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what fibs they were, and my old grandmother cured me of it—how, do you think? My parents had talked, and cried, and punished, but still did I forget as you. Then said the dear old grandmother, ‘I shall help you to remember, and put a check on this unruly part,’ with that she drew out my tongue and snipped the end with her scissors till the blood ran. That was terrible, you may believe, but it did me much good, because it was sore for days, and every word I said came so slowly that I had time to think. After that I was more careful, and got on better, for I feared the big scissors. Yet the dear grandmother was most kind to me in all things, and when she lay dying far away in Nuremberg, she prayed that little Fritz might love God and tell the truth.”
“I never had any grandmothers, but if you think ‘t will cure me, I’ll let you snip my tongue,” said Nat, heroically, for he dreaded pain, yet did wish to stop fibbing.
Mr. Bhaer smiled, but shook his head.
“T have a better way than that, I tried it once before’ and it worked well. See now, when you tell a lie I will not punish you, but you shall punish me.”
“ How?” asked Nat, startled at the idea.
“You shall ferule me in the good old-fashioned way, I seldom do it myself, but it may make you remember better to give me pain than to feel it yourself.”
“ Strike you? Oh, I could n’t!” cried Nat.
“Then mind that tripping tongue of thine. I have no wish to be hurt, but I would gladly bear much pain to cure this fault.”
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This suggestion made such an impression on Nat, that for a long time he set a watch upon his lips, and was desperately accurate, for Mr. Bhaer judged rightly, that love of him would be more powerful with Nat than fear for himself. But alas! one sad day Nat was off his guard, and when peppery Emil threatened to thrash him, if it was he who had run over his garden and broken down his best hills of corn, Nat declared he did n’t, and then was ashamed to own up that he did do it, when Jack was chasing him the night before.
He thought no one would find it out, but Tommy happened to see him, and when Emil spoke of it a day or two later, Tommy gave his evidence, and Mr. Bhaer heard it. School was over, and they were all standing about in the hall, and Mr. Bhaer had just sat down on the straw settee, to enjoy his frolic with Teddy; but when he heard Tommy, and saw Nat turn scarlet, and look at him with a frightened face, he put the little boy down, saying, “Go to thy mother, biibchen, I will come soon,” and taking Nat by the hand led him into the school, and shut the door.
The boys looked at one another in silence for a minute, then Tommy slipped out and peeping in at the half-closed blinds, beheld a sight that quite bewildered him. Mr. Bhaer had just taken down the long rule that hung over his desk, so seldom used that it was covered with dust.
“My eye! he’s going to come down heavy on Nat this time. Wish I had n’t told,” thought goodnatured Tommy, for to be feruled was the deepest disgrace at this school.
You remember what I told you last time?” said Mr. Bhaer, sorrowfully, not angrily.
“Yes; but please don’t make me, I can’t bear it;” cried Nat, backing up against the door with both hands behind him, and a face full of distress.
‘Why don’t he up and take it like a man? I would,” thought Tommy, though his heart beat fast at the sight.
“T shall keep my word, and you must remember to tell the truth. Obey me, Nat, take this and give me six good strokes.”
Tommy was so staggered by this last speech that he nearly tumbled down the bank, but saved himself, and hung on to the window ledge, staring in with eyes as round as the stuffed owl’s on the chimney-piece.
“Nat took the rule, for when Mr. Bhaer spoke in that tone every one obeyed him, and, looking as scared and guilty as if about to stab his master, he gave two feeble blows on the broad hand held out to him. Then he stopped and looked up half-blind with tears, but Mr. Bhaer said steadily, —
“ Go on, and strike harder.”
As if seeing that it must be done, and eager to have the hard task soon over, Nat drew his sleeve across his eyes and gave two more quick hard strokes that reddened the hand, yet hurt the giver more.
“Ts n’t that enough?” he asked in a breathless sort of tone.
“Two more,” was all the answer, and he gave them, hardly seeing where they fell, then threw the rule all across the room, and hugging the kind hand in both his own, laid his face down on it sobbing out in a wassion of love, and shame, and penitence, —
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“Twill remember! Oh! I will!”
Then Mr. Bhaer put an arm about him, and said in @ tone as compassionate as it had just now been irm, —
“T think you will. Ask the dear God to help you, and try to spare us both another scene like this.”
Tommy saw no more, for he crept back to the hall, looking so excited and sober that the boys crowded round him to ask what was being done to Nat.
In a most impressive whisper Tommy told them,’ and they looked as if the sky was about to fall, for this reversing the order of things almost took their breath away.
** He made me do the same thing once,” said Emil, as if confessing a crime of the deepest dye.
“And you hit him? dear old Father Bhaer? By thunder, I’d just like to see you do it now!” said Ned, collaring Emil in a fit of righteous wrath.
“It was ever so long ago. I’d rather have my head cut off than do it now,” and Emil mildly laid Ned on his back instead of cuffing him, as he would have felt it his duty to do on any less solemn occasion.
“ How could you?” said Demi, appalled at the idea.
“Twas hopping mad at the time, and thought I should n’t mind a bit, rather like it perhaps. But when I’d hit Uncle one good crack, every thing he had ever done for me came into my head all at once somehow, and I couldn’t go on. No, sir! if he’d laid me down and walked on me, I would n’t have minded, I felt so mean;” and Emil gave himself a good thump in the chest to express his sense of remorse for the past.
“Nat’s crying like any thing, and feels no end
of shame, but I guess it'll teach him a lesson," said Tommy, shaking his head wisely.
Mr. Bhaer smiled, but shook his head.
"I have a better idea than that. Instead of snipping your tongue or punishing you myself, when you tell a lie, you can punish me," he suggested.
"How?" Nat asked, surprised.
"You can hit me with this," Mr. Bhaer said, taking down a dusty rule.
"I couldn't do that," Nat protested.
"Then be mindful of what you say. I don't want to be hurt, but I'm willing to bear the pain if it helps you stop lying," Mr. Bhaer explained.
This suggestion made a strong impression on Nat. For a long time, he was careful with his words, fearing the potential punishment he would have to inflict on Mr. Bhaer. Love, Mr. Bhaer believed, would be more effective than fear in changing Nat's behavior. However, one day Nat slipped up and lied about breaking Emil's corn. Tommy witnessed the incident and later shared his evidence with Mr. Bhaer.
Mr. Bhaer, upon hearing Tommy's account, took Nat by the hand and led him to the schoolroom, shutting the door behind them. The other boys waited outside, curious about what was happening.
Inside the room, Mr. Bhaer retrieved the rule and told Nat to give him six strokes. Nat, clearly distressed, timidly hit Mr. Bhaer's hand twice before stopping, his eyes filled with tears. But Mr. Bhaer urged him to continue, to strike harder. With a sleeve wiping away his tears, Nat struck Mr. Bhaer's hand two more times, then two more, his strikes becoming increasingly fervent and painful. When he was done, he threw the rule across the room and hugged Mr. Bhaer's hand, sobbing and promising to remember and change his ways.
Mr. Bhaer comforted Nat, asking him to ask for God's help in changing, and to spare them both from such scenes in the future.
Outside the room, Tommy shared what had transpired with the other boys, leaving them shocked and astounded by the reversal of roles.
"He made me do the same thing once," Emil confessed, feeling deep remorse.
"You hit him? Mr. Bhaer? I can't imagine," Ned exclaimed, grabbing Emil in anger.
"It was a long time ago. I would never do it now. I'd rather die," Emil said, choosing to subdue Ned rather than fight back.
"How could you?" Demi asked, horrified.
"I was angry at the time, and thought it wouldn't bother me. But as soon as I hit Uncle, all the kindness he had shown me flooded my thoughts, and I couldn't continue. If he had pinned me down and walked over me, I wouldn't have minded. I felt so ashamed," Emil confessed, thumping his chest to demonstrate his remorse.
"Nat is crying and feeling shame, but I hope it'll teach him a lesson," Tommy concluded, shaking his head with a wise expression.