He looked at me with an air of surprised disapproval, as a colonel might look at a private whose bootlaces were undone. ‘Ah yes,' he grunted. ‘You'd better come inside.' The narrow, sunless hall smelled unpleasantly of stale cabbage; the walls were dirty with ink marks; it was all silent. His study, judging by the crumbs on the carpet, was also his dining-room. ‘You'd better sit down,' he said, and proceeded to ask me a number of questions: what subjects I had taken in my General School Certificate; how old I was; what games I played; then fixing me suddenly with his bloodshot eyes, he asked me whether I thought games were a vital part of a boy's education. I mumbled something about not attaching too much importance to them. He grunted. I had said the wrong thing. The headmaster and I obviously had very little in common.
他帶著一種吃驚的、不以為然的神態(tài)看著我，就像一位上校看著一名沒系好靴帶的二等兵一樣。“哦，”他咕噥著說：“你最好到里面來。”那狹窄的、不見陽光的走廊里散發(fā)出一股腐爛的卷心菜味，聞上去很不舒服；墻上墨跡斑斑，顯得很臟；周圍一片靜寂。根據(jù)地毯上的面包屑來判斷，他的書房也是他的餐室。“你最好坐下，”他說，接著便問了我許多問題：為了得到普通學(xué)校證書我學(xué)過哪些課程；我多大歲數(shù)了；我會玩些什么游戲；問到這里他突然用他那雙充滿血絲的眼睛盯住我，問我是否認(rèn)為游戲是兒童教育的一個(gè)極為重要的組成部分。我含含糊糊地說了些不必太重視游戲之類的話。他咕噥了幾句。我說了錯話。我和校長顯然沒有多少共同語言。
The school, he said, consisted of one class of twenty-four boys, ranging in age from seven to thirteen. I should have to teach all subjects except art, which he taught himself. Football and cricket were played in the Park, mile away on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.
他說，學(xué)校只有一個(gè)班，二十四名男生，年齡從七歲到十三歲不等，除了美術(shù)課他親自教以外，其余所有的課程都得由我來教。星期三和星期六的下午要到一英里以外的公園去踢足球，打板球。
The teaching set-up filled me with fear. I should have to divide the class into three groups and teach them in turn at three different levels; and I was dismayed at the thought of teaching algebra and geometry — two subjects at which I had been completely incompetent at school. Worse perhaps was the idea of Saturday afternoon cricket; most of my friends would be enjoying leisure at that time.
整個(gè)教學(xué)計(jì)劃把我嚇壞了。我得把全班學(xué)生分成三個(gè)組，按三種不同的程度輪流給他們上課；想到要教代數(shù)和幾何這兩門我在讀書時(shí)學(xué)得極差的科目，我感到很害怕。更糟糕的也許是星期六下午打板球的安排，因?yàn)檫@時(shí)候我的朋友大都會在悠閑地自得其樂。
I said shyly, ‘What would my salary be?' ‘Twelve pounds a week plus lunch.' Before I could protest, he got to his feet. ‘Now, ' he said, ‘you'd better meet my wife. She's the one who really runs this school.'
我怯生生地問：“我的薪水是多少?”“每周十二鎊外加中飯。”還沒等我來得及提出異議，他已經(jīng)站了起來。“好了，”他說，“你最好見見我的妻子。她才是這所學(xué)校真正的主管人。”
This was the last straw. I was very young: the prospect of working under a woman constituted the ultimate indignity.
我再也無法忍受了。我當(dāng)時(shí)很年輕：在一個(gè)女人手下工作的前景構(gòu)成了最大的侮辱。
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