2005/05/11
Arms and the Man
"Sh--sh! don't make a noise; or you'll be fired at. Be good; and you'll be quite safe. . . . Take care: it's no use attempting to get away."
"But who--"
"Now then; if you make a noise, my gun will go off. . . . Get a light and let me see you. Is that clear?"
Those words are a part of the talk between a young woman and a man from a stage-play in Basic English: Arms and the Man.
This play was first made up, in general, unlimited, English, by a noted writer of plays from Ireland: George Benard Shaw. It was made public in 1894, and has been produced on stage in a number of different countries, in different languages. It's a story of a family, their servants, and military men in the wartime Bulgaria, with a happy ending.
It was put into Basic English, helped by Shaw himself, and printed in 1936. You may see an advertisement by Ogden:
An online book of Arms and the Man, unchanged from the complete form put by Shaw:
Arms and the Man in Basic is now out of print. It's hard to get a copy even at great online stores of second-hand books.
I had a good chance of getting an old copy. I have a hope that this play in Basic may be acted on stage someday. It won't be so hard for Japanese learning English at high schools, colleges and universities.
¶ 17:59
| "Who's there? . . . Who's there? Who is that?"
"Sh--sh! don't make a noise; or you'll be fired at. Be good; and you'll be quite safe. . . . Take care: it's no use attempting to get away."
"But who--"
"Now then; if you make a noise, my gun will go off. . . . Get a light and let me see you. Is that clear?"
Those words are a part of the talk between a young woman and a man from a stage-play in Basic English: Arms and the Man.
This play was first made up, in general, unlimited, English, by a noted writer of plays from Ireland: George Benard Shaw. It was made public in 1894, and has been produced on stage in a number of different countries, in different languages. It's a story of a family, their servants, and military men in the wartime Bulgaria, with a happy ending.
It was put into Basic English, helped by Shaw himself, and printed in 1936. You may see an advertisement by Ogden:
An online book of Arms and the Man, unchanged from the complete form put by Shaw:
Arms and the Man in Basic is now out of print. It's hard to get a copy even at great online stores of second-hand books.
I had a good chance of getting an old copy. I have a hope that this play in Basic may be acted on stage someday. It won't be so hard for Japanese learning English at high schools, colleges and universities.
¶ 17:59
