Lunes, Marso 21, 2011

Midnight's Children is a 1981 book by Salman Rushdie


Midnight's Children is a loose allegory for events in India both before and, primarily, after the independence and partition of India, which took place at midnight on 15 August 1947. The protagonist and narrator of the story is Saleem Sinai, born at the exact moment when India becomes an independent country. He has telepathic powers, as well as an enormous and constantly dripping nose. The novel is divided into three books.
Midnight's Children tells the story of the Sinai family and the earlier events leading up to India's Independence and Partition, connecting the two lines both literally and allegorically. Saleem discovers that in fact all children born in India between 12 AM and 1 AM on 15 August 1947, are imbued with special powers. Saleem thus attempts to use these powers to convene the eponymous children. The convention, or Midnight Children's Conference, is in many ways reflective of the issues India faced in its early statehood concerning the cultural, linguistic, religious, and political differences faced by such a vastly diverse nation. Saleem acts as a telepathic conduit, bringing hundreds of geographically disparate children into contact while also attempting to discover the meaning of their gifts. In particular, those children born closest to the stroke of midnight wield more powerful gifts than the others. Shiva of the Knees, Saleem's evil nemesis, and Parvati, called "Parvati-the-witch," are two of these children with notable gifts and roles in Saleem's story.
Meanwhile, Saleem must also contend with his personal trajectory. His family is active in this, as they begin a number of migrations and endure the numerous wars which plague the subcontinent. During this period he also suffers amnesia until he enters a quasi-mythological exile in the jungle of Sundarban, where he is re-endowed with his memory. In doing so, he reconnects with his childhood friends. Saleem later becomes involved with the Indira Gandhi - proclaimedEmergency and her son Sanjay's "cleansing" of the Jama Masjid slum. For a time Saleem is held as a political prisoner; these passages contain scathing criticisms of Indira Gandhi's overreach during the Emergency as well as what Rushdie seems to see as a personal lust for power bordering on godhood. The Emergency signals the end of the potency of the Midnight Children, and there is little left for Saleem to do but pick up the few pieces of his life he may still find and write the chronicle that encompasses both his personal history and that of his still-young nation; a chronicle written for his son, who, like his father, is both chained and supernaturally endowed by history.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Novel)

The story takes place during three years of the Great Depression in the fictional "tired old town" of Maycomb, Alabama. The narrator, six-year-old Scout Finch, lives with her older brother Jem and their widowed father Atticus, a middle-aged lawyer. Jem and Scout befriend a boy named Dill who visits Maycomb to stay with his aunt for the summer. The three children are terrified of, and fascinated by, their neighbor, the reclusive "Boo" Radley. The adults of Maycomb are hesitant to talk about Boo and, for many years, few have seen him. The children feed each other's imagination with rumors about his appearance and reasons for remaining hidden, and they fantasize about how to get him out of his house. Following two summers of friendship with Dill, Scout and Jem find that someone is leaving them small gifts in a tree outside the Radley place. Several times, the mysterious Boo makes gestures of affection to the children, but, to their disappointment, never appears in person.
Atticus is appointed by the court to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who has been accused of raping a young white woman, Mayella Ewell. Although many of Maycomb's citizens disapprove, Atticus agrees to defend Tom to the best of his ability. Other children taunt Jem and Scout for Atticus' actions, calling him a "nigger-lover". Scout is tempted to stand up for her father's honor by fighting, even though he has told her not to. For his part, Atticus faces a group of men intent on lynching Tom. This danger is averted when Scout, Jem, and Dill shame the mob into dispersing by forcing them to view the situation from Atticus' and Tom's points of view.
Because Atticus does not want them to be present at Tom Robinson's trial, Scout, Jem, and Dill watch in secret from the colored balcony. Atticus establishes that the accusers—Mayella and her father, Bob Ewell, the town drunk—are lying. It also becomes clear that the friendless Mayella was making sexual advances towards Tom and her father caught her in the act. Despite significant evidence of Tom's innocence, the jury convicts him. Jem's faith in justice is badly shaken, as is Atticus', when a hopeless Tom is shot and killed while trying to escape from prison.
Humiliated by the trial, Bob Ewell vows revenge. He spits in Atticus' face on the street, tries to break into the presiding judge's house, and menaces Tom Robinson's widow. Finally, he attacks the defenseless Jem and Scout as they walk home from the school Halloween pageant. Jem's arm is broken in the struggle, but amid the confusion, someone comes to the children's rescue. The mysterious man carries Jem home, where Scout realizes that he is the reclusive Boo Radley.
Maycomb's sheriff arrives and discovers that Bob Ewell has been killed in the struggle. The sheriff argues with Atticus about the prudence and ethics of holding Jem or Boo responsible. Atticus eventually accepts the sheriff's story that Ewell simply fell on his own knife. Boo asks Scout to walk him home, and after she says goodbye to him at his front door, he disappears again. While standing on the Radley porch, Scout imagines life from Boo's perspective and regrets that they never repaid him for the gifts he had given them.

To Have and To Hold by Mary Johnston (Novel)

To Have and to Hold is the story of an English soldier turned Virginian explorer in colonial Jamestown. He buys a wife for himself - a girl named Jocelyn Leigh - little knowing that she is the escaping ward of King James I, fleeing a forced marriage to Lord Carnal. Jocelyn hardly loves Ralph - indeed, she seems to abhor him. Her husband-to-be eventually comes to Jamestown, not knowing that Ralph Percy and Jocelyn Leigh are man and wife.
Lord Carnal attempts to kidnap Jocelyn several times and eventually follows Ralph, Jocelyn, and their two companions - Jeremy Sparrow, the Separatist minister, and Diccon, Ralph's servant - as they escape from the King's orders to arrest Ralph and carry Jocelyn back to England. The boat that they are in, however, crashes on a desert island, but they are accosted by pirates, who, after a short struggle, agree to take Ralph as their captain, after he pretends to be the pirate "Kirby". The pirates gleefully play on with Ralph's masquerade, until he refuses to allow them to rape and pillage those on board Spanish ships.
The play is up when the pirates see an English ship off the coast of Florida. Ralph refuses to fire upon it, knowing that it carries the new Virginian governor, Sir Francis Wyatt, but the pirates open fire, and Jeremy Sparrow, before the English ship can be destroyed, purposefully crashes the ship into a reef. The pirates are all killed, but the Englishmen (and woman) are rescued by the Governor's ship.
Ralph is put on trial on board the ship as a pirate, after Lord Carnal tells the Governor that he ordered the destruction of the ship, but Jocelyn, having come to love Ralph, speaks for him; her words are so persuasive that the Governor believes her and frees Ralph. They return to Virginia, though Ralph is forced to remain in a gaol - King's orders.
He is lured into a trap, though, by Lord Carnal and is subsequently captured by Indians - but not before putting up a fight and seeing Lord Carnal terribly wounded. The brother of Pocahontas, the Indian Nantauquas, rescues him and Diccon, but only to inform them that all the Virginian Indians plan to massacre Jamestown. As they are on their way back to Jamestown, Diccon is shot and killed by a hostile Indian, and Ralph is left alone to brave his way back. Returning to the colony, he gives his information, only to be told that Jocelyn had made her way to the forest in search of him after his absence was noticed, with Jeremy Sparrow, and that they had not been found. It is also discovered that Lord Carnal has taken poison and will die within a week.
Jamestown is saved, thanks to Ralph's almost-too-late warning, and after things are stabilized, Ralph goes in search of Jocelyn and the minister. After a long and seemingly fruitless search, Nantauquas himself, though he had turned traitor, leads Ralph to where Jocelyn is staying. The two are reunited, and at the end of the story intend to go to England, where Jocelyn's lands have been restored to her and they can finally live in peace.
To Have and to Hold was revised and edited by Josh and Sarah Wean for the four-hundredth anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. It is sold in this edition by the Christian company, Vision Forum Inc.

The Rabbit and The Coyote (South American Folktale)

This is a story of Uncle Rabbit and the coyote. The rabbit came to a big rock, and there he deceived the coyote. He was leaning on the rock when the coyote came by.
"What are you doing, brother?" the coyote asked the rabbit.
"Come here quickly, brother, the sky is falling down on top of us. Lean against the rock and hold it up while I go for a stick. We'll prop it up with that," said the rabbit to the coyote.
"All right," said the coyote and began holding it up with all his might. Since the coyote was so stupid, he did exactly what the rabbit told him to. The rabbit had said that he was going to get a stick, but he went and left the coyote holding up the rock. When the rabbit didn't return the coyote shouted:
"Come back, brother! The weight of the rock has made me tired."
The rabbit still didn't come back.
"No matter, I'm going to leave even though the sky may fall down on top of us," said the coyote. But when he ran away he fell into a ravine. The rabbit never came back to the rock and the coyote was lost.
Later the rabbit came to a pond and saw the reflection of the moon in there. As the rabbit was very tricky, he was always deceiving the coyote. The dumb coyote always followed him and didn't know that the rabbit was deceiving him. The coyote came to the pond where the rabbit was. When he saw the coyote coming he began to drink the water from the pond.
"What are you doing, brother? The coyote asked the rabbit:
"Look, brother, there's a lot of food down there," answered the rabbit.
"What kind of food?"
"Look," the rabbit told the coyote.
The coyote looked in the water and said: "I see it. What is it?"
"There's a cheese in the water," the rabbit said to the coyote.
"If we drink all the water we can get the cheese. Drink it, you're big and you can finish all the water."
"All right, brother," he said, and began to drink the water.
"I'm going for a walk," said the rabbit, and left. The coyote continued to drink the water, but the rabbit was gone. The coyote's stomach began to hurt him, and he got the runs. He wasn't able to finish the water, so the coyote abandoned the effort and left.

The Cat and the Cock (European Folktale)

Once upon a time there lived a Cat and a Cock who loved one another dearly. The Cat would play his fiddle and the Cock would sing, the Cat would go out to get food for the two of them, and the Cock would stay at home and look after the house. Every time the Cat prepared to go out he would say to the Cock:
"You mustn't let anyone into the house, Cock, or go out yourself, no matter who calls you." "I won't, don't you worry," the Cock would reply, and he would get into the house and stay there till the Cat came home.
Now, a Fox once saw the Cock and decided to lure him out and catch him. She crept up to the window of their house when the Cat was out and called out:
"Come out, Cock, and join me, and I'll give you grains of wheat and some water clear and sweet."
But the Cock called out in reply: "Cock-a-doodle-doo, I'll do without, For I promised Puss I'd not go out!"
The Fox saw that this was not the way to go about things, so one night she crept up to the house, threw some wheat grains under the window for the Cock to see and herself hid behind a bush.
By and by the Cat went out hunting as usual, and the Cock opened the window and looked out. There was no one about, he saw, but there, scattered on the ground, lay some luscious grains of wheat. The Cock was eager to eat them and said to himself:
"I think I'll go out and peck at those grains for a bit. There is no one about, so no one will see me or tell Puss on me."
But no sooner did he step over the threshold than the Fox was upon him. She seized him by the scruff of his neck and away she ran to her own house! And the Cock called out to the Cat:
"Save me, Brother Puss, I pray! Foxy's taking me far away. For her bushy tail I can't see the trail. If you don't come, friend, I will meet my end."
Now, the Cat was a long way off and he did not hear the Cock, and by the time he returned home it was too late for him to go after the Fox. He tried to overtake her, but could not, so back he went home and wept and cried. But he got to thinking after a while, and, taking his fiddle and a bright-pictured sack, set out for the Fox's house.
Now, the Fox had four daughters and a son, and before going out hunting that day, she told them to keep an eye on the Cock and to heat a potfull of water so that as soon as she was back she could kill and cook him for dinner.
"And mind you let no one into the house while I'm away," she said.
Away she went, and the Cat came up to the house, stood under the window and began to play and to sing the following song:
"Foxy's house is big and tall, Her four little daughters are beauties all, And Pilipko, her only son, Is very sweet to look upon. Step outside, young Foxy, do, And I'll sing some more for you!"
Now, the Fox's eldest daughter felt that she must go and see who it was playing and she said to the others:
"Stay here in the house and I'll go and see who it is that plays so well."
She came out of the house, and the Cat rapped her smartly on the nose, whisked her into his sack and began to play and to sing again:
"Foxy's house is big and tall, Her four little daughters are beauties all, And Pilipko, her only son, Is very sweet to look upon. Step outside, young Foxy, do, And I'll sing some more for you!"
The Fox's second daughter went out to see who it was playing, and the Cat rapped her on the nose and whisked her into his sack. And the very same thing happened to the Fox's two younger daughters. There sat their brother Pilipko in the house and waited for his sisters, but they did not come back.
"I think I'll go out and get them to come home," said he to himself, "or our mother will give me a good hiding when she gets back."
He stepped outside, and the Cat rapped him on the nose too and whisked him into the sack! Then he hanged the sack on a dry willow tree and ran into the Fox's house. He found the Cock and untied him, and the two of them ate all of the Fox's food, overturned the pot of boiling water, broke all the dishes and ran home. And the Cock did just as the Cat told him ever after and never, never disobeyed him.

The nightingale (European Folktale)

One day a nobleman caught a nightingale and wanted to put it in a cage. But the bird spoke to him:

- Let me go and I will give you a good advice. It may be of use to you some day.

The rich man agreed to let it go.

The nightingale gave him these advices:

- Never be sorry for something that cannot be brought back, my lord. And never trust idle words.

The nobleman heard the advises and let the nightingale go. The bird flew out and said:

- Too bad you let me go. If only you knew about my treasure. I have a huge very expensive gem under my wing. If you had taken it, you would become even richer.

When he heard that, the nobleman began to regret letting bitterly about the bird go, jumped up and tried to catch it.

The nightingale turned towards him and said:

- Now I know, master, that you are a greedy and foolish man: you were sorry for something that cannot be brought back. And you believed my idle words! Look at what a little bird I am. How could I be hiding a large gem under my wing?

And after these words the bird flew away.

The Jaguar and the Little Skunk (South American Folktale)

Once there was a gentleman jaguar and a lady skunk. Mrs. Skunk had a son, who was baptized by Mr. Jaguar, so Mrs. Skunk became his comadre (godmother). And as Mr. Jaguar had baptized the little skunk, he was Mrs. Skunk's compadre (godfather).

Mr. Jaguar decided to go looking for food and came to Mrs. Skunk's house.

"Well, compadre, what are you looking for? What have you come here for?" the skunk asked the jaguar.

"Comadre, what I have come to do is to look for some food," said Mr. Jaguar.

"Oh," said Mrs. Skunk.

"I want my godson to come with me so that he can learn to hunt," said Mr. Jaguar.

"I don't think your godson ought to go; he's still very small and something could happen to him. He better not go, compadre," said Mrs. Skunk. But the little skunk protested:

"No, mother, I had better go. What my godfather says is true. I need to get some practice, if I'm going to learn to hunt," said the little skunk.

"But if you go, you'll be so far away," said Mrs. Skunk.

"I'm going, I'm going. Come on, let's go." So they set off on a long walk.

"We're going to where there's a river. That's where we're going," Mr. Jaguar explained to the little skunk, his godson.

"When are we going to get there?" asked the little skunk.

"We're getting close. Follow me so you won't get lost," said Mr. Jaguar.

"All right," answered the little skunk. They finally came to the river.

"This is where we're going to eat," said Mr. Jaguar to the little skunk.

"All right," said the little skunk.

"Come on over here. I'm going to sharpen my knife," said Mr. Jaguar.

"All right," said the little skunk, looking at his godfather.

Mr. Jaguar sharpened his claws, which he called his "knife."

"I sharpened my knife. Now you're going to be on guard, because I am going to sleep. When you see them come, wake me up," said Mr. Jaguar.

"All right," said the little skunk, "all right, godfather."

Then Mr. Jaguar told him: "Don't shout. Just scratch my belly when they come. Scratch my belly, so I won't alarm them. But don't wake me up if just any little old animals without antlers come along, only when the one with big antlers gets here. That's when you'll wake me up."

"All right," said the little skunk. Then the one with the big antlers came, and the skunk awakened Mr. Jaguar. He scratched his belly, and pointed out the deer to Mr. Jaguar, who attacked the animal with big antlers. He went after him and seized him.

"All right, my godson, let's eat. We're going to eat meat," said the jaguar.

"All right," said the little skunk. And so they ate and ate.

"Now we're going to take whatever leftovers there are to your mother," said the jaguar.

"Since we are full, we can take something to your mother. Your mother will have meat to eat, just as we did. We will take some to your mother," said the jaguar. When they came back to the mother's house, he told the lady:

"Look at the food here. Look, we've brought you some food, the food that we hunted. Eat your fill of the meat, comadre," the jaguar said to Mrs. Skunk.

"All right," said the skunk, and ate the meat.

"I'm full," she said.

"It's good that you're satisfied. I've seen that you are, so I'll be leaving now," said Mr. Jaguar to Mrs. Skunk. And so he left.

After the jaguar left, the little skunk stayed with his mother.

When they ran out of meat, Mrs. Skunk said to her son: Dear, our meat is all gone."

"Yes, the meat is all gone. I better go and get us some more food," said the little skunk.

"How can you, son? Do you think you're big enough? You're very small. Don't you think you'll be killed?" asked Mrs. Skunk.

"No, mother, I already know how to hunt, my godfather taught me how," replied the little skunk.

"I'm leaving now." He left, and Mrs. Skunk was very worried.

Her son came once more to the river, the place to which he had come with his godfather to get the meat.

"This is how my godfather did it. Why shouldn't I be able to do the same thing?" said the little skunk.

"This is how you sharpen a knife," said the little skunk. He sharpened his "knife."

"This is the way my godfather did it. I'm not going to hunt the little animals, I'm just going to hunt the one with the great big antlers. I'm going to hunt one for myself just like the one I ate with my godfather. I have my knife here and I'm going to sleep for a little while." The little skunk lay down to sleep, but then he awakened. He was waiting for the one with the big antlers, and when he came, he attacked him, thinking he was as strong as his godfather. But he just hung from the neck of the one with big antlers. His claws had dug into his skin. He was hanging from his neck and was carried far away and fell on his back. He was left with his mouth wide open.

Since he had not come home to his mother, she wondered: "What could have happened to my son? Why hasn't he come back yet? Something must have happened to him. I better go and look for him."

And so Mrs. Skunk went as far as the bank of the river. She was looking everywhere for her son, but couldn't find him. She began to cry when she found the tracks where the one with the big antlers had come by running.

"They must have come by here," said Mrs. Skunk, and began to follow the tracks.

She came to the place where her son had been left lying on his back. When the mother caught sight of him, she noticed that his teeth were showing and shouted at him: "Son, what are you laughing at? All your teeth are showing," she said to him before she had gotten very close. When she did get close she told him: "Give me your hand. I've come to get you, but you're just laughing in my face." She put her hand on him, thinking that he was still alive, but when she noticed that he was already dead, she began to cry.