THE sibyl told John to fix spear-heads all over his armour, and meet the worm in the midst of the river Wear. But he must also slay the first living thing he met after the worm was vanquished, or for nine generations no Lambton would die in his bed.*
Everyone locked themselves in, and John arranged that on his signal, a dog would be released to be the first living thing he saw.
The worm flung itself on John, but the harder it squeezed him in its coils the more the spear-heads tore its flesh, and the swift river carried each piece away. Finally, John swept off its head, and it too was borne away on the stream. Then he triumphantly blew his horn.
Alas, out rushed his father, in his joy forgetting all about the dog. Of course, John could not slay his own father, and for nine generations after, no Lambton died in his bed.*
* A form of the vow of Jephthah in Judges 11:30-31, before going out to meet the people of Ammon in battle:
And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
This terrible vow was fulfilled, and his daughter sacrificed. St John Chrysostom (?347-407) and St Ambrose (?340-397) both cite it as an example of a vow that should never be made or kept, Chrysostom adding that God allowed the deed to go ahead (as he did not in the case of The Sacrifice of Isaac) as a warning to every succeeding generation. That is the moral paradox in this tale: the sorceress helps slay the strangling worm, but she leaves her own drop of venom behind.
* Four Lambtons subsequently died violently in one way or another, one by drowning, two in battle (one at Marston Moor in 1644) and the fourth in a carriage accident in 1761, encouraging the tradition that John Lambton, a fifteenth-century Knight of Rhodes who had spent some time abroad, was the John Lambton of this tale. He inherited his father’s estates in 1431.
Précis
None could slay John Lambton’s wicked worm, for it pieced itself together again whenever it was wounded. A sibyl told Lambton how to kill it, but warned him to slay the first living thing he met afterwards, or his family would be cursed. Alas, that proved to be his father, but Lambton accepted the curse rather than slay him. (59 / 60 words)
None could slay John Lambton’s wicked worm, for it pieced itself together again whenever it was wounded. A sibyl told Lambton how to kill it, but warned him to slay the first living thing he met afterwards, or his family would be cursed. Alas, that proved to be his father, but Lambton accepted the curse rather than slay him.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, besides, may, otherwise, unless, whereas, whether, who.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Meet. Narrow. Stream.
2 Also. Instead. Swift.
3 Beg. River. Rush.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
chrs (6+1)
chairs. chars. cheers. choirs. chores. chorus.
coheres.
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