The Art of Writing & Speaking the English Language, Sherwin Cody [hardest books to read .TXT] 📗

Observe the two l's in wholly,— one in whole; we do not have wholely, as we might expect. Also observe that in again and against ai has the sound of e short, as a has that sound in any and many.

6. I believe it is impossible truly to express what the ecstasies of the soul are when it is so saved, as I may say, out of the grave. “For sudden joys, like sudden griefs, confound at first.”

7. I walked about on the shore, my whole being wrapped up in thinking of what I had been through, and thanking God for my deliverance. Not one soul had been saved but myself. Nor did I afterward see any sign of them, except three of their hats, one cap, and two shoes.

8. I soon began to look about me. I had no change of clothes, nor anything either to eat or drink; nor did I see anything before me but dying of hunger or being eaten by wild beasts.

(Crusoe afterward cast up a sort of ledger account of the good and evil in his lot. On the side of evil he placed, first, the fact that he had been thrown upon a bare and barren island, with no hope of escape. Against this he set the item that he alone had been saved. On the side of evil he noted that he had no clothes; but on the other hand, this was a warm climate, where he could hardly wear clothes if he had them. Twenty-five years later he thought he would be perfectly happy if he were not in terror of men coming to his island——who, he feared, might eat him.)

Questions and Notes. How do you remember the ie in believe, grief, etc.? Give several illustrations from the above paragraphs of the principle that we have a double consonant (in an accented penultimate syllable) after a short vowel. Give illustrations of the single consonant after a long vowel. Make a list of the words containing silent letters, including all digraphs. What letter does true have which truly does not? Is whole pronounced like hole? wholly like holy? What is the difference between clothes and cloths? What sound has a in any? How do you remember that i follows e in their? What rule applies in the formation of dying? Point out two words or more in the above in which we have a silent a following two consonants to indicate a preceding long vowel. Give cases of a digraph followed by a silent e. (Note. Add silent e to past and make paste—long a.) Is the i in evil sounded? There were no bears upon this island. Mention another kind of bear. Observe the difference between hardware—— iron goods——and hard wear, meaning tough usage. What is peculiar about soul? impossible? ecstasies? wrapped? deliverance? sign? except? shoes? hunger? thrown? terror? island?

9. I decided to climb into a tree and sit there until the next day, to think what death I should die. As night came on my heart was heavy, since at night beasts come abroad for their prey. Having cut a short stick for my defense, I took up my lodging on a bough, and fell fast asleep. I afterward found I had no reason to fear wild beasts, for never did I meet any harmful animal.

10. When I awoke it was broad day, the weather was clear and I saw the ship driven almost to the rock where I had been so bruised. The ship seeming to stand upright still, I wished myself aboard, that I might save some necessary things for my use.

(Crusoe shows his good judgment in thinking at once of saving something from the ship for his after use. While others would have been bemoaning their fate, he took from the vessel what he knew would prove useful, and in his very labors he at last found happiness. Not only while his home-building was new, but even years after, we find him still hard at work and still inventing new things.)

Questions and Notes. There are two l's in till; why not in until?

What other words ending in two l's drop one l in compounds? What two sounds do you find given to oa in the preceding paragraphs? What is peculiar about climb? death? dies? night? heart? heavy? since? beasts? prey? defense? lodging? bough? never? harmful? weather? driven? bruised? necessary? judgment? others? happiness? build?

Use the following words in appropriate sentences: clime, dye, pray, bow, write, would. What two pronunciations may bow have, and what is the difference in meaning? What two sounds may s have in use, and what difference do they mark?

What two rules are violated in judgment? What other words are similar exceptions?

11. As I found the water very calm and the ship but a quarter of a mile out, I made up my mind to swim out and get on board her. I at once proceeded to the task. My first work was to search out the provisions, since I was very well disposed to eat. I went to the bread-room and filled my pockets with biscuit. I saw that I wanted nothing but a boat to supply myself with many things which would be necessary to me, and I glanced about me to see how I might meet this need.

12. I found two or three large spars and a spare mast or two, which I threw overboard, tying every one with a rope that it might not drift away. Climbing down the ship's side, I pulled them toward me and tied four of them fast together in the form of a raft, laying two or three pieces of plank upon them crosswise.

13. I now had a raft strong enough to bear any reasonable weight. My next care was to load it. I got three of the seamen's chests, which I managed to break open and empty. These I filled with bread, rice, five pieces of dried goat's flesh, and a little remainder of European grain. There had been some barley and wheat together; but the rats had eaten or spoiled it.

Questions and Notes. In calm you have a silent l; what other words can you mention with this silent l? Note the double e in proceed and succeed; precede has one e with the silent e at the end. Note that u is inserted into biscuit simply to make the c hard before i; with this allowance, this word is spelled regularly. What is the difference between spar and spare? What other word have we had pronounced like threw? Explain tying and tied. Did any change take place when ed was added to tie? Note that four is spelled with ou for the long o sound; forty with a simple o. How is 14 spelled? How do you remember ie in piece? What sound has ei in weight? Mention another word in which ei has the same sound. What other word is pronounced like bear? How do you spell the word like this which is the name of a kind of animal? In what three ways do you find the long sound of a represented in the above paragraphs? Make a list of the words with silent consonants?

14. My next care was for arms. There were two very good fowling-pieces in the great cabin, and two pistols. And now I thought myself pretty well freighted, and began to think how I should get to shore, having neither sail, oar, nor rudder; and the least capful of wind would have overset me.

15. I made many other journeys to the ship, and took away among other things two or three bags of nails, two or three iron crows, and a great roll of sheet lead. This last I had to tear apart and carry away in pieces, it was so heavy. I had the good luck to find a box of sugar and a barrel of fine flour. On my twelfth voyage I found two or three razors with perfect edges, one pair of large scissors, with some ten or a dozen good knives and forks. In a drawer I found some money. “Oh, drug!” I exclaimed. “What art thou good for?”

(To a man alone on a desert island, money certainly has no value. He can buy nothing, sell nothing; he has no debts to be paid; he earns his bread by the sweat of his brow, his business is all with himself and nature, and nature expects no profit, but allows no credit, for a man must pay in work as he goes along. Crusoe had many schemes; but it took a great deal of work to carry them out; and the sum of all was steady work for twenty-five years. In the end we conclude that whatever he got was dearly bought. We come to know what a thing is worth only by measuring its value in the work which it takes to get that thing or to make it, as Crusoe did his chairs, tables, earthenware, etc.)

Questions and Notes. What is peculiar in these words: cabin, pistols, razors, money, value, measuring, bought, barley, capful, roll, successors, desert, certainly? What sound has ou in journeys? Is this sound for ou common? What rule applies to the plural of journey? How else may we pronounce lead? What part of speech is it there? What is the past participle of lead? Is that pronounced like lead, the metal? How else may tear be pronounced? What does that other word mean? Find a word in the above paragraphs pronounced like flower. What other word pronounced like buy? profit? sum? dear? know? ware? What sound has s in sugar? Make a list of the different ways in which long e is represented. What is peculiar about goes? Make a list of the different ways in which long a is represented in the above paragraphs. What sound has o in iron? Is d silent in edges? What sound has ai in pairs? What other word pronounced like this? How do you spell the fruit pronounced like pair? How do you spell the word for the act of taking the skin off any fruit? What sound has u in business? In what other word has it the same sound? Mention another word in which ch has the same sound that it has in schemes. What other word in the above has ai with the same sound that it has in chairs?

16. I now proceeded to choose a healthy, convenient, and pleasant spot for my home. I had chiefly to consider three things: First, air; second, shelter from the heat; third, safety from wild creatures, whether men or beasts; fourth, a view of the sea, that if God sent any ship in sight I might not lose any chance of deliverance. In the course of my search I found a little plain on the side of a rising hill, with a hollow like the entrance to a cave. Here I resolved to pitch my tent.

(He afterward found a broad, grassy prairie on the other side of the island, where he wished he had made his home. On the slope above grew grapes, lemons, citrons, melons, and other kinds of fruit.)

17. Aft er ten or twelve days it came into my thoughts that I should lose my reckoning for want of pen and ink; but to prevent this I cut with my knife upon a large post in capital letters the following words: “I came on shore here on the 30th of September, 1659.” On the sides of this post I cut every day a notch; and thus I kept my calendar, or weekly, monthly, and yearly reckoning of time.

(He afterward found pen, ink, and paper in the ship; but the record on the post was more lasting than anything he could have written on paper. However, when he