The wedding was set for two o’clock at Zillan. When Jan-Ives and I were ready the chauffeur drove us there in Penmarric car. The rector6 appeared for a word with me; Peter Waymark, who was an usher7 arrived with his wife. Other guests began to appear.
Jonas’s8 sister Deborah9, who was the youngest bridesmaid, was by that time at Polzillan House with Esmond, the page, and the two adult bridesmaids, Jeane and Charlotte10.
My mother arrived, looking beautiful as usual, and set between Marianna and Elizabeth11 [sisters] in the row behind me.
Two o’clock struck and the organ went on playing but at last there was a murmur of excitement by the porch and I knew that Helena had arrived.
The organ changed the key. We all stood up. All I can remember that she looked even more striking than usual, Jeane, Deborah and Helena’s friend Charlotte in long pale blue dresses, Esmond, proud and dignified in his page’s costume.
I can remember Jan-Ives giving me the ring, remember the touch of metal cold against my dry fingers. I can remember the rector saying a few words to us in private before the altar, I remember walking down the aisle12 and out of the church into the faded sunshine of a cold June afternoon.
All the village had turned out for the wedding. There were cheers and shouts and a storm of confetti, and I remember smiling and waving as I climbed into the car with Helena to drive to Polzillan House.
I can remember the reception, tables of delicacies, champagne in buckets, a wedding cake like an ivory tower. Jan-Ives made a witty speech, but I merely said a few words of thanks and afterward there was only talk and laughter...
We left for Penzance13 at 6 o’clock. I had decided against travelling to Torquay14 on the first night of the honeymoon, so I had booked a suite at the Metropole which had a number of sentimental memories for us.
1 Jeane [c^i:n]
2 Helena ['helina]
3 Polzillan [zpoul'zilan]
4 trousseau ['tru:sau] - outfit clothing for a bride
5 Jan-Ives ['3a:n'i:v]
6 rector - clergyman in charge of a parish
7 usher [AJa] - door-keeper during the wedding who meets the guests
8 Jonas [^ounz]
9 Deborah ['debars]
10 Charlotte ['fa:lat]
11 Elizabeth [iTizabaO]
12 aisle [ail] - passage in church
13 Penzance [pep'zmps]
14 Torquay ['ta:'ki:]
Ex. 10. Comprehension questions.
1. Was it a church or a civil wedding?
2. Who took part in the ceremony?
3. Who were Helena’s bridesmaids? What did they look like?
4. What were the chores Helena had to attend to before the wedding?
5. Why did Philip and Helena leave the Polzillan House that night?
Ex. 11. Give words or phrases for the following definitions:
1. to win the affections with a view of marriage;
2. unsuitable marriage;
3. a woman whose husband died;
4. a woman, who has never been married;
5. a second wife of one’s father;
6. a child of an earlier marriage of one’s stepfather or stepmother;
7. to take a child into one’s family (as a relation);
8. a man, who has never been married;
9. to educate, to raise children;
10. to put an end to a marriage by law;
11. man (woman) to whom one is engaged;
12. your father’s (mother’s) parents;
13. a jubilee after 25 years of marriage;
14. a circular band (often of gold) given as a token of love.
Ex. 12. Fill in the right words.
1. Your relatives on your wife’s side are: your wife’s sister is your ... , and her brother is your... , your parents will refer to your wife as their... while your brothers and sisters will refer to her as ... . Your wife’s parents will speak of you as their....
2. Your brother’s and sister’s sons and daughters are your... and ....
3. Your mother’s and father’s brothers and sisters are your.... The children of your uncles and aunts are your... and the children of your first cousins are your....
4. Your mother’s and father’s parents are your... and the latter will refer to you as their....
5. Someone’s second wife will speak of her husband’s children as her ..., whereas the latter will speak of her as their.... Someone’s second husband will also refer to his wife’s children as his ... while the latter will speak of him as their... .
Ex. 13. Translate the following sentences:
1. Это моя племянница co стороны матери.
2. Разрешите называть вас по имени, вы так молоды.
3. Почему ему дали такое прозвище?
4. Все члены семьи называли его Си-Си для краткости.
5. Он мой троюродный брат, в общем, довольно дальний родственник.
6. Мы считаем тетю Аню очень близкой родственницей, хотя в действительности она нам «десятая вода на киселе».
7. Ему перевалило за 60, хотя он не выглядит на свои годы.
8. Он на 10 лет старше меня.
9. Я семейный человек, я не могу работать так поздно.
10. Ему почти семнадцать, он вполне может поехать в деревню один.
11. В Америке подросткам продают только безалкогольные напитки.
12. Он на 5 лет младше меня.
13. Они поженились по любви, хотя все считают, что это брак по расчету.
14. Бабушка очень состарилась в последнее время.
15. Через 4 года я достигну совершеннолетия.
16. Они очень похожи, как две капли воды.
17. Ему было далеко за сорок.
18. Она принесла большое приданое.
19. Ребенокдолжен родиться в мае.
20. Она пережила своего мужа на 10 лет.
Ех. 14. Give two or more words falling under the same category:
1. name; 2. family; 3. children; 4. ancestors;
5. stepparents; 6. relatives; 7. stepchildren; 8. people who are not
married.
Ex. 15. Choose the word or words which best complete the sentences.
1. His figure was well preserved though
2. We were born.....
3. Winslow was not yet sixty but.....
4. David judged him to be.....
5. In age we were less than.....
6. After her divorce she changed.....
7. She is only.....
8. She was pregnant.....
9. He is divorced and says he is not
10. People often confused them, they
11. His wife brought to her marriage ..
12. I am forty five years of age.....
a. in the same generation.
b. about his own age.
c. her name back.
d. living relative.
e. considering marriage again.
f. he was a man of sixty.
g. he was aging fast.
h. a year apart.
i. an enormous dowry.
j. single.
k looked very much alike.
I. with her third child.
Ex. 16. Read and translate the text and say:
a) What rule you’d certainly follow (when you’re married). Prove your point.
b) Comment on all the rules formulated by J.G.Thurber.
c) Add your own rules even though you haven’t got J.G.Thurber’s experience yet.
Text C
(abridged)
by James Graver Thurber
Nobody, I hasten to announce, has asked me to formulate a set of rules for the perpetuation of marital bliss and the preservation of a sacred union. Maybe what we need is a brand-new set of rules. Anyway, ready or not, here they come, the result of fifty years spent in studying the nature and behaviour, mistakes and misunderstandings of the American Male and his Mate.
RULE ONE: Neither party to a sacred union should run down, disparage1 or badmouth the other’s former girls or beaux2. The tendency to attack their character, looks, intelligence, capability and achievements is a common case of domestic discontent.
RULE TWO: A man should make an honest effort to get the names of his wife’s friends right. This is not easy. The average wife keeps in touch with at least seven old classmates. These ladies known as “the girls” are often nicknamed: Molly, Muffy, Missy, Midge, Mabby, Maddy and so on. The careless husband calls them all Mugs3.
RULE THREE: A husband should not insult his wife publicly, at parties. He should insult her in the privacy of their home.
RULE FOUR: The wife, who keeps saying, “Isn’t that just like a man?” and a husband, who keeps saying, “Oh, well you know how women are,” are likely to grow farther and farther apart through the years.
RULE FIVE: When a husband is reading aloud, a wife should sit quietly in her chair, relaxed but attentive. If he has decided to read the Republican platform, an article on elm blight4, or blow-by-blow account of a prize fight, it is not going to be easy, but she should at least pretend to be interested. She should not break in to correct her husband’s pronunciation, or to tell him one of the socks is wrong side out, swing her foot, file her fingernails, catch a mosquito. The good wife allows the mosquito to bite her when the husband is reading aloud.
RULE SIX: A husband should try to remember where things are around the house so that he doesn’t have to wait for his wife to get home before he can put his hands on what he wants. Perhaps every wife should draw for her husband a detailed map of the house, showing clearly the location of everything he might need. Trouble is, he would lay the map down, somewhere and not be able to find it until his wife got home.
RULE SEVEN: If your husband ceases to call you “Sugarfoot” or “Candy Eyes”, or “Cutie Fudge Pie” during the first year of your marriage, it is not necessarily a sign that he no longer cares or has come to take you for granted. It is probably an indication that he has recovered his normal perspective.