Chapter 7 having fun with strangers
Throughout that summer, the children who would be entering third grade in Miss Snell's class received constant warnings about her. "You'll feel better, dude," the older kids would say, grinning gloatingly. "It'll really make you feel better. Miss Cleary's good." (Miss Cleary teaches the other third-grade class, the lucky other half) "—she's fine, but, man, that Snell— — you'd better watch out." So morale in Miss Snell's class was low before school started in September, and she did nothing to improve it in the first few weeks of school.
Miss Snell was probably sixty years old, tall and thin, with a manly face, and from her pores, or from her clothes, she always seemed to emanate that dry pencil shavings. , chalk dust, a smell of school.She is exacting, unsmiling, and never tires of finding out what she can't stand: lecturing, slumping in chairs, daydreaming, frequent trips to the bathroom, etc., and the most intolerable Yes, "I didn't bring all the stationery to school." Her small eyes are very sharp, and if someone whispers furtively, or uses her elbow to nudge the person next to her to borrow a pen, it almost never works. "What happened after that?" she would ask. "I'm talking about you, John Gerald." And John Gerrard—or Howard White or whoever happened to be—caught in the middle of a small talk could only blush and say:" nothing."
"Don't be mean. Is it a pencil? You didn't bring a pen to school? Stand up and answer."
What follows is a tirade about bringing good stationery to school.The person who made the mistake stepped forward, took a pen from her little storage on the podium, and said as required, "Thank you, Miss Snell." The refills snapped until he spoke loud enough for the class to hear.Only then would her tirade end.
If you forget to bring an eraser, it is even worse, because everyone always likes to bite off the eraser on the tip of the pencil, and there are always not enough erasers.Miss Snell had placed a large, old, shapeless eraser on the podium, and she looked proud of it. "This is my eraser," she said in class, shaking the eraser in her hand. "I've had this eraser for five years, five years." (It's not hard to believe, since the eraser looks as old, gray and worn as the hand waving it.) "I never Don't play with it because it's not a toy. I never bite it because it doesn't taste good. I never lose it because I'm not stupid or careless. I need this eraser for my homework , so I've been putting it away. Now, why don't you guys do the same with your erasers? I don't understand what's going on with your class. I never taught a class like yours, so stupid, careless, and childish!"
She never seemed to lose her temper, but it was all right for her to lose her temper, because her monotonous, dry, emotionless, chattering sermons kept everyone in the class down.When Miss Snell singled out someone for particularly sharp criticism, the preaching was a sort of ordeal.She would step forward and come within a foot of her victim's face, her eyes fixed on him without blinking, her finely lined, gray lips slowly proclaiming his guilt , cold and deliberate, counting until dark.She doesn't seem to have a preference for students; at one point she even calls out Alice Johnson.Alice.Johnson's stationery is never complete and she does everything well.That time Alice made a small talk when the class was reading aloud, and after Miss Snell hinted at it a few times, she was still talking.Miss Snell went over, put her book away, and murmured for several minutes.Alice was at first petrified; then with tears in her eyes, and a horrific grin, and finally, in front of the class, wailed with embarrassment and embarrassment.
Crying in Miss Snell's class was not uncommon, even for boys.The irony is that always in the intervals of this kind of scene - the only voice in the classroom is the low choking sobs of a classmate, and the rest of the students are in pain and embarrassment, and they don't look sideways - Clary from the next door There were bursts of laughter floating in Madam's class.
They could not hate Miss Snell, however, for the children's chief villain must be good for nothing, and it cannot be denied that Miss Snell sometimes tried to express her kindness in her clumsy way. “We learn new words like we make new friends,” she said once. "We all like to make friends, don't we? Now, for example, when school starts this year, you're all strangers to me, but I'd love to know your names, remember your faces, and I'm working on it .It was confusing at first, but it didn't take me long to make friends with all of you. Then we'll spend some quality time together- oh, maybe a little party at Christmas, or something like that stuff—and I'd be sad if I didn't make the effort, because it's hard for you to have fun with strangers, is it?" She gave them an earthy, shy smile. "The same goes for learning new words."
She said things like that more embarrassingly than anything else, but it did create a sort of vague sense of responsibility for her, and when the other kids in the class wanted to know how bad she really was, she said things like that. Prompt them to faithfully remain silent. "Well, not too bad," they'd say uncomfortably, trying to change the subject.
John Gerrard and Howard White usually walked home together after school.The two children in Mrs. Cleary's class, Freddie Taylor and his twin sister Grace, who lived on the same street as them, were always with them, though they seldom could can do it.John and Howard always ran far across the playground before the twins ran out of the crowd and caught up with them. "Hey, wait!" Freddie would yell. "Wait!" Not long after, the twins walked beside them, chirping, and the identical plaid canvas schoolbags were dangling.
"Guess what we're doing next week," Freddie screeched one afternoon. "I mean our class. Guess. Come on, guess."
John Gerald had once made it clear to the twins, and said a lot, that he didn't like walking home with girls, and now he almost wanted to say that one girl was bad enough, and he couldn't stand two.He cast a meaningful glance at Howard White, and the two of them walked in silence, determined not to respond to Freddy's persistent "guess."
But Freddie won't wait long for an answer. "We're going on a field trip," he said, "to traffic class. We're going to Harmon. Do you know Harmon?"
"Of course," said Howard White. "A small town."
"No, that's not what I mean. Do you know what they're doing there? What they're doing is they're switching all the trains that come into New York from steam to electric. Mrs. Cleary says we're going to watch them Change the car or something."
"We'd actually be out all day," Grace said.
"What's the big deal?" Howard White asked. "I can go there any day I want, on my bike, whenever I want." That's a bit of a stretch—he doesn't allow bikes more than two blocks in diameter—but it sounds good, especially He added, "I don't need Mrs. Clary to take me," and he said "Clary" in a effeminate way.
"At school?" Grace asked. "Can you go while you're at school?"
Howard mutters guiltily, "Of course, if I want to," but the twins clearly hit the mark.
"Mrs. Cleary said we'd have a lot of outings," Freddie said. "Next, we'll be visiting the Museum of Natural History, in New York, and a few other places. Too bad you're not in Mrs. Cleary's class."
"Leave me alone," said John Gerrard.Then, quoting his father directly, it was fitting: "Besides, we didn't go to school to fool around, I went to school to study. Come on, Howard."
A day or two later, word came that the two classes had planned to go on an excursion together; only Miss Snell had forgotten to tell her pupils.She was in a good mood when she told them about it. "I think this outing will be especially rewarding," she said, "because it will be educational and at the same time it will be fun for all of us." That afternoon John Gerrard and Howard White pretended to be I casually told the news to the twins, but I was secretly happy in my heart.
But the victory is always too short, and the outing highlights the difference between the two teachers.Mrs. Cleary did everything with enthusiasm and pleasure; she was young, naturally graceful, and the most beautiful woman Miss Snell's class had ever seen.A gigantic locomotive lay idle on a track branch, and she was the one who made the children climb up and look into its cab, and she was the one who found out where the public toilets were.The most boring things about trains become lively and interesting under her explanations; the fierce train driver and switchman, as long as she has long hair fluttering, hands in the pockets of the windbreaker, and walks towards them with a confident smile, They become merry hosts.
Throughout the outing, Miss Snell stayed behind, unobtrusive.She was thin and frowning, with her back turned to the wind, her shoulders shrunk, her eyes squinted and she glanced around, wary of someone being left behind.At one point she kept Mrs. Cleary waiting, called her class aside, and announced that if they never learned to stay together, there would be no more excursions.She screwed everything up.By the end of the final outing, the class was mortified and miserable for her.She had countless opportunities to express herself that day, and now her failure is both pathetic and disappointing.That's the worst part: she's miserable—they don't even want to look at her, at her dull, clumsy black coat, at her hat.All they wanted was to stuff her in the car right away, take her back to school, and never see her again.
Several big festivals in the fall make the school a special season.First up was Halloween, for which several art classes were devoted to pastel drawings of jack-o-lanterns and hunched black cats.Thanksgiving has a bigger impact: for a week or two kids draw turkeys, cornucopias, brown-clad Puritans with button-down hats and muskets with trumpet barrels; Sing "We're in this together" and "America the Beautiful" over and over again.Thanksgiving has just passed, and the long preparations for Christmas begin: red and green everywhere, Christmas carols rehearsed for the annual Christmas Parade.There are more and more garland decorations in the school hall every day, and more and more Christmas decorations.Finally, the last week before the holidays arrived.
"Is there a party in your class?" Freddie Taylor asked one day.
"Certainly, quite possibly," said John Gerrard, though, in reality, he was not at all sure.Except for a vague mention by Miss Snell a few weeks ago, she said nothing about the Christmas party, not a hint of it.
"Miss Snell told you you were going to have a party, or something?" Grace asked.
"Well, she didn't really tell us," said John Gerrard vaguely.Howard White walked beside him, tapping his shoes and saying nothing.
"Mrs. Cleary didn't tell us either," Grace said, "because there was supposed to be a surprise, but we knew we were going to have a party. Some of the students she taught last year said. They said she was always at the end There's a party and there's a Christmas tree and everything else, little presents, food. Do you have any of that?"
"Oh, I don't know," said John Gerrard. "Sure, maybe." But when the twins were gone, he was a little worried. "Hey, Howard," he said, "do you think she's throwing a party or something?"
"I don't know," Howard said, shrugging cautiously. "I didn't say anything." But he was also uneasy about it, as was the rest of the class.The holidays are getting closer, especially after the Christmas parade, and school days are suddenly running out of days, but it looks like the chances of Miss Snell having a party, of any kind .The thought gnawed at their hearts.
It was raining on the last day of school.The morning passed like that, no different from usual.After lunch, like any rainy day, the corridors were buzzing with children in raincoats and galoshes running around waiting for afternoon classes.The atmosphere around the third-grade classroom was particularly tense because Mrs. Cleary had locked her classroom door.Word spread among the students that she was alone in the classroom preparing for the party, which would begin as soon as the bell rang and would last the entire afternoon. "I peeked," said Grace Taylor, breathlessly, at everyone. "She took a small tree covered with blue lights, she rearranged the classroom, moved all the desks, everything..."
Some of their class followed Grace with questions—"What did you see? . . . all blue lights?" take a look here.
The students in Miss Snell's class huddled uncomfortably against the corridor wall, most with their hands in their pockets, silent.Their classroom door was also closed, but no one bothered to see if it was locked, for fear that the door would slide open and Miss Snell would be caught at a desk correcting papers.Instead, they watched the door of Mrs. Cleary's class, and when it finally opened they saw the class pour in.The girls yelled in unison: "Oh!" They all disappeared inside, and even from where the students of Miss Snell's class stood they could see their classroom changed.There was a small tree covered in blue lights—in fact, the whole classroom was blue—and the floor was cleared.All they could see was a corner of a table in the middle of the classroom, piled high with shiny plates of sweets and cakes.Mrs. Cleary stood at the door to welcome everyone, with a rosy, beaming, beautiful face.She smiled kindly, uneasily at the craning necks of Miss Snell's class, and closed the door again.
Immediately afterwards Miss Snell opened the door. First, they found that the classroom had not changed at all.The desks were still in place, ready for class; the Christmas pictures they had drawn in their own lessons were still taped to the walls, and the dirty red cardboard letter cards that had been cut out of "Merry Christmas" had been hanging above the blackboard for a week, and nothing else. There is no other decoration outside.But they were immediately relieved when they saw a pile of red and white parcels neatly stacked on Miss Snell's desk.Miss Snell stood impassively at the front of the room, waiting for everyone to be seated.Instinctively, no one stopped to stare at the pile of presents or comment.Miss Snell's attitude made it clear: the party hadn't started yet.
Spelling first, she ordered everyone to prepare pencils and paper.There was silence in the room, and she dictated word for word, clearly, and in the intermissions the noise in Mrs. Cleary's room was distinctly heard—bursts of laughter and cheers of surprise.But that pile of little presents made it all passable; the kids just had to look at them to know that, after all, there was nothing to be ashamed of.Miss Snell did what they expected.
The presents were all wrapped in the same white wrapping paper with red ribbons; a few of them were shaped, John Gerrard saw, like jackknives.Maybe a jackknife for a boy and a pocket flashlight for a girl.However, since pocket knives were so expensive, there was a good chance the gift was just something from the discount store, well-intentioned but useless, like individual lead soldiers for the boys and miniature dolls for the girls.Even that was good enough—hard and bright proof that she had something human after all, ready to be pulled out of her pocket at will and shown to the Taylor twins. (“Well, yeah, there really wasn’t a party, but she gave us all these little presents. Look.”)
"John Gerald," said Miss Snell, "if you're only looking at the . Yes, she smiled too.It was just a slightly shy smile, which was quickly stopped before she returned to the spelling book.But it was enough to remove the tension.When collecting the spelling test paper, Howard and White approached John Gerrard and whispered, "Tie pins, bet, the boys are tie pins, and the girls are little jewelry."
"Shhh," John said to him, but he added himself, "The tie pin won't be that thick." Then it was time for the next part of the lesson; everyone was looking forward to Miss Snell putting it away. After the papers the party starts.But she told everyone to be quiet and to continue with traffic class.
The afternoon passed slowly.Every time Miss Snell looked at the clock they expected her to say, "Oh, my God—I almost forgot." But she didn't.It's past two o'clock, less than an hour before school ends.Miss Snell was interrupted by a knock at the door. "What's wrong?" she said angrily. "What's the matter?"
Little Grace Taylor walks in with half a cupcake in her hand and the other half in her mouth.She looked quite surprised to find that there was still a lesson here - taking a step back and putting her free hand to her lips.
"What's the matter?" asked Miss Snell. "what do you want?"
"Mrs. Cleary would like to ask—"
"Do you have to talk while eating?"
Grace swallowed the cake, and she wasn't embarrassed at all. "Mrs. Cleary would like to ask if you have any extra paper plates?"
"I don't have a paper plate," Miss Snell said. "Would you be kind enough to inform Mrs. Cleary that we are having lessons?"
"Okay," Grace took another bite of the cake and turned to leave.She saw the pile of presents and stopped to look at them, visibly unimpressed.
"You're delaying everyone's class," said Miss Snell.So Grace went out, and at the door she cast a sly glance at the class, giggled softly with cake crumbs in her mouth, and slipped out quickly.The minute hand climbed to two-thirty, then climbed past it, and moved to two forty-five bit by bit.At last, at five minutes to three, Miss Snell put down her book. "Okay," she said, "I think we can put the books away now. Today is the last day before the holidays, and I have a little something for you—a little surprise." She laughed again. "Well, I think you all had better hold your seats while I pass the presents over. Alice Johnson, can you come and help me? The rest of you stay in your seats." Alice stepped forward, Miss Snell divided the presents into two piles, and served them on two sheets of drawing paper.Alice carried one tray, and held it carefully in her arms, and Miss Snell held the other.Before they began to circle the room, Miss Snell said, "Well, I'd like you to take your seats and wait for the presents to be delivered, and then we'll unwrap the wrappers together, that's the most polite thing. Now, Alice."
They started walking down the aisle, reading tags and handing out gifts.The labels are the familiar ones, with Santa Claus painted on them and "Merry Christmas" printed on them.Miss Snell filled it all out in her neat blackboard handwriting.John Gerrard's read: "Miss Snell to John G." He picked it up, and the moment he touched the packaging, he was shocked, knowing exactly what was inside. what.By the time Miss Snell returned to the podium and said "OK", there were no more surprises.
He tore off the wrapping paper and put the gift on the desk.It was an eraser, a ten-cent piece, the durable kind, half white for pencil writing, and half gray for pen writing.Out of the corner of his eye he saw Howard White sitting next to him, an identical piece of eraser under the opened wrapping paper, and took a furtive look at the class to make sure all the presents were the same.No one knew what to do because for what seemed to be a full minute there was no sound in the room save for the diminishing rustle of wrapping paper.Miss Snell stood in front of the classroom with her fingers clasped around her waist like a dry worm.Her face melted into the soft, quivering smile of a giver.She looked helpless.
Finally, a girl said, "Thank you, Miss Snell." Then, the rest of the students followed suit unevenly: "Thank you, Miss Snell."
"You're welcome, everyone," she said after she had calmed herself down. "I wish you a happy holiday."
By God's eyes, the bell rang for the end of get out of class, and everyone rushed to the cloakroom noisily. Now there was no need to look at Miss Snell.Her voice rose from the din: "Can everyone throw the paper and tape in the trash before they go?"
John Gerrard yanked his rubber boots up, grabbed his raincoat, and elbowed his way out of the cloakroom, out of the classroom, and down the noisy hallway. "Hey, Howard, wait!" he yelled at Howard White, and the two of them ended up leaving the school together, running and running, splashing a little in the playground cesspool.Miss Snell was left behind with every step she ran; if they ran fast enough, they could even avoid the Taylor twins, and then there was no need to think about it.Legs flopping, raincoats steaming, they ran and ran, the thrill of running away.
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