WhenErnestwasinhissecondyear，Theobald，asIhavealreadysaid，begantoteachhimtoread。Hebegantowhiphimtwodaysafterhehadbeguntoteachhim。
　　“Itwaspainful。”ashesaidtoChristina，butitwastheonlythingtodoanditwasdone。Thechildwaspuny，whiteandsickly，sotheysentcontinuallyforthedoctorwhodosedhimwithcalomelandJames’spowder。Allwasdoneinlove，anxiety，timidity，stupidity，andimpatience。Theywerestupidinlittlethings；andhethatisstupidinlittlewillbestupidalsoinmuch。
　　PresentlyoldMrPontifexdied，andthencametherevelationofthelittlealterationhehadmadeinhiswillsimultaneouslywithhisbequesttoErnest。Itwasratherhardtobear，especiallyastherewasnowayofconveyingabitoftheirmindstothetestatornowthathecouldnolongerhurtthem。Asregardstheboyhimselfanyonemustseethatthebequestwouldbeanunmitigatedmisfortunetohim。Toleavehimasmallindependencewasperhapsthegreatestinjurywhichonecouldinflictuponayoungman。Itwouldcripplehisenergies，anddeadenhisdesireforactiveemployment。Manyayouthwasledintoevilcoursesbytheknowledgethatonarrivingatmajorityhewouldcomeintoafewthousands。Theymightsurelyhavebeentrustedtohavetheirboy’sinterestsatheart，andmustbebetterjudgesofthoseintereststhanhe，attwenty-one，couldbeexpectedtobe：besidesifJonadab，thesonofRechab’sfather——orperhapsitmightbesimplerunderthecircumstancestosayRechabatonce——ifRechab，then，hadlefthandsomelegaciestohisgrandchildren——whyJonadabmightnothavefoundthosechildrensoeasytodealwith，etc。“Mydear。”saidTheobald，afterhavingdiscussedthematterwithChristinaforthetwentiethtime，“mydear，theonlythingtoguideandconsoleusundermisfortunesofthiskindistotakerefugeinpracticalwork。IwillgoandpayavisittoMrsThompson。”
　　OnthosedaysMrsThompsonwouldbetoldthathersinswereallwashedwhite，etc。，alittlesoonerandalittlemoreperemptorilythanonothers。
　　IusedtostayatBattersbyforadayortwosometimes，whilemygodsonandhisbrotherandsisterwerechildren。IhardlyknowwhyIwent，forTheobaldandIgrewmoreandmoreapart，butonegetsintogroovessometimes，andthesupposedfriendshipbetweenmyselfandthePontifexescontinuedtoexist，thoughitwasnowlittlemorethanrudimentary。Mygodsonpleasedmemorethaneitheroftheotherchildren，buthehadnotmuchofthebuoyancyofchildhood，andwasmorelikeapuny，sallowlittleoldmanthanIliked。Theyoungpeople，however，wereveryreadytobefriendly。
　　IrememberErnestandhisbrotherhoveredroundmeonthefirstdayofoneofthesevisitswiththeirhandsfulloffadingflowers，whichtheyatlengthprofferedme。OnthisIdidwhatIsupposewasexpected：Iinquirediftherewasashopnearwheretheycouldbuysweeties。Theysaidtherewas，soIfeltinmypockets，butonlysucceededinfindingtwopencehalfpennyinsmallmoney。ThisI
　　gavethem，andtheyoungsters，agedfourandthree，toddledoffalone。Erelongtheyreturned，andErnestsaid，“Wecan’tgetsweetiesforallthismoney“Ifeltrebuked，butnorebukewasintended；“wecangetsweetiesforthis“showingapenny，“andforthis“showinganotherpenny，“butwecannotgetthemforallthis。”andheaddedthehalfpennytothetwopence。Isupposetheyhadwantedatwopennycake，orsomethinglikethat。Iwasamused，andleftthemtosolvethedifficultytheirownway，beinganxioustoseewhattheywoulddo。
　　PresentlyErnestsaid，“Maywegiveyoubackthis“showingthehalfpenny“andnotgiveyoubackthisandthis？”showingthepence。Iassented，andtheygaveasighofreliefandwentontheirwayrejoicing。Afewmorepresentsofpenceandsmalltoyscompletedtheconquest，andtheybegantotakemeintotheirconfidence。
　　TheytoldmeagooddealwhichIamafraidIoughtnottohavelistenedto。TheysaidthatifgrandpapahadlivedlongerhewouldmostlikelyhavebeenmadeaLord，andthatthenpapawouldhavebeentheHonourableandReverend，butthatgrandpapawasnowinheavensingingbeautifulhymnswithgrandmammaAllabytoJesusChrist，whowasveryfondofthem；andthatwhenErnestwasill，hismammahadtoldhimheneednotbeafraidofdyingforhewouldgostraighttoheaven，ifhewouldonlybesorryforhavingdonehislessonssobadlyandvexedhisdearpapa，andifhewouldpromisenever，nevertovexhimanymore；andthatwhenhegottoheavengrandpapaandgrandmammaAllabywouldmeethim，andhewouldbealwayswiththem，andtheywouldbeverygoodtohimandteachhimtosingeversuchbeautifulhymns，morebeautifulbyfarthanthosewhichhewasnowsofondof，etc。，etc。；buthedidnotwishtodie，andwasgladwhenhegotbetter，fortherewerenokittensinheaven，andhedidnotthinktherewerecowslipstomakecowslipteawith。
　　Theirmotherwasplainlydisappointedinthem。“Mychildrenarenoneofthemgeniuses，MrOverton。”shesaidtomeatbreakfastonemorning。“Theyhavefairabilities，and，thankstoTheobald’stuition，theyareforwardfortheiryears，buttheyhavenothinglikegenius：geniusisathingapartfromthis，isitnot？”
　　OfcourseIsaiditwas“athingquiteapartfromthis。”butifmythoughtshadbeenlaidbare，theywouldhaveappearedas“Givememycoffeeimmediately，ma’am，anddon’ttalknonsense。”Ihavenoideawhatgeniusis，butsofarasIcanformanyconceptionaboutit，I
　　shouldsayitwasastupidwordwhichcannotbetoosoonabandonedtoscientificandliteraryclaqueurs。
　　IdonotknowexactlywhatChristinaexpected，butIshouldimagineitwassomethinglikethis：“Mychildrenoughttobeallgeniuses，becausetheyaremineandTheobald’s，anditisnaughtyofthemnottobe；but，ofcourse，theycannotbesogoodandcleverasTheobaldandIwere，andiftheyshowsignsofbeingsoitwillbenaughtyofthem。Happily，however，theyarenotthis，andyetitisverydreadfulthattheyarenot。Asforgenius——hoity-toity，indeed——
　　why，ageniusshouldturnintellectualsummersaultsassoonasitisborn，andnoneofmychildrenhaveyetbeenabletogetintothenewspapers。Iwillnothavechildrenofminegivethemselvesairs——
　　itisenoughforthemthatTheobaldandIshoulddoso。”
　　Shedidnotknow，poorwoman，thatthetruegreatnesswearsaninvisiblecloak，undercoverofwhichitgoesinandoutamongmenwithoutbeingsuspected；ifitscloakdoesnotconcealitfromitselfalways，andfromallothersformanyyears，itsgreatnesswillerelongshrinktoveryordinarydimensions。What，then，itmaybeasked，isthegoodofbeinggreat？Theansweristhatyoumayunderstandgreatnessbetterinothers，whetheraliveordead，andchoosebettercompanyfromtheseandenjoyandunderstandthatcompanybetterwhenyouhavechosenit——alsothatyoumaybeabletogivepleasuretothebestpeopleandliveinthelivesofthosewhoareyetunborn。This，onewouldthink，wassubstantialgainenoughforgreatnesswithoutitswantingtoriderough-shodoverus，evenwhendisguisedashumility。
　　IwasthereonaSunday，andobservedtherigourwithwhichtheyoungpeopleweretaughttoobservetheSabbath；theymightnotcutoutthings，norusetheirpaintboxonaSunday，andthistheythoughtratherhard，becausetheircousinstheJohnPontifexesmightdothesethings。TheircousinsmightplaywiththeirtoytrainonSunday，butthoughtheyhadpromisedthattheywouldrunnonebutSundaytrains，alltraffichadbeenprohibited。Onetreatonlywasallowedthem——onSundayeveningstheymightchoosetheirownhymns。
　　Inthecourseoftheeveningtheycameintothedrawing-room，and，asanespecialtreat，weretosingsomeoftheirhymnstome，insteadofsayingthem，sothatImighthearhownicelytheysang。
　　Ernestwastochoosethefirsthymn，andhechoseoneaboutsomepeoplewhoweretocometothesunsettree。Iamnobotanist，anddonotknowwhatkindoftreeasunsettreeis，butthewordsbegan，“Come，come，come；cometothesunsettreeforthedayispastandgone。”ThetunewasratherprettyandhadtakenErnest’sfancy，forhewasunusuallyfondofmusicandhadasweetlittlechild’svoicewhichhelikedusing。
　　Hewas，however，verylateinbeingabletosoundahardit“c“or“k。”and，insteadofsaying“Come。”hesaid“Tumtum，tum。”
　　“Ernest。”saidTheobald，fromthearm-chairinfrontofthefire，wherehewassittingwithhishandsfoldedbeforehim，“don’tyouthinkitwouldbeveryniceifyouweretosay’come’likeotherpeople，insteadof’tum’？”
　　“Idosaytum。”repliedErnest，meaningthathehadsaid“come。”
　　TheobaldwasalwaysinabadtemperonSundayevening。Whetheritisthattheyareasmuchboredwiththedayastheirneighbours，orwhethertheyaretired，orwhateverthecausemaybe，clergymenareseldomattheirbestonSundayevening；Ihadalreadyseensignsthateveningthatmyhostwascross，andwasalittlenervousathearingErnestsaysopromptly“Idosaytum。”whenhispapahadsaidhedidnotsayitasheshould。
　　Theobaldnoticedthefactthathewasbeingcontradictedinamoment。Hegotupfromhisarm-chairandwenttothepiano。
　　“No，Ernest，youdon’t。”hesaid，“yousaynothingofthekind，yousay’tum，’not’come。’Nowsay’come’afterme，asIdo。”
　　“Tum。”saidErnest，atonce；“isthatbetter？”Ihavenodoubthethoughtitwas，butitwasnot。
　　“Now，Ernest，youarenottakingpains：youarenottryingasyououghttodo。Itishightimeyoulearnedtosay’come，’why，Joeycansay’come，’can’tyou，Joey？”
　　“Yeth，Ican。”repliedJoey，andhesaidsomethingwhichwasnotfaroff“come。”
　　“There，Ernest，doyouhearthat？There’snodifficultyaboutit，norshadowofdifficulty。Now，takeyourowntime，thinkaboutit，andsay’come’afterme。”
　　Theboyremainedsilentafewsecondsandthensaid“tum“again。
　　Ilaughed，butTheobaldturnedtomeimpatientlyandsaid，“Pleasedonotlaugh，Overton；itwillmaketheboythinkitdoesnotmatter，anditmattersagreatdeal；“thenturningtoErnesthesaid，“Now，Ernest，Iwillgiveyouonemorechance，andifyoudon’tsay’come，’Ishallknowthatyouareself-willedandnaughty。”
　　Helookedveryangry，andashadecameoverErnest’sface，likethatwhichcomesuponthefaceofapuppywhenitisbeingscoldedwithoutunderstandingwhy。Thechildsawwellwhatwascomingnow，wasfrightened，and，ofcourse，said“tum“oncemore。