“Sixty-eight,” called the fellow in blue, with the marking board, and pencil.
“Master,” responded a red-head.
She rose to her feet, with a rustle of chain. She was siriked. This impediment was removed, and cast to the side of the stairs.
She then crossed her wrists behind her back, took her place, and lowered her head.
She was a tall girl, perhaps five feet nine or so. Normally the line proceeds from the tallest to the shortest girl.
“Forty-one, twenty-two, one hundred and six,” called the fellow in blue. “Master,” said each, identifying herself.
They took their places, two being first relieved of physical constraints, one a sirik and one a wall collar.
“Eighteen,” said the fellow in blue.
“No, no, no!” screamed a girl.
She leaped to her feet, darted with a scattering of straw past the fellow in blue, and, scrambling, sobbing, stumbling, falling once, leaping up again, fled toward the stairs, at the top of which, high above, was the dark, barred gate. Then she screamed with misery, several feet from the stairs, caught by the hair, and yanked back, that by the fellow who carried the loops of rope. He twisted her rudely, abruptly, about, and downward, and she was then at his feet, he crouching over her, his hand in her hair. He then straightened up, angrily, and, she crying out in pain, jerked her to her feet, and held her beside him, bent over at the waist, her head tight against his hip, her head down, facing the floor, she then in leading position. In a moment, she had been conducted to the side of the fellow in blue. Her small hands were on the wrists of the fellow who held her. She was whimpering. As she was held, she could only look down, into the straw. She held her head still, extremely still, to avoid more agony, for the guard’s hand was tight in her hair.
“I am disappointed, Eighteen,” said the fellow in blue.
“Forgive me, Master,” she whispered.
“You moved awkwardly,” he said gently, chidingly. “You were clumsy. Indeed, you fell. Free women may move awkwardly, clumsily, stiffly, however they please, but you, you must keep in mind, are no longer a free woman. You are now kajira. Surely you know that you are to move beautifully, with loveliness and grace, and, in a situation such as this, only with permission.”
“Yes, Master,” she wept.
“I trust you did not injure yourself,” he said.
“No, Master,” she said.
“You must not do so, as you are another’s property,” he said. “Your master would not be pleased if you lowered your value.”
“Yes, Master,” she said.
I did not think she knew her master, no more than the rest of us. We did not know by whom we had been purchased, or for what reason. We had gathered we were to be shipped north, to some point on the coast.
“Release her,” said the fellow in blue.
She went to her knees, her head down, to the feet of the fellow in blue.
“I was of the Merchants,” she wept, “the high Merchants!”
“No longer,” said the fellow in blue.
“No, Master,” she said.
“You are now yourself goods,” he said.
“Yes, Master,” she said.
“It is fortunate that in your brief, foolish, and ill-advised flight you did not reach the stairs,” he said.
“Yes, Master,” she said.
“Otherwise you would have been punished.”
“Yes, Master,” she said. “Thank you Master. Forgive me, Master.”
“Do you not think it would be appropriate to express your gratitude to he who saved you from a beating?” he asked.
“Yes, Master,” she said, and crawled to the fellow who had halted her in her precipitate flight.
“Thank you, Master,” she whispered, and, head down, with her soft lips and tongue, for several moments, addressed herself to his feet.
The licking and kissing of the master’s feet is a familiar behavior on the part of a slave girl. It is a ritual, like kissing the whip, which is symbolic of submission. But these behaviors, or rituals, are often rich and complex. For example, we are taught the licking and kissing of a man’s whip in such a way that he may be driven mad with passion. Too, of course, it has its effect on the slave, as well. The kissing of the feet is also, obviously, symbolic of submission, and is rich in significance. For example, it indicates that the slave is her owner’s animal. It is often a placatory behavior. It may also express contrition, gratitude, and a slave’s love. Too, it is a way in which to place oneself before the master,