学进去

My teacher held up a piece of broken glass and asked, “Who broke this window?”

Thirty boys tried to think about not only what they had done, but also what our teacher may have found out. She seldom became angry, but she was this time.

“Oh,” I thought. I was the one who broke the window. But I didn’t mean to do it. Actually, it was caused by a naughty throw of a baseball. If I admitted guilt, I would be in a lot of trouble. How would I be able to pay for a big window like that? I didn’t even get pocket money. “My father is going to be extremely angry.” I thought. I didn’t want to raise my hand, but some force much stronger pulled it upward. I told the truth. “I did it.” It was hard enough to say what I had.

My teacher took down a book from one of our library shelves and I knew my teacher had never struck a student, but I feared she was going to start with me.

“I know how you like birds,” she said as she stood looking down at my guilty face. “Here is a field guide about birds. It is yours now. It’s time we got a new one for the school. You will not be punished as long as you remember that I am not rewarding you for your misdeed, I am rewarding you for your honesty.”

I couldn’t believe it! I wasn’t being punished and I was getting my own bird field guide — the very one that I had been saving money to buy.

What my teacher taught me that day is about a lesson, which remains in my heart every day, and I will appreciate it forever.