New Yorkers (Audio & Video)

New Yorkers is a collection of short stories written by O'Henry. Although these stories talk about the lives of poor and middle class New Yorkers over one hundred years ago, people still enjoy reading them.

Mutiny on the Bounty -- 1984 movie excerpts

[Updated December 28, 2014]
After you have finished reading Mutiny on the Bounty, you will probably enjoy watching the 1984 movie version. Many people think that this is the most accurate version.

Here are scenes showing Captain Bligh:

Here are a few more scenes:

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 and 1962 movies) -- Girlfriends & Wives

[Updated on December 28, 2014]

The sailors on the Bounty hated Captain Bligh and his harsh military discipline (嚴厲的軍紀). English sailors were unhappy about many other things as well: the food was very bad, sailors were often paid late (sometimes TWO years late!) and the pay was not enough because of inflation (通貨膨脹). 

A press gang looking for "volunteer" sailors (public domain image from Wikipedia)

Even worse, many sailors never wanted to be on ships. There was a shortage (短缺) of sailors, so the British navy paid "press gangs" to grab men (隨便抓人) from 15 to 55 years old and force them to join the navy (迫使他們加入海軍). The press gangs were happy: they got paid for their "work" ("impressing" men = kidnapping 綁架) and they didn't have to work on ships. In 1805, more than half of the sailors in the Royal Navy were "impressed" men.

Near the beginning of the movie, Captain Bligh punishes a sailor for not following orders:



Imagine how the sailors on the Bounty felt when they came to Tahiti. They were in a warm place full of flowers, they had lots of delicious food, and they met beautiful, friendly women who were sexually free. 
When the sailors left Tahiti, their friends gave them lots of gifts. Captain Bligh didn't care about his men. When the sailors came back on the ship, Captain Bligh took their food for himself. Welcome back to hell! When you know all of these facts, the mutiny is not a surprise.

Q: What have you got there? A: Monday wash.

Put your stuff there.
Well, it's mine, sir. It's a gift.
Captain's orders.
Put it down and go forward!
Shore leave in heaven, duty in hell again.	上岸去天堂,上船去地獄
What have you got there?	你那是什麽？
Monday wash, sir.	禮拜一洗好的衣服 （按照英美風俗習慣，禮拜一就是該洗衣服的日子）
That's her name--Monday Wash.	這是我給他取的名字：禮拜一的衣服
Maggs, take that "laundry" for the captain's table.	這些衣服拿給船長享用
But, sir! Ow!
Now get forward!
Come along, there. Hurry!
Did he hurt you, lad?
No, but one day, I'll take that cane away. Look behind you.

 In the scene below, Fletcher Christian decides that a mutiny (= to take the ship away from the captain) is the only answer to the horrible conditions on the ship.



Excerpts from the 1962 version (in color) appear below:

Mutiny on the Bounty -- Flogging

[Updated on 28 December, 2014]

Mutiny on the Bounty has been made into a movie many times, but many people think the 1935 movie was the best. The producers spent $2,000,000 to make all the details in this movie accurate. 

There was a mutiny on Captain Bligh's ship. Why did the men on the Bounty hate Captain Bligh so much? These notes will help you understand.

The surgeon on the Bounty was often drunk, but he was friendly, often told jokes, and everybody liked him. Everybody but Captain Bligh! In the following scene, he is punished for poor discipline (= he didn't correctly follow all of the rules on the ship) by flogging with a cat o' nine tails ("九尾貓" = 九尾鞭).

Cat o' nine (CC BY-SA OwenX, Wikipedia)

At that time, flogging was a common punishment in the British navy.

Flogging (public domain image)

The Flogging (= punishment by hitting) of the Ship's Surgeon (= doctor). This is a brief scene from the 1935 film of Mutiny on the Bounty.

Movie Dialog	Easy English Notes
I've taken the liberty of telling the surgeon to remain below, sir.	I've taken the liberty of V+ing = You didn't tell me to do this, but I did it because I think it's right.
He's really not able to report.
I'll have no drunken relic holding up the discipline aboard my ship.	I'll have no X = I am angry about X. I will not let this happen; Relic = old man (an insulting word); Discipline = making people follow rules.
What's more, Mr. Byam, bring him on deck immediately, or I'll take the liberty of having you seized up and flogged.	If you don't bring him on deck (= upstairs on a ship) right now, I will punish you instead.
Mr. Byam doesn't want to disobey your orders, but I beg you, don't make that old man come on deck.
He can't even walk.
If you don't believe me, go below and see for yourself.
Are you presuming to give me orders?	= Do you think you are more important than me, so you can tell me what to do?
Reporting on deck for duty, sir.
Mr. Morrison, do your duty. Four dozen, I believe.	= If I remember correctly, this man should be hit 48 times
Four dozen it is, sir.	= That's right
Nothing lost, Mr. Christian.
Well?
What did you expect, Mr. Bligh?
The man's dead.
I call this ship's company to bear witness.	= I want everybody on this ship to remember what happened here.
You killed him!
Silence!	= Nobody should say anything!
Ship's company dismissed.	= Everybody can now leave.
..
Wilson, punishment postponed 24 hours.	= We will wait one more day to punish him.
Aye, aye, sir.	= Yes, sir.
Do you hear me?
Ship's company dismissed!
Bear a hand. Take him below.

Opinion about Victor Frankenstein (Syntax Trees)

Most English sentences are usually made of two parts: NP (Noun Phrase) and VP (Verb Phrase). A short way to say this is "S = NP VP."

Let's start with "He was a brilliant scientist, and with hard work, he was successful in creating life." This is really two sentences:

He was a brilliant scientist [Syntax Tree]

AND

We can put them together with a coordinating conjunction (CC: and, or), a word that connects two similar things (two nouns, two verbs, two sentences etc.):

He was a brilliant scientist, and with hard work, he was successful in creating life [Syntax Tree]

Here are some more sentences and their syntax trees: