Chapter 263: Educational Issues (k2)

Chapter 262 The Problem of Education (4k2)
London, Westminster, 4 Whitehall Street.

Arthur sat in his office, his arms wrapped around his head as he looked at the two brats sitting obediently in front of him, and in front of him were two learning feedback reports sent from Greenwich Grammar School to Scotland Yard.

The office was so quiet that Arthur didn’t even need to speak, just a sweep of his gaze and the two brats lowered their heads in shame.

Arthur fiddled with the feedback reports as he read, “Tearing up other people’s handwriting, fighting with classmates, and verbally abusing teachers, Adam, Aaron, do you two have anything to say about this feedback report?”

“Mr. Hastings, I ……” Adam, who had a panda eye, looked up at Arthur, and then twisted his head to look at Pinkerton, who was beside him with the left side of his face turning blue, with a look of wanting to say something, “I ……”

Pinkerton suddenly jumped down from his chair and dropped his hat on the floor in defiance, “Sir, if you really want to find someone to take the blame, then just come at me. I started this, Adam had nothing to do with it, he’s a coward, he doesn’t have the guts to go against the teacher without me backing him up. You understand, just like you backed up Ms. Fiona.”

Arthur just raised an eyebrow when he heard this, “Aaron, if only you were as fast a learner in spelling and arithmetic.”

The Red Devil off to the side couldn’t help but laugh at this, he fanned his palms and blew a small gust of wind to bring up the small yellow hairs on Pinkerton’s head, “Look at that Arthur, this little brat is definitely going to have a promising future ahead of him.”

Pinkerton spoke up, “Sir, you have no idea how fucked up grammar school really is inside! They look down on Adam and I and think we’re some kind of Mr. Nice Guy who just backs down! They’ve got to realize that I was originally from Glasgow and Adam rolled out of St. Giles, and if the teacher hadn’t stopped us, we’d have had to rip the ears off those dogs!”

Arthur heard this and the words that came to his lips spun around and were swallowed again as he took a sip of his tea and turned to ask, “Sounds like there’s something going on here?”

“Of course!”

Pinkerton said with a hateful look on his face, “Grammar teacher didn’t like me and Adam, maybe because he thought we weren’t listening to him, so he was always trying to find ways to give us a hard time, at first for spelling mistakes, then grammatical errors later on, and then for our scribbling. After we had all corrected ourselves, he suddenly called Adam and I up again that day in class and asked us to repeat back what he had just said.

When Adam and I didn’t, he made us wear pointy hats that said ‘idiot’ and put a sign around our necks with all sorts of humiliating things written on them. After class, the dogs started chattering next to Adam and I’s ears and singing sarcastically about the two of us. I didn’t hold back for a second, so I tore up all their word posts and gave them two hard punches in the body.”

Hearing this, Adam also hurriedly picked up, “Mr. Hastings, I was going to try to persuade Aaron to calm down a bit, too. I went to a poor school for a few days, and it was much worse than a grammar school. The teachers at the poor school were two old sailors who were often drunk, and they taught nothing, and would do nothing more than keep us quiet. Inside the grammar school it was generally much better, except for the fact that we often didn’t get enough to eat at lunch. But Aaron was so pissed off by then that he couldn’t listen to anything but what he wanted to give those assholes, so ……”

Arthur asked, “So …… how did you get involved again?”

Embarrassed, Adam returned, “Aaron was riding a kid to the death, and that kid was our little teacher. Mr. Hastings, do you know the little teacher? The little teacher is a college student, he is the most learned of us, he teaches us when the teacher is away, and he gets four pence a week from the school, so he does what the teacher says.

The teacher didn’t like me and Arun, and he followed suit and ostracized us both. Arun was the reason why he caught him beating the crap out of him. But the little teacher also had his group of lapdogs, and when the group of lapdogs saw that their leader had been beaten up, they all roared out to go and give Arun a piece of their mind.

I thought to myself, “Oh, my God! These sons of bitches are actually going to touch my old buddy who lives and eats with me! If I can’t take care of Aaron, what am I going to tell my mom and dad when I get home. And when I go to Scotland Yard again in the future, what face will I have to explain to Mr. Hastings that I’ve cost him one of his great men.”

Arthur heard this and just flipped through the papers in his hand, “Adam.”

Adam looked innocent, “What is it, Mr. Hastings?”

Arthur looked at him and spoke, “It seems that Aaron really didn’t treat you to sugar for nothing, something is wrong and you boys are really on it.”

Adam was bewildered, “Sir, is that a compliment? I thought that this time you called the two of us over for at least a scolding.”

Arthur leaned back in his chair and spoke, “If what you two just said is true, then yes, I am complimenting you. While it was certainly wrong to hit someone, given that you considered the proper way to solve the problem and improve your spelling, grammar, and scribbling, plus the fact that you didn’t have much of a better option when it happened, the hit was justified.

However, to prove that you two weren’t lying, I’ll have Tom prepare two wordbooks for you tomorrow, and if you can mime all of the words on them, then I’ll believe what you’ve just said and will also arrange for you to be transferred to a better, more suitable school, so what do you two think?”

Pinkerton felt quite happy at first, but as soon as he heard that he would have to change from one school to another, he couldn’t help but feel a little discouraged, “Sir, can’t we just not go to school? I think it’s pretty good now, and I can already spell a lot of words. If this hadn’t happened, by the time this semester is over, I should be able to jump from first grade to third grade.”

“Whoa! Really? Then congratulations, Aaron, you can now have the basic qualities to become a clerk aka a reporter.”

Here, Arthur added with a twist, “But for an employee of the London Police Intelligence Service, or to be an outstanding detective, just spelling words is not enough.”

“But ……”

Pinkerton returned, “My old man, who has been buried in the earth, said that in order to get a job in society, reading alone is mostly useless. It’s like if a big family wants a laundry maid, then they mostly get referrals from the maids in the house. Another example is when the mines are looking for people, the ones who come are also mostly relatives of the current miners. The vicar’s sons go on to be vicars, and the officers of the Royal Navy mostly have uncles and uncles who are generals, and isn’t that the case with Mr. Carter? If my deadbeat old dad hadn’t died, maybe I’d have grown up to be a policeman in Glasgow.”

Arthur smiled, “Aaron, your father was right about that. But you also have to consider that you have me standing in front of you. There’s also more than just Elder Carter in the Royal Navy’s officer corps, and while there are fewer captains who’ve climbed up from the hog-herd, you could still turn over a few if you picked hard enough. Worst of all, you didn’t realize what you had until now. You’ve got a vicar’s uncle and an officer’s uncle in the Royal Navy floating out at sea now, and a policeman’s uncle sitting right here, while you and Adam are ……”

As Arthur spoke, there was a sudden knock on the door. The door to the room was pushed open and Louis Bonaparte stood outside holding a sheaf of papers, just about to enter but overwhelmed by the two little kids in front of him.

Arthur pointed at the two brats, “See, there’s still an emperor around. You two just need to do well in school now, as for all this shit that’s been going on at school, there’s no way I can promise you that they won’t happen again, and I’m not forcing you to put up with it, but you can’t stop going to school just because you don’t like it.

I don’t like to talk about my past experiences to other people, but Aaron, Adam, for both of you, I feel like I need to say something. Isn’t reading important? It’s true that reading isn’t that important if you’re aiming to become something big. But if you’re just trying to be better than you are now, then reading is so important.

Don’t think I’m looking good now. When I was nine years old, I was far worse off than you are. Aaron, you lost your father when you were nine. I was just like you. I never knew what my father looked like since I can remember. I heard from the neighbors that he could have been dragged away by a Royal Navy recruiting officer, and after all these years without a word, he might have died at sea long ago.

As for my mother, she held out for a few years and then remarried, just like your mother, and followed an outsider to who knows where. I didn’t starve to death because my neighbors and the priests of the local parish were kind, and of course, the most important thing is that my body is still strong, and I haven’t suffered any major disasters or illnesses in my life.

From the age of seven I acted as a movable scarecrow on the ridge at York. I can remember sitting on the ridge in the early spring, from the first light of day, throwing stones at the crows whenever I saw them coming to take the seed, and sitting there until the sun went down, when I went back to bed.

Until now, I occasionally dream of that scene in my nightmares, sitting there alone, surrounded by silence, the hard ridge in early spring hurts my buttocks, I am cold and hungry, and there is no one to talk to, as if the time of the world has frozen. I didn’t want to do this job, but I couldn’t do it without doing it. I had to do something to get some bread.

Besides, those who have fathers and mothers have to do this work, let alone me who have no father and no mother.

And when the seeds have sprouted, I will be treated a little better, and then I will be able to herd sheep for the farmer. At harvest time, I would help the grown-ups harvest the barley, throwing bundles of wheat into the cart and carrying them to the storehouse.

After all this, I became a little pig farmer who fed the feed. In the winter, I began to carry a hoe and follow the hired farmers to plow the fields and start the cycle of the new year.

Because of this, once I had the opportunity to study, I grabbed it like a man in the water grabbing a straw to save his life. I didn’t know then that I could become Superintendent of Scotland Yard, I just knew that reading more would help me get out of the hell that I had fallen into in the York countryside.

Being a company clerk, or maybe a scribe, may not sound like a big deal, but for me at the time, it was a step up in the ladder of luxury.”

Agareth mortared Arthur’s shoulder and smiled playfully, “No need to thank me, Arthur, it’s a lift. It’s funny though, living like this all the time, when I first met you, you boys were thinking about stealing a Bible from the local priest. Is it possible that if I’m one step too late, you’re going to convert to God? Or are you just bored with your days?”

Before Arthur could take the red devil’s words, the two brats over there jumped out of their chairs to apologize to Arthur.

“Sorry, Mr. Hastings.”

Louis Bonaparte also opened his mouth in great surprise: “This …… I originally thought that such a cultivated gentleman like you mostly received a good family education …… I didn’t realize that you were a farmer’s son? ”

Immediately followed by Dumas, who also emerged from behind him, the fat Frenchman laughed to himself, “A farmer’s son? That’s still a higher status than my ancestors. Still, the world is quite magical, Arthur, having someone from the Bonaparte family come and work for you as a police secretary, how on earth did you come up with that idea? The most ridiculous thing is that he actually agreed to it!”

Louis Bonaparte, on the contrary, did not take Dumas’ words to heart as he spoke, “Mr. Dumas, there is nothing absurd about it. I think it’s better to be able to study at Scotland Yard than to wander the streets of London.”

Dumas sniffed and wanted to say something. But when the words came out of his mouth, he always felt bad.

As a French republican, he, like his friends Hugo and Balzac, was extremely ambivalent about Napoleon and his family.

Although they agreed that Napoleon is a thief, but also highly recognized Napoleon for France left a series of heritage and brilliant past.

It was for this reason that he did not speak ill of Louis Bonaparte when he met him, and even felt an inexplicable affinity for him.

Partly because his last name was Bonaparte, and partly because the guy had participated in the Italian Charcoal Burners uprising.

But when he saw the article in The Economist published by Louis Bonaparte, this feeling of affinity turned into a deep skepticism and confusion.

Because Dumas really can not understand what is called the republican empire, this innovative system of government is unheard of, beyond the Dumas thought it was already more wild imagination.

Just as Dumas was pondering what Louis Bonaparte’s intentions were, the police secretary took the lead and walked toward Arthur, handing over the document in his hand.

“Sir, Councilor Bernie Harrison sent a man to Scotland Yard this morning, hoping to meet with Director Rowan. But Director Rowan doesn’t seem to be feeling too well, and took leave early today to go home and rest, and he recommended that Councilor Harrison interview you first. If you think it’s okay, I’ll send someone to give him an answer, what do you think of that cafe outside Whitehall Street?”

(End of chapter)