El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-28
Little BObbie and His Pa
BOb5ie Hears Pa and Ma Argue
About Whether He Should Take
Up Latin or Not.
William F, Kirk

r THINK BObbie ought not to take up
Latin next fall. sed Ma, it is TOO
hard for him. doant see any sense
in him learning ded langwidge.
You doant understand, sed Pa The
teechers at the skool knows best what
Bobbie shud take up. Thay have dee
voted thare whole life to reering the
minds Of the yung- Let him talk Latin
If the teacher thinks he shud
But the Ieecher doesn't say he must
take Latin, sed Ma The class has the
rite to choose wether thay want to talk
Lalln or German. think ii Wud be
nicer for him to lern sum nice, home
like langWidge ike German, so it viii
be useful 10 him in his everyday life.
There is lots Of Germans in this town,
sed Ma. & if ne shud happen to git a
JOB clerking in a bank or a stoar his
German Wud help him moar than a ded
langW1dge like Latin. I doant know
anything about the Latin, sed Ma 4
doant think thare is any of them alive.
1t always amuSeS me to hear a WO-
man talk < talk and doant say any
thing. sed Pa You dOant understand
Latin is CRATE langWidge for any
boy to lern. 1t gives him a. insite into
the English langwidge, witch is bilt up
largely on Latin That is why have
Sucn line flow OF langW1dge, Pa Seds
flow of langwidge that I guess you
often wish you had wen I cum hOam
lait he sed to Ma
How much Latin did you study?
asked Ma.
am master at it, sed Pa I stud
led 1t all the four years was in the
high skOOl. I studded Cicero's inva-
shun of Gaul & how julius Caesar dec
fled Catiline in the senate of Rome.
How well I remember them ringing
words Of his: Pax vobiscum, ct cum
spiritu tue. nux Tomicai" & then you
ask me about Latin, Pa sed. Why, he
sed to Ma, I cud set here all day &
talk Latin to you II you wud under
stand any OF II, but wen 1 am in one
Of my deep moods you doan't eeven
understand my fine English.
You are a perfeck wonder, aren't
you2 sed Ma Now let me tell you
sumthing. & am going to correck
Klaus I think it wud teech you a dessOn-
you are all mixed up in your Latin It
was julius Caesar which invaded Gaul,
q 1t was Cicero which denounced Cati-
line in the Roman senate Am 1 rite,
Bobby?
You are rite, I toald Ma I wasent
thare but herd the teecher say so.
The teecher didnet say so, or if the
teeeher did say so the teecher is
fool, sed Pa Why, I surely ought TO
see the lines in the text books now,
ware Cicero tells about his first trip
to GauL He sed "Omnia Gaul is
trespassing parties such as 2 Pluribus
Unum & ora pro nobisky." Doant tell
me that am rusty on my Latin. sed
Pa, know it as well as 7 know my
own son: remember how one of the
Gauls didnet like Cicero & he sed
Cicero" sed he, Cicero, why do you
cum here K lay waste our lands and
destroy our hOams" and Cicero sed to
Gaul 'Gaulia de mortuis nil nisi bon
um," which means in English Well
Gaul, like yure gall
Doant anser ydre father, Bobbie. sed
Ma This has been a very hot day
down town, & am afrade the beet has
went to his deer he'd. Go & git sum
cracked ice, Bobbie, & I will bring him
around all rite.
Then we put cracked ice on Pas he'd
and he went to sleep. I guess I viii
talk German insted of Latin