The only holiday slaves got was a Christmas. Some planters gave their slave six day off. Epps gave us three. It was the only time in year we looked forward to. It was a time for food, fun and music. The planters around Bayou Boeuf always joined together to give one big Christmas dinner. Five hundred slaves came together, and the white people came to watch. We washed our clothes and hair, and cleaned our shoes. The women loved to tie their hair up with red scarves. It was usually warm enough at Christmas to eat in the open air, under the stars. There were different kinds of meat and piles of vegetables. there were biscuits and sweet fruits. Men sat along one side of table, women on the other. If a girl like boy, she tried to sit opposite him. After the meal came the Christmas dance. For the night only, the slaves could forget their troubles and dance the night way. I always played the violin at the violin at the Christmas dance. My playing became famous around Bayou Boeuf, and I often played at dances and dinners for white. They paid Epps for mytime, and the guest gave me money on the night. I think my violin saved my life. It introduced me to great people and gave me breaks from my cruel master. It earned me money to buy little thing, like pipe and shoes. It made other people happy, and that made me happy. In every group of slaves working in the fields, there was a 'driver'. For most of my time with Epps 5 was the driver. Ihad to watch the other slaves while I worked. If one of them was too slow, or fell from the heat, I had to whip them. If I did not whip them, Epps whipped me. Unless Epps was awy, he was always watching us at work. If he saw me use the whip freely, he was happy. I learnt great skill with the whip. When I whipped Patsey, for example, the whip lashed through the air and she screamed loudly. In act, it never quite touched her. We all became very good actors, and Epps never found out. Soon after he bought me, Epps asked me if I could read and write. 'A little, sir,' I said. If I ever find you with a book, 'hesaid, 'I will give you a hundred lashes.'