The Model Millionaire By Oscar Wilde

Hughie Erskine was a good-looking man. Hughie Erskine was the best looking gentleman in London. He had curly hair, grey eyes and a handsome face. He also had many friends.

However, Hughie Erskine did not have much money. His father had been an officer in the army. His father was dead. Now Hughie had his father’s sword and a few books but no money.

Hughie Erskine had tried to do several jobs. He had worked for a tea merchant selling tea. But, poor Hughie was not good at anything.

Hughie was in love and wanted to get married. He loved Laura Merton, the daughter of an army officer. Laura loved Hughie, but her father did not want them to get married.

‘You are a fine young man,’ Colonel Merton said to Hughie, ‘but you have no money. My daughter cannot marry a man with no money. You may marry my daughter when you have ten thousand pounds.’

Hughie did not have ten thousand pounds. He did not have ten pounds. His old aunt gave him four or five pound every a week. Today he had only one pound in his pocket. Hughie was almost broke.

Hughie had a friend called Allan Trevor. Alan was an artist who painted pictures of people. He was a good artist and quite famous. Many people wanted him to paint their portrait. People came to Alan’s studio. Alan painted their portraits in the studio. Alan’s pictures were very expensive. He only painted pictures for rich men.

Hughie Erskine visited Alan Trevor in his studio. Alan was working on a painting.

‘What do you think on this?’ asked Alan Trevor. ‘And what do you think of my model?’

Hughie looked at the painting. It was a picture of old beggar. Alan was painting a picture of a man who was standing in the corner of the studio.

The model was an old man dressed in old, torn clothes. The old man’s face was sad. With one hand he held out a hat. In the other hand he held a stick.

‘My model is wonderful,’ said Alan. ‘Have you ever seen such a wonderful beggar?’

‘Poor old man,’ said Hughie. ‘How sad he looks.’

‘Of course,’ said Alan. ‘I don’t want a beggar to look happy.’

‘How much is a model paid for standing in your studio?’ asked Hughie.

‘Not much,’ answered Alan. ‘Only a shilling an hour.’

‘And how much money do you get when you sell a picture?’ asked Hughie.

‘For this picture, I will get two thousand pounds,’ said Alan.

‘You’re a rich man. I think the model should get some of money,’ said Hughie.

‘Nonsense ....nonsense!’ said Alan. ‘It’s difficult to be a painter. It’s not difficult to be beggar. Few people can paint pictures. Anyone can beg.’

‘But many people want to be rich and famous painters,’ said Hughie. ‘No one wants to be a poor beggar. You artists are very unkind.’

Alan Trevor laughed. ‘I’m busy,’ he said, ‘Sit down and stop talking.’

A servant came in. ‘A gentleman is outside, sir. He wants you to paint his portrait. Can you speak to him please?’

‘Don’t go away,’ Alan said to Hughie. ‘I’ll be back in a moment.’

Alan left the room. The old beggar sat down on a chair and rested. His hat was still in his hand.

The old man looked so sad that Hughie felt sorry for him. Hughie put his hand in his pocket. He had a pound. It was the last of his money.

Well, he needs the money more than I do, thought Hughie.

Hughie went across the room and put the pound in the old man’s hat.

The old man was very surprised. He looked at the money and smiled.

‘Thank you, sir,’ he said. ‘Thank you very much.’

Alan Trevor came back into the studio and Hughie left. He went to see Laura and told her about the beggar.

‘You gave all your money away?’ said Laura. ‘That was very foolish. My father will never let me marry a foolish man. You are foolish, but you are very kind and I love you very much.’

That night Hughie met Alan Trevor at a club. Alan was looking very pleased.

‘I finished that picture,’ said Alan. ‘And my model was very interested in you. He asked me lost of questions.’

‘Poor old man,’ said Hughie. ‘I wish I could help him. What did he ask you about me?’

‘He wanted to know everything about you,’ said Alan.

‘And what did you tell him?’

‘I told him everything,’ said Alan. ‘I told him all about you. I told him about Laura’s father. I told him you want to marry Laura but you have no money.’

‘Alan!’ said Hughie angrily. ‘You told him all about my private’s business?’

‘Don’t be angry,’ said Alan. ‘You don’t know who I painting the picture for. I was painting it for the Baron von Hausberg. He is one of the richest men in Europe. Baron von Hausberg was my model. The Baron dressed up as an old beggar.’

‘The Baron von Hausberg!’ cried Hughie. ‘You mean that old beggar the Baron von Hausberg himself?’

‘Yes,’ said Alan.

‘But I gave him a pound,’ said Hughie. ‘Now I feel foolish.’

‘You gave him a pound?’ said Alan. ‘That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.’

Alan Trevor could not stop laughing. Hughie Erskine walked home. He felt foolish. He had given his last pound to a millionaire. Laura’s father would hear about this. The colonel never let his daughter to marry a fool.

The next day Hughie Erskine had a visitor. Hughie did not know the man.

‘How can I help you?’ asked Hughie.

‘I have come for Baron von Hausberg,’ said the visitor.

‘The Baron von Hausberg!’ said Hughie Erskine. ‘I did not know him when we met yesterday. I want to tell the Baron that I am sorry. I think I was rude to him.’

The visitor smiled. ‘You were not rude to the Baron,’ he said. ‘The Baron asked me you give you this.’ He gave Hughie an envelope.

Hughie thanked him and looked at the envelope. These words were written on the envelope: A wedding present to Hughie Erskine and Laura Merton, from an old beggar.

Inside was a cheque for ten thousand pounds.

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Prose Analysis {Man From a South}

Man From a South is one of short story created by Reald Dahl, who was the best writer of English language for children and adult in his era, and also popular with his characterization by unexpected conclusions. This prose talked about the narrator experience with a man who likes to bet, an American cadet, and English girl. Here, I try to analyze  the elements of prose that used in this prose and give my opinions about them. It is about setting, characters, characteristic, plot, characterization, and point of view of this prose.

The first element is setting. Setting is the way in which something is positioned or the environment or surroundings. The setting of this prose is in the South-American or African country probably, where there are palem trees. It starts in outside hotel, under the yellow umbrella where there are four empty seats and it is around six o'clock. Then, it moves to a man's room in the hotel where the bet is going to take place. 

The second and third element is characters and characterization. Character means a person who appears or depicted in narrative or drama. There are five major main characters and one minor character in this prose. The major characters are 'me' as the narrator, a man who likes to bet, an American cadet, English girl, and lady who appears in last of story and the minor character is a maid girl. While, characteristic means characteristics that characterize the characters in narrative or drama. These are some my opinions why I decided those characters as the major and minor characters and also the characteristics of the characters. 

1. 'Me' as the narrator is very important here, because it is used first person as its point of view. Then, 'me' does not know everything, just talks all what he knows. 'Me' also tries to think out the story, because the teller of the story. 'Me' is a character who is curious. He always want to know and predict something and also characteristic of other characters. 'Me' does not come from America and I am not sure about his origin, English probably. Is 'me' Reald Dahl ...?? It depends on the reader.
2. A little man who likes to bet, Carlos. He is one of characters who dominated this story. He is mysterious, small, in white-suit and panama hat. He is probably from a South America. He is mysterious because he does not tell about himself, but all of secrets will be talked by the little lady in the last story.
3. An American cadet. He is also the important character. He become a little man's partner for bet. He has long freckled face, pointed nose, and bared body <except for a pair of faded brown bathing shorts>. He is a serious man, but little nervous before he agree the bet.
4. An English girl who wears pale blue bathing dress. She does not talk much, but she always there <in the story> to accompany an American cadet from the beginning to the end. her attendance made her to become one of main characters in this story.  I think she does not agree with this bet.
5. A little lady who appears in the last story. She is a nice woman. She has only one finger and a thumb in her hand. She does not attend from the beginning to the end of story, but her attendance is very important. Because she stories about everything behind the little man.
6. A maid girl in the hotel. She just appears when she is called by a little man. Therefore, I choose her to become a minor character in this story.

I have already told about setting, characters, and characteristic. Next is about plot. Plot is the careful arrangement by an author of incident in a narrative to achieve a desired effect. Plot has two types; open plot and close plot. This prose includes into close plot. Plot also has a basic elements, they are; exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. I would like to explain each basic elements and the plot of this short story here, 

• Exposition is the opening of the story. The exposition of Man From a South is when 'I' <the narrator> starts to act by sitting on the chair till an American cadet and his girl sit in 'I' zone. I said like that because these are actions that begin to introduce/know each other.
• Rising action is series of conflicts and crisis in the story that lead the climax. The rising action here is when the little man and American cadet discuss about the bet till they agree each other. I think this action starts to have a problem, as when the American cadet does not like to give his finger if he does not win the bet. 
• Climax is the most intense moment either mentally or action. The climax of this prose is when a little man and American cadet start to bet by lighting ten times till the little lady comes and talk to the little man in unknown language. I think this is the climax of this story, because I fell nervous when I read this round. I will be sad  if an American cadet loss his finger.
• Falling action is the action that falls down from the climax. The falling action in this story is when she slowed down and the little man came into view again, till the lady express her regret and hope to the narrator, an American cadet, and English girl to forgive them.
• Resolution is the conclusion or the tying of all the threads. The resolution here is when the little lady explore that the little man is gambling addicted and that the little woman won everything from him a while ago, then they cancel their bet. Here, all of problem and background of little man is explored well by the little lady. Therefore, I think this action is the resolution of this story.

The fifth element  is characterization. Characterization is the way of the author gives characteristics to characters of narrative or drama. Reald Dahl characterize the characters in this story by dramatic/indirect method. Means that he does not tell us about the characteristics of the characters, as the reader we have to look for the characteristics by ourselves. 

The last is point of view. The story is written by first person, so it has first person point of view. We get to see the plot of the story through the eyes of a person, the narrator. Therefore, we can be closer with the story and it will be different if the story written in different way.

Those are elements of prose and I try to analyze them in this short story by the tittle, 'Man From a South' in order to complete my English Prose project. Thank you for having read this article and hopefully it will be useful for us. Amin.
 

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Cantik.......???

Seringkali kaum hawa mempertanyakan kecantikan. Tanpa menyadari definisi 'cantik' itu sendiri. Aku pun juga termasuk salah satu orang diantara mereka. Ketika aku bertanya pada temanku "aku uda cantik belum??" sambil mematut-matut diri di depan kaca, atau ketika aku bertanya kepada kekasihku "Sayang..., aku itu cantik gak sih...??", <wow. ternyata aq itu.... xixi> tanpa kusadari ma'na dari 'cantik' itu sendiri. Setelah browsing kesana kemari, membuka-buka catatan-catatan, aku baru ingat bahwa cantik itu ada 2 macam, Cantik lahir dan cantik batin.

Cantik lahir dapat juga disebut dengan cantik dhohir, cantik yang semata mata hanya terlihat oleh kasat mata. Cantik, yang banyak orang mendefinisikan pada kulit putih, hidung mancung, pipi kenyal, dan lain sebagainya. Cantik yang menurutku hal yang optional, hal yang relatif. Karena tidak adanya kadar kecantikan yang dijadikan pembatas. Cantik yang menjadi salah satu syarat dalam hadist Rosul untuk mencari istri. Cantik yang mempunyai banyak sekali pendukung, seperti beribu-ribu merk kosmetik.Cantik lahir inilah yang sering dikejar wanita-wanita pada umumnya. Bahkan banyak diantara wanita-wanita tersebut yang memilih jalan dengan operasi plastik atau suntik silikon demi mendapatkan 'cantik' yang mereka inginkan. <Na'udzubillahin dzalik>.

Tidak semua wanita yang cantik lahirnya, juga memiliki batin yang cantik. Cantik batin juga disebut dengan cantik hati. Cantik yang tidak terlihat secara kasat mata. Cantik perbuatan/ adab dan cantik ilmu adalah salah 2 dari aplikasi cantik batin. Cantik yang merujuk kepada nilai-nilai kebaikan. Cantik nilah yang sangat sulit dicari dan didapatkan. Marilah kita memburu 'cantik' ini..., karena dengannya InsyaAllah semua akan menjadi indah. Aku pun sedang sedang berproses untuk menjadikan diriku penuh kecantikan. Bukankah ada pepatah mengatakan, Sebaik-baiknya perhiasan dunia adalah wanita sholihah?? ... Maka..monggo kita berlomba lomba meraih predikat 'cantik dan sholihah' tersebut....,

1...2....3....go...!!!!!

Kecantikan seorang wanita bukanlah
dari pakaian yang dikenakannya, susuk yang ia
tampilkan, atau bagaimana ia menyisir
rambutnya.

Kecantikan seorang wanita harus
dilihat dari matanya, kerana itulah pintu hatinya,
tempat dimana cinta itu ada.

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Sajakku Untukmu

Detik berlari.....menit berjalan
Jam tertatih.......hari merangkak
Bulan mengeliat....dan tahun ngesot
Semua datang...semua hilang...

Apakah terlalu ironi mimpiku,
atau terbalik-balik,
Itu jua terserah padaku,
Aku adalah aku.

Tapi, kamu...
kamu adalah milik semesta,
Terpaut aturan, terjerat larangan,
terperintah, terbebaskan, tertegur,
tersapa, terdiam, tertawa,
Kamu punya segalanya
Meski kamu tak menyadarinya

Aku.....Aku bebas dari segalanya,
Tapi, tak ada apa-apa
Hanya kertas bekas temanku,
dan onggokan botol uangku.

Tak berkata berat yang kualami,
Syukuri yang kamu miliki..,

^__^

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Kepada Para Hawa Yang Tak Lagi bersyukur

Wahai kaum hawa....,

Masih ingatkah engkau tentang pasal Adam di usir dari surga..?? Itulah salah satu hasil dari kecerebohan dan ketidaksyukuranmu atas nikmat Allah yang telah diberikan. Kemudian Dia mengirim Adam dan kau ke bumi dalam keadaan jarak yang terpisah. 

Itu dulu sayang...., yang masih berkaitan dengan sejarah manusia pertama hidup di dunia.

Sekarang...., kau telah diberikan kenikmatan yang jauh lebih besar kadarnya oleh Allah. Kau dihidupkan di jaman globalisasi, jaman canggih, yang tidak lagi menemukan kesulitan-kesulitan di jaman purba dahulu. 

Tapi sekarang, seringkali aku heran dengan apa yang kau lakukan. Seringkali kau mematut matut diri di depan kaca, memperhatikan hidung, bibir, pipi, mata, dan alismu, yang semuanya telah indah, terpahat pada wajahmu dengan posisi yang pas seraya berkata, "Duh, jeleknya aku. Kenapa aku tak secantik si Fulan, yang memiliki alis, mata, hidung yang indah...., bibir yang seksi, dll..??".. kemudian, terbesit di hatimu rencana untuk operasi plastik atau suntik silikon sekedar untuk menambah panjang di hidungmu, atau bahkan menambah besar di dadamu.

Seringkali juga,.... kau duduk melamun, sambil berkata..., "Duh...kenapa uangku tak sebanyak si Fulan.., kenapa aku tak punya motor, kenapa....aku selalu susah ..??"

Wahai kaum hawa....,

Sadarkah kamu...., bahwa seharusnya bukan kata-kata seperti itu yang kau ucapkan, melainkan, "Alhamdulillah, Kau telah memberikan kesempurnaan fisik padaku..., maka sempurnakanlah juga hatiku" atau..kalimat syukur lainnya. Cobalah kau duduk.., merenung..., sambil membawa alat penghitung. Hitunglah segala nikmat yang Allah berikan untukmu.., kecantikan, harta, keluarga, negar, keamanan, dan lain-lain, niscaya kau tidak akan mampu menghitungnya, maka bergembiralah dan berbahagialah !!

Jika engkau berada di pagi hari, maka ingatlah bahwa di waktu yang sama ada orang yang sedang kekurangn dan dipenuhi kesedihan, sementara engkau saat ini berada dalam kenikmatan. Saat ini ada jutaan orang kelaparan sementara engkau kekenyangan. Saat ini banyak orang yang tertawan, sementara engkau berada dalam kebebasan.Saat ini ada banyak tangisan ibu dan jeritan bayi, sementara engkau masih bisa tersenyum. Maka pujilah Allah dan bersyukurlah atas kelembutan dan penjagaan Allah terhadapmu!!

wallahua'lam bis showab.. ^_^

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