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K. Make up a story that will account for the sadness of Antonio in the opening scene of the Merchant of Venice. Let Antonio relate the story to Bassanio.

L. Retell the story of the tournament in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. Throw the narrative into the form of a letter from Rowena to one of her friends.

Think

M. Write the story suggested by Détaille's L'Alerte (Figure 4, page 220). Perhaps the following outline will be helpful: (1) The scout receives orders from the general; (2) he sets out on his perilous mission; (3) he discovers the enemy and is himself discovered; (4) the pursuit; (5) the scout's trick; (6) the alarm in the village; (7) the fight; (8) the scout reports at headquarters. Study the picture carefully for the time of day, the season of the year, and the state of the weather. Imagine the conversation between the scout and the officers at the door of the tavern. how a man would speak who had been riding for his life and knew that a body of the enemy was following close upon his heels. Think also what the officers would say and do when they heard the news. If you are not sure about the words in which the scout would make his report and the orders that the officers would give, you had better inquire of some one. Anybody who was in the Civil War, or the Spanish War, should be able to tell you.

N. Expand the anecdote by Thackeray on page 2. Begin your story, if you wish, at a point of time several months or years before the time of the original, and carry it on as much farther as you think desirable. Invent names for the characters and supply incidents necessary to fill out the plot.

O. Tell the story suggested by Becker's Reading of the Will (Figure 7, page 288), giving appropriate names to the persons represented. Determine first which shall be the leading character and what characters shall be opposed to him. Then block out the incidents of the narrative.

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P. Figure 9 is from a picture by Dagnan-Bouveret entitled The Conscripts. Examine the faces carefully and try to imagine how each one in the little company feels, and what each one is

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saying to himself as he thinks of the experiences that await him. Then try to weave them all together into a story of which the boy or the drummer is the hero. Do not overlook the woman standing at the door of the cottage.

A Type Study in Narration.

97. The following story by Maupassant has been called by good judges a perfect short story, not only because of its faultless structure but because of its truth. It is an immutable social law that a man whose general character and reputation is that of a rogue cannot prove himself guiltless of an offence that fits him. It is a great story too because the law of cause and effect is in full operation; the events do not make or modify the character; the character actually creates the events and the plot.

A Piece of String.

By every road round Goderville the countrymen with their wives were coming toward the town, for it was market-day. The men plodded on, their bodies lurching forward at every movement of their long twisted limbs which were deformed by hard work-by holding the plough, which throws up the left shoulder and twists the figure; by mowing grain which forces out the knees in the effort to stand quite steady; in short, by all the tedious and painful toil of the fields. Their blue blouses starched and shining as if they had been varnished, with collar and cuffs stitched in a neat design, were inflated about their bony forms, exactly like balloons ready to soar, but putting forth a head, two arms, and two legs.

Some were leading a cow or a calf by a rope; and, just behind, their wives lashed the animal over the back with a leafy branch, to hasten its pace. On their arms the women carried large baskets, whence protruded the heads of chickens or ducks; and they walked with shorter, quicker steps than the men; their withered, upright figures wrapped in scanty little shawls pinned over their flat breasts, their hair closely done up in white cloths, with a cap above.

Now a cart passed by, jerked along by an ambling nag and it shook up queerly the two men sitting side by side

and a woman at the bottom of the vehicle who held on to the sides to ease the heavy jolting.

In the market-place at Goderville a crowd had gathered, a mingled multitude of men and beasts. The horns of the cattle, the tall, long-napped hats of the rich peasants, and the head-dresses of the peasant women rose above the surface of that living sea; and the harsh, shrill, squeaking voices made a continuous and savage roar; while at times there rose above it a burst of laughter from the husky throat of an amused country fellow, or the long-drawn moo of a cow tied to a wall.

Master Hauchecorne, of Breaute, had just arrived at Goderville, and was making his way toward the marketplace when he saw on the ground a little piece of string. Master Hauchecorne, economical like all true Normans, considered everything worth picking up which might be of use; so he stooped painfully down, for he suffered from rheumatism, took the bit of twine from the ground, and was preparing to roll it up with care, when he noticed Master Malandain the harness-maker on his door-step, looking at him. They had once had a difference in regard to a halter, and they remained angry, with ill-will on both sides. Master Hauchecorne was seized with a feeling of shame at being caught thus by his enemy looking in the dirt for a piece of string. He hastily concealed his find under his blouse, then in the pocket of his trousers; then he pretended still to be looking on the ground for something he failed to find, and at last went away toward the market-place, his head thrust forward, his body doubled up by his pains.

The women had placed their great baskets at their feet; and they drew out their poultry and placed it on the ground, where it lay with legs tied, scared eye, and scarlet comb.

They listened to offers, dryly maintaining their price with

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