Page 35 - SREENARAYANAGURU OPEN UNIVERSITY

Between the woods and frozen lake salade niçoise, which does not—as far as I
The darkest evening of the year. know—come with cockroaches.”

He gives his harness bells a shake “Please remain calm, Sir.”
To ask if there is some mistake. “I am calm.”
The only other sound’s the sweep “Let me bring you another salad.”

Of easy wind and downy flake.
“I don’t want another salad. I want an
The woods are lovely, dark and deep. explanation.”
But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep, “It was an accident.”
And miles to go before I sleep. “An accident, you say. Well I say: I am
Now, answer the following questions not so sure. If a cockroach had strayed from
its pack, had wandered into the kitchen and
1. Where did the speaker stop? landed in the salad—now that would have been
an accident. But that is not what happened.
2. Who shook the harness bells and why? For one, the cockroach is dead. There is no

3. Why did the speaker decide to keep doubt that your salad dressing is, as they say,
moving despite the woods being lovely, dark killer—but I doubt it was the cause of death.
and deep? It’s obvious the cockroach was dead before it
fell into the salad. Its body shows no signs of
1�3�3�1 Reading Prose struggle, which leads me to believe it was the
victim of pesticides used for killing armies of
Now, let us read a prose fiction of politi-
cal satire titled “The Cockroach” by Luís Fer- roaches and other creatures in your kitchen.
It’s impossible to say exactly when it happened.
nando Veríssímo.
An autopsy would reveal the exact time of the
In this prose work, an innocent meal cockroach’s death. The fumigation might still
becomes a bureaucratic nightmare. be affecting the food in your kitchen—not only
garnishing it with dead insects, but seasoning
The maître d’, who was called over by the it with invisible poison as well. If this is true,
waiter, asked: then I would like an explanation. I am a citi-

“Is there a problem, Sir?” zen; I know my rights. This is a democracy.”

“Problem, no. Cockroach, yes.” “I will call the manager.”
“I beg your pardon?” The manager, who was called over by the
maître d’, arrived. He confirmed that the
“Look.” kitchen had undergone a fumigation, but that
it had been a month ago. The restaurant was
The maître d’ looked and saw a cockroach closed during the operation. There was no
in the middle of the salad. danger of the food being contaminated, nor

“Yes . . .” evidence that the cockroach was a result of the
recent fumigation.
“Yes, you say? Well I say: no. I ordered a
“So,” the client said. “Perhaps it took a

SGOU - FYUGP - SLM - English for Communication 29