My Antonia
The following passage is adapted from the novel My Antonia by Willa Cather (originally published in 1918 by Willa Cather).
- I first heard of Antonia on
- what seemed to me an
- interminable journey
- across the great midland
- plain of North America. I
- was ten years old then; I
- had lost both my father
- and mother within a year,
- and my Virginia relatives
- were sending me out to my
- grandparents, who lived in
- Nebraska. I travelled in the
- care of a mountain boy,
- Jake Marpole, one of the
- ‘hands’ on my father’s old
- farm under the Blue Ridge,
- who was now going West to
- work for my grandfather.
- Jake’s experience of the
- world was not much wider
- than mine. He had never
- been in a railway train
- until the morning when we
- set out together to try our
- fortunes in a new world.
- We went all the way in
- day-coaches, becoming
- more sticky and grimy
- with each stage of the
- journey. Jake bought
- everything the newsboys
- offered him: candy,
- oranges, brass collar
- buttons, a watch-charm,
- and for me a ‘Life of Jesse
- James,’ which I remember
- as one of the most
- satisfactory books I have
- ever read. Beyond Chicago
- we were under the
- protection of a friendly
- passenger conductor, who
- knew all about the country
- to which we were going
- and gave us a great deal
- of advice in exchange for
- our confidence.
- He seemed to us an
- experienced and worldly
- man who had been almost
- everywhere; in his
- conversation he threw out
- lightly the names of distant
- states and cities. He wore
- the rings and pins and
- badges of different fraternal
- orders to which he belonged.
- Even his cuff-buttons were
- engraved with hieroglyphics,
- and he was more inscribed
- than an Egyptian obelisk.
- Once when he sat down to
- chat, he told us that in the
- immigrant car ahead there
- was a family from ‘across
- the water’ whose destination
- was the same as ours.
- ‘They can’t any of them speak
- English, except one little girl,
- and all she can say is “We
- go Black Hawk, Nebraska.”
- She’s not much older than
- you, twelve or thirteen,
- maybe, and she’s as bright
- as a new dollar. Don’t you
- want to go ahead and see
- her, Jimmy? She’s got pretty
- brown eyes, too!’
- This last remark made me
- bashful, and I shook my head
- and settled down to ‘Jesse
- James.’ Jake nodded at me
- approvingly and said you
- were likely to get diseases
- from foreigners.
- I do not remember crossing
- the Missouri River, or
- anything about the long
- day’s journey through
- Nebraska. Probably by that
- time I had crossed so many
- rivers that I was dull to
- them. The only thing very
- noticeable about Nebraska
- was that it was still, all
- day long, Nebraska.
- I had been sleeping, curled
- up in a red plush seat, for a
- long while when we reached
- Black Hawk. Jake roused me
- and took me by the hand.
- We stumbled down from
- the train to a wooden siding,
- where men were running
- about with lanterns. I
- couldn’t see any town, or
- even distant lights; we
- were surrounded by utter
- darkness.
- In the red glow from the
- fire-box, a group of people
- stood huddled together on
- the platform, encumbered
- by bundles and boxes. I
- knew this must be the
- immigrant family the
- conductor had told us
- about. Presently a man
- with a lantern approached
- them and began to talk,
- shouting and exclaiming. I
- pricked up my ears, for it
- was positively the first time
- I had ever heard a foreign
- tongue.
- Another lantern came along.
- A bantering voice called out:
- ‘Hello, are you Mr. Burden’s
- folks? If you are, it’s me
- you’re looking for. I’m Otto
- Fuchs. I’m Mr. Burden’s
- hired man, and I’m to drive
- you out. Hello, Jimmy, ain’t
- you scared to come so far
- west?’
- I looked up with interest at
- the new face in the lantern-
- light. He might have stepped
- out of the pages of ‘Jesse
- James.’ He wore a sombrero
- hat, with a wide leather band
- and a bright buckle, and the
- ends of his moustache were
- twisted up stiffly, like little
- horns. He looked lively and
- ferocious, I thought, and as
- if he had a history. A long
- scar ran across one cheek
- and drew the corner of his
- mouth up in a sinister curl.
- The top of his left ear was
- gone. Surely this was the
- face of a desperado.