Original text of "The Last Lesson" by Daudet

Category: Culture/Art gt; gt; Literature

Analysis:

Ce matin-là, j'étais très en retard pour aller à l'école , and the grand-peur d'être grondé, d'autant que M. Hamel nous avait dit qu'il nous interrogerait sur les participes, et je n'en savais pas le premier mot. Un moment, l'idée me Vintage manquer la classe et de prendre ma course à travers champs. Le temps était si chaud, si clair! On entendait les merles siffler à la lisière du bois, et dans le pré Rippert, derrière la scierie, les Prussiens qui faisaient l' I went to school that morning, and I went to school very well. Late at night, I was so afraid of being scolded, especially because Mr. Amer told us that he was going to take a test on the rule of participles, but I couldn’t even understand the first word. At this time, the idea of ??skipping school and going for a run in the fields came to my mind. The weather is so warm and sunny! I heard the crows cawing by the grove, and the Prussians were practicing on the Ribel meadow behind the sawmill. All of this attracted me more than the word rules, but I resisted the temptation and ran towards the school faster.

Perdues, réquisitions, ordrees de la mandature; et je pensai sans m'arrêter: ? Qu'est-ce qu'il y an encore. En train de lire l'affich, me cria:

- Ne te dépêche pas tant, petit; tu y arrivalras toujours assez t?t, à ton école!

Je crus qu 'il se moquait de moi, et j'entrai tout essoufflé dans la petite cour de M. Hamel.

When passing by the village *** gate, I saw many people standing in front of the small notice board . In the past two years, all the bad news, such as defeats, conscription of troops and supplies, and orders issued by the Prussian occupying force headquarters, came from there. As I ran, I thought: "What's going on?"

As I ran across the square, the blacksmith Wackertel, who was reading the notice with his apprentice in front of the bulletin board, shouted to me : "Little guy, you don't have to be in such a hurry; you won't be late no matter how late you go!" I thought he was joking with me, so I ran into Mr. Amer's small classroom out of breath.

D'ordinaire, the first time of the year, the first time, the first time, the first time, the first time, the first time, the first time, the first time, the first time, the first time, the second time, the best time, the best ensemble. It's a great place to be, a great place to be, a great place to be, a great place to be, a great place to be! It's a tranquil place, it's a tranquil place, it's a quiet place. It's a journey. It's a journey, it's a journey, it's a place, it's a place, it's a place, it's a place, it's a place, it's a repast, it's a terrible thing. The porte and the entrer are the grand calm. > - Va vite à ta place, mon petit Franz; nous allions mencer sans toi.

Usually, when class starts, there is always a commotion, the sound of opening and closing the sloping desks, and the classmates The sound of covering their ears and reciting the text loudly could be heard on the street. The teacher's big ruler rapped on the desk: "Be quiet!"

I planned to take advantage of the noise and sneak to my seat. However, this day was different from usual, everything was quiet, like a Sunday morning. Through the open window, I saw that my classmates were sitting neatly on their seats. Mr. Amer was pacing back and forth with the terrible iron ruler under his arm. You must open the classroom door and walk into the classroom in this silence. Think about it, how embarrassed and scared I was at that time!

But, no. Herr Amer looked at me, not angry, but said to me very gently: "Get back to your seat quickly, my little Franz; we are about to begin class.

”

It’s the perfect place to stay It's a great place to stay. It's a great place to stay. It's a great place to be. It’s a great place to stay, it’s a great place to stay, it’s a great place to stay, it’s a great place to stay, it’s a village, it’s a quiet place to be: it’s a great place to be, it’s a tricorne; it’s mare; it’s facteur; it’s puis d.

I stepped over the stool and immediately sat down on the seat. I calmed down a little from the panic, and then I noticed that our teacher was wearing his beautiful green tuxedo with a delicately folded bow tie. Wearing the embroidered black silk round hat on his head, he only wore this outfit when someone from above came to inspect the school or when the school handed out awards. In addition, the whole classroom had an unusual solemn atmosphere. But what surprised me most was when I saw some people from the village who were as silent as us sitting on the usually empty benches in front of the classroom, including old Ozelle wearing a three-cornered hat, and the former mayor. Long, there were former postmen, and there were others. All these people looked very sad; old Ozelle also brought an old literacy textbook with torn corners, which he spread on his lap, with his large pair of glasses lying across the textbook.

The most beautiful thing in the world >

- The most beautiful place in the world. ma?tre arrives at demain. Aujourd'hui, c'est votre dernière le?on de fran?ais. Mr. Maier sat down on the chair and said to us in the gentle and solemn voice that he had just spoken to me: "Children, this is the last time I will teach you. The order came from Berlin, Alsace The schools in the provinces of France and Lorraine are only allowed to teach German... The new teacher will arrive tomorrow. Today is your last French class."

Ces quelques paroles me bouleversèrent. Ah. ! Les misérables, voilà ce qu'ils avaient affiché à la mairie. Ma dernière le?on de fran?ais ! Et moi qui savais à peine écrire ! Je n'apprendrais donc jamais ! Il faudrait donc en rester là ! Comme je m It's a great place to stay, a great place to stay, a great place to stay, a great place to stay, a great place to be, a great place to be! These words shocked me. ah! These bad guys, this is the message they posted on the village *** bulletin board.

My last French class! …I’ve only just learned to write! I will never learn French again! So much for French! How I regret my wasted time now! I regret that I used to skip class to dig out bird's nests and go skating on the Saar River! My books, my grammar textbooks, my sacred history books, which just a moment ago felt so annoying and heavy on my back, are now like old friends that I can’t part with.

C'est me M. Hamel. L'idée qu'il allait partir, que je ne le verrais plus, me faisait oublier les punitions, les coups de règle. Pauvre homme!

And Mr. Amer. The thought of him leaving and never seeing me again made me forget the previous punishments and beatings. Poor man! Celadon It's a good thing, it's a real regret, it's a vengeance, it's a vengeance, it's a vengeance. Qui s'en allait...

He was dressed in beautiful holiday clothes to celebrate this last class. Now, I understand why the old people in the village sit at the back of the classroom. It seems to say that they regret not coming to school more often. This is also like a way to show respect to our teachers for their forty years of excellent teaching and to a land that will not belong to them in the future..."

J'en étais là de mes réflexions, quand It's a great time. A great tour of the city. Aux premiers mots, et je restai debout à me balancer dans mon banc, le coeur gros, sans oser lever la tête. J'entendais M. Hamel qui me parlait:

I was confined to meditation, suddenly I heard my name being called. It was my turn to recite the participle rule. What price would I not pay if I could recite this important participle rule loudly, clearly and accurately from beginning to end? I couldn't understand the first words. I stood in front of the stool, swaying from side to side. I felt so uncomfortable that I didn't dare to raise my head.

I heard Mr. Amer say:

? Maintenant ces gens-là sont en droit de nous dire: "Comment! Vous prétendiez être Fran?ais, et vous ne savez ni lire ni écrire votre langue!" Dans tout ?a, mon pauvre Franz, ce n'est pas encore toi le plus coupable. Nous avons tous notre bonne part de reproches à nous faire.

"I don't blame you, my little Franz, you've probably been punished enough... That's just the way it is. Every day, we say to ourselves : Forget it! I have plenty of time. I will study tomorrow. Now, you know what happened... Alas! The greatest misfortune of us Alsatians is to postpone our education until tomorrow. : 'What! You claim to be French, but you neither speak nor write your language! '... My poor Franz, it is not you who are most responsible for all this. We all have a lot to blame ourselves for. -même, n'ai-je rien à me reprocher ? Est-ce que ne vous ai pas souvent fait arroser mon jardin au lieu de travailler ? Et quand je voulais aller pêcher des truites, est-ce que je me gênais pour vous donner congé ?... ?

“Your parents did not try their best to let you study well. They would rather send you to work in the fields or cotton mills in order to earn more money.

As for myself, don’t I have nothing to blame myself for? Don’t I often ask you to water my garden instead of studying? When I want to catch trout, don't I just give you a day off? ”

Alors, d'une chose à l'autre, M. Hamel se mit à nous parler de la langue fran?aise, disant que c'était la plus belle langue du monde, la plus claire, plus solide; qu'il fallait la garder entre nous et ne jamais l'oublier, parce que, quand un peuple tombe esclave, tant qu'il tient bien sa langue, c'est me s'il tenait la clef de sa prison ... puisil prit une grammaire et nous lut notre le?on. J'étais étonné de voir me je prenais. It’s all about patience and patience. It’s all about patience. .

Mr. Amer talked from one thing to another, and then started to speak French to us. He said that French is the most beautiful language in the world, the clearest language and the most rigorous. language, we should master it and never forget it, because when a nation becomes a slave, as long as it preserves its language well, it is like holding the key to the prison... Then, he took a grammar We started reading the text. What surprised me was that everything he said seemed very easy to me. I also felt that I had never listened so carefully before. I have never been so patiently explained. This poor man seems to want to impart all his knowledge to us before leaving here, so that we can master it all at once.

La le?on finie, on passa à l'écriture. . papier. .. Surrounding the house, it’s a great place to be. It’s a great place to be!

?

After explaining the text, we started to practice writing. On this day, Mr. Amer prepared many brand-new calligraphy cards for us, which were written in beautiful round characters: France, Alsace, France, Alsace. These copybook cards hang from the metal poles of our desks, like many small flags flying in the classroom. You should know that everyone is so focused and the classroom is so silent! All that could be heard was the rustling of the pen tip on the paper.

Once, several scarabs ran into the classroom, but no one paid attention to them, not even the youngest ones. They were concentrating on practicing straight strokes, as if these strokes were also French... On the roof of the school, pigeons were low They were cooing loudly, and as I listened, I thought: "Could they force these pigeons to sing in German?"

De temps en temps, quand je levais les yeux de dessus ma page , je voyais M. Hamel immobile dans sa chair and fixant les objets autour de lui, me s'il avait voulu emporter dans son regard toute sa petite maison d'école... Pensez! depuis quarante ans, il était là à la même Place, avec and cour face de lui and class toute pareille. Seulement les bancs, les pupitres s'étaient polis, frottés par l'usage; les noyers de la cour avaient grandi, et le houblon qu'il avait planté lui- It’s a great place to stay. It’s a great place to be. It’s a great place to be. It’s a great place to be. It’s a great place to be, it’s a great place to be, it’s a great place to be, it’s a great place to be, it’s a fermenter. Leurs Malles! He looked at everything around him, as if he wanted to take everything in this small classroom into his eyes and take him away... As you can imagine! For forty years, he has stayed in this place, guarding the courtyard opposite and the classrooms that have remained unchanged. Only the stools and desks in the classroom were polished smooth by the students; the walnut tree in the yard grew taller, and the hop tree he planted himself now covered the windows and climbed to the roof. How sad it was for the poor man to hear his sister packing her things in the upstairs bedroom, and to think that he was about to say goodbye to everything before him! Because they are leaving tomorrow and leaving their hometown forever.

The courage to be brave and the courage to be brave. BE BI BO BU. Là-bas, au fond de la salle, vieux Hauser avait mis ses lutes, et, tenant son abécédaire à deux mains, épelait les letters avec eux. On voyait qu'il s'appliquait lui aussi: It's a great place to be. It's a great place to be! It's a great place to be! It's a great place to be...

He actually had the courage to finish our class. After practicing calligraphy, we had a history lesson; then the little ones sang Ba Be Bi Bo Bu together. At the back of the classroom, old man Ozelle put on his glasses, held a literacy textbook in his hands, and read together with us. I found that he was equally attentive, and his voice was trembling with excitement, which sounded funny and made us want to laugh and cry at the same time. oh! I will never forget this last lesson... It's a great experience... M. Hamel se leva, tout p?le, dans sa chaire. Jamais, ne m'avait paru si grand.

Suddenly, the church bells rang. Twelve times, and then the prayer bells. At the same time, the trumpets of the Prussian soldiers returning to camp after drills echoed under our windows... Mr. Amer stood up from his chair, his face very pale. He has never looked so tall in my mind.

? Mes amis, dit-il, mes, je... je... ?

Mais quelque chose l'étouffait. Il ne pouvait pas achever sa phrase.

p>

It’s a great place to watch a tableau, it’s a beautiful place to watch, it’s a beautiful place to watch, it’s a beautiful place to be!

? VIVE LA FRANCE ! ?

The rest of the world is the perfect place to stay.

? C'est fini... allez-vous- en. ?

"My friends," he said, "my friends, I...I..." But something blocked his throat. He couldn't finish the sentence. At this time, he turned around, picked up a piece of chalk, and used all his strength to write a few words on the blackboard as big as possible:

"Long live France!"

Then, he stayed there, leaning his head against the wall, without saying a word, just gesturing to us with his hands:

"The class is over... you can go."