Vocabulary
- a pack of dogs
- pure-bred greyhound
- to cause sb to do sth
- to tear feet on rough ground
- to lag behind sb/ sth
- to wag the tail
- to howl mournfully
- a commercial traveller
- mens overalls with straps
- to fluff about ones head (about hair)
- to take part in the welcome
- to make a great fuss of sb
- to look at sb with anguish in the eyes
- to court sb
- saltbush plain
- to come into the sight
- to gain speed
- to be a serious handicap
Notes
He always had the air of the one on a mission ,
to smell the bush
bush inexperience
sheep-station
The-Silly-Pup was always going somewhere. I have never seen him sleeping or lying down or even standing still. He was always moving and he always had the air of one on a mission.
I was a visitor at the Riverina sheep station on which he lived. It was good to be away from the city. It was good to get up in the mornings and smell the bush and see the trees and know that kangaroos lived there and that you could see emus on the saltbush plain away behind the trees.
Ben Phillips was my host. He was old and fine and had a beard and loved dogs. He had a pack of them sheep-dogs, kangaroo dogs, greyhounds all sorts of dogs. On Saturdays his two sons took the whole yelping, barking pack of them hunting. The dogs had strange names. There was Springer, a kangaroo dog, who ran with great leaps. There was The-City-Dog, a pure-bred greyhound, whose bush inexperience caused him to fall over logs and tear his feet on the rough ground. Then there were Boofer and Moocha, hairy sheep-dogs, and, lastly, The-Silly-Pup.
Ah! The-Silly-Pup. If you could only see him. He is at the door now. Go out, you wretch!
You know when a dog has several pups there is often one small pup that always seems to lag behind the others. In the end they generally grow to normal size. But The-Silly-Pup had never grown much. He always remained smaller than the others.
It is true that The-Silly-Pup had a dog-size tail. This tail was too big for him. He really didn't wag it. It wagged him. That was very funny.
The-Silly-Pup loved me. I say this with confidence, even though when I looked into his eyes he howled mournfully. It was his habit; he never did it with anyone else.
Now, they were expecting a visitor at the station, a city girl. Everyone was much excited. I wasn't so very much, but the boys were. The girl was beautiful.
Mr. Morrison brought her in his car. He was a commercial traveller. By the way, I have always disliked commercial travellers. When the car arrived we gathered round to welcome the city girl. There were the dogs and the boys and Mr. and Mrs. Phillips and myself.
The dogs were very excited. They surrounded the car barking and leaping. Mr. Phillips kept roaring, "Lie down," but no dog ever took any notice of Mr. Phillips.
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Then the girl appeared. She flashed her white teeth in a wonderful smile. She was a blonde with dark eyes and dark lashes as long as the hairs on The-Silly-Pup's tail. She was dressed in something like men's overalls with straps over the shoulders. They were blue as the sky. She wore a thin white blouse and her gold hair fluffed about her head like silk.
Now I have been in love before three or four times. I think maybe five or six yes... Ah, what does it matter! Say, seven. But this was the real thing. I knew it. I think The-Silly-Pup must have sensed it too. He ignored the girl. While the other dogs barked and leaped around the car, he refused to take part in the welcome. In fact, he made an even greater fuss of me and ran round me in circles, demonstrating his affection.
But I was all eyes for the girl.
"I love dogs," she cried happily. "I just love them. I love horses, too. I love the country."
I wished she loved me. I could see I was deep in love already.
They took her inside and I walked round the yard; The-Silly-Pup was following me. He trotted behind with his nose almost touching my legs.
Alice, the city girl, had blue satin slippers with ostrich feathers. She wore them in the evenings. They looked strange on the bare boards of the kitchen.
One morning I found the pup coughing. I opened his mouth and it was full of blue feathers. I took him into the bush and we sat on a log for about an hour. When we returned everybody was talking.
"It's Steve's silly pup," said Jack. (I am Steve.)
He was holding the slippers. They were all wet. And they weren't all there. The heels weren't there, anyway.
"Not my pup," I said, "your pup."
"My pup!" cried Jack. "We gave him to you."
"I didn't take him," I protested.
"What!" exclaimed Jack. "Of course you did. Didn't you say to the pup: 'Well, now you're mine, old chap,' when I said you could have him?"
"Perhaps I said that," I admitted, "but I didn't know him then."
"That doesn't matter," said Jack. "You took him, that's all.
"Well, what about it?" I said.
"Look at what he has done to Alice's slippers," said Jack.
"Good heavens!" I exclaimed. "Isn't that terrible! I'll go out and whip him."
I went out and threw a stick at The-Silly-Pup. He brought it back to me. I patted him and we went for a walk.
The next night it was Alice's stockings both of them. I began to realize what the ownership of The-Silly-Pup really. meant.
He was always in my way when I was courting Alice. She never saw me alone. She used to say: "You and The-Silly-Pup". She never said just "you".
But somehow I couldn't help liking him. He did the funniest things. He used to sleep with the turkeys. He was so original.
One day we all went hunting. We climbed into a cart and set off through the bush, followed by the dogs. It was a morning of sunshine and birds. Alice kept taking deep breaths and saying: "Just smell the earth. Isn't it lovely!"
It was. Everything was lovely that morning.
When we broke through the trees and came out on to the saltbush plain we all stood up in the cart, looking eagerly for kangaroos.
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Three emus dashed from a patch of scrub. A fence barred their way. They ran up and down the fence a little frightened. Then the dogs saw them. With loud barking they set off after them. In the rear ran The-Silly-Pup, lagging more and more behind the others. But none yelped louder than he. The emus had stopped running. They stood in doubt, stretching their long necks, looking anxiously toward us. They pushed against each other, then began running again. But they were still in doubt.
Then the dogs came into sight and the emus gained speed. How they ran!
And how The-Silly-Pup ran!
They disappeared in the distance among the saltbush and the barks and yelps died away.
Later the dogs returned. The emus has escaped. But The-Silly-Pup was missing. We were all rather pleased.
Then he came into sight carrying a sheep's leg. That sheep had been dead a long time. You could tell that in a moment. Everybody held their nose. I jumped out of the cart. I was responsible for The-Silly-Pup.
"Go home," I called. "Get out of here."
The-Silly-Pup was surprised, but obeyed me nevertheless. He trotted away and disappeared among the saltbush.
We set off home. But the smell became bad again. We couldn't make it out. The-Silly-Pup had gone; the smell remained. It polluted the air for the entire journey.
When we reached home we got down from our seats with thankfulness. Out trotted The-Silly-Pup from beneath the cart, still carrying the sheep's leg. With his head in the air, he ran toward the turkey house.
I realized that The-Silly-Pup was a serious handicap, but I persisted in my courting. I had a car. It was understood that Alice would return to the city with me when her holiday was over. I had intended to return on the same day in any case. But Mr. Morrison was also returning to town about that time. Alice remained silent as to who her escort was to be.
The night before our departure I asked her to come for a walk with me. It was a moonlight night. The air was warm and still. Behind us trotted The-Silly-Pup...
I put my arm round Alice's waist. Her head was against my shoulder.
"I love you," I said.
She laughed a soft little laugh and broke away from me.
"I bet you can't catch me," she said and her eyes were beautiful.
She ran through the trees laughing and looking back over her shoulder.
I laughed too, and ran after her. But The-Silly-Pup was faster than I. he caught her and bit her on the leg. She yelled and jumped up in the air. I was horrified. I told her so.
"He probably thought you were a sheep," I explained. "He always bites sheep."
"Don't be silly," she said sharply.
She left me.
Going into the house she called back: "Remember, if that pup goes with you, I don't."
I stood outside with the pup, thinking.
Next morning I packed my case and put it in the car. The-Silly-Pup sat on the back seat.
"What about it, Alice?" I asked her after she had finished her breakfast.
She looked through the window at The-Silly-Pup. All the turkeys of the house were gathered round the car.
"Oh, I'm going back with Mr. Morrison," she said.
So that was all.
Now The-Silly-Pup digs up my neighbour's flowers. I don't know, I'm sure, whether I ought to thank or curse him. Get out, you wretch.
Vocabulary Practice
I. Write the transcription, read and translate the following words and phrases:
Kangaroo; yelping; barking dogs; Springer; emu; Boofer; Moocha; wretch; howl; mournfully; roaring; blonde; anguish; ostrich feathers; overalls; bare boards of the kitchen; protest; cough; Good heavens; ownership; court; turkey; a morning of sunshine; deep breaths; saltbush plain; a little frightened; anxiously; toward; disappear in the distance; nevertheless; to pollute the air; the entire journey; thankfulness; I persisted in my courting; before the departure; moonlight night; I was horrified; sharply; neighbour's flowers.
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II. Translate into English:
( ); ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ( ); ; (); ; (); ; ; ; , ; ; ; ; ; -; ; ; ; , ; .
III. Reproduce the situations from the text where the active vocabulary is used. Think of your own sentences with the words from the list.
IV. Suggest words and word combinations from active vocabulary for the following:
- to pay ones addresses to
- to make sb do sth
- thoroughbred ['θΛrә]
- a gang of dogs
- to move or develop more slowly than others
- to shake the tail quickly and repeatedly from side to side
- to hurt feet on the uneven surface of the earth
- to wail dismally
- a sales representative
- to participate in the greetings
- to be a difficult obstacle
- to bustle about sb
- to look at sb with great pain in the eyes
V. Choose the correct statement:
- Ben Phillips was
a) my best friend
b) my boss
c) my host
- They were expecting
a) a doctor to treat the patient
b) a visitor at the station
c) a lot of guests to the evening party
- While the other dogs barked and leaped around the car
a) he refused to take part in the welcome
b) he fell asleep
c) he went to eat
- I began to realize what
a) to do with the pup
b) would help me to solve this problem
c) the ownership of The-Silly-Pup really meant
- It was understood that Alice would return to the city with
a) her friends and The-Silly-Pup
b) Mr. Morrison, a commercial traveler
c) Me, when her holiday was over
- The night before our departure I asked her
a) to go to the country club with me
b) to come for a walk with me
c) to have a chat over a cup of coffee
VI. Answer the following questions:
- Where did the narrator come as a visitor? What pleasure did he get there?
- Who was the host of the Riverina sheep station?
- Why wasnt The-Silly-Pup an ordinary dog? What was particular about him?
- Why was everyone much excited one day at the sheep station?
- Why didnt The-Silly-Pup love Alice? What did he revenge for?
- What made Alice angry?
- What terms did Alice make?
- What happened to The-Silly-Pup?
VII. Topics for general discussion
- What kind of history is it?
- What do you think about Steves behaviour and character?
- Do you agree with Steves choice?
