Preah Sihanouk Raja Buddhist University of Battambang Branch

Preah Sihanouk Raja Buddhist University of Battambang Branch

Chapter Eleven

I.              Summary

Wang Lung had passed down thing to his elder son, and then he ordered Ching to help find a girl for his second son. Ching had found a good, strong, and careful girl whose father has land and could tie with Wang Lung’s son but Ching didn’t give any promise to her father. He waited the answer from Wang Lung. Wang Lung had finished with his son’s marriage soon after.

After the marriage of the second son of Wang Lung, his uncle’s son had heard of war in the north. He wanted to join it for seeing something, so he asked some money from Wang Lung to buy more clothes going for war. Hearing this, Wang Lung felt exciting but he didn’t show how his feeling was.

Lotus went into the room and told Wang Lung about a new son having born in his son’s house. Such situation reminds Wang Lung of O-Lan who gave a birth to a baby in the dark room.

Coincidentally, when Wang Lung’s son celebrated the birth enjoying for a month old baby; Wang Lung was told that Ching, his workman, lay dying at workplace in the field. Wang Lung ran quickly even the fat slave ran after holding an umbrella for him. There he bit a newly hired workman who was said to be part of causing Ching become serious dying ill. Ching breathed so hard, and he died there soon after. Then Wang Lung ordered a coffin of the best for the burial. Wang Lung and his sons had argumentative idea whether the dead should be buried in the earthen wall close to the grandfather or not. But his sons didn’t allow to do that, instead they decided to bury Ching, the dead body, at the entrance to the wall thinking that the dead was their faithful guard against evil.

Wang had made decision to choose one of his sons for working on the land. The youngest son was fit enough to continue the work and he also took after his mother, silent, and good in beauty than other children except the second girl. But the silent son, the youngest one, didn’t accept it because he just wanted to learn to read. At the end Wang Lung had offered duty on the land to his second son who was careful of money expenses. Wang Lung felt doubtful about his second son; for he was scornful and bowed stiffly when talking or meeting someone.

Wang Lung felt happy to have the son of his second son’s wife in the house. He had four grandsons and three grand-daughters in period of five years. His uncle died in the same year leaving his wife alone in Wang Lung’s family. Wang Lung had offered her a room where she could comfort herself lying day to day with astonishment.

II.            Fifteen questions with answers

1.    Who helped finding the girl for Wang Lung second son? (page 110)

+ Ching helped finding the girl for Wang Lung second son.

2.    Why did the son of Wang Lung’s uncle ask silver from Wang Lung? (page 110)

+ Because he wanted to join the army and buy new clothes and fire-stick

3.    What did Wang Lung expect from his uncle’s son’s position? (page 111)

+ He thought that his nephew will become an official in the army.

4.    What for did Wang Lung go to the little temple? (page 112)

+ He went to the temple for wishing and praying for the birth of a baby that must be a son to his second son.

5.    Why did his second son invite guests to his house? (page113)

+ Because he celebrated his one-month-old baby’s birth.

6.    Where was the newly-hired workman from? (page 113)

+ He was from the country.

7.    Where was the dead body buried? What did Wang Lung’s sons think? (page 114)

+ The dead body was buried at the entrance to the wall. They thought that it was fitting to be a faithful guard against evil.

8.    Among the three sons, who did Wang Lung decide to choose for the land managers? (page 114)

+ Wang Lung had made a decision to dominate his youngest son to control the land and property.

9.    What was the youngest son like? (page 114)

+ He was silent, good in beauty, and serious

10. What word that the youngest son answered Wang Lung? (page11)

+ He answered only the word “yes”

11. Who was careful of the money in the family? (page 116)

+ His second son

12. Who got the two miserable pieces of silver from second son? (page 116)

+ Cuckoo

13. How many grandsons and granddaughters did Wang Lung have in Chapter 11? (page 117)

+ He had four grandsons and three granddaughters

14. To show moaning for the death of his uncle, what color of clothes were worn? (page 117)

+ They wore in white

15. What did Wang Lung give to the wife of his uncle? (page 117)

+ He gave a room to comfort herself.

III. Ten events

1.    Wang Lung asked Ching to find a girl for his second son to marry. (Page 110)

2.    The uncle’s son asked silver from Wang Lung to join the war in the north. (page 111)  

3.    One morning Wang Lung heard the cries of a woman and went into the court of his eldest son (page 111)

4.    Wang Lung’s son’s wife gave a birth to  a baby (page 112)

5.    When the child was a month old, the father gave the birth feast. (Page- 113)

6.    Ching lay dying on the field and then Wang Lung went there (page 113)

7.    Wang Lung asked his third son to help Ching’s work (page 114)

8.    The second son was pleased to get, for this meant that the money would pass through his hands. (page 115)

9.    Now, of all of those who lived in these courts it seemed that there was none wholly at peace and comfortable there except the small grandson. (page 116)

10.  He was pleased when his second son’s wife bore a child also in her time. (117)

IV. Fifteen vocabularies or phrases

1.  Light (v) = (lit, lighted or lit) to start to burn or to make something start to burn
2.  Spoil (v) = To destroy or reduce the pleasure, interest or beauty of something
3.  Feast (v) = A special meal with very good food or a large meal for many people, a very enjoyable experience for the sense, especially a visual or musical experience
4.  Haste (n) = Disapproving (too much) speed
5.  Lean (v) =To (cause to) slope in one direction, or to move the top part of the body in a particular direction
6.  Scornful (adj) = Showing or feeling scorn for someone or something
7.  Stiffly (adv) =Straight and not bending, in a way that is too formal
8.  Distant (adj) = Far away, describes someone who does not show much emotion and is not friendly.
9.  Suck (v) To pull in liquid or air through your mouth without using your teeth, or to move the tongue and muscles of the mouth around something inside your mouth, often in order to dissolve it

10.  Astonish (v) =To surprise someone very much

11. Idle (adj) =Not working or being used, an idle moment or period of time is one in which there is no work or activity

12. Ornamental (adj) =Beautiful rather than useful a bowl of ornamental china fruit.

13. stir (v) =To cause something to move slightly

14. burial (n) = the act of putting the dead body into the ground

15. swiftly (adv) = fast and rapid

V. Ten statements  

     1. ‘No doubt he will rise to be a great official in the army, and honors will come to us all through him.’  (WL said to uncle’s wife at the great house)

1.    ‘The hour has come but Cuckoo say it will be long, for my woman is narrowly made and it will be a difficulty birth.’ (WL said to the eldest son at the court)

2.    ‘Well, there is a son in the house of your son, and both mother and son are alive, I have seen the child, and it is well.’ (Lotus said to Cuckoo at the house.)

3.     ‘Well, if it must be so, let it be so if she can’t nurse her own child.’ (WL said to son in the house)

4.     ‘Bring me this workman!’ (WL said to  the crowded workmen in the room)

5.     ‘Now he will die while I am beating a fool!’  (WL said to Ching at the town)

6.     ‘Here I am! I will buy you a Coffin second only to my father’s’  (WL said to Ching in the house)

7.     ‘It is fitting, for he has always been my faithful guard against evil.’ (WL said to son at house)

8.     ‘What do I care what you do? Go away from me!’ (WL said to boy at the court)

9.     ‘Find a teacher for the third son if he wants on and let him do as he like.’ (WL said to elder son at the court)

10. ‘I didn’t fear like this when O-Lan bore her first, my son.’ (WL said to himself, in the house)