耳語者

看到這篇文章時，Rico不禁停下手中活兒，回顧自己的學生生涯。從小學到大學，似乎偶爾會在課堂上交頭接耳。當然，這是對老師的不尊重，不值得提倡哦。總是以為長大了才能承擔更多的責任、更懂得尊重他人，其實，責任和尊重都應該“從娃娃抓起”。

“Boys， what did I tell you?”

The schoolmaster spoke angrily. He was in trouble because his scholars[學者] would not study. Whenever

his back was turned， they were sure to begin

whispering to one another.

“Girls， stop your whispering， I say.”

But still they would whisper， and he could not

prevent it. The afternoon was half gone， and the trouble

was growing. Then the master thought of a plan.

“Children，” he said， “we are going to play a new game. The next one that whispers must come out and stand in the middle of the floor. He must stand there until he sees someone else whisper. Then he will tell me， and the one whom he names must come and take his place. He， in turn， will watch and report the first one that he sees whisper. And so we will keep the game going till it is time for school to be dismissed[解散]. The boy or girl who is standing at that time will be punished for all of you.”

“What will the punishment be， Mr. Johnson?” asked a bold[厚臉皮的]， bad boy. “A good thrashing[痛打]，” answered the master. He was tired， he was vexed[惱怒的]， he hardly knew what he said.

The children thought the new game was very funny. First， Tommy Jones whispered to Billy Brown and was at once called out to stand on the floor. Within less than two minutes， Billy saw Mary Green whispering， and she had to take his place. Mary looked around and saw Samuel Miller asking his neighbor for a pencil， and Samuel was called. And so the fun went on until the clock showed that it lacked only ten minutes till school would be dismissed.

Then all became very good and very careful， for no one wished to be standing at the time of dismissal. They knew that the master would be as good as his word. The clock ticked loudly， and Tommy Jones， who was standing

up for the fourth time， began to feel very uneasy. He stood on one leg and then on the other， and watched very closely; but nobody whispered. Could it be possible that he would receive that thrashing? Suddenly， to his great joy he saw little Lucy Martin lean over her desk and whisper to the girl in front of her. Lucy was the pet of the school. Everybody loved her， and this was the first time she had whispered that day. But Tommy didn’t care for that. He wished to escape the punishment， and so he called out， “Lucy Martin!” and went proudly to his seat.

Little Lucy had not meant to whisper. There was something which she wished very much to know before going home， and so， without thinking， she had leaned over and whispered just three little words. With tears in her eyes she went out and stood in the whisperer’s place.

She was very much ashamed and hurt， for it was the first time that she had ever been in disgrace[恥辱，丟臉] at school. The other girls felt sorry that she should suffer for so small a fault. The boys looked at her and wondered if the master would really be as good as his word.

The clock kept on ticking. It lacked only one minute till the bell would strike the time for dismissal. What a shame that dear， gentle Lucy should be punished for all those unruly[不守規矩的] boys and girls!

Then， suddenly， an awkward[笨拙的] half-grown boy who sat right in front of the master’s desk turned

squarely[直角地，正對著] around and whispered to Tommy Jones， three desks away.

Everybody saw him. Little Lucy Martin saw him through her tears， but said nothing. Everybody was astonished， for that boy was the best scholar in the school， and he had never been known to break a rule.

It lacked only half a minute now. The awkward boy turned again and whispered so loudly that even the master could not help hearing: “Tommy， you deserve a thrashing!”

“Elihu Burritt注， take your place on the floor，” said the master sternly[嚴厲地]. The awkward boy stepped out quickly， and little Lucy Martin returned to her seat

sobbing. At the same moment the bell struck and school was dismissed.

After all the others had gone home， the master took down his long birch[樺樹] rod[棒] and said: “Elihu， I suppose I must be as good as my word. But tell me why you so deliberately[故意地] broke the rule against whispering.”

“I did it to save little Lucy，” said the awkward boy， standing up very straight and brave. “I could not bear to see her punished.”

“Elihu， you may go home，” said the master.

All this happened many years ago in New Britain， Connecticut. Elihu Burritt was a poor boy who was

determined to learn. He worked many years as a blacksmith and studied books whenever he had a spare

moment. He learned many languages and became known all over the world as “The Learned Blacksmith.”

“男生們，我是怎么跟你們說的？”

校長生氣地說。他身處困境，因為他的學生們無心向學。每當他轉過身，他們總會低聲交談起來。

“女生們，我說了，不要再交頭

接耳。”

但他們依舊如是，他卻阻止不了。一個下午已經過半，問題也越來越嚴重了。隨后，校長想到了一個辦法。

“孩子們，”他說，“我們來玩一個新游戲。下一個交頭接耳的人要走出來站在講臺中間。他必須一直站著，直到發現另一個低聲講話的人為止。他要告訴我那個人的名字，被他點名的人要上來接替他的位置。新站上來的人則接著觀察并報告他所見到的第一個耳語者。就這樣，我們讓這個游戲一直玩到放學。那個時候站著的男生或女生會代替你們全部人受罰。”

“約翰遜先生，懲罰會是什么？”一個厚臉皮的小搗蛋問道。“他會被痛打一頓，”校長回答說。他累了，生氣了，根本不知道自己在說什么。

孩子們覺得這個新游戲很有趣。一開始，湯米·瓊斯低聲跟比利·布朗說話，他馬上被叫出來站到了講臺。不到兩分鐘，比利看到瑪麗·格林耳語，她就代替他的位置了。……