“Jacob Faithful, why still porest thou over thy book—didst thou not understand that the hours of recreation had arrived? Why risest thou not upon thy feet like the others?”
“’Cause I’ve got no shoes.”
“And where are thy shoes, Jacob?”
“One’s in your pocket,” replied I “and t’other’s in his’n.”
Each party placed their hands behind, and felt the truth of the assertion.
“Expound, Jacob,” said the Dominie, “who hath done this?”
“The big boy with the red hair, and a face picked all over with holes like the strainers in master’s kitchen,” replied I.
“Mr Knapps, it would be infra dig on my part, and also on yours, to suffer this disrespect to pass unnoticed. Ring in the boys.”
The boys were rung in, and I was desired to point out the offender10, which I immediately did, and who as stoutly11 denied the offence; but he had abstracted my shoe-strings, and put them into his own shoes. I recognised them and it was sufficient.
“Barnaby Bracegirdle,” said the Dominie, “thou art convicted, not only of disrespect towards me and Mr Knapps, but further of the grievous sin of lying. Simon Swapps, let him be hoisted12.”
He was hoisted: his nether13 garments descended, and then the birch descend9 with all the vigour14 of the Dominie’s muscular arm. Barnaby Bracegirdle showed every symptom of his disapproval15 of the measures taken; but Simon Swapps held fast, and the Dominie flogged fast. After a minute’s flagellation, Barnaby was let down, his yellow tights pulled up, and the boys dismissed. Barnaby’s face was red, but the antipodes were redder. The Dominie departed, leaving us together,—he adjusting his inexpressibles, I putting in my shoe-strings. By the time Barnaby had buttoned up and wiped his eyes, I had succeeded in standing16 in my shoes. There we were tête-à-tête.
“Now, then,” said Barnaby, holding one fist to my face, while, with the other open hand he rubbed behind, “come out in the play-ground, Mr Cinderella, and see if I won’t drub you within an inch of your life.”
“It’s no use crying,” said I, soothingly18: for I had not wished him to be flogged. “What’s done can’t be helped. Did it hurt you much?”
“Take it coolly,” observed I.
Barnaby waxed even more wroth.
Barnaby was outrageous—he shook his fist and ran into the play-ground, daring me to follow him. His threats had no weight with me; not wishing to remain indoors, I followed him in a minute or two, when I found him surrounded by the other boys, to whom he was in loud and vehement22 harangue23.
“Come out and fight him, or else you’re a coward!” exclaimed the whole host, from Number 1 to Number 62, inclusive.
“He has had beating enough already to my mind,” replied I; “but he had better not touch me—I can use my arms.”
A ring was formed, in the centre of which I found Barnaby and myself. He took off his clothes, and I did the same. He was much older and stronger than I, and knew something about fighting. One boy came forward as my second. Barnaby advanced and held out his hand, which I shook heartily25, thinking it was all over: but immediately received a right and left on the face, which sent me reeling backwards26. This was a complete mystery, but it raised my bile, and I returned it with interest. I was very strong in my arms, as may be supposed; and I threw them about like sails of a windmill, never hitting straight out, but with semicircular blows, which descended on or about his ears. On the contrary, his blows were all received straightforward27, and my nose and face were soon covered with blood. As I warmed with pain and rage I flung out my arms at random28, and Barnaby gave me a knock-down blow. I was picked up and sat upon my second’s knee, who whispered to me as I spat29 the blood out of my mouth, “Take it coolly, and make sure when you hit.”
My own—my father’s maxim—coming from another, it struck with double force, and I never forgot it during the remainder of the fight. Again we were standing up face to face; again I received it right and left, and returned it upon his right and left ears. Barnaby rushed in—I was down again.
“Better luck next time,” said I to my second, as cool as a cucumber.
A third and a fourth round succeeded, all apparently30 in Barnaby’s favour, but really in mine. My face was beat to a mummy, but he was what is termed groggy31, from the constant return of blows on the side of the head. Again we stood up panting and exhausted32. Barnaby rushed at me, and I avoided him: before he could return to the attack I had again planted two severe blows upon his ears, and he reeled. He shook his head, and with his fists in the attitude of defence, asked me whether I had had enough.
“He has,” said my second; “stick to him now, Jacob, and you’ll beat him.”
I did stick to him; three or four more blows applied33 to the same part finished him, and he fell senseless on the ground.
“You’ve settled him,” cried my second.
“What’s done can’t be helped,” replied I. “Is he dead?”
“What’s all this?” cried Mr Knapps, pressing his way through the crowd, followed by the matron.
“Barnaby and Cinderella having it out, sir,” said one of the elder boys.
The matron, who had already taken a liking34 for me, because I was good-looking, and because I had been recommended to her care by Mrs Drummond, ran to me.
“Well,” says she, “if the Dominie don’t punish that big brute35 for this, I’ll see whether I’m anybody or not;” and taking me by the hand, she led me away. In the meantime Mr Knapps surveyed Barnaby, who was still senseless; and desired the other boys to bring him in and lay him on his bed. He breathed hard, but still remained senseless, and a surgeon was sent for, who found it necessary to bleed him copiously36. He then, at the request of the matron, came to me; my features were indistinguishable, but elsewhere I was all right. As I stripped he examined my arms.
“It seemed strange,” observed he, “that the bigger boy should be so severely37 punished; but this boy’s arms are like little sledge-hammers. I recommend you,” said he to the other boys, “not to fight with him, for some day or other he’ll kill one of you.”
This piece of advice was not forgotten by the other boys, and from that day I was the cock of the school. The name of Cinderella, given me by Barnaby, in ridicule38 of my mother’s death, was immediately abandoned, and I suffered no more persecution39. It was the custom of the Dominie, whenever two boys fought, to flog them both; but in this instance it was not followed up, because I was not the aggressor, and my adversary40 narrowly escaped with his life. I was under the matron’s care for a week, and Barnaby under the surgeon’s hands for about the same time.
Neither was I less successful in my studies. I learnt rapidly, after I had conquered the first rudiments41; but I had another difficulty to conquer, which was my habit of construing42 everything according to my refined ideas; the force of association had become so strong that I could not overcome it for a considerable length of time. Mr Knapps continually complained of my being obstinate43, when, in fact, I was anxious to please as well as to learn. For instance, in spelling, the first syllable44 always produced the association with something connected with my former way of life. I recollect45 the Dominie once, and only once, gave me a caning46, about a fortnight after I went to the school.
I had been brought up by Mr Knapps as contumelious.
“Jacob Faithful, how is this? thine head is good yet wilt47 thou refuse learning. Tell me now, what does c-a-t spell?”
It was the pitch-pipe to cat-head, and answered I accordingly.
“Nay, Jacob, it spells cat; take care of thy head on the next reply. Understand me, head is not understood. Jacob, thy head is in jeopardy48. Now, Jacob, what does m-a-t spell?”
“It spells mat only, silly boy; the chafing will be on my part directly. Now, Jacob, what does d-o-g spell?”
“Dog, Jacob, without the kennel. Thou art very contumelious, and deservest to be rolled in the kennel. Now, Jacob, this is the last time that thou triflest with me; what does h-a-t spell?”
“Fur cap,” replied I, after some hesitation51.
“Jacob, I feel the wrath52 rising within me, yet would I fain spare thee; if h-a-t spell fur-cap, pray advise me, what doth c-a-p spell, then?”
“Capstern.”
“Indeed, Jacob, thy stern as well as thy head are in danger; and I suppose, then, w-i-n-d spells windlass, does it not?”
“Yes, sir,” replied I, pleased to find that he agreed with me.
“Upon the same principle, what does r-a-t spell?”
“Rat, sir,” replied I.
“Nay, Jacob, r-a-t must spell rattan53, and as thou hast missed thine own mode of spelling, thou shalt not miss the cane54.” The Dominie then applied it to my shoulders with considerable unction, much to the delight of Mr Knapps, who thought the punishment was much too small for the offence. But I soon extricated55 myself from these associations as my ideas extended, and was considered by the Dominie as the cleverest boy in the school. Whether it were from natural intellect, or from my brain having lain fallow, as it were, for so many years, or probably from the two causes combined, I certainly learned almost by instinct. I read my lessons once over and laid my book aside, for I knew it all. I had not been six months at the school before I discovered that, in a thousand instances, the affection of a father appeared towards me under the rough crust of the Dominie. I think it was on the third day of the seventh month that I afforded him a day of triumph and warming of his heart, when he took me for the first time into his little study, and put the Latin Accidence into my hands. I learnt my first lesson in a quarter of an hour; and I remember well how that unsmiling, grave man looked into my smiling eyes, parting the chestnut56 curls, which the matron would not cut off, from my brows, and saying, “Bene fecisti, Jacobe.” Many times afterwards, when the lesson was over, he would fix his eyes upon me, fall back on his chair, and make me recount all I could remember of my former life, which was really nothing but a record of perceptions and feelings. He could attend to me, and as I related some early and singular impression, some conjecture57 of what I saw, yet could not comprehend, on the shore which I had never touched, he would rub his hands with enthusiasm, and exclaim, “I have found a new book—an album, whereon I may write the deeds of heroes and the words of sages58. Carissime Jacobe! how happy shall we be when we get into Virgil!” I hardly need say that I loved him—I did so from my heart, and learned with avidity to please him. I felt that I was of consequence—my confidence in myself was unbounded. I walked proudly, yet I was not vain. My school-fellows hated me, but they feared me as much for my own prowess as my interest with the master; but still many were the bitter gibes59 and innuendoes60 which I was obliged to hear as I sat down with them to our meals. At other times I held communion with the Dominie, the worthy61 old matron, and my books. We walked out every day, at first attended by Mr Knapps the usher. The boys would not walk with me without they were ordered, and if ordered, most unwillingly62. Yet I had given no cause of offence. The matron found it out, told the Dominie, and after that the Dominie attended the boys and led me by the hand.
This was of the greatest advantage to me, as he answered all my questions, which were not few, and each day I advanced in every variety of knowledge. Before I had been eighteen months at school, the Dominie was unhappy without my company, and I was equally anxious for his presence. He was a father to me, and I loved him as a son should love a father, and as it will hereafter prove, he was my guide through life.
But although the victory over Barnaby Bracegirdle, and the idea of my prowess procured63 me an enforced respect, still the Dominie’s goodwill64 towards me was the occasion of a settled hostility65. Affront66 me, or attack me openly, they dare not; but supported as the boys were by Mr Knapps the usher, who was equally jealous of my favour, and equally mean in spirit, they caballed to ruin me, if possible, in the good opinion of my master. Barnaby Bracegirdle had a talent for caricature, which was well-known to all but the Dominie. His first attempt against me was a caricature of my mother’s death, in which she was represented as a lamp supplied from a gin-bottle, and giving flame out of her mouth. This was told to me, but I did not see it. It was given by Barnaby to Mr Knapps, who highly commended it, and put it into his desk. After which, Barnaby made an oft-repeated caricature of the Dominie, with a vast nose, which he shewed to the usher as my performance. The usher understood what Barnaby was at, and put it into his desk without comment. Several other ludicrous caricatures were made of the Dominie and of the matron, all of which were consigned67 to Mr Knapps by the boys as being the productions of my pencil; but this was not sufficient—it was necessary I should be more clearly identified. It so happened that one evening, when sitting with the Dominie at my Latin, the matron and Mr Knapps being in the adjoining room, the light, which had burned close down, fell in the socket68 and went out. The Dominie rose to get another; the matron also got up to fetch away the candlestick with the same intent. They met in the dark, and ran their heads together pretty hard. As this event was only known to Mr Knapps and myself, he communicated it to Barnaby, wondering whether I should not make it a subject of one of my caricatures. Barnaby took the hint; in the course of a few hours this caricature was added to the others. Mr Knapps, to further his views, took an opportunity to mention with encomium69 my talent for drawing, added that he had seen several of my performances. “The boy hath talent,” replied the Dominie; “he is a rich mine, from which much precious metal is to be obtained.”
“I hear that thou hast the talent for drawing, Jacob,” said he to me, a day or two afterwards.
“I never had in my life, sir,” replied I.
“Nay, Jacob; I like modesty70 but modesty should never lead to a denial of the truth. Remember, Jacob, that thou do not repeat the fault.”
I made no answer, as I felt convinced that I was not in fault; but that evening I requested the Dominie to lend me a pencil, as I wished to try and draw. For some days, various scraps71 of my performances were produced, and received commendation. “The boy draweth well,” observed the Dominie to Mr Knapps, as he examined my performance through his spectacles.
“Why should he have denied his being able to draw?” observed the usher.
“It was a fault arising from modesty or want of confidence—even a virtue72, carried to excess, may lead us into error.”
The next attempt of Barnaby was to obtain the Cornelius Nepos which I then studied. This was effected by Mr Knapps, who took it out of the Dominie’s study, and put it into Barnaby’s possession, who drew on the fly-leaf, on which was my name, a caricature head of the Dominie; and under my own name, which I had written on the leaf, added, in my hand, fecit, so that it appeared, Jacob Faithful fecit. Having done this, the leaf was torn out of the book, and consigned to the usher with the rest. The plot was now ripe; and the explosion soon ensued. Mr Knapps told the Dominie that I drew caricatures of my school-fellows. The Dominie taxed me, and I denied it. “So you denied drawing,” observed the usher.
A few days passed away, when Mr Knapps informed the Dominie that I had been caricaturing him and Mrs Bately, the matron, and that he had proofs of it. I had then gone to bed; the Dominie was much surprised, and thought it impossible that I could be so ungrateful. Mr Knapps said that should make the charge openly, and prove it the next morning in the school-room; and wound up the wrong by describing me in several points, as a cunning, good-for-nothing, although clever boy.
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1
con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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complexity
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| n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物 | |
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constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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usher
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| n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员 | |
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reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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offender
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| n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者 | |
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stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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12
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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nether
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| adj.下部的，下面的；n.阴间；下层社会 | |
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vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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cinder
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| n.余烬，矿渣 | |
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soothingly
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| adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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vehement
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| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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harangue
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| n.慷慨冗长的训话，言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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straightforward
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| adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的 | |
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random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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groggy
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| adj.体弱的；不稳的 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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copiously
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| adv.丰富地，充裕地 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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rudiments
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| n.基础知识，入门 | |
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construing
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| v.解释（陈述、行为等）( construe的现在分词 )；翻译，作句法分析 | |
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43
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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44
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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45
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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46
caning
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| n.鞭打 | |
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47
wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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48
jeopardy
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| n.危险；危难 | |
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49
chafing
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| n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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50
kennel
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| n.狗舍，狗窝 | |
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51
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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52
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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53
rattan
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| n.藤条，藤杖 | |
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54
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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55
extricated
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| v.使摆脱困难，脱身( extricate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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58
sages
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| n.圣人( sage的名词复数 )；智者；哲人；鼠尾草（可用作调料） | |
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59
gibes
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| vi.嘲笑，嘲弄（gibe的第三人称单数形式） | |
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60
innuendoes
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| n.影射的话( innuendo的名词复数 )；讽刺的话；含沙射影；暗讽 | |
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61
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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62
unwillingly
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| adv.不情愿地 | |
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63
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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goodwill
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| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
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65
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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66
affront
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| n./v.侮辱，触怒 | |
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67
consigned
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| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
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68
socket
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| n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口 | |
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69
encomium
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| n.赞颂；颂词 | |
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70
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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71
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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72
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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