Slavery and forced labor

οὐ γὰρ ἀγαπητόν σοι δοκεῖ εἶναι, εἰ μόνον ἦλθεν ἐπισταμένη ἔρια παραλαβοῦσα ἱμάτιον ἀποδεῖξαι, καὶ ἑορακυῖα ὡς ἔργα ταλάσια θεραπαίναις δίδοται; ἐπεὶ τά γε ἀμφὶ γαστέρα, ἔφη, πάνυ καλῶς, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἦλθε πεπαιδευμένη· ὅπερ μέγιστον ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ παίδευμα εἶναι καὶ ἀνδρὶ καὶ γυναικί.

For doesn’t it seem to you enough, if she came knowing only how to take wool and turn out a cloak, and having seen how the wool work is given out to the maids? As for matters of the belly, he said, she came very well trained, Socrates; and that, I think, is the greatest lesson for man and woman alike.

ἓν μέντοι τῶν σοὶ προσηκόντων, ἔφην ἐγώ, ἐπιμελημάτων ἴσως ἀχαριστότερον δόξει εἶναι, ὅτι, ὃς ἂν κάμνῃ τῶν οἰκετῶν, τούτων σοι ἐπιμελητέον πάντων ὅπως θεραπεύηται. Νὴ Δί’, ἔφη ἡ γυνή, ἐπιχαριτώτατον μὲν οὖν, ἂν μέλλωσί γε οἱ καλῶς θεραπευθέντες χάριν εἴσεσθαι καὶ εὐνούστεροι ἢ πρόσθεν ἔσεσθαι.

One of the duties that belong to you, I said, will perhaps seem the less pleasant, in that, whichever of the servants falls ill, you must look after every one of them so that he is tended. Yes, by Zeus, said my wife, nay, it is the most pleasant, if those who are well cared for are going to be grateful and kinder than before.

ἴσμεν γὰρ δήπου ὅτι μυριοπλάσια ἡμῶν ἅπαντα ἔχει ἡ πᾶσα πόλις, ἀλλ’ ὅμως, ὁποῖον ἂν τῶν οἰκετῶν κελεύσῃς πριάμενόν τί σοι ἐξ ἀγορᾶς ἐνεγκεῖν, οὐδεὶς ἀπορήσει, ἀλλὰ πᾶς εἰδὼς φανεῖται ὅποι χρὴ ἐλθόντα λαβεῖν ἕκαστα.

We know that the whole city has ten thousand times more than we do, but still, whichever servant you tell to buy something in the market and bring it, none will be at a loss, but every one will be found knowing where to go to get each thing.

καὶ διαιτητήρια δὲ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπεδείκνυον αὐτῇ κεκαλλωπισμένα, τοῦ μὲν θέρους ἔχειν ψυχεινά, τοῦ δὲ χειμῶνος ἀλεεινά. καὶ σύμπασαν δὲ τὴν οἰκίαν ἐπέδειξα αὐτῇ ὅτι πρὸς μεσημβρίαν ἀναπέπταται, ὥστε εὔδηλον εἶναι ὅτι χειμῶνος μὲν εὐήλιός ἐστι, τοῦ δὲ θέρους εὔσκιος. ἔδειξα δὲ καὶ τὴν γυναικωνῖτιν αὐτῇ, θύρᾳ βαλανωτῇ ὡρισμένην ἀπὸ τῆς ἀνδρωνίτιδος, ἵνα μήτε ἐκφέρηται ἔνδοθεν ὅ τι μὴ δεῖ μήτε τεκνοποιῶνται οἱ οἰκέται ἄνευ τῆς ἡμετέρας γνώμης.

And the living rooms for the people I showed her, finely made, cool in summer and warm in winter. And I showed her the whole house, that it lies open to the south, so that it is plain that in winter it is sunny and in summer shady. I showed her the women’s quarters too, marked off from the men’s quarters by a bolted door, so that nothing is carried out from inside that should not be and the household servants do not have children without our approval.

ubi ea cognovit, rationem inire oportet operarum, dierum. si ei opus non apparet, dicit vilicus sedulo se fecisse, servos non valuisse, tempestates malas fuisse, servos aufugisse, opus publicum effecisse, ubi eas aliasque causas multas dixit, ad rationem operum operarumque vilicum revoca.

Once he knows this, he must work out the accounts of work and days. If he does not see enough work done, the overseer will say that he did his best. The slaves were sick, the weather was bad, slaves ran away, he had to do public work. When the overseer has given these and many other excuses, bring him back to the accounts of the work done and the labor used.

cum tempestates pluviae fuerint, quae opera per imbrem fieri potuerint, dolia lavari picari, villam purgari, frumentum transferri, stercus foras efferri, stercilinum fieri, semen purgari, funes sarciri, novos fieri; centones, cuculiones familiam oportuisse sibi sarcire. per ferias potuisse fossas veteres tergeri, viam publicam muniri, vepres recidi, hortum fodiri, pratum purgari, virgas vinciri, spinas runcari, expinsi far, munditias fieri. cum servi aegrotarint, cibaria tanta dari non oportuisse.

When the weather was rainy, there was work that could have been done in the rain. The storage jars could have been washed and coated with pitch, the farmhouse cleaned, the grain moved, the manure carried out and a manure heap made, the seed cleaned, and the ropes mended or new ones made. The slaves should have mended their own patchwork cloaks and hoods. On holidays the old ditches could have been cleared, the public road repaired, the brambles cut back, the garden dug, the meadow cleared, rods tied in bundles, thorns grubbed up, spelt ground, and the place cleaned. When the slaves were sick, they should not have been given full rations.

pecus consideret. auctionem uti faciat: vendat oleum, si pretium habeat, vinum, frumentum quod supersit vendat: boves vetulos, armenta delicula, oves deliculas, lanam, pelles, plostrum vetus, ferramenta vetera, servum senem, servum morbosum, et siquid aliut supersit, vendat. patrem familias vendacem, non emacem esse oportet.

He should look over the livestock and hold a sale. He should sell the oil if the price is good, and sell whatever wine and grain is left over. He should sell aging oxen, blemished cattle and sheep, wool, hides, an old wagon, old tools, an old slave, a sick slave, and anything else left over. The master should be fond of selling, not of buying.

hoc mense mercedes exsoluebant magistris, quas completus annus deberi fecit, comitia auspicabantur, uectigalia locabant, et seruis cenas adponebant matronae, ut domini Saturnalibus: illae, ut principio anni ad promptum obsequium honore seruos inuitarent, hi, quia gratiam perfecti operis exsoluerent.

In this month they paid teachers their fees, which fell due when the year was over. They took the auspices for the elections and leased out the collection of public revenues. And the mistresses of households served dinner to their slaves, as the masters did at the Saturnalia. The women did it at the start of the year, to win the slaves' willing service by honoring them. The masters did it to thank them for work completed.

Se tomaron mas de 20 mugeres de las cativas, y de su grado se venian otras naturales de la isla, que fueron salteadas é tomadas por fuerza. Ciertos mochachos captivos se vinieron á nosotros huyendo de los naturales de la isla que los tenían captivos.

We took more than twenty of the captive women, and other women who were natives of the island came of their own accord, but were then seized and taken by force. Some captive boys came to us, fleeing from the islanders who held them prisoner.

Dijímosles pues tornemos á Méjico, y tornamos, y saliéronnos á rescibir los señores, y despidímonos de Montezuma, y díjonos: “Tornaos á Mechuacan, que ya venistes, ó habéis visto la tierra, no nos volvamos atrás de la guerra que les queremos dar; haga esto que le rogamos; vuestro señor que ha de decir de nosotros si no venís? Habemos por ventura de ser esclavos? cómo han de llegar allá á Mechuacan? Aquí muramos todos, primero nosotros y vosotros, y no vayan á vuestra tierra; esto es lo que le diréis á vuestro señor; vengan que aquí hay mucha comida para que tenga fuerza la gente para la guerra: no tengas lástima de la gente; muramos presto y tengamos nuestro estrado de la gente que morirá si no saliéremos con la nuestra, si los cobardes y para poco de nuestros dioses no nos favorescieren, que mucho tiempo ha que le habian dicho á nuestro dios que ninguno le destruiría su reino, y no habemos oido mas reinos deste y Mechuacan; pues tornaos;” y ansí nos partimos y salieron con nosotros á despedirnos. Estas son las nuevas que tenemos.”

We said to them, ‘Let us go back to Mexico,’ and we went back. The lords came out to receive us, and we took our leave of Montezuma. He said to us, ‘Go back to Mechuacan. You have come and you have seen the land. Let us not turn back from the war we mean to make on them. Let your lord do what we ask of him. What will he say of us if you do not come? Are we to become slaves? How could the strangers ever reach Mechuacan? Let us all die here, first ourselves and then you, so that they never reach your land. Tell your lord this. Let your people come, for there is plenty of food here to keep the warriors strong. Do not spare the people. Let us die soon, and make our bed among those who will die, if we do not win, if the cowards and weaklings among our gods do not favor us. Long ago they told our god that no one would destroy his kingdom, and we have heard of no kingdoms but this one and Mechuacan. Now go back.’ And so we left, and they came out with us to see us off. That is the news we bring.”

Dos maneras generales y principales han tenido los que allá han pasado, que se llaman Cristianos, en estirpar y raer de la haz de la tierra aquellas miserandas naciones. La una por injustas, crueles, sangrientas y tiránicas guerras. La otra despues que han muerto todos los que podrian anhelar ó sospirar, ó pensar en libertad ó en salir de los tormentos que padecen, como son todos los Señores naturales y los hombres varones; porque comunmente no dejan en las guerras á vida sino los mozos y mugeres; oprimiéndolos con la mas dura, horrible y áspera servidumbre, en que jamas hombres ni bestias pudieron ser puestas. A estas dos maneras de tiranía infernal se reducen y se resuelven, ó subalternan como á géneros todas las otras diversas y varias de asolar aquellas gentes, que son infinitas.

Those who have gone over there call themselves Christians. They have had two main ways of rooting out these unhappy nations and wiping them from the face of the earth. One is unjust, cruel, bloody, and tyrannical war. The other comes after they have killed everyone who might long for freedom, or sigh for it, or even think of escaping the torments they suffer. These are all the native lords and the grown men, since in their wars they usually spare only the young people and the women. Then they crush the survivors under the hardest, most horrible, and harshest slavery that men or beasts were ever put to. All the other countless ways of destroying those peoples come down to these two kinds of hellish tyranny.

Dann derselbige Ipperu Wasu hette vor einem Jar auch einen schlaven gefangen, und inen dem Alkindar Miri auß freundtschafft geschenckt, Denselbigen er tod geschlagen, und einen namen darvon gewunnen hatte. So das der Alkindar Miri dem Ipperu Wasu verheissen hette, den ersten so er fienge, ime wider zuschencken, Der jenige ich da war.

A year before, this same Ipperu Wasu had also captured a slave and given him to Alkindar Miri as a gift of friendship. Alkindar Miri had clubbed him to death and won a name by it. So Alkindar Miri had promised Ipperu Wasu to give him the first captive he took in return. I was that captive.

El officio en que mas inclinados estavan es mercaderia, llevando sal, ropa y esclavos a tierra de Ulua y Tavasco, trocandolo todo por cacao y cuentas de piedra que era su moneda, y con esta solian comprar esclavos o otras cuentas con razon que eran finas y buenas, las quales por joyas trayan sobre si en las fiestas los señores. Y tenian otras hechas de ciertas conchas coloradas por moneda y joyas de sus personas. Y lo traian en sus bolsas de red que tenian y en los mercados tratavan de todas quantas cosas avia en essa tierra. Fiavan, prestavan, y pagavan cortesmente y sin usuras.

The trade they liked best was commerce. They carried salt, cloth, and slaves to the lands of Ulua and Tavasco and traded it all for cacao and stone beads, which were their money. With these they bought slaves, or finer and better beads, which the lords wore as jewels at feasts. They also had money made of certain red shells, which they wore as jewelry too. They carried their money in net bags. In the markets they traded in everything there was in that land. They sold on credit, lent, and paid back honorably and without usury.

Pero en lo que toca al rescate de esta tierra, que parece que el Padre se escusa de tratarlo. Digo, que en vna ocasion se me lamentaua vn Capitan de vna armazon de negros, que traía de Angola en vn nauio, por auer tocado en vn baxio llamado los Negrillos a vista de Cartagena, y corrido tan gran naufragio (exemplo de lo que acabamos de dezir) que solamente escapò treinta de nouecientos que en èl traía, que tambien ay venturas en las desdichas.

As for the trade in captives in Angola itself, which the Father seems to excuse himself from discussing, I will say this. Once a captain came to me grieving over a whole cargo of Africans that he was bringing from Angola in his ship. It had struck a shoal called the Negrillos, within sight of Cartagena, and was so badly wrecked that only thirty of the nine hundred aboard escaped. This is an example of what we have just said, for even misfortunes come in degrees.

Lastimòme el caso, assombròme el numero que deuia de auer en Angola de negros de rescate, y de vnas en otras me vino a contar la causa de la muchedumbre presente, aun con auer libertado a muchos por respeto de lo que contra la injusticia de su cautiuerio predicaua publicamente el Padre Rector Luis Brandaon (cuya carta acabo de referir.)

The case grieved me, and I was astonished at how many Africans for sale there must be in Angola. One thing led to another, and he came to tell me the reason there were so many now. This was true even though many had been freed because of what the Father Rector, Luis Brandaon, whose letter I have just quoted, preached publicly against the injustice of their captivity.

Como si adiuinara sucedio: que es la poca possibilidad cruel verdugo de los que nacieron con honra. Viendose pues ambos socorridos vinieron a las manos, trauaron cruel guerra, vencio el vno. Desta rota tomaron ocasion muchos ladrones, y gente ociosa, y de mala vida para hazer en el Reino muchos insultos, robos, y latrocinios, que semejantes desgracias son ferias francas en que los tales grangean, y se aprouechan, viendo que la justicia està ocupada, y diuertida en las desgracias; y que la confusion no dà lugar a recatos. Con lo qual huuo abundante rescate, y auia aquel gran numero de esclauos, que al presente corria, y de donde salian los innumerables negros que a Cartagena llegauan en aquel tiempo.

It happened just as if he had foreseen it, for poverty is a cruel executioner of those born to honor. With both sides reinforced, they came to blows and fought a cruel war, and one of them won. Many thieves and idle, lawless people seized on this defeat to commit assaults, robberies, and thefts across the kingdom. Disasters like these are open fairs where such people do business and profit, since the law is busy and distracted by the disaster, and in the confusion no one is on guard. So captives were plentiful, and that was why there were so many slaves on the market now. From there came the countless Africans who were reaching Cartagena at that time.

Pero el ordinario modo, y trato desta tierra, en orden a rescatar las piezas de que hazen sus armaçones para sacarlas a otras partes, es bien que le aduirtamos, y es, que los vezinos, y moradores de Loanda tienen algunos negros, que llaman Pumberos, que vale cada vno mil pesos: estos se parten en compañia de otros, que llaman cargadores, lleuando a cuestas la hazienda para el rescate, la tierra adentro trecho de ochenta leguas, donde hallan vnas grandes ferias, y juntas, para rescatar en ellas muchos negros, a quienes llaman Genses, que quiere dezir mercaderes, que han venido de mas de docientas y trecientas leguas, con muchos negros de diferentes Reinos, para rescatarlos por varias mercaderias a los Pumberos,

But we should note the ordinary way the trade works in that land, how they buy the “pieces” that make up their cargoes to ship them elsewhere. The citizens and settlers of Luanda own certain Africans whom they call Pumberos, each of them worth a thousand pesos. These men set out with others, called carriers, who carry the trade goods on their backs eighty leagues inland. There they find great fairs and gatherings where they can buy many Africans. The sellers are Africans called Genses, which means merchants, who have come from more than two or three hundred leagues away with many captives from different kingdoms. They trade them to the Pumberos for all kinds of goods.

He was a native of this place, & scarce any left alive besids him selfe. He was caried away with diverce others by one Hunt, a mr. of a ship, who thought to sell them for slaves in Spaine; but he got away for England, and was entertained by a marchante in London, & imployed to New-found-land & other parts, & lastly brought hither into these parts by one Mr. Dermer, a gentle-man imployed by Sr. Ferdinando Gorges & others, for discovery, & other designes in these parts.

He was a native of this place, and hardly anyone was left alive besides himself. He had been carried away with several others by one Hunt, a ship's master, who meant to sell them as slaves in Spain. But he got away to England, was taken in by a merchant in London, and was employed in Newfoundland and other parts. At last he was brought back here by one Mr. Dermer, a gentleman employed by Sir Ferdinando Gorges and others for exploration and other plans in these parts.

Saw many fine Girls who were Captives; & a great many dried Scalps with fine long black hair, displayed on poles, & before the Leader's tent. They follow the Buffalo from place to place: & that they should not be surprised by the Enemy, encamp in open plains. Their fuel is turf, & Horse-dung dryed; their cloathing is finely painted with red paint; like unto English Ochre: but they do not mark nor paint their bodies. Saw four Asses.

I saw many fine girls who were captives, and a great many dried scalps with fine long black hair, displayed on poles and in front of the leader's tent. They follow the buffalo from place to place, and so that the enemy cannot surprise them, they camp in open plains. Their fuel is turf and dried horse dung. Their clothing is finely painted with red paint, like English ochre, but they do not mark or paint their bodies. I saw four asses.

16. Wednesday. Women employed as yesterday. With the Leader's permission, I rode a hunting with twenty of his young men. They killed 8 Buffalo, excellent sport. They are so expert that with one, or two, arrows they will drop a Buffalo. As for me I had sufficient employ to manage my horse. When I came home I was invited to the Leader's tent again where were all the Asinepoet Leaders, etc., I thought it very curious as there were four different languages among us. The Leader gave orders to pitch away from him, and that we would see him again in the Spring, when they came down after the Buffalo. He gave one of the Leaders two young slaves as a present and 40 Buffalo tongues; they were both girls.

16. Wednesday. The women were busy as yesterday. With the leader's permission, I rode hunting with twenty of his young men. They killed 8 buffalo; excellent sport. They are so skilled that with one or two arrows they will bring down a buffalo. As for me, I had enough to do to manage my horse. When I came home, I was invited to the leader's tent again, where all the Asinepoet leaders were. I thought it very curious, as there were four different languages among us. The leader gave orders for us to move camp away from him, and said that we would see him again in the spring, when they came down after the buffalo. He gave one of the leaders two young slaves as a present, and 40 buffalo tongues. They were both girls.