True Story 12. The Bottle
Дата публикации: Feb 18, 2015 5:2:23 AM
Choose one idiom that best describes the idea of the story. Retell the story using as many of the idioms as possible.
thank one's lucky stars (благодарить судьбу)
old wives' tale(s) (бабушкины сказки)
an ivory tower (башня из слоновой кости)
be one's own master (быть хозяином своей судьбы)
sink or swim (была не была!)
have a bee in one's bonnet (быть с причудами)
take the bull by the horns (брать быка за рога)
spring on me one at a time? (I. Shaw) / there is no place like home (в гостях хорошо, а дома лучше)
be that as it may (будь что будет)
Изложение
Эйк Вайкин, молодой парень, служил матросом на рыболовном траулере в Балтийском море.
Однажды, в перерыве между вахтами, он, от нечего делать, написал следующую записку:
"Если ты девушка, хотела бы ты выйти замуж за симпатичного молодого шведа? Если да, то вот мой адрес. Напиши мне. Эйк Вайкин."
После этого он запечатал письмо в бутылку и бросил её в море.
Пару лет спустя, итальянский рыбак Себастьяно Паццо нашел эту бутылку в своей рыболовной сети и принес домой.
Открыв бутылку он обнаружил письмо Эйка и, ради смеха, показал его своей 18-летней дочери Паулине.
Паулина в шутку написала Эйку письмо и приложила свое фото.
Эйк откликнулся и они с Паулиной довольно долго переписывались.
Письма писали на английском языке, потому что Эйк не знал итальянского, а Паулина - шведского.
Примерно через год Эйк написал, что хотел бы приехать и встретиться с Паулиной.
Она согласилась и он действительно приехал.
Спустя некоторое время Эйк сделал Паулине предложение, они поженились и жили вместе долго и счастливо.
2.
Эйк Вайкин, молодой парень, служил матросом на рыболовном траулере в Балтийском море.
Однажды, в перерыве между вахтами, он, от нечего делать, написал следующую записку:
"Если ты молодая девушка, хотела бы ты выйти замуж за симпатичного молодого шведа? Если да, то вот мой адрес. Напиши мне. Эйк Вайкин."
После этого он запечатал письмо в бутылку и бросил её в море.
Пару лет спустя, итальянский рыбак Себастьяно Паццо нашел эту бутылку в своей рыболовной сети и принес домой.
Открыв бутылку он обнаружил письмо Эйка и, ради смеха, показал его своей 18-летней дочери Паулине.
Паулина в шутку написала Эйку письмо и приложила свое фото.
Эйк откликнулся и у них с Паулиной завязалась довольно долгая переписка.
Письма писали на английском языке, потому что Эйк не знал итальянского, а Паулина - шведского.
Примерно через год Эйк написал, что хотел бы приехать и встретиться с Паулиной.
Она согласилась и он действительно приехал.
Спустя некоторое время Эйк сделал Паулине предложение, они поженились и жили вместе долго и счастливо.
Translation
Retell the story using the words below. Find the odd-man-out - elaborate plan
a seal a bottle
to marry one's daughter off - выдавать замуж
to fight boredom
to get to know each other better
at a venture - наугад; наудачу, venture [ˈventʃə(r)] - a business project or activity, especially one that involves taking risks
to hold correspondence - keep / maintain / hold correspondence with someone - переписываться
to fall in love with
to be hit-or-miss - наугад; наудачу, на авось
to hear regularly from one another - регулярно переписываться
just for fun and out of boredom
to let it steer by guess and by God
to send a message in a bottle
Ake Viking, a young chap, was working as a sailor on a fishing ship in the Baltic Sea.
Once he was fighting boredom in between his duties and he decided to send a message in a bottle.
So, he wrote that if the person, who was reading the letter, was a young woman and she wanted to get married a young and handsome Swede, she should write him a letter.
He added his post address and his name and then he put the letter into a bottle, sealed the bottle firmly and let it steer by guess and by God.
The bottle, thrown into the sea at a venture, after two years, somehow, reached the Italian coasts.
Sebastiano Puzzo was fishing near his home and found it out in his fishing net.
He unsealed the bottle and read the letter.
As he wanted to marry his seventeen-year-old daughter off, he showed her Ake's letter.
His daughter, Paolina, decide to send Ake a letter and her photo just for fun and out of boredom.
Ake received Paolina's letter and answered her.
So they started to hold correspondence and wanted to get to know each other better soon so they heard regularly from one another for one year.
They wrote in English because Ake didn't speak in Italian and Paolina didn't speak Sweden.
After a year, Ake wrote that he would like to come and meet Paolina in the flesh.
She agreed and he came in Italy.
Later, they fell in love with each other, Ake proposed, Paolina accepted him and they lived happily ever after.
Ake Viking, a young chap, was working as a sailor on a fishing ship in the Baltic Sea.
Once he was fighting boredom in between his duties and he decided to send a message in a bottle.
So, he wrote that if the person, who was reading the letter, was a young woman and she wanted to get married a young and handsome Swede, she should write him a letter.
He added his post address and his name and then he put the letter into a bottle, sealed the bottle firmly and let it steer by guess and by God.
The bottle, thrown into the sea at a venture, after two years, somehow, reached the Italian coasts.
Sebastiano Puzzo was fishing near his home and found it out in his fishing net.
He unsealed the bottle and read the letter.
As he wanted to marry his seventeen-year-old daughter off, he showed her Ake's letter.
His daughter, Paolina, decide to send Ake a letter and her photo just for fun and out of boredom.
Ake received Paolina's letter and answered her.
So they started to hold correspondence and wanted to get to know each other better soon so they heard regularly from one another for one year.
They wrote in English because Ake didn't speak in Italian and Paolina didn't speak Sweden.
After a year, Ake wrote that he would like to come and meet Paolina in the flesh.
She agreed and he came in Italy.
Later, they fell in love with each other, Ake proposed, Paolina accepted him and they lived happily ever after.
2.
Ake Viking was a young sailor on a fishing ship in the Baltic Sea.
Once, being bored in between his duties, he decided to send a letter in a bottle.
So, he wrote that if the person, who read the letter, was a young woman and she wanted to get married a young and handsome Swede, she should write him back.
He added his post address and his name and then he put the letter into a bottle, sealed the bottle and let it steer by guess and by God.
The bottle, thrown into the sea at a venture, after two years, somehow, reached the Italian coasts.
Sebastiano Puzzo was fishing near his home and saw it in his fishing net.
He unsealed the bottle and read the letter.
As he wanted to marry off his seventeen-year-old daughter, Paolina, he showed her Ake's letter and she decided to answer Ake.
She attached her picture too, just for fun and out of boredom.
Ake received Paolina's letter and wrote back.
So they started to hold correspondence.
As they wanted to get to know each other better as soon as possible, they had been exchanging letters regularly for one year.
They wrote in English because Ake didn't speak Italian and Paolina didn't speak Sweden.
After a year, Ake wrote that he would like to come and meet Paolina.
She agreed and he came to Italy.
Later, they fell in love with each other, Ake proposed to Paolina and she accepted him and they lived happily ever after.
Ake Viking was a young sailor on a fishing ship in the Baltic Sea.
Once, being bored in between his duties, he decided to send a letter in a bottle.
So, he wrote that if the person, who read the letter, was a young woman and she wanted to get married a young and handsome Swede, she should write him back.
He added his post address and his name and then he put the letter into a bottle, sealed the bottle and let it steer by guess and by God.
The bottle, thrown into the sea at a venture, after two years, somehow, reached the Italian coasts.
Sebastiano Puzzo was fishing near his home and saw it in his fishing net.
He unsealed the bottle and read the letter.
As he wanted to marry off his seventeen-year-old daughter, Paolina, he showed her Ake's letter and she decided to answer Ake.
She attached her picture too, just for fun and out of boredom.
Ake received Paolina's letter and wrote back.
So they started to hold correspondence.
As they wanted to get to know each other better as soon as possible, they had been exchanging letters regularly for one year.
They wrote in English because Ake didn't speak Italian and Paolina didn't speak Sweden.
After a year, Ake wrote that he would like to come and meet Paolina.
She agreed and he came to Italy.
Later, they fell in love with each other, Ake proposed to Paolina and she accepted him and they lived happily ever after.
Questions:
1. Why did Ake Viking send his message in a bottle? Why didn't Ake use a contact magazine or the Internet instead?
I think that Ake sent his letter by bottle for at least three reasons.
The first reason is that he tried to conceal his real personality behind such a delivery method because he probably had a poor self-image.
If he had used a contact magazine, he would have attached his photo and described himself in detail.
The second reason is that he wanted to avoid a competition with other men in the Internet or a contact magazine where a woman could compare him with somebody.
The third reason is that he wanted to avoid responsibility for the choice of a possible girlfriend to his family, especially to his mother.
To sum up I would like to say that if I were in Ake's shoes I would save sending messages with a bottle for an emergency. In other cases, I'd rather prefer more direct method to arrange my life.
-.
I think, there are three reasons why Ake sent his letter by bottle.
The first reason is that he tried to conceal his real personality behind such a delivery method because his self-estimation was poor.
If he used a contact magazine, he would have to attach his photo and describe himself in detail.
The second reason is that he wanted to avoid competition with other men in the Internet or a contact magazine where a woman could compare him with others.
The third reason is that he wanted to avoid responsibility for the choice of a possible girlfriend to his family, especially to his mother.
To sum up I would like to say that if I were in Ake's shoes I would save sending messages in a bottle for an emergency. In other cases, I'd rather prefer more direct method to arrange my life.
2. Why did Ake write his letter in English but not in Swedish?
It's well known that speaking a foreign language indicates a high-educated and intellectual person.
Obviously, Ake wanted to date such a woman, in addition to her youth and prettiness.
-.
It's well known that speaking a foreign language indicates a highly educated and intellectual person.
Obviously, Ake wanted to date such a woman, in addition to her youth and prettiness.
родной язык матери = стыд = Ч-Ч
другой язык = сепарация/перенос = Ч-П-Ч
3. Why did Paolina write a letter to Ake? Did she take the message seriously?
I think that she, like Ake, had a poor self-image.
So she took the opportunity to become acquainted with a young handsome man who can write in English and to learn more of him being protected with the method of communication.
-.
I think that she, like Ake, had low self-estimation.
So she took the opportunity to become acquainted with a young handsome man who can write in English and to learn more of him being protected with the method of communication.
4. Why did Paolina and Ake hold their correspondence so long?
I believe that if a man holds correspondence with a woman and they wouldn't disappoint each other in the very beginning, they will inevitably idealize one another and consequently fall in love with each other.
So, I think that the same story happened to Ake and Paolina.
They didn't want to ruin the one another perfect images with face-to-face meeting.
-.
I believe that if a man holds correspondence with a woman and they wouldn't disappoint each other in the very beginning they will inevitably idealize one another and consequently fall in love with each other.
So, I think that the same story happened to Ake and Paolina.
They didn't want to ruin the one another perfect images with face-to-face meeting.
5. Why did Ake decide to meet Paolina in person?
I think that it was Ake who decided to meet Paolina in person because he is a man.
Men usually need a finalization in every their doings.
According to some experts, it is so because of male sexual structure which presupposes finalizing is an inseparable part of sexual intercourse
-.
I think that it was Ake who decided to meet Paolina in person because he is a man.
Men usually need a finalization in every their doing.
According to some experts, it is so because of male sexual structure which presupposes finalizing is an inseparable part of sexual intercourse
6. Do you think this story is typical or almost next to impossible? Why?
I think that the story isn't typical.
I'm sure that quite a lot people try to find a partner in life with different exotic methods but that story is improbable by at least a couple of geographical reasons.
The first reason why it is so is that the bottle thrown into the Baltic Sea would most likely arrive at one of the Baltic shores.
The second reason why the story next to impossible is that if the bottle somehow left the Baltic Sea it would be carried away by the North Atlantic Current towards the Kola Peninsula which is the opposite of Italy.
The final reason why the story is unbelievable for me is that the bottle fell into a young pretty woman who wanted to write Ake despite all disadvantages of that kind of relationship.
To conclude, I would like to say that the story is improbable in my opinion.
-.
I think that the story isn't typical.
I'm sure that quite a lot people try to find a partner in life with different exotic methods but that story is improbable by at least a couple of geographical reasons.
The first reason why it is so is that the bottle thrown into the Baltic Sea would most likely arrive at one of the Baltic shores.
The second reason why the story is next to impossible is that if the bottle somehow left the Baltic Sea it would be carried away by the North Atlantic Current towards the Kola Peninsula which is the opposite of Italy.
The final reason why the story is unbelievable for me is that the bottle got to a young pretty woman who wanted to write Ake despite all disadvantages of that kind of relationship.
To conclude, I would like to say that the story is improbable in my opinion.
7. Why do you think an element of a romantic adventure or situation is so important for people to become involved with each other?
I think that a romantic adventure or situation is a kind of cliches which are stuffed into infantile people's minds by cheap novels.
The cliche is something certain and predictable, so, if the situation develops in a romantic way, the person will believe that everything will be all right.
The importance of a romantic element for someone means that the person is shallow and small-minded.
What's more, recently I read a couple of articles of The New York Times about the falling-in-love phenomenon.
The psychologist Arthur Aron succeeded in making two strangers fall in love in his laboratory where they sit face to face and answer a series of increasingly personal questions. Then they stared silently into each other’s eyes for four minutes. Six months later, two participants were married.
So, love seems to be a simple reaction to a territorial deprivation when both participants express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward each other which can be called the Stockholm syndrome.
Thus, functionally, love is a very dangerous structure and almost everyone tries to beautify it with a romantic adventure.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/modern-love-to-fall-in-love-with-anyone-do-this.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html?rref=fashion&_r=0
-.
I think that a romantic adventure or situation is a kind of cliches which are stuffed into infantile people's minds by cheap novels.
The cliche is something certain and predictable, so, if the situation develops in a romantic way, the person will believe that everything will be all right.
The importance of a romantic element for someone means that the person is shallow and small-minded.
What's more, recently I read a couple of articles in The New York Times about the falling-in-love phenomenon.
The psychologist Arthur Aron succeeded in making two strangers fall in love in his laboratory where they sit face to face and answer a series of increasingly personal questions. Then they stared silently into each other’s eyes for four minutes. Six months later, two participants were married.
So, love seems to be a simple reaction to a territorial deprivation when both participants express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward each other which can be called the Stockholm syndrome.
Thus, functionally, love is a very dangerous structure and almost everyone tries to beautify it with a romantic adventure.
Orig.
AKE Viking is a young sailor. He is on a ship near Sweden. There is nothing to do on the ship, and Ake is bored. Ake writes this letter in English:
Are you a young woman, 16 to 20 years old?
Do you want to marry a handsome young Swede? Please write me.
Ake Viking
Ake writes his address on the letter. Then he puts the letter in a bottle and throws the bottle into the sea.
Two years later, Sebastiano Puzzo is fishing near his home in Italy. He sees a bottle in the water. He takes the bottle out of the water and opens it. Inside the bottle, he finds Ake's letter. Sebastiano takes the letter home to his daughter. Her name is Paolina, and she is 18 years old. Sebastiano and Paolina read the letter and laugh. Just for fun, Paolina writes a letter to Ake. She sends him a photo, too. Ake reads Paolina's letter and writes a letter to her. Then she writes a letter to him. For one year, Ake and Paolina write letters. Ake doesn't know Italian, and Paolina doesn't know Swedish, so they write in English. In one letter, Ake writes:
Dear Paolina,
I want to meet you. Is it OK if I visit you in Italy?
Ake
Paolina writes that it is OK, so Ake goes to Italy. He meets Paolina and her family. Two months later, Paolina marries the handsome young Swede.