Meaning of "... for I bought him cheap of a man that was 'bliged to sell out?"
I'm reading Uncle Tom's Cabin now. It contains:
He fetched me a good sum, too, for I bought him cheap of a man that was 'bliged to sell out; so I realized six hundred on him.
I can't understand the parts
- "I bought him cheap of a man"
- "that was obliged to sell out"
Does it mean to say that I bought him cheaply? Then is there any grammar like [adjective(cheap)+ of + person(a man)]?
And for the second part "that was obliged to sell out" — does this mean he will be sold?
Solution 1:
I've used curly brackets below to group together those elements which ought to be interpreted as individual units, with explanations where they might be helpful:
"He fetched me a good sum, too, for {I bought him cheap} {of [= from] a man} {that was 'bliged to sell out [= who was forced to sell everything (presumably because he needed the money)]}; {so I realized} [= so I made a profit of] six hundred on him."
Solution 2:
It's speech depiction, so it's more colloquial.
I bought him cheap of a man
I bought him from a man cheaply (for less money)... (of, here, is simply a way to say from)
that was (o)'bliged to sell out...
The man who sold the slave was obliged (forced by circumstance) to to sell the slave, that is, if one buys in to something, one can also sell out from something, so to speak.
Solution 3:
You can say to buy something cheap or to buy something cheaply. The Longmam English Grammar by Alexander says in paragraph 7.14 adverbs with two forms. Well, that's a view one can accept.
I would say to buy something cheap is more appropriate because one does not describe the manner of buying but the price. So the underlying concept is to buy sth at a cheap price. My view is here we have an adjective in adverb position.
But this is a borderline case and I think both views are acceptable and that's why "cheaply" is also used, simply because it is difficult to decide what would be more appropriate, adjective or adverb.
Solution 4:
"I bought him cheap," I bought a slave cheap.
"of a man who was obliged to sell out." FROM a man who needed the money, and had to sell things, including slaves.
"I realized six hundred on him." I flipped the slave for $600 more than (the cheap) price I paid.