along the shore
Then there were those children along the beach...Suddenly, Last Summer · 1959 — 第 26 / 27 章 · 3'48" · B2
Catherine Recalls the Beach Children, Explained：fatal error
The story turns ugly in the white heat. Beyond a wire fence, a band of children — "a flock of plucked birds" — call for bread and drum on tin cans, while Sebastian refuses to look: "Beggars are a social disease in this country." When he finally tries to stop them, Catherine calls it "his fatal error."
あらすじ
Catherine describes the lunch at Cabeza de Lobo: a wire fence separated the restaurant from the beach, and beyond it a band of children, 'like a flock of plucked birds,' called out for bread and made gobbling noises. Sebastian told her not to look, then finally tried to stop them — and fled.
注目の表現
a flock ofa social diseaseget sick ofinstruments of percussion
00:00 / 03:48Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
このシーンの表現
fatal error
a deadly mistake
After telling how Sebastian first tried to set something right, Catherine calls it his fatal error.
Ignoring the warning turned out to be a fatal error.
このシーンの他の表現
- a flock of
a group of birds or sheep
- a social disease
a social ill
- get sick of
grow tired of
- instruments of percussion
percussion instruments
- make out
barely see or discern
このシーンのメモ一覧
62 行のセリフに 28 件のメモ
separated by a fence
...which was fenced off with wire from the restaurant.a short distance from
Our table was less than a yard away from the wire fence.a group of
There was a band of them.a group of birds or sheep
Recalling the scene, Catherine compares the begging children to a flock of plucked birds.
They looked like a flock of plucked birds...as if clause: As if introduces an imagined comparison that is not literally true.
...as if they'd been blown there by the wind...In fast speech they'd been can blur into one quick unit.
...as if they'd been blown there by the wind...shout aloud
They were all calling out, "Pan! Pan! Pan!"ask for by shouting
They were calling for bread?throaty eating sounds
They made gobbling noises with their mouths...no longer able to leave
We were sorry we'd come to the place, but it was too late to go.past perfect: We'd come stands for we had come, marking the action before the regret.
We were sorry we'd come to the place, but it was too late to go.seemed stunned
I told you. Cousin Sebastian wasn't well. His eyes looked dazed.little monsters — A scornful label; only when venting, not in polite talk.
But he said, "Don't look at those little monsters.a social ill
Annoyed by the begging children, Sebastian coldly calls beggars a social disease.
Beggars are a social disease in this country.grow tired of
Sebastian warns Catherine not to look, or she will sour on the whole country.
If you look at them, you get sick of the country.Link serenade and us into one smooth run.
The band of children began to serenade us.percussion instruments
Telling the doctor what the children played, Catherine uses a formal phrase and checks he follows.
Their instruments were the instruments of percussion, know what I mean?barely see or discern
In the blinding white of the beach, Catherine could only just make out what the children held.
As far as I could make out in the white blaze of the sand beach...As far as I runs together quickly.
As far as I could make out in the white blaze of the sand beach...pressed flat
...that had been flattened out and made into...collect from the ground
Things that they'd made or picked up on the beach to make a sort of noise.be entitled to
...and thought nobody had any right to complain or interfere whatsoever.object clause: The clause after thought is its object, spelling out what he believed.
...and thought nobody had any right to complain or interfere whatsoever.keep doing
...except to go on doing as something in him directed.relative clause: The clause after the first time that describes which occasion is meant.
That was the first time that Cousin Sebastian ever attempted...a deadly mistake
After telling how Sebastian first tried to set something right, Catherine calls it his fatal error.
I think that that was his fatal error.run away from
He fled from the place.「Catherine Recalls the Beach Children」を読み解く
What's really going on
The scene is the heart of Catherine's testimony, and it works by refusing to explain. The children are described as animals — 'a flock of plucked birds,' blown in by the white wind — and their music is made from garbage: flattened tin cans beaten together. Sebastian's response is the giveaway: 'Beggars are a social disease in this country. If you look at them, you get sick of the country.' He wants the poor erased from view. Yet when the noise becomes unbearable, he breaks his own rule and tries to stop it, 'the first time that Cousin Sebastian ever attempted to correct a human situation.' Catherine's verdict, 'I think that that was his fatal error,' ties his death to that one act. He had accepted everything, she says, and the moment he interfered, he was doomed.
Theme
ClassSebastian calls beggars 'a social disease' and tells Catherine not to look at the poor children beyond the fence.
PhilosophySebastian's rule is to accept everything and interfere with nothing; the one time he breaks it, Catherine calls it fatal.
このチャプターで学べること
- A crowd can be dismissed as a disease, and the word does the cruelty.
- Get sick of something means you have had more than enough.
- Make out is what you do when your eyes cannot quite tell.
- Catherine's flat tone makes the ending land harder.
発音のポイント
- they'd been — In fast speech they'd been can blur into one quick unit.
- serenade us — Link serenade and us into one smooth run.
- far as I — As far as I runs together quickly.
Beggars are a social disease in this country.Sebastian's cold dismissal of the poor: he treats begging as an illness of the country itself, something to avoid looking at.
We were sorry we'd come to the place, but it was too late to go.Catherine's regret at the restaurant: they already sensed the danger, but Sebastian was too unwell to leave.
I think that that was his fatal error.Her verdict on the moment Sebastian tried to stop the children — the one time he interfered with the world, and it killed him.
What manager? God? You don't understand my cousin.Her sharp reply when the doctor asks if Sebastian complained: he answered to no manager, only to himself — or God.
このシーンについての質問
Why does Sebastian tell Catherine not to look at the children?
He calls beggars 'a social disease' and says looking at them will make you sick of the country. He wants the poverty hidden, not helped.
What instruments do the children play?
They use tin cans strung together and flattened pieces of metal as cymbals — 'instruments of percussion,' as Catherine explains, meaning things you hit to make sound.
Why does Sebastian finally try to stop the children?
The noise and the boys between childhood and adulthood terrify him. Unwell and frightened, he breaks his usual rule and demands that they stop.
Why does Catherine call it his fatal error?
Because it was the first time Sebastian ever tried to correct a human situation. In her telling, that one act of interference led to his death.
What does 'a social disease' mean?
It's Sebastian's phrase for begging — something he sees as a sickness in the country rather than a human problem. The line shows how coldly he regards the poor.
去年の夏 突然に · 全 27 章
すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 27 章find a way outCatherine Tells How Sebastian Died
第 1 章command performanceA Doctor, a Letter, and Money
第 2 章goddess from the machineMrs. Venable Meets Dr. Cukrowicz
第 3 章not unlikeMrs. Venable Shows the Garden
第 4 章mad as a hatterViolet Talks About Her Dead Son
第 5 章at one's wits' endViolet Describes Catherine's Madness
第 6 章in the image ofMrs. Venable Tells the Turtle Story
第 7 章my lips are sealedThe Hollys Come for Sebastian's Clothes
第 8 章inherit the earthMrs. Venable's Empty Chair
第 9 章bossed and bulliedThe Doctor Interviews Catherine
第 10 章to be usedCatherine on Love as Use
第 11 章make a sceneCatherine Recalls the Mardi Gras Ball
第 12 章burn upCatherine Relives the Burning Beach
第 13 章no strings attachedHockstader Shows Off the Million
第 14 章go through probateThe Hollys Visit Catherine
第 15 章go off your rockerCatherine Learns It's a Lobotomy
第 16 章all of a suddenCatherine Asks Where They'll Cut
第 17 章on the menuCatherine on Sebastian's Appetites
第 18 章taken a vowViolet Shows the Death Certificate
第 19 章objects for your pleasureCatherine Confronts Aunt Violet
第 20 章the other way aroundDoctor Fights to Delay the Surgery
第 21 章godforsakenMrs. Venable and the Sealed Coffin
第 22 章have to do withThe Doctor Hypnotizes Catherine
第 23 章third personCatherine Tells the True Story
第 24 章give someone awayViolet Explains the Spider's Web
第 25 章procureCatherine on Procuring for Sebastian
再生中 · 第 26 章fatal errorCatherine Recalls the Beach Children
第 27 章find a way outCatherine Tells How Sebastian Died第 26 / 27 章 · 残り約 4 分