They left him be.
Even the iron-willed captain had come to respect him. After a time he
made him his cabin boy, going so far as to teach him the rudiments of
sailing and navigation. He never showed affection, most probably did
not feel it. But he became nonetheless the closest thing to a father
that he would ever know.
The vessel was a slave ship, and it gave him his first confirmation of
life's inherent cruelty. For the strange dark men they transported
were no less strong, subtle, or determined than themselves. And yet
for no greater crime than being primitive, and unable to defend
themselves against the weapons and treacheries of Europe, they were
sold into a bondage from which there was no escape, ending only in
death.
He never thought to question whether this was right or wrong. And if
this captain and this ship did not carry their human cargo to the
colonies, some other would have, and perhaps not as safely or as well.
So at the beginning of each westward passage, he learned but a single
word of the tribe's native tongue.
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