The Wolf and the Lamb

 

THE WOLF AND THE LAMB.

One hot, sultry day, a Wolf and a Lamb happened to come just at the same time to quench their thirst in the stream of a clear, silver brook, that ran tumbling down the side of a rocky mountain. The Wolf stood upon the higher ground, and the Lamb at some distance from him down the current. However, the Wolf, having a mind to pick a quarrel with him, asked him what he meant by disturbing the water, and making it so muddy that he could not drink, and at the same time demanded satisfaction. The Lamb, frightened at this threatening charge, told him, in a tone as mild as possible, that, with humble submission, he could not conceive how that could be, since the water which he drank ran down from the Wolf to him, and therefore it could not be disturbed so far up the stream. "Be that as it will," replies the Wolf, "you are a rascal; and I have been told that you treated me with ill-language behind my back about half a year ago." "Upon my word," says the Lamb, "the time you mention was before I was born." The Wolf finding it to no purpose to argue any longer against truth, fell into a great passion, snarling and foaming at the mouth, as if he had been mad; and, drawing nearer to the Lamb, "Sirrah," said he, "if it was not you, it was your father, and that's all one." So he seized the poor innocent, helpless thing, tore it to pieces, and made a meal of it.

MORAL.

Bad men, who wish to quarrel, will always find a pretence; if they can find no true grounds, they will resort to those which are false.

100 Golden Grammar Rules by Michal Swam

 

 It is astonishing how much enjoyment one can get out of a language that one understands imperfectly. 

— Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve

12. Use For with a period of time; Use since with the beginning of period.

- for the last two hours = since nine o'clock 
- for three days = since Saturday 
- for five years = since I left school

I have been learning English for five years. NOT I have been learning English since three years.

We have been waiting for ages, since 8 o'clock .

The Frogs Desiring a King!

                                                      

The Frogs were living as happy as could be in a marshy swamp that just suited them; they went splashing about caring for nobody and nobody troubling with them. But some of them thought that this was not right, that they should have a king and a proper constitution, so they determined to send up a petition to Jove to give them what they wanted. "Mighty Jove," they cried, "send unto us a king that will rule over us and keep us in order." Jove laughed at their croaking, and threw down into the swamp a huge Log, which came down splashing into the swamp. The Frogs were frightened out of their lives by the commotion made in their midst, and all rushed to the bank to look at the horrible monster; but after a time, seeing that it did not move, one or two of the boldest of them ventured out towards the Log, and even dared to touch it; still it did not move. Then the greatest hero of the Frogs jumped upon the Log and commenced dancing up and down upon it, thereupon all the Frogs came and did the same; and for some time the Frogs went about their business every day without taking the slightest notice of their new King Log lying in their midst. But this did not suit them, so they sent another petition to Jove, and said to him, "We want a real king; one that will really rule over us." Now this made Jove angry, so he sent among them a big Stork that soon set to work gobbling them all up. Then the Frogs repented when too late.

Better no rule than cruel rule.

100 Golden Grammar Rules in English by Michael Swan

 

We should learn languages because language is the only thing worth knowing even poorly. 

– Kató Lomb

11. Use Present progressive 

: am speaking; are reading; is eating; to talk about things that are happening at the time of speaking.

I am playing very badly today. Not,I play very badly today.

Look! It’s raining! Not, Look ! It rains!

Jean de La Fontaine’s THE SHEPHERD AND THE SEA Aesop

 Jean de La Fontaine’s verse fables turned traditional folktales into some of the greatest, and best-loved, poetic works in the French language. His versions of stories such as “The Shepherd and the Sea” and “The Hen that Laid the Eggs of Gold” are witty and sophisticated, satirizing human nature in miniature dramas in which the outcome is unpredictable. Here we compare La Fontaine’s versions to the enduring tradition of Aesop’s fables from the Oxford World’s Classics edition of Aesop’s Fables.

THE SHEPHERD AND THE SEA
Jean de La Fontaine

A neighbour of the goddess of the deep
lived free of care on earnings from his sheep,
content with what he had, which to be sure
was modest, though it was at least secure.
He liked to watch the ships return to land,
unloading treasures on the strand.
They tempted him; at last he sold his flock,
and traded all the money on the main;
he lost it when the vessel struck a rock.
The trader went to tend the flocks again,
not as the owner that he used to be,
when sheep of his had grazed beside the sea;
not Corydon or Tircis as before,
just Peterkin and nothing more.
In time he had enough, from what he gained,
to buy some of the creatures clad in fleece.
And then, when winds blew gentle and restrained,
to let the ships unload their goods in peace,
this shepherd could be heard to say:
“You want our money, Madam Sea;
apply to someone else, I pray,
for on my faith, you’re getting none from me.”
This is no idle tale that I invent;
it is the truth that I have told,
which through experience is meant
to show you that a coin you hold
is worth a dozen that you hope to see;
that with their place and rank men must agree;
that thousands would do better to ignore
the counsels of ambition and the sea,
or else they suffer; one perhaps may thrive.
The oceans promise miracles and more,
but if you trust them, storms and thieves arrive.

THE SHEPHERD AND THE SEA
Aesop

There was a shepherd tending his flocks in a place beside the sea. When he saw that the sea was calm and mild, he decided that he wanted to make a voyage. He sold his flocks and bought some dates which he loaded into a ship. He then set sail, but a fierce storm blew up and capsized the ship. The shepherd lost everything and barely managed to get to shore. Later on when the sea had grown calm once again, the shepherd saw a man on the beach praising the sea for her tranquility. The shepherd remarked, “That’s just because she’s after your dates!”

100 Golden Grammar Rules in English

 

You live a new life for every new language you speak. If you know only one language, you live only once. 

‒ Czech Proverb

10. Use had better, not have better.

I think you’d better see the doctor. (NOT I think you have better see the doctor.)
We’d better ask John to help us. 

100 Golden Grammar Rules in English

“The more languages you know, the more you are human.”

 – Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk

 9. Don't use the to talk about things in general.

Books are expensive. (NOT The books are expensive.)
I love music. (NOT I love the music.)

100 Golden Grammar Riles in English

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”

 – Nelson Mandela

8. Police is a plural noun.

The police are looking for him. (NOT The police is looking for him.)
I called the police, but they were too busy to come.

The Two Mules

 

Two Mules were journeying—one charged with oats,
The other with a tax's golden fruit.
This last betrayed that manner which denotes
Excessive vanity in man or brute.
Proudly self-conscious of his precious load,
He paced, and loud his harness-bells resounded;
When suddenly upon their lonely road,
Both Mules and masters were by thieves surrounded.
The money-bearer soon was put to death:
[Pg 12]"Is this the end that crowns my high career?
Yon drudge," he murmured with his latest breath,
"Escapes unhurt, while I must perish here!"
"My friend," his fellow-traveller made reply,
"Wealth cannot always at the poor man scoff.
If you had been content to do as I,
You'd not at present be so badly off."

100 Golden Grammar Rules in English

 "Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow."

7. Use was/were born to give dates of birth.

I was born in 1975. (NOT I am born in 1975.)
Shakespeare was born in 1564. 

100 Golden Grammar Rules in English

 “Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.” 

– Flora Lewis

6. Don’t use a present tense after It’s time.

It’s time you went home. (NOT It’s time you go home.)
It’s time we invited Bill and Sonia. (NOT It’s time we invite Bill and Sonia.)

100 Golden Grammar Rules in English

 A different language is a different vision of life.

5. Don’t drop prepositions with passive verbs.

I don’t like to be shouted at. (NOT I don’t like to be shouted.)
This needs to be thought about some more. (NOT This needs to be thought some more.)

100 Golden Grammar Rules in English

Learn a language, and you’ll avoid a war.

 4. Use will …, not the present, for offers and promises.

I’ll cook you supper this evening. (NOT I cook you supper this evening.)
I promise I’ll phone you tomorrow. (NOT I promise I phone you tomorrow.)

Lesson 105

105  big, large dhe great 

1. emra konkretë: big dhe large 

 

Big dhe large përdoren kryesisht me emrat konkretë - emrat e sendeve që mund të shihen, të 

preken, etj. Big është më e përdorshme në stilin informal. 

• Get your big feet off my flowers. 

• I’m afraid my daughter has rather large feet. 

• It was a large house, situated near the river. 

 

2. emra abstraktë 

 

Great përdoret kryesisht me emrat abstraktë - gjëra që nuk mund të shihen, të preken, etj. 

• You are making a great mistake. 

• Her work showed a great improvement last year. 

• I have great respect for her ideas. 

 

 

3. big me emra abstraktë të numërueshëm 

 

Big përdoret në stilin informal me emrat e numërueshëm abstraktë. Large zakonisht nuk përdoret me emrat abstraktë. 

• You are making a big mistake. (JO: …a large mistake.) 

 

Big nuk përdoret m emrat e panumërueshëm abstraktë (me përjashtim të disa shprehjeve si: big bussines, big trouble). 

• His works shows great intelligence. (JO: …big intelligence.) 

 

 

4. emrat konkretë të panumërueshëm 

 

Zakonisht asnjë nga këto tre fjalë nuk përdoret me emra konkretë të panumërueshëm. 

• You’ve got a lot of luggage. (JO: …big / large / great luggage!) 

 

 

5. përdorime të tjera të great 

 

Great përdoret gjithashtu me kuptimin ‘i famshëm’ ose ‘i rëndësishëm’. 

• Do you think Napoleon was really great man? 

 

Ndërsa në stil informal, great ka kuptimin ‘i mrekullueshëm’. 

• I’ve just got a great job. 

• That’s great! 

 

Great përdoret në dia shprehje informale për të emfatizuar idenë e madhësisë. 

• Then this bloody great dog came after me. 

• He’s just a great big baby. 

 

 

6. large dhe wide 

 

Large është një ‘mik i rremë’ për folësit e disa gjuhëve europiane (p.sh. italisht, frëngjisht, etj.). Në anglisht ajo NUK do të thotë  ‘i/e gjerë’. 

• The river is 100 metres wide. (JO: …100 metres large.)