Moral Tales

by Madame Guizot

  OH! OH! OH!

  A TALE.

  "Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried little Louis, "see, my tooth moves again, Icannot eat;" and he put his breakfast down upon the table.

  "And it will continue to move until it is taken out," said his mother.

  "I don't want to have it taken out, it would hurt me so."

  "Do not complain then of its being loose."

  "But I can't eat."

  "In that case let me take it out, it is only a first tooth, and hasscarcely any hold."

  "Oh! indeed! It has scarcely any hold! I am sure it has very longfangs."

  "As you prefer to let it remain, you must put up with the annoyanceit causes you."

  Louis did not reply, and his mother urged him no further; shewished to direct and mould the inclinations of her children, not toconstrain them; she therefore gave few commands or prohibitions. Acommand cannot correct a fault, nor can a prohibition prevent aninclination to disobedience; therefore she preferred to wait withpatience, and teach her children to correct themselves. Louis againtried to eat his breakfast, but his tooth clattered and shook atevery mouthful, and being persuaded that by moving it, it hurt him,he put down his bread and his apple, and went to play with Fid?le.

  Fid?le was a charming dog, of a very gentle disposition, andaccustomed to allow himself to be tormented, without manifesting anydispleasure. Louis took him by the paws: "There, stand up, Fid?le;make a bow; give me your paw; no, not that, the other one;" andFid?le obeyed him with the best grace imaginable, though this kind ofsport did not at all please him. With a docile dog, almost anythingmay be done. Louis, in order to prolong his game, took it into hishead to take hold of Fid?le by the tail, and thus to force him torise upon his fore-paws, and then to turn a somerset. At the firstattempt, Fid?le contented himself with resisting, with a slight growlmerely; at the second, the growl became louder, but at the third,Louis pulled his tail so violently, that Fid?le, quite angry, turnedupon him and slightly bit his little finger. "Oh! oh! oh!" criedLouis, "the horrid dog has bitten me; mamma! Fid?le has bitten me;oh! how my finger pains me!"

  "Let me see, my boy; oh! that's nothing, I can hardly see the mark ofhis teeth; what were you doing to him?"

  "I only took hold of his tail, to teach him to turn a somerset, buthe wouldn't stand on his fore-paws."

  "You certainly hurt him much more by pulling his tail, than he hashurt you by his bite; why do you expect him to be more patient thanyou are?"

  "I will never play with him again."

  "You can do as you like as to that, he will not complain."

  Louis went away, and as he passed by Fid?le, the dog began to growl."Go away," said the child, "I don't wish to be bitten again," andhe held his little finger in his other hand, as if it had beendreadfully wounded. He went to look for his little sister Henriette,to come and play with him, but she had just pricked her finger withher needle, and being as little able to bear pain as himself, shereceived his proposition with a very bad grace. "Let me alone," shesaid, "I have pricked my finger," and she watched the blood whichscarcely tinged the water into which she had plunged it.

  "That's a funny sort of a wound!" said Louis, "Why the blood doesn'tcome!"--"A funny sort of a wound? Oh! you shall see if it is sofunny," and she immediately pricked him with the needle, which shestill held in her hand. "Oh! oh! oh! nurse, Henrietta has prickedme, give me a glass of water, oh!" The nurse brought him the waterwithout looking at him, she was leaning her head upon her left hand.

  "Just look, nurse, how she has pricked me."

  "What am I to look at? What a terrible affair: what would you say ifyou had such a tooth-ache as I have?"

  "Have you the tooth-ache?"

  "Yes: I have had no sleep these three nights, and I shall certainlygo to-morrow and have the tooth which torments me taken out; for Idon't want to let my work lie there," and she went and resumed hersewing.

  When Louis, after having well squeezed his finger, could make no moreblood flow from it, he was greatly embarrassed. How was he to amusehimself? Fid?le still growled at him, Henriette was out of temper,and his nurse had the tooth-ache and was busy; every one was takenup with his own sufferings. Louis did not find the house very gay;he therefore went back to his mother, who, at all events, was not agrumbler. At this moment he heard on the stairs the voice of littleCharles, one of his companions. He rushed forward to open the door.Charles, accompanied by his tutor, had come to ask him to join himand five or six other boys of his age, in a walk to the Canal del'Ourcq, to see the skating. Louis, transported with joy, obtainedhis mother's consent: he put on his great coat and his fur gloves,and they set off.

  It was the middle of winter, but the weather was dry, and the sunbrilliant. The little boys ran and jumped about the whole of the way.Louis did the same at first, but by degrees he felt his nose gettingcold, and one of his hands was fully employed in holding it andkeeping it warm. His fingers soon became numb; he put the hand he wasnot using into his pocket, and complained of being obliged to leavethe other exposed to the air; then his feet became cold. It was quiteuseless to tell him that if he ran about, he would soon get warmagain.

  "How am I to run," he replied, "when my feet are frozen?"

  He dragged himself along, with great difficulty, by the side of thetutor, slipping at every step, notwithstanding the slowness of hispace, and every now and then withdrawing his hand from his nose tobreathe upon his fingers, and then hurriedly replacing it, with anappearance of the utmost concern. They reached the side of the canal,which was covered with skaters, who, with a free and unrestrainedair, with head erect, and arms sometimes crossed, sometimes inmotion, glided rapidly over the smooth expanse, on which the timidwalker could scarcely maintain his footing.

  The children, with the permission of their guide, went down upon theice in order to have a slide. Louis suffered himself to be persuadedto follow them, and soon, by sliding in the same place, they hadformed a long path, as polished as a mirror, over which, after takinga slight run, they glided with the rapidity of lightning. Louis hadnot yet dared to venture upon it.

  "Come, Louis, have a slide," said one of his companions, "how can youavoid being frozen if you do not move about?"

  Louis made up his mind to do so; he took a run of a few steps,reached the glistening path, and ventured on it, still holding hisnose with one hand and keeping the other in his pocket. He proceeded,and maintained his equilibrium; but a mischievous little boy, who wasmore used to this sport, rushed after him, and reaching him beforehe got to the end, gave him a push, which made him fall with someviolence upon the ice.

  "Oh! oh! oh!" exclaimed Louis. "Oh! oh! oh! who has thrown me down?I can't get up; help me to get up. Oh! oh!" and he continued on thespot where he had fallen, because he would not make use of one ofhis hands to lean upon the ice. His companions laughed both at hisawkwardness and his misfortune. The tutor went to him, raised himup, and endeavoured to console him, telling him that such falls onlygave a little pain, which was soon over. But Louis cried, and becameangry, left the canal, and went and stood against a tree, which wasgrowing on the banks, turning his back to the skaters. An old soldierpassed by him, laughing heartily.

  "What a pity I have a wooden leg!" He had one, in fact. "What is thematter with you, my little friend," he said to Louis, seeing hisloneliness and melancholy. "Why are you not down there with the rest?"

  "But can I skate?"

  "You do not know how to skate? Go quickly then and learn; I wish Iwere your age, to be able to do the same: at all events you can amuseyourself by sliding."

  "Yes, to have them push me, and throw me down."

  "Well, if they push you, you can push them in return, and if youfall, you can get up again."

  "Yes, and freeze my hands by putting them upon the ice."

  "Oh! you are afraid of freezing your hands; poor child! what wouldyou have done, if, like me, you had fallen into a deep ditch, in themidst of a battle, and when it was intensely cold?"

  "Into a ditch? Oh! they would soon hav
e come and taken me out."

  "You think so, do you? but I can tell you, that before any one wouldhave come and taken you out, you would have been frozen to death.Oh! if I had not broken my leg, how I should have returned to theaction!"

  "What is the matter with you, my little friend?" he said to Louis, seeing his depression and melancholy.--P. 364.]

  "If your leg was broken, how did you get out of the ditch?"

  "The deuce! would you have had me remain in it? It was not verycomfortable there, I assure you. I dragged myself along upon myhands, and in less than five minutes I was out of it."

  "And what did they do to your leg afterwards?"

  "What did they do to it? why, they cut it off; thank God! no harmcame of it; and I manage to get along pretty well upon my wooden leg.Come along, my little friend, we will both go upon the ice; you shalllearn to slide, and I will protect you from being pushed."

  Louis, who had been interested and cheered by the conversation of thepensioner, followed him. The tutor, who had overheard what was said,allowed him to do so. He walked at first upon the ice with greatprecaution; the good soldier allowed him to hold his hand for a fewminutes.

  "Now," said he, "you must go alone. You have your two legs, and I amgoing to look at you. Forward, march!"

  Louis began to slide.

  "Take your hand out of your pocket," cried the pensioner, "and let goof your nose; are you afraid it will fall off? Make use of your armsto balance yourself; hold up your head; stretch out your leg; bravo!that's the way; leave yourself free, unbutton your great coat, don'tyou see how it hinders you?"

  Louis unbuttoned his coat, stretched out his arms, and allowedhimself to go on without fear. In a quarter of an hour he had learnedto slide as well as any of the little boys on the canal.

  "Listen," said the pensioner, "let us join your comrades; they havenot seen you. You shall go upon their slide, and in your turn pushthe boy who threw you down a little while ago. Keep yourself up, atall events."

  They made a slight circuit; the moment arrived; Louis started.

  "Ha! ha! here's Louis," was exclaimed from all sides. He reached hisadversary in the middle of the slide, pushed him, made him come downwith considerable force, then turned round, and finished his coursein grand style; while the other, somewhat ashamed, got up withoutsaying a word.

  "Who taught you to slide?" asked all the children.

  "I did, young gentlemen," said the man with the wooden leg, "and Iwarrant you he is not afraid of any of you now."

  The boys, very much astonished, resumed their sports, and Louismaintained his place amongst them very well. When the hour fordeparture came, he went to say good bye to his friend the pensioner,who pressing his hand warmly, said, "Good bye, comrade, till we meetagain; if I happen to be here when you return, I will teach you toskate."

  As they went home, Louis did not complain of the cold, did not puthis hands in his pockets, left his nose exposed to the air, ranabout like the rest, and reached the house not only without havinggrumbled, but without having suffered. As he was running towards hismother to tell her his tale, he saw her talking to a poor old woman,who was crying, and who seemed to be asking assistance. "Oh! madame,"said she, "you could never imagine what my Jacques has done. Heis my only support, and though he is not yet fourteen, he works sowell at his master's, who is the carpenter at the corner, that everyevening he brings me home tenpence for his day's wages. We havenothing but that to live upon, for it is very little I can do. Well,about a fortnight ago, my poor Jacques had the misfortune to put hiswrist out of joint, in carrying a wainscoting. He came home in greattrouble; fortunately I had saved during six months ten shillings,to buy him a waistcoat. I gave them to him, and told him to goimmediately and have his wrist set by the surgeon of the district,who is very clever. He went out, and I supposed that he had doneso. Nothing of the kind. He was afraid that it would cost too much.Our neighbour, the blacksmith, offered to set it for half a crown;he allowed him to do so, and brought me home the remainder, sayingthat he had not been asked for more; but certainly his wrist musthave been badly set, for since that time, it has been swelling, andgetting numb; and on looking at it, I saw clearly that the bones werenot in their right place. By dint of questioning, I at last got thetruth from him. We have been to the surgeon, who says that it can becured, but that it will take a long time, and much medicine, and wehave no means of getting any, as my poor Jacques has not worked for afortnight, and will not be able to work for a long time to come. InGod's name, madame, you, who are so good, have pity on us!" Here thepoor woman ceased.

  Louis had listened to her with great attention. His mother, very muchaffected herself, observed how this recital led him to reflect uponhis own want of fortitude in bearing pain; she did not know that hehad already begun to be ashamed of it. "My good woman," she said,"give yourself no uneasiness, as your son can be cured, he shall becured. Let us go for him. I will take him myself to the surgeon's,who will again examine his arm, and I will pay the expenses of thetreatment. Will you come, Louis?"

  "Oh! yes, mamma, I want to see Jacques very much."

  Henriette, who was working at her embroidery, in a corner of thedrawing-room, exclaimed, "And I too, mamma."

  "Yes, you too, my child; come, be quick, Jacques's cure must not bedelayed."

  They set off at once. There were no complaints of the cold during thewhole of the way. On arriving, they found Jacques employed in makingthe handle of a tool with his remaining hand. His mother informedhim, with tears of joy, of the success of her visit. "He did not wantme to apply to you, madame," she added; "he said that other peopleought not to be tormented with his troubles." Jacques advanced, andexpressed his thanks, with some embarrassment.

  "It must have given you a great deal of pain, Jacques, did it not?"

  "Oh! not much, madame, if I could only have worked!"

  "Come, come, cheer up, you shall be cured as soon as possible.You are a good and a brave boy;" and Jacques bowed with an air ofincreased embarrassment.

  They went to the surgeon's, who was not acquainted with Jacques'swhole history, because he would not allow his mother to relate itat their former visit. As soon as he learned it, he took the mostlively interest in the courageous child, and his attentions weresoon efficacious. At the end of a fortnight, the swelling began todecrease. They were obliged to prevent Jacques from working so soonas he wished, but they gave him hope that it would not be long beforehe was again in a condition to handle the plane; and in the mean timehe wanted for nothing. Louis, on his return home, said to his mother,"Mamma, tie a thread round my tooth," and he immediately pulled itout himself, having learned by the example of the pensioner, as wellas by that of Jacques, never to cry out, "Oh! oh! oh!" for so slighta cause as a little cold, or a prick of a pin.