CHAPTER V

After dinner, Jeb Stuart succeeded in separating Mary from Phil andbegan again his adoration¹. The men adjourned² to the library to discussthe Presidential Campaign and weigh the chances of General Scott againstFranklin Pierce. The comment of Toombs was grim in its sarcasm³ and earlylet him out of the discussion.
"It doesn't matter in the least, gentlemen, who is elected in November,"he observed. "There's nothing before the country as yet. Not even anhonest-to-God man."Lee shook his head gravely.
Toombs parried his protest.
"I know, Colonel Lee, you're fond of the old General. You fought withhim in Mexico. But--" he dropped his voice to a friendly whisper--"allthe same, you know that what I say is true."He took a cigar from the mantel, lighted it and waved to the group.
"I'll take a little stroll and smoke."Custis took Phil to the cottage of the foreman to see a night school insession.
"You mean the overseer's place?" Phil asked eagerly, as visions of SimonLegree flashed through his mind.
"No--I mean Uncle Ike's cottage. He's the foreman of the farm. We haveno white overseer."Phil was shocked. He had supposed every Southern plantation⁴ had a whiteoverseer as slave driver with a blacksnake whip in his hand. A negroforeman was incredible. As a matter of fact there were more negroforemen than white overseers in the South.
In Uncle Ike's cottage by the light of many candles the school for boyswas in session. Custis' brother "Rooney," was the teacher. He had sixpupils besides Sam. Not one of them knew his lesson to-night and Rooneywas furious.
As Phil and Custis entered, he was just finishing a wrathful lecture.
His pupils were standing⁵ in a row grinning their apologies.
"I've told you boys for the last three weeks that I won't stand this.
You don't have to go to school to me if you don't want to. But if youjoin my school you've got to study. Do you hear me?""Yassah!" came the answer in solid chorus.
"Well, you'll do more than hear me to-night. You're going to heed⁶ what Isay. I'm going to thrash the whole school."Sam broke into a loud laugh. And a wail⁷ of woe⁸ came from every duskyfigure.
"Dar now!""Hear dat, folks--?""I been a tellin' ye chillun--""I lubs my spellin' book--but, oh, dat hickory switch!""Oh, Lordy--""Gib us anudder chance, Marse Rooney!""Not another chance," was the stern answer. "Lay off your coats."They began to peel their coats. Big, strapping⁹, husky fellows nudgingone another and grinning at their fourteen-year-old schoolmaster. It wasno use to protest.
They knew they deserved it. A whipping was one of the minor¹⁰ misfortunesof life. Its application was universal. No other method of disciplinehad yet been dreamed by the advanced thinkers and rulers of the world.
"Spare the rod and spoil the child" was accepted as the Word of God andonly a fool could doubt it. The rod was the emblem¹¹ of authority forchild, pupil, apprentice¹² and soldier. The negro slave as a workman gotless of it than any other class. It was the rule of a Southern masternever to use the rod on a slave except for crime if it could be avoided.
To flog one for laziness was the exception, not the rule.
The old Virginia gentleman prided himself particularly on the tendernessand care with which he guarded the life of his servants. If the weatherwas cold and his men exposed, he waited to see that they had dry clothesand a warm drink before they went to bed. He never failed to rememberthat his white skin could endure more than their sunburned dark ones.
The young school-teacher had no scruples¹³ on applying the rod. Heselected his switches with care, and tested their strength andflexibility while he gave the bunch a piece of his mind.
"What do you think I'm coming down here every night for, anyhow?" hestormed.
"Lordy, Marse Rooney," Sam pleaded, "doan we all pay you fur ourschoolin'?""Yes, you do when I can manage to choke it out of you. One dozen eggs amonth or one pullet every two months. And I don't even ask you where yougot the eggs or the pullet.""Marse Rooney!" protested Sam. "Yer know we gets 'em outen our own yardser buys 'em from de servants.""I hope you do. Though my mother says she don't know how we eat so manychickens and eggs at the house. Anyhow I'm not here because I'm going toget rich on the tuition you pay me. I'm not here for my health. I'm herefrom a sense of duty to you boys--""Yassah, we know dat, sah!""Give us annuder chance an' we sho' study dem lessons--""I gave you another chance the last time. I'll try a little hickory teathis time."He began at the end of the line and belabored¹⁴ each one faithfully. Theyshouted in mockery and roared with laughter, scampered¹⁵ over the room anddodged behind chairs and tables.
Phil fairly split his sides laughing.
When the fun was over, they drew close to their teacher and promisedfaithfully to have every word of the next lesson. They nudged each otherand whispered their jokes about the beating.
"Must er bin¹⁷ er flea¹⁸ bitin' me!""I felt sumfin. Don't 'zactly know what it wuz. Mebbe a chigger!""Must er been a flea. Hit bit me, too!"Sam tried to redeem¹⁹ himself for failing on his lessons in arithmetic.
He had long ago learned to read and write and had asked for a course inhistory. The young teacher had given him a copy of _Gulliver's Travels_.
"Look a here, Marse Rooney, I been a readin' dat book yer gimme--""Well, that's good.""Yer say dat book's history?""Well, it's what we call fiction, but I think fiction's the very besthistory we can read. It may not have happened just that way but it'strue all the same.""Well, ef hit nebber happened, I dunno 'bout¹⁶ dat," Sam objected. "I beensuspicionin' fer a long time dat some o' dem things that Gulliver saynebber happen nohow.""You read it," the teacher ordered.
"Yassah, I sho gwine ter read it, happen er no happen. Glory be ter God.
Just 'cause yer tells me, sah!"

1 adoration   

n.爱慕，崇拜

参考例句：

• He gazed at her with pure adoration.他一往情深地注视着她。
• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。

2 adjourned   

（使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The court adjourned for lunch. 午餐时间法庭休庭。
• The trial was adjourned following the presentation of new evidence to the court. 新证据呈到庭上后，审讯就宣告暂停。

3 sarcasm   

n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic）

参考例句：

• His sarcasm hurt her feelings.他的讽刺伤害了她的感情。
• She was given to using bitter sarcasm.她惯于用尖酸刻薄语言挖苦人。

4 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

7 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。

8 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

9 strapping   

adj. 魁伟的, 身材高大健壮的 n. 皮绳或皮带的材料, 裹伤胶带, 皮鞭 动词strap的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• He's a strapping lad—already bigger than his father. 他是一个魁梧的小伙子——已经比他父亲高了。
• He was a tall strapping boy. 他是一个高大健壮的小伙子。

10 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

11 emblem   

n.象征，标志；徽章

参考例句：

• Her shirt has the company emblem on it.她的衬衫印有公司的标记。
• The eagle was an emblem of strength and courage.鹰是力量和勇气的象征。

12 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

13 scruples   

n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I overcame my moral scruples. 我抛开了道德方面的顾虑。
• I'm not ashamed of my scruples about your family. They were natural. 我并未因为对你家人的顾虑而感到羞耻。这种感觉是自然而然的。 来自疯狂英语突破英语语调

14 belabored   

v.毒打一顿( belabor的过去式和过去分词 )；责骂；就…作过度的说明；向…唠叨

参考例句：

• She was belabored by her fellow students. 她被她的男学生嘲弄了。 来自互联网
• As his poor donkey became exhausted under the heavy load, the man belabored It'soundly. 当他的可怜的驴子在重担之下变得筋疲力尽时，这个男人还是铮铮有声的鞭打它。 来自互联网

15 scampered   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

16 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

17 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

18 flea   

n.跳蚤

参考例句：

• I'll put a flea in his ear if he bothers me once more.如果他再来打扰的话，我就要对他不客气了。
• Hunter has an interest in prowling around a flea market.亨特对逛跳蚤市场很感兴趣。

19 redeem   

v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等）

参考例句：

• He had no way to redeem his furniture out of pawn.他无法赎回典当的家具。
• The eyes redeem the face from ugliness.这双眼睛弥补了他其貌不扬之缺陷。