Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews February 10, 2023 February 3, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
The farm has a crossbred ox that is part wild buffalo. This animal cannot be tamed, so the Farm Manager tries to break his spirit by binding his limbs and leaving him in the paddock over night. Instead, a lion breaks in that very evening and eats off the ox's leg. The ox then has to be shot, so his spirit is never broken and he remains a free soul.
After the long rains end in June and the nights get cold, fireflies appear in the woods around the farm. Some nights hundreds and hundreds float amongst the trees looking like candles carried by invisible fairies.
When the narrator was a child, she was often told a story that would be accompanied by a sketch. It involves a man who hears a terrible sound one night while sleeping and spends several hours wandering around his house trying to discover what it is. Eventually he learns that the dam on his lake is leaking. He fixes it and returns to sleep. The next morning when he looks out the window, he sees that his footprints from the night before have formed the shape of a beautiful stork. A drawing of this stork appears as the story is told. The man realizes that his miserable trek the night before actually had a beautiful pattern.
The narrator thinks of this story while in Africa because she wonders whether the movements of her own life actually have a pattern that she shall someday be able to see, or are they just random movements without such a meaning.
An older gentle man named Esa is the farm's cook. When World War I starts, the wife of a government official insists that Esa return to work for her or else her husband will have Esa drafted. Esa feels so scared that he immediately goes to her service. The narrator sees him once during those years and Esa confesses that he is overworked and tired.
On the day that the war ended, Esa returns to the farm. He brings the narrator a small picture with the Q'uran sketched on it. He remains on the farm until his death.
Please wait while we process your payment