The Cask of Amontillado

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settled--but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.

It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good-will. I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation.

He had a weak point--this Fortunato--although in other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared. He prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians have the true virtuoso spirit. For the most part their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the time and opportunity--to practise imposture upon the British and Austrian millionaires. In painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like his countrymen, was a quack--but in the matter of old wines he was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from him materially: I was skillful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could.

It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting party-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells. I was so pleased to see him that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand.

I said to him: "My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking to-day! But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts."

"How?" said he. "Amontillado? A pipe? Impossible! And in the middle of the carnival!"

"I have my doubts," I replied; "and I was silly enough to pay the full Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter. You were not to be found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain."

"Amontillado!"

"I have my doubts."

"Amontillado!"

"And I must satisfy them."

"Amontillado!"

"As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi. If any one has a critical turn, it is he. He will tell me-- "

"Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry."

"And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for your own."

"Come, let us go."

"Whither?"

"To your vaults."

"My friend, no. I will not impose upon your good nature. I perceive you have an engagement. Luchesi--" 

"I have no engagement--come."

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This was about a man who vowed revenge to Fortunato. For several instances, Fortunato insulted and verbally abused this man. Not knowing that this man was so hurt and he planned to kill Fortunato.

This man Fortunato was respected and feared because of his pride in his taste of special wine. Even a smell only, he can recognize if the wine being served is very special. But because of his being drunkard, he was being caught and the revenge by a man to him was succeeded.

The man promised Fortunato a king wine if he will go with him, but the wine was being kept in a vault and he had to follow him in order to taste the wine being offered to him. Fortunate was being killed thorough suffocation, the man locked Fortunato and obtained his death inside the vault.

In times when we are being hurt, we begin to think of a revenge to the man who have done us wrong. It is so painful to bear an insult especially coming from a friend. A drunken man can easily utter words that can hurt anybody else. Physically abuse can vanish abruptly but words especially, words that can insult a man will never ceased in the mind of a man. They said that you can hurt physically a man and time will heal the wound but if you hurt somebody by uttering words, will never heal the wound even if so many years passed.

A very big problem is being created by the wrong doings you have done to your fellowmen. If possible, try to avoid hurting someone else. Do good and make friends to everyone. You have to think of some ways wherein you can live your life to the fullest. We have to  shun the thoughts of belittling our fellowmen. In order to avoid quarrel to somebody, we have to think twice our words before we utter. This is one way we can make ourselves happy and by of course creating peace to everyone.

The Picture Wife

        Once upon a time there was a man whose name was Gombei. He was poor and rather weak in the head. He lived in a hut all by himself. No one would marry hi, because he was so simple minded.

        Then one evening, a young woman came to his door and asked if she could spend the night in his hut. Such a beautiful woman Gombei had never seen before and he was only too glad to let her in. that night after supper, the young woman said, “It seems that you live here alone. I am alone too. Would you like mo for your wife? “

        Gombei could not believe his good fortune! And so they were married.

        Gombei’s marriage made him very happy, but it also made it very difficult for him to get his work done. He was so fond of his young wife that he could not bear to turn his eyes away from her, not even for a moment. When he made straw sandals, they often became six feet long before he noticed, for he kept his eyes on his wife and not on his work. When he made straw raincoats, they were sometimes ten or twenty feet long, for he watched to see what his wife was doing instead of paying attention to what he was doing himself. No one could wear his sandals or his raincoats.

        Then he went into the fields to work. Every few minutes, he came running home, shouting “Are youy there, dear wife?” So he did not accomplish much in a day.

        “Simply won’t do!” said his wife. So she went to the town and asked an artist to paint her portrait. She took it home and told Gombei, “ Here is my picture . hang it on the nearest mulberry tree. If you can see it while you are working in the fields, you won’t miss me so much”.

        Gombei did as he was told. Every few minutes, he stopped work to look at his wife’s portrait, but he no longer ran so often. One day, however, a sudden gust of wind caught the picture and blew in into the sky. Gombei tried to catch it, but soon it was out of sight. Crying bitterly, Gombei ran home to tell his wife. “Never mind, dear husband,” she confronted him. “I will go to town and have another picture painted for you.”
        in the meantime the first picture had gone on floating along in the air until finally came fluttering down in the garden of a castle. When the lord of the castle saw it, he immediately fell in love with the woman in the picture. “If there is a portrait, there must be a person,” he thought, and he ordered his men to find the woman and bring her to him without delay.

        The men went from village to village with the picture, asking if anyone knew the woman. At last they came to the village where Gombei lived. “Do you know this woman?” they asked the villagers, showing them the picture.

        Sure enough, when the men went to Gombei;s hut, there they found a beautiful woman who looked exactly like the one in the portrait.

        “We’ll take her to our lord,” they said and they tried to carry out her off.

        “Please don’t take here away,” begged gombei, but all his begging was in vain. He cried so much that his tears made a pool a foot across.

        “Don’t cry so, Gombei,” said his wife. “We can do nothing now, but listen carefully. You must come to the castle on New Year’s Eve. Bring pine trees for the New Year gate decorations when you come. Then we’ll be able to see each other again and all will be well,”

        Before she could say anything more. she was taken away to the castle. Everyday, Gombei wondered if it was time to go yet. At last someone told him that it was New Year’s Eve. He started for the castle with a huge bundle of pine trees on his back. Hew would soon see his clear wife again!

        When he reached the castle gates, he shouted, “Pine trees, pine trees! Fine pine trees for the New Year!”

        Inside the castle, his wife heard him and smiled. It was the first time she had smiled since she was brought into the castle. The Lord was so pleased to see her cheerful that he ordered his servants to call the pine seller in.

        When Gombei appeared, his wife looked even more cheerful. She beamed at him with much delight that the lord thought to himself, If a pine-seller can please her so much, I will become one myself.”

        He ordered Gombei to change clothes with him. Dressed shabbily as a pine-seller, he walked up down in the garden shouting, “Pine trees, pine trees! Fine pine trees for the New Year!”

        This made Gombei’s wife even more pleased. She clapped her little hands and laughed heartily. The lord was so delighted to see her laugh that he danced about in the garden with the pine trees on his back. , “Pine trees, pine trees! Fine pine trees” he shouted again and again. Round and round the garden he danced, and out of the castle gates he went without even noticing.

        As soon as he was outside, Gombei’s wife told the servants to shut the gates of the castle. After a while, the Lord realized that he was no longer in the garden. He went up to the castle gates and to his astonishment, he found them closed. “Let me in, let me in!” he shouted, but no one answered.

        Within the castle gates, Gombei and his clever wife now had everything they could wish for and lived happily ever after.

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A poor and wicked man cannot marry a beautiful woman nowadays. It is only in fantasy wherein this story will come true.

        In this generation, a beautiful woman dream of marrying a rich, handsome and intelligent man. She will use her face as an asset to fulfill her dreams. Maybe only one in a million woman today who will aspire for a poor, ugly and unwitty man. Of course, no woman wanted to experienced hardships in life, she has to do everything to meet and marry a man whom she can lean on and provide her a luxurious life.

        There are only a few who wants to marry a poor, ugly and wicked man.

        For me, if I were to choose, I’d rather use my common sense in selecting the woman whom I can be with the rest of my life. We will be together forever so, I must choose a woman I like and love very much. I have to consider first, the attitude. She must possess the qualities of a good woman, her values, the way she deals with others. She must not be too ugly, she is presentable. Whenever we are in gatherings I am proud of her not hiding her in front of the public.

        But today, if you are wealthy, it is easier to get a woman whom you like most. It is because if you have money and power you are ahead to anybody. You will not be hard up in getting the person you want.

        From the story, the poor and wick man married a pretty woman. Maybe this woman did not exist because it is only in dreams and fantasy wherein this love story happened in real life, it does not happen.

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The Young Terrorist

        There was a violent encounter between a group of terrorists and an army detachment in Mindanao. The terrorists succeeded in wiping out the group of soldiers whom they had ambushed. As the youngest of them was doing the search. He found an unamailed letter in the pocket of a young soldier. Curious to know the content of the letter, he opened it and hurriedly read it.

Dear Mother,
        Please forgive me for leaving you and my brothers and sisters. Don’t ever think that I am a bad son. I had to leave our family even it was against my will because I wanted to improve our family’s life situations. I just want to earn and help my brothers and sisters get an education. I know that what you earn as a vendor is too meager to support our family. That’s why I joined the army.

        As a soldier I have encountered many hardships. Death walks with me everyday. But I am not afraid, for I know that God will protect me. I do my job faithfully and well. That was what you taught me.

        Yesterday, I received my first salary and I’m sending you a postal money order for one thousand five hundred pesos. With the amount, you can buy a sack of rice, a few cans of sardines and pay the tuition fees of Lita and Caloy. I should have sent you twice this amount but I’m not sure if it won’t be lost the mail I’ll sned you the rest after you have answered this letter.

        How’s everybody? Is terry still no. 1 in her class? Does Dan give you anymore problems? Tell Baby she’ll have her dream doll when I come home. Tell the others that we’ll go shopping and eat out when I return. Just pe patient.
        Give my love and regards to them all, and of course to my dearest Cherry. Tell her I miss he. I’ll write her soon.

        Please take care of yourself, Ma. Don’t work too hard. And please don’t worry about me. I shall be home this Christmas. Perhaps.

The young terrorist was beside himself with grief for the first time in his life. Deeply touched by the soldier’s letter, he felt un upheaval, an internal turnoil. As he looks at the young lifeless soldier, he saw himself in him. He began to reexamine his own choice, his ideology, and his own life-style. This event, this tragic encounter arose deep stirrings within him. For the first time he was confronted with the “enemy”- the war. But now, it has put on a new face. The impersonal enemy became an enemy with a name, a person with the same aspirations as he. He remembered his own family, his mother trying to make both ends to meet to feed his little brothers and sisters.

        This encounter revealed to him a universal and a personal aspiration and cry for help. The cry kept ringing in his ears.

        At the break of dawn next day, he headed for twon with the letter in his pocket. As he dropped it into the mailbox, there was only one thought in his mind. Then, slowly he walked toward the camp of the 23^rd Army Detachment.

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 Reaction:

        The man in this story is a member of a terrorist group. They had a violent encounter with an army detachment in Mindanao. One of these soldiers whom they had ambushed touched his heart because of the unmarked letter in the pocket. The letter written by the ambushed soldier was full of love to his mother as well as to his brother and sisters. The hardships of life he experienced forced the soldier to enter the military but the eagerness of this soldier to help his loved ones improved their life became futile. It is because the soldier died before he can mail the letter with a money order inside which will help the family. The young terrorist was full of grief for the first time. He was deeply touched by the soldier’s letter. As he looks at the young lifeless soldier, he saw himself in him. He began to reexamine his own choice, his ideology and his own life-style. He remembered his own family, his mother who had sacrificed a lot to feed his little brother and sisters. As he mailed the letter of the young soldier he realized that his family needs him, slowly he walked toward the camp of the 23^rd army detachment.

        The story does not have a happy ending for the soldiers who sacrificed a lot to protect our native land.

        Some soldiers entered the military to earn a living, for those who cannot afford to continue their studies, they go to the military. It is because they believed that when they are in the military, they will help their family with that small amount, their salary. Some parents also are very proud of their son or daughter who are in the military. Once you entered, you can continue your studies at the same time, protecting the country.

        They said that, if you are a military your one foot is already on the grave. But some, it is a dream wearing a uniform and carrying respect to the young and old alike.

        For the terrorist, maybe when they were still young, it was already inculcated in their minds that the soldiers are their enemies. It is their environment, their enemies. It is in their environment, their parents or friends who convinced them to be a terrorist thinking that if they kill a soldier, it will make them powerful. Only little they know that the soldiers they killed are also like them, have families who are leaning and depending on them. These wrong doings of the terrorist must come to an end; Hope that peace and love will reign in their heart. If this happens, no more war, instead we will have peaceful and prosperous life.

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