Shakespeare Gets Himself In Trouble???

King Of Shadows
By:  Susan Cooper
I read from chapter seven through ten.

Chapter 7:  In chapter seven, the boys go to get some lunch to eat and then come back.  They were to help with another play going on.  Nat and Thomas were to open the trap door when Roper told them to.  They had three different times that they needed to do it.  The first two went well, but the third time, Roper gave them the signal at the wrong time.  He did it on purpose to try and get Nat in trouble.  Master Burbage was the one who was on stage and fell through at the wrong time.  Roper wouldn't admit it though.  He said that he wouldn't do something like that just to ruin the whole play.  Others knew that Master Burbage wouldn't be happy that night, and that there would be no supper for Nat, so they gave him some apples to eat.  They then went to another "theater" and watched as dogs attacked a bear that was tied up.  Nat couldn't stand it and went away.

Chapter 8:  He was wondering if he would ever be able to get back to his own time and what the people in 1999 were thinking about him being gone.  Later, when he was at the theater, Roper was making a big deal about him running away because of the bear incident.  Nat was about to hit Roper, when Bryan stepped in to stop them.  He was practicing his lines with Shakespeare when Shakespeare said something that got Nat emotionally.  He told Shakespeare that his parents both died and how they died.  His dad killed himself of love for his wife.  Nat found out that Shakespeare had a son, but he died at Nat's age.  His name was Hamnet, but Nat heard him as Hamlet.  At this point in time, Shakespeare had an idea for a play for Burbage, but stop there.

Chapter 9:  Back in his own time, Nat is in the hospital with his hands tied down to the bed because he has already pulled out the IV cord that is keeping him alive.  Nurse Stevens is the nurse that is taking care of Nathan.  She was sponging him and she started to sing a song that was sung in the sixteenth century which is where the "other half" of Nathan is.  He falls asleep.

Chapter 10:  Nat moved to live in Shakespeare's house for a little while. Shakespeare had someone come who liked the Queen.  He knew that they were putting on the play for the Queen and was telling him not to.  Later, at the theater while they were preforming a different play in which Nat was a soldier, Roper ate backstage when we wasn't suppose to.  He started chocking on a piece of apple and he would've died if Nat hadn't been there backstage at the time.  Nat preformed the Heimlich maneuver on Roper.  Everybody just stared at him because that hadn't been "invented" yet.  He saved Roper's life and he jumped in and played Roper's part as the boy in the play.  At the end, Shakespeare came out and talked about Essex which was a bad idea because he had just returned from Ireland and did things that the Queen didn't like, so she didn't like Essex and she liked Shakespeare.  So, Shakespeare just put himself into what could end up as a heap of trouble.  Also, for the first time, Nat's attitude changed about living in 1599.  It could be that he realized that he was just going to be there for a while.  I think that it could also be that he is kind of taking Shakespeare in as a second dad because his first one died.  That's what I think.

Question:  I wonder how Nat will respond to Shakespeare's speech.  I wonder if he will understand that Shakespeare just put himself in a sticky situation or not.

Prediction:  I predict that the people in the company that were backstage are going to be frustrated with Shakespeare for putting himself in a bad situation.

Connection:  I am going to make a spiritual connection this week to the part about the bear.  The part with the bear being tied up and the crowd urging the dogs on kind of reminds me of Jesus dying on the cross.  He was “tied” up to a cross and there were people mocking him and yelling at him.  They urged Pilate to let them crucify him.  That is like the people urging the dogs to kill the bear.

Key Question:  There is no Key Question again this week!!!  :)

Saving Zasha:
I am up to chapter 17.  You should read it, but I think you might need to read Finding Zasha first.  I am not sure, but the title makes me think that it goes before Saving Zasha because you would have to find her first in order to save her.