Copy Book Archive

Tom and Terrier A fox terrier spies what looks like a hapless victim – until he gets up close.

In two parts

1889
Music: Gustav Holst

© Nick MacNeill, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0. Source

About this picture …

‘Thou shalt not pass’. A black cat stands sentinel in a lane in Green Street, near Crowhurst in East Sussex.

Tom and Terrier

Part 1 of 2

Jerome K. Jerome’s comic travelogue ‘Three Men in a Boat’ is subtitled ‘to say nothing of the dog’. In this extract, the dog Montmorency - a fox terrier - plays a starring role, but unfortunately not a particularly glorious one.

HALF-way up the High Street a cat darted out from one of the houses in front of us, and began to trot across the road. Montmorency gave a cry of joy — the cry of a stern warrior who sees his enemy given over to his hands — the sort of cry Cromwell might have uttered when the Scots came down the hill — and flew after his prey.*

His victim was a large black Tom. I never saw a larger cat, nor a more disreputable-looking cat. It had lost half its tail, one of its ears, and a fairly appreciable proportion of its nose.

Montmorency went for that poor cat at the rate of twenty miles an hour; but the cat did not seem to have grasped the idea that its life was in danger. It trotted quietly on until its would-be assassin was within a yard of it, and then looked at Montmorency with a gentle, inquiring expression, that said:

“Yes! You want me?”

Jump to Part 2

In the Civil War, Cromwell comprehensively defeated Scottish royalists at the Battle of Dunbar in 1650, and captured Edinburgh. A year later, he defeated Charles II at Worcester, on September 3rd 1651. Many of the vanquished Scots were deported and forced into work in the West Indies and the American colonies.

Précis

According the Jerome, his fox terrier Montmorency came across a black cat in the street, and ran over vey excitedly expecting to bully it without reprisal. However, Jerome noticed anxiously that the Tom, which was uncommonly large and bore the scars of many previous encounters, did not seem very concerned. (50 / 60 words)

Part Two

© Piotr Pietryka, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0. Source

About this picture …

A smooth-haired fox terrier. Montmorency, according to Jerome, was a townie fond of ratting and melting hearts with an appealing glance, but with no taste for romantic scenery and strongly opposed to their boating trip along the Thames. He was outvoted, three to one.

MONTMORENCY does not lack pluck; but there was something about the look of that cat that might have chilled the heart of the boldest dog. He stopped abruptly, and looked back at Tom.

Neither spoke; but the conversation was clearly as follows:—

The Cat: “Can I do anything for you?”

Montmorency: “No — no, thanks.”

The Cat: “Don’t you mind speaking, if you really want anything, you know.”

Montmorency (backing down the High Street): “Oh, no — not at all — certainly — don’t you trouble. I — I am afraid I’ve made a mistake. I thought I knew you. Sorry I disturbed you. Good morning.”

The Cat: “Good morning.”

Then the cat rose, and continued his trot; and Montmorency, fitting what he calls his tail carefully into its groove, came back to us, and took up an unimportant position in the rear.

To this day, if you say the word “Cats!” to Montmorency, he will visibly shrink and look up piteously at you, as if to say:

“Please don’t.”

Copy Book

Précis

Once Montmorency got up close to his intended victim, he quickly came to the conclusion that he had gone out of his league. Jerome imagined that his fox terrier excused himself to the cat very humbly, and claimed that Montmorency reacted nervously to the word ‘cats!’ ever after. (49 / 60 words)

Source

Abridged from Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome.

Suggested Music

1 2

St Paul’s Suite

1. Jig (Vivace)

Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

Performed by the City of London Sinfonia, directed by Richard Hickox.

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St Paul’s Suite

4. Finale ‘The Dargason’ (Allegro)

Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

Performed by the City of London Sinfonia, directed by Richard Hickox.

Media not showing? Let me know!

How To Use This Passage

You can use this passage to help improve your command of English.

IRead it aloud, twice or more. IISummarise it in one sentence of up to 30 words. IIISummarise it in one paragraph of 40-80 words. IVMake notes on the passage, and reconstruct the original from them later on. VJot down any unfamiliar words, and make your own sentences with them later. VIMake a note of any words that surprise or impress you, and ask yourself what meaning they add to the words you would have expected to see. VIITurn any old-fashioned English into modern English. VIIITurn prose into verse, and verse into prose. IXAsk yourself what the author is trying to get you to feel or think. XHow would an artist or a photographer capture the scene? XIHow would a movie director shoot it, or a composer write incidental music for it?

For these and more ideas, see How to Use The Copy Book.

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