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05 - Porgy by DuBose Heyward · Porgy

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Red by Denise Ray, Part four. It was the day
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: set for the grand parade and picnic of the Suns
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: and Daughters of repent Ye Saith the Lord, and with
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the first light of morning, Catfish Row had burst into
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: a fever of preparation. Across the narrow street. The wharf
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: from which the party was to leave bustled and seethed
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  Speaker 1: with life. A wagon rattled out to the pier head
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: and discharged an entire load of watermelons. Under the vigilant
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: eyes of a committee a dozen volunteers lifted the precious
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: freight from the vehicle and piled it ready for the steamer.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: From behind the next pier, with a frenzied threshing up
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  Speaker 1: its immense stern paddle, came the excursion boat. Tall open
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  Speaker 1: exhaust funnels flanked the walking beam and coughed great salmon
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: colored plumes of steam into the faint, young sunlight. A
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: fierce torrent of wood smoke gushed from the funnel, and
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: when tumbling away across the harbor, painters were hurled, missed, coiled,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: and hurled again. Then, amid a babblement of advice and encouragement,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: the craft was finally moored into readiness for the lodge.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: The first horizontal rays of the sun were painting the
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: wall a warm claret when Porgy opened his door to
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: find Peter already dressed for the parade and perched upon
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: the back of his gaily blanketed horse. He wore a
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: sky blue coat, white pants, which were thrust into high
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: black leggings, and a visored cap from beneath which he
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: scowled fiercely down upon the turmoil around the feet of
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: his mount. Across his breast, from right shoulder to left
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: hip was a broad scarlet shash, upon which was emblazoned
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: repent Ye safed the Lord. From his left breast fluttered
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: a white ribbon bearing the word Martial. From time to
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: time he would issue orders in horse menacing gutturals, which
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: no one heeded, and twice in that space of half
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: an hour he rode out to the pier head, counted
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: the watermelons, and returned to report the number to an
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: important official who had arrived in a carriage to supervise
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: the arrangements. Momently, the confusion increased, until at eight o'clock
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: it culminated in a general exodus towards the rendezvous for
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: the parade. The drowsy old city had scarcely commenced its
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: day when down through King Charles Street, the procession took
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: its way superbly, unself conscious of the effect that it produced.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: It crashed through the slow, restrained rhythm of the city's
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: life like a wild barbaric cord. All of the stately
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: mansions along the way were servantless that day, and the
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: aristocratic matrons broke the ultimate cannon of the social code
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: and peered through front windows at the procession as it
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: swept flamboyantly across the town. First came an infinitesimal negro boy,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: scarlet coated and a glitter with brass buttons. Upon his
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: head was balanced an enormous shako, and while he marched
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: with left hand on hip and shoulders back, his right
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: hand twirled a heavy gold headed baton. Then the band,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: two score boys, attired in several variations of the bandmaster's costume,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: strode by bare splayed, feet patted upon the cobbles, heads
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: were thrown back with lips to instruments that glittered in
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: the sunshine, launching daring and independent excursions into the realm
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: of sound. Yet these improvisations returned always to the internal
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: boom boom boom of an underlying rhythm, and met with
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: others in the sudden weaving and raveling of amazing cords,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: an ecstasy of wild young bodies beat living into the
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: blasts that shook the windows of the solemn houses. Broad,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: dusty blue black feet shuffled and danced on the many
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: colored cobbles and the grass between them. The sun lifted
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: suddenly over the housetops and flashed like a torrent of
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: warm white wine between the stayed buildings to break on
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: flashing teeth and laughing eyes. After the band came the
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: men members of the lodge, stepping it out to the
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: urge of the marshals, who rode beside them, reinforcing the
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: marching rhythm with a series of staccato grunts, short with
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: crisp military precision, from under their visored caps, breast cross
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: slashed with the emblems of their lodge. They passed. Then
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: came the carriages, and suddenly the narrow street hummed and
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: bloomed like a tropic garden. Six to a carriage sat
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: the sisters. The effect produced by the colors was strangely
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: like that wrought in the music scarlet, purple, orange, flamingo, emerald,
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: wild clashing unbelievably discords, yet in their steady flow before
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: the eyes, possessing a strange, dominant rhythm that reconciled them
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: to each other and made them unalterably right. The senses
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: reached blindly out for a reason there was none. They intoxicated,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: they maddened, and finally they passed, seeming to pull every
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: ray of color from the dune buildings, leaving the sunlight
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: sane flat dead. For his brief moment out of the year,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: the pageant had lasted out of its fretters of celvization.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: This people had risen, suddenly amazingly exotic as a congo,
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: and still able to abandon themselves utterly to the wild
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  Speaker 1: joy of fantastic plays. They had taken the reticent old
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: Anglo Saxon town and stamped their mood swiftly and indelibly
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: into its heart. Then they passed, leaving behind them a
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: wistful envy among those who had watched them go, those
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: whom the ages had rendered old and wise. When the
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: exodus from the Row was completed, Bess helped Porgi out
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: to the boat and established him in an angle of
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: the main deck cabin, where he could see and enjoy
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: the excursion to the full below them. On the wharf, Maria,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: who had the direction of the refreshment committee in hand,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: moved about among the basket and boxes, looking rather like
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: a water front conflagration. In a voluminous costume of scarlet
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: and orange. Bess left porgy and descended the ladder. I
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: got some ready hand with bundles, she announced defiantly. The
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: immense negress paused and looked her up and down. Well, well,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: it looks like you're trying to be decent, she commented instantly.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: The woman chilled. You can go to hell. She said, deliberately.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: I ain't fixin for no sermon. I want a job.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Does you want a hand with them paggage or not?
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: For a moment their eyes met, then they laughed suddenly loudly,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: together with complete understanding. All right. Then the older woman said,
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: if ya is that independent, you can take them basket
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: on board. After that they worked together until the procession
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: arrived without the interchange of further remarks. Down the quiet bay.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Like a great frenzied beetle, the stern wheeler kicked its
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: way on the main deck the band played without succession
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: in a ring before it, a number of Negroes danced,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: for the most part shall flintsingly. The sun hurled the
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: full power of an august noon upon the oil smooth water,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: and the polished surface cast it upward with added force.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Under the awnings. The decks sagged with color, and repeated
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: explosions of laughter rowed the heat waves back to the drowsing,
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: lovely old city. Long after the boat had turned the
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: first bin in the narrow river and passed far from view.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: On its way to the Negro picnic grounds on Kittywar Island,
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Thrashing its way between far sweeping marshes and wooded sea islands,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: the boat would burst suddenly into lagoon after lagoon that
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: lay strewn along the coast, that blazed in the noon
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: like great fire opals held in silver mesh. Finally, a
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: shout went up. Kitty War lay before them, thrusting a
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: slender water from its thickly wooded extremity into the slack tide.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: The deep sarcation over Maria took possession of a clearing
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: that stood in a dense forest Uponmellos and fronted on
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: the beach, and marshaled her committee to prepare the lunch.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: From the adjacent beach, came the study cool thunder of
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: the sea and the unremedient hum of sand, as tireless
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: wind scooped it from the dunes and set it in low,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: flat blown layers across the hard floor of the beach.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: The picnickers heard it and answered with a shout. Soon,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: the streaming whiteness of the inner surf was dotted with small,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: glistening black bodies. The larger figures, with skirts hoisted high,
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: were wading in the shallows. Porgy sat with a large
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: myrtle bush in one hand, with which he brushed flies
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: from several sleeping infants. The sun lay heavy and comforting
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: upon him. One of the children stirred and whimpered. He
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: hummed a low, bubbling song to it. There was a
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: new contentment in his face. After a while he commenced
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: to nod, I go and get some pomalta leaf for tablecloth.
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  Speaker 1: Best told Maria, and without waiting for an answer, she
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: took a knife from a basket and entered the dense
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: tangle of palm and vine that walled the clearing. Almost
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: immediately she was in another world. The sounds behind her
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: became faint and dyed. A rattler moved its thick body
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  Speaker 1: sluggishly out of her way. A flock of wood ebys
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  Speaker 1: sprang suddenly up, broke through the thick roof of palm leaves,
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  Speaker 1: and streamed away over the tree tops towards the marsh.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: With their legs at the trail. She cut a wide
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: fan shaped leaf from the nearest palmetto behind her. Some
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: one breathed a deep, unmierable breath. The woman's body stiffened slowly,
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  Speaker 1: her eyes half closed and were suddenly dark. And knowing
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: some deep ebb or flow of blood touched her face,
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: causing it to darken heavily, leaving the scar livid. Without turning,
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: she said slowly, crown. Yes, you you know very well
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  Speaker 1: this crown. The deep sound shook her. She turned like
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  Speaker 1: one dazed and looked him up and down. His body
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  Speaker 1: was neked to the waist, and the blue cotton pants
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  Speaker 1: that he had worn on the night of the killing
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: had frayed away to his knees. He bent slightly forward.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: The great muscles of his torso flickered and ran like
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: the flank of a horse. His small, wicked eyes burned,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: and he moistened his heavy lips. Earth had cared for
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: him well. The marshes had provided eggs of wild fowl
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: and many young birds. The creek had given him fish,
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  Speaker 1: crabs and oysters in abundance, and the forests had fed
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  Speaker 1: him with its many berries and succulent palmetto cabbage. I
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  Speaker 1: seen youa land, he said, and I've been waitin for you.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: I'm most dead or lonesome on this damn island, with
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  Speaker 1: not one God's person to swap a word with you. Gods,
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  Speaker 1: any happy dust, would you? No? She said, then, with
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: an effort, crown, I got somethin to tell y. I
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: don't give up, dope. And besides that, I sort of
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: changed my way. His jaw shot forward, and the huge
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: shoulder muscles bulged, and said. His two great hands went
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  Speaker 1: around her throat and closed, like the slow fusing of
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: steel on steel. She stopped speaking. He drew her to
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  Speaker 1: him until his face touched hers. Under his hands, her
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: arteries pounded, sending fierce spurts of flame through her limbs,
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: beating redly behind her eyeballs. His hand slackened, her face changed,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: her lips opened, but she said nothing crown broke into low,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: shaken laughter and threw her from him him. Now come
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: with me, he ordered. Into the depths of the jungle,
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: they plunged, the woman walking in front with a trance
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: like fixity of gaze. They followed one of the narrow,
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  Speaker 1: hard packed trails that had been beaten by the wild
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: hogs and goats that roamed the island. On each side
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: of them, the forest stood like a wall, its tough
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: low trees and thickened body palmuddles laced and bound together
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: with wire strong vines. Overhead, the foliage met, making the
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: trail a tunnel as inescapable as that it had been
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: built of masonry. The man walked with a swinging, effortless dride,
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: but his breath sounded in long, audible inhalations, as though
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: he labored physically. When they had journeyed for half an hour,
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: they crossed a small cypress swamp. The cypress knees jutted
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: grotesquely from the yellow water, and trailing Spanish moss extended
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: drabs to lactites that brushed their faces as they threaded.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: The low mu trail finally best emerged into a small
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: clearing in the center of which stood a low hut
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: with sighs of platted twigs and roof upon muttle leaves
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: laid on top of each other in regular rows like shingles.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Crown was close behind her at the low door of
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: the hut. She paused and turned toward him. He laughed
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: suddenly and hotly at what he saw at her face.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: I know you ain't change, he said, With you and me,
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: it's always going to be the same. See. He snatched
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: her body toward him with such force that her breath
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: was forced from her in a sharp gasp. Then she
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: inhaled deeply, threw back her head, and sent a wild
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: laugh out against the walls of the clearing. Crown swung
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: her about and threw her face forward into the hut.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: The sun was so low that its level rays shot
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: through the tunnels of the forest and bronzed the ceiling
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: of woven leaves. When Bess returned to the clearing, she
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: paused for a moment behind her, screened by the underbrush.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: Stood crowned. Now, remember what I tell ya, He says,
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: you can stay with the cripple till the cotton come.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: Then I'm coming. Davy will hide. We on the river
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: boat far as Savannah. Then soon the cotton will be
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: coming in fast and libbing will be easy. You gets
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: that For a moment, She looked into the narrow menacing eyes,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: then nodded, go along then, and told fair lest you
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: wants to meet your God. She stepped into the open.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: Already most of the party were on the boat. She
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: crossed the narrow beach to the wharf. Maria stood by
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: the gangplank and looked at her with suspicious eyes. Where
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: you been all day? She demanded, I get lost in
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: the woods, and I can't get my bearings till sundown.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: But that ain't nobody's business. Set me a porgie, if
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: you know. She found Porgy on the lower deck near
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: the stern, and seated herself by him in silence. He
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: was looking into the sunset and gave no evidence of
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: having noticed her arrival. Through the illimitable, mysterious night, the
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: steamer took its way presently. It swung out of one
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: of the narrow channels and wallowed like an antedovellum monster
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: into the stillness of a wide lagoon. Out of the darkness,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: low broad waves moved in upon it, trailing stars along
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: their swarthy backs to shatter into silver dust. Against the
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: uncouth boughs. To Porgy and Bess, still sitting silent in
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: the stern came only the echoes of drowsy conversations, sounds
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: of sleeping, and the rhythmic splash and drip of the
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: single gray wheel behind them. The boat forged out into
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: the center of the lagoon, and the shore line melted
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: out behind it, which had shone a moment before, could
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: now be seen only the steady climb of constellations out
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: of the water's rim, and the soft, humid lamps of
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: low near stars. The knight pressed in about the two
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: quiet figures. Porgy had said no words since their departure.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: His body had assumed its old tense attitude. His face
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: wore again its listening look now, he said, slowly, you
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: never lie to me, Bess. No came an even colorless voice.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: I never lie to you. You gets to give me
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: Dad another interval, then war a crown, a sharp in
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: drawn breath beside him in a whisper. How you know,
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: God get crippled many things he ain't give strong men.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: Then again, patiently, war a crown. Yes it were what
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: he say he comin for me. When de Cotton come to town.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: You goin? I tell him yes. After a while, the
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: woman reached out a hand and closed it lightly about
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: the man's arm under the sleeve. She felt the muscles
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: go rigid. What power she tried to circle it with
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: her hand. It was almost as big as crowns. It
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: was strange that she had not noticed that before. She
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came. Presently,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: she sighed and withdrew her hand through the immense emptiness
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: of sea and sky. The boat forged slowly towards the
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: distant city lights. I got to feelin' yesterday, announced Maria
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: to Serena Robbins, as she took a batch of wet
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: clothing from the latter's tub, gave it one twist with
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: her enormous hands, and set it aside to go upon
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: the line, what you got yer feelin' about? I got
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: your feelin' when porgy woman come out of the woods
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: on the picnic. She done ben wi crown. At the
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: mention of the murderer's name, Serena stepped back, and her
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: usual expression of sanctimonious complacency slowly changed. Her lower lips
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: shot forward and her face darkened. You tink that nigga
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: on kiddowar, She asked, I always figured he'd been darn
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: them deep pomiters, mariaplied, But when I looked in Bessy's
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: eyes last night, I saw up two things, One that
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: he is there, an two that she been with him.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: You believe she's still wit that nigger dim sort os.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: Men's ain't need to worry about having women. Maria told
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: her deackin Lay that lash on him and kick 'em
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: in the street. Then they can whistle when they're ready
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: and their day is again licking their hand. She gonna
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: stay with Porgy if she know what good for her.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: She know all right, and she loved Porgy. But if
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: that nigga come at her, she they ain't goin to
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: be nobody round her but Porgy and the goot. A sudden,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: dark flame blazed in Serena's face, sweeping they acquired complacency
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: before it and changing it utterly. She leant forward and
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: spoke heavily that nigga best tank is God that I
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: got my Jesus Now for hold back my hand. You
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: you ain't means that you was goin to turn gim
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: up to the white folks. If he come back on
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: town instead of settling with him yourself, Maria asked, increageously,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: I ain't know what for do the other replied, the
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: hatred in her face giving way to a look up perplexity.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: If that nigga come to town, he's sure to get
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: killed sooner or later. Then the white folk's gonna lock
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: me up. Thank Gods, had on to writing, now that
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: I've been Robin's wife, and they're gonna figure, I like
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: as not kill him. I know two people get locked
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: up that way, and they ain't do one god thing.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: Nigga shall get or keep her eye on in this world,
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: the big niggers observed. But we can't turn no nigga
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: over to the police. A man paused before the entrance
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: of the court and looked in to the two women.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: He was only a silhouette standing under the arch against
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: a dazzling expanse of Bay, but the foppish outlines of
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: the indolent, slender figure were unmistakable. A smile of pleased
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: anticipation grew about Maria's wide mouth. She dried her hand
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: upon her apron, just like I've been telling you, she
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: remarks with serena. Thank God, Jesu ain't got me yet
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: he got you, and I still means enough to straighten
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: out a crooked nigger. See that yellow snake wriggling in
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: the doorway. He the one what sell best, Dad Happy dust.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Drying her hands and bared four arms with honomous thoroughness,
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: she crossed to her shop. The room was empty when
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: she entered. She went at once to the stove, which
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: stood in his corner with his legs set upon four bricks.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: She bent forward, placed a shoulder against one of its corners,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: gave a heave, and drew out a brick. Then she
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: straightened up, spat first on one hand and then on
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: the other, and carrying the brick in her immense right lightly,
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: and with a certain aweful fondness, stepped out of her door.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: Sport in life was now within the entrance and presenting
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: an unsuspecting profile to the cook shop. With frightful deliberation,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: Maria swung her long arm back. Then, like the stroke
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: of a rattler, it shot forward. The brick caught the
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: mulatto full on the side of the head. He crumbled
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: among his gaudy habliments like a stricken bird. After a
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: space of time, the victim blinked feebly, then opened his
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: eyes upon Maria's face. She was mopping his head with
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: a wet rag, and his first glance discovered an expression
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: of gentleness on her heavy features. Reassured, he opened his
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: eyes wide, but the gentleness was gone. He felt himself
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: gripped by the shoulders and suddenly snatched upward to be
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: placed upon unsteady legs. Then he was propelled rapidly toward
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: the gate. At the pavement's edge. Maria swung her victim
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: around until his wandering and reluctant gaze met hers. This
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: the last time you was round here. I I ain't
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: have nothing on you but my eyes. Now I knows you,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: you damn dirty dope peddling wrecking the homes of these
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: happy niggas. Her arms shot forward and back like locomotive pistons.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: The man's head snapped to an acute angle and righted
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: itself with difficulty. Now, when I'm done flinging you out
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: this gate, she proceeded, It's the last time you was
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: going to leave it early. Everybody say I is buried, true, nigga.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: And if you ever comes round here again, drunk or sober,
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: I ain't going to be too through with you, your carcass,
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: until I throw your bones out to the buzzarts one
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: by one. Abruptly, she reversed the luckless man and placed
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: the foot in the small of his back. Then, with
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: a heave that seemed to bring into place every muscle
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: of her huge bulk, she catapulted him once and for
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: all out of catfush Row and the li lives of
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: its inhabitants. End of Section five.