SEVENTEEN ORANGES

          

              William John Francis Naughton born into relative poverty in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland, he moved to Bolton, Lancashire, England, in 1914 as a child. There he attended Saint Peter and Paul's School, and worked as a weaver, coal-bagger and lorry-driver before he started writing.

During his lifetime, he received the following awards:

·        Screenwriters Guide Award (1967 and 1968)

·        Italia Prize for Radio Play (1974)

·        Children's Rights Workshop Other Award (1978)

Summary:

     The narrator used to work at a shipyard, carrying shipments to docks. He had an irresistible love for oranges. He stole them from the boats and ships and chewed them for hours on end. However, once he was caught by security police guard, Pongo. Pongo wanted to make his case an example for all the other workers and frighten them of the consequences of dishonesty and stealing. When the police officer locked him in a room and went out for getting another police officer to be a witness, the narrator ate up all the seventeen oranges, with their seeds and peel, and vanished the last of the evidence against him. That was a bitter experience for him. Well, thereafter he was never crazy about oranges.