小说园>最后一片叶子人物形象 > 第23章 the t len（第2页）
第23章 the t len（第2页）
Poorman!ItwasinhonorofthislastlessonthathehadutonhisfineSundayclothes，andnowIunderstoodwhytheoldmenofthevillageweresittingthereinthebackoftheroom。Itwasbecausetheyweresorry，too，thattheyhadnotgonetoschoolmore。Itwastheirwayofthankingourmasterforhisfortyyearsoffaithfulserviceandofshowingtheirresectforthecountrythatwastheirsnomore。
WhileIwasthinkingofallthis，Iheardmynamecalled。Itwasmyturntorecite。WhatwouldInothavegiventobeabletosaythatdreadfulruleforthearticileallthrough，veryloudandclear，andwithoutonemistake?ButIgotmixeduonthefirstwordsandstoodthere，holdingontomydesk，myheartbeating，andnotdaringtolooku。IheardM。Hamelsaytome:
"Iwon&aos;tscoldyou，littleFranz;youmustfeelbadenough。Seehowitis!Everydaywehavesaidtoourselves:‘Pshaw!I&aos;velentyoftime。I&aos;lllearnittomorrow。’Andnowyouseewherewe&aos;vecomeout。Ah，that&aos;sthegreattroublewithAlsace;sheutsofflearningtilltomorrow。Nowthosefellowsouttherewillhavetherighttosaytoyou:&aos;Howisit;youretendtobeFrenchmen，andyetyoucanneitherseaknorwriteyourownlanguage?&aos;Butyouarenottheworst，oorlittleFranz。We&aos;veallagreatdealtoreroachourselveswith。
"Yourarentswerenotanxiousenoughtohaveyoulearn。Theyreferredtoutyoutoworkonafarmoratthemills，soastohavealittlemoremoney。AndI?I&aos;vebeentoblamealso。HaveInotoftensentyoutowatermyflowersinsteadoflearningyourlessons?AndwhenIwantedtogofishing，didInotjustgiveyouaholiday?
"
Then，fromonethingtoanother，M。HamelwentontotalkoftheFrenchlanguage，sayingthatitwasthemostbeautifullanguageintheworld-theclearest，themostlogical;thatwemustguarditamongusandneverforgetit，becausewhenaeoleareenslaved，aslongastheyholdfasttotheirlanguageitisasiftheyhadthekeytotheirrison。Thenheoenedagrammarandreadusourlesson。IwasamazedtoseehowwellIunderstoodit。Allhesaidseemedsoeasy，soeasy!Ithink，too，thatIhadneverlistenedsocarefully，andthathehadneverexlainedeverythingwithsomuchatience。Itseemedalmostasiftheoormanwantedtogiveusallheknewbeforegoingaway，andtoutitallintoourheadsatonestroke。
Afterthegrammar，wehadalessoninwriting。ThatdayM。Hamelhadnewcoiesforus，writteninabeautifulroundhand:France，Alsace，France，Alsace。Theylookedlikelittleflagsfloatingeverywhereintheschoolroom，hungfromtherodatthetoofourdesks。Yououghttohaveseenhoweveryonesettowork，andhowquietitwas!Theonlysoundwasthescratchingoftheensovertheaer。Oncesomebeetlesflewin;butnobodyaidanyattentiontothem，noteventhelittlestones，whoworkedrightontracingtheirfishhooks，asifthatwasFrench，too。Ontherooftheigeonscooedverylow，andIthoughttomyself:
"WilltheymakethemsinginGerman，eventheigeons?
"
WheneverIlookedufrommywritingIsawM。Hamelsittingmotionlessinhischairandgazingfirstatonething，thenatanother，asifhewantedtofixinhismindjusthoweverythinglookedinthatlittleschoolroom。Fancy!Forfortyyearshehadbeenthereinthesamelace，withhisgardenoutsidethewindowandhisclassinfrontofhim，justlikethat。Onlythedesksandbencheshadbeenwornsmooth;thewalnut-treesinthegardenweretaller，andthehovinethathehadlantedhimselftwinedaboutthewindowstotheroof。Howitmusthavebrokenhishearttoleaveitall，oorman;tohearhissistermovingaboutintheroomabove，ackingtheirtrunks!Fortheymustleavethecountrynextday。
Buthehadthecouragetoheareverylessontotheverylast。Afterthewriting，wehadalessoninhistory，andthenthebabieschantedtheirba，bebi，bo，bu。DownthereatthebackoftheroomoldHauserhadutonhissectaclesand，holdinghisrimerinbothhands，selledtheletterswiththem。Youcouldseethathe，too，wascrying;hisvoicetrembledwithemotion，anditwassofunnytohearhimthatweallwantedtolaughandcry。Ah，howwellIrememberit，thatlastlesson!
Allatoncethechurch-clockstrucktwelve。ThentheAngelus。AtthesamemomentthetrumetsofthePrussians，returningfromdrill，soundedunderourwindows。M。Hamelstoodu，veryale，inhischair。Ineversawhimlooksotall。
"Myfriends，
"saidhe，
"I-I-
"Butsomethingchokedhim。Hecouldnotgoon。
Thenheturnedtotheblackboard，tookaieceofchalk，and，bearingonwithallhismight，hewroteaslargeashecould:
"ViveLaFrance!
"
Thenhestoedandleanedhisheadagainstthewall，and，withoutaword，hemadeagesturetouswithhishand:
"Schoolisdismissed-youmaygo。
"
