按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
ith the strap。 so i’d had three hidings that day； one from joe； one from old brewer； and one from mother。 next day the gang decided that i wasn’t really a member yet and that i’d got to go through the ‘ordeal’ （a word they’d got out of the red indian stories） after all。 they were very strict in insisting that you had to bite the worm before you swallowed it。 moreover； because i was the youngest and they were jealous of me for being the only one to catch anything； they all made out afterwards that the fish i’d caught wasn’t really a big one。 in a general way the tendency of fish； when people talk about them； is to get bigger and bigger； but this one got smaller and smaller； until to hear the others talk you’d have thought it was no bigger than a minnow。
but it didn’t matter。 i’d been fishing。 i’d seen the float dive under the water and felt the fish tugging at the line； and however many lies they told they couldn’t take that away from me。
？？
PART Ⅱ…4
for the next seven years； from when i was eight to when i was fifteen； what i chiefly remember is fishing。
don’t think that i did nothing else。 it’s only that when you look back over a long period of time； certain things seem to swell up till they overshadow everything else。 i left mother howlett’s and went to the grammar school； with a leather satchel and a black cap with yellow stripes； and got my first bicycle and a long time afterwards my first long trousers。 my first bike was a fixed… wheel—free…wheel bikes were very expensive then。 when you went downhill you put your feet up on the front rests and let the pedals go whizzing round。 that was one of the characteristic sights of the early nineteen…hundreds—a boy sailing downhill with his head back and his feet up in the air。 i went to the grammar school in fear and trembling； because of the frightful tales joe had told me about old whiskers （his name was wicksey） the headmaster； who was certainly a dreadful…looking little man； with a face just like a wolf； and at the end of the big schoolroom he had a glass case with canes in it； which he’d sometimes take out and swish through the air in a terrifying manner。 but to my surprise i did rather well at school。 it had never occurred to me that i might be cleverer than joe； who was two years older than me and had bullied me ever since he could walk。 actually joe was an utter dunce； got the cane about once a week； and stayed somewhere near the bottom of the school till he was sixteen。 my second term i took a prize in arithmetic and another in some queer stuff that was mostly concerned with pressed flowers and went by the name of science； and by the time i was fourteen whiskers was talking about scholarships and reading university。 father； who had ambitions for joe and me in those days； was very anxious that i should go to ‘college’。 there was an idea floating round that i was to be a schoolteacher and joe was to be an auctioneer。
but i haven’t many memories connected with school。 when i’ve mixed with chaps from the upper classes； as i did during the war； i’ve been struck by the fact that they never really get over that frightful drilling they go through at public schools。 either it flattens them out into half…wits or they spend the rest of their lives kicking against it。 it wasn’t so with boys of our class； the sons of shopkeepers and farmers。 you went to the grammar school and you stayed there till you were sixteen； just to show that you weren’t a prole； but school was chiefly a place that you wanted to get away from。 you’d no sentiment of loyalty； no goofy feeling about the old grey stones （and they were old； right enough； the school had been founded by cardinal wolsey）； and there was no old boy’s tie and not even a school song。 you had your half…holidays to yourself； because games weren’t pulsory and as often as not you cut them。 we played football in braces； and though it was considered proper to play cricket in a belt； you wore your ordinary shirt and trousers。 the only game i really cared about was the stump cricket we used to play in the gravel yard during the break； with a bat made out of a bit of packing case and a po ball。
but i remember the smell of the big schoolroom； a smell of ink and dust and boots； and the stone in the yard that had been a mounting block and was used for sharpening knives on； and the little baker’s shop opposite where they sold a kind of chelsea bun； twice the size of the chelsea buns you get nowadays； which were called lardy busters and cost a halfpenny。 i did all the things you do at school。 i carved my name on a desk and got the cane for it—you were always caned for it if you were caught； but it was the etiquette that you had to carve your name。 and i got inky fingers and bit my nails and made darts out of penholders and played conkers and passed round dirty stories and learned to masturbate and cheeked old blowers； the english master； and bullied the life out of little willy simeon； the undertaker’s son； who was half… witted and believed everything you told him。 our favourite trick was to send him to shops to buy things that didn’t exist。 all the old gags—the ha’porth of penny stamps； the rubber hammer； the left…handed screwdriver； the pot of striped paint—poor willy fell for all of them。 we had grand sport one afternoon； putting him in a tub and telling him to lift himself up by the handles。 he ended up in an asylum； poor willy。 but it was in the holidays that one really lived。
there were good things to do in those days。 in winter we used to borrow a couple of ferrets—mother would never let joe and me keep them at home； ‘nasty smelly things’ she called them—and go round the farms and ask leave to do a bit of ratting。 sometimes they let us； sometimes they told us to hook it and said we were more trouble than the rats。 later in winter we’d follow the threshing machine and help kill the rats when they threshed the stacks。 one winter； 1908 it must have been； the thames flooded and then froze and there was skating for weeks on end； and harry barnes broke his collar… bone on the ice。 in early spring we went after squirrels with squailers； and later on we went birdnesting。 we had a theo