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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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1053 looks expressive of her strong admiration of Mr Squeers, his person, manners, and conversation, replied that the rheumatics were better. ‘What’s the reason,’ said Mr Squeers, deriving fresh facetiousness from the bottle; ‘what’s the reason of rheumatics? What do they mean? What do people have’em for--eh?’ Mrs Sliderskew didn’t know, but suggested that it was possibly because they couldn’t help it. ‘Measles, rheumatics, hooping-cough, fevers, agers, and lumbagers,’ said Mr Squeers, ‘is all philosophy together; that’s what it is. The heavenly bodies is philosophy, and the earthly bodies is philosophy. If there’s a screw loose in a heavenly body, that’s philosophy; and if there’s screw loose in a earthly body, that’s philosophy too; or it may be that sometimes there’s a little metaphysics in it, but that’s not often. Philosophy’s the chap for me. If a parent asks a question in the classical, commercial, or mathematical line, says I, gravely, “Why, sir, in the first place, are you a philosopher?”--“No, Mr Squeers,” he says, “I an’t.” “Then, sir,” says I, “I am sorry for you, for I shan’t be able to explain it.” Naturally, the parent goes away and wishes he was a philosopher, and, equally naturally, thinks I’m one.’ Saying this, and a great deal more, with tipsy profundity and a serio-comic air, and keeping his eye all the time on Mrs Sliderskew, who was unable to hear one word, Mr Squeers concluded by helping himself and passing the bottle: to which Peg did becoming reverence. ‘That’s the time of day!’ said Mr Squeers. ‘You look twenty pound ten better than you did.’ Again Mrs Sliderskew chuckled, but modesty forbade her |
