"A SINGLE SHARD"
In this excerpt from a novel, two friends, Tree-ear and Crane-man, live in a smallvillage in twelfth-century Korea. They are poor and live by gathering food that
others have thrown away. In this scene, Tree-ear tells Crane-man how he got a
full pouch of rice. He was walking behind a farmer carrying a box of rice. The box
had a hole, and rice was leaking onto the ground. Tree-ear waited a few
moments until a little more rice fell and then alerted the farmer to the problem.
The farmer laughed at his own carelessness and gave Tree-ear the rice on the
ground. Tree-ear and Crane-man debate whether Tree-ear’s actions were the
same as stealing. They decide that Tree-ear acted honorably, because the
easygoing farmer would probably find the story funny.
Highlighted Words
protruded, stuck out
perusal, checking or inspection
glean, gather
oblivious, unaware of what is around you
foraging, searching for food
garner, gather; collect
dignity, worth; self-respect
No comments:
Post a Comment