The Poor Scholar: Traits And Stories Of The Irish Peasantry, The Works of; William Carleton, Volume ThreeCarleton, William
General
The Poor Scholar: Traits And Stories Of The Irish Peasantry, The Works of; William Carleton, Volume Three
Carleton, William
Ireland -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
“It is false,” he exclaimed; “it is as false as your own cruel and
cowardly heart, you wicked and unprincipled tyrant! In everything you
have said of my father, mother, and friends, and of myself, too, you
are' a liar, from the hat on your head to the dirt undher your feet--a
liar, a coward, and a villain!”
The fury of the miscreant was ungovernable:--he ran at the still feeble
lad, and, by a stroke of his fist, dashed him senseless to the earth.
There were now no large boys in the school to curb his resentment, he
therefore kicked him in the back when he fell. Many voices exclaimed in
alarm--“Oh, masther! sir; don't kill him! Oh, sir! dear, don't kill him!
Don't kill poor Jemmy, sir, an' him still sick!”
“Kill him!” replied the master; “kill him, indeed! Faith, he'd be no
common man who could kill him; he has as many lives in him as a cat!
Sure, he can live behind a ditch, wid the faver on his back, wid-out
dying; and he would live if he was stuck on the spire of a steeple.”
In the meantime the boy gave no symptoms of returning life, and the
master, after desiring a few of the scholars to bring him oat to the
air, became pale as death with apprehension. He immediately withdrew
to his private apartment, which joined the schoolroom, and sent out his
wife to assist in restoring him to animation. With some difficulty
this was accomplished. The unhappy boy at once remembered what had just
occurred; and the bitter tears gushed from his eyes, as he knelt down,
and exclaimed “Merciful Father of heaven and earth, have pity on me! You
see my heart, great God! and that what I did, I did for the best!”
“Avourneen,” said the woman, “he's passionate, an' never mind him. Come
in an' beg his pardon for callin' him a liar, an' I'll become spokesman
for you myself. Come, acushla, an' I'll get lave for you to stay in the
school still.”
“Oh, I'm hurted!” said the poor youth: “I'm hurted inwardly--somewhere
about the back, and about my ribs!” The pain he felt brought the tears
down his pale cheeks. “I wish I was at home!” said he. “I'll give up all
and go home!” The lonely boy then laid his head upon his hands, as he
sat on the ground, and indulged in a long burst of sorrow.
“Well,” said a manly-looking little fellow, whilst the tears stood in
his eyes, “I'll tell my father this, anyhow. I know he won't let me come
to this school any more. Here, Jemmy, is a piece of my bread, maybe it
will do you good.”
“I couldn't taste it, Frank dear,” said Jemmy; “God bless you; but I
couldn't taste it.”
“Do,” said Frank; “maybe it will bate back the pain.”
“Don't ask me, Frank dear,” said Jemmy; “I couldn't ate it: I'm hurted
inwardly.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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