PEN 0055 MMLS Short Storiest
Learning Institute for Empowerment
(LiFE)
PEN0055
Essential English
Foundation Level
ONLINE NOTES
Short Stories
Or Else, the Lightning God
Catherine Lim (1980)
Whenever Margaret didn’t have the opportunity to talk to Suan Choo in the office about the problems with her mother-in-law, she telephoned her friend in the evening. And she did so now, reclining on the bed, freshly bathed and talcumed. Eng Kiat wasn’t home, and the old one was in her room downstairs, so it was right to speak as freely as she wanted to Suan Choo. Suan Choo had a mother-in-law too, equally troublesome, and so understood her problem perfectly. Margaret knew that the old one, though she spoke no English, understood the meanings of certain words when she heard them; her small eyes would flash, she would look up sharply when she caught words such as “mother-in-law”, “money”, “servant”, “nuisance”, convinced that she was being talked about and criticised. So, Margaret, in her conversations with Suan Choo had evolved a new set of terms intended to put the old lady off the scent. “Mother-in-law” became ‘dowager’ or “antique”, “servant” was “domestic”. Sometimes failure to find appropriate alternatives forced Margaret to spell out the word, but the element of unnaturalness introduced into the conversation in this way made the old lady, who was very sharp indeed, pause to listen suspiciously. “Suan Choo, guess what I saw when I came back from work today,” she said, managing to light a cigarette with one hand while holding the receiver with the other. “Or rather, what I smelt. There was a foul smell coming from the kitchen. I rushed to see and there was an earthenpot of the Dowager’s herbal medicine a-brewing as usual. The stuff had boiled over and was trickling down the sides of my poor cooker. Luckily I came back in time. Otherwise, that wretched thing would have ruined my whole kitchen. This is the third time this week, Choo, that the Dowager’s left her Chinese
(LiFE)
PEN0055
Essential English
Foundation Level
ONLINE NOTES
Short Stories
Or Else, the Lightning God
Catherine Lim (1980)
Whenever Margaret didn’t have the opportunity to talk to Suan Choo in the office about the problems with her mother-in-law, she telephoned her friend in the evening. And she did so now, reclining on the bed, freshly bathed and talcumed. Eng Kiat wasn’t home, and the old one was in her room downstairs, so it was right to speak as freely as she wanted to Suan Choo. Suan Choo had a mother-in-law too, equally troublesome, and so understood her problem perfectly. Margaret knew that the old one, though she spoke no English, understood the meanings of certain words when she heard them; her small eyes would flash, she would look up sharply when she caught words such as “mother-in-law”, “money”, “servant”, “nuisance”, convinced that she was being talked about and criticised. So, Margaret, in her conversations with Suan Choo had evolved a new set of terms intended to put the old lady off the scent. “Mother-in-law” became ‘dowager’ or “antique”, “servant” was “domestic”. Sometimes failure to find appropriate alternatives forced Margaret to spell out the word, but the element of unnaturalness introduced into the conversation in this way made the old lady, who was very sharp indeed, pause to listen suspiciously. “Suan Choo, guess what I saw when I came back from work today,” she said, managing to light a cigarette with one hand while holding the receiver with the other. “Or rather, what I smelt. There was a foul smell coming from the kitchen. I rushed to see and there was an earthenpot of the Dowager’s herbal medicine a-brewing as usual. The stuff had boiled over and was trickling down the sides of my poor cooker. Luckily I came back in time. Otherwise, that wretched thing would have ruined my whole kitchen. This is the third time this week, Choo, that the Dowager’s left her Chinese