undetectable way.
? blot out: to cover something so that you can no longer see it. E.g. dark clouds
had blotted out the moon.
? take possession of: (literary usage) to start to control, dominate, or have a
strong effect on. In this sentence, it means the fog covered the whole village.
54. Everyone kept hoping for a break, but the break failed to come.
? break: a sudden change (of weather)
55. With very small, timid pigs, weanlings, this ruse is often quite successful and will encourage them to eat; but with a large, sick pig the ruse is senseless and the sound I made must have made him feel, if anything, more miserable.
? Instead of reminding the pig of past pleasures of eating, the sucking sound
might make the pig more aware of his present situation and therefore more miserable.
? Weanling: a child or young animal that has just stopped taking his mother‘s
milk.
? Ruse: a plan or trick used for hiding your true intentions. E.g. her bright smile
was merely a ruse.
56. He not only did not crave food, he felt a positive revulsion to it.
? crave: to want something very much and in a way that is hard to control, long
for
? positive revulsion: absolute or utter revulsion, a feeling of violent disgust or
loathing. Positive is used here for emphasis.
57. I found a place under the apple tree where he had vomited in the night.
? This was not the sign the writer was looking for the night before.
Para.14
58. At this point, although a depression had settled over me, I didn‘t suppose that I was going to lose my pig.
? The writer at this point knew that the case was more serious than he had
thought, but he still did not expect that the pig would die.
? Settle over: (mainly literary) to begin to have an effect on someone or
something e.g. Fear for terrorism has settled over Americans since 9.11 event.
59. From the lustiness of a healthy pig a man derives a feeling of personal lustiness; the stuff that goes into the trough and is received with such enthusiasm is an earnest of some later feast of his own, and when this suddenly comes to an end and the food lies stale and untouched, souring in the sun, the pig‘s imbalance becomes the man‘s, vicariously, an life seems insecure, displaced, transitory. ? The suffering of the pig affected the author.
? Lusty: full of vigor; strong, robust, healthy. E.g lusty infants. Please make
distinction between ―lusty‖ and ―lustful‖, which means filled with a strong desire, especially sexual desire.
? An earnest: earnest money, money paid in advance as part payment to build a
contract or bargain; a token of something to come; a promise or an assurance ? Vicarious: felt or experienced indirectly, by imagining the feelings, activities,
etc. of other people.
? Displaced: dislodged, dislocated, unbalanced
? Transitory: of a passing nature; not enduring or permanent; temporary,
fleeting; transient e.g. life is but transitory. Para.15
60. As my own spirits declined, along with the pig‘s, the spirits f my vile old dachshund rose.
? This is a transitional sentence. The author took the pig‘s problem as his own
and felt depressed; yet his dog became very excited about the whole event. ? Vile: (fml) shocking and morally bad, wicked
61. The frequency of our trips down the footpath….to serve him meals on a tray.
? Could you sense the humorous tone here? The dachshund visited the sick pig
frequently with his master. He ran to and fro despite his poor health.
? Bedridden: confined to bed, unable to get out of bed because of weakness or
illness. Can you imagine a bedridden dog? Isn‘t it funny? Here the dog is personified. He also took delight to have something unusual to do, thus proving his usefulness.
Para.16
62. … made many professional calls on his own.
? The dog would often even visit the pig by himself as if he were a doctor or
nurse. Note the humorous use of the word ―professional‖.
63. You could see him down there at all hours, his white face parting the grass along the fence as he wobbled and stumbled about, his stethoscope dangling--- a happy quack, writing his villainous prescriptions and grinning his corrosive grin.
? Fred was quite excited about the event. He was down at the pigpen all the
time. Because of his swollen joints, he moved about unsteadily. His face set apart the grass along the fence as he moved about. He was like a doctor, with his long, drooping ears dangling like a stethoscope, and he scrabbled on the ground as if he were prescribing some medicine. ? At all hours: at any time
? Wobbled and stumbled: the two words are in rhythm. They give a specific and
vivid description of the way the dog walks. Because he suffers from arthritis, it can‘t walk swiftly and steadily. Instead, he moves from side to side, and sometimes almost falls.
64. When the enema bag appeared, and the bucket of warm suds, his happiness was complete, and he managed to squeeze his enormous body between the two lowest rails of the yard and then assumed full charge of the irrigation.
? We can‘t help but smiling at this description of the dachshund, who has very
short legs and a long body, and who tried hard to get through the fence.
? When it was time to dose the pig, Fred became even more excited, and he
managed to get through the fence, and acted as if he was taking charge of the medical treatment.
? Suds: (pl.) lots of small bubbles on top of water that has soap in it ? Assume charge: to take charge of sth or control sth
? Irrigate: to wash out ( a body cavity or wound) with water or a medicated
fluid
65. Once, when I lowered the bag to check the flow, he reached in and hurriedly drank a few mouthfuls of the suds to test their potency.
? potency: the strength of a medicine, drug or chemical. E.g. improper storage
may decrease the potency of the medicine.
66. I have noticed that Fred will feverishly consume any substance that is associated with trouble--- the bitter flavor is to his liking.
? The dog will eat anything that is connected with trouble ? Feverish: extremely excited, enthusiastic
? to someone‘s liking: if something is to someone‘s liking, he or she likes it or
approves of it. E.g. flattery is to most people‘s liking.
67. When the bag was above reach, he concentrated on the pig and was everywhere at once, a tower of strength and inconvenience.
? to be everywhere at once: to move swiftly from one place to another. Here it
means the dog was so excited that he followed the author or the pig everywhere
? a tower of strength: (Brit Eng.) someone you can depend on to work hard or
to help in a difficult situation
? .. a tower of strength and inconvenience.
It is amusing to put the two contradictory images together. The tower of strength shows the dog‘s enthusiasm and concern to the sick pig. He was everywhere at once, eager to help. However, can he really help anything? In fact, he can only add more trouble because he was always in the way, that is what ―inconvenience‖ refer to. In other words, he was meddlesome, although he meant well.
68. The pig, curiously enough, stood rather quietly through this colonic carnival, and the enema, though ineffective, was not as difficult as I had anticipated.
? There is a funny contrast between the dachshund (which is enthusiastic and
active) and the pig (which is quiet and passive). The sick pig was supposed to struggle violently during the uncomfortable medical treatment.
? Colon: the lower part of the bowel ( the tube that takes waste out of your
body)
? Carnival: a lively festival in which people walk through the streets playing
music, dancing, and often wearing unusual and colorful clothes. (Have you ever seen on TV the carnival celebration held in Brazil?)
? By ―colonic carnival‖, the author means when the pig was given irrigation,
the dog was excited. He welcomed this event as a festival. The author makes a deliberate contrast between the dog with all its liveliness and lustiness and the sick pig.
Para.17
69. I discovered, though, that once having given a pig an enema there is no turning
back, no chance of resuming one of life‘s more stereotyped roles.
? resume: to start something again after stopping temporarily, to take up
? stereotyped role: traditional role. Here referring to the author‘s original role as
a butcher and the pig‘s role to be killed for food.
70. The pig‘s lot and mine were inextricably bound now, as though the rubber tube were the silver cord
? lot: fate, one‘s fortune or destiny, especially when it is not very good.
? Inextricably: (fml) inseparable, used for emphasizing that two things always
exist together and that they cannot be separated or considered as separate.
71. From then until the time of his death I held the pig steadily in the bowl of my mind; the task of trying to deliver him from his misery became a strong obsession. ? in the bowl of my mind: very much on my mind. In the bible, the bowl or the
golden bowl, refers to the head. (This is a song with the word like ―You are always on my mind…‖)
? deliver: (fml) to free someone from an unpleasant situation (remember in text
two, it can also mean to help a woman to give birth to a child) ? obsession: a compulsive, often unreasonable idea or emotion
72. His suffering soon became the embodiment of all earthly wretchedness.
? His suffering soon became the symbol of all miseries in life.
73. Along toward the end of the afternoon, defeated in physicking, I phoned the veterinary twenty miles away and placed the case formally in his hands.
? physic: (physicked, physicking, physics) to treat a disease with medicine,
especially with a cathartic.
? Veterinary: adj. [attib] of or for the diseases and injuries of farm and domestic
animals.
Veterinary surgeon: (also vet or veterinaian) a person who is skilled in the treatment of animal diseases and injuries.
? Place the case formally in his hands: to ask a doctor to take care of this case.
The use of serious words creates humor.
74. He was full of questions, and when casually mentioned the dark spots on the pig‘s back, his voice changed its tone.
? Note the contrast between the author‘s casual mentioning of the dark spots
and the vet‘s sudden alarm. A new tension is created here. The doctor knew what these dark spots could mean.
Para.19
75. Together we considered erysipelas, with frequent interruptions from the telephone operator, who wasn‘t sure the connection had been established.
? The author was eager to know what those dark spots could possibly be, but
his conversation with the vet was frequently interrupted by the operator, who wanted to know whether the author had got through.
Para.24
76. ―I can‘t come myself,‖ said the vet, ―but McFarland can come this evening if that‘s all right.‖
? Mc-/Mac-: a common prefix in Scottish and Irish surname. Other examples
include McDonald,
Para.30
77. My throat felt dry and I went to the cupboard and got a bottle of whisky. Deep hemorrhagic infarcts--- the phrase began fastening its hooks in my head.
? The narrator was very worried by the vet‘s words about the pig‘s getting
erysipelas and the possibility of his catching it, so he chose to drown his worries with whiskey. I wonder if men have the habit of drinking a bit when confronted with some trouble.
? begin fastening its hooks in my head: in other words, the narrator can‘t get the
disease name off his mind. He kept thinking of it and the possibility of his getting infected.
78. I had assumed that there could be nothing much wrong with a pig during the months it was being groomed for murder; my confidence in the essential health and endurance of pigs had been strong and deep, particularly in the health of pigs that belonged to me and that were part of my proud scheme.
? The narrator was reluctant to accept that there was something seriously wrong
with his pig, because he had expected all pigs, especially his, to be healthy and strong. It is a common psychic tendency that people refuse to believe that things unpleasant or disastrous would happen to themselves or to people close to them. (The author‘s logic or confidence is: firstly, pigs are always healthy; secondly, only if pigs do get sick sometimes, they would not be my pigs.) ? Groom: to make neat and tidy; to train for a particular purpose
? Being groomed for murder: in this context, being prepared /fed for the final
killing
? Proud scheme: the plan of raising and killing the pig,
79. The awakening had been violent and I minded it all the more because I knew that what could be true of my pig could also be true of the rest of my tidy world.
? All of a sudden I realized that something went wrong with the pig. And I felt
even more upset when I thought that what happened to the pig could also easily happen to me or to my world. A healthy pig could become ill all of a sudden, and this kind of sudden change could happen to anyone or anything. My life, my world up t now, has been pretty tidy, but disaster could occur without any warning. Life is quite insecure. ? Tidy: (colloquial) well-ordered, neat
80. I tried to put this distasteful idea from me, but it kept recurring.
? recur: to happen again, as in talk or memory; to come up again for
consideration
81. I took a short drink of the whiskey and then, although I wanted to go down to the yard and look for fresh signs, I was scared to, I was certain I had erysipelas. ? a short drink: a drink that is less than usual ? fresh signs: new signs of the disease
Para.31