Introduction
Lucian of Samosata (?125-180+) left us the earliest known reference to the fable of the dog in the manger, when he told a barely literate bibliophile who never lent out his books that “you neither eat the corn yourself, nor give the horse a chance”. Here is how Roger L’Estrange told the tale in the days of Charles II.
A CHURLISH Envious Cur was gotten into a Manger, and there lay Growling and Snarling to keep the Horses from their Provender. The Dog Eat None himself, and yet rather Ventur’d* the Starving his Own Carcase then* he would suffer any thing else to be the Better for ’t.
Envy pretends to No Other Happiness then what it derives from the Misery of Other People, and will rather Eat Nothing it self then not Starve Those that Would.
Original spelling
* Risked.
* L’Estrange routinely put ‘then’ where we now put ‘than’.
Précis
A dog once stole into a stable and took possession of the manger. Thereafter, though the food there was of no interest to him he barked and bared his teeth at any hungry horse that dared approach. And the moral of that is, that out of sheer spite some people deny to others what they have no use for themselves. (60 / 60 words)
A dog once stole into a stable and took possession of the manger. Thereafter, though the food there was of no interest to him he barked and bared his teeth at any hungry horse that dared approach. And the moral of that is, that out of sheer spite some people deny to others what they have no use for themselves.
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, although, because, despite, if, may, not, who.
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Word Games
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 Churl. Into. Pretend.
2 Keep. Misery. Then.
3 No. Not. Starve.
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.)
Homonyms Find in Think and Speak
Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Lie. 2. Own. 3. Keep. 4. Well.
Verb and Noun Find in Think and Speak
Many words can serve as noun or verb depending on context: see if you can prove this with the examples below. Nouns go well with words such as the/a, or his/her; verbs go well after I/you/he etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Keep. 2 People. 3 Lie. 4 Dog.
Variations: 1.if possible, use your noun in the plural, e.g. cat → cats. 2.use your verb in a past form, e.g. go → went. 3.use your noun in a sentence with one of these words: any, enough, fewer, less, no, some.
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.
dtng (5)
auditing. dating. dieting. doting. editing.
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