Сборник
Сборник самых известных английских легенд. Уровень 1

Tom Thumb^[71]

In the days of the great King Arthur^[72] there lived a magician called Merlin^[73]. He was the most wonderful magician in the world. This famous magician, who could take any form he wanted, was once travelling about as a poor beggar. One day he got very tired and stopped to rest at the house of a farmer. He knocked at the door and begged for some food.

The countryman invited him to come in, and his wife, who was a very kind woman, soon brought him some milk in a wooden bowl, and some brown bread on a plate.

Merlin was much pleased with the kindness of the farmer and his wife, but he noticed that though everything was tidy and comfortable in the house, they both looked unhappy. He asked them why they were so sad, and learned that they were unhappy because they had no children.

The poor woman said, with tears in her eyes, “I should be the happiest woman in the world if I had a son. Even if he was no bigger than my husband’s thumb, I would be pleased.”

Merlin was so much amused with the idea of a boy^[74] no bigger than a man’s thumb, that he decided to carry out the poor woman’s wish^[75]. Some time after, the farmer’s wife had a son, who was not bigger than his father’s thumb.

The queen of the fairies wished to see the little boy. She came in at the window while the happy mother was sitting up in the bed looking at the boy. The queen kissed the child, gave it the name of Tom Thumb, and sent for some of the fairies. She gave orders to the fairies to dress the little boy, and the fairies dressed him very well.

Tom did not grow any bigger than his father’s thumb, which was an ordinary finger. But as he got older, he became very cunning and full of tricks. When he was old enough to play with other boys and had lost all his own cherry-stones^[76] for playing the games he usually crept into the bags of his friends and filled his pockets. No one noticed him. Then he joined in the game again.

One day as he was getting out of a bag of cherry-stones, the boy to whom it belonged saw him. “Ah, ah! You little thief!” said the boy, “you’ve stolen my cherry-stones. I’ve caught you at last.” And the boy gave the bag such a shake that poor little Tom’s legs and body were badly hurt, and Tom screamed with pain^[77], and promised never to steal again.

A short time afterwards his mother was making a batter pudding, Tommy wanted to see how it was made and climbed up to the edge of the bowl. But his foot slipped, and he fell into the batter. His mother didn’t notice him, and put the batter into the pudding-bag. Then she put it in the pot to boil.

The batter filled Tom’s mouth, and he could not cry. But when he felt the hot water, he began to struggle so much in the pot that his mother thought that the pudding was magic. So she pulled it out of the pot and threw it outside the door. A poor worker, who was passing by, lifted up the pudding, and walked off. As Tom had now cleared his mouth of the batter, he began to scream. The worker was so frightened that he threw down the pudding and ran away. The pudding was broken to pieces, Tom crept out with the batter all over him, and walked home. His mother put him into a teacup, and soon washed off the batter. After that she kissed him, and put him to bed.

Soon after the adventure of the pudding, Tom’s mother went to milk her cow in the meadow, and she took the boy along with her. As the wind was very strong, she tied him to a thistle with a piece of thread. The cow soon saw Tom’s oak-leaf hat, and at once poor Tom and the thistle were in her mouth. Tom was afraid of her great teeth, and he roared out as loud as he could, “Mother! Mother!”

“Where are you, my son, my dear little son?” Tom’s mother asked.

“Here, Mother,” he answered, “in the red cow’s mouth.”

His mother began to cry; but the cow, surprised at the strange noise in her mouth, opened it and dropped Tom. His mother caught him in her apron as he was falling to the ground. Then she took Tom in her hand and ran home with him.

Tom’s father made him a whip of a barley straw^[78]to drive the cattle with^[79]. One day Tom went into the fields, but his foot slipped and befell down. A bird, which was flying over the field, picked him up, and flew with him over the sea, and then dropped him.

A large fish swallowed Tom the moment he fell into the sea. The fish was soon caught and bought for the round table of King Arthur. When the cook opened the fish to cook it, everybody in the kitchen was surprised to find a little boy inside the fish, and Tom was happy to be free again. They carried him to the king, who was delighted with him and let him live in the palace. And soon he became a great favourite at court for his tricks and jokes. He amused not only the king and queen, but also all the Knights of the Round Table^[80].

When the king rode out on horseback, he often took Tom along with him. If it rained, Tom usually crept into the king’s pocket, where he slept till the rain was over.

One day King Arthur asked Tom about the parents, he wished to know if they were as small as Tom was, and if they were poor or rich. Tom told the king that his father and mother were as tall as anybody in the court, but they were not rich. When he heard this, the king carried Tom to the treasury, the place where he kept all his money, and told him to take as much money as he could carry home to his parents.

The poor little boy was very happy and at once he went to get a purse. He returned to the treasury with a purse which was made of a soap-bubble^[81]. He received a silver coin and put it into his purse.

It was very difficult for the little boy to lift the purse and put it upon his back. But at last he went on his journey. More than a hundred times he rested by the way, and in two days and two nights he finally reached his father’s house safely.

Tom had travelled many hours with a great heavy silver coin on his back. He was almost tired to death^[82], when his mother ran out to meet him and carried him into the house. She was very glad to see her son, but Tom soon returned to the king’s court.

As Tom’s clothes were spoilt after the batter-pudding, and the fish, the king ordered to make new clothes for Tom. The king also gave him a mouse to ride. He sat on it like a proud knight.

And Tom Thumb in his fine clothes rode out on his mouse to hunt with the king and his knights. They all liked to look at Tom and laugh as he sat on his fine “horse”.

The king loved Tom so much that he ordered his men to make a little chair for him, and he was sitting on the king’s table when he had his meals. Moreover, the little boy was also given a golden palace to live in and a coach drawn by eight small mice^[83]. So Tom lived happily at King Arthur’s court^[84] until he died.

Binnorie^[85]

Once upon a time^[86] there were two king’s daughters. They lived in a bower near the bonny mill-dams of Binnorie. And Sir William^[87] came wooing the eldest and won her love and plighted troth^[88] with glove and with ring. But after a time^[89] he looked upon the youngest, with her cherry cheeks and golden hair, and his love grew towards her till he cared no longer for the eldest one^[90]. So she hated her sister for taking away Sir William’s love, and day by day^[91] her hate grew upon her, and she plotted and she planned how to get rid of her^[92].

So one fine morning, fair and clear, she said to her sister, “Let us go^[93] and see our father’s boats come in at the bonny mill-stream of Binnorie.” So they went there hand in hand. And when they got to the river’s bank the youngest got upon a stone to watch for the coming of the boats. And her sister, coming behind her, caught her round the waist and dashed her into the rushing mill-stream of Binnorie.

“O sister, sister, reach me your hand!” she cried, as she floated away, “and you shall have half of all I’ve got or shall get^[94].”

“No, sister, I’ll reach you no hand of mine, for I am the heir to all your land. Shame on me if I touch the hand that has come ’twixt^[95] me and my own heart’s love^[96].”

“O sister, O sister, then reach me your glove!” she cried, as she floated further away, “and you shall have your William again.”

“Sink on,” cried the cruel princess, “no hand or glove of mine you’ll touch. Sweet William will be all mine when you are sunk beneath the bonny mill-stream of Binnorie.” And she turned and went home to the king’s castle.

And the princess floated down the mill-stream, sometimes swimming and sometimes sinking, till she came near the mill. Now the miller’s daughter was cooking that day, and needed water for her cooking. And as she went to draw it from the stream, she saw something floating towards the mill-dam, and she called out, “Father! father! draw your dam^[97]. There’s something white – a merrymaid^[98] or a milk-white swan – coming down the stream.” So the miller hastened to the dam and stopped the heavy cruel mill-wheels. And then they took out the princess and laid her on the bank.

Fair and beautiful she looked as she lay there. In her golden hair were pearls and precious stones; you could not see her waist for her golden girdle; and the golden fringe of her white dress came down over her lily feet. But she was drowned, drowned!

And as she lay there in her beauty a famous harper passed by the mill-dam of Binnorie, and saw her sweet pale face. And though he travelled on far away^[99] he never forgot that face, and after many days he came back to the bonny mill-stream of Binnorie. But then all he could find of her where they had put her to rest were her bones and her golden hair. So he made a harp out of her breastbone and her hair, and travelled on up the hill from the mill-dam of Binnorie, till he came to the castle of the king her father.

That night they were all gathered in the castle hall to hear the great harper – king and queen, their daughter and son, Sir William and all their Court. And first the harper sang to his old harp, making them joy^[100] and be glad or sorrow and weep just as he liked^[101]. But while he sang he put the harp he had made that day on a stone in the hall. And presently it began to sing by itself, low and clear, and the harper stopped and all were hushed^[102].

And this was what the harp sung:

 
“O yonder sits my father, the king,
Binnorie, O Binnorie;
And yonder sits my mother, the queen;
By the bonny mill-dams o’ Binnorie^[103],
And yonder stands my brother Hugh^[104],
Binnorie, O Binnorie;
And by him, my William, false and true;
By the bonny mill-dams o’ Binnorie.”
 

Then they all wondered, and the harper told them how he had seen the princess lying drowned on the bank near the bonny mill-dams o’ Binnorie, and how he had afterwards made this harp out of her hair and breastbone. Just then the harp began singing again, and this was what it sang out loud and clear:

 
“And there sits my sister who drowned me
By the bonny mill-dams o’ Binnorie.”
 

And the harp snapped and broke, and never sang more. But later this story became a ballad called “The Twa Sisters^[105]”. It goes like this:

 
There lived a lady by the North Sea shore
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom^[106])
Two daughters were the babes she bore
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
As one grew bright as is the sun,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
So coal black grew the elder one.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
A knight came riding to the lady’s door,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
He’d travelled far to be their wooer.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
He courted one with gloves and rings,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
But he loved the other above all things.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
“Oh sister, will you go with me
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
To watch the ships sail on the sea?”
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
She took her sister by the hand
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
And led her down to the North Sea strand.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
And as they stood on the windy shore
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
The dark girl threw her sister o’er^[107].
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
Crying, “Sister, reach to me your hand!
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
“Oh Sister, Sister, let me live,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
And all that’s mine I’ll surely give.”
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
“It’s your own true love that I’ll have and more,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
But thou shalt never come ashore^[108].”
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
And there she floated like a swan,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
The salt sea bore her body on.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
Two minstrels walked along the strand
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
And saw the maiden float to land.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
They made a harp of her breastbone,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
Whose sound would melt a heart of stone.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
They took three locks of her yellow hair,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
And with them strung the harp so rare.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
They went into her father’s hall
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
To play the harp before them all,
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
But when they laid it on a stone
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
The harp began to play alone.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
The first string sang a doleful sound:
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
“The bride her younger sister drowned.”
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
The second string as that they tried,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
In terror sits the black-haired bride.
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 
 
The third string sang beneath their bow,
(Lay the bent to the bonnie broom)
“And surely now her tears will flow^[109].”
(Fa la la la la la la la la la)
 

Упражнения

1. Выберите правильный вариант:

1. This is the tale of a man saved by his father.

2. This is the tale of a man drowned by his brother.

3. This is the tale of a girl drowned by her sister.

4. This is the tale of a girl saved by her sister.

2. Where does murdered girl’s body float?

1. The murdered girl’s body floats far away.

2. The murdered girl’s body floats nowhere.

3. The murdered girl’s body does not float.

4. The murdered girl’s body floats ashore.

3. What is a harp?

1. a musical instrument played using a keyboard

2. a popular musical instrument that makes sound by the playing of its six strings

3. a multi-string musical instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard

4. a musical instrument in the brass family

4. Why did the elder sister refuse to pull her younger sister out again?

1. Because she wanted to drown her younger sister.

2. Because she could not swim.

3. Because she wanted to teach her swim.

4. Because the younger sister was very heavy.

5. What is a Court?

1. a governmental institution

2. the retinue and larger household and entourage of a high nobleman

3. the place in which tennis matches are played

4. an indoor plaza

6. What is the elder sister’s motive?

1. jealousy

2. greediness

3. cowardice

4. laziness

7. Выберите правильный вариант:

1. The elder sister’s affections are greatly encouraged by the young man.

2. The elder sister’s affections are not encouraged by the young man.

3. The elder sister’s affections are not seen by the young man.

4. The elder sister’s affections make the young man satisfied.

8. What does it mean, “ Lay the bent to the bonnie broom”?

1. clean the house

2. cut some bushes

3. make a powerful talisman

4. destroy evil amulets

9. What is “twa”?

1. 3

2. 4

3. 6

4. 2

10. Выберите нужный глагол:

Fair and beautiful she looked as she ____________________ there.

1. lay

2. lain

3. lie

4. lied

11. Выберите нужные глаголы:

The harp ____________________ itself and ____________________ about the murder.

1. dances, plays

2. plays, sings

3. sings, plays

4. talks, says

12. Выберите нужный предлог:

And when they got ____________________ the river’s bank the youngest got ____________________ a stone to watch ____________________ the coming ____________________ the boats.

1. of, for, upon, at

2. on, in, between, for

3. into, of, at, by

4. to, upon, for, of

13. Ответьте на вопросы:

1. How many persons are mentioned in the story?

2. What is the name of the wooer?

3. What have you learned about the jealousy?

4. What do you like and what don’t you like in the story?

5. What would you do if you were^[110] the main character of the story?

6. What is the end of the story?

7. Retell the story.

14. Заполните таблицу:

be _________ been

_________ won won

take _________ taken

grow grew _________

get _________ gotten

Ответы:

1. This is the tale of a girl drowned by her sister.

2. The murdered girl’s body floats ashore.

3. a multi-string musical instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard

4. Because she wanted to drown her younger sister.

5. the retinue and larger household and entourage of a high nobleman

6. jealousy

7. The elder sister’s affections are not encouraged by the young man.

8. make a powerful talisman

9. 2

10. lay: Fair and beautiful she looked as she lay there.

11. plays, sings: The harp plays itself and sings about the murder.

12. And when they got to the river’s bank the youngest got upon a stone to watch for the coming of the boats.

14.

be was/were been

win won won

take took taken

grow grew grown

get got gotten