Narrative Text

Narrative Text; Definition, Purposes, Generic Structures, Language Features

Enchanted Fish

Enchanted Fish

"Enchanted Fish"

There once was a fisherman who lived with his wife in a small hut close by the seaside. The fisherman used to go fishing every day. One day, as he sat in his boat with his rod, looking at the sparkling waves and watching his line, all of a sudden his float was dragged away deep into the water. He quickly started to reel in his line and managed to pull out a huge fish. "Wow! This will feed us for days." Much to his surprise, the fish started to talk and said, "Pray, let me live! I am not a real fish; I am an enchanted prince. Put me in the water again, and let me go! Have mercy o' kind fisherman." The astonished fisherman quickly threw him back, exclaiming, "I don't want to hurt a talking fish! Go on! Go where you came from." 

When the fisherman went home to his wife, he told her everything that had happened and how, on hearing it speak, he had let it go again. "Didn't you ask it for anything?" said the wife. "No, I didn't, what should I have asked for?" replied the fisherman.

"I am surprised you don't realize what you should have asked for. We live very wretchedly here, in this nasty dirty hut. We are poor and I am so miserable. You should have asked for a nice cozy cottage. Now go back and ask the fish that we want a snug little cottage," said his wife.

The fisherman wasn't sure about this but he still went to the seashore, sat in his boat, went to the middle of the sea and said:

"O enchanted beautiful fish!

Hear my plea!

My wife wants not what I want,

and she won't give up till she has her own will,

so come forth and help me!"

The fish immediately came swimming to him, and said, "Well, what is her will? How can I help your wife?" "Ah!" said the fisherman, "she says that when I had caught you, I ought to have asked you for something before I let you go. She does not like living in our little hut, and wants a snug little cottage." "Go home then," said the fish, "She is already in the cottage!" So the fisherman went home, and saw his wife standing at the door of a nice trim little cottage. "Come in, come on in! Look at the beautiful cottage we have." Everything went fine for a while, and then one day fisherman's wife said, "Husband, there is not enough room for us in this cottage, go back to the fish and tell him to make me an emperor." "Wife," said the fisherman , "I don't want to go to him again. Perhaps he will be angry. We ought to be happy with what the fish has given us and not be greedy." "Nonsense!" said the wife; "The fish will do it very willingly, I know. Go along and try!" With a heavy heart the fisherman went to the middle of the sea and said:

 

"O enchanted beautiful fish!

Hear my plea!

My wife wants not what I want,

and she won't give up till she has her own will,

so come forth and help me!"

 

"What would she have now?" said the fish. "Ah!" said the fisherman, "she wants to be an emperor." "Go home," said the fish; "She is an emperor already."

So he went home and he saw his wife sitting on a very lofty throne made of solid gold, with a great crown on her head full two yards high. And on each side of her stood her guards and attendants in a row. The fisherman went up to her and said, "Wife, are you an emperor?" "Yes," she said, "I am an emperor." "Ah!" said the man, as he gazed upon her, "What a fine thing it is to be an emperor!" "Husband," she said, "it is goof to be an emperor." They were happy for a while.

Then a time came when she was not able to sleep all night for she was thinking what she should ask next. At last, as she was about to fall asleep, morning broke, and the sun rose. "Ha!" she thought, as she woke up and looked at it through the window, "after all I cannot prevent the sun from rising." At this thought she was very angry, and weakened her husband, and said, "Husband, go to the fish and tell him I must be Lord of the sun and the moon." The fisherman was half asleep, but the thought frightened him so much that he fell out of the bed. "Alas, wife!" he said, "cannot you be happy with being such a powerful emperor?" "No," she said, "I am very uneasy as long as the sun and the moon rise without my permission. Go to the fish at once!" "I don't think this is a good idea," said the fisherman but his wife wouldn't listen to him. "Why don't you just go and ask the fish to make me the Lord of everything," she said.

Then the man went shivering with fear. As he was going down to the shore a dreadful storm arose. The trees and the very rocks shook and the sky became black with stormy clouds. There were great black waves, swelling up like mountains with crowns of white foam upon their heads. Unfortunately the fisherman did not have any choice, so he got onto his boat and rowed to the middle of the sea and cried out as loud as he could:

 

"O enchanted beautiful fish!

Hear my plea!

My wife wants not what I want,

and she won't give up till she has her own will,

so come forth and help me!"

 

"What does she want now?" said the fish. "I am truly ashamed of my wife's greed but I can't do anything. She wants to be Lord of the sun and the moon." "Go home," said the fish, "to your small hut." And it is said that they live there to this every day.

"Enchanted Fish"

There once was a fisherman who lived with his wife in a small hut close by the seaside. The fisherman used to go fishing every day. One day, as he sat in his boat with his rod, looking at the sparkling waves and watching his line, all of a sudden his float was dragged away deep into the water. He quickly started to reel in his line and managed to pull out a huge fish. "Wow! This will feed us for days." Much to his surprise, the fish started to talk and said, "Pray, let me live! I am not a real fish; I am an enchanted prince. Put me in the water again, and let me go! Have mercy o' kind fisherman." The astonished fisherman quickly threw him back, exclaiming, "I don't want to hurt a talking fish! Go on! Go where you came from." 

When the fisherman went home to his wife, he told her everything that had happened and how, on hearing it speak, he had let it go again. "Didn't you ask it for anything?" said the wife. "No, I didn't, what should I have asked for?" replied the fisherman.

"I am surprised you don't realize what you should have asked for. We live very wretchedly here, in this nasty dirty hut. We are poor and I am so miserable. You should have asked for a nice cozy cottage. Now go back and ask the fish that we want a snug little cottage," said his wife.

The fisherman wasn't sure about this but he still went to the seashore, sat in his boat, went to the middle of the sea and said:

"O enchanted beautiful fish!

Hear my plea!

My wife wants not what I want,

and she won't give up till she has her own will,

so come forth and help me!"

The fish immediately came swimming to him, and said, "Well, what is her will? How can I help your wife?" "Ah!" said the fisherman, "she says that when I had caught you, I ought to have asked you for something before I let you go. She does not like living in our little hut, and wants a snug little cottage." "Go home then," said the fish, "She is already in the cottage!" So the fisherman went home, and saw his wife standing at the door of a nice trim little cottage. "Come in, come on in! Look at the beautiful cottage we have." Everything went fine for a while, and then one day fisherman's wife said, "Husband, there is not enough room for us in this cottage, go back to the fish and tell him to make me an emperor." "Wife," said the fisherman , "I don't want to go to him again. Perhaps he will be angry. We ought to be happy with what the fish has given us and not be greedy." "Nonsense!" said the wife; "The fish will do it very willingly, I know. Go along and try!" With a heavy heart the fisherman went to the middle of the sea and said:

 

"O enchanted beautiful fish!

Hear my plea!

My wife wants not what I want,

and she won't give up till she has her own will,

so come forth and help me!"

 

"What would she have now?" said the fish. "Ah!" said the fisherman, "she wants to be an emperor." "Go home," said the fish; "She is an emperor already."

So he went home and he saw his wife sitting on a very lofty throne made of solid gold, with a great crown on her head full two yards high. And on each side of her stood her guards and attendants in a row. The fisherman went up to her and said, "Wife, are you an emperor?" "Yes," she said, "I am an emperor." "Ah!" said the man, as he gazed upon her, "What a fine thing it is to be an emperor!" "Husband," she said, "it is goof to be an emperor." They were happy for a while.

Then a time came when she was not able to sleep all night for she was thinking what she should ask next. At last, as she was about to fall asleep, morning broke, and the sun rose. "Ha!" she thought, as she woke up and looked at it through the window, "after all I cannot prevent the sun from rising." At this thought she was very angry, and weakened her husband, and said, "Husband, go to the fish and tell him I must be Lord of the sun and the moon." The fisherman was half asleep, but the thought frightened him so much that he fell out of the bed. "Alas, wife!" he said, "cannot you be happy with being such a powerful emperor?" "No," she said, "I am very uneasy as long as the sun and the moon rise without my permission. Go to the fish at once!" "I don't think this is a good idea," said the fisherman but his wife wouldn't listen to him. "Why don't you just go and ask the fish to make me the Lord of everything," she said.

Then the man went shivering with fear. As he was going down to the shore a dreadful storm arose. The trees and the very rocks shook and the sky became black with stormy clouds. There were great black waves, swelling up like mountains with crowns of white foam upon their heads. Unfortunately the fisherman did not have any choice, so he got onto his boat and rowed to the middle of the sea and cried out as loud as he could:

 

"O enchanted beautiful fish!

Hear my plea!

My wife wants not what I want,

and she won't give up till she has her own will,

so come forth and help me!"

 

"What does she want now?" said the fish. "I am truly ashamed of my wife's greed but I can't do anything. She wants to be Lord of the sun and the moon." "Go home," said the fish, "to your small hut." And it is said that they live there to this every day.

figure of speech in song

A figure of speech is a word or phrase that possesses a separate meaning from its literal definition. It can be a metaphor or simile, designed to make a comparison. It can be the repetition of alliteration or the exaggeration of hyperbole to provide a dramatic effect.

In truth, there are a wealth of these literary tools in the English language. But, let's start out by exploring some of the most common figure of speech examples.

Alliteration

Merupakan salah satu figure of speech yang memiliki fungsi untuk memperindah jenis kalimat Bahasa Inggris. Salah satu ciri dari alliteration adalah memiliki kalimat konsonan yang berulang. Contoh:

• The wild walrus waits and wonders when we’ll walk by.
• She sells seashells.
• Walter wondered where Winnie was.
• Blue baby bonnets bobbed through the bayou.
• Nick needed new notebooks.
• Fred fried frogs’ legs on Friday.

Metaphore

Merupakan figure of speech yang digunakan untuk membandingkan sesuatu atau ide. Misalnya:

• Heart of stone
• Time is money
• The world is a stage
• She’s a night owl
• He’s an ogre

Onomatopoeia

Onompatopoeia merupakan sebuah majas yang menuliskan secara spesifik bunyi dari sesuatu. Contoh:

• Whoosh
• Splat
• Buzz
• Click
• Oink

Personification

Personification merupakan salah satu jenis figure of speech yang memberikan ‘nyawa’ pada benda mati. Apa maksudnya? Maksudnya adalah kalimat yang digunakan pada kalimat memberikan sebuah gambaran pada benda seolah-olah benda tersebut hidup. Contoh:

• The flowers nodded.
• The snowflakes danced.
• The thunder grumbled.
• The fog crept in.
• The wind howled.

Simile

Simile merupakan sebuah majas yang membandingkan atau mengandaikan sesuatu atau sebuah benda. Kadang, simile suka disamakan dengan metaphor yang juga memiliki bentuk perbandingan. Padahal, simile dan metaphore memiliki struktur yang berbeda. Simile memiliki ciri khas kata like, as, atau similar to.  Contoh:

• As slippery as an eel
• Like peas in a pod
• As blind as a bat
• Eats like a pig
• As wise as an owl

Hyperbole

Dalam Bahasa Indonesia, kita mengenal majas ini dengan sebutan hiperbola. Sama dengan dalam Bahasa Inggris, bentuk kalimat hyperbole ini terlihat melebih-lebihkan sesuatu. Contoh:

• I’ve told you to stop a thousand times.
• That must have cost a billion dollars.
• I could do this forever.
• She’s older than dirt.
• Everybody knows that.

Anaphora

Anaphora merupakan sebuah teknik penulisan di mana sebuah frasa atau awal dalam sebuah kata sama dan diulang-ulang dalam sebuah kalimat. Biasanya anaphora digunakan dalam menulis sajak, dongeng, pidato, atau puisi agar lebih berirama. Contoh:

• I came, I saw, I conquered. – Julius Caesar
• Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition! – King John II, William Shakespeare
• It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. – A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
• With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right. – Abraham Lincoln

Assonance

Salah satu ciri dari majas assonance adalah pengulangan bunyi kata yang mirip. Kadang, assonance juga bisa mengulang kata-kata dengan huruf depan yang sama. Contoh:

• A – For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore. (Poe)
• E – Therefore, all seasons shall be sweet to thee. (Coleridge)
• I – From what I’ve tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire. (Frost)
• O – Oh hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn. (Wordsworth)
• U – Uncertain rustling of each purple curtain (Poe)

Synecdoche

Merupakan sebuah kata atau istilah yang digunakan untuk mewakili seluruh benda. Misalnya:

• Wheels – Merupakan perwakilan untuk penyebutan mobil.
• Plastic – Di Amerika ada istilah plastic untuk menyebut kartu kredit atau kartu debit.
• Coke – Diugunakan untuk menyebut minuman soda apapun.

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