You know they wo n't ? Very well , I daresay you know best . But you see , some folks have a great liking for those poor little efts . They never did anybody any harm , or could if they tried ; and their only fault is , that they do no good -- any more than some thousands of their betters . But what with ducks , and what with pike , and what with sticklebacks , and what with water-beetles , and what with naughty boys , they are `` sae sair hadden doun , '' as the Scotsmen say , that it is a wonder how they live ; and some folks ca n't help hoping , with good Bishop Butler , that they may have another chance , to make things fair and even , somewhere , somewhen , somehow . Meanwhile , do you learn your lessons , and thank God that you have plenty of cold water to wash in ; and wash in it too , like a true Englishman . And then , if my story is not true , something better is ; and if I am not quite right , still you will be , as long as you stick to hard work and cold water . HAPTER I UNCLE TOM AND LITTLE HARRY ARE SOLD Very many years ago , instead of having servants to wait upon them and work for them , people used to have slaves . These slaves were paid no wages . Their masters gave them only food and clothes in return for their work . When any one wanted servants he went to market to buy them , just as nowadays we buy horses and cows , or even tables and chairs . If the poor slaves were bought by kind people they would be quite happy . Then they would work willingly for their masters and mistresses , and even love them . But very often cruel people bought slaves . These cruel people used to beat them and be unkind to them in many other ways . It was very wicked to buy and sell human beings as if they were cattle . Yet Christian people did it , and many who were good and kind otherwise thought there was no wrong in being cruel to their poor slaves . ` They are only black people , ' they said to themselves . ` Black people do not feel things as we do . ' That was not kind , as black people suffer pain just in the same way as white people do .
One of the saddest things for the poor slaves was XXXXX they could never long be a happy family all together -- father , mother , and little brothers and sisters -- because at any time the master might sell the father or the mother or one of the children to some one else .
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