Audiobook
SUMMARY
As it’s usual in O. Henry, he starts his writing with a philosophical deliberation. In our case, he reflects about the saying “No man
has tasted the full flavour of life until he has known poverty, love, and war.”
So we have to imagine that in our story, the author / narrator is going to demonstrate
the truth of it, or at least, give an instance of it. How an ordinary man with
a monotonous life can taste the full flavour of life?
John Hopkins was a very commonplace man. He had had
the same tastes and the same habits for all his life. He dwelt in a normal flat
with a ficus and a dog in an unobtrusive street and was married as most people. His wife was also an unimaginative woman. There wasn’t any surprise in the
lives of these two people. One cannot expect anything that wasn’t monotony in
their home.
Every weekday, when John Hopkins came from work, had
dinner, made some trivial remarks about the day, told his wife some little
change in his office or about the people there and then was quiet.
But today, he did something absolutely unusual: in the
middle of a sentence, he suddenly decided to walk down to the corner to buy a
cigar.
And now a series of extraordinary events took place.
First, he forgot his money and couldn’t pay for the cigar, then he quarrelled
with the tobacconist because the man didn’t sell on credit. Afterwards, a
policeman arrived to where they were fighting and tried to arrest Hopkins, but
he defended himself and run away. In his flight, he was rescued by a stranger in
a car, who took him to his lady. The lady, however, wanted her cousin Walter
Long, but, as the driver hadn’t been able to find him, he had brought John
Hopkins instead. The lady needed a brave and strong man to throw out of her
house somebody who had offended her; nevertheless, the offender, who perhaps
was her husband, her brother or any family member, in a moment seized Hopkins, pinned
him down and easily shoved him out of doors.
John Hopkins, once on the street, not at all confused, walked directly home. His wife greeted him with...
QUESTIONS
-What is your opinion about this saying: “No man has
tasted the full flavour of life until he has known poverty, love and war”?
-Where are poverty, love and war in our story?
-What do you prefer: a routine life or an
adventurous one? What is it better for our mental health?
-What are the benefits of a customary / everyday /
trivial conversation?
-Somebody said: our troubles come of not being able to
remain calmly at home all the time. What is your view about that sentence?
VOCABULARY
plummet, ostrich tips, mucilaginous, hornblende, grafted, joust, rebuses, took [spiritedly] to his hells, soak, winning, chowder, grouch at, scraper, kennels, check
