The meaning of the story is a cat in the rain. Ernest Hemingway
Federal Agency for Education
"GOU St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University"
Faculty of Foreign Languages
Department of Linguistics and Intercultural Communication
Course work
On the topic: "A stylistic analysis of Ernest Hemingway's short story "Cat in the rain""
St. Petersburg
I) Introduction
Hemingway stylistic analysis
Ernest Hemingway (July 21, 1899, Oak Park, Illinois, USA - July 2, 1961, Ketchum, Idaho, USA) - one of the greatest American writers, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for the story "The Old Man and the Sea" and Nobel Prize in Literature "For storytelling once again demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea."
The story "The Cat in the Rain" was published in 1925 in the collection "In Our Time". In those years, Ernest Hemingway lived in Paris. He moved to Paris in 1921, immediately after his marriage to the young pianist Hadley Richardson. Hemingway traveled to Europe as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star. It was in the capital of France that Hemingway decided to become a writer. In Paris, the young Hemingway couple settled in a small apartment on the Rue Cardinal Lemoine near Place de la Contrescarpe. In the book A Holiday That Is Always With You, Ernest writes: “There was no hot water and no sewerage here. But there was a good view from the window. There was a good spring mattress on the floor, which served as a comfortable bed for us. There were pictures on the wall that we liked. The apartment seemed bright and comfortable. Hemingway had to work hard to make a living and allow himself to travel the world during the summer months. And he starts submitting his stories to the Toronto Star weekly. The editors expected from the writer sketches of European life, details of life and customs. This gave Ernest the opportunity to choose topics for essays and practice his own style on them. Hemingway's first works were essays ridiculing American tourists, "golden youth" and playboys who poured into post-war Europe for cheap entertainment. So far, great literary fame has not yet come to him. The young American's first real literary success came in 1926 with the release of The Sun Also Rises, a pessimistic yet brilliant novel about the "lost generation" of young people living in France and Spain in the 1920s.
Even at the beginning of his career, in the 1920s, the young writer found his own style, his writing path, which was embodied in the collection of short stories "In Our Time". Hemingway's search for his place in literature took place in parallel with his journalistic work in the Toronto Star newspaper. Thus, initially in the collection "In Our Time" there was an originality inherent in the interweaving of two undoubtedly related arts of the word - literature and journalism. In it, each chapter includes a brief episode, which, in some way, relates to the next story. The collection was published in 1925 and marked Hemingway's American debut.
In my work, I would like to consider the formation of Hemingway's language and style on the example of the story "The Cat in the Rain". The work of Ernest Hemingway influenced the development of American literature and world literature in general in the 20th century. The purpose of the work is a stylistic analysis of the story "The Cat in the Rain", identifying the reasons for the use of certain stylistic devices.
II) Stylistic analysis
At first glance, it seems that the plot is uncomplicated and for no apparent reason, only one episode from the life of a completely happy American couple traveling around Europe is described to readers. In fact, the story is full of subtle allusions by the author to the main idea, to what he really wanted to convey to readers. The stylistic devices used by Hemingway are hints. They help to get to the truth, correctly placing accents in the text, drawing the reader's attention to the most important details.
Early in the story, the description of the hotel where the American couple is staying uses anadiplosis: “They did not know any of the people they passed on the stairs on their way to and from their room. Their room was on the second floor facing the sea". The phrase "their room" ends one sentence and begins another. It seems to me that the author wanted to draw our attention to these words. The world of George and his wife revolves around their room. They have little interest. Although they travel, it seems that they spend most of their time in this room. Not only during the rain. In order to show that during the action of the events of the story there was not just rain, but a real downpour, anadiplosis is again applied: “It was raining. The rain dripped from the palm trees." In general, the repetition of the word “rain” at the beginning of the text not only characterizes the weather, but also sets the tone for the narrative, sets its mood.
In a dialogue between a husband and wife, when they were deciding who would go outside to fetch a cat, Hemingway not without reason, speaking of her husband, repeats the words associated with his position in the room: “her husband offered from the bed”, “the husband went on reading, lying propped up with the two pillows at the foot of the bed.” There is little that can make George get out of bed, he prefers a recumbent lifestyle. His wife is ready to go into the rain for the sake of the cat, but he continues to lie on the couch. The characters are very different.
“The wife liked him. She liked the deadly serious way he received any complaints. She liked his dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her. She liked the way he felt about being a hotel-keeper. She liked his old, heavy face and big hands.” The American liked absolutely everything about the owner of the hotel. The effect is enhanced by the repetition of the subject and predicate, but there is no gradation here. It is interesting that such feelings are caused not by the husband, but by the owner of the hotel. Perhaps the relationship to the husband and the owner of the hotel are even opposed to each other.
"A man in a rubber cape was crossing the empty square to the cafe." This character will not be seen again in the story. It is unlikely that the author remembered him for no apparent reason. I think this can be considered an extended metaphor. Perhaps this person is the life from which the young American woman is moving away. Adventures and travel are close to her, but every day there are only fewer of them.
"There was a cat," said the American girl.
"A cat?" the maid laughed. "A cat in the rain?"
The cat among the girls of the "lost generation" becomes almost a symbol of homelessness, homelessness and at the same time a sign of home, hearth, stability, security. After all, if there is a house, then there must be someone there who is waiting for you, loves you, is ready to drink hot tea and warm you with tenderness. That is why the desperately young, nameless Hemingway heroine yearns to have this cat at all costs, and that is why she does, as George might think, a capricious and eccentric act - she goes downstairs and goes after the cat. That is why the word “cat” is repeated so often in the text.
Throughout the story, the owner of the hotel is referred to as "padrone". This can be considered an antonomasia. Why, then, did the respectful owner of the hotel, who did not know her at all, manage, like no one else, to feel, to understand her restless soul - to send a maid with an umbrella, to deliver a cat to the room, not some, but the very one? Is it because he is old and well, even too well knows life and people, hundreds of whom passed through his hotel, or maybe because he is also alone among the crowd of arriving and departing, and his eyes have not been moistened with tears of joy or love for a long time. ?
Hemingway uses another repetition when the girl describes to George how she wanted to take this cat for herself: ""I wanted it so much," she said. "I don't know why 1 wanted it so much. I wanted that poor kitty. It isn "t any fun to be a poor kitty out in the rain"". "I" is repeated to emphasize how important this cat is to her.
"And I want to eat at a table with my own silver and I want candles. And I want it to be spring and I want to brush my hair out in front of a mirror and I want a kitty and I want some new clothes" . By repeating the words "I want", the author shows how the real life of George's wife differs from what she would like.
In the end, the girl realizes that all this is just a dream. "Anyway, I want a cat," she said, "I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can't have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat." cat" like a spell, trying to somehow cling to the life that she does not have, but which she would like so much. Although even this desire softens somewhat by the end of the sentence.
As a result, it turns out that the only character who understood the young American was the owner of the hotel, and not her husband.
III) Conclusion
As often happens, the stylistic devices used by the writer are designed to help him convey to the reader the main idea of the narrative, the most important points of the work.
Hemingway most often uses syntactic repetition, and
Federal Agency for Education
"GOU St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University"
Faculty of Foreign Languages
Department of Linguistics and Intercultural Communication
Course work
On the topic: "A stylistic analysis of Ernest Hemingway's short story "Cat in the rain""
St. Petersburg
I) Introduction
Hemingway stylistic analysis
Ernest Hemingway (July 21, 1899, Oak Park, Illinois, USA - July 2, 1961, Ketchum, Idaho, USA) - one of the greatest American writers, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for the story "The Old Man and the Sea" and Nobel Prize in Literature "For the storytelling skill once again demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea ».
The story "The Cat in the Rain" was published in 1925 in the collection "In Our Time". In those years, Ernest Hemingway lived in Paris. He moved to Paris in 1921, immediately after his marriage to the young pianist Hadley Richardson. Hemingway traveled to Europe as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star. It was in the capital of France that Hemingway decided to become a writer. In Paris, the young Hemingway couple settled in a small apartment on the Rue Cardinal Lemoine near Place de la Contrescarpe. In the book A Holiday That Is Always With You, Ernest writes: “There was no hot water and no sewerage here. But there was a good view from the window. There was a good spring mattress on the floor, which served as a comfortable bed for us. There were pictures on the wall that we liked. The apartment seemed bright and comfortable. Hemingway had to work hard to make a living and allow himself to travel the world during the summer months. And he starts submitting his stories to the Toronto Star weekly. The editors expected from the writer sketches of European life, details of life and customs. This gave Ernest the opportunity to choose topics for essays and practice his own style on them. Hemingway's first works were essays ridiculing American tourists, "golden youth" and playboys who poured into post-war Europe for cheap entertainment. So far, great literary fame has not yet come to him. The young American's first real literary success came in 1926 with the release of The Sun Also Rises, a pessimistic yet brilliant novel about the "lost generation" of young people living in France and Spain in the 1920s. Even at the beginning of his career, in the 1920s, the young writer found his own style, his writing path, which was embodied in the collection of short stories "In Our Time". Hemingway's search for his place in literature took place in parallel with his journalistic work in the Toronto Star newspaper. Thus, initially in the collection "In Our Time" there was an originality inherent in the interweaving of two undoubtedly related arts of the word - literature and journalism. In it, each chapter includes a brief episode, which, in some way, relates to the next story. The collection was published in 1925 and marked Hemingway's American debut. In my work, I would like to consider the formation of Hemingway's language and style on the example of the story "The Cat in the Rain". The work of Ernest Hemingway influenced the development of American literature and world literature in general in the 20th century. The purpose of the work is a stylistic analysis of the story "The Cat in the Rain", identifying the reasons for the use of certain stylistic devices. II) Stylistic analysis At first glance, it seems that the plot is uncomplicated and for no apparent reason, only one episode from the life of a completely happy American couple traveling around Europe is described to readers. In fact, the story is full of subtle allusions by the author to the main idea, to what he really wanted to convey to readers. The stylistic devices used by Hemingway are hints. They help to get to the truth, correctly placing accents in the text, drawing the reader's attention to the most important details. Early in the story, the description of the hotel where the American couple is staying uses anadiplosis: “They did not know any of the people they passed on the stairs on their way to and from their room. Their room was on the second floor facing the sea". The phrase "their room" ends one sentence and begins another. It seems to me that the author wanted to draw our attention to these words. The world of George and his wife revolves around their room. They have little interest. Although they travel, it seems that they spend most of their time in this room. Not only during the rain. In order to show that during the action of the events of the story there was not just rain, but a real downpour, anadiplosis is again applied: “It was raining. The rain dripped from the palm trees." In general, the repetition of the word “rain” at the beginning of the text not only characterizes the weather, but also sets the tone for the narrative, sets its mood. In a dialogue between a husband and wife, when they were deciding who would go outside to fetch a cat, Hemingway not without reason, speaking of her husband, repeats the words associated with his position in the room: “her husband offered from the bed”, “the husband went on reading, lying propped up with the two pillows at the foot of the bed.” There is little that can make George get out of bed, he prefers a recumbent lifestyle. His wife is ready to go into the rain for the sake of the cat, but he continues to lie on the couch. The characters are very different. “The wife liked him. She liked the deadly serious way he received any complaints. She liked his dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her. She liked the way he felt about being a hotel-keeper. She liked his old, heavy face and big hands.” The American liked absolutely everything about the owner of the hotel. The effect is enhanced by the repetition of the subject and predicate, but there is no gradation here. It is interesting that such feelings are caused not by the husband, but by the owner of the hotel. Perhaps the relationship to the husband and the owner of the hotel are even opposed to each other. "A man in a rubber cape was crossing the empty square to the cafe." This character will not be seen again in the story. It is unlikely that the author remembered him for no apparent reason. I think this can be considered an extended metaphor. Perhaps this person is the life from which the young American woman is moving away. Adventures and travel are close to her, but every day there are only fewer of them. The cat among the girls of the "lost generation" becomes almost a symbol of homelessness, homelessness and at the same time a sign of home, hearth, stability, security. After all, if there is a house, then there must be someone there who is waiting for you, loves you, is ready to drink hot tea and warm you with tenderness. That is why the desperately young, nameless Hemingway heroine yearns to have this cat at all costs, and that is why she does, as George might think, a capricious and eccentric act - she goes downstairs and goes after the cat. That is why the word “cat” is repeated so often in the text. Throughout the story, the owner of the hotel is referred to as "padrone". This can be considered an antonomasia. Why, then, did the respectful owner of the hotel, who did not know her at all, manage, like no one else, to feel, to understand her restless soul - to send a maid with an umbrella, to deliver a cat to the room, not some, but the very one? Is it because he is old and well, even too well knows life and people, hundreds of whom passed through his hotel, or maybe because he is also alone among the crowd of arriving and departing, and his eyes have not been moistened with tears of joy or love for a long time. ? Hemingway uses another repetition when the girl describes to George how she wanted to take this cat for herself: ""I wanted it so much," she said. "I don't know why 1 wanted it so much. I wanted that poor kitty. It isn "t any fun to be a poor kitty out in the rain"". "I" is repeated to emphasize how important this cat is to her. "And I want to eat at a table with my own silver and I want candles. And I want it to be spring and I want to brush my hair out in front of a mirror and I want a kitty and I want some new clothes" . By repeating the words "I want", the author shows how the real life of George's wife differs from what she would like. In the end, the girl realizes that all this is just a dream. "Anyway, I want a cat," she said, "I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can't have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat." cat" like a spell, trying to somehow cling to the life that she does not have, but which she would like so much. Although even this desire softens somewhat by the end of the sentence. As a result, it turns out that the only character who understood the young American was the owner of the hotel, and not her husband. III) Conclusion As often happens, the stylistic devices used by the writer are designed to help him convey to the reader the main idea of the narrative, the most important points of the work. Most often Hemingway uses syntactic repetition, focusing on the most important words in the text. This technique helps the reader to try to read the main theme hidden between the lines. Only in this way will he be able to understand that, ultimately, this is a text about lonely people, of whom there are a lot, whom few people understand, for whom it is very difficult to find their soul mate. Syntactic repetition and antonomasia help the author show the special relationship between the young American woman and the hotel owner. They have much more in common than you might think. Interestingly, the text does not contain epithets, metaphors, hyperbole or comparisons that are so common in fiction. This tells us about some "dryness" and realism of Hemingway's style. It is distinguished by external emotional brevity, but in fact these are full and rich works. This is characteristic not only of the "early" Hemingway. IV) References V) Applications Cat in the Rain. Hemingway were only two Americans stopping at the hotel. They did not know any of the people they passed on the stairs on their way to and from their room. Their room was on the second floor facing the sea. It also faced the public garden and the war monument. There were big palms and green benches in the public garden. In the good weather there was always an artist with his easel. Artists liked the way the palms grew and the bright colors of the hotels facing the gardens and the sea. Italians came from a long way off to look up at the war monument. It was made of bronze and glistened in the rain. It was raining. The rain dripped from the palm trees. Water stood in pools on the gravel paths. The sea broke in a long line in the rain and slipped back down the beach to come up and break again in a long line in the rain. The motor cars were gone from the square by the war monument. Across the square in the doorway of the cafe a waiter stood looking out at the empty square.American wife stood at the window looking out. Outside right under their window a cat was crouched under one of the dripping green tables. The cat was trying to make herself so compact that she would not be dripped on. "I"m going down and get that kitty," the American wife said. "I"ll do it," her offered husband from the bed. "No, I"ll get it. The poor kitty out trying to keep dry under a table."husband went on reading, lying propped up with the two pillows at the foot of the bed. "II piove,"* the wife said. She liked the hotel-keeper. "Si, si, Signora, brutto tempo/"" It "s very bad weather." stood behind his desk in the far end of the dim room. The wife liked him. She liked the deadly serious way he received any complaints. She She liked his dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her. She liked the way he felt about being a hotel-keeper. She liked his old, heavy face and big hands. him she opened the door and looked out. It was raining harder. A man in a rubber cape was crossing the empty square to the cafe. The cat would be around to the right. Perhaps she could go along under the eaves. As she stood in the doorway an umbrella opened behind her. It was the maid who looked after their room. "You must not get wet," she smiled, speaking Italian. Of course, the hotel-keeper had sent her. With the maid holding the umbrella over her, she walked along the gravel path until she was under their window. The table was there, washed bright green in the rain, but the cat was gone. She was suddenly disappointed. The maid looked up at her. "Ha perduto qualque cosa, Signora?"* "There was a cat," said the American girl. "A cat?" the maid laughed. "A cat in the rain?" "Yes," she said, "under the table." Then, "Oh, 1 wanted it so much. I wanted a kitty." she talked English the maid's face lightened. "Come, Signora," she said. "We must get back inside. You will be wet." ""I suppose so," said the American girl.went back along the gravel path and passed in the door. The maid stayed outside to close the umbrella. As the American girl passed the office, the padrone bowed from his desk. Something felt very small and tight inside the girl. The padrone made her feel very small and at the same time really important. She had a momentary feeling of being of supreme importance. She went on up the stairs. She opened the door of the room. George was on the bed, reading. "Did you get the cat?" he asked, putting the book down. "Wonder where it went to," he said, resting his eyes from reading. sat down on the bed. "I wanted it so much," she said. "I don't know why 1 wanted it so much. I wanted that poor kitty. It isn"t any fun to be a poor kitty out in the rain."was reading again.went over and sat in front of the mirror of the dressing table looking at herself with the hand glass. She studied her profile, first one side and then the other. Then she studied the back of her head and her neck. "Don"t you think it would be a good idea if I let my hair grow out?" she asked, looking at her profile again. looked up and saw the back of her neck, clipped close like a boy's. "I like it the way it is." "I get so tired of it," she said. "I get so tired of looking like a boy."shifted his position in the bed. He hadn't looked away from her since she started to speak. "You look pretty darn nice,""" he said.laid the mirror down on the dresser and went over to the window and looked out. It was getting dark. "I want to pull my hair back tight and smooth and make a big knot at the back that I can feel," she said. "I want to have a kitty to sit on my lap and purr when 1 stroke her." "And I want to eat at a table with my own silver and I want candles. And I want it to be spring and I want to brush my hair out in front of a mirror and I want a kitty and I want some new clothes. " "Oh, shut up and get something to read," George said. He was reading again. wife was looking out of the window. It was quite dark now and still raining in the palm trees. "Anyway, I want a cat," she said, "I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can"t have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat,"was not listening. He was reading his book. His wife looked out of the window where the light had come on in the square. "Avanti,"* George said. He looked up from his book. the doorway stood the maid. She held a big tortoise-shell cat pressed tight against her and swung down against her body. "Excuse me," she said, "the padrone asked me to bring this for the Signora."
Psychological skill and innovation of E. Hemingway in the story "The Cat in the Rain"
Achieving brevity and expressiveness, Hemingway, at the very beginning of his career, developed a technique that he himself called the iceberg principle: “If a writer knows well what he writes about, he can omit much of what he knows, and if he writes truthfully, the reader will feel everything omitted just as strongly as if the writer had said it."
Hemingway compared his works to icebergs: "They are seven-eighths submerged in water, and only one eighth of them is visible." This is how the system of hints and omissions works in the works of Hemingway.
The story "Cat in the Rain" reflects the writer's approach to life in general. It is about an American couple who spend their holidays in Italy. There is not any preface to the story, the reader is unaware of the couple's past. Hemingway shows his characters at a certain period of his life - his favorite device. The story begins with a description of the hotel where they stayed. At first glance, everything seems to be ideal: cozy rooms on the second floor, a beautiful view from the window. And only the description of the rain evokes moods of sadness in the reader. This stylistic device is used by the author to create an atmosphere of inevitability. Nobody can hide from the rain. Water is everywhere: it is on the ground, it is pouring from the sky, as if nature is crying about something. All these pricks in the reader's ears and makes him think that something will happen to this American couple. In such a deadly dull evening an American girl saw a cat in the rain. "The cat sat under the table and tried to make herself so compact that she wouldn't be dripped on." Suddenly, the girl felt a strong inexplicable desire to get this cat. Maybe she just felt sorry for him. Must have been an unfortunate sight: a wet, stray cat sitting under a table in an empty square. The girl decided to go downstairs and get this cat. Here the reader meets her husband. He lay on the bed and read and he has no desire to go outside in this weather for the cat, his wife wants so much. Although he suggested it, but rather out of politeness, he did not insist. "Don't get wet" - he said, but it was not to care - he said it was just something to say. Later, the reader can see that the guardian hotel gives the girl more attention than her own husband. That's why she liked the hotel owner so much. Unconsciously comparing him to her indifferent husband, she loved him because he showed such attention to her. He always bowed when he saw her. His attention can be explained by the fact that he was the owner of the hotel and it was his due to take care of his customers, especially if they were foreigners. He just wanted them to feel comfortable and convenient. He showed paternal care and attention to her. Maybe the girl was inclined to the hotel keeper because he reminded her of her own father, who was always kind to her. In any case, it was so pleasant for the girl with sympathy and care. He made her feel important. He listened to her every word and ask, and she knew that her every little whim would be fulfilled, and that cannot be said about her husband, who never worried about his feelings. The reader can see quite the opposite picture when the girl went upstairs to her room. Her husband's only reaction was to ask if she had left the cat. He didn't notice her disappointment. Suddenly, the girl felt miserable. Through her, the writer's sad monologue shows all her dissatisfaction with life, from the absence of a cat to her short cropped hair. "I'm so tired of this," she says of her hair, but it's not just the boyish look that she's tired of, she's tired of the boring life of her indifferent and selfish husband who remains deaf to her desperation. ... She does not say directly that she is not satisfied with her family life, but the reader can see her in context. She wants to have long hair to look solid and respectable. She wants to have children and her own home, which she associates with silver and candles. And the cat in a dream is a symbol of refuge, the fact that it coincides with such concepts as home and comfort. the author emphasizes the idea of dissatisfaction with the use of repetition. In the importunate repetition of the "I want" construction, the reader can see the girl's emotional state. The girl throws away all her discontent, all her negative emotions that she accumulated during her life together with. husband Then the peak of the climax comes: "Oh, shut up and get something to read" says her husband Alienation grows between two people, the girl feels offended and remains to look out the window, It is still rain.... the rain is present on throughout the story It is a silent witness to the incandescent drama of the rain breaking through the plot and has a symbolic meaning, it symbolizes their unhappy family life. The girl stubbornly continues:.... "Anyway, I want a cat - she says. - I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can't have long hair or any pleasure, I can have a cat." Suddenly she realizes that her family life has not been successful and cats are her only opportunity to feel satisfied. But her husband doesn't care about him. He doesn't even listen to her. He probably never reflected on their life together. By the end of the story, the author pleases the girl's desire, and she gets a cat. But this is not the same cat from the street. This teeming with fat cat sent to the hotel custodian. Then the writer impartually leaves the reader to guess further developments. But it is this device that makes the reader understand that the girl will not be satisfied, that she will never be happy with her husband. And this big tortoiseshell cat does not symbolize home and comfort, it will not bring her happiness, early it symbolizes a missed opportunity. The main stylistic device of the story is built on this suspense. The author deliberately delays the denoument of keeping the reader in the push of anticipation. Hemingway's fine mastery of language allows him to keep the reader tense to the point of denoument. Although everything seems to lie on the surface, but after all the reader must make a great effort to get the unspoken help of the description of the facts. Hemingway's close attention to detail allows him to introduce hidden thought between the lines without speaking directly. Hemingway's talent lies in deep psychological insight into human nature.
There were only two Americans in the hotel. They didn't know anyone they met on the stairs going up to their room. Their room was on the second floor, the sea was visible from the windows. From the windows one could also see a public garden and a monument to the victims of the war. The garden had tall palm trees and green benches. When the weather was fine, there was always an artist sitting there with an easel. The artists liked the palm trees and bright facades of hotels with windows overlooking the sea and the garden. Italians came from afar to look at the monument to the victims of the war. It was bronze and shone in the rain. It was raining. Raindrops fell from palm leaves. There were puddles on the gravel paths. The waves in the rain broke in a long strip on the shore, rolled back and again ran and broke in the rain in a long strip. Not a single car remained on the square near the monument. Opposite, at the door of the cafe, a waiter stood and looked at the deserted square.
The American woman stood at the window and looked out into the garden. Under the very windows of their room, under a green table from which water dripped, a cat hid. She tried to curl up into a ball so that the drops didn't fall on her.
“I'll go downstairs and fetch the pussy,” said the American.
“Let me go,” her husband called from the bed.
- No I myself. Poor pussy! Hiding from the rain under the table.
“Be careful not to get wet,” he said.
The American went down the stairs, and as she passed through the lobby, the owner of the hotel stood up and bowed to her. His office was in the far corner of the lobby. The owner of the hotel was a tall old man.
“There was a cat here,” said the young American.
- Cat? The maid laughed. - A cat in the rain?
“Yes,” she said, “here, under the table.” - And then: - And I wanted her so much, I wanted pussy so much ...
When she spoke in English, the maid's face became tense.
“Come, signora,” she said, “we’d better come back.” You will get wet.
“Well, let’s go,” said the American.
They walked back down the gravel path and into the house. The maid stopped at the entrance to close her umbrella. As the American passed through the lobby, the padrone bowed to her from behind his desk. Something in her convulsively clenched into a ball. In the presence of the padrone, she felt very small and at the same time significant. For a moment she felt extraordinarily important. She climbed the stairs. She opened the door to the room. George lay on the bed and read.
- Well, did you bring the cat? he asked, lowering the book.
- She's gone.
- Where did she go? he said, looking up from his book for a second.
She sat on the edge of the bed.
“I wanted her so much,” she said. “I don’t know why, but I really wanted that poor pussy. Bad for such a poor pussy in the rain.
George was already reading again.
She went to the dressing table, sat down in front of the mirror and, taking a hand mirror, began to examine herself. She carefully examined her profile, first from one side, then from the other. Then she began to examine the back of the head and neck.
“Do you think I should let my hair go?” she asked, looking down at her profile again.
George looked up and saw the back of her head with her hair cut short like a boy's.
- I like it the way it is now.
“I'm tired,” she said. “I'm so tired of being like a boy.
George changed position. Ever since she spoke, he hadn't taken his eyes off her.
“You are very pretty today,” he said.
She put the mirror on the table, went to the window and looked out into the garden. It was getting dark.
“I want to pull my hair tight and make it smooth and have a big knot at the back of my head that I can touch,” she said. “I want a cat to sit on my lap and purr when I pet her.
"Mm," said George from the bed.
- And I want to eat at my table, and to have my own knives and forks, and I want candles to burn. And I want it to be spring, and I want to comb my hair in front of the mirror, and I want a cat, and I want a new dress ...
- Shut up. Take a book to read, said George. He was already reading again.
The American looked out the window. It was already quite dark, and the rain was noisy in the palm trees.
“Still, I want a cat,” she said. - I want a cat now. If you can’t have long hair and make it fun, can you at least have a cat?
George didn't listen. He was reading a book. She looked out the window, at the square, where the lights were lit.
There was a knock on the door.
"Avanti," said George. He looked up from his book.
A maid stood at the door. She held tightly to her large spotted cat, which hung heavily in her arms.
“Sorry,” she said. - Padrone is sending this to the signora.
The crowd screamed incessantly and with whistles and whoops threw crusts of bread, flasks, and pillows into the arena. Finally the bull got tired of so many inaccurate blows, bent his knees and lay down on the sand, and one of the quadrills leaned over him and killed him with a blow of a puntillo. The crowd rushed over the barrier and surrounded the matador, and two people grabbed him and held him, and someone cut off his pigtail and waved it, and then one of the boys grabbed it and ran away. In the evening I saw a matador in a cafe. He was short, with a dark face, and he was completely drunk. He said: “After all, it can happen to anyone. I'm not some kind of celebrity."
E. Hemingway
cat in the rain
The action takes place in Italy, in a seaside hotel.
The main characters are Americans, a married couple. The husband's name is George; the name of his wife is not mentioned by the author. The husband lies on the bed in the hotel room and reads a book. An American woman stands at the window and looks out into the garden. It's raining. In the street, under the very windows of their room, under a green table from which water drips, a cat hid. She tries to shrink into a ball so that drops of rain do not fall on her.
The American feels sorry for the cat and wants to bring it to her room. As she descends the stairs, she notices the owner of the hotel, who bows respectfully. The owner of the hotel likes an American. She feels "very important" in his presence.
The American woman and her maid go out into the street, in the rain, but the cat is gone. The American returns to the room. George, looking up from his book for a second, asks where the cat has gone.
“I wanted her so much,” the American replies, “I don’t know why, but I really wanted this poor pussy. Bad for such a poor pussy in the rain. But the husband does not listen, he again went deep into reading.
The wife sits down in front of the mirror and says she wants to change her hair, she wants to eat at her own table, she wants her own knives and forks, she wants her cat to sit on her lap and purr when petted.
Husband is indifferent. “Shut up. Take a book to read!” - here is his answer to the requests of his wife.
They knock on the door. On the threshold, the maid tightly hugs a large spotted cat, which hangs heavily in her arms. "Excuse me," she says, "The innkeeper is sending this to the signora."
Have you heard of the "black pipe"? Not about the pipe from the chimney and not about the sewer, but about the black pipe in the water park. You can hear about it everywhere: in the theater, in the museum, on the beach. At the first opportunity, the whole family rushed to the water park. Such a variety of water activities is nowhere else. These are large and small slides, water tarzans, labyrinths, caves, fountains and pools. And above all this splendor rises the main highlight - the "black pipe", similar to a huge octopus, whose tentacles are predatory spread over tiny pools. Upstairs, to her entrance, through the hot Spanish sun
Ostrovsky performed his plays at the turning point from the 1940s to the 1950s. This was a critical playwright period in the history of the Russian stage, when it became filled with either bombastic tragedies or vaudeville and sensitive melodramas partly borrowed from the West. Actually, there was no Russian, folk theater that would widely reflect the life of Russia. What did Ostrovsky give Russian dramaturgy? Ostrovsky acted in his plays primarily as a first-class realist artist. Perfectly knowing Russian life, especially the life of the merchants, Ostrovsky transferred Russian life to the stage in all its
Having settled in Italy, Byron joined the secret revolutionary organization of Italian patriots - the Carbonari. They planned to liberate their country from the Austrian yoke, but in 1821 they were defeated. In the summer of 1823, Byron went to Greece to take part in the struggle of the Greek people against the rule of the Turks. The poet died in Greece, whose people mourned Byron as their national hero. In "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" (the first two songs - 1812, the third - 1816, the fourth - 1818), Byron, denouncing the reaction, glorified the peoples of Spain, Italy, Greece, who fought for their liberation
Lermontov's work is unusually original. The line separating Pushkin and Lermontov is December 14, 1825. Lermontov entered literature when revolutionary hopes were dispelled. Hence the originality of his lyrics - joylessness, loneliness, a premonition of tragic death. However, faith in the people, in its mighty forces, helped the poet in many ways to overcome these moods, and in his lyrics the theme of the poet and poetry, the theme of the motherland, nature were established. Patriotic lyrics occupies an important place in Lermontov's poetry. In 1830, the poet writes "The Field of Borodino", on the same topic as the later "Borodino".