28. Report the following conversation.

4X1=4

1. Dona Laura : Will you go to your bench tomorrow?

Don Gonzalo : I will come to your bench.
Dona Laura : Do bring something for pigeons.
Don Gonzalo : I will surely bring the crumbs.

Dona Laura asked Don Gonzalo if he would go to his bench the next day. Don Gonzalo
replied that he would come to her bench. Dona Laura insisted Gonzalo to bring something for
the pigeons. Don Gonzalo assured Laura that he would bring the crumbs.

2. Petra : I see him over there waiting for me.

Dona Laura : Do not remain more than ten minutes.
Petra : I will be back soon.
Dona Laura : Wait a moment.

Petra told Dona Laura that she saw him over there waiting for her. Dona Laura ordered Petra
not to remain more than ten minutes. Petra replied that she would be back soon. Dona Laura
insisted Petra to wait a moment.

3. Don Gonzalo: Do you mind my reading aloud?

Dona Laura: You can read as loud as you please.
Don Gonzalo: Can you read without glasses? I really envy your wonderful eyesight.

Don Gonzalo asked Dona Laura, if she minded his reading aloud. Dona Laura replied that he
could read as loud as he pleased. Don Gonzalo further asked her if she could read without
glasses. He added that he really envied her wonderful eyesight.

4. Don Gonzalo: I want a bench to myself.

Juanito : There is none.
Don Gonzalo : That one over there is mine.
Juanito :There are three priests sitting there.

Don Gonzalo told Juanito that he wanted a bench to himself. Juanito replied that there was
none. Don Gonzalo said that the one over there was his bench. Juanito told Don Gonzalo that
there were three priests sitting there.

5. Don Gonzalo: Are you speaking to me, senora?

Dona Laura: Yes.
Don Gonzalo: What do you wish?
Dona Laura: You have scared away the birds which were feeding on my crumbs.
 Don Gonzalo asked Dona Laura if she was speaking to him. Dona Laura replied affirmatively that
she was speaking to him. Don Gonzalo further asked her what she wished. Dona Laura blamed him that
he had scared away the birds which had been feeding on her crumbs.

6. Dona Laura: Are you coming tomorrow?

Don Gonzalo: Most certainly, if it is a sunny morning. And not only will I not scare away the
birds, but I will bring a few crumbs.
Dona Laura: Thank you very much.

Dona Laura asked Don Gonzalo if she was coming the next day. Don Gonzalo replied that most
certainly he would come, if that was a sunny morning. He added that not only he would not scare away
the birds, but he would bring a few crumbs.

7. Roof: I work for Marcus Ibe.

POP Campaigner: We have plenty of work to do tonight. Are you taking this or not?
Roof: Will it not be heard outside this room?
POP campaigner: We are after votes, not gossip

Roof told POP campaigner that he worked for Marcus Ibe. POP Campaigner replied that they had
plenty of work to do that night. He further asked if he was taking that or not. Roof asked POP
Campaigner if that would not be heard outside that room. POP Campaigner replied that they were after
votes, not gossip.

8. Alifano : What is your first literary reading?

Borges : My first reading is Grimm’s Fairy tales in an English version.
Alifano : Where did you read it?
Borges : I read it in my father’s library. It taught me more than any high school.

Alifano asked Borges what his first literary reading was. Borges replied that his first reading was
Grimm’s Fairy tales in an English version. Alifano further asked him where he had read that. Borges
replied that he had read that in his father’s library. He added that it had taught him more than any high
school.

9. Alifano: Borges, what is poetry?

Borges: poetry is something so intimate, so essential, that it cannot be defined without
oversimplifying it
Alifano: could you expound the concept of metaphors?
Borges: I believe that metaphors exist from the beginning of time.

Alifano asked Borges what poetry was. Borges explained that poetry was something so intimate, so
essential that that could not be defined without oversimplifying that. Alifano further asked Borges if
he could expound the concept of metaphors. Borges replied that he believed that metaphors exist from
the beginning of time.

10. Dona Laura: Why did you complain about priests, then?
Don Gonzalo: Are you speaking to me?
Dona Laura: Yes
Don Gonzalo: What do you wish?
Dona Laura: You have scared away the birds. They were feeding on her crumbs.
Dona Laura asked Don Gonzalo why he had complained about the priests then. Don Gonzalo
responded by asking if she was speaking to him. Dona Laura replied affirmatively that she was
speaking to him. Don Gonzalo further asked her what she wished. Dona Laura blamed him that he had
scared away the birds. She added that they had been feeding on her crumbs.

11. Dona Laura: Do you like to chat with your guard?

Petra: He is not mine
Dona Laura: Wait a moment
Petra: What does the senora wish?

Dona Laura asked Petra if she liked to chat with her guard. Petra replied that he was not her guard.
Dona Laura ordered Petra to wait a moment. Petra asked Laura respectfully what she wished.

12. Alifano: Borges, there are people who speak of the disappearance of books. What do you
think of this?
Borges: I believe that books will never disappear. It is impossible that, that will happen.

Alifano told Borges that there were people who speak of the day disappearance of books. He asked
what he thought of that. Borges replied that he believed that books would never disappear. He added
that that was impossible that that would happen.

13. Alifano: What is blindness to you?

Borges; It is a way of life. In my case, the visible world has moved away from my eyes.
Alifano: Have you thought of writing a book on the history of the book?
Borges: It is an excellent idea. I will keep it in my mind.

Alifano asked Borges what blindness was to him. Borges replied that that was a way of life. He added
that in his case the visible world had moved away from his eyes. Alifano further asked Borges if he
had thought of writing a book on the history of the book. Borges replied that that was an excellent
idea. He added that he would keep that in his mind.

14. Minister : Why do you not run away? There is no guard to keep you. The Prince will not
mind.
Criminal : I know it. But I have nowhere to go.

The minister asked the criminal why he did not run away. He added there was no guard to keep him.
He also said that the prince would not mind. The criminal replied that he knew that and added that he
had nowhere to go.

15. Minister : The cost of execution will be 16,000 Francs.

Prince : The wretch is not worth the money. Can’t it be done, somehow cheaper?
16,000 francs is more than two francs a head on the whole population. The people
will not stand it.

The minister told the prince that the cost of execution would be 16,000 francs. Prince said that the
wretch was not worth the money. He asked the ministers if that could not be done somehow cheaper.
He continued that 16000 francs was more than two francs a head on the whole population. He added
that the people would not stand that.

16. Prince : You must find some cheaper way of dealing with this rascal.
The present plan is too expensive.
 First Minister : In my opinion we must dismiss the guard.
Second Minister : Then the fellow will run away.
First Minister : Let him run away.

The prince told the ministers that they had to find some cheaper way of dealing with that rascal. He
added that the present plan was too expensive. First minister replied that in his opinion they had to
dismiss the guard. Second minister expressed that then the fellow would run away. First minister
suggested to let him run away.

17. Dona Laura : Have you been in America?

Don Gonzalo : Several times.
Dona Laura : You must have gone with Columbus.
Don Gonzalo : I am old. But I did not know Ferdinand and Isabella.

Dona Laura asked Don Gonzalo if he had been in America. Don Gonzalo replied affirmatively that he
had been in America several times. Dona Laura told him that he must have gone with Columbus. Don
Gonzalo replied that he was old. He added that but he had not known Ferdinand and Isabella.

18. POP Campaigner: The iyi comes from Mbanta. Swear on it.
Roof: I will cast my paper for Maduka. But Maduka has no chance against Marcus.
POP Campaigner: Maduka gives out pounds, not shillings.

POP campaigner told Roof that the Iyi came from Mbanta. He ordered Roof to swear on that. Roof
replied that he would cast his paper for Maduka. He added that but Maduka had no chance against
Marcus. POP Campaigner told Roof that Maduka gave out pounds, not shillings.