阿麦尔先生从一件事谈到另一件事，然后开始给我们讲法语，他说，法语是世界上最优美的语言，是最清晰的语言，最严谨的语言，我们应该掌握它，永远也不要忘记，因为，当一个民族沦为奴隶时，只要它好好地保存自己的语言，就好像掌握了打开监牢的钥匙……然后，他拿了一本语法书，我们开始朗诵课文。令我吃惊的是，我竟理解得这么透彻。他所讲的一切对我都显得很容易，很容易。我同样觉得，我还从来没有这么认真听讲过，他也从来没有这样耐心讲解过。这个可怜的人，仿佛想在离开这里以前，把他全部的知识都灌输给我们，让我们一下子掌握这些知识。
When the lesson was at an end， we passed to writing. For that day Monsieur Hamel had prepared some entirely new examples， on which was written in a fine， round hand： “France， Alsace， France， Alsace.” They were like little flags， waving all about the class， hanging from the rods of our desks. You should have seen how hard we all worked and how silent it was！ Nothing could be heard save the grinding of the pens over the paper. At one time some cock-chafers flew in； but no one paid any attention to them， not even the little fellows who were struggling with their straight lines， with a will and conscientious application， as if even the lines were French. On the roof of the schoolhouse， pigeons cooed in low tones， and I said to myself as I listened to them：
“I wonder if they are going to compel them to sing in German too！”
课文讲解完了，我们开始练习写字。这一天，阿麦尔先生为我们准备了许多崭新的字卡样，上面用美丽的圆体字写着：法兰西，阿尔萨斯，法兰西，阿尔萨斯。这些字帖卡片悬挂在我们课桌的金属杆上，就像许多小旗在教室里飘扬。该知道每个人都是那样聚精会神，教室里是那样寂静无声！只听得见笔尖在纸上的沙沙声。