Lesson 3. Home-reading. W.S. Maugham. Salvatore.

The lesson will teach you to analyse the situation a short story is based on and to select details that help you form your opinion of the characters.

1. Pronunciation drill.

A laughing mouth

As thin as a rail

With next to nothing on

Had anything to do with it

2. Rhythm, memory. Read, look up and say observing the rhythm.

She ’held herself ‘like the ‘daughter of the `Caesars. [‘si:zэz]

It was ‘hard to be at the ‘beck and ‘call of `others.

It was ‘hardest of ‘all to be ‘parted from the ‘girl he `loved.

It had ‘never ‘struck him that he would be ‘so `homesick.

The ‘ailment ‘made him unfit for ‘further `service.

He ‘settled ‘down to the ‘common `round.

3. Match the sentences in the two columns.

They were affianced.	The common run of men
She had a good head on her shoulders.	She spoke with blunt directness.
She looked a sight.	She was no fool.
She didn’t try to soften the blow.	She was as ugly as the devil.
He would never agree to it.	It had never occurred to him that he’d be so homesick.
He felt too bad to do any work at all.	He would never give his consent.
It had never struck him that he’d miss his home so much.	It was hard to be at the beck and call of others.
He hated to be ordered about.	His ailment prevented him from doing anything at all.
Ordinary people	They were engaged to be married.

4. Use colloquial equivalents instead of the words and expressions in italics.

§ But boys in those southern parts grow apace.

§ Here he fell ill of some mysterious ailment.

§ When he learned that he was unfit for further service his heart exulted.

§ Assunta was a grim-visaged female with decided features.

§ She couldn’t bear the girl who had thrown him over, and notwithstanding Salvatore’s smiling expostulations she had nothing but harsh words for her.

§ Then he would lie about the beach…with a pleasant word for everybody notwithstanding the pain that racked his limbs.

5. Sum up the main events of the story, finding an English equivalent for each of the following sentences.

(a) Сальваторе по уши влюбился в хорошенькую девушку. (b) Они были помолвлены, но не могли пожениться, пока Сальваторе не отслужит в армии. (c) Ему раньше никогда не приходило в голову, что он будет так безумно скучать по дому. (d) Но тяжелее всего было жить вдали от любимой. (e) Болезнь не позволила ему больше служить в армии. (f) Это его не волновало. (g) Какая разница, раз он снова вернется на любимый остров к своей девушке!

(h) Но отец девушки никогда бы не согласился на их брак. (i) Сальваторе не винил девушку. (j) Девушка не могла себе позволить взять в мужья человека, который, возможно, не сумеет её прокормить. (k) Сальваторе возобновил привычный образ жизни. (l) В деревне была одна молодая женщина, пожелавшая выйти за него замуж. (m)Они поженились. Вскоре у них появились дети.

6. Reproduce the given information choosing the necessary version of the last sentence. Add a few words, if you feel like it.

Maugham never takes sides. He usually expects little or nothing of his fellow-creatures. But there are cases when even Maugham is moved and becomes almost sentimental. “Salvatore” is one of the stories which may serve as an exception to the rule.

(a) Maugham makes us sympathize with a poor fisherman whose spirit is crushed by the injustices of life and who is bitterly unhappy.

(b) A poor fisherman, although his life might seem ruined, is quite ‘reconciled to it because of his ‘inborn inner harmony.

(c) Maugham shows us a poor fisherman who learns what life is and gradually becomes disillusioned and indifferent to himself and to others.

7. A man’s attitude to life is shaped partly by his inborn qualities and partly by the conditions under which he lives. How did the conditions of life shape Salvatore’s outlook on life and on the people who surrounded him? Were these conditions suitable for bringing out his best qualities? (Was his life frugal or plentiful? Was it natural for him to be separated from the place he loved and from the girl he was engaged to? What happened to him during his military service? How did he take the girl’s refusal to marry him? Did she do her best to soften the blow? Did he blame the girl? Etc.)

8. Though the hard conditions of life were partly responsible for shaping Salvatore’s perception of the world, his character was mainly formed in spite of these conditions (= notwithstanding them).

What are the traits of his character that keep him unspoiled by life? What does Maugham mean by giving the generalizing characteristic feature “ Goodness, just goodness ”?

9. What human situation does the story report? What problem(s) do(es) his character(s) face? Do(es) the character(s) solve the problems?

10. What was the dominating mood that made Maugham write his story? Was he surprised by the fact that men like Salvatore exist at all? Was he amused by the relationship between Salvatore and his wife? Did he wish to teach people a lesson of tolerance and endurance?

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