Winston became known for his quick temper and resistence to discipline, and one of his nurses even had reported he was the naughtiest child she had ever seen. Mrs. Everest, however, sometimes got good behavior through bribery. When Winston was five, Mrs. Everest promised to take him to a pantomime in exchange for exceptionally good behavior for an agreed upon period of time. The bribe worked. Unfortunately, on the day he was to attend the show, the theater burned to the ground. Winston cried and stormed because of the missed performance.
The following year, Mrs. Everest took Winston to Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, where her brother-in-law lived. Warden of a large English prison for 30 years, he knew many stories of prison mutinies. He took Winston on walks, telling these exciting tales, as well as details of the Zulu War going on in South Africa--attacks by huge black warriors armed with spears. These stories laid the foundation for Winston's lifelong interest in heroism and personal adventure.
Finally Winston was to begin his education. Mrs. Everest tried to teach him some reading and arithmetic in preparation for a governess' arrival. She bought "Reading Without Tears," sat Winston down, and began drilling him. Winston later said the book "did not justify its title in my case." When the governess arrived, Winston hid in the garden shrubbery for a long time before he was found.
He thought arithmetic unreasonable, because you were either completely right or completely wrong. In other subjects he could get some credit for being nearly right. Anyway, studying was boring; Winston preferred something more active.
Shortly before his seventh birthday, he was sent to St. George preparatory school, to prepare to enter Public School (which in America is called Private School). After his mother left him there, he was ordered to memorize the first declension in a Latin grammar. He had no clue as to what a declension was, but he had a wonderful memory and soon had completed the task. But he was puzzled about what it all meant. When the schoolmaster returned, Winston asked, "Please, sir, what does 'o table' mean."
