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William Henry Hudson |
Naturalist
William
Henry Hudson (1841-1922), the author of the piece
you are going to read,
was
born in
Quilmes,
Buenos Aires,
Argentina to American parents.
He spent his youth
on the pampas before emigrating
to England in 1870. In Far Away and Long Ago (1918), he shows how
a sensitive observer of
nature he was, describing plants and animals in a highly personal manner
with great force and beauty. |
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The
house where I was born on the South American pampas, was named Los
Veinticinco Ombúes, which means "The Twenty-five Ombú
Trees", because there were just twenty-five of these trees standing
in a line about four hundred yards long. Our trees were
about
one hundred years old and very large, and, as they
stood
on an elevation, they could be seen at a distance of ten miles. At noon
in summer the
cattle and
sheep of which we had
a
large
number,
came to rest in their shade.
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The
Ombú is a very singular tree indeed, and being the only representative
of tree-vegetation natural to the
soil,
on those great
level
plains (the pampas), and having also many curious superstitions
connected with it, it is a romance in itself.
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It
belongs to the rare Phytolacca family, and has an immense
girth
- forty or fifty feet in some cases; at the same time the wood
is so soft and
spongy
that it can be cut into with a knife, and is
utterly
unfit for
firewood, for when cut up it refuses to dry, but simply
rots
away like a
ripe
water melon.
It also grows slowly, and its leaves, which are large,
glossy,
and green, like laurel leaves, are
poisonous;
and because of its uselessness it will probably become extinct. |
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But
before other trees had been planted, the antiquated and
grand-looking
ombú had its
uses;
it served as gigantic
landmark
to the traveller on the great monotonous plains, and also
afforded
refreshing
shade
to man and horse in summer. |
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GLOSSARY |
pampas: extensive treeless and grassy plains in
Argentina (Pampas Argentinas)
aboutt:
approximately
(aproximadamente)
stood: were standing (se alzaban, se
levantaban)
cattle and sheep: cows and sheep (ganado y ovejas)
a large number: many (gran cantidad)
soil: land (suelo)
level: horizontal (horizontal)
girth: circumference (circunferencia)
spongy: like a sponge (esponjosa)
utterly: completely, absolutely (completamente)
unfit: not fit, inappropriate, inadequate (inadecuada) |
to
rot away: become putrid (pudrirse)
ripe: mature,
not green (madura)
water melon: large oblong melon (sandía)
glossy: bright (brillante)
poisonous: venomous (tóxicas, venenosas)
grand-looking: majestic (majestuoso)
uses: utility (utilidad)
landmark: the position of a prominent object in a particular landscape (hito,
punto de referencia)
afforded: gave, provided, supplied (proveía)
shade: relative darkness caused by light rays being intercepted by
the ombú branches (sombra) |
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MAS "CUENTOS
CORTOS LATINOAMERICANOS"
FORO
INICIO |
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