THE DARLING
She now had her own opinions, and at supper discussed with Sasha's parents, saying how difficult the studies had become for the children at the school. But after all, she felt a classical education was better than a commercial course, because when you graduated from school then the road was open to you for any career at all. If you chose to, you could become a doctor, or, if you wanted to, you could become an engineer.
Sasha started at the school. His mother left on a visit to her sister in Kharkov and never came back. As his father was away every day inspecting cattle and was sometimes gone for up to three whole days at a time, it seemed to Olenka that Sasha was completely abandoned, was treated as if he were quite superfluous, and must be dying of hunger. So she transferred him into her part of the house and fixed up a little room for him there.
Every morning Olenka would come into his room and find him sound asleep with his hand tucked under his cheek, so quiet that he seemed not to be breathing. " What a shame to have to wake him," she thought.
"Sashenka," she said sorrowfully, "get up, darling. It's time to go to school."
He got up, dressed said his prayers, then sat down to breakfast. He drank three glasses of tea, ate two large cracknels and half a buttered roll. The sleep was not yet out of him, so he was a little cross.
"You don't know your fables' as you should, Sashanka," said Olenka, looking at him as though he were departing on a long journey. "What a lot of trouble you are. You must try hard and learn, dear, and mind your teachers."
"Oh, leave me alone, please," said Sasha.
Then he went down the street to the school, a little fellow wearing a large cap and carrying a satchel on his back. Olenka followed him noiselessly.
"Sashenka," she called. He looked round and she shoved a date or a caramel into his hand. When he reached the street of the school, he turned around, ashamed of being followed by a tall, stout woman and said, "You had better go home, aunt. I can go the rest of the way myself."
She stopped and stared at him until he had disappeared through the school entrance. Oh, how she loved him! Not one of her other ties had been so deep. Never before had she given herself so completely and so cheerfully as now. Her maternal instincts were all aroused. For this boy. who was not hers, for the dimples in his cheeks and for his big cap, she would have given her life and given it with tears of joy. Why? Ah, indeed, why? When she had seen Sasha off to school, she returned home quietly, content, peaceful and overflowing with love. Her face, which had grown younger in the last six months, smiled and beamed. People who met her were pleased as they looked at her.
"How are you, Olga Semyonovna. darling? How are you getting on, darling?"
"The school courses are very difficult nowadays," she told people at the market. "It's no joke. Yesterday the first class had a fable to learn by heart, a Latin translation, and a problem. How is a little fellow to do that?"
And she spoke of the teacher and the lessons and the textbooks, repeating exactly what Sasha said about them.
At three o'clock they had dinner. In the evening they did his homework together, both crying at how difficult it was. When she put him to bed, she stayed a long time making the sign of the cross over him, muttering a prayer. And when she lay in bed, she dreamed of the far-away, misty future when Sasha would finish his studies and become a doctor or an engineer, have a large house of his own, with horses and a carriage, marry and have children. She would fall asleep still thinking of the same things, and tears would roll down her cheeks from her closed eyes. And the black cat would lie at her side purring: "Mrr, mrr, mrr."
Task 1 Questions:
1. What does Olenka think about a classical education compared to a commercial course?
A. It provides more career opportunities.
B. It is easier to complete.
C. It is less expensive.
2. Why did Olenka transfer Sasha into her part of the house?
A. Because his father was away inspecting cattle.
B. Because Olenka wanted to keep an eye on him.
C. Because Sasha wanted to be closer to his mother.
3. How does Olenka feel when she wakes Sasha up for school?
A. Annoyed.
B. Excited.
C. Sad.
4. What does Olenka do as Sasha walks to school?
A. She follows him from a distance.
B. She walks with him.
C. She watches him from the window.
5. How does Olenka feel about Sasha?
A. Indifferent.
B. Loving.
C. Jealous.
6. What does Olenka tell people at the market about the school courses?
A. They are easy and enjoyable.
B. They are too challenging for young children.
C. They are not important for Sasha's future.
7. How does Olenka feel when she lay in bed?
A. Tired and frustrated.
B. Excited to have some alone time.
C. Worried about Sasha's futur
Task 2 True or False
Statements:
1. Olenka believes that a classical education is better than a commercial course.
2. Olenka's aunt lives in Kharkov.
3. Sasha's father is always at home with him.
4. Olenka wakes Sasha up every morning for school.
5. Sasha eats a big breakfast before going to school.
6. Olenka follows Sasha to school every day.
7. Olenka is Sasha's mother.
8. Olenka dreams of Sasha becoming a doctor or an engineer.
9. Olenka cries because Sasha's homework is too easy.
10. Olenka has a black cat.
Task 3 Match
Definitions:
a. to have a job where you help sick people get better.
b. to walk quietly behind someone without making any noise.
c. natural feelings that make a mother want to take care of her child.
d. crying because you are very happy.
e. a class that teaches you about business and making money.
f. to memorize something so well that you can remember it perfectly.
g. small hollows on the sides of someone's face when they smile.
h. sleeping deeply without waking up easily.
i. a woman who is both very tall and has a large body.
j. saying a quiet prayer under your breath.
k. to finish your studies at a school or university.
l. having a lot of strong feelings of affection towards someone.
m. to look at someone for a long time without blinking.
n. left alone with no one taking care of it.
o. to stop bothering or talking to me.
Words:
1. overflowing with love
2. to learn by heart
3. sound asleep
4. maternal instincts
5. a tall, stout woman
6. muttering a prayer
7. to leave me alone
8. completely abandoned
9. to follow him noiselessly
10. to become a doctor
11. to graduate from school
12. tears of joy
13. to stare at him
14. dimples in his cheeks
15. a commercial course
Task 4 Fill in the gaps.
tucked, noiselessly, abandoned, a tv commercial, sorrowfully
When Emily was fifteen, she saw a man for the first time. He walked past her tucking his hair behind one ear and smiled at her. She saw him again when she was twenty-one in _____(1) for a new car. She saw him often after that, always on TV, magazines or billboards. He advanced in his career while Emily finished college and got a job in a small office. Ten years later, she went to visit her great-aunt's _____(2) house in the country. All the items that had belonged to her great-aunt were still there, including some old photographs. In one of them, he was standing next to her great-aunt and looking at Emily _____(3). Suddenly, the man walked into the room _____(4) with his hair _____(5) behind one ear.
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