Oliver Twist - Henry Quinson

Oliver Twist
"Please, sir, I want some more"
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The room in which the boys were fed was a large stone hall, with a copper1 at one end, out of which
the master, dressed in an apron for the purpose2, and assisted by one or two women, ladled3 the gruel at
meal-times; of which composition each boy had one porringer, and no more – except on festive occasions,
and then he had two ounces4 and a quarter of bread besides. The bowls never wanted washing. The boys
polished them with their spoons till they shone again, and when they had performed this operation (which
never took very long, the spoons being nearly as large as the bowls), they would sit staring at the copper
with such eager eyes as if they could have devoured the very bricks of which it was composed; employing
themselves, meanwhile, in sucking their fingers most assiduously, with the view of catching up any stray
splashes of gruel that might have been cast thereon. Boys have generally excellent appetites. Oliver Twist
and his companions suffered the tortures of slow starvation for three months: at last they got so voracious
and wild with hunger, that one boy, who was tall for his age, and hadn’t been used to that sort of thing (for
his father had kept a small cookshop), hinted5 darkly to his companions, that unless he had another basin of
gruel per diem, he was afraid he might some night happen to eat the boy who slept next him, who
happened to be a weakly youth of tender age. He had a wild, hungry eye; and they implicitly believed him.
A council was held; lots were cast6 who should walk up to the master after supper that evening, and ask for
more; and it fell to Oliver Twist.
Charles DICKENS, Oliver Twist, first published 1837-1839
The world of words
a. Use the context to infer the meaning of: besides (1. 4) / such eager eyes (1. 7) / splashes of gruel (l.
9) / weakly (1. 14).
b. Find equivalents in the text for: helped / looking at fixedly / hunger.
c. Find the words in the text which mean: un tablier / pendant ce temps / rares / par jour.
TRUE OR FALSE? Justify from the text.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
It was not the master who served the boys.
The porringers were always clean after the boys had eaten.
The boys were still hungry after eating their gruel.
The boys had felt hungry for some time.
One of the boys might become a cannibal!
They all decided Oliver would ask for more.
Reading again
What do the following words and phrases refer to in the text?
a) “for the purpose” (l. 2)
b) “this operation” (l. 5)
c) “thereon” (l. 9)
d) “that sort of thing” (l. 11)
e) “he” (l. 14: “he had a wild hungry eye”)
f) “they” (l. 14: “the implicitly believed him”)
1
a copper: un chaudron
purpose: but
3
ladle: servir à la louche
4
an ounce: 28,35grammes
5
hint: faire allusion
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cast lots: tirer au sort
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Oliver Twist
Check what you have understood
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
How much food were the boys given at meal-times?
Did they have enough to eat? (Find four details in the text.)
Explain what one of the boys said to his companions.
Why did the boys cast lots?
How important was the master’s role?
Sum up the text in your own words.
Now, speak or write
1. Imagine the master's reaction when Oliver asked him for more.
2. What can you guess about:
¾ the boys’ families?
¾ their social background?
¾ the kind of place they had been put in?
3. Imagine Oliver’s everyday life in such a place (material conditions, work, relationships, etc.)
4. In your opinion, what makes the tall boy’s episode humorous?
LES DETERMINANTS
Dans les exemples ci-dessous tirés du texte, les déterminants ont été soulignés. Classez-les par
catégories: articles, possessifs, quantifieurs, « démonstratifs », exclamatifs.
a large stone hall / at one end / the master / an apron / one or two women / each boy / their spoons / this
operation / such eager eyes / any stray splashes / his companions / that sort of thing / another basin of gruel
/ some night / of Ø tender age.
LES PRONOMS
Observez et répondez:
(1) The room in which the boys were fed was a large stone hall, with a copper at one end, of which the master ladled
the gruel at meal-times;
(2) … when they had performed this operation (which never took very long )
(3) ... as if they could have devoured the very bricks of which it was composed...
(4) ... one boy, who was tall for his age, and...
(5) ... he might some night happen to eat the boy who slept next him, who happened to be a weakly youth of tender
age.
(6) … catching up any stray splashes of gruel that might have been cast thereon.
¾
¾
¾
¾
¾
Repérez l’antécédent de chacun des pronoms relatifs.
Quelle est la nature de l’antécédent des relatifs en WH- (humain, non humain)?
Concluez: quand emploie-t-on who et which?
Quelle est la fonction de chacun des pronoms relatifs soulignés dans les exemples?
Trouvez dans ces extraits deux relatives définissantes, deux relatives non définissantes. A quoi les
reconnaissez-vous?
¾ Que peut-on dire des relatives en that?
¾ Attention! Dans l’extrait suivant: « lots were cast who should walk up to the master after supper »,
quelle est la nature du pronom who: pronom relatif? pronom interrogatif? Justifiez votre choix.
Les autres pronoms
Précisez la nature et la fonction des différents pronoms soulignés dans les extraits suivants.
(1) … employing themselves, meanwhile, in sucking their fingers…
(2) He had a wild, hungry eye; and they implicitly believed him.
(3) “Please, Sir, I want some more.”
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Oliver Twist
Two other Texts
Oliver Twist has left the workhouse where he had been born and had lived until he was eight.
b) Read Text 1 carefully and identify the determiners and pronouns underlined. Then complete
Text 2.
c) From each text, pick out the main information about:
a) the place,
b) the characters (number, names, physical appearance, clothes),
c) food.
3. How far are the two texts related to the main one: “Please, Sir, I want some more”? (the
“master”’s role, the kind of place, the characters’ attitudes)
TEXT 1. At Mr Sowerbury's
Mr Sowerbury is an undertaker7 who now employs Oliver.
“There! Get downstairs, little bag of bones.” With this, the undertaker's wife opened a side door,
and pushed Oliver down a flight of stairs into a stone cell8, damp9 and dark, forming the ante-room of a
coal-cellar10, and denominated “kitchen”, wherein sat a slatternly11 girl, in Ø worn out shoes and Ø blue
woollen stockings. “Here, Charlotte”, said Mrs Sowerbury, who had followed Oliver down, “give the boy
some of the cold bits that were put by12 for Trip13.”
Adapted from Charles DICKENS, Oliver Twist, 1837-1839
TEXT 2. At FAGIN’s
Complétez avec les déterminants (articles, quantifieurs, possessifs, etc.) et les pronoms appropriés.
Later on, Oliver walks to London and meets a boy who takes him to Fagin, a long-bearded old man
who teaches young boys how to rob people in the street.
The walls and ceiling of … room were perfectly black with … age and dirt. There was … deal14
table before … fire, upon … were … candle, stuck in … beer bottle, two or … pots, … loaf15 and …
butter, and … plate. In … frying-pan, … was on the fire, […] … sausages were cooking; and standing
over … with … toasting-fork in hand, was … very old Jew, whose villainous face was obscured by ...
quantity of red hair. … was dressed in greasy flannel gown. […] Seated round … table were four or …
boys, […] smoking long clay pipes, and drinking … alcohol with … air of middle-aged men. […] Oliver
ate … food, and Fagin then mixed ... ... glass of hot gin and water: telling ... ... must drink … off directly,
because … gentleman wanted … tumbler16.
Adapted from Charles DICKENS, Oliver Twist, 1837-1839
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undertaker : entrepreneur des pompes funèbres
cell : cellule
9
damp : humide
10
coal cellar : cave à charbon
11
slatternly : peu soignée
12
put by: mis de côté
13
Trip is a dog.
14
deal: bois blanc
15
loaf: miche de pain
16
tumbler: gobelet
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Oliver Twist
Entraînement à la traduction
1. Voici trois façons de traduire for: car (1), depuis (2), pour (3).
Associez chacune de ces traductions à la phrase appropriée tirée du texte.
ˆ a) Oliver Twist and his companions suffered the tortures of slow starvation for three months.
ˆ b) One boy, who was tall for his age...
ˆ c) (for his father had kept a small cookshop)...
2. Voici cinq phrases tirées également du texte. Cochez chaque fois la traduction qui convient.
a) The bowls never wanted washing:
ˆ Les bols ne voulaient jamais être lavés.
ˆ Les bols n’avaient jamais besoin d’être lavés.
b) Boys have generally excellent appetites:
ˆ Les garçons ont en général un excellent appétit.
ˆ Les garçons ont en général d’excellents appétits.
c) One boy, who [...] hadn’t been used to that sort of thing:
ˆ Un garçon qui n’avait pas l’habitude de ce genre de chose.
ˆ Un garçon qui n’avait pas utilisé ce genre de chose.
d) He might [...] I happen to eat the boy who slept next him:
ˆ I1pourrait arriver à manger le garçon qui dormait à côté de lui.
ˆ I1pourrait lui arriver de manger le garçon qui dormait à côté de lui.
e) Lots were cast [...]; and it fell to Oliver Twist:
ˆ On tira à la courte paille; et le sort désigna Oliver Twist.
ˆ On tira à la courte paille; et il tomba sur Oliver Twist.
Building up your vocabulary
1. Voici une série d'adjectifs, tous associés à « maigre » ou « gras »:
thin, bony, fat, slim, plump, podgy, skinny, stout, chubby, lean.
a) Sans l’aide du dictionnaire, classez-les: ceux que vous connaissez déjà, ceux dont vous pouvez
deviner le sens (Ex.: bony → bone (os) + y = osseux) et ceux dont la prononciation peut donner une
indication (Ex.: podgy évoque plus « gras » que « maigre »).
b) Avec l’aide du dictionnaire vérifiez le sens des mots et écrivez leur traduction.
2. Trouvez dans le dictionnaire la traduction des expressions suivantes:
¾ « maigre comme un clou » ou « maigre comme un chat de gouttière » (2 expressions) ;
¾ « Gras comme un chanoine », ou « gras à lard ».
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Oliver Twist
3. Cherchez l'entrée « faim » dans le dictionnaire et relevez la traduction des expressions suivantes.
Attention, ne mettez pas to devant la base verbale.
¾
¾
¾
¾
¾
avoir faim ;
mourir de faim ;
avoir une faim de loup ;
manger à sa faim ;
la faim fait sortir le loup du bois.
4. Trouvez les mots dérivés des mots du tableau et placez-les dans les colonnes appropriées avec
leur traduction. Mettez Ø si nécessaire. Vérifiez vos réponses à l’aide du dictionnaire.
VERBES
NOMS
ADJECTIFS
ADVERBES
hungry
starve
feed
greed
glutton
fat
ADOPTION
Question from an Italian viewer: Hello! My name is Marco Martinoli. I come from Rome, Italy, and I
want to ask CNN why it is so hard to adopt children in the world today.
Answer from Lauren Crawford, LCSW17, International Adoption Coordinator, Heart to Heart
Adoption Program : Well, Marco, it’s true that adopting a child from Western countries is increasingly
more difficult for several reasons. And that’s why most families looking to adopt are going outside
Western countries. The reason that it’s so hard to adopt within Western countries is because the demand is
simply higher than the supply. There are fewer unplanned pregnancies due to access to birth control,
women who do have an unplanned pregnancy often choose to terminate the pregnancy or to parent the
child themselves. Therefore the trend is towards international adoption. There are millions of children in
orphanages around the world, mostly in Eastern European, Latin American, South American countries, and
Asian countries. Costs, high fees, waiting times, and some restrictions put forth by the country are the only
barriers to this. But all in all international adoption is a very realistic and secure option for families looking
to expand.
CNN International, Ask CNN, 1999
1. What is this report about?
2. Why is adoption difficult in the West?
3. What about international adoption?
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LCSW : Licensed Clinical Social Worker
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