Любимые английские сказки / My Favourite English Fairy Tales

Любимые английские сказки / My Favourite English Fairy Tales

Адаптация текста, комментарии и словарь К. Г. Дмитриевой

Иллюстрации К. С. Савченко

© ООО «Издательство АСТ», 2019

I. Fairy Ointment[1]

Dame Goody was a nurse that looked after[2] sick people, and minded babies. One night she woke up at midnight, and when she went downstairs, she saw a strange squi

They rode, and they rode, till at last[7] they stopped before a cottage door. So they got down and went in and found the good woman abed with the children playing about; and the babe, a fine bouncing boy, beside her.

Dame Goody took the babe, which was a fine baby boy. The mother, when she handed the baby to Dame Goody to mind, gave her a box of ointment, and told her to stroke the baby’s eyes with it as soon as it opened them. After a while it began to open its eyes. Dame Goody saw that it had squi

No sooner had she done so, than[8] everything seemed changed about her. The cottage became elegantly furnished. The mother in the bed was a beautiful lady, dressed up in white silk. The little baby was still more beautiful then before, and its clothes were made of a sort of silvery cloth. Its little brothers and sisters around the bed were flat-nosed imps with pointed ears, who made faces at[9] one another, and scratched their heads. Sometimes they pulled the sick lady’s ears with their long and hairy paws. In fact, they were up to all kinds of mischief; and Dame Goody knew that she was in a house of pixies. But she said nothing to nobody, and as soon as the lady was well enough to mind the baby, she asked the old fellow to take her back home. So he came round to the door with the coal-black horse with eyes of fire, and off they went as fast as before, or perhaps a little faster, till they came to Dame Goody’s cottage, where the squi

Next day happened to be market-day, and as Dame Goody had been away from home, she wanted many things in the house, and trudged[10] off to get them at the market. As she was buying the things she wanted, who should she see but the squi

Now Dame Goody did not think it her business to interfere, but she thought she ought not to let so good a customer pass without speaking. So she went to him and said: ‘Good day, sir, I hope as how your good lady and the little one are as well as – ’

But she couldn’t finish what she was saying, for the fu

‘What! Do you see me today?’

‘See you,’ says she, ‘why, of course I do, as plain as the sun in the skies, and what’s more,’ says she, ‘I see you are busy, too, into the bargain.’

‘Ah, you see too much,’ said he; ‘now, with which eye do you see all this?’

‘With the right eye to be sure[12],’ said she, as proud as can be to find him out.

‘The ointment! The ointment!’ cried the old pixy thief. ‘Don’t meddle[13] with what don’t concern you: you shall see me no more.’ And with that he struck her on the right eye, and she couldn’t see him any more; and, what was worse, she was blind on the right side from that hour till the day of her death.

Exercises

1) True of false?

1. Dame Goody was a doctor.

2. A strange old fellow came to Dame Goody at midnight.

3. The mother gave Dame Goody a box of ointment.

4. Dame Goody stroked baby‘s nose with ointment.

5. Dame Goody knew that she was in a house of pixies.

6. Next day Dame Goody stayed at home.

7. Dame Goody was blind on the left side.

2) Fill in the gaps with the following words:

hold on like grim death; make faces at; look after; and so on; to be sure

1. He stayed a little longer to .................................................................... children.

2. She always drives the bike and I sit behind her, trying to ..............................................................................................................................

3. This is not his best book, ........................................................ , but it is still good.

4. My little brothers always .............................................................. at each other when mom doesn’t look.

5. He took some fruit from one stall, some eggs from another, some bread from the third and ..................

3) Fill in the gaps using words in brackets.

1. One night she ..................... (to be) woke up at midnight, and when she .............................. (to go) downstairs, she ........................... (to see) a strange old fellow.

2. They ............ (to ride) till at last they .............. (to stop) before a cottage door.

3. So she ................. (to take) the box of ointment and ................ (to stroke) its two eyelids with it.

4. The cottage ....................... (to become) elegantly furnished.

4) Translate the following sentences:

1. Мать была красивой леди, одетой в белый шёлк.

2. Но она ничего никому не сказала.

3. Она поплелась на рынок, чтобы купить нужные вещи.

4. Он ходил от прилавка к прилавку, забирая что-нибудь с каждого.

5. Вот тебе за то, что суёшь нос в не своё дело!

5) Retell the fairy-tale.

II. The Pied[14] Piper[15]

Newtown is a sleepy little town that was once noisy enough, and what made the noise was – rats. They ate their way into every barn[16], storeroom[17] and a cupboard. Even beer in the barrels was not safe from them.

1

ointment – мазь

2

look after smb. – присматривать за кем-либо

3

squi