He made laws. Who did he make laws for?"
"For the Greeks."
"He made laws for the Lacedemonians. Who was another great
lawgiver?"
"It was--it was--Pericles."
"No, it was n't. It was Solon. Who was Solon?"
"Solon was one of the wise men of Greece."
"That's right. When did he flourish?"
When the train stops at a station the classics continue, and the
studious group attracts the attention of the passengers. Pa is well
pleased, but not so the young lady, who beseechingly says,
"Pa, everybody can hear us."
"You would n't care how much they heard, if you knew it," replies
this accomplished devotee of learning.
In another lull of the car-wheels we find that pa has skipped over to
Marathon; and this time it is the daughter who is asking a question.
"Pa, what is a phalanx?"
"Well, a phalanx--it's a--it's difficult to define a phalanx. It's a
stretch of men in one line,--a stretch of anything in a line. When
did Alexander flourish?"
This domestic tyrant had this in common with the rest of us, that he
was much better at asking questions than at answering them. It
certainly was not our fault that we were listeners to his instructive
struggles with ancient history, nor that we heard his petulant
complaining to his cowed family, whom he accused of dragging him away
on this summer trip.
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