4. The School Boy

with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school.


Although home life was hard, neither was there any help at school. Lessons were tedious and school itself was unable to meet the needs of a mind, which had self educated, since infancy. Reading, also, ensured survival. Teachers often knew less than was useful, in order to school the child. A favourite place of refuge was the town library.
Many times a truant, especially when games were on the curriculum, the prince would run from the institution and refresh enthusiasm in the hills, meditating by the shade of a bush, studying creatures generally overlooked or despised, feeling a covert kinship. Communal showers were to be avoided, as stripped and soapy, the sense of being an alien was reinforced. The desmoiselles at an all-girls’ grammar were a species apart: exotic and unattainable. The young Prince wept at his own unsightly form, unsure as to what was lacking...what was wrong.