Our story today is called "Pauls Case." It was written by Willa
Cather. "Pauls Case" will be told in two parts. Here is Kay Gallant
with part one of the story.
Paul hated school. He did not do his
homework. He did not like his teachers. Pauls father did not know what
to do with him. His teachers did not know either. One afternoon, all his
teachers at Pittsburgh high school met together with him to discuss his
case. Paul was late. When he entered the room his teachers sat waiting
for him.
He was tall for his age and very thin. His clothes were
too small for him, but they were clean. He had a bright red flower in
the button hole of his black jacket. One of the teachers asked paul why
he had come to the meeting. Paul said politely that he wanted to do
better in school. This was a lie. Paul often lied.
His teachers
began to speak. They had many complaints. One said Paul talked to the
other students instead of paying attention to the lessons. Another said
Paul always sat in class with his hands covering his eyes. A third
teacher said Paul looked out the window instead of looking at her. His
teachers attacked him without mercy.
Pauls eyesbrows moved up and
down as his teachers spoke. His smile never left his face, but his
fingers shook as he touched the flower on his coat. At last the meeting
was over. Pauls smile got even wider. He bowed gracefully and left the
room.
His teachers were angry and confused. The art teacher spoke
for all of them when he said there was something about paul that he
didnt understand. "I dont think he really means to be bad," he said.
"Theres just something wrong with that boy." Then the art teacher
remembered one warm afternoon when Paul had fallen asleep in his class.
Pauls face was white with thin blue veins under the skin. The boys face
looked tired and lined, like an old mans. His eyebrows moved up and
down, even in his sleep.
After he left the meeting, Paul ran down
the hill from the school whistling. He was late for his job at the
concert hall. Paul was an usher there. He showed people to their seats.
He carried messages for them. He brought them their programs with a
polite bow. Everyone thought he was a charming boy and the best usher at
the hall.
When Paul reached the concert hall that evening, he
went immediately to the dressing room. About six boys were already
there. Paul began changing his clothes with excited hands. He loved his
green uniform with the gold pockets and design.
Paul rushed into
the concert hall as soon as he had changed clothes. He ran up and down
the hall, helping people. He became more and more excited. His face
became pink and his eyes seemed larger and very bright. He looked almost
handsome. At last everyone was seated. The orchestra began to play and
Paul sat down with a sign of relief.
The music seemed to free
something in Pauls spirit. Then a woman came out and began to sing. She
had a rich, strong soprano voice. Paul felt truly happy for the first
time that day.
At the end of the concert Paul went back to the
dressing room. After he had changed his clothes again he went outside
the concert hall. He decided to wait for the singer to come out. While
he waited he looked across the street to the large hotel called "The
Schenley." All the important people stayed at The Schenley when they
visited Pittsburgh. Paul had never been inside it, but he used to stand
near the hotels wide glass doors. He liked to watch the people enter and
leave. He believed if he could only enter this kind of a hotel, he
would be able to leave school, his teachers, and his ordinary, gray life
behind him. . . forever.
At last the singer came out of the
concert hall. Paul followed her as she walked to the hotel. He was part
of a large crowd of admirers who had waited to see her. When they all
reached the hotel, she turned and waved. Then the doors opened and she
disappeared inside. Paul stared into the hotel as the doors slowly
closed. He could feel the warm, sweet air inside. And for a moment, he
felt part of a golden world of sparkling lights and marble floors. He
thought about the mysterious dishes of food being served in the hotels
dining room. He thought about green bottles of wine growing cold in
silver buckets of ice.
He turned away from the hotel and walked
home. He thought of his room with its horrible yellow wallpaper, the old
bed with its ugly red cover. He shook his head.
Soon he was
walking down the street where he lived. All the houses on Cordelia
Street were exactly alike. Middle class businessmen had bought them for
their families. All their children went to school and to church. They
loved arithmetic. As Paul walked toward his house he felt as if he were
drowning in ugliness. He longed for cool colors and soft lights and
fresh flowers. He didnt want to see his ugly bedroom or the cold
bathroom with its cracked mirror and gray floor.
Paul went around
to the back of his fathers house. He found an open window and climbed
into the kitchen. Then he went downstairs to the basement. He was afraid
of rats. But he did not want to face his own bedroom. Paul couldnt
sleep. He sat on the floor and stared into the darkness until morning
came.
The following Sunday Paul had to go to church with his
family. Afterwards, everyone came home and ate a big dinner. Then all
the people who lived on Cordelia Street came outside to visit each
other.
After supper Paul asked his father if he could visit a
friend to get some help with his arithmetic. Paul left the house with
his school books under his arm. But he didnt go to his friends house.
Instead he went to see Charley Edwards. Charley was a young actor. Paul
liked to spend as much time as he could at the theater where Charley
Edwards and his group acted in their plays.
It was only at the
theater and the concert hall that Paul felt really alive. The moment he
smelled the air of these places he felt like a prisoner suddenly set
free. As soon as he heard the concert hall orchestra play he forgot all
the ugly, unpleasant events in his own life.
Paul had discovered that any kind of music awakened his imagination.
Paul
didnt want to become a musician, however. He didnt want to become an
actor, either. He only wanted to be near people who were actors and
musicians. He wanted to see the kind of life these artists led.
Paul
found a schoolroom even worse after a night at the theater or the
concert hall. He hated the schools bare floors and cracked walls. He
turned away from his dull teachers in their plain clothes. He tried to
show them how little he thought of them and the studies they taught.
He
would bring photographs of all the actors he knew to school. He would
tell the other students that he spent his evenings with these people at
elegant restaurants. Then he would announce that he was going away to
Europe or to California, or to Egypt for a while. The next day he would
come to school smiling nervously. His sister was ill, he would say. But
he was still planning to make his trip next spring.
Pauls problems
at school became worse. Even after the meeting with his teachers,
things did not get better. He told them he had no time to study grammar
and arithmetic. He told them he had to help the actors in the theater.
They were old friends of his.
Finally, his teachers went to Pauls
father. He took Paul out of school and made him get a job. He told the
manager at the concert hall that Paul could not work there anymore. His
father warned the doorman at the theater not to let Paul into the place.
And Charley Edwards promised Pauls father not to see Paul again.
All
the actors at the theater laughed when they heard about the stories
Paul had been telling. The women thought it was funny that Paul had told
people he took them out to nice restaurants and sent them flowers. They
agreed with the teachers and with his father that Pauls was a bad case.
ANNOUNCER:
You
have just heard part one of the American story "Pauls Case." It was
written by Willa Cather. Your storyteller was Kay Gallant. Listen again
next week at this time for the final part of "Pauls Case" told in
Special English on the Voice of America. Im Steve Ember.

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