不打不成器_不打不成器？

　　In the course of the evening they came into the 1)drawing room and as an especial treat were to sing some of their hymns to me instead of saying them, so that I might hear how nicely they sang. Ernest was to choose the first hymn and he chose one about some people who were to come to the sunset tree. I am no 2)botanist, and don’t know what kind of a tree a sunset tree is, but the words began, “Come, come, come; come to the sunset tree for the day is past and gone.” The tune was rather pretty and had 3)taken Ernest’s fancy, for he was unusually fond of music and had a sweet little child’s voice which he liked using. He was, however, very late in being about to sound a hard C or K, and instead of saying “Come,” he said, “tum, tum, tum”.
　　“Ernest,” said Theobald from the armchair in front of the fire where he was sitting with his hands folded before him, “don’t you think it would be very nice if you were to say ‘come’ like other people, instead of ‘tum’?”
　　“I do say tum,” replied Ernest, meaning that he had said “come”. Theobald was always in a bad temper on Sunday evening. Whether it is that they are as much bored with their day as their neighbour, or whether they are tired, or whatever the cause may be, 4)clergymen are seldom 5)at their best on Sunday evening; I had already seen signs that evening that my host was cross, and was a little nervous at hearing Ernest say so promptly, “ I do say tum,” when his papa had said he did not say it as he should.
　　Theobald noticed the fact that he was being contradicted in a moment. He had been sitting in an armchair in front of the fire with his hands folded, doing nothing, but he got up at once and went to the piano.
　　“No, Ernest, you don’t,” he said, “you say nothing of the kind, you say ‘tum’ not ‘come’. Now say ‘come’ after me, as I do.” “Tum”, said Ernest at once. “Is that better?” I have no doubt he thought it was, but it was not. “Now Ernest, you are not 6)taking pains: you are not trying as you ought to do. It is high time you learned to say ‘come’. Why Joey can say ‘come’, can’t you, Joey?” “Yeah I can,” replied Joey promptly, and he said something which was not far off “come”.“There, Ernest, do you hear that? There’s no difficulty about it now, 7)no shadow of difficulty. Now take your own time. Think of it and say ‘come’ after me.” The boy remained silent for a few seconds and then said “tum” again.
　　I laughed, but Theobald turned to me impatiently and said, “Please do not laugh Overton, it will make the boy think it does not matter, and it matters a great deal”. Then turning to Ernest he said, “Now Ernest, I will give you one more chance, and if you don’t say ‘come’, I shall know that you are 8)self-willed and naughty.”
　　He looked very angry and a shade came over Ernest’s face, like that which comes upon the face of a puppy when it is being scolded without understanding why. The child saw well what was coming now, was frightened, and of course said “tum” once more.
　　“Very well Ernest,” said his father, catching him angrily by the shoulder. “I have done my best to save you but if you will have it so you will,” and he lugged the little 9)wretch out of the room crying 10)by anticipation. A few miuntes more and we could hear screams coming from the dining-room across the hall which separated the drawing-room from the dining-room, and knew that poor Ernest was being beated. “I have sent him to bed,” said Theobald, as he returned to the drawing-room, “and now, Christina, I think we will have the servants in to prayers,” and he rang the bell for them, red-handed as he was.
　　
　　 本文为全文原貌 未安装PDF浏览器用户请先下载安装 原版全文 　　
　　一天晚上，孩子们走进客厅，给我表演一个特别节目――唱一些他们学过的赞美诗。之所以是唱而不是念赞美诗，是为了让我能听听他们的歌喉有多么美妙。欧内斯特选择唱第一首赞美诗，这首诗讲述了一些人将要来到“日落树”前。我不是生物学家，不知道“日落树”是怎么样的树，但是诗歌一开始是这么写的：“来吧/来吧/来吧/来到日落树前吧/一天已经过去了/一去不返了。”这首诗歌的调子很优美，深得欧内斯特的喜爱，而且他酷爱音乐，很喜欢用他那甜美的童声唱歌。然而，他很迟才学会准确地发“C”或者“K”的音，所以当时他把“come”这个单词念成了“tum, tum, tum”。
　　“欧内斯特，如果你把‘come’念得和其他人一样，而不是念成‘tum’，你不觉得更好吗？”西奥博尔德说。他正坐在火炉前的扶手椅上，双手叠放身前。
　　“我是读‘tum’啊。” 欧内斯特回答说，意思是他读的正是“come”这个词。每逢星期天晚上，西奥博尔德脾气总是很暴躁。不知道是不是因为他们也和他们的邻居们一样，对生活厌倦透了，还是因为他们很疲倦呢，或是处于其他什么原因，反正星期天晚上牧师们都常常不在状态。那天晚上，种种迹象让我觉得我的主人非常生气，而且当他指出儿子欧内斯特发音不准，儿子却立即反驳说“我是读‘tum’啊”的时候，他显得有点暴躁不安。
　　西奥博尔德随即意识到他被儿子顶撞了一下。本来他是一直坐在火炉前的扶手椅上，双手叠放身前，无所事事的，但是现在他立即站了起来，走到钢琴前。
　　“不，欧内斯特，你没发准，”他说，“你发的音差远了，你念成了‘tum’，而不是‘come’。现在，跟着我念‘come’，像我一样发音。”“Tum，”欧内斯特立即念到，“这次好点了吗？”毫无疑问，他自己觉得念得不错，但事实并非如此。“欧内斯特，你怎么不努力学学呢：你应该好好练习的，你却不用功。你是时候学会念‘come’这个词了。为什么人家乔伊又能念得出‘come’呢，对吧，乔伊？”“是的，我会念，”乔伊立即回答说，并且念了一遍“come”这个词，发音还算准。“听，欧内斯特，你听到没？现在不难念了吧，一点儿都不难的。慢慢来。想一想，然后跟着我说‘come’。”小男孩停了几秒，然后又念成了“tum”。
　　我哈哈大笑，但是西奥博尔德很不耐烦地转向我，说：“请不要笑，奥佛顿，这会让他以为这事儿微不足道，而事实上读准这个词很重要。”然后他转向欧内斯特，说：“欧内斯特，现在我再给你一次机会，如果你还读不出‘come’，我就会认为你是一个任性淘气的孩子了。”
　　他看上去非常生气，欧内斯特的脸色也变得黯然，就像一只小狗稀里糊涂地给人骂了一顿时露出的表情。小男孩很清楚自己将要受皮肉之苦，于是惊恐起来，自然这次念的又是“tum”。
　　“好极了，欧内斯特，”他爸爸说着，气呼呼地一把抓住他的肩膀。“我已经竭尽全力纠正你了。但是你还是想受一下教训，那么我就让你尝一尝！”他硬是把早已嚎啕大哭的不幸的小家伙拽出了客厅。虽然饭厅和客厅之间还隔着一个大厅，但是几分钟后，我们清楚地听到尖叫声从饭厅传来，不用说肯定是可怜的欧内斯特正在挨揍。“我让他上床睡觉了，”西奥博尔德回到客厅时说，“现在，克里斯汀娜，我想我们要叫仆人们进来做祷告了。”他摇铃叫他们进来，这时，他的手掌还是红彤彤的。
本文为全文原貌 未安装PDF浏览器用户请先下载安装 原版全文