READ THIS
Oom Schalk Lourens tells the story of how, when looking after cattle in the Marico district, he lay down
to rest awhile and suddenly woke to find a leopard sniffing his boots. No-one, however, will believe him
. . .
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE:
Overhead a lonely aasvoël wheeled, circling slowly round and round without flapping his
wings, and I knew that not even a calf could pass in any part of the sky between the tip of my toe and that
aasvoël without my observing it immediately. What was more, I could go on lying there under
the withaak and looking for the cattle like that all day, if necessary. As you know, I am not the sort of
farmer to loaf about the house when there is a man's work to be done.
The more I screwed up my eyes and gazed at the toe of my boot, the more it looked like Abjaterskop. By
and by it seemed that it actually was Abjaterskop, and I could see the stones on top of it, and the bush
trying to grow up its sides, and in my ears there was a far-off humming sound, like bees in an orchard on
a still day. As I have said, it was very pleasant.
Then a strange thing happened. It was as though a huge cloud, shaped like an animal's head and with
spots on it, had settled on top of Abjaterskop. It seemed so funny that I wanted to laugh. But I didn't.
Instead I opened my eyes a little more and felt glad to think that I was only dreaming. Because otherwise
I would have had to believe that the spotted cloud on Abjaterskop was actually a leopard, and that he was
gazing at my boot. Again I wanted to laugh. But then, suddenly, I knew.
Have you looked at the questions in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer the following questions:
Why is "aasvoël" written in italics? (2)
[Need help?]
Words that are from a foreign language are usually written in italics. In this case, "aasvoël"
is Afrikaans for "vulture" and must therefore be written in italic script.
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Comment on the irony in the sentence, "I am not the sort of farmer to loaf about the house when there
is a man's work to be done." (3)
[Need help?]
Irony is a statement whose meaning is the precise opposite to what is being stated.
Herman Charles Bosman noted that most farmers sat on the "stoep" of their farmhouses drinking
coffee while their labourers did all the work.
In this case, Oom Schalk Lourens lies on his back looking for the cattle. He says that he is doing
"man's work" whereas he is in fact "being very lazy".
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Explain how the toe of Oom Schalk Lourens's boot slowly came to look more and more like
Abjaterskop. (4)
[Need help?]
It is possible that it is simply Lourens's imagination at work, imagining seeing the slopes of Abjaterskop,
then the bushes.
On the other hand, it is also possible that the bushes are tufts of fur from the leopard, which the speaker
imagines to be bushes.
Then he sees a huge cloud, which is in fact the head of the leopard appearing above the toe of his boot.
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What was the "far-off humming sound"? (2)
[Need help?]
Could this perhaps be the leopard purring?
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Explain the "huge cloud" that appeared to settle on Abjaterskop. (4)
[Need help?]
The leopard was approaching Lourens quietly as he lay on his back on the ground, imagining that his foot
was Abjaterskop. Then the head appears over the toe of his boot.
Because he was pretending that his boot was Abjaterskop, it would be easy for him to imagine that the
whitish leopard's head was a great cloud.
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Oom Schalk Lourens says, "Instead I opened my eyes a little more and felt glad to think that I was only
dreaming."
- Was he only dreaming? Explain your answer with reference to what follows in the
story. (6)
[Need help?]
There are indications that perhaps the whole episode is in Schalk Lourens's imagination.
- He is lying down, possibly sleeping.
- Certainly no-one in the post office believes him.
And yet, what about the leopard that does then appear? That was certainly not in his imagination.
It seems that the author wishes you to think about it: perhaps Lourens was sleeping; perhaps the incident
really happened.
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What causes Oom Schalk to change his opinion from "very pleasant" as he listens to the far-off
humming sound, to feeling less than glad? (2)
[Need help?]
The whole incident appears most pleasant: Abjaterskop was in view, a gentle humming noise in the
background like bees buzzing. Finally a great storm cloud appearing on the mountain.
But suddenly all this changes as Lourens realises it is not a dream but that the storm cloud is in reality the
head of a leopard, and that the gentle humming noise might have been coming from the leopard!
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Why do you think Oom Schalk worries about his appearance at this time? (2)
[Need help?]
This, of course, is a comic interjection to make the reader laugh.
Oom Schalk Lourens is presented as a proud man, a man who is careful not to dress shabbily.
And yet he is indeed dressed shabbily. He is in fact the stereotype farmer who reveals no culture
whatever.
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