wanted good and kind and considerate people, and always Melanctha loved and wanted people to be gentle to her, and always she wanted to be regular, and to have peace and quiet in her, and always Melanctha could only find new ways to be in trouble.  And Melanctha needed badly to have Rose, to believe her, and to let her cling to her.  Rose was the only steady thing Melanctha had to cling to and so Melanctha demeaned herself to be like a servant, to wait on, and always to be scolded, by this ordinary, sullen, black, stupid, childish woman.

Rose was always telling Sam he must be good to poor Melanctha.  “You know Sam,” Rose said very often to him, “You certainly had ought to be very good to poor Melanctha, she always do have so much trouble with her.  You know Sam how I told you she had such a bad time always with that father, and he was awful mean to her always that awful black man, and he never took no kind of care ever to her, and he never helped her when her mother died so hard, that poor Melanctha.  Melanctha’s ma you know Sam, always was just real religious.  One day Melanctha was real little, and she heard her ma say to her pa, it was awful sad to her, Melanctha had not been the one the Lord had took from them stead of the little brother who was dead in the house there from fever.  That hurt Melanctha awful when she heard her ma say it.  She never could feel it right, and I don’t no ways blame Melanctha, Sam, for not feeling better to her ma always after, though Melanctha, just like always she is, always was real good to her ma after, when she was so sick, and died so hard, and nobody never to help Melanctha do it, and she just all alone to do everything without no help come to her no way, and that ugly awful black man she have for a father never all the time come near her.  But that’s always the way Melanctha is just doing Sam, the way I been telling to you.  She always is being just so good to everybody and nobody ever there to thank her for it.  I never did see nobody ever Sam, have such bad luck, seems to me always with them, like that poor Melanctha always has it, and she always so good with it, and never no murmur in her, and never no complaining from her, and just never saying nothing with it.  You be real good to her Sam, now you hear me, now you and me is married right together.  He certainly was an awful black man to her Sam, that father she had, acting always just like a brute to her and she so game and never to tell anybody how it hurt her.  And she so sweet and good always to do anything anybody ever can be wanting.  I don’t see Sam how some men can be to act so awful.  I told you Sam, how once Melanctha broke her arm bad and she was so sick and it hurt her awful and he never would let no doctor come near to her and he do some things so awful to her, she don’t never want to tell nobody how bad he hurt her.  That’s just the way Sam with Melanctha always, you never can know how bad it is, it hurts her.  You hear me Sam, you always be real good to her now you and me is married right to each other.”