Romeo and Juliet
Antony and Cleopatra
Romeo and Juliet was a play written by William Shakespeare. It begins with a large fight between the Capulets and the Montagues, two prestigious families in Verona, Italy. These families have been fighting for quite long time until the Prince declared a death sentence to anyone who renewed the brawl. When the fight is over, Romeo’s cousin Benvolio tries to cheer him of his melancholy. Romeo reveals that he is in love with a woman named Rosaline, but she has chosen to live a life of chastity. Romeo and Benvolio are accidentally invited to their enemy’s party; Benvolio convinces Romeo to go.
At the party, Romeo stared with a young woman named Juliet. They instantly fall in love, but they do not realize that their families are enemies. When they realize each other’s identities, they are devastated, but they cannot help the way that they feel. Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s yard after the party and proclaims his love for her. She returns his sentiments and the two decide to marry. The next day, Romeo and Juliet are married by Friar Lawrence which witnessed by Juliet’s Nurse and Romeo’s loyal servant, Balthasar. They planned to meet in Juliet’s chambers that night.
Romeo visits his best friend Mercutio and his cousin Benvolio but his good mood is curtailed. Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, starts a verbal quarrel with Romeo, which soon turns into a duel with Mercutio. Romeo tries to stop the fight but it is too late: Tybalt kills Mercutio. Romeo, enraged, retaliates by killing Tybalt. Once Romeo realizes the consequences of his actions, he hid at Friar Lawrence’s cell.
Friar Lawrence informs Romeo that he has been banished from Verona and will be killed if he stays. The Friar suggests Romeo spend the night with Juliet, then leave for Mantua in the morning. He tells Romeo that he will attempt to settle the Capulet and Montague dispute so Romeo can later return to a united family. Romeo takes his advice, spending one night with Juliet before fleeing Verona.
Juliet’s mother, completely unaware of her daughter's secret marriage to Romeo, informs Juliet that she will marry a man named Paris in a few days. Juliet, outraged, refuses to comply. Her parents tell her that she must marry Paris and the Nurse agrees with them. Juliet asks Friar Lawrence for advice, insisting she would rather die than marry Paris. Fr. Lawrence gives Juliet a potion which will make her appear dead and tells her to take it the night before the wedding. He promises to send word to Romeo - intending the two lovers be reunited in the Capulet vault.
Juliet drinks the potion and everybody assumes that she is dead — including Balthasar, who immediately tells Romeo. Friar Lawrence’s letter fails to reach Romeo, so he assumes that his wife is dead. He rushes to Juliet’s tomb and, in deep grief, drinks a vial of poison. Moments later, Juliet wakes to find Romeo dead and kills herself due to grief. Once the families discover what happened, they finally end their bitter feud. Thus the youngsters' deaths bring the families together. Romeo And Juliet is a true tragedy in the literary sense because the families gather sufficient self-knowledge to correct their behaviour but not until it is too late to save the situation.
Antony and Cleopatra
Why Do Hawks Hunt Chicks ?
Once upon time, a hawk fell in love with a hen. The hawk flew down from the sky and asked the hen, “Will you marry me?”
The hen loved the brave, strong hawk and wished to marry him. But she said, “I can not fly as hight as you can. If you give me time, I may learn to fly as hight as you. Then we can fly together.”
The hawk agreed. Before he went away, he gave the hen a ring. “This is to show that you have promised to marry me,” said the hawk.
It so happened that the hen had already promised to marry a rooster. So, when the rooster saw the ring, he became very angry. “Throw that ring away at once!” shouted the rooster. The hen was so fightened at the rppster’s anger that she threw away the ring immediately.
When the hawk came a few months later, the hen told him the truth. The hawk was so furious that he cursed the hen, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Now, you’ll always be scratching the earth, and I’ll always be flying above to catch your children,” said the hawk.
This is a fable story which has a moral lesson. It told us not to make promise arbitrarily. But we have to think carefully before. In Indonesia, there's no story about "Why hawks hunt chicks?" but there's a similar story named "Why Dogs Chase Cats?"
(retold by S.E. Schlosser )
(retold by S.E. Schlosser )
Once long ago, Dog was married to Cat. They were happy together, but every night when Dog came home from work, Cat said she was too sick to make him dinner. Dog was patient with this talk for a while, but he soon got mighty tired of fixing dinner for them both after a hard day's work. After all, Cat just stayed home all day long.
One day, Dog told Cat he was going to work, but instead he hid in the cupboard and watched Cat to see if she really was sick. As soon as Cat thought Dog had left, she started playing games with Kitten. They laughed and ran about. Cat wasn't the least bit sick.
Dog jumped out of the cupboard. When Cat saw him, she stuck a marble in her cheek and told Dog she had a toothache. Dog got so mad at her he started chasing her around and around the house.
Dogs have been chasing Cats ever since.
