Lesson 20

Ch. 55-58

1. Find the English equivalents in the text and recollect the situations they are used in:

Ch. 55: огромного роста и выдающегося объема	Ch.57: делать визиты
обмен любезностями	неистощимая говорунья
гнать прочь	с удовольствием
стоять в стороне	что изображала роспись
не слишком большое удовольствие	славословие природе
настроение улучшилось	с ужасом осознаешь
перехватило дыхание	ясный и покойный
ноги приросли к полу	взять обещание
это пройдет	тлеющие угли
она была неузнаваемой	болезненная фантазия
на мгновение силы изменили ему	чары были разрушены
приносить пользу	Ch. 58: согласно гостеприимному обычаю
избегать встреч	на душе у меня было печально
что-то зловещее носилось в воздухе	назначать день
обитель страдания	казалось она извиняется за меня перед американцем
сидеть на корточках	ледяное спокойствие
Ch. 56: тропинка заросла	не отставать от времени
потыкаться	я рада и этим копиям
стояла мертвая тишина	подлинное искусство
ему сделалось дурно	давать понять
он вздрогнул	смеяться над кем-то
страшное волнение овладело им	представлять к награде
вырываться из	у нее все повадки «военной» дамы

2. Give the synonyms and make up your examples:

Ch.55: to enquire after, to obese, to thrust, to press smb., to bid smb. lead the way, to be on the look-out for smb., swaim up , to be clad in, to resent the intrusion, to recover oneself, inestimable privilege of life, a faint smile, to flee, to be startled and amazed, to surmise;

Ch. 56: to set out, to tramp, to make out, indescribably, to delve into, unholy, obscene, frightened me out of my wits;

Ch. 57: contrariwise, to roit, to be on the poit of seizing, sightless eyes, to dissuade, fruit-piece, irrevocably;

Ch. 58: trim house, hard on sixty, repair the omission, to be slightly tickled, I took stock of the room, to adorn, to marvell, to have a rattling good time, pal, to cease.

3. Answer the questions:

1/ What did Mr. Coutras look like? Describe his appearance and what impression he produced on the author?

2/ What were the attendant circumstances which lead Dr. Coutras to Strickland’s place?

3/ Why didn’t he want to go with the girl first, and what made him change his mind?

4/ What did the doctor see when he reached the house? Was Strickland surprised to see him? Why was he irritated?

5/ What influence did the doctor produce on Strickland when he told him the truth about the terrible disease he had? What did he care about?

6/ What was Ata’s reaction to that horrible news? What shook Strickland’s fortitude at last? What made him cry?

7/ What happened next according to the doctor’s words? Did Ata send for him? Did he come to see the patient? What did he learn about Strickland and Ata?

8/ Who brought to the doctor the message that Strickland was dying? What did he see when he came? Was Strickland alive? What shocked him greatly? What did it remind him of? What made him conclude “… this is genius”? When he saw the dead body of Strickland what did he notice in dismay?

9/ How did Dr. Coutras explain his impression of Strickland’s painting on the walls of his house? What did he compare it with?

10/ What did Ata have to do with that painting according to Strickland’s last will? What happened to her and her child?

11/ What painting did Dr. Coutras want to show the author? Where did he take it? Describe what the author saw.

12/ Why did the author decide to visit Mrs. Strickland after his returning to England? How was he met? Did Mrs. Strickland change? Did she continue earning money herself? Describe her apartment.

13/ What guest did she have when the author came? What was the conversation about? What role did she try to play this time?

14/ Did the author see her children? Did they change? What impression did the story about Strickland told by the author produce upon the family? Do you think Mrs. Strickland has forgiven her husband? What is your attitude to these people? Explain.

4. Comment and compare the two quotations:

- “The demon which possessed him was exorcised at last, and with the completion of the work, for which all his life had been a painful preparation, rest descended on his remote and tortured soul. He was willing to die, for he had fulfilled his purpose.”

- “Great art is always decorative”.

Final

1. Read the words difficult from the point of view of pronunciation: misery, anguish /`angwish/, futile /`fju:tail/, argument /`a:gju:ment/, genius /`dзi:nias/, embitter /im`bite/, legendary /`ledзenderi/, in`imitable, im`munity, courage /karidз/, catharsis /kaθa:sis/, urgent /`e:dзent/, tomb /tu:m/, cemetery /`semitri/.

2. Learn the words: catharsis - misery - embitter -

anguish - futile – cemetery - urgent -

mental - convincing – afford - indifferent -

3.Read the given information. Look up and say.

Gaugin stayed in Tahiti for seven years. His letters from Tahiti give some idea of his life, of the miseries, the toil, the struggles, the physical and mental anguish, the uncertainty, the futile arguments and his wounded pride. But Gaugin himself believed in his paintings, and he considered himself a genius (“I am a great artist and I know it”).

The last three year of his life were embittered by the worsening of his disease, but he has become a defender of the natives, a humanitarian, and a lover of justice.

4. What part of the above information did Maugham use when describing Strickland`s life in Tahiti and his relationship with the people there? What did he add to make the story more convincing and the character more logical?

5. Read the following information. What aspects of it did Maugham make use of to report the attitude of the public to Strickland in the course of his life and after his death?

In one of his letters, Gaugin wrote that he wished he could return to France. In a letter full of admiration for the painter, his friend answered the following: “You have now become an extraordinary, legendary figure among painters, sending your inimitable pictures from those distant islands; your paintings are those of a great man who has disappeared (or so it seems) from the face of the earth. Your enemies (and there are plenty of them, as there always are for those who annoy the bourgeois) do not say anything and do not dare to attack you.

It does not occur to them because you are so far away. You must not come back you enjoy the immunity of the great dead; you have become part of the history of art”.

6. Gaugin was buried in the mission cemetery. An on his plain tombstone until a few years ago could be found a circle of red clay on which his friend had out the words: “ Paul Gaugin, 1903”. After more than eighty years, some critics consider that a few words might be added to the inscription words that he wrote himself shortly before he died: “I have worked well, and used my life well, even intelligently, and with courage”.

Would Strickland want such an inscription for himself? Can we justify every word of it in reference to Strickland?

7. Every person needs a purge for his feelings some time or other. For some people it is and everyday necessity. The need for catharsis is urgent for every talented person. But this does not mean that an artist can afford being indifferent to the public`s opinion.

Express your agreement or disagreement.

8. Why did Strickland order to burn his paintings? Does this idea seem fantastic to you?

9. Express your attitude to the book, to its author and to the main character.

10. Comment on the title of the book.

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