耳语者 第9期
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看到这篇文章时，Rico不禁停下手中活儿，回顾自己的学生生涯。从小学到大学，似乎偶尔会在课堂上交头接耳。当然，这是对老师的不尊重，不值得提倡哦。总是以为长大了才能承担更多的责任、更懂得尊重他人，其实，责任和尊重都应该“从娃娃抓起”。
“Boys, what did I tell you?”
The schoolmaster spoke angrily. He was in trouble because his scholars[学者] 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[厚脸皮的], bad boy. “A good thrashing[痛打],” answered the master. He was tired, he was vexed[恼怒的], 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[耻辱，丢脸] 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[不守规矩的] 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，正对着] 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[严厉地]. 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[桦树] 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.”
“男生们，我是怎么跟你们说的？”
校长生气地说。他身处困境，因为他的学生们无心向学。每当他转过身，他们总会低声交谈起来。
“女生们，我说了，不要再交头
接耳。”
但他们依旧如是，他却阻止不了。一个下午已经过半，问题也越来越严重了。随后，校长想到了一个办法。
“孩子们，”他说，“我们来玩一个新游戏。下一个交头接耳的人要走出来站在讲台中间。他必须一直站着，直到发现另一个低声讲话的人为止。他要告诉我那个人的名字，被他点名的人要上来接替他的位置。新站上来的人则接着观察并报告他所见到的第一个耳语者。就这样，我们让这个游戏一直玩到放学。那个时候站着的男生或女生会代替你们全部人受罚。”
“约翰逊先生，惩罚会是什么？”一个厚脸皮的小捣蛋问道。“他会被痛打一顿，”校长回答说。他累了，生气了，根本不知道自己在说什么。
孩子们觉得这个新游戏很有趣。一开始，汤米・琼斯低声跟比利・布朗说话，他马上被叫出来站到了讲台。不到两分钟，比利看到玛丽・格林耳语，她就代替他的位置了。玛丽环顾四周，看到塞缪尔・米勒正向同桌借铅笔，于是塞缪尔被叫了出来。就这样，游戏一直持续，时钟显示还有十分钟就要放学了。
这时，所有人都变得很听话，很小心，因为大家都不愿意成为放学时还站在讲台上的那个人。他们知道校长一定说到做到。时钟发出响亮的滴答声，汤米・琼斯已经是第四次站在那里了，他开始感到不安。他用一条腿支撑着身体，然后换另一条腿，非常仔细地观察四周；可是没有一个人低声说话。他会被好好教训一顿吗？突然，他非常高兴地发现小露西・马丁靠着桌子对前排的女孩耳语。露西是学校的宠儿，每个人都喜欢她，而这是她那天第一次低声交谈。然而汤米并不在乎，他希望逃脱惩罚，于是他喊 “露西・马丁！”，然后自豪地走回自己的座位。
小露西并非有意说话。她非常想在回家前弄明白一些事情，于是，她不假思索就靠过去低声说了仅仅三个字。她含着眼泪走了出来，站到耳语者站立的地方。
她感到非常羞耻，很是受伤，因为这是她第一次在学校里蒙羞。她将因为这样一个小小的错误而受罚，其他女生都替她难过。男生们则望着她，寻思着校长是否真的会信守诺言。
时钟继续滴滴答答地走着，离下课铃敲响只有一分钟了。可爱而温柔的露西将代替所有那些不守纪律的男孩女孩受罚，多可怜啊！
接着，很突然地，一个就坐在校长桌子前面的、没完全长大的笨拙男生转过身，正对着三张桌子外的汤米・琼斯说话。
每个人都看见了。小露西・马丁透过满眼的泪水也看到了，但她没有开口。大家都很震惊，因为那个男生是学校里最好的学生，而他从不曾违反
纪律。
只剩下半分钟了。那个笨拙男生再次转身，说话的声量之大甚至连校长也听得见：“汤米，你应该受到惩罚！”
“伊莱修・伯里特，出来站在那儿！”校长严厉地说。那个笨拙男生快步走出来，小露西・马丁便抽噎着回到自己的座位。就在这时，下课铃响了，放学的时间到了。
等到其他人都回家了，校长拿下他那条长长的桦树棒子，说：“伊莱修，我想我应该遵守诺言。但是，告诉我你为什么故意违反耳语的规定？”
“我这样做是为了救小露西，”笨拙男生说，笔直而勇敢地站在那儿。“我不忍心看着她受惩罚。”
“伊莱修，你可以回家了，”校长说。
这是很多年前发生在康涅狄格州新英格兰区的事情了。伊莱修・伯里特是一个积极求学的穷家孩子。多年来他一直从事铁匠的工作，一有空余时间就会专心看书。他学会了多门语言，成了
闻名世界的“博学铁匠”。
注：伊莱修・伯里特（1810-1879），美国慈善家、社会活动家，也是美国和平运动的参加者和国际法法伊莱修典的鼓吹者，大概是第一个力争使全体公众（而不仅仅是少数知识分子和道德家）确信和平必要性的人。他早期从事铁匠工作，在30岁时他已经学会了50种语言，因此被称为“博学铁匠”。
作者简介
詹姆士・鲍德温（1841-1925），24岁开始其教育家及学校管理者的事业。多年后成为一名教科书编辑及作家，创作了神话、自传、文学等等领域的作品，著作被广泛印刷出版。本文出自其真人故事集《名人五十》（Fifty Famous People）。