Charles Dudley Warner （b. 1829,-） was born at Plainfield,Mass. In 1851 he graduated at Hamilton College,and in 1856 was admitted tthe bar at Philadelphia,but moved tChicagtpractice his profession. There he remained until 1860,when he became connected with the press at Hartford,Conn.and has ever since devoted himself tliterature. "My Summer in a Garden," "Saunterings," and "Backlog Studies" are his best known works. The following extract is from "Being a Boy."
1.Say what you will about the general usefulness of boys,it is my impression that a farm without a boy would very soon come tgrief. What the boy does is the life of the farm. He is the factotum1,always in demand,always expected tdthe thousand indispensable2 things that nobody else will do. Upon him fall all the odds and ends,the most difficult things.
2.After everybody else is through,he has tfinish up. His work is like a woman’s,-perpetually3 waiting on others. Everybody knows how much easier it is teat a good dinner than it is twash the dishes afterwards. Consider what a boy on a farm is required tdo,-things that must be done,or life would actually stop.
3.It is understood,in the first place,that he is tdall the errands,tgtthe store,tthe post office,and tcarry all sorts of messages. If he had as many legs as a centiped4,they would tire before.1 Factotum,a person employed tdall kinds of work. 2 Indispensable,absolutely necessary.3Perpetually,continually.4Centiped,an insect with a great number of feet.night. His twshort limbs seem thim entirely inadequate tthe task. He would like thave as many legs as a wheel has spokes,and rotate about in the same way.
4.This he sometimes tries tdo;and the people whhave seen him "turning cart wheels" along the side of the road,have supposed that he was amusing himself and idling his time;he was only trying tinvent a new mode of locomotion,sthat he could economize1 his legs,and dhis errands with greater dispatch2.
5.He practices standing on his head,in order taccustom himself tany position. Leapfrog is one of his methods of getting over the ground quickly. He would willingly gan errand any distance if he could leapfrog it with a few other boys.
6.He has a natural genius for combining pleasure with business. This is the reason why,when he is sent tthe spring for a pitcher of water,he is absent slong;for he stops tpoke the frog that sits on the stone,or,if there is a penstock3,tput his hand over the spout,and squirt the water a little while.
7.He is the one whspreads the grass when the men have cut it;he mows it away in the barn;he rides the horse,tcultivate the corn,up and down the hot,weary rows;he picks up the potatoes when they are dug;he drives the cows night and morning;he brings wood and water,and splits kindling;he gets up the horse,and puts out the horse;whether he is in the house or out of it,there is always something for him tdo.
8.Just before the school in winter he shovels paths;in summer he turns the grindstone. He knows where there are lots of wintergreens and sweet flags,but instead of going for them,he is tstay indoors and pare apples,and stone raisins,and pound something in a mortar. And yet,with his mind full of schemes of what he would like tdo,and his hands full of occupations,he is an idle boy,whhas nothing tbusy himself.1Economize,tsave.
2Dispatch,diligence,haste.3Penstock,a wooden tube for conducting water.with but school and chores1!
9.He would gladly dall the work if somebody else would dthe chores,he thinks;and yet I doubt if any boy ever amounted tanything in the world,or was of much use as a man,whdid not enjoy the advantages of a liberal education in the way of chores.1Chores,the light work of the household either within or without doors.