I. LANGUAGE CLASSES

F. ANSTEY. Vice Versa (1882)

The class was in a little room on the basement floor, with a linen-press taking up one side, some bare white deal tables and forms, and, on the walls, a few coloured German prints. They sat there talking and laughing, taking no notice of Mr. Bultitude, until the German master made his appearance. He was by no means a formidable person, though stout and tall. He wore big round owlish spectacles, and his pale broad face and long nose, combined with a wild crop of light hair and a fierce beard, gave him the incongruous appearance of a sheep looking out of a gun-port.

He took his place with an air of tremendous determination to enforce a hard morning's work on the book they were reading - a play of Schiller's, of the plot of which, it is needless to say, no one of his pupils had or cared to have the vaguest notion, having long since condemned the whole subject, with insular prejudice, as "rot." "Now, please," said Herr Stohwasser, "where we left off last term. Third act, first scene - Court before Tell's house. Tell is vid the carpenter axe, Hedwig vid a domestig labour occupied. Walter and Wilhelm in the depth sport with a liddle gross-bow. Biddlegom, you begin. Walter (sings)."

But Biddlecomb was in a conversational mood, and willing to postpone the task of translation, so he merely inquired, with an air of extreme interest, how Herr Stohwasser's German Grammar was getting on.

This was a subject on which (as he perhaps knew) the German never could resist enlarging, for in common with most German masters, he was giving birth to a new Grammar, which, from the daring originality of its plan, and its extreme simplicity, was destined to supersede all other similar works.

JAMES HILTON. Goodbye Mr. Chips (1934).

Chapter 15

And once, on a night of full moonlight the air-raid warning was given while Chips was taking his lower-fourth in Latin. The guns began almost instantly, and as there was plenty of sharpnel falling about outside, it seemed to Chips that they might just as well stay where they were, on the ground floor of School House. It was pretty solidly built and made as good a dug-out as Brookfield could offer; and as for a direct hit, well, they could not expect to survive that, wherever they were.

So he went on with his Latin, speaking a little louder amidst the reverberating crashes of the guns and the shrill whine of anti-aircraft shells. Some of the boys were nervous; few were able to be attentive. He said gently: “It may possibly seem to you, Robertson- at this particular moment in the world's history-umph – that the affairs of Caesar in Gaul some two thousand years ago – are – umph - of somewhat secondary importance-and that-umph- the irregular conjugation of the verb 'tollo' is-umph-even less important still. But believe me-umph- my dear Robertson-that is not really the case.” Just then there came a particularly loud explosion quite near. “You cannot -umph-judge the importance of things-umph – by the noise they make. Oh, dear me, no.” A little chukle. “And these things -umph- that have mattered -for thousands of years-are not going to be – snuffed out- because some stink-merchant -in his laboratory-invents a new kind of mischief.” Titters of nervous laughter; for Burrow, the pale, lean, and medically unfit science master, was nicknamed the Stink-Merchant. Another explosion - nearer still. “Let us -um-resume our work. If it is fate that we are soon to be -umph-interrupted, let us be found employing ourselves in something-umph-really appropriate. Is there anyone who will volunteer to construe?”

Maynard, chubby, dauntless, clever, and impudent, said: “I will, sir.”

“Very good. Turn to page forty and begin at the bottom line.”

The explosions still continued deafeningly; the whole building shook as if it were being lifted off its foundations. Maynard found the page, which was some way ahead, and began shrilly:

“Genus hoc erat pugnae- This was the kind of fight- quo se Germani exercuerant- in which the Germans busied themselves- Oh, sir, that's good- that's really very funny indeed, sir- one of your very best-”

Laughing began, and Chips added: “Well-umph - you can see-now - that these dead languages -umph- can come to life again- sometimes -eh? Eh?”

Afterwards they learned that five bombs had fallen in and around Brookfield, the nearest of them just outside the School grounds. Nine persons had been killed.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 826