Lesson-1

The Third Level

By Jack Finney

The Third Level Introduction

The harsh realities of war are depicted in Jack Finney's novel The Third Level. War has irreversible consequences, leaving people in an uncertain state. It's also about modern issues and how the average person tries to avoid reality through various means. In this storey, a man named Charley has a hallucination and ascends to the third level of Grand Central Station, which has only two levels.

The Third Level Summary

The plot revolves around Charley, a 31-year-old man who had an unusual experience. He arrived at the third level of the Grand Central Station (which does not exist) one day after work via the Subway. He recalls the entire experience with his psychiatrist friend Sam. Charley believed he had travelled through time and arrived somewhere in the 1890s, before the world saw two of its bloodiest wars. As soon as he realised what time it was, he decided to buy two plane tickets to Galesburg, Illinois, one for himself and one for his wife. Unfortunately, the currency in use at the time was different.

As a result, the following day, he withdrew all of his savings and had them converted, even if it meant incurring losses. He went in search of the third level, but he couldn't find it. It worried his wife and the psychiatrist Sam, who told him that he is hallucinating in order to escape reality and the miseries of modern life. Charley thus resorts to his stamp collection to distract himself when he unexpectedly finds a letter from his friend Sam, who had recently gone missing. Sam wrote that he had always wanted to believe in the concept of third level, and now that he has found it, he encourages Charley and Louisa to never give up their search.

The Third Level Lesson Explanation

THE presidents of the New York Central and the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroads will swear on a stack of timetables that there are only two. But I say there are three, because I’ve been on the third level of the Grand Central Station. Yes, I’ve taken the obvious step: I talked to a psychiatrist friend of mine, among others. I told him about the third level at Grand Central Station, and he said it was a waking dream wish fulfillment. He said I was unhappy. That made my wife kind of mad, but he explained that he meant the modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry and all the rest of it, and that I just want to escape. Well, who doesn’t? Everybody I know wants to escape, but they don’t wander down into any third level at Grand Central Station.

• Stack- a pile of objects, typically one that is neatly arranged
• Timetables- a schedule showing the departure and arrival times of trains, buses or aircraft
• Waking dream- an involuntary dream occuring while a person is awake
• Wander- walk; roam

The narrative begins with the mention of a third level at Grand Central Station (which only has two levels in real). Even the Presidents of the New York Central and the New York, New Haven, and Hartford railroads would express great confidence in the existence of only two levels, but the protagonist has been to the third level. Charley, the protagonist, discussed the situation with his psychiatrist friend. He explained that Charley was having a waking dream wish fulfilment, also known as a hallucination. Charley was unhappy, according to the psychiatrist (the fact her wife did not like). After further explanation, it became clear that the burden of all modern problems is pushing him to experience the apparent perception of something not present. He has a tendency to run away from reality. Charley agreed with his psychiatrist friend, but he still thought going to the third level of Grand Central Station was strange.

But that’s the reason, he said, and my friends all agreed. Everything points to it, they claimed. My stamp collecting, for example; that’s a temporary refuge from reality. Well, maybe, but my grandfather didn’t need any refuge from reality; things were pretty nice and peaceful in his day, from all I hear, and he started my collection. It’s a nice collection too, blocks of four of practically every U.S. issue, first-day covers, and so on. President Roosevelt collected stamps too, you know.

• Refuge- the state of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or difficulty

Charley begins to believe that he has been going through all of this to escape the harsh realities of modern life. It was also agreed upon by his friends. Even his stamp collecting serves as a form of asylum for him in order to feel safe. On the other hand, he begins to believe otherwise. His grandfather began collecting stamps when there were no consequences of war and there was peace, harmony, and security. His grandfather could not have been insecure. Furthermore, the collection was incredible, with blocks of four of nearly every US issue. Even President Franklin D. Roosevelt was a stamp collector.

Anyway, here’s what happened at Grand Central. One night last summer I worked late at the office. I was in a hurry to get uptown to my apartment, so I decided to take the subway from Grand Central because it’s faster than the bus.

He begins by explaining what happened, beginning with his decision to take the Subway to his apartment instead of the usual bus after a late-night shift. In order to save time, he did this.

Now, I don’t know why this should have happened to me. I’m just an ordinary guy named Charley, thirty-one years old, and I was wearing a tan gabardine suit and a straw hat with a fancy band; I passed a dozen men who looked just like me. And I wasn’t trying to escape from anything; I just wanted to get home to Louisa, my wife.

• Gabardine- a smooth, durable, twill-woven worsted or cotton cloth

He describes himself as a normal 31-year-old man dressed in a tan gabardine suit and a straw hat with a fancy band. It was so common that he could see other men like him at the station. He describes how he was in his normal state of mind, not wanting to flee anywhere. At that hour, all he wanted was to be with his wife Louisa. He's still confused as to why this happened to him.

I turned into Grand Central from Vanderbilt Avenue, and went down the steps to the first level, where you take trains like the Twentieth Century. Then I walked down another flight to the second level, where the suburban trains leave from, ducked into an arched doorway heading for the subway and got lost. That’s easy to do. I’ve been in and out of Grand Central hundreds of times, but I’m always bumping into new doorways and stairs and corridors. Once I got into a tunnel about a mile long and came out in the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel. Another time I came up in an office building on Forty-sixth Street, three blocks away.

• Suburban- residential
• Ducked- lower the head or body quickly
• Arched- curved
• Bumping- knock or run into something

Charley gets to the part of the storey where he enters Grand Central from Vanderbilt Avenue and takes the stairs to the first level, where trains like the Twentieth Century are boarded. Then he descended another floor to the second level, where the suburban trains depart. He then entered an arched doorway and became disoriented. It was nothing out of the ordinary for him because even if he had visited the station a thousand times, he would occasionally come across new corridors and doorways. He once entered the wrong lobby and ended up at the Roosevelt Hotel, and another time he ended up in an office building three blocks away.

Sometimes I think Grand Central is growing like a tree, pushing out new corridors and staircases like roots. There’s probably a long tunnel that nobody knows about feeling its way under the city right now, on its way to Times Square, and maybe another to Central Park. And maybe because for so many people through the years Grand Central has been an exit, a way of escape maybe that’s how the tunnel I got into… But I never told my psychiatrist friend about that idea.

He was mystified that Grand Central was growing at such a rapid pace, much like a tree and its roots. He thinks it's no big deal that they have a secret tunnel under the city leading to Times Square or perhaps Central Park. He believes it is because Grand Central is a point of departure for a large number of people, and he has also managed to escape reality for the same reason. Despite the fact that he never told his psychiatrist about it.

The corridor I was in began angling left and slanting downward and I thought that was wrong, but I kept on walking. All I could hear was the empty sound of my own footsteps and I didn’t pass a soul. Then I heard that sort of hollow roar ahead that means open space and people talking. The tunnel turned sharp left; I went down a short flight of stairs and came out on the third level at Grand Central Station. For just a moment I thought I was back on the second level, but I saw the room was smaller, there were fewer ticket windows and train gates, and the information booth in the centre was wood and old looking. And the man in the booth wore a green eyeshade and long black sleeve protectors. The lights were dim and sort of flickering. Then I saw why; they were open-flame gaslights.

The unusual corridor he had entered began angling left and slanting downward, which he found strange, but he continued walking. There was no one else around except him, and the sound of his feet echoed. He finally heard people talking from a distance, so he turned left and walked down the stairs again, only to reach the Grand Central's third level. He thought he'd made it back to the second level, but the room was smaller, there were fewer ticket windows and train gates, and the information booth in the centre was made of wood and looked old. The man in the booth was also unusual, and the station was dimly lit due to open-flame gaslights.

There were brass spittoons on the floor, and across the station a glint of light caught my eye; a man was pulling a gold watch from his vest pocket. He snapped open the cover, glanced at his watch and frowned. He wore a derby hat, a black four-button suit with tiny lapels, and he had a big, black, handlebar mustache. Then I looked around and saw that everyone in the station was dressed like eighteen-ninety-something; I never saw so many beards, sideburns and fancy mustaches in my life. A woman walked in through the train gate; she wore a dress with leg-of-mutton sleeves and skirts to the top of her high-buttoned shoes. Back of her, out on the tracks, I caught a glimpse of a locomotive, a very small Currier & Ives locomotive with a funnel-shaped stack. And then I knew.

• Spittoons- a metal or earthenware pot typically having a funnel-shaped top, used for spitting into
• Vest- a garment worn on the upper part of the body
• Snapped- break suddenly and completely
• Locomotive- a powered railway vehicle used for pulling trains

Charley could see brass spittoons everywhere when a flash of light caught his attention and he saw a man removing his gold watch from his vest. He was dressed in an antique style. He was shocked when he noticed that everyone was dressed as if they were from the nineteenth century. It was essentially the time before bloody wars. There were so many beards and fancy moustaches all around, which the protagonist had never seen before. He even saw a very small Currier & Ives locomotive, which confirmed his time period.

To make sure, I walked over to a newsboy and glanced at the stack of papers at his feet. It was The World, and The World hasn’t been published for years. The lead story said something about President Cleveland. I’ve found that front page since, in the Public Library files, and it was printed June 11, 1894.

He went over to the newspaper boy who was selling The World, a newspaper that had been discontinued years ago, to confirm his suspicions. There were some headlines about President Cleveland at the time. On the front page, the date was also June 11, 1894. He was now sure.

I turned toward the ticket windows knowing that here-on the third level at Grand Central, I could buy tickets that would take Louisa and me anywhere in the United States we wanted to go. In the year 1894. And I wanted two tickets to Galesburg, Illinois. Have you ever been there? It’s a wonderful town still, with big old frame houses, huge lawns, and tremendous trees whose branches meet overhead and roof the streets. And in 1894, summer evenings were twice as long, and people sat out on their lawns, the men smoking cigars and talking quietly, the women waving palm-leaf fans, with the fire-flies all around, in a peaceful world. To be back there with the First World War still twenty years off, and World War II over forty years in the future… I wanted two tickets for that.

He immediately went to the ticket counter to purchase tickets for him and his wife to Galesburg, Illinois. It was a lovely town with lots of greenery. He was well aware that from here, one could purchase tickets to anywhere in the United States. He describes what life was like in 1984 before the two World Wars. Evenings were twice as long as they are now, and men and women lived in harmony.

The clerk figured the fare he glanced at my fancy hatband, but he figured the fares and I had enough for two coach tickets, one way. But when I counted out the money and looked up, the clerk was staring at me. He nodded at the bills. That ain’t money, mister,he said, and if you’re trying to skin me, you won’t get very far, and he glanced at the cash drawer beside him. Of course the money was old-style bills, half again as big as the money we use nowadays, and different-looking. I turned away and got out fast. There’s nothing nice about jail, even in 1894.

• Clerk- administrator

As the clerk calculated the fare, he noticed Charleyâ€TMs fancy hatband. Charley had only enough money for a one-way trip. Just as he was about to withdraw money, the clerk informed him that this is not acceptable legal tender and that even if he tried to be clever, he would not be able to get away with it. He took a look in his cash drawer and noticed that the currency used back then was different and nearly double the size. He fled because he did not want to go to jail.

And that was that. I left the same way I came, I suppose. Next day, during lunch hour, I drew three hundred dollars out of the bank, nearly all we had, and bought old-style currency (that really worried my psychiatrist friend). You can buy old money at almost any coin dealers, but you have to pay a premium. My three hundred dollars bought less than two hundred in old-style bills, but I didn’t care; eggs were thirteen cents a dozen in 1894.

The day came to an end when he came out. The following day, he went to withdraw his entire savings and had them converted into old money by paying a premium. It cost him a lot of money and even worried his psychiatrist friend, but he persisted. Back then, a dozen eggs cost thirteen cents.

But I’ve never again found the corridor that leads to the third level at Grand Central Station, although I’ve tried often enough. Louisa was pretty worried when I told her all this, and didn’t want me to look for the third level any more, and after a while I stopped; I went back to my stamps. But now were both looking, every weekend, because now we have proof that the third level is still there. My friend Sam Weiner disappeared! Nobody knew where, but I sort of suspected because Sam’s a city boy, and I used to tell him about Galesburg “ I went to school there ” and he always said he liked the sound of the place. And that’s where he is, all right. In 1894.

Despite his best efforts, he was unable to find his way back to the third-level corridor. When his wife Louisa found out about it all, she became very concerned. After a while, he returned to using stamps to find distractions. Sam, the psychiatrist, disappeared without a trace. Charley had a strong suspicion he'd gone to Galesburg. He is transported to the year 1894.

Because one night, fussing with my stamp collection, I found Well, do you know what a first-day cover is? When a new stamp is issued, stamp collectors buy some and use them to mail envelopes to themselves on the very first day of sale; and the postmark proves the date. The envelope is called a first-day cover. They’re never opened; you just put blank paper in the envelope.

• Fussing- show unnecessary or excessive concern about something

Charley came across a first-day cover one night. It is an envelope (with a stamp) that stamp collectors mail to themselves on the first day of its sale to commemorate the occasion. They are simply blank on the inside and are not intended to be opened.

That night, among my oldest first-day covers, I found one that shouldn’t have been there. But there it was. It was there because someone had mailed it to my grandfather at his home in Galesburg; that’s what the address on the envelope said. And it had been there since July 18, 1894 ” the postmark showed that ” yet I didn’t remember it at all. The stamp was a six-cent, dull brown, with a picture of President Garfield. Naturally, when the envelope came to Granddad in the mail, it went right into his collection and stayed there ” till I took it out and opened it. The paper inside wasn’t blank. It read:

That night, he found one of his grandfather's old first day covers, much to his surprise. According to the address on the envelope, it had been mailed to his father at his home in Galesburg. It had been there since July 18, 1894, according to the postmark. The stamp featured a portrait of President Garfiled. It was a six-cent stamp in a dull brown colour. His grandfather had kept it in his stamp collection, and Charley had only recently discovered it. The paper on the inside, with a letter written on it. The letter was formatted as follows:

941 Willard Street Galesburg,

Illinois

July 18, 1894

Charley

I got to wishing that you were right. Then I got to believing you were right. And, Charley, it’s true; I found the third level! I’ve been here two weeks, and right now, down the street at the Daly’s, someone is playing a piano, and they’re all out on the front porch singing Seeing Nelly Home. And I’m invited over for lemonade. Come on back, Charley and Louisa. Keep looking till you find the third level! It’s worth it, believe me!

The letter discussed how the writer wished his third level storey was true until he began to believe it was true. He'd discovered the third level and had been staying there for two weeks. He describes the place where he was at the time. He asks that Charley and Louis never give up their search for the third level and come back.

The note is signed Sam.

At the stamp and coin store I go to, I found out that Sam bought eight hundred dollar’s worth of old-style currency. That ought to set him up in a nice little hay, feed and grain business; he always said that’s what he really wished he could do, and he certainly can’t go back to his old business. Not in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1894. His old business? Why, Sam was my psychiatrist.

Charlie found from the coin store where he used to go that Sam had purchased old currency worth $800, which was to be used in a hay, feed, and grain business, which was something he had always wanted to do. He couldn't go back to his old job, especially in Galesburg, Illinois. The storey concludes on a mysterious note in which Charlie wonders if Sam is a psychiatrist.

About the Author

Lesson-2

The Tiger King

By Kalki

The Tiger King Introduction

The plot is a satire on the rich and powerful kings of old. To disprove the fortune teller's prophecies, the king of Pratibandapuram mindlessly kills ninety-nine tigers, but the hundredth one, the cause of the king's death, escapes his bullet. Finally, an inanimate tiger made of wood kills the king. As a result, despite the king's efforts to disprove it, the prophecy proves to be right.

The Tiger King Summary

The storey of King Jung Jung Bahadur of Pratibandapuram, a brave warrior whose death was predicted when he was born, is told in The Tiger King. The chief astrologer predicted that because the royal child was born during the hour of the bull, and the tiger was its enemy, the child would be killed by a tiger. All tigers were warned to be fully aware of the brave prince. He became known as the "Tiger King."

At the age of twenty, the prince became king and, believing that killing a cow in self-defense was legal, went on a tiger killing spree. The hundredth tiger he encountered warned him of danger. Because he had killed all the tigers in his kingdom but still needed to kill more, he married into a state with a large tiger population. When his tally of killings reached ninety-nine, he was desperate for the next hunt. Fearing the king's wrath, the minister planted an old tiger in the forest for him to hunt down. The king fired at it, but the tiger miraculously escaped the bullet. Because the royal hunters feared the king, they did not inform him and instead killed the beast themselves.

The king was relieved to have escaped death and was now celebrating his son's third birthday. As a gift for the prince, he give a wooden toy tiger. Despite the fact that it was poorly done, the shopkeeper charged a high price because he was afraid of being prosecuted under the emergency rules. One of the thin pieces of wood that were erupting from the wooden tiger like feathers pierced the king's right hand while both the king and his son were playing with it. The wound became infected, spread through his arm, and he died while being operated on. As a result, the hundredth tiger killed the king and eventually exacted its revenge.

The Tiger King Lesson Explanation

THE Maharaja of Pratibandapuram is the hero of this story. He may be identified as His Highness Jamedar-General, Khiledar-Major, Sata Vyaghra Samhari, Maharajadhiraja Visva Bhuvana Samrat, Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, M.A.D., A.C.T.C., or C.R.C.K. But this name is often shortened to the Tiger King.

The author introduces the story's main character, the king of Pratibandapuram. Because of his bravery, the king is a hero. He is given a list of titles in order to highlight his greatness. To encapsulate all of the titles, the king is known as "The Tiger King." The reason for his nickname “ will be revealed in the following lesson.

have come forward to tell you why he came to be known as Tiger King. I have no intention of pretending to advance only to end in a strategic withdrawal. Even the threat of a Stuka bomber will not throw me off track. The Stuka, if it likes, can beat a hasty retreat from my story.

• Pretending: behaving so as to make it appear that something is the case when in fact it is not
• Strategic: calculated
• Stuka bomber: a German bomber aircraft that was used in the second world war

The author promises to explain why the king was called "The Tiger King." He also promises the reader that he will not break his promise, even if he is threatened by an attack by a Stuka Bomber aircraft. Instead, he says that the Stuka bomber aircraft can return because he is not afraid of them, and he will explain to the reader why the king is known as the Tiger King.

Right at the start, it is imperative to disclose a matter of vital importance about the Tiger King. Everyone who reads of him will experience the natural desire to meet a man of his indomitable courage face-to-face. But there is no chance of its fulfillment. As Bharata said to Rama about Dasaratha, the Tiger King has reached that final abode of all living creatures. In other words, the Tiger King is dead.

• Indomitable: undefeatable
• Final abode: refers to the final residence of the soul – the heaven.

Before elaborating on the tiger king, the writer states that any person who reads about him would be very excited to meet a man of such unbeatable courage. However, he says that there is no chance of meeting the tiger king because the tiger king is already dead and has gone to heaven.

The manner of his death is a matter of extraordinary interest. It can be revealed only at the end of the tale. The most fantastic aspect of his demise was that as soon as he was born, astrologers had foretold that one day the Tiger King would actually have to die.

• Demise: death
• Foretold: predicted

The way the tiger king died was very interesting. The writer could only tell us about it at the end of the storey, but he adds that a very interesting fact about the tiger king's death was that when the tiger king was born, astrologers predicted that the tiger king would die one day. This prediction is meaningless because everyone must die at some point.

“The child will grow up to become the warrior of warriors, hero of heroes, champion of champions. But…” they bit their lips and swallowed hard. When compelled to continue, the astrologers came out with it. “This is a secret which should not be revealed at all. And yet we are forced to speak out. The child born under this star will one day have to meet its death.”

• Compelled: forced

The author provides a detailed description of what astrologers predicted at the time of the tiger king's birth. They told the child that he would grow up to be a brave warrior, a hero, and a champion, but then they stopped and bit their lips to show their reluctance to speak. When the astrologers were forced to continue, they stated that what they were about to reveal was a secret. They claimed that the tiger king's child was born under such a star (meaning that when he was born, the star in the sky was such) that any person born at that time had to die one day. Again, this prediction is meaningless because everyone must die at some point.

At that very moment, a great miracle took place. An astonishing phrase emerged from the lips of the ten-day old Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, “O wise prophets!’’

 Everyone stood transfixed in stupefaction. They looked wildly at each other and blinked.

‘‘O wise prophets! It was I who spoke.’’

 This time there were no grounds for doubt. It was the infant born just ten days ago who had enunciated the words so clearly.

The chief astrologer took off his spectacles and gazed intently at the baby.

 ‘‘All those who are born will one day have to die. We don’t need your predictions to know that. There would be some sense in it if you could tell us the manner of that death,’’ the royal infant uttered these words in his little squeaky voice.

• Transfixed: cause (someone) to become motionless with horror, wonder, or astonishment.
• Stupefaction: shock
• Enunciated: say or pronounce clearly.

A miracle occurred as the astrologers revealed their secret prediction. Jilani Jung Jang Bahadur, the 10-day-old tiger king, spoke up. Everyone in the audience was shocked when they heard a 10-day-old baby speak. The tiger king summoned the wise astrologers, and the main astrologer removed his spectacles and gazed intently at the small baby. The tiger king said in a squeaky voice that everyone born has to die one day, and he didn't need their predictions to know that. He went on to say that if they told him how he died, it would make sense to him.

The chief astrologer placed his finger on his nose in wonder. A baby barely ten days old opens its lips in speech! Not only that, it also raises intelligent questions! Incredible! Rather like the bulletins issued by the war office, than facts.

The chief astrologer took his finger off his nose and fixed his eyes upon the little prince.

‘‘The prince was born in the hour of the Bull. The Bull and the Tiger are enemies, therefore, death comes from the Tiger,’’ he explained.

• Incredible: unbelievable

The chief astrologer was shocked when he saw a 10-day-old baby speaking and asking intelligent questions. It was unbelievable to him, much like the news from the wars. He removed his finger from his nose and looked the little prince in the eyes. Then he added that because the tiger king was born during the hour of the bull, which was the tiger's enemy, the tiger king would die as a result of a tiger.

You may think that crown prince Jung Jung Bahadur was thrown into a quake when he heard the word ‘Tiger’. That was exactly what did not happen. As soon as he heard it pronounced, the crown prince gave a deep growl. Terrifying words emerged from his lips.

‘‘Let tigers beware!’’

According to the author, the reader may believe that the tiger king trembled upon hearing the name of a tiger, but this was not the case. When Crown Prince Jung Jang Bahadur heard the name of a tiger, he made a deep growing sound and spoke terrifying words. He warned all tigers to be cautious.

This account is only a rumor rife in Pratibandapuram. But with hindsight we may conclude it was based on some truth.

• Rumour: a currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth.
• Rife: widespread, prevalent
• Hindsight:  to understand an event or situation only after it has happened

Furthermore, the writer says that this is a rumour that he heard in Pratibandapuram, but if we look at past events, we can conclude that these rumours were based on true events.

II

 Crown prince Jung Jung Bahadur grew taller and stronger day by day. No other miracle marked his childhood days apart from the event already described.

There were no other miracles in his childhood for Crown Prince Jung Jung Bahadur, who grew taller and stronger as the days passed.

The boy drank the milk of an English cow, was brought up by an English nanny, tutored in English by an

Englishman, saw nothing but English films — exactly as the crown princes of all the other Indian states did. When he came of age at twenty, the State, which had been with the Court of Wards until then, came into his hands.

• Court of wards: The Court of Wards was a legal body created by the East India Company. Its purpose was to protect heirs and their estates when the heir was deemed to be a minor and therefore incapable of acting independently.

As a boy, he drank English cow milk, was raised by an English governess, received English lessons from an Englishman, and watched English films, just like the Crown princes of other Indian states. The royal state, which had been in the custody of the court of wards, was given to Crown Prince Jung Jung Bahadur when he turned twenty years old.

But everyone in the kingdom remembered the astrologer’s prediction. Many continued to discuss the matter. Slowly it came to the Maharaja’s ears.

The prediction of the astrologer was known to everyone in the kingdom. Many people discussed these predictions, and King Jung Jung Bahadur knew of them one day.

There were innumerable forests in the Pratibandapuram State. They had tigers in them. The Maharaja knew the old saying, ‘You may kill even a cow in self-defence’. There could certainly be no objection to killing tigers in self-defence. The Maharaja started out on a tiger hunt.

The state of Pratibandapuram had many forests with tigers in them. The Maharaja was aware of an old proverb that said you could kill a cow to protect yourself. So he reasoned that if a Hindu could kill a cow, which was considered a sacred animal, to save himself, no one would object if he killed a tiger to protect himself. As a result, Maharaja Jung Jung Bahadur started on a tiger hunting expedition.

The Maharaja was thrilled beyond measure when he killed his first tiger. He sent for the State astrologer and showed him the dead beast.

When he killed the first tiger, he was overjoyed. He summoned the state astrologer and showed the dead tiger to him.

‘‘What do you say now?’’ he demanded.

‘‘Your majesty may kill ninety-nine tigers in exactly the same manner. But…’’ the astrologer drawled.

‘‘But what? Speak without fear.’’

 “But you must be very careful with the hundredth tiger.’’

 ‘‘What if the hundredth tiger were also killed?’’

The king asked the astrologer for his thoughts, and the astrologer replied that the king could kill ninety-nine tigers in the same manner in which he had killed the first one, and he stopped speaking. The king urged the astrologer to keep going without fear. As a result, the astrologer advised the king to exercise extreme caution when hunting the hundredth Tiger. The king inquired as to what would happen if he also killed the hundredth tiger.

‘Then I will tear up all my books on astrology, set fire to them, and…’’

‘‘And…’’ 

‘‘I shall cut off my tuft, crop my hair short and become an insurance agent,’’ the astrologer finished on an incoherent note.

• Tuft: a bunch or collection of threads, grass, hair, etc., held or growing together at the base.
• Incoherent: unclear, confused

The Astrologer replied that he would tear up all of his astrology books and set them on fire. He went on to say that he would cut his hair and change his profession from astrologer to insurance agent because he could no longer be a good astrologer.

III

From that day onwards it was celebration time for all the tigers inhabiting Pratibandapuram.

The State banned tiger hunting by anyone except the Maharaja. A proclamation was issued to the effect that if anyone dared to fling so much as a stone at a tiger, all his wealth and property would be confiscated.

• Proclamation: a public or official announcement 
• Fling: throw
• Confiscated: taken with authority

The tigers in Pratibandapuram had a good time after that because the kingdom prohibited tiger hunting by anyone other than the Maharaja. Except for the Maharaja, no one was permitted to kill a tiger. The law was so strict that an official announcement was made that if anyone was caught killing a tiger or even throwing a stone at a tiger, the kingdom of Pratibandapuram would take away his wealth and property.

The Maharaja vowed he would attend to all other matters only after killing the hundred tigers. Initially the king seemed well set to realise his ambition.

• Ambition: a strong desire to do or achieve something.

The king of Pratibandapuram swore an oath that he would attend to all other kingdom matters only after he had killed 100 tigers. At first glance, he appears to be on track to meet his goal quickly.

Not that he faced no dangers. There were times when the bullet missed its mark, the tiger leapt upon him and he fought the beast with his bare hands. Each time it was the Maharaja who won.

• Bare: here, unarmed

He wasn't afraid of the tiger. Many times when the king went on hunting expeditions, he was in danger. His bullet occasionally missed its target, and the tiger jumped on him. The king would fight the tigers barehanded, but he would always win and kill the tiger.

At another time he was in danger of losing his throne. A high-ranking British officer visited Pratibandapuram. He was very fond of hunting tigers. And fonder of being photographed with the tigers he had shot. As usual, he wished to hunt tigers in Pratibandapuram. But the Maharaja was firm in his resolve. He refused permission. ‘‘I can organise any other hunt. You may go on a boar hunt. You may conduct a mouse hunt. We are ready for a mosquito hunt. But tiger hunt! That’s impossible!’’

• Firm: determined
• Resolve: decision
• Boar: pig

The author tells us about another time when King Jung Jung Bahadur was on the verge of losing his throne. A senior British officer paid a visit to Pratibandapuram. He enjoyed hunting tigers and wanted to be photographed with the dead tigers. He wanted to hunt tigers in Pratibandapuram as well, but because the Maharaja had prohibited anyone else from killing tigers, he refused permission to this British official as well. He offered to take him on any other hunting trip, such as a mouse or mosquito hunt, but he refused to arrange a tiger hunt for this British officer.

The British officer’s secretary sent word to the Maharaja through the dewan that the durai himself did not have to kill the tiger. The Maharaja could do the actual killing. What was important to the durai was a photograph of himself holding the gun and standing over the tiger’s carcass. But the Maharaja would not agree even to this proposal. If he relented now, what would he do if other British officers turned up for tiger hunts?

• Durai: tamil word meaning chief or leader
• Carcass: the dead body of an animal.
• Relented: relaxed his decision

The British official's secretary informed the Maharaja that the Durai, or official, did not want to kill the tiger. The king could kill the tiger; all he wanted was to be photographed with the tiger's dead body. However, the king also refused to accept this proposal. He stated that if he relaxed his decision and allowed the official to be photographed with the dead tiger, other British officers would travel to Pratibandapuram to fulfil their desire to hunt a tiger.

Because he prevented a British officer from fulfilling his desire, the Maharaja stood in danger of losing his kingdom itself.

 The Maharaja and the dewan held deliberations over this issue. As a result, a telegram was despatched forthwith to a famous British company of jewellers in Calcutta. ‘Send samples of expensive diamond rings of different designs.’

• Deliberations: discussions
• Dispatched: sent

The king was in danger of losing his kingdom because he refused to allow a British officer to fulfil his wish. The king discussed the matter with his Minister. The king sent a telegram to a well-known British jewellers based in Calcutta. He requested that they send him samples of expensive diamond rings in various designs.

Some fifty rings arrived. The Maharaja sent the whole lot to the British officer’s good lady. The king and the minister expected the duraisani to choose one or two rings and send the rest back. Within no time at all the duraisani sent her reply: ‘Thank you very much for your gifts.’

In two days a bill for three lakh of rupees came from the British jewellers. The Maharaja was happy that though he had lost three lakh of rupees, he had managed to retain his kingdom.

• Duraisani: Tamil word for wife of the chief.

The jeweller sent fifty rings, which the Maharaja gave to the British officer's wife. He wanted to please her in order to make reparation for refusing to allow the official to go on a tiger hunt in his kingdom. The king had expected the British officer's wife to choose one or two rings and return the others, but she simply replied, "Thank you for the gifts," and kept all of them. The British jewellers sent a bill for three lakh rupees for the fifty diamond rings they had sent after two days. The Maharaja was overjoyed that he had saved his kingdom for three lakh rupees.

IV

The Maharaja’s tiger hunts continued to be highly successful. Within ten years he was able to kill seventy tigers. And then, an unforeseen hurdle brought his mission to a standstill. The tiger population became extinct in the forests of Pratibandapuram. Who knows whether the tigers practised birth control or committed harakiri? Or simply ran away from the State because they desired to be shot by British hands alone?

• Unforeseen: unplanned, accidental
• Hurdle: problem
• Standstill: stop
• Extinct: having no living members.
• Hara-kiri: a ritual of suicide practiced in Japan.

The king's tiger hunting missions were a huge success. He had killed seventy tigers in ten years. His mission was halted due to an unplanned problem. The issue was that Pratibandapuram had no more tigers. When the author says that the tigers may have practised birth control and did not produce offspring, or that they may have committed suicide, he creates a sense of humour. He also speculates that they fled Pratibandapuram because they did not want to be killed by an Indian, but rather because they wanted to be killed by a Britisher.

One day the Maharaja sent for the dewan. ‘‘Dewan saheb, aren’t you aware of the fact that thirty tigers still remain to be shot down by this gun of mine?’’ he asked brandishing his gun.

Shuddering at the sight of the gun, the dewan cried out, ‘‘Your Majesty! I am not a tiger!’’

‘‘Which idiot would call you a tiger?’’

 “No, and I’m not a gun!’’

“You are neither tiger nor gun. Dewan saheb, I summoned you here for a different purpose. I have decided to get married.’’

• Brandishing: waving as a threat or in anger or excitement
• Shuddering: tremble with fear
• Summoned: called

One day, the king summoned his minister and pointed his gun at him. He stated that he had thirty more tigers to kill. When he saw the gun, the Minister became terrified and told the king that he was not a tiger, fearing that the king would point his gun at him. The king stated that he was not so stupid as to mistake the minister for a tiger. The Minister was so terrified that he added, "I'm not a gun." The king told him that he knew he wasn't a tiger or a gun, but on the other hand, the king had summoned his minister for another task – the king wanted to marry.

The dewan began to babble even more. ‘‘Your Majesty, I have two wives already. If I marry you …’’

‘‘Don’t talk nonsense! Why should I marry you? What I want is a tiger…’’

‘‘Your Majesty! Please think it over. Your ancestors were married to the sword. If you like, marry the gun. A Tiger King is more than enough for this state. It doesn’t need a Tiger Queen as well!’’

• Babble:  to talk or say something in a quick, confused, excited, or silly way

The Minister was so confused that he began speaking in a stupid way. He stated that the king already had two wives, and if the Minister married the king.... the king interrupted and scolded him for speaking nonsense. He stated that there was no reason for him to marry the Minister and that he did not want to marry the Minister. He stated that he desired a tiger, so the writer adds humour by stating that the Minister advised the king to reconsider his decision. The minister adds that the king's ancestors were married to the sword, so he could marry the gun if he so desired. However, marrying a tiger and having a 'Tiger Queen' for the kingdom of Pratibandapuram was a bad idea. He went on to say that the state was fine with a Tiger King and didn't need a Tiger Queen.

The Maharaja gave a loud crack of laughter. ‘‘I’m not thinking of marrying either a tiger or a gun, but a girl from the ranks of human beings. First you may draw up statistics of tiger populations in the different native states. Next you may investigate if there is a girl I can marry in the royal family of a state with a large tiger population.’’

• Investigate: find out

This was kinda hilarious, and the Maharaja burst out laughing. He stated that he did not want to marry a tiger or a gun, but rather a girl from another Kingdom. He asked that his minister compile a list of all the kingdoms and the number of tigers they possessed. The Minister was then supposed to find out if there was a suitable bride in the royal family of a state with a large number of tigers.

The dewan followed his orders. He found the right girl from a state which possessed a large number of tigers.

 Maharaja Jung Jung Bahadur killed five or six tigers each time he visited his father-in-law. In this manner, ninety-nine tiger skins adorned the walls of the reception hall in the Pratibandapuram palace.

• Adorned: decorated

The Minister carried out the orders and found the right girl from a state with a high density of tigers. So, whenever King Jung Jung Bahadur paid a visit to his father-in-law, he would kill five or six tigers in the kingdom. In this manner, the king killed ninety-nine tigers, whose skins decorated the walls of the lobby hall of the Pratibandapuram palace.

V

 The Maharaja’s anxiety reached a fever pitch when there remained just one tiger to achieve his tally of a hundred.

• Fever pitch: extreme
• Anxiety: curiosity
• Tally: count, total

The Maharaja had already killed 99 tigers and needed only one more to bring his total to 100. He became extremely anxious and curious about killing the hundredth tiger.

He had this one thought during the day and the same dream at night. By this time the tiger farms had run dry even in his father-in-Iaw’s kingdom. It became impossible to locate tigers anywhere. Yet only one more was needed. If he could kill just that one single beast, the Maharaja would have no fears left. He could give up tiger hunting altogether.

He kept dreaming of killing the hundredth tiger all day and night. The tiger population in the king's father-in-kingdom law's had also reached its peak. He couldn't find a tiger anywhere. The king was desperate for just one tiger to hunt, after which he would stop hunting because tigers no longer frightened him.

But he had to be extremely careful with that last tiger. What had the late chief astrologer said? “Even after killing ninety-nine tigers the Maharaja should beware of the hundredth…’’ True enough. The tiger was a savage beast after all. One had to be wary of it. But where was that hundredth tiger to be found? It seemed easier to find tiger’s milk than a live tiger

• Savage: uncontrolled
• Wary: be cautious

He was reminded of the late astrologer's words that he was supposed to be very careful with the hundredth tiger he hunted, and the king agreed that tigers were uncontrollable animals and that he needed to be cautious of them. However, he was unable to find the hundredth tiger that he could kill. The writer creates humour once more by stating that it was easier to find tiger's milk in the kingdom than an alive tiger.

Thus the Maharaja was sunk in gloom. But soon came the happy news which dispelled that gloom. In his own state sheep began to disappear frequently from a hillside village.

It was first ascertained that this was not the work of Khader Mian Saheb or Virasami Naicker, both famed for their ability to swallow sheep whole. Surely, a tiger was at work. The villagers ran to inform the Maharaja. The Maharaja announced a three-year exemption from all taxes for that village and set out on the hunt at once.

• Gloom: sadness
• Dispelled: removed
• Exemption: freedom

This saddened the king. He was overcome with sadness when he found that sheep were disappearing at an alarming rate in a hillside village. There were two people in the kingdom who could swallow whole sheep: Khader Mian Sahib and Virasami Naicker. Because this was not their job, it was assumed that a tiger was at work. The villagers were overjoyed, and they informed the king. The Maharaja was so delighted that he exempted the villages from all taxes for three years and set out to hunt the tiger.

The tiger was not easily found. It seemed as if it had wantonly hid itself in order to flout the Maharaja’s will.

The Maharaja was equally determined. He refused to leave the forest until the tiger was found. As the days passed, the Maharaja’s fury and obstinacy mounted alarmingly. Many officers lost their jobs.

• Wantonly: carelessly
• Flout: to go against something or someone
• Fury: anger
• Obstinacy: firmness
• Mounted: increased

The king had difficulty locating the tiger, and it appeared that the tiger had been hidden in order to frustrate the king's desire to kill the tiger. But the king was committed, and he refused to leave the forest until he found the tiger. With the passage of time, he grew increasingly enraged and determined to kill the tiger. In his rage, he dismissed a number of officers from his Kingdom.

One day when his rage was at its height, the Maharaja called the dewan and ordered him to double the land tax forthwith.

‘‘The people will become discontented. Then our state too will fall a prey to the Indian National Congress.’’

• Rage: anger
• Discontented: unhappy

In his rage, he summoned the Minister and ordered that the land tax be doubled. He believed that by doing so, the people would be dissatisfied, and his kingdom would become a member of the Indian National Congress.

‘‘In that case you may resign from your post,’’ said the king.

The dewan went home convinced that if the Maharaja did not find the tiger soon, the results could be catastrophic. He felt life returning to him only when he saw the tiger which had been brought from the People’s Park in Madras and kept hidden in his house.

• Catastrophic: causing sudden great damage or suffering

In doing so, the Minister would resign from his position. The king was threatening the Minister in this way. The Minister realised the king was furious, and he feared that if the tiger was not found soon, it would lead to disaster. When the Minister found that the tiger he had brought from Madras' People's Park had been hidden in his house, he felt relieved.

At midnight when the town slept in peace, the dewan and his aged wife dragged the tiger to the car and shoved it into the seat. The dewan himself drove the car straight to the forest where the Maharaja was hunting. When they reached the forest the tiger launched its satyagraha and refused to get out of the car.

The dewan was thoroughly exhausted in his efforts to haul the beast out of the car and push it down to the ground.

• Haul: pull or drag with effort or force

The Minister and his wife loaded the tiger into the Minister's car and drove it to the forests where the Maharaja was hunting. The tiger refused to come out of the car, and the Minister struggled to push the tiger out of the car and into the forest.

On the following day, the same old tiger wandered into the Maharaja’s presence and stood as if in humble supplication, “Master, what do you command of me?’’ It was with boundless joy that the Maharaja took careful aim at the beast. The tiger fell in a crumpled heap.

• Supplication: pray

The Maharaja saw the same tiger the next day. He was overjoyed to see the hundredth tiger and aimed at it. The tiger collapsed, as if it had been shot by the king. He was overjoyed to have killed the hundredth tiger and completed his wow.

‘‘I have killed the hundredth tiger. My vow has been fulfilled,’’ the Maharaja was overcome with elation.

 Ordering the tiger to be brought to the capital in grand procession, the Maharaja hastened away in his car.

• Elation: joy
• Procession: parade

The king was overjoyed at having killed the hundredth tiger. He then drove away in his car, ordering that the tiger be brought to the capital in a grand procession.

After the Maharaja left, the hunters went to take a closer look at the tiger. The tiger looked back at them rolling its eyes in bafflement. The men realized that the tiger was not dead; the bullet had missed it. It had fainted from the shock of the bullet whizzing past. The hunters wondered what they should do. They decided that the Maharaja must not come to know that he had missed his target. If he did, they could lose their jobs. One of the hunters took aim from a distance of one foot and shot the tiger. This time he killed it without missing his mark.

• Bafflement: confusion

After the king had left, the hunters examined the tiger closely and found that it was still alive. The king's bullet had missed the tiger, they realised. The tiger had nearly fainted from the shock of the bullet passing so close to it. The hunters were at a loss for what to do, so one of them fired a shot at the tiger, killing it.

Then, as commanded by the king, the dead tiger was taken in procession through the town and buried. A tomb was erected over it.

The hunters then carried the dead tiger to town in a procession, as per the king's orders. It was buried, and a lovely tomb was built over the tiger's grave.

A few days later the Maharaja’s son’s third birthday was celebrated. Until then the Maharaja had given his entire mind over to tiger hunting. He had had no time to spare for the crown prince. But now the king turned his attention to the child. He wished to give him some special gift on his birthday. He went to the shopping centre in Pratibandapuram and searched every shop, but couldn’t find anything suitable. Finally he spotted a wooden tiger in a toyshop and decided it was the perfect gift.

After a few days, the maharaja's son celebrated his third birthday. Until that point, the king had been so preoccupied with tiger hunting that he had spent no time with his family. After completing his wow of killing a hundred tigers, he turned his attention to his child. King Jung Jung Bahadur wanted to give his son a special gift for his birthday, so he went to the Pratibandapuram shopping centre. He looked in every store but couldn't find a suitable gift for his son. Finally, he came across a wooden tiger in a toy store and thought it would make a perfect gift.

The wooden tiger cost only two annas and a quarter. But the shopkeeper knew that if he quoted such a low price to the Maharaja, he would be punished under the rules of the Emergency. So, he said, ‘‘Your Majesty, this is an extremely rare example of craftsmanship. A bargain at three hundred rupees!’’

• Annas: currency used in the olden times. 1 anna = 1/16 rupee.

The wooden tiger cost only two and a quarter annas, but the shopkeeper knew that the king would punish him if he quoted such a low price to the king. So the shopkeeper told the king that the wooden tiger was a work of art and that it cost only three hundred rupees.

‘‘Very good. Let this be your offering to the crown prince on his birthday,’’ said the king and took it away with him. On that day father and son played with that tiny little wooden tiger. It had been carved by an unskilled carpenter. Its surface was rough; tiny slivers of wood stood up like quills all over it. One of those slivers pierced the Maharaja’s right hand. He pulled it out with his left hand and continued to play with the prince.

• Slivers: shavings

The king was overjoyed and stated that this was the shop owner's gift to the Crown Prince. He brought the tiger along with him. The king and his son entertained themselves by playing with the wooden tiger. The tiger had been crafted by an unskilled carpenter, and it was riddled with tiny shavings of wood. The maharaja's right hand was pierced by one of the shavings. The Maharaja drew it out and continued to play with the prince.

The next day, infection flared in the Maharaja’s right hand. In four days, it developed into a suppurating sore which spread all over the arm.

• Suppurating: a wound full of pus
• Sore: painful inflammation

The maharaja's right hand was infected the next day as a result of the shaving of wood that had pricked it. Over the course of four days, the infection turned into a pus-filled wound that spread all over the king's right arm.

Three famous surgeons were brought in from Madras. After holding a consultation they decided to operate. The operation took place.

 The three surgeons who performed it came out of the theatre and announced, “The operation was successful. The Maharaja is dead.”

 In this manner the hundredth tiger took its final revenge upon the Tiger King.

Three well-known surgeons from Madras were summoned and decided to operate on the king. Following the operation, the surgeons emerged from the operating room and announced that the operation had been a success and that the Maharaja had died.

The surgeons' words are contradictory in this case because if the king died, it meant that the operation was a failure, whereas they claimed that it was a success. They were actually supporting the astrologer's words. The wooden tiger was the hundredth tiger to kill King Jung Jung Bahadur, confirming the astrologer's prediction. As a result, the hundredth tiger exacted revenge on the tiger king and killed him.

About the Author

Ramaswamy Aiyer Krishnamurthy (9 September 1899 – 5 December 1954) was a Tamil writer, journalist, poet, critic, and activist for Indian independence. 'Kalki' was his pen name. He wrote 120 short stories, ten novelettes, five novels, three historical romances, editorials and political essays, and hundreds of film and music reviews.

Lesson-3

Journey to the End of the Earth

By Tishani Doshi

Journey to the End of the Earth Introduction

The lesson revolves around Antarctica, the world's most preserved place. There aren't many people who have been there, but Tishani Doshi is one of them. A south Indian person who went on an expedition with a group of teenagers affiliated with the 'Students on Ice' programme takes young minds to the far reaches of the globe. As a result, it explains why Antarctica is the place to go if you want to see the past, present, and future in their most realistic form.

Journey to the End of the Earth Summary

It takes nine time zones, six checkpoints, three water bodies, and the same number of ecospheres for a south Indian man to travel to Antarctica from Madras. Tishani Doshi travelled to the South Pole with an expedition group called 'Students on Ice,' which gives young minds the opportunity to become more aware of the realistic version of global climate change. According to the organization's founder, we are the young versions of future policymakers who can change the situation. Antarctica is one of the world's coldest, driest, and windiest continents.

It is completely white as far as the eyes can see, and the uninterrupted blue horizon provides immense relief. It's hard to believe that India and Antarctica were once part of the same supercontinent, Gondwana, before being separated into countries and giving rise to the world we know today. Until then, Antarctica had a warmer climate. Despite human civilisation all over the world, it still exists in its natural state. As a sun-worshipping south Indian, it was unthinkable for the author to visit the place that contains 90% of the world's ice, a place so quiet that it is only interrupted by snow avalanches.

It is home to many evidences that can provide us with a glimpse of the past while also assisting us in forecasting the future. The place serves as a wake-up call to the impending threat that global warming is, in fact, a reality. Who knows if Antarctica will ever be warm again, and if it does, will we be there to witness it?

Journey to the End of the Earth Lesson Explanation

EARLY this year, I found myself aboard a Russian research vessel — the Akademik Shokalskiy — heading towards the coldest, driest, windiest continent in the world: Antarctica. My journey began 13.09 degrees north of the Equator in Madras, and involved crossing nine time zones, six checkpoints, three bodies of water, and at least as many ecospheres.

• Ecospheres- parts of the universe habitable by living organisms

The author begins by discussing his journey to Antarctica, one of the world's coldest, driest, and windiest continents. He travelled there on the Akademik Shokalskiy, a Russian research vessel. The author is a South Indian who started his journey from Madras. During his journey, he passed through nine time zones, six checkpoints, three bodies of water, and an equal number of ecospheres.

By the time I actually set foot on the Antarctic continent I had been travelling over 100 hours in a combination of a car, an aeroplane and a ship; so, my first emotion on facing Antarctica’s expansive white landscape and the uninterrupted blue horizon was a relief, followed up with an immediate and profound wonder. Wonder at its immensity, its isolation, but mainly at how there could ever have been a time when India and Antarctica were part of the same landmass.

• Expansive- covering a wide area in terms of space or scope; extensive
• Profound- very great or intense
• Isolation- separation
• Landmass- a continent or other large body of land

To reach the continent, he travelled for approximately 100 hours by car, plane, and ship. So, when he first set foot on the continent, he was relieved because it was all white as far as the eye could see. It was also very reassuring to see the blue horizon. The next emotion that came after was awe. He was astounded to learn that once upon a time, India and Antarctica were geographically connected.

Part of history

Six hundred and fifty million years ago, a giant amalgamated southern supercontinent — Gondwana — did indeed exist, centred roughly around the present-day Antarctica. Things were quite different then: humans hadn’t arrived on the global scene, and the climate was much warmer, hosting a huge variety of flora and fauna. For 500 million years

Gondwana thrived, but around the time when the dinosaurs were wiped out and the age of the mammals got under way, the landmass was forced to separate into countries, shaping the globe much as we know it today.

• Amalgamated- combine or unite to form one structure
• Supercontinent- a former large continent from which other continents are held to have broken off and drifted away
• Thrived- prosper; flourish

Millions of years ago, there was a supercontinent called Gondwana, from which Antarctica and India are thought to have split. However, the situation was vastly different from what it is now. There were no humans, and the climate was warmer, resulting in a wide range of flora and fauna. Gondwana flourished for 500 million years, until dinosaurs became extinct and humans emerged. The vast continent was then forced to segregate into countries and the world we know today.

To visit Antarctica now is to be a part of that history; to get a grasp of where we’ve come from and where we could possibly be heading. It’s to understand the significance of Cordilleran folds and pre-Cambrian granite shields; ozone and carbon; evolution and extinction. When you think about all that can happen in a million years, it can get pretty mind-boggling. Imagine: India pushing northwards, jamming against Asia to buckle its crust and form the Himalayas; South America drifting off to join North America, opening up the Drake Passage to create a cold circumpolar current, keeping Antarctica frigid, desolate, and at the bottom of the world.

• Cordilleran folds- an extensive chain of mountains or mountain ranges
• Precambrian granite shields- large areas of relatively low elevation that forms part of continental masses
• Mind-boggling- overwhelming; startling
• Frigid- very cold in temperature
• Desolate- (of a place) uninhabited and giving an impression of bleak emptiness

According to the author, if one wants to see history and where we came from, as well as where we are going, Antarctica is the place to go. It is the best place to learn about mountain ranges and low-elevation continents, ozone and carbon, evolution and extinction, and so on. It is capable of providing foresight into the future, which can be quite startling.

For a sun-worshipping South Indian like myself, two weeks in a place where 90 percent of the Earth’s total ice volumes are stored is a chilling prospect (not just for circulatory and metabolic functions, but also for the imagination). It’s like walking into a giant ping-pong ball devoid of any human markers — no trees, billboards, buildings. You lose all earthly sense of perspective and time here. The visual scale ranges from the microscopic to the mighty: midges and mites to blue whales and icebergs as big as countries (the largest recorded was the size of Belgium). Days go on and on and on in surreal 24-hour austral summer light, and a ubiquitous silence, interrupted only by the occasional avalanche or calving ice sheet, consecrates the place. It’s an immersion that will force you to place yourself in the context of the earth’s geological history. And for humans, the prognosis isn’t good.

• Surreal- unusual; bizarre
• Austral- relating to the Southern Hemisphere
• Ubiquitous- everywhere; pervasive
• Avalanche- snowslide
• Calving- split and shed
• Consecrates- make or declare sacred
• Immersion- submerge
• Prognosis- a forecast of the likely outcome of a situation

It was a very different experience for the narrator because, as a sun-worshipping South Inidan, it was difficult for him or anyone else to imagine living in a place where 90 percent of the Earth's total ice volumes are stored. Not only is it difficult biologically or physically, but it is also difficult for the imagination. A place untouched by humans and their inventions, it provides an experience that makes you forget about everything else. Antarctica is home to everything from small creatures like midges and mites to massive creatures like blue whales and icebergs the size of countries. The days never end with the sun shining all the time in the Southern Hemisphere. It's a peaceful place, broken only by the rapid descent of a mountain of snow. It is a setting that forces you to think about the Earth's geological history and helps you predict the future, which for humans does not appear to be very pleasant.

Human Impact

Human civilisations have been around for a paltry 12,000 years — barely a few seconds on the geological clock. In that short amount of time, we’ve managed to create quite a ruckus, etching our dominance over Nature with our villages, towns, cities, megacities. The rapid increase of human populations has left us battling with other species for limited resources, and the unmitigated burning of fossil fuels has now created a blanket of carbon dioxide around the world, which is slowly but surely increasing the average global temperature.

• Paltry- petty; insignificant
• Ruckus- a row or commotion
• Etching- engraved
• Unmitigated- unconditional

Human life has existed on Earth for a mere 12,000 years, which equates to a few seconds on the geological clock. Humans have managed to exploit every resource in this short amount of time, causing chaos in nature. The ever-increasing human population is depriving other species of essential survival resources. Not to mention the unrestricted use of fossil fuels, which has resulted in a blanket of carbon dioxide surrounding our planet, raising the average global temperature and contributing to global warming.

Climate change is one of the most hotly contested environmental debates of our time. Will the West Antarctic ice sheet melt entirely? Will the Gulf Stream ocean current be disrupted? Will it be the end of the world as we know it? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, Antarctica is a crucial element in this debate — not just because it’s the only place in the world, which has never sustained a human population and therefore remains relatively ‘pristine’ in this respect; but more importantly, because it holds in its ice-cores half-million-year-old carbon records trapped in its layers of ice. If we want to study and examine the Earth’s past, present and future, Antarctica is the place to go.

• Pristine- in its original condition; unspoilt

These days, global warming and climate change are top priorities. Questions such as the melting of the Antarctic ice sheet, the disruption of the Gulf Stream, and how the world will end remain unanswered. Regardless, Antarctica remains an important part of the world, not only because it has remained untouched by humans, but also because of the ice-cores' half-million-year-old carbon records trapped in its ice layers. Antarctica, according to the author, is the place to go to study and analyse Earth's past, present, and future.

Students on Ice, the programme I was working with on the Shokaskiy, aims to do exactly this by taking high school students to the ends of the world and providing them with inspiring educational opportunities which will help them foster a new understanding and respect for our planet. It’s been in operation for six years now, headed by Canadian Geoff Green, who got tired of carting celebrities and retired, rich, curiosity-seekers who could only ‘give’ back in a limited way. With Students on Ice, he offers the future generation of policy-makers a life-changing experience at an age when they’re ready to absorb, learn, and most importantly, act.

The author was in Antarctica on an expedition with 'Students on Ice,' a programme that takes young minds to the far reaches of the globe in order to inspire them to work for our planet. It began with the goal of providing life-changing experiences for "the next generation of policymakers" to learn about the planet at a young age. Geoff Green initiated the initiative after becoming dissatisfied with his regular job and wanting to give something back in some way.

The reason the programme has been so successful is because it’s impossible to go anywhere near the South Pole and not be affected by it. It’s easy to be blasé about polar ice-caps melting while sitting in the comfort zone of our respective latitude and longitude, but when you can visibly see glaciers retreating and ice shelves collapsing, you begin to realise that the threat of global warming is very real.

• Blasé- unimpressed with or indifferent to something because one has experienced or seen it so often before

Because it is very easy to sit at home and talk about real issues, seeing glaciers retreating and ice shelves collapsing gives you a glimpse into the future, the programme has been enormously successful in implementing its vision. It confirms that the threat of global warming is real.

Antarctica, because of her simple ecosystem and lack of biodiversity, is the perfect place to study how little changes in the environment can have big repercussions. Take the microscopic phytoplankton — those grasses of the sea that nourish and sustain the entire Southern Ocean’s food chain. These single-celled plants use the sun’s energy to assimilate carbon and synthesise organic compounds in that wondrous and most important of processes called photosynthesis. Scientists warn that a further depletion in the ozone layer will affect the activities of phytoplankton, which in turn will affect the lives of all the marine animals and birds of the region, and the global carbon cycle. In the parable of the phytoplankton, there is a great metaphor for existence: take care of the small things and the big things will fall into place.

It is one of those places with low biodiversity and, as a result, a simpler ecosystem. As a result, even minor changes in its environment can have far-reaching consequences. For example, microscopic phytoplankton are sea grasses that support the entire Southern Ocean food chain. Scientists have recently concluded that further ozone layer depletion can affect the activities of these single-celled plants as well as the marine life as a whole. As a result, the old saying "take care of the small things, and the big things will fall into place" comes true in this case.

Walk on the Ocean

My Antarctic experience was full of such epiphanies, but the best occurred just short of the Antarctic Circle at 65.55 degrees south. The Shokalskiy had managed to wedge herself into a thick white stretch of ice between the peninsula and Tadpole Island which was preventing us from going any further. The Captain decided we were going to turn around and head back north, but before we did, we were all instructed to climb down the gangplank and walk on the ocean. So there we were, all 52 of us, kitted out in Gore-Tex and glares, walking on a stark whiteness that seemed to spread out forever. Underneath our feet was a metre-thick ice pack, and underneath that, 180 metres of living, breathing, salt water. In the periphery Crabeater seals were stretching and sunning themselves on ice floes much like stray dogs will do under the shade of a banyan tree. It was nothing short of a revelation: everything does indeed connect.

Nine time zones, six checkpoints, three bodies of water and many ecospheres later, I was still wondering about the beauty of balance in play on our planet. How would it be if Antarctica were to become the warm place that it once used to be? Will we be around to see it, or would we have gone the way of the dinosaurs, mammoths and woolly rhinos? Who’s to say? But after spending two weeks with a bunch of teenagers who still have the idealism to save the world, all I can say is that a lot can happen in a million years, but what a difference a day makes!

For the nine time zones, checkpoints, and bodies of water it took him to travel from Madras to Antarctica, the author pondered nature's ability to maintain its balance. He imagined what it would be like if Antarctica, which holds over 90 percent of the world's ice, warmed up again. He wonders if we'll be there to witness it if it happens, but who knows! Thus, by observing the spirit of teenagers who still have the courage to save the world, he speaks about the uncertainty of events that can occur over a million years.

About the Author

Lesson-4

The Enemy

By Pearl S. Buck

The Enemy Introduction

It is the Second World War. An American POW is washed ashore in a critical condition and found on the doorstep of a Japanese doctor. Should he save him as a doctor or surrender him to the Army as a patriot? The storey takes place during World War II. A Japanese doctor finds an American prisoner of war on his doorstep. He is torn between saving the wounded man, as a doctor, and handing over the enemy to the army, as a Japanese.

The Enemy Summary

The Enemy is a storey set in Japan during World War II. In this storey, an injured American army soldier washes up on the beach near the home of Dr. Sadao Hoki, a Japanese surgeon. Despite having lived in America and working in a modern profession, Dr Sadao's family lives a traditional Japanese lifestyle.

Dr Sadao is torn between leaving the American man to die, throwing him back into the sea, handing him over to the army, and saving his life. He reluctantly decides to take him home and save his life. His family life is disrupted by the presence of an enemy. His wife is opposed to him operating on and caring for the soldier. The servants of the house object to the idea and leave their master. Dr. Sadao, on the other hand, shelters him, operates on him, and saves his life.

He tells the storey to a general in the Japanese military because he is afraid of being accused of sheltering an enemy. The general assists Dr. Sadao and offers to have the man killed by hired killers. However, the killing does not take place, and after three nights of waiting, Dr. Sadao considers killing the American himself. He arranges for a boat to move the man to a nearby island. He provides him with necessities such as food and clothing in order for him to survive until he finds a Korean fishing boat that can rescue him. Dr. Sadao is confused as to why he saved the life of an enemy.

The Enemy Lesson Explanation

Dr Sadao Hoki’s house was built on a spot of the Japanese coast where as a little boy he had often played. The low, square stone house was set upon rocks well above a narrow beach that was outlined with bent pines. As a boy Sadao had climbed the pines, supporting himself on his bare feet, as he had seen men do in the South Seas when they climbed for coconuts. His father had taken him often to the islands of those seas, and never had he failed to say to the little brave boy at his side, ‘‘Those islands yonder, they are the steppingstones to the future for Japan.’’

‘‘Where shall we step from them?’’ Sadao had asked seriously.

‘‘Who knows?’’ his father had answered. ‘‘Who can limit our future? It depends on what we make it.’’

• Yonder: at some distance in the direction pointed at

The author introduces the story's main character, Dr. SadaoHoki. Dr. Sadao's house was situated on Japan's coast. He had lived there since he was a child. The house was made of stone and had a low height. It was built on a rocky beach with a boundary line made of pine trees that were slanted to one side. Dr. Sadao used to climb the pine trees as a child. During his trips to the South Seas, he observed men doing so in order to obtain coconuts from the trees. He would frequently accompany his father to the South Seas islands. His father would point to the islands and say that they were the stepping stones to Japan's future. Dr. Sadao would ask him, childishly, where they could go from those islands. His father would respond that it was unknown because it was dependent on the future. The future was limitless. It was up to humanity to shape its own future.

Sadao had taken this into his mind as he did everything his father said, his father who never joked or played with him but who spent infinite pains upon him who was his only son. Sadao knew that his education was his father’s chief concern. For this reason he had been sent at twenty-two to America to learn all that could be learned of surgery and medicine. He had come back at thirty, and before his father died he had seen Sadao become famous not only as a surgeon but as a scientist. Because he was perfecting a discovery which would render wounds entirely clean, he had not been sent abroad with the troops. Also, he knew, there was some slight danger that the old General might need an operation for a condition for which he was now being treated medically, and for this possibility Sadao was being kept in Japan.

Sadao remembered everything his father told him as a child. His father never made fun of him or made him laugh. They had a mature relationship, and his father had to go through a lot of hardships to raise him. Sadao was aware of his father's concern for his education. At the age of twenty-two, he was sent to America to study surgery and medicine. He returned when he was thirty years old. Sadao's father saw Sadao become famous not only as a surgeon but also as a scientist before he died. Sadao was on his way to find a treatment for wounds that would completely cleanse them. As a result, he was not sent abroad as a doctor with the armed forces. In addition, he was kept in Japan because the old General had a medical condition that required surgery in the case of emergency.

Clouds were rising from the ocean now. The unexpected warmth of the past few days had at night drawn heavy fog from the cold waves. Sadao watched mists hide outlines of a little island near the shore and then come creeping up the beach below the house, wreathing around the pines. In a few minutes, fog would be wrapped about the house too. Then he would go into the room where Hana, his wife, would be waiting for him with the two children.

The scene outside Dr. Sadao's house is described by the author. The nights became foggy as the days were unusually warm and the sea waves were cold. Dr. Sadao observed the boundary of a nearby island gradually becoming invisible as it became caught up in mist. The mist was getting closer to him. There would soon be mist all around his house. At that point, he would return to the house, where his wife, Hana, and their two children awaited him.

But at this moment the door opened and she looked out, a dark-blue woollen haori over her kimono. She cameto him affectionately and put her arm through his as he stood, smiled and said nothing. He had met Hana in America, but he had waited to fall in love with her until he was sure she was Japanese. His father would never havereceived her unless she had been pure in her race. He wondered often whom he would have married if he had not met Hana, and by what luck he had found her in the most casual way, by chance literally, at an American professor’s house. The professor and his wife had been kind people anxious to do something for their few foreign students, and the students, though bored, had accepted this kindness. Sadao had often told Hana how nearly he had not gone to Professor Harley’s house that night — the rooms were so small, the food so bad, the professor’s wife so voluble. But he had gone and there he had found Hana, anew student, and had felt he would love her if it were at all possible. 

• haori: a loose outer garment worn over the kimono.
• Kimono: a traditional Japanese garment.

The door opened before Sadao could enter, and his wife looked for him. She was dressed in a dark – blue gown with a dark – blue gown over it. She crossed her arms lovingly with his, smiled at him, remained silent, and stood by him. They had met in the United States. Sadao was aware that his father would only marry him to a Japanese girl, so he made certain of this before falling in love with her. Sadao considered himself fortunate to have met her by chance at the home of an American professor. He wondered if he hadn't met her, if he hadn't had a wife all his life. He thought the professor and his wife were nice because they wanted to help foreign students. He was thankful that they had accepted his kindness and invited him to their home, because it was there that he met Hana. Sadao would frequently tell Hana that he went to the professor's house that night by chance because the rooms in his house were small, the food was bad, and the professor's wife was very talkative. He would not have met Hana if he had not gone there that night. Hana was a new student at the time. Sadao had imagined that if it were possible for him, he would love her.

Now he felt her hand on his arm and was aware of the pleasure it gave him, even though they had been married years enough to have the two children. For they had not married heedlessly in America. They had finished their work at school and had come home to Japan, and when his father had seen her the marriage had been arranged in the old Japanese way, although Sadao and Hana had talked everything over beforehand. They were perfectly happy. She laid her cheek against his arm.

• Heedlessly: carelessly

Sadao and Hana remained in love with each other even after they had two children and had been married for many years. They did not marry in a hurry in America; instead, they returned to Japan, obtained permission from their parents, and married in a traditional Japanese ceremony. Before the wedding, they had gone over every detail. They were happy with each other. Hana affectionately rested her cheek against Sadao's arm.

It was at this moment that both of them saw something black come out of the mists. It was a man. He was flung up out of the ocean — flung, it seemed, to his feet by a breaker. He staggered a few steps, his body outlined against the mist, his arms above his head. Then the curled mists hid him again.

• Staggered: walk unsteadily as if about to fall

At that moment, they noticed a figure emerge from the mist. Because of the mist in the air, it appeared black. In the mist, the outline of a man's body could be seen. He walked shakily, his arms above his head. It was a sign that he was a prisoner. The man took a few steps and then disappeared into the mist.

‘‘Who is that?’’ Hana cried. She dropped Sadao’s arm and they both leaned over the railing of the veranda. Now they saw him again. The man was on his hands and knees crawling. Then they saw him fall on his face and lie there.

• Leaned: bent forward

When Hana saw the figure, she immediately asked, "Who is that?" She removed her arm from Sadao's arms and both of them leaned forward over the veranda railing to get a better look at the man. They ran into him again. On his hands and knees, he crawled. Then he fell flat on his face and remained there. He had most likely passed out.

‘‘A fisherman perhaps,’’ Sadao said, ‘‘washed from his boat.’’ He ran quickly down the steps and behind him Hana came, her wide sleeves flying. A mile or two away on either side there were fishing villages, but here was only the bare and lonely coast, dangerous with rocks. The surf beyond the beach was spiked with rocks. Somehow the man had managed to come through them — he must be badly torn.

• Spiked: covered with sharp points

Sadao assumed it was a fisherman who had been washed off his boat because the area was densely populated with fishing villages. Hana followed him as he ran to help him. Her haori's sleeveless sleeves flew as she ran. Because of the dangerous rocks, this section of the coast was not inhabited. Because the rocks were pointed, the man could have been seriously injured even though he had managed to pass through them.

They saw when they came toward him that indeed it was so. The sand on one side of him had already a stain of red soaking through.

• a stain of red: blood stain

When the Japanese couple saw the man, they realised he had been severely injured. The sand on which he lay had blood stains on one side, indicating that he had been injured.

‘‘He is wounded,’’ Sadao exclaimed. He made haste to the man, who lay motionless, his face in the sand. An old cap stuck to his head soaked with seawater. He was in wet rags of garments. Sadao stopped, Hana at his side, and turned the man’s head. They saw the face.

“A white man!” Hana whispered.

Sadao stated that the man had been injured. He approached the man who lay motionless in the sand, his face buried in the sand. He wore an old cap on his head. It had been soaked in sea water. His dress was also soaked and ripped. Sadao shook the man's head. When they saw the face, Hana told them privately that he was white, i.e. an American.

Yes, it was a white man. The wet cap fell away and there was his wet yellow hair, long, as though for many weeks it had not been cut, and upon his young and tortured face was a rough yellow beard. He was unconscious and knew nothing that they did for him.

The injured man was an american. They noticed his wet, yellow-colored hair, which had not been cut in a long time, as his cap fell off. He was young, and his face bore marks that indicated he had been tortured. He had a scruffy, unkempt yellow beard. Because he had fainted, he was unaware of Sadao and Hana's presence.

Now Sadao remembered the wound, and with his expert fingers he began to search for it. Blood flowed freshly at his touch. On the right side of his lower back Sadao saw that a gun wound had been reopened. The flesh was blackened with powder. Sometime, not many days ago, the man had been shot and had not been tended. It was bad chance that the rockhad struck the wound.

• Tended: cared for, looked after

Sadao was reminded of the man's injury when he noticed blood stains on the sand. He moved his trained fingers around the man's back to look for the wound, as he was a doctor. He could feel blood oozing from a wound in his lower back. It was a shot from a gun. The man had been hurt a few days before. He had not sought medical attention for the wound because he had applied a black–colored powdery substance to it himself. Sharp rocks on the shore had pierced it, causing it to bleed.

‘‘Oh, how he is bleeding!’’ Hana whispered again in a solemn voice. The mists screened them now completely, and at this time of day no one came by. The fishermen had gone home and even the chance beachcombers would have considered the day at an end.

• Solemn: serious and concerned
• Beachcomber: a vagrant who makes a living by searching beaches for articles of value and selling them

Hana was concerned about the man's injury and mentioned in low tones that he was bleeding. The mist had grown thicker by this point. Nobody was able to spot the three of them. Furthermore, the fishermen and ragpickers were not present at that time of day.

‘‘What shall we do with this man?’’ Sadao muttered. But his trained hands seemed of their own will to be doing what they could to stanch the fearful bleeding. He packed the wound with the sea moss that strewed the beach. The man moaned with pain in his stupor but he did not awaken.

‘‘The best thing that we could do would be to put him back in the sea,’’ Sadao said, answering himself.

Now that the bleeding was stopped for the moment he stood up and dusted the sand from his hands.

‘‘Yes, undoubtedly that would be best,’’ Hana said steadily. But she continued to stare down at the motionless man.

‘‘If we sheltered a white man in our house we should be arrested and if we turned him over as a prisoner, he would certainly die,’’ Sadao said.

‘‘The kindest thing would be to put him back into the sea,’’ Hana said. But neither of them moved. They were staring with a curious repulsion upon the inert figure.

• Muttered: speak in a low voice
• Stanch: stop or restrict (a flow of blood) from a wound.
• Sea moss: a kind of seaweed
• Strewed: to be scattered untidily over a place or area
• Moaned: a low cry in pain
• Stupor: a state of unconsciousness
• Repulsion: a strong dislike
• Inert: motionless

Sadao thought to himself and decided that the best thing to do was to throw the man back into the sea. He stood up and wiped the dust from his hands as the bleeding stopped. Hana agreed with him, but she kept her gaze fixed on the man as he lay motionless. Sadao warned them that if they provided him with shelter, they would be arrested for sheltering an enemy. He would die in prison if they handed him over to the Japanese army as a prisoner. Because he believed that both options were unfavourable, he decided that returning him to the sea was the best option. Hana continued, "The kindest thing they could do for him was to throw him back into the sea." They didn't move forward to do so, instead staring with disregard at the motionless figure. He was disliked because he was an enemy – an American.

‘‘What is he?’’ Hana whispered.

‘‘There is something about him that looks American,’’Sadao said. He took up the battered cap. Yes, there, almost gone, was the faint lettering. ‘‘A sailor,’’ he said, ‘‘from an American warship.’’ He spelled it out: ‘‘U.S. Navy.’’ The man was a prisoner of war!

• Battered: torn and worn out

Hana was curious and inquired about the man's identity. Sadao responded by saying that he appeared to be an American. He picked up the torn cap and read the faintly visible words written on it. He said that the man was a sailor from an American warship and read aloud the words "US Navy" written on the cap. They concluded that the man had been imprisoned during the war.

‘‘He has escaped.’’ Hana cried softly, ‘‘and that is why he is wounded.’’

‘‘In the back,’’ Sadao agreed.

Sadao and Hana talked about how the man tried to escape from the prison and was shot in the back.

They hesitated, looking at each other. Then Hana said with resolution:

“Come, are we able to put him back into the sea?”

They couldn't find the courage to throw him into the sea. Hana urged Sadao with firmness. She asked him if he was willing to throw him into the sea.

“If I am able, are you?” Sadao asked.

“No,” Hana said, “But if you can do it alone…”

Sadao assured her that he was capable of doing so and asked whether Hana had some the necessary courage. Hana replied in the negative, adding that if he couldn't do it on his own, she had to assist him.

Sadao hesitated again. “The strange thing is,” he said, “that if the man were whole I could turn him over to the police without difficulty. I care nothing for him. He is my enemy. All Americans are my enemy. And he is only a common fellow. You see how foolish his face is. But since he is wounded…”

Sadao was hesitant to throw the man into the sea. He reasoned that if the man was in good health, he would hand him over to the cops without hesitation. He went on to say that he was unconcerned about the man and considered him an enemy because he was an American. He remarked that the injured man was a regular person because he had a foolish expression on his face. He wanted to say he didn't care about the injured man, but his only concern was that he was hurt.

“You also cannot throw him back to the sea,” Hana said. “Then there is only one thing to do. We must carry him into the house.”

 

Hana stated that if he could not throw him into the sea, he would carry him home.

“But the servants?” Sadao inquired.

Sadao was worried that the servants would object because they were sheltering an enemy.

“We must simply tell them that we intend to give him to the police — as indeed we must, Sadao. We must think of the children and your position. It would endanger all of us if we did not give this man over as a prisoner of war.” “Certainly,” Sadao agreed. “I would not think of doing anything else.”

Hana stated that they would inform them that he would be handed over to the police once he recovered. She told him that they had to do it. She went on to say that they needed to think about their children's futures as well as Sadao's position. They would be in danger if they did not hand over a prisoner of war to the police. Sadao replied that he would certainly do so and that he had no plans to do anything else.

Thus agreed, together they lifted the man. He was very light, like a fowl that had been half-starved for a long time until it is only feathers and skeleton. So, his arms hanging, they carried him up the steps and into the side door of the house. This door opened into a passage, and down the passage they carried the man towards an empty bedroom.

• Fowl: cock, hen

Sadao and Hana taken the injured man inside. He was extremely light. The author compares his weight to that of a starving hen, whose body loses flesh and shrinks to mere feathers and skeleton. The man's arms were literally hanging, and the two carried him up the steps and into the house's side door. The door opened into a passage, and they proceeded down it to an empty bedroom.

It had been the bedroom of Sadao’s father, and since his death it had not been used. They laid the man on the deeply matted floor. Everything here had been Japanese to please the old man, who would never in his own home sit on a chair or sleep in a foreign bed. Hana went to the wall cupboards and slid back a door and took out a soft quilt. She hesitated. The quilt was covered with flowered silk and the lining was pure white silk.

Sadao's father had owned the bedroom, which had not been used since his death. The injured man was placed on the floor's thick mat. Sadao's father disliked foreign things, so everything in the room was Japanese, according to the writer. Hana went to the wall cupboard and took a soft quilt. She refused to put it on the injured man. The quilt was made of silk with a floral print, and the lining was pure white silk.

“He is so dirty,” she murmured in distress.

“Yes, he had better be washed,” Sadao agreed. “If you will fetch hot water I will wash him.”

• Distress: sadness

She was depressed and said slowly that the man was filthy. Sadao stated that the man needed to be cleaned. Sadao requested that Hana give hot water so that he could wash the man.

“I cannot bear for you to touch him,” she said. “We shall have to tell the servants he is here. I will tell Yumi now. She can leave the children for a few minutes and she can wash him.”

Hana did not want Sadao to have any contact with the man. She stated that they would have the injured man washed by the servant. She'd ask Yumi to leave the children alone for a few minutes while she washed him.

Sadao considered a moment. “Let it be so,” he agreed. “You tell Yumi and I will tell the others.” But the utter pallor of the man’s unconscious face moved him first to stoop and feel his pulse. It was faint but it was there. He put his hand against the man’s cold breast. The heart too was yet alive.

 

• Pallor: an unhealthy pale appearance
• Stoop: bend forward
• Pulse: heartbeat

Sadao paused for a moment before agreeing with Hana. He asked her to call Yumi while he called the other servants. He was about to leave when he noticed the injured man's face. He came to a halt, bent forward, and felt his heartbeat to see if he was still alive. The heartbeat was barely audible, but it was there. Sadao then put his hand on the man's heart to feel it. It was also beating. Sadao concluded that the injured man was still alive.

 “He will die unless he is operated on,” Sadao said, considering. “The question is whether he will not die any way.”

Sadao stated that the man would die if he was not operated on. He went on to say that even if he were operated on and saved, he would die at the hands of the Japanese army. As a result, he would die in either case.

Hana cried out in fear. “Don’t try to save him! What if he should live?”

Hana screamed in terror and begged Sadao not to save the man... She was concerned that if he survived, they would be in danger.

“What if he should die?” Sadao replied. He stood gazing down on the motionless man. This man must have extraordinary vitality or he would have been dead by now.

But then he was very young — perhaps not yet twenty five.

“You mean die from the operation?”

Hana asked.

“Yes,” Sadao said.

• Vitality: energy, life

Sadao questioned what the consequences would be if the man died. He looked down at the injured man, wondering if he had a lot of energy to keep him alive through such torture. He countered his thought by pointing out that the man was very young – he appeared to be twenty-five years old – and that people at that age have a lot of energy. Hana asked if he meant that the man could die during the operation. Sadao answered her question.

Hana considered this doubtfully, and when she did not answer Sadao turned away. “At any rate something must be done with him,” he said, “and first he must be washed.” He went quickly out of the room and Hana came behind him. She did not wish to be left alone with the white man. He was the first she had seen since she left America and now he seemed to have nothing to do with those whom she had known there. Here he was her enemy, a menace, living or dead.

• Menace: danger, threat

Sadao left as Hana was pondering this possibility. He stated that regardless of the outcome, something had to be done with the injured man. The first step was to clean him up. Hana followed him as he exited the room. She didn't want to stay in the room with the white-skinned man alone. He was the first white man she had seen since leaving America. She had no contact with the Americans she had met because they were her enemies. This injured man was a threat to them as well as an enemy.

 

She turned to the nursery and called, “Yumi!”

But the children heard her voice and she had to go in for a moment and smile at them and play with the baby boy, now nearly three months old.

Over the baby’s soft black hair she motioned with her mouth, “Yumi — come with me!”

• Nursery: a room in a house for the special use of young children.

Hana walked over to the kids' room and called out to Yumi. She went inside when the children heard her voice, smiled at them, and played with her three-month-old son. She motioned with her mouth to Yumi to come as she held the baby with soft black hair.

“I will put the baby to bed,” Yumi replied. “He is ready.”

She went with Yumi into the bedroom next to the nursery and stood with the boy in her arms while Yumi spread the sleeping quilts on the floor and laid the baby between them.

Yumi responded that the baby was sleepy and that she needed to put it to sleep before accompanying her. Hana and Yumi went to the bedroom next to the nursery while Hana held the baby. Yumi placed the baby between the sleeping quilts on the floor.

Then Hana led the way quickly and softly to the kitchen. The two servants were frightened at what their master had just told them. The old gardener, who was also a house servant, pulled the few hairs on his upper lip.

Hana led the way as they hurriedly approached the kitchen. After hearing their master's words about the injured man, the two servants in the kitchen were terrified. The elderly gardener, who also worked as a servant, pondered the news while pulling the hair from his upper lip.

“The master ought not to heal the wound of this white man,” he said bluntly to Hana. “The white man ought to die. First he was shot. Then the sea caught him and wounded him with her rocks. If the master heals what the gun did and what the sea did they will take revenge on us.”

• Bluntly: in a straight – forward manner

Hana was confronted by the elderly gardener. Sadao, he said, should not treat the injured white man. He reasoned that the man was destined to die. He had been wounded by a gunshot, and then he had been further injured by the sea's rocks. If Sadao healed the wounds caused by the gun and the sea, the gun and the sea would consider them enemies and seek revenge. The gun represents the Japanese army, and the sea represents Japan as a whole. Japan would punish them if they treated the enemy.

“I will tell him what you say,” Hana replied courteously. But she herself was also frightened, although she was not superstitious as the old man was. Could it ever be well to help an enemy? Nevertheless she told Yumi to fetch the hot water and bring it to the room where the white man was.

• Courteously: politely
• Superstitious: irrational beliefs

Hana politely told the gardener that she would forward his message to Sadao. She was terrified, but she wasn't superstitious like the old man. She believed that assisting an enemy could never be beneficial to them. Nonetheless, she asked Yumi to bring hot water into the room where the injured man was being kept.

She went ahead and slid back the partitions. Sadao was not yet there. Yumi, following, put down her wooden bucket. Then she went over to the white man. When she saw him her thick lips folded themselves into stubbornness. “I have never washed a white man,” she said, “and I will not wash so dirty a one now.”

• Stubbornness: firm determination

Hana entered first and shifted the partition to one side. Sadao was not present. Yumi followed her, keeping the wooden bucket on the floor. Her thick lips folded as she saw the white man, and the expressions on her face indicated her determination. She stated unequivocally that she had never washed an American man and would never wash one as filthy as that injured man.

Hana cried at her severely. “You will do what your master commands you!”

Yumi's refusal evoked a reaction from Hana. She screamed at her that she was supposed to obey her master's commands.

There was so fierce a look of resistance upon Yumi’s round dull face that Hana felt unreasonably afraid. After all, if the servants should report something that was not as it happened?

• Fierce: dangerous
• Resistance: the refusal to accept or comply with something

Yumi resisted strongly. Hana was scared because her dull face had a dangerous look of protest on it. She was concerned that if the servants reported something other than what had occurred, they would get into trouble.

“Very well,” she said with dignity. “You understand we only want to bring him to his senses so that we can turn him over as a prisoner?”

• Dignity: respect

Hana's expression changed to one of respect and she said, "very well." She told Yumi that they planned to bring the unconscious man back to his senses and then hand him over as a prisoner.

“I will have nothing to do with it,” Yumi said, “I am a poor person and it is not my business.”

Yumi expressed her dissatisfaction with their plans. She continued, "I'm a poor person, and it's none of my business to know about their plans."

“Then please,” Hana said gently, “return to your own work.”

At once Yumi left the room. But this left Hana with the white man alone. She might have been too afraid to stay had not her anger at Yumi’s stubbornness now sustained her.

• Sustained: continued

Hana told Yumi that she should get back to work. Yumi abruptly exited the room. Hana was once again alone with the white man. She would have been afraid to stay there alone, but her rage at Yumi's tenacity forced her to do so.

“Stupid Yumi,” she muttered fiercely. “Is this anything but a man? And a wounded helpless man!”

Yumi was a stupid person, Hana said angrily. She said that it was just a man who had been injured.

In the conviction of her own superiority she bent impulsively and untied the knotted rugs that kept the white man covered. When she had his breast bare she dipped the small clean towel that Yumi had brought into the steaming hot water and washed his face carefully. The man’s skin, though rough with exposure, was of a fine texture and must have been very blond when he was a child.

• Conviction: firm belief
• impulsively: to do something suddenly without thinking
• rugs: blanket blond: of light colour

Hana was so enraged by Yumi's refusal that she opened the blanket in which the man had been injured without thinking. His torso was bare. Hana washed his face with a small clean towel that had been dipped in steaming hot water. The man's skin was rough from sun exposure, but it had a nice texture, and he must have been very fair as a child.

While she was thinking these thoughts, though not really liking the man better now that he was no longer a child, she kept on washing him until his upper body was quite clean. But she dared not turn him over. Where was Sadao? Now her anger was ebbing, and she was anxious again and she rose, wiping her hands on the wrong towel. Then lest the man be chilled, she put the quilt over him.

• Ebbing: decreasing gradually
• Rose: stood up
• Chilled: freeze due to cold weather

As she pondered these thoughts, Hana continued to clean the man's upper body. She disliked the man because he was no longer a child. She lacked the courage to turn him over and remembered Sadao. Her rage was fading, and she began to feel restless. She stood up and used the wrong towel to wipe her hands. She put the quilt on him because she didn't want the man to freeze in the cold weather.

“Sadao!” she called softly.

He had been about to come in when she called. His hand had been on the door and now he opened it. She sawt hat he had brought his surgeon’s emergency bag and that he wore his surgeon’s coat.

Hana softly called out to Sadao.

When she called him, he was standing at the door. He pushed to open the door. Hana noticed Sadao wearing his surgeon's coat and carrying his surgeon's emergency bag. He was ready to perform surgery on the injured man.

“You have decided to operate!” she cried.

“Yes,” he said shortly. He turned his back to her and unfolded a sterilized towel upon the floor of the tokonoma alcove and put his instruments out upon it.

• Sterilized: disinfected
• Tokonoma alcove:  The word ‘toko’ literally means “floor” or “bed”; ‘ma’ means “space” or “room.” In English, tokonoma is usually called alcove. It is a part of a room where things are displayed.a niche or an alcove in a Japanese home for displaying a flower arrangement, kakemono, or other piece of art.

Hana asks of Sadao whether he had decided to operate on the man.

Sadao responded that he had made the decision to operate on him. He turned his back on Hana because he didn't want her to question his decision. Sadao began his work. On the floor of the tokonoma alcove, he opened a sterilised towel and placed his surgical instruments on it.

“Fetch towels,” he said.

Sadao asked Hana go get some towels.

She went obediently, but how anxious now, to the linen shelves and took out the towels. There ought also to be old pieces of matting so that the blood would not ruin the fine floor covering. She went out to the back veranda where the gardener kept strips of matting with which to protect delicate shrubs on cold nights and took an armful of them.

Hana followed Sadao's instructions and went outside to get the towels. She was intrigued as Sadao operated on the injured man. She feared that the blood from his wounds would stain the fine mats that covered the room's floor. As a result, she retrieved some rough mats from the backyard, which had been used by the gardener to protect the delicate shrubs from the cold weather.

But when she went back into the room, she saw this was useless. The blood had already soaked through the packing in the man’s wound and had ruined the mat under him.

When Hana entered the room, she noticed that blood had flowed through the bandage on the man's wound, staining the mat beneath him. Her efforts were in vain.

“Oh, the mat!” she cried.

“Yes, it is ruined,” Sadao replied, as though he did not care. “Help me to turn him,” he commanded her.

She obeyed him without a word, and he began to wash the man’s back carefully.

Hana cried out that the mat had been ruined when she saw the stained mat. Sadao agreed that the mat had been ruined in a way that indicated he was unconcerned about it. Sadao asked Hana to assist him in turning the man over. Sadao began washing his back after she obeyed him.

“Yumi would not wash him,” she said.

“Did you wash him then?” Sadao asked, not stopping for a moment his swift concise movements.

“Yes,” she said.

He did not seem to hear her. But she was used to his absorption when he was at work. She wondered for a moment if it mattered to him what was the body upon which he worked so long as it was for the work he did so excellently.

• Concise: short

Yumi had refused to wash the injured man, as said by Hana. Sadao inquired as to why she had washed him. He never stopped cleaning him. As he cleaned him carefully, he made quick, small movements with his hands. Sadao was preoccupied with his work and did not appear to hear Hana. Hana was perplexed as to why Sadao didn't care who the injured man was. He was only concerned with doing his job well.

“You will have to give the anesthetic if he needs it,” he said.

“I?” she repeated blankly. “But never have I!”

“It is easy enough,” he said impatiently.

He was taking out the packing now, and the blood began to flow more quickly. He peered into the wound with the bright surgeon’s light fastened on his forehead. “The bullet is still there,” he said with cool interest. “Now I wonder how deep this rock wound is. If it is not too deep it maybe that I can get the bullet. But the bleeding is not superficial. He has lost much blood.”

• Anesthetic: a substance that induces insensitivity to pain
• Superficial: existing or occurring at or on the surface.

Sadao told Hana that she would have to inject the injured man with a substance that causes pain insensitivity. Hana responded that she had never done anything like that before. Sadao hurriedly stated that it was very simple. Sadao was removing the packing, and the blood began to flow more quickly. He examined the wound with the help of the bright surgeon's light that was fixed to his head. He declared that the bullet had entered the man's body. He was curious about how deep the rock's wound was. He said that if the wound was not too deep, he could extract the bullet. He also stated that the bleeding was not from the skin's surface, implying that the wound was deep and the man had already lost a significant amount of blood.

At this moment Hana choked. He looked up and saw her face the colour of sulphur.

• her face the colour of sulphur: sulphur is a yellow coloured element. The clause means that her face became pale – yellowish in colour.

Hana coughed when she saw Sadao inspecting the wound because she couldn't see the sight. Sadao looked at her and noticed that her face was yellowish, similar to the colour of sulphur.

“Don’t faint,” he said sharply. He did not put down his exploring instrument. “If I stop now the man will surely die.” She clapped her hands to her mouth and leaped up and ran out of the room. Outside in the garden he heard her retching. But he went on with his work.

• Leaped: jumped
• Retching: vomiting

Sadao reacted by telling Hana not to faint. He didn't stop working and kept inspecting the wound. Sadao stated that if he did not continue, the injured man would undoubtedly die. Hana jumped up and ran out of the room, both hands on her mouth.Sadao heard her vomit in the garden but continued his work.

“It will be better for her to empty her stomach,” he thought. He had forgotten that of course she had never seen an operation. But her distress and his inability to go to her at once made him impatient and irritable with this man who lay like dead under his knife.

Sadao needed Hana's assistance to operate the man, so he thought it would be best if she empty her stomach so she wouldn't feel queasy all the time. He was reminded that Hana was witnessing an operation for the first time, and it was not pleasant. Sadao was irritated and impatient because his wife was in distress and he couldn't help her because of the man who lay under his knife. He looked exactly like a corpse.

“This man.” he thought, “there is no reason under heaven why he should live.”

Sadao thought that there was no reason for him to try to save the man because he had no reason to live.

Unconsciously this thought made him ruthless and he proceeded swiftly. In his dream the man moaned but Sadao paid no heed except to mutter at him.

• Ruthless: harsh, merciless
• Moaned: made low, soft sounds due to pain
• Paid no heed: did not pay attention to

Sadao became ruthless and began working quickly. In his state of unconsciousness, the injured man moaned, but Sadao continued to work, unconcerned to the man's pain.

“Groan,” he muttered, “groan if you like. I am not doing this for my own pleasure. In fact, I do not know why I am doing it.”

Sadao told the injured man that he was free to cry out in agony. Sadao was unconcerned about the man's pain. He didn't want to operate on him and had no reason to do so.

The door opened and there was Hana again.

“Where is the anesthetic?” she asked in a clear voice.

Sadao motioned with his chin. “It is as well that you came back,” he said. “This fellow is beginning to stir.”

She had the bottle and some cotton in her hand.

“But how shall I do it?” she asked.

“Simply saturate the cotton and hold it near his nostrils,” Sadao replied without delaying for one moment the intricate detail of his work. “When he breathes badly move it away a little.”

• beginning to stir: gaining consciousness.
• Saturate: wet

Hana walked into the room and asked Sadao for the anaesthetic she needed to give to the injured man. Her voice was clear, indicating that she was now ready to assist him. Sadao moved his chin to direct her to the anaesthetic bottle. He went on to say that it was a good thing she came because the man had begun to become conscious and it was critical to sedate him. Hana was holding a bottle and some cotton in her hands. She inquired as to what she was supposed to do. He instructed her to apply anaesthetic to the cotton and place it near the man's nostril. He did not stop his delicate work and advised her to remove the cotton when the man began to breathe heavily.

She crouched close to the sleeping face of the young American. It was a piteously thin face, she thought, and the lips were twisted. The man was suffering whether he knew it or not. Watching him, she wondered if the stories they heard sometimes of the sufferings of prisoners were true. They came like flickers of rumour, told by word of mouth and always contradicted. In the newspapers the reports were always that wherever the Japanese armies went the people received them gladly, with cries of joy at their liberation. But sometimes she remembered such men as General Takima, who at home beat his wife cruelly, though no one mentioned it now that he had fought so victorious a battle in Manchuria. If a man like that could be so cruel to a woman in his power, would he not be cruel to one like this for instance?

• Crouched: sit in a squatting position
• piteously: causing you to feel sad and sympathetic
• by word of mouth: people tell it to each other rather than it being printed in written form. 
• Manchuria: Manchuria (Northeast China) is the homeland of the Manchu people. To the Chinese, the region is simply known as the Northeast. Manchuria is made up of China’s three north-eastern most provinces: Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang.

Hana sat in a squat and approached the sleeping American man's face. When she saw his thin face and twisted lips, she felt sad and sympathetic towards him. She was aware that he was in pain. She wondered if the stories she had heard about the torture inflicted on the prisoners were true. The stories spread like rumours when people told them to others. On the other hand, it was mentioned in the printed media, such as newspapers, that the Japanese army was welcomed wherever it went, and people praised it for their freedom. Hana recalled a Japanese army officer, General Takima, who was cruel to his wife and would beat her. No one mentioned it anymore because he had won the war in Manchuria. Hana reasoned that if a man could be cruel to his wife, he could also be cruel to the prisoners in his treatment.

She hoped anxiously that this young man had not been tortured. It was at this moment that she observed deep red scars on his neck, just under the ear.

• Scars: marks

Hana hoped he hadn't been tortured by the army. She had just noticed deep red coloured marks (injury marks) on his neck, under his ear.

“Those scars,” she murmured, lifting her eyes to Sadao. But he did not answer. At this moment he felt the tip of his instrument strike against something hard, dangerously near the kidney. All thought left him. He felt only the purest pleasure. He probed with his fingers, delicately, familiar with every atom of this human body. His old American professor of anatomy had seen to that knowledge. “Ignorance of the human body is the surgeon’s cardinal sin, sirs!” he had thundered at his classes year after year. “To operate without as complete knowledge of the body as if you had made it — anything less than that is murder.”

• Probed: searched
• Anatomy: the branch of science concerned with the bodily structure of humans, animals, and other living organisms, especially as revealed by dissection and the separation of parts.
• Cardinal: basic, first

Hana asked about the scars after mentioning them to Sadao. Sadao remained silent. At that precise moment, the tip of his instrument collided with something solid (the bullet). It was right next to the kidney. Sadao couldn't think of anything else. He was relieved to have found the bullet. He inserted his fingers into the wound. Sadao was well-versed in even the most minute details of the human anatomy. His anatomy professor in America had told them that ignoring knowledge of any part of the body was the first mistake a surgeon made. To operate on a body without having as much detailed knowledge of it as the person who makes it has would be equivalent to murdering that body. Sadao's professor would frequently repeat these words in class.

“It is not quite at the kidney, my friend,” Sadao murmured. It was his habit to murmur to the patient when he forgot himself in an operation. “My friend,” he always called his patients and so now he did, forgetting that this was his enemy.

Sadao approached the injured man and spoke with him. The bullet had just missed his kidney, he stated. Sadao would start talking to the patient when he became engrossed in the operation. He referred to the patient as "my friend." He also addressed the injured man as "my friend." He had forgotten that this man was not a friend, but an enemy.

Then quickly, with the cleanest and most precise of incisions, the bullet was out. The man quivered but he was still unconscious. Nevertheless, he muttered a few English words.

• Precise: accurate
• Incisions: surgical cuts
• Quivered: shivered, trembled
• Muttered: spoke

Sadao was lightning fast. He removed the bullet with a few surgical cuts on the body. The man shook in pain but remained unconscious. He uttered a few English words that expressed his suffering.

“Guts,” he muttered, choking. “They got…my guts…”

“Sadao!” Hana cried sharply.

“Hush,” Sadao said.

The man sank again into silence so profound that Sadao took up his wrist, hating the touch of it. Yes, there was still a pulse so faint, so feeble, but enough, if he wanted the man to live, to give hope.

• Guts: informal word for bravery and determination
• Profound: very great or intense
• Pulse: heartbeat
• Feeble: weak

The injured man choked and said, "Guts,"  "They got my Guts," He meant that he was brave and courageous, and that the Japanese army would have a difficult time punishing him. Hana cried out to Sadao when she heard him. Sadao told her to be quiet. Sadao checked his heartbeat by holding the man's wrist. He was checking to see if the man was still alive. His pulse was present, though it was very weak. Sadao believed it was sufficient for a person with a desire to live. There was still hope that the man would survive.

“But certainly I do not want this man to live,” he thought.

Sadao knew he didn't want the man to live.

“No more anesthetic,” he told Hana.

He turned as swiftly as though he had never paused and from his medicines he chose a small vial and from it filled a hypodermic and thrust it into the patient’s left arm. Then putting down the needle, he took the man’s wrist again. The pulse under his fingers fluttered once or twice and then grew stronger.

• Vial: a small container, typically cylindrical and made of glass, used especially for holding liquid medicines.
• Hypodermic: needle, syringe, injection
• Thrust: pushed
• Fluttered: trembled

Sadao intervened to prevent Hana from administering anaesthesia. He quickly turned and selected a small bottle from the medicines. He injected the vaccine into the man's left arm using a syringe filled with medicine. Sadao lowered the needle and grasped the man's wrist. The pulse shivered once or twice before returning to normal.

“This man will live in spite of all,” he said to Hana and sighed.

The young man woke, so weak, his blue eyes so terrified when he perceived where he was, that Hana felt compelled to apologise. She herself served him, for none of the servants would enter the room.

• Compelled: forced
• Apologise: feel sorry

Sadao inhaled deeply as he assured Hana that the injured man would survive. He awoke, his blue eyes filled with fear as he realised where he was. Hana felt bad for him. As the servants refused to enter the room where he was kept, she served him food.

When she came in the first time, she saw him summon his small strength to be prepared for some fearful thing.

• Summon: to gather

When Hana first met the injured man, she noticed that he was gaining strength and was terrified.

“Don’t be afraid,” she begged him softly.

“How come… you speak English…” he gasped.

“I was a long time in America,” she replied.

She saw that he wanted to reply to that but he could not, and so she knelt and fed him gently from the porcelain spoon. He ate unwillingly, but still he ate.

• Gasped: to catch one’s breathe due to astonishment
• Knelt: sat on her knees
• Porcelain: a white vitrified translucent ceramic also called china used for making utensils, pottery, etc.

 

Hana gently told the injured man not to be afraid. He was astounded that she could communicate in English. Hana responded that she had spent a long time in America. The man wanted to say more but was unable to do so. Hana fed him gently with a porcelain spoon. The man did not want to eat, but he did.

“Now you will soon be strong,” she said, not liking him and yet moved to comfort him.

He did not answer.

When Sadao came in the third day after the operation, he found the young man sitting up, his face bloodless with the effort.

“Lie down,” Sadao cried. “Do you want to die?”

He forced the man down gently and strongly and examined the wound. “You may kill yourself if you do this sort of thing,” he scolded.

“What are you going to do with me?” the boy muttered.

He looked just now barely seventeen. “Are you going to hand

me over?”

Hana fed the man and stated that he would grow strong soon. Despite the fact that she disliked him, she said so. The man did not respond.

Sadao paid the man a visit on the third day after the operation. The young boy was sitting, but his face was pale and weak from the effort he was making to sit. Sadao screamed at him and told him to lie down. He said that if the man overstressed himself, he would die. Sadao pushed him down and examined the wound he had operated on. He warned the man that if he tried to exert himself, he would die.

Sadao was asked what he was going to do with the boy now.

The boy appeared to be only seventeen years old. He asked Sadao whether he would hand him over to the Japanese army.

For a moment Sadao did not answer. He finished hisexamination and then pulled the silk quilt over the man.

“I do not know myself what I shall do with you,” he said. “I ought of course to give you to the police. You are a prisoner of war — no, do not tell me anything.” He put up his hand as he saw the young man was about to speak. “Do not even tell me your name unless I ask it.”

Sadao did not respond right away. He finished examining the boy and then covered the silk quilt over him.

Sadao admitted that he had no idea what to do with the boy. He went on to say that he was supposed to hand him over to the cops. He also revealed that he was aware of the boy's status as a prisoner of war. When Sadao noticed the boy about to speak, he raised his hand to tell him not to. Sadao asked him not to speak and not to reveal his name unless he specifically asked him to.

They looked at each other for a moment, and then the young man closed his eyes and turned his face to the wall. “Okay,” he whispered, his mouth a bitter line.

Outside the door Hana was waiting for Sadao. He saw at once that she was in trouble.

Sadao and the boy exchanged glances before the boy closed his eyes and faced the wall. He said okay in hushed tones, still hurt by Sadao's words.

Hana stood outside the door, waiting for Sadao. He noticed she was in some sort of trouble.

“Sadao, Yumi tells me the servants feel they cannot stay if we hide this man here any more,” she said. “She tells me that they are saying that you and I were so long in America that we have forgotten to think of our own country first. They think we like Americans.”

Hana told Sadao that Yumi had told her that if the American man stayed any longer, the servants would leave. She also stated that Sadao and Hana had been in America for so long that they had forgotten what was most important to their home country. Yumi and the servants assumed Hana and Sadao were fond of Americans.

“It is not true,” Sadao said harshly “Americans are our enemies. But I have been trained not to let a man die if I can help it.”

Sadao reacted angrily, stating that this was not true. He said that Americans were their enemies. He had been trained in such a way that he could not let a man die and would assist in any way he could to save him. Sadao had done exactly that.

“The servants cannot understand that,” she said anxiously.

“No,” he agreed.

Neither seemed able to say more, and somehow the household dragged on. The servants grew more watchful. Their courtesy was as careful as ever, but their eyes were cold upon the pair to whom they were hired.

Hana stated that the servants were baffled by Sadao's predicament.

This was something Sadao agreed on.

They both had nothing else to say. The household chores continued, but the servants remained vigilant. They were polite to their masters but unfriendly to them.

“It is clear what our master ought to do,” the old gardener said one morning. He had worked with flowers all his life, and had been a specialist too in moss. For Sadao’s father he had made one of the finest moss gardens in Japan, sweeping the bright green carpet constantly so that not a leaf or a pine needle marred the velvet of its surface. “My old master’s son knows very well what he ought to do,” he now said, pinching a bud from a bush as he spoke. “When the man was so near death why did he not let him bleed?”

• Moss: a very small soft green plant
• Pine needles: very thin, sharp leaves that grow on pine trees 
• Marred: spoiled

The old gardener stated one morning that it was obvious what their master should have done. The elderly gardener had spent his entire life working with flowers and specialising in moss. He had worked for Sadao's father. Sadao's father had one of the best moss gardens in Japan, thanks to the gardener. He'd sweep the bright green moss carpet clean so that the sharp pine tree leaves wouldn't ruin the soft velvety surface. He plucked a flower bud from the bush while saying that his master's son, Sadao, knew exactly what he needed to do. He went on to say that when the man was nearly dead, he should have left him to bleed to death.

“That young master is so proud of his skill to save life that he saves any life,” the cook said contemptuously. She split a fowl’s neck skillfully and held the fluttering bird and let its blood flow into the roots of a wistaria vine. Blood is the best of fertilisers, and the old gardener would not let her waste a drop of it.

• Contemptuously: disrespectfully
• Wistaria wine: a flowering plant used for decoration

The cook stated arrogantly that their master was so proud of his ability to save lives that he didn't care whose life he was saving. She expertly cut the neck of a hen and held the shivering bird. She let the hen's blood flow into the wisteria plant. The old gardener had told her that blood was the best fertiliser for plants and that she should not waste a single drop of it.

“It is the children of whom we must think,” Yumi said sadly. “What will be their fate if their father is condemned as a traitor?”

• Traitor: a person who betrays his country

Yumi was concerned about Sadao and Hana's children. She wondered if they would be labelled as the children of a traitor when they grew up. Sadao would be considered an enemy of Japan and a traitor to his country because he was assisting an American.

They did not try to hide what they said from the ears of Hana as she stood arranging the day’s flowers in the veranda near by, and she knew they spoke on purpose that she might hear. That they were right she knew too in most of her being. But there was another part of her which she herself could not understand. It was not sentimental liking of the prisoner. She had come to think of him as a prisoner. She had not liked him even yesterday when he had said in his impulsive way, “Anyway, let me tell you that my name is Tom.” She had only bowed her little distant bow. She saw hurt in his eyes but she did not wish to assuage it. Indeed, he was a great trouble in this house.

• Impulsive: sudden, thoughtless
• Assuage: decrease, reduce

The servants discussed the matter in her presence as Hana stood on the verandah arranging the flowers, as they wanted her to know their thoughts on the matter. Hana agreed with the servants, but she had some feelings for the injured man that she couldn't explain. She disliked the Prisoner and had no feelings for him. The injured man had told her the day before that his name was Tom. Hana didn't like him either at the time. She had reacted by gently bowing her head. She recognised that her reaction had caused the injured man pain, but she refused to relieve the pain she had caused him because the injured man was a major source of frustration for her. His presence posed a danger to Hana and Sadao.

As for Sadao, every day he examined the wound carefully. The last stitches had been pulled out this morning, and the young man would, in a fortnight be nearly as well as ever. Sadao went back to his office and carefully typed a letter to the Chief of police reporting the whole matter. “On the twenty-first day of February an escaped prisoner was washed up on the shore in front of my house.” So far he typed and then he opened a secret drawer of his desk and put the unfinished report into it.

Sadao was doing an excellent job in his role. Every day, he would examine the wound. The last stitches were removed from the injured man's body one morning, and he would be as good as new in the next 15 days. Meanwhile, Sadao went to his office and wrote a letter to the police chief, informing him of the entire situation. Sadao began his report by stating that on February 21st, an escaped prisoner washed up on the shore in front of his house. Sadao had just finished typing this section of the report. He opened his desk drawer and placed this unfinished report inside.

On the seventh day after that, two things happened. In the morning the servants left together, their belongings tied in large square cotton kerchiefs. When Hana got up in the morning nothing was done, the house not cleaned and the food not prepared, and she knew what it meant. She was dismayed and even terrified, but her pride as a mistress would not allow her to show it. Instead, she inclined her head gracefully when they appeared before her in the kitchen, and she paid them off and thanked them for all that they had done for her. They were crying, but she did not cry. The cook and the gardener had served Sadao since he was a little boy in his father’s house, and Yumi cried because of the children. She was so grieving that after she had gone she ran back to Hana.

• Kerchief: square piece of cloth
• Dismayed: shocked
• Mistress: a woman in a position of authority or control
• Inclined: bent towards one side
• Grieving: in a state of sadness

Two things happened on the seventh day after that. The house servants left early in the morning. They had tied their belongings in large swaths of cloth. When Hana awoke in the morning, she found that the work had not been completed – the house was filthy, and the food had not been prepared. She realised the servants were up to no good. She was shocked and horrified to learn that the servants were leaving. Hana did not show her emotions to the servants, instead remaining calm and graceful as the lady of the house. She paid the servants and expressed gratitude for their assistance. The servants were crying because they had been working there for many years, but Hana did not. The cook and gardener were both elderly employees. They were employed by Sadao's father and had served Sadao since he was a child. Yumi was crying because she was going to miss the kids. She was so sad that she ran up to her after she had left.

“If the baby misses me too much tonight, send for me. I am going to my own house and you know where it is.”

“Thank you,” Hana said smiling. But she told herself she would not send for Yumi however the baby cried.

Yumi told Hana that if the baby needed her in the middle of the night, she could call her. She went on to say that she was going to her own house, and Hana knew exactly where she was going. Hana smiled and thanked her for the offer, but she told herself that if the baby cried, she would not call Yumi.

She made the breakfast and Sadao helped with the children. Neither of them spoke of the servants beyond the fact that they were gone. But after Hana had taken morning food to the prisoner, she came back to Sadao.

The next morning, Hana prepared breakfast while Sadao helped her by looking after the children. They didn't talk about the servants, but after Hana served the morning food to the Prisoner of war, she returned to Sadao, most likely to talk about something.

“Why is it we cannot see clearly what we ought to do?” she asked him. “Even the servants see more clearly than we do. Why are we different from other Japanese?”

Hana was concerned, and she wondered why they couldn't agree on what they should do. She went on to say that even their servants were more clear than them. She questioned why they were acting differently than other Japanese people. Hana wanted to say that because Americans were their enemies, they should not have treated that prisoner of war and should have let him die as any other Japanese would.

Sadao did not answer. But a little later he went into the room where the prisoner was and said brusquely, “Today you may get up on your feet. I want you to stay up only five minutes at a time. Tomorrow you may try it twice as long. It would be well that you get back your strength as quickly as possible.”

• Briskly: quickly

Sadao did not respond to Hana, but after a while he went into the room where the Prisoner of War was resting and spoke very quickly. He said that that the man would be able to get up and stand on his own the next day. Sadao had told him that he could only stand for 5 minutes at a time. He made a point of saying that the next day he could try to stand for double the time, which is 10 minutes. Sadao also stated that it would be beneficial to everyone if the man regained his strength as soon as possible. Sadao hinted that they wanted to get rid of the American as soon as possible because he had become a cause of trouble for them.

He saw the flicker of terror on the young face that was still very pale. “Okay,” the boy murmured. Evidently he was determined to say more. “I feel I ought to thank you, Doctor, for having saved my life.”

Sadao noticed that his words expressed a look of terror and fright on the young boy's face. Because he was so weak, his face was still very pale and colourless. The boy said, "Okay," in low voices. He appeared to want to say more, but all he said was that he wanted to thank Sadao for saving his life.

“Don’t thank me too early,” Sadao said coldly. He saw the flicker of terror again in the boy’s eyes — terror as unmistakable as an animal’s. The scars on his neck were crimson for a moment. Those scars! What were they? Sadao did not ask.

• Crimson: bright red colour

Sadao's face was expressionless as he stated that the boy did not need to thank him just yet. As he said this, he noticed that the boy's eyes were once again filled with fear. The writer compares the terrified boy's eyes to those of a scared animal. For a time, the boy's injury marks on his neck turned a bright red colour. Sadao wondered what had caused those injury marks, but he did not question the boy about them.

In the afternoon the second thing happened. Hana, working hard on unaccustomed labour, saw a messenger come to the door in official uniform. Her hands went weak and she could not draw her breath. The servants must have told already. She ran to Sadao, gasping, unable to utter a word. But by then the messenger had simply followed her through the garden and there he stood. She pointed at him helplessly.

• Unaccustomed labour: not used to perform hard work
• Gasping: struggling to breathe, unable to speak

The second incident occurred in the afternoon of that day. Hana was preoccupied with household tasks now that the servants had left. She was suddenly required to do all of the work that she was not used to. She was exhausted. She noticed that a messenger in an official uniform had arrived at the house. When she saw him, her hands went into shock and she couldn't breathe. This was due to her belief that the servants had informed the authorities that they were sheltering an enemy. Hana rushed up to Sadao, struggling to breathe. She couldn't say anything. The Messenger had followed her through the garden by that point and was now standing in front of Sadao. Hana felt helpless and pointed her finger at the Messenger.

Sadao looked up from his book. He was in his office, the other partition of which was thrown open to the garden for the southern sunshine.

• Southern sunshine: the door of the office which opened into the garden faced the South direction. This means that the sunshine which entered the office was not direct and bright instead it was a shady sunshine.

Sadao was reading a book when he noticed Hana and looked up. He was sitting in his office, which was divided by a partition. The part of the office beyond the partition opened onto the garden, which was flooded with shady sunlight.

“What is it?” he asked the messenger and then he rose, seeing the man’s uniform.

Sadao asked the messenger as to the reason for his visit. When he noticed the Messenger was dressed in a uniform, he stood up in respect.

“You are to come to the palace,” the man said. “The old General is in pain again.”

Sadao was supposed to accompany him to the palace, according to the Messenger. He went on to say that the old general was in pain and that Sadao was supposed to visit him and treat him as a doctor.

“Oh,” Hana breathed, “is that all?”

“All?” the messenger exclaimed.

“Is it not enough?”

“Indeed it is,” she replied. “I am very sorry.”

Hannah was relieved when she heard this and said, "oh." With that, she took a deep breath and asked if that was all the Messenger had come for. "All?" said the messenger in response. He couldn't figure out what else he was supposed to be visiting the house for. He asked if that wasn't enough, and if they needed any other reason for him to pay them a visit. Hana apologised for her reaction and stated that the reason was sufficient for the messenger to pay them a visit. She didn't need another reason for him to pay them a visit.

When Sadao came to say goodbye, she was in the kitchen, but doing nothing. The children were asleep and she sat merely resting for a moment, more exhausted from her fright than from work.

Sadao went to Hana to say his goodbyes because he had to accompany the Messenger. Hana was in the kitchen but didn't seem to be doing anything. Hana was resting after the children had gone to bed. She was more tired from the terror of seeing the messenger than from doing the household chores.

“I thought they had come to arrest you”, she said.

Hana told Sadao that she had assumed the messenger had come to arrest him.

He gazed down into her anxious eyes. “I must get rid of this man for your sake,” he said in distress. “Somehow I must get rid of him.”

Sadao studied Hana's worried expression. He was depressed and distressed, and he stated that he needed to get rid of the man for her sake. He went on to say that he had to get rid of the man any way he could.

(Sadao goes to see the General)

Sadao accompanied the messenger to the general's residence.

“Of course,” the General said weakly, “I understandfully. But that is because, I once took a degree in Princeton.So few Japanese have.”

• Indispensable: necessary

Sadao told the general the entire storey. The weak general stated that he understood Sadao's position because he had also studied in America at Princeton University, but there were only a few Japanese who had done so.

“I care nothing for the man, Excellency,” Sadao said, “but having operated on him with such success…”

“Yes, yes” the General said. “It only makes me feel you more indispensable to me. Evidently you can save anyone— you are so skilled. You say you think I can stand one more such attack as I have had today?”

“Not more than one,” Sadao said.

Sadao replied to the general that he did not care for the American man, but that he had successfully operated on him. The general cut him off and said, "yes, yes." Sadao, he felt, was a necessary part of his life. The general thought Sadao was very skilled because he had been successful in operating on the man. The general asked whether Sadao believed the general had a chance of surviving another heart attack like the one he had that day. Sadao responded that the general, in his opinion, could not survive more than one such heart attack.

“Then certainly I can allow nothing to happen to you, ”the General said with anxiety. His long pale Japanese face became expressionless, which meant that he was in deep thought. “You cannot be arrested,” the General said, closing his eyes. “Suppose you were condemned to death and the next day I had to have my operation?”

In that case, the general stated, he could not allow anything to happen to Sadao. He wanted to say that Sadao was important to him and that he would protect him. Because he was worried about Sadao being arrested, the general's long, weak yellowish face became expressionless. He became solemn, closed his eyes at the prospect of Sadao's arrest, and declared that Sadao could not be arrested. He went on to say that if Sadao was sentenced to death and needed an operation the next day, who would operate on him? So the general wanted to say that he needed Sadao and that he would protect him and ensure that nothing bad happened to him.

“There are other surgeons, Excellency,” Sadao suggested. “None I trust,” the General replied. “The best ones have been trained by Germans and would consider the operation successful even if I died. I do not care for their point of view.” He sighed. “It seems a pity that we cannot better combine the German ruthlessness with the American sentimentality. Then you could turn your prisoner over to execution and yet I could be sure you would not murder me while I was unconscious.” The General laughed. He had an unusual sense of humour. “As a Japanese, could you not combine these two foreign elements?” he asked.

• ruthlessness: harshness
• sentimentality: being emotional
• execution: legal punishment
• peculiar: strange

Sadao suggested the general that there were numerous other surgeons in Japan. The general responded that he did not trust anyone but Sadao. He went on to say that the Germans had trained the best surgeons, and that the operation would be successful even if the general died. He didn't agree with their point of view. The general went on to say that the Japanese were unable to combine the harsh nature of the Germans with the emotional nature of the Americans. So the general wanted to say that they didn't have anyone who could combine the harshness of a German with the emotionality of an American. He stated that if they had been able to do so, Sadao could have been harsh and turned the prisoner over to the Japanese while also being emotional and not murdering the general during the operation. The general laughed at this. According to the author, the general had an odd sense of humour. He was very witty. Then he asked Sadao if, as a Japanese, he couldn't combine these two foreign elements. As a result, the general is referring to the harsh nature of a German and the emotional nature of an American.

Sadao smiled. “I am not quite sure,” he said, “but for your sake I would be willing to try, Excellency.”

Sadao responded to the general's question with a smile, saying he wasn't sure, but he was willing to give it a try for his own good.

The General shook his head. “I had rather not be the test case,” he said.

The general shook his head, knowing that he did not want to be the subject of a new trial.

He felt suddenly weak and overwhelmed with the cares of his life as an official in times such as these when repeated victory brought great responsibilities all over the south Pacific.

• Overwhelmed: full of emotions
• Cares of his life: problems and responsibilities that he faced during his life
• South pacific: the part of the Pacific Ocean that lies in the southern hemisphere.

Suddenly, the general felt weak and emotional as he was reminded of the difficulties he had encountered throughout his life while carrying out his duties and responsibilities in various wars won by Japan.

“It is very unfortunate that this man should have washed up on your doorstep,” he said irritably.

“I feel it so myself,” Sadao said gently.

The general was irritated and stated that the injured man's arrival at his house was an unfortunate occurrence.

Sadao agreed with him.

“It would be best if he could be quietly killed,” the General said. “Not by you, but by someone who does not know him. I have my own private assassins. Suppose I send two of them to your house tonight or better, any night. You need know nothing about it. It is now warm — what would be more natural than that you should leave the outer partition of the white man’s room open to the garden while he sleeps?”

• Assassins: professional killers

According to the general, the best solution was to kill the man quietly. He went on to say that he would not be killed by Sadao, but by his hired assassins. He'd send two assassins to Sadao's house that night, or any night. Sadao didn't need to be aware of it. He wanted Sadao to act naturally and keep the door of the man's room's outer partition open as the weather was warm at the time. Because it opened into the garden, the killers would have easy access while the man was sleeping.

“Certainly it would be very natural,” Sadao agreed. “Infact, it is so left open every night.”

Sadao agreed that the idea appeared natural. He went on to say that they did leave the outer partition door open at night.

“Good,” the General said, yawning. “They are very capable assassins — they make no noise and they know the trick of inward bleeding. If you like I can even have them remove the body.”

The general had enough of the talk and yawned to show his disinterest. That, he said, was a good thing. He remarked that the assassins were experts because they made no noise and killed the victim in such a way that he bled on the inside. There would be no traces of blood anywhere on his body. If Sadao so desired, he would even ask  that the dead body be removed.

Sadao considered. “That perhaps would be best, Excellency,” he agreed, thinking of Hana.

Sadao thought about Hana and agreed that it would be perfect.

He left the General’s presence then and went home, thinking over the plan. In this way the whole thing would be taken out of his hands. He would tell Hana nothing, since she would be timid at the idea of assassins in the house, and yet certainly such persons were essential in an absolute state such as Japan was. How else could rulers deal with those who opposed them?

• Timid: showing lack of courage or confidence
• Absolute state: a state run by kings having total powers

Sadao returned home, and on the way, he kept thinking about the plan he and the general had planned. He reasoned that by doing so, he would avoid being involved in the death of that American. He intended not to tell Hana anything about this plan. Hana didn't like the idea of hired killers coming at their door, but such people were necessary in a place like Japan. It was the rulers' only option for dealing with their opponents.

He refused to allow anything but reason to be the atmosphere of his mind as he went into the room where the American was in bed. But as he opened the door, to his surprise he found the young man out of bed, and preparing to go into the garden.

• Reason: an idea backed by common sense

Sadao didn't think anything as he entered the room where the American man was sleeping. He was surprised to see the man out of his bed. He was getting ready to leave for the garden.

“What is this!” he exclaimed. “Who gave you permission to leave your room?”

Sadao was shocked when he asked who had given him permission to stand and walk.

“I’m not used to waiting for permission,” Tom said gaily. “Gosh, I feel pretty good again! But will the muscles on this side always feel stiff?”

Tom was overjoyed and stated that he was not in the habit of seeking permission before doing anything. He stated that he felt better, but that the muscles on his sides were stiff and rigid.

“Is it so?” Sadao inquired, surprised. He forgot all else. “Now I thought I had provided against that,” he murmured. He lifted the edge of the man’s shirt and gazed at the healing scar. “Massage may do it,” he said, “if exercise does not.”

Sadao was surprised when he heard that. He forgot about his work and said  that he had have warned the man not to stand and walk. He lifted the man's shirt to examine the scar. He said that if exercise did not heal it, massage could.

“It won’t bother me much,” the young man said. His young face was gaunt under the stubbly blond beard. “Say, Doctor, I’ve got something I want to say to you. If I hadn’t meta Jap like you — well, I wouldn’t be alive today. I know that.”

Sadao bowed but he could not speak.

• Gaunt: gloomy, weak
• Stubbly: unshaven, bearded
• Blond: light – coloured, yellowish colour

The scar, according to the man, would not bother him. His bearded, young face was frail. He thanked Sadao and stated that he would have died if he hadn't reached Sadao that day.

“Sure, I know that,” Tom went on warmly. His big thin hands gripping a chair were white at the knuckles. “I guess if all the Japs were like you there wouldn’t have been a war.”

• Gripping: holding tightly

Tom added that he was certain of it. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the chair tightly with his thin hands. This indicated that he was still weak and hadn't fully recovered. Tom went on to say that if all Japanese people had been like Sadao, the war would not have happened.

“Perhaps,” Sadao said with difficulty. “And now I think you had better go back to bed.”

Sadao stated that it was possible. He went on to say that the man should go to bed.

He helped the boy back into bed and then bowed. “Goodnight,” he said.

He assisted the man in getting into bed, bowed to him, and said "goodnight."

Sadao slept badly that night. Time and time again he woke, thinking he heard the rustling of footsteps, the sound of a twig broken or a stone displaced in the garden — a noise such as men might make who carried a burden.

• Rustling: the sound made by footsteps
• Twig: branch of tree
• Burden: here, it refers to a dead body.

Sadao was restless all night, convinced that the hired killers were out to kill the man. He imagined hearing footsteps, branches breaking, and stones moving as men walked on them, and he imagined hearing such a noise indicating that some men were carrying the American's dead body. All of his worry kept him awake.

The next morning, he made the excuse to go first into the guest room. If the American were gone he then could simply tell Hana that so the General had directed. But when he opened the door he saw at once that there on the pillow was the shaggy blond head. He could hear the peaceful breathing of sleep and he closed the door again quietly.

• Shaggy: hairy

Sadao made an excuse to go into the American man's room first thing in the morning. He had planned to tell Hana that if the man was gone, the general had ordered him to be removed from there. When he opened the door, he saw a man with a lot of yellowish hair asleep. The sound of his breathing was audible to him. Sadao shut the door of the room.

“He is asleep,” he told Hana. “He is almost well to sleep like that.”

Sadao told Hana that the man was sleeping. He went on to say that he was fine now and didn't need to sleep like that anymore.

“What shall we do with him?” Hana whispered her old refrain.

Sadao shook his head. “I must decide in a day or two,” he promised.

• Refrain: a sound that is repeated time and again

Hana asked once more with Sadao about what they should do with the man. Sadao shook his head and promised her he'd make a decision in one or two days.

But certainly, he thought, the second night must be the night. There rose a wind that night, and he listened to the sounds of bending boughs and whistling partitions.

• Boughs: branches of trees
• Partitions: structures dividing a room into parts

Sadao thought that the assassins might come up the next night. The night was breezy. He could hear the sounds made by the branches as they bent in the wind, and the whistling sound made by the partitions as the wind passed through them.

Hana woke too. “Ought we not to go and close the sickman’s partition?” she asked.

Hana awoke and asked whether they should close the partition door to the man's room.

“No,” Sadao said. “He is able now to do it for himself.”

Sadao refused, saying that the man was capable of doing it himself.

But the next morning the American was still there.

The American man was still in the room the next morning.

Then the third night of course must be the night. The wind changed to quiet rain and the garden was full of the sound of dripping eaves and running springs. Sadao slept a little better, but he woke at the sound of a crash and leaped to his feet.

• Eaves: part of the roof that meets or overhangs the wall of a building

Sadao was hoping they'd come up on the third night. That night, instead of wind, there was rain. Water dripped down the roof and tiny rivulets flowed through the garden, making a lot of noise. Sadao sleep shortly and jumped when he heard a loud noise.

“What was that?” Hana cried. The baby woke at her voice and began to wail. “I must go and see.”

 But he held her and would not let her move.

 “Sadao,” she cried, “what is the matter with you?”

 “Don’t go,” he muttered, “don’t go!”

His terror infected her and she stood breathless, waiting. There was only silence. Together they crept back into the bed, the baby between them.

• Wail: cry loudly
• Infected: affected
• Crept: crawled

Hana was concerned when she heard a loud crash and inquired as to what it was. The baby also awoke and began crying. Sadao stopped Hana from going to check on it. Hana screamed at him and demanded to know what was wrong. Sadao asked her not to leave and spoke slowly. He was terrified, and his terror had an effect on Hana as well. She stood there, not breathing, and waited. There was silence, and they both crawled back into bed, the baby on the bed in between them.

Yet when he opened the door of the guest room in the morning there was the young man. He was very gay and had already washed and was now on his feet. He had asked for a razor yesterday and had shaved himself and today there was a faint colour in his cheeks.

• Gay: happy
• Washed: bathed
• there was a faint colour in his cheeks: his pale yellow coloured cheeks were turning pinkish in colour which indicated that he was recovering.

Sadao went into the guest room in the morning and saw the man there. He was cheerful, had taken a bath, and had begun to move around. He'd borrowed a razor from Sadao the day before and shaved his beard. His cheeks were slightly pinkish, indicating that he was recovering and regaining his health.

“I am well,” he said joyously.

The man cheerfully announced that he was fine.

Sadao drew his kimono round his weary body. He could not, he decided suddenly, go through another night. It was not that he cared for this young man’s life. No, simply it was not worth the strain.

• Weary: tired
• Strain: stress

Sadao wrapped his tired body in a traditional Japanese gown. He was exhausted because his curiosity had kept him awake for two nights in a row. He decided that he couldn't spend another night like this. He was unconcerned about the man's life, but the stress and anxiety were too much for him.

“You are well,” Sadao agreed. He lowered his voice. “You are so well that I think if I put my boat on the shore tonight, with food and extra clothing in it, you might be able to row to that little island not far from the coast. It is so near the coast that it has not been worth fortifying. Nobody lives on it because in storm it is submerged. But this is not the season of storm. You could live there until you saw a Korean fishing boat pass by. They pass quite near the island because the water is many fathoms deep there.”

• Fortifying: putting security at a place
• Submerged: here, sink into the sea
• Fathom: a unit of measuring the depth of the sea.

Sadao told the man that he was fine now. He said, with a low voice, that he was strong enough to sail a boat. Sadao figured that if he rigged up a boat and stocked it with food and extra clothing, the man would be able to row it to a nearby island. The island had not been guarded because it was so close to the coast. It was uninhabited because it sank into the sea during storms. Because it was not storm season at the time, the man could live on the island until he saw a Korean fishing boat pass by. Because the sea was so deep near the island, Korean fishing boats passed by.

The young man stared at him, slowly comprehending. “Do I have to?” he asked.

“I think so,” Sadao said gently. “You understand — it is not hidden that you are here.”

The young man nodded in perfect comprehension. “Okay,” he said simply.

• Comprehending: understanding
• Nodded: lower and raise one’s head slightly and briefly, especially in greeting, assent, or understanding, or to give someone a signal.

Sadao's words were understood by the young man, who stared at him. He asked whether it was necessary for him to do so. Sadao begged him to understand that the man's presence in his home was known to everyone. The young man agreed and said, "Okay." He nodded, indicating his acceptance.

Sadao did not see him again until evening. As soon as it was dark he had dragged the stout boat down to the shore and in it he put food and bottled water that he had bought secretly during the day, as well as two quilts he had bought at a pawnshop. The boat he tied to a post in the water, for the tide was high. There was no moon and he worked without a flashlight.

• Dragged: pulled
• Stout: fat, big
• Pawnshop:  a store that lends money in exchange for a valuable thing that they can sell if the person leaving it does not pay an agreed amount of money by an agreed time
• Post: pole
• Flashlight: torch

Sadao left and didn't see the young man again until the evening. He made plans for him during the day. Sadao drew a large boat to the shore as it began to get dark. He filled it with food and bottled water that he had purchased secretly earlier in the day. He stored two quilts in it. He'd gotten them from a pawnshop. He tied the boat to a pole because there was a high tide in the sea. Sadao was working without a torch on a dark, moonless night. He didn't want anyone to notice him.

When he came to the house he entered as though he were just back from his work, and so Hana knew nothing. “Yumi was here today,” she said as she served his supper. Though she was so modern, still she did not eat with him. “Yumi cried over the baby,” she went on with a sigh. “She misses him so.”

• Supper: an evening meal, typically a light or informal one.
• Modern: relating to the present or recent times as opposed to the remote past.

Sadao pretended to be home from work when he arrived, so Hana didn't suspect anything. Hana served him dinner and explained that Yumi had come to see them that day because she missed the baby so much. Yumi, despite being modern, did not eat with Sadao.

“The servants will come back as soon as the foreigner is gone,” Sadao said.

Sadao says that the servants would return as soon as the American man left.

He went into the guest room that night before he went to bed himself and checked carefully the American’s temperature, the state of the wound, and his heart and pulse. The pulse was irregular but that was perhaps because of excitement. The young man’s pale lips were pressed together and his eyes burned. Only the scars on his neck were red.

• Pulse: heartbeat

Sadao paid a visit to the man before going to bed that night. He examined his body temperature, wound, heart, and heartbeat. Because he was about to leave their house, his heartbeat was irregular. The man's lips were pressed together, and his eyes were a bright red colour, as if they were on fire. His scars on his neck were still red because they hadn't healed.

“I realise you are saving my life again,” he told Sadao. “Not at all,” Sadao said. “It is only inconvenient to have you here any longer.”

The young man told Sadao that he was once again saving his life. Sadao stated that this was not the case. He was sending him because he could no longer keep him.

He had hesitated a good deal about giving the man a flashlight. But he had decided to give it to him after all. It was a small one, his own, which he used at night when he was called.

• Hesitated: paused in indecision before saying or doing something.

Sadao was hesitant to give him a torch because he was afraid the man would mishandle it and get himself into trouble. Finally, he gave him his own torch, which he used to attend to patients late at night.

“If your food runs out before you catch a boat,” he said, “signal me two flashes at the same instant the sun drops over the horizon. Do not signal in darkness, for it will be seen. If you are all right but still there, signal me once. You will find fresh fish easy to catch but you must eat them raw. A fire would be seen.”

“Okay,” the young man breathed.

• Runs out: finishes
• Sun drops: the Sun sets
• Horizon: the line at which the earth’s surface and the sky appear to meet, skyline
• Raw: uncooked

Sadao gave the man instructions. He stated that if his food supply ran out before he could find a Korean fishing boat, he could signal him with two flashes of the torch at dusk. He cautioned him not to signal when it was dark because light was more visible in the dark than at dusk. He went on to say that the man could catch fish in the sea near the island, but he had to eat them raw. He wasn't supposed to cook it because the guards would spot it and put him in danger. When he heard the instructions, he took a deep breath and said, "okay."

He was dressed now in the Japanese clothes which Sadao had given him, and at the last moment Sadao wrapped a black cloth about his blond head.

“Now,” Sadao said.

Sadao had given the man a traditional Japanese outfit to wear. Sadao finally wrapped a black cloth around his head to hide his golden hair.

The young American, without a word, shook Sadao’s hand warmly, and then walked quite well across the floor and down the step into the darkness of the garden. Once — twice… Sadao saw his light flash to find his way. But that would not be suspected. He waited until from the shore there was one more flash. Then he closed the partition. That night he slept.

• Suspected: doubted

As he walked away towards the boat, the American man shook Sadao's hand. He used the torch twice to find his way around, but the guards were not fooled. Sadao waited until the man boarded the boat again and saw the torch light. Sadao shut the partition door and slept soundly that night, relieved that he had finally gotten rid of the man.

“You say the man escaped?” the General asked faintly. He had been operated upon a week before, an emergency operation to which Sadao had been called in the night. For twelve hours Sadao had not been sure the General would live. The gall bladder was much involved.

• Gall bladder: the small sac-shaped organ beneath the liver, in which bile is stored after secretion by the liver and before release into the intestine.

A week ago, the general was operated on in an emergency in which Sadao assisted. Sadao informed him that the man had escaped. The general was in poor health as he recovered from the operation. His condition was critical for twelve hours after the operation, and Sadao was unsure if he would survive. They had operated on his gallbladder.

Then the old man had begun to breathe deeply again and to demand food. Sadao had not been able to ask about the assassins. So far as he knew they had never come. The servants had returned and Yumi had cleaned the guest room thoroughly and had burned sulphur in it to get the white man’s smell out of it. Nobody said anything. Only the gardener was cross because he had got behind with his chrysanthemums.

• Sulphur: a chemical element used as a disinfectant
• Cross: angry, disappointed
• Chrysanthemum: a flower 

The general was an elderly gentleman. He gradually resumed eating and breathing deeply after the operation. Sadao lacked the courage to ask him what had happened to the professional killers he had promised to send to kill the American. Sadao was well aware that the assassins never appeared. Things returned to normal at Sadao's house. Yumi used Sulphur to disinfect the room used by the American man after the servants returned. The servants remained silent. The gardener was irritated because he had been delayed in planting the chrysanthemum flowers as a result of this incident.

But after a week Sadao felt the General was well enough to be spoken to about the prisoner.

“Yes, Excellency, he escaped,” Sadao now said. He coughed, signifying that he had not said all he might have said, but was unwilling to disturb the General further. But the old man opened his eyes suddenly.

After a week, Sadao felt confident enough in the general to discuss the man with him. Sadao stated that the man had escaped. Sadao coughed, indicating that he had not told him everything because he did not want to bother him. When he heard about the American man, the general was reminded of his promise to send professional killers, and he opened his eyes suddenly.

“That prisoner,” he said with some energy, “did I not promise you I would kill him for you?”

The general was reminded of his promise and asked Sadao if he had not promised to have that man murdered by his personal professional killers.

“You did, Excellency,” Sadao said.

“Well, well!” the old man said in a tone of amazement, “so I did! But you see, I was suffering a good deal. The truth is, I thought of nothing but myself. In short, I forgot my promise to you.”

• Amazement: surprise

Sadao responded that he had made a promise to him. The general was taken aback and stated that because he was ill, he had forgotten about the promise he had made.

“I wondered, Your Excellency,” Sadao murmured.

“It was certainly very careless of me,” the General said. “But you understand it was not lack of patriotism or dereliction of duty.” He looked anxiously at his doctor. “If the matter should come out you would understand that, wouldn’t you?”

• Patriotism: love for one’s country
• Dereliction: failure to perform one’s duty

Sadao said softly that he wondered that the general had forgotten his promise.

The general was sorry for his carelessness. He went on to say that it wasn't because he didn't like Japan or because he was avoiding his responsibilities. He looked at Sadao with interest as he sought his assistance. He wondered if Sadao understood his problem.

“Certainly, Your Excellency,” Sadao said. He suddenly comprehended that the General was in the palm of his hand and that as a consequence he himself was perfectly safe. “I can swear to your loyalty, Excellency,” he said to the old General, “and to your zeal against the enemy.”

• the General was in the palm of his hand: he had control of the general
• consequence: result
• zeal: great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective

Sadao stated that he truly understood the general's position. He realised the general was under his control, and Sadao was safe as a result. Sadao stated that he could swear on the general's loyalty to Japan and eagerness to fight the enemy.

“You are a good man,” the General murmured and closed his eyes.” “You will be rewarded.”

But Sadao, searching the spot of black in the twilighted sea that night, had his reward. There was no prick of light in the dusk. No one was on the island. His prisoner was gone — safe, doubtless, for he had warned him to wait only for a Korean fishing boat.

• Twilighted: at the time of twilight i.e. sunset or sunrise.
• Prick: slightest amount
• Dusk: the time of sunset

Sadao, according to the general, was a good man. He closed his eyes and promised Sadao that he would be rewarded for his good deeds.

Sadao received his reward when he looked towards the island at dusk and saw no trace of torch light. This meant that the American man had found a Korean fishing boat and had safely returned home with it. Sadao had no doubts because he had told the man to wait for a Korean fishing boat.

He stood for a moment on the veranda, gazing out to the sea from whence the young man had come that other night. And into his mind, although without reason, there came other white faces he had known — the professor at whose house he had met Hana, a dull man, and his wife had been a silly talkative woman, in spite of her wish to be kind. He remembered his old teacher of anatomy, who had been so insistent on mercy with the knife, and then he remembered the face of his fat and slatternly landlady. He had had great difficulty in finding a place to live in America because he was a Japanese. The Americans were full of prejudice and it had been bitter to live in it, knowing himself their superior. How he had despised the ignorant and dirty old woman who had at last consented to house him in her

miserable home! He had once tried to be grateful to her because she had in his last year nursed him through influenza, but it was difficult, for she was no less repulsive to him in her kindness. Now he remembered the youthful, haggard face of his prisoner — white and repulsive.

“Strange,” he thought. “I wonder why I could not kill him?”

• Whence: where
• Anatomy: the branch of science concerned with the bodily structure of humans, animals, and other living organisms, especially as revealed by dissection and the separation of parts.
• Slatternly: dirty, untidy
• Prejudice: preconceived idea or opinion
• Bitter: unpleasant
• Despised: hated
• Miserable: in poor condition
• Grateful: thankful
• Nursed him: taken care of him
• Influenza: a highly contagious viral infection of the respiratory passages causing fever
• Repulsive: awful, terrible
• Haggard: looking exhausted and unwell, especially from fatigue, worry, or suffering.

Sadao stood on the veranda, recognising on the events of the past. He looked out at the sea, where the man had arrived that night. He had flashbacks of all the Americans he'd met in his life, including the boring professor at whose house he met Hana, his silly, talkative wife who was very kind. He remembered his anatomy teacher teaching them how to cut open the body with a knife. Then he remembered the fat, disorganised landlady. As a Japanese, he had had a difficult time finding a place to live in America. He hated living there, knowing that the Japanese were superior to the Americans but still being treated as second-class citizens. Sadao disliked the filthy old woman who finally agreed to let him live in her bad condition house. Sadao tried to be grateful to her because she had taken care of him when he became ill with influenza during his final year in America. Sadao found it difficult to be grateful to her because he hated her despite her kindness to him. Sadao hated her so much that even her kindness did not make him like her. Finally, Sadao remembered the American prisoner's weak face – it was white and terrible.

Sadao found it strange that he couldn't kill his enemy.

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