第8章 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 she has 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!
我的女先生 二十七日
我二年级时候的女先生，准了约期，今日到家里来访我了。先生不到我家已一年，我们很高兴地招待她。先生的帽子旁仍旧罩着绿色的面纱，衣服极朴素，头发也不修饰，她原是没有工夫来打扮的。她似乎脸上的红彩比去年薄了好些，头发也白了些，时时咳嗽着。母亲问她：
“那么，你的健康怎样？先生！你如果不再顾着你的身体……”
“一点都没有什么。”先生回答说，带着又喜悦又像忧愁的笑容。
“先生太高声讲话了，为了小孩们太操劳自己的身体了。”母亲又说。
真的，先生的声音，听不清楚的时候是没有的。我还记得：先生讲话总是连续着一息不停，弄得我们学生连看旁边的工夫都没有了。先生不会忘记自己所教过的学生，无论在几年以前，只要是她教过的总还记得起姓名。听说，每逢月考，她都要到校长先生那里去询问他们的成绩的。有时又站在学校门口，等学生来了就叫他拿出作文簿给她看，调查他进步得怎样了。已经入了中学的学生，也常常穿了长裤子，带了挂表，去访问先生。今天，先生是领了本级的学生去看绘画展览会，回去的时候，转到我们这里来的。我们在先生那一班的时候，每逢星期二，先生常领我们到博物馆去，说明种种的东西给我们听。先生比那时已衰弱了许多了，可是仍非常起劲，遇到学校的事情，就很快活地讲话。两年前，我大病了一场在床上卧着，先生曾来望过我，先生今日还说要看看我那时所睡的床，这床其实已归我的姐姐睡了。先生看了一会儿，也没有说什么。先生因为还要去望一个学生的病，不能久留。听说是个马鞍匠的儿子，发着麻疹卧在家里呢。她又夹着今晚非批改不可的课本，据说，晚饭以前，某商店的女主人还要到她那里来学习算术的。
“啊！安利柯！”先生临走的时候，向着我说，“你到了能解难题、做长文章的时候，仍肯爱你以前的女先生吗？”说着，吻我。等到出了门，还在阶沿下扬声说：“请你不要忘了我！安利柯啊！”
啊！亲爱的先生！我怎能忘记你呢？我成了大人，也一定还记得先生，会到校里来拜望你。无论到了何处，只要一听到女教师的声音，就要如同听见先生你的声音一样，想起先生教我的两年间的事情来。啊啊！那两年里面，我由于先生的教导学会了多少的事！那时先生虽有病，身体不健，可是无论何时，都热心地爱护我们，教导我们的。我们书法上有了恶癖，她就很担心。考试委员质问我们的时候，她担心得几乎坐立不安。我们写得清楚的时候，她就真心欢喜。她一向像母亲那样地爱我。这样的好先生，叫我怎样能忘记啊！