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Not-a-Mindboggler
Unusual Companions On The Road

They say it’s not where you go, it’s who you travel with. But travelling with animals takes this well-known saying to a whole new level. With a perceptive eye, an open mind, and a generous sense of humour, writers of different eras have brought us enthralling accounts of their journeys with some unusual companions. You may find out more about their adventures from the following passages by filling in the blanks with words that best complete the sentences. Some letters have been given to you:

  • In 1878, Robert Louis Stevenson went (1) h _ _ _ _ _ in the Cévennes for 12 days. His only (2) c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ was Modestine, a recalcitrant donkey which cost him 65 francs and a glass of brandy. He sold her off near the end of the hike, but then unexpectedly found himself overwhelmed with emotion and burst into tears. His (3) t _ _ _ _ l _ _ _ _ Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes was published in the following year.
  • (4) I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ by Robert Louis Stevenson, John Steinbeck took a (5) r _ _ _ trip across America in 1960 with Charley, a French standard poodle. He wrote about his own musings, introspections and the comfort of (6) c _ n _ _ _ company in Travels with Charley: In Search of America.
  • Travelling with a small child and a mule may not be everyone’s idea of a fun (7) a _ v _ _ _ _ _ _. For Dervla Murphy, a fearless Irish mother, it was just another day on the road. In Eight Feet in the Andes: Travels with a Mule from Ecuador to Cuzco published in 1983, she chronicled an incredible (8) j _ _ _ _ _ _ in which she, her nine-year-old daughter and their formidable mule Juana clambered the length of Peruvian Andes, (9) t _ _ _ k _ _ _ over 1,300 miles at high (10) a _ _ _ t _ _ _ _ with only the most basic necessities.


Please send your entry by fax (2521 8772) or email (csbolrs@csb.gov.hk) to the Editorial Board of Word Power by 24 August 2023. Watch out for our coming issue to see if you get all the answers right, and better still, if you are one of the lucky ten to win a prize. The Editorial Board will have the final say on the answers.