Trouble and Strife / Better Half.

A Religious Holiday.

    There is a considerable Sikh colony in the neighbourhood of Domel, and as one of the most important Sikh religious festivals commences on April 12th, all the people of that faith—men, women, and children—were gathered here from far and wide, clad in their festival raiment. They bathed in the sacred Jhelam, feasted or fasted according to the law, and made merry. It was interesting to see these cheery, simple, fine people enjoying their holiday.

Humanity.

The Great Almsgiving.

A Bad Plan.

    I saw your son whipping, kicking, and knocking that good little pony about shamefully, because he would not leap a gate that was too high for him. The pony behaved well, Sir; but at last he just threw up his heels and tipped the young gentleman into the thorn hedge. He wanted me to help him out; but I did not feel inclined to do so. There are no bones broken, Sir; he has only got a few scratches, I love horses, and it makes me angry to see them badly used. It is a bad plan to annoy an animal till he uses his heels.

Bayard.

The Langur.

Alexander and His Cousin.

Examples of Paragraphs.

    Two men were once travelling through a forest together. They promised to stand by each other in any danger they might meet upon the way. They had not gone far when a bear came rushing towards them out of a thicket. One of the men, who was light and nimble, got up into a tree. The other fell flat upon his face and held his breath. The bear came up and smelt at him; but as the man did not move Bruin thought he was dead and went off into the wood. Then the other man came down from the tree and asked his companion what the bear had said to him. ‘For I noticed,' he said, ‘that he put his mouth very close to your ear.’ ‘Why,’ replied the other, ‘he told me in future not to trust to cowards like you.’

[Bruin is a familiar name for a bear. It really means brown.]

The Paragraph.

    # You have already studied the various kinds of sentences used in writing English. Now we have to study the Paragraph, which is usually a combination of sentences sometimes short, sometimes long. All writing is built up of sentences and paragraphs. Look at the following passage.

    Snow White and Rose Red kept their mother’s cottage so clean that it was a pleasure to look at it. In the evening when the snow fell, the mother would say: ‘Go, Snow White, and bolt the door,’ and then they sat down beside the hearth j and their mother took her spectacles and read out of a big book, while the two little girls listened as they sat and span. Near them, on the ground, lay a pet lamb, and behind them, on its perch, sat a little while dove with its head under its wine.

    One evening, when they sat thus lovingly together, somebody knocked at the door as if he wanted to be let in. 1 he mother said : ‘Quick, Rose Red, open the door, it may be a traveller who is sticking shelter.’ So Rose Red got up and unbolted the door, thinking that it might be a poor man ; but, no, it was a bear who thrust his big black head in. Rose Red screamed and ran away, the lamb bleated, the little dove fluttered about, and Snow White hid herself behind her mother’s bed. But the bear began to speak, and said: ‘Don’t be frightened; I won’t do you any harm. I am half-frozen, and only want to warm myself a little by your fire.’

    ‘You poor bear,’ said the mother, ‘lie down by the fire, and only take care that your fur doesn’t get burnt.’ Then she cried : ‘Snow White, Rose Red, come here. The bear won’t hurt you, he means no harm.’ So they both came, and by degrees the lamb and the dove also drew near, and Were no longer afraid. Then the bear said: ‘Children, please shake the snow out of my fur. So they fetched I broom and brushed it all out, and then he stretched himself in front of the fire and growled quite happily and comfortably. It was not long before they became very friendly and began to play pranks with their clumsy guest. They pulled his fur with their hands, put their little feet on his back and rolled him to and fro, and took a hazel stick and hit him with it, and when he growled they laughed.

    When it was bedtime, and the others went to rest, the mother said to the bear: ‘You may lie on the hearth, and then you will be safe from the cold and the stormy weather.' But as soon as the day dawned the two children let him out, and he trotted away into the wood. From that day the bear came every evening at the same time, lay down on the hearth” and let the children play with him as much as they liked; and they were so well used to him that the door was never bolted before their black playmate had come.

# This passage contains four paragraphs. You will see that each paragraph is complete in itself, with a main idea. All paragraphs, however long, should centre round a main idea or incident. If there is any break in the thought or in the action you are describing, a new paragraph should be begun. Many older writers did not trouble to divide their writing into paragraphs. So we find that what they wrote makes heavy reading. It is much easier to read a page that is divided into a number of paragraphs.

# You will see in the passage just quoted that each paragraph starts a little to the right of the beginning of the other lines. This is called indenting.

Master Dialogs.

Birthdays.

Rosamond.—Mamma, do you know what I have been thinking of all this time?

Mother.—No, my dear. What?

R.—Why, Mamma, about my cousin Belle’s birthday. Do you know what day it is?

M.—No, I don’t remember.

R.—O Mother dear ! Don’t you remember it’s the 20th of December, and her birthday is the day after tomorrow. But you never remember birthdays, Mamma.

M.—What do you mean, my dear? I remember your birthday perfectly well.

In a Railway Station.

Two Kinds of Boys.

A Talk in Arabia.

Examples of Dialogues.

Dialogue / Dialog.

    A dialogue is a talk between two or more people. To write a dialogue is a quite different exercise from writing a story or an essay. It should be more natural, because we are continually talking, but very few of us write stories or essays. It should be more easy, because we have so much practice in talking. But it really is not so easy, because when we are talking we think most about what we ourselves are saying or going to say, and not about what the other person is saying. But if we are going to write a dialogue, we must think out what each person is to say. To do this we have to put ourselves into the position of other people who perhaps do not think and feel as we do. And this requires what we call imagination. Theatrical plays or dramas are all in dialogue, and the writer of a drama has to imagine what each of the players would feel and think and say, which is not easy. It will help you to write dialogues if you practise writing from memory any talks you have just had with relatives and friends. Sometimes we really enjoy what we call a good talk. Such talks are worth writing down. And they are often very interesting to other people. The most popular books in prose are stories, and good stories are largely made up of conversation.

# You have surely read many stories, and so you will have some ideas about good conversation. How does it differ from the written language? What are the kinds of expression which you do not wish to see in reported talk? Conversation is a natural habit, and so we expect a reported or invented talk to be natural, just as it would be in real life. There are certain things, then, which we should keep out of the dialogues we write.

# Dialogue should be in the speech which is natural to the persons talking. A boy should speak like a boy, an old man like an old man. A little girl should not be made to talk like her grandmother.

# In essays we often find long sentences with difficult words. But in good conversation the sentences should be short, and the words should be familiar.

# Good English dialogue is full of life. In reading it we feel that the persons speaking are very near to us. They should not use worn out sayings or proverbs; they should not preach, that is, one person should not lay down the law to another. Each should express himself as freely as two children would.

# Of course, some dialogue you are asked to write may be between master and servant, or between a queen and an ordinary person. In such cases the dialogue would report the natural politeness or courtesy shown at such a meeting.

# Models of good English dialogue will be found in English novels and short stories. Charles Dickens was one of the greatest writers of dialogue the world has ever known. But there are hundreds of writers who have written during the generation since Dickens died, and their books are plentiful.

Master Letter Writing.

Write the following letters. The letters may be short or long. If they are short they must be to the point. If they are long they must be carefully written.

1. To your uncle asking him if he will take you with him to a football match.

2. To your teacher, thanking him for his kind teaching, which has helped you to pass your examination.

3. To a friend in England, telling him about your school.

4. To your sister asking about your mother, who is ill.

5. Your sister’s reply.

6. To your cousin, about some snakes you have seen.

7. From your cousin about the wild animals near his home.

8. To a friend, about a railway journey you have made.

9. To a classmate, inviting him to go for a picnic with you and your brother and sister.

10. His reply, saying why he is unable to go.

Reply Letter - VII

My dear Syed,

    Thank you very much for your letter from the seaside. It was very interesting to hear of your swimming in the rays of the rising sun. I shall expect to see you looking fresh and sunburnt when we meet again.

    Here it is very different. We are up on the mountain tops, in the wind and the clouds. We cannot walk about without clothes, as you do on the sea-beach. We cannot wear the white clothes we do at Anantapura; we have to put on warm underclothing as well as woollen coats and trousers. But the cold winds have taken all our tiredness away, and we can walk for miles and miles.

    You know it was Radha’s father who invited me. He is such an interesting man to talk to, as he knows every part of India. For thirty years he has spent every holiday
in travel. He has been as far as Chaman, Lundi Kotal, Chitral, Baltit, Kathmandu, Kalimpong, Dibrugarh, Manipur, Quilon, Rameshvar, Tranquebar, Diu and Bikaner. If you look up these places on a map you will see that he could not have gone much further without leaving India. And what is more, he is proud of never having been even a day later in returning to his office. He knows all the great pilgrim centres, and the best rest-houses, and hundreds of stories of heroes, and giants, and animals. Someday I will take you to his house to see him and listen to him.

    Well, we shall meet in three weeks, Inshallah!

Letter - VII