Tuesday, 4th.
Here are the examinations at last! Nothing else is to be heard under
discussion, in the streets in the vicinity of the school, from boys,
fathers, mothers, and even tutors; examinations, points, themes,
averages, dismissals, promotions: all utter the same words. Yesterday
morning there was composition; this morning there is arithmetic. It was
touching to see all the parents, as they conducted their sons to school,
giving them their last advice in the street, and many mothers
accompanied their sons to their seats, to see whether the inkstand was
filled, and to try their pens, and they still continued to hover round
the entrance, and to say:
"Courage! Attention! I entreat you."
Our assistant-master was Coatti, the one with the black beard, who
mimics the voice of a lion, and never punishes any one. There were boys
who were white with fear. When the master broke the seal of the letter
from the town-hall, and drew out the problem, not a breath was audible.
He announced the problem loudly, staring now at one, now at another,
with terrible eyes; but we understood that had he been able to announce
the answer also, so that we might all get promoted, he would have been
delighted.
After an hour of work many began to grow weary, for the problem was
difficult. One cried. Crossi dealt himself blows on the head. And many
of them are not to blame, poor boys, for not knowing, for they have not
had much time to study, and have been neglected by their parents. But
Providence was at hand. You should have seen Derossi, and what trouble
he took to help them; how ingenious he was in getting a figure passed
on, and in suggesting an operation, without allowing himself to be
caught; so anxious for all that he appeared to be our teacher himself.
Garrone, too, who is strong in arithmetic, helped all he could; and he
even assisted Nobis, who, finding himself in a quandary, was quite
gentle.
Stardi remained motionless for more than an hour, with his eyes on the
problem, and his fists on his temples, and then he finished the whole
thing in five minutes. The master made his round among the benches,
saying:--
"Be calm! Be calm! I advise you to be calm!"
And when he saw that any one was discouraged, he opened his mouth, as
though about to devour him, in imitation of a lion, in order to make him
laugh and inspire him with courage. Toward eleven o'clock, peeping down
through the blinds, I perceived many parents pacing the street in their
impatience. There was Precossi's father, in his blue blouse, who had
deserted his shop, with his face still quite black. There was Crossi's
mother, the vegetable-vender; and Nelli's mother, dressed in black, who
could not stand still.
A little before mid-day, my father arrived and raised his eyes to my
window; my dear father! At noon we had all finished. And it was a sight
at the close of school! Every one ran to meet the boys, to ask
questions, to turn over the leaves of the copy-books to compare them
with the work of their comrades.
"How many operations? What is the total? And subtraction? And the
answer? And the punctuation of decimals?"
All the masters were running about hither and thither, summoned in a
hundred directions.
My father instantly took from my hand the rough copy, looked at it, and
said, "That's well."
Beside us was the blacksmith, Precossi, who was also inspecting his
son's work, but rather uneasily, and not comprehending it. He turned to
my father:--
"Will you do me the favor to tell me the total?"
My father read the number. The other gazed and reckoned. "Brave little
one!" he exclaimed, in perfect content. And my father and he gazed at
each other for a moment with a kindly smile, like two friends. My father
offered his hand, and the other shook it; and they parted, saying,
"Farewell until the oral examination."
"Until the oral examination."
After proceeding a few paces, we heard a falsetto voice which made us
turn our heads. It was the blacksmith-ironmonger singing.