Read the tale again and complete the following sentences.

Семенова Ангелина 604

Translation practice

И когда луна светила в небе, Соловей полетел к Розовому кусту и прислонился грудью к шипу. Он пел всю ночь, прислонившись грудью к шипу, а холодная хрустальная луна наклонилась и слушала. Всю ночь он пел, и шип все глубже и глубже проникал в его грудь, и жизненная сила покидала его. Он впервые запел о зарождении любви в сердце парня и девушки. И на вершине Розового куста зацвела изумительная роза, лепесток которой следовал за лепестком, так же как песня следовала за песней. Она была бледная, по началу, как туман, нависший над рекой; бледная, как подножья по утрам, и серебряная, как крылья рассвета. Бледная, как тень розы в зеркале из серебра, как тень розы в бассейне с водой, такой была роза, которая зацвела на вершине Куста.

Но Куст прокричал Соловью, чтобы он прислонился ближе к шипу. «Подойди ближе, маленький Соловей, - закричал Куст, - или День наступит до того, как роза будет закончена».

Так Соловей прислонился ближе к шипу, и все громче и громче становилась его песня, потому что он пел о зарождении страсти в душе мужчины и молодой женщины.

Activities

Reading Comprehension

Read the tale again and complete the following sentences.

1) There is no rose in my garden, so I shall sit lonely, and she will pass me by.

2) I feel unhappy because I cannot find a red rose for my love.

3) The winter has chilled my veins, the storm has broken my branches, and I shall have no roses at all this year.

4) The Student couldn't understand what the Nightingale was saying, for he only knew the things that are written down in books.

5) The Nightingale made no answer, for she was lying dead in the long grass, with the thorn in her heart.

6) When the Student ran to the Professor's house with the rose, his ladylove was sitting in the doorway, winding blue silk on a reel, and her little dog was lying at her feet.

7) The Student threw the rose into the gutter, because he was rejected by the girl.

8) Love is not half as useful as Logic, for it does not prove anything.

Answer the following questions.

1) From her nest in the Oaktree, the Nightingale heard that young Student was grieving because he couldn’t find a red rose for her girl to dance with him.

2) The Nightingale flew to the garden to look for the red rose.

3) The Rose-tree asked the Nightingale to sing him with her breast against the thorn for the red rose.

4) The Nightingale sacrificed her life to help the Student, because she thought that Love was better than Life and her life was nothing compared to the heart of a man.

5) The Nightingale sang loudly of the passion in the soul of a man and a young woman.

6) When the Student came to ladylove with the red rose, she frowned and was ungrateful toward him.

7) The Student threw the red rose into the street, where it fell into the gutter, and a cartwheel went over it.

8) The Student went back to Philosophy, because love was silly and unpractical.

Vocabulary and Grammar Tasks

1. Find in the text the English for:

давать бал – to give a ball; не замечать – to take no notice of; струнный музыкальный инструмент – stringed instrument; быть окруженной придворными – to be surrounded by courtiers; нарядные одежды - fine dresses; несколько склонный к цинизму – to be something of a cynic; таинство любви - the mystery of Love; расправить крылья для полета – to spread wings for flight; кровь в моих жилах застыла от зимней стужи - the winter has chilled my veins; мороз побил мои почки - the frost has nipped my buds; дорогая цена за красную розу - a great price to pay for a red rose; просить взамен – to ask in return; ярко-алого цвета - crimson as a ruby; сидеть у порога – to sit in the doorway; эта роза не подойдет к моем у платью – this rose will not go with my dress; вытащить большую запыленную книгу – to pull out a great dusty book.

Discussion

1) Describe the Student's feelings to his ladylove.

The Student fell in love with the Professor's daughter. He didn’t know what love felt like, but the Student felt unhappy, because his ladylove didn’t belong him. But in my opinion, his feeling were childish, because he didn’t do a single thing to win the girl. All he was doing was crying and weeping over his ladylove.

2) Agree or disagree with the Nightingale: "Death is a great price for the rose."

I disagree with the Nightingale without doubt, cause Love not always worth such sacrifices. And it is never costs anyone’s life. What Nightingale has done is totally thoughtless. As it turned out, feelings of young Student weren’t so strong and it didn’t worth the Nightingale’s life.

3) Prove that the Student's ladylove was selfish and didn't deserve such a sacrifice.

The Student’s love was selfish, because he didn’t care about the Nightingale and what she has done. When he brought her ladylove a rose, he expected her to go with him at the ball, but she refused and she had other interests. If he loved her truly, he would just gave her the rose and didn’t ask her anything for exchange, because true love is unconditional.

4) Speak about the Nightingale and her great deed.

The Nightingale was innocent and naïve. She believed in love between a man and a young woman. She sacrificed her life for just one red rose. For me, it wasn’t a great deed. It was her ignorance and foolishness. But on the other hand, it represents her kindness and soulfulness: her deed was altruistic.

Writing

In my opinion, the moral of the tale is not to do reckless things. Real love, if it is, doesn’t demand someone’s life or the reddest rose in the world. If a person truly loves someone, he won’t ever ask anything to deserve his love. Love doesn’t requires any conditions. What the Nightingale had done, it was the act of love but towards the young Student. She was compassionate to him and thought only about his happiness, not hers. And I have one more theory about the moral of the tale, is that the bird wanted to found out what real love felt like and she decided to devote her life for that feeling.