Tight Corners (Prose)

Unit 4 – Prose

Tight Corners

Edward Verrall Lucas

Warm Up

Many of us have unused, old but valuable items at home. If we wish to get rid of them, we can sell them at an auction. Items like paintings, jewels, household articles, vehicles—even houses—can be auctioned.

How an Auction is Conducted

1. Enter the sale-room where the items are displayed for sale.
2. Decide the item you wish to buy.
3. Get a card with a registration number from the staff.
4. The auctioneer opens by quoting a price for each article.
5. Each buyer holds up his/her card and states a price higher than the opening price.
6. The auction continues with each bidder quoting a higher price until the item is considered sold.
7. The highest price is announced thrice.
8. The deal is closed with the highest bidding price.
9. The payment is made by cheque or any other approved mode and the article is considered sold.

Prose – Tight Corners

In Tight Corners, E. V. Lucas narrates how he was rescued from humiliation at an auction house by a sudden stroke of luck.

The talk was running on the critical situations in which we had found ourselves—those of us whose lives were adventurous enough to comprise any.
- One man had been caught by the tide in Brittany and escaped by the skin of his teeth.
- Another had been on an elephant when a wounded tiger charged at it.
- A third had been on the top storey of a burning house.
- A fourth was torpedoed in the War.

“But you all talk,” said one of the company, “as though tight corners were always physical affairs. Surely they can be tighter when they are mental. The tightest corner I was ever in was at Christie’s.”

The Auction at Christie’s

“Christie’s?”
“Yes. I had been lunching rather well at a club in St. James’s Street with an old friend from abroad, and passing along King Street afterwards, he persuaded me to look in at the sale-room. The place was full.

They were selling Barbizon pictures, and getting tremendous sums: two thousand, three thousand, for little bits of things—forest scenes, pools at evening, shepherdesses, the regular subjects. Nothing went for three figures at all.
I found myself bidding too—just for fun. I had exactly sixty-three pounds in the bank and not enough securities to borrow five hundred on, yet I was nodding away to the auctioneer like a bloatocrat.

“You’ll get caught,” my friend said.
“No, I shan’t. I’m not going to run any risks.”

For a long time I didn’t. Then a picture was put up. A short, red-faced man in a new top-hat—a well-known dealer—electrified the room by starting the bidding at a figure higher than any yet given.

Although previous lots had run into four figures, they had started modestly at fifty or a hundred guineas. But this dealer opened with four thousand guineas.

“Four thousand guineas,” he said.

There was a rustle of excitement. At the end of it I heard my own voice saying:

“And fifty!”

A terrible silence followed. The auctioneer looked inquiringly at the opener—then at the company.
To my surprise and horror, the red-faced dealer gave no sign of life. I realized he had shot his bolt.

“Four thousand and fifty guineas offered,” said the auctioneer.
“Any advance? … and the hammer fell.”

That was a nice pickle to be in! Here was I, with sixty-three pounds in the world, the purchaser of a picture I didn’t want, for four thousand and fifty guineas—the top price of the day.

My friend had left—not from baseness, but to find a remote place to laugh.

The Aftermath

Picture after picture was put up and sold; I saw none of them. I was running over the names of uncles and moneylenders, wondering if a note of hand only really meant anything; speculating on confessing my poverty to Christie’s staff and having the picture put up again. But how could I, after all my previous bids?

I stood on the outskirts of the buyers, preferring to be last. My friend joined me for a moment—then, on seeing my face, rammed his handkerchief in his mouth and disappeared again.

I have never felt such a fool or had colder feet in all my life. I believe I should have welcomed a firing party.

Then the unexpected happened. A voice at my ear:

“Beg pardon, Sir, but was you the gent that bought the big Daubigny?”

I admitted it.

“Well, the gent who offered four thousand guineas wants to know if you’ll take fifty guineas for your bid.”

Would I? I would have taken fifty farthings!

“Is that the most he would offer?” I asked, with sudden guile.
“No harm in trying for a bit more, is there?”
“Tell him I’ll take a hundred,” I said.
And I got it.

When I found my friend again we both laughed.

“Well, I’m hanged! Of all the luck!”
“Don’t forget,” he said, “if it hadn’t been for me, you wouldn’t have come into Christie’s at all.”
“I shall never forget it,” I said. “It is indelibly branded in letters of fire on my heart.”

About the Author

Edward Verrall Lucas (1868–1938) was an English humorist, essayist, playwright, biographer, publisher, poet, novelist, short-story writer and editor. Born to a Quaker family on the fringes of London, Lucas began work at sixteen, apprenticed to a bookseller. He turned to journalism, worked in Brighton and London, and joined the staff of Punch in 1904, remaining there for life. He is celebrated for his short essays, verses, novels and plays.

Glossary

• Brittany – region on the coast of north-west France
• St. James’s Street, King Street – well-known commercial streets in London
• bloatocrat – Lucas’s coinage: a fat, rich, high-status person (bloated + aristocrat)
• electrified – shocked by something unexpected
• crescendo – progress towards a climax
• congealed – thickened as if frozen (through fear, etc.)
• smothered – suppressed
• nonchalantly – unconcernedly, coolly
• glibly – smoothly but not sincerely
• note of hand – promissory note
• rectitude – honesty, good behaviour
• baize – coarse woollen material
• farthing – coin worth ¼ d; as low as a paisa
• guile – cunning, deceit
• indelible – cannot be rubbed out or removed
• dree this weird – (old English) endure one’s fate

Comprehension

1. Choose the most appropriate answer

a. ‘Tight corner’ means a ______.
i. difficult situation

b. Barbizon refers to a ______.
iv. French school of painters

c. The narrator visited the sale-room as he ______.
iii. was persuaded by his friend

d. The narrator had been a safe contributor because ______.
i. there were bidders quoting higher prices

e. “And I got it.” Here ‘it’ refers to the ______.
ii. money he asked for

2. Answer briefly

a. What is a tight corner?
A difficult situation which is hard to escape.

b. Difference between physical and mental tight corner?
Physical danger involves bodily risk; mental tight corner involves anxiety, humiliation or financial peril.

c. Why visit Christie’s?
His friend persuaded him to look in after lunch.

d. “And fifty” – what does it suggest?
He bid impulsively without intending to buy.

e. Financial condition?
Only £63 in bank, no securities for a £500 loan.

f. Couldn’t pretend a mistake?
Previous bids made it implausible; staff looked unsympathetic.

g. Best way out?
Confess poverty and request the picture be re-auctioned.

h. Welcomed a firing party?
He felt utter humiliation and dread.

i. Bidder’s offer?
£50 to release the narrator from his bid.

j. Advantage taken?
Bargained the £50 up to £100 and walked away free.

3. Sequence Summary (correct order)

d, l, j, c, i, a, b, h, g, e, n, k, m

4. Paragraph Writing (100–150 words each)

(Students to write individually; hints provided in textbook.)

Vocabulary Activities

(i) Auction-House Crossword

Across
1. Auctioneer
2. Apron
3. Card
4. Bid

Down
1. Daubigny
2. Barbizon
3. Christie’s
4. Picture

(ii) Idioms

1. tight corners – difficult situations
2. shot his bolt – exhausted one’s effort
3. in a nice pickle – in trouble
4. have cold feet – lose courage

Match idioms to meanings:
1-c, 2-d, 3-b, 4-e, 5-a

(iii) Phrasal Verbs

stand
- for – My father always stands for truth.
- by – I will stand by you.

look
- into – The police will look into the matter.
- at – Look at the board.
- through – I looked through the window.

run
- over – The car ran over the dog.
- away – The thief ran away.
- into – I ran into an old friend.

put
- on – Put on your shoes.
- up – They put up a tent.
- off – Do not put off your work.

Listening & Speaking

(Teacher-led activities; templates provided.)

Reading – Note-taking Skills

Steps for effective note-taking:
1. Use large loose-leaf notebook; one side only.
2. Sit close to the source.
3. Be selective.
4. Write legibly; use abbreviations.
5. Identify general ideas; listen for cues.

Grammar

Conditional Clauses

• Zero: If you stand in the rain, you get wet.
• First: If it rains, we will cancel the trip.
• Second: If I won the lottery, I would travel.
• Third: If you had studied, you would have passed.

Practice

(Complete sentences & dialogue blanks – answers in textbook.)

Question Tags

• Positive statement → negative tag
• Negative statement → positive tag
• Intonation: rising = unsure; falling = confirm

Examples:
You are a student, aren’t you?
Jordi attends class regularly, doesn’t he?

Writing

A. Natural Disasters Table

Answer inference questions using data provided.

B. Pie-chart – World Languages

Write a paragraph using expressions: Generally… A majority… In conclusion…

Dialogue Writing

Guidelines and ten situational topics provided for pair-work conversations.

End of Unit 4 – Tight Corners