SKOPEO CHRONICLES #28
Major Snowfall Closes Schools!
A major snowfall in our area has closed the schools in the district again! Many think this second snow week is too much but there have been reports that the schools were actually open on all of the days of the past week except for Tuesday, the day of the actual snowfall. It is believed that though the schools were open the school buses did not come to most of the areas that were hard to reach in a deep snow. Many are in favor of firing the district superintendent but others are willing to let the matter pass. Luckily, the Skopeo Home School didn’t close so the children from the society were not deprived of their week’s education, although they were given an extended afternoon break. Stay tuned for more news!
Feature Story
The Adventures Of Aneas.
By Rosemary Carastapasta
While Ulysses was seeking his own home, far away in Greece, Aneas had fled the ruins of Troy with his elderly father, his wife and young son. During the flight and confusion of battle Aneas’ wife was lost but he continued to flee with what remained of his family. Aneas carried his father on his shoulders because the old man was to weak to run with the rest of the family and keep up.
When they departed they found many other refugees, both men and women, waiting on the outskirts of the city. All of these joined Aneas, making them his leader and together they set sail to find a safe place.
The first place they stopped at was an island where Aneas stopped to make a fire. When he came to a tree and began breaking off twigs, he was met by an astonishing and horrifying sight. When he broke off the first twig the tree dripped real blood. With the second twig, even more blood fell and a voice crying “ Have mercy, Aneas. This is the voice of Polydore, a prince of your own city.” Polydore, having been sent to that island for safety during the war with his treasures, the king pf the island had him murdered and stole his jewels and wealth. When Aneas learned of this he instantly departed from the accursed place with all of his companions.
He then made his way toward the island of Apollo and inquired of the oracle, what course he should take. The oracle gave him this answer: “ To the land of the mothers of Troy.” Aneas and his companions supposed this to be Crete where the forefathers of Troy were said to have come from, so they set off for this land. But, no sooner had they lodged there and built houses when disaster struck and they were forced to continue on. It was then that they learned that the true ancestors did not come Crete but from another, more distant and ancient land. To find this place, they again set out…
The King Shall Come Unto His Own
“And the King shall come unto his own,” murmured Agathorn as he tossed and turned in his bed. That was the end of the prophecy. He slipped to the old parchment that was the calendar to make sure. Yes, it was November twenty ninth. Finally he could stand it no longer. He slipped out of the silken bed and crept towards the door. It opened with a creak.
That night the moon saw a thin figure dressed from head to toe in black armor, on a coal black horse riding swiftly north. It would be dangerous, but he had promised.
Agathorn was a youth about eighteen years of age who lived as a prince in the castle of Thorka. Two years ago a mysterious knight had come into the realm and revealed his personage to Agathorn. Agathorn had promised that on the same night in two years he would be at the border of the canyons that marked the beginning of the realm of Gorian. That would be tomorrow night at twelve.
Gorian was a sorcerer. A sorcerer who had taken possession of the great realm that had once belonged to the king Azion. Gorian had killed Azion, the rightful king of the realm and his son Arolan and now had the land and the old famous castle that stood on the mountain in the middle of it all. But it was not the land that had so troubled the knight. But that was not as important to the Jerathon, son of Arolan as was the taste of revenge. Revenge. Agathorn remembered how the knight’s eyes had glowed when he said that word. He did not like to remember the look. He was glad he was not the enemy of that man who would stop at nothing for sweet revenge. And yet, it still was hard for young Agathorn to walk into an adventure that should be none of his business. But it was not as easy for some, as easy as it was for daring young Agathorn, to thrust themselves into this ‘disastrously dangerous plan’ as some later expressed it.
But there he was, riding away at a great pace in the direction of the dreaded canyons of Gorian. With fast riding, he arrived there two minutes before twelve the next night. As he stood panting at the first boulder a dark figure slipped from the top of the rock down beside him. It was Jerathon. “I did not think you would come,” he said, “and you should be on your guard,” he smiled “You’re lucky I was not Gorian. But before talk come and let us go to a cave I know of so I can explain things a bit better.”
‘Well,’ thought Agathorn as they ran along the old paths through the canyons, “I suppose I have thrust myself into it at last.” He sighed. “But if it’s all moonlight walks in the flatter part of the canyons then I suppose I should be all right.” He did not know how wrong he was.
To be continued….
C. V.
DID YOU KNOW?
-That Louisa May Alcott’s house has been transformed into a museum visited by hundreds of people every year?
-That Salukis, a special breed of
dogs, can run even faster than gazelles?
-That there are at least six different spellings for the name “Thotmes”, an Egyptian pharaoh?
- That there are at least eighty different spellings for the name “Shakespeare.”
- That Shakespeare invented nearly two thousand words!
- R.C.
How Many, How Much?
How many slams in an old screen door?
Depends on how loud you shut it.
How many slices in a loaf of bread?
Depends on how thin you cut it.
How much good inside a day?
Depends on how good you live ‘em.
How much love inside a friend?
Depends on how much you give ‘em
-Shel Silverstein
This Bridge
To those mysterious lands you long to see:
Through Gypsy camps and swirling
Arabian fairs
And moonlit woods where unicorns run free.
So come and walk awhile with me and share
The twisting trails and wondrous worlds I‘ve
Known
But this bridge will only take you halfway
There-
The last few steps you’ll have to take alone.
By Shel Silverstein
SONG OF EARENDIL
Earendil was a mariner
that tarried in Arvernien;
he built a boat of timber felled
in Nimbrethil to journey in;
her sails he wove of silver fair,
of silver were her lanterns made,
her prow was fashioned like a swan,
and light upon her banners laid.
In panoply of ancient kings,
in chained rings he armoured him;
his shining shield was scored with runes
to ward all wounds and harm from him;
his bow was made of dragon-horn,
his arrows shorn of ebony;
of silver was his habergeon,
his scabbard of chalcedony;
his sword of steel was valiant,
of adamant his helmet tall,
an eagle-plume upon his crest,
upon his breast and emerald.
Beneath the Moon and under star
He wandered far from northern strands,
Bewildered on enchanted ways
beyond the days of mortal lands.
From gnashing of the Narrow Ice
Where shadow lies on frozen hills,
From nether heats and burning waste
he turned in haste, and roving still
On starless waters far astray
at last he came to Night of Naught, and passed and never sight he saw
of shining shore nor light he sought.
-Bilbo Baggins
From the Fellowship of the Ring
To be continued . . .
JOKES and RIDDLES ROOM
Teacher: How long did the Hundred Years’
War Last?
Student: “I don’t know, ten years?”
Teacher: “No, think carefully. How old is a
five-year-old horse?”
Student, thoughtfully: “Five years old”
Teacher: So how long did the Hundred
Year’s War last?”
Student: “Now I get it- five years!”
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Our humble apologies for the delay in the printing of this paper. As some of you have noticed, we have changed the formatting of our paper and the order of the subjects it contains. We hope that you will like the new look.
Some of you may have noticed that another thing we are trying to bring begin is alphabetically organized advertisements. We are organizing them by their category title and we would like the contributors to the advertisements column to please title their contribution according to its category.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Shakespeare: Inventor and Playwright?
- R.C. (with thanks to Diane Stanley for her inspiring book, The Bard Of Avon)
Have you ever stopped to think where many of the words we use frequently today, actually came from? Well, chances are every day you say dozens of words all “invented” by one person. Who in the world? Shakespeare! William Shakespeare, a playwright living in the Elizabethan age, is very famous today but we remember him mostly for his plays, which people all over the world still read and adore today. There are very few of us who give him the credit for hundreds of words we use today.
Here are just a few he thought of:
gloomy, upstairs, downstairs, gust, excellent, majestic, hurry, lonely, radiance, leapfrog, countless, and hint.
Next time you complain about the “gloomy” weather that makes you lonely, or tell someone to run “upstairs” and bring you the “excellent book” you have been reading and “hurry” up about it, remember that you are quoting Shakespeare!
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Books
The Skopeo Library would like to mention the “new craze books” that are rotating this month. The Lord Of Rings are in style and show no intention of giving up their position to any other book on the shelf. Hurry though; there are other people on the waiting list wanting to borrow the books!
Cinema
Playing, next week: The Fellowship Of The Ring. Don’t miss your favorite movie! -Skopeo Cinema
EVERYONE’S HELPFUL HINTS
Will the persons who so graciously contribute to the keeping of the hearth fires going please remember to sweep the stairs clean when filling the coal buckets?
I realize that the occasional appearance of a rat or mouse has been seen in the coal area of our lovely abode, but lately the remains of nuts have been seen laying around in various place of the home. We do believe this is from a rodent of a larger kind. Will this two-legged, 6 foot 4 creature kindly place your nutshells in the trashcan?
A.H.
Letters
Dear Wlions society,
We are interested in knowing a little more concerning your society at present. We have not heard from any of the members, save Margie Shallot, in a long time and wait with bated breath for more information.
Sincerely,
The Skopeo Society