cold, and I performed what little tasks I could as my father and brothers scrubbed the coal dust from their backs. Most would come off them, but some would stay for life. It is the honourable badge of the coal miner, and I envied it on my father and grown-up brothers. Scrub and scrub, Mr Coal would lie there and laugh at you. There was always a baron of beef or a shoulder or leg of lamb before my father. There was never any talk while we were eating. I never met anybody whose talk was better than good food. My mother was always on the run,o always the last to start her dinner, and the first to finish. For if my father was the head of our house, my mother was its heart. After the dishes had been washed, the box was brought to the table for the spending money to be handed out. No one in our valley had ever seen a bank. We kept our savings on the mantelpiece. My father used to say that money was made to be spent, just as men spend their strength and brains in earning it, and as willingly. But always with a purpose. Thank you, Dadda. Out of the house and across the street, as I had run a hundred times before. Softly now, for respect for chapel was the first thing my father taught us. Then straight to Mrs Tossal the Shop, for that toffee which you could chew for hours, it seems to me now. And even after it had gone down, you could swallow and still find the taste of it hiding behind your tongue. It is with me now, so many years later. It makes me think of so much that was good that is gone. It was on this afternoon that I first saw Bron - Bronwyn. She had come over from the next valley for her first call on my father and mother. Is this Gwilym Morgan's house? You must be Huw. - Is that you, Bronwyn? - Yes.t There's lovely you are. I think I fell in love with Bronwyn then. Perhaps it is foolish to think a child could fall in love, but I am the child that was, and nobody knows how I felt, except only me. - I'm so proud for lvor. - I'm the one to be proud. You think well of our lvor? It seems only a few months since he was scratching around here like this one, with his mouth open. This is Bronwyn, Huw, who's to be your sister. We have met already. Be careful of the basket. There's shortcake in it. This is not for you. You will have your time to come. Run along now. Bronwyn and lvor were to be married by the new preacher, Mr Gruffydd, who had come from the university at Cardiff. This was my first sight of him. # Now here's a man won't get drunk, can't get drunk, shan't get drunk # Here's a man won't get drunk, Peter O'Pea # From my heel to my toe, from my toe to my kneee # I'll walk the line, chalk the line, Peter O'Pea - Good evening, Mr Morgan. - Yes, indeed, sir. - Excuse me. - Thank you. Come now, boys. Back to work. Ivor, find Dai Griffiths and Idris John and bring them to Mr Evans' office. - Will we come with you? - No. This is a matter for the older men. - Home to your mother. - But... Leave it now, Davy. Well, come. - Why aren't you washed? - We were waiting for you. The cut is only a few shillings. There will still be plenty for us. A bit of supper now, is it, girl? It is because they are not getting the old price for coal. - Come and wash now. - May we speak first, sir? - Yes. - They did not give you the real reason. We've been expecting it since the ironworks at Dowlais closed down. What have the ironworks to do with us? The men from Dowlais will work for any wage, so all our wages must come down. And this is only the beginning. Watch now. They will cut us again and still again, until they have this as empty as their promises. - A good worker is worth good ------------------------------ Читайте также: - текст Флаббер на английском - текст Звёздный путь: Оригинальный сериал на английском - текст Хорошие парни носят чёрное на английском - текст Несколько дней из жизни И.И. Обломова на английском - текст Фарфоровая луна на английском |