Columbus’ Street story

“Ancient Port” was quite a silent and beauteous town, where old but charming cottages used to captivate people, and close-by beaches were almost as attractive as its affable people, who attempted to please visitors as much as possible. In its mornings, playful children took pleasure in the allures of squares and beaches, and even in the afternoons and during the night, families went out for long walks, showing an admirable sense of unity.

Columbus’ Street was, nevertheless, notably different, as there was a widespread belief that myriads of dark, abstruse things had occurred among the people who inhabited its houses and buildings, which looked uncared for and gracelessly bleak. This was thought to have happened for the local administration’s refusal to take measures concerning these rumors, which led Columbus street’s people to give up their intentions to keep their Street clean and presentable.

Rose Lennon, a foreign widow, decided to move on to Ancient Port due to her desire for radical changes to take root in her and her family’s life. She was plump, hunched and slightly ugly, although industrious and extremely friendly as well. Her husband’s death had left her profoundly sorrowful, and her untimely wrinkled face was the portrait of sadness that no artist had ever dared to paint.

Robert Lennon, her father, was a lanky, weak man, whose egotism and rudeness was oftentimes repudiated by Rose and his grandson Willy (Rose’s son) as well. His wealth of former times had made him blind and unmindful of his family’s needs, which resulted in his being alone for several years.

Willy was, contrarily, Rose’s treasure and her last hope. He had no friends though, once in a blue moon, he spent some time on his family’s garden, contemplating the passersby hurrying down the Street and talking to himself. He had a mirthless look that appeared to plead for something scarcely identifiable.

Having lived in Ancient Port for two months, a freezing night found her (in her father birthday’s day) hanging around at home, walking aimlessly through the house and peering out of the Windows as if awaiting somebody.

She had barely sat down when she heard a noise that came, she thought, from next door’s. At first, she imagined that it had been Laura, their neighbor, whose children were frequently boisterous and felt no guilt about bothering the whole neighborhood.

However, after some minutes of silence, a cracking noise disrupted the peacefulness of the house’s living room. She walked briskly towards the kitchen feeling as aghast as never before and saw the figure of an elderly man that she could not recognize, whose face was pale, but wise as well. In spite of the murkiness and his vanishing into the night’s shadows, she determined to follow him.

In her struggle to reach him, the stranger’s voice could be heard. “Alas, he is going to die too, seventy-eight”, he said , as she continued walking faster than ever. Importantly, there were

two things that were clearly familiar to her. The man’s red scarf was strikingly similar to another one she had formerly seen, and that number….seventy-eight. What did it represent?

After having undergone such undesirable experience, a hateful but realistic thought filled her with disquiet. That number’s significance was now becoming clear to her in such a scale that she scurried back home in despair and noticed that her father was absent.

Unwillingly, she found a letter when entering Robert’s room. “I went for a stroll”. His handwriting was unmistakable and, immediately after reading it, she grabbed the car keys and left home vigorously.

After driving for two hours unsuccessfully, she saw the figure of a man standing by the shoreline of the nearby sea, staring at the churning water and leaning forward and backward.

“What do you think you are doing?”, enquired rose with a moody voice. Robert uttered no word, but embraced her tearfully, which made clear his melancholy and made Rose smile at him.

Some moments of silent amends followed, and they resolved to return home. She was rather dejected for having forgotten her father’s birthday but, at the same time, gleeful to have been helped by that weird man that made her save Robert’s life.

When they were on the point of arriving, they realized that there were patrols in front of their house walking here and there, while a body lay sinisterly upon the ground. As they came closer and closer, they were shocked by reality: the disemboweled body was Willy. Rose’s eyes clouded and a mixture of worry and angst invaded her, as she turned to one of the befuddled policemen in an effort to find some consolation. “Why is everything so unfair?”, cried Rose. “Unfortunately, seventy-eight people have faced death in this street ever since its buildings were built. We will aid you as much as we can and…”

But his words were like autumn leaves, blown away by the wind without anybody caring about them, as the only thing she could now perceive was the figure of that odd man saying : “I warned you, now he is, alas, dead”, leaving behind the red scarf that the wind did not desire to sweep: her husband’s

Activity1) Paragraph 1: Talk about the description of ancient port (setting), adjectives, things to be

found, and how the people used to feel there.

2) Paragraph 1: Find a synonym for “beautiful” and an expression meaning “enjoy”.

3) Paragraph 2: Explain the relationship between the local administration and the deterioration of Columbus’s street.

4) Paragraph 2: Find a conjunction or (connector) that means the same as “however”, a phrasal verb meaning “abandon”, and a noun meaning “a lot of, plenty of”

5) Paragraph 3: True or false: a) Rose was content with her life before moving on to Ancient Port. b) When she changed residence, her husband has just died.

6) Paragraph 4: Robert Lennon’s order of priorities:

a) Family- wealth

Or

b) Wealth-family ?

7) May Robert Lennon need to do some exercise? Which two adjectives give you the answer?

8) Paragraph 5 : Find “mirthless” on the dictionary and explain the meaning of the expression “once in a blue moon”

9) Provide a synonym for “alas”

10) Paragraph 9): Find a collocation

11) What type of words are “hateful” and “disquiet”? (noun, adverb, adjective, verb, connector, preposition)

12) Find the meaning of “befuddled”.

13) What is the relationship between the husband’s warning and the number 78?