How the Whale got his Throat R. Kipling

PART I. ANALYTICAL READING

 

Unit 1

How the Whale got his Throat R. Kipling

In the sea, once upon a time, O my Best Beloved, there was a Whale, and he ate fishes. He ate the starfish and the garfish, and the crab and the dab, and the plaice and the dace, and the skate and his mate, and the mackereel and the pickereel, and the really truly twirly-whirly eel. All the fishes he could find in all the, sea he ate with his mouth-so! Till at last there was only one small fish left in all the sea, and he was a small 'Stute Fish, and he swam a little behind the Whale's right ear, so as to be out of harm's way. Then the Whale stood up on his tail and said, "I'm hungry."And the small 'Stute Fish said in a small 'stute voice, "Noble and generous Cetacean, have you ever tasted Man?' "No," said the Whale. "What is it like?" "Nice," said the small 'Stute Fish. "Nice but nubly.

"Then fetch me some," said the Whale, and he made the sea froth up with his tail.

"One at a time is enough," said the Stute Fish. "If you swim to latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West (that is Magic), you will find, sitting on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing on but a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders (you must not forget the suspenders, Best Beloved), and a jack-knife, one shipwrecked Mariner, who, it is only fair to tell you, is a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity."

So the Whale swam and swam to latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West, as fast as he could swim, and on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing to wear except a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders (you must particularly remember the suspenders, Best Beloved), and a jack-knife, he found one single, solitary shipwrecked Mariner, trailing his toes in the water. (He had his Mummy's leave to paddle, or else he would never have done it, because he was a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity.)

Then the Whale opened his mouth back and back and back till it nearly touched his tail, and he swallowed the shipwrecked Mariner, and the raft he was sitting on, and his blue canvas breeches, and the suspenders (which you must not forget), and the jack-knife. He swallowed them all down into his warm, dark, inside cupboards, and then he smacked his lips so, and turned round three times on his tail.

But as soon as the Mariner, who was a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity, found himself truly inside the Whale's warm, dark, inside cupboards, he stumped and he jumped and he thumped and he bumped, and he pranced and he danced, and he banged and he clanged, and he hit and he bit, and he leaped and he creeped, and he prowled and he howled, and he hopped, and he dropped, and he cried and he sighed, and he crawled and he bawled, and he stepped and he lepped, and he danced hornpipes where he shouldn't, and the Whale felt most unhappy indeed. (Have you forgotten the suspenders?)

So he said to the ‘Stute Fish, "This man is very nubbly, and besides he is making me hiccough. What shall I do?"

"Tell him to come out," said the 'Stute Fish. So the Whale called down his own throat to the shipwrecked Mariner, "Come out and behave yourself. I've got the hiccoughs."

"Nay, nay!" said the Mariner. "Not so, but far other­wise. Take me to my natal-shore and the white-cliffs-of-Albion, and I'll think about it." And he began to dance more than ever.

"You had better take him home," said the 'Stute Fish to the Whale. "I ought to have warned you that he is a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity.

So the Whale swam and swam and swam, with both flippers and his tail, as hard as he could for the hic­coughs; and at last he saw the Mariner's natal-shore and the white-cliffs-of-Albion, and he rushed half-way up the beach, and opened his mouth wide and wide and wide, and said, "Change here for Winchester, Ashuelot, Nashua, Keene, and stations on the Fitchburg Road"; and just as he said "Fitch" the Mariner walked out of his mouth. But while the Whale had been swimming, the Mariner, who was indeed a person of infinite-resource-and-sagacity, had taken his jack-knife and cut up the raft into a little square grating all running cross, and he had tied it firm with his suspenders (now you know why you were not to forget the suspenders!), and he dragged that grating good and tight into the Whale's throat, and there it stuck! Then he recited the following Sloka, which, as you have not heard it, 1 will now proceed to relate.

By means of a grating

I have stopped your ating.

For the Mariner he was also an Hi-ber-ni-an. And he stepped out on the shingle, and went home to his Mother, who had given him leave to trail his toes in the water; and he married and lived happily ever afterward. So did the Whale. But from that day on, the grating in his throat, which he could neither cough up nor swallow down, prevented him eating anything except very, very small fish; and that is the reason why whales nowadays never eat men or boys or little girls.

The small 'Stute Fish went and hid himself in the mud under the Door-sills of the Equator. He was afraid that the Whale might be angry with him.

The Sailor took the jack-knife home. He was wear­ing the blue canvas breeches when he walked out on the shingle. The suspenders were left behind, you see, to tie the grating with; and that is the end of that tale.

When the cabin port-holes are dark and green

Because of the seas outside;

When the ship goes wop (with a wiggle between) And the steward falls into the soup-tureen,

And the trunks begin to slide; When Nursey lies on the floor in a heap. And Mummy tells you to let her sleep, And you aren't waked or washed or dressed, Why, then you will know (if you haven't guessed) You're "Fifty North and Forty West!"

 

Commentary

Rudyard Kipling (1865—1936)

 

Rudyard Kipling is a well-known English poet, novelist and short-story writer. He was born in Bombey in the family of the eminent scuepture john lokwood Kipling. Everyone knows and loves The Jungle Book and the Just So Stories written for children with a deep understanding and subtle humour. He often feels for the failures, the underdogs, the men whom life has beaten. It is when he speaks of any true sorrow or misfortune that he becomes a really penetrative writer. The present selection is illus­trative of all this.

The Light That Failed is Kipling's first novel. It belongs to the early period in his literary career. The novel centres round the tragic fate of the painter Dick Heldar.

The works of R.Kipling have a great social- and- moral value as they contain the passionate defence of spiritual freedom, kindness, compassion, and beauty.

 

· This tale was written in 1897. As R. Kipling himself admitted the tale was a bed-time story

· My Best Beloved [bil^vid] – all the tales of “Just so Stories” were written in a form of a talk with a child. This form characterizes elevated style.

· Нe ate the starfish & the garfish & the crab & the dab etc. The enumeration of fish & sea animals is given in the form of rhymed prose. Epithet “twirly-whirly” is a child’s neologism, derived from the verbs “to twirl”, “to whirl”

· To be out of harm’s way – not to get into trouble

· In a small ‘stute voice – in a small astute voice, ‘stute is the so called nursery word (детская лексика) see: ‘scuse me= excuse me, member= remember, ‘fended =offended

· Suspenders (amer.) = braces (Eng.)

· Single, solitary – alliterated epithets which can be called a synonymous repetition (синонимический повтор) see: he stumped & he jumped & he thumped & he bumped

· He stepped & he lepped – stepped is derived from the verb to step ( танцевать, делать “па”), lepped – changed leaped (leapt) derived from the verb to leap (прыгать)

· I have stopped your ating. Ating – is a neologism, which can be rhymed with grating. It’s formed by adding –ing to the Past Simple form ate of the verb to eat.

 

Words & word-combinations to be memorized:

 

Garfish, crab, dab, plaice, dace, skate, mate, mackereel, pickereel, eel, nubbly, latitude, longtitude, jack-knife, a man of infinite resource-and-sagacity, solitary, to trail, to swallow, to smack, to stump, to thump, to prance, to bang, to clang, to leap, to creep, to prowl, to howl, to hop, to drop, to hiccough, white-cliffs-of-Albion, shingle;

 

I. TEXT EXERCISES:

 

1. Translate the first paragraph of the tale

2. Find synonyms & antonyms in the text

3. Describe the situations in which the words & word-combinations are used in the text under study

4. Paraphrase the italicized words & expressions from the text:

· All the fishes he could find in all the sea he ate with his mouth.

· Noble and generous Cetacean, have you ever tasted Man?

· “Then fetch me some," said the Whale, and he made the sea froth up with his tail.

· "If you swim to latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West (that is Magic), you will find, sitting on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing on but a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders (you must not forget the suspenders, Best Beloved), and a jack-knife, one shipwrecked Mariner, who, it is only fair to tell you, is a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity."

· He had his Mummy's leave to paddle, or else he would never have done it, because he was a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity.)

 

5. Give the definitions of the following words from English-English dictionary

 

Whale, to fetch, to trail, to swallow, to stump, to thump, to prowl, to bawl

 

6. Translate into English

 

· Какие только причудливые названия ни придумал человек для морской и речной рыбы! Здесь морская звезда и сарган, лиманда и камбала, скат и угорь. Имеете ли вы представление о некоторых видах рыб?

· Вы когда-либо пробовали такие виды морской рыбы?

· На этих широтах всегда дуют сильные ветра.

· Широта и долгота – географические термины. Каждый ученик должен знать их определения.

· Немедленно проглоти это лекарство, его нельзя держать во рту!

· Ребёнок хотел есть, он чмокал губами и был очень неспокоен.

· Меловые утёсы Дувра – это первое, что видит путешественник, прибывающий к берегам Англии со стороны Ламанша. Слово «Альбион» произошло от латинского «albus» - «белый».

 

 

II. HOME EXERCISES

 

1. Make up 10-15 sentences with the new words & expressions

2. Give the gist of the tale

3. Define the composition of the text under study

4. Try to define the massage of the tale

5. Try to find the stylistic devices used in the text

6. Express the main idea & theme of the tale

7. Draw a conclusion

8. Compose your own tale including all the components of composition

 

III. LABORATORY EXERCISES

1. Work in pairs with the new vocabulary of the tale

2. Discuss the stylistic devices used in the text

3. Analyze the whole text according to the plan