The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-03-14
THE BAD BOY Is SMlTTEN.
STRUCK UPON ONE CHEEK. He MEEK-
LY TURNS THE OTHER.
The Result Not What He Was Led 10
Expect from his Pa and his Teach
er-TheOry versus Practice.


base balll" asked the groceryman of the
bad boy, as he came in the store with both
cheeks sticking out and looking red. "I'll
bet you have got your mouth full of ben
zine, or something, and you are going to
play some joke on me, by squirting it on
the stove"
''No. amt got nothing in my mouth, {"
said the boy, in voice that sounded as
though he was trying to talk with a hot
potato in his mouth "This is my Sunday
school lesson. was smote on one check
and l turned the other, and nearly had
my neck broke. Not any more turning
the other cheek for Hennery"
"Oh, go way" said the groceryman.
"You wasn't such a blamed fool as to
turn the other cheek, when you got hit,
was your" And then, examining the boys
cheeks and finding them sweled up he
added "by lingo, 1 believe you did. How
was it, anyway"
"Well, it was in the lesson" said the
boy, land my teacher said it was the
greatest triumph in the world for per-
son to be able to turn the other cheek
when smote on one check. l asked him
if people ever did that, and he said our
best citizens did. He said it required
great deal of patience, but person
should always turn the other cheek also
/ asked pa about it, and pa said the
teacher was right, and that it was the
duty of every citizen to turn the other
| cheek when smote on one cheek, and he
should always do so. Well. sir, l want
to be good, and just longed for some
body to smite me on one cheek so / could
turn the other also, but it seemed as
though the smiters were not on the war
path, and for two days l had to 60
around without being smote. But We'd
nesday afternoon l was down by the
theatre, where they were having matt
nee, and there was lot of boys slid
ing on a smooth piece of ice in the
gutter, and l rushed on to slide, and
l run against boy, and he
hauled off and damned me on this cheek
| Oh, gosh, but Ibid see stars. I'm! But
didn't he smite. was going to pick up
froze cat that was in the street, and hit
him, when happened to think of turn
ing the other cheek, and l turned my
face toward him, and he gave me
another, right here. OH oh! But it was
ten times bigger than the other smote,
and l guess it made me crazy. Anyway,
l shall plead insanity to get out of it."
sect out of what2" asked the grocery
man. "You don't have to get out of
anything If he hit you couple of
times, and you stood it, you don't have
to get out of anything"
YES, but l didn't stand it." said the
| boy, as he felt of his swelled check
"When he hit me that last rap it knocked
all the meekness out of me, and l went
at him, and we had an awful fight.
He wouldn't turn his other cheek,
so l turned it for him, and l warmed
him so he hollered enough. But l
was sorry afterward, and felt as though l
would be ashamed to meet pa or my
teacher So thought l would see how
those good men would stand being
smote, and found Teller who wanted
to earn two shillings, and l hired him
to smote pa and the teacher, just to see
how they would turn the other check
The teacher keeps books in a store, and
goes to lunch in a restaurant, and when
he came along the fellow l had hired
went up to him and slapped him on the
cheek, not very hard, but just hard
enough to make him feel as though he
was hit. looked for the teacher to turn
the other check, but, gosh, he turned
pale and run down the alley back of the
store, and his coat-tails stuck out so you
could play marbles. on them. / yelled
to him to turn the other check, but he
run faster, and the next morning the
paper told about a dastardly attempt
at highway robbery and assassina-
ton on the street, in broad daylight one
of our most respected citizens being the
victim, and only for his presence of mind
the attempt would have been successful
Well, thought should die when read
that. Then l had my hired man try it
on pa. knew pa would turn his other
check, because he said that was the ri yht
thing to do. But when the fellow hit
pa, pa turned and LANDED the fellow
right in the ear, and then yelled for a
policeman, but my hired man got out of
the way. That night pa said he had
narrow escape from being sand-bagged,
and | asked him if he turned the other
cheek also, and he said not if he knowed
it. don think this is the right kind
of climate for turning the other cheek
when you are smote, do you?"
"Well," said the groceryman, as he
looked at the boys swelled cheeks, ''it
is hard to make rule that will apply in
all kinds of cases. The idea is good
one, to turn the other cheek,
but we are apt to forget, especially
if, on a casual inspection of the smiter
we think we can whip him, or if he is so
small that his shifting does not hurt. But
when a man deliberately belts me in the
jaw, and dislocates it, l Immediately
think that one jaw is enough to have
fractured at once. / guess when tina.
shifting business became the custom, and
people turned the other cheek, they
didn't strike from the shoulder the way
they do now days. think the best way
is to put up your arms and ward off the
blow, and try to reason with the smiter,
and if he insists on shifting, sort of &C
cidentally cuff him in the nose. That
brings a smiter to his senses about as
quick as anything. And so your pa
didn't practice what he preached, ehg'
''Not much. He got hot in a minute,