Book 3 1. SCHOOL DAYS Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder
[Music]
school days
it was january in northern new york
state
67 years ago snow lay deep everywhere
it loaded the bare limbs of oaks and
maples and beaches
it bent the green boughs of cedars and
spruces
down into the drifts billows of snow
covered the fields and the stone fences
down a long road through the woods a
little boy trudged to school
with his big brother royal and his two
sisters
eliza jane and alice royal was 13 years
old
eliza jane was 12 and alice was 10.
almanzo was the youngest of all and this
was his first going to school
because he was not quite nine years old
he had to walk fast to keep up with the
others and he had to carry the dinner
pail
royal ought to carry it he said he’s
bigger than i be
royal strode ahead big and manly in
boots
and eliza jane said no manzo
it’s your turn to carry it now because
you’re the littlest
eliza jane was bossy she always knew
what was best to do
and she made almanzo and alice do it
almanzo hurried behind royal and alice
hurried behind eliza jane
in the deep paths made by bobsled
runners
on each side the soft snow was piled
high
the road went down a long slope then it
crossed a little bridge
and went on for a mile through the
frozen woods to the schoolhouse
the cold nipped almanzo’s eyelids and
numbed his nose
but inside his good woolen clothes he
was warm
they were all made from the wool of his
father’s sheep
his underwear was creamy white but
mother had dyed the wool for his outside
clothes
butternut hulls had died the thread of
his coat and his long trousers
then mother had woven it and she had
soaked and shrunk
the cloth into heavy thick full cloth
not wind nor cold nor even a drenching
rain could go through the good full
cloth that mother made for almanzo’s
waist
she had dyed fine wool as red as a
cherry
she had woven a soft thin cloth it was
light
and warm and beautifully red
almanzo’s long brown pants buttoned to
his red waist
with a row of bright brass buttons all
around his middle
the waist’s collar buttons snuggly up to
his chin
and so did his long coat of brown full
cloth
mother had made his cap of the same
brown full cloth
with cozy ear flaps that tied under his
chin
and his red mittens were on a string
that went up the sleeves of his coat
and across the back of his neck that was
so he couldn’t lose them
he wore one pair of socks pulled snug
over the legs of his underdrawers
and another pair outside the legs of his
long brown
pants and he wore moccasins they were
exactly like the moccasins
that indians wore girls tied heavy veils
over their faces when they went out in
winter
but almanzo was a boy and his face was
out in the frosty air
his cheeks were red as apples and his
nose was redder than a cherry
and after he had walked a mile and a
half he was glad to see the schoolhouse
stood lonely in the frozen woods at the
foot of hard scrabble hill
smoke was rising from the chimney and
the teacher had shoveled a path
through the snow drifts to the door five
big boys were scuffling in the deep snow
by the path
almanzo was frightened when he saw them
royal pretended not to be afraid but he
was
they were the big boys from hard
scrabble settlement
and everybody was afraid of them
they smashed little boys sleds for fun
they’d catch a little boy and swing him
by his legs
then let him go head first into the deep
snow sometimes they made two little boys
fight each other
though the little boys didn’t want to
fight and beg to be let off
these big boys were 16 or 17 years old
and they came to school
only in the middle of the winter term
they came to thrash the teacher
and break up the school they boasted
that no teacher could finish the winter
term in that school
and no teacher ever had this year
the teacher was a slim pale young man
his name was mr course he was gentle and
patient
and never whipped little boys because
they forgot how to spell a word
almanzo felt sick inside when he thought
how the big boys would beat mr course
mr course wasn’t big enough to fight
them
there was a hush in the schoolhouse and
you could hear the noise the big boys
were making outside
the other pupils stood whispering
together by the big stove in the middle
of the room
mr course sat at his desk
one thin cheek rested on his slim hand
and he was reading a book he looked up
and said pleasantly
good morning royal and eliza jane and
alice answered him politely
but almanzo did not say anything he
stood by the desk
looking at mr course mr cors smiled at
him and said
do you know i’m going home with you
tonight
almanzo was too troubled to answer
yes mr coors said it’s your father’s
turn
every family in the district boarded the
teacher for two weeks
he went from farm to farm until he had
stayed two weeks at each one
then he closed school for that term when
he said this
mr course wrapped on his desk with his
ruler
it was time for school to begin all the
boys and girls went to their seats
the girls sat on the left side of the
room and boys set on the right side
with the big stove and wood box in the
middle between them
the big ones set in the back seats the
middle sized ones
in the middle seats and the little ones
in the front seats
all the seats were the same size the big
boys could hardly get their knees under
the desks
and the little boys couldn’t rest their
feet on the floor
almanzo and miles lewis were the premier
class
so they sat on the very front seat and
they had no desk
they had to hold their primers in their
hands
then mr course went to the window and
tapped on it
the big boys clattered into the entry
jeering
and loudly laughing they burst the door
open with a big noise and
swaggered in big bill richie was their
leader
he was almost as big as almanzo’s father
his fists were as big as almanzo’s
father’s fists
he stamped the snow from his feet and
noisily tramped to a back seat
the four other boys made all the noise
they could too
mr course did not say anything
no whispering was permitted in school
and no fidgeting
everyone must be perfectly still and
keep his eyes fixed on his lesson
almanzo and miles held up their primers
and tried not to swing their legs
their legs grew so tired that they ached
dangling from the edge of the seat
sometimes one leg would kick suddenly
before almanzo could stop it
then he tried to pretend that nothing
happened but he could feel mister course
looking at him
in the back seats the big boys whispered
and scuffled and slammed their books
mister course said sternly a little less
disturbance
please for a minute they were quiet
then they began again they wanted mr
chorus to try
to punish them when he did all five of
them
would jump on him at last the primer
class was called
and almanzo could slide off the seat and
walk with miles to the teacher’s desk
mr course took almanzo’s primer and gave
them words to spell
when royal had been in the primer class
he had often come home at night with his
hands stiff and swollen
the teacher had beaten the palm with a
ruler because royal did not know his
lesson
then father said if the teacher has to
thrash you again royal
i’ll give you a thrash and you’ll
remember
but mister course never beat a little
boy’s hand with his ruler
when almanzo could not spell a word mr
coors said
stay in at recess and learn it
at recess the girls were let out first
they put on their hoods and cloaks and
quietly went outdoors
after fifteen minutes mister course
wrapped on the window and they came in
hung their wraps in the entry and took
their books again
then the boys could go out for 15
minutes
they rushed out shouting into the cold
the first out began snowballing the
others
all that had sled scrambled up hard
scrabble hill
they flung themselves stomached down on
the sleds and swooped down the long
steep slope
they upset into the snow they ran and
wrestled
and threw snowballs and washed one
another’s faces with snow
and all the time they yelled as loud as
they could
when almanzo had to stay in his seat at
recess
he was ashamed because he was kept in
with the girls
at noon time everyone was allowed to
move about the school room and talk
quietly eliza jane opened the dinner
pail on her desk
it held bread and butter and sausage
donuts and apples and four delicious
apple turnovers their plump crusts
filled with melting slices of apple and
spicy brown
juice after almanzo had eaten every
crumb of his turnover and
licked his fingers he took a drink of
water from the pail with a dipper in it
on a bench in the corner then he put on
his cap
and coat and mittens and went out to
play
the sun was shining almost overhead
all the snow was a dazzle of sparkles
and the wood haulers were coming down
hardscrabble hill
high on the bobsleds piled with logs the
men
cracked their whips and shouted to their
horses and the horses shook jingles from
their string of bells
all the boys ran shouting to fasten
their sleds to the bobsled’s runners
and boys who had not brought their sleds
climbed up and rode on the loads of wood
they went merrily past the schoolhouse
and down the road
snowballs were flying thick up on the
loads the boys wrestled pushing each
other off into the deep drifts
almanzo and miles road shouting on
milesled
it did not seem a minute since they left
the schoolhouse
but it took much longer to go back first
they walked
then they trotted then they ran panting
they were afraid they’d be late then
they knew they were late
mr course would whip them all
the schoolhouse stood silent they did
not want to go in but they had to
they stole in quietly mr course sat at
his desk
and all the girls were in their places
pretending to study
on the boys side of the room every seat
was empty
almanzo crept to his seat in the
dreadful silence
he held up his primer and tried not to
breathe so loud
mr course did not say anything
bill ritchie and the other big boys
didn’t care
they made all the noise they could going
to their seats
mister course waited until they were
quiet
then he said i will overlook your
tardiness this one time
but do not let it happen again everybody
knew the big boys would be tardy again
mr course could not punish them because
they could thrash him
and that was what they meant to do