The ManicaPost
Morris Mtisi Education Correspondent
FROM last week here is continuation of the ‘‘SCORPION’’ excerpt.
They must have found me rather a trial, for I was always ripping sections of the plaster away so that I could watch them, or capture them and making them walk about in jam-jars so that I could see the way their feet moved.
By means of my sudden and unexpected assaults on the wall I discovered quite a bit about scorpions. I found out they would eat bluebottles (though how they caught them was a mystery I never solved), grasshoppers, moths and lacewing flies. Several times I found them eating each other, a habit I found most distressing in a creature otherwise so impeccable.
By crouching under the wall at night with a torch, I managed to catch some brief glimpses of the scorpions’ wonderful courtship dances. I saw them standing, claws clasped, their bodies raised to the skies, their tails lovingly entwined; I saw them waltzing slowly in circles among the moss cushions, claw in claw.
But my view of these performances was all too short, for almost as soon as I switched on the torch the partners would stop, pause for a moment, and then, seeing that I was not going to extinguish the light, they would turn around and walk firmly away, claw in claw, side by side.
They were definitely beasts that believed in keeping themselves to themselves. If I could have kept a colony in captivity I would probably have been able to see the whole of the courtship, but my family had forbidden scorpions in the house, despite my arguments in favour of them.
Then one day I found a fat female scorpion in the wall, wearing what at first glance appeared to be a pale fawn fur coat. Closer inspection proved that this strange garment was made up of a mass of tiny babies clinging to the mother’s back.
I was enraptured by this family, and I made up my mind to smuggle them into the house and up to my bedroom so that I might keep them and watch them grow up.
With infinite care I manoeuvred the mother and family into a matchbox carefully on the mantelpiece in the drawing room, so that the scorpions should get plenty of air, and made my way to the dining room and joined the family for the meal. Dawdling over my food, feeding Roger surreptitiously under the table and listening to the family arguing, I completely forgot about my exciting new captures. At last Larry, my eldest brother, finished his meal.
He fetched cigarettes from the drawing-room, and lying back in his chair he put one in his mouth and picked up the matchbox he had brought. Oblivious of my impending doom I watched him interestedly as, still talking glibly, he opened the matchbox.
Now I maintain to this day that the female scorpion meant no harm. She was agitated and a trifle annoyed at being shut up in a matchbox for so long, and so she seized the first opportunity to escape. She hoisted herself out of the box with great rapidity, her babies clinging on desperately, and scuttled on to the back of Larry’s hand. There, not quite certain what to do next, she paused, her sting curved up at the ready. Larry, feeling the movement of her claws, glanced down to see what it was, and from that moment things got increasingly confused.
He uttered a roar of fright that made Lugaretzia drop a plate and brought Roger out from beneath the table, barking wildly. With a flick of his hand he sent the unfortunate scorpion flying down the table. And she landed midway between Margo and Leslie, scattering babies like confetti as she thumped on to the cloth.
Thoroughly enraged at this treatment, the creature sped towards Leslie, her sting quivering with emotion. Leslie leapt to his feet, overturning his chair, and flicked out desperately with his napkin, sending the scorpion rolling across the cloth towards Margo. Who promptly let out a scream that any railway engine would have been proud to produce.
Mother, completely bewildered by this sudden and rapid change from peace to chaos, put on her glasses and peered down the table to see what was causing the pandemonium, and at that moment Margo, in a vain attempt to stop the scorpion’s advance, hurled a glass of water at it. The shower missed the animal completely, but successfully drenched Mother, who, not being able to stand cold water, promptly lost her breath and sat gasping at the end of the table, unable even to protest.
The scorpion had gone to the ground under Leslie’s plate, while her babies swarmed wildly all over the table. Roger, mystified by the panic, but determined to do his share, ran round and round the room, barking hysterically . . . (To the end of the story.)
Vocabulary:
Briefly explain the meaning of the following words or expressions as they are used in the story: (Use excerpt in last week’s column as well).
Self — effacing
Bulbous
They must have found me rather a trial
Impeccable
(Extinguish)
They believed in keeping themselves to themselves
I was enraptured
Surreptitiously
Oblivious
My impending doom
Glibly
Enraged
Bewildered
Pandemonium
Hysterically.
Craftsmanship
Much of the effect of this fascinating passage is obtained by the skilful use of descriptive detail. The writer is not satisfied with only giving a vague picture of a thing or action. He / She tries to bring it to life by using details.
Tasks:
By careful use of details, write an interesting, captivating, gripping description of one of these people:
A haulage truck driver
A street beggar
An urban teenage school girl or boy
A policeman on duty
An angry class teacher. (Do not write more than 15 lines.
Similarly, use descriptive detail to describe one of these:
Your neighbour’s dog
A new bus that plies its route through your village or own
A strange bird.
The story about the scorpions has quite glimpses or notes of humour which make it more attractive. Can you identify these notes of humour?
Another noticeable way of writing to bring about a grip of interest is writing about a thing or object or animal as if it were a human being. In Literature it is called Personification.
Find instances of this method or style in the passage(s) (Including last week’s passage.)
The Scorpion story also uses similes effectively. Point these out as well and take good note of them. They are an effective way of using descriptive detail.
Please note: This story-A BOX OF SCORPIONS, was taken from A Graded Secondary School English Course-Book 4 (A.R.B. Etherton).
It is one of the most skilfully written stories I have read in all my learning and teaching life. It is a masterpiece. I have used it to teach Craftsmanship in English Composition writing and changed the attitudes, the lives and most importantly, the grades of many English language learners.
