不打不成器？

In the course of the evening they came into the 1)drawing room and as an especial treat were to sing some of their hymns to me instead of saying them， so that I might hear how nicely they sang. Ernest was to choose the first hymn and he chose one about some people who were to come to the sunset tree. I am no 2)botanist， and don’t know what kind of a tree a sunset tree is， but the words began， “Come， come， come; come to the sunset tree for the day is past and gone.” The tune was rather pretty and had 3)taken Ernest’s fancy， for he was unusually fond of music and had a sweet little child’s voice which he liked using. He was， however， very late in being about to sound a hard C or K， and instead of saying “Come，” he said， “tum， tum， tum”.

“Ernest，” said Theobald from the armchair in front of the fire where he was sitting with his hands folded before him， “don’t you think it would be very nice if you were to say ‘come’ like other people， instead of ‘tum’?”

“I do say tum，” replied Ernest， meaning that he had said “come”. Theobald was always in a bad temper on Sunday evening. Whether it is that they are as much bored with their day as their neighbour， or whether they are tired， or whatever the cause may be， 4)clergymen are seldom 5)at their best on Sunday evening; I had already seen signs that evening that my host was cross， and was a little nervous at hearing Ernest say so promptly， “ I do say tum，” when his papa had said he did not say it as he should.

Theobald noticed the fact that he was being contradicted in a moment. He had been sitting in an armchair in front of the fire with his hands folded， doing nothing， but he got up at once and went to the piano.

“No， Ernest， you don’t，” he said， “you say nothing of the kind， you say ‘tum’ not ‘come’. Now say ‘come’ after me， as I do.” “Tum”， said Ernest at once. “Is that better?” I have no doubt he thought it was， but it was not. “Now Ernest， you are not 6)taking pains: you are not trying as you ought to do. It is high time you learned to say ‘come’. Why Joey can say ‘come’， can’t you， Joey?” “Yeah I can，” replied Joey promptly， and he said something which was not far off “come”.“There， Ernest， do you hear that? There’s no difficulty about it now， 7)no shadow of difficulty. Now take your own time. Think of it and say ‘come’ after me.” The boy remained silent for a few seconds and then said “tum” again.

I laughed， but Theobald turned to me impatiently and said， “Please do not laugh Overton， it will make the boy think it does not matter， and it matters a great deal”. Then turning to Ernest he said， “Now Ernest， I will give you one more chance， and if you don’t say ‘come’， I shall know that you are 8)self-willed and naughty.”

He looked very angry and a shade came over Ernest’s face， like that which comes upon the face of a puppy when it is being scolded without understanding why. The child saw well what was coming now， was frightened， and of course said “tum” once more.

“Very well Ernest，” said his father， catching him angrily by the shoulder. “I have done my best to save you but if you will have it so you will，” and he lugged the little 9)wretch out of the room crying 10)by anticipation. A few miuntes more and we could hear screams coming from the dining-room across the hall which separated the drawing-room from the dining-room， and knew that poor Ernest was being beated. “I have sent him to bed，” said Theobald， as he returned to the drawing-room， “and now， Christina， I think we will have the servants in to prayers，” and he rang the bell for them， red-handed as he was.

一天晚上，孩子們走進(jìn)客廳，給我表演一個(gè)特別節(jié)目——唱一些他們學(xué)過(guò)的贊美詩(shī)。之所以是唱而不是念贊美詩(shī)，是為了讓我能聽(tīng)聽(tīng)他們的歌喉有多么美妙。歐內(nèi)斯特選擇唱第一首贊美詩(shī)，這首詩(shī)講述了一些人將要來(lái)到“日落樹(shù)”前。我不是生物學(xué)家，不知道“日落樹(shù)”是怎么樣的樹(shù)，但是詩(shī)歌一開(kāi)始是這么寫(xiě)的：“來(lái)吧/來(lái)吧/來(lái)吧/來(lái)到日落樹(shù)前吧/一天已經(jīng)過(guò)去了/一去不返了。”這首詩(shī)歌的調(diào)子很優(yōu)美，深得歐內(nèi)斯特的喜愛(ài)，而且他酷愛(ài)音樂(lè)，很喜歡用他那甜美的童聲唱歌。然而，他很遲才學(xué)會(huì)準(zhǔn)確地發(fā)“C”或者“K”的音，所以當(dāng)時(shí)他把“come”這個(gè)單詞念成了“tum， tum， tum”。

“歐內(nèi)斯特，如果你把‘come’念得和其他人一樣，而不是念成‘tum’，你不覺(jué)得更好嗎？”西奧博爾德說(shuō)。他正坐在火爐前的扶手椅上，雙手疊放身前。

“我是讀‘tum’啊。” 歐內(nèi)斯特回答說(shuō)，意思是他讀的正是“come”這個(gè)詞。每逢星期天晚上，西奧博爾德脾氣總是很暴躁。不知道是不是因?yàn)樗麄円埠退麄兊泥従觽円粯樱瑢?duì)生活厭倦透了，還是因?yàn)樗麄兒芷＞肽兀蚴翘幱谄渌裁丛颍凑瞧谔焱砩夏翈焸兌汲３２辉跔顟B(tài)。那天晚上，種種跡象讓我覺(jué)得我的主人非常生氣，而且當(dāng)他指出兒子歐內(nèi)斯特發(fā)音不準(zhǔn)，兒子卻立即反駁說(shuō)“我是讀‘tum’啊”的時(shí)候，他顯得有點(diǎn)暴躁不安。

西奧博爾德隨即意識(shí)到他被兒子頂撞了一下。本來(lái)他是一直坐在火爐前的扶手椅上，雙手疊放身前，無(wú)所事事的，但是現(xiàn)在他立即站了起來(lái)，走到鋼琴前。

“不，歐內(nèi)斯特，你沒(méi)發(fā)準(zhǔn)，”他說(shuō)，“你發(fā)的音差遠(yuǎn)了，你念成了‘tum’，而不是‘come’。……