ACTIVITIES ACTIVITIES Before reading Q Match the names of the animals with their definitions. Then tick the animals which are generally kept as pets. 1. □ dog 2. □ bat 3. □ rabbit 4. | cheetah 5. □ bird 6. ] hedgehog 7. □ fox 8. ] goldfish 9. □ trout 10, | monkey a. [ ] A freshwater fish related to salmon which is good to eat. b. [ ] A medium-sized member of the order of primates - the order which includes human beings, gorillas, lemurs and chimpanzees. They generally live in tropical countries and eat fruit and leaves, c. [ ] A small mouse-like animal with wings that is active at night. It hangs upside down when it is resting. d. [ ] A small orange-red fish, originally from eastern Asia, which is kept in bowls and ponds. e. [ ] A small furry mammal with long ears, a short tail and long back legs used for jumping. f. ] A carnivorous animal with ears, a furry tail and a muzzle. The adults of this animal range considerably in size: the smallest can weigh as little as 4 kilos and the largest can weigh as much as 65 kilos. Its typical call is a bark. g. Q A warm-blooded animal with two legs, wings and feathers that lays eggs. h. [ ] A medium-sized carnivorous animal with pointed ears, a long furry tail and a long muzzle. It has a reddish brown coat and is known for its exceptional intelligence, i. □ This is a large African animal with a yellowish-brown coat with black spots. It is the fastest land animal in the world and can reach speeds up to 110 km/h. j. Q A small animal with a pointed head and spines on its back. When attacked it rolls itself up into a ball to protect itself, Before going on Q The spirit of the perverse Do you ever do what you know you shouldn't do? Discuss with your partner if you ever: • say nasty things to your friend or someone you love • don't tell the truth for no good reason at all • don't do your homework when you have plenty of time • break something valuable • eat the last pastry, candy, cake, etc. when you know somebody else hasn't eaten yet • don't go to bed when you should, even if you are tired • drive your bike or motorcycle too fast • Other Qj Listen to the first chapter of "The Black Cat" and decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F). T F a, The narrator is going to die tomorrow. □ □ b. When the narrator was a child, he hated animals. □ □ c. He had a large white cat. □ □ d. His cat's name was Pluto. □ □ e. He became a victim of alcohol. □ □ f. He cut off his cat's head. □ □ 8- He was not sorry for what he had done to his cat. □ □ h. He killed Pluto because he knew that his cat loved him. □ □ 18 19 Gr\apter do not think people will believe my story. But I am not mad, and I am not dreaming. Tomorrow I will die and I want to make a confession. The events which I am going to describe here have terrified me, have tortured me, have destroyed mo. To me they seemed horrible and supernatural, but perhaps somebody who is calmer and more rational will find a logical explanation. This is my story. I was a very kind and gentle 1 child who loved animals. As I grew up this love for animals became greater. This is easy to understand: it is difficult to trust 2 people, but you can always trust a faithful dog. 1. gentle : not violent. 2. trust : it you trust someone, you are sure they are good, you are sure they will not hurt you. 20 after Ut\e I married when I was young and my wife liked animals too. We had birds, gold-fish, a dog, rabbits, a small monkey, and a cat. This cat was quite large, beautiful, completely black and extremely intelligent. In fact, my wife sometimes said that our cat was probably a witch 1 in disguise. 2 She was not really serious about this, and I mention it now only because by chance 3 I remember it, Pluto — this was the cat's name — was my favorite pet and playmate. 4 He followed me everywhere. Unfortunately, I became a victim of alcohol, I drank more and more. Of course, my personality changed. I became moody 5 and irritable with my wife and pets. At the beginning, though, I respected Pluto and never hurt him. But one night I returned home very intoxicated. 6 I thought that Pluto was avoiding me. I held him violently and in his fright the cat hit my hand. I became furious. I was possessed by a demon. I caught the cat again. Then I took a pocket-knife from my pocket, opened it and cut out his eye! I blush, 7 I burn while I now write these facts. The next day I felt horror for my action, but I continued to drink, and wine made me forget the horrible thing I had done. 1. witch : 2. in disguise [disgaiz] : with its real identity hidden; it was a witch in the form of a cat. 3. by chance : accidentally. 4. playmate : my companion in play, the friend I always played with. 5. moody : moody means that one minute you are happy and one minute you are angiy. 6. intoxicated : drunk, ("drunk" means you have drunk a lot of alcohol}. 7. I blush : my face becomes red because I am sorry [ashamed) tor what I did. 21 THE BLACK CAT The cat got better. The empty eye socket 1 was frightening, but the cat was no longer in pain. 2 He went about the house as usual, but, obviously, he ran away from me in terror. At first I was sorry about this, but soon it made me angry. And then came the spirit of PERVERSENESS. Philosophy does not talk about this spirit, but it is a fundamental part of the human heart. We have all done stupid or terrible things simply because we know that we should not do them. This, then, is PERVERSENESS. This spirit of perverseness, 1 say, destroyed me because one day I decided to kill poor Pluto. With tears in my eyes and sadness in my heart I put a noose 3 around his neck and hanged him from a tree. I hanged Pluto only because I knew he loved me, only because he had never hurt me, only because I knew that God would never pardon me for the crime. 1. socket ; hole, place in the head where the eye is. 2. was no longer in pain : stopped being in pain [no longer ; not any more). 3. noose : ■ 22 ACTIVITIES ACTIVITIES Go back to the text Q Match the first part of the sentences in column A with the second part in column B. A 1. His wife thought that Pluto was a witch 2. He loved animals more than people 3. The narrator became moody and irritable 4. Pluto ran away from him in terror 5. We all do stupid or terrible things 6. He killed Pluto B a. because we know that we shouldn't do them. b. because it is easier to trust animals. c. because he had cut out his eye with a pen-knife. d. because lie knew that Pluto loved him. e. because he drank too much. f. because he was black and very intelligent. El They go together like love and marriage Below is a list of words you read in Chapter One. Put them in the correct column of the chart. bit liked logical irritable drank hurt ran away tortured hanged witch terrified calmer furious playmate trust kind mad- married terror demon intelligent destroy gentle dreaming noose understand personality frightening drink wine spirit die heart philosophy possessed horror angry intoxicated love pain kill supernatural rational moody fright T: GRADE 7 Q Theme - Giving Advice and Opinions At what age should young people be able to: Drink alcohol Go to a night club Stay out until 2am Smoke cigarettes Leave school and get a job Drive a car Imagine a young brother/sister wants to do all the things mentioned at the age of 14, what would you advise him/her? 24 25 ACTIVITIES ACTIVITIES We have all done stupid, things When we wish to talk about a period of time that began in the past and continues up to the present we use the Present Perfect. Often the period of time we are referring to is a person's life, especially when we use the adverb "ever" in the question. Look at the following examples: • Have you ever done anything stupid? • Yes, I have done many stupid things, • Have they ever traveled by plane? • Yes, they have. Now look at the following short dialogues and notice that the Past Simple is used when we begin to ask or talk about something specific in the past. - Have you ever lost your wallet? Yes, I have. - When did you lose your wallet? I lost it during my summer holiday last summer. - Have you ever studied American literature? Yes, I have. - When did you study it? I studied it when I was a high school student. Q Use the elements below to ask the narrator of the story questions, and then give his answers according to what you have read. You must decide if the verbs should be in the Present Perfect or the Past Simple tenses. If the question is in the Present Perfect use the adverb "ever". a. You: have/a dog? Have you ever had a dog? b. Narrator Yes, I have. c. enjoy/walking/a dog? Did you enjoy walking it? d. Narrator -.......vi............................................. e. have/a cat? .......................................................... f. Narrator.......................................................... g. what/be/its name? .......................................................... h. Narrator.......................................................... i. what/be like? .......................................................... j. Narrator.......................................................... k. you/be/violent? .........................,................................ 1. Narrator .......................................................... m. why/you/violent? .......................................................... n. Narrator o. you/do/something................................................................... you knew was wrong? .......................................................... p. Narrator .......................................................... q. what/you/do? .......................................................... r. Narrator .......................................................... s. why/you/do/it? .......................................................... t. Narrator .......................................................... §U Find the 21 Past Participles in the verb square which are all in the previous chapter, circle them like the example. (B E C 0 M E) A S G E F G G F 0 I T H o U G H T E H O M M B A c 0 M E N T D A N S I D F A T A Y H T H N E T H C E M 0 D E C H E G T E A S L M M E P U T H E L U T G T S A Y T T S N D G A 0 0 F S A H U R T D H K T O I A S D Y K L M T E R K D I A S D R U N K N O W N D G R 0 W N u P Z E E R G 26 27 ACTIVITIES ACTIVITIES O Now complete each of the following sentences using the Past Simple of the appropriate irregular verb. Example: He hurt Pluto for no good reason. a. The more I drank, the more I.................irritable and moody. b. My wife.................that Pluto was a witch in disguise. c. My wife and I.................lots of pets. d. When he was a boy he loved animals, but when he.................he loved them even more. e. The cat tried to escape, but he.................it. f. The dog looked friendly, but when I tried to caress it, it ................me. Things we should not do Look at this: You should help your friends. = It would be a good idea if you helped your friends. You shouldn't steal. = It is not a good idea to steal. | Using the verbs in the box to help you, write sentences according to the example. turn on turn off steal eat ^teif blow over clean open drive Example: John's sister is reading a mystery story. If she knew the ending it would ruin the story for her. John has read the book before. John knows he shouldn't tell her the ending but he is going to tell her anyway. a. Edgar is riding down the highway in his new sports car. It is late at night and no one is around. Now he is going at 100 kilometres per hour, but his car can go much faster. Edgar............................................................. b. My sister has spent an hour building a house of playing cards. Any movement of air, and it will fall over. Her little brother is watching her enviously. HeT little brother ........................................... c. My father worked until late last night, It is eleven in the morning now and I would like to hear some rock music on the radio. I .................................................................... d. Dominique is in the dark room developing some very important photographs. Charles is in front of the dark room door, If any light enters the room all the photos will be Tuined. Charles.......................................................... e. I can see the box of money on the table, and nobody is in the room. The money was collected for the local hospital. I .................................................................... f. Thomas sees a piece of chocolate cake on the table. He knows that it is for his sister who loves chocolate cake. Thomas ......................................................... g. My hands are covered with chocolate and sugar. Juliette's new cashmere sweater is on the chair. I hate having sticky hands. I .................................................................... h. My sister has just seen a horror film and she is terrified. She is in her bedroom with the light on but the light switch is outside her room! I .................................................................... 28 29 A V Before you go on Listen to the beginning of Chapter Two, and complete the following sentences with a word or a short phrase. 1. The night of the crime there was ................................................... 2. He, his wife and his servant just ................................................... 3. The day after the fire he went to visit ........................................... 4. The people looking at the wall said things like ............................. 5. On the wall he saw the figure of a................................................. 6. He thought that someone had thrown the cat into his bedroom window in order ............................................................................ 7. The image of the cat was probably made by the ..............,............. 8. The black cat in the bar was almost identical to Pluto except that it had ............................................................................................. 9. When he left the bar, the cat .......................................................... apťer I wo 30 he night of this crime there was a fire in my house. My wife, my servant and I just managed to escape.1 My entire wealth 2 was destroyed in the fire and I lost all hope, I do not want to say that there is a connection between my crime and the fire. I only want to record :1 the facts of my story. The day after the fire I went to visit the ruins of my house. Only one wall remained, and around this wall was a group of people. They were saying things like "strange!", "singular!". I went closer and saw a strange bas-relief on the wall, the figure of a gigantic cat. The image was extremely accurate. There was a rope 4 about the animal's neck. 1. just managed to escape : were able to escape, hut with great difficulty. 2. wealth [wel9] : all my money and property, 3. record [n'ko:d] : write down. 4. rope 31 THE BLACK CAT Chapter When I first saw the image of the cat I was terrified, but I thought ahout it and found a good explanation. I had hung the cat in the garden next to my house. When the fire began, this garden filled up with people. Somebody probably threw the cat into my bedroom window in order to wake me. The other walls of the house fell in and pressed the body of the cat against this wall. The great heat of the fire and a chemical reaction then made the image. Although I had a logical explanation, that bas-relief made a great impression on my imagination. For months I could not escape the phantasm of the cat. I even tried to find another cat to substitute it. Then, one night in a bar, I saw a black object on top of some hogsheads 1 of rum. I looked closer. It was a large black cat. It was almost identical to Pluto except it had an indistinct white area on its breast. 2 I caressed the cat and it immediately got up and purred.3 It was happy. This was the animal I was looking for. I asked the bartender4 if I could buy it. He said that it was not his. I continued to caress the cat and when I left the bar, the cat followed me home. My wife liked this cat very much. But I began to dislike it. I had thought that I would be happier with a new cat. Instead, the affection of the cat only disgusted me. And slowly this disgust became hatred. I avoided it because I felt some shame 5 for killing Pluto and I did not want to hurt it too. In addition, this cat, just like Pluto, had only one eye. 1. hogsheads : barrels. 2. breast [brestj: the top front part of the body between the neck and the stomach. 3. purred : a cat purrs (makes a sound like a little motor) when it is happy. 4. bartender : the person who serves drinks in a bar. 5. I felt some shame : I felt a little sorry. However, the more I hated this cat, the more it followed me. It is difficult to explain how terrible this was. When I sat down it would jump on my legs and cover me with horrible caresses. When I got up to walk it was between my legs and I would almost fall. This made me so angry that I wanted to kill it, but I was stopped — not by the memory of my first crime — but by absolute dread 1 of the beast. This dread was not exactly a dread of physical evil, 2 but I do not know how to define it. I' am almost ashamed 3 to admit — as I wait here in my prison cell — that my terror was caused by something incredibly insubstantial. My wife had often talked about the indistinct white patch 4 on the cat's breast, the only difference between him and Pluto. But this indistinct white patch gradually became distinct. I tried to ignore what I saw. I said to myself that it was just my imagination. But this distinct image was the real reason why I did not dare 5 hurt the beast. It was an image that I feared. It was the image of the GALLOWS! « That terrible instrument of Horror and of Crime — of Agony and of Death! 1. dread IdredJ : fear. 2. evil |i:vl] : evil is something that is very, very bad. 3. ashamed : embarrassed. 4. patch : spot, area. 5. I did not dare : 1 did not have the courage. f 6. gallows : t j 'J 32 33 Go back to the text Read the summary of Chapter Two and decide which answer A, B, C or D best fits each space. There is an example at the beginning. He did not want to kill Pluto, but he killed him (0) ...A.....and the night after he killed Pluto his house (1)..........on fire. The fire destroyed his entire wealth and he lost all his hope. The (2).......... day there was a group of people around the Tuins of his house, (3)..........were saying things (4)..........as "strange!" and "singular!". Only one wall of his house remained (5)..........on that wall was a strange image: a gigantic cat with a rope around its neck. (6).......... though, he had a logical explanation for this image, it (7)..........a great impression on him. Still, he (8)..........on drinking and one night in a bar he saw a black object on (9)..........hogsheads of rum. (10) ..........was a black cat. He asked the bartender if the cat was his, but it seemed the cat did not (11).......... to anyone. He caressed the cat and the cat followed him home. It was exactly like Pluto (12)..........it had a strange white area on its breast. Soon, howeveT, he began to hate it. At the same time, he began to avoid it because the white area turned into the image of the gallows. 0. A anyway B still C also D even 1. A took B made C caught D went 2. A after B then C next D near 3. A who B which C that D whose 4. A similar B like C such D almost 5. A but B although C and D or 6. A however B also C if D even 7. A did B made C forced D created 8. A continued B took C maintained D kept 9. A some B any C the D those 10. A that B this C he D it 11. A belong B own C possess D have 12. A though B but C except D even 34 FCE V I T I E Choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D. 1. Why does the narrator mention the story of the fire, A [ ] Because he wants people to know that he has suffered greatly, and that his great suffering made him do horrible things. B ] Because he sees the fire as a sign of divine punishment for his horrible crime, C | ] Because he was sure that the phantasm of Pluto caused the fire. D [ ] Because he wants to tell his story honestly and correctly. 2. In the narrator's opinion, how did the image Of the cat with a rope around its neck appear on the wall? A [ ] A Wall of the house fell against the dead cat, which a neighbor had thrown into his bedroom, and the heat of the fire caused a chemical reaction that formed the image. B Q A neighbor, who wanted to wake him up because of the fire, tried to throw the cat into his bedroom, but the cat hit a wall of the house. Then since the fire had made the wall soft, the cat left its image on the wall. C | ] During the fire a neighbor, who knew that he had killed the cat, made the bas-relief on the wall to frighten him. D [ ] The phantasm of the black cat produced the image with magic in order to frighten him. 3. Why did the narrator first begin to avoid the cat? A [ ] Because the cat often tried to bite him. B Q Because he hated it. C | ] Because he thought it was really the phantasm of Pluto, D | ] Because he did not want to kill it. 35 T E A V Although I had a logical explanation Example: — That bas-relief made a great impression on my imagination, although I had a logical explanation. or — Although 1 had a logical explanation, that bas-relief made a great impression on my imagination. — When 1 first saw the image of the cat I was terrified, but I thought about it and found a good explanation. Fill in the blanks with either although or but according to the context. a. I killed Pluto....................I loved him very much. b. I knew drinking was bad for me, ................... I drank anyway. c. Edgar Allan Poe wrote many popular stories and poems, ...................he still died poor. d....................I have read this sentence many times, I still don't understand it. e. I know that "The Black Cat" is only a story, ................... it still frightens me. f. He ate the last piece of cake, it. .... he knew that I wanted Before reading Listen carefully! Below are four paragraphs from the last chapter of the story. They are not in the right order. Listen to the recording once and then number them in the right order. Then listen to the recording again and circle the right word to fill in the blanks. a. One (morning / night I day) we had to go down into the cellar. The cat went between my legs. I almost fell. I (became / got / was) furious. I grabbed an axe and tried to (hit /kill /hurt) the animal, hut my wife blocked my arm. This made me even more furious and I lifted the axe again and buried it in her (brain I head I heart). She fell dead immediately, without a groan. h. Oh how I suffered! You cannot imagine. I had (killed / hurt / destroyed) a brute beast, and now another brute beast was destroying me. Day ot night I could not (sleep / work I rest). During the day the creature never left (me I us I her) alone, and at night I woke up hourly from terrible (images I dreams / nightmares) with that thing on my (stomach I face / legs). It was a living nightmare always there in my heart. c. I had murdered her. Now I had to eliminate the (corpse I body / cadaver). There were many possibilities. I could cut the body into little pieces and then bum them, or I could bury it. d. All my good thoughts had gone. (Evil I Dreadful / Hateful) thoughts filled my brain. I began to (dread / dislike / hate) all things and all mankind. My wife, I am sorry to say, suffered the most. Now read the chapter and check your answers. 36 37 Chapter I kre e h how I suffered! You cannot imagine. I had killed a brute beast, and now another brute beast was destroying me. Day or night I could not rest. During the day the creature never left me alone, and at night I woke up hourly from terrible dreams with that thing on my face. It was a living nightmare always there in my heart. All my good thoughts had gone. Evil thoughts filled my brain. I began to hate all things and all mankind.1 My wife, I am sorry to say, suffered the most. One day we had to go down into the cellar. 2 The cat went between my legs. I almost fell. I became furious. I grabbed 3 an 1. mankind : humanity. 2. cellar : the room underground, under the house. 3. grabbed : took quickly and with force. Chapter [ hr e e axe 1 and tried to kill the animal, but my wife blocked my arm. This made me even more furious and I lifted the axe again and buried it 2 in her brain. She fell dead immediately, without a groan. 3 I had murdered her.' Now I had to eliminate the body. There were many possibilities. I could cut the body into little pieces and then burn them, or I could bury it. Finally, I decided to put it inside the wall of the cellar. There was a projection in the wall. I pulled out the bricks 4 with a crowbar.51 put the body in there and then I carefully put back the bricks. Nobody could see the difference. It was perfect. Then I went to look for the cat to kill it too. But the beast had escaped. I did not see it that night. I was finally free of its torment and that night I slept tranquilly, even if I had just killed my wife. The second and the third day passed. The monster did not return. My happiness was supreme. The police came and searched the house, 6 but, of course, they found nothing. I would be happy forever! Then on the' fourth day the police came again. They told me to come with them while they searched the house. They went down into the cellar again and found nothing. I was so happy that I wanted to say something. I wanted to show that I was really not guilty.7 1. axe : 2. buried [berid] it : put it inside. 3. groan ; a low, sad sound you make when you are in pain (Ooooo!). 4. bricks : 5. crowbar : 6. searched the house : looked around the house for evidence of a crime. 7. guilty : opposite of innocent. 38 39 THE BLACK CAT "Gentlemen," I finally said, "I am glad 1 that you have no more suspicions. Oh, by the bye, 2 isn't this a well constructed house. (Now I can't really remember what I said.) In fact, I think it's an excellently well constructed house. These walls — are you going, gentlemen? — are really solid." Then in that moment I hit the walls with my cane.3 May God protect me! The noise of my cane was answered by a voice from the tomb! At first, the voice was difficult to hear. It was like a child crying. Then it became louder and louder. One long, loud, and continuous scream, completely inhuman that came directly from hell! For a moment the police and I did not move. But then they easily opened the wall. There inside was the standing corpse, already greatly decayed 4 and covered with blood. On the corpse's head, with its red mouth open and one eye, was the beast, the beast that had made me murder my wife. And now that monster had given me to the hangman. 5 I had walled the monster up within the tomb! 1. glad : happy. 2. by the bye : by the way, incidentally. 3. cane : stick used for walking. ^^^"^ 4. decayed : decomposed, ~j. hangman : the man who will hang him with a noose. 40 v Go back to the text Q Answer the following questions. a. Why did the narrator kill his wife? b. Where did he put the corpse? c. Why did the narrator tell the policemen that the house was well constructed? d. What did the narrator do to show the policemen that the walls of the house were solidly built? e. Why did the cat began to scream? They told, me to come with them Look at this sentence verb + object + infinitive They wanted me to come with them. Many verbs in English take this construction. They ordered the soldiers to attack. He told me to go home. I expect you to be here at nine, = I think you should be here at nine. = I think it is your responsibility to be here at nine. She reminded me to change the light bulb. The doctor advised me to stop smoking. = The doctor said that it would be a good idea if I stopped smoking. My father taught me how to ride a bicycle, , The teacher lets them use a calculator. \ --= The teachers permits them to use a calculator. They begged us to help them. = They implored us to help them. J would like you to cook dinner. Herbert showed me how to bake a carrot cake. They helped me to repair the car. 42 V For questions 1-10, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first, using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between two and five words, including the word given. Here is an example (0). 0. The policeman forced me to open the door. MADE The policeman made me open the door. 1. My teacher thinks it is my responsibility to learn all the irregular verbs. EXPECTS My teacher..................................................... the irregular verbs. 2. "Clean all the bathrooms!" shouted the sergeant to his men. ORDERED The sergeant.................................................... all the bathrooms. 3. Susan gave me directions to her house. HOW Susan...................................................................... to her house. 4. My mechanic says that it would be a good idea if I bought a new car. ADVISES My mechanic ...................,........................................... a new car. 5. My friends always permit me to stay in their apartment. LET My friends .....................................................in their apartment. 6. That film caused me to cry. MADE That film ................................................................................cry. 7. "Don't forget to take your keys," she said to me. REMINDED She .......................................................................................keys. 43 ACTIVITIES 8. "Please lend me some money, Ahmed," said Harriet. BEGGED Harriet..........................................,...................her some money. 9. They gave me a hand cleaning up the house. HELPED They............................................................................the house. 10. "Bring me another glass of juice," said my friend. TOLD My friend .................................................. another glass of juice. 11. I learnt how to cook from my mother. TAUGHT My mother....................................................................... to cook. 12. "Will you vote for me?" he said to them. WANTED He........................,....................................,......................for him. T: GRADE 7 I Theme - Expressing possibility and uncertainty "...the beast, the beast that had made me murder my wife." Think about this statement with your class. Answer the following questions: a. Do you think it is possible for a ghost or spirit to make people do things they don't want to do? Why, why not? b. If you saw a ghost, how could you be certain people believed your story? c. How possible is it that you will s'ee,a ghost in your lifetime? d. What happens to pets when they die in your country? V E Here is a summary of "The Black Cat", but four paragraphs have been removed. Choose the most suitable paragraph from the list A-E. There is one paragraph which you do not have to use. Unfortunately, he began to drink. Of course, drinking made him moody and irritable. One night he was possessed by a demon, as he said, and he grabbed Pluto and cut out one of its eyes. Another night he hung the cat from a tree in the garden. Still, he did not stop drinking and one evening he saw another black cat that resembled Pluto. This cat followed him home. This cat never left him alone. He began to hate this cat too, It became a living nightmare for him, and he began to hate everything and everybody. He then walled up his wife in the cellar. That night he slept peacefully. He also felt betteT because he thought that the cat had run away forever. When the police came and searched his house they found nothing and left. After having committed this horrible crime, there was a fire in his house and all his wealth and possessions were destroyed. The next day he went to see the remains of his house. He saw that only one wall was standing, and around this wall there was a crowd of people. They weTe saying things like "strange!" and "singular!" He came closer and saw a large bas-relief of the cat on the wall! 44 45 ACTIVITIES B The police came several times hut they could not find anything. He was very happy about this, but one day he hit the wall of the cellar with his cane and he heard an inhuman screaming which got louder and louder, The police ran to his house and ordered him to open the door. C One day, while he was going down into the cellar with his wife, this cat almost made him fall. He became furious and grabbed an axe. His wife blocked his arm. This made him even more furious, and he killed her instead. D They came back a second time. This time he felt very sure of himself because he was certain that the police would never find the corpse. He even hit the wall of the cellar with a cane. But when he did this, he heard an inhuman screaming. The police quickly opened the wall and found the wife's decayed corpse with the cat on her head. E This story is told by a man in prison. He tells us briefly the story of his life and why he is in prison. When he was a child he was very gentle and loved animals. Later when he got married this love continued and he and his wife had many pets: birds, goldfish, a dog, rabbits and a monkey. They also had a black cat whose name was Pluto. It was very intelligent and his wife sometimes said that it was a witch in disguise. THE OVAL PORTRAIT 46