Crime and Punishment

emey hat stony whah can be

omNebs He got down narr
and checkedated in j

A Ote
Ar ang gven sets of word

tgas tchdog racket

bird freedom
ies

&Cota te pacr te particie speies of onimaks These adjectives are

orom or Ltie moa Mot h e animals ith the adjectives related to them
convine

heline serpentine

2c 3s 4. e

7.v. 8.c
 Matter
A of Time

Reading
narraling stories? Good storytellers arethose who bringa storyto ife and can kep
bie by ore such pern about an Kcasional
thokedtil the end Reada story narrated
ywuthes
could tell it was coming The
touch.the hard luck story Mon cup ws fall and
ou reasonably
own suit
his empty, my
Y respectableandIhis unreasonably
stabby,solI wassorry for him. He leaned across
pulled
pocket, he
From his waistcoat
ctable. us. It was a good
watchandlaid it between
wrought gold hands.
Stch. silver. with finely
of quid. Nothing wrong
tÝ yours for acouplecome by'
with it, and honestly
at the game
oucould tell he was an old hand and
by the way he ignored the preliminaries
voice,
Cume to the heart of the problem. His people
toa, had that half-belligerent quality of
who never get used to being on the wrong end of charity.
s entitled to be afool with it
1don'twant it: Isaid. But because a man's money is his own and he'and
a times, I passed him a ten-bob note. Then I ordered a sandwich a cup of coffee for him.
Tårather you bought the watch square, he said, as he bit into his sandwich.
Descnbe the watch
Then he added, I hate the sight of watches. They started it all'
He hàd me. Ihad half an hour before an appointment and it was raining
outside.
Chris Selby was his name; the old man began. 'He was aLondon theatrical agent, handled quite
afew head-of-the-bill names, and was doing very well for himself. But he
could never resist the temptation to do a litle better.
LOuch (here) a particular trat or expression beligerent unfiendly and threatening
wrought decorated or made with delicate care bob (informa) a shaling which is an old British coin no
quid Gnformal) a British pound longer in use
presminaries things done at the beginning of an square: (here fairty and honesty
activity, often as a form af preparation head of the bil the main performer in a show or aplay
85
 Lterary terms

T54mtahe
fatthat ris

(hmthe hag ns tn he

2 This na smite

gheig
Cuin
a Rach o Ideretia y
tae
tthe
ht on eed wih

Food for theught

Vudevdle vefers to atype of
entertainment that t
consists
performances inchuding Songs
theatrical
of aseries of
shunts, short comedies
ventrloqum These shows juggling dance,
magicaniaKtmsal
hat wu, and the country providing travelled all over and
ta Gsan entertainment
extemely popular in North
America forand were
decades
Champs Eysées (pronouncedi
several
NNNhcomNmentary ay sa major avenue in Paris shawnz-eh
It is the -lee-
the Elysée Palace and government site of
offices, Itis
bmous for its cafés, shops and theatres
Rsa common practice for people
from
1o enter France and Europe by crossing w Engend
was English Channel from Dover and on
a g Bt he car wento - h a t to Calais

lkSNnalo. ht ksrpising bow many watches you can pack in oa car, particularly
an onh bids two galions of petrol and the rest watches,
on
and the floor
ehe g tlling up with petrol pretty often the run, but no
na latae Oc u Ì CAns
he c mark.
touches the £l 000
the tatal pratt oncach trip
e n s that
ayhing liàe that wed be as nervvus as kittens with a duck for a foster moth.
ed training in putting up a good front!
R nt Chrs Atheatrical ageyis pretty good
The Customs boys seldom give a car a rummage
sn t nens and be knw his stuttinvestigators has
l t e had a tip- of or one o their November and July, Common idioms and proverbs
padakad B a man goirg over in
personalit3 put up afront : This idiom
wh the high powered
ee legtmate business and
means to pretend to be
Chris Selby had nothing to confhdent in order to hide
one's nervousness.
wTy ahout.

s y c e n kance numnage the act of searching for something by moving

pean ane A but who is not a cose things around in an untidy way
tip-of.a piece of information ora warning given to
someone often privately or secretly
yger fe y aacourtesyar for
legitimate. acceptable by the law
Nthis,November in question. Chris set off from London feing prety amgry He want
wofried alout the watches he was going to hring back te w* jost kking lorward
man whe upplied him with them in Paris Moieu Aadiat arad his four
Ihere, had been certain aspets ofthe batch heid taken back inthe preevious uly
prothers.
whhha made
the trip less profitable than it should have been Ashe drove into he sheds
r heshowedI none of this. He did his act, handedot abunch od
(nplimentaries for a new showin town, and in a couple of heasrs was driving
Calaisonthe Paris road
tof
,he
Paris, put up at the Hotel Balzac. That evening. he went to see Aadiat, a modest little
Inelleratthe bottom of Avenue Wagram. Monsieur Audiat-one never took any notice of
brothers who hung about in the background and werealmost half witted-was careful.
c
the
selbywas hisa,only customerfor this kind ofrather
work, and he was
than more Common idioms and proverbs
contentwith regular twice a year profit
business withtherisk of publicity. The day before 4 let somebody harvei:This
constant idiom s sed indomally to
Selbylet,he wouldleave his car overnight in the garage at the
the
mean aacking someone

backoffthe shop and brothers would have the watches all

physicallyor verbaily

packedawayinthe car by the morning,

Ae Selby found Audiat and his brothers at the back of the shop and without wasting any time
on polite
cnquiries asto their health and with the smile turned off, he let them have it'.
last batch had
A thousand watches from the
been duds, most of the others hadn't come up to
specification. The whole lot had been so badly
packed that many of them had been broken...
He embroidered on this theme for about fifteen
minutes. In the end, Audiat could have stucka
knife' into his heart gladly-if it hadn't been for
the fact that no Frenchman willingly destroys
the source of a nice little profit-and even the
half-witted brothers got the idea that the anglais
was angry because he hadn't had watches that
worked and looked good.
However, Audiat finally explained that the
batch of watches had been bought by him
from Switzerland and he had had them packed
unexamined in the car. He promised that there
would be no trouble with the next batch which
was arriving the following day.

half-witted: having limited inteligence

Literary term
duds: things which don't work properly 5. This is a hyperbole. The author uses
exaggeration to highlight the anger felt
embroidered: added exaggerated or improbable details to an by Audiat.
account of an event
anglais: Englishman, in French
87
 Northe mot ning, or day the
arrird
wal, hrs hatnt hopvdthe walhes would arrive that after
Atthe ort day the
shop Sby had make Calaisfor thelast fery, He that sowhen Se
thatimoifrningbe in they
the
drnr
wIwd
arvund to
be akodin time
Ar himto
whah he had an
in
interest. He
sworce wanted to
kyancw shioNbusiness the
watcLohensde
hllowing dav clseu here.
the hed take
ddnt mein time the watches had just
and lcarned that
be telephoned th how he wantedthe watches packed.
arrived. He
Inthe aftnn,
around
that his
to Avdiat
hrothens
and thd him CLa
would ensure
would
that there
give Sclbytime
were
to
no duds. The car
drive to Calais and be
the
he was used to that.
could picked
make carly Nudiatup at whpriopfourmiedse ip
himself. Calais,morning
morning whah evening, but
the gt muchslepthat fer
h meant h wouldn driving fastand singingto At
wascar aboard and went down fora cup of. coffee. Then he
morning he his
trauhle
afterwith
Just tourthe douane
inthe He saw he had no
Joz k an hour.
A: Doer he went ashore andsIw his cases through. Then he went over to clear his car. The
knew well, a man of aboutthis own age. Everything went well, the
Customs officer was one he new show if
promise of afree scat at his
and the
smik. the cast manner remind him some time. How can you tell
ihe atkt lked to wTite and
the car, when Selby feeling
as he was that
Hed g the all-clear signal
and was about to
went on for
get
a
into
few seconds, and then happy
drove to Calais?
sirens. It
there wzs a mad wail of have to be told what it
eerthing stopped. Selby didnt
thoNe das, the First World War wasn't too long Food for thought
wzs In off, everybody stopped
went
ago, and when the sirenssilence for two minutes. Even Armistice Day is observed every 11h
and there was complete heads off. Chris Selby November at 11 a.m. to
the scagulis stopped
and the officer stood
bawling
likea
their
couple of wax figures, and you
the
between the Allied Forces commemorate
signing the armistice or truce
of
bringing the First World and Germany,
could have heard a pin drop. The truce was signed at theWar11hto an end.
the 11h day of the 11th month of hour
of
one did drop a pin, but Chris and the officer heard
No enough for anyone It is a national holiday in France and the year.
something else. From the car, not loud damage, came the two-minute silence is observed for a
the
else to hear, but loud enough to do the ticking, all carefully soldiers who lost their lives.
gentie sound of five thousand watches wanted to
wound by the half-witted Audiat brothers whowatches that
please the anglais by making sure that he had
worked as well as looked good.
h was here that my friend stopped his story to finish his sandwich. Id had my ten-bob's worth
al right, but there's always something that drives a man on to get a little more for his money
and I sasd.

Literary term
6. This is an exarmple of irony. The Audiat
whipped ard (here, wert hurriediy brothers had wound up the watches to
douone a custorms hoUSe, in French
please Selby, but the ticking watches were
bavling uttering long loud cnes the reason Selby got caught.

88
 tell methat you
are Chris Sellry and maybe I buy
for a couple of quid'
Nom
i
watch
the
shook his head. 'Selby years back
died
the oldboy his smile and his
But the Customs Officer. With
Na,I'm
minute charm, he talkedIme into a partnership and
ten
yearslater, we were both caught
Iwo

About the author

Canning (1911-1986) was a British writer whose works were translated into many
Victor fought in World Warll and resumed
Europeanlanguages and made into films. Hebooks, as wel as his most acclaimed book,
His Birdcage
writingafter the war was over. the darker realities of life and human nature
The Rainbird Pattern described

Comprehension
the questions.b
A. Answer people who never get used to
1. 'His voice, too, had that half-belligerent quality of
meaning of the sentence. How was
being on the wrong end of charity.' Explain the make him belligerent?
he on the 'wrong end of charity"? Why did that
to do a little better. What did the
2. 'But he could never resist the temptation did the person
storyteller mean by these words? Who was he speaking of and how
try to 'do a little better'?
his fifteen per cent'?
3. Why does the storyteller say he was poison if you got in the wayhadof to fillpetrol
4. What was Selby's business in Paris? What was the reason he
frequently and why did he not mind it?
for a
5. "If you or Itried anything like that we'd be as nervous as kittens with a duck
foster-mother.' What was Selby trying to do? Why was he not nervous? ldentify and
explain the literary device used in this sentence.
6. According to the storyteller, how did he eventually end up? How did the events
of the story bear testimony to the storyteller's words 'l hate the sight of watches.
They started it all.?
B. Answer the questions with reference to context.
1. He always went over Dover to Calais and back that way, and most of the Customs
boys knew him and liked him..
a. Who said these lines to whom? Where were they at the time?
b. Who is referred to as 'he' here? Why was the speaker narrating his story?
89
 Calais?
t a mn Dover to
he him as
C Nw A spezker g n to describe the kind of
the
Why des man
d

Sety n Ausat and his

brothers at the back of the
enquiries as to their shop
health and with theand
anyone
smile witthuoutrned of
2 n pote
wastgarytme
have t. noteworthy about his brothers?
he let them
Audat? What was
a Who was
Seltys usual routine with Audiat?
b.c. Explain
What wasthe meaning of the phrase'let them have it'. Why did Selby do so?
'without wasting any time on
the phrase
situation.polite
irony in
the reference to the Audiat brothers'
d. Explain
with
to their health' reaction to Selby's words?
3 eHe'dWhat
got the
Audat's
was al-cear signal and was about to get into the car, when tthere was a
asenquiries
mad wal of sirens. t went on for afew seconds, and then everything stopped.

he'? Where were they and who else was there

Who is referred to as at the time?
signal' signify?
'all-clear
b. What do the words
sirens for?
What were the
c
after 'everything stopped'?
d. What happened
of greed and
Life Skills and Values
1. Bhat wasthe twist
in the plot at the
end
consequences
overconfi
of the story? Did you find itironic? dence
Why?
downfall? Explain..
the reasons for Selby's
2. What accordingto you, were
examples from the story.

Vocabulary contextual usage

story.
A Fil in the blanks with thesse words and phrases from the
heart of the problem picking up a lead aspects
finely wrought entitled
old hand resist the temptation
be
1. In case the clock does not function as advertised, you will
to

a refund.
2. Mr Panikar couldn't. to buy the chocolate ganache cake, even
though his doctor had warned him to stay off sugar.
3. Reeti won the debate because her arguments highlighted the most important
of the topic.
4 from the site of the car crash, the detectives finally tracked down
the culprit.
90