TO A FRIEND At school abroad

学习任务

Activity 1

Think about the following questions， and write down your answers before reading the essay.

（1） When you were not treated well in an unfamiliar place， how would you feel？

（2） How would you describe such experiences and feelings to your family？ How， then， to your friends？

Activity 2

Read the essay， and try to answer the question.

How do you think the author generally felt about her life in Belgium？

I was twenty-six years old a week or two since; and at this ripe time of life I am a school-girl， and， on the whole， very happy in that capacity1. It felt very strange at first to submit to2 authority instead of exercising it — to obey orders instead of giving them; but I like that state of things. I returned to it with the same avidity3 that a cow， that has long been kept on dry hay， returns to fresh grass. Don’t laugh at my simile4. It is natural to me to submit， and very unnatural to command.

This is a large school， in which there are about forty externes， or day-pupils， and twelve pensionnaires， or boarders. Madame Héger， the head， is a lady of precisely the same cast of mind5， degree of cultivation， and quality of intellect as Miss – –. I think the severe points are a little softened， because she has not been disappointed， and consequently soured. In a word， she is a married instead of a maiden lady. There are three teachers in the school — Mademoiselle Blanche， Mademoiselle Sophie， and Mademoiselle Marie. The two first have no particular character. One is an old maid， and the other will be one. Mademoiselle Marie is talented and original， but of repulsive6 and arbitrary7 manners， which have made the whole school， except myself and Emily， her bitter enemies. No less than seven masters attend， to teach the different branches of education — French， Drawing， Music， Singing， Writing， Arithmetic， and German. All in the house are Catholics except ourselves， one other girl， and the gouvernante of Madame’s children， an Englishwoman， in rank something between a lady’s-maid and a nursery governess. The difference in country and religion makes a broad line of demarcation8  between us and all the rest.

We are completely isolated in the midst of numbers. Yet I think I am never unhappy; my present life is so delightful， so congenial9  to my own nature， compared to that of a governess. My time， constantly occupied， passes too rapidly. Hitherto10 both Emily and I have had good health， and therefore we have been able to work well. There is one individual of whom I have not yet spoken — M. Héger， the husband of Madame. He is professor of rhetoric， a man of power as to mind， but very choleric11 and irritable12 in temperament. He is very angry with me just at present， because I have written a translation which he chose to stigmatize13 as “peu correcte”. He did not tell me so， but wrote the word on the margin of my book， and asked， in brief stern phrase， how it happened that my compositions were always better than my translations？ adding that the thing seemed to him inexplicable14. The fact is， some weeks ago， in a high-flown humour， he forbade me to use either dictionary or grammar in translating the most difficult English compositions into French. This makes the task rather arduous， and compels me every now and then to introduce an English word， which nearly plucks15 the eyes out of his head when he sees it.

Emily and he don’t draw well together at all. Emily works like a horse， and she has had great difficulties to contend with — far greater than I have had. Indeed， those who come to a French school for instruction ought previously to have acquired a considerable knowledge of the French language， otherwise they will lose a great deal of time， for the course of instruction is adapted to natives and not to foreigners; and in these large establishments they will not change their ordinary course for one or two strangers. The few private lessons that M. Héger has vouchsafed16 to give us， are， I suppose， to be considered a great favour; and I can perceive they have already excited much spite17 and jealousy in the school.

You will abuse this letter for being short and dreary， and there are a hundred things which I want to tell you， but I have not time. Brussels is a beautiful city. The Belgians hate the English. Their external morality is more rigid than ours. To lace the stays without a handkerchief on the neck is considered a disgusting piece of indelicacy.

1. If you do something in a particular capacity， you do it as part of a particular job or duty， or because you are representing a particular organization or person.

2. If you submit to something， you unwillingly allow something to be done to you， or you do what someone wants， for example because you are not powerful enough to resist.

3. a positive feeling of wanting to push ahead with something

4. A simile is an expression which describes a person or thing as being similar to someone or something else.

5. If someone has a particular cast of mind or cast of thought， they have that kind of character or way of thinking of things.

6. If you describe something or someone as repulsive， you mean that they are horrible and disgusting and you want to avoid them.

7. If you describe an action， rule， or decision as arbitrary， you think that it is not based on any principle， plan， or system. It often seems unfair because of this.

8. Demarcation is the establishment of boundaries or limits separating two areas， groups， or things.

9. pleasant in a way that makes you feel comfortable and relaxed

10. You use hitherto to indicate that something was true up until the time you are talking about， although it may no longer be the case.

11. A choleric person gets angry very easily. You can also use choleric to describe a person who is very angry.