CULTURAL ENGLISH This morning lesson, great time, we used this, taken from The Notebook by Agota Kristof: The Deserter We find a man in the forest. A living man, a young man, without a uniform. He is lying behind a bush. He looks at us without moving. We ask him: Why are you lying there? He answers: I cant walk anymore. Ive come from the other side of the frontier. Ive been walking for two weeks. Day and night. Especially night. Im too weak now. Im hungry. I havent eaten for three days. We ask: Why havent you got a uniform? All young man have a uniform. They are all soldiers. He says: I dont want to be a soldier anymore. You dont want to fight the enemy anymore? I dont want to fight anyone. I have no enemies. I want to go home. Where is your home? Still a long way off. Ill never get there if I dont find something to eat. We ask: Why dont you go and buy something to eat? Dont you have any money? No, I dont have any money, and I cant be seen. I must hide. No one must see me. Why? I left my regiment without leave. I ran away. Im a deserter. If they found me, Id be shot or hanged. We ask: Like a murderer? Yes, exactly like a murderer. And yet you dont want to kill anyone. You just want to go home. Yes, I just want to go home. We ask: What do you want us to bring you to eat? Anything. Goats milk, hard-boiled eggs, bread, fruit? Yes, yes, anything. We ask: And a blanket? The nights are cold, and it often rains. He says: Yes, but you mustnt be seen. And you wont say anything to anybody, will you? Not even to your mother. We answer: No one will see us, we never say anything to anybody, and we have no mother. When we come back with the food and blanket, he says: Youre very kind. We say: WE WERENT TRYING TO BE KIND. WEVE BROUGHT YOU THESE THINGS BECAUSE YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED THEM. THATS ALL. He says again: I dont know how to thank you. Ill never forget you. His eyes fill with tears. We say: Crying is no use, you know. We never cry, even though we arent men yet, like you. He smiles and says: Youre right. Excuse me, I wont do it anymore. Its just because of the exhaustion.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 06:08:38 +0000
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