Now tell me, Clohessy, is that master of yours talking to you about Euclid? He is, sir. And what is he saying? He’s saying he’s a Greek. Of course he is, you diddering omadhaun.What else is he saying? He’s saying there would be no school without Euclid. Ah. Now is he drawing anything on the board? He’s drawing lines side by side that will never meet even if they land on God’s shoulders. Mother o’ God. No, sir. God’s shoulders. I know, you idiot. Go home. The next day there’s a great noise at our classroom door and Mr. O’Dea is yelling,Come out,O’Neill,you chancer,you poltroon.We can hear everything he’s saying because of the broken glass over the door. The  new  headmaster,  Mr.  O’Halloran,  is  saying,  Now,  now,  Mr. O’Dea. Control yourself. No quarreling in front of our pupils. Well, then, Mr. O’Halloran, tell him stop teaching the geometry. The geometry is for the fifth form and not the fourth.The geometry is mine.Tell him to teach the long division and leave Euclid to me. Long division will stretch his intellect such as it is, God help us. I don’t want the minds of these boys destroyed by that chancer up there on the plat- form, him handing out apple skins and causing diarrhea right and left. Tell him Euclid is mine, Mr. O’Halloran, or I’ll put a stop to his gallop. Mr. O’Halloran tells Mr. O’Dea to return to his classroom and asks Mr.  O’Neill  to  step  into  the  hall.  Mr.  O’Halloran  says,  Now,  Mr. O’Neill, I have asked you before to stay away from Euclid. You have,Mr.O’Halloran,but you might as well ask me to stop eat- ing my daily apple. I’ll have to insist, Mr. O’Neill. No more Euclid. Mr. O’Neill comes back to the room and his eyes are watery again. He says little has changed since the time of the Greeks for the barbar- ians are within the gates and their names are legion.What has changed since the time of the Greeks, boys? It is torture to watch Mr. O’Neill peel the apple every day, to see the length of it, red or green, and if you’re up near him to catch the fresh- 154