The Schooldays of Jesus Read Online Free Page A

other, in a way that you and Maite don’t. You and she can’t feel passion because you are still too young. Accept that as a fact and don’t ask me to explain why. Passion can’t be explained, it can only be experienced. More exactly, it has to be experienced from the inside before it can be understood from the outside. What matters is that you and Maite should not have sexual intercourse because sexual intercourse without passion is meaningless.’
    â€˜But is it horrible?’
    â€˜No, it isn’t horrible, it is just an unwise thing to do, unwise and frivolous. Any more questions?’
    â€˜Maite says she wants to marry me.’
    â€˜And you? Do you want to marry Maite?’
    â€˜No. I don’t ever want to get married.’
    â€˜Well, you may change your mind about that when the passions arrive.’
    â€˜Are you and Inés going to get married?’
    He does not reply. The boy trots to the door. ‘Inés!’ he calls out. ‘Are you and Simón going to get married?’
    â€˜ Shush! ’ comes Inés’s angry retort. She re-enters the dormitory. ‘That’s enough talk. It’s time for you to go to bed.’
    â€˜Do you have passions, Inés?’ asks the boy.
    â€˜That is none of your business,’ says Inés.
    â€˜Why don’t you ever want to talk to me?’ says the boy. ‘Simón talks to me.’
    â€˜I do talk to you,’ says Inés. ‘But not about private matters. Now brush your teeth.’
    â€˜I’m not going to have passions,’ the boy announces.
    â€˜That is what you say today,’ says he, Simón. ‘But as you grow up you will find that the passions have a life of their own. Now hurry up and brush your teeth, and maybe your mother will read you a goodnight story.’

CHAPTER 3
    ROBERTA, WHOM on the first day they took to be the owner of the farm, is in fact an employee like them, employed to oversee the workers, to supply them with rations and pay them their wages. She is a friendly person, well liked by all. She takes an interest in the workers’ personal lives and brings little treats for the children: sweets, biscuits, lemonade. The farm is owned, they learn, by three sisters known far and wide simply as the Three Sisters, elderly now, and childless, who divide their time between the farm and their residence in Estrella.
    Roberta has a long conversation with Inés. ‘What are you going to do about your son’s schooling?’ she asks. ‘I can see he is a bright lad. It would be a pity if he ended up like Bengi, who has never been to a proper school. Not that there is anything wrong with Bengi. He is a nice boy, but he has no future. He will just be a farm labourer like his parents, and what kind of life is that, in the long term?’
    â€˜David went to a school in Novilla,’ says Inés. ‘It wasn’t a success. He didn’t have good teachers. He is a naturally cleverchild. He found the pace in the classroom too slow. We had to remove him and educate him at home. I am afraid that if we put him in a school here he will have the same experience.’
    Inés’s account of their dealings with the school system of Novilla is less than wholly truthful. He and Inés had agreed to keep quiet about their entanglements with the authorities in Novilla; but evidently Inés feels free to confide in the older woman, and he does not intervene.
    â€˜Does he want to go to school?’ asks Roberta.
    â€˜No, he doesn’t, not after his experiences in Novilla. He is perfectly happy here on the farm. He likes the freedom.’
    â€˜It’s a wonderful life for a child, but the harvest is coming to an end, you know. And running around on a farm like a wild thing is no preparation for the future. Have you thought of a private teacher? Or of an academy? An academy won’t be like a normal school. Maybe an academy would suit a child