A Dutch Boy Fifty Years After

by Edward William Bok

The American public-school teacher was less well equipped in those days than she is to-day to meet the needs of two Dutch boys who could not understand a word she said, and who could only wonder what it was all about. The brothers did not even have the comfort of each other's company, for, graded by age, they were placed in separate classes.

Nor was the American boy of 1870 a whit less cruel than is the American boy of 1920; and he was none the less loath to show that cruelty. This trait was evident at the first recess of the first day at school. At the dismissal, the brothers naturally sought each other, only to find themselves surrounded by a group of tormentors who were delighted to have such promising objects for their fun. And of this opportunity they made the most. There was no form of petty cruelty boys' minds could devise that was not inflicted upon the two helpless strangers. Edward seemed to look particularly inviting, and nicknaming him "Dutchy" they devoted themselves at each noon recess and after school to inflicting their cruelties upon him.

Louis XIV may have been right when he said that "every new language requires a new soul," but Edward Bok knew that while spoken languages might differ, there is one language understood by boys the world over. And with this language Edward decided to do some experimenting. After a few days at school, he cast his eyes over the group of his tormentors, picked out one who seemed to him the ringleader, and before the boy was aware of what had happened, Edward Bok was in the full swing of his first real experiment with Americanization. Of course the American boy retaliated. But the boy from the Netherlands had not been born and brought up in the muscle-building air of the Dutch dikes for nothing, and after a few moments he found himself looking down on his tormentor and into the eyes of a crowd of very respectful boys and giggling girls, who readily made a passageway for his brother and himself when they indicated a desire to leave the schoolyard and go home.

Edward now felt that his Americanization had begun; but, always believing that a thing begun must be carried to a finish, he took, or gave--it depends upon the point of view--two or three more lessons in this particular phase of Americanization before he convinced these American schoolboys that it might be best for them to call a halt upon further excursions in torment.

At the best, they were difficult days at school for a boy of seven who could not speak English. Although the other children stopped teasing Edward, they did not try to make the way easier for him. America is essentially a land of fair play, but it is not fair play for American boys and girls to take advantage of a foreign child's unfamiliarity with the language or our customs to annoy that child or to place difficulties in his way. When a foreign pupil with little knowledge of the English language enters an American school the native-born boys and girls in that school can accomplish a useful service in Americanization by helping the newcomer, thus giving him a true idea of American fairness at the start. No doubt many American boys and girls gladly do this little kindness for the young foreigner, but Edward Bok and his brother suffered tortures at the hands of those who should have helped them.

Fortunately the linguistic gift inherent in the Dutch race came to Edward's rescue in his attempt to master the English language. He soon noted many points of similarity between English and his native tongue; by changing a vowel here and there he could make a familiar Dutch word into a correct English word. As both languages had developed from the old Frisian tongue, the conquest of English did not prove as difficult as he had expected. At all events, he set out to master it.

[Illustration: Edward Bok at the age of six, upon his arrival in the United States.]

Edward was now confronted by a three-cornered problem. Like all healthy boys of his age he was fond of play and eager to join the boys of his neighborhood in their pastimes after school hours. He also wanted to help his mother, which meant the washing of dishes, cleaning the rooms in which the family then lived, and running various errands for the needed household supplies. Then, too, he was not progressing as rapidly as he wished with his school studies, and he felt that he ought to do everything in his power to take advantage of his opportunity to get an education.