School Stories by P. G. Wodehouse (children's ebooks free online .TXT) ๐
Description
School Stories is a collection of humorous short stories by P. G. Wodehouse that feature the trials, tribulations and adventures of the denizens of the turn-of-the-century English boarding school.
First published in schoolboy magazines starting in 1901, the stories originally appeared in publications like The Captain and Public School Magazine. Some were also later collected into books. These stories, written more than a decade before he moved on to his more famous characters like Jeeves and Wooster, represent Wodehouseโs first magazine sales and showcase his early career. While some of these stories are definitely of a moment, theyโre filled with delightful bits that would be instantly recognizable to students and teachers of any age. Indeed, the stories experienced a bit of a resurgence in the latter part of the 20th century, and remain a worthy part of Wodehouseโs canon.
Read free book ยซSchool Stories by P. G. Wodehouse (children's ebooks free online .TXT) ๐ยป - read online or download for free at americanlibrarybooks.com
- Author: P. G. Wodehouse
Read book online ยซSchool Stories by P. G. Wodehouse (children's ebooks free online .TXT) ๐ยป. Author - P. G. Wodehouse
Work is bad enough, but Examinations are worse, especially the Board Examinations. By doing from ten to twenty minutes prep every night, the compleat slacker could get through most of the term with average success. Then came the Examinations. The dabbler in unseen translations found himself caught as in a snare. Gone was the peaceful security in which he had lulled to rest all the well-meant efforts of his guardian angel to rouse him to a sense of his duties. There, right in front of him, yawned the abyss of Retribution.
Alas! poor slacker. I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. Where be his gibes now? How is he to cope with the fiendish ingenuity of the examiners? How is he to master the contents of a book of Thucydides in a couple of days? It is a fearsome problem. Perhaps he will get up in the small hours and work by candlelight from two till eight oโclock. In this case he will start his day a mental and physical wreck. Perhaps he will try to work and be led away by the love of light reading.
In any case he will fail to obtain enough marks to satisfy the examiners, though whether examiners ever are satisfied, except by Harry the hero of the school story (Every Ladโs Library, uniform edition, 2s. 6d.), is rather a doubtful question.
In such straits, matters resolve themselves into a sort of drama with three characters. We will call our hero Smith.
Scene: a Study
Dramatis Personae: Smith, Conscience, Mephistopheles
Enter Smith down centre. He seats himself at table and opens a Thucydides. Enter Conscience through ceiling R., Mephistopheles through floor L. Conscience With a kindly smile. Precisely what I was about to remark, my dear lad. A little Thucydides would be a very good thing. Thucydides, as you doubtless know, was a very famous Athenian historian. Date? Smith Erโ โumโ โlet me see. Mephistopheles Aside. Look in the Introduction and pretend you did it by accident. Smith Having done so. 431 BC. circ. Conscience wipes away a tear. Conscience Thucydides made himself a thorough master of the concisest of styles. Mephistopheles And in doing so became infernally obscure. Excuse shop. Smith Gloomily. Hum! Mephistopheles Sneeringly. Ha! Long pause. Conscience Gently. Do you not think, my dear lad, that you had better begin? Time and tide, as you are aware, wait for no man. Andโ โ Smith Yes? Conscience Well, you know, that examination tomorrow. Smith Yes? Conscience You have not, I fear, a very firm grasp of the subject. However, if you work hard till elevenโ โ Smith Gloomily. Hum! Three hours! Mephistopheles Cheerily. Exactly so. Three hours. A little more if anything. By the way, excuse me asking, but have you prepared the subject thoroughly during the term? Smith My dear sir! Of course! Conscience Reprovingly. ???!!??! Smith Well, perhaps, not quite so much as I might have done. Such a lot of things to do this term. Cricket, for instance. Mephistopheles Rather. Talking of cricket, you seemed to be shaping rather well last Saturday. I had just run up on business, and someone told me you made eighty not out. Get your century all right? Smith Brightening at the recollection. Just a bitโ โ117 not out. I hitโ โbut perhaps youโve heard? Mephistopheles Not at all, not at all. Letโs hear all about it. Conscience seeks to interpose, but is prevented by Mephistopheles, who eggs Smith on to talk cricket for over an hour. Conscience At last; in an acid voice. That is a history of the Peloponnesian war by Thucydides on the table in front of you. I thought I would mention it, in case you had forgotten. Smith Great Scott, yes! Here, I say, I must start. Conscience Hear! Hear! Mephistopheles Insinuatingly. One moment. Did you say you had prepared this book during the term? Afraid Iโm a little hard of hearing. Eh, what? Smith Wellโ โer no, I have not. Have you ever played billiards with a walking-stick and five balls? Mephistopheles Quite so, quite so. I quite understand. Donโt you distress yourself, old chap. You obviously canโt get through a whole book of Thucydides in under two hours, can you? Conscience Severely. He might, by attentive application to study, master a considerable portion of the historianโs chef dโoeuvre in that time. Mephistopheles Yes, and find that not one of the passages he had prepared was set in the paper. Conscience At the least, he would, if he were to pursue the course which I have indicated, greatly benefit his mind. Mephistopheles Gives a short, derisive laugh. Long pause. Mephistopheles Looking towards bookshelf. Hullo, youโve got a decent lot of books, pommy word you have. Rodney Stone, Vice Versa, Many Cargoes. Ripping. Ever read Many Cargoes? Conscience Glancing at his watch. I am sorry, but I must really go now. I will see you some other day. Exit sorrowfully. Mephistopheles Well, thank goodness heโs gone. Never saw such a fearful old bore in my life. Canโt think why you let him hang on to you so.
Comments (0)