John Woolman: To Which I Made an Undutiful Reply
From the Journal and Major Essays of John Woolman (1774)
[Scroll down for the English]
KISWAHILI
“Nilipokuwa na umri wa karibia miaka kumi na mbili, huku baba yangu alikuwa safarini, mama yangu alinikemea kwa ukosefu wa nidhamu, na nikamjibu bila heshima; Siku ya Kwanza iliyofuata [Jumapili] wakati nilipokuwa na baba yangu tukirudi kutoka kwenye mkutano [kanisa], aliniambia alielewa kuwa nilikuwa nimemtendea vibaya mama yangu na akanishauri kuwa makini zaidi katika siku zijazo.”
- John Woolman (1720-1772) alikuwa waziri wa Quaker (Jamii ya Marafiki), mleta mabadiliko, na ukomeshaji wa utumwa mwenye ushawishi mkubwa katika makoloni ya Amerika Kaskazini (kabla ya nchi ya Marekani).
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
“About the twelfth year of my age, my father being abroad, my mother reproved me for some misconduct, to which I made an undutiful reply; and the next First Day [Sunday] as I was with my father returning from meeting [church], he told me he understood I had behaved amiss to my mother and advised me to be more careful in the future.”
- John Woolman (1720-1772) was a Quaker (Society of Friends) minister, reformist, and influential abolitionist in the North American colonies (pre-United States).
Chanzo (source): Woolman, John. “A Plea for the Poor—or A Word of Remembrance and Caution to the Rich” in The Journal and Major Essays of John Woolman, edited by Phillips P. Moulton, page 25. Richmond, Indiana: Friends United Press, 1971 (original was published in 1774).