The 8 year old boy stood in front of his father in the boy's bedroom. The boy shared the room with his 6 year old brother but, as was always the case when punishments were to be administered there was now only father and son. The boy shivered. Partly because he had, at his father's command, stripped down to his tiny red briefs in preparation for the coming caning. And partly he shivered with fear. He had felt the cane on many occasions, often for what many would consider minor misdemeanours.
Today's punishment was for a poor mark (4 out of 10) for a test the boy had done at school. It was not just the poor mark but the boy, fearful of his father's reaction, had failed to bring the completed test home. His father always insisted on seeing the boy's schoolwork and demanded high standards. Father had angrily shouted at the boy at the tea table, reducing him to tears, for trying to conceal the result from him. It was at this point he was ordered to his room to strip and wait.
Father had entered the boy's room holding the curved bamboo cane in one hand and the familiar hard backed chair, brought from father's own room, in the other. The boy knew he would soon be ordered to stand behind the hard backed chair and lean forward over the back ,grasping the front legs, in the customary position for his ordeal. Father placed the chair in the centre of the room and commanded the child to remove his briefs and stand, totally naked, behind the chair. The boy tearfully obeyed.
Father then addressed the boy. "You tried to deceive me Anthony by not bringing home your test. I will not allow you to be deceitful and you will now learn the consequences." At this point he swished the cane through the air twice for effect. Father went on "A poor test score, if you tried your best, does not earn a punishment by itself. However on this occasion your teacher tells me you did not use your study period before it to study. Instead I am told you spent most of the time looking out of the window. But the most serious thing you have done is try to conceal the result from me. Your punishment today will be 4 strokes for the result plus 8 strokes for the deceit. That makes 12 strokes. Have you anything to say before I punish you?". The boy timidly sniffled that he was sorry. Father scowled and ordered " Get over the chair."
The boy leaned forward and grasped the front legs of the hard backed chair. He grasped them so hard his knuckles were white with the effort for he knew that if he rose from his position before his father ordered him to stand he would earn an additional 2 strokes for each time he rose, or tried to cover his backside. He remembered once, shortly before his 7th birthday", a 4 stroke caning had turned into a 7 stroke one for just that reason.
He braced himself and waited for the first stroke. When it arrived, as was usual, he cried out. The cries increased in intensity as the full sentence was carried out. The boy's brother listened fearfully downstairs. He too had felt the cane across his bare bottom but only 2 or 3 strokes at a time. He knew that when he got older he too would probably fall foul of father and would receive the full severity of his father's strict upbringing.
At last the punishment was complete and the father simply ordered his son to stand up. He told his son to compose himself and get dressed. Then, coldly, he gathered the chair in one hand, his cane in the other and turned to leave the room leaving his 8 year old son holding his blazing, striped bottom, lying face down on his bed, face buried in a pillow, crying his eyes out.