Читать книгу The Journey: How an obscure Byzantine Saint became our Santa Claus - David Price Williams - Страница 24

the plays of Aeschylus, the dialogues of Plato and Pliny’s ‘Naturalis Historia’, or reading Xenophon’s ‘Anabasis’ or Herodotus ‘Histories’.

“Discourse on the metaphysical nature of Socrates’ responses in ‘Crito’,” I would be asked.

I would usually mumble some nonsense or another; after all, what did I know about metaphysics. Then I would be rapped hard over the knuckles for being a dunce, or for not paying attention, or for gazing out of the open doorway at Irene the maid cleaning the courtyard outside. What did I care at my age about Greek philosophy? It was hundreds of years ago. I was often dreaming about the afternoon, directly after our mid-day meal, when I could go fishing with my friend Demetrius. We often did that. But the mornings always dragged, particularly when I had to read Homer aloud to my tutor with the original pronunciation and rhythm.

“No, no, no!” he would bellow at me. “Will you pay attention, Nicholas? This is Agamemnon’s most important speech, you dolt!” clouting me around the ear at the same time for good measure.

I tried to plead with my father, but to no avail. He wanted his son to be better educated than he. And so it was that I grew up schooled in the Classics while he remained an untutored countryman who through native resourcefulness and hard

THE JOURNEY