Lesson Three Message of the Land Pira Sudham is considered Thailand's leading English language writer, who was nominated for the 1990 Nobel Prize for.

Lesson Three Message of the Land

Pira Sudham is considered Thailand's leading English language writer, who was nominated for the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature. His literary works are concerned with social-economic-political changes occurring in Thailand. Widely read and highly acclaimed, his books have given an expedient voice to the poor and the voiceless.

AuthorAuthor

Bangkok from the Chao Phraya River at sunset, July 2004

The Wat Phra Kaew Temple

Thai BuddhismThai Buddhism

Monks in ThailandMonks in Thailand

Text AnalysisText AnalysisStyle

Style: essay (in a very broad sense) or interview The interviewees: a farmer and his wife (note: Since the World War II it has become

popular for writers to interview people, record what they say and, after some, not too much, editing, publish these people’s stories in book form.)

Stylistic feature

colloquial

straightforward language

short sentences

small and easy words

Theme of the story

The text tells about the deep regret of the old people over the loss of traditional values and

the way of life.

Structure of the text

Part I the wife’s speech

(paras. 1—3)The wife tells us briefly about her family and how all her children left.

(paras. 4—7) This part focuses on the changes that she finds she can’t adjust to.

Part II the farmer’s speech (paras. 8—11)

The farmer tells about what he thinks are the root of all evils and what joys he finds in life and farming.

the loss of traditional values and the way of life

Changes in family

Changes in the village

The wife’scomplaints

Thefarmer’scomplaints

None of the children will come back to inherit the land.

Greed, anger, and lust are the root of all evils. No young man will care what message the land gives.

All four children went away. Children wear

jeans instead.

no barter, but cash no pay-free help plastic things instead only the old on the land no practice of the old customs no respect for the old

What’s the message of the land?

It’s our history, our culture, our tradition and our l

ife. In a word, it is our root which we cannot live

without.

Yes, these are our rice fields. They belonged to my parents and forefathers. The land is more than three centuries old.

Question: Why does the wife start her conversation with the talk about the land?

The wife has already regarded the land as part of her life. This is the land where her parents and forefathers lived and it is bound with family history and tradition. It represents the root of her family.

Sentences and Language study

They belonged to my parents and forefather. (1)

to belong to: to be owned by sb. e.g. This computer belongs to my roommate, W

ang Lin. Who does the beeper belong to?

forefather

a. (usu. pl.) the people, especially men, wh

o were part of your family a long time ago i

n the past

b. someone in the past who did something i

mportant that influences your life today

Synonyms

ancestor

forerunner

Opposites

descendantoffspring

…it was I who stayed with my parents till they died. (1)

Learn how to use the emphatic form

“it is /was …that/who…”

e.g.

It was my sister who went to teach in a village school upon graduation.

It was in Shanghai that I first met Professor Li.

• My husband moved into our houses as is the way with us i

n Esarn. (1)

as is the way with us in Esarn: “As” introduces a defining relative clause and functions as its subject, representing what is stated in the main clause.

Paraphrase: (When we got married) my husband came to live in our house. It was the tradition here in Esarn that the bridegroom should come to live with the bride’s family.

Examples

1. As is known to all, Taiwan belongs to China.

(as—subject of the clause)

2. As is often the case, girls learn a language more quickly than boys.

(as—subject of the clause)

• The rest, two boys and two girls, went away as soon as we could afford to buy jeans for them. (1)

appositive of “the rest”

afford to : to have enough money to do

Paraphrase: Our other children—two boys and two girls—left as soon as we had the money to buy them jeans.

the rest : the remaining people; the others

Examples

Your father, a proud and unbending man, refused all help that was offered him.

Playing football, his only interest in life, brought him many friends.

3. A dry lightning storm, that is, a thunderstorm without rain, started a fire in a remote part of the forest in August.

They come home to see us now and then, stay a few days, and then they were off again. (2)

Paraphrase: they come home to see us from time to time, stauy with us for a few days, and then leave again.

stay a few days: here the noun phrase “a few days” is used adverbially.

be off : be away from a place, e.g. My father is off to Russia neat week.

now and then: now and again; occasionally

Examples:

Now and then we heard shots in the woods.

He loses his temper now and then, but not often.

I hear from him every now and then.

Phrases with similar structure

here and there up and down ups and downs the ins and outs back and forth

处处，到处 上上下下，起伏地，来回地，详尽地 盛衰，浮沉 种种复杂详情 来来回回地

bully: v. a. to threaten to hurt someone or frighten them, especially someone smaller or weaker

b. to put pressure on someone in order to make them do what you want

Examples:

The child was bullied almost out of its life.

Don't let them bully you into working on Saturdays.

More meanings

a local bully play the bully a bully idea a bully good dinner Bully for you! bullyboy

土豪 横行霸道，恃强欺弱 绝妙的主意 极其丰盛的饭菜 干得好！（受人雇佣且尤指与政治

集团有关的）流氓，打手

Insult: v. to offend someone by saying or doing something they think is rude

e.g.

I hope Andy won't be insulted if I don't come.

She insulted him by calling him a coward.

You insult my intelligence with your crude methods! (= t

o say or do something that suggests you think someone is s

tupid)

Word formations

n. insult

a. insulting

n. insulter

…and tell us they are doing well. I know this is not always true. (2)

…paraphrase: although they always tell us that everything is fine with them, I know they also have difficulties and problems. They just do not tell us because they do not want us to worry.

…it is like a knife piercing my heart. (2) Paraphrase: when I hear about their hardships, I fe

el very bad..

Pierce: v. a. to make a small hole with a sharp point b. (of cold, pain, sound) to force a way into c. to force a way through something Examples:

She had her ears pierced in order to be able to wear earrin

gs.

Her shrieks pierced the silence.

Her memories sometimes pierced her heart.

Our forces pierced through the enemy’s lines.

Word formations

a. pierced

a. piercing

• It’s easier for my husband. He has ears which don’t hear, a

mouth which doesn’t speak, and eyes that don’t see. (2)

parallel structure

restrictive relative clause

Paraphrase: News about my children’s problems doesn’t make my husband as sad as me. He doesn’t bother about what is happening around us and to our children. He never says anything about them.

He has always been patient and silent, minding his own life. (2)

present participle phrase functioning as adverbial of accompanying circumstances

mind: take care of; attend to

minding his own life:

paraphrase: He’s always been patient and talks little. He

just does his duty and carries on his life.

The usual phrase is “mind one’s own business” which means

“don’t interfere.”

mind one’s own…to take care of one’s… Examples:

Will you mind my bag while I buy my ticket?

I was minding my own work when he rushed in.

My father was just driving along, minding his own business, when suddenly a brick came through the window.

“mind” phrases

mind one’s own business

mind one’s own p’s and q’s

mind one’s manners

mind your footing

mind your back

Mind how you go.

别管闲事 注意举止言行 注意举止行为 小心，站稳了 当心；让开（道别时说）您慢走。

All of them remain my children in spite of their long absence. (3)

Paraphrase: although they are often away a long time, I love and care about them as always because they are my children.

in spite of: without being affected or prevented by something, e.g.

But in spite of the hardships, real efforts and progress are bei

ng made.

We went out in spite of the rain.

Kelly loved her husband in spite of the fact that he drank too

much.

Similar expressionsregardless of

despite

Our piece of land is small, and it is no longer fertile, bleeding year after year and, like us, getting old and exhausted. (3)

present participle phrases functioning as a cause

Paraphrase: Our land is getting poorer with each passing year, like us who are getting old, weak and tired.

Examples

They sent us their statement, hoping to get our support.

They went on with their struggle, thinking theirs was a just cause.

3. Not having received an answer, he decided to write another letter to them.

4. The doctor, not wishing to make her nervous, did not fully explain the seriousness of her condition.

Present participle

phrases act as

adverbials of cause.

… but in a bad year, it’s not only the ploughs that break but our hearts too. (3)

zeugma: “break” governs both “ploughs” and “hearts”.

emphatic structure

Paraphrase: … but when there is a drought, the land is so hard that the ploughs break. And we become very, very sad.

It was the policeman that/who caught a pickpocket on No. 933 bus yesterday.

(The subject is emphasized.) It was a pickpocket that the policeman caught on No. 93

3 bus yesterday. (The object is emphasized.) 3. It was on No.933 bus that the policeman caught a pick

pocket yesterday. (The adverbial of place is emphasized.) 4. It was yesterday that the policeman caught a pickpock

et on No. 933 bus. (The adverbial of time is emphasized.)

The emphatic structure “It

is/was… that…” can be used to emphasize any

part of the sentence

except the predicate.

Fertile ： a. a. (of land, plants) producing much

b. (of a person, his mind) full of ideas, plans

c. a fertile situation is one in which something can easily devel

op and succeed

This shrub likes sun and water as well as a

fertile well-drained soil.

a fertile imagination/mind/brain

He is always fertile in new plans.

That period had made the city a fertile news

ground for freelancers such as myself.

Word formations

n. fertilityv. fertilize

n. fertilizer

a. fertilizable

a. infertile

Question: What’s the main idea of Paras. 1—3?

The wife makes a brief introduction of her family and tells us how all her four children left for cities. She feels sorry about this and she also feels sorry about the land. The land is no longer fertile, like her and her husband, getting old and exhausted.

Ten years ago, you could barter for things, but now it’s all cash. (4)

Paraphrase: just ten years ago, we could exchange one thing for another, but today we have to use more money to get everything we need. (In the past we were more or less self-sufficient. But now we have to buy everything in the market.)

barter… for: to exchange (goods, property, etc.) for other goods, etc. without using money

Examples:

I had to barter with the locals for food.

In the local market, meat and vegetables are bartered for electrical goods.

The prisoners tried to barter with the guards for their freedom.

Men used to make things with fine bamboo pieces, but no longer. (4)

Paraphrase: in the past men made fine bamboo crafs but they no longer do that.

used to do sth….but no longer…: this expression is often used to show a change, e.g.

They used to come and see their parents every week, but no longer.

Shops have sprung up, filled with colorful plastic things and goods we have no use for. (4)

past participle phrase functioning as post-modifier to modify “shops”

relative clause

Paraphrase: Many shops appear in a short time. In these shops there are lots of colorful plastic things and things that are useless for us.

Examples

The men, soaked with sweat from an all-night march, immediately went into action.

The substance, discovered almost by accident, has revolutionized medicine.

The book, written in 1957, tells of the struggle of the miners.

A post-modifying past participle

phrase corresponds to

an elliptical relative clause.

spring up: to appear, develop, grow, etc. quickly or suddenly

Examples:

New houses were springing up all over the town.

Dozens of websites have sprung up to provide information for travelers.

New dot-com companies are springing up all the time.

Similar expressions

come into being/existencea

rise

be born

“spring” phrases

spring to one’s feet spring to sb.’s assistance spring to mind spring into fame spring to life spring out of bed spring a surprise on sb. spring up like mushrooms spring from aristocracy

一跃而起

十万火急地赶去救援某人

在脑海中突然闪现

一举成名

焕发生机

从床上跳起来

使某人大吃一惊

雨后春笋般地涌现

出身于贵族

to be filled with sth.: to be made full of sth., e.g. The girl’s room is filled with toys. Her eyes filled with tears. to have no use for sth.: to not need sth., e.g. Our children are all gone; we have no use for this

big house. When their son started school, he had no use for hi

s toys and gave them away.

These rough fingers and toes are for working in the mud of our rice fields, not for looking pretty. (4)

Paraphrase: What is the good for painting the nails of my fingers and toes? Their place is in the paddy fields where I work, so there is no point of making them look pretty.

In my day, if I were to put on a pair of trousers like they do now, lightning would stike me. (4)

Paraphrase: when I was young, I surely would be punished by God if I ever wore trousers.

This means that in those days it was considered very important for girls to wear such trousers. (In Thailand, females wore wrap-around skirts.) In some Asian countries, to be stuck dead by lighning is believed to be a punishement by God. (Note: Don’t confuse lightning and lightening.)

In sb’s day: when sb. Was young.

– Question: What is the topic sentence of – Para. 4? What are the supporting details?

– Topic sentence: “… we two haven’t changed much, but the village has.”

– Supporting details:– Cash instead of barter– Paid help– Plastic things instead of village crafts– The old alone on the land– Young people’s different way of thinking, – dressing and behaving

…but certain things should not change. (5) Paraphrase: …but we shouldn’t abandon /give up

certain things, for example, our duty to our parents, our religious beliefs, our sympathy for others, etc.

Young people tend to leave these things to old people now, and that’s a shame. (5)

Paraphrase: it is shameful that young people don’t do these things, thinking that they are only for the old.

6. tend to: to be inclined to; have a direction; to be likely to do sth. (usually bad)

Examples:

People tend to need less sleep as they get older.

Young children tend to get sick more often than adults.

Recent studies show that girls tend to be better at languages than boys.

Why, only the other day I heard a boy shout and scream at his mother. (6)

Paraphrase: recently, I heard a boy shout (or yell) rudely at his mother.

to shout at sb.: to speak loudly, often angrily to sb., e.g.

He often shouted at his wife, and this upset her. to shout to sb.: to speak loudly, e.g. Tom shouted to Jack to pass the ball.

If that kind of thing had happened when I was young, the whole village would have condemned such an ungrateful son, and his father would surely have given him a good beating. (6)

Paraphrase: In my day if a boy had screamed at his mother, th

e whole village would have scolded him for his lack of gra

titude, and his father would certainly have punished him.

subjunctive moodhit him as a punishment

More examples of the unreal conditional clauses.

If I had worded harder, I would have passed the exam.

If you had come five minutes earlier, you would have caught the train.

If he had been in the house, he would have died in the fire.

give sb. a (good/…) beating: to hit sb. as a punishment

His father took him to the barn and gave him a good beating.

Our soldiers gave the enemy a thorough beating.

Similar expressions

beat

spank

smack/slap

whip/flog

corporal

punishment

– Question: What is the main idea of Paras. 5—6?

– What is the function of the first sentence in

– Para. 5?

With the first sentence in Para. 5 serving as a tr

ansitional sentence, the wife shifts her talk to th

e things that should not change, which include

people’s worship, and young people’s respect to

their parents and the aged.

Question: How does the wife present her speech? What is her attitude toward the changes around her?

By comparison/contrast and exemplification, th

e wife presents her idea of this changing world.

She dislikes the changes around her. She won’t

accept the changes and even refuses to change

with the life.

As for me, I wouldn’t change, couldn’t change even if I wanted to. (7)

Paraphrase: I don’t think I would change like that, and it would be impossible for me to change even if I wanted to. (This implies that it isn’t easy for her to change her ways and her beliefs of a lifetime.)

As for sb./sth.: used when you start to talk about sth. new that is connected with what you have been talking about, e.g.

Xiao Wang is now teaching in middle school; as for Xiao Li, she’s doing a Ph. D. at Peking University.

Labor is cheap. Land is also available. As for money, we can borrow from the bank.

Even if: in spite of the fact or belief that, e.g. Even if I had the money, I wouldn’t buy a thing like that. I’ll go even if no one else does.

至于，关于

“as” phrases

Cf. as against as from as good as as it is/was as it were as regards as to

Cf.

与……比较，与……相对照

自……起

与……几乎一样；实际上等于

实际上

可以说，在某种程度上

就……而论，按照，依照

关于，至于

This question has never occurred to me. (7) Paraphrase: I’ve never asked myself/ thought about the que

stion—whether or not I am happy. occur to: if an idea or thought occurs to you, it suddenly co

mes into your mind Examples:

I suppose it didn't occur to you to phone the police.

It never seems to occur to my children to contact me.

It had never occurred to him that he might be falling in

love with her.

Similar expressions

have an idea

have a thought

cross sb’s mind

enter sb’s mind

strike

come/spring to mind

Yes, this bag of bones dressed in rags can still plant and reap rice from morning till dusk. (7)

metaphor:

as thin as a bag of bones

past participle phrase functioning

as post-modifier

Paraphrase: It’s true I’m not strong and my clothes are full of holes, but I can still work in the rice fields all day.

a bag of bones: a very thin person or animal, e.g.

The cat was just a bag of bones.

Lack of enough food reduced refugees to bags of bones.

骨瘦如柴的人（或动

物）

“bone” phrases

a bone of contention

(as) dry as a bone

(as) hard as a bone

bare bones

bred in the bone

cast a bone between

in sb’s bones

feel (it) in one’s bones

争端的起因，争议点

干透，十分干燥

极为坚硬

基本要点，梗概

与生俱来的，改不掉的

在……之间引起争端，离间

在某人的本性中

从内心感到 , （凭直觉）确信

in rags: wearing old and worn or torn clothes

Examples:

He gave five dollars to a tramp dressed in rags an

d tatters.

Children in rags begged money from the tourists.

There are areas where every child is in rags and l

earns to be a thief from the age of three.

衣衫褴褛的

from rags to riches: becoming very rich after starting your life very poor

Examples:

He likes to tell people of his rise from rags to ric

hes.

I used the analogy of a family that goes from rags

to riches and back to rags in three or four

generations.

从赤贫到巨富

Disease, injuries, hardships and scarcity have always been part of my life. I don’t complain. (7)

Paraphrase: All my life I have suffered from disease, injuries, hardships and shortage, and I’ve become used to them, I don’t complain because I know such is life. Life is always a fierce struggle.

My eyes do see—they see more than they should. My ears do hear—they hear more than is good for me. (8)

“do” is used to emphasize

verb.

“more than is good” is the same as

“more than what is good”.

Paraphrase: I’m not what my wife says I am. I do see and hear—I see and hear too much evil, too many ugly and terrible things, things that I wish I did not have to see and hear. And this is not good for me.

Examples

He drank more than (what) was good for him.

Kate meant more than (what) was said. Some of the stories were really more than

(what) could be believed.

I don’t talk about what I know because I know too much. I know for example, greed, anger, and lust are the root of all evils. (8)

Paraphrase: I’m silent because I don’t want to talk about what I know—I know these things (e.g. greed, anger and lust) lead to evil.

I know every inch of it. (10) Paraphrase: I know our land thoroughly/inside out.

at peace with: in a situation in which there is no war or

fighting; in harmony with Examples:

The two countries are at peace with each other.

The country is at peace with its neighbors for the fir

st time in years.

If you do this, you will not be at peace with me in t

he future.

“peace” phrases Cf. be at peace with oneself be at peace with the world disturb/break the peace make one’s peace with may sb. rest in peace a peace settlement achieve/bring about peace preserve peace conclude (sign) a peace

Cf.

心平气和

与世无争

扰乱治安

（同……）和解，修好

愿某人的灵魂安息

和平解决

取得／带来和平

维护和平

缔结（签订）合约

Still the land could not tie them down or call them back. (10)

Paraphrase: my children grew up and had happy days on this land. But this couldn’t prevent them from leaving or from wanting to return.

tie… down: to restrict sb./sth. to certain conditions, e.g. Children do tie you down, don’t they?

She didn't want to be tied down by a full- time job.

A plan of union ties the negotiations down to real facts

and real pieces of church life.

tie... up: a. to tie sb.'s arms, legs, etc. so that they cannot move b. to be very busy, so that you cannot do anything else Examples:

Her hair was tied up in a hair net and the hat was re

moved and placed to the right of her chest.

I'm sorry, he's tied up at the moment. Could you call

back later?

When each of them has a pair of jeans, they are off like birds on the wing. (10)

Paraphrase: as soon as they have the chance, they just go away. (The jeans here serve as a symbol of being modern.)

bird/etc. on the wing: if a bird is on the wing, it is flying, e.g.

This area is noted for butterflies in summer, and i

n August the purple hairstreak will be on the wing.

John shot the duck on the wing.

The early bird catches the worm.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Birds of a feather flock together.

It’s an ill bird that fouls its own nest.

Kill two birds with one stone.

“bird” sayingsTranslation

早起的鸟儿有虫吃。

双鸟在林不如一鸟在手。

物以类聚，人以群分。

恶鸟渎巢（指家丑不可外扬）一石二鸟（一举两得）

Question: What can be inferred from Para. 10?

The farmer is very traditional. He still clings t

o the conventional idea of having a big famil

y with children around him. Because of his st

rong attachment to the land, he wants his chi

ldren to follow in his footsteps and be conten

t with the farming life.

Sickness comes and goes, and we get back on our feet again.

Paraphrase: we fall ill sometimes, but get better and carry on with our lives.

It’s good to smell the scent of ripening rice in November. The soft cool breeze moves the sheaves, which ripple and shimmer like waves of gold. (11)

gerund functioning as

modifiernon-restrictive relative clause

like waves of gold: simile

Paraphrase: The ripening rice is so pleasant to smell in November. In the soft cool breeze, the sheaves move and shine in the sun like a golden sea.

Examples

They were infuriated by this insulting demand.

No soaking rain fell in the period. Our industry is developing at an astonis

hing speed.

Yes, I love this land and I hope one of my children comes back one day to live, and gives me grandchildren so that I can pass on the land’s secret message to them.

Paraphrase: Yes, I love this land and I hope one of my children returns one day to live on it, and produces a lot of grandchildren for me so that I can tell them what this land means to us. It is our history, our culture, our tradition, and our life.

pass… on to: to hand or give sth. to sb. else, esp. after receiving or using it oneself

Examples:

I passed her message on to her mother.

Pass the book on to me when you’ve finished wit

h it.

It was discovered that he had been passing secrets

on to the Russians whilst working at the Pentagon.

Exercises: Translation “good”

1. It was a girl with good manners. 2. These were all labeled as good eggs. 3. Dogs are often regarded as man’s good

friends. 4. He was told that Nesser was a good che

ss player.

Exercises: Translation “good”

5. … yet, as it sometimes happens that a person departs his life, who is really deserving of the praises the stone-cutter carves over his bones; who is a good Christian, a good parent, a good child, a good wife or a good husband; who actually does have a disconsolate family to mourn his loss;…

( W. M. Thackeray: Vanity Fair)

Reference translation:

1. 这是一位举止得体的姑娘。 2. 这些都是被标为新鲜的鸡蛋。 3. 狗经常被认为是人们的忠实朋友。 4. 有人对他说赛纳尔是个高明的棋手。

Reference translation:

5. … 不过偶尔也有几个死人当的起石匠刻在他们朽骨上的好话。真的是虔诚的教徒，慈爱的父母，孝顺的儿女，贤良的妻子，尽职的丈夫，他们家里的人也的确哀思绵绵地追悼过他们；…