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Text 38 THE GIANT’S CAUSEWAY — EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD

The Causeway is a mass of stone columns standing very near together. The tops of the columns form stepping stones leading from the cliff foot and disappearing under the sea. Over the whole Causeway there are 40,000 of these stone columns. The tallest are about 42 feet (13 m) high.

Visitors in modern times have been told that the Causeway is a strange geological feature — the result of volcanic action. The ancient Irish knew differently, however. Clearly, this was giants’ work and, in particular, the work of the giant Finn McCool, the Ulster soldier and commander of the armies of the King of All Ireland.

Finn was extremely strong. On one occasion, during a fight with a Scottish giant, he picked up a huge piece of earth and threw it at him. The earth fell into the Irish Sea and became the Isle of Man. The hole it left filled with water and became the great inland sea of Lough Neagh.

People said that Finn lived on the North Antrim coast and that he fell in love with a lady giant. She lived on an island in the Scottish Hebrides, and so he began to build this wide causeway to bring her across to Ulster.

Text 39 FAMINE

No event in Irish history has had a deeper effect on Irish national feeling than the Great Famine of 1845-9. In the 19th century most of the Irish depended on agriculture — indeed, most of them depended on simple potato-farming for their survival. The poor peasants made their living from tiny pieces of land and had to pay high rents for this land. Potatoes were their main food and when the potato harvest was bad for four years in succession, there was a terrible famine in the country.

The Great Famine left one million people dead and forced another million to emigrate to the United States of America. It also left bitter feelings towards the British Government because they had not done enough to help the poor people during the famine.

 

Text 40 FAMOUS IRISH WRITERS AND POETS

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) is the greatest satirist in the history of British literature. He is the author of the immortal work Gulliver’s Travels which all of our schoolchildren know very well.

Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin in 1667. Swift’s father died a few months before the birth of his son, and the boy saw but little of his mother. Swift’s school and college life were passed at Kilkenny School and Trinity College, Dublin. He wrote The Drapier’s Letters, his famous pamphlets in defence of the Irish people, and at the same time he wrote another pamphlet A Modest Proposal in defence of Irish children.

Thomas Moore (1779-1852), an Irish poet who sang his native land in the same way as Robert Burns sang Scotland. He came from a well-to-do Irish family. Thomas Moore was born in Dublin. He studied at Dublin University and then studied law in London. He published his first verses as Poems by Thomas Little in 1801, then his romantic stories in verse Lalla-Rookh (1817). His Irish Melodies made a deep impression on Byron. Thomas Moore was George Byron’s friend and after Byron’s death he wrote the first biography of this great English poet, Letters and Journals of Lord Byron, with Notices of His Life (1830). In his work National Airs there were two songs on Russian melodies. One of them, «Those Evening Bells» was translated into Russian by I. Kozlov and became very popular.



Oscar Wilde(1856-1900) was the son of a well-known Irish doctor and scientist. His mother was a very educated woman, a poetess who published many poems and other works, among them Legends of Ireland. Oscar Wilde received a very good education. He began his education at Trinity College in Dublin and graduated from Oxford in 1878. He wrote many poems (in 1881 he published a volume of Poems), fairy tales (the best ones are The Selfish Giant, The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose, The Devo­ted Friend, The Star-Child, The Remarkable Rocket and others), plays (Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of no Importance, The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband), critical essays and the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891). Oscar Wilde died in Paris and is buried there.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was born in Dublin, Ireland. Bernard Shaw’s childhood was very hard. His father was ta­ken to drink and Shaw’s mother left him and went to London where she gave lessons of music to earn her living. At the age of fourteen, after graduating from secondary school, Shaw was put into job as a clerk in a land agent’s office. Bernard Shaw was rather educated and he was better informed in many things than most of his fellow clerks at the office. Sha­kespeare, Byron, Shelley and many other great poets and writers had been read and re-read by him. He could discuss art, for he had studied the best works at the Ireland National Gallery. In 1876 Shaw went to London where he became a journalist and wrote music, art and dramatic critiques for various periodicals. Bernard Shaw became a Socialist in 1882 and took an active part in the Socialist movement.

Shaw’s most important plays besides Widower’s Houses, Mrs Warren’s Profession, The Apple Cart and Pygmalion are Candida, The Devil Disciple, Caesar and Cleopatra, Man and Superman, John Bull’s Other Island, Too Good to Be True and many, many others.

Bernard Shaw loved Russian realistic drama and with a few English writers and actors in his time brought the plays by Chekhov, Gorky and Tolstoy onto the English stage. In 1925 Bernard Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize for lite­rature and he gave it all to spreading the Swedish literature in England.

Bernard Shaw spent his last years in a small estate of Ayott St. Lawrence where at the age of 90 he still undertook bicycle rides every morning. He continued to write to the last days of his life. George Bernard Shaw died on November 2, 1950 at the age of 94.

Scan O’Casey (1880-1964), born into a poor, Protestant fa­mily in the slums of Dublin, was the youngest of thirteen children. His biography reads much like Gorky’s. He wrote about himself, «Education: in the streets of Dublin. Worked as a builder’s la­bourer, railway labourer, and general labourer.»

Scan O’Casey began his literary career as a playwright at the age of 43. Some of his early plays deal with the struggle of Irishmen for their independence. Among these are the following plays: The Shadow of a Gunman (1923), Juno and the Pea­cock (1924), The Plough and the Stars (1926). He also wrote: The Star Becomes Red, Red Roses for Me, I Knock at the Door, Pictures in the Hallway, Drums under the Windows, Irish Fallen, Fare Thee Well, Rose and Crown, Sunset and Evening Star. Scan O’Casey’s books are a dynamic record of the Irish people’s struggle for liberation.

Scan O’Casey suffered a tragedy like Beethoven’s. The com­poser went deaf. O’Casey went almost blind. The work the half-blind writer did was a heroic feat repeated daily.

 

Text 41 HOW IRELAND GOT ITS NAME

There is an old legend about Ireland. The legend tells us that the famous green Isle was at one time hidden under water. But the water only retreated for a short while every seventh year. During such a time when the island appeared out of the water it looked so green and beautiful that many brave people tried to build homes and remain on it. Then the beautiful island would be swallowed up by the sea again and disappear for another seven years.

It was known, however, that the island could be saved from the sea only by burying a piece of iron in its heart as soon as it appeared out of the water. Since that time iron was believed to be a luck-bringing metal.

When another seven years passed and the island appeared out of the water, a certain brave man came to it and buried his sword in its heart. After that the island was not swallowed up by the waves again. Because of this legend the island came to be known as ironland or Ireland. It is because of this tradition that iron is always believed to be lucky by the Irish, and when a piece of iron is found in the form of a horseshoe, it is put up for luck above the house door.

 

Text 42 THE COAT OF ARMS OF IRELAND

Do you know that on the coat of arms of Ireland there is a picture of a red right hand? Why does Ireland have a picture of a hand on its coat of arms?

It happened three thousand years ago. Two Viking chieftains went with their men in two big boats to Ireland. The first chief­tain’s name was Heremon O’Neill, the name of the other we do not know. «The first of us who will touch the Irish land will be the king of it,» they said.

At last they were near the Irish coast. The two boats were going faster and faster. But the boat of Heremon O’Neill was not so fast as the boat of the other chieftain.

When the boats were quite near the land, O’Neill quickly cut off his right hand and threw it over to the land. His hand touched the land and he became the king of Ireland. That is why there is a picture of a hand on the coat of arms of Ireland.

 

SECTION RECAP

1. What two parts is the island of Ireland politically divided into? What can you say about these two parts?

2. What do you know about the history of Anglo-Irish relations? What are the two lasting problems of Anglo-Irish relations?

3. When did «Plantation of Ulster» begin? What did it mean?

4. When was Great Britain forced to grant independence to the South Ireland?

5. When and why did Britain send the Bri­tish Army to the Northern Ireland? Does the conflict still exist?

6. Why should people coming to Ulster first explore Belfast? Why is it worth seeing?

7. How is the centre of Belfast built? What other cities in the world are built in the same way?

8. What is the legend about the Giant’s Causeway? Do you agree with it?

9. What were the reasons of the Great Fa­mine in Ireland?

10. What names of famous Irish writers and poets do you know? What books by Irish authors have you read? What books by Irish writers are very popular among children?

11. How do you like the legend about Ire­land’s name?

12. What can you say about the Coat of Arms of Ireland?

 

TALKING POINTS

• Is the leading troops into a country (town) always a good way to solve con­flicts? Is the political situation in Nor­thern Ireland peaceful since 1972?

• On the analogy with Northern Ireland can you give any examples illustrating the reveal of independence and resistan­ce of a nation in spite of all the attempts to suppress it?

• How should teachers (parents) treat their children? Should they suppress them? Are there any other methods and good ways of upbringing children? What helps parents (teachers) be friends with their children?

• There are still parts of the world where thousands, even millions of people are hungry and even die of starvation. Do you know any places where this is hap­pening? Do the rich nations of the world do enough to help poor countries? Should the poor nations always wait for the assistance from the rich ones?

• Can an individual do anything to help someone who is starving on the other side of the world? Do people often help each other? Are you always ready to do it? Should elders teach children to give help to people in need? What are the ways of doing it? Can you give any examples?

CONTENTS


Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1403


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