THE TALE OF ENGLAND
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
By Beatrix Potter
Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were: Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter.
They lived with their Mother in a sandbank, underneath the root of a very big fir tree.
"Now, my dears," said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, "you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden - your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor."
"Now run along, and don't get into mischief. I am going out."
Then old Mrs. Rabbit took a basket and her umbrella and went through the wood to the baker's. She bought a loaf of brown bread and five currant buns.
Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail, who were good little bunnies, went down the lane to gather blackberries.
But Peter, who was very naughty, ran straight away to Mr. McGregor's garden and squeezed under the gate!
First he ate some lettuces and some French beans, and then he ate some radishes.
And then, feeling rather sick, he went to look for some parsley.
But round the end of a cucumber frame, whom should he meet but Mr. McGregor!
Mr. McGregor was on his hands and knees planting out young cabbages, but he jumped up and ran after Peter, waving a rake and calling out, "Stop, thief!"
Peter was most dreadfully frightened - he rushed all over the garden, for he had forgotten the way back to the gate.
He lost one of his shoes among the cabbages, and the other shoe amongst the potatoes.
After losing them, he ran on four legs and went faster, so that I think he might have got away altogether if he had not unfortunately run into a gooseberry net, and got caught by the large buttons on his jacket. It was a blue jacket with brass buttons, quite new.
Peter gave himself up for lost, and shed big tears - but his sobs were overheard by some friendly sparrows, who flew to him in great excitement, and implored him to exert himself.
Mr. McGregor came up with a sieve, which he intended to pop upon the top of Peter - but Peter wriggled out just in time, leaving his jacket behind him.
And rushed into the toolshed and jumped into a can. It would have been a beautiful thing to hide in, if it had not had so much water in it.
Mr. McGregor was quite sure that Peter was somewhere in the toolshed, perhaps hidden underneath a flower-pot. He began to turn them over carefully, looking under each.
Presently Peter sneezed, "Kertyschoo!" Mr. McGregor was after him in no time, and tried to put his foot upon Peter, who jumped out of a window, upsetting three plants. The window was too small for Mr. McGregor, and he was tired of running after Peter. He went back to his work.
Peter sat down to rest - he was out of breath and trembling with fright, and he had not the least idea which way to go. Also he was very damp with sitting in that can.
After a time he began to wander about, not very fast and looking all around.
He found a door in a wall - but it was locked, and there was no room for a fat little rabbit to squeeze underneath.
An old mouse was running in and out over the stone doorstep, carrying peas and beans to her family in the wood. Peter asked her the way to the gate, but she had such a large pea in her mouth that she could not answer. She only shook her head at him. Peter began to cry.
Then he tried to find his way straight across the garden, but he became more and more puzzled. Presently, he came to a pond where Mr. McGregor filled his water cans. A white cat was staring at some goldfish - she sat very, very still, but now and then the tip of her tail twitched as if it were alive. Peter thought it best to go away without speaking to her - he had heard about cats from his cousin, little Benjamin Bunny.
He went back towards the tool-shed, but suddenly, quite close to him, he heard the noise of a hoe - scr-r-ritch, scratch, scratch, scritch. Peter scuttered underneath the bushes. But presently, as nothing happened, he came out, and climbed upon a wheelbarrow, and peeped over. The first thing he saw was Mr. McGregor hoeing onions. His back was turned towards Peter, and beyond him was the gate!
Peter got down very quietly off the wheelbarrow, and started running as fast as he could go, along a straight walk behind some black currant bushes.
Mr. McGregor caught sight of him at the corner, but Peter did not care. He slipped underneath the gate, and was safe at last in the wood outside the garden.
Mr. McGregor hung up the little jacket and the shoes for a scare-crow to frighten the blackbirds.
Peter never stopped running or looked behind him till he got home to the big fir tree.
He was so tired that he flopped down upon the nice soft sand on the floor of the rabbit-hole, and shut his eyes. His mother was busy cooking - she wondered what he had done with his clothes. It was the second little jacket and pair of shoes that Peter had lost in a fortnight!
I am sorry to say that Peter was not very well during the evening.
His mother put him to bed, and made some camomile tea - and she gave a dose of it to Peter!
"One tablespoonful to be taken at bedtime."
But Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail had bread and milk and blackberries, for supper.
THE TALE OF NORTHERN IRELAND
13-12-2010
Finn MacCool lived on the North Coast of Ireland and had a great rivalry with another giant, Benandonner, who lived across the sea in Scotland Scotland Scotland Ireland
When the causeway was finished Benandonner ran across to fight Finn MacCool. Finn MacCool’s wife, Oonagh, saw him running towards their home and realised he was much bigger than her husband. She was worried that Finn would lose the fight. She looked in the house and saw that Finn was sleeping. She quickly threw a blanket over him and put a bonnet on his head.
When Benandonner approached the house she told him to stop shouting because he would wake her baby. She led him into the house and showed him Finn sleeping in the corner. She told Benandonner that this was Finn MacCool’s baby and that Finn would be back soon if he wanted to wait for him. Benandonner thought Finn MacCool must be a massive giant if this was the size of his baby! He ran away because he was too afraid to fight Finn MacCool. Benandonner fled all the way back to Scotland
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04.12.2010
Dear Friends, here is a Polish legend about Warszawa and how the name came to be.
Wars and Sawa
Once upon a time , there was a noble king of Poland named Kazimierz Odnowiciel ("Restorer"), and each year he journeyed from the then-capital of Poland, Krakow, north to Gniezno. The King would journey up the Vistula River to the north, and on the second day of his trip he was already tiring of the dried food prepared for him in Krakow. Craving a fresh meal and dreaming of fresh fish and milk, he noticed smoke coming from the shore, and soon he saw a small houseThe King ordered the ship to dock on shore and the King carefully made his way towards the house. As he and his company approached it, they could see it was a common fisherman's house. As was common in Polish custom, the hostess gave a very warm reception to the unexpected guests; she offered the King fresh milk and told him her husband, Piotr Rybak ("Fisherman") would be home soon with fresh fish. Soon, Piotr came home with a basket of fish he'd just caught, and soon his wife prepared them and they all sat down to a delicious meal.
As they were feasting on the well-prepared fish, the best the King had ever tasted, Piotr told him about the newest addition to his family, a pair of twins who had recently been born. The family was having a really hard time christening them, however, as there was no church in their village and the neighboring village was seldom visited by a priest. In fact, the priest had been there right before the twins' birth, so no one expected him to be back anytime soon.
The King had been very moved by the poor fisherman's hospitality and his story, and as he was leaving he put gold coins on the hosts' table. The fisherman would not accept, as it was old Polish custom to welcome all guests as family. But before his departure, the King requested to be received again on his way back from Gniezno, and to be honored to as the godfather of the twins. He also decided to help the fisherman arrange a christening ceremony.Two months later, as the King was making his way back to Krakow, he landed ashore at the small village accompanied by several boats. Piotr and his wife happily received them again. The King had kept his promise, and with him was a priest and gentry to perform the christening ceremony, and who bore gifts for the King's godchildren. On an alter made on a hill, the boy twin was christened Wars and the girl, Sawa. After the ceremony, amongst food and drink and merrymaking, the King declared that Piotr Rybak will be now the royal fisherman, the father of Wars and Sawa, and the owner of the vast forest in the vicinity. And as a settlement would arise in the surrounding lands, it would bear his name.
Years passed, and a village grew around Piotr's homestead, getting the names from the twins Wars and Sawa. Wars & Sawa = Warszawa.
Attached pictures made by children present a Mermaid, which is a symbol of Warszawa, and there is a legend about it, too…
click here for the Polish tale by the students of Northern Ireland
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06.12.2010
ITALIAN FOLKTALE
THE CRAB PRINCE
Once upon a time there was a poor fisherman who couldn’t catch enough fish to feed his family. But one morning while he was hauling in the nets he realized they were so heavy that he couldn’t bear their weight…What was so heavy? It was such a huge crab that two eyes were not enough to see it .
-Oh what a lucky catch!I can buy some polenta(a sort of porridge made with maizen-meal) for my children!-
He came back home satisfied and cheerful;he told his wife to put on the pot, and he would come back with the polenta. He went and took the crab to the king.
-Your Majesty, would you like to buy this marvellous crab?My wife has put on the pot but I haven’t got any money to buy the polenta.
-Don’t make me angry! What do you think I can do with this crab? Sell it to somebody else-
At the moment the king’s daughter came into the room.Since she was very interested in any kind of animals living in the water, as soon as she saw the crab she cried:
-Oh what a beatiful crab what a beautiful crab!Father, please, buy it for me I beg you to buy it!
-We’ll put it in the fish-pond with the grey mullets and giltheads.
The princess was so fond of fish that she used to spend hours sitting on the edge of the fish- pool in the garden just watching the fish swim. The king always satisfied his daughter’s desires ; so the crab was put into the fish-pond with many kinds of fish.The poor fisherman was happy because he received a bag full of golden
coins. He ran back home taking enough money to his wife to feed his family.The princess never got tired of watching the crab and she never went away from the fish-pond. She had learnt eveything about it and its habits and how it used to disappear from midday to three p.m.but she didn’t know where it went. One day, while the king’s daughter was gazing at the crab, a young tramp knocked at the door to beg. The princess threw him a bag of coins but unfortunately it fell in a moat.The young man dived in and swam to look for the bag. The moat communicated with the fish-pool through a channel. He swam and swam and at last he
reached a pool right in the middle of a big, elegant dining room, draped with heavy and fine curtains.There was also a sumptuous table laid in this room. At midday the tramp realized someone was coming into the room and so he hid behind the curtains. The man saw a fairy sitting on the crab,the fairy touched the crab with her magic wand and a handsome young man appeared from the crab’s skin. The young man sat down at the table and in a wave of the hand food appeared in the dishes and wine in the bottles.He ate and drank and then he went back into his shell. The fairy touched it with her wand and the crab took her again on its
back, slipped into the pond and disappeared with her under the water.The tramp was astonished at what he saw; he came back to the princess’s fish-pool .When the king’s daughter saw the tramp’s head emerging from the water she shouted:
-What are you doing in my pool?
The tramp told her everything he had seen .
-Now I understand where the crab goes from 12 to 3 p.m.!
Well, tomorrow at midday we’ll go together and see.
The next the princess and the tramp went to the big dining room together; they hid behind the curtains and waited. At 12 o’clock… they appeared :the fairy on the crab’s back. When the young man emerged from the crab’s skin the princess fell in love….he was so handsome! The princess felt she had never seen such a handsome young man as he was . Suddenly she got into the empty shell next to her .When the young man got back into his skin and saw the princess he was amazed and worried.
He said:
-If the fairy sees us she will kill us!
He explained he the was victim of a spell.
-I want to help you !I want to set you free from the fairy! Answered the brave princess.
-To break the spell, I need a girl who loves me enough to die for me!
-I am that girl!
While they were talking about their love the crab was taking the fairy who was still sitting on his shell straight to the sea, without her being aware of it. He left the fairy in the sea and immediately went back to the fish-pond,where the prince gave the princess some instructions:
-Sit on a rock on the sea shore. Sing and play music.When the fairy hears the music she will come out of the water since she loves music very much.She’ll ask you to go on playing music ;
she’ll say to you:
-Play and sing beautiful young girl!
And you will answer her:
-Yes, I will sing and play if you give me that flower on your head
When you get that flower in your hands Iwill be free, because that flower is my life!
The crab went back to the fish pond and let go the princess .When she emerged from the pool again she thanked the tramp and rewarded him. Then she asked her father to let her learn to sing and play music.The king, who satisfied all her desires, called the most skilled musicians to give his daughter music lessons.As soon as she had learnt she said to the king:
-Father ,I’d like to go and play the violin on a rock on the sea shore.
-You’re mad!What are you saying ? on a rock?
But, as usual, the good king satisfied his daughter’s request and let her go to the shore accompained by eight maids,wearing white clothes.The princess started to play the violin, and from the waves appeared the fairy who said:
-Please, nice girl, sing and play again
-I will do it if you give me that flower you keep on your head.
-I’ll give it to you if you’re able to catch it where I throw it.
So the fairy threw the flower as far as she could, saying:
-There it is!
The princess dived into the sea and swam through high waves.She disappeared and surfaced againmany times.At last, a friendly wave , washed the flower right into her hand. At that moment she heard a voice , under the water:
-You gave me back my life ,you will be my wife,if you wish. Now, don’t be afraid,I’m just underneath you,I’ll carry you back to the shore. Please, don’t tell anyone our secret,not even your father . I have to inform my parents about us and in 24 hours I’ll come and ask for your hand.
-Yes, yes, I understand everything…I’ll do what you told me.
So she only told her father she had enjoyed playing music by the sea, nothing else. The next day,at three p.m. a roll of drums ,a flourish and a horse pawing were heard: a valet announced that his king’s son requested an audience. The prince introduced himself ,asked for the princess’s hand and told the whole story. The king was astonished by the prince’s story and a little disappointed because he had been left in the dark. He called his daughter ;she came running and flew into the prince’s arms:
-This is my bridegroom!This is my bridegroom!
The king realized there was nothing he could do except arrange the wedding as soon as possibile
The prince and the princess got married and they lived happily ever after.
Illustrated by the students of Spain
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08.12.2010
TURKISH TALE
Nasreddin Hodja, having need for a large cooking container, borrowed his neighbor's copper cauldron, then returned it in a timely manner.
"What is this?" asked his neighbor upon examining the returned cauldron. "There is a small pot inside my cauldron."
"Oh," responded the Hodja. "While it was in my care your cauldron gave birth to a little one. Because you are the owner of the mother cauldron, it is only right that you should keep its baby. And in any event, it would not be right to separate the child from its mother at such a young age."
The neighbor, thinking that the Hodja had gone quite mad, did not argue. Whatever had caused the crazy man to come up with this explanation, the neighbor had a nice little pot, and it had cost him nothing.
Some time later the Hodja asked to borrow the cauldron again.
"Why not?" thought the neighbor to himself. "Perhaps there will be another little pot inside when he returns it."
But this time the Hodja did not return the cauldron. After many days had passed, the neighbor went to the Hodja and asked for the return of the borrowed cauldron.
"My dear friend," replied the Hodja. "I have bad news. Your cauldron has died, and is now in her grave."
"What are you saying?" shouted the neighbor. A cauldron does not live, and it cannot die. Return it to me at once!"
"One moment!" answered the Hodja. "This is the same cauldron that but a short time ago gave birth to a child, a child that is still in your possession. If a cauldron can give birth to a child, then it also can die."
The neighbour was so angry and he wanted to take his revenge from the Hodja. He decided to play a trick on Hodja to win a free meal. He shared his plan with his friends. They told Hodja;
"If you can spend the whole night in the town square without a fire to warm you up, we will invite you to dinner,but if you can't then you will invite us. Is it a bet?"
Hodja agreed .He went to the square and found himself a place to spend the night. He was about to freeze but managed to spend the whole night there.His friends were surprised to find him in the square next morning.
"How did you do it?" they asked.
"It was pitch dark so I sat here in the light of an oil lamp of a house miles away" he replied.
"Oh you cheated! You must have kept yourself warm in that light. So you have to cook us a nice dinner" they told Hodja. A few days later, they all went to Hodja's house.Hodja had a big cauldron hanging from a branch of a tall tree and below the cauldron he had lit a candle on the ground. His friends started getting anxious and asked;
"When is the dinner going to be ready?"
"As soon as the heat from the candle boils the water in the cauldron, I will start cooking your dinner." Hodja replied.
"That is impossible" they exclaimed.
"But why?" Hodja replied "Just as the light of that weak oil lamp miles away kept me warm, the heat from the candle below the cauldron will boil the water."
click here to see the illustrations made by the English students
click here to see the illustrations made by the English students
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20.12.2010
SPANISH TALE
AN OLD MAN, A BOY AND A DONKEY
