книги / Striving For Happiness. I Am a Part of All that I Have Met

"Let me tell him now," she said.

"No, I'm making a complete job of this. I'm going to remake him as God made him."

***

Came the day when Linday ordered Strang to go hunting. Grant followed him, watching him, studying him. At the end of ten miles Grant stopped him.

"Enough!" he cried. "I can't keep up with you".

Strang sat down smiling at the doctor, and at all the landscape. "Any hurts, or aches, or hints of aches?" Linday demanded.

Strang shook his curly head and stretched his body living and joying in every fibre of it "God, Doctor, you have performed miracles with me. I don't know how to thank you.

I don't even know your name."

"Which doesn't matter. I've pulled you through, and that's the main thing."

***

"Now," Grant said to Madge. "You have an hour in which to pack and write Strang a letter. I'll go and get canoe ready."

When he returned from the canoe, her outfit was packed, the letter written. "Let me read it," he said, "if you don't mind." Her hesitation was momentary, then she passed it over.

"Pretty straight," he said, when he had finished it. "Now, are you ready?"

He carried her pack down to the bank, and steadied the canoe with one hand while he extended the other to help her in. He watched her closely but she held out her hand to his and prepared to step on board.

"Wait," he said. "One moment. You remember the story I told you of the elixir. I failed to tell you the end. And when she had put the elixir on his eyes and was about to leave, it chanced she saw in the mirror that her beauty had been restored to her. And he opened his eyes, and cried out with joy at the sight of her beauty, and folded her in his arms."

She waited, tense but controlled, for him to continue, a dawn of wonder beginning to show in her face and eyes.

"You are very beautiful, Madge." He paused, then added dryly, "The rest is obvious. I fancy Rex Strang's arms won't remain long empty. Good bye."

"Grant..." she said, almost whispered, and in her voice was all the speech that needs not words for understanding.

He gave a nasty little laugh. "I just wanted to show you I wasn't such a bad sort." "Grant..."

He stepped into the canoe and put out a slender, nervous hand. "Good-bye," he said. She folded both her own hands about his. "Dear, strong hand," she murmured, and

bent and kissed it. He jerked it away, thrust the canoe out from the bank, and entered the place where the water burst into a white madness of foam.

Answer thefollowing questions.

1.What is unusual about the composition of the story?

2.Is it necessary to sacrifice when you love? Is love worth sacrificing? What is worth

sacrificing?

3.Was the end of the story unexpected for you? What, did you think, the end would be while reading the story?

4.How can you characterise Doctor Grant and Madge?

5.What, do you think, will the doctor’s life be after their parting? Will Fate grant him

another great love?

6. Why, do you think, did the woman change one handsome good and strong man another no less attractive?

Sometimes people lose their chance to find a partner. What may be the reasons?

My First Date

After L. Thomas

On the day, shaking and shining I went up to London on the train and then by bus to the Albert Hall. There she was. Waiting for me! As though I took women out every night. I kissed her on the cheek.

Then things started to become difficult. She grumbled about sitting up in the highest seats, and complained all the way up the endless stairs. When she had gone with Cedric she moaned, they had sat in the front stalls, just behind the conductor.

"You don't hear the music properly down there," I argued with inspiration.

We sat down. It was like peering into the mouth of a volcano. "Up here the music floats to you."

She kept muttering through the first half of the concert, and then horrified me in the interval by announcing that she really would like a drink. Dumbstruck, I mentally counted the money in my pocket.

"Please, dear," she said, "a gin and tonic."

A gin and tonic! How much was a gin and tonic? Trembling, I went towards the bar.

"And could we have a programme?" she called after me. "We ought to have bought the programme beforehand surely!"

Never mind the programme, I thought, but there was no escaping the gin and tonic. I approached the bar. I had never bought a drink in my life.

"Gin and tonic, please," I mumbled.

The lady had a suspicious eye, and I had a sudden hope that she would refuse to serve me. It would, on the other hand, be a humiliation to admit that I had been turned away as underage. But that gin and tonic would mean that I would not have enough to buy her ticket on the train home. I gritted my teeth while the lady behind the bar hesitated.

She made up her mind and said: "All right then. How many? Two?"

"One!" I bellowed. She fell back, shocked. "One please, just one," I whispered. "Aren't you having one?" inquired the girl when I returned.

"Me? Oh no. I'm in training, you see - for football. I've had to cut out drink, especially gin and tonic."

"Did you get a programme? " she sniffed. "I’d like to know what they are playing even if we are a long way up."

"Sold out," I said desperately. "All gone. Anyway I think it's more fun guessing, don't you?"

"Not really," she said. "I feel quite dizzy up here, you know I was glad when it was over.

A Name On The Wall

Steve Mason had lived in New York for three years. His address book was filled with the phone numbers of girls he knew and had dated. Then why, he wondered, was he sitting in a phone booth about to dial PL 1-2450 - the phone number of a girl he had never seen or

even heard about? Because he was curious. He had seen the name Раш Starr and the number PL 1-2450 twice in one week. The first time had been on the wall of a phone booth on 42nd Street. It was just one of the many names and numbers written on the phone booth wall. Then a minute ago he saw the name and number again - this time near a phone in a drugstore. The name Pam Starr was the same. The handwriting was the same. And beneath it the same person had written, "Quite a chick."

Steve was so curious that he looked up the name in the telephone book. There it was - Pam Starr, Plaza 1-2450. He was so surprised to see the name and number actually in the telephone book that he decided to call. He wanted to find out what would happen. It could be an interesting adventure. He could hear himself telling the whole story to his friends and laughing about it when it was over. So he took a deep breath, dropped in his dime, and dialled PL 1-2450.

He heard two rings; then a soft, pleasant, girl's voice said, "Hello"

"May I speak to Pam Starr?" Steve asked. "This is Pam," she answered. "Who is this?" "Steven Wordsley," he said using a phoney name. "You don't know me," he added quickly. "I've just moved to New York from Chicago. But before I left, a friend of a friend of mine gave me your name... Perhaps we could meet and go somewhere for a drink."

The girl hesitated. "It's impossible for me to know much about you from a phone call." "That's right," Steve said. "But there's no way for you to find out about me except by taking a chance. So how about a date?" He paused. "Come on. Gamble. I swear I don't have

two heads."

She laughed and said, "I'm sure you don't. But I've had a couple of blind dates before, and they've been pretty gruesome, if you know what I mean."

Steve had a good idea of what she meant. He could picture this gorgeous doll getting stuck with some real dog for a date. Then she said, "I've got an idea. I like your voice, and I think I'll like you. But I might not. And then again, you might not like me. So why don't we go to a movie? I like foreign Ones best. You pick one out and call me back. Then we'll go out, and even if we don't like each other at least we can both enjoy the show."

"Uh, all right, sure," Steve answered. He was a little surprised by the way she was arranging the date, but he promised to pick out a movie and call her back. Then he said goodbye and hung up. He felt proud of himself. There was no question in his mind that this chick knew her way around with men.

Steve found a Swedish movie that sounded good, but he didn't call her back right away. He waited two days so he wouldn't seem too eager. Then he called and made a date for the next Saturday evening.

At seven-thirty Saturday night Steve went to her address. For a moment he hesitated. But he was too curious to give up now. So he knocked on the door of her apartment.

She opened the door, and Steve knew he was a loser. The girl had tried to make herself look attractive, but she couldn't hide her homeliness. She wasn't really ugly, hut she was no gorgeous chick. She smiled weakly at Steve, and he couldn't be sure if it was to apologise for her looks or to hide her fear that he might turn around and walk away.

Steve covered up his disappointment with a friendly smile. "Hello, Pam. I'm Steve." She laughed and said, "I know I'm not the most beautiful girl in the world, but..."

"I wasn't looking for the most beautiful girl in the world," Steve lied. "Come on, let's go see the movie."

He smiled as cheerfully as he could. He had taken a chance on a blind date and had lost, but he decided to go through with it, anyway. This homely girl probably accepted a lot of blind dates just so she could go out. And the boys who got stuck with her probably thought it was a good joke to write her name and number on the walls of phone booths. Still, the girl seemed nice, and the adventure would be something he could tell his friends.

As they headed for the movie, Steve expected Pam to be nervous, but she acted as relaxed as if she had been dating him for months.

After the show they went to a restaurant. While they were eating, she talked about her life in New York.

"Do you go out often?" Steve asked. "It's probably luck," she said, "but I get enough phone calls to keep me busy. I get a lot of calls from guys I don't know. I'm not sure where they get my name. Maybe from a friend, like you did. I don't know. Some are nice and some aren't."

"Well, which am I?" Steve asked. "Nice," she laughed.

On their way back to her apartment, Steve lied again and told Pam that his company was sending him back to Chicago the next week and that he didn't know when he would return to New York. Steve couldn't decide if she believed his story, but he didn't really care. He had taken her out and shown her a good time. That was all she could expect with her looks.

When they got to her apartment, they stood in the doorway and said goodnight. "Thanks for the lovely evening," she said. "Yeah," Steve said, "it was a good movie." She smiled and said, "I enjoyed it. I really did." She seemed to know that she wouldn't

be asked for another date.

Suddenly Steve fell very sorry for her. He decided that it wouldn't hurt him to fake an interest in her, and it would probably mean a lot to her if she thought someone wanted to see her again.

"I'm kind of sorry I have to leave town," he said. "I really would have liked to see you again. There's just a chance that I'll get back to New York soon. For a day or so. Maybe we can go out again. Could I call you?"

For a minute she looked as if she didn't believe what she had heard. Then her smile got brighter. "Could you? I'd love that! Do you think they'll send you back soon?"

"Sure, sure, you never know," Steve said. "And when I get back here, I'll definitely

call."

"I'd be so happy to hear from you," she said. "You won't lose my number, will you? I'm in the phone book if you do. But if you're here only for a day, you could call me at my office. I'll write down my office number for you right now. Wait just a second." She ran into her apartment to get a pencil and some paper. As she ripped a sheet from a pad, she dropped the pencil on the floor. She got down on her hands and knees and scrambled after the rolling pencil. Finally she grabbed the pencil and then quickly wrote her name and office phone number.

Steve watched her sadly. Even before she handed him the piece of paper, he knew that her handwriting would be the same as the handwriting on the phone booth walls.

Answer thefollowing questions.

1.Why did Steve Mason get interested in the name and the number on the wall of the phone booth?

2.Why did he decide to phone the girl?

3.How did they arrange the blind date? Did the girl eagerly agree?

4.What was Steve's impression when he saw the girl?

5.What did he feel and how did he behave?

6.Why did he tell the girl that he wanted to see her again?

7.What was her reaction?

8.What averted Steve from the girl? Was it only her appearance?

9.What shouldn't a girl do in any case if she wants to be really loved and appreciated?

A FAIRY-TALE COLUMN

Many, many years ago when there were no books or newspapers there were folk-tales. People didn't read stories, they told them. In the long winter evenings, when people couldn't work in the fields, they sat near the fire and told tales. The children listened and when they grew up, they told the same stories to their children, and so the tales were passed on for hundreds of years until at last they were written. These tales were first of all meant for children. It was an indirect way to teach them to live and to behave in different situations. But of no less value these stories were for the adults. The message they carried helped people to understand what was good and what was bad, it served as school of life and wisdom. People understood the message and remembered it. All folk-tales have national colouring and give the basis of national culture. Now with the appearance of modem mass media folk-tales haven’t lost their value.

AN AFGAN TALE

The Wise Beauty

Once a beautiful woman was walking along a road and a man tagged along with her. Turning, the beauty asked him: "Why are you pursuing me, stranger?" "I am in love with you, the most beautiful of beautiful women". The woman smiled and said: "My sister is following me. Her eyes are as black as the night sky, and she is ten times more beautiful than I am". Gladly, the man turned and started to run back. He ran and ran until he saw a very old woman shuffling down the road. He spat with anger and rushed after the young beauty. When he caught up with her, he said: "Why did you deceive me?" "But it was you who deceived me, stranger! Had you really been in love with me, you would not have run after another woman!" The man was shamed and went his own way.

RENDERING

Render the texts into English.

Невыдуманная история

Они познакомились случайно. Женя ехала в электричке, возвращаясь с дачи в пригороде Ленинграда домой. Он сидел напротив и смотрел на нее с огромным ин­ тересом.

Женя была очень красивой девушкой с большими черными глазами и длинными прямыми волосами. Она училась в медицинском институте. Он был молодым начи­ нающим художником и приехал в Ленинград получать образование. Он был очарован лицом девушки и попросил разрешения написать ее портрет.

Женю поразила внешность молодого человека. Он был очень некрасив и бедно одет. Ей стало жаль его, и она согласилась.

Он приходил к ней каждый день. Вскоре они подружились. Женя учила анато­ мию, художник сидел на низеньком стуле, смотрел на нее своими маленькими пе­ чальными глазами и рисовал. Этот взгляд трогал ее сердце. В нём была собачья пре­ данность. Было ясно, что он в неё влюблён.

Прошло несколько месяцев. Портрет был закончен. Молодой человек встал

и сказал, что хочет поговорить с Женей. Он сказал, что полюбил её с первого взгляда,

стого момента, как увидел её в электричке. Он хотел, чтобы Женя стала его женой. Женя отказала ему. Она была молодой, красивой, и впереди у неё была целая жизнь...

Художник ушёл, ушёл навсегда.

Прошло много лет. Пожилая женщина приехала в Петербург и зашла в Эрми­ таж, в зал, где была выставка известного художника-портретиста. Вдруг она увидела портрет девушки. Она сразу узнала себя. На шее у девушки были красные бусы, которые она всегда носила в молодости. В углу сидел седой старик —сам художник. Да, это был он. Те же маленькие глаза, тот же нос. Но в его внешности появилось что-то прекрасное и благородное. Женщине очень хотелось подойти к нему. Но она посмотрела в зеркало, увидела в нём старое усталое лицо и вышла из зала.

Бирюзовое кольцо (A Turquoise Ring)

Его балкон выходил в парк. Каждый вечер он видел, как в парк приходила девушка, садилась на скамейку напротив его окна и кормила голубей.

Он пошёл в парк, сел на ту же скамейку и посмотрел на девушку. Это была худенькая светловолосая голубоглазая девушка. Когда она бросала хлеб голубям, он заметил на её пальце золотое бирюзовое колечко.

Это была любовь с первого взгляда. Он понял, что не может жить без неё. Он собирался сказать ей об этом. Она догадывалась, что хочет сказать ей этот стройный молодой человек с карими глазами и русыми волосами. Но на следующий вечер он не пришёл. Он никогда больше не пришёл. Началась война...

Прошло много лет. Её жизнь была очень тяжёлой. Она потеряла мужа и детей и вернулась в родной город немолодой и нездоровой женщиной.

Как-то она пришла в старый парк и села на старую скамейку. К скамейке подошёл высокий седой старик. Они разговорились. Мужчина сказал, что никогда не был женат. Всю жизнь он любил девушку, которой не смог даже сказать о своей любви из-за войны. Теперь он был стар и очень одинок. Женщина вынула из сумочки кусочек хлеба и стала кормить голубей. Он увидел на её пальце бирюзовое кольцо. Он взял её руку в свою, их взгляды встретились.

Умеем ли мы ценить то, что имеем?

Однажды я пришла в гости в одну семью. Она - красивая женщина, он - силь­ ный мужчина. У них двое детей. Течет хороший разговор, я чувствую, что у них дружная семья. Потом муж пошёл провожать меня до остановки И что я слышу? Что когда-то в студенчестве он ехал то ли на целину, то ли еще куда-то. И на каком-то полустанке увидел девушку в платье в горошек. И что-то такое произошло между ни­ ми в те недолгие минуты. Какой-то ток проскочил. Сперва он с ней просто пошутил, потом шутя предложил: «Поедем с нами!» —поцеловал и побежал к поезду. Больше ничего и не было. Но всю жизнь он её помнит! Все эти годы его гложет какая-то не­ объяснимая тоска. Мысли о том, что, может быть, это была его мечта, та единствен­ ная женщина, которую каждый стремится найти. Хотя в его сегодняшней жизни все хорошо.

(С. Алексиевич)

Render the interview into English.

-Сейчас многие молодые люди заявляют: любовь закончилась, остался один прагматизм.

- Это один из мифов о современных людях - что в них доминирует прагматизм, приземленность. Да, на бытовом уровне жизнь ужесточилась. Но когда я говорю с людьми, у меня возникает ощущение, что все осталось на своих местах, что их раз­ дирают те же самые трагедии, что и 100, 50, 20 лет назад. Всё равно хочется быть ря­ дом с любимым человеком, а не с банковским сейфом или денежным мешком. Я вы­ слушивала исповеди женщин, которые живут с богатыми людьми и при этом безумно

несчастны. Но есть и другая история, в которой Он —весь такой успешный, богатый.

АОна уходит от него к несчастному безработному. Уходит, очень многое теряя от та­ кого поступка. И бизнесмен этот —не такое уж экономическое животное, а яркая, сильная личность. Но между мужчиной и женщиной, несмотря ни на какие деньги, срабатывает какая-то необъяснимая химия, которая, может быть, и есть любовь.

-Так что же это все-таки такое - любовь. Дар? Мука?

-Я всегда задаю этот вопрос: что такое любовь? Дар? Болезнь? Мучение? И по­ нимаю, что любовь - это все вместе. Мне кажется, что любовь —это и кровавая еже­ дневная работа. И очень летучее эфемерное существо, которое неизвестно почему приходит. И всегда ты к этому оказываешься не готов, хотя всё время этого ждешь.

Апотом она так же необъяснимо уходит. Я все больше убеждаюсь, что удержать лю­ бовь - это тоже своеобразный талант. И не всем он даётся. Люди чаще всего теряют любовь, потому что думают: как это чувство само собой пришло, так навсегда и оста­ нется. Но после вспышки влюбленности начинается труд - труд по обживанию этого пространства, чтобы как можно дольше сохранить его радостным, потому что любовь

-это ответственность, это проблема власти, силы, дележа этого пространства - кто, что, как. И это жертвенность.

По-моему, любить - как стихи писать: для этого нужен талант и труд.

(из интервью со С. Апексиевич)

DISCUSSION

Read the quotations concerning love and choose the ones revealing this feeling most vividly.

1.Love understands love; it needs no talk. (Frances R. Havergal)

2.My love is deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite. (W. Shakespeare)

3.Love is always in the mood of believing in miracles. (J.C. Powys)

4.Love is one damned foolish thing after another. (Welsh saying)

5.What is done for love is always beyond good and evil. (F.W. Nietzsche)

6.Oh what a heaven is Love!

7.	Oh what a hell!	(Thomas Dekker)
8.	True love is like	ghosts, which everybody talks about and few have seen.
(La Rochefoucauld)
9.	Love is like a well; a good thing to drink out of, but a bad thing to fall into.
(Anonymous)
10.	The only difference between a caprice and a life-long passion is that the caprice

lasts a little longer. (Oscar Wilde)

11.Man dreams of fame, while woman wakes to love. (Alfred Lord Tennyson)

12.Love blinds all men alike, both the reasonable and the foolish. (Melander)

Read the passage from the Bible, which describes the perfect love. Is it possible, do you think, to love like that? Would you like to be loved like that? Try to translate it in a beautiful way.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love doesn't brag and is not arrogant, doesn't act unbecomingly; it doesn't seek its own, is not provoked, doesn't take into account a wrong suffered, doesn't rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are

tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

1 - Corinthians 13: 4—8

67

a wife - жена

a spouse - супруг, супруга to fall out of love - разлюбить

to argue (to have a row, to quarrel) - ссориться to make up - мириться

to drift (to grow) apart - отдаляться

to break off the relationship —разорвать отношения to split up - расходиться

to divorce - разводиться

to get a divorce - получить развод a widow —вдова

a widower - вдовец

a grass widow - соломенная вдова

PRACTICE

Read and translate thefollowing text and a letter.

Marriage is a thing which only a rare person in his or her life avoids. True bachelors and spinsters make up only a small per cent of the population; most single people are "alone but not lonely".

Millions of others get married because of the fun of family life. And it is fun, if one takes it with a sense of humour.

There's a lot of fun in falling in love with someone and chasing the prospective fiancee, which means dating and going out with the candidate. All the relatives (parents, grandparents and great-grand-parents, brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, stepmothers and stepfathers and all in-laws) meanwhile have the fun of criticizing your choice and giving advice. The trick here is not to listen to them but propose to your bride-to-be and somehow get her to accept your proposal. Then you may arrange the engagement and fix the day of the wedding.

What fun it is to get all those things, whose names start with the word "wedding" - dress, rings, cars, flowers, cakes, etc.! It's great fun to pay for them.

It's fun for the bride and the groom to escape from the guests and go on a honeymoon trip, especially if it is a wedding present from the parents. The guests remain with the fun of gossiping whether you married for love or for money.

It's fun to return back home with the idea that the person you are married to is somewhat different from the one you knew. But there is no time to think about it because you are newly-weds and you expect a baby.

There is no better fun for a husband than taking his wife to a maternity home alone and bringing her back with the twins or triplets. And this is where the greatest fun starts: washing the new-born's nappies and passing away sleepless nights, earning money to keep the family, taking children to kindergarten and later to school. By all means it's fun to attend parents' meetings and to learn that your children take after you and don't do well at school.

The bigger your children grow, the more they resemble you outwardly and the less they display likeness with you inwardly. And you start grumbling at them and discussing with your old friends the problem of the "generation gap". What fun!

And when at last you and your grey-haired spouse start thinking that your family life has calmed down, you haven't divorced but preserved your union, the climax of your fun bursts out!

One of your dearest offsprings brings a long-legged blonde to your house and says that he wants to marry. And you think: "Why do people ever get married? "

A Letter

Dear Fiona,

Thank you for all your news. Things are very much as normal here. Harry and I have split up - we both felt we had had enough of each other. He's dating a girl who was going steady with Paul when you were here - I think they're quite serious - and I'm seeing a film producer called Harvey who's waiting for his divorce to come through. We're more than "just good friends" but I don't know how long it will last. My late husband's former mistress is marrying his first wife's third husband on Saturday. In fact, it's going to be a double wedding because her second son by her first marriage is getting married to the girl he's been sharing a flat with for the past six months. You remember? That's her halfbrother's ex-fiancee, the one who was going out with Jason back in January.

Anyway, how are you? Still the ideal couple over there in Eastbourne, are you? Do I hear wedding bells?

Lots of love for now, Mandy

READING

Read about some English wedding traditions and superstitions and say whether they exist in your country, whether you believe in them and follow them. What other wedding traditions do you know?

British Wedding Customs. Past And Present.

In the past young people couldn't just fall in love and decide to get married. First, they needed to obtain their parents' consent. In fact, quite often it was the parents who decided who their children should marry. When the prospective groom had obtained his father's consent to marry, a formal marriage proposal had to be made. The prospective groom didn't propose in person but sent his friends or members of his family to represent his interests to the prospective bride and her family.

Now things are not so complicated. However, it is still considered romantic and proper to ask your beloved if he or she would like to marry you and exchange engagement rings. The purpose of getting engaged is to show each other and others that you are no longer free and plan to get married, say, in two years’ time. One British couple has been engaged for over 35 years and are still not married!

Choosing the right day for the wedding is the next thing to be considered. Now the most popular day is a Saturday as most people work during the week. As there are only four Saturdays in any month summer weddings need to be booked a year in advance.

In the past, however, choosing when to marry was a serious affair. Saturdays were considered unlucky, and so were Fridays, especially Friday the 13th. This famous old rhyme advises a wedding to happen in the first half of the week:

Monday for wealth

Tuesday for health

Wednesday the best day of all

Thursday for losses

Friday for crosses

Saturday for no luck at all.