯维投降了。 他再也没有碰过弗雷德里克一根毫毛。 与柯维的斗争是弗雷德里克作为奴隶生活的转折点。 “我以前什么都不是；我现在是个男人了，”弗雷德里克后来写道。 他对自由的渴望比以往任何时候都强烈。