Grandmother
-Ray Young Bear
The poem grandmother is written by Ray Young Rear, An American Indian poet. The given poem is about love of a grandson towards his grandmother. We also can find the condition of seeking the identity of a particular tribe. The poet has made a portrait of his grandmother with the help of the different sense organs. He indicates that his grandmother was all loving and inspiring. He also indicates that whoever a person loves to, he/she dwells in all thinking and feelings and he/she can identify the loved one with the help of the different sense organs.
According to the poem, the poet could identify the physical shape of his grandmother form a long distance. Because she could be found wearing purple scarf & carrying a plastic supping bag. Her touches would easily give him or make him feel the secret love of grandmother towards the future generation. There is the uninterrupted or continuous affection of the grand parents towards the grandchildren. Even the voice of grandmother could give great impression to the poet. He finds his grandmother's voice and touch all loving and inspiring. Thus, the poet finds his grandmother all loving and inspiring.
In the poem we get the use of the different sense organs by the poet. It indicates the love of grandmother is running in his every part of his body. He uses eyes to identify his grandmother’s physical shape and appearance. He uses skin to feel her love and sympathy. He uses nose to get the real pleasure of his grandmother’s body. He uses ears to know his grandmother’s words inspiring.
In this way to the poet has tried to explain and show the Indian influence and culture still alive in American. Here the poet seems to be seeking the identity.
About Love
-Anton Chekhov
The story about love is written by Anton Chekhov a realistic story writer. This story is about different-forms of love which are commonly found and perceived by us. The writer has tried to focus that the love is always different.
According to the story, Alyohin and his friends wear in a restaurant. They started talking about love when Nikanor, the cook come to take the order for the lunch. Nikanor was in love with a beautiful Pelageya. They lived together. Nikanor forced her to get married. But Pelageya said that she would not marry but she would not leave him. She wanted to live with her just so. Alyohin said that Pelageya did so because Nikanor sometimes used to get drunk, scolded her and beat her. Alyohin explained about his own love with a university girl. He used to buy everything for her. They were living together. But Alyohin had to go to village and as he told his girl friend to go with him, she completely refused.
Alyohin explained about his another love with Anna Alexeyerna. As Alyohin was appointed as judge, he had to go to the city to give his decision. There he came to meet with Luganovich, another judge who invited him for the lunch. Alyohin could, not deny and as he went there. He came to meet with Anna Alexeyerna. She had already given birth to a baby. In the first sight they fell in love. But they could not express their feelings. Gradually Alyohin and Anna become very close friends. They acted as husband and wife. The time passed on Anna gave birth to the second child. Since then there was a drastic change in her behaviour. She behaved very rudely and did not care any activities at home. The doctors advised Luganovich to send her to Crimea. Mean while Luganovich was transferred in another province. Anna was to be sent to Crimea. Alyohin came to say the last goodbye to the family. When he went to the station, he found that Luganovich was carrying the children and Anna was inside the compartment. Alyohin went inside the compartment there they expressed the feelings but it was late. Anna went towards Crimea and Alyohin towards his village.
In the story we get three kinds of Love. They are Violent Love, Selfish Love and Unexpressed Love. Love is not always the same as we think. It can be sometimes violent and sometime selfish as well as the state can come where we may not be able to express our love to our beloved or the lover. There can exist the condition of the unexpressed love.
Lamentation of the Old Pensioner
-W.B. Yeats
The poem Lamentation of The Old Pensioner is written by W.B. Yeats, an Irish poet. This poem is nostalgia of a person who has grown old. He is in the stage that nobody cares him. In another sense this poem is about an old man who remembers his past.
According to the poem, the speaker in the poem says that he has grown very old and nobody cares him. But during his time he used to accompany with several grown up persons and talked about Love or politics. His old age does not allow him to go with the lads who are making planes to fight against the government; even the government also is trying to have control over them. The lads are even ready to make any bad plan to trouble the authorities but the speaker does not complain to the boys nor to the government rather he condemns to the time which has transfigured him into an old man. At present no any women turns her face towards the old man. But in his time he had love affair with the particular girl whom he remembers. As he is neglected from every accompaniment, he spits into the face of the time.
In this way the given poem describes about the condition of old person who recalls his past. The poet uses refrain ‘Time transfigured me’ in the poem to signify that the time has really changed him into an old man. He can do nothing but remember and regret about his past.
Tow Long Term Problem's: Two Many Peoples, Too Few Trees
-Moti Nissani
The essay two long term problems two many people, too few trees is-written by Moti Nissani. This essay is about the burning issues regarding overpopulation and deforestation. The writer has presented the essay in context of Nepal.
Overpopulation is a great problem which has created so many problems in our surrounding. The unmanaged organization has aroused several pollutions like air, water, sound and soil. These pollutions have created so many diseases for human beings. Air pollution has created consumption respiratory diseases like cough, asthma, emphysema, long cancer, tuberculosis. Similarly the air pollution has caused ozone layer depletion. It has caused the interring of ultraviolet rays and thewater pollution has caused various consumption diseases like diarrhea, dysentery, cholera.
Deforestation is another problem in the context of Nepal. It has caused desertification, land slides, soil erosion, more rainfall, less rainfall, untimely rainfall. We are facing various natural disasters. Land slides have been common problem for us these days. Due to various pollution, There are so many secondary effects, such as some species of birds as well as animals have already been disappeared. In some tribes, the sperm count is drastically low.
The writer has given us some possible solutions like Population control, people’s awareness, education as well as government’s strict policy. The writer also has suggested for afforestation, replantation, using smokeless stove as well as gas plant.
In this way writer has focused on overpopulation and deforestation and its effect on human civilization.
Full Fathom Five Thy Father Lies
-William Shakespeare
The poem Full Fathom Five Thy Father Lies is written by William Shakespeare, the greatest dramatist of English literature. The given poem is taken from his famous drama ‘The Tempest’. The given poem, is spoken by Arial, a spirit, to Ferdinand, the prince of Naples. In the poem Aerial informs Ferdinand about the death of his father.
According to the poem Arial says to Ferdinand, that his father has been dead. His dead body lies 30 feet under the world. His whole body has been changed into something new and strange things. The bones of his body have been changed into coral and eyes into pearls. Obviously his whole part of the body has been changed but into expensive things. The sea nymphs sing song with great sorrow on the death of his father. Every hour the sea nymphs blow the knell.
The poet has tried to focuse on the importance of ecosystem not only in the ground but also in the deep see. The eco system inside the sea can be taken as an essential part of human life. We must not destroy the eco system. It is our great responsibility to preserve the nature.
Hurried Trip to Avoid a Bad Star
-M. Lilla and C. Bishop Barry
The essay Hurried Trip to Avoid a Bad Star is written by M lella & C Bishop Barry, two American geographers working in Karnali. This essay is about economic & social condition of the people of karnali. This is about a journey from Karnali to Nepalgunj. The writers have tried to focus on how the people of Karnali are economically linked with the low regions of the Terai.
The writers started their journey from Karnali with fourteen porters with them, On the way they come to meat with a chhetri woman, Who asked them about her husband who has left her fifteen years ago. After a few days walk, they came to meat with a group of people processing silajit. From them the writers knew that silajit is a very useful herbal medicine. They sold it in Nepalgunj and that was sold in India for the pharmaceutical use. Again after few days they come to meat with some women who were cutting the remaining branches of a tree. In the quarry they said that animal had to be fed. When they reached Nepalgunj all the porters started trading with the good they had brought with them some of them bought spices, clothes and iron products and other necessary things. But karma ' bought only distillery equipment. Then the writers finished their officials jobs; went back to Karnali and after they completed the task, the writers returned to America.
The writers have specially tried to focus on transformation, education, employment and so other problems of the people of Karnali. They have also tried to show that Karnali is economically linked with the low land regions of south. The writers tried to focus on the problems of the region and expected the changes in their lives.
Travelling Through the Dark
-William Stafford
The poem Travelling through the Dark is written by William Stafford. In this poem, the poet has tried to indicate a great tension, between two realities to systems of life. In another sense we get great struggle between thought and feelings. Sometime we come to face the state when we do not become able to decide take the decision and find ourselves in a great dilemma.
According to the poem, the protagonist was travelling at right. At the Wilson River Road, he saw a dead dear which was recently killed. He thought that it would be better two throw the dead body in the stream because in the turning, the dead body could cause several accidents. As he tried to drag the dear, he realized that it was doe and she was pregnant. As he touched by side of the doe, he came to know that her fawn was steel alive but never to be born. The protagonist hesitated and immediately could not make any decision. He observed the circumstances and surroundings and the impact of the death of the doe. At last he pushed the dead doe into the river.
Here we get a great tension created by the dead doe. In the beginning the protagonist thought that he could clear the path by throwing the dead body of the doe. But her pregnancy and the alive fawn made him confussed in such a state and thus, we get here a great tension between thought and feelings.
A Story
-Dylan Thomas
A Story is written by Dylan Thomas. It is a humorous story and it has tried to present the perspective of a child towards grownups. This story is divided into three parts. First part is about uncle and aunt, Second part is about uncle's friends and the third part is about the outing. The outing was planned to go to Porthcawl by Charabanc.
According to the story, the boy says that he was living with his uncle. His uncle was very fat, talkative, drunkard and the dirty. On the other hand his aunt was very short, less talkative and did not like his uncle's going for an outing. On day his uncle's friends come to inform about an outing to Porthcawl. His uncle’s friends Benjamin Franklyn, Will Sentry, Noah Bowen, Weazley were all funny. They always joked with one another. They had decided to go for an outing. His aunt became very angry. She come with a china dog and threatened her husband of going to the father's house. When the day of outing came, all the friends got into charabanc and even the boy also got into the coach. On the half way, they realized that one of the friends was left. They came back and received him. Again one of the members said that he forgot his teeth. But they continued. After a short drive, they reached near a bar and stopped the charabanc. All of them got in to the bar except the boy. After aomwtimes they become drunk and started breaking the grasses as well as plates. After sometimes his uncle was fully drunk and brought in solders by the friends. Again they started the journey towards Porthcwal. But they could not reach rather they stopped charabanc near a river and all of them went in the river but did not reached to their destination.
This story presents a kid’s perspective towards the adults. The events have been presented humorously.
The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
The story The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship is written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is about an ordinary boy growing into an assertive young man. This story is written in the stream of consciousness method.
According to the story, the boy used to sit near the seaside at night. One March night, he came to see an enormous ship. It was ninety-seven times longer than the village and twenty times taller then the steeple of the church. It was soundless and lightless. It also was moving in zigzag way. It came near a large cliff, hit again it, broke into pieces and sank to the button of the sea. The boy thought that it was an illusion. But the next year the boy saw the same ship in the same condition during the March night. He told his mother about the ship but she did not believe. His mother used to remember is father sitting in the same chair which had become very old. So the boy requested the mother to change the chair. The boy and his mother went to the next island to buy a chair. On the way back to the house the boy pointed out the spot where the ship used to sink. As the chair was brought a misfortune occurred in the life of the boy. His mother including other four women died who sat on the chair. The villagers said that it was a wretched chair and so they threw it into the sea. The boy became helpless and survived on eating he stolen fish and on the other resources. The next year during the month of March, the boy saw the same ship. This time he tried to call the villagers to see the ship. But before the villagers came, the ship had already sunk down. The villagers scolded and beat the boy for disturbing their sleep.
The boy determined to show the ship to the villagers. So when the boy came to see the ship, he stole a boat and went towards the sea with a lantern. He knew that the ship disappeared in the light. As he showed the lamp to that ship, it started to fallow him with a loud noise. The boy rowed the boat towards village. The ship produced a huge sound. The sound made the villagers wake. They were very much amazed to sea such a big ship. They realized that the boy was right. At this stage, the boy’s determination was fulfilled. Thus, he came to say ‘Now they are going to see, who I am.’
In this way, the story is about a young boy’s determination regarding to prove whatever he had said, was right, the writer has used stream of consciousness method.
God's Grandeur
-G. M. Hopkins
The poem God's Grandeur is written by G.M Hopkins. This poem is about the greatness of god. But human beings are ignoring to the greatness of the god.
According to the poem, the poet says that this world is filled with the greatness of god. Its greatness will flame out for the ages. The god’s greatness is gathered like the ooze of oil. In spite of that, human being, are totally indifferent towards god several generations have ignored the god. All of them are busy with their own business and struggle. Human beings have been fully unaware towards god. Due to being naked regarding a human faith towards god, they don’s know that the god needs to cared. Whatever activities human beings do, the god never becomes angry at them. He knows that all human beings are having faith towards god though they are not caring to the god at the moment but in the days to come, human beings will dedicate towards god. That will be a spring day on human faith. With enthusiasm god cares human beings and looks after the whole world as hen cares its chicken.
In this way the given poem appreciates the greatness of god and with the belief that one day human beings will turn towards god. The given poem is in the sonnet form.
I Have a Dream
Martin Luther King, Jr.
One hundred years ago, President -Lincoln declared that the slaves in the United States of America were free, but the Negroes (black people) in America are still not free. Negroes are not allowed to go to the same places as white people and Negroes are still very poor.
The Constitution of the U.S.A. promises that all men have the right to live freely and to try to be happy. The Constitution was a written promise, like a check from a bank which promises to pay money. America has not kept its promise to Negroes. We [the 200,000 people in the crowd] have come to Washington, the capital of the U.S.A., to say that the promises made in the constitution should be met now. America will not operate normally until these demands are met.
It is important to make these demands without using violence. It is also important not to distrust all white people, because there are some whites who support the Negroes, and who are helping them get equal rights.
We want the police to stop beating Negroes. We want Negroes to be able to stay in every hotel in the country. We want Negroes to be able to improve their position in society, to be able to vote and to have Negroes to vote for.
You must go back to your homes and work for change.
I have a dream that one day all people will be treated equally, that Negroes and whites will sit down together like brothers and that everyone will be free. I have a dream that my children will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by their actions.
If America is to be a great country, all people in all the different places must be free. All people, of all colours and religions must be able to join hands and sing together, "We are free at last!"
Women’s Business
-Lydia E. Pinkham
This essay is about some women from the United States of America who have been successful in business. The women were not just businesswomen, however. They did things to make people better educated about the issues and problems facing women. They also did things to help other people. However, their interest in making money was usually more important than their interest in improving society. Many of the women used advertisements which were incorrect. For example, Lydia E. Pinkham, who was in favour of stopping people from drinking alcohol, sold a product that was, itself, as alcoholic as whiskey or raksi.
The women mentioned are:
Lydia E. Pinkham: In 1879 Lydia Pinkham was selling a medicine that she had invented herself. It was called Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound. Her advertisements claimed this medicine could cure a many different faced by women. Such as –infertility, falling of womb, hysteria, nervousness etc.
Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden: These two women were rivals. They sold make-up. They were also married to rich and famous men from Europe.
Margaret Rudkin: She began to sell healthy food that she first used to help her sick son.
Jennie Grossinger: She owned a successful hotel.
Gertrude Muller: She sold things to help people look after their babies. She put small books explaining her ideas in the packages of the things she sold.
Annie Turnbo-Malone: She was a black American. She sold a chemical making hair look nice. She also began a school to train people how to use her products. She said this school was for the improvement of black people.
The Children Who wait
Marsha Traugot
Children who cannot be looked after by their real parents or family can be adopted by other people. Adopted children become part of the new family and are brought up by that family in the same way as other children. Adoption is a legal, process. The child becomes the legal son or daughter of the new (adoptive) parents.
Foster care
Children who do not have a family can be looked after by the government or by an NGO. This is called foster care, and children usually live in a foster home with other children who do not have families. Usually the government tries to have these children permanently adopted by other families. (The traditional name for a foster home was an orphanage.)
Summary
This essay describes what is happening to children in the United States who do not have parents. These children need to be adopted by other families. In the past, no-one wanted to look after handicapped children or children who had emotional problems. Today, many people are happy to adopt these difficult or handicapped children. One important reason for this, is that many different types of families want to adopt children. For example, a man living by himself might be happy to adopt a fifteen year old boy who is badly behaved, and religious people might want to adopt a handicapped child.
When it is not easy for the government to find people who want to adopt a particular child, they put advertisements on television and in newspapers. These advertisements often help a child find a new home.
A Child is Born
by Germaine Greer
This essay is very controversial. Most people disagree with some of the ideas expressed by Germaine Greer in this essay. For example, she states that is better for a woman to give birth in a traditional way, and die, than to use modern medical techniques and live. She also suggests that modernizing childbirth is undesirable because that will cause a population explosion.
There is a strong danger that this essay will encourage the continued use of unhealthy and dangerous practices.
In traditional societies there are different methods of having babies. These methods are useful because they make having a baby less frightening for the pregnant mother. There are rules (rituals), that make having a baby less frightening. If the pregnant woman follows the rules, for example by saying the correct prayers, she is likely to feel in control of the delivery of the child.
Even in the West, pregnant women follow rituals, and hospitals sometimes make mistakes.
When women give birth in traditional ways they, or their babies, are more likely to die.
In many societies, when women marry they go to live in the house of their husband's mother. Often these women are not fully accepted by the new family until they have had a child. Many people in the West think the treatment of women in traditional societies is cruel and wrong. Some Western experts even give lectures at conferences describing how bad the lives of women in traditional societies are.
In traditional societies the relationship between a mother and her child is more important than the relationship between a woman and her husband. The relationship between the child and its grandparents, aunts and uncles is also very important in many societies.
Women who have babies are rewarded. They receive a lot of attention and often the woman is allowed to return to her own mother's house when she has a baby.
The Tell-Tale Heart
by Edgar Allan Poe
Summary
Paragraph 1 The story-teller says that people will think he is crazy. But he says that he is not crazy. Crazy people cannot tell their stories calmly. But he can tell his story calmly, so he is not crazy. The story-teller feels nervous and he can hear everything, even things that other people cannot hear.
Paragraph 2 The story-teller lives in a house with an old man. The old man is nice to him and he likes the old man. But the old man has a pale, blue eye that is like the eye of a bird. He hates the eye, so he decides to kill the old man to get rid of the eye.
Paragraph 3 Before he killed the old man the story-teller was very nice to him. Every night at midnight he went very quietly to the old man's room. He opened the old man's door slowly and quietly put his head inside the room. And then he would very quietly turn on the lamp. The story-teller did the same thing for 7 nights, but the old man's eye was always closed. He wanted to get rid of the eye, but he couldn't kill the old man if he couldn't see the eye. In the morning the storyteller acted normally so that the old man wouldn't know that he wanted to kill him.
Paragraph 4 & 5 On the eighth night at midnight the story-teller did the same thing. But this time when he turned on the lamp he made a sound and the old man woke up. The old man sat up in his bed and asked who was there.
Paragraph 6 & 7 The story-teller stood quietly for an hour. The old man did not go back to sleep. The old man was very afraid. He knew someone was in his room.
Paragraph 8 & 9 The story-teller turned on the lamp and saw the old man's eye. He became angry when he looked at it.
Paragraph 10 & 11 The story-teller could hear everything, so he could hear the beating of the old man's heart. The sound made him feel even more angry. The sound became louder and quicker. The story-teller became worried that the neighbors would hear the noise made by the old man's heart. The story-teller made the lamp light bright and yelled. The old man also yelled. The story-teller threw the old man on the floor and put the heavy bed on top of him. The sound of the heart stopped, so he knew the old man was dead.
Paragraph 12 & 13 Then the story-teller cut the body into pieces and hid them under the wooden floor.
Paragraph 14 At 4 am the police came. The neighbors told the police that they had heard a yell come from the house. The police wanted to look inside of the house to see if something bad had happened.
Paragraph 15 The story-teller told the police that the old man was staying in the country and was not at home. He said that he had yelled because of a bad dream. The police searched the house but didn't find anything. Then they all sat in the old man's room and talked. The story-teller sat on the floor above where he had hidden the old man's body.
Paragraph 16 & 17 The police didn't think anything bad had happened. They just sat and talked. The story-teller began to hear the dead man's heart. The sound got louder and really bothered him.
Paragraph 18 Because the story-teller couldn't stand the sound of the heart he told the police what he had done and where the body was.
Hansel and Gretel
By: Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm
Summary
Hansel and Gretel lived with their stepmother and their father. Hansel was a boy and Gretel was a girl. Their father was a woodcutter and they lived near a forest. The family was very poor and did not have enough to eat. One night Hansel and Gretel heard their parents planning to leave them in the forest to save food. The woodcutter did not want to leave his children in the forest, but his wife persuaded him.
When they went into the forest the next day, Hansel dropped shiny pebbles on the path. The children were left by themselves. However, when it was night, the moon made the pebbles shine brightly. Hansel and Gretel followed the trail of pebbles back to their home.
Some time later there was again no food. The woodcutter and his wife took Hansel and Gretel into the forest again. This time Hansel did not have any shiny pebbles, so he dropped small pieces of bread on the path. However, the birds ate the pieces of bread so Hansel and Gretel could not find their way home.
They were lost in the forest for 3 days. They became very hungry. Then they saw a house. It was made out of bread, cake and sugar, so they began to eat it.
An old witch lived in the house. She gave Hansel and Gretel lots of food, but then she locked Hansel in a small shed and made Gretel do lots of work. The witch wanted to eat Hansel and she was waiting until he got fat. However, Gretel pushed the witch into the oven. She rescued Hansel and the witch was burnt to death.
Hansel and Gretel tried to find their home. They came to some water but there was no boat to take them across it. However, they were carried across the water by a large white duck.
When they got home, they discovered mat their stepmother had died. They gave their father lots of jewels that they had taken from the witch's house and after that they were all very happy.
Hansel and Gretel
-Bruno Bettelheim
This text is an essay about the hidden meanings of the Hansel and Gretel story. One message is that poverty makes people selfish.
According to Bettelheim, the story is really about the things that go on in children's minds.
For children, the Mother is the source of all food. When they grow up, children must learn to live separately from their mother. This is why they are left in the forest. But they return home because they are not yet old enough to live apart from their mother.
The children are left in the forest a second time. They try to solve their problems by concentrating only on food. They do not act like human beings but like hungry animals. This is why they eat the gingerbread house instead of using it for shelter.
The gingerbread house is also a symbol for the mother because the mother gives food to children.
Another message is that greed leads to destruction. The witch wants to eat the children who acted like greedy animals. It is only when they think and act like human beings that they manage to escape from the witch. In this way, the witch is also a symbol for the mother. At the beginning of life, children get food from their mother. Then the witch's behavior forces the children to start growing up and acting like adults.
The white duck that helps Hansel and Gretel get home is a symbol of a new beginning. The duck can only carry one child at a time and this shows that children must learn to live without their brothers and sisters.
Birds play an important part in the story. Children who read the story will believe that birds were controlling what happened to Hansel and Gretel.
When Hansel and Gretel return home, they have grown up. They can now help their father. The help they give is symbolized by the jewels. The family is not rich because they have money but because Hansel and Gretel have learnt to think and act like adults.
The Boarding House
-James Joyce
Mrs., Mooney and her husband had a butcher's shop (a shop where they sold meat). Her husband drank a lot of alcohol and spent all of their money. One night he tried to cut Mrs. Mooney with a big knife. So Mrs. Mooney left her husband, sold the butcher's shop and started a boarding house. Polly, her daughter, worked at the boarding house. Mr. Doran lived at the boarding house. He was having a love affair with Polly. Mrs. Mooney knew about the love affair, but didn't try to stop it. She wanted her daughter to marry Mr. Doran. Finally Mrs. Mooney talked to her daughter about the affair. Polly told her mother everything. Mrs. Mooney was happy about the love affair because Mr. Doran would have to marry her daughter. If he didn't marry her he would probably lose his job because everyone would know that he had done something bad. Mr. Doran didn't really want to marry Polly. He preferred to be free. His family would not like Polly. She wasn't very educated and did not speak English correctly. But he knew that if he didn't marry Polly he would lose his job and have to run away.
Mrs. Mooney talked to Mr. Doran. We (the readers) do not know what they said to each other. But we can guess that Mrs. Mooney told Mr. Doran that he had to marry her daughter and he agreed. While Mr. Doran and her mother were talking Polly dreamt about her future.
Purgatory
- W.B. Yeats
At the beginning of the play, the Old Man and the Boy are in front of an old house that has been destroyed. The Old Man tells the Boy to study the house. He says knew the house when people still lived in it.
The Old Man starts talking about the souls of dead people. He says that people who have done evil things do the same evil things over and over again after they have died. The boy thinks the Old Man is mad.
The Old Man says that he was born in the ruined house. His Mother, (the Boy's grandmother) was a rich woman who owned the house and a lot of land. She also owned an expensive race horse. The Old Man's Father looked after the horse. The Mother fell in love and married the Old Man's Father. Her family was against the marriage.
The Old Man's Mother died when the Old Man was born. She didn't know that Old Man's Father wasted all her money playing cards and on horses, alcohol and women,
Because he did these bad things, the Old Man's Father destroyed the spirit of the house.
The Old Man says he never went to school but that he was taught by the priest and the wife of a servant. The Boy complains that the Old Man hadn't sent him to school, but the Old Man says the Boy did not deserve to go to school because he was the son of an unmarried, low-class woman.
When the Old Man was sixteen years old, (the same age as the Boy in the play), the Old Man's Father burnt down the house when he was drunk.
The Boy says he has heard stories that the Old Man killed his father in the burning house. The Old Man says this is true. He killed his father with the knife
he is now using to cut his food. He was not arrested for the crime because the body was so burnt it was impossible to prove it had been stabbed. After the murder, the Old Man ran away from the house to become a travelling seller.
The Old Man says, "Listen to the hoof-beats! Listen, Listen."
He says that it is the anniversary (same day in the year) of his mother's wedding night, which was the same night he was conceived The Old Alan's Father is riding home from a bar with a whiskey bottle under his arm. The window of the house lights up and a young girl appears.
The Boy says he can see nothing. He says the Old Man is mad.
The Old Man continues to tell the story. The Old Man's Father has arrived at the house and has been met by The Old Man's Mother. They go into the marriage bedroom. The Old Man pleads with his mother not to let his father touch her. The Old Man does not want his mother to have a child. The child will be the Old Man, and the Old Man will kill his father. The Old Man explains that his mother must keep re-living her wedding night over and over again.
Meanwhile the Boy tries to rob the Old Man, but the Old Man catches him looking through his bag. The Boy says the Old Man has not given him a fair share of the money. The Old Man says the Boy would have wasted the money and they fight over the bag. At the back of the stage, a light comes on in the window. The Boy threatens to kill the Old Man.
The Old Man stares at the window and sees the ghost of his father. Then the Old Man kills the Boy with his knife. The light in the window goes off and the stage becomes dark.
The Old Man believes he has broken the cycle of violence. He killed the Boy because he didn't want the Boy to have a son. He thought any son of the Boy would also become a murderer.
He cleans his knife and begins to pick up his money. He hears horse hooves again. This indicates that his mother is still suffering in purgatory and that the two murders of his father and his own son have been for nothing. He cries out to God, asking him to release his mother's soul from purgatory.
