始業(yè)日 十七日

今天開(kāi)學(xué)了，鄉(xiāng)間的三個(gè)月，夢(mèng)也似的過(guò)去，又回到了這丘林的學(xué)校里來(lái)了。早晨母親送我到學(xué)校里去的時(shí)候，心還一味只想著在鄉(xiāng)間的情形哩。不論哪一條街道，都充滿著學(xué)校的學(xué)生們；書店的門口呢，學(xué)生的父兄們都擁擠著在那里購(gòu)買筆記簿、書袋等類的東西，校役和警察都拼命似的想把路排開(kāi)。到了校門口，覺(jué)得有人觸動(dòng)我的肩膀，原來(lái)這就是我三年級(jí)時(shí)候的先生，是一位頭發(fā)赤而卷縮、面貌快活的先生。先生看著我的臉孔說(shuō)：

“我們不再在一處了！安利柯！”

這原是我早已知道的事，今被先生這么一說(shuō)，不覺(jué)重新難過(guò)起來(lái)了。我們好容易地到了里面，許多夫人、紳士、普通婦人、職工、官吏、女僧侶、男傭人、女傭人，都一手拉了小兒，一手抱了成績(jī)簿，在接待所樓梯旁擠滿著，嘈雜得如同戲館里一樣。我重新看這大大的待息所的房子，非常歡喜，因?yàn)槲疫@三年來(lái)，每月到教室去，都穿過(guò)這室的。我的二年級(jí)時(shí)候的女先生見(jiàn)了我：

“安利柯！你現(xiàn)在要到樓上去了！要不走過(guò)我的教室了！”

說(shuō)著，戀戀地看我。校長(zhǎng)先生被婦人們圍繞著，頭發(fā)好像比以前白了。學(xué)生們也比夏天的時(shí)候長(zhǎng)大強(qiáng)壯了許多。才來(lái)入一年級(jí)的小孩們，不愿到教室里去，像驢馬似的倔強(qiáng)著，勉強(qiáng)拉了進(jìn)去，有的仍舊逃出，有的因?yàn)檎也恢改?，哭了起?lái)，做父母的回了進(jìn)去，有的誘騙，有的叱罵，先生們也弄得沒(méi)有辦法了。

我的弟弟被編在名叫代爾卡諦的女先生所教的一組里。午前十時(shí)，大家進(jìn)了教室，我們的一級(jí)共五十五人。從三年級(jí)一同升上來(lái)的只不過(guò)十五六人。經(jīng)常得一等獎(jiǎng)的代洛西也在里面。一想起暑假中跑來(lái)跑去游過(guò)的山林，覺(jué)得學(xué)校里悶得討厭。又憶起三年級(jí)時(shí)候的先生來(lái)：那是常常對(duì)我們笑著的好先生，是和我們差不多大的先生。那個(gè)先生的紅而縮攏的頭發(fā)，已不能看見(jiàn)了，一想到此，就有點(diǎn)難過(guò)。這次的先生，身材高長(zhǎng)，沒(méi)有胡須，長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)地留著花白的頭發(fā)，額上皺著直紋，說(shuō)話大聲，他瞪著眼一個(gè)一個(gè)地看我們的時(shí)候，眼光竟像要透到我們心里似的。而且還是一位沒(méi)有笑容的先生。我想：

“唉！一天總算過(guò)去了，還有九個(gè)月呢！什么用功，什么月試，多么討厭啊！”

一出教室，恨不得就看見(jiàn)母親，飛跑到母親面前去吻她的手。母親說(shuō)：

“安利柯?。∫眯膯?！我也和你大家用功呢！”

我高高興興地回家了?？墒且?yàn)槟俏挥H愛(ài)快活的先生已不在，學(xué)校也不如以前的有趣味了。

我們的先生 十八日

從今天起，現(xiàn)在的先生也可愛(ài)起來(lái)了。我們進(jìn)教室去的時(shí)候，先生已在位上坐著。先生前學(xué)年教過(guò)的學(xué)生們，都從門口探進(jìn)頭來(lái)和先生招呼：“先生早安！”“配巴尼先生早安！”大家這樣說(shuō)著。其中也有走進(jìn)教室來(lái)和先生匆忙地握了手就出去的。這可知大家都愛(ài)慕這先生。今年也想仍請(qǐng)他教的了。先生也說(shuō)著“早安！”去拉學(xué)生所伸著的手，卻是不去看學(xué)生的臉孔。和他們招呼的時(shí)候，雖也現(xiàn)出笑容，額上直紋一蹙，臉孔就板起來(lái)，并且把臉對(duì)著窗外，注視著對(duì)面的屋頂，好像他和學(xué)生們招呼是很苦的。完了以后，先生又把我們一一地注視，叫我們默寫，自己下了講臺(tái)在桌位間巡回。看見(jiàn)有一個(gè)面上生著紅粒的學(xué)生，就把默寫中止，兩手托了他的頭查看，又把手去摸他的額，問(wèn)他有沒(méi)有發(fā)熱。這時(shí)先生后面有一個(gè)學(xué)生乘著先生不看見(jiàn)，跳上椅子玩起洋娃娃來(lái)，恰好先生回過(guò)頭去，那學(xué)生就急忙坐下，俯了頭預(yù)備受責(zé)，先生把手按在他的頭上，只是說(shuō)：“下次不要再做這種事了！”另外一點(diǎn)沒(méi)有什么。

默寫完了以后，先生又沉默了看著我們，好一會(huì)兒，用了靜而粗大的親切的聲音這樣說(shuō)：

“大家聽(tīng)著！我們從此要同處一年，讓我們好好地過(guò)這一年吧！大家要用功，要規(guī)矩。我沒(méi)有一個(gè)家屬，你們就是我的家屬，去年以前，我還有母親，母親死了以后，我只有一個(gè)人了！你們以外，我沒(méi)有別的家屬在世界上，除了你們，我沒(méi)有可愛(ài)的人！你們是我的兒子，我愛(ài)你們，請(qǐng)你們也歡喜我！我一個(gè)都不愿責(zé)罰你們，請(qǐng)將你們的真心給我看看！請(qǐng)你們?nèi)喑蔀橐粋€(gè)家族，給我做慰藉，給我做榮耀！我現(xiàn)在并不是想你們用口來(lái)答應(yīng)我，我確已知道你們已在心里答應(yīng)我‘肯的’了。我感謝你們。”

這時(shí)校役來(lái)通知放學(xué)，我們都很靜很靜地離開(kāi)座位。那個(gè)跳上椅子的學(xué)生，走到先生的身旁，顫抖抖地說(shuō)：“先生！饒恕我這次！”先生用嘴去親著他的額說(shuō)：“快回去！好孩子！”

災(zāi)難 二十一日

本學(xué)年開(kāi)始就發(fā)生了意外的事情。今天早晨到學(xué)校去，我和父親正談著先生所說(shuō)的話。忽然見(jiàn)路上人滿了，都奔入校門去。父親就說(shuō)：

“有了什么意外的事情了！學(xué)年才開(kāi)始，真不湊巧！”

好容易，我們進(jìn)了學(xué)校，人滿了，大大的房子里充滿著兒童和家屬。聽(tīng)見(jiàn)他們說(shuō)：“可憐啊！洛佩諦！”從人山人海中，警察的帽子看見(jiàn)了，校長(zhǎng)先生的光禿禿的頭也看見(jiàn)了。接著又走進(jìn)來(lái)了一個(gè)戴著高冠的紳士，大家說(shuō)“醫(yī)生來(lái)了！”父親問(wèn)一個(gè)先生：“究竟怎么了？”先生回答說(shuō)：“被車子軋傷了！”“腳骨碎了！”又一個(gè)先生說(shuō)，原來(lái)：名叫洛佩諦的一個(gè)二年級(jí)的學(xué)生，上學(xué)來(lái)的時(shí)候，有一個(gè)一年級(jí)的小學(xué)生，忽然離開(kāi)了母親的手，在街路上倒了。這時(shí)，街車正往他倒下的地方駛來(lái)，洛佩諦眼見(jiàn)這小孩將為車子所軋，大膽地跳了過(guò)去，把他拖救出來(lái)。不料因?yàn)閬?lái)不及拖出自己的腳，反被車子軋傷了自己。洛佩諦是個(gè)炮兵大尉的兒子。正在聽(tīng)他們敘述這些話的時(shí)候，突然有一個(gè)婦人狂也似的奔到，從人堆里掙扎著進(jìn)來(lái)，這就是洛佩諦的母親。同時(shí)另外一個(gè)婦人跑過(guò)去，抱了洛佩諦的母親的頭頸啜泣。這就是被救出的小孩的母親。兩個(gè)婦人向室內(nèi)跑去，我們?cè)谕膺吙梢月?tīng)到她們“??！洛佩諦呀！我的孩子呀！”的哭叫聲。

立刻，有一輛馬車停在校門口了。校長(zhǎng)先生也就抱了洛佩諦出來(lái)。洛佩諦把頭伏在校長(zhǎng)先生肩上，臉色蒼白，眼睛閉著。大家都靜默了，洛佩諦母親的哭聲也聽(tīng)得出了。不一會(huì)兒，校長(zhǎng)先生將抱在手里的受傷者給大家看，父兄們、學(xué)生們、先生們都齊聲說(shuō)：“洛佩諦！好勇敢！可憐的孩子！”靠近點(diǎn)的先生和學(xué)生們，更去吻洛佩諦的手。這時(shí)洛佩諦睜開(kāi)了他的眼說(shuō)：“我的書包呢？”被救的孩子的母親拿書包給他看，流著淚說(shuō)：“讓我拿著吧，讓我替你拿了去吧。”洛佩諦的母親臉上現(xiàn)出微笑了。這許多人出了門，很小心地把洛佩諦載入馬車，馬車就慢慢地開(kāi)動(dòng)，我們都默默地走進(jìn)教室里去。

格拉勃利亞的小孩 二十二日

洛佩諦到底做了非拄了杖不能行走的人了。昨日午后，先生正在說(shuō)這消息給我們聽(tīng)的時(shí)候，校長(zhǎng)先生忽然領(lǐng)了一個(gè)陌生的小孩到教室里來(lái)。那是一個(gè)黑色、濃發(fā)、大眼而眉毛濃黑的小孩。校長(zhǎng)先生將這小孩交給先生，低聲地說(shuō)了一二句什么話就出去了。小孩用他黑而大的眼，看著室中的一切。先生攜了他的手向我們說(shuō)：

“你們大家應(yīng)該喜歡。今天有一個(gè)從五百哩以外的格拉勃利亞的萊奇阿地方來(lái)的意大利小孩進(jìn)了這學(xué)校了。因?yàn)槭沁h(yuǎn)道來(lái)的，請(qǐng)你們要特別愛(ài)這同胞。他的故鄉(xiāng)是名所，是意大利名人的產(chǎn)生地，又是產(chǎn)生強(qiáng)健的勞動(dòng)者和勇敢的軍人的地方，也是我國(guó)風(fēng)景名地之一。那里也有森林，也有山岳，居民都富于才能和勇氣。請(qǐng)你們親愛(ài)地對(duì)待這小孩，使他忘記自己是離了故鄉(xiāng)的，使他知道在意大利無(wú)論到什么地方的學(xué)校里去，都是同胞?！?

先生說(shuō)著，在意大利地圖上指著格拉勃利亞的萊奇阿的位置給我們看。又用了大聲叫：“爾耐斯托·代洛西！”——他是每次都得一等獎(jiǎng)的學(xué)生——代洛西起立了。

“到這里來(lái)！”先生說(shuō)著，代洛西就離了座位走近格拉勃利亞小孩面前。

“你是級(jí)長(zhǎng)，請(qǐng)對(duì)這新學(xué)友致歡迎辭！請(qǐng)代表譬特蒙脫的小孩，表示歡迎格拉勃利亞的小孩！”

代洛西聽(tīng)見(jiàn)先生這樣說(shuō)，就抱了那小孩的頭頸，用了明亮的聲音說(shuō)：“來(lái)得很好！”格拉勃利亞小孩也熱烈地吻代洛西的頰。我們都拍手喝彩了。先生雖然說(shuō)“靜些靜些！在教室里拍手是不可以的！”而自己也很喜歡。格拉勃利亞小孩也喜歡。一等到先生指定了座位，那個(gè)小孩就歸座了。先生又說(shuō)：

“請(qǐng)你們好好記著我方才的話。格拉勃利亞的小孩到了丘林，要同住在自己家里一樣。丘林的小孩到了格拉勃利亞，也應(yīng)該毫不覺(jué)得寂寞。實(shí)對(duì)你們說(shuō)，我國(guó)為此，曾戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)了五十年。有三萬(wàn)的同胞，為此戰(zhàn)死。所以你們大家要互相敬愛(ài)，如果有因?yàn)樗皇潜镜厝?，?duì)于這新學(xué)友無(wú)禮的，那就是沒(méi)有資格來(lái)見(jiàn)我們的三色旗的人！”

格拉勃利亞小孩回到座位，和他鄰席的學(xué)生們，有送他鋼筆的，有送他畫片的，又有送他瑞士的郵票的。

同窗朋友 二十五日

送郵票給格拉勃利亞小孩的，就是我所最喜歡的卡隆。他在同級(jí)中身軀最高大，今年十四歲，是個(gè)大頭寬肩笑起來(lái)很可愛(ài)的小孩，卻已有大人氣。我已把同窗的友人認(rèn)識(shí)了許多了，有一個(gè)名叫可萊諦的我也歡喜。他著了茶色的褲子，戴了貓皮的帽，常說(shuō)著有趣的話。父親是開(kāi)柴店的，一八六六年，曾在溫培爾脫親王部下打過(guò)仗，據(jù)說(shuō)還拿著三個(gè)勛章呢。有個(gè)名叫耐利的，可憐是個(gè)駝背，身體怯弱，臉色常是青青的。還有一個(gè)名叫華梯尼的，他時(shí)常穿著漂亮的衣服。在我的前面，有一個(gè)小孩綽號(hào)叫做“小石匠”的，那是石匠的兒子，臉孔圓圓的像蘋果，鼻頭像個(gè)小丐，慣能裝兔的臉孔，時(shí)常裝了引人笑。他雖戴著破絮樣的襤褸的帽，卻常常將帽像手帕似的卷疊了藏在袋里。坐在“小石匠”的旁邊的是一個(gè)叫做卡洛斐的瘦長(zhǎng)、老鷹鼻、眼睛特別小的孩子。他常常把鋼筆、火柴空盒等拿來(lái)買賣，把字寫在手指甲上，做種種狡猾的事。還有一個(gè)名叫卡羅·諾琵斯的傲慢的少年紳士。這人的兩旁，有兩個(gè)小孩，我認(rèn)為很好的。一個(gè)是鐵匠的兒子，穿了齊膝的上衣，臉色蒼白得好像病人，對(duì)于什么都膽怯，永遠(yuǎn)沒(méi)有笑容。一個(gè)是赤發(fā)的小孩，一只手有了殘疾，掛牢在項(xiàng)頸里。聽(tīng)說(shuō)，他的父親到亞美利加去了，母親走來(lái)走去賣著野菜呢?？课业淖筮叄€有一個(gè)奇怪的小孩，他名叫斯帶地，身材短而肥，項(xiàng)頸好像沒(méi)有的一樣。他是個(gè)暴躁的小孩，不和人講話。好像是什么都不知道的，可是，先生的話，他總目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地蹙了眉頭、緊閉了嘴聽(tīng)著。先生說(shuō)話的時(shí)候，如果有人說(shuō)話，第二次他還忍耐著，一到第三次，他就要憤怒起來(lái)用腳來(lái)蹴了。坐在他的旁邊的，是一個(gè)毫不知顧忌的有著狡猾相的小孩，他名叫勿蘭諦，聽(tīng)說(shuō)曾經(jīng)在別校被除了名的。此外，還有一對(duì)很相像的兄弟，穿著一樣的衣服，戴著一樣的帽子。這許多同學(xué)之中，相貌最好，最有才能的，不消說(shuō)要算代洛西了。今年大概還是要他得第一名的。但是我卻愛(ài)鐵匠的兒子，那像病人的潑來(lái)可西。據(jù)說(shuō)，他父親是要打他的，他非常老實(shí)，在和人說(shuō)話的時(shí)候，或偶然觸犯著別人的時(shí)候，他一定要說(shuō)“對(duì)不住”，他常用了親切而悲哀的眼光看人。至于最長(zhǎng)大的和品格最高的，卻是卡隆。

義俠的行為 二十六日

卡隆的為人，我看了今日的事情就明白了。今日我因?yàn)槎昙?jí)時(shí)候的女先生來(lái)問(wèn)我何時(shí)在家，到校稍遲，入了教室，先生還未來(lái)。一看，有三四個(gè)小孩聚在一處正在戲弄著那赤發(fā)的一手有殘疾的賣野菜人家的孩子克洛西。有的用三角板打他，有的把栗子殼向他的頭上投擲，說(shuō)他是“殘廢者”，是“鬼怪”，還將手掛在項(xiàng)頸上來(lái)裝他的樣子給他看。克洛西一個(gè)人坐在位子里蒼白了臉。用了好像要說(shuō)：“饒了我吧！”似的眼光，看著他們。他們見(jiàn)克洛西這樣，越加得了風(fēng)頭，越加戲弄他。克洛西終于怒了，漲紅了臉，身子顫抖著。這時(shí)那個(gè)臉孔很討厭的勿蘭諦，忽然跳上椅子，裝出克洛西的母親挑菜擔(dān)的樣子來(lái)了?？寺逦鞯哪赣H，因?yàn)榻涌寺逦骰厝?，平日時(shí)常到學(xué)校里來(lái)的，現(xiàn)在聽(tīng)說(shuō)正病在床上，許多學(xué)生都曾知道克洛西的母親的，看了勿蘭諦所裝的樣子，大家笑了起來(lái)。克洛西大怒，突然將擺在那里的墨水瓶對(duì)準(zhǔn)了勿蘭諦擲去。勿蘭諦很敏捷地避過(guò)，墨水瓶恰巧打著了從門外進(jìn)來(lái)的先生的胸部上。

大家都逃到座位里，怕得不做一聲，先生變了臉色，走到教桌的旁邊，用了嚴(yán)厲的聲音問(wèn)：“誰(shuí)？”一個(gè)人都沒(méi)有回答。先生又提高了聲音說(shuō)：“誰(shuí)？”

這時(shí)，卡隆好像可憐了克洛西，忽然起立，用了很決心的態(tài)度說(shuō)：“是我！”先生眼盯著卡隆，又轉(zhuǎn)看正呆著的學(xué)生們，靜靜地說(shuō)：“不是你。”

過(guò)了一會(huì)兒，又說(shuō)：“決不加罰，投擲者起立！”

克洛西起立了，哭著說(shuō)：“他們打我，欺侮我，我氣昏了，不知不覺(jué)就把墨水瓶投過(guò)去了。”

“好的！那么，欺侮他的人起立！”先生說(shuō)了，四個(gè)學(xué)生起立了，把頭俯著。

“你們欺侮了無(wú)辜的人了！你們欺侮了不幸的小孩，欺侮弱者了！你們做了最無(wú)謂、最可恥的事了！卑怯的東西！”

先生說(shuō)著，走到卡隆的旁邊，將手?jǐn)[在他的腮下，托起他俯下著的頭來(lái)，注視著他的眼說(shuō)：“你的精神是高尚的！”

卡隆附攏了先生的耳，不知說(shuō)些什么，先生突然向著四個(gè)犯罪者說(shuō)：“我饒恕你們。”

我的女先生 二十七日

我二年級(jí)時(shí)候的女先生，準(zhǔn)了約期，今日到家里來(lái)訪我了。先生不到我家已一年，我們很高興地招待她。先生的帽子旁仍舊罩著綠色的面紗，衣服極樸素，頭發(fā)也不修飾，她原是沒(méi)有工夫來(lái)打扮這些的。她比去年似乎臉上的紅彩薄了好些，頭發(fā)也白了些，時(shí)時(shí)咳嗽著。母親問(wèn)她：

“那么，你的健康怎樣？先生！你如果不再顧著你的身體……”

“一點(diǎn)都沒(méi)有什么。”先生回答說(shuō)，帶著又喜悅又像憂愁的笑容。

“先生太高聲講話了，為了小孩們太操勞自己的身體了?！蹦赣H又說(shuō)。

真的，先生的聲音，聽(tīng)不清楚的時(shí)候是沒(méi)有的。我還記得：先生講話，總是連續(xù)著一息不停，弄得我們學(xué)生連看旁邊的工夫都沒(méi)有了。先生不會(huì)忘記自己所教過(guò)的學(xué)生，無(wú)論在幾年以前，只要是她教過(guò)的總還記得起姓名。聽(tīng)說(shuō)，每逢月考，她都要到校長(zhǎng)先生那里，去詢問(wèn)他們的成績(jī)的。有時(shí)又站在學(xué)校門口，等學(xué)生來(lái)了就叫他拿出作文簿給她看，調(diào)查他進(jìn)步得怎樣了。已經(jīng)入了中學(xué)校的學(xué)生，也常常著了長(zhǎng)褲子，帶了掛表，去訪問(wèn)先生。今天，先生是領(lǐng)了本級(jí)的學(xué)生去看繪畫展覽會(huì)，回去的時(shí)候，轉(zhuǎn)到我們這里來(lái)的。我們?cè)谙壬前嗟臅r(shí)候，每逢星期二，先生常領(lǐng)我們到博物館去，說(shuō)明種種的東西給我們聽(tīng)。先生比那時(shí)已衰弱了許多了，可是仍非常起勁，遇到學(xué)校的事情，就很快活地講話。兩年前，我大病了在床上臥著，先生曾來(lái)望過(guò)我，先生今日還說(shuō)要看看我那時(shí)所睡的床，這床其實(shí)已歸我的姐姐睡了的。先生看了一會(huì)兒，也沒(méi)有說(shuō)什么。先生因?yàn)檫€要去望一個(gè)學(xué)生的病，不能久留。聽(tīng)說(shuō)是個(gè)馬鞍匠的兒子，發(fā)著麻疹臥在家里呢。她又夾著今晚非批改不可的課本，據(jù)說(shuō)，晚飯以前，某商店的女主人還要到她那里來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)算術(shù)的。

“?。“怖拢　毕壬R走的時(shí)候，向著我說(shuō)，“你到了能解難題、作長(zhǎng)文章的時(shí)候，仍肯愛(ài)你以前的女先生嗎？”說(shuō)著，吻我。等到出了門，還在階沿下再揚(yáng)了聲說(shuō)：“請(qǐng)你不要忘了我！安利柯?。　?

??！親愛(ài)的先生！我怎能忘記你呢？我雖成了大人，也一定還記得先生，到校里來(lái)拜望你。無(wú)論到了何處，只要一聽(tīng)到女教師的聲音，就要如同聽(tīng)見(jiàn)你先生的聲音一樣，想起先生教我的二年間的事情來(lái)。啊??！那兩年里面，我由于先生的教導(dǎo)學(xué)會(huì)了多少的事！那時(shí)先生雖有病，身體不健，可是無(wú)論何時(shí)，都熱心地愛(ài)護(hù)我們，教導(dǎo)我們的。我們書法上有了惡癖，她就很擔(dān)心?？荚囄瘑T質(zhì)問(wèn)我們的時(shí)候，她擔(dān)心得幾乎坐立不安。我們寫得清楚的時(shí)候，她就真心歡喜。她一向像母親那樣地愛(ài)我。這樣的好先生，叫我怎樣能忘記??！

貧民窟 二十八日

昨日午后，我和母親、雪爾維姐姐三人，送布給新聞上所記載的窮婦人。我拿了布，姐姐拿了寫著那婦人住址姓名的條子。我們到了一處很高的住宅的屋頂小閣里，那里有長(zhǎng)的走廊，沿廊有許多室，母親到最末了的一室敲了門。門開(kāi)了，走出一個(gè)年紀(jì)還輕，白色而瘦小的婦人來(lái)。是一向時(shí)?？匆?jiàn)的婦人，頭上常常包著青布。

“你就是新聞上所說(shuō)的那位嗎？”母親問(wèn)。

“呃，是的?！?

“那么，有點(diǎn)布在這里，請(qǐng)你收了。”

那婦人非常歡喜，好像說(shuō)不出答謝的話來(lái)。這時(shí)我瞥見(jiàn)有一個(gè)小孩，在那沒(méi)有家具的暗騰騰的小室里，背向了外，靠著椅子好像在寫字。仔細(xì)一看，確是在那里寫字，椅子上攤著紙，墨水瓶擺在地板上。我想，這樣黑暗的屋子里，如何能寫字呢。忽然看見(jiàn)那小孩長(zhǎng)著赤發(fā)，穿著破的上衣，才恍然悟到：原來(lái)這就是那賣菜人家的兒子克洛西，就是那一只手有殘疾的克洛西。乘他母親正收拾東西的時(shí)候，我輕輕地將這告訴了母親。

“不要做聲！”母親說(shuō)，“如果他覺(jué)得自己的母親，受朋友的布施，多么難為情呢。不要做聲！”

可是，恰巧這時(shí)克洛西回過(guò)頭來(lái)了。我不知要怎樣才好，克洛西對(duì)著我微笑。母親背地里向我背后一推，我就進(jìn)去抱住克洛西，克洛西立起來(lái)握我的手。

克洛西的母親對(duì)我母親說(shuō)：

“我只是娘兒兩個(gè)。丈夫這七年來(lái)一直在亞美利加，我又生了病。不能再挑了菜去賣，什么桌子等類的東西都已賣盡，弄得這孩子讀書都為難，要點(diǎn)盞小小的燈也不能夠，眼睛也要有病了。幸而教科書、筆記簿有市公所送給，總算勉強(qiáng)地進(jìn)了學(xué)校?？蓱z！他到學(xué)校去是很歡喜的，但是……像我這樣的不幸的人，是再?zèng)]有的了！”

母親把錢包中所有的錢都拿出來(lái)給了她，吻了克洛西，出來(lái)幾乎哭了。于是對(duì)我說(shuō)：

“安利柯啊！你看那個(gè)可愛(ài)的孩子！他不是很刻苦地用著功嗎？像你，是什么都自由的，還說(shuō)用功苦呢！?。≌娴模∧呛⒆右蝗盏那诿?，比你一年的勤勉，價(jià)值不知要大多少呢！像那小孩，總是應(yīng)該受一等獎(jiǎng)的哩！”

學(xué)校 二十八日

愛(ài)兒安利柯??！你用功怕難起來(lái)了，像你母親所說(shuō)的樣子。我還未曾看到你有高高興興勇敢地到學(xué)校里去的樣子過(guò)。但是我告訴你：如果你不到學(xué)校里去，你每日要怎樣地乏味，怎樣地疲倦??！只要這樣過(guò)了一星期，你必定要合了手來(lái)懇求把你再送入學(xué)校里去吧！因?yàn)橛螒螂m好，每日游戲就要厭倦的。

現(xiàn)在的世界上，無(wú)論何人，沒(méi)有一個(gè)不學(xué)習(xí)的。你想！職工們勞動(dòng)了一日，夜里不是還要到學(xué)校里去嗎？街上店里的婦人們、姑娘們勞動(dòng)了一星期，星期日不是還要到學(xué)校里去嗎？兵士們?cè)诎滋熳隽艘惶斓那趧?wù)，回到營(yíng)里不是還要讀書嗎？就是瞎子和啞子，也在那里學(xué)習(xí)種種的事情。監(jiān)獄里的囚犯，不是也同樣地在那里學(xué)習(xí)讀書寫字等的功課嗎？

每天早晨上學(xué)去的時(shí)候，你要這樣想想：此刻，這個(gè)市內(nèi)，有和我同樣的三萬(wàn)個(gè)小孩都正在上學(xué)去。又，同在這時(shí)候，世界各國(guó)有幾千萬(wàn)的小孩也正在上學(xué)去。有的正三五成群地經(jīng)過(guò)著清靜的田野；有的正行走在熱鬧的街道；也有的沿了河或湖在那里走著的吧。在猛烈的太陽(yáng)下走著的也有，在寒霧蓬勃的河上駛著短艇的也有吧。從雪上乘了橇走的，渡溪的，爬山的，穿過(guò)了森林，渡過(guò)了急流，躑躅行著冷靜的山路的，騎了馬在莽莽的原野跑著的也有吧。也有一個(gè)人走著的，也有兩個(gè)人并肩走的，也有成了群排了隊(duì)走著的。穿著各種的服裝，說(shuō)著各樣的語(yǔ)言，從被冰鎖住的俄羅斯以至椰子樹(shù)深深的阿拉伯，不是有幾千萬(wàn)數(shù)都數(shù)不清楚的小孩，都夾了書，學(xué)著同樣的事情，同樣地在學(xué)校里上學(xué)嗎？你想想這無(wú)數(shù)小孩所組成的團(tuán)體？又想想這大團(tuán)體怎樣在那里做大運(yùn)動(dòng)！你再試想：如果這運(yùn)動(dòng)一終止，人類就會(huì)退回到野蠻的狀態(tài)了吧。這運(yùn)動(dòng)才是世界的進(jìn)步，才是希望，才是光榮。要奮發(fā)啊！你就是這大軍隊(duì)的兵士，你的書本是武器，你的一級(jí)是一分隊(duì)，全世界是戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)，勝利就是人類的文明，安利柯啊！不要做卑怯的兵士啊！

——父親

少年愛(ài)國(guó)者（每月例話） 二十九日

做卑怯的兵士嗎？決不做！可是，先生如果每日把像今日那種有趣的話講給我們聽(tīng)，我還要更加歡喜這學(xué)校呢。先生說(shuō)，以后每月要講一次像今天這樣的高尚的少年故事給我們聽(tīng)，并且叫我們筆記下來(lái)。下面就是今天所講的《少年愛(ài)國(guó)者》的故事：

一只法蘭西輪船從西班牙的巴塞羅那開(kāi)到意大利的熱那亞來(lái)。船里乘客有法蘭西人、意大利人、西班牙人，還有瑞士人。其中有個(gè)十一歲的少年，服裝襤褸，遠(yuǎn)離了人們，只像野獸似的用白眼把人家看著。他所以用這種眼色看人，也不是無(wú)因。原來(lái)他是于兩年前被他在鄉(xiāng)間種田的父母，賣給戲法班了的，戲法班里的人打他，罵他，叫他受餓，強(qiáng)迫他學(xué)會(huì)把戲，帶了他到法蘭西、西班牙一帶跑，一味虐待，連食物都不十分供給他。這戲法班到了巴塞羅那的時(shí)候，他因?yàn)槭懿蛔∨按c饑餓，終于逃出，到意大利領(lǐng)事館去請(qǐng)求保護(hù)。領(lǐng)事很可憐他，叫他乘入這只船里，并且給他一封到熱那亞的出納官那里去的介紹信，意思是要送他回到殘忍的父母那里去。少年遍體受傷，非常衰弱，因?yàn)槭亲≈扰摰?，人們都以為奇怪，大家?duì)著他看。有人和他講話，他也不回答，好像是把一切的人都憎惡了的。他的心已變歪到這地步了。

有三個(gè)乘客種種地探問(wèn)他，他才開(kāi)了口。他用了在意大利語(yǔ)中夾雜法蘭西語(yǔ)和西班牙語(yǔ)的亂雜的言語(yǔ)，大略地把自己的經(jīng)歷講了。這三個(gè)乘客雖不是意大利人，卻也聽(tīng)懂了他的話，于是就一半因?yàn)閼z憫，一半因?yàn)槌跃埔院蟮母吲d，給他少許的金錢，一面仍繼續(xù)著和他談話。這時(shí)有大批的婦人，也正從艙室走出，來(lái)到這里，她們聽(tīng)了少年的話，也就故意要人看見(jiàn)似的拿出若干的錢來(lái)擲在桌上，說(shuō)：“這給了你！這也拿了去！”

少年低聲答謝了，把錢收入袋里，苦郁的臉上到這時(shí)才現(xiàn)出喜歡的笑容。他回到自己的床位里，拉攏了床幕，臥了靜靜地自己沉思：有了這些錢，可以在船里買點(diǎn)好吃的東西，飽一飽兩年來(lái)饑餓的肚子；到了熱那亞，可以買件上衣?lián)Q上，又拿了錢回家，比空手回去也總可以多少好見(jiàn)于父母，多少可以得著像人的待遇。在他，這金錢竟是一注財(cái)產(chǎn)。他在床上正沉思得高興，這時(shí)那三個(gè)旅客圍坐在二等艙的食桌邊，在那里談?wù)撝?。他們一面飲酒，一面談著旅行中所?jīng)過(guò)的地方的情形。談到意大利的時(shí)候，一個(gè)說(shuō)意大利的旅館不好，一個(gè)攻擊火車。酒漸漸喝多了，他們的談?wù)撘簿蜐u漸地露骨了。一個(gè)說(shuō)，與其到意大利，還是到北極去好，意大利住著的都是騙子、土匪。后來(lái)又說(shuō)意大利的官吏是不識(shí)字的。

“愚笨的國(guó)民！”一個(gè)說(shuō)。

“下等的國(guó)民！”另一個(gè)說(shuō)。

“強(qiáng)盜……”

還有一個(gè)正在說(shuō)出“強(qiáng)盜”的時(shí)候，忽然銀幣、銅幣像雹子一般落到他們的頭上和肩上，同時(shí)在桌上地板上滾著，發(fā)出可怕的聲音來(lái)。三個(gè)旅客憤怒了舉頭看時(shí)，一把銅幣又被飛擲到臉上來(lái)了。

“拿回去！”少年從床幕里探出頭來(lái)怒叫，“我不要那說(shuō)我國(guó)壞話的人的東西?！?

煙囪掃除人 十一月一日

昨天午后，到近地一個(gè)女子小學(xué)校里去。因?yàn)檠柧S姐姐的先生說(shuō)要看《少年愛(ài)國(guó)者》的故事，所以就拿了去給她看。那學(xué)校有七百人光景的女孩，我去的時(shí)候正是放課，學(xué)生們因?yàn)閺拿魈炱鸾舆B有“萬(wàn)圣節(jié)”、“萬(wàn)靈節(jié)”兩個(gè)節(jié)日，正在歡喜高興地回去。我在那里看見(jiàn)一件很美的事：在學(xué)校那一邊的街路角里，立著一個(gè)臉孔墨黑的煙囪掃除人。他還是個(gè)小孩，一手靠著了壁，一手托著頭，在那里啜泣。有兩三個(gè)三年級(jí)女學(xué)生走近去問(wèn)他：“怎么了？為什么這樣哭？”但是他總不回答，仍舊哭著。

“來(lái)！快告訴我們，怎么了？為什么哭的？”女孩子再問(wèn)他，他才漸漸地抬起頭來(lái)。那是一個(gè)像小孩似的臉孔，哭著告訴她們，說(shuō)掃除了好幾處煙囪，得著三十個(gè)銅幣，不知在什么時(shí)候從口袋的破洞里漏出去了。說(shuō)著又指破洞給她們看。他說(shuō)，如果沒(méi)有這錢是不能回去的。

“師父要打的！”他這樣說(shuō)著仍舊哭了起來(lái)。又把頭俯伏在臂上，像是很為難的樣子。女學(xué)生們圍住了看著他，正在代他可憐，這時(shí)其余的女學(xué)生也夾了書包來(lái)了。有一個(gè)帽子上插著青羽的大女孩從袋里拿出兩個(gè)銅幣來(lái)說(shuō)：

“我只有兩個(gè)，再湊湊就好了。” “我也有兩個(gè)在這里?！币粋€(gè)著紅衣的接著說(shuō)。“大家湊起來(lái)，三十個(gè)左右是一定有的?！庇纸衅溆嗟耐瑢W(xué)們：“亞馬里亞！璐迦！亞尼那！一個(gè)銅幣，你們哪個(gè)有錢嗎？請(qǐng)拿出來(lái)！”

果然，有許多人是為買花或筆記本都帶著錢的，大家都拿出來(lái)了。小女孩也有拿出一個(gè)半分的小銅幣的。插青羽的女孩將錢集攏了大聲地?cái)?shù)：

八個(gè)，十個(gè)，十五個(gè)，但是還不夠。這時(shí)，恰巧來(lái)了一個(gè)像先生樣的大女孩，拿出一個(gè)當(dāng)十銀幣來(lái)，大家都高興了。還不夠五個(gè)。

“五年級(jí)的來(lái)了！她們一定有的?！币粋€(gè)說(shuō)。五年級(jí)的女孩一到，銅幣立刻集起許多了。大家還都急急地向這里跑來(lái)。一個(gè)可憐的煙囪掃除人，被圍住了立在美麗的衣服、隨風(fēng)搖動(dòng)的帽羽、發(fā)絲帶、卷毛之中，那樣子真是好看。三十個(gè)銅幣不但早已集齊，而且還多出了許多了。沒(méi)有帶錢的小女孩，擠入大女孩的群中將花束贈(zèng)給少年作代替。這時(shí)，忽然校役出來(lái)，說(shuō)：“校長(zhǎng)先生來(lái)了！”那女學(xué)生們就麻雀般的四方走散，煙囪掃除人獨(dú)自立在街路中，歡喜地拭著眼淚，手里裝滿了錢，上衣的紐孔里、衣袋里、帽子里都裝滿了花，還有許多花在他的腳邊散布著。

萬(wàn)靈節(jié) 二日

安利柯啊！你曉得萬(wàn)靈節(jié)是什么日子嗎？這是祭從前死去的人的日子。小孩在這天，應(yīng)該紀(jì)念已死的人，——特別應(yīng)紀(jì)念為小孩而死的人。從前死過(guò)的人有多少？即如今天，又有多少人正在將死？你曾把這想到過(guò)嗎？不知道有多少做父親的在勞苦之中失去了生命呢！不知道有多少做母親的為了養(yǎng)育小孩，辛苦傷身，非命地早入墳?zāi)鼓兀∫虿蝗桃?jiàn)自己的小孩陷于不幸，絕望了自殺的男子，不知有多少！因失去了自己的小孩，投水悲痛，發(fā)狂而死的女人，不知道有多少！安利柯?。∧憬裉鞈?yīng)該想想這許多死去的人??！你要想想：有許多先生因?yàn)樘珢?ài)學(xué)生，在學(xué)校里勞作過(guò)度，年紀(jì)未老，就別了學(xué)生們而死的！你要想想：有許多醫(yī)生為了要醫(yī)治小孩們的病，自己傳染了病菌犧牲而死的！你要想想：在難船、饑饉、火災(zāi)及其他非常危險(xiǎn)的時(shí)候，有許多人是將最后的一口面包，最后的安全場(chǎng)所，最后從火災(zāi)中逃身的繩梯，讓給了幼稚的小靈魂，自己卻滿足于犧牲而從容瞑目了的！

??！安利柯啊！像這樣死去的人，差不多數(shù)也數(shù)不盡。無(wú)論哪里的墓地，都眠著成千成百的這樣神圣的靈魂。如果這許多的人能夠暫時(shí)在這世界中復(fù)活，他們必定要呼喚那自己將壯年的快樂(lè)、老年的平和、愛(ài)情、才能、生命貢獻(xiàn)過(guò)的小孩們的名字的。二十歲的妻，壯年的男子，八十歲的老人，青年的，——為幼者而殉身的這許多無(wú)名的英雄——這許多高尚偉大的人們墓前所應(yīng)該撒的花，靠這地球，是無(wú)論如何不夠長(zhǎng)的。你們小孩們是這樣地被愛(ài)著的，所以，安利柯啊！在萬(wàn)靈節(jié)一日，要用了感謝報(bào)恩的心，去紀(jì)念這許多亡人。這樣，你對(duì)于愛(ài)你的人們，對(duì)于為你勞苦的人們，自會(huì)更親和、更有情了吧。你真是幸福的人啊！你在萬(wàn)靈節(jié)，還未曾有想起來(lái)要哭的人呢。

——母親

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. Monday, 17th.

To-day is the first day of school. These three months of vacation in the country have passed like a dream. This morning my mother conducted me to the Baretti schoolhouse to have me enter for the third elementary course: I was thinking of the country and went unwillingly. All the streets were swarming with boys: the two book-shops were thronged with fathers and mothers who were purchasing bags, portfolios, and copy-books, and in front of the school so many people had collected, that the beadle and the policeman found it difficult to keep the entrance disencumbered. Near the door, I felt myself touched on the shoulder: it was my master of the second class, cheerful, as usual, and with his red hair ruffled, and he said to me:—

“So we are separated forever, Enrico? ”

I knew it perfectly well, yet these words pained me. We made our way in with difficulty. Ladies, gentlemen, women of the people, workmen, officials, nuns, servants, all leading boys with one hand, and holding the promotion books in the other, filled the anteroom and the stairs, making such a buzzing, that it seemed as though one were entering a theatre. I beheld again with pleasure that large room on the ground floor, with the doors leading to the seven classes, where I had passed nearly every day for three years. There was a throng;the teachers were going and coming. My schoolmistress of the first upper class greeted me from the door of the class-room, and said:—

“Enrico, you are going to the floor above this year. I shall never see you pass by any more!” and she gazed sadly at me. The director was surrounded by women in distress because there was no room for their sons, and it struck me that his beard was a little whiter than it had been last year. I found the boys had grown taller and stouter. On the ground floor, where the divisions had already been made, there were little children of the first and lowest section, who did not want to enter the class-rooms, and who resisted like donkeys: it was necessary to drag them in by force, and some escaped from the benches; others, when they saw their parents depart, began to cry, and the parents had to go back and comfort and reprimand them, and the teachers were in despair.

My little brother was placed in the class of Mistress Delcati: I was put with Master Perboni, up stairs on the first floor. At ten o'clock we were all in our classes: fifty-four of us; only fifteen or sixteen of my companions of the second class, among them, Derossi, the one who always gets the first prize. The school seemed to me so small and gloomy when I thought of the woods and the mountains where I had passed the summer! I thought again, too, of my master in the second class, who was so good, and who always smiled at us, and was so small that he seemed to be one of us, and I grieved that I should no longer see him there, with his tumbled red hair. Our teacher is tall; he has no beard; his hair is gray and long; and he has a perpendicular wrinkle on his forehead: he has a big voice, and he looks at us fixedly, one after the other, as though he were reading our inmost thoughts; and he never smiles. I said to myself: “This is my first day. There are nine months more. What toil, what monthly examinations, what fatigue!” I really needed to see my mother when I came out, and I ran to kiss her hand. She said to me:—

“Courage, Enrico! we will study together.” And I returned home content. But I no longer have my master, with his kind, merry smile, and school does not seem pleasant to me as it did before.

OUR MASTER. Tuesday, 18th.

My new teacher pleases me also, since this morning. While we were coming in, and when he was already seated at his post, some one of his scholars of last year every now and then peeped in at the door to salute him; they would present themselves and greet him:—

“Good morning, Signor Teacher!” “Good morning, Signor Perboni!” Some entered, touched his hand, and ran away. It was evident that they liked him, and would have liked to return to him. He responded, “Good morning,” and shook the hands which were extended to him, but he looked at no one; at every greeting his smile remained serious, with that perpendicular wrinkle on his brow, with his face turned towards the window, and staring at the roof of the house opposite; and instead of being cheered by these greetings, he seemed to suffer from them. Then he surveyed us attentively, one after the other. While he was dictating, he descended and walked among the benches, and, catching sight of a boy whose face was all red with little pimples, he stopped dictating, took the lad's face between his hands and examined it; then he asked him what was the matter with him, and laid his hand on his forehead, to feel if it was hot. Meanwhile, a boy behind him got up on the bench, and began to play the marionette. The teacher turned round suddenly; the boy resumed his seat at one dash, and remained there, with head hanging, in expectation of being punished. The master placed one hand on his head and said to him:—

“Don't do so again.” Nothing more.

Then he returned to his table and finished the dictation. When he had finished dictating, he looked at us a moment in silence; then he said, very, very slowly, with his big but kind voice:—

“Listen. We have a year to pass together; let us see that we pass it well. Study and be good. I have no family; you are my family. Last year I had still a mother: she is dead. I am left alone. I have no one but you in all the world; I have no other affection, no other thought than you: you must be my sons. I wish you well, and you must like me too. I do not wish to be obliged to punish any one. Show me that you are boys of heart: our school shall be a family, and you shall be my consolation and my pride. I do not ask you to give me a promise on your word of honor; I am sure that in your hearts you have already answered me‘yes, ' and I thank you.”

At that moment the beadle entered to announce the close of school. We all left our seats very, very quietly. The boy who had stood up on the bench approached the master, and said to him, in a trembling voice:—

“Forgive me, Signor Master.”

The master kissed him on the brow, and said, “Go, my son.”

AN ACCIDENT. Friday, 21st.

The year has begun with an accident. On my way to school this morning I was repeating to my father these words of our teacher, when we perceived that the street was full of people, who were pressing close to the door of the schoolhouse. Suddenly my father said:“An accident! The year is beginning badly! ”

We entered with great difficulty. The big hall was crowded with parents and children, whom the teachers had not succeeded in drawing off into the class-rooms, and all were turning towards the director's room, and we heard the words, “Poor boy! Poor Robetti! ”

Over their heads, at the end of the room, we could see the helmet of a policeman, and the bald head of the director; then a gentleman with a tall hat entered, and all said, “That is the doctor.” My father inquired of a master, “What has happened? ”—“A wheel has passed over his foot,” replied the latter. “His foot has been crushed,” said another. He was a boy belonging to the second class, who, on his way to school through the Via Dora Grossa, seeing a little child of the lowest class, who had run away from its mother, fall down in the middle of the street, a few paces from an omnibus which was bearing down upon it, had hastened boldly forward, caught up the child, and placed it in safety; but, as he had not withdrawn his own foot quickly enough, the wheel of the omnibus had passed over it. He is the son of a captain of artillery. While we were being told this, a woman entered the big hall, like a lunatic, and forced her way through the crowd: she was Robetti's mother, who had been sent for. Another woman hastened towards her, and flung her arms about her neck, with sobs: it was the mother of the baby who had been saved. Both flew into the room, and a desperate cry made itself heard: “Oh my Giulio! My child! ”

At that moment a carriage stopped before the door, and a little later the director made his appearance, with the boy in his arms; the latter leaned his head on his shoulder, with pallid face and closed eyes. Every one stood very still; the sobs of the mother were audible. The director paused a moment, quite pale, and raised the boy up a little in his arms, in order to show him to the people. And then the masters, mistresses, parents, and boys all murmured together: “Bravo, Robetti! Bravo, poor child!” and they threw kisses to him; the mistresses and boys who were near him kissed his hands and his arms. He opened his eyes and said,“My portfolio!” The mother of the little boy whom he had saved showed it to him and said, amid her tears, “I will carry it for you, my dear little angel; I will carry it for you.” And in the meantime, the mother of the wounded boy smiled, as she covered her face with her hands. They went out, placed the lad comfortably in the carriage, and the carriage drove away. Then we all entered school in silence.

THE CALABRIAN BOY. Saturday, 22d.

Yesterday afternoon, while the master was telling us the news of poor Robetti, who will have to go on crutches, the director entered with a new pupil, a lad with a very brown face, black hair, large black eyes, and thick eyebrows which met on his forehead: he was dressed entirely in dark clothes, with a black morocco belt round his waist. The director went away, after speaking a few words in the master's ear, leaving beside the latter the boy, who glanced about with his big black eyes as though frightened. The master took him by the hand, and said to the class: “You ought to be glad. To-day there enters our school a little Italian born in Reggio, in Calabria, more than five hundred miles from here. Love your brother who has come from so far away. He was born in a glorious land, which has given illustrious men to Italy, and which now furnishes her with stout laborers and brave soldiers;in one of the most beautiful lands of our country, where there are great forests, and great mountains, inhabited by people full of talent and courage. Treat him well, so that he shall not perceive that he is far away from the city in which he was born; make him see that an Italian boy, in whatever Italian school he sets his foot, will find brothers there.” So saying, he rose and pointed out on the wall map of Italy the spot where lay Reggio, in Calabria. Then he called loudly:—

“Ernesto Derossi! ”—the boy who always has the first prize. Derossi rose.

“Come here,” said the master. Derossi left his bench and stepped up to the little table, facing the Calabrian.

“As the head boy in the school,” said the master to him, “bestow the embrace of welcome on this new companion, in the name of the whole class—the embrace of the sons of Piedmont to the son of Calabria.”

Derossi embraced the Calabrian, saying in his clear voice, “Welcome!” and the other kissed him impetuously on the cheeks. All clapped their hands. “Silence!” cried the master; “don't clap your hands in school!” But it was evident that he was pleased. And the Calabrian was pleased also. The master assigned him a place, and accompanied him to the bench. Then he said again:—

“Bear well in mind what I have said to you. In order that this case might occur, that a Calabrian boy should be as though in his own house at Turin, and that a boy from Turin should be at home in Calabria, our country fought for fifty years, and thirty thousand Italians died. You must all respect and love each other; but any one of you who should give offence to this comrade, because he was not born in our province, would render himself unworthy of ever again raising his eyes from the earth when he passes the tricolored flag.”

Hardly was the Calabrian seated in his place, when his neighbors presented him with pens and a print; and another boy, from the last bench, sent him a Swiss postage-stamp.

MY COMRADES. Tuesday, 25th.

The boy who sent the postage-stamp to the Calabrian is the one who pleases me best of all. His name is Garrone: he is the biggest boy in the class: he is about fourteen years old; his head is large, his shoulders broad; he is good, as one can see when he smiles; but it seems as though he always thought like a man. I already know many of my comrades. Another one pleases me, too, by the name of Coretti, and he wears chocolate-colored trousers and a catskin cap: he is always jolly; he is the son of a huckster of wood, who was a soldier in the war of 1866, in the squadron of Prince Umberto, and they say that he has three medals. There is little Nelli, a poor hunchback, a weak boy, with a thin face. There is one who is very well dressed, who always wears fine Florentine plush, and is named Votini. On the bench in front of me there is a boy who is called “the little mason” because his father is a mason: his face is as round as an apple, with a nose like a small ball; he possesses a special talent: he knows how to make a hare's face, and they all get him to make a hare's face, and then they laugh. He wears a little ragged cap, which he carries rolled up in his pocket like a handkerchief. Beside the little mason there sits Garoffi, a long, thin, silly fellow, with a nose and beak of a screech owl, and very small eyes, who is always trafficking in little pens and images and match-boxes, and who writes the lesson on his nails, in order that he may read it on the sly. Then there is a young gentleman, Carlo Nobis, who seems very haughty; and he is between two boys who are sympathetic to me, —the son of a blacksmith-ironmonger, clad in a jacket which reaches to his knees, who is pale, as though from illness, who always has a frightened air, and who never laughs;and one with red hair, who has a useless arm, and wears it suspended from his neck; his father has gone away to America, and his mother goes about peddling pot-herbs. And there is another curious type, —my neighbor on the left, —Stardi—small and thickset, with no neck, —a gruff fellow, who speaks to no one, and seems not to understand much, but stands attending to the master without winking, his brow corrugated with wrinkles, and his teeth clenched; and if he is questioned when the master is speaking, he makes no reply the first and second times, and the third time he gives a kick: and beside him there is a bold, cunning face, belonging to a boy named Franti, who has already been expelled from another district. There are, in addition, two brothers who are dressed exactly alike, who resemble each other to a hair, and both of whom wear caps of Calabrian cut, with a peasant's plume. But handsomer than all the rest, the one who has the most talent, who will surely be the head this year also, is Derossi; and the master, who has already perceived this, always questions him. But I like Precossi, the son of the blacksmith-ironmonger, the one with the long jacket, who seems sickly. They say that his father beats him; he is very timid, and every time that he addresses or touches any one, he says, “Excuse me,” and gazes at them with his kind, sad eyes. But Garrone is the biggest and the nicest.

A GENEROUS DEED. Wednesday, 26th.

It was this very morning that Garrone let us know what he is like. When I entered the school a little late, because the mistress of the upper first had stopped me to inquire at what hour she could find me at home, the master had not yet arrived, and three or four boys were tormenting poor Crossi, the one with the red hair, who has a dead arm, and whose mother sells vegetables. They were poking him with rulers, hitting him in the face with chestnut shells, and were making him out to be a cripple and a monster, by mimicking him, with his arm hanging from his neck. And he, alone on the end of the bench, and quite pale, began to be affected by it, gazing now at one and now at another with beseeching eyes, that they might leave him in peace. But the others mocked him worse than ever, and he began to tremble and to turn crimson with rage. All at once, Franti, the boy with the repulsive face, sprang upon a bench, and pretending that he was carrying a basket on each arm, he aped the mother of Crossi, when she used to come to wait for her son at the door; for she is ill now. Many began to laugh loudly. Then Crossi lost his head, and seizing an inkstand, he hurled it at the other's head with all his strength; but Franti dodged, and the inkstand struck the master, who entered at the moment, full in the breast.

All flew to their places, and became silent with terror.

The master, quite pale, went to his table, and said in a constrained voice:—

“Who did it? ”

No one replied.

The master cried out once more, raising his voice still louder, “Who is it? ”

Then Garrone, moved to pity for poor Crossi, rose abruptly and said, resolutely, “It was I.”

The master looked at him, looked at the stupefied scholars; then said in a tranquil voice,“It was not you.”

And, after a moment: “The culprit shall not be punished. Let him rise! ”

Crossi rose and said, weeping, “They were striking me and insulting me, and I lost my head, and threw it.”

“Sit down,” said the master. “Let those who provoked him rise.”

Four rose, and hung their heads.

“You,” said the master, “have insulted a companion who had given you no provocation;you have scoffed at an unfortunate lad, you have struck a weak person who could not defend himself. You have committed one of the basest, the most shameful acts with which a human creature can stain himself. Cowards! ”

Having said this, he came down among the benches, put his hand under Garrone's chin, as the latter stood with drooping head, and having made him raise it, he looked him straight in the eye, and said to him, “You are a noble soul.”

Garrone profited by the occasion to murmur some words, I know not what, in the ear of the master; and he, turning towards the four culprits, said, abruptly, “I forgive you.”

MY SCHOOLMISTRESS OF THE UPPER FIRST. Thursday, 27th.

My schoolmistress has kept her promise which she made, and came to-day just as I was on the point of going out with my mother to carry some linen to a poor woman recommended by the Gazette. It was a year since I had seen her in our house. We all made a great deal of her. She is just the same as ever, a little thing, with a green veil wound about her bonnet, carelessly dressed, and with untidy hair, because she has not time to keep herself nice;but with a little less color than last year, with some white hairs, and a constant cough. My mother said to her:—

“And your health, my dear mistress? You do not take sufficient care of yourself! ”

“It does not matter,” the other replied, with her smile, at once cheerful and melancholy.

“You speak too loud,” my mother added; “you exert yourself too much with your boys.”

That is true; her voice is always to be heard; I remember how it was when I went to school to her; she talked and talked all the time, so that the boys might not divert their attention, and she did not remain seated a moment. I felt quite sure that she would come, because she never forgets her pupils; she remembers their names for years; on the days of the monthly examination, she runs to ask the director what marks they have won; she waits for them at the entrance, and makes them show her their compositions, in order that she may see what progress they have made; and many still come from the gymnasium to see her, who already wear long trousers and a watch. To-day she had come back in a great state of excitement, from the picture-gallery, whither she had taken her boys, just as she had conducted them all to a museum every Thursday in years gone by, and explained everything to them. The poor mistress has grown still thinner than of old. But she is always brisk, and always becomes animated when she speaks of her school. She wanted to have a peep at the bed on which she had seen me lying very ill two years ago, and which is now occupied by my brother; she gazed at it for a while, and could not speak. She was obliged to go away soon to visit a boy belonging to her class, the son of a saddler, who is ill with the measles; and she had besides a package of sheets to correct, a whole evening's work, and shehas still a private lesson in arithmetic to give to the mistress of a shop before nightfall.

“Well, Enrico,” she said to me as she was going, “are you still fond of your schoolmistress, now that you solve difficult problems and write long compositions?” She kissed me, and called up once more from the foot of the stairs: “You are not to forget me, you know, Enrico!” Oh, my kind teacher, never, never will I forget thee! Even when I grow up I will remember thee and will go to seek thee among thy boys; and every time that I pass near a school and hear the voice of a schoolmistress, I shall think that I hear thy voice, and I shall recall the two years that I passed in thy school, where I learned so many things, where I so often saw thee ill and weary, but always earnest, always indulgent, in despair when any one acquired a bad trick in the writing-fingers, trembling when the examiners interrogated us, happy when we made a good appearance, always kind and loving as a mother. Never, never shall I forget thee, my teacher!

IN AN ATTIC. Friday, 28th.

Yesterday afternoon I went with my mother and my sister Sylvia, to carry the linen to the poor woman recommended by the newspaper: I carried the bundle; Sylvia had the paper with the initials of the name and the address. We climbed to the very roof of a tall house, to a long corridor with many doors. My mother knocked at the last; it was opened by a woman who was still young, blond and thin, and it instantly struck me that I had seen her many times before, with that very same blue kerchief that she wore on her head.

“Are you the person of whom the newspaper says so and so?” asked my mother.

“Yes, signora, I am.”

“Well, we have brought you a little linen.” Then the woman began to thank us and bless us, and could not make enough of it. Meanwhile I espied in one corner of the bare, dark room, a boy kneeling in front of a chair, with his back turned towards us, who appeared to be writing; and he really was writing, with his paper on the chair and his inkstand on the floor. How did he manage to write thus in the dark? While I was saying this to myself, I suddenly recognized the red hair and the coarse jacket of Crossi, the son of the vegetable-pedler, the boy with the useless arm. I told my mother softly, while the woman was putting away the things.

“Hush!” replied my mother; “perhaps he will feel ashamed to see you giving alms to his mother: don't speak to him.”

But at that moment Crossi turned round; I was embarrassed; he smiled, and then my mother gave me a push, so that I should run to him and embrace him. I did embrace him:he rose and took me by the hand.

“Here I am,” his mother was saying in the meantime to my mother, “alone with this boy, my husband in America these seven years, and I sick in addition, so that I can no longer make my rounds with my vegetables, and earn a few cents. We have not even a table left for my poor Luigino to do his work on. When there was a bench down at the door, he could, at least, write on the bench; but that has been taken away. He has not even a little light so that he can study without ruining his eyes. And it is a mercy that I can send him to school, since the city provides him with books and copy-books. Poor Luigino, who would be so glad to study! Unhappy woman, that I am! ”

My mother gave her all that she had in her purse, kissed the boy, and almost wept as we went out. And she had good cause to say to me: “Look at that poor boy; see how he is forced to work, when you have every comfort, and yet study seems hard to you! Ah! Enrico, there is more merit in the work which he does in one day, than in your work for a year. It is to such that the first prizes should be given! ”

THE SCHOOL. Friday, 28th.

Yes, study comes hard to you, my dear Enrico, as your mother says: I do not yet see you set out for school with that resolute mind and that smiling face which I should like. You are still intractable. But listen; reflect a little! What a miserable, despicable thing your day would be if you did not go to school! At the end of a week you would beg with clasped hands that you might return there, for you would be eaten up with weariness and shame;disgusted with your sports and with your existence. Everybody, everybody studies now, my child. Think of the workmen who go to school in the evening after having toiled all the day; think of the women, of the girls of the people, who go to school on Sunday, after having worked all the week; of the soldiers who turn to their books and copy-books when they return exhausted from their drill! Think of the dumb and of the boys who are blind, but who study, nevertheless; and last of all, think of the prisoners, who also learn to read and write. Reflect in the morning, when you set out, that at that very moment, in your own city, thirty thousand other boys are going like yourself, to shut themselves up in a room for three hours and study. Think of the innumerable boys who, at nearly this precise hour, are going to school in all countries. Behold them with your imagination, going, going, through the lanes of quiet villages; through the streets of the noisy towns, along the shores of rivers and lakes;here beneath a burning sun; there amid fogs, in boats, in countries which are intersected with canals; on horseback on the far-reaching plains; in sledges over the snow; through valleys and over hills; across forests and torrents, over the solitary paths of mountains;alone, in couples, in groups, in long files, all with their books under their arms, clad in a thousand ways, speaking a thousand tongues, from the most remote schools in Russia. Almost lost in the ice to the furthermost schools of Arabia, shaded by palm-trees, millions and millions, all going to learn the same things, in a hundred varied forms. Imagine this vast, vast throng of boys of a hundred races, this immense movement of which you form a part, and think, if this movement were to cease, humanity would fall back into barbarism;this movement is the progress, the hope, the glory of the world. Courage, then, little soldier of the immense army. Your books are your arms, your class is your squadron, the field of battle is the whole earth, and the victory is human civilization. Be not a cowardly soldier,my Enrico.

Thy Father

THE LITTLE PATRIOT OF PADUA.(The Monthly Story.) Saturday, 29th.

I will not be a cowardly soldier, no; but I should be much more willing to go to school if the master would tell us a story every day, like the one he told us this morning. “Every month,” said he, "I shall tell you one; I shall give it to you in writing, and it will always be the tale of a fine and noble deed performed by a boy. This one is called The Little Patriot of Padua. Here it is. A French steamer set out from Barcelona, a city in Spain, for Genoa;there were on board Frenchmen, Italians, Spaniards, and Swiss. Among the rest was a lad of eleven, poorly clad, and alone, who always held himself aloof, like a wild animal, and stared at all with gloomy eyes. He had good reasons for looking at every one with forbidding eyes. Two years previous to this time his parents, peasants in the neighborhood of Padua, had sold him to a company of mountebanks, who, after they had taught him how to perform tricks, by dint of blows and kicks and starving, had carried him all over France and Spain, beating him continually and never giving him enough to eat. On his arrival in Barcelona, being no longer able to endure ill treatment and hunger, and being reduced to a pitiable condition, he had fled from his slave-master and had betaken himself for protection to the Italian consul, who, moved with compassion, had placed him on board of this steamer, and had given him a letter to the treasurer of Genoa, who was to send the boy back to his parents—to the parents who had sold him like a beast. The poor lad was lacerated and weak. He had been assigned to the second-class cabin. Every one stared at him; some questioned him, but he made no reply, and seemed to hate and despise every one, to such an extent had privation and affliction saddened and irritated him. Nevertheless, three travellers, by dint of persisting in their questions, succeeded in making him unloose his tongue; and in a few rough words, a mixture of Venetian, French, and Spanish, he related his story. These three travellers were not Italians, but they understood him; and partly out of compassion, partly because they were excited with wine, they gave him soldi, jesting with him and urging him on to tell them other things; and as several ladies entered the saloon at the moment, they gave him some more money for the purpose of making a show, and cried: ‘Take this! Take this, too! ' as they made the money rattle on the table.

“The boy pocketed it all, thanking them in a low voice, with his surly mien, but with a look that was for the first time smiling and affectionate. Then he climbed into his berth,drew the curtain, and lay quiet, thinking over his affairs. With this money he would be able to purchase some good food on board, after having suffered for lack of bread for two years;he could buy a jacket as soon as he landed in Genoa, after having gone about clad in rags for two years; and he could also, by carrying it home, insure for himself from his father and mother a more humane reception than would have fallen to his lot if he had arrived with empty pockets. This money was a little fortune for him; and he was taking comfort out of this thought behind the curtain of his berth, while the three travellers chatted away, as they sat round the dining-table in the second-class saloon. They were drinking and discussing their travels and the countries which they had seen; and from one topic to another they began to discuss Italy. One of them began to complain of the inns, another of the railways, and then, growing warmer, they all began to speak evil of everything. One would have preferred a trip in Lapland; another declared that he had found nothing but swindlers and brigands in Italy; the third said that Italian officials do not know how to read.

“‘It's an ignorant nation, ' repeated the first. ‘A filthy nation, ' added the second. ‘Ro—' exclaimed the third, meaning to say ‘robbers'; but he was not allowed to finish the word: a tempest of soldi and half-lire descended upon their heads and shoulders, and leaped upon the table and the floor with a demoniacal noise. All three sprang up in a rage, looked up, and received another handful of coppers in their faces.

“‘Take back your soldi! ' said the lad, disdainfully, thrusting his head between the curtains of his berth; ‘I do not accept alms from those who insult my country.'”

THE CHIMNEY-SWEEP. November 1st.

Yesterday afternoon I went to the girls' school building, near ours, to give the story of the boy from Padua to Silvia's teacher, who wished to read it. There are seven hundred girls there. Just as I arrived, they began to come out, all greatly rejoiced at the holiday of All Saints and All Souls; and here is a beautiful thing that I saw: Opposite the door of the school, on the other side of the street, stood a very small chimney-sweep, his face entirely black, with his sack and scraper, with one arm resting against the wall, and his head supported on his arm, weeping copiously and sobbing. Two or three of the girls of the second grade approached him and said, “What is the matter, that you weep like this?” But he made no reply, and went on crying.

“Come, tell us what is the matter with you and why you are crying,” the girls repeated. And then he raised his face from his arm, —a baby face, —and said through his tears that he had been to several houses to sweep the chimneys, and had earned thirty soldi, and that he had lost them, that they had slipped through a hole in his pocket, —and he showed the hole, —and he did not dare to return home without the money.

“The master will beat me,” he said, sobbing; and again dropped his head upon his arm, like one in despair. The children stood and stared at him very seriously. In the meantime, other girls, large and small, poor girls and girls of the upper classes, with their portfolios under their arms, had come up; and one large girl, who had a blue feather in her hat, pulled two soldi from her pocket, and said:—

“I have only two soldi; let us make a collection.”

“I have two soldi, also,” said another girl, dressed in red; “we shall certainly find thirty soldi among the whole of us”; and then they began to call out:—

“Amalia! Luigia! Annina! —A soldo. Who has any soldi? Bring your soldi here! ”

Several had soldi to buy flowers or copy-books, and they brought them; some of the smaller girls gave centesimi; the one with the blue feather collected all, and counted them in a loud voice:—

“Eight, ten, fifteen!” But more was needed. Then one larger than any of them, who seemed to be an assistant mistress, made her appearance, and gave half a lira; and all made much of her. Five soldi were still lacking.

“The girls of the fourth class are coming; they will have it,” said one girl. The members of the fourth class came, and the soldi showered down. All hurried forward eagerly; and it was beautiful to see that poor chimney-sweep in the midst of all those many-colored dresses, of all that whirl of feathers, ribbons, and curls. The thirty soldi were already obtained, and more kept pouring in; and the very smallest who had no money made their way among the big girls, and offered their bunches of flowers, for the sake of giving something. All at once the portress made her appearance, screaming:—

“The Signora Directress!” The girls made their escape in all directions, like a flock of sparrows; and then the little chimney-sweep was visible, alone, in the middle of the street, wiping his eyes in perfect content, with his hands full of money, and the button-holes of his jacket, his pockets, his hat, were full of flowers; and there were even flowers on the ground at his feet.

THE DAY OF THE DEAD.(All-Souls-Day.) November 2d.

This day is consecrated to the commemoration of the dead. Do you know, Enrico, that all you boys should, on this day, devote a thought to those who are dead? To those who have died for you, —for boys and little children. How many have died, and how many are dying continually! Have you ever reflected how many fathers have worn out their lives in toil? how many mothers have descended to the grave before their time, exhausted by the privations to which they have condemned themselves for the sake of sustaining their children? Do you know how many men have planted a knife in their hearts in despair at beholding their children in misery? how many women have drowned themselves or have died of sorrow, or have gone mad, through having lost a child? Think of all these dead on this day, Enrico. Think of how many schoolmistresses have died young, have pined away through the fatigues of the school, through love of the children, from whom they had not the heart to tear themselves away; think of the doctors who have perished of contagious diseases, having courageously sacrificed themselves to cure the children; think of all those who in shipwrecks, in conflagrations, in famines, in moments of supreme danger, have yielded to infancy the last morsel of bread, the last place of safety, the last rope of escape from the flames, to expire content with their sacrifice, since they preserved the life of a little innocent. Such dead as these are innumerable, Enrico; every graveyard contains hundreds of these sainted beings, who, if they could rise for a moment from their graves, would cry the name of a child to whom they sacrificed the pleasures of youth, the peace of old age, their affections, their intelligence, their life: wives of twenty, men in the flower of their strength, octogenarians, youths, —heroic and obscure martyrs of infancy, —so grand and so noble, that the earth does not produce as many flowers as should strew their graves. To such a degree are ye loved, O children! Think to-day on those dead with gratitude, and you will be kinder and more affectionate to all those who love you, and who toil for you, my dear, fortunate son, who, on the day of the dead, have, as yet, no one to grieve for.

Thy Mother.