"Thomas," he said now, for whenever he spoke in a very solid vein, he called me that; "Thomas, my boy, be contented with that, which has been ordained concerning you. Yours is not the only instance of what our friends call _Meiocatobarysm_; the meaning of which you have Greek enough now, as well as experience enough to know. The form of life, in which you find yourself, is perhaps the happiest among all, with which we are as yet acquainted--to wit, that of an English boy, of the middle class, well-fed, well-taught, well-played (if I may be allowed the expression), dressed, quite as well as he cares to be, and walking about at his leisure, with an eye down the manifold vistas of mischief. In a few years, Thomas will have changed all that. He will find himself bound to pay rates, and taxes, and never know when he has paid them right; to go to his office, with a compressor on his head, and measure his words, like poison; to doubt his very oldest friends, and be hearty with people he can't bear the sight of; and to go home at night, with the certainty that one run of bad luck may ruin him. Thomas, be happy while you can." "But, sir," I answered; "how can I be happy, when everybody expects me to go up? No one else, in the world, is expected to go up; because he couldn't do it, if he tried. And I can't go up, more than once in a way; even if my mother would allow me. And yet, I am always getting blamed, by a number of people, for not going up. Even Roly is down upon me now, to do it; and because I won't try, but keep working at the whale, he seems to be getting tired of me." "Tommy, that is sad; and yet a natural result. To my far less remarkable self, it has happened; when kind friends expected me to rise too fast. Reserve yourself, Tommy; and preserve your self-respect. But would you be really glad, my boy, to lose this special gift of yours? Remember, that if you do, you cease to attract any public attention--doubtful benefit as that may be. Do you really wish, to be unable to pirouette in the air again?" Professor Megalow, in the kindest manner, put both hands on my shoulders, and fixed his very large clear eyes on mine. It was hopeless for any one, looked at thus, to tell a lie; neither was my nature that. "If you please, sir," I said, "there is nothing I like better, than to be taken for a wonder of the world, and to read a whole column in the Newspapers about me, beginning with 'Unparalleled phenomenon.' But what I can't bear is, to be always bothered to do it, for people to look at; and to be laughed at, as if I were a rogue, or else a curmudgeon, when I don't go up, to order. Sometimes, I have been tempted to pull my weights off--but I promised my mother, that I never would do that. And you know, sir, that I can only go up, now and then; and always, when I don't want to do it. And when I come down again, I am so stupid; and my head goes round, for hours."