Oh, yes! I shall follow you now; i shall stand with you and fight beside you. And I shall sing with you us we go into battle, and be happy with you. I shall grasp your hand as we march along, and cheer you when you speak. I shall pray for your King, and follow you. I shall do as you tell me and save you from what you fear.

And then, after, I shall get me a long knife, and I shall creep up behind you as you stand. Then I shall plunge my knife into your broad back, deep in, to reach your black heart. And I shall watch the blood soil through your black coat as you lie in the road.

Then I shall walk away, with the blood on my hands—laughing, because I hate you so much.

II.

When I first killed a rabbit, [unclear: I] didn't think I could ever kill a man—I hated it so much! But you told me I must kill if I was to survive. You said you would make my life a hell if I did not kill for you. So you gave me your coat and I obeyed you.

Then you told me to call him names and to shoot. To stab him and to [gap — reason: illegible] and scream—to rip the [unclear: stomach] wide open and tear his [unclear: breast]

And now I like it. Give me a sword to call him, and I will scream it as we rush out to slaughter. Give me a bomb, and I will blow him to hell. Let me go, and I'll rip his guts open!

So now I fight for my freedom—for your freedom. Yes, now I can fight—now I can cut, and strangle and pierce. Now I fight—and after, I shall turn against you, [unclear: and] split [unclear: you] in two. But first I shall fight for your freedom—and you shall have it—freedom to [unclear: sit] in a ditch and drip your red blood into the dust.

Now I fight for your freedom—and then—then I fight for mine.