Boys are, on the whole, such good fellows, and so full of
fine unsophisticated qualities, that the mature mind would gladly turn
away its eyes from beholding their iniquities. Even a cruel bully does
not inevitably and invariably develop into a bad man. He is, let us
hope, only passing through the savage stage, in which the torture of
prisoners is a recognised institution. He has, perhaps, too little
imagination to understand the pain he causes. Very often bullying is not
physically cruel, but only a perverted sort of humour, such as Kingsley,
in "Hypatia," recognised among his favourite Goths. I remember a feeble
foolish boy at school (feeble he certainly was, and was thought foolish)
who became the subject of much humorous bullying. His companions used to
tie a thin thread round his ear, and attach this to a bar at such a
height that he could only avoid breaking it by standing on tiptoe. But
he was told that he must not break the thread. To avoid infringing this
commandment, he put himself to considerable inconvenience and afforded
much enjoyment to the spectators.
Men of middle age, rather early middle age, remember the two following
species of bullying to which they were subjected, and which, perhaps, are
obsolescent. Tall stools were piled up in a pyramid, and the victim was
seated on the top, near the roof of the room. The other savages brought
him down from this bad eminence by hurling other stools at those which
supported him.
Pages:
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283