Description
In English, summarize the story in a composition of 10-20 sentences. The title of the story is “Sirco, an Old Ukrainian Tale,” (located in your course materials). (50 points) This is the story of a dog named Sirco. When sirco was young and strong, his master, although a poor farmer, took care of him and treated him kindly. He placed his head in his lap, petted it, and spoke to him softly every day. He would run and play, but now, Sirco had become aged. His health was bad, he had become thin and weak, he lost some teeth, his hearing was bad, and his vision became cloudy. His owner still treated him the same, but he could no longer run and play vigorously. Now, he felt that he didn’t matter as much to his owner. He didn’t seem to treat him with as much kindness, he didn’t put his head in his lap and pet him as much. He often forgot to include him in mealtime and to give him food and water. All this was difficult to understand; life was very painful for the poor old dog. One day, his owner brought him to the forest and abandoned (left) him there. Sirco stretched out under a pine tree and cried. what purpose do I serve in life? I don’t matter to my owner and he doesn’t want to feed me. I’m old, without teeth, and weak, it’s my time to die. Within a short time, a wolf passed by and said to him, what’s the matter, old dog, why are you crying? I’m here to die, wolf. When I was strong and healthy, I served my master faithfully. Now I’m old and weak and my vision is cloudy. My owner abandoned me and left me to die of hunger. Oh, don’t be upset, I can show you how to get back in good favor with your master, but once that happens, don’t forget how you got there. Sirco said, if you can show me how to get back in my owner’s good graces, I’ll do you a big favor (pay you back). Then listen, said the wolf, soon, it will be harvest time. Your owner and his wife will go to the fields, harvesting the wheat; they’ll bring the baby with them and lay him down on a haystack. When they’re not looking, I’ll come, take the baby, and run with it into the forest; you’ll rescue the baby and return it to your master, and then you will be back in his good graces. Sirco thanked the wolf and promised to help him one day, what I would love most in this world, is to be back in good favor with my master! Eating grass and berries in the wild, Sirco survived the long and warm season. When the harvest arrived, everything happened as the wolf said it would. The owner and his wife came to the fields to harvest the wheat, putting the baby on a haystack. When they weren’t looking, the wolf came and took the baby. The baby screamed (cried) and the parents returned to see what was going on, and realized what had happened. But they couldn’t do anything against the wolf. They watched with resignation, as the wolf retreated back into the forest, bringing the baby with him. Soon, they saw old Sirco getting ready to attack the wolf. The wolf dropped the baby on the floor and confronted the dog. The wolf and the dog started fighting furiously and viciously. All of a sudden, the wolf stopped and ran back into the forest. Sirco recovered the baby, who was crying, and returned him to his master. Imagine how happy the master and his wife were, to see their baby, safe! Good boy, good boy, Sirco, said the master. He put Sirco’s head on his knees and began to caress it slowly and said, softly, I’ll take care of you, my old friend. I’ll never forget what you’ve done. Sirco had just returned to be with his master and seemed stronger than ever; but meanwhile, the wolf had gone through some rough times. He hurt a paw and couldn’t run fast. At the end of Fall he wasn’t able to trap neither a rat nor a rabbit, because they ran faster than him. Every day, Sirco would bring a bone or scrap of meat to his friend in the forest but the wolf continued get thinner and grow weaker. Then, the day arrived for the new baby’s baptism. The dog said to the wolf: at the party for the baptism, there will be lots of eating, drinking and dancing, I can sneak you in, and everyone will think you’re a dog and you can eat as much as you want, but be careful that no one hears your voice, because then they will know that you’re not a dog. The wolf thanked the dog and promised to keep quiet. That night, while all the guests were eating, drinking and dancing, Sirco let the wolf in, and he went under the table. He brought him food and nobody realized what Sirco was doing. When the wolf had eaten as much as he could, he said to the dog, I’m dying of thirst, bring me some wine, like the people are drinking. Sirco brought the wolf a big bottle of wine. The wolf drank and drank, until he became drunk. He said, (in a drunken voice) I feel like singing, I can’t help it. Sirco warned him, no, don’t sing, if you sing, we’ll have problems! The wolf put his paws over his mouth to prevent himself from singing, but finally, he couldn’t contain himself any longer. All of a sudden, a mournful sound escaped from his mouth [howling sound: ‘a-ooooooo’] . His voice scared the people and they said ‘it’s a wolf! trap him, kill him!’ they shouted. Sirco bared his teeth and attacked the wolf under the table. His jaws were wrapped around the wolf’s neck, but Sirco didn’t bite very hard because he didn’t want to hurt his friend. The door opened and the wolf ran out. Sirco pursued him into the countryside. When he found him in the forest, the wolf said, thank you, XXXXX XXXXX you have saved my life. Sirco said, once, you did it for me, today I paid you back. Take care of yourself! The wolf walked away howling, as if he was very hurt (wounded). Sirco returned to the banquet. There, as you can imagine, everyone was thanking him as if he were a hero, for defeating the wolf.