Chapter Chapter 22 · 第22章

. I used to stay at Battersby for a day or two sometimes, while my godson

and his brother and sister were children. I hardly know why I went, for

Theobald and I grew more and more apart, but one gets into grooves

sometimes, and the supposed friendship between myself and the

Pontifexes continued to exist, though it was now little more than

rudimentary. My godson pleased me more than either of the other

children, but he had not much of the buoyancy of childhood, and was

more like a puny, sallow little old man than I liked. The young people,

however, were very ready to be friendly.

I remember Ernest and his brother hovered round me on the first day of

one of these visits with their hands full of fading flowers, which they

at length proffered me. On this I did what I suppose was expected: I

inquired if there was a shop near where they could buy sweeties. They

said there was, so I felt in my pockets, but only succeeded in finding

two pence halfpenny in small money. This I gave them, and the

youngsters, aged four and three, toddled off alone. Ere long they

returned, and Ernest said, “We can’t get sweeties for all this money”

(I felt rebuked, but no rebuke was intended); “we can get sweeties for

this” (showing a penny), “and for this” (showing another penny), “but

we cannot get them for all this,” and he added the halfpenny to the two

pence. I suppose they had wanted a twopenny cake, or something like

that. I was amused, and left them to solve the difficulty their own

way, being anxious to see what they would do.

Presently Ernest said, “May we give you back this” (showing the

halfpenny) “and not give you back this and this?” (showing the pence).

I assented, and they gave a sigh of relief and went on their way

rejoicing. A few more presents of pence and small toys completed the

conquest, and they began to take me into their confidence.

They told me a good deal which I am afraid I ought not to have listened

to. They said that if grandpapa had lived longer he would most likely

have been made a Lord, and that then papa would have been the

Honourable and Reverend, but that grandpapa was now in heaven singing

beautiful hymns with grandmamma Allaby to Jesus Christ, who was very

fond of them; and that when Ernest was ill, his mamma had told him he

need not be afraid of dying for he would go straight to heaven, if he

would only be sorry for having done his lessons so badly and vexed his

dear papa, and if he would promise never, never to vex him any more;

and that when he got to heaven grandpapa and grandmamma Allaby would

meet him, and he would be always with them, and they would be very good

to him and teach him to sing ever such beautiful hymns, more beautiful

by far than those which he was now so fond of, etc., etc.; but he did

not wish to die, and was glad when he got better, for there were no

kittens in heaven, and he did not think there were cowslips to make

cowslip tea with.

Their mother was plainly disappointed in them. “My children are none of

them geniuses, Mr Overton,” she said to me at breakfast one morning.

“They have fair abilities, and, thanks to Theobald’s tuition, they are

forward for their years, but they have nothing like genius: genius is a

thing apart from this, is it not?”

Of course I said it was “a thing quite apart from this,” but if my

thoughts had been laid bare, they would have appeared as “Give me my

coffee immediately, ma’am, and don’t talk nonsense.” I have no idea

what genius is, but so far as I can form any conception about it, I

should say it was a stupid word which cannot be too soon abandoned to

scientific and literary _claqueurs_.

I do not know exactly what Christina expected, but I should imagine it

was something like this: “My children ought to be all geniuses, because

they are mine and Theobald’s, and it is naughty of them not to be; but,

of course, they cannot be so good and clever as Theobald and I were,

and if they show signs of being so it will be naughty of them. Happily,

however, they are not this, and yet it is very dreadful that they are

not. As for genius—hoity-toity, indeed—why, a genius should turn

intellectual summersaults as soon as it is born, and none of my

children have yet been able to get into the newspapers. I will not have

children of mine give themselves airs—it is enough for them that

Theobald and I should do so.”

She did not know, poor woman, that the true greatness wears an

invisible cloak, under cover of which it goes in and out among men

without being suspected; if its cloak does not conceal it from itself

always, and from all others for many years, its greatness will ere long

shrink to very ordinary dimensions. What, then, it may be asked, is the

good of being great? The answer is that you may understand greatness

better in others, whether alive or dead, and choose better company from

these and enjoy and understand that company better when you have chosen

it—also that you may be able to give pleasure to the best people and

live in the lives of those who are yet unborn. This, one would think,

was substantial gain enough for greatness without its wanting to ride

rough-shod over us, even when disguised as humility.

I was there on a Sunday, and observed the rigour with which the young

people were taught to observe the Sabbath; they might not cut out

things, nor use their paintbox on a Sunday, and this they thought

rather hard, because their cousins the John Pontifexes might do these

things. Their cousins might play with their toy train on Sunday, but

though they had promised that they would run none but Sunday trains,

all traffic had been prohibited. One treat only was allowed them—on

Sunday evenings they might choose their own hymns.

In the course of the evening they came into the drawing-room, and, as

an especial treat, were to sing some of their hymns to me, instead of

saying them, so that I might hear how nicely they sang. Ernest was to

choose the first hymn, and he chose one about some people who were to

come to the sunset tree. I am no botanist, and do not know what kind of

tree a sunset tree is, but the words began, “Come, come, come; come to

the sunset tree for the day is past and gone.” The tune was rather

pretty and had taken Ernest’s fancy, for he was unusually fond of music

and had a sweet little child’s voice which he liked using.

He was, however, very late in being able to sound a hard it “c” or “k,”

and, instead of saying “Come,” he said “Tum tum, tum.”

“Ernest,” said Theobald, from the arm-chair in front of the fire, where

he was sitting with his hands folded before him, “don’t you think it

would be very nice if you were to say ‘come’ like other people, instead

of ‘tum’?”

“I do say tum,” replied Ernest, meaning that he had said “come.”

Theobald was always in a bad temper on Sunday evening. Whether it is

that they are as much bored with the day as their neighbours, or

whether they are tired, or whatever the cause may be, clergymen are

seldom at their best on Sunday evening; I had already seen signs that

evening that my host was cross, and was a little nervous at hearing

Ernest say so promptly “I do say tum,” when his papa had said he did

not say it as he should.

Theobald noticed the fact that he was being contradicted in a moment.

He got up from his arm-chair and went to the piano.

“No, Ernest, you don’t,” he said, “you say nothing of the kind, you say

‘tum,’ not ‘come.’ Now say ‘come’ after me, as I do.”

“Tum,” said Ernest, at once; “is that better?” I have no doubt he

thought it was, but it was not.

“Now, Ernest, you are not taking pains: you are not trying as you ought

to do. It is high time you learned to say ‘come,’ why, Joey can say

‘come,’ can’t you, Joey?”

“Yeth, I can,” replied Joey, and he said something which was not far

off “come.”

“There, Ernest, do you hear that? There’s no difficulty about it, nor

shadow of difficulty. Now, take your own time, think about it, and say

‘come’ after me.”

The boy remained silent a few seconds and then said “tum” again.

I laughed, but Theobald turned to me impatiently and said, “Please do

not laugh, Overton; it will make the boy think it does not matter, and

it matters a great deal;” then turning to Ernest he said, “Now, Ernest,

I will give you one more chance, and if you don’t say ‘come,’ I shall

know that you are self-willed and naughty.”

He looked very angry, and a shade came over Ernest’s face, like that

which comes upon the face of a puppy when it is being scolded without

understanding why. The child saw well what was coming now, was

frightened, and, of course, said “tum” once more.

“Very well, Ernest,” said his father, catching him angrily by the

shoulder. “I have done my best to save you, but if you will have it so,

you will,” and he lugged the little wretch, crying by anticipation, out

of the room. A few minutes more and we could hear screams coming from

the dining-room, across the hall which separated the drawing-room from

the dining-room, and knew that poor Ernest was being beaten.

“I have sent him up to bed,” said Theobald, as he returned to the

drawing-room, “and now, Christina, I think we will have the servants in

to prayers,” and he rang the bell for them, red-handed as he was.