Study Guide

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party Part 2, Chapter 6

By M.T. Anderson

Part 2, Chapter 6

Everyday is the same for Octavian; he translates boring fragments of texts.
Mr. Sharpe doesn't speak to him, and instead he just gives Octavian an assignment and leaves.
Greek and Latin become drudgery.
If he fails or makes mistakes, Octavian gets whipped, and while the whippings aren't as bad as that first whipping he got under Lord Cheldthorpe, they're a lot more regular.
This means his hands are always bloody, cut, and bandaged tightly—he needs the bandages because he's in charge of handling Mr. Sharpe's clothes and can't get them bloody.
But Octavian's okay with his demotion from princeling to servant.
He would have felt awkward to be growing up, playing the violin and reading, while other slaves toiled around him.
It is weird, though, to do chores, like prep dinner, then run to eat dinner in the dining hall, with the scholars who didn't prep the food.

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