Source:http://lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/index.html
"A Parent's Feelings"
Mrs. Snickers boasted that she had
buried five children, and brought up five more to the age of independence --
which, in Boundary Lane, signifies the thirteenth year. Her youngest, a girl of
nine, was being prepared for life's responsibilities at a neighbouring Board
School. Never having spared the rod, Mrs. Snickers kept an easy conscience with
regard to those of her offspring who gave trouble in the outer world. In
Boundary Lane, the 'rod was represented by a broom-handle, an old shoe, a
rope-end, a fragment of firewood; in flagrant cases, perchance by the poker. An
impertinent doctor, abetted by an officious coroner, had on one occasion caused
Mrs. Snickers much pain and inconvenience by remarks upon the death of a child
whom she had seen fit to chasten rather severely. It was a ridiculous case, for
the mother gave clear evidence that the little girl had been weakly from birth,
so how could she be to blame if the child succumbed after a well-merited
thrashing? Sue, the latest born, had again and again endured much sterner
correction was there not the broken bridge of her nose for evidence? Mrs.
Snickers always did feel sorry about that broken nose, which prejudiced
her daughter's chances in life; but Sue had been 'that aggravatin','
and as Mrs. Snickers happened to have a cold flat-iron in her hand ----
At nine years
old, Sue Snickers began to resent the humiliating discipline of school. She by
no means deemed herself a child, and was proudly conscious of having learnt
many things in the school of life which no professed teacher would ever have
imparted to her. She grew daily more impatient for the time of release. Mrs.
Snickers, a widow, and forsaken by her other surviving children, looked to the
time when Sue's earnings would help to support them both; but the girl had
views of her own, and was resolved that the last day of school should likewise
be her last in the maternal lodging. London lay about her, with its infinite
possibilities; not hers the spirit that could be bounded by Boundary Lane. The
long memories of ill-usage rankled in her mind. She hated her mother, and
always spoke of her away from home by a very foul name. More than once, of
late, she had threatened a suitable revenge for that injury to her face and her
fortune. Mrs. Snickers, though still a sturdy woman, did not altogether like
the gleam in Sue's eye when she felt it necessary to 'pay' the girl. Sue had
discovered a rather effective mode of kicking. Her boots
being worn out. at the toes, she used the heel,
and had even inserted nails in that part to make a more durable impression.
One of the
school teachers was a young woman named Martin; by nature kind, earnest,
persevering, not exactly fond of her work in this roughest and vilest of London
schools, but resolute to do her duty, and rewarded with a certain measure of
success in subduing those children who were by any permitted method subduable. It was impossible for Miss Martin to look upon
Sue Snickers as a hopeful subject; she knew the girl to be corrupt, and a
source of corruption the efforts of gentleness were to Sue a mere occasion of
mockery, and stern treatment had just as little effect upon the child's indurated feelings. Knowing Sue to be a creature of hateful
circumstances, the teacher made every allowance for her vicious and
insubordinate habits. But it came to pass one day that Miss Martin lost patience,
and, for discipline's sake, determined to make an example of Sue, who had
behaved outrageously. The cane was brought forth, and Sue, not daring to
resist, received one smart cut on each hand.
'Jist wait, that's all,' muttered Sue, when she had returned
to her place, howling. 'Jist wait and see, that's all.' And, for the amusement of her neighbours;
she exhausted a copious vocabulary in whispered abuse of Miss Martin.
Released at
midday, the girl reached Boundary Lane in a few minutes.
'Mother! Teacher 's been beatin' me fair
cruel -- sure as I stand 'ere -- with the cane!' She howled and writhed. 'I ain't a-going to be licked by her. Jist look at my 'ands, they're fair blistered.'
Mrs. Snickers
had just come from the public-house, where a misunderstanding with one of her
neighbours in the Lane had occupied her for two or three hours. She was
flushed, and in a state of nervous tension.
'Eh! What? Beatin' my child? You come along wi' me. I'll show the ----.'
Hastening
away, with volleys of furious and filthy invective, she encountered Mrs. Dubbin, the neighbour with whom she had been quarrelling.
At once unkindness was forgotten.
''Ear what my
Sue says? The teacher 's been thrashin'
her that cruel she can't hardly stand. I'll show the ----.'
In Mrs. Dubbin's eyes there straightway gleamed a sympathetic
wrath.
Well! Did you
ever! It's time this kind o' thing was put a stop to. I'll come along, an' back
you up -- s'elp me, I will. We'll show 'em! Think they're going' to wallop our children? Why, if
the ---- lays a 'and on one o' mine, I'll cut her ---- liver out!'
With a
triumphant yell, Sue ran behind the two women. Other children, scenting sport,
turned eagerly back towards the school. As Mrs. Snickers and Mrs. Dubbin ran through the playground, they were accompanied
and guided by an uproarious throng.
'Where is
she? Let me get at her! Where's the ---- as thrashed my child, my Sue?'
Miss Martin
was easily discovered; she stood in one of the school-rooms, talking with
another teacher. 'That's her, mother!' shrieked Sue. 'Her
with the dirty red 'ead!' Before the teachers
could understand what was happening, Mrs. Snickers had rushed forward, had
seized Miss Martin by the hair, and was avenging Sue with interest. 'I'll pay
you, you red-'eaded ----! I'll pay you! I'll teach
you to lay your dirty 'and on a child o' mine as has been brought up better
than ever you was!' The children led by Sue, shrieked their amusement and
approval.
The second
teacher had sped for help. She soon returned with the headmaster of the school,
a stalwart man, not unused to scenes of this description. He, when he had
gripped the yelling fury by the arms, found himself savagely attacked from the
rear, his assailant Mrs. Dubbin. In a minute or two
the blood was streaming down his cheeks; he had no choice but to fight the two
women in earnest, flinging one to the ground, and making the second reel away
with a back-hander on the face. When another male teacher came to his
assistance, they succeeded, though with no little difficulty, in driving the women
off the premises. Poor Miss Martin had been sadly mauled; she sat on the floor,
sobbing hysterically. A handful of her hair lay not far off.
A day or two
after, Mrs. Snickers and Mrs. Dubbin appeared at the
police-court, where, after a vigorous defence by counsel, who dwelt much upon
the sacredness of parental feeling, each was fined the sum of five shillings
and costs. In anticipation of this judgment, the money had already been
subscribed by sympathetic parents in and about Boundary Lane. And that evening,
when she came home very late from the public-house, Mrs. Snickers, merely to
give vent to her emotions, dragged Sue out of bed and thrashed her
unmercifully.
'I'll pay
you, my lady! I'll teach you to get your mother summonsed! I'll ----'
(Provided by Mitsuharu Matsuoka, Nagoya University, Japan,
on 14 January 1998.)