Dahlesque

Mister 'Ouwerkerke'. Or mister Oldchurch as he had introduced himself. A literal translation of his name. Not just one of my English teachers. My all time favorite. And even though it's been more than 35 years and I cannot find any photo of those schooldays right now, I can still picture him. The characteristic beard; the twinkle in his eyes...irony and sarcasm in the classroom. Just loved it. And him. As a teacher that is...

"Always remember this kids" he used to say. "One day, in the middle of the night, when your are fifty years old or maybe even older, I will appear in your dreams. I will wake you up and softly whisper in your ear: 'iambic pentameters'; and you will say...?"
"Rhyming in pairs!" we all repeated.
Still haven't got a clue why those bloody pentameters are rhyming in pairs. But I do remember the line. That's the only promise we made.
The reason I will always remember him, is because he introduced us to the master of short stories: Roald Dahl. Don't know if my classmates were as inspired as I was, but for me Dahl has been one of my favorite authors ever since.

Too bad the image I had of this fabulous author has changed now that I've finished reading his biography. A real 'Tale of the Unexpected'. So I prefer to stick to the memory of the man who inspired me to read Dahl's stories. My own master of the macabre.