The clock struck eleven at night.The whole house was quiet.Everyone was in bed except me.Under the strong light，I looked sadly before me at a huge pile of that troublesome stuff（东西）they call “books”.
I was going to have my examination the next day.“When can I go to bed？”I asked myself.I didn’t answer，In fact I dared not.
The clock struck twelve.”Oh，dear!”I cried.“Ten more books to read before I can go to bed!”We pupils are the most wretched creatures in the world.Dad does not agree with me on this.He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.
The clock struck one.I was quite desperate（绝望的）now.I forgot all I had learned.I was too tired to go on.I did the only thing I could.I prayed，“Oh，God，please help me pass the exam tomorrow.I do promise to work hard afterwards，Amen.”My eyes were so heavy that I could hardly open them A few minutes later，with my head on the desk，I fell asleep.

He underlined word wretched in Paragraph 3 probably means（）.