Copy Book Archive

Twink When a new mother found herself and her kittens on the wrong side of a nasty-looking stream, Twink was there to help. 1815 King George III 1760-1820 Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

© Arunankapilan, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0. Source

About this picture …

Dogs and cats, reflects our photographer, are everywhere enemies, but his photograph (taken in India) shows that just as with Twink and her feline friend, wonders never cease. See also The Mischief-Maker, where a maharajah must give judgment as to which of the two started all the trouble.

Twink
A pamphlet published in 1815 sought to satisfy the public’s increasing thirst for information about matters of science. The anonymous authors chose as their overall subject the Quadrupeds of the British Isles, and the traditional enmity between Dog and Cat was noted, of course. But there was also this heartwarming little tale.

A GENTLEMAN, well known to the writer, witnessed a most singular act of kindness in a greyhound towards a cat and her kittens. Twink had long shown a partiality for this cat, and when basking before the fire, would suffer the cat to lie upon her: if Twink was tied up at her kennel, she was generally attended by puss.

The latter having kittened in a barn about thirty yards from the house, brought out her young family, and endeavoured to convey them across the yard, but her progress being arrested by a hollow drain for water, about four feet wide, she exhibited strong symptoms of distress.

These did not pass unobserved by Twink; having attentively considered the situation of poor puss, she walked through the water, and carefully taking up the kittens, in her month, one by one, laid them without injury in a dry place, on the side next the house. The cat now followed, and expressed her gratitude in the most extravagant manner, standing on her hind legs, purring, and licking the face of the greyhound. Twink was not less pleased, and showed her satisfaction much in the same way.

Précis

One day, a greyhound called Twink spotted her special friend, the cat, struggling to get home with her new litter of kittens, thanks to a flooded water channel in the yard. Twink bounded up, and gently carried over each kitten and the mother too, for which she received a flurry of rubs and purrs and licks to warm the heart. (60 / 60 words)

Source

From ‘Recreations in natural history, or, Popular sketches of British quadrupeds’ (1815). It was published by William Clark, and the illustrations were by Luke Clennell (1781-1840); however, no author’s name was given.

Suggested Music

12 Variations on ‘Ah, vous dirai-je Maman’ in C Major, K. 265 (Arranged for Violin and Viola)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Performed by Suyoen Kim and Richard Yongjae O’Neill.

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How To Use This Passage

You can use this passage to help improve your command of English.

IRead it aloud, twice or more. IISummarise it in one sentence of up to 30 words. IIISummarise it in one paragraph of 40-80 words. IVMake notes on the passage, and reconstruct the original from them later on. VJot down any unfamiliar words, and make your own sentences with them later. VIMake a note of any words that surprise or impress you, and ask yourself what meaning they add to the words you would have expected to see. VIITurn any old-fashioned English into modern English. VIIITurn prose into verse, and verse into prose. IXAsk yourself what the author is trying to get you to feel or think. XHow would an artist or a photographer capture the scene? XIHow would a movie director shoot it, or a composer write incidental music for it?

For these and more ideas, see How to Use The Copy Book.

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