CHAPTER 2

 Lowood school it was the month of January I arrived at Lowood school at night a servant took me up some stairs and into a big bedroom there were many beds in the room the girls in the beds were asleep the servant took me to an empty bed I put on my night clothes and I got into bed soon I was asleep too I woke up very early a loud Bell was ringing the bedroom was dark and cold I watched the other girls they washed in cold water and they dressed quickly there was a plain brown dress next to my bed and there was a pair of ugly heavy shoes I washed quickly then I put on my new clothes I was very hungry I followed the other girls down the stairs we sat down at long tables in a large dining room our food was terrible the food is bad again one of the girls said stand up a teacher shouted don't talk we stood up we did not speak we walked into a big schoolroom and we sat down there were about 80 girls in the schoolroom and there were four classes the oldest girls were in the fourth class I was in the first class four teachers came into the room and we began our lessons the lessons were not interesting first we read some pages in a book then our teacher asked us questions about those pages after four hours we went outside it was very cold very soon a bell rang lessons started again three weeks passed one afternoon the head teacher came into the schoolroom the head teacher's name was Miss Temple mr. Brocklehurst was with her we all stood up I stood behind an older girl I did not want mr. Brocklehurst to see me mr. Brocklehurst walked slowly round the room everybody was very quiet and then I dropped my book mr. Brocklehurst stopped walking he looked at me ah the new girl he said come here Jane Eyre then he pointed at two of the older girls you two girls put Jane Eyre on that high chair he said look at Jane Eyre everybody mr. Brocklehurst said this child is bad she is a liar she will be punished miss temple teachers girls do not talk to this child then he spoke to me again Jane you must stand on that chair for two hours he said you are a bad girl that evening I cried and cried but Miss Temple was kind to me you are a good pupil Jane she said and you are not a bad girl I am your friend Jane thank you Miss Temple I said Lowood school was in an unhealthy place the buildings were wet and cold miss to Brocklehurst owned the school he was a rich man but he did not buy warm clothes for us and he did not buy good food for us everybody hated him in the spring many of the girls became sick some of them left the school they never came back many of the girls died that spring was a terrible time we had no lessons miss temple and the other teachers took care of the sick pupils mr. Brocklehurst had to buy better food for us and he had to buy warm clothes for us mr. Brocklehurst never came to the school the next year Lowood school moved to a better place it was a healthier place there were new school rooms new bedrooms and new dining room the new buildings were bright and clean the teachers were happy after that I was happy at lowered school too I was a pupil at Lowood school for six years then I became a teacher I was a teacher at the school for two years but I never returned to Gateshead Hall and the reeds never wrote to me