Chapter 4

      Which treats of Education in general, and George of Blanche

     lande’s in particular

So George grew up in the Castle side by side with Honey-Bee, whom he affectionately called his sister though he knew she was not.

He had masters in fencing, riding, swimming, gymnastics, dancing, hunting, falconry, tennis, and, indeed, in all the arts. He even had a writing-master. This was an old cleric, humble¹ of manner but very proud within, who taught him all manner of penmanship, and the more beautiful this was the less decipherable it became. Very little pleasure or profit did George get out of the old cleric’s lessons, as little as out of those of an old monk² who taught him grammar in barbarous terms. George could not understand the sense of learning a language which one knows as a matter of course and which is called one’s mother tongue.

He only enjoyed himself with Francoeur the squire³, who, having knocked about the world, understood the ways of men and beasts, could describe all sorts of countries and compose songs which he could not write. Francoeur was the only one of his masters who taught George anything, for he was the only one who really loved him, and the only good lessons are those which are given with love. The two old goggle-eyes, the writing-master and the grammar-master, who hated each other with all their hearts, were, however, united in a common hatred⁴ of the old squire, whom they accused of being a drunkard.

It is true that Francoeur frequented the tavern⁵ “The Pewter Pot” somewhat too zealously⁶. It was here that he forgot his sorrows and composed his songs. But of course it was very wrong of him.

Homer made better verses than Francoeur, and Homer only drank the water of the springs. As for sorrows the whole world has sorrows, and the thing to make one forget them is not the wine one drinks, but the good one does. But Francoeur was an old man grown grey in harness, faithful and trustworthy, and the two masters of writing and grammar should have hidden his failings from the duchess instead of giving her an exaggerated account of them.

“Francoeur is a drunkard,” said the writing-master, “and when he comes back from ‘The Pewter Pot’ he makes a letter S as he walks. Moreover, it is the only letter he has ever made; because if it please your Grace, this drunkard is an ass⁷.”

The grammar-master added, “And the songs Francoeur sings as he staggers about err⁸ against all rules and are constructed on no model at all. He ignores all the rules of rhetoric⁹, please your Grace.”

The Duchess had a natural distaste for pedants¹⁰ and tale-bearers. She did what we all would have done in her place; at first she did not listen to them but as they again began to repeat their tittle-tattle, she ended by believing them and decided¹¹ to send Francoeur away. However, to give him an honourable¹² exile, she sent him to Rome to obtain the blessing¹³ of the Pope. This journey was all the longer for Francoeur the squire because a great many taverns¹⁴ much frequented by musicians separated the duchy of Clarides from the holy apostolic seat. In the course of this story we shall see how soon the Duchess regretted having deprived the two children of their most faithful guardian¹⁵.

1 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

2 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

3 squire   

n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅

参考例句：

• I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.我告诉他乡绅是世界上最宽宏大量的人。
• The squire was hard at work at Bristol.乡绅在布里斯托尔热衷于他的工作。

4 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

5 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

6 zealously   

adv.热心地；热情地；积极地；狂热地

参考例句：

• Of course the more unpleasant a duty was, the more zealously Miss Glover performed it. 格洛弗小姐越是对她的职责不满意，她越是去积极执行它。 来自辞典例句
• A lawyer should represent a client zealously within the bounds of the law. 律师应在法律范围内热忱为当事人代理。 来自口语例句

7 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

8 err   

vi.犯错误，出差错

参考例句：

• He did not err by a hair's breadth in his calculation.他的计算结果一丝不差。
• The arrows err not from their aim.箭无虚发。

9 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

10 pedants   

n.卖弄学问的人，学究，书呆子( pedant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Only pedants believe in the advantage of obfuscation. 只有书呆子才相信使人困惑会有好处。 来自辞典例句
• Those cold-blooded pedants are not insensible. 那些冷血腐儒，都不是没有知觉。 来自辞典例句

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 honourable   

adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的

参考例句：

• I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号，我可担当不起。
• I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。

13 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

14 taverns   

n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They ain't only two taverns. We can find out quick." 这儿只有两家客栈，会弄明白的。” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• Maybe ALL the Temperance Taverns have got a ha'nted room, hey, Huck?" 也许所有的禁酒客栈都有个闹鬼的房间，喂，哈克，你说是不是？” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

15 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。