Introduction
In 1527, courtiers began to whisper of Henry VIII’s rising obsession with finding a male heir, calling it the King’s ‘Great Matter’. After Queen Catherine had been put away, and Queen Anne had been beheaded, his prayers were answered when in 1537, Queen Jane bore him a son, Prince Edward. It was against this historical background that Mark Twain opened the tale of The Prince and the Pauper, published in 1881.
IN the ancient city of London, on a certain autumn day in the second quarter of the sixteenth century, a boy was born to a poor family of the name of Canty, who did not want him. On the same day another English child was born to a rich family of the name of Tudor, who did want him.* All England wanted him too. England had so longed for him, and hoped for him, and prayed God for him, that, now that he was really come, the people went nearly mad for joy.* Mere acquaintances hugged and kissed each other and cried. Everybody took a holiday, and high and low, rich and poor, feasted and danced and sang, and got very mellow; and they kept this up for days and nights together.
* Prince Edward, later Edward VI, was born on October 12th, 1537. The family name of the rulers of England from Henry VII to Elizabeth I was Tudor. The story Twain told in The Prince and the Pauper is of course a romance. “It may be history,” he said, “it may be only a legend, a tradition. It may have happened, it may not have happened: but it could have happened.”
* “Here is no less rejoicing” wrote Bishop Hugh Latimer to Richard Cromwell “at the birth of our prince, whom we hungered for so long, than there was at the birth of John the Baptist, as the bearer Master Evance can tell you. God give us grace to be thankful.”
Précis
Mark Twain opened The Prince and the Pauper by setting the historical context. Two boys were born, he said, on the same day: Tom Canty, a child of peasants to whom he seemed only a burden, and Edward Tudor, the King of England’s son, whose arrival was a joy to a whole nation, and an excuse for revels. (58 / 60 words)
Mark Twain opened The Prince and the Pauper by setting the historical context. Two boys were born, he said, on the same day: Tom Canty, a child of peasants to whom he seemed only a burden, and Edward Tudor, the King of England’s son, whose arrival was a joy to a whole nation, and an excuse for revels.
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: because, besides, just, not, otherwise, since, whereas, whether.
Word Games
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.
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