The Happy Prince. Oscar Fingal o’flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland, on October 16, 1854

OSCAR WILDE

(1854-1900)

Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland, on October 16, 1854. His father was a surgeon and his mother was a literary hostess, who was also known as a writer under the pen name of Speranza. Lady Wilde was a remarkable woman and notorious for her emancipated character. She perfectly knew the Humanities, and was known as a passionate Irish nationalist. She also composed verse and gathered Irish folklore legends.

Young Wilde was well-educated in the line of the Humanities at Trinity College in Dublin and later graduated from St. Magdalene College (Oxford). He was a brilliant student. At Oxford Wilde attached himself to the athenaeum of a newly-born movement of aestheticism. In 1878 he got the Newdigate Prize for his poem “Ravenna”. Shortly after graduating from the university his first book of poetry was published. In 1879 he moved to London.

In 1884 O. Wilde married Constance Lloyd, the daughter of a wealthy Dublin barrister, and they had two sons. O. Wilde wrote fairy-tales for his boys. These were later published as “The Happy Prince and Other Tales”. After being married for 11 years, O. Wilde left his wife.

O. Wilde’s fiction was devoted to the propaganda of aesthetical princi­ple. His novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”(1891) was an illustra­tion both of his aesthetical views and immoralism. It was a typi­cal piece of decadent writing.

Later, Wilde turned to drama and wrote several comedies: “Lady Windermere's Fan” (1892), “A Woman of No Importance” (1893), “The Importance of Being Earnest” (1895), and a drama in French, “Salome” (1893).

In 1895 Oscar Wilde was prosecuted and imprisoned under the terms of the Criminal Law Amendment Act. In 1897, after being released from Reading Prison, he moved to France. A year after he wrote “The ballad of Reading Gaol”, a poem based on his experience in prison. His time in jail ruined his health and he died on November 30, 1900, in Paris. O. Wilde is buried in Pѐre Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, in a tomb designed by Epstein.

The works of Oscar Wilde have a great social-and-moral value as they contain the passionate defense of spiritual freedom, kind­ness, compassion, and beauty.

THE HAPPY PRINCE

1. Words and word combinations to be memorized:

1. To be gilded with – быть позолоченным	34. To be pricked by the needle – быть исколотым иглой
2. Sapphire – сапфир	35. To be wrapped in – быть закутанным
3. Ruby – рубин	36. To be embalmed with spices – набальзамированный благовониями
4. Sword-hilt – рукоятка шпаги	37. Jade – нефрит
5. To gain a reputation for – прослыть	38. Agility – ловкость
6. To cry for smth – плакать, капризничать	39. A mark of disrespect – непочтительно
7. Pinafore – передник	40. A beak – клюв
8. To frown – хмуриться	41. A mast – мачта
9. Severe – суровый	42. To toss – беспокойно метаться
10. A swallow – ласточка	43. A thimble – напёрсток
11. A reed – тростник	44. To fan – обмахивать
12. A moth – мотылёк	45. Slumber – дремота
13. To come to the point – говорить прямо	46. To be in high spirits – быть в хорошем настроении
14. Ripple – рябь	47. A distinguished stranger – чужак
15. Courtship – ухаживание	48. A cataract – водопад (порог)
16. Ridiculous attachment – нелепая привязанность	49. A bulrush – камыш
17. To twitter – щебетать	50. A beryl – берилл
18. To tire of smb’s lady-love – устать от любимого (-ой)	51. A garret – чердак, мансарда
19. Coquette – кокетка	52. To pluck out – выклевать
20. Curtsey – реверанс, поклон	53. To be appreciated – ценить
21. To admit – допускать, принимать	54. A vessel – корабль
22. Domestic – домосед	55. To haul – тащить, тянуть
23. Consequently – следовательно	56. A rope – верёвка
24. To trifle – играть	57. Gutter – канава
25. To be off to – улетать	58. To swoop – устремиться
26. To put up – переночевать, остановиться	59. Amber – янтарный
27. To alight – приютиться	60. A worship – поклонение
28. To keep the rain off – укрыть от дождя	61. Icicle – сосулька
29. To drench – промочить	62. An eave – карниз
30. Lofty – высокий	63. To fall down dead at one’s feet – упасть замертво
31. Ugliness – уродство	64. Shabby – оборванный, поношенный
32. Misery – нищета	65. A beggar – попрошайка
33. Remark – замечание	66. An overseer – надзиратель, надсмотрщик

1. Find the English synonyms to the following words: severe, to be off to, agility, to be in high spirits, a vessel, a worship, to fall dead at one’s feet, shabby. Try to explain the difference in the meaning of these synonyms.

1. Give the literary translation of the following passages:
1. beginning with the words “Far away,” continued the Statue…” and ending with the words “and I cannot move”.
2. beginning with the words “All the next day …” and ending with the words “at war with the butterflies”.
3. beginning with the words “Then the snow came…” and ending with the words “to the Prince’s shoulder once more”.

1. Translate the sentences into English:
1. Старик был слепой, в поношенной одежде и с непокрытой головой.
2. Девушка была очень красива! Я никогда не видел такой стройной талии. На шее у неё висела цепочка с бледно-зелёным нефритом.
3. Люди в древнем мире, особенно в Древней Греции, поклонялись разным богам и богиням.
4. Учитель был в хорошем настроении, несмотря на то, что прослыл суровым и хмурым человеком.
5. Молодой человек устал от нелепой привязанности своей девушки, но боялся прямо заговорить о расставании.
6. Он давно никуда не выходил и, следовательно, прослыл домоседом. Никто не знал, что он был серьёзно болен.
7. – Давай скорее руку, я попробую вытащить тебя из канавы, пока ты не промочила всю одежду.
8. Если ты не хочешь, чтобы твои руки были исколоты во время шитья, не забывай надевать напёрсток.
9. Он был чужаком в этом городе, но сумел высоко оценить доброту людей, которые приняли его как родного.
10. Если ты не обладаешь достаточной ловкостью, то тебе, наверное, не стоит играть в игры с мячом.

1. Make up 10 sentences with words and word combinations of the tale.

1. Put the sentences in the correct order:
1. a young man was given a sapphire
2. everybody admired the statue of the Happy Prince
3. the Happy Prince asked the Swallow to bring his ruby to the poor needlewoman
4. the little Swallow died because of the frost
5. the little Swallow gave Prince’s gold leaves to every poor person in the city
6. the little Swallow fell in love with the Reed
7. the Mayor decided to melt the statue of the Happy Prince
8. the statue was told the stories about the Swallow’s adventures
9. the Swallow decided to stay with the Happy Prince
10. the Swallow landed between the feet of the statue

1. Say whether the following facts are true, false or not mentioned in the story and correct the false sentences:
1. the statue of the Happy Prince was very beautiful, made of platinum
2. the little Swallow left for Egypt later than his friends because he had fallen in love with the crow
3. the Happy Prince used to be a real man
4. the little Swallow carried out the Prince’s orders with pleasure
5. the little Swallow loved summer and enjoyed sunbathing
6. the Happy Prince gave away all his jewellery
7. the little Swallow left for Egypt at last and the Happy Prince’s leaden heart was broken

1. Make a short retelling of the tale on the part of: the Happy Prince and tell your life story; the little Swallow and tell your life story; the people whom the Happy Prince helped.

1. Speak on the problems of the tale: the changing in the personality of man during his life – is it real; the problem of self-sacrifice; the problem of the beauty of the body and the beauty of the soul – what is more important, can they exist in harmony; the problem of people’s cruelty (the example of the Mayor of the city); the problem of envy – how to get rid of and cope with it.

1. Write down a short composition on the tale “The Happy Prince”:
1. Is it important for a man to feel happiness? What can make me happy?
2. You feel warmer and happier when you do smth really good and useful for the others.
3. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Comment on the statement.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-31