Unit 7. The Unicorn in the Garden (by James Thurber)
I 1.Work in groups of two. Look at the following words and think of a story that might combine them all. Then reorder the words according to the order in which they appear in your story. You can use any form of the verb and not necessarily the –ing one.
| Examining | Sleeping | Rejecting |
| Rejoicing | Calling | Shutting up |
| Threatening | Plotting | Telling the truth |
| Eating | Fighting | Seizing |
2.When you have decided upon a story, change partners. Ask each other as many questions as you can to learn further details or clarify some points.
3.Study the words. Check up the pronunciation.
as crazy as a jay bird – insane (slang; now out-of-date)
booby – someone who is insane
booby-hatch – an insane asylum, a hospital for the mentally ill (slang; now out-of-date)
breakfast nook – a corner of the kitchen with a small table and, often, high-backed benches; popular in American homes in the 1930’s and 40’s
browsing – here, eating slowly, as animals do in a field
cropping – eating; used to describe the way animals eat the top of plants
Don’t count your boobies until they are hatched. The actual proverb is “Don’t count your chickens until they are hatched” meaning don’t count on something before it happens. Cf. hatch – to break out of an egg and hatch – to put someone in a booby-hatch
gloat(n) – from the verb “gloat” – to look at with selfish delight
gravely – seriously
high heart– great happiness
mythical – fictitious, imaginary
roused – woke up, awakened (past form)
strait-jacket – a white jacket with very long arms, the ends of which are tied behind someone’s back to keep him still; used to subdue insane people
subdue – overcome, bring under control
unicorn – an animal like a horse, with a horn in the middle of its forehead
II 1.Read the text and reorder the words from Ex I1. according to what happens in the story.
Once upon a sunny morning a man who sat in a breakfast nook looked up from his scrambled eggs to see a white unicorn with a gold horn quietly cropping the roses in the garden. The man went up to the bedroom where his wife was still asleep and woke her. “There’s a unicorn in the garden”, he said. “Eating roses”. She opened one unfriendly eye and looked at him. “The unicorn is a mythical beast”, she said, and turned her back on him. The man walked slowly downstairs and out into the garden. The unicorn was still there; he was now browsing among the tulips. “Here, unicorn”, said the man, and he pulled up a lily and gave it to him. The unicorn ate it gravely. With a high heart, because there was a unicorn in his garden, the man went upstairs and roused his wife again. “The unicorn”, he said, “ate a lily”. His wife sat up in bed and looked at him, coldly. “You are a booby”, she said, “and I am going to have you put in the booby-hatch”. The man, who had never liked the words “booby” and “booby-hatch”, and who liked them even less on a shining morning when there was a unicorn in the garden, thought for a moment. “We’ll see about that”, he said. He walked over to the door. “He has a golden horn in the middle of his forehead”, he told her. Then he went back to the garden to watch the unicorn; but the unicorn had gone away. The man sat down among the roses and went to sleep.
As soon as the husband had gone out of the house, the wife got up and dressed as fast as she could. She was very excited and there was a gloat in her eye. She telephoned the police and she telephoned a psychiatrist; she told them to hurry to her house and bring a strait-jacket. When the police and the psychiatrist arrived they sat down in chairs and looked at her, with great interest. “My husband”, she said, “saw a unicorn this morning”. The police looked at the psychiatrist and the psychiatrist looked at the police. “He told me it ate a lily”, she said. The psychiatrist looked at the police and the police looked at the psychiatrist. “He told me it had a golden horn in the middle of its forehead”, she said. At a solemn signal from the psychiatrist, the police leaped from their chairs and seized the wife. They had a hard time subduing her, for she put up a terrific struggle, but they finally subdued her. Just as they got her into the strait-jacket, the husband came back into the house.
“Did you tell your wife you saw a unicorn?” asked the police. “Of course not”, said the husband. “The unicorn is a mythical beast”. “That’s all I wanted to know”, said the psychiatrist. “Take her away. I’m sorry, sir, but your wife is as crazy as a jay bird”. So they took her away, cursing and screaming, and shut her up in an institution. The husband lived happily ever after.
MORAL: Don’t count your boobies until they are hatched.
2.Answer the questions.
1)What does the setting tell you about the man’s style of life?
2)Why did he want to tell his wife about the unicorn?
3)What suggests that the husband was disappointed by his wife’s reaction? Find some words in the text characterizing the man’s elated mood and the woman’s anger.
4)Why did it make the man so happy to have a unicorn in his garden?
5)Was the husband worried by his wife’s threat?
6)Why was there a “gloat” in her eye?
7)Why did the police and the psychiatrist look at the woman “with great interest” when they arrived?
8)Why did the husband respond as he did to the police’s question?
3.Explain the moral of the story.
4.How do husband and wife differ in temperament and character? Complete the table below to answer the question.
| Husband | Wife | |
| 1.How they react to the unicorn? 2.Pronoun used to refer to the unicorn. 3.Attitude towards their wife/husband. 4.Their surroundings. 5.How does the vocabulary/style reflect the differences in their rhythm of life? 6.How you interpret their behaviour. |
III1.“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” is an English proverb similar to the moral of this story. Is there a proverb in your culture which has the same moral?
2.In what way is Thurber’s fable similar to others you know? In what way is it different?
3.Here are some jokes showing how husbands and wives differ in character. How do these jokes refer to the main idea of the story?
1) “I love thee still,” said the quiet husband to chattering wife.
2) If your wife wants to learn to drive, don’t stand in her way.
3) “I am sorry to say,” said the doctor, “your wife is lying at death’s door.” “Well,” answered the husband, “I hope you pull her through.”
4) “He boasts he runs things in his family.”
“He does – the lawn mower, the washing machine, vacuum cleaner, baby carriage and the errands.”
5)Husband. I warned you about exceeding the Feed limit.
6)Wife. We’ve got to fire the chauffer. He’s nearly killed me four times.
Husband. He’s a good man. Let’s give him another chance.
4.Additional task.
The following passage is an extract from a story called Murder Mystery 1 which was produced in nineteen seconds by a computer in 1973. As you can see all the sentences are simple sentences and no use is made of link-words or reference between different sentences. Can you rewrite this short passage to make it look more natural? This will mean adding words and putting some of the sentences together.
The butler announced tea.
Everyone went into the garden. The butler served tea. The day was cool. The sky was cloudy. The garden was nice. The flowers were pretty. Marion complimented Lady Buxley.
Ronald talked with Marion.
Tea time was over.
Everyone went to the parlor.
The cook went to the kitchen. Maggie prepared dinner.
Dr Hume asked Edward to play tennis. Edward agreed. Lord Edward went to the tennis court with Dr Hume. They played tennis. Dr Hume was the good player. Edward played tennis well.
Dr Bartholomew stopped playing tennis. Edward stopped playing tennis.
Everyone went to the dining room. Everyone sat down. The butler served the food. Supper started.
Marion talked with Florence. Florence argued with Marion. Marion said that Florence was idiotic.
Florence talked with Lady Buxley.
Supper was over. The men went to the parlor. The men smoked fat smelly stogies. The men drank sherry. The women went to the drawing room. The women gossiping drank coffee.
Everyone went to the parlor.
Marion talked with Jane.
James went to the library. James read the good paperback. Edward asked Ronald to play tennis. Ronald agreed. Ronald went to the tennis court with Lord Edward. They played tennis.
John suggested the game of bridge. Lady Buxley agreed. Dr Bartholomew Hume agreed. They played bridge.
The servants went to bed. Everyone went to bed.