(3)  Arriving at Lowood Institution

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wearing brown dresses and long pinafores. It was the hour of study. They 
were learning their lessons for tomorrow. Miss Miller told me to sit down on 
the bench near the door and cried out to the girls, 
“Monitors! Collect the lesson books and put them away.” 
Four tall girls stood up from their tables, gathered the books and took 
them away. Miss Miller again commanded, 
“Monitors! Bring the supper trays.” 
The tall girls went out and returned with four trays, which they put on 
the four tables. On each tray there were some oatcakes and a jug of water, 
and one cup in the middle of the tray. Each girl had a thin piece of cake, and 
they all drank out of one cup, passing it to each other. 
After supper Miss Miller read a prayer and the girls went upstairs. 
The night passed quickly. When I opened my eyes, a bell was ringing 
and the girls were dressing. It was bitter cold. I dressed and washed. Again 
the bell rang. All formed in file, two and two, and in that order went 
downstairs into the cold and dark schoolroom. Miss Miller read prayers. 
Then she said, 
“Form classes!” There was a great noise during which Miss Miller cried 
several times: “Silence!” and “Order!” 
There were four tables in the room, and at each table there was a chair. 
Round the tables stood four groups of girls. All of them had books in their 
hands. A bell rang. Three ladies came into the room; each walked to her 
table and sat down in her chair. Miss Miller took the fourth chair, which was 
near the door and round which the smallest girls were standing. I belonged to 
that class. We read the Bible for an hour. Then the bell rang for the fourth 
time, and the girls went into another room to breakfast. The room was long, 
low and gloomy. On two long tables there were basins with something hot 
having a very bad smell. I saw that the girls were angry. Some of them said, 
“Disgusting! The porridge is burnt again!” 
“Silence!” one of the teachers said. There was a prayer and a servant 
brought in some tea for the teachers. 
I was so hungry that I ate some of my porridge, but it was impossible to 
eat all of it. I looked at the other girls. They were eating very slowly. Most 
of them could not eat at all and put down their spoons. 
Breakfast was over, but everybody was hungry. There was another 
prayer and the girls went into the schoolroom. As I was leaving the dining 
room, I saw that one of the teachers tasted the porridge. She exchanged a 
look with the others. They looked angry and one said: 
“Disgusting!” 
A clock in the schoolroom struck nine. Miss Miller cried, 
“Silence! To your seats!” 
In five minutes there was order and silence, and all the girls were sitting 
on the benches. Suddenly the whole school stood up. What was the matter? I 
looked up and saw the tall lady with the dark hair and the dark eyes whom I 
had seen the day before. Miss Miller came up to her, then went back to her 
place and said, 

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“Monitor of the first class, bring the globes.” 
The girl brought two globes and put them on one of the tables. The tall 
lady began the lesson of geography with the senior girls. She was the head 
teacher. Her name was Miss Temple. The other teachers gave lessons to the 
lower classes. When the clock struck twelve, Miss Temple stood up. 
“I have a word to say to the pupils,” she said. “This morning you were 
given a breakfast which you could not eat. AH of you must be hungry. I 
have ordered a lunch of bread and cheese for you.” 
The bread and cheese was soon brought in to the great pleasure of the 
whole school. After lunch we all went to the garden. It was the end of 
January, and the day was cold and dark. I stood quite alone and looked 
around at the garden and then at the house. I saw a tablet over the door with 
the following words: “LOWOOD INSTITUTION”. 
I read these words again and again for I did not understand the word 
“Institution”. Suddenly I heard a cough behind me. I turned my head and 
saw a girl who was sitting on a stone bench nearby. She was reading a book. 
When she raised her head I asked her, 
“Is your book interesting?” 
“I like it,” she answered. 
“What is it about?” I continued. 
“You may have a look at it,” said the girl and gave me the book. The 
book seemed dull to me. There were no pictures in it. I gave it back to her 
and said, 
“Can you tell me what is ‘Lowood Institution’?” 
“It is the house where you live.” 
“And why is it called ‘Institution’? Is it different from other schools?” 
“It is a charity school. You and I and all the others are charity children. I 
think you are an orphan. Are not either your father or your mother dead?” 
“Both died when I was a child.” 
“Well, all the girls have lost either their father or their mother, and this is 
an institution for orphans.” 
“Do you like the teachers?” 
“Well enough.” 
“But Miss Temple is the best, isn’t she?” 
“Miss Temple is very good and very clever. She is above the other 
teachers because she knows more than they do.” 
“Have you been long here?” 
“Two years.” 
“Are you an orphan?” 
“My mother is dead.” 
“Are you happy here?” 
“You ask too many questions. I have given you answers enough for the 
present. Now I want to read.” 
At that moment the bell rang for dinner, and we returned to the house. 
After dinner we went to the schoolroom. Lessons began, and continued till 
five o’clock. Soon after five we had a small cup of coffee and some brown 

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bread. I ate my bread and drank my coffee with pleasure, but I was still 
hungry when I finished. We had half an hour for rest, and then we studied 
again. Then we had a glass of water and a piece of oatcake, then prayers and 
bed. Such was my first day at Lowood. 
(From 
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Бютё)

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