Полисмен повертел дубинкой и сделал шаг вперед.

— Мне пора идти. Надеюсь, ваш друг придет вовремя. Вы ведь не требуете от него уж очень большой точности?

— Ну, конечно. Я подожду его еще, по крайней мере, с полчаса. Если только он жив, к этому времени он уж непременно должен прийти. Всего лучшего, сержант.

— Спокойной ночи, сэр. — Полисмен возобновил свой обход, продолжая по дороге проверять двери.

Стал накрапывать мелкий холодный дождь, и редкие порывы перешли в непрерывный пронзительный ветер. Немногочисленные пешеходы молча, с мрачным видом, торопливо шагали по улице, подняв воротники и засунув руки в карманы. А человек, приехавший за тысячи миль, чтобы сдержать почти нелепое обещание, данное другу юности, курил сигару и ждал.

Прошло еще минут двадцать, и вот высокая фигура в длинном пальто с воротником, поднятым до ушей, торопливо пересекла улицу и направилась прямо к человеку, поджидавшему у входа в магазин.

— Это ты, Боб? — спросил подошедший неуверенно.

— А это ты, Джимми Уэлс? — быстро откликнулся тот.

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— Ах, бог ты мой! — воскликнул высокий человек, хватая в свои руки обе руки человека с сигарой. — Ну, ясно как день, это Боб. Я не сомневался, что найду тебя здесь, если только ты еще существуешь на свете. Ну, ну! Двадцать лет — время немалое. Видишь, Боб, наш ресторан уже снесли. А жаль, мы бы с тобой поужинали в нем, как тогда. Ну, рассказывай, дружище, как жилось тебе на Западе?

— Здорово. Получил от него все, чего добивался. А ты сильно переменился, Джим. Мне помнилось, ты был дюйма на два, на три ниже.

— Да, я еще подрос немного после того, как мне исполнилось двадцать.

— А как твои дела, Джимми?

— Сносно. Служу в одном из городских учреждений. Ну, Боб, пойдем. Я знаю один уголок, мы там с тобой вдоволь наговоримся, вспомним старые времена.

Они пошли, взявшись под руку. Приехавший с Запада с эгоизмом человека, избалованного успехом, принялся рассказывать историю своей карьеры. Другой, почти с головой уйдя в воротник, с интересом слушал.

На углу квартала сиял огнями аптекарский магазин. Подойдя к свету, оба спутника одновременно обернулись и глянули друг другу в лицо.

Человек с Запада вдруг остановился и высвободил руку.

— Вы не Джим Уэлс, — сказал он отрывисто. — Двадцать лет — долгий срок, но не настолько уж долгий, чтобы у человека римский нос превратился в кнопку.

— За такой срок иногда и порядочный человек может стать мошенником, — ответил высокий. — Вот что, «Шелковый» Боб, уже десять минут как вы находитесь под арестом. В Чикаго так и предполагали, что вы не преминете заглянуть в наши края, и телеграфировали, что не прочь бы побеседовать с вами. Вы будете вести себя спокойно? Ну, очень благоразумно с вашей стороны. А теперь, прежде чем сдать вас в полицию, я еще должен выполнить поручение. Вот вам записка. Можете прочесть ее здесь, у окна. Это от постового полисмена Уэлса.

Человек с Запада развернул поданный ему клочок бумаги. Рука его, твердая вначале, слегка дрожала, когда он дочитал записку. Она была коротенькая:

«Боб! Я пришел вовремя к назначенному месту. Когда ты зажег спичку, я узнал лицо человека, которого ищет Чикаго. Я как-то не мог сделать этого сам и поручил арестовать тебя нашему агенту в штатском.

Джимми».

 

In my opinion there are two possible themes to the story

The first is that two people who are from the same place and who are good friends can still grow apart. This implies that some people are just born to be good a d others to end up badly. Jimmy Wells stayed honest but Bob did not.

The other theme is that morality and duty are more important than friendship. Jimmy clearly still feels something for Bob-he can not bring himself to actually arrest Bob. But he knows that doing whats right is more important than friendship

The open window

Открытое окно. (по рассказу Гектора Хью Манро)

- Моя тетя спустится через несколько минут, мистер Наттел,- сказала пятнадцатилетняя девочка, проводя его в гостиную. Г-н Наттел был молодой художник, у которого недавно был нервный срыв. Врачи сказали ему, что он должен уйти в отпуск. Они предостерегли его, однако, от переполненных курортов и рекомендовали полноценный отдых в тихом загородном месте. Итак, он был здесь, в маленькой деревне, с рекомендательными письмами от своей сестры к некоторым людям, которых она знала."Некоторые люди там довольно приятные", - сказала ему сестра. "Я советую тебе зайти к миссис Саплтон как только ты приедешь. Я обязана ей чудесным отдыхом." "Вы знаете многих людей здесь?"спросила девушка, когда они удобно устроились на диване. - Нет, боюсь, что нет, - ответил мистер Наттел. "Я никогда не был здесь раньше. Моя сестра останавливалась здесь четыре года назад, вы знаете, и она дала мне рекомендательные письма для некоторых людей здесь."- Значит, Вы ничего не знаете о моей тете?" - спросила девушка. "Только ее имя и адрес", - сказал посетитель. "Ее большая трагедия произошла всего три года назад," сказала девушка. "Ее трагедия?" - спросил г-н Наттел. "Вы можете удивится, почему мы держим это окно широко открытым в октябрьский день", - продолжала девушка, указывая на большое французское окно. "В это время года довольно тепло, - сказал г-н Наттель. "Но имеет ли это окно какое-то отношение к трагедии?" "Ровно три года назад муж моей тети и ее два молодых брата вышли через это окно. Они пошли поохотиться и больше не вернулись. Когда они переходили реку, их лодка, вероятно, перевернулась, и они все утонули. Их тела так и не нашли. Это была самая ужасная часть трагедии."Здесь девушка остановилась. В ее глазах были слезы, и она вытащила из кармана платок. "Прошло три года, но моя бедная тетя все еще думает, что когда-нибудь они вернутся; они и маленькая коричневая собака, которая утонула вместе с ними, и войдут в это окно так же, как они всегда это делали. Поэтому окно остается открытым каждый вечер, пока не стемнеет. Бедная дорогая тетя, она не может понять, что они ушли навсегда. С каждым днем она становится все хуже, так что позвольте мне дать Вам совет. Не удивляйтесь тому, что она говорит или делает: она снова начнет рассказывать вам, как они вышли - ее муж, с пальто на руке, и ее младший брат, поющий песенку "Берти, почему бы тебе не прийти?"... как она мне однажды сказала. Знаешь, иногда, в такие тихие вечера, как этот, я почти чувствую, что они все войдут в это окно, и вся семья будет собрана здесь снова. "Молодая девушка закончила свою печальную историю. Наступила долгая пауза, и г-н Наттел был рад, когда миссис Саплтон наконец вошла в комнату. - Простите, что я опоздала, - сказала она, - но я надеюсь, что моя племянница хорошо Вас развлекла." - Да, она была очень забавной, - сказал мистер Наттел. "Вы не возражаете против открытого окна?" - спросил миссис Саплтон. "Мой муж и братья скоро вернутся домой с охоты, и они всегда заходят в дом таким образом." И она продолжала говорить весело об охоте . После того, что мистер Наттел только что услышал, он выглядел взволнованным. "Врачи сказали мне, - сказал он, пытаясь изменить тему, - отдохнуть здесь и избежать всего, что заставило бы меня нервничать." "Неужели они?" - сказала миссис Саплтон голосом, который показал, что она вовсе не была заинтересована в том, что г-н Наттел говорил. Она не отрывала глаз от открытого окна и вдруг воскликнула: "Вот они, наконец! Как раз вовремя к чаю. Какими уставшими они выглядят." Мистер Наттел посмотрел на девушку и увидел, что она смотрит в открытое окно с ужасом в глазах. Г-н Наттель медленно повернулся на своем месте, посмотрел в том же направлении, и увидел три фигуры, идущие по саду к окну. Все они были с оружием, и у одного из них был плащ через плечо. Усталая коричневая собака следовала за ними. Молча они подошли к дому, а потом молодой голос начал петь: "Берти, почему бы тебе не прийти?" Мистер Наттел схватил шляпу и выбежал из дома, как сумасшедший. "Мы здесь, моя дорогая", - сказал муж миссис Саплтон, заходя через окно. "Нам очень понравилось. Интересно, почему этот джентльмен так быстро выбежал, когда мы подошли? Кто он такой?" "Очень странный молодой человек по имени Наттел. Он мог говорить только о своей болезни. Он не сказал ничего интересного. Я не понимаю, почему он так убежал, не попрощавшись", - сказала его жена. - Думаю, это было из-за собаки, - спокойно сказала племянница. "Он сказал мне, что боится собак. Однажды, когда на него напала свора собак где-то в Индии, он так испугался, что начал бежать, как сумасшедший, и, оказавшись на кладбище, спустился в недавно вырытую могилу, где ему пришлось переночевать. С тех пор он всегда боится собак...

 

"Она всегда очень хорошо придумывала истории экспромптом и делала это очень артистично."

Summary:

 

The Open Window tells about Framton Nuttel who went to countryside to rest his nerves. His sister had said beforehand that his nerves would worsen and had given introduction letters to people there.

 

There he was talking to Vera, a 15 year – old girl. She is a niece of Mrs Sappleton, a woman to whom Frampton has been given a letter of introduction by his sister. She told him that there was a tragedy befell to Vera’s aunt. Her aunt’s husband and her two young brothers were drowned, died in the marshes while out shooting several years ago. The tragedy sent the aunt out of her mind, and she always keeps the French window (glass door) into the garden open, believing that they will come back.

 

Mrs. Sappleton then arrived, apologized that she was late. She mentioned about the window to Nuttel and she waited for her husband, two young brothers and her dog. Nuttel felt a horrible atmosphere when he heard it. Then Nuttel looked through the window and found out that there were three men walking towards that window, looking exactly how the neice described them. He runs away in panic; the husband and brothers arrive, very puzzled by the guest’s strange behaviour. Vera calmly tells them that it must have been the dog; he told her he was terrified of dogs after being attacked by wild dogs in India.

 

Vera is very good at making up stories quickly.

 

Intrinsic Elements

 

A. Plot

 

The plot is well – structured and unified. In the beginning the protagonist, Frampton Nuttel, met and had a chat with Vera in a countryside house. He went there because he wanted to rest his nerves.

 

The conflict begins when she told him about a tragedy of her aunt’s husband and younger brothers. The complication takes place when Mrs. Sappleton, Vera’s aunt, told him about his family which made Nuttel frightened. Then the climax is when Nuttel saw three men and a dog resembled the ones in the story made him ran away because he thought that they were supposedly dead.

 

The story end with confusion among the inhabitants of the house and Vera explained why Nuttel ran away. In the last sentence the narrator told us that they all just made up stories from Vera who is good at making up stories.

 

This is a good plot because Vera, as the main character, who sets this story from the first place until the end. Vera seems to be truthful when she tells Nuttel the story of Mr.Sappleton and the hunting party, but in the end it was just a lie.

 

B. Character

 

1. Vera (Main/Major Character): Self-possessed / confident, intelligent and allert, shrewd, creative and imaginative, a fine actress. Vera is the major character or she is the center of this story because she is the one who sets this story from beginning until the end. And the theme of this story matches with Vera’s role in this story.

 

2. Framton Nuttel (Dynamic, Minor Character): A shy, nervous man due to both his medical condition and having to meet many people he doesn’t know. He is a dynamic character because in this story his characteristic is changed after he faced an event. Nuttel has neural problem which makes him cannot think logically and makes him easily believed in Vera’s story.

 

3. Mrs. Sappleton (deutragonist)

 

4. Nuttel’s sister (tritagonist)

 

5. Mrs. Sappleton’s husband (tritagonist)

 

6. Mrs. Sapleton’s brothers (tritagonist)

 

7. A pet, spaniel dog (tritagonist)

 

This story uses dramatic method in the portrayal of its characters.

 

This story has no protagonist or antagonist because Vera as the main character doesn’t face any conflict.

 

C. Setting

 

1. Place: In a countryside house

 

2. Time: October evening

 

3. Weather: Warm

 

4. Mood or Atmosphere: quiet, somewhat ghastly and creepy

 

In this story the setting is important, especially the time and the atmosphere of it. It takes place on a quiet evening that makes it seems creepier and Vera ingeniously take full advantage of her surrounding to deceive Nuttel. Not only to deceive Nuttel but it also to deceive the reader that the atmosphere is creepy so the reader believe that she is telling the truth but in the end it is actually not

 

D. Point of View

 

This story uses limited omniscient narrator point of view, because the narrator knows the characters action and some of Nuttel’s feeling and thought, but he doesn’t know all of the character’s feeling. The narrator doesn’t explain what is in Vera’s mind when she tells Nuttel and her family a tale.

 

E. Style and Tone

 

In this story Saki uses irony. Some of the characters demonstrate a mirror image of their names and their personalities. On the other hand, other character’s names are the complete opposite of their personalities.

 

Vera’s name comes from words that mean truth or honesty, while in reality Vera lies and manipulates the truth due to the circumstances of her situation. Mr. Nuttel’s name on the other hand is ironic in the sense that it comes from words that mean crazy, mentally unstable, nuts, etc. and that is exactly how his character is described in the story.

 

Theme

 

The theme of this story is deception; while the moral value of this story is never believe something that you heard without clear evidence or make sure beforehand. Rechecking the information will avoid us from being deceived. It is a sarcastic to people who easily believe to anything from anybody.

 

Discussion

 

We use eclectic approach, both historical and formalism approach.

 

Saki’s real name was Hector Hugh Munroe. He was born in the Asian country of Burma, now called Myanmar. When he was a toddler his mother was killed by a charging cow. His father sent Saki and his older brother and sister to live with relatives in England.

 

 

They were raised by their grandmother and two very strict aunts.

The aunts has many rules. Saki didn’t like the rules, but he had to obey. He was not allowed to play outside very often. The windows in his house were never even opened. Saki rebelled against this strictness when he grew older. He wrote many short stories about clever youths who trick the mean people in their lives.

 

Saki’s experiences inspired his view of the world. He wrote stories that mock the world he grew in. He showed the contrast between the way people seem to be and the way they really are. Saki grew up among rich people in England in the late 1800s. At that time, rich people followed strict rules of proper behavior in public, but they could play mean tricks on each other while pretending to be polite. Saki knew that children could sometimes be as mean as adults. His view on the world can be seen vividly in “The Open Window.”

 

We can see Saki’s reflection in Vera’s personality in The Open Window story. She deceives all of the adults around until the end of this story. In this story no one knows about her true intention but the reader and the narrator; Nuttel who runaway before saw the reality and Mrs. Sappleton’s family who don’t know the exact event.

 

Vera is the portrayal of Saki’s childhood when he wants to rebel against his aunt. He wants to take vengeance to the adults by deceiving them. This story’s theme, deception, is related to Saki’s feeling when he was a child.

 

Saki uses “The Open Window” as the title because when he was a child his aunt was very strict and didn’t allow him to play outside. The windows of his aunt’s house were never opened. By making “The Open Window” as the title, he wants to be sarcastic of her aunt’s strictness. Even the content of this story is the deception which is made by a child to the adults

 

The irony in “The Open Window” is the open window itself. The open window is symbolic of honesty, yet it is used to deceive Mr. Nuttle with the story of Mrs. Sappleton’s lost husband and brothers who left through the window and never returned.

 

The niece is playing on poor Mr. Nuttle who is “resting” due to some type of mental instability. It is further ironic in that everything Mrs. Sappleton remarks about her husband and brothers out hunting is taken differently by Mr. Nuttle. He is horrified at the glibness of her tone because he believes that they have suffered a tragedy.

 

The sudden reaction and departure of Mr. Nuttle when the men return through the window is ironic, as well. The niece is able to explain his fight by saying he merely was afraid of the dog, while in reality he believes they have come from some other realm.

 

 

Conclusion

 

The Open Window is a good story because not only provides good tone but also gives an unpredictable plot. As we will see through the analysis of the plot, this story is a striking example of the right way to use irony. We may think the story in some way, but in the end it turns out to be different than we originally thought. We need to comprehend every single element of this story it also contains moral value for us to consider.

Taking the vail

A Plot Imagined

When you think about the plot, or main events and action, of a story, you might first think about things that are actually happening to the characters. However, this is not the only type of action that can occur. Have you ever read a story where the main plot points occurred inside a character's mind? This is what Katherine Mansfield has done in her short story ''Taking the Veil.'' The only real-world action that occurs, is when the main character, Edna, walks from the library to a nearby garden. The rest of the story takes place either in Edna's memory or in her imagination.

 

Story Overview

The story begins during Edna's walk from the library. She is depressed, despite the beautiful day and cheerful scenes surrounding her. As she walks she remembers the previous evening, when she went out to a play with her fiancee, Jimmy. She was incredibly moved by the actor's performance, and at the end of it believed herself to be completely in love with the actor. She feels more strongly than she ever has before, and is convinced that she has to end her year-long engagement to Jimmy. This is in spite of the fact that, ''...they had known they were going to marry each other ever since they walked in the Botanical Gardens with their nurses, and sat on the grass with a wine biscuit and a piece of barley-sugar each for their tea.'' She believes her love for the actor is stronger than her devotion to Jimmy.

 

Much of the rest of the story is a fantasy that plays out in Edna's mind, while she sits in the garden of a nearby convent. She imagines breaking up with Jimmy and how it will hurt him. She then plays out what her life will be like afterward. She imagines joining a convent (also known as 'taking the veil,' ). The fantasy goes further, and Edna imagines her own death from an illness she gets when rescuing a stray animal from the cold. When she imagines the distress of Jimmy at her funeral, Edna wakes up from her fantasy and realizes that it is Jimmy that she loves after all and that it is not too late to go on with their marriage as planned. This is especially true since she has said absolutely nothing to him about her crush!

 

Further Analysis

The overarching theme, or topic, that ''Taking the Veil'' centers around, is Edna's innocence and lack of experience. A number of different literary elements come into play to reinforce this theme, including setting, characterization, and plot.

 

Setting and Characterization

The setting of several parts of the story adds to this theme. First, there is the garden where Edna chooses to sit in, as she imagines her future. She sits ''...under a new-leafed tree, hung with little bunches of white flowers.'' White traditionally represents innocence and purity, and it reinforces Edna's innocent nature. The setting of her 'falling in love' adds to this as well, because it is a play. She did not fall for a man on the street or someone she knew, but for a man acting out a performance. This shows that she is so naive that she cannot distinguish between the actor and the character he is playing.

 

The white flowers of the tree represent innocence.

Tree with white flowers

Finally, the setting of her fantasy is a convent, which is where a person goes to become a nun. Convents are traditionally places of innocence.

Cat in the rain

The story under analysis “Cat in the Rain” was written by Ernest Hemingway, one of the most favourite American novelists, short-story writer and essayist, whose simple prose style for the first sight influenced at a lot of writers.

 

So, the story begins with the description of the hotel where two Americans stopped. It is raining, so it`s the reason why the married couple stay in their room. But a cat in the rain attracts the young woman’s attention. She wants to get the cat inside but fails so the service of the hotel brings her another one.

 

The story is written in one mood which the author creats from the very begining. The very title of the text gives us an impression of incleament wheather, miserable and pitful. Hemingway keeps this atmosphere of “rain” by using certain epithets in his description: puddles, deserted square, glistening war monument. I suppose it`s rare time when the atmosphere of the whole story serves as a symbole of the relationships between the wife and her husband.

 

The protagonist here is the woman. Her emotions and her relations are at the first plan. We can see how deeply the author describes her emotions with his lovely device, repetition, when he reveals her attitude to the owner of the hotel: “she liked...she liked”. It`s interesting that the verb “to like” is not used to characterize relations of the wife to her husband. So we can see here inderectly and later directly in the conversation with her husband that she seaches response of her husband and doesn`t get it so she has despaired so much that tries to find it somewhereelse.

 

The vocabulary that is used by the author makes us realize that the woman is a little girl with her meaningless, capricious wishes which are not to be satisfied by her nearest man so she bears the drama of her fate, the absence of comfort in her life, that we can compare with the cat in the rain.

 

 

The title of the story anticipates this confrontation and the fact that the cat’s image takes a part in the story twice – just increases the total effect. In fact, the young woman wants love and maybe a child as a result of it, what exactly symbolized in that cat. By the way a cat is a traditional symbol of home and comfortand this is what she needs. She wants warmth, attention, care, joy, happiness; however she gets a cat at all but another one, so the author could hint us a following outcome, that maybe for her future the desteny reserved a cat, as a love. And the owner of the hotel can be compared with the Lord who is over all circumstances and who care about her.

 

The war monument is also mentioned purposely. The husband George and his wife belong to uncomfortable, homeless after-war world. It seems that George took a part in that war so he looks tired of it and he just wants a real peacful rest but his wife has other wishes so she behave with him in disrespectful annoying him a lot with her endless caprices. So the plot is not so monosemantic as it could seem for the first sight.

 

If to speak about the text itself, it is told in the 3rd person narrative. the description is bound with descriptive passages and dialogues of the personages. The author makes extensive use of repetitions to render the story more vivid, convincing, more real and emotional.

 

Everything the author touches seems to reflect the feelings of the heroes.

 

To my personal opinion the story reveals the author's great knowledge of man's inner world. He penetrates into the human heart and disclose its verges. The author tried to disclose the deep dificulties in mutual understanding between man and woman by the reason of different natural aims in marrige. Man searches for tranquility in woman and she searches love and care in the man and babies as result of it, so we can say that it`s the main massage of the story.