| |
|
Jules’
father was a lawyer; his mother was descended
from one of the great families of France. (28)
Their son was born on the Island of Feydeau, near Nantes, in 1828. Napoleon
had just died. Wellington was prime minister of England. The
first ailroad was only five years old.(29)
Steamers were crossing the Atlantic but they still
carried sail to supplement their engines. (30)
From the windows of his home the boy Jules could see the masts of sailing
ships, watch fishermen’s nets drying, smell hides
and spices. (31)
At the age of eleven he was playing on the wharves with a childhood sweetheart
who said she would like a string of red coral beads like those the sailors
brought back from their voyages. Jules solemnly promised she would have
one, and that same afternoon was on board a boat about
to sail for India, signed on as a cabin boy. (32)
Fortunately for his later admirers, a friend of the
family saw him go on board and told the family.(33)
His father fetched him home, spanked him, and put him to bed. At eighteen
Jules was in Paris to study law, but he interested in writing poetry and
plays.
One evening, bored with
a fashionable party which he was attending, he let
abruptly and slid gaily down the banister. (34)
|
|
|
English
Intensive Reading 
