Lessons 46 · 1 lessons · G. T. Gasilova, Yu. Yu. Musurmanova. Russian Language, Grade 6 (for schools with Uzbek and other languages of instruction). 2nd revised edition. “O‘zbekiston milliy ensiklopediyasi”, Tashkent, 2017
46
Mark Twain. “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”
Textbook, pp. 162–166
GoalUnderstand the excerpt from Mark Twain’s «The Adventures of Tom Sawyer» (whitewashing the fence), its humour and Tom’s “great law”.
Mark Twain (real name Samuel Clemens, 1835–1910) was an American writer. «The Adventures of Tom Sawyer» (1876) is about the mischievous boy Tom who lives in a small town on the Mississippi. The textbook excerpt is a Saturday scene. By order of Aunt Polly, Tom must whitewash a long fence. He is gloomy: his friends will play while he works! Suddenly a brilliant idea comes to him (вдохновение). When Ben Rogers, an apple in hand, arrives to tease him, Tom pretends to enjoy the work. “It is not every day that a boy gets to whitewash a fence!” he says. Ben becomes curious and gives his apple for the brush. Then other boys do the same: they work in exchange for toys and treasures. By evening Tom is rich, and the fence has three coats! Tom discovers a “great law”: to make someone desire something, make it hard to get; work is what we must do, play is what we need not do. The story has humour and psychological insight.
Worked examples
«Забор Тома» (summary in my own words). «В субботу Том должен был белить длинный забор. Ему было обидно и скучно. Вдруг он придумал хитрость: притворился, что работа ему очень нравится. Друг Бен захотел попробовать и отдал за это яблоко. Скоро забор белили другие мальчишки, а Том отдыхал и собирал подарки. К вечеру он стал богачом, а забор был побелён три раза.» (On Saturday Tom had to whitewash a long fence. He felt hurt and bored. Suddenly he came up with a trick: he pretended he enjoyed the work. His friend Ben wanted to try and gave an apple for it. Soon other boys whitewashed the fence while Tom rested and collected gifts. By evening he was a rich man and the fence had been whitewashed three times.)
«Tom’s law»: work is what we are obliged to do; play is what we are not obliged to do. Tom’s “tricks”: «притворяться» (to pretend), «тайный восторг» (secret delight).
Class activity
“Be Tom”. Pupils play Tom and Ben: Tom “enjoys the work”, Ben says «Дай и мне попробовать!» The class discusses Tom’s trick in Russian: «Том хитрый, потому что …»
Practice
1
What did Tom have to do on Saturday?
Побелить забор.
2
How did Tom make Ben interested?
Он притворился, что работа ему нравится.
3
State the “great law” in one sentence.
Чем труднее получить вещь, тем сильнее её хотят; работа — это то, что обязаны делать.
4
Is Tom’s law right? Why?
Free answer, e.g.: sometimes yes — hard things seem valuable; but work can also bring joy when you do it willingly.