Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/258

252 if one does not understand it, if only the exercise is correctly written," explained Barunka.

"But how can they do it, when they don't even know how to look in German?"

"Indeed, they are punished enough for not doing it right; the schoolmaster puts their names in the 'black book,' or they must stand on the dunce-block, and sometimes he strikes their hands with the ferrule. To-day, Anna, the daughter of the squire, was obliged to stand on the floor; she never knows the German dictando. At noon she told me, while we sat outdoors, that she didn't know how to write the exercise. She was so afraid that she did not eat her dinner. I wrote it out for her, and she gave me two cheeses for it."

"You should not have taken them from her," said Grandmother.

"I did not want to take them, but she said she had two more; she was delighted that I wrote the exercise for her, and promised that she would bring me something every day, if I would only help her with the German. Why shouldn't I do it?"

"You can help her, but you must not do it all yourself, for then she will not learn anything."

"What of it! she need not know that; we study it only because the schoolmaster wants us to."

"Because the schoolmaster wants you to know something; for the more one knows, the easier one can get along in the world; and, after all, the German language is very necessary; you see how hard it is that I cannot speak with your father."

"But papa understands all you say, and you understand him, though you do not speak German. But in Zlitz, only Bohemian is spoken; therefore,