July 17, 2025 • 8 mins
Dive into Warners engaging and humor-filled memoir as he shares his experiences growing up on a farm in Charlemont, Massachusetts. Narrated by Mark Penfold, this podcast will transport you back to a simpler time and place.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Chapter ten of Being a Boy by Charles Dudley Warner.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by
Mark Penfold, Chapter ten, First Experience of the World. If
I were forced to be a boy, and a boy
in the country, the best kind of boy to be
(00:22):
in the summer, I would be about ten years of age.
As soon as I got any older, I would quit it.
The trouble with a boy is that just as he
begins to enjoy himself, he is too old and has
to be set to doing something else. If a country
boy were wise, he would stay at just that age
when he could enjoy himself most and have the least
expected of him in the way of work. Of course,
(00:44):
the perfectly good boy will always prefer to work, and
to do chores for his father and errands for his
mother and sisters, rather than enjoy himself in his own way.
I never saw but one such boy. He lived in
the town of Gshen, not the place where the butter
is made, but a much better Goshen than that. And
I never saw him, but I heard of him, and
(01:04):
being about the same age as I supposed, I was
taken once from Zoah, where I lived, to Goshen to
see him, but he was dead. He had been dead
almost a year, so that it was impossible to see him.
He died of the most singular disease. It was not
from eating green apples in the season of them. This boy,
whose name was Solomon, before he died, would rather split
(01:26):
up kindling wood for his mother than go a fishing.
The consequence was that he was kept at splitting kindling
wood and such work most of the time, and grew
a better and more useful boy day by day. Solomon
would not disobey his parents and eat green apples, not
even when they were ripe enough to knock off with
a stick. But he had such a longing for them
that he pined and passed away. If he had eaten
(01:48):
the green apples, he would have died of them. Probably
so that his example is a difficult one to follow.
In fact, a boy is a hard subject to get
a moral from. All his little playmates who ate green
apple came to Solomon's funeral and were very sorry for
what they had done. John was a very different boy
from Solomon, not half so good nor half so dead.
(02:09):
He was a farmer's boy, as Solomon was, but he
did not take so much interest in the farm. If
John could have had his way, he would have discovered
a cave full of diamonds and lots of nail kegs
full of gold pieces and Spanish dollars, with a pretty
little girl living in the cave, and two beautifully caparisoned horses,
upon which, taking the jewels and money, they would have
(02:29):
ridden off together. He did not know where John had
got thus far in his studies, which were apparently arithmetic
in geography, but were in reality the Arabian Nights and
other books of high and mighty adventure. He was a
simple country boy and did not know much about the
world as it is, but he had one of his
own imagination, in which he lived a good deal. I
dare say he found out soon enough what the world is,
(02:51):
And he had a lesson or two when he was
quite young, in two incidents which I may as well relate.
If you had seen John at this time, you might
have thought he was only a shit shabbily dressed country lad.
And you never would have guessed what beautiful thoughts he
sometimes had as he went stubbing his toes along the
dusty road, Nor what a chivalrous little fellow he was.
You would have seen a short boy barefooted with trousers
(03:13):
at once too big and too short, held up perhaps
by one suspender only a checked cotton shirt and a
hat of braided palm leaf frayed at the edges and
bulged up in the crown. It is impossible to keep
a hat in neat if you use it to catch
bumbled bees and whisk em, to bail the water from
a leaky boat, to catch minnows in, to put over
honey bees nests, and to transport pebbles, strawberries and hens eggs.
(03:37):
John usually carried a sling in his hand, or a
bow or a limber stick sharp at one end, from
which he could sling apples at great distance. If he
walked in the road, he walked in the middle of it,
shuffling up the dust. Or if he went elsewhere, he
was likely to be running on the top of the
fence or the stone wall and chasing chipmunks. John knew
the best place to dig sweet flag in all the farm.
(03:59):
It was in a meadow by the river, where the
bobolinks sang so gaily. He never liked to hear the
bobolink sing however, for he said, it always reminded him
of the wetting of a scythe and that reminded him
of spreading hay. And if there was anything he hated,
it was spreading hay after the mowers. I guess you
wouldn't like it yourself, said John, With the stubs getting
(04:19):
into your feet, and the hot sun and the men
getting ahead of you, all you could do Towards evening.
Once John was coming along the road home with some
stalks of the sweet flag in his hand. There was
a succulent pith in the end of the stalk, which
is very good to eat, tender and not so strong
as the root, and John liked to pull it and
carry home what he did not eat. On the way.
(04:41):
As he was walking along, he met a carriage which
stopped opposite to him. He also stopped and bowed, as
country boys used to bow in John's day. A lady
leaned from the carriage and said, what have you got,
little boy. She seemed to be the most beautiful woman
John had ever seen, with light hair, dark tender eyes,
and the sweetest smile. There was that in her gracious
(05:04):
man and in her dress, which reminded John of the
beautiful castle ladies with whom he was well acquainted in books.
He felt that he knew her at once, and he
also seemed to be a sort of young prince himself.
I fancy he didn't look much like one, But of
his own appearance, he thought not at all, As he
replied to the lady's question without the least embarrassment, it's
(05:25):
sweet flag stock. Would you like some? Indeed, I should
like to taste it, said the lady, with a most
winning smile. I used to be very fond of it
when I was a little girl. John was delighted that
the lady should like sweet flag and that she was
pleased to accept it from him. He thought himself that
it was about the best thing to eat he knew.
(05:45):
He handed up a large bunch of it. The lady
took two or three stalks and was about to return
the rest when John said, please keep it all, ma'am.
I can get lots more. I know where it's ever
so thick. Thank you, Thank you, said the lady, and
as the carriage started, she reached out her hand to John.
He did not understand the motion until he saw a
(06:06):
scent drop in the road at his feet. Instantly, all
his illusion and his pleasure vanished. Something like tears were
in his eyes as he shouted, I don't want your scent.
I don't sell flag. John was intensely mortified. I suppose
he said she thought I was a sort of beggar
boy to think of selling flag. At any rate. He
(06:27):
walked away and left the scent in the road a
humiliated boy. The next day he told Jim Gates about it.
Jim said he was green not to take the money.
He'd go and look for it now if he would
tell him about where it dropped. And Jim did spend
an hour poking about in the dirt, but he did
not find the scent. Jim, however, had an idea. He
said he was going to dig sweet flag and see
(06:48):
if another carriage wouldn't come along. John's next rebuff and
knowledge of the world was of another sort. He was
again walking the road at twilight, where he was overtaken
by a wagon with one seat upon which were too
pretty girls and a young gentleman sat between them driving.
It was a merry party, and John could hear them
laughing and singing as they approached him. The wagon stopped
(07:09):
when it overtook him, and one of the sweet faced
girls leaned from the seat and said, quite seriously and pleasantly,
little boy, how's your mar John was surprised and puzzled
for a moment. He had never seen the young lady,
but he thought that she perhaps knew his mother. At
any rate, his instinctive politeness made him say, she's pretty well,
I thank you. Does she know you are out? And
(07:32):
thereupon all three in the wagon burst into a roar
of laughter and dashed on it flashed upon John in
a moment that he had been imposed upon, and it
hurt him dreadfully. His self respect was injured somehow, and
he felt as if his lovely gentle mother had been insulted.
He would like to have thrown a stone at the wagon,
and in a rage he cried, you're a nice but
(07:54):
he couldn't think of any hard, bitter words quick enough.
Probably the young lady, who might have been almost any
young lady, never knew what a cruel thing she had done.
End of Chapter ten. Recording by Mark Penfold
Chapter ten of Being a Boy by Charles Dudley Warner.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by
Mark Penfold, Chapter ten, First Experience of the World. If
I were forced to be a boy, and a boy
in the country, the best kind of boy to be
(00:22):
in the summer, I would be about ten years of age.
As soon as I got any older, I would quit it.
The trouble with a boy is that just as he
begins to enjoy himself, he is too old and has
to be set to doing something else. If a country
boy were wise, he would stay at just that age
when he could enjoy himself most and have the least
expected of him in the way of work. Of course,
(00:44):
the perfectly good boy will always prefer to work, and
to do chores for his father and errands for his
mother and sisters, rather than enjoy himself in his own way.
I never saw but one such boy. He lived in
the town of Gshen, not the place where the butter
is made, but a much better Goshen than that. And
I never saw him, but I heard of him, and
(01:04):
being about the same age as I supposed, I was
taken once from Zoah, where I lived, to Goshen to
see him, but he was dead. He had been dead
almost a year, so that it was impossible to see him.
He died of the most singular disease. It was not
from eating green apples in the season of them. This boy,
whose name was Solomon, before he died, would rather split
(01:26):
up kindling wood for his mother than go a fishing.
The consequence was that he was kept at splitting kindling
wood and such work most of the time, and grew
a better and more useful boy day by day. Solomon
would not disobey his parents and eat green apples, not
even when they were ripe enough to knock off with
a stick. But he had such a longing for them
that he pined and passed away. If he had eaten
(01:48):
the green apples, he would have died of them. Probably
so that his example is a difficult one to follow.
In fact, a boy is a hard subject to get
a moral from. All his little playmates who ate green
apple came to Solomon's funeral and were very sorry for
what they had done. John was a very different boy
from Solomon, not half so good nor half so dead.
(02:09):
He was a farmer's boy, as Solomon was, but he
did not take so much interest in the farm. If
John could have had his way, he would have discovered
a cave full of diamonds and lots of nail kegs
full of gold pieces and Spanish dollars, with a pretty
little girl living in the cave, and two beautifully caparisoned horses,
upon which, taking the jewels and money, they would have
(02:29):
ridden off together. He did not know where John had
got thus far in his studies, which were apparently arithmetic
in geography, but were in reality the Arabian Nights and
other books of high and mighty adventure. He was a
simple country boy and did not know much about the
world as it is, but he had one of his
own imagination, in which he lived a good deal. I
dare say he found out soon enough what the world is,
(02:51):
And he had a lesson or two when he was
quite young, in two incidents which I may as well relate.
If you had seen John at this time, you might
have thought he was only a shit shabbily dressed country lad.
And you never would have guessed what beautiful thoughts he
sometimes had as he went stubbing his toes along the
dusty road, Nor what a chivalrous little fellow he was.
You would have seen a short boy barefooted with trousers
(03:13):
at once too big and too short, held up perhaps
by one suspender only a checked cotton shirt and a
hat of braided palm leaf frayed at the edges and
bulged up in the crown. It is impossible to keep
a hat in neat if you use it to catch
bumbled bees and whisk em, to bail the water from
a leaky boat, to catch minnows in, to put over
honey bees nests, and to transport pebbles, strawberries and hens eggs.
(03:37):
John usually carried a sling in his hand, or a
bow or a limber stick sharp at one end, from
which he could sling apples at great distance. If he
walked in the road, he walked in the middle of it,
shuffling up the dust. Or if he went elsewhere, he
was likely to be running on the top of the
fence or the stone wall and chasing chipmunks. John knew
the best place to dig sweet flag in all the farm.
(03:59):
It was in a meadow by the river, where the
bobolinks sang so gaily. He never liked to hear the
bobolink sing however, for he said, it always reminded him
of the wetting of a scythe and that reminded him
of spreading hay. And if there was anything he hated,
it was spreading hay after the mowers. I guess you
wouldn't like it yourself, said John, With the stubs getting
(04:19):
into your feet, and the hot sun and the men
getting ahead of you, all you could do Towards evening.
Once John was coming along the road home with some
stalks of the sweet flag in his hand. There was
a succulent pith in the end of the stalk, which
is very good to eat, tender and not so strong
as the root, and John liked to pull it and
carry home what he did not eat. On the way.
(04:41):
As he was walking along, he met a carriage which
stopped opposite to him. He also stopped and bowed, as
country boys used to bow in John's day. A lady
leaned from the carriage and said, what have you got,
little boy. She seemed to be the most beautiful woman
John had ever seen, with light hair, dark tender eyes,
and the sweetest smile. There was that in her gracious
(05:04):
man and in her dress, which reminded John of the
beautiful castle ladies with whom he was well acquainted in books.
He felt that he knew her at once, and he
also seemed to be a sort of young prince himself.
I fancy he didn't look much like one, But of
his own appearance, he thought not at all, As he
replied to the lady's question without the least embarrassment, it's
(05:25):
sweet flag stock. Would you like some? Indeed, I should
like to taste it, said the lady, with a most
winning smile. I used to be very fond of it
when I was a little girl. John was delighted that
the lady should like sweet flag and that she was
pleased to accept it from him. He thought himself that
it was about the best thing to eat he knew.
(05:45):
He handed up a large bunch of it. The lady
took two or three stalks and was about to return
the rest when John said, please keep it all, ma'am.
I can get lots more. I know where it's ever
so thick. Thank you, Thank you, said the lady, and
as the carriage started, she reached out her hand to John.
He did not understand the motion until he saw a
(06:06):
scent drop in the road at his feet. Instantly, all
his illusion and his pleasure vanished. Something like tears were
in his eyes as he shouted, I don't want your scent.
I don't sell flag. John was intensely mortified. I suppose
he said she thought I was a sort of beggar
boy to think of selling flag. At any rate. He
(06:27):
walked away and left the scent in the road a
humiliated boy. The next day he told Jim Gates about it.
Jim said he was green not to take the money.
He'd go and look for it now if he would
tell him about where it dropped. And Jim did spend
an hour poking about in the dirt, but he did
not find the scent. Jim, however, had an idea. He
said he was going to dig sweet flag and see
(06:48):
if another carriage wouldn't come along. John's next rebuff and
knowledge of the world was of another sort. He was
again walking the road at twilight, where he was overtaken
by a wagon with one seat upon which were too
pretty girls and a young gentleman sat between them driving.
It was a merry party, and John could hear them
laughing and singing as they approached him. The wagon stopped
(07:09):
when it overtook him, and one of the sweet faced
girls leaned from the seat and said, quite seriously and pleasantly,
little boy, how's your mar John was surprised and puzzled
for a moment. He had never seen the young lady,
but he thought that she perhaps knew his mother. At
any rate, his instinctive politeness made him say, she's pretty well,
I thank you. Does she know you are out? And
(07:32):
thereupon all three in the wagon burst into a roar
of laughter and dashed on it flashed upon John in
a moment that he had been imposed upon, and it
hurt him dreadfully. His self respect was injured somehow, and
he felt as if his lovely gentle mother had been insulted.
He would like to have thrown a stone at the wagon,
and in a rage he cried, you're a nice but
(07:54):
he couldn't think of any hard, bitter words quick enough.
Probably the young lady, who might have been almost any
young lady, never knew what a cruel thing she had done.
End of Chapter ten. Recording by Mark Penfold
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.