In the course of the evening they came into the 1)drawing room and as an especial treat were to sing some of their hymns to me instead of saying them， so that I might hear how nicely they sang. Ernest was to choose the first hymn and he chose one about some people who were to come to the sunset tree. I am no 2)botanist， and don’t know what kind of a tree a sunset tree is， but the words began， “Come， come， come; come to the sunset tree for the day is past and gone.” The tune was rather pretty and had 3)taken Ernest’s fancy， for he was unusually fond of music and had a sweet little child’s voice which he liked using. He was， however， very late in being about to sound a hard C or K， and instead of saying “Come，” he said， “tum， tum， tum”.

“Ernest，” said Theobald from the armchair in front of the fire where he was sitting with his hands folded before him， “don’t you think it would be very nice if you were to say ‘come’ like other people， instead of ‘tum’?”

“I do say tum，” replied Ernest， meaning that he had said “come”. Theobald was always in a bad temper on Sunday evening. Whether it is that they are as much bored with their day as their neighbour， or whether they are tired， or whatever the cause may be， 4)clergymen are seldom 5)at their best on Sunday evening; I had already seen signs that evening that my host was cross， and was a little nervous at hearing Ernest say so promptly， “ I do say tum，” when his papa had said he did not say it as he should.

Theobald noticed the fact that he was being contradicted in a moment. He had been sitting in an armchair in front of the fire with his hands folded， doing nothing， but he got up at once and went to the piano.

“No， Ernest， you don’t，” he said， “you say nothing of the kind， you say ‘tum’ not ‘come’. Now say ‘come’ after me， as I do.” “Tum”， said Ernest at once. “Is that better?” I have no doubt he thought it was， but it was not. “Now Ernest， you are not 6)taking pains: you are not trying as you ought to do. It is high time you learned to say ‘come’. Why Joey can say ‘come’， can’t you， Joey?” “Yeah I can，” replied Joey promptly， and he said something which was not far off “come”.“There， Ernest， do you hear that? There’s no difficulty about it now， 7)no shadow of difficulty. Now take your own time. Think of it and say ‘come’ after me.” The boy remained silent for a few seconds and then said “tum” again.

I laughed， but Theobald turned to me impatiently and said， “Please do not laugh Overton， it will make the boy think it does not matter， and it matters a great deal”. Then turning to Ernest he said， “Now Ernest， I will give you one more chance， and if you don’t say ‘come’， I shall know that you are 8)self-willed and naughty.”

He looked very angry and a shade came over Ernest’s face， like that which comes upon the face of a puppy when it is being scolded without understanding why. The child saw well what was coming now， was frightened， and of course said “tum” once more.

“Very well Ernest，” said his father， catching him angrily by the shoulder. “I have done my best to save you but if you will have it so you will，” and he lugged the little 9)wretch out of the room crying 10)by anticipation. A few miuntes more and we could hear screams coming from the dining-room across the hall which separated the drawing-room from the dining-room， and knew that poor Ernest was being beated. “I have sent him to bed，” said Theobald， as he returned to the drawing-room， “and now， Christina， I think we will have the servants in to prayers，” and he rang the bell for them， red-handed as he was.

一天晚上，孩子們走進客廳，給我表演一個特別節(jié)目——唱一些他們學過的贊美詩。之所以是唱而不是念贊美詩，是為了讓我能聽聽他們的歌喉有多么美妙。歐內(nèi)斯特選擇唱第一首贊美詩，這首詩講述了一些人將要來到“日落樹”前。我不是生物學家，不知道“日落樹”是怎么樣的樹，但是詩歌一開始是這么寫的：“來吧/來吧/來吧/來到日落樹前吧/一天已經(jīng)過去了/一去不返了?！边@首詩歌的調子很優(yōu)美，深得歐內(nèi)斯特的喜愛，而且他酷愛音樂，很喜歡用他那甜美的童聲唱歌。然而，他很遲才學會準確地發(fā)“C”或者“K”的音，所以當時他把“come”這個單詞念成了“tum， tum， tum”。

“歐內(nèi)斯特，如果你把‘come’念得和其他人一樣，而不是念成‘tum’，你不覺得更好嗎？”西奧博爾德說。他正坐在火爐前的扶手椅上，雙手疊放身前。

“我是讀‘tum’啊?！?歐內(nèi)斯特回答說，意思是他讀的正是“come”這個詞。每逢星期天晚上，西奧博爾德脾氣總是很暴躁。不知道是不是因為他們也和他們的鄰居們一樣，對生活厭倦透了，還是因為他們很疲倦呢，或是處于其他什么原因，反正星期天晚上牧師們都常常不在狀態(tài)。那天晚上，種種跡象讓我覺得我的主人非常生氣，而且當他指出兒子歐內(nèi)斯特發(fā)音不準，兒子卻立即反駁說“我是讀‘tum’啊”的時候，他顯得有點暴躁不安。

西奧博爾德隨即意識到他被兒子頂撞了一下。本來他是一直坐在火爐前的扶手椅上，雙手疊放身前，無所事事的，但是現(xiàn)在他立即站了起來，走到鋼琴前。

“不，歐內(nèi)斯特，你沒發(fā)準，”他說，“你發(fā)的音差遠了，你念成了‘tum’，而不是‘come’。現(xiàn)在，跟著我念‘come’，像我一樣發(fā)音?！薄癟um，”歐內(nèi)斯特立即念到，“這次好點了嗎？”毫無疑問，他自己覺得念得不錯，但事實并非如此?！皻W內(nèi)斯特，你怎么不努力學學呢：你應該好好練習的，你卻不用功。你是時候學會念‘come’這個詞了。為什么人家喬伊又能念得出‘come’呢，對吧，喬伊？”“是的，我會念，”喬伊立即回答說，并且念了一遍“come”這個詞，發(fā)音還算準。“聽，歐內(nèi)斯特，你聽到?jīng)]？現(xiàn)在不難念了吧，一點兒都不難的。慢慢來。想一想，然后跟著我說‘come’?！毙∧泻⑼Ａ藥酌?，然后又念成了“tum”。

我哈哈大笑，但是西奧博爾德很不耐煩地轉向我，說：“請不要笑，奧佛頓，這會讓他以為這事兒微不足道，而事實上讀準這個詞很重要。”然后他轉向歐內(nèi)斯特，說：“歐內(nèi)斯特，現(xiàn)在我再給你一次機會，如果你還讀不出‘come’，我就會認為你是一個任性淘氣的孩子了?！?/p>

他看上去非常生氣，歐內(nèi)斯特的臉色也變得黯然，就像一只小狗稀里糊涂地給人罵了一頓時露出的表情。小男孩很清楚自己將要受皮肉之苦，于是驚恐起來，自然這次念的又是“tum”。

“好極了，歐內(nèi)斯特，”他爸爸說著，氣呼呼地一把抓住他的肩膀?！拔乙呀?jīng)竭盡全力糾正你了。但是你還是想受一下教訓，那么我就讓你嘗一嘗！”他硬是把早已嚎啕大哭的不幸的小家伙拽出了客廳。雖然飯廳和客廳之間還隔著一個大廳，但是幾分鐘后，我們清楚地聽到尖叫聲從飯廳傳來，不用說肯定是可憐的歐內(nèi)斯特正在挨揍?！拔易屗洗菜X了，”西奧博爾德回到客廳時說，“現(xiàn)在，克里斯汀娜，我想我們要叫仆人們進來做禱告了?！彼麚u鈴叫他們進來，這時，他的手掌還是紅彤彤的。