The discipline in school was quite severe. One teacher spoke thus: "The hawk is taught to fly and the pigeon to nest; I shall teach you your letters, you idle villain."[49] A pedagogical saying runs: "A young fellow has a back, he hears when we strike it." "Plato says the Egyptians taught numbers to children in their play by distributing amongst them a certain number of fruits, or other things, the same number to be given to many or to few children, so that by dividing them amongst themselves they learnt lessons in arithmetic; and all sorts of numbers were given to them in their games and plays as arithmetical problems."[50] For written work they had wooden blocks covered with red or white stucco. Copies were engraved on wooden or stone tablets and then the children copied them on their tablets. Work was also given by dictation. The older pupils wrote from dictation, or from copies, extracts from the best writers. This trained also in penmanship and spelling. Often the pupils copied an "instruction," which consisted of moral precepts of an ancient writer. Often the instruction consisted of letters between student and teacher. LITERATURE 1. Brugsch-Bey, Henry, A history of Egypt under the Pharaohs. 2. Dean, Amos, A history of civilization. 3. Graves, Frank Pierrepont, A history of education, Before the middle ages. 4. Laurie, S. S., Historical survey of pre-Christian education. 5. Maspero, G., Life in ancient Egypt and Assyria. 6. Maspero, G., The dawn of civilization. 7. Petrie, W. M. Flinders, Arts and crafts of ancient Egypt. 8. Rawlinson, George, History of ancient Egypt. 9. Wilkinson, Sir J. Gardner, A popular account of the ancient Egyptians. 10. Wilkinson, Sir J. Gardner, The Egyptians in the time of the Pharaohs. 11. Wilkinson, Sir J. Gardner, The manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians. CHAPTER IV THE CHILD IN INDIA =Caste.= The caste system in India was the most fixed of any of the nations. In this way the natural divisions into which mankind placed itself in a free country was not allowed, but fixed and hereditary classes were formed. There were four principal classes: The Brahmans, the priests; the Kshatriyas, the warriors; the Vaisyas, the farmers and traders; the Sudras, the laborers. Below these was a class of the very lowest. There was very little opportunity for a member of one caste going into a higher, so that an impulse for higher striving was of no avail, and if ever such came to a member of a lower caste it must have soon died away. This entailed especial disadvantages upon the children, for a boy's whole situation in life depended upon the class to which the father belonged and, consequently, his occupation and education. This rigid caste system might have brought contentment to the people, as there was no use of being discontented with one's lot, but such contentment could not bring great progress.