Vol. 49 No. 3 1982 - page 391

BEATRICE TAUSS
391
How the children love these scenes of accusation and trial.
Transgression and retribution occupy them wholly. They cluster
around, a silent, intense Greek chorus, waiting for the decree.
And what about that strictly forbidden splash in defense of his
prowess? Could I say "bravo"? I want to gather him up and give him
comfort. But I must pronounce his doom. Will he promise, here,
before us all , never to do it again? Then, I give him another chance.
This is power. I don't like the taste.
We reassembled and resumed the plan. Daniel approached and
whispered in my ear.
If
he was good the rest of the day, could he be
"the child who sits in the front"? Regular custom prescribed it; the
children looked for it eagerly. For the last fifteen minutes the teacher
would read the class a story. One child , the good child, was chosen
to sit next to the teacher, in the front. Robin Sandra had certainly
sat there many times. And Dan had hungered for this prize . How far
out of his reach it must have seemed. But, today-
He contained himself for the rest of the dragging afternoon by
main force. He trembled with hope and impatience. We could not
know what fires of purification he passed through to make himself
ready for his triumph . At last. He was conscious of the occasion. He
advanced in solemn majesty holding himself erect and stiff. He did
not hurry. He seemed to want them all to see and to make no
mistake . He sat down at my right, before the bewildered eyes of his
fellows. He held his hands clasped rigidly in his lap, his knees drawn
up tight. He turned his great black eyes on the class, to see whether
they all , all- including Angela who couldn't get beyond the letter
A,
and Pedro whose mother he had in leaner times insulted, and Elsie
who never wanted to hold his hand during the line-up, and the fat
boy in the back seat who never knew what to do, and the Princess
Robin herself whose delicate forefinger had singled him out in a
whiplash - he wanted to see whether all of them, the whole world,
noticed that he, Dan, had been chosen. He sat down, licking honey.
I began to read from "Rumplestiltskin." In the silence of that
grimy room, the bafHed captive was again helped to perform a
miracle. Against all expectation and common experience, straw was
once more turned to gold .
I felt a tiny tug at my skirt. I leaned down and Dan whispered
in my ear. Then he put his head in my lap.
There were hoots and cries of derision and laughter and
sneenng.
"Baby!" "Baby!"
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