DISCUSSION 1. What in T’s past might have caused him to decide to wreck Old ‘aisry’s houset 2. Thisstoryfocuseson the destucive tendencies that ie beneath the surface in all of us. Do you think the sory exaggerates Explain, 5. Mile’ parens order him 10 go to Church land evidently he customarily tends church); the boys give Old ‘Misery a blanket and buy hi food 30 te won't go hungry. How can these postive acts be reconciled with the ‘wanton destuction of Old Mises Ws father? had on Tt THE PHOENIX by Sylvia Townsend Warner Loo stawbery, a nobleman, collected birds, He had the finest aviary in Europe, so lage that eagles didnot find i uncomvorable, so well aid out that both hummingbirds and snow-buntings had a ci sate that suited them perfectly. But for many year> the fines set of apartments remained empty, with justa abel saying: "PHOENIX. Habitat: Arabia” Fan Te Gata Calle Bey Sy Topmsaed Wne Co 1840, copyeat @ renewed 7968 by Syne Townsend Ware. [tig cere. Reprised by ermuon of The Vey Pres, ‘ne and Chao & Wind 586 / MODERN SHORT STORIES 4. (a) What might be the significance fd Miser’s name? (b) How is his past similar that of. (e) What influence might this have: (a Might T's behavior hase been Influenced by theft that he orginally ame From 3 higher socal cis han the working-class boys of Wornsley ‘Common? Explain. tween the Blitz bombings and the Activities ofthe boys? 1B) What generalization might the foue? author be heting at? 6. To what extent fs the “back coal big focked up inside you" which mentioned in "On Saturday. After ‘on aso at work on the chiracters In "The Destuetors”? Werninc 1. White the explanation given by one ofthe boys ipreerably To his p= tensor othe police of what happened 10 Old Miers howe. 2. White an’ ending-happy or un- happy—for Old Miter’ sory once Ths house hs been destroyed. Many authorities on bitd life had assured Lord Strawberry thatthe phoenix isa fabulous bird, orthat the breed was long extinct. Lord Strawberry was un: convinced: his family had always believed in phoe- nixes. At intervals he received from his agents (to- gether with statements oftheir expenses birds which they declared were the phoenix but which turned ou tobe orioles, macaws, turkey buzzards dyed orange, lc, oF stufed cross-breeds, ingeniously assembled from variouz plumage. Finally Lord Stawberry went himself to Arabia, where, after some months, he found a phoenix, won its confidence, caught it, and brought it home in perfect condition.It was a remarkably fine phoenix, witha charming -character—atfable to the other birds in the aviary and much attached to Lord Strawberry. Onits arrival in England it made a grea stir among omnithologists, journalists, poets, and millers, and was constantly ‘Visited, But it was not puffed up by these attentions, and when it was no longer in the news, and the visits fell off it showed no pique oF rancour. it ate well, and seemed perfectly contented. It costs a yeat desl of money to keep up an aviary. ‘When Lord Strawbery died he died penniless. The aviary came on the marke. In normal times the rarer birds, and certainly the phoenix, would have been bid for by the trustees of Europe's great zoological Societies or by private persons in the U.S.A.; butasit happened Lord Strawberry died just after a world war, when both maney and bicd-seed were hard to come by (indeed the cost of bird-seed was one of the things which had ruined Lord Strawberry). The Lon- ddon Times urged in a leader that the phoenix be bought for the London Zoo, saying that a nation of bird-overs had a meal ight to own such ararity; and a fund, called the Strawberry Phoenix Fund, was ‘opened. Students, naturalists, and school children contributed according to their means; but their ‘means were small, and there were no large dona- tions, So Loed Strawberry’s executors (who had the death duties to consden closed withthe higher offer ‘of Mr, Tancred Podero, owner and proprietor of Poldero’s Wizard Wonderworld. For quite a while tr. Poldero considered his phoe- nix a bargain, It wes a civil and obliging bird, and ‘adapted ise readily to its new surroundings. it did not cost much to feed, it did not mind children; and though it had no wicks, Mr. Poldero supposed it ‘would soon pick up some. The publicity of the Straw- berry Phoenix Fund was now most helpful. Almost every contributor now saved up another half-crown, inorder to see the proenix. Others who had not con- tributed to the fund, even paid double to look at it fn the fiveshilling days, But then business slackened. The phoenix was a5 handsome as ever, and as amiable; but, as Mr Poldero said, it hadn't got Udge. Even at popular prices the phoenix was not really popular. was 100 ‘quiet, t00 classical. So people went instead to watch the antics ofthe batoons, orto admire the crocodile ‘who had eaten the woman, ‘One day Mr. Poldero said to his manager, Mr. Ramkin’ “How long since any fool paid to look at the phoenix?” ‘Matter of three weeks," replice Mr. Ramin, “Eating his head off,” said Mr, Poldero, “Let alone the insurance, Seven shillings a week it costs me to insure that bird, and | might as well insure the Arch- bishop of Canterbury.” “The public don't like him. He's too quiet for them, that’s the trouble. Won't mate nor nothing And I've tried him with no end of pretty polies, ospreys, and Cochin-Chinas, and the Lord knows what. But he won't look at them.” “Wonder if we could swap him fora livelier one,” said Mr, Polder. “impossible, There's only one of him at a time.” ‘Go on!” ‘mean it Haven't you ever read what it says on the label?” ‘They went o the phoenix’s cage. It flapped its wings politely, but they paid no atention. They read: “Paasy, Phoenix phoenixissima formosissima arabiana. This rare and fabulous bid is unique, The World's Old Bachelor. Has no mate and doesn’t want one, When old, sets fre to itself and emerges miraculously rebom, Specially imported from the Fas.” ve got an idea,” said Mr. Poldero. “How old do you suppose that bird is? ‘Looks ints prime to me,” said Mr, Ramin “Suppose,” continued Mr. Poldero, “we could somehow get him alight? We'd advertise it before hand, of course, work up interest. Then we'd have a row bird, and a bird with some romance about it 3 bird with a lifestory. We could sella bird lke that.” ‘Me. Ramkin nodded. "ve read aboutit in a book,” he said. "You've got to give them scented woods and whatnot, and they build @ nest and sit down on it and catch fre spon- taneous, But they won't do it tll they're old. That's the snag, "Leave that to me,” said Mr. Poldero, “You get those scented woods, and 'ldo the ageing” It was not easy o age the phoenix. Its allowance of food was halved, and halved again, but though it frew thinner its eyes were undirmed and its plum- age glossy as ever. The heating was turned off; but itpuffed out its feathers against the cold, and seemed none the worse, Other birds were put into its cage, birds of a peevish and quarrelsome nature. They Pecked and chivied it; bt the phoenix was so civil THE PHOENIX / 509.and amiable that after a day or two they lost their animosity. Then Mr, Poldero tried alley cats. These ‘could not be won by good manners, but the phoenix: darted above their heads and flapped its golden wings in their faces, and daunted them. ‘Mr. Poldeso turned to a book on Arabia, and read that the climate was dry. “Aha!” said he. The phoe- nix was moved to a small cage that had a sorinkler in the ceiling. Every night the sprinkler was turned ‘on. The phoenix began to cough. Mr. Poldero had another goed idea, Daily he stationed hinselt in front of the cage to jeer atthe bird and abuse it ‘When spring was come, Me, Poldero felt justified in beginning a pubiicty campaign about the ageing phoenix, The old public favourite, he said, was near- ing its end. Meanwhile he tested the bird's reactions ‘every few days by putting a few tuft of foul-smelling straw and some strands of rusty barbed wire nto the cage, to see if it were interested in nesting yat. One day the phoenix began turning over the straw. Mr Foldero sigred a contract for the tlm rights, At last the hour seemed ripe. Itwas a fine Saturday evening in May. For some weeks the public interes: in the ageing phoenix had been working up, and the ad= mission charge had risen to five shillings. The en- closure was thronged. The lights and the cameras vere trained on the cage, and a loud-speaker pro- Claimed tothe audience the rarity of what was about to take place “The phoenix,” said the loud speaker, “isthe ai tocrat of birdlife. Only the rarest and most expensive specimens of otiental wood, drenched in exotic perfumes, will tempt him to construct his stange love-nest.” Now a nest assortment of twigs and shavings, strongly scented, was shoved into the cage. “The phoenix,” the loud-speaker continued, “sas ‘capricious as Cleopatra, as luxurious as la du Barry, as heady as asrain of wild gypsy music. All the fan: tastic pomp and passion of the ancient East, it an- uorous magic, its subtle crueties “Laws!” cied a woman in the crowd, “He's ‘A quiver sted the dulled plumage. The phoenix turned its heac from side to side. It descended, tag ering, from its perch. Then wearily it began to pull about the twigs and shavings. The cameras clicked, the lights blazed full om the cage. Rushing to the loud-speaker Mr. Poldero ex- claimed: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, this isthe telling moment the world has breathlessly awaited. The legerd of Centuries 1s matenalizing betore our modern eyes. The phoenix...” The phoenis settled on its pyre and appeared to fall asleep. The film director said) “well, if it doesnt evaluate more than this, mark it instructional ‘At that moment the phoenix and the pyre burst into flames. The flames steamed upwards, leaped out on every side. Ina minute or two everything was burned to ashes, and some thousand people, including Mr. Poldero, perished in the blaze, o DISCUSSION 1 Consast the two owners of the Phoenix and ther weatment of the bir 2. What _major misukes did Poldero make about the phoenix? 3. (a) What the major target ofthe "ste in thi sory? ‘WRITING 11, Write a news story describing the inysteriovs cenfagration. 2. Bing sone other mythological creature—the Sphine, a centaur, or 2 cragon or eample—ino the made ‘world and concoct a sory around is (by Are there any minor targets? explain 44 Both “The Destucors” and “The Phoenix” contin allegorical ele- ments, What are they? 590 / MODERN SHORT STORIES