To Kill a Mockingbird Page #5

But I seen who it was,

all right!

I seen him.

And I run in the house and...

poor Mayella was layin'

on the floor squallin'.

Then I run for Mr Tate

just as quick as I could.

Thankyou.

Would you mind if I just

askyou a few questions, Mr Ewell?

No, sir, Mr Finch,

l sure wouldn't.

Folks were doin'

a lot of running that night.

You say that you ran to the house,

you ran to the window...

you ran inside, you ran to Mayella

and you ran to SheriffTate.

Did you, during all this running,

run for a doctor?

There wasn't no need to.

I seen who done it.

Now, Mr Ewell, you've heard

the sheriff's testimony.

Do you agree with his description

of Mayella's injuries?

I agree with everything

Mr Tate said.

Her eye was blacked.

She was mighty beat up,

mighty beat up.

Now, Mr Ewell, can you--

Can you read and write?

Yes, sir, Mr Finch,

l can read and I can write.

Good.

Then will you write

your name, please?

Right there.

Show us.

What's so interesting?

You're left-handed, Mr Ewell.

What's that got to do with it,Judge?

I'm a God-fearin' man.

That Atticus Finch,

he's tryin' to take advantage of me!

You got to watch tricky lawyers

like Atticus Finch!

Quiet! Quiet, sir.

Now the witness

may take his seat.

Mayella Violet Ewell.

Put your hand

on the Bible, please.

Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth,

the whole truth, so help you God?

Sit down, please.

Now, Mayella...

suppose you tell us

just what happened, huh?

I was sittin' on the porch

and he come along.

There's this old chifforobe

in the yard...

and I said...

"You come in here, boy,

and bust up this chifforobe...

and l'll give you a nickel."

So he come on in the yard...

and I go in the house

to get him the nickel...

and I turn around

and before I know it, he's on me.

I fought and hollered...

but he had me around the neck...

and he hit me,

again and again.

And the next thing I knew,

Papa was in the room...

standin' over me, hollerin'...

"Who done it? Who done it?"

Thankyou, Mayella.

Your witness, Atticus.

Miss Mayella...

is your father good to you?

I mean, is he easy

to get along with?

Does tolerable.

Except when he's drinking.

When he's riled,

has he ever beaten you?

My pa's never touched

a hair on my head in my life.

You say that you asked Tom to come in

and chop up a-- What was it?

A chifforobe.

Was that the first time...

that you ever asked him

to come inside the fence?

Yes.

Didn't you ever ask him...

to come inside the fence before?

I might have.

Can you remember

any other occasion?

You say...

"He caught me, he choked me,

and he took advantage of me."

Is that right?

Do you remember him

beating you about the face?

No.

I don't...

recollect if he hit me.

I mean, yes!

He hit me!

He hit me!

Thankyou.

Now, will you identify

the man who beat you?

I most certainly will.

Sittin' right yonder.

Tom, will you stand up, please?

Let Miss Mayella have

a good long look at you.

Will you catch this, please?

Thankyou.

Now, then, this time will you

please catch it with your left hand.

I can't, sir.

Why can't you?

I can't use my left hand at all.

I got it caught in a cotton gin

when I was 12 years old.

All my muscles were tore loose.

Is this the man who raped you?

It most certainly is.

How?

I don't know how he done it.

Hejust done it.

You have testified...

that he choked you

and he beat you.

You didn't say that he sneaked up

behind you and knocked you out cold...

but that you turned around...

and there he was.

Do you want to tell us

what really happened?

I got somethin' to say...

and then I ain't

gonna say no more!

He took advantage of me!

And ifyou fine...

fancy gentlemen...

ain't gonna do

nothin' about it...

then you'rejust

a bunch of lousy...

yellow, stinkin' cowards...

the whole bunch ofya!

And your fancy airs

don't come to nothin'!

Your "ma'am"-ing

and your "Miss Mayella"-ing...

it don't come to nothin',

Mr Finch!

You sit down now.

Atticus.

Mr Gilmer.

The State rests,Judge.

Tom Robinson, take the stand.

Put your hand on the Bible.

Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth,

the whole truth, so help you God?

- I do.

- Sit down.

Were you acquainted

with Mayella Violet Ewell?

Yes, sir.

I had to pass her place

going to and from the field every day.

Is there any other way to go?

No, sir.

None's I know of.

And did she ever speak to you?

Why, yes, sir.

I'd tip my hat when l'd go by.

And one day she asked me

to come inside the fence...

and bust up a chifforobe for her.

She give me the hatchet,

and I broke it up.

And then she said...

"I reckon I'll have

to give you a nickel, won't I?"

And I said, "No, ma'am.

There ain't no charge."

And I went home.

Mr Finch, that was way last spring,

way over a year ago.

Did you ever go

on the place again?

Yes, sir.

When?

I went lots oftimes.

Seemed like every time

l passed by yonder...

she'd have some little

somethin' for me to do:

chopping kindlin'

and totin' water for her.

What happened to you...

on the evening

ofAugust 2 1 of last year?

I was goin' home

as usual that evenin'.

When I passed the Ewell place...

Miss Mayella were on the porch,

like she said she were.

She said for me to come there

and help her a minute.

I went inside the fence...

and I looked around for some kindlin'

to work on, but I didn't see none.

Then she said

to come in the house...

she has a door needs fixin'.

So I follows her inside...

and I looked at the door,

and it looked all right.

Then she shut the door.

All the time I was wonderin'

why it was so quiet like.

And then it come to me.

There was not a child

on the place.

And I said, "Miss Mayella,

where are the children?"

She said, "They all gone

to get ice cream."

She said it took her a year to save

seven nickels, but she'd done it.

And they'd all gone to town.

What did you say then?

I said somethin' like...

"Why, Miss Mayella,

that's right nice ofyou to treat 'em."

She said, "You think so?"

"Well," I said, "l best be goin'."

I couldn't do nothin' for her.

And she said yes, I could.

And I asked her what.

And she said tojust step

on the chairyonder...

and get that box down

from on top ofthe chifforobe.

So I done like she told me...

and I was reachin'...

when the next thing I know,

she grabbed me around the legs.

She scared me so bad, I hopped down

and turned the chair over.

That was the only thing--

only furniture--

disturbed in the room, Mr Finch...

I swear, when I left it.

And what happened

afteryou turned the chair over?

You've sworn to tell the whole truth.

Will you do it?

What happened after that?

I got down offthe chair...

and I turned around...

and she sort ofjumped on me.

She hugged me around the waist.

She reached up

and kissed me on the face.

She said she'd never kissed

a grown man before...

and she might as well kiss me.

She says for me

to kiss her back...

and I said, "Miss Mayella,

let me out of here"...

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