In return for their knowledge he would grant the hungry children with bread. Douglass goes on to explain just how important these boys were to him, “I am strongly tempted to give the names of two or three of those boys, as a testimonial of the gratitude and affection I bear them’ but prudence forbids.. but it might embarrass them” (Douglass 102). Here Douglass shows just how severe the situation between him and the little boys actually were. As white children they were forbidden from teaching slaves any knowledge, as it would empower them. Just like his mistress in the beginning, the children were troubled with the reality that Douglass would never be a free man. The simple words that Douglass spoke, “Have not I as good a right to be free as you have?” (Douglass 102). Douglass spoke to the heart of these young boys and was met with sympathy for his situation. This happened yet again when he met two Irishmen at Durgin and Bailey’s ship-yard who questioned him about his status as a slave. “He said to the other that it was a pity so fine a little fellow as myself should be a slave for life. He said it was a shame to hold me” (Douglass 104). These men suggested and influenced him to run North for freedom. As a reader we can see that his many encounters with people begin with condolence and sympathy because his Master considers him a slave for