Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

Page 33 text:

FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1942-1943 THREE DAYS IN THE DIARY OF ODYSSEUS' SECOND-IN-COMMAND NINE DAYS AFTER THE FEAST OF ZEUS T has been a very hard day. As usual, I arose at dawn, laved myself in the small stream that flows past my hut, buckled on my armour, and went to Odysseus' tent to re- ceive my orders for the day. I found that he had already risen, and I received my instructions immediately. I was to lead the Ithacan men to Agamemnon and place them at his disposal as Odysseus, in yesterday's battle in front of the walls of Troy, had IDBI with a slight wound in the thigh which rendered his leg too stiff for him to light to-day. In due course we arrived at Agamennon's part of the camp, to find him just about to set forth g so our men fell in behind his, while I went to report. Menelaus and Diomedes fought on the right wing, Aias and his brother on the left, the men of Agamemnon and Odysseus bore the brunt in the centre, while Achilles and his Myrmidons formed the reserves. ' All day long the battle raged and several times my chariot came nigh to that of Hector, but never near enough for me to do aught but shout at him. When night came we had driven the Trojans back into their city. As I write this, our men are out on the plain bringing in the Greek wounded and stripping the arms from the Trojan dead. I am very weary, so I will write no more to-night. TEN DAYS AFTER THE FEAST OF ZEFS This mornin I found Odysseus well again, thanks to the skill of5Iachaon, the healer, 1 u g . . - and eager to join the fray. To-day, Agamemnon and Menelaus fought on the right wing, and Diomedes, Aias, and his brother on the left, Achilles and Odysseus with half his men in the centre, while I, with the remainder of Odysseus' men, formed a reserve in case of defeat, and time showed that reserves were indeed needed. About noon the attack of our men became less fierce until Hector, with a whirlwind charge, drove them back to the wall that guarded their ships. This was where my men were needed. With a roar we charged into the fray, and for a time it seemed as if the tide of battle would turn in our favour, but Hector rallied his men, pressing more fiercely than ever, and I know that most of us were glad when darkness fell. As I write these lines the Trojan watch-Fires are twinkling on the plain, and sounds of laughter and merrymaking come floating to my ears. Odysseus' orders are that every man must rest well in preparation for to-morrow, and I will now obey those orders very gratefully. l3ll

Page 32 text:

SI-ILWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE oyerlookinga valley to hayeourlunch. The view was superb,one could see for miles around, and it was very cool and pleasant under the trees. Soon afterwards we saw the dome of lfarher Andre's Shrine and it was not long before we were back amongst all the hustle and bustle of street cars. We arrived home at 6 PRI. August the 25th, after having enjoyed a two week's trip. With the 2100 miles we covered, we had only one accident -f a blow-out, but it did not inconvenience us very much. II. M., Iform 6. THIS ROBIN HIC kind of bird I like best is the robin. It has a long beak, a red breast and its back is either grey, black or brown, and frequently a mixture of colours. Often, early in the morning, in the autumn, I look out of my window and see it digging up many worms g and this shows what the robin's beak is used for! Coming home from morning school I pass through a nice garden. When the robins which are there see me, they Hy up to the trees. The sun shines on their beautiful red breasts and so presents a lovely spectacle. The robin has a graceful way of Hying. It catapults itself off a tree, flaps its wings, swoops for a while, Haps its wings again, and then, swoops into another tree. I should have mentioned before that the robin, in order to find his prey, runs along the ground, stops if he hears any unusual sound, bends his head down to the ground, and repeats this action until he finds a worm A mother robin lays, not white eggs as many people would think, but blue ones- .-Xround our house the robin has many playmates, such as squirrels, sparrows, and wild canaries. My cat, who is very fond of catching his own meal, has never caught a robin, because this bird is a fast flyer and has good ears. :X trick which I do not enjoy doing ibut others do! is, when the bird has found a worm, to go and scare poor cock-robin away and let the worm escape. Ivhoever wrote VVho killed cock-robin F was rather silly to say that it was the sparrow, or so it seems, since that round our house the sparrow is one of the robin's best friends. Of course this poem was written about an Iinglish robin, which is very much smaller, the Canadian robin really being a thrush. I think the robin likes the autumn best because the rowan-berries are blooming. There are several rowan trees near our house which helps us to have many robins around our grounds. The boys of our street often stupidly waste these berries by having fights. The robin is usually my alarm-clock, because one has its nest just outside my window. It sounds like an alarm clock too, because it goes chirp, chirp, chirp, while the alarm goes ding, ding, ding, - just as good, I think l I. B., Form 2. l30l

Page 34 text:

SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE lr'I.IiVFN DAYS .-XlfTI'iR Tl-Ili FE.-KST OF ZI'fI'S This day marks the end of the fourth year of the seige. This morning I had to get new leg-greaves from Duripides, the armourer, as my own were unwearable after the battle of yesterday. To-day I fought with the men of Odysseus, .-Xias, and his brother on the left flank. The forces of Agamemnon and Achilles held the centre, while Diomedes, Menelaus, and their men fought on the right wing. After a hasty meal we sallied forth to End the Trojans waiting for us, but we drove them back from our wall. I had lost my chariot in the melee, and I was fghting shoulder to shoulder with my men, when a huge Trojan aimed a blow at me with his axe, but, before the blow could fall, he collapsed, pierced by an arrow from one of our archers in the rear. This recollection stands out clearly, but the rest is hazy, and it would be useless to TTY to put all the happenings of even one day down on tablets. It has been an effort to write as much as I have, for I am very weary, and will write ITU lTlUI'e. P. Little, Form 5, Year 1933. lPi!0l ojfrcr P. C. Liflle, R.C..'l.F.l hIOUNT IfiYIilRES'I' I love mountains and I am very interested in Mount Everest. It is the most famous and highest mountain in the world, and is to be found in the Himalayas on the boundary between Nepal and Tibet in Asia. It is 29,l-l-5 feet high and has an eternal swirling plume of snow around its peak. I'ntil recent years no foreigners were allowed to explore it be- cause the mountain was holy to both countries. They called it Chonio Lungma, meaning Goddess Mother of the IYorld. In 1921 George Mallory set out on an expedition with eight other Englishmen to climb Mount lfverest. Of course that was not easy. I-Ie had to find a route and the higher he climbed the thinner the air became. I-Ie climbed till at 23,000 feet he had to turn back. In 1922 he tried again. I-Ie and two of his friends reached 27,000 feet only to turn back again, although they had oxygen tanks on their backs. In 1924 Mallory climbed again. With him went an undergraduate called Irvin. They reached 28,500 feet and had only fi-I5 feet more to go. As bad luck would have it, a cloud drifted across Mount Everest's peak and made Mallory and his young friend disappear. No one knows whether they ever reached the top or what happened to them. Thus we know that we cannot climb Mount lfverest very easily, but people have succeeded in flying over it. J. C., Form 1. l32l