The frequent hearing of my mistress reading the bible--for she often read aloud when her husband was absent--soon awakened my curiosity in respect to this mystery of reading, and roused in me the desire to learn. Having nosier of my kind mistress before my eyes, (Shead given me no reason to fear), I frankly asked her to teach me to read; and without hesitation, the dear woman began the task, and very soon, by her assistance, I was master of the alphabet, and could spell words of three or four letters... Master Hugh was amazed at the simplicity of his spouse, and, probably for the first time, he unfolded to her the true philosophy of slavery, and the peculiar rules necessary to be observed by masters and mistresses, in the management of their human chattels. Mr. Auldpromptly forbade the continuance of her[reading] instruction; telling her, in the first place, that the thing itself was unlawful; that twas also unsafe, and could only lead to mischief.... Mrs. AFLD evidently felt the force of his remarks; and, like an obedient wife, began to shape her course in the direction indicated by her husband. The effect of his words, on me, was neither slight nor transitory. His iron sentences--cold and harsh--sunk deep into my heart, and stirred up not only my feelings into sort of rebellion, but awakened within me slumbering train of vital thought. It was a new and special revelation, dispelling a painful mystery, against which my youthful understanding had struggled, and struggled in vain, to wit: the white man's power to perpetuate the enslavement of the black man. "Very well,"thought I; "knowledge unfits a child to be slave." I instinctively assented to the proposition; and from that moment I understood the direct pathway from slavery to freedom. This was just what I needed; and got it at a time, and from a source, whence I least expected it.... Wise as Mr. AFLD was, he evidently underrated my comprehension, and had little idea of these to which I was capable of putting the impressive lesson he was giving to his wife.... That which he most loved I most hated; and thievery determination which he expressed to keep me in ignorance, only rendered me the more resolute in seeking intelligence.