Introduction
Every August, on a great feast of the Virgin Mary, small snakes slither into the chapel of a tiny village on the Greek island of Kefalonia. There is a curious story behind it, going back to the days when Greece was under the Ottoman Empire, and pirates roamed unchecked among the islands.
ONE day in 1705, the nuns of a convent on Kefalonia heard that pirates were toiling up the hill, intent on rape and plunder. So they hurried to their chapel, where they kept a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary. This icon had been found, many years before, at the foot of a charred tree, though neither the icon nor the neighbouring trees were even scorched. As it obstinately refused to move, the chapel had been built around it.
Here the nuns prayed for protection. Presently, dozens of small snakes started slithering into the grounds of the convent. The pirates arrived, took one look, and fled.
To this day, every August, between the Transfiguration of Christ on the 6th and the Dormition of Mary on the 15th,* the snakes’ descendants return. Warm and silky to the touch, with a little cross-shaped mark on their heads, they are normally shy and aggressive, but during this period they become positively sociable.
Unless, presumably, you are a pirate.
The Transfiguration commemorates the events described in Mark 9:2-8. The Dormition, meaning ‘falling asleep’, commemorates the death of the Virgin Mary, whom the Greek Church calls the Theotókos (‘God’s birthgiver’). This feast is one of the highest days of the Church year.
Précis
Early in the eighteenth century, some nuns on the Greek island of Kefalonia begged the Virgin Mary for protection from marauding pirates. Immediately, their convent was infested with little snakes, and the pirates fled. To this day, descendants of those snakes return to the same chapel for just one week every August, on a feast of the Virgin Mary. (59 / 60 words)
Early in the eighteenth century, some nuns on the Greek island of Kefalonia begged the Virgin Mary for protection from marauding pirates. Immediately, their convent was infested with little snakes, and the pirates fled. To this day, descendants of those snakes return to the same chapel for just one week every August, on a feast of the Virgin Mary.
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: although, because, besides, if, may, must, not, since.
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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. 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 Descendant. Obstinate. Pirate.
2 Present. Presumable. Warm.
3 Nun. Their. Up.
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.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
