I’ve broken three canes during scenes in recent months. The girls concerned will no doubt be wincing as they read. (Or not, as the case may be: they’ll probably have big smiles on their faces).
I blame faulty manufacture, of course. I’d never whack a girl so hard as to break the cane across her deliberately…
… honest…
Although it presents me with a dilemma which I am unable to solve to my satisfaction. A Headmaster is caning a girl; she’s committed a particularly grave breach of school rules, and her attitude has been entirely unrepentant. Only the hardest six, of the very very best, could be appropriate.
He makes her count. One, two, three… and on the fourth stroke the cane breaks. He leaves her in position while he fetches a new cane from his cupboard. With the next stroke, she counts “five”.
Does he:
a) continue, applying the sixth and sending her on her way
b) correct her: “the previous whack didn’t count as the cane broke: that was only the fourth proper stroke.”
I vote option a. Or was it *her* fault that the cane broke?
I find it SO HARD to follow Masters’ logic. It definitely wasn’t taught this way in my Philosophy classes…
I’d go for option b)as she’s been unrepentant, it may be the little detail that makes her see the error of her ways… or perhaps I’ve just got an evil streak and want to see her suffer more!
Oh! Just had a thought… in case I ever find myself in the bent over and counting position, perhaps option a) is the way to go after all!
Too late Sarah! When a girl makes an error I’m afraid she has to live with it. Let the record state that Sarah believes that she should get an extra stroke if her man’s cane should break.
Option C must surely be considered. After all, which is more likely; That the headmaster wished the cane would break or that the girl wished the cane would break. It’s all about intentionality, and in this case we have to assume that the breaking of the cane was a wilful act on the part of the canee.
So he starts again.
Can’t we have an option for her using her brain and getting up and running away while he got the new cane, instead of just staying there to be whacked some more?
I have quite a different Option C in mind. The cane’s breaking is a clear Sign From Above that the caning has gone on quite long enough, thank you. Whatever one’s religious sensibilities may be, it would be quite disrespectful on the part of the headmaster to ignore such a Sign.
Now, am I sensing a split in the jury, between those who usually wield and those who are usually on the receiving end? 😉
Does that mean Sarah is a switch?
Why on earth should a broken stroke not count? If it broke on her I’m sure it hurt every bit as much as the previous strokes. Honestly. Any excuse.
Hey Abel,
My Master says that it is the latter — he says “the swing through recovery is very much a part of the stroke. So therefore the stroke is unfinished and does not count.”
As the one on the receiving end, I concur — because I’m disappointed if I don’t get the full number I was promised/threatened with!
Great post, Abel! 😀
Ok..I pondered on this and here is what I came up with:
Option A with a bit of a twist. It is not the girls fault that the cane broke and since contact was made, it counts as being struck. The problem is obviously with the manufacturing of said cane so therefore the manufacturer ought to get the extra strike for producing faulty equipment. Short of them accepting that level of responsibility, they ought to at least replace the cane free of charge.
I think Zille’s master has it, despite Katrina’s strong argument for the girls from the cane factory production line to be bent over and soundly thrashed 😉
My Master says, “Both, and!” 😉
I must confess, Zille, that the idea of the line of factory girls being punished has rather an appeal!
(BTW, dear readers, this would be Zille who in her latest post on her own blog mentions that she’s just about to get married – all of our very best wishes go to her and her husband-to-be!)
I, mid-punishment, would protest that the stroke which broke the cane counted.
And would no doubt earn an extra for the protest. Because, “who is in charge of punishments, mouse?” Hawk would ask.
Oh. Right.
I’m going to go with option a, because obviously it’s not the girl’s fault that the headmaster breaks the cane – surely it’s his fault and the girl should give him the extra stroke?
Beth – you girls do seem to talk yourselves into trouble! So now we have the girl being caned getting extra for arguing, *and* a whole factory being thrashed, *and* the girls who harvested the rattan in Asia being punished too.
Kate – but if the stroke didn’t hurt as much as it should have done…? Surely you wouldn’t want her to go under-punished? That wouldn’t be fair on all the other girls who get called in for six of the best?
I seem to have had an inordinately large number of implements broken on me, and I can attest that it has never stopped the scene.
That said… of course the proper answer is “a.” Was there ever any doubt?
I don’t see how the factory workers or the harvesters can be punished. It passed their respective company’s quality control inspections. The fault lies with the person who selected it as suitable (durable enough) for the punishment. Therefore, Kate is quite correct.
I suspect the headmaster of having deliberately broken the cane so that he can blame the girl and give the punishment all over again… crafty people, headmasters.
Indiana – For a none switch I must admit to having some very switchy thoughts at times. Never say never
Zille – I definitely echo Abel’s best wishes to you and your Master x x
Eliane: what a disgraceful slander on headmasters everywhere!!! (LOL and I can honestly assure you that I hadn’t done anything to damage the three canes I broke recently before using them!)
Yeah sure, we belive you Abel!!!
It all demonstrates the value of sound ritual. My preference would always be for the cane or whip to be presented to the recipient of punishment to be kissed, before she provides the stroke count, and the obligatory thanks. This puts the power where it should be – with the dominant, who can choose to present the broken cane, and hence to have the stroke counted, or simply fetch a replacement, and apply the stroke properly. If after that the count is incorrect, or there is argument, then further punishment should apply – from a telling off, through extra strokes, to a complete re-start, as desired.
I find this works well with stiffer implements, but is messy and time-consuming with a belt. So I do the counts for those. The pause for the kiss allows you to see where you’ve been better – always a bonus.
As for caning the girl who made the defective cane…….. well, we can imagine the discussions in quality control on that one !
You know, I just thought of something. Maybe I should go for option b after all, because if the stroke isn’t repeated and hurt less than the others, wouldn’t she try to deliberately make the headmaster break the cane the next time she’d be called in for a caning? And that would just be a waste of rattan, don’t you think?
OMG. It seems I’ve gone over to the dark side.
From my point of view, a stroke means striking the body with the cane, so if the break occurs once contact is made then it counts as a stroke. “On the fourth stroke the cane breaks” means there was a stroke and it counts. I would not correct her counting.
However, if it’s really going to take six good, hard strokes to get her to repent, then it doesn’t matter how many strokes were declared. The point of punishment is to get a change of behavior. That’s entirely the responsibility of the person giving the punishment, and it’s up to that person to decide if the culprit has gotten enough punishment. He may very well decide that six was not enough. In which case, he should say, “That wasn’t enough, I’m afraid. How many more will it take for you to learn your lesson?”
Then there’s a fraught silence and, usually, a meek reply of the sort, “That would be for you to say, sir!”
After that, he’ll need to make his own assessment and proceed as necessary for the best interest of his charge.
But then, I’m a particular terror when it comes to discipline. YMMV.
From a physics perspective, if so much energy is going into deforming the wood and breaking the cane, not much of it is going into her.
So, it might have struck her, but I don’t think it counts, just because it was not “of the best” and really wasn’t a “stroke.” More like a tap.
ROFL Drifter – thank you, thank you, thank you. I shall make use of your scientific approach whenever I break implements in future!