The young folk of the neighborhood came
to our entertainments gladly enough, but some of the harsh-visaged
elders would have found greater satisfaction in administering stern
old-fashioned discipline if their power to deal with malignants had only
been what it was in the days when their kind ruled Massachusetts Bay
Colony with a rod of iron.
It was these pleasurings of ours that brought down on us the severest
anathemas. We were idlers forever singing and fiddling and dancing when
honest folk were at work. This criticism was in part true. We certainly
did devote more time and more attention to recreation than was customary
among working folk. The two half-holidays of the week were set apart for
diversions. All care and toil came to a full stop, and everyone was free
to do exactly as he or she pleased. Usually all hands pleased to be
together, after the Brook Farm fashion, everyone joining in whatever
scheme of amusement was on foot for the day.
After the reorganization the Festal Series took systematic charge of the
holidays and there was always something worth while provided for the
afternoon or evening or both, in which all of us were ready to take part
and eager to enjoy.
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