82. I could just make her out in the darkness—she seemed young and pretty
? make out: to see, hear, or understand with difficulty e.g. it is hard to make out
the way through this thick frog.
Para.32
83. McFarland stood in the driveway and stripped off his jacket, then his shirt.
? strip: to take off one‘s clothes, to undress
84. His stocky arms and capable hands showed up in my flashlight‘s gleam as I helped him find his coverall and get zipped up. ? stocky: short, heavy and strong
? coverall (US, = overalls): a loose garment made of heavy material and
covering the body, arms and legs, usu worn over other clothing by workers to protect them from dirt, etc.
85. The rear seat of his car contained an astonishing amount of paraphernalia, which he soon overhauled, selecting a chain, a syringe, a bottle of oil, a rubber tube, and some other things I couldn‘t identify.
? an astonishing amount of: a large amount of, to one‘s astonishment.
? Paraphernalia: a set of objects, especially equipment used for a particular
activity e.g. skiing paraphernalia
86. I led the way down the warm slope of the orchard, my light picking out the path for them and we three all climbed the fence, entered the pighouse, and squatted by the pig while McFarland took a rectal reading. ? warm: recently made; fresh
? take a rectal reading: take the rectal temperature for the sick pig
87. My flashlight picked up the glitter of an engagement ring on the girl‘s hand.
? pick up: to detect here, to bring into range of sight, hearing, etc.
? glitter of an engagement ring: the engagement ring shines brightly in the
flashlight.
? Glitter and gleam: the two words are synonyms with slight differences. The
former means ―to shine brightly‖, the latter ―to shine softly‖. The flashlight is softer than that of a diamond or gold ring.
Para.33
88. ―No elevation,‖ said McFarland, twisting the thermometer in the light.
? no elevation: the temperature is normal. The pig doesn‘t have a fever.
89. ―You needn‘t worry about erysipelas.‖ He ran his hand slowly over the pig‘s stomach and at one point the pig cried out in pain.
? run: to move or rub something along something else e.g. he ran his fingers
gently through her long hair.
Para.34
90. ―Poor piggledy—wiggledy!‖ said Miss Owen.
? piggledy—wiggledy: coined by Miss Owen to show her sympathy for the
suffering pig, as if she were speaking to or about a child.
Para.35
91. The treatment I had been giving the pig for two days was then repeated, somewhat more expertly, by the doctor,….the house shadowy, protecting, intimate.
? stopper: an objection put into the top of a bottle to stop the liquid from
coming out
? induce: to bring about, to cause
92. I went to bed tired but with a feeling of relief that I had turned over part of the responsibility of the case to a licensed doctor. I was beginning to think, though, that the pig was not going to live.
? I was relieved to have someone to share my responsibility. However, I had the
feeling that the pig would die anyway. The narrator did not have much confidence in the licensed doctor.
? Licensed: having official permission to do something, for example to drive or
to be a doctor, a lawyer, a stockbroker, etc.
Para.36
93. He died twenty-four hours later, … and the pig one in the dying. 94.
? The sentence emphasizes the extent to which the author‘s life and that of the
pig had been entangled.
? … there is a blur in time here…
I was quite confused about the time in the last few days. Echoing what was mentioned previously.
95. At intervals during the last day… and snuffle his snout around
snuffle: to breathe noisily, as though a blocked nose; to sniff
96. He drank a few sips but no more; yet it seemed to comfort him to dip his nose in water and bobble it about, sucking in and blowing out through his teeth.
? These vivid descriptions show that the author was attentive to the every action
of the pig. His concern and care to the pig are obvious to readers. ? Bobble: to move jerkily, fumble
97. Much of the time, now, he lay indoors half buried in sawdust. Once, near the last, while I was attending him I saw him try to make a bed for himself but he lacked the strength, and when he set his snout into the dust he was unable to plow even the little furrow he needed to lie down in.
? Do you feel sour in your nose, and choked in your throat when reading these
details? – surely we can feel the author‘s sadness when he saw the pig approaching the end of his life.
? Attend to sb: to take care of sb, especially someone sick or someone in an
important position, say, the queen of the Great Britain. ? Furrow: a narrow groove made in the ground Para.37
98. He came out of the house to die.
? Finally the pig reached the last stage of his life.
99. When I went down, before going to bed, he lay stretched in the yard a few feet from the door.
? stretched: with his limbs extended when lying down
100. I knelt, saw that he was dead, and left him there: his face had a mild look, expressive neither of deep peace nor of deep suffering, although I think he had suffered a good deal.
? The pig didn‘t die an extremely painful death, to the comfort of the author. ? Mild: not very strong or severe, modest
e.g. a mild winter/ person
mild taste / criticism / amusement ( there is cigarette brand called Mild Seven)
101. I went back up to the house an to bed, and cried internally --- deep hemorrhagic intears
? deep hemorrhagic intears: it is a term coined after the doctor‘s words ―deep
hemorrhagic infarcts‖, meaning tears running inwardly. This is an expression of sincere sorrow under the disguise of humorous language. Note that the essay has a light, humorous tone all through. However, this essay is not meant to be just funny.
102. I didn‘t wake till nearly eight the next morning, and when I looked out the open window the grave was already being dug, down beyond the dump under a wild apple.
? beyond (mainly literary) farther away than something else
103. Never send to know for whom the grave is dug, I said to myself, it‘s dug for thee.
? This is a parody of ―And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee‖ in John Donne‘s poem ―Devotions upon Emergent Occasions‖. (see Note 3 about the poem) And Heimingway also used this line to name one of his novels ―For Whom the Bell Tolls‖.
Why was the author so sad about the death of his pig? What does this sentence tell you?
The author was sad about the death of his pig partly because the death reminded him of the vulnerability of human life.
104. Fred, I well knew, was supervising the work of digging, so I ate breakfast slowly.
? I was quite sure that Fred would be running around the grave being dug, as if
he were in charge.
Para.38
105. The thicket in which I found the gravediggers at work was dark and warm, the sky overcast.
? thicket: an area with a lost of bushes and small trees growing very close
together
? overcast: cloudy
106. Here, among elders and young hackmatacks, at the foot of the apple tree, Lennie had dug a beautiful hole, five feet long, three feet wide, three feet deep.
? elder: a small tree with black berries
107. He was standing in it, removing the last spadefuls of earth while Fred patrolled the brink in simple but impressive circles, disturbing the loose earth of the mound so that it trickled back in.
? Fred, who had been playing an active role in this event, was now taking
charge of the digging.
? Spadeful: n+ful; similar formations are mouthful, handful, cupful, armful, etc. ? … Fred patrolled the brink in simple but impressive circles…
Fred walked around the edge of the grave as if he were inspecting the process closely
108. As I stood and stared,… seeking even remoter moistures at even lonelier depths.
? lonely: unfrequented or uninhabited; desolate
109. Everything about this last scene seemed overwritten--- the dismal sky, the shabby woods, the imminence of rain, the worm (legendary bedfellow of the dead), the apple (conventional garnish of a pig).
? This is summary of the descriptions --- the scene of the grave being dug.
? Overwrite: to write too much, or in too flowery or labored a style. In literary
works, we‘ve read similar scenes many times.
? Dismal: dark and gloomy; bleak; dreary (echoing the overcast sky)
? Imminence: the quality of being likely or certain to happen very soon,
especially of danger, evil, or misfortune
? Legendary bedfellow of the dead: worms are often imagined as part of the
decay of dead body
? Garnish: something added to a dish of food for decoration or added flavor ? Conventional garnish of a pig: traditionally an apple is added to add flavor
when a pig is roasted
Para.39
110. But even so, …..and he lay at last resting squarely on the cause of his own undoing.
? This is a one-sentence paragraph, describing the funeral. ? Dispatch: efficient speed; promptness; quickness
? Directness and dispatch: alliteration. The pig was buried immediately, and
unceremoniously. Normally animals are buried in this way, unlike human beings. The author approves of this kind of burial, simple, direct, and quick, as contrasted to the Christian burial, which is complicated ( as stated in the text ―stopover in the undertaker‘s parlor, wreath and spray, etc.)
How do we know about the author‘s attitude towards human burial?
The words like ―more decent affair, foul parlor, etc. shows the author‘s preference.
? stopover: a brief stop or stay at a place in the course of a journey
? undertaker: someone whose job is to make arrangements for funerals; also
called funeral director, euphemism for mortician
? wreath: a circle of flowers or leaves placed on a grave
? spray: a small branch with flowers or berries on it, used for decoration
? ? ? ? ?
hitch: to fasten
hind: back, rear, posterior
wake: (n.) the track or course of anything that has gone before or passed by businesslike: serious and effective in the way you deal with things; efficient … ours was a businesslike procession…
Our procession was done in a serious an deficient manner
? dishonorable: disgraceful, unqualified. The word is used ironically, implying
that Fred was not qualified to serve as the pallbearer.
Para.40
111. I picked up the rope, made it fast to Fed‘s collar (he is a notorious ghoul), and we three all filed back up the path to the house, Fred bringing up the rear and holding back every inch of the way, feigning unusual stiffness. ? fast: firm and strong; tight, in a secure manner;
The rope is made fast to keep Fred from returning to dig up the grave as a ghoul might try to do.
? file: (v.) to march or walk in a line
? holding back every inch of the way: walking slowly, unwilling to move ? feign: (fml) to pretend to have a particular feeling
? feign unusual stiffness: Fred pretending to be suffering from acute pain,
which was derived from the loss of a family member
112. I noticed that although he weighed far less than the pig, he was harder to drag, being possessed of the vital spark.
? Although the pig weighed more than a hundred pounds, it was easy to drag
him, once he was dead; yet the dog, though much less in weight, was full of energy and thus difficult to control.
? be possessed of: (literary) to have a particular quality, ability, knowledge, etc. ? vital: full of energy and life ? spark: liveliness, vivacity
Para.41
113. The news of the death of my pig… a sorrow in which it feels fully involved.
? If a pig dies before he is supposed to, it is a serious matter for the whole
community to remember. The whole community would share the sadness for his death.
? Fast and far: alliteration
? … no one took the event lightly…
It is another example showing that throughout the article the author seems to be talking about the death of a family member rather than the death of a pig. ? premature: happening too soon or before the proper or expected time
Alcohol is responsible for many thousands of premature deaths each year. The baby is five weeks premature. (The baby was born five weeks earlier than the expected time.)
? expiration: (fml and dated) death
? departure: (archaic) death.
More expressions related to death: the demise of the French monarchy (formal); to succumb to a plague (formal); to pass away (euphemism); to join the majority (euphemism); to kick the bucket (vulgar), rest in peace, etc. ? involved: emotionally involved; sharing the sorrow.
114. I have written this account in penitence and in grief, as a man who failed to raise his pig, and to explain my deviation from the classic course of so many raised pigs.
? The purpose of this essay is to show that I am sorry for what has happened to
my pig, since I have failed to raise the pig and cannot provide a reason why my pig didn‘t grow the way other pigs have grown. ? penitence: regret for wrongdoing
? deviation: behavior that differs from the usual or expected way of doing
something. Here it refers to the author‘s failure in raising the pig.
? classic course: the usual process of buying, raising and butchering a pig, the
same thing with the scheme or the tragedy referred previously in para.2.
115. The grave in the woods is unmarked, … on flagless memorial days of our own
choosing.
? The pig‘s grave in the woods doesn‘t have a tombstone, but whenever
somebody wants to visit it, Fred will show him the way. I know we will often visit it, separate or together, when we need to ponder over problems or when we are depressed.
? Unmarked: without any tombstone
? In seasons of reflection and despair: in times when the author needs to
meditate and when he loses hope in life
? … he and I shall often revisit it… on flagless memorial days of our choosing.
The author and Fred will often visit the pig‘s grave in the woods to show their love whenever they like, and these days will be like memorial days. The only difference is that the author and Fred will not hoist the national flag as would be the case on the Memorial Day. (For Memorial Day, see note 4.)