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TEXT 11 ROBINSON

by Muriel Spark

Muriel Spark (1918 – 2006) – a Scottish novelist, poet and critic

(A suspense novel about three castaways marooned on an island, owned by an eccentric recluse, Robinson. Robinson, a determined loner, proves a fair host to his uninvited guests.)

The plane crashed on the tenth of May, 1954. It had been bound for the Azores but missed the airport of Santa Maria in the fog. I woke by the side of a green and blue mountain lake, and immediately thought,

“The banana boat must have been wrecked.” I then went back into my coma.

It is true I had nearly taken a banana boat bound for the West Indies which called at the Azores, but had been gradually dissuaded by my friends, after we had taken several looks at the Lascars, Danes and Irish lolling round the East India Docks. And so, although I had finally taken (10) the expensive route by plane, still in my dreams it was the banana boat.

When I came round the second time, it was in Robinson’s house. I was lying on a mattress on the floor, and as I moved I felt my shoulder hurting very painfully. I could see, facing me through the misty sunlight of a partly open door, a corner of the blue and green lake. We seemed to be quite high on the side of a mountain.

I could hear someone moving in an inner room to my left. In a few moments I heard the voices of two men.

“I say!” I called out. The voices stopped. Then one murmured

(20) something.

Presently a door opened at my left. I tried to twist round, but this was painful, and I waited while a man entered the room and came to face me.

“Where am I?”

“Robinson,” he said.

“Where?”

“Robinson.”

He was short and square, with a brown face and greyish curly hair.

“Robinson,” he repeated. “In the North Atlantic Ocean. How do you (30) feel?”

“Who are you?”

“Robinson,” he said. “How do you feel?”

“Who?”

“Robinson.”

“I think I must be suffering from concussion,” I said.

He said, “I’m glad you think so, because it is true. To know you have concussion, when you have it, is one-third of the cure. I see you are intelligent.”

On hearing this I decided I liked Robinson, and settled down to sleep. (40) He shook me awake and placed at my lips a mug of warm tangy milk. While I gulped it, he said,

“Sleep is another third of the cure, and nourishment is the remaining third.”

“My shoulder hurts,” I said.

“Which shoulder?”

I touched my left shoulder. I found it stiff with bandages.

“This one,” I said, “it is bound up.”

“Which shoulder? Don’t point. Think. Describe.”

I paused for light. Presently I said, “My left shoulder.”

(50) “That’s true. You will soon recover.”

A little fluffy blue-grey cat came and sat in the open doorway, squinting at me as I fell asleep. This was twenty hours after the crash. When I woke again it was dark and I was frightened.

NOTES

Santa Maria – the southernmost island in the Azores

a banana boat – a ship designed to transport bananas

the West Indies – a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands and the surrounding coasts

Lascars – sailors from South Asia or other countries east of the Cape of Good Hope

the East India Docks – the docks that belonged to the East India Company, an English company trading with the Indian subcontinent and China

I paused for light. – I waited till I found the answer.

EXERCISES

I Tick the right answer.

1 The story is set in … .

a) Portugal b) Santa Maria c) the West Indies d) none of these

2 Robinson is the name of … . (There is more than one correct answer here.)

a) a man b) a house c) a village d) an island

3 The narrator … .

a) is fatally wounded

b) escapes with minor injuries

c) will remain permanently crippled

d) knows that her mental faculties will be partially impaired

4 The narrator lost consciousness … .

a) once b) twice c) three times d) not stated

5 Which of the following faculties did the narrator quickly regain?

(There is more than one correct answer here.)

a) sense of sight c) sense of direction e) memory of recent events

b) sense of hearing d) use of coherent speech

II Decide whether the following statements are True or False and

justify your answers.

1 The plane crash was due to bad weather conditions.

T

F

2 Robinson’s house is located near a lake in a village.

T

F

3 The narrator is alone with Robinson in the house.

T

F

4 The narrator caught sight of Robinson as soon as he entered the room.

T

F

5 Robinson took expert care of the narrator’s injuries.

T

F

III Choose the right answer and explain your choice.

1 One of the main reasons for taking the banana boat was that … .

a) it was cheaper

b) it was more adventurous

c) there were no planes bound for the right destination

2 “I say!” means that the narrator … .

a) is in pain

b) is unable to finish the sentence

c) wants to attract somebody’s attention

3 The first set of questions in italics shows that the narrator … .

a) is hard of hearing

b) has never heard the name before

c) thinks Robinson is hard of hearing

4 The second set of questions in italics shows that the narrator … .

a) doesn’t feel like answering Robinson’s question

b) thinks Robinson has misunderstood her question

c) finds it hard to understand Robinson when he speaks

5 What are, according to Robinson, the three stages of recovery?

a) to get into hospital, to have expert care and relax

b) to be aware of your condition, to sleep and to eat well

c) to consult the doctor, to get enough to eat and drink and not to

worry

IV Match these phrasal verbs with their meanings. Note that there is

one explanation you do not need to use.

Line Number	Phrasal Verb		Meaning Match
Line 4	to go back	a	to leave a place
Line 7	to call at	b	to make oneself comfortable in order to start doing something
Line 9	to loll around	c	to regain consciousness
Line 12	to come round	d	to return
Line 21	to twist round	e	to stand, sit or lean in a relaxed manner
Line 39	to settle down	f	to stop somewhere during the journey
		g	to turn in order to face another direction

THE END

TEXT 12 MOON PALACE (I)

by Paul Auster

Paul Auster (b. 1947) – an American author known for works blending absurdism, crime fiction and the search for identity.

(This 1989 novel is set in Manhattan and the U.S. Midwest, and centres on the life of the narrator, Marco Stanley Fogg, and the two previous generations of his family.)

Once we were outside, he had me steer him to one of the traffic islands in the middle of Broadway. It was a noisy spot, with cars and trucks lumbering along on either side of us, but Effing seemed oblivious to the commotion. He asked me if anyone was sitting on the bench, and when I assured him there was not, he told me to take a seat. He was wearing his dark glasses that day, and with his two arms wrapped around the bag and clutching it to his chest, he looked even less human than he usually did, as though he were an overgrown hummingbird who had just arrived from outer space.

(10) “I want to go over my plan with you before we get started,” he said. “The bank was no place to talk, and I didn’t want that meddlesome woman eavesdropping on us in the apartment. You’ve probably been asking yourself a lot of questions, and since you’re going to be my cohort in this, it’s time to spill the beans.

“I figured you’d get around to it sooner or later.”

“It’s like this, young man. My time is almost up, and because of that I’ve spent these past few months taking care of business. I’ve made out my will, I’ve written my obituary, I’ve tied up loose ends. There’s only one thing that still bothers me – an outstanding debt, you might call it (20) – and now that I’ve had a couple of weeks to think about it, I’ve finally hit on a solution.

Fifty-two years ago, you will remember, I found a bag of money. I took the money and used it to make more money that’s kept me alive ever since. Now that I’ve come to the end, I don’t need that bag of money

anymore. So what am I supposed to do with it? The only thing that makes any sense is to give it back.”

“Give it back? But who are you going to give it to? The Greshams are dead, and it wasn’t even theirs in the first place. They stole the money from people you never knew, from anonymous strangers. Even if you (30) managed to find out who they were, they’re probably all dead now anyway.”

“Precisely. The people are all dead now, and it wouldn’t be possible to track down their heirs, would it?”

“That’s what I’ve just said.”

“You also said that those people were anonymous strangers. Stop and think about that for a moment. If there’s one thing this godforsaken city has in abundance, it’s anonymous strangers, the streets are filled with them. Everywhere you turn, there’s another anonymous stranger. There are millions of them all around us.”

(40) “You can’t be serious.”

“Of course I’m serious. I’m always serious. You should know that by now.

“You mean to say that we’re going to walk around the streets handing out fifty-dollar bills to strangers? It will cause a riot. People will go crazy, they’ll tear us apart.”

“Not if we handle it correctly. It’s all a matter of having the right plan, and that’s what we’ve got. Trust me, Fogg. It will be the greatest thing I’ve ever done, the crowning achievement of my life.”

NOTES

a cohort – a supporter or accomplice

to spill the beans – to tell someone something that should be kept secret

I’ve tied up loose ends – I’ve left nothing unfinished or incomplete

an outstanding debt [det] – a debt that has not been paid yet

to make sense – to be reasonable and/or practical

in the first place – at the start

EXERCISES