HAPPY NEW YEAR 2071 to all my friends and well-wishers! May all your good wishes be fulfilled in this new year!

नयाँ बर्ष २०७१ को उपलक्ष्यमा मेरा सबै साथीहरु र शुभ चिन्तकहरुमा हार्दिक मंगलमय शुभकामना ब्यक्त गर्दछु. तपाईं हरुको सबै असल मनोकामना नयाँ बर्षमा पूरा होउन !

A Marriage Proposal

- Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)

Choobookov and Lomov are landowners who are good friends and neighbours. Lomov is a 35 years old bachelor who is over-sensitive toward his health. Choobookov has a 25 years old daughter, Natalia, who is a shrewish woman. Both Lomov and Natalia have crossed the appropriate age for their marriage. So, they are anxious to get married.

One day Lomov visits Choobookov’s house in a formal dress. Choobookov is surprised to see his neighbour in a formal dress. After a little hesitation, Lomov reveals his motive for the visit. He has come there to ask Choobookov his daughter’s hand. Hearing the proposal, Choobookov is overjoyed. He says that both he and his daughter like Lomov very much.

Choobookov sends his daughter to the place where Lomov is waiting for her. Lomov is quite nervous to propose to Natalia. Because of his nervousness, Lomov can’t propose Natalia directly. So, he starts with a rather long background about the two families’ relationship to each other. But when he says the Ox Meadows is his, Natalia shrewdly protests. She claims that the Ox Meadows belongs to her family. They have a long and childish debate on this matter because Lomov is also a short-tempered person and doesn’t want to accept the defeat.

After some time, Choobookov arrives there and engages himself in the debate. They give each other’s families various bad names. Lomov threatens them to suit a case in court and leaves.

When Lomov is away, Choobookov informs his daughter that Lomov wanted to propose to her. She changes herself outright. She starts crying. She makes her father call Lomov back. When he arrives again, she welcomes him and talks to him in a friendly way. Meanwhile, she accidentally says that her dog is superior to his dog. They again begin fierce debate. Each of them boasts of their own pets. Choobookov arrives again. Pitifully, again he is also drawn into the debate. When the debate is heated, Lomov feels difficulty in his heart. He faints. Both Natalia and her father are worried.

When Lomov regains his consciousness, Choobookov joins his hand with Natalia’s and tells them to kiss each other. They cheerfully do it. Choobookov gives his blessings to his daughter and son-in-law. But both Natalia and Lomov are still arguing about the superiority of each other’s dog when Choobookov outshouts for champagne. It shows that marriage is a compromise.

Questions:

1. Why is Choobookov surprised at the appearance of his visitor? (058,061)
2. Write about the purpose of Lomov’s visit to Choobookov’s house in the play.
3. How does the topic of dogs bring about exchange of heated words? (062)
4. Why does Choobookov have to shout for champagne at the end? (063)
5. What is Lomov’s idea of marriage? (064)
6. What are the pains and anxieties of the father of a grown-up daughter as experienced by Choobookov? What makes Choobookov so desperate as to wish to put a bullet through his own head? (057)
7. Make a comparison of the characters of  Choobookov and Lomov. (060)
8. Narrate the series of changes in the attitude of Natalia toward Lomov. (065)

Lord Byron’s Love Letter

-          Tennessee Williams

There are four characters in this play: Ariadne (the spinster), her mother (the old woman), the matron and her husband (Winston Tutwiler). The events of this play take place in New Orleans where Mardi Grass festival is organized every year. The matron and her husband have come to New Orleans from Milwaukee to observe the festival. They are waiting for the parade.

            While waiting for the parade, the matron falls into the trap of the spinster and the old woman. They are very clever to cheat the tourists. They have pasted a notice which claims that they have Lord Byron’s love letters.

            When the matron comes in, the old woman hides herself behind the screen. She directs the spinster about what to do and what to say to the matron, but she doesn’t show up herself.

            The spinster claims that her grandmother was loved by Lord Byron. She met him in Greece where he had been in voluntary exile. He fought for the freedom there. The spinster’s grandmother met Lord Byron on the steps of the Acropolis in Athens when she was just 16 years old. She has described the event in her diary which the spinster and the old woman possess. The spinster reads the detail for the matron. The   old woman corrects it many times when the spinster commits mistake.

            According to the diary written by the supposed Agnes, Lord Byron’s beloved, she met him in a dramatic way. She had been to the Acropolis with her aunt. When they had to climb up the steps, her aunt became ill. So, she left her aunt with her driver and climbed up the Acropolis alone. She saw a handsome man ahead of her. The man turned back and looked at her frequently but each time he pretended to be watching the beautiful panorama. At the top of the Acropolis, he spread his arms and looked at the sky. The spinster’s grandmother was impressed by him so much that she thought he was the God Apollo in modern dress. Then, he faced her and picked her gloves from the ground. When he gave the gloves to her, his fingers touched her palm slightly.

            The spinster doesn’t complete the story. She arouses a curiosity in the matron’s mind and shows her the supposed letters of Lord Byron from a distance. But she doesn’t allow her to read them. She says her grandmother died shortly after the death of Lord Byron in the war. Then she reads the matron and her husband a sonnet of her grandmother. Meanwhile, the parade of the festival passes by. The matron’s husband runs out and she follows him. The spinster asks her for one dollar or at least a quarter. But the matron is worried about her husband who is semi-consciously drunk. So, she runs after him without paying them money. 

Riders to the Sea

-          John Millington Synge (1871-1909)

There are mainly four characters in this play. Maurya, an old woman, is the mother of Bartley, Cathleen and Nora. The plot of this play weaves the story of a tragic mother who loses all her six sons along with her husband and father-in-law. She has no weakness of her own. Yet, she has to suffer. Her stoic endurance of the misfortune brought about by the loss of all her sons is heroic and tragic. Her cry echoes the cries of all the poor and dispossessed ones who are destined to lose their relatives.

            There is a small cottage on the bank of the sea. In the kitchen of the cottage, Cathleen, 20, is making cake. Nora, Cathleen’s younger sister enters the kitchen. She has brought a bundle of a shirt and a stocking. She has hidden the bundle under her shawl. A priest gave the bundle to her. She has brought it to check whether the shirt and the stocking are Michael’s. He is her brother who has been lost in the sea for nine days. Both the sisters do not want to give any information about the bundle to their mother before they themselves are sure enough.

            When the sisters hear their mother’s noise in another room, they hide the bundle in the attic. Maurya, the mother, has lost her fifth son Michael. She has already lost her four sons to the sea. She is anxious not to lose her last son, Bartley. So, she wants to stop him anyway. The sea is also very rough because of the bad weather.

            Bartley doesn’t heed his mother’s request. He rides on a red mare. The grey pony follows the red mare. Maurya instantly loses all hope of seeing him again.

            Cathleen has forgotten to give the cake to Bartley. So, she sends her mother with it to give Bartley. As the mother has gone away, Cathleen and Nora open the bundle. They recognize Michael’s stocking and shirt. They cry. After a few moments, Maurya arrives and comes in. The daughters hide the bundle again and pretend to be in a normal condition. Maurya has not given the cake to Bartley.

            When Cathleen asks her why she did not give the cake to Bartley, Maurya says that she could not because she had a terrible sight. As she was about to give the cake to Bartley, she saw Michael riding on the grey pony following the red mare on which Bartley was. He was wearing fine clothes and new shoes. She could not say anything to Bartley nor could she give him the cake. So, she is sure that Bartley won’t return home alive.

            The daughters give the mother her son Michael’s belongings. She is not surprised to hear about Michael’s death. She says the planks brought to make Michael’s coffin will be used for making Bartley’s. Meanwhile, some women and men come to their house carrying something. It is Bartley’s body. He was knocked off a cliff into the sea by the grey pony. Maurya says that now there is nothing the sea can take from her. She laments that all her sons and husband were killed in the sea. She stops crying. She wishes for peaceful rest of every departed soul. She says no man at all can be living forever, and we must be satisfied. She expresses her deep sorrow but consoles herself. 

The Happy Journey

-          Thornton Wilder (1897-1975)

Everything in this play is theatrical. Only a little stage settings or scenery has been used by the playwright. So, the audience or the reader is expected to use as much of their imagination as they can. The scenes depicted in this play move from one place to another like in cinema.

            There are four members in Kirby family: Kate (mother), Elmer (father), Arthur (son), 13, and Caroline (daughter), 15. The eldest daughter, Beulah, 22, has already been married to a telephone clerk. She lives with her husband in Camden. This play depicts the Kirbys’ journey from Newark to Camden, the city where Beulah lives.

            At the beginning of the play, Arthur, Ma and Caroline are getting ready for the Journey. Arthur is playing marbles, Caroline is talking to some girls and Ma Kirby is anxiously putting on her hat before a mirror. After some time, when they are ready, Ma talks to her neighbours. She has kept a sweet relationship with her neighbours. She requests them to look after her house and her cat in her absence. She also teaches her daughter how to greet their neighbours. Her neighbours are also careful not to be a nuisance to her. They are also faithful to her.

            They find a funeral procession on the way. Elmer puts off his hat. Ma tells Arthur to put off his hat, too. They wait until the procession has passed by. Ma becomes a bit emotional and says that she wants to die before anybody else in her family.

            While going forward along the way, they see hoarding boards with various advertisements. So, they talk or discuss about the advertisements. When Arthur tries to make fun of his mother’s respect for God, Ma becomes very angry and tries to make him get off the car. When Arthur says sorry to her, she immediately forgives him. She seems to have a deep respect for God.  She also loves her husband and children very much. She is a bossy wife and mother in her family. She is also quite talkative and sociable.

            They reach Beulah’s house in the late evening. Beulah receives them happily. All of them become very happy at their reunion to each other. Beulah has recently gone through an operation in the hospital. She had given birth to a baby which died shortly after its birth. She was also hardly saved. She is happy to be alive and reunited again with her parents and siblings.

The Romancers

-          Edmond Rostand

Sylvette and Percinet are in deep love. They regard themselves as counterparts of Romeo and Juliet. Sylvette’s father Pasquinot and Percinet’s father Bergamin are arc-enemies. Their houses are separated by an old moss-grown wall completely covered with lush vines, creepers, and flowers.

            Each of the fathers restricts his child from looking at or talking to the other. They say they are old enemies. But the boy and the girl regularly meet at the wall and enjoy reading the story of Romeo and Juliet. They wish their father’s enmity to each other ended. But they are soon found to be puppets in the hands of their scheming fathers.

            At the beginning of the play Sylvette and Percinet are seen to be sitting together at the wall and reading the book Romeo and Juliet. They identify themselves with the famed characters in the book. They are worried about their father’s hatred to each other. Their fathers pressurized them to hate each other but the very pressure created love between them.

            Bergamin, the father of Percinet, arrives at the place and the two have to be separate from each other. Bergamin tells Percinet about his plan to mend the wall. He is going to wipe away all the vines and put broken pieces of bottles at the top of the wall. He also gives his son pressure to marry a girl of his choice. But Percinet rejects it loudly so that Sylvette can hear on the other side of the wall.

            Pasquinot also appears on the other side. He scolds Sylvette for roaming around the garden because she might be insulted by Bergamin and his son. He sends her into the house. Then, both Bergamin and Pasquinot exchange greetings. They are both widows. They have a plan that they will marry their children to each other and merge their estates. Then, they will live together rest of their lives. It is only their trick that they restrict their children from meeting each other. They think the more they prevented their meeting the closer they would become. And they are correct.

            The fathers hire Straforel, a bravo man, for making their children’s relationship romantic and adventurous. When they see their fathers talking to each other in a friendly way, they pretend to be fighting with each other.

            Finally, Straforel and his men pretend to attempt abducting Sylvette. Percinet fights with them bravely and thinks he saved her. The fathers arrive at the scene and declare the end of their feud. They decide to marry their children. 

To Bobolink, for Her Spirit

-William Inge

A group of autograph seekers in the leadership of Bobolink Bowen is waiting outside 21 Club in New York. Bobolink and her friend, Nellie, have seen Perry Como entering the club, so they are waiting there for her autograph. Renaldo, Fritz, Gretchen and Annamarie are other members of the group. Bobolink, who is in her early thirties, is fat with short and kinky hair, and wears thick-lensed glasses and simple dress. Nellie, who is in her late twenties, is lean. The young boys Renaldo and Fritz and the young girls Gretchen and Annamarie are friends. Nobody of them is personally attractive.

Renaldo and Fritz talk about Lana Turner. Bobolink has already got her autograph and she says even Lana is no better than anyone else. Gretchen’s girlfriend found Lana at a beach in California. When she greeted her, she greeted back. So, they think she is not proud.

Bobolink and Nellie have some sweet as well as sour experiences waiting celebrities for their autographs. Once, they waited for three hours on a snowy night outside the Stork Club for Elizabeth Taylor. But it was a college girl wearing the dress same as of Taylor. The other time, they were waiting for Ronald Colman outside St. Regis when all of sudden there arrived Van Johnson and Peter Lawford. Then, they got autographs of two celebrities at the same time.

While they were talking, a couple wearing expensive dress came out of the club. Fritz approached them and got an autograph from the lady. After they had departed from there in a taxi, they studied it and found the lady was a Russian. But Bobolink did not show any interest upon them. She thought she was a well experienced autograph collector.

Bobolink and Nellie also share Bobolink’s experience of meeting Tyrone Power with the others. She met him at a railway station as president of the Tyrone Power Fan Club. He has also given her an autograph in which he has written: ‘To Bobolink for her faithful enthusiasm and spirit’.

When Fritz approaches another unknown couple that comes out of the club, Bobolink thinks they are childish because she is proud of her past experiences of meeting many celebrities. She and Nellie are ready to wait for Perry Como until he comes out, but other kids are impatient and want to go home for supper.    

Waterloo

-          Arthur Conan Doyle

When Norah Brewster, a country girl, arrives at the house of Corporal Gregory Brewster, 96, she finds it messy and poorly managed. He is her granduncle. At the time of her arrival both her uncle and his housekeeper are absent. She has been sent by her parents to look after him.

Sergeant McDonald, a young soldier, enters the house and wants to meet the Corporal. He has heard about his bravery in the battle of Waterloo, so is impressed by him very much.

There is a portrait of the Corporal on the wall with a cutting from a newspaper dated August 1815 beside it. It contains news about the ceremony on which the Corporal got the medal of honour for his daring contribution in the battle.

As soon as McDonald exits, the Corporal arrives at the house and calls his housekeeper from outside. Norah introduces herself to the Corporal and says that she has come there to take care of him. He is hungry, so asks for food and eats greedily. The Corporal is more worried about the cold than anything else.

When Norah says she came by the morning train, the Corporal is surprised because she is not afraid of the train. He is surprised at the development of the modern technology. He is fond of talking about the battle.

Sergeant McDonald enters again with some of his friends. He introduces himself to the Corporal who starts describing him how he fought in the battle. Meanwhile, he drops his pipe that is broken and he sobs like a small boy. The sergeant gives him his own pipe and the Corporal is happy.

After the sergeant has gone out, Norah thinks about him. She has been attracted by him. She thinks that he will also be like her granduncle after sixty years.

The Corporal wants to have Norah read the Bible for him. But he likes the part that contains the description of war.

Meanwhile, colonel Midwinter in civilian dress enters. The Corporal rises up to salute the colonel but cannot control himself properly. He describes the colonel about the battle. The colonel gives him some money as a gift on behalf of his army men. The Corporal expresses his wish for the respect by the army after his death. The colonel promises that he will be provided the respect.

After the colonel has gone out, the sergeant arrives. He invites Norah to the barrack to have a look at it. Suddenly, the Corporal rises on his feet screaming in a loud voice. He is having a dream about the battle. Then, he collapses to the ground. He is dead.  

The Elephant

-          Slowomir Mrozek (1930- )

This story mocks at the authoritarian rule in Poland. The director of the Zoological Gardens represents the authoritarian bureaucracy.

The director of the zoo rose in his post very fast. He had no real interest in the animals of the zoo. So, there were many shortcomings in the zoo. Lack of an elephant was one of them.

On the anniversary of the liberation, on 22^nd July, the staff were notified that the zoo would have an elephant. The director had written a letter to Warsaw asking for an elephant in a more economic way.

To save money and energy, the director had planned to make a life-size rubber elephant and fill it with air. It would be painted with correct colour so that nobody would be able to say it was unreal. Then, it would be placed behind the railings. A notice about the elephant’s laziness would be pasted on the railings.

The Ministry approved the director’s plan. Then, he ordered his workers to make the rubber elephant. Two workers were given the task to fill the air in the carcass at night. They secretly hid themselves in a workshop and started their work. Soon they became tired but they could blow the air into the rubber elephant hardly a few inches up. So, they were worried.

While taking rest, they saw a gas pipe and decided to fill the elephant with gas. Their idea worked.

Next morning, the elephant was kept in the centre of the zoo just beside the monkey cage in front of a large rock.

The first visitors were a group of students from a local school. When they reached in front of the elephant, the teacher started giving them objective lesson about it. The students were amazed to see the magnificient elephant along with the teacher’s description. Sincere students were hurriedly making notes. But suddenly a strong wind lifted the elephant in the air. Then, it disappeared into the sky. The monkeys were also surprised. The students also did not believe their teachers there after. They turned themselves into hooligans. 

Pandora’s Box

-         Rosalind Vallance

(It is a classical story recreated in modern drama. It is written in beautiful verse. It tells us the story of how the inquisitive Pandora let loose the Troubles in the world and how life became bearable only with thee coming of Hope. The story is told by the chorus and its leader while the characters are only miming. Pandora, Epimetheus and Hermes are the characters. The action takes place in Pandora’s garden.)

The chorus enters the stage. There a re almost twelve persons in the chorus. The leader of the chorus also enters. They describe the bright and sunny world with happiness.  The children are happily dancing and enjoying their play. Pandora and Epimetheus are happily throwing their golden ball to each other.

Suddenly, a strong scent is smelt and a melodious sound is heard. Hermes, the messenger of Gods, arrives in a while. He has come from Mount Olympus where Zeus, the king of Gods, lives. He has been sent by Zeus. He is wearing silver sandal and has silver wings. He is greeted and welcomed by the chorus.

Hermes has carried down a mysterious box on the finger-tips of his right hand. The box is made of sandalwood. It has carved faces which smile curiously. The box has an amulet of gold on its lid. There are snakes guarding it. The box looks fearful and beautiful at the same time.

Nobody knows exactly what the box contains. The chorus think it is filled with ambrosia. Pandora is curious to know about the box, but Hermes gives her the signal of danger and flies away.  Epimetheus invites Pandora to play with him again, but she is fascinated by the beauty of the box. She doesn’t know what to do. Suddenly, a voice from inside the box lures her to open the lid and look inside.

Suddenly, Pandora opens the lid of the box after a short hesitation.  She immediately closes the lid again, but the Troubles have already escaped. They sting her all around. Epimetheus is angry at Pandora who is remorseful. When the Troubles come into the world, peace, innocence, love and pleasure are all gone away.

After a while, Pandora hears another voice calling her again from inside the box. The grief-stricken Pandora opens the lid of the box the second time. Thins time Hope enters the world. Only then Pandora, Epimetheus, and the Chorus are relieved.

When Icicles Hang by the Wall

-          William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

(This poem has no moral, nor is it beautiful. Poetry may deal with common colds and greasy kitchen maids as legitimately as with sunsets and flowers, and give no message or noble truth about life, and still continue to be a favourite among readers for nearly four centuries.)

Paraphrase:

Due to the excessive cold in winter, water particles freeze and icicles are formed on the walls and roof. Dick, the shepherd, blows his nails to keep them warm. Tom thrusts logs into the fire to keep the surrounding warm. Milk, when taken home from the cowshed in a pail, is frozen. Because of extreme cold, it feels as if blood has frozen in the body. Joan, because of low visibility, capsizes the pot. At the same time, the owl sings happily: ‘To-who/ To-whit, to-who’.

In winter, the wind blows noisily. The priest gets cough and cold, so he cannot complete his wise sayings. The birds have to brood over snow. Marian, due to common cold, has to rub her nose frequently, so has got red nose. Small sour apples produce a kind of hissing sound while they are being roasted.

Wet Saturday

                                                                   -         John Collier (1901-80)

Characters:

-         Mr. Princey, the father

-         Mrs. Princey, the mother

-         Millicent, the young daughter

-         Withers, a curate who is killed by Millicent

-         Captain Smollett, a scapegoat, a neighbour of Princeys

It was July. It was raining. Mr. Princey and his family members were inside the house. For Mr. Princey, his house was dearer than his wife, his daughter and his son. But now he was going to lose his dear house because of his daughter Millicent. To save it, he had to do something urgently.

Millicent had killed Withers, a curate of a local church. So, she was going to be hanged or put in lunatic asylum. In either case, Mr. Princey had to leave  the place and his house. He didn’t want this. So, he was asking his daughter about why and how she killed Withers.

Withers was going to another place past Mr. Princey’s house. He saw Millicent and wanted to meet her. Millicent had an illusion that he loved her. But he said he loved another girl, Ella Brangwyn Davies. She became angry and hit him on the back of his head with the end of a croquet post. She hit him many times in excitement.

While they were discussing about hiding the crime, Captain Smollett arrived and overheard them. Mr. Princey planned to drag him into his intrigue. He and his son, George, took Captain Smollett into the stable. Mr. Princey told George to punch Smollett twice in his face at gun point. He then made him catch the end of the croquet post used to kill Withers. He again made him drag the dead body down into the sewer.

After all, they all went back to the house. When Smollette had gone away, Mr. Princey called the police.

     

The Velvet Hangover

                                                                      -         Vaclav Havel (b. 1936- )

This speech was given by Havel in July 1990 at the opening of Salzburg Festival in Austria. In this speech, he has explored how fear of an unknown future of a free country has replaced the old known fears of the totalitarian rule. As the first freely elected president of Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, he had a great challenge to lead the country towards the sustainable democracy.

     They did many things hurriedly before the end of the totalitarian system. They had wonderful dream. When the revolution ended and he was elected the president, he was confused. He did not know what to do next. He was now aimless and powerless. So, he became very sad.

     Havel suddenly felt tired. All his energy before the election had vanished. He found himself in a situation that was like the hangover after a wild drinking party. His colleagues were also confused. When they had to face the reality, they felt their incompetence for the job they were supposed to do.  They were afraid that their success wouldn’t last long.

     Havel had tried to write an essay on fear, but he became busy in the election campaign. When he was free to write, he couldn’t.

     The people are unfamiliar to the freedom. They got the freedom after a great effort, but they don’t know what to do with it. So, they are afraid of their future. In the totalitarian system, at least the people’s future was certain. The totalitarian oppression represented the single familiar danger. Now, there are several unfamiliar danger. Among them are the danger of national conflicts, the danger of losing social-welfare protections and the danger of new totalitarianism of consumption, commerce and money. The new sense of freedom is uncomfortable. The totalitarianism had given no options to the people. Now there are so many.

     Fear of the future is related to the fear of the past. Liars can’t protect the freedom of the nation. Unless the politicians confess their guilt, they can’t get peace in their souls. The truth makes people free from fear. Fear has caused many fights in Central Europe.

     But fear is not always harmful. Fear of our incompetence makes us competent again. Fear of God makes us courageous. Fear of defeat makes us victorious and fear of freedom teaches us to create a freedom of real value. The more one is sensitive to dangers, the better one can save oneself. The more you feel empty and meaningless, the more meaning you find in life. Uncertainties cause certainties and hopelessness causes hope. One can not find sense in life without first experiencing its absurdity.

     Finally, Havel requests his people to free themselves from any type of fear. He tells them to examine their past, present and future. He suggests them to look into their doubts, fears and despair to produce a new self-confidence. This new self-confidence will give them the power to look beyond the present time and beyond the personal and community interests. 

The Letter A

                                                                          -         Christy Brown (1932-81)

Christy Brown was the tenth child of his parents. His parents had 22 children in total. His mother almost died while giving birth to him. He was an abnormal child since his birth. His mother was the first person to realize it. His head often fell back so she could not feed him her milk properly. His hands were clenched and turned to his back. His mouth had been dragged to one side, so he could not grasp the teat of the milk bottle. He could not sit up with the help of pillows around him.

When Christy became a year old, his parents took him to the hospitals and clinics. But almost all the doctors were hopeless. They assured his parents that nothing could be done for him. But his mother did not agree with them. She decided to treat him like other normal children. His mother’s decision was crucial for his future. The relatives suggested his parents that they should behave him as an abnormal child, but luckily for him they rejected. His mother had wanted to prove to them that he was not an imbecile.

Christy became 5 years old, but he still could not speak except producing a gurgling sound. He also couldn’t sit up. His mother had to patiently look after him along with her five other small children.

One day his mother showed him a great big storybook telling him the names of different animals and flowers. She kept on trying to get his reaction, but he couldn’t. So, she left the room crying.

It was a cold December day. It was snowing outside, so all the family members were gathered round the big kitchen fire. In a corner, Mona and Paddy, two of his younger sisters, were writing on an old chipped slate with a bright yellow piece of chalk. Christy was near to them watching their activity. He was suddenly quite attracted by  the yellow chalk. So, he reached out and took the stick of chalk out of his sister’s hand with his left foot. Even he didn’t know what he was doing. He held the chalk tightly between his toes and scribbled on the slate. Then, he stopped. He felt sweaty. Everybody around him stared at him. His mother knelt down beside him, wrote the letter ‘A’ on the floor, and told him to copy it. Very laboriously, in his fourth attempt, Christy was able to copy the letter.

His mother shed the tear of happiness. His father lifted him onto his shoulder. Now, he would speak through the written words.  

Paper

                                                                                  -         Calherine Lim

Tay Soon and Yee Lian are the main characters of this story. They are husband and wife. 

Tay Soon had a dream of buying a beautiful house. His dream house would be a combination of all the beautiful houses of the island, so it would have all the features of a beautiful house. His house would have aluminum sliding doors, kidney shaped swimming pool, timbered ceiling, paneled walls, sunken circular sitting room with amber carpet, kitchen walls with bright pink paint, etc. He often talked about his dream house with full enthusiasm. Even his wife and children had started talking about the dream house to their relatives and friends.

Tay Soon’s family was living in his mother’s house. It was a small terraced house. His mother sold bottled curries and vegetable preserves. She was so busy that she had no time for dreaming. When she knew about her son’s dream house, she criticized him for having an unnecessary ambition.

Tay Soon and his wife had forty thousand dollars in the bank. So, they were hopeful to be able to buy the dream house very soon. Both of them had good salaries. So, once they were able for the down payment, they would be able to pay off the due over a certain period of ten or fifteen or twenty years.

It was a time of growing interest in the market. One day, Yee Lian suggested her husband that they should invest their money into shares of a company. Within a few days, the price of the shares grew very fast. As they were earning money so fast, Yee Lian urged her sister to invest her money into the business.

Once, Tay Soon sold some of his shares that fetched him a lot of profit. But the very next day, the price of the shares grew up further. Therefore, he felt guilty

of not being patient enough to wait. Then, he vowed that he would never sell his shares.

     As they were making a lot of profit, Tay Soon’s wife went to her mother in law to persuade her to invest in it. But the old lady scolded Tay Soon for being so foolish. On the other hand, both the husband and the wife were more hopeful to be able to buy their dream house.

     After some days, the price of the shares started to go down. Tay Soon became nervous and wanted to sell the shares. But his wife told him not to worry about the fall because it was just a technical fall, she believed. She also informed her husband that OHTE and West Parkes were sure to rise. She was given the information by one of her neighbours, Dr. Soo’s wife. So, Tay Soon sold all his shares and put his money in these two companies. But the companies crashed shortly afterwards. Tay Soon lost all his money. Now, it was impossible for him to buy his dream house.

     Tay Soon went mad. Though a Chinese medicine man treated him, he could not get recovery from his illness. At last, he died.

     After his death, Tay Soon’s mother gave him his dream house. She ordered for a beautiful paper house to a man who was well-known on the island for such a house. It had everything made of paper. When the house was ready, it was brought to Tay Soon’s grave and set on fire there. After three minutes, there was only a heap of ashes on the grave. 

The Day of the Dead

                                                                                         -         Octavio Paz

Mexicans like fiestas. They provide them chance for getting together. Mexican fiestas are known for strange costumes and dances with fireworks and ceremonies.  Various kinds of fruit, candy, toys and other objects are sold during fiestas.

     Mexican calendar is full of fiestas which are celebrated all over the country. People pray, shout, feast, get drunk and slaughter animals. They forget even the time during fiestas.

     The number of the fiestas the Mexicans celebrate is not countable. The amount of time and money spent on the fiestas is also not known. The Federal Government itself provides money to the local government.

     Mexicans are poor because they spend much money and time on fiestas. The people in the western countries do not do so. They have other things to do. But for a Mexican, fiestas are the only opportunity to reveal himself and to talk to God, country, friends or relations. People drink, eat, sing and have fun together at fiestas. They often quarrel and kill each other because of drunkenness.

     French sociologists interpret fiestas as an expense. But expenditure provides Mexicans the chance to show their abundance and power. Therefore, wasting money and strength in fiestas is an investment.

     But this interpretation is incomplete. The fiesta is sacred and a journey to unusual. It has its own ethic different from everyday norms. In certain fiestas, the social order disappears. Anything is permitted in them, and all social, sex, caste, and trade distinctions vanish.

     A fiesta is not only a ritual squandering of the goods and money but also a revolt. By means of the fiesta society frees itself from the norms it has established. The fiesta is a revolution. In it, everything is united: good and evil, day and night, the sacred and the profane. Everything merges, loses shape and individuality and returns to the primordial mass. The fiesta is a return to a remote and undifferentiated state, prenatal or pre-social. The fiesta recreates the society with its creative energy. The fiesta is social act based on the full participation of all its celebrants.

     But the Mexican fiesta is an excuse to escape from or to exceed oneself. There is nothing so joyous as a Mexican fiesta, but there is also nothing so sorrowful. Fiesta night is also a night of mourning.

     Mexican fiestas are the violent breaks with the old or the established. Mexicans, when they try to be sincere with the help of fiestas, reach to extremes. It shows that they are suffocated and dare not confront themselves.   

     

Of Cocks and Men

-         Clifford Geertz

In this essay, Geertz analyses the role of cockfight in defining male sexual identity within Balinese culture. The majority of the Balinese are interested in cockfight.

     A lot of words concerning cocks are used in everyday language. The Balinese word ‘sabung’ has many meanings like ‘hero’, ‘warrior’, ‘man of parts’, ‘political candidate’, ‘bachelor’, ‘dandy’, ‘lady-killer’ or ‘tough guy’. A showy man is compared to a tailless cock. A desperate man is compared to a dying cock. A young man who is shy of girls is compared to a fighting cock caged for the first time. Even the island itself is likened to a challenging cock.

     Most of the Balinese men spend their time mostly with their cocks, feeding and grooming them. While sitting in a group, these men usually keep their cocks with them and try them to rouse and calm frequently.

     Cocks are cared very much in Bali. Fighting cocks are kept in wicker cages. They are given special diet to eat. Cocks get mostly maize as diet. They are fed red pepper to make them aggressive. They are given all the care that a human baby gets. They are bathed in the lukewarm water mixed with medicinal herbs, flowers, and onions. Their combs are cropped, their plumage dressed, their spurs trimmed and their legs massaged. The Balinese men spend as much time as they can with their cocks.

     Cocks are symbolic expressions or magnifications of their owner’s self. They are also the expression of the animality of human.

     The Balinese people do not like anything related to animals. Bestiality is more hateful than incest. Most demons are represented in animal form. The child’s teeth are shaped smoothly so that they don’t look like animal fangs. Eating and emptying bowels are both considered to be hateful because of their association with animality, so they are done quickly and privately. Except cocks, oxen and ducks, the Balinese people don’t like other animals and they treat them very badly. Not only his ideal self but also his fears or hatred is reflected through cockfight.

     Cockfighting is connected with dark power. Therefore, blood sacrifice is offered to the demons to pacify them. Without blood sacrifice, no festival should be conducted. Otherwise, it should be immediately corrected. On ‘The Day of Silence (Njepi)’ they keep silent to avoid contact with the demons. Cockfights take place in almost every village the previous day.

     In the cockfight, man and animal, good and evil, ego and id are united. The owner of the winning cock takes the body of the loser cock home to eat happily. The owner of the loser cock sometimes destroys the temple of God.  The mood of a man whose cock has just won is compared to the heaven whereas the loser one’s to the hell.

I Am a Cat

          

                                                          - Natsume Soseki (1867-1916)

(Note: This story shows the influence of the West on Japanese life and culture. It introduces a school teacher and his family as they appear through the eyes of a cat who has taken up residence in their home.)

The story teller, a cat, has no name. He doesn’t know where he was born. The first human being he found was a student. The student lifted him and put him on his palm. His face was unlike that of cats. It had no hair and smoke was coming out of the nostrils. When the student threw him into a bamboo bush, the narrator felt dizzy and fainted.

There was a large pond nearby. The narrator did not know what to do. He meowed many times, but nobody came to help him. He felt hungry and left the place looking for food. He found a broken bamboo bush and crawled through a hole. He went into a room. It was his first time at somebody’s home.

Maid Osan of the house was worse human than the student. She grabbed him by the neck and threw him outdoors. She did this many times as he kept coming back to the room. Because of his dislike for Osan, the narrator stole the fish the other day and felt proud of himself. As Osan was about to throw him out for the last time, the master of the house stopped her. So, the narrator was able to establish himself there.

The master of the house was a school teacher. He would all the time remain in his room. His family thought he was a hardworking man. But when the narrator secretly entered his master’s room, he would find his master dozing off and driveling. The master often said that teaching was a very hard job. But the narrator thought it was the easiest job. If he were to be reborn a man, he would become a teacher.

The narrator often tries to stay close to his master. When his master reads the newspapers, he always sits on his lap. When the master takes his nap, he climbs up his back. The narrator sleeps on the container for boiled rice in the mornings and a charcoal burning foot warmer in the evenings. On fine days, he sleeps on the veranda. When he crawls into the bed of two small daughters of his master, the smaller girl screams at night and his master beats him with a ruler. The narrator thinks that human beings, especially the children, are terribly spoilt. They are inconsiderate. They do not care about the sufferings of cats. They illegally take away others’ possessions.  They cruelly kill small kittens. But the narrator is optimistic. He doesn’t think that human race will prosper forever. So, he is waiting for the time when cats will reign.

The narrator’s master writes poems for the newspapers and magazines. He is also fond of archery and playing violin, but he can’t do either well. He has a habit of singing in the toilet.

One day, the master brought home the materials for painting. Then, he continued drawing pictures in his room. After some days’ hard work he realized that he wasn’t a good painter. The next day, he brought one of his friends home. His friend gave him an example of Italian painter Andrea del Sarto and suggested to follow his way of painting natural  things. The next day, the master came to the veranda where the narrator was taking his nap. The master had started drawing the narrator’s picture.

The master painted the narrator very badly. Nothing in the picture resembled him. The narrator was unable to move his body parts fearing it would damage his master’s picture. But he felt a sudden urge to go outside to relieve him. When he moved, his master angrily called him a fool. The narrator feels the need of some power to control the human excesses.