Cakes and Ale

by W.S. Maugham

R

oy was very modest about his first novel. It was short, neatly written, and, as is everything he has produced since, in perfect taste. He sent it with a pleasant letter to all the leading writers of the day, and in this he told each one how greatly he admired his works, how much he had learned from his study of them, and how ardently he aspired to follow, albeit at a humble distance, the trail his correspondent had blazed. He laid his book at the feet of a great artist as the tribute of a young man entering upon the profession of letters to one whom he would always look up to as his master. Deprecatingly, fully conscious of his audacity in asking so busy a man to waste his time on a neophyte's puny effort, he begged for criticism and guidance. Few of the reptiles were perfunctory. The authors he wrote to, flattered by his praise, answered at length. They com­mented his book; many of them asked him to luncheon. They could not fail to be charmed by his frankness and warmed by his enthusiasm. He asked for their advice with a humility that was touching and promised to act upon it with a sincerity that was impressive. Here, they felt, was someone worth taking a little trouble over.

      His novel had a considerable success. It made him many friends in literary circles and in a very short while you could not go to a tea-party in Bloomsbury, Campden Hill, or Westminster without finding him handing round bread and butter or disembarrassing and elderly lady of an empty cup. He was so young, so bluff, so gay, he laughed so merrily at other people's jokes that no one could help liking him. He joined dining clubs where in the basement of a hotel in Victoria Street or Holborn men of letters, young barristers, and ladies in Liberty silks and strings of beads, ate a three-and-sixpenny dinner and discussed art and literature. It was soon discovered that he had a pretty gift for after-dinner speaking. He was so pleasant that his fellow writers, his rivals and contemporaries, forgave him even the fact that he was a gentleman. He was generous in his praise of their fledgeling works, and when they sent him manuscripts to criticize could never find a thing amiss. They thought him not only a good sort, but a sound judge.

Notes and exercises:

1.   Bloomsbury—part of London where the British Museum is situated; formerly a fashionable residential, now a literary, quarter

      Campden Hill—Northern district of London where many artists live

      Westminster—part of London in which the Houses of Parliament and the main government offices are situated

      Victoria Street and Holborn—streets in London

      Liberty silks—a kind of inexpensive material

2.   Check up the meaning of the following verbs having a common root: aspire, inspire, perspire, transpire.

3.   Mark the spelling of the following words: conscious, conscience, unconscionable, conscienceless, unconsciousness, subconsciously, conscientious.

4.   The sound [f] is transcribed as “ph” in the following words:

neophyte    phosphorous    philanthropy       catastrophe    emphatic phrase        phenomenon    phosphoresce     euphony         amphibian phase         physiognomy    phosphorescent  orphan           amphibious physics       phosphorus      pharaoh              graphic          amorphous physique     philosophy       telephone            telegraph       asphalt physician    philosopher      prophet               photograph    alphabet physicist     philanderer       prophecy             nymph            sphere phlegm       philharmonic    prophesy             emphasis       sphinx phone         philanthropist   sophisticated      emphasize      paraphrase

       

5.   Read the following words paying attention to the pronunciation of the digraph “ss”:

impressive    confession     dissuaded    fuss        assault      assure profession    possession     assiduous    moss      missile      classic permission   accession       professor     loss        assign      assist admission     classicism      aggressor    assail     canvass    issue expression   dissimilar       bassoon       bliss       abyss        essence classical       dissatisfied     assurance    mess      vessel       essay impression   assassinate    pressure      grass      passive     gossip discussion    assimilate       session        mass      assert       hussy aggression   Mississippi     assassin      lass        passion    assess

6.   Some nouns and adjectives have the suffix “–ory”: perfunctory, illusory, dormitory, laboratory, refectory, accessory.

      Say which of the following adjectives can be matched with a corresponding verb: affirmatory, confirmatory, ejaculatory, inflammatory, rotatory, vibratory, appreciatory, elusory, accusatory, contradictory.

7.   Word study:

albeit                     [o:l´bi:t] though (formal)

deprecatingly        disapprovingly

neophyte               a person who has newly been converted to some belief or religion

perfunctory            done as a duty or routine but without care or interest: a perfunctory inspection

bluff                       abrupt; rough but honest and kind, simple and good-natured (of a person, his manners, etc.)

fledgeling              a young bird just able to fly; a young and inexperienced person