CHAPTER XVI

 My little boy is to go to school.

 

We can't keep him at home any longer, says his mother. He himself is glad to go, of course, because he does not know what school is.

 

I know what it is and I know also that there is no escape for him, that he must go. But I am sick at heart. All that is good within me revolts against the inevitable¹.

 

So we go for our last morning walk, along the road where something wonderful has always happened to us. It looks to me as if the trees have crape wound round their tops and the birds sing in a minor² key and the people stare at me with earnest and sympathetic eyes.

 

But my little boy sees nothing. He is only excited at the prospect³. He talks and asks questions without stopping.

 

We sit down by the edge of our usual ditch—alas, that ditch!

 

And suddenly my heart triumphs over my understanding. The voice of my clear conscience penetrates⁴ through the whole well-trained and harmonious⁵ choir⁶ which is to give the concert; and it sings its solo in the ears of my little boy:

 

"I just want to tell you that school is a horrid⁷ place," I say. "You can have no conception of what you will have to put up with there. They will tell you that two and two are four. . . ."

 

"Mother has taught me that already," says he, blithely⁸.

 

"Yes, but that is wrong, you poor wretch⁹!" I cry. "Two and two are never four, or only very seldom. And that's not all. They will try to make you believe that Teheran is the capital of Persia and that Mont Blanc is 15,781 feet high and you will take them at their word. But I tell you that both Teheran and Persia are nothing at all, an empty sound, a stupid joke. And Mont Blanc is not half as big as the mound¹⁰ in the tallow-chandler's back-garden. And listen: you will never have any more time to play in the courtyard with Einar. When he shouts to you to come out, you'll have to sit and read about a lot of horrible old kings who have been dead for hundreds and hundreds of years, if they ever existed at all, which I, for my part, simply don't believe."

 

My little boy does not understand me. But he sees that I am sad and puts his hand in mine:

 

"Mother says that you must go to school to become a clever boy," he says. "Mother says that Einar is ever so much too small and stupid to go to school."

 

I bow my head and nod and say nothing.

 

That is past.

 

And I take him to school and see how he storms up the steps without so much as turning his head to look back at me.

1 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

2 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。

3 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

4 penetrates   

v.穿过( penetrate的第三人称单数 )；刺入；了解；渗透

参考例句：

• This is a telescope that penetrates to the remote parts of the universe. 这是一架能看到宇宙中遥远地方的望远镜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dust is so fine that it easily penetrates all the buildings. 尘土极细，能极轻易地钻入一切建筑物。 来自辞典例句

5 harmonious   

adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的

参考例句：

• Their harmonious relationship resulted in part from their similar goals.他们关系融洽的部分原因是他们有着相似的目标。
• The room was painted in harmonious colors.房间油漆得色彩调和。

6 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

7 horrid   

adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的

参考例句：

• I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
• The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

8 blithely   

adv.欢乐地，快活地，无挂虑地

参考例句：

• They blithely carried on chatting, ignoring the customers who were waiting to be served. 他们继续开心地聊天，将等着购物的顾客们置于一边。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He blithely ignored her protests and went on talking as if all were agreed between them. 对她的抗议他毫不在意地拋诸脑后，只管继续往下说，仿彿他们之间什么都谈妥了似的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 wretch   

n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人

参考例句：

• You are really an ungrateful wretch to complain instead of thanking him.你不但不谢他，还埋怨他，真不知好歹。
• The dead husband is not the dishonoured wretch they fancied him.死去的丈夫不是他们所想象的不光彩的坏蛋。

10 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。