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Just yesterday morning - Christmas Eve Day - we had our first good freeze. Cold as we were, we welcomed it, because at least the mud froze solid. Everything was tinged white with frost while a bright sun shone over everything. Perfect Christmas weather!
During the day, there was little shelling or rifle fire from either side. And as darkness fell on our Christmas Eve, the shooting stopped entirely. Our first complete silence in months! We hoped it might promise a peaceful holiday, but didn’t count on it. We’d been told the Germans might attack and try to catch us off guard.
During the day, there was little shelling or rifle fire from either side. And as darkness fell on our Christmas Eve, the shooting stopped entirely. Our first complete silence in months! We hoped it might promise a peaceful holiday, but didn’t count on it. We’d been told the Germans might attack and try to catch us off guard.
I went to the dugout to rest, and lying on my cot, I must have drifted asleep. All at once my friend John was shaking me awake, saying, “Come and see! See what the Germans are doing!” I grabbed my rifle, stumbled out into the trench, and stuck my head cautiously above the sandbags.
Explanation:
The British soldier then went on to describe the climate in the area. He claimed that they had their first good freeze in the previous morning (It means on Christmas Eve Day ). It suggests they took pleasure in the snowfall and the cool weather. Despite the cold, they embraced the season since it had the potential to freeze the mud into a solid state. The comment was made because they were struggling due to the rain, and when the snow fell, it caused the moist muck to freeze. Then he went on to say that everything was icy white and that the sun shone brightly over it all. It seems like the perfect Christmas weather!
Snowfall
During the day, there was little bombing or rifle fire from either side. As night approached on Christmas Eve, the firing came to a complete halt. It was the first time in months the place remained silent without any violence's. They hoped for a peaceful holiday, but they were not expecting it. The British soldiers received the order that the Germans might attack them at any time, and they had to be careful about it.
The above paragraph shows the situation of the soldiers who were serving the people from the borders. Even though it was Christmas eve, they couldn't have some fun or entertainment. They were constantly aware that a conflict may break out at any moment, and they had to fight to defend their companions. As the story was a piece of study material for students, the lesson conveys the true sufferings of the soldiers.
Coming back to the story, the British soldier then went to the dugout to relax. While resting on his cot he had fallen asleep. But all of a sudden his friend John called him and said, "Come and see!" John asked his friend to see what the Germans were doing. By thinking something terrible was going to happen, the British soldier snatched up his rifle. He then came out into the trench and carefully looked over the sandbags.
Meanings of the difficult words:
| S.NO | Words | Meanings |
1 | Cot | A narrow bed |
2 | Tinge | Having a very slight amount of colour |
3 | Rifle | A type of gun with a long barrel that is fired from the shoulder |
4 | Sandbag | A bag filled with sand, typically used for defensive purposes or as ballast in a boat |
5 | Grab | Grasp or seize suddenly and roughly |
Reference:
State Council of Educational Research and Training (2018). Term-1 English Standard-9. The Christmas Truce- Aaron Shepard (pp. 126-131). Published by the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation.
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