21. The sawdust in the icehouse makes a comfortable bottom in which to root, and a warm bed.
? to root: (of animals) to dig with the snout or nose as in search for food 22. This sawdust, however, came under suspicion when the pig took sick.
? take sick: (informal and old-fashioned) to become sick.
? When the pig got sick, the sawdust was suspected to be the very cause of
illness. In other words, the sawdust may contain some bacteria which led to the illness of the pig.
23. One of my neighbors said he thought the pig would have done better on new ground--- the same principle that applies in planting potatoes.
? According to my neighbor, just as potatoes grow better in places where none
have been planted before, so does the pig.
24. He said there might be something unhealthy about that sawdust, that he never thought well of sawdust.
? think well of : to have positive opinions or attitude toward
Para. 5
25. He failed to appear at the trough for his supper, and when a pig (or a child) refuses supper a chill wave of fear runs through any household, or ice-household.
? My pig didn‘t show up for supper, and since a pig is, like a child, always
hungry, the whole family worried.
? The author is comparing a pig to a child. What similarities, according to the
author, do the two share? --- Both are hungry all the time and both are dear to the family.
? Trough: a long narrow open container used for holding food or water for
animals. To the pig, the trough is like the dinner table.
26. After examining my pig, who was stretched out in the sawdust inside the building, I went to the phone and cranked it four times.
? crank: to start or operate (an engine, for example) by turning a handle. The
use of the word tells us something about the background. In those days, the telephone was old-fashioned, especially in rural areas.
27. ―What‘s good for a sick pig?‖ I asked.
? What kind of medicine is good for a sick pig?
28. There is never any identification needed on a country phone:…
? It‘s a small village and everybody knows everybody else well enough.
Therefore, you don‘t have to say who you are when you talk to somebody on the phone.
? Character of the question: the kind of question and also perhaps the way of
raising a question.
Para.7
29. Mr. Dameron was back on the line again in five minutes.
? Mr. Dameron got back to me (talked to me again ) five minutes later.
30. ―Henry says roll him over on his back and give him tow ounces of castor oil or
sweet oil, and if that doesn‘t do the trick give him an injection of soapy water. ? Out of their former experience, the author‘s neighbors decided that the pig
was suffering from indigestion. Castor oil, sweet oil and soapy water are all for the purpose of having the pig vomit and thus solving indigestion.
? Do the trick: to do what is needed in order to achieve something, here it
means to be effective in curing the disease.
? Note the informal usage of language in colloquial English: the omission of
?that‘ after ?says‘, coma after ?if that doesn‘t do the trick‘.)
31. He says he‘s most sure the pig‘s plugged up, and even if he‘s wrong, it can‘t do any harm.
? plug up: to stop up or obstruct. In this context, it means the pig suffer from
indigestion or constipation.
Para.8
32. I thanked Mr.Dameron. I didn‘t go right down to the pig, though. I sank into a chair and sat still for a few minutes to think about my troubles, and then I got up and went to the barn, catching up on some odds and ends that needed tending to. ? Why did the author do as his neighbor suggested right away?
Because he didn‘t want to accept that the pig was sick, he delayed the medical treatment as long as possible. This psychological movement is further made clear later.
? catch up on : to do something that should have been done before. E.g. he
stopped working at 10 to catch up on his breakfast.
? Odds and ends: small things that are different and not valuable or important.
New comers are usually given odds and ends to do in a company. ? Tend to: to attend to, to pay attention to
33. Unconsciously I held off, for an hour, the deed by which I would officially recognize the collapse of the performance of raising a pig; I wanted no interruption in the regularity of feeding, the steadiness of growth, the even succession of days, I wanted no interruption, wanted no oil, no deviation.
? The author uses parallelism (no interruption in the regularity of feeding, the
steadiness of growth…no oil, no deviation) to emphasize that he was unwilling to accept the failure of his ―scheme‖.
? Hold off: (hold off on something/ hold off doing something) to delay doing
something deliberately.
? The deed: the action, the medical treatment
? The performance of raising a pig: the scheme or the tragedy referred Para.9
34. Shortly after five o‘clock …..if I were to dose a pig there was no time to lose.
? The author could no longer delay the treatment of the pig. He had to make up
his mind right now.
? Dose: to give a measured amount of a drug to someone. Dose is more often
used as a noun as in ― a small dose‖ or ―a fatal dose‖.
35. The dinner date seemed a familiar….to make all human intercourse seem vastly inappropriate
? Dinner dates are always like that. There are no dinner dates when life is
boring and you want to have them. But when they do come you always can‘t enjoy them because something like the disease of your pig usually happens. ? Desultory: (fml) showing that you have no plan or enthusiasm for what you
are doing. A desultory society refers to a community where there is not much purpose or plan, or which is characterized by a leisurely or idle life.
? Summon: (fml) to officially order someone to come to a place, especially a
court of law. E.g. The queen has summoned Parliament. Here it means ―to invite‖. Intercourse: (old-fashioned) communication between people or activities that people do together.
36. I have to come to believe that there is in hostesses a special power of divination, and that they deliberately arrange dinners to coincide with pig failure or some other sort of failure.
? The author humorously accuses the hostesses of having supernatural power to
make dinners dates a dilemma.
? Divination: the practice of finding out about the future by receiving signs
from Heaven
? Coincide: to happen at the same time with something else.
37. At any rate, it was after five o‘clock and I knew I could put off no longer the evil hour.
? the evil hour: the evil hour of having to dose the pig. This shows the author‘s
reluctance to dose the pig.
Para.10
38. When my son and I arrived at the pigyard, armed with a small bottle of castor oil and length of clothesline, the pig had emerged from his house and was standing in the middle of his yard, listlessly.
? armed with: provided with useful or impressive equipment, information etc. It
seems a big word to go together with a small bottle of castor oil and a length of clothesline, and the exaggeration creates humor.
? a length of: a piece of something that is long and thin. E.g a length of rope/
string/ pipe
? Emerge: to come out or up. It is a humorous way of saying ―to appear‖ ? Listless: feeling as if you have no energy and no interest in anything
39. He gave us a slim greeting. I could see that he felt uncomfortable and uncertain.
? the pig gave us a weak greeting, which as unusual and different from its usual
lively and hearty way. These descriptions make us feel that we are reading about a sick person rather than a sick pig.
40. My son reached down, grabbed both front legs, upset him quickly, … I had never seen before.
? upset: to tip over, overturn, to turn upside down
? corrugated: being shaped into parallel folds. Here ―a pink, corrugated area‖
refers to the pig‘s throat.
41. The scream, slightly muffled by oil, … the pig righted himself.
? The author continues to use a pseudo-serious tone, making it sound like he
was giving a scientific report. He is also comparing the screaming of the pig to the screaming of human beings tortured.
? Muffle: to make a sound of sth quieter and less easy to hear by wrapping it,
covering it in cloth. E.g. he muffled the alarm clock by putting it under his pillow.
? Pitch: to make a sound at a particular level
? ―His legs released‖ is a subject supplement to ―the pig righted himself‖ ? right: to put someone or something back into their usual upright position.
Para.11
42. In the upset position the corners of his mouth had been turned down, giving him a frowning expression.
? This is a vivid description of the pig‘s facial expression ( as if a pig was
capable of giving a facial expression) during the medical treatment, which shows that he didn‘t like it.
43. Back on his feet again, he regained the set smile what a pig wears even in sickness.
? a set smile: a smile that is fixed or does not change.
? Note the collocation ―to wear a smile‖. One can also wear a puzzled frown, a
fashionable hairstyle, a thick beard, etc.
44. He stood his ground, sucking slightly at the residue… turned on me in disgust and hatred.
? residue: a small part of something that remains after the main part is taken or
used. E.g. pesticide residues in food
? wicked: playfully malicious or mischievous, naughty, evil in an amusing way ? coy: pretending to be shy in order to make oneself more attractive ? The pig is personified with man‘s feeling and emotion.
45. I scratched him gently… the indignity to which he had just been subjected.
? The pig normally would enjoy being scratched, but not this time, as he was
too sick and meanwhile, angry with his master. ? Rehearse: to go over, to recall
? Indignity: a situation that makes one feel embarrassed or ashamed;
humiliation. Here it refers to the pig being thrown on his back and force to take the oil.
? Subject somebody to something: to make someone experience something
unpleasant
46. I noticed, as I stood there, four or five small dark spots … about the size of a housefly.
? The speed of the story is maintained with the introduction of another conflict.
After the pig was forced to take some medicine to cure indigestion, the author noticed some new symptoms, attracting readers‘ attention and
creating suspense.
47. I could not make out what they were.
? make out: to see, ear or understand someone or something with difficulty
48. They did not look troublesome but at the same time they did not look like mere surface bruises or chafe marks. Rather they seemed blemish of internal origin. ? These small dark spots immediately puzzled and worried the author. Although
they didn‘t seem too serious, they were not bruises caused by external force but were symptoms of internal illness.
? Bruise: a mark that you get on your body if you are hit or if you knock against
something
49. His stiff white bristles almost completely hid them and I had to part the bristles with my fingers to get a good look. ? bristle: a short stiff hair
Para.12
50. Several hours later, a few minutes before midnight, having dined well and at someone else‘s expense, I returned to the pighouse with a flashlight.
? at someone else‘s expense: (humorous) being a guest at someone else‘s. The
author had just had a good dinner at his friend‘s place. ? Pighouse: pigyard, pigpen are all the same thing. 51. The patient was asleep.
? the patient: a humorous reference to the sick pig 52. Kneeling, I felt his ears….I found none and went to bed.
? Now the pig almost became his child. The pig is personified. Feeling the ear
is the way to get the temperature of a pig; with a child, you would put your hand on the forehead.
? ―The sign‖ here is a euphemism, referring to the pig shit. If the oil worked,
there would be shit somewhere. But the author did not find any. The oil did not do the trick.
Para.13
53. We had been having an unseasonable spell of weather… taking possession of houses, men and animals.
? spell: a period of time, usually a short one; a period when there is a particular
type of weather. E.g. a hot/cold/wet/dry spell
? unseasonable: uncommon for the season. It should be quite cool in
mid-september, but this year it is hot and humid. ? Close: oppressively warm and stuff ? Shut in : to enclose, surround
? Scale: to rise or lift, (of fog) to become lighter
? Drift: to be pushed along very slowly by the movement of air or water; (of fog,
smoke, air, water, etc.) move slowly. E.g. Thick smoke from a forest fire drifted across the town.
By using ―drifting in‖, the author means that the fog moved in an almost