Picture to yourself a youthful Hercules returning, box in hand, quite
proud of his expedition. The box is placed on the table and opened
with great ceremony. I can hear the bursts of laughter and the
shouts of the merry party when, instead of the looked-for sweets, he
finds, neatly arranged on moss or cotton-wool, a beetle, a snail,
a bit of coal, a few acorns, a turnip, or some such thing. Another
time in a newly whitewashed room, a toy or some small article of
furniture would be hung on the wall and the children would have to
fetch it without touching the wall. When the child who fetches it
comes back, if he has failed ever so little to fulfil the conditions,
a dab of white on the brim of his cap, the tip of his shoe, the
flap of his coat or his sleeve, will betray his lack of skill.
This is enough, or more than enough, to show the spirit of these
games. Do not read my book if you expect me to tell you everything.
What great advantages would be possessed by a man so educated,
when compared with others. His feet are accustomed to tread firmly
in the dark, and his hands to touch lightly; they will guide him
safely in the thickest darkness. His imagination is busy with the
evening games of his childhood, and will find it difficult to turn
towards objects of alarm. If he thinks he hears laughter, it will
be the laughter of his former playfellows, not of frenzied spirits;
if he thinks there is a host of people, it will not be the witches'
sabbath, but the party in his tutor's study. Night only recalls
these cheerful memories, and it will never alarm him; it will
inspire delight rather than fear. He will be ready for a military
expedition at any hour, with or without his troop. He will enter
the camp of Saul, he will find his way, he will reach the king's
tent without waking any one, and he will return unobserved. Are the
steeds of Rhesus to be stolen, you may trust him. You will scarcely
find a Ulysses among men educated in any other fashion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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