“Call a child of the preparatory class for me.”
The attendant returned, in a short time, with a deaf-mute of eight or nine years, who had entered the institution a few days before.
“This girl,” said the mistress, “is one of those whom we are instructing in the first elements. This is the way it is done. I want to make her say a. Pay attention.”
The teacher opened her mouth, as one opens it to pronounce the vowel a, and motioned to the child to open her mouth in the same manner. Then the mistress made her a sign to emit her voice. She did so; but instead of a, she pronounced o.
“No,” said the mistress, “that is not right.” And taking the child’s two hands, she placed one of them on her own throat and the other on her chest, and repeated, “a.”
The child felt with her hands the movements of the mistress’s throat and chest, opened her mouth again as before, and pronounced extremely well, “a.”
In the same manner, the mistress made her pronounce c and d, still keeping the two little hands on her own throat and chest.
“Now do you understand?” she inquired.
The father understood; but he seemed more astonished than when he had not understood.
“And they are taught to speak in the same way?” he asked, after a moment of reflection, gazing at the teacher. “You have the patience to teach them to speak in that manner, little by little, and so many of them? one by one—through years and years? But you are saints; that’s what you are! You are angels of paradise! There is not in the world a reward that is worthy of you! What is there that I can say? Ah! leave me alone with my daughter a little while now. Let me have her to myself for five minutes.”