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Answer the questions in writing.
1. What are the three gifts the elder D'Artagnan
gives his son?
2. What is the advice of the father to his son?
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3. Why does the horse dealer give D'Artagnan so
much money for his horse?
4. What are some of the ingredients of the
medicine (balsam) that D 'Artagnan's mother had
given him?
Answers
Answer:
The Three Musketeers begins with a young Gascon, d'Artagnan, leaving his home in the provinces of France to make his fortune in Paris. His father gives him, as parting gifts, an old yellow horse and a letter of introduction to Monsieur de Treville, head of the King's Musketeers, the elite group of soldiers who make up the King and Queen's personal bodyguard. D'Artagnan's father advises him to be guided by his courage and his wits, to take no flack from anyone but the Cardinal and the King, and to remember that with bravery and determination he can achieve anything. D'Artagnan's mother gives him the recipe for an herbal salve that will heal any wound he sustains in battle very quickly, and with that the young man leaves home to make his fortune.
At his first stop, in the town of Meung, the hot-headed d'Artagnan gets into a fight with a distinguished-looking gentlemen who ridicules him because of his mount. D'Artagnan is beaten unconscious by a group of the gentleman's lackeys. When he comes to, he sees the gentleman talking to a beautiful, fair woman in a carriage whom he calls "Milady," just as the two of them are riding off. He prepares himself to leave the town, but finds that the gentleman has stolen his letter of introduction to M. de Treville.
Disheartened by the loss of the letter, but nonetheless full of Gascon spirit, d'Artagnan rides on to Paris and finds the home of M. de Treville. Here, he is cowed by the profusion of Musketeers who spend their days lolling about de Treville's house and courtyard, telling stories of amorous and military conquests, and mocking the Cardinal (to d'Artagnan's shock). D'Artagnan is received into M. de Treville's private chamber. However, before the two can speak, de Treville calls in two of his musketeers, Aramis and Porthos. Aramis is a slight, somewhat foppish young man whom d'Artagnan had just overheard describing his intentions to eventually leave the Musketeers and enter the Church. Porthos is a loud, proud, Saint Bernard-like fellow who d'Artagnan had just witnessed showing off his new sash.