The Art of Writing & Speaking the English Language Part 12

For a long time I was in want of a wagon or carriage of some kind.

At last I hewed out a wheel of wood and made a wheelbarrow.

20. I worked as steadily as I could for the rain, for this was the rainy season. I may say I was always busy. I raised a turf wall close outside my double fence, and felt sure if any people came on sh.o.r.e they would not see anything like a dwelling. I also made my rounds in the woods every day. As I have already said, I found plenty of wild goats.

I also found a kind of wild pigeon, which builds, not as wood pigeons do, in trees, but in holes of the rocks. The young ones were very good meat.

Questions and Notes. What sound has _ea_ in _thread?_ What is peculiar in the spelling of _liven?_ What is peculiar in the spelling of _handkerchiefs?_ wrecks? What rule applied to the formation of the word _heavily?_ What sound has _ai_ in _chair?_ Is the _i_ or the _a_ silent in _carriage?_ (Look this up in the dictionary.) What sound has _u_ in busy? What other word with the same sound for _u_? Is there any word besides _people_ in which _eo_ has the sound of _e_ long? In what other compounds besides _also_ does _all_ drop one _l_? What sound has _ai_ in _said?_ Does it have this sound in any other word? What sound has _eo_ in _pigeon? ui_ in _builds?_ What other word p.r.o.nounced like _hole?_ How do you remember _ei_ in _their?_

Use the following words in appropriate sentences: _so, seem, hew, rein, meet_. What differences do you find in the principles of formation of _second, wreck, lock, reckon?_ In what different ways is the sound of long _a_ represented in paragraphs 19 and 20? What is peculiar in _tough? especially? handkerchiefs? season? raised? double? fence?

already? pigeon? ones? very? were?_

X.

21. I found that the seasons of the year might generally be divided, not into summer and winter, as in Europe, but into the rainy seasons and the dry seasons, which were generally thus: From the middle of February to the middle of April (including March), rainy; the sun being then on or near the equinox. From the middle of April to the middle of August (including May, June, and July), dry; the sun being then north of the equator. From the middle of August till the middle of October (including September), rainy; the sun being then come back to the equator. From the middle of October till the middle of February (including November, December, and January), dry; the sun being then to the south of the equator.

22. I have already made mention of some grain that had been spoiled by the rats. Seeing nothing but husks and dust in the bag which had contained this, I shook it out one day under the rock on one side of my cave. It was just before the rainy season began. About a month later I was surprised to see ten or twelve ears of English barley that had sprung up and several stalks of rice. You may be sure I saved the seed, hoping that in time I might have enough grain to supply me with bread.

It was not until the fourth season that I could allow myself the least particle to eat, and none of it was ever wasted. From this handful, I had in time all the rice and barley I needed for food,?above forty bushels of each in a year, as I might guess, for I had no measure.

23. I may mention that I took from the ship two cats; and the ship's dog which I found there was so overjoyed to see me that he swam ash.o.r.e with me. These were much comfort to me. But one of the cats disappeared and I thought she was dead. I heard no more of her till she came home with three kittens. In the end I was so overrun with cats that I had to shoot some, when most of the remainder disappeared in the woods and did not trouble me any more.

Questions and Notes. Why is _g_ soft in _generally?_ How do you p.r.o.nounce _February?_ What sound ha{ve the _}s{_'}s in _surprised?_ Mention three or four other words ending in the sound of _ize_ which are spelled with an _s_. What sound has _ou_ in _enough?_ What other words have _gh_ with the sound of _f_? We have here the spelling of waste--meaning carelessly to destroy or allow to be destroyed; what is the spelling of the word which means the middle of the body? Is _ful_ always written with one _l_ in derivatives, as in _handful_ above?

Mention some other words in which _ce_ has the sound of _c_ as in _rice_.

How do you spell _14_? like forty? Why is _u_ placed before _e_ in _guess?_ Is it part of a digraph with _e_? What sound has _ea_ in _measure?_ What sound has it in this word? What other word p.r.o.nounced like _heard?_ Which is spelled regularly? How many _l_'s has _till_ in compounds? Mention an example.

Use the following words in sentences: _herd, write, b.u.t.t, reign, won, bred, waist, kneaded, sum_. What is peculiar about _year? divided?

equator? December? grain? nothing? contain? barley? until? each? there?

thought? some? disappeared? trouble?_

XI.

24. One day in June I found myself very ill. I had a cold fit and then a hot one, with faint sweats after it. My body ached all over, and I had violent pains in my head. The next day I felt much better, but had dreadful fears of sickness, since I remembered that I was alone, and had no medicines, and not even any food or drink in the house.

The following day I had a terrible headache with my chills and fever; but the day after that I was better again, and went out with my gun and shot a she-goat; yet I found myself very weak. After some days, in which I learned to pray to G.o.d for the first time after eight years of wicked seafaring life, I made a sort of medicine _by_ steeping tobacco leaf in rum. I took a large dose of this several times a day.

In the course of a week or two I got well; but for some time after I was very pale, and my muscles were weak and flabby.

25. After I had discovered the various kinds of fruit which grew on the other side of the island, especially the grapes which I dried for raisins, my meals were as follows: I ate a bunch of raisins for my breakfast; for dinner a piece of goat's flesh or of turtle broiled; and two or three turtle's eggs for supper. As yet I had nothing in which I could boil or stew anything. When my grain was grown I had nothing with which to mow or reap it, nothing with which to thresh it or separate it from the chaff, no mill to grind it, no sieve to clean it, no yeast or salt to make it into bread, and no oven in which to bake it. I did not even have a water-pail. Yet all these things I did without. In time I contrived earthen vessels which were very useful, though rather rough and coa.r.s.e; and I built a hearth which I made to answer for an oven.

Questions and Notes. What is peculiar about _body?_ What sound has _ch_ in _ached?_ Note that there are t{w}o _i_'s in _medicine_. What is peculiar about _house?_ What other word p.r.o.nounced like _weak?_ Use it in a sentence. What is the plural of _leaf?_ What are all the differences between _does_ and _dose?_ Why is _week_ in the phrase "In the course of a week or two" spelled with double _e_ instead of _ea?_ What is irregular about the word _muscles?_ Is _c_ soft before _l_? Is it silent in _muscles?_ What three different sounds may _ui_ have? Besides _fruit,_ what other words with _ui_? What sound has _ea_ in _breakfast?_ What two p.r.o.nunciations has the word _mow?_ What difference in meaning? What sound has _e_ in _thresh?_ How do you remember the _a_ in _separate?_ What sound has _ie_ in _sieve?_ Do you know any other word in which _ie_ has this sound? What other sound does it often have? Does _ea_ have the same sound in _earthen_ and _hearth?_ Is _w_ sounded in _answer?_ What sound has _o_ in _oven?_ Use the following words in sentences: _week, pole, fruit, pane, weak, course, bred, pail, ruff_.

XII.

26. You would have smiled to see me sit down to dinner with my family.

There was my parrot, which I had taught to speak. My dog was grown very old and crazy; but he sat at my right hand. Then there were my two cats, one on one side of the table and one on the other. Besides these, I had a tame kid or two always about the house, and several sea-fowls whose wings I had clipped. These were my subjects. In their society I felt myself a king. I was lord of all the land about, as far as my eye could reach. I had a broad and wealthy domain. Here I reigned sole master for twenty-five years. Only once did I try to leave my island in a boat; and then I came near being carried out into the ocean forever by an ocean current I had not noticed before.

27. When I had been on the island twenty-three years I was greatly frightened to see a footprint in the sand. For two years after I saw no human being; but then a large company of savages appeared in canoes.

When they had landed they built a fire and danced about it. Presently they seemed about to make a feast on two captives they had brought with them. By chance, however, one of them escaped. Two of the band followed him; but he was a swifter runner than they. Now, I thought, is my chance to get a servant. So I ran down the hill, and with the b.u.t.t of my musket knocked down one of the two pursuers. When I saw the other about to draw his bow. I was obliged to shoot him. The man I had saved seemed at first as frightened at me as were his pursuers. But I beckoned him to come to me and gave him all the signs of encouragement I could think of.

28. He was a handsome fellow, with straight, strong limbs. He had a very good countenance, not a fierce and surly appearance. His hair was long and black, not curled like wool; his forehead was very high and large; and the color of his skin was not quite black, but tawny. His face was round and plump; his nose small, not flat like that of negroes; and he had fine teeth, well set, and as white as ivory.

29. Never man had a more faithful, loving, sincere servant than Friday was to me (for so I called him from the day on which I had saved his life). I was greatly delighted with him and made it my business to teach him everything that was proper to make him useful, handy, and helpful.

He was the aptest scholar that ever was, and so merry, and so pleased when he could but understand me, that it was very pleasant to me to talk to him.

Now my life began to be so easy, that I said to myself, that could I but feel safe from more savages, I cared not if I were never to remove from the place where I lived.

(Friday was more like a son than a servant to Crusoe. Here was one being who could under-stand human speech, who could learn the difference between right and wrong, who could be neighbor, friend, and companion.

Crusoe had often read from his Bible; but now he might teach this heathen also to read from it the truth of life. Friday proved a good boy, and never got into mischief.)

Questions and Notes. What is the singular of _canoes?_ What is the meaning of _b.u.t.t?_ How do you spell the word p.r.o.nounced like this which means a hogshead? In what two ways is _bow_ p.r.o.nounced? What is the difference in meaning? What other word p.r.o.nounced like _bow_ when it means the front end of a boat? _Encouragement_ has an _e_ after the _g_; do you know two words ending in _ment_ prece?ded by the soft _g_ sound which omit the silent _e_? Make a list of all the words you know which, like _fierce,_ have _ie_ with the sound of _a_ long.

How do you p.r.o.nounce _forehead?_ Mention two peculiarities in the spelling of _color_. Compare it with _collar_. What is the singular of _negroes?_ What other words take _es_ in the plural? What is the plural of _tobacco?_ Compare _speak,_ with its _ea_ for the sound of _e_ long, and _speech,_ with its double _e_. What two peculiarities in _neighbor?_ What sound has _ie_ in _friend?_ In the last paragraph above, how do you p.r.o.nounce the first word _read?_ How the second?

What other word p.r.o.nounced like _read_ with _ea_ like short _a_?

Compare to _lead, led,_ and the metal _lead_. How do you p.r.o.nounce _mischief?_ Use the following words in sentences: _foul, reign, sole, strait, currant_. What is peculiar in these words: _parrot? taught?

always? reach? only? leave? island? carried? ocean? notice? built?

dance? brought? get? runner? b.u.t.t? knock?_

Derivation of words.

It is always difficult to do two things at the same time, and for that reason no reference has been made in the preceding exercises to the rules for prefixes and suffixes, and in general to the derivation of words.

This should be taken up as a separate study, until the meaning of every prefix and suffix is clear in the mind in connection with each word.

This study, however, may very well be postponed till the study of grammar has been taken up.

APPENDIX

VARIOUS SPELLINGS

Authorized by Different Dictionaries.

There are not many words which are differently spelled by the various standard dictionaries. The following is a list of the more common ones.

The form preferred by each dictionary is indicated by letters in parantheses as follows: C., Century; S., Standard; I., Webster's International; W., Worcester; E., English usage as represented by the Imperial. When the new Oxford differs from the Imperial, it is indicated by O. Stormonth's English dictionary in many instances prefers Webster's spellings to those of the Imperial.

accoutre (C., W., E.) accouter (S., I.) aluminium (C., I., W., E.) aluminum (S.) a.n.a.lyze (C., S., I., W.) a.n.a.lyse (E.) anesthetic (C., S.) anaesthetic (I., W., E.) appal (C., S., E.) appall (I., W.) asbestos (C., S., W., E.) asbetus (I.) ascendancy (C., W.) ascendancy (S., I., E.) ax (C., S., I.) axe (W., E.) ay [forever] (C., S., O.) aye (I., W., E.) aye [yes] (C., S., I., O.) ay (W., E.) bandana (C., E.) bandanna (S.,{ }I.,{ }W.,{ }O.) biased (C., S., I., O.) bia.s.sed (W., E.)?

boulder (C., S., W., E.) bowlder (I.) Brahman (C., S., I., E.) Brahmin (W., O.) braize (C., S.) braise (I., W., E.) calif (C., S., E.) caliph (I., W., O.) callisthenics (C., S., E.) calisthenics (I., W.) cancelation (C., S.) cancellation (I., W., E.) clue (C., S., E.) clew (I., W.) coolie (C., S., E.) cooly (I., W.) courtezan (C., I., E.) courtesan (I., W., O.) cozy (C., S., I.) cosey (W., E.) cosy (O.) crozier (C., I., E.) crosier (I., W., O.) defense (C., S., I.) defence (W., E.)

despatch (C., S., W., E.) dispatch (I., O.) diarrhea (C., S., I.) diarrhoa (W., E.) d.i.c.ky (C., W., O.) d.i.c.key (S., I., E.) disk (C., S., I., W., O.) disc (E.) distil (C., S., W., E.) distill (I.) dullness (C., I., O.) dulness (S., W., E.) employee (C., S., E.) employe {[male]}(I., W., O.) enc.u.mbrance (C., S., W., I.) inc.u.mbrance (I.) enforce--see reinforce engulf (C., S., W., E.) ingulf (I.) enrolment (C., S., W., E.) enrollment (I.) enthrall (C., S., E.) inthrall (I., W.) equivoke (C., S., W.) equivoque (I., E.) escalloped (C., S., O.) escaloped (I., W., E.) esthetic (C., S.) aesthetic (I., W., E.) feces (C., S.) faeces (I., W., E.) fetish (C., S., O.) fetich (I., W., E.) fetus (C., S., I., E.) ftus (W., O.) flunky (C., S., I., W.) flunkey (E.) fulfil (C., S., W., E.) fulfill (I.) fullness (C., I., O.) fulness (S., W., E.)?

gage [measure] (C., S.) gauge (I., W., E{.)} gaiety (C., S., E.) gayety (I., W.) gazel (C., S.) gazelle (I., W., E.) guild (I., W., E.) gild (C., S.) gipsy (C., S., O.) gypsy (I., W., E.) gram (C., S., I.) gramme (W., E.) gruesome (C., S., O.) grewsome (I., W., E.) harken (C., S.) hearken (I., W., E.) hindrance (C., S., I., O.) hinderance (W., E.) Hindu (C., S., E.) Hindoo (I., W.) Hindustani (C., S., E.) Hindoostanee (I.) homeopathic (C., S., I.) h.o.m.opathic (W., E.) impale (C., I., E.) empale (S., W.) incase (C., S., I., E.) encase (W., O.) inclose (C., I., E.) enclose (S., W., O.) instil (C., S., W., E.) instill (I.) jewelry (C., S., I., E.) jewellery (W., O.) k.u.miss (C., S., E.) koumiss (I., W., O.) maugre (C., S., W., E.) mauger (I.) meager (C., S., I.) meagre (W., E.)

medieval (C., S.) mediaeval (I., W., E.) mold (C., S., I.) mould (W., E.) molt (C., S., I.) moult (W., E) offense (C., S., I.) offence (W., E.) pandoor (C., W., E.) pandour (S., I.) papoose (C., S., W., E.) pappoose (W.) paralyze (C., S., W., I.) paralyse (E.) pasha (C., S., I., E.) pacha (W.) peddler (C., I.) pedler (S., W.) pedlar (E.) phenix (C., S., I.) phnix (W., E.) plow (C., S., I.) plough (W., E.) pretense (C., S., I.) pretence (W., E.) program (C., S.) programme (I., W., E.) rac.o.o.n (C.) racc.o.o.n (S., I., W., E.) rajah (I., W., E.) raja (C., S.) reconnaissance (C., S., E.) reconnoissance (I., W.) referable (C., S., I.) referrible (W., E.) reinforce (C., E.) reenforce (S., I., W.) reverie (C., S., I., E.) revery (W.) rhyme (I., W., E.) rime (C., S.)

rondeau (W., E.) rondo (C., S., I.) shinny (C., S.) shinty (I., W., E.) skean (C., S., I., E.) skain (W.) skilful (C., S., W., E.) skillful (I.) smolder (C., S., I.) smoulder (W., E.) spoony (C., S., E.) spooney (I., W.) sumac (C., S., I., E.) sumach (W.) swingletree (C., S., W.) singletree (I.) synonym (C., S., I., E.) synonyme (W.) syrup (C., E.) sirup (S., I., W.) Tartar (I., W., E.) Tatar (C., S.) threnody (C., S., W., E.) threnode (I.) tigerish (C., S., I.) tigrish (W., E.) timbal (C., S.) tymbal (I., W., E) t.i.tbit (C., S.) tidbit (I., W., E.) vise [tool] (C., S., I.) vice (W., E.) vizier (S., I., W., E.) vizir (C.) visor (I., W., E.) vizor (C., S.) whippletree (S., I., W., E.) whiffletree (C.) whimsy (C., S.) whimsey (I., W., E.)

whisky (C., S., I., E.) whiskey (W.{, Irish}) wilful (C., S., W., E.) willful (I.)?

woeful (C., I., E.) woful (S., W.) worshiped (C., S., I.) worshipped (W., E.)

All dictionaries but the Century make _envelop_ the verb, _envelope_ the noun. The Century spells the noun _envelop_ as well as the verb.

According to the Century, Worcester, and the English dictionaries, _practise_ (with _s_) is the verb, _practice_ (with _c_) is the noun.

The Standard spells both _practise,_ and Webster both practice.

Doubling l.

Worcester and the English dictionaries double a final _l_ in all cases when a syllable is added, Webster, the Century, and the Standard only when the rule requires it. Thus: wool--woollen, Jewel--jewelled, travel--traveller.