A story by Ernest Hemingway (1927) — a hot station in Spain, a train in forty minutes, and a difficult conversation.
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This is a famous American story, told here in simple English. It is almost all conversation. The man and the woman are talking about an operation — an operation the man wants and the woman is not sure about. They never say exactly what it is. Read each part, then try the questions from memory.
It is a hot afternoon at a small railway station in Spain. On the other side of the valley, the hills are long and white. An American man and a young woman are sitting at a table outside the bar. The train to Madrid comes in forty minutes.
"What should we drink?" she asks. "It's hot," he says. "Let's have beer." The woman from the bar brings two big glasses.
The young woman looks at the hills. "They look like white elephants," she says. "I've never seen one," he says. "No, you wouldn't," she says. He does not like that. They are not happy with each other.
They try a new drink. It tastes of liquorice. "Everything tastes of liquorice," she says. "That's all we do — look at things and try new drinks." Then she says the hills are lovely. They don't really look like white elephants.
1. Where are they, and what are they waiting for?
2. What does the woman say about the hills?
1. At a small hot station in Spain. They are waiting for the train to Madrid, which comes in forty minutes.
2. She says they look like white elephants. Later she says they are lovely and don't really look like white elephants.
Then the man talks about the operation. "It's a very simple operation," he says. "It's really nothing. I'll go with you. I'll stay with you all the time."
The young woman says nothing. She looks at the ground. Then she asks: "And afterwards? What will we do?" "We'll be happy again," he says. "Like before. This is the only thing that makes us unhappy."
"Do you really want me to do it?" she asks. "I think it's best," he says. "But you don't have to. I don't want you to do it if you don't want to." He says this many times.
"If I do it, will you love me? Will you be happy? Will you stop worrying?" "Yes," he says. "Because it's so simple." "Then I'll do it," she says. "Because I don't care about me."
She stands up and walks to the end of the station. On the other side of the river there are fields, trees and mountains. "We could have all this," she says. "We could have everything. But every day we make it impossible." "We can have everything," he says. "No," she says. "It isn't ours any more."
1. What does the man say about the operation?
2. What does the woman see from the end of the station?
1. That it is very simple, really nothing, and that he will go with her and stay with her all the time.
2. The other side of the river: fields, trees and mountains. She says they could have all this, but every day they make it impossible.
"Come back into the shade," he says. "You mustn't feel like that." "I don't feel any way," she says. "I just know things. Can we stop talking?"
But he starts again. "I don't want you to do it if you don't want to…" "Will you do something for me?" she asks. "Anything." "Then please, please, please, please, please, please, please stop talking." He looks at their bags. They have labels from all the hotels where they slept. "I'll scream," she says.
The woman from the bar brings two more beers. "The train comes in five minutes," she says. The young woman smiles at her.
The man carries the bags to the other side of the station. He cannot see the train yet. In the bar, he drinks one more drink and looks at the other people. They are all waiting quietly for the train. Then he goes back to the table. She smiles at him. "Do you feel better?" he asks. "I feel fine," she says. "There's nothing wrong with me. I feel fine."
1. What does the woman ask the man to do?
2. How does the story end?
1. To stop talking. She says 'please' seven times, and then she says she will scream.
2. The man takes the bags to the other side. He comes back, and she smiles and says: 'I feel fine. There's nothing wrong with me.'
The whole story is questions: Do you want to? Will you love me? Can we stop? — and short answers that don't really answer. Let's get the questions right.
Put the words in order to make a question.
1. you / want / do / another beer? →
2. will / with me / stay / you? →
3. we / can / stop talking? →
4. it / is / simple? →
1. Do you want another beer?
2. Will you stay with me?
3. Can we stop talking?
4. Is it simple?
Give the short answer. The helper must match the question.
1. Does he want her to do it? — Yes, he .
2. Will she be happy afterwards? — She thinks: no, she .
3. Can they have everything? — He says: yes, they . She says: no, they .
4. Is the train coming? — Yes, it .
5. Do they love each other? — Maybe. Maybe they .
1. does
2. won't
3. can / can't
4. is
5. do (or: don't)
Write a question for each answer.
1. ? — Yes, it is very hot.
2. ? — No, I don't want to talk about it.
3. ? — Yes, I'll go with you.
4. ? — No, I can't see the train.
1. Is it hot?
2. Do you want to talk about it?
3. Will you go with me?
4. Can you see the train?
In the Speak tab, ask the two characters questions — and give the short answers they would give, and the short answers they really mean.
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) wrote this story in 1927, when he was twenty-seven. He wrote in a new way: short sentences, no big words, and the most important thing left out. He said a story is like an iceberg — only one part is above the water. Here, the thing left out is the name of the operation. He never says it.
Look at the two sides of the valley. Where they sit, it is dry and hot. On the other side, there are fields and a river and trees. The young woman walks to the end of the station to look at that side. 'We could have all this,' she says. Many readers think 'this' means a family.
This is the heart of the lesson — do all three out loud. The timer helps you keep going: fill the time with details.
Tell 'Hills Like White Elephants' to someone who does not know it: the station → the beers and the hills → the operation → the end of the platform → 'please stop talking' → the bags and 'I feel fine'.
Use questions and short answers when you tell the conversation, and at least five key words (station, hills, worried, operation, train, promise, stop, hot, happy, pressure).
Ask the man five questions and give his short answers. Then ask the woman the same five questions. Are the answers the same?
Act out or describe a conversation where two people talk about small things but mean something big. Use questions and short answers.
Not sure what to talk about? Choose one: