The Pickwick Club discussion
Hard Times
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Part I Chapters 07-08
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Kim,we knew that our teacher spoke those languages because in the café, he would always read Arabic or Russian newspapers. By the way, he was such a crabbed man and so uninterested in other people's opinions on him that we ruled out the idea that he might just have been posing and only pretended to be able to read those papers.
And throwing in a Latin expression or adage might just be a symptom of a post-traumatic stress disorder - the usual kind of thing you attract when you are made to learn Latin at a gentle age. In one of my English books I came across this:
Latin is a language
as dead as dead can be.
It killed off all the Romans,
and now it's killing me!
;-)
Vanessa wrote: "Tristram wrote: "Vanessa,I am also very curious as to the further role of Mrs. Sparsit. I would account for her hapless marriage by thinking that she might have trusted to her great-aunt's good j..."
Maybe Mrs. Sparsit was one of those poor female relatives that come from good families and depend on rich matches. I am thinking of Volumnia Dedlock, too.
Tristram wrote: "Kim,we knew that our teacher spoke those languages because in the café, he would always read Arabic or Russian newspapers. By the way, he was such a crabbed man and so uninterested in other peopl..."
I see you skipped trying to explain the ablatives thing to me. Keep it that way. How are you feeling by now anyway?
Tristram, all Latin teachers must fritter away their days in coffee shops. Ours used to disappear habitually too. We didn't mind. He was a tyrant. Your teacher had it licked with his yellow-stained hair lick. He was obviuously a multi- tasker, able to dye his hair and pollute his lungs simultaneouslyThanks so much, Kim, for the ablative absolute explanation. Enlightening. I may be no wiser, but better informed I hope. :-}
Kim wrote: "Tristram wrote: "Kim,we knew that our teacher spoke those languages because in the café, he would always read Arabic or Russian newspapers. By the way, he was such a crabbed man and so uninterest..."
By now I'm feeling a lot better, and my fever and fits of shivering have completely disappeared. Now, as a matter of course, it would be my wife's turn to come down with a nasty cold and fever, and then maybe my children, with whom it all started, to follow suit again. That will be a cold that might run in the family for some weeks to come ;-)
Hilary,luckily, we soon got a different Latin teacher, an elderly lady, about 1,3 metres tall, whom we all adored because she was not in the least as moody and high-handed as her predecessor. She was one of the few teachers we never rebelled against because she was absolutely fair and she never started her lessons, like the old teacher, quizzing us and having a verbal go at those students who would not answer quickly enough.
Ah, Tristram, that's why you're a Latin expert and i can hardly decline Mensa. Such a pity! I had a great teacher in my first year of grammar school and i loved it.
Great to hear that you're feeling better, Tristram.
Thanks Hilary,but feeling better also means no longer being nursed and made a priority project of by my trusty wife ;-)
Hilary wrote: "Awh, poor Trist!"No more daytime spousal tryst.
Oh, you two are too funny to fathom ...Wonderful!!!
Great stuff, Everymawn and Tristaminary ..
Funny isn't the word I think of when I think of those two.
Kim wrote: "Funny isn't the word I think of when I think of those two."Grump.
No, not us. You.
Maybe not "funny", Kim, but "glorious"?
Tristram wrote: "Maybe not "funny", Kim, but "glorious"?"Sure, something like that.
I am also very curious as to the further role of Mrs. Sparsit. I would account for her hapless marriage by thinking that she might have trusted to her great-aunt's good judgment and that ..."
I was struck by Mrs. Sparsit's age - mid 30s - when she married. Perhaps she was more trusting then, but I also wondered if Lady Scadger might have duped her regarding her husband's fortune.