A cura di Paola Della Valle 
 
 A historical overview of the largest empire of all time, from its origins to the decline and then the Commonwealth, through five stories from the five continents, told by: Joseph Conrad (An Outpost of Progress), keen observer of European colonialism in Africa; Rudyard Kipling (Lispeth, India); Henry Lawson (The Drover’s Wife, Australia); Henry Rider Haggard (Long Odds, South Africa); Gilbert Parker (A Man, A Famine and a Heathen Boy, Canada).
 Stimulating in-depth analyses enrich each story. 
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Transcripts - Summing-up Activities
 
 Uno sguardo storico al più grande impero di tutti i tempi, dalle origini al declino e al Commonwealth con cinque storie per i cinque continenti narrate da: J. Conrad (An Outpost of Progress, acuto osservatore del colonialismo britannico in Africa); R. Kipling (Lispeth, India); H. Lawson (The Drover’s Wife, Australia); H. R. Haggard (Long Odds, Sudafrica); G. Parker (A Man, a Famine and a Heathen Boy, Canada).

History of the British Empire: Birth and Decline

Joseph Conrad

Story 1 – An Outpost of Progress

Extension – From Heart of Darkness to Apocalypse Now

History of the British Empire: Colonial India

Rudyard Kipling

Story 2 – Lispeth

Extension – The voice of non-violence: Mahatma Gandhi

History of the British Empire: Colonial Australia

Henry Lawson

Story 3 – The Drover’s Wife

Extension – Australian identity: the bush and the Aborigines

History of the British Empire: Colonial South Africa

Henry Rider Haggard

Story 4 – Long Odds

Extension – From lost worlds to psychoanalysis

History of the British Empire: Colonial Canada

Gilbert Parker

Story 5 – A Man, a Famine and a Heathen Boy

Extension – Canada’s indigenous peoples

Summing-up activities

Glossary

4  Long Odds Story BEFORE READING 1 Look at the title. What does  long odds  mean? Choose from the following options (they all refer to betting on horse racing). a. Low numbers that show a low risk of losing. b. High numbers that show a high risk of losing. c. Average numbers that show a moderate risk of losing. 2 What do you think the story is about? a. A risky, adventurous event. b. A romantic love story. c. A ghost or horror story. 3 The story is set in colonial South Africa. What do you know about this country? Choose from the options below. a. To its north lie Tanzania, Zambia,Angola / Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe. b. About 40 / 80 % of the population is of black African ancestry. c. Two of its 11 official languages are of European origin (Afrikaans and English / German and English); all the others are Arabic / Bantu languages. d. English is the first / fifth most spoken language. e. South Africa was first discovered by the Dutch / Portuguese. f. The first Europeans to settle were Dutch / British. g. The Boer settlers were of Dutch, Flemish, German and French / French, Scandinavian and British origin. h. The indigenous population belongs to the ethnic groups of Tutsi and Yoruba / Xhosa and Zulu. i. The Boers and British competed in that area because it was rich in gold and diamonds / ivory and gum. j. South Africa was notorious for  apartheid , which means: an institutionalised system of segregation / slavery. Imperial propaganda (c. 1899). 66 

The British Long OddsEmpire T Story 4 The story which is narrated in the following pages came to me from the lips of my old friend Allan Quatermain, or Hunter Quatermain, as we used to call him in South Africa. He told it to me one evening when I was staying at his house in Yorkshire, shortly before the death of his only son. This sad event upset him so much that he immediately left England accompanied by his old fellow-voyagers, Sir Henry Curtis and Captain Good, and has now vanished into the dark heart of Africa. He is persuaded that a white people1 exists somewhere in the vast, still unexplored, interior and his great ambition is to find them before he dies; but I suspect he will never return. It was the last evening of my stay there and Captain Good was dining with us. Quatermain had drunk a few glasses of old port. He was generally an abstemious2 man, and the wine made him talk more than usual. Dear old man! I can see him now, limping3 up and down the living room with his grey hair, his wrinkled4 cheeks and his large dark eyes. The whole place was hung with trophies of his many hunting expeditions and he had a story about each of them.  Ah, you brute!  he said, stopping beneath an unusually large u skull of a lion, its jaws5 distended to their utmost6 width.  You have given me a lot of trouble for the last dozen years!   Tell us the yarn7, Quatermain,  said Good.  You have often promised to tell me, and you never have.   You had better not ask me to,  he answered,  because it is a long one.   All right,  I said,  the evening is young, and there is enough port.  m 1. people: population. 2. abstemious: a person who does not drink alcohol. 3. limping: walking with difficulty because one leg is injured. 4. wrinkled: full of folds and lines in your skin. 5. jaws: the mouth and teeth of an animal. 6. utmost: the greatest possible. 7. yarn: story of adventures or travels. 67 

Una prospettiva storica sull'Impero britannico con cinque storie rappresentative dai cinque continenti: Africa, India, Australia, Sudafrica e Canada.

The British Empire - Collana Rainbows

Level B2 • Intermediate - Collana RAINBOWS

The British Empire

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