The Legacy and Other Stories (Завещание и другие рассказы). Учебное пособие для студентов бакалавров, изучающих английский язык (второй год обучения),

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peopledid.Theysaidthiswashistory,andhistoryshouldn’tbemade up. But I had a good answer to that: that the Greek for history is thesame as the Greek forstory,whichis true.)Andthen, if you’re agirl—Iam,andIneverwantedtobe–it’susefultondouthow you stake a harbourbottom to sabotage an incoming enemy eet, and things of that sort. I became very interested in military tactics. Thucydideswasageneralhimselfatthebeginningofthewar,soyou knowhegetsthingsright.Lateronhewasinsomestrange way which he never  , and was  fromAthens — that’soneofthefewdetailshedoesn’tgiveyou.

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problemstoo,butIwon’tgointodetailsoverthat.LikeThucydides I shall leave something out. It’salways more interesting, don’t you think,whenawriterleavessomethingout?Youcanmullitoverand wonder,andthenitgivesthecriticsachancetohavetheirdifferentin terpretations.Anyway,somehowIstoppedworking.Ithappenedlike this.Oneday,Ihadn’thadtimetoprepareanyGreek;Ifelt,and Ididn’tgotomyclass.Thenthenextclass,Ifeltevenguiltier—not onlyhadInotpreparedmyGreek,butIhadn’tgonetotheprevious class,andthosetwothingstogetherwerehardertoexplainthaneither ofthemseparately.SoIdidn’tgotothatclasseither.Andsoitwent on,untilithadescalatedtosuchapointthatIhadto intheschoolassemblyhall,inthecorridors,everywhere.So thenIhadtomitchoffschool.Perhapsit’snotcalledmitchingwhere youlive,butthat’swhatit’scalledinSwansea.Itmeansstayingaway fromschoolwithouthavingaletterfromyourparentstosaythatyou wereill,orhadtogotothedentist,orwerelookingsopalethatyour

motherthoughtyousurelywould beill,

ifsheinsistedonyourtaking

PerhapsIshouldhavementionedbeforethatIlivedinSwansea, butit’snotreallycentraltothestory.Sufceittosaythatit’swhere DylanThomaswentto school —youprobably know that.Butnow I’dbettergiveabriefdescriptionofwherewelived,becausethatwill explainafewthings.Youprobablythinkthatdescriptionsareboring. Idotoo,butyousee,Iwanttobeawriterlateron,andwritersalways givedescriptionsatsomepointinthenarrative,andsoIthinkIshould practise,andyou’llhavetobearwithme.

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atthebrowofahillwhichledontoawild,marshypatchofcommon landwheresometimes,intheveryearlymorning,yousawfoxes,and thentoagolfcourse.Theotherway,towardsthesouth,itlookedover Swanseabay to the crooked Mumblespeninsula withits lighthouse and the coast of Devon beyond, and on the other side out towards theenormous PortTalbotoilrenery which grew plumes ofsmoke inthedaytime,andbrilliantorangeamesin the night, burningoff thewastegases.Itwasn’taviewyouwouldcallsublime,Isuppose, butithadsomethingofeverything,anditwasneverboringtolookat. Theseawasthebestthing.Intownsyoutelltheweatherandthesea sonsbythegreennessofplantsandthetimesthatowersgrow.But inSwansea youtold theweather fromthe moodof thesea aswell. The sea is more extreme. Sometimes an intense blueness with tiny foamcapstoeachwave,butsometimesathickangryoilygrey,and enormouswavesbreakingovertheseawallatMumblesandooding the shermen’s cottages. I didn’trealize how much I loved the sea untilIleft.

Thendown the street and roundthe corner fromthe house was the park. It had been the grounds of a large house at the bottom ofthe park which now belongedto the University. Itwas a strange park,abitfantastical.Thepeoplefromthehousemusthavehadagood headgardener,amanwithabizarre imagination.Atthetop,nearest ourhouse,wasanareaofdogs’graves,abouttenofthem,alllabeled withtheirnamesanddates,withdaffodilsandvioletsgrowinground theminthespring.Thentherewasalongwidesweepofgrassthatran straightdownthehilltothesearoad.Ononesidewasthebighouse, ontheotherawood,andbeyondthatanareawithacuriouswinding streamplantedthicklywithrhododendronsthatgrewlusciousjungle owersofredandwhiteanddarkpink.Inoneplacetherewasafolly, andinanotherasortofChinesepagodawithaChinesebridgecrossing apondcoveredwithwater lilies. Nothingcouldhavebeenmore in congruousinaparkinSwansea,anditwasoneofmyfavouriteplaces.

Isaidthatthisdescriptionwasgoingtohelpyouunderstandhow thingshappened,andthisiswhy.Everymorningwewalkedthrough

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that park down the grass slope to the sea road where we waited forthebustoschool.Weismyselfandmybrothersandsister.Ifor gottotellyouuntilnowthatIhadanybrothersorsisters—itdidn’t seemnecessarybecausethisstoryisreallyaboutme,andalittleabout myfather.ButIjustwantedyoutoknowthatIwasn’tanonlychild, incaseyouthoughtinthatridiculousFreudianwaythatitwasbecause IwasanonlychildthatIworkedsohardandlettheworkgetontop ofmeandthenhadtomitchoffschool.Sousuallywewalkedtogether andcaughtthe bustogether,butsometimes one orother ofuswent early,toplayfootballbeforeschoolstarted,orcopysomeone’shome workifwehadn’thadtimetodoitthenightbefore,orithadbeentoo difcult.WhenIgotintothisdreadfulmuddleatschoolitdidn’tseem oddtoanyofthemthatIstartedgettingupabitearlierandgoingoff tocatchanearlierbus.In fact, thatisn’twhatIwasdoing.Iwalked downtotheparkgates,turnedrightjustinsidethefenceandwalked totheChinesepagoda.IfitwassunnyIsatonthestepsleadingdown tothepool,andifitwasrainingIsat inside the pagoda.Sometimes Ispentthewholemorningtherereading.Youmustn’tthinkthatIwas lazy,andthatthatwaswhyImitched.ItwasjustthatThucydideswas soobscure. Isaid just now that Iwant tobe awriter,and probably alreadythenIhadanideathatthatwaswhatIwantedtobe,soIread voraciously,especiallypoetry.Butifitwasverycold,Icouldn’tbear awholemorninginthepagoda,andItimedonmywatch,carefully, thetimeswheneveryone should haveleftthehouse — mybrothers and sister to my school, my mother to the junior school where she taught,andmyfathertotheUniversity,plushalfanhourforall  (the car breaking down, or someone oversleeping). Then Iwentbackupthroughtheparktothehouse,letmyselfinandspent therestofthedayincomfortinmyroom.

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Ididafterwards.Becausethediscoverymademechangemyviews aboutagreatmany things.IfyouweregoingtobeFreudianabout things, you would probably say that it caused my transition from pubertyto adulthood.And everyoneknows how painful thattran sitionis.

Idon’tknowwhy,butwhenIgotbacktothehouse,myfather’scar wasstillinthedrive.PerhapsIhadn’tallowedthefullextrahalfanhour— itwassowetandIwassocold.Theonlythingtodowastowaitinthega rageuntilheleft,andthat’swhatIdid.Itwasacaseofmakingthebest of a bad job. Some people’sgarages are so neat you could quite hap pilyliveinthem,butourswasn’toneofthose.Theoldbookcaseofmy grandfather’s,withitsjamjarsfullofrustingnailsandscrews,tinsofoil andcoilsoffusewire,wastheneatestthinginit.Therestwasachaotic jumble— the lawnmowerand thestepladder,toolsand aat tyre— andtherewashardlyenoughlightcomingthroughtheonelowwindow toreadby.SoIsimplysat,listeningtotherushingrain,andthroughthat forthescrapingofthefrontdooragainstthemetaldoorsill,whichwould signalmyfather’sdeparture.Afteralmosthalf anhourthe rain seemed toeaseoffalittle,andthenthedoorscrapedandIheardtheclickingofmy father’sshoes—hehadrecentlytakentowearingapairofoldfashioned blacklaceupshoes,withmetalhalfmoonsatthebackoftheheeltostop them wearing down. But then as I stood up and tried to   

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‘Getin,’hesaid.I’lldriveyoutothebusstop.

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         

general;EdwardVI,Elizabeth’sbrother;SigmundFreud,thefounder ofthepracticeofpsychoanalysis.



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Thucydideswas…himselfatthebeginningofthewar,soyou knowhegetsthingsright.

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c)fromthemoodofthesee

Thepeople fromthehouse must havehada goodheadgar dener,amanwitha…imagination.

ButIjustwantedyoutoknowthatIwasn’t…,incaseyou thought in that ridiculous Freudian way that it was because I was anonlychildthatIworkedsohardandlettheworkgetontopofme andthenhadtomitchoffschool.

 You mustn’t think that I was … , and that that was why Imitched.

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