Stories of Ourselves: "The Phoenix" by Sylvia Townsend Warner

After a nobleman's death, his rare phoenix is sold to an unscrupulous businessman.

Here are links to our lists for the short stories in Stories of Ourselves:
The Hollow of the Three Hills, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Signalman, The Happy Prince, The Yellow Wall Paper, The Son’s Veto, The Open Boat, The Moving Finger, The Door in the Wall, Sredni Vashtar, How It Happened, Her First Ball, The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection, The Fly in the Ointment, The Custody of the Pumpkin, An Englishman’s Home, The Phoenix, There Will Come Soft Rains, The Prison, The Destructors, Meteor, Billenium, The Lemon Orchard, The People Before, The Enemy, Five-Twenty, A Horse and Two Goats, Report on the Threatened City, The Rain Horse, Ming’s Biggest Prey, The Village Saint, Secrets, The Stoat, Games at Twilight, The Taste of Watermelon, Journey (Patricia Grace), The Bath, My Greatest Ambition, To Da-duh, in Memoriam, Of White Hairs and Cricket, Elephant, Sandpiper, Journey (Shirley Geok-Lin Um), The Third and Final Continent, Tyres, At Hiruharama, Real Time, On Her Knees, The Contest
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. bunting
    a seed-eating songbird of Europe or North America
    He had the finest aviary in Europe, so large that eagles did not find it uncomfortable, so well laid out that both humming-birds and snow-buntings had a climate that suited them perfectly.
  2. plumage
    the covering of feathers on a bird
    At intervals he received from his agents (together with statements of their expenses) birds which they declared were the phoenix but which turned out to be orioles, macaws, turkey buzzards dyed orange, etc., or stuffed cross-breeds, ingeniously assembled from various plumages.
  3. affable
    diffusing warmth and friendliness
    It was a remarkably fine phoenix, with a charming character – affable to the other birds in the aviary and much attached to Lord Strawberry.
  4. ornithologist
    a zoologist who studies feathered animals
    On its arrival in England it made a great stir among ornithologists, journalists, poets, and milliners, and was constantly visited.
  5. milliner
    someone who makes and sells hats
    On its arrival in England it made a great stir among ornithologists, journalists, poets, and milliners, and was constantly visited.
  6. pique
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
    But it was not puffed up by these attentions, and when it was no longer in the news, and the visits fell off, it showed no pique or rancour.
  7. rancor
    a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
    But it was not puffed up by these attentions, and when it was no longer in the news, and the visits fell off, it showed no pique or rancour.
  8. aviary
    a building where birds are kept
    It costs a great deal of money to keep up an aviary. When Lord Strawberry died he died penniless. The aviary came on the market.
  9. naturalist
    a biologist knowledgeable about botany and zoology
    Students, naturalists, and schoolchildren contributed according to their means: but their means were small, and there were no large donations.
  10. executor
    a person appointed to carry out the terms of the will
    So Lord Strawberry’s executors (who had the death duties to consider) closed with the higher offer of Mr Tancred Poldero, owner and proprietor of Poldero’s Wizard Wonderworld.
  11. proprietor
    someone who owns a business
    So Lord Strawberry’s executors (who had the death duties to consider) closed with the higher offer of Mr Tancred Poldero, owner and proprietor of Poldero’s Wizard Wonderworld.
  12. oblige
    provide a service or favor for someone
    It was a civil and obliging bird, and adapted itself readily to its new surroundings.
  13. amiable
    diffusing warmth and friendliness
    The phoenix was as handsome as ever, and as amiable; but, as Mr Poldero said, it hadn’t got Allure.
  14. antic
    a playful, attention-getting act done for fun and amusement
    So people went instead to watch the antics of the baboons, or to admire the crocodile who had eaten the woman.
  15. prime
    the time of maturity when power and vigor are greatest
    ‘How old do you suppose that bird is?’
    ‘Looks in its prime to me,’ said Mr Ramkin.
  16. alight
    shining brightly as if on fire or aflame
    ‘Suppose,’ continued Mr Poldero, ‘we could somehow get him alight? We’d advertise it beforehand, of course, work up interest. Then we’d have a new bird, and a bird with some romance about it, a bird with a life-story. We could sell a bird like that.’
  17. spontaneous
    happening or arising without apparent external cause
    ‘You’ve got to give them scented woods and whatnot, and they build a nest and sit down on it and catch fire spontaneous. But they won’t do it till they’re old. That’s the snag.’
  18. peevish
    easily irritated or annoyed
    Other birds were put into its cage, birds of a peevish and quarrelsome nature.
  19. animosity
    a feeling of ill will arousing active hostility
    They pecked and chivvied it; but the phoenix was so civil and amiable that after a day or two they lost their animosity.
  20. daunt
    cause to lose courage
    These could not be won by good manners, but the phoenix darted above their heads and flapped its golden wings in their faces, and daunted them.
  21. jeer
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    Daily he stationed himself in front of the cage to jeer at the bird and abuse it.
  22. throng
    press tightly together or cram
    For some weeks the public interest in the ageing phoenix had been working up, and the admission charge had risen to five shillings. The enclosure was thronged.
  23. specimen
    an example regarded as typical of its class
    ‘The phoenix,’ said the loud-speaker, ‘is the aristocrat of bird-life. Only the rarest and most expensive specimens of oriental woods, drenched in exotic perfumes, will tempt him to construct his strange love-nest.’
  24. capricious
    determined by chance or impulse rather than by necessity
    ‘The phoenix,’ the loud-speaker continued, ‘is as capricious as Cleopatra, as luxurious as the du Barry, as heady as a strain of wild gypsy music. All the fantastic pomp and passion of the ancient East, its languorous magic, its subtle cruelties—’
  25. heady
    extremely exciting as if by alcohol or a narcotic
    ‘The phoenix,’ the loud-speaker continued, ‘is as capricious as Cleopatra, as luxurious as the du Barry, as heady as a strain of wild gypsy music. All the fantastic pomp and passion of the ancient East, its languorous magic, its subtle cruelties—’
  26. languorous
    lacking spirit or liveliness
    ‘The phoenix,’ the loud-speaker continued, ‘is as capricious as Cleopatra, as luxurious as the du Barry, as heady as a strain of wild gypsy music. All the fantastic pomp and passion of the ancient East, its languorous magic, its subtle cruelties—’
  27. subtle
    working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
    ‘The phoenix,’ the loud-speaker continued, ‘is as capricious as Cleopatra, as luxurious as the du Barry, as heady as a strain of wild gypsy music. All the fantastic pomp and passion of the ancient East, its languorous magic, its subtle cruelties—’
  28. phoenix
    a legendary bird that burned to death and emerged reborn
    The phoenix turned its head from side to side.
  29. materialize
    come into being; become reality
    ‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is the thrilling moment the world has breathlessly awaited. The legend of centuries is materialising before our modern eyes. The phoenix...’
  30. pyre
    wood heaped for burning a dead body as a funeral rite
    At that moment the phoenix and the pyre burst into flames. The flames streamed upwards, leaped out on every side. In a minute or two everything was burned to ashes, and some thousand people, including Mr Poldero, perished in the blaze.
Created on Mon Mar 05 13:19:54 EST 2018 (updated Fri Mar 23 15:37:14 EDT 2018)

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