The following are the stories in Basic English, without the facing pages in International Phonetic Script.
PART III b.
TRADE UNDER HENRY VII 1
From the start of his rule the King saw the value of the expansion of trade. It was his desire to give a new impulse to the wool trade and cloth-making, and even in the middle of political troubles he took an interest in suggestions for the development of English trade. There was a reason for acting without loss of time. One of the effects of the Wars of the Roses was a marked falling off in English trade. While this country was in the grip of war, the Hansa traders had got the English out of their markets in the north of Europe, and in the early years of his rule Henry took steps to get back trading rights in Denmark and other parts of Europe. Decisions about trade were made the instrument of political designs. Fat profits had long been made out of the English wool trade with the Low Countries, and the desire for English wool gave Henry a political pull he was not slow to make use of. In 1493 he let the danger of harbouring Englishmen who were against the government be seen by stopping all trade between England and Flanders. The effects of that decision upon the cloth trade in the Low Countries quickly made clear how strong was the power in England's hands. Even more surprising was the way in which Henry made use of a strong political position to get better conditions for English traders. The most noted example was the trading agreement with Flanders in 1496. The name which was later given to it, the "Intercursus Magnus," is a sign of how much English trade was profited by it. It was chiefly important because it was the start of free trading relations between Burgundy and England. The scale of taxes for English and Flemish traders was to be fixed at a rate not higher than that which had been in force for the last fifty years. Fishing waters were made free, and, with a view to increasing trade between the two countries, serious attempts were to be made to put down the violent seamen living by what they were able to take from others, who were such a danger to trading ships.
So much profit came from this agreement that, when the chance came, Henry made an attempt to get even greater rights for Englishmen. About 1504 new political troubles were making trade impossible, when, by good chance, the Archduke Philip's ship went down in English waters, and this put him in Henry's hands. an agreement was signed in 1506 whose later name -- the "Intercursus Malus" -- is a sign of how one-sided it was. By this agreement the rates fixed in 1496 were to be kept, but English traders were to be free from the town taxes in the Low Countries. In addition, they were to have the right to do small-scale private trading in all parts of the Netherlands but Flanders. English traders did not get so much profit out of the agreement as they are sometimes said to have done. It was clearly one-sided, and after Philip's death in 1506, the position was again given attention. The outcome of this was an agreement signed in 1507 which put an end to some of the right which had been a cause of bad feeling. The Intercursus Magnum came into force again, and the right to small-scale trading was taken away. Relations between the two countries were controlled by these better conditions till Henry's death.
----- 1 . Put into Basic from The Making of the Tudor Despotism, C. H. Williams, pp 49-51.
WEIGHT AND MASS 1
In everyday language, when talking about the weight of anything, we have in mind its weight measured on the face of the earth. Every atom of the earth is pulling at the thing whose weight we are measuring, and the general effect produced by all these pulls acting against one another is what is named the weight of the thing. These pulls are in very different directions. Only those atoms which are on the shortest line between the thing in question and the middle of the earth are pulling it straight down. It is simple enough to see that all other atoms are pulling it down and sideways. But, as we have seen from experience,the effect of all those pulls is in the end straight down. A thing whose weight we are measuring has no tendency to motion in any sideways direction. This is what would naturally be looked for on a round body like the earth, because we see that any sideways pull, for example to the east, is made up for my an equal sideways pull to the west.
Not all the atoms of the earth are pulling at things with equal force, because the force of an atom's pull is dependent on its distance from a thing. If we are measuring the weight of something in London it is clear that a stone in Southend is pulling at it with a greater force than is a stone completely like it in Timbuctoo. Taking into account the different directions and distances of all the atoms of the earth, what would be their general effect ? The beautiful law was worked out by Sir Isaac Newton that the attraction of a round solid body on anything not inside it is the same as if the complete mass of the body was at its middle point. The effects of all the pulls, different in force and direction, are given in that statement.
Take, for example, the earth and the sun : Here we have two round solid bodies, and every atom of one is pulling at every atom of the other, and the other way round. But in working out the general effect, we may do so as if the complete mass of the sun was at its middle point, and the complete mass of the earth at its middle point. So that if we were able to say what the masses of the sun and of the earth are, we have only to have knowledge in addition of the distance between their middle points. The long and complex business of working out separately the pull of every atom on every other atom is made unnecessary by this simple law.
The complete pull of the earth on a thing whose weight we are measuring is the same as if the earth's mass was all at it middle point. So the earth's pull on anything is to the middle point of the earth. For a thing on the face of the earth this pint is about 4000 miles away. Anything higher than the face of the earth would be at a greater distance from the middle, and for this reason the earth's pull would be less ; that is to say, the thing would have less weight. At a great enough distance from the earth, far in outer space, the thing would have almost o weight at all.
We see, then, that the weight of anything is not an unchanging amount. Let us be clear that the weight of a body is different from its mass. Newton said that the mass of a body was the amount of substance in it. This is clearly the same if the body is on the face of the earth or far off in space. It is not dependent on the position of the body in relation to other bodies. The weights of two bodies will have a fixed relation to their measure if the weights are measured at the same place, and for this reason we frequently take weight as being equal to mass. We get butter by the pound, for example, because the weight is a true guide to the amount of butter we are getting. On Jupiter the weight of the same amount would be very much more. A man on Jupiter (if that was possible) would make the discovery that a meal of a half-pound of beef wouldn't go very far. It is, in fact, not the weight, but the amount or mass which he is interested in.
If, then, the weight of a body may be changed by conditions, while its mass is fixed, there is necessarily some way of measuring its mass other than through its weight. If we put force on a body, as by pulling or pushing it, then if he body is free to be moved, we give it motion. The greater the mass of the body the less is the motion we give it, so long, naturally, as we are using the same degree of force for the same amount of time. If we make the mass twice as great, we will give it half as much motion. And so on.
The masses of bodies may be measured in addition, by sending them against another body. A certain force is needed for stopping a body in motion. The greater the mass of the body, so long as the rate of motion is the same, the greater the force needed.
Now all these ways of measuring seem not to be dependent at all on their force of attraction. The masses of two bodies might be measured by sending them against one another without giving any attention to the attraction they have for one another. In fact, if the reader will give some thought to what we have said, he will see that the word "mass" seems to be used for two different qualities of a body. Because we said in one place that the pull between two bodies is in a fixed relation to their masses. In other words, by measuring their attractions, we might get at their masses. And later we have said that their masses might be worked out by sending them against one another. Are the masses talked of in these two tests the same ? We see no reason, outside experience, for the belief that they are the same, and, in fact, they have been given two different names -- the first being "gravitational mass" and the second, "inertial mass." But, on the other hand, the most detailed tests give no sign that they are in any way different. If it is seen from the test of sending them into one another that one body has twice the inertial mass of another, then it will be seen from the attraction test, that it has twice the gravitational mass. This completely parallel condition is quite unchanging, and seems to be, when one give thought of it, very strange. Because it seems quite a possible idea that substance might not have had force of attraction. If we came across a stone in outer space and gave it a blow with a stick it would be put in motion, and its rate of motion would be dependent on the force of the blow and on its inertial mass. But we never have the one without the other. Is it possible that "gravitation" and "inertia" are two names for the same thing ? This is a question which most men of science do not seem to have been troubled by. But one man was not only deeply troubled by it, but he got the answer ; and the outcome is the great turning-point in science named Einstein's Theory of Relativity.
----- 1 . Put into Basic from Science : a new Outline, J. W. N. Sullivan, pp 36-41. Some international science words are used in this account.
THE STORY OF JUDAS 1
The Bible in Basic English is available many places on the Internet.
The Institute has a version, Mark XIV 12-53.
12. And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is put to death, his disciples said to him, Where are we to go and make ready for you to take the Passover meal?
13. And he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, Go into the town, and there will come to you a man with a vessel of water: go after him;
14. And wherever he goes in, say to the owner of the house, The Master says, Where is my guest-room, where I may take the Passover with my disciples?
15. And he will take you up himself to a great room with a table and seats: there make ready for us.
16. And the disciples went out and came into the town, and saw that it was as he had said: and they made ready the Passover.
17. And when it was evening he came with the twelve.
18. And while they were seated taking food, Jesus said, Truly I say to you, One of you will be false to me, one who is taking food with me.
19. They were sad, and said to him one by one, Is it I?
20. And he said to them, It is one of the twelve, one who is putting his bread with me into the same plate.
21. The Son of man goes, even as the Writings say of him: but cursed is that man through whom the Son of man is given up! It would have been well for that man if he had never been given birth.
22. And while they were taking food, he took bread, and after blessing it, he gave the broken bread to them, and said, Take it: this is my body.
23. And he took a cup, and when he had given praise, he gave it to them: and they all had a drink from it.
24. And he said to them, This is my blood of the testament, which is given for men.
25. Truly I say to you, I will take no more of the fruit of the vine till the day when I take it new in the kingdom of God.
26. And after a song of praise to God they went out to the Mountain of Olives.
27. And Jesus said to them, You will all be turned away from me: for it is in the Writings, I will put the keeper of the sheep to death, and the sheep will be put to flight.
28. But after I have come back from the dead, I will go before you into Galilee.
29. But Peter said to him, Though the others may be turned away from you, I will not.
30. And Jesus said to him, Truly, I say to you that you, today, even this night, before the cock's second cry, will say three times that you have no knowledge of me.
31. But he said with passion, If I have to be put to death with you, I will not be false to you. And they all said the same.
32. And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he said to his disciples, Be seated here while I say a prayer.
33. And he took with him Peter and James and John, and grief and great trouble came on him.
34. And he said to them, My soul is very sad, even to death: be here a little time, and keep watch.
35. And he went forward a little, and falling down on the earth, made request that, if possible, the hour might go from him.
36. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible to you; take away this cup from me: but even so let not my pleasure, but yours be done.
37. And he came, and saw them sleeping, and said to Peter, Simon, are you sleeping? were you not able to keep watch one hour?
38. Keep watch with prayer, so that you may not be put to the test; the spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is feeble.
39. And again he went away, and said a prayer, using the same words.
40. And again he came and saw them sleeping, because their eyes were very tired; and they had nothing to say in answer.
41. And he came the third time, and said to them, Go on sleeping now and take your rest: it is enough; the hour has come; see, the Son of man is given up into the hands of evil men.
42. Get up, let us be going; see, he who gives me up is near.
43. And straight away, while he was still talking, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great band with swords and sticks, from the chief priests and the scribes and those in authority.
44. Now he who had been false to him had given them a sign, saying, The one to whom I give a kiss, that is he; take him, and get him away safely.
45. And when he had come, he went straight to him and said, Master; and gave him a kiss.
46. And they put their hands on him, and took him.
47. But a certain one of those who were near took out his sword, and gave the servant of the high priest a blow, cutting off his ear.
48.And Jesus said to them, Have you come out as against a thief, with swords and sticks to take me?
49. I was with you every day in the Temple teaching, and you did not take me; but this is done so that the Writings may come true.
50. And they all went away from him in fear.
51. And a certain young man went after him, with only a linen cloth about his body; and they put their hands on him;
52. But he got away unclothed, without the linen cloth.
53. And they took Jesus away to the high priest; and there came together with him all the chief priests and those in authority and the scribes.
----- 1 . From The Basic St. Mark, Ch. XIB, pp 88-92. In this story words are used from the List for Reading Verse (100 words) and the Bible List (50 words.).
See also, Bible in Basic English, Mark XIV
MONEY AND PURCHASING POWER 1
We have a desire to be certain, or as certain as it is possible to be, that when we have money in our pockets or at our banks, it will have the same purchasing power, or give us the same control over the goods and services which are offered for sale, at any time -- today or tomorrow, in a year's time, or in fifty year's time
This completely fixed purchasing power over all sorts of goods and services would only be possible if all prices were at all times unchanged ; and this clearly will never be, because of the changes in the rate and cost of producing certain goods. In good years, when there is more than the normal amount of farm produce, the tendency is for it to be cheaper than other things ; and the same effect will come about if, through some new invention, steel, or chemically produced silk, or any other thing desired by man, is made more quickly and cheaply. But outside these changes in prices caused by the fact that there is more or less than the normal amount of this or that sort of goods, it is important for the average purchasing power of money over a number of years to be in a great measure fixed for all goods taken together. The average change of price of all goods taken together is measured for us by experts in statistics, whose work it is to get together the statistics of changes of output, goods used, prices, and every other fact which may be put into number form, with the help of what are named Index Numbers. The Index Number gives us the general level of prices, and when this keeps unchanged, the purchasing power of our money is unchanged, or at least that is our hope.
Doubt on the question is natural in view of the experience of the average purchaser, who is frequently surprised by the statement that prices have become so much lower after the War, or after a certain day ; though he has not seen any such drop in his family accounts, or when he makes a purchase. And when it is pointed out to him that Index Numbers are generally based on the prices of wholesale goods that a fall in such prices takes some time to get to the public because of the operations of middlemen and retailers, and that Index Numbers do not generally take into account the cost of services such as railway carriage, or education, or house rent, he comes to the decision that Index Numbers are not a very true measure of the cost of living. In addition, it probably comes to his mind that Index Numbers specially designed for measuring the cost of living of a working man's family have been a cause of much trouble in industry.
There is something in this, and the view of the man on the street is supported by Professor Marshall in a statement to the effect that a completely true measure of purchasing power is impossible not only in fact but in thought. But Index Numbers, as long as we are conscious of their limits, are of very great use as a rough measure, and an unchanging Index Number is certainly a sign that there is very little change in the purchasing power of money, and that is all which may be looked for.
But have we in fact a desire for the fixed price condition which is marked by an unchanging Index Number ? Would it not in fact be much more pleasing if we made the discovery, every time we made a purchase, that our money went further, because prices were falling all the time ?
If we are looking only at our interests as purchasers and consumers, this is certainly so -- as such, we are much more pleased to see prices falling and the purchasing power of our money going up than to see them keeping level. But his is only so as long as we are certain that the amount of money which we have in our pockets will equally be unchanged and it is very had for us to be certain about this.
----- 1 . Put into Basic from Money, Hartley Withers, pp 76-79. In this account words are used from the Economics List (50 words).
HARRY POTTER and The Half-Blood Prince1
It was nearing 12 at night and the Prime Minister was seated by himself in his office, reading a long note that was slipping through his brain without giving the least bit of knowledge of what it was saying. He was waiting for a ring from the President of a far distant country, and between questioning when the pain of a man would telephone, and making an attempt to put an end to unpleasing memories of what had been a very long, tiring, and hard week, there was not much space in his head for anything more. The more he attempted to give sense to the print on the page before him, the more clearly the Prime Minister was able to see the face of one of the person on the other political side taking great pleasure in his troubles. This one man had was on the news that very day, not only to number all the shocking things that had taken place in the last week (as though anyone needed more memory) but also to give cause why each and every one of them was the government's errors.
The Prime Minister's heart rate quickened at the very thought of these statements against him, for they were not good or true. How on earth was his government to have stopped that bridge's sudden fall? It was cruelly wrong for anybody to suggest that they were not giving money enough on bridges. The bridge was less than ten years old, and the best experts were at a loss to make clear why it had broken cleanly in two, sending a twelve automobiles into the deep water of the river. And how was anyone able to suggest that it was need of policemen that had been a cause in those two very disgusting crimes made public far and wide.? Or that the government had to have somehow seen the strange weather in the West Country that had caused so much damage to persons and property? And was it his error that one of his under Ministers, Herbert Chorley, had given this week to act so strangely that the was now going to be giving much more time with his family?
"A dark feeling has gripped the country,” the political man from other side had stated, not keeping very secret his own wide smile.
And unhappily, this was all true. The Prime Minister felt it himself; the country in fact did seem more sad than general. Even the weather was shocking all this cold mist in the middle of July. . . . It wasn't right, it wasn't normal. . . . He turned over the second page of the note, saw how much longer it went on, and gave it up as a bad effort. Stretching his arms over his head he looked round his office sadly. It was a handsome room, with a great stone fireplace facing the long windows, tightly shut against the uncommonly cold weather for this time of year. With a small shake, the Prime Minister got up and moved over to the window, looking out at the thin mist that was pushing itself against he glass. It was then, with his back to the room, that he head a soft cough in back of him.
He became stiff, nose to nose with his own fearful-look seen in the dark glass. He had heard that cough before. He turned very slowly to face the room and saw no one.
“Hello? he said, making an attempt to sound more without fear than he felt.
For a short time he let himself the impossible hope that nobody would answer him. However, a voice gave an answer at once, a cold, certain voice that sounded as though it were reading a statement. It was coming – as the Prime Minister had been certain at the first cough – from the little man with great eyes, dressed in long silver hair who was viewed in a small, dirty oil painting in the far side of the room.
“To the Prime Minister of Muggles. Important we meet. Kindly give an answer straight away. Yours truly, Fudge.”
The man in the painting looked questioningly at the Prime Minister.
“Er,” said the Prime Minister, “look . . . It's not a very good time for me. . . . I'm waiting for a telephone all, you see . . . from the President of ---”
“That is able to be changed,” said the picture at once. The Prime Minister's heart stopped. He had been in fear of that.
“But I truly was somewhat hoping to say ---”
“We shall make certain the President will put your talk out of his mind. He will telephone tomorrow night,” said the little man. “Kindly give an answer straight away to Mr. Fudge.
“I . . . oh . . . very well,” said the Prime Minister feebly. “Yes, I'll see Fudge.
----- 1 . Put into Basic by the Institute from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince , J. K. Rowling, pp 1-3.