LONG BOOK REVIEW -The Stolen White Elephant-
The Stolen White Elephant
Peperoni Pizza: Discussion Leader and Connecter
Ayane Maruyama
1912043
Materials
From book (p. 6-7)
Mark Twain is one of the most famous and best-loved American authors. He was born Samuel Clemens in Florida, Missouri in 1835. He moved with his family to Hannibal, an important river port on the Mississippi river when he was four. He lived a rich and varied life working as a printer, riverboat pilot, gold prospector", journalist and lecturer". He left home when he was 18 and travelled throughout the USA and Europe. He put his colorful experiences to good use in his work, writing over 30 stories under the name Mark Twain. Twain's hobby was inventing things and he spent most of the money he earned from his writing career on a series of unsuccessful inventions including a steam engine and straps for clothes. His most famous novels are Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. Huckleberry Finn is considered to be the 'first great American novel'. Twain is famous for his humor and wit. He was the first great writer to use popular speech and language in his novels. He died in New York in 1910.
Do you know?
The name 'Mark Twain' is riverboat slang. In order to sail safely along the river the water has to be two fathoms deep. 'Mark twain', means 'mark two' or two fathoms. Boatmen shouted 'mark twain' when the river was deep enough for them to sail safely.
The Stolen White Elephant
Mark Twain wrote 'The Stolen White Elephant' in 1879 as part of his book A Tramp Abroad. However, he didn't include the story in the book and published it as part of a collection of short stories in 1882. The story is a comedy. It makes fun of the New York Police Department and its Chief, Inspector Blunt, and their attempts to find a white elephant that has gone missing in New York City. The story is based on a real event that happened in 1878 and which Twain read about in the newspapers. The body of a multi- millionaire, Alexander T. Stewart is stolen from the family crypt in Boston. The story is in all the newspapers and the police force immediately gets all their men on the job. The sensational newspaper reports plus the unsuccessful attempts of the police force to find the body gave Twain the material he needed to write his comic masterpiece. The term 'white elephant' is also used to mean an unwanted gift. Some people think the term comes from Thailand where the white elephant was considered to be sacred. When the King gave someone a gift of a white elephant they had to keep it alive at all costs. Naturally very few people wanted a gift of a white elephant.
Mark Twain
There are many mystery stories, and it is said he was a journalist. In his stories, most of them end in failure. “The Stolen White Elephant” is also ended in not success and nice result. Mark, as a journalist, saw a lot of oppressive accidents that weren’t ended in fortunate. I expect that he would like to tell us “everything doesn’t go well easily.” He wrote various stories reflecting his real experience and emotion.
The Scene of this Story
How are elephants valued in Thailand?
In a war with another country, the king rode an elephant to fight. The elephant is a symbol of courage and pride in defending the king and leading the battle. In addition, there is an anecdote that many Thais believe in Buddhism that "One day Buddha's mother knew that she had a dream of a white elephant getting in her stomach and had a Buddha." It's a famous story that even children know in Thailand.
The relationship between Buddhism and elephants is deep. The white elephants are said that is the incarnation of Buddha, and there is a theory that Buddha's previous life was white elephants. Furthermore, it is believed that the king who got a white elephant in Thailand is highly respected by people, and the white elephant is also a symbol of the king. The Thai flag, which was adopted until 1916, had a white elephant painted on a red ground, and there is even a law that if a white elephant is discovered, it must be given to the king. Above all, the white elephant is also a symbol of national majesty.
“White Elephant”
It is said that the Thai king used to give "white elephants" to vassals he didn't like. The white elephant is a sacred creature, but it costs a lot of food, so it is a nuisance to receive it. In contradiction to be said “a holy treasure”, a white elephant meant "useless thing."
Artistic Adventure
Character Person
Main character
・Mark Twain ：narrator
・Chief Inspector Blunt ：the detective in charge of finding the missing elephant. He receives and sums up the detective's information by telegram.
・Alaric ：young detective
・Caprain Burns ：employee of the detective agency. Mainly carrying out Blunt’s orders.
・“Hassan Ben Ali Ben Selim Abdallah Mohammed Mois Alhammal Jamsetjejeebhoy Dhuleep Sultan Ebu Bhudpoor” or “Jumbo”, the white elephant
The story begins with the theft of a gift, an elephant, and the struggle of the detective Blunt, the detective Alaric, and Captain Burns, an employee of the detective agency, to find the elephant.
Summary
The King of Siam decided to send the white elephant as a present for the Queen of England. On the way to the destination, the elephant had better stay in New York until he gets permission from the doctor.
Two weeks later, the white elephant is stolen! The man who was transporting it hurried to headquarters to look for it and answered some questions. The next morning, eleven theories about stealing an elephant are posted in the newspapers.
Many detectives chased the elephant; there are a lot of telegraphs that have information about the elephant. While they chased it, the elephant attacked the village and killed the people. After that they could not look for it because of dense fog.
Two weeks later, searching for the elephant started again. However, it could not be found; so he raised up the reward to continue the searching.
The elephant is found in the basement where sixty detectives always sleep, but it was dead because of starvation.
The detectives celebrated, but the man transport the elephant lost a lot of money.
Word Master
・curious 奇妙な
・acquaintance 知り合い（そこまで親しくはない）
・sincere 誠実な
・manner ふるまい
・stamp 地位
・Siam タイの旧名
・harbour = harbor 港
・helpless 自分ではどうすることもできない
・calmer 冷静な
・headquarters 本部、司令部、本署
・inspector 調査する人
・impressive 印象的な
・ordinary 普通の
・leave out 省く
・insignificant 無意味な、つまらない
・tusk 牙
・barrel たる
・dull 明るくない
・insertion 差し込み
・squirting 噴出させること
・spectator 観客
・maltreating 虐待すること
Peperoni Pizza: Discussion Leader and Connecter
Ayane Maruyama
1912043
Materials
From book (p. 6-7)
Mark Twain is one of the most famous and best-loved American authors. He was born Samuel Clemens in Florida, Missouri in 1835. He moved with his family to Hannibal, an important river port on the Mississippi river when he was four. He lived a rich and varied life working as a printer, riverboat pilot, gold prospector", journalist and lecturer". He left home when he was 18 and travelled throughout the USA and Europe. He put his colorful experiences to good use in his work, writing over 30 stories under the name Mark Twain. Twain's hobby was inventing things and he spent most of the money he earned from his writing career on a series of unsuccessful inventions including a steam engine and straps for clothes. His most famous novels are Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. Huckleberry Finn is considered to be the 'first great American novel'. Twain is famous for his humor and wit. He was the first great writer to use popular speech and language in his novels. He died in New York in 1910.
Do you know?
The name 'Mark Twain' is riverboat slang. In order to sail safely along the river the water has to be two fathoms deep. 'Mark twain', means 'mark two' or two fathoms. Boatmen shouted 'mark twain' when the river was deep enough for them to sail safely.
The Stolen White Elephant
Mark Twain wrote 'The Stolen White Elephant' in 1879 as part of his book A Tramp Abroad. However, he didn't include the story in the book and published it as part of a collection of short stories in 1882. The story is a comedy. It makes fun of the New York Police Department and its Chief, Inspector Blunt, and their attempts to find a white elephant that has gone missing in New York City. The story is based on a real event that happened in 1878 and which Twain read about in the newspapers. The body of a multi- millionaire, Alexander T. Stewart is stolen from the family crypt in Boston. The story is in all the newspapers and the police force immediately gets all their men on the job. The sensational newspaper reports plus the unsuccessful attempts of the police force to find the body gave Twain the material he needed to write his comic masterpiece. The term 'white elephant' is also used to mean an unwanted gift. Some people think the term comes from Thailand where the white elephant was considered to be sacred. When the King gave someone a gift of a white elephant they had to keep it alive at all costs. Naturally very few people wanted a gift of a white elephant.
Mark Twain
There are many mystery stories, and it is said he was a journalist. In his stories, most of them end in failure. “The Stolen White Elephant” is also ended in not success and nice result. Mark, as a journalist, saw a lot of oppressive accidents that weren’t ended in fortunate. I expect that he would like to tell us “everything doesn’t go well easily.” He wrote various stories reflecting his real experience and emotion.
The Scene of this Story
How are elephants valued in Thailand?
In a war with another country, the king rode an elephant to fight. The elephant is a symbol of courage and pride in defending the king and leading the battle. In addition, there is an anecdote that many Thais believe in Buddhism that "One day Buddha's mother knew that she had a dream of a white elephant getting in her stomach and had a Buddha." It's a famous story that even children know in Thailand.
The relationship between Buddhism and elephants is deep. The white elephants are said that is the incarnation of Buddha, and there is a theory that Buddha's previous life was white elephants. Furthermore, it is believed that the king who got a white elephant in Thailand is highly respected by people, and the white elephant is also a symbol of the king. The Thai flag, which was adopted until 1916, had a white elephant painted on a red ground, and there is even a law that if a white elephant is discovered, it must be given to the king. Above all, the white elephant is also a symbol of national majesty.
“White Elephant”
It is said that the Thai king used to give "white elephants" to vassals he didn't like. The white elephant is a sacred creature, but it costs a lot of food, so it is a nuisance to receive it. In contradiction to be said “a holy treasure”, a white elephant meant "useless thing."
Artistic Adventure
Character Person
Main character
・Mark Twain ：narrator
・Chief Inspector Blunt ：the detective in charge of finding the missing elephant. He receives and sums up the detective's information by telegram.
・Alaric ：young detective
・Caprain Burns ：employee of the detective agency. Mainly carrying out Blunt’s orders.
・“Hassan Ben Ali Ben Selim Abdallah Mohammed Mois Alhammal Jamsetjejeebhoy Dhuleep Sultan Ebu Bhudpoor” or “Jumbo”, the white elephant
The story begins with the theft of a gift, an elephant, and the struggle of the detective Blunt, the detective Alaric, and Captain Burns, an employee of the detective agency, to find the elephant.
Summary
The King of Siam decided to send the white elephant as a present for the Queen of England. On the way to the destination, the elephant had better stay in New York until he gets permission from the doctor.
Two weeks later, the white elephant is stolen! The man who was transporting it hurried to headquarters to look for it and answered some questions. The next morning, eleven theories about stealing an elephant are posted in the newspapers.
Many detectives chased the elephant; there are a lot of telegraphs that have information about the elephant. While they chased it, the elephant attacked the village and killed the people. After that they could not look for it because of dense fog.
Two weeks later, searching for the elephant started again. However, it could not be found; so he raised up the reward to continue the searching.
The elephant is found in the basement where sixty detectives always sleep, but it was dead because of starvation.
The detectives celebrated, but the man transport the elephant lost a lot of money.
Word Master
・curious 奇妙な
・acquaintance 知り合い（そこまで親しくはない）
・sincere 誠実な
・manner ふるまい
・stamp 地位
・Siam タイの旧名
・harbour = harbor 港
・helpless 自分ではどうすることもできない
・calmer 冷静な
・headquarters 本部、司令部、本署
・inspector 調査する人
・impressive 印象的な
・ordinary 普通の
・leave out 省く
・insignificant 無意味な、つまらない
・tusk 牙
・barrel たる
・dull 明るくない
・insertion 差し込み
・squirting 噴出させること
・spectator 観客
・maltreating 虐待すること
・limp 足を引きずって歩く
・armpit わきの下
・possibility 可能性
・deal with 探す
・novice 初心者
・Bible （キリスト教の）聖書
・nationality 国籍
・Dore Bible フランス人画家ガスタブ・ドアによって描かれた聖書
・brick レンガ
・syrup シロップ
・permission 許可書
・plain clothes 私服
・suspicious 怪しい
・clue 手がかり、ヒント
・telegraph 電信
・thoughtful 考え込んだ
・rear 後部、後ろ
・robbery 強盗
・bold 大胆な
・disguise 変装させる
・telegraphic 電信の
・track 足跡
・broken into 不法に侵入する
・haystack 干し草の大きな山
・gang 一団、一味
・lamppost 街灯の柱
・deserted 空っぽ
・in session 同時に起こる
・absurd 馬鹿げた、常識に反した
・Evidently 間違いなく
・fired shots 拳銃
・bump ドシンと当たる、ぶつかる
・hindquarter （獣の）体の後半部、臀部
・tragic 悲惨な、痛ましい
・penniless 全く金がない
・code 暗号
・basement 地下
・armpit わきの下
・possibility 可能性
・deal with 探す
・novice 初心者
・Bible （キリスト教の）聖書
・nationality 国籍
・Dore Bible フランス人画家ガスタブ・ドアによって描かれた聖書
・brick レンガ
・syrup シロップ
・permission 許可書
・plain clothes 私服
・suspicious 怪しい
・clue 手がかり、ヒント
・telegraph 電信
・thoughtful 考え込んだ
・rear 後部、後ろ
・robbery 強盗
・bold 大胆な
・disguise 変装させる
・telegraphic 電信の
・track 足跡
・broken into 不法に侵入する
・haystack 干し草の大きな山
・gang 一団、一味
・lamppost 街灯の柱
・deserted 空っぽ
・in session 同時に起こる
・absurd 馬鹿げた、常識に反した
・Evidently 間違いなく
・fired shots 拳銃
・bump ドシンと当たる、ぶつかる
・hindquarter （獣の）体の後半部、臀部
・tragic 悲惨な、痛ましい
・penniless 全く金がない
・code 暗号
・basement 地下
・beggar こじき
Why so much empty space?
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