EXCERPTS Table of Contents Translator/Editor Notes Cover Page p.25   p.35  p.88  p.94  p.151  p.190  CHAPTER III - SCHOOL DAYS           35 spring-back did the rest. They deserved a lot of credit because chewing up a blotter full of ink really tastes bad.      Since this poor man was deaf, and us being of a pitiless age, when a pupil would raise his hand to ask permission to go to the bathroom, instead of using the ritual formula, the pupil would say: "Sir, may I go make out with your wife?" And when he would reply in his nasal voice, "No, wait a little, until your classmate comes back from there," general craziness broke out, and he couldn't understand why.      While he was lecturing and walking among the rows, we would blow sneezing powder at his back. As soon as he would begin to feel a tickling, he would change rows and threaten to write up the pupils who were disturbing the class with their sneezing. He must have thought that the guilty party would be somewhere in the group. I invented a display against this unfair punishment, the "anti-sneeze" mask, which consisted of putting a little shredded cotton in the nostrils. This efficacious ploy was in fact of little interest, because it was enough to fake a cold when going between classes, for the punishment to be cancelled.      I remember only one lesson from this class, a story of Greek frogs who were giving a concert. He sputtered so well while grimacing during the dictation of the notes, that it was unforgettable. Much later, I felt emotional when I discovered a certain analogy with the Greek lesson in Fellini's "Amarcord."      The biggest troublemakers among us decided one day to order a layered pastry from several bakers in town, to deliver to the teacher's house at 11 a.m. Then, since we didn't have class in the morning, the imps hid not far from there, to enjoy the show. His wife had accepted the first cake with astonishment, but emphatically refused all the others, which enraged the delivery people.      We had a neighbor named Lamusse, a painter who made a poor living with his Art, along with his devoted sister...