No opening could possibly be worse. It is unimaginative, flat, dry and likely to consist of mere wind.
1 "consist of wind": means "everything in it is meaningless", right?NOT NECESSARILY. WIND CAN SOMETIMES MEAN EMPTY TALKING OR EMPTY (MEANINGLESS) WORDS.
Think of a New York girl shedding tears on the menu card!
To account for this you will be allowed to guess that the lobsters were all out, or that she had sworn ice- cream off during Lent, or that she had ordered onions, or that she had just come from a Hackett matinée. And then, all these theories being wrong, you will please let the story proceed.
2 "ordered onions": Why do she cry when "ordered onions"? I guess she can still order other food beside it.OFTEN WHEN PEOPLE DEAL WITH RAW ONIONS, THEIR EYES TEAR. THIS LOOKS LIKE CRYING.
3 "Hackett matinee": what is the "Hackett matinee" have to do with her crying? Is that a tragedy that can cause her to cry? And Hackett is a name of a place or a name of a person? I DON'T KNOW WHAT A HACKETT MATINEE IS.
The most brilliant and crowning feat of Sarah's battle with the world was the deal she made with Schulenberg's Home Restaurant. The restaurant was next door to the old red brick in which she hall-roomed. One evening after dining at Schulenberg's 40-cent five-course table d'hôte (served as fast as you throw the five baseballs at the coloured gentleman's head) Sarah took away with her the bill of fare. It was written in an almost unreadable script neither English nor German, and so arranged that if you were not careful you began with a tooth-pick and rice pudding and ended with soup and the day of the week.
4 "hall-roomed": What does "hall-roomed" mean? She rent a hall-room in a building? In my impression, hall-room shall be a large one, with people walking in and out all the time. Is that convenient for a girl? NEVER HEARD OF THIS EXPRESSION. AND IT'S NOT IN MY DICTIONARY.
5 "coloured gentleman": What are "coloured gentleman", I think it means black man. But what does it have to do with the story? YES, COLOURED GENTLEMEN REFERS TO BLACK MEN. THERE WAS A GAME PLAYED AT CARNIVALS AND FAIRS. YOU GET TO THROW BALLS INTO THE MOUTH OF A FIGURE PAINTED ON A CANVASS. I GUESS SOMETIMES THE FIGURE WAS OF A BLACK MAN. WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, THE FIGURES WERE CLOWNS. THE REFERENCE HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH THE BLACK MEN. IT'S ABOUT THROWING THE BALLS QUICKLY IN THE GAME.
6 "begin with" and "ended with"" it means to read or to eat? I'm curious and I can't imagine how the menu is arranged that it can cause such mistake?NO, THIS REFERS TO THE ORDER OF THE ITEMS ON THE MENU. THEY LOOKED CONFUSING.
The next day Sarah showed Schulenberg a neat card on which the menu was beautifully typewritten with the viands temptingly marshalled under their right and proper heads from "hors d'uvre" to "not responsible for overcoats and umbrellas."
7 "not responsible for overcoats and umbrellas": is it also a head? I think under heads there must be some kind of familiar things. But I can't figure out what is under this head. HEADS ON A MENU REFER TO HEDINGS LIKE "APPETIZERS, "ENTREES," "DESSERTS." MANY RESTAURANTS USED TO (AND SOME STILL DO) HAVE A SIGN HANGING ON THE WALL NEAR THE COAT RACK THAT SAID "NOT RESPONSIBLE ETC." THIS SUGGESTS THAT SARAH WAS VERY THOROUGH.
Schulenberg became a naturalized citizen on the spot. Before Sarah left him she had him willingly committed to an agreement. She was to furnish typewritten bills of fare for the twenty-one tables in the restaurant-a new bill for each day's dinner, and new ones for breakfast and lunch as often as changes occurred in the food or as neatness required.
8 "became a naturalized citizen": What does it mean? THIS IS A STRANGE USAGE. A NATURALIZED CITIZEN IS SOMEONE WHO IS BORN IN ONE COUNTRY AND BECOMES A CITIZEN OF ANOTHER COUNTRY. IN THIS CASE IT MEANS THAT SCHULENBERG WAS CONVINCED INSTANTLY THAT HE SHOULD HIRE SARAH.
9 "bills of fare for the twenty-one tables": Does it mean The twenty-one menus of same content at one time unless the menu is changed, right? YES, 21 MENUS FOR 21 TABLES.
10 "neatness required": what does the author mean? IF THE MENUS BECOME DIRTY OR MESSY IN SOME WAY.
Mutual satisfaction resulted from the agreement. Schulenberg's patrons now knew what the food they ate was called even if its nature sometimes puzzled them. And Sarah had food during a cold, dull winter, which was the main thing with her.
11 "the nature of food": What does this mean?THE PATRONS WEREN'T SURE WHAT THE FOOD WAS, EVEN THOUGH THE MENU TOLD THEM. IT COULD HAVE BEEN UNUSUAL FOOD OR COOKED IN UNUSUAL WAYS.
And then the almanac lied, and said that spring had come. Spring comes when it comes. The frozen snows of January still lay like adamant in the cross-town streets. The hand-organs still played "In the Good Old Summertime," with their December vivacity and expression. Men began to make thirty-day notes to buy Easter dresses. Janitors shut off steam. And when these things happen one may know that the city is still in the clutches of winter.
12 "Spring comes when it comes": "Spring will not come when the almanac says it comes unless it comes actually", right? YES, THE ACTUAL DATE THAT SPRING BEGINS IS NOT IMPORTANT. IT'S THE WEATHER THAT TELLS YOU THAT SPRING HAS ARRIVED.
One afternoon Sarah shivered in her elegant hall-bedroom; "house heated; scrupulously clean; conveniences; seen to be appreciated." She had no work to do except Schulenberg's menu cards. Sarah sat in her squeaky willow rocker, and looked out the window. The calendar on the wall kept crying to her: "Springtime is here, Sarah-springtime is here, I tell you. Look at me, Sarah, my figures show it. You've got a neat figure yourself, Sarah-a-nice, springtime figure-why do you look out the window so sadly?"
13 "house heated...": What is the logical relationship between "shiver" and "house heated;scrupulously clean;conveniences;seen to be appreciated"? And what does the author mean by saying "house heated,..."? Is that an Ad? I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE TERM "HOUSE HEATED MEANS IN THIS CONTEXT.
Sarah's room was at the back of the house. Looking out the window she could see the windowless rear brick wall of the box factory on the next street. But the wall was clearest crystal; and Sarah was looking down a grassy lane shaded with cherry trees and elms and bordered with raspberry bushes and Cherokee roses.
14 "clearest crystal"What does "clearest crystal" mean? Is that linked to "crystal ball"? Or it means the wall was made of crystal brick? Or it means the wall was transparent? And if it means "crystal ball", then the beautiful lane she can see when she is looking down shall be her imaginary, right? And the lane is in the country where her lover live?CRYSTAL CLEAR IS AN EXPRESSION THAT SIMPLY MEANS THAT SOMETHING IS VERY CLEAR, LIKE VERY CLEAN GLASS. IT CAN ALSO REFER TO SOMETHING THAT'S BEING EXPLAINED IN A WAY THAT'S EASY TO UNDERSTAND, WHICH MAKES IT CRYSTAL CLEAR. IN THIS CONTEXT, THE REFERENCE IS TO VERY CLEAN, CLEAR GLASS.
Spring's real harbingers are too subtle for the eye and ear. Some must have the flowering crocus, the wood-starring dogwood, the voice of bluebird-even so gross a reminder as the farewell handshake of the retiring buckwheat and oyster before they can welcome the Lady in Green to their dull bosoms. But to old earth's choicest kin there come straight, sweet messages from his newest bride, telling them they shall be no stepchildren unless they choose to be.
15 "old earth's choicest kin": What does "old earth's choicest kin" stand for? And what does "old earth" stand for? And what does "stepchildren" stand for?THESE ARE SOME OBSCURE STATEMENTS. I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE I UNDERSTAND THEM. OLD EARTH--JUST MEANS THAT THE PLANET EARTH IS OLD. CHOICEST KIN MEANS FAVORITE RELATIVES OR CLOSEST RELATIVES. NOT SURE ABOUT THE STEPCHILDREN REMARK.
Sarah stayed two weeks at Sunnybrook Farm. There she learned to love old Farmer Franklin's son, Walter. Farmers have been loved and wedded and turned out to grass in less time. But young Walter Franklin was a modern agriculturist. He had a telephone in his cow-house, and he could figure up exactly what effect next year's Canada wheat crop would have on potatoes planted in the dark of the moon.
16 "learn to love": Sarah don't know how to love at the beginning?SHE MET FRANKLIN AND AS SHE GOT TO KNOW HIM SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM.
17 "Farmers have been loved and wedded...": I don't know what is the use of the sentense "Farmers have been loved and wedded...". What does the author want to say by writing that?NOT SURE. IT'S POSSIBLE THAT IS MEANS THAT IT TOOK SARAH A WHILE TO FALL IN LOVE. OTHER PEOPLE WOULD HAVE MET, GOTTEN MARRIED, AND BEEN AN OLD MARRIED COUPLE IN THE TIME IT TOOK HER.
18 "he could figure up exactly what effect next year's Canada wheat crop would have on potatoes planted in the dark of the moon.": What can be the effect? I'm curious. DON'T KNOW.
It was in this shaded and raspberried lane that Walter had wooed and won her. And together they had sat and woven a crown of dandelions for her hair. He had immoderately praised the effect of the yellow blossoms against her brown tresses; and she had left the chaplet there, and walked back to the house swinging her straw sailor in her hands.
19 "this shaded and raspberried lane": Where is the lane? And are the lane the same one out of the window of her new hallroom in the city?NO, THE LANE IS AT THE FARM. HER HALL ROOM WAS IN THE CITY.
20 "swinging her straw sailor": means she wears this straw sailor at the beginning and wears the crown back with this straw sailor in hand?NO. A SAILOR HAT IS A KIND OF HAT PEOPLE WORE MANY YEARS AGO. THIS ONE WAS MADE OF STRAW. THE STRAW SAILOR REFERS TO WALTER.
Sarah sat down at her typewriter and slipped a card between the rollers. She was a nimble worker. Generally in an hour and a half the twenty-one menu cards were written and ready.
21 "slipped a card between the rollers": In my impression, the card of a menu should be hard rather than soft. And the rollers of a typewriter should be like those on a printer and they should bend the paper, make it ugly. so it's not suitable for a menu, so that is my suspicion. IT WAS POSSIBLE TO TYPE ALMOST ANYTHING ON A TYPEWRITER, EVEN STIFF CARDS, ALTHOUGH THEY COULD BEND. MANY MENUS ARE PRINTED ON REGULAR PAPER. THE PAPER DOESN'T HAVE TO BE STIFF.
To-day there were more changes on the bill of fare than usual. The soups were lighter; pork was eliminated from the entrées, figuring only with Russian turnips among the roasts. The gracious spirit of spring pervaded the entire menu. Lamb, that lately capered on the greening hill-sides, was becoming exploited with the sauce that commemorated its gambols. The song of the oyster, though not silenced, was diminuendo con amore. The frying-pan seemed to be held, inactive, behind the beneficent bars of the broiler. The pie list swelled; the richer puddings had vanished; the sausage, with his drapery wrapped about him, barely lingered in a pleasant thanatopsis with the buckwheats and the sweet but doomed maple.
22 "gracious spirit of spring": Is that menu bountiful and money-costing? Or is it kind and merciful? THE GRACIOUS SPIRIT OF SPRING SIMPLY MEANS THAT WHEN SPRING ARRIVES, THERE'S MORE FOOD TO PUT ON THE MENU.
23 "Lamb, that lately capered on the greening hill-sides, was becoming exploited with the sauce that commemorated its gambols. ": Is the lamb preserved for later use or served on the table of a restaurant? THE LAMB THAT WAS RECENTLY ALIVE AND RUNNING AROUND WAS NOW ON THE TABLE BEING SERVED WITH A TASTY SAUCE.
Sarah's fingers danced like midgets above a summer stream. Down through the course s she worked, giving each item its position according to its length with an accurate eye.
24 "midgets": I can't figure out whether it means little person or little boat or little bugs flying over the stream. LITTLE PERSON
Just above the desserts came the list of vegetables. Carrots and peas, asparagus on toast, the perennial tomatoes and corn and succotash, lima beans, cabbage-and then-Sarah was crying over her bill of fare. Tears from the depths of some divine despair rose in her heart and gathered to her eyes. Down went her head on the little typewriter stand; and the keyboard rattled a dry accompaniment to her moist sobs.
25 divine despair: why is despair divine?IT'S A FIGURE OF SPEECH. A LITERARY WAY OF TALKING. DESPAIR IS NOT DIVINE.
For she had received no letter from Walter in two weeks, and the next item on the bill of fare was dandelions-dandelions with some kind of egg-;but bother the egg!-dandelions, with whose golden blooms Walter had crowned her his queen of love and future bride-dandelions, the harbingers of spring, her sorrow's crown of sorrow-reminder of her happiest days.
26 "but bother the egg": What does the "but" here mean, "except" or "yet"? Could you make some more examples?BOTHER IS AN OLD EXPRESSION THAT WAS USED TO SUGGEST ANNOYANCE. I'M NOT TOTALLY COMFORTABLE WITH IT--I NEVER USE IT THIS WAY. BUT I THINK AN APPROPRIATE EXAMPLE MIGHT BE--YOU HAVE TO BE SOMEWHERE FAST. YOU'RE WAITING FOR THE BUS. YOU WAIT A LONG TIME. THEN YOU SAY, "BOTHER THE BUS. I'M GOING TO WALK." SO IN THE SENTENCE, SHE DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THE EGG DISH. SHE CARED ABOUT THE DANDELIONS.
Madam, I dare you to smile until you suffer this test: Let the Maréchal Niel roses that Percy brought you on the night you gave him your heart be served as a salad with French dressing before your eyes at a Schulenberg table d'hôte. Had Juliet so seen her love tokens dishonoured the sooner would she have sought the lethean herbs of the good apothecary.
27 "the Marechal Niel roses": What is that? Is that kind of rose famous in your culture? NEVER HEARD OF THEM
28 "Percy": Who's Percy, and why does the author refer to him? I DON'T KNOW.
"Juliet","love token": Juliet's love tokens means the ring she let someone to take to Romeo, is that right? PROBABLY
29 "the lethean herbs" and "apothecary": Are they also something from your tales or your culture?I NEVER HEARD OF THE WORD "LETHEAN," AND IT'S NOT IN MY DICTIONARY. APOTHECARY IS AN OLD TERM FOR A DRUG STORE OR PHARMACY. IT COULD ALSO REFER TO THE PERSON WHO MAKES UP PRESCRIPTION MEDICINES IN THE DRUGSTORE.
But what a witch is Spring! Into the great cold city of stone and iron a message had to be sent. There was none to convey it but the little hardy courier of the fields with his rough, green coat and modest air. He is a true soldier of fortune, this dent-de-lion-this lion's tooth, as the French chefs call him. Flowered, he will assist at love-making, wreathed in my lady's nut-brown hair; young and callow and unblossomed, he goes into the boiling pot and delivers the word of his sovereign mistress.
30 "But what a witch is Spring!"and the paragraph below: She thinks Spring is like the witch, what do they have in common? THIS JUST MEANS THAT SPRING CAN CAST A SPELL ON PEOPLE. MAKE YOU FEEL STRANGE. The typewriter Laura is living in the city. And her lover is living in rural areas. This paragraph is about what Laura think. THE CHARACTER'S NAME IS SARAH.And she's disappoited about her lover's behavior. Why does she want to send a message? And why does he think the message should be sent into the city where she herself live? And the same question come up when I read "delivers the word of his sovereign mistress". AN EARLIER PARAGRAPH SUGGESTS THAT SHE SENT HIM A MESSAGE AND HE DIDN'T RESPOND.
By and by Sarah forced back her tears. The cards must be written. But, still in a faint, golden glow from her dandeleonine dream, she fingered the typewriter keys absently for a little while, with her mind and heart in the meadow lane with her young farmer. But soon she came swiftly back to the rock-bound lanes of Manhattan, and the typewriter began to rattle and jump like a strike- breaker's motor-car.
31 "golden": What does "golden" mean? Does she still feel happy after her lover's heartbroken behavior? DANDELIONS ARE GOLDEN COLORED.
32 "the meadow lane": What does "the meadow lane" mean? Is that the lane she can see when she look out of her window? SHE WAS ON THE MEADOW LANE WHEN HER LOVER GAVE HER THE DANDELION CROWN.
33 "the rock-bound lanes of Manhattan": There must be many broad streets in Manhattan, but lanes, I'm not so sure, are there any? JUST AN EXPRESSION. BUT THERE ARE PLENTY OF SMALL NARROW STREETS IN THE OLD PART OF THE CITY. THEY COULD EASILY BE CALLED LANES, AND SOME OF THEM ARE.
34 "a strike-breaker's motor-car": What are the features of "a strike-breaker's motor-car" that are similar to the typewriter? TYPEWRITERS MADE A LOT OF NOISE. I ASSUME THAT MOTOR CARS DID TOO BACK THEN. I CAN ONLY GUESS THAT THE REFERENCE TO STRIKEBREAKERS SUGGESTS THAT THEY MADE A LOT OF NOISE WHEN THEY DROVE UP TO BREAK A STRIKE.
At six o'clock the waiter brought her dinner and carried away the typewritten bill of fare. When Sarah ate she set aside, with a sigh, the dish of dandelions with its crowning ovarious accompaniment. As this dark mass had been transformed from a bright and love-endorsed flower to be an ignominious vegetable, so had her summer hopes wilted and perished. Love may, as Shakespeare said, feed on itself: but Sarah could not bring herself to eat the dandelions that had graced, as ornaments, the first spiritual banquet of her heart's true affection.
35 "Love may feed on itself": What does Shakespeare's saying "Love may feed on itself" mean? And what does the author want to say here?NOT SURE.
At 7.30 the couple in the next room began to quarrel; the man in the room above sought for A on his flute; the gas went a little lower; three coal wagons started to unload-the only sound of which the phonograph is jealous; cats on the back fences slowly retreated toward Mukden. By these signs Sarah knew that it was time for her to read. She got out The Cloister and the Hearth, the best nonselling book of the month, settled her feet on her trunk, and began to wander with Gerard.
36 "sought for A": What is A?THE A HERE REFERS TO THE MUSICAL NOTE A.
37 "the gas went a little lower": Does the gas mean the gas of a "gas light" or something else? IT'S THE GAS OF A LIGHT. GAS LAMPS WERE USED A LONG TIME AGO--BEFORE ELECTRICITY.
38 "coal wagons": Are "coal wagons" commonly seen on the street at that time? YES, COAL WAS A FUEL USED TO HEAT HOMES.
39 "Muken": what's the meaning of it? DON'T KNOW WHAT MUKDEN IS.
40 "Nonselling book": what is the meaning? A BOOK THAT IS NOT DOING WELL
41 "settled her feet on her trunk": A trunk means a leather case here? YES. A TRUNK IS A VERY LARGE KIND OF SUITCASE.
42 "began to wander with Gerard": So Gerard is the hero of the story, right?I ASSUME SO.
The front-door bell rang. The landlady answered it. Sarah left Gerard and Denys treed by a bear and listened. Oh, yes; you would, just as she did!
And then a strong voice was heard in the hall below, and Sarah jumped for her door, leaving the book on the floor and the first round easily the bear's.
43 "The front-door bell rang." and the two following paragraphs: So the bear and Gerard and Denys are characters in the book The Cloister and the Hearth, right?YES
"New York is a pretty large town," said Walter Franklin. "I came in a week ago to your old address. I found that you went away on a Thursday. That consoled some; it eliminated the possible Friday bad luck. But it didn't prevent my hunting for you with police and otherwise ever since!"
44 "friday bad luck": Does this only mean not to go out at Friday? Or there are some other meanings? IT'S AN OLD SUPERSTITION THAT FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH IS BAD LUCK. I NEVER HEARD OF BAD LUCK ON OTHER FRIDAYS.
"I dropped into that Home Restaurant next door this evening," said he. "I don't care who knows it; I like a dish of some kind of greens at this time of the year. I ran my eye down that nice, typewritten bill of fare looking for something in that line. When I got below cabbage I turned my chair over and hollered for the proprietor. He told me where you lived."
45 "I don't care who knows it": Does it mean I don't care whether the restaurant is famous or not because I only want to feed myself with something?NO, HE MEANS HE DOESN'T CARE WHO KNOWS WHAT HE LIKES TO EAT.
"I'd know that cranky capital W 'way above the line that your typewriter makes anywhere in the world," said Franklin.
46 "way above the line": Does it mean "W" is higher than other letters in the same line?YES, TYPEWRITERS DID NOT PRINT OUT PERFECTLY THE WAY COMPUTER PRINTERS DO. LETTERS WERE OFTEN NOT LINED UP RIGHT.
http://classicreader.com/read.php/sid.6/bookid.1752/
Thank you in advance and since my english is not so fluent, let me know if you can't understand my questions.
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