“Papa, what are you going to give us this winter for our evening
readings?” said Jennie.”
“I am thinking, for one thing,” I replied, “of preaching a course of
household sermons from a very odd text prefixed to a discourse which I
found at the bottom of the pamphlet-barrel in the garret.”
“Don’t say sermon, Papa,–it has such a dreadful sound; and on winter
evenings one wants something entertaining.”
“Well, treatise, then,” said I, “or discourse, or essay, or prelection;
I’m not particular as to words.”
“But what is the queer text that you found at the bottom of the
pamphlet-barrel?”
“It was one preached upon by your mother’s great-great-grandfather, the
very savory and much-respected Simeon Shuttleworth, ‘on the occasion of
the melancholy defections and divisions among the godly in the town of
West Dofield’ and it runs thus,‘ Take us the foxes, the little foxes,
that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.’”
“It’s a curious text enough; but I can’t imagine what you are going to
make of it.”
“Simply an essay on Little Foxes,” said I, “by which I mean those
unsuspected, unwatched, insignificant little causes, that nibble away
domestic happiness, and make home less than so noble an institution
should be.”
動詞”give”の文型
- give O1 O2 ◆第４文型 O1にO2を与える
- give O2 to[for] O1◆第３文型 O1にO2を与える
例文”what are you going to give us this winter for our evening readings?”はgiveの直後に「人物(us)」が剥き出しで置かれているため、その時点でほぼ第４文型のgiveで決まりです。第４文型であれば「何を与えるのか」も剥き出しで置かれているはずですが、それは「何を(what)」という疑問詞の疑問文で文頭に置かれています。また例文は”be going to”の未来形です。文末の”for”は（文全体にかかる）目的の前置詞”for”になります。
第３文型”give”の前置詞to[for]の区別は、予め前置詞の後に続く人物の要請があったかどうかで区別すると概ね間違いがないようです。「母さん、ちょっと、それとって？」「タラちゃん、この味どうかしら？」こういった機微だと思います。
so 形容詞 that SV
「SがVするくらい形容詞」という構文です。「ゲレンデが溶けるほど恋したい」をなんとかして英文にしたかったロマンチックな構文だと思います。例文”make home less than so noble an institution should be”は「家庭を高尚なものにしよう、公的機関（がそうあるべき）ってほどではないけどさ」くらいの和訳になるはずです。