小说园

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。

"