A Lion's Skin by W.S. Maugham

 

A good many people were shocked when they read that Captain Forestier had met his death in a fire trying to save his wife's dog, which had been accidentally shut up in the house. Some said they never knew he had it in him; others said it was exactly what they would have expected him to do. After the tragic occurrence Mrs. Forestier found shelter in the villa of some people called Hardy, their neighbours.

Mrs. Forestier was a very nice woman. But she was neither charming, beautiful nor intelligent; on the contrary she was absurd and foolish; yet the more you knew her, the more you liked her. She was a tender, romantic and idealistic soul. But it took you some time to discover it. During the war she in 1916 joined a hospital unit. There she met her future husband Captain Forestier. This is what she told me about their courtship'. "It was a case of love at first sight. He was the most handsome man I'd ever seen in my life. But he wasn't wounded. You know, it's a most extraordinary thing, he went all through the war, he risked his life twenty times a day, but he never even got a scrateh. It was because of carbuncles' that he was put into hospital."

It seemed quite an unromantic thing on which to start a passionate attachment, but after 16 years of marriage Mrs. Forestier still adored her husband. When they were married Mrs. Forestier's relations, hard-bitten Western people, had suggested that her husband should go to work rather than live on her money (and she had a nice sum of money on her account before the marriage), and Captain Forestier was all for it. The only stipulation he made was this: "There are some things a gentleman can't do, Eleanor. If one is a sahib one can't help it, one does owe something to his class."

Eleanor was too proud of him to let it be said that he was a fortune-hunter who had married her for her money and she made up her mind not to object if he found a job worth his while. Unfortunately, the only jobs that offered were not very important and gradually the idea of his working was dropped.

The Forestiers lived most of the year in their villa and shortly before the accident they made acquaintance of the people called Hardy who lived next door. It turned out that Mr. Hardy had met Mr. Forestier before, in India. But Mr. Forestier was not a gentle- man then, he was a car-washer in a garage. He was young then and full of hopes. He saw rich people in a smart club with their ease, their casual manner and it filled him with admiration and envy. He wanted to be like them. He wanted – it was grotesque and pathetic he wanted to be a GENTLEMAN. The war gavehim a chance. Eleanor's money provided the means'. They got married and he became a "sahib".

But everything ended very tragically.

Once the Forestiers' villa caught fire. The Forestiers were out. When they arrived it was already too late to do anything about it. Their neighbours, the Hardies saved whatever they could, but it wasn't much. They had nothing left to do but stand and look at the roaring flames. Suddenly Eleanor cried: "God! My little dog, it's there in the fire!"

Forestier turned round and started to run to the house. Hardy caught him by the arm. "What are you doing? The house is on fire!" Forestier shook him off. "Let me go. I'll show you how a gentleman behaves!"

It was more than an hour later that they were able to get at him. They found him lying on the landing, dead, with the dead dog in his arms. Hardy looked at him for a long time before speaking. "You fool," he muttered between his teeth, angrily. "You damnedf ool!"

Bob Forestier had pretended for so many years to be a gentleman that in the end, forgetting that it was all a fake, he found himself driven to act as in that stupid, conventional brain of his he thought a gentle- man must act.

Mrs. Forestier was convinced to her dying day that her husband had been a very gallant' gentleman.

 

Give Russian equivalenfs for the following words and expressions from the texf and use them in the senfences of your own:

join smth, love at first sight, risk one's life, put into hospital, adore smb, suggest that smb should do smth, owe smth to smb, can't help doing smth, be proud of smb, make acquaintance with smb, catch fire.

 

III Questions on the text:

1) What was the cause of Mr. Forestier's death according to the newspapers?

2) What did people think of it?

3) Describe Mrs. Forestier.

4) Where did she meet her future husband?

5) Was it because of his wound that he was put into hospital?

6) Why did Mrs. Forestier's relatives suggest that her husband should f ind some work after the marriage?

7) Why couldn't Mr. Forestier find a job?

8) What was Mr. Forestier's occupation when he lived in India? What was his dream?

9) What happened during the fire? Why did Mr. Forestier rush into the house?

10) What were Hardy's words when he saw the dead body? Do you agree with them?

 

IV Discuss the following:

1) Was Mr. Forestier a fortune-hunter? Give your grounds.

2) What was the real reason of his refusal to find a job?

3) Is there any difference between a wish to be a gentleman and being a gentleman? Is only a wish enough?

4) Did Mr. Forestier manage to become a real gentleman? Prove it by the text.

5) Why was Mrs. Forestier convinced to her dying day that her husband had been a very gallant gentleman?

6) What is the difference between a sensible risk and a silly risk? Is it always possible to weigh up the danger? Discuss some risks that you think would be worth talking.

 

V Retell the story on the part of 1) Mrs. Forestier, 2) Mr. Hardy.