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A New England Girlhood, Outlined from Memory (Beverly, MA)
·
Lucy Larcom
95
What
sort
of
creature
could
a
"pampered
menial"
be?
Nothing
that
had
ever
come
under
our
observation
corresponded
to
the
words.
Nor
was
it
easy
for
us
to
attach
any
meaning
to
the
word
"servant."
There
were
women
who
came
in
occasionally
to
do
the
washing,
or
to
help
about
extra
work.
But
they
were
decently
clothed,
and
had
homes
of
their
own,
more
or
less
comfortable,
and
their
quaint
talk
and
free-and-easy
ways
were
often
as
much
of
a
lift
to
the
household
as
the
actual
assistance
they
rendered.
I
settled
down
upon
the
conclusion
that
"rich"
and
"poor"
were
book-words
only,
describing
something
far
off,
and
having
nothing
to
do
with
our
every-day
experience.
My
mental
definition
of
"rich
people,"
from
home
observation,
was
something
like
this:
People
who
live
in
three-story
houses,
and
keep
their
green
blinds
closed,
and
hardly
ever
come
out
and
talk
with
the
folks
in
the
street.
There
were
a
few
such
houses
in
Beverly,
and
a
great
many
in
Salem,
where
my
mother
sometimes
took
me
for
a
shopping
walk.
But
I
did
not
suppose
that
any
of
the
people
who
lived
near
us
were
very
rich,
like
those
in
books.
Everybody
about
us
worked,
and
we
expected
to
take
hold
of
our
part
while
young.
I
think
we
were
rather
eager
to
begin,
for
we
believed
that
work
would
make
men
and
women
of
us.
I,
however,
was
not
naturally
an
industrious
child,
but
quite
the
reverse.
When
my
father
sent
us
down
to
weed
his
vegetable-garden
at
the
foot
of
the
lane,
I,
the
youngest
of
his
weeders,
liked
to
go
with
the
rest,
but
not
for
the
sake
of
the
work
or
the
pay.
I
generally
gave
it
up
before
I
had
weeded
half
a
bed.
It
made
me
so
warm!
and
my
back
did
ache
so!
I
stole
off
into
the
shade
of
the
great
apple-trees,
and
let
the
west
wind
fan
my
hot
cheeks,
and
looked
up
into
the
boughs,
and
listened
to
the
many,
many
birds
that
seemed
chattering
to
each
other
in
a
language
of
their
own.
What
was
it
they
were
saying?
and
why
could
not
I
understand
it?
Perhaps
I
should,
sometime.
I
had
read
of
people
who
did,
in
fairy
tales.
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