Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools: Edited With Notes, Study Helps, And Reading Lists
General
Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools: Edited With Notes, Study Helps, And Reading Lists
American literature
While he spoke a most remarkable transformation was going on. The
minister's grave, rugged, and deeply lined face smoothed itself and shed
ten years at least; in the eyes that I had seen wet with noble tears a
laughing devil now lurked, while his strong mouth became a loose-lipped,
devil-may-care one. His head with its aureole of bushy, grizzled hair
set itself jauntily upon one side, and from it and from his face and his
whole great frame breathed a wicked jollity quite indescribable.
"Odsbodikins, captain!" he cried. "Kirby's luck!--'twill pass into a
saw! Adzooks! and so you're captain once more, and I'm mate once more,
and we've a ship once more, and we're off once more
To sail the Spanish Main,
And give the Spaniard pain,
Heave ho, bully boy, heave ho!
By 'r lakin! I'm too dry to sing. It will take all the wine of Xeres in
the next galleon to unparch my tongue!"
NOTES
=the grave=:--This refers to the latter part of chapter 21 of _To Have
and to Hold_; the hero, Ralph Percy, who has been shipwrecked with his
companions, discovers a group of pirates burying their dead captain.
=pezos and pieces of eight=:--_peso_ is the Spanish word for dollar;
_pieces of eight_ are dollars also, each dollar containing eight
_reals_.
=the man in black and silver=:--Paradise, an Englishman.
=frails=:--Baskets made of rushes.
=Kirby=:--A renowned pirate mentioned in chapter 21.
=Maracaibo=:--The city or the gulf of that name in Venezuela.
=galleasses=:--Heavy, low-built vessels having sails as well as oars.
=Lucayas=:--An old name for the Bahama Islands.
=de Leon=:--Ponce de Leon discovered Florida in 1513; he searched long
for a fountain which would restore youth.
=aqua vitæ=:--Latin for _water of life_.
=Summer Isles=:--Another name for the Bermuda Islands.
=Cartagena=:--A city in Spain.
=Lima=:--A city in Peru.
=Toledo=:--A "Toledo blade"--a sword of the very finest temper, made in
Toledo, Spain.
=the Low Countries=:--Holland and Belgium.
=señor=:--The Spanish word for _sir_.
=Weyanoke=:--The home of the hero, near Jamestown, Virginia.
=Sparrow=:--A minister, one of the hero's companions; see chapter 3 of
_To Have and to Hold_.
=guarda costa=:--Coast guard.
=Diccon=:--Ralph Percy's servant.
=the gentleman without a sword=:--Lord Carnal, an enemy of Percy.
=the lady=:--She is really Percy's wife.
=Odsbodikins=; =Adzooks=:--Oaths much used two centuries ago.
=By 'r lakin=:--By our ladykin (little lady); an oath by the Virgin
Mary.
=Xeres=:--The Spanish town after which sherry wine is named.
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account