Tell Me a Story (21 traditional stories from the British Isles dramatised by J.D.Graham), страница 24

So Jack went to the giant’s house and knocked on the door.   The giant’s wife opened the door, and Jack said to her:  “I’m very hungry.   Please, could you give me something to eat?”   And the giant’s wife said:  “A giant lives in this house.   If he finds you here when he gets home, he’ll eat you up.”

Then the giant came home, and his wife said to Jack:  “Quick!   You must hide!”

THE STORY OF JACK AND THE BEANSTALK PART II

Jack hid in the oven.   When the giant came into the room, he suspected that there was somebody else there and he said:  “I smell fresh meat.”   But his wife said:  “That’s your supper you can smell.   Just sit down and I’ll bring it to you.”

After he had finished eating, the giant said to his wife:  “Bring me my hen!”   And his wife brought him a hen.   The giant put the hen on the table and said:  “Hen, lay!”   And the hen laid an egg made of pure gold.   Jack was amazed.   He said:  “I want that hen.”

He waited until the giant had fallen asleep.   Then he crept out of the oven, seized the hen, and ran out of the house as fast as he could.   He ran to the beanstalk and climbed down it, and then he was back in his own garden.   He showed his mother the hen and the hen laid another egg of pure gold.

Jack and his mother bought some food and lived happily for some time.   But after a while, Jack decided to climb up the beanstalk again.   He visited the giant’s house and this time he ran away with some bags of gold and silver when the giant was asleep.

Then he visited the house a third time and when the giant was asleep, he tried to run away with a harp that played by itself.   But the harp called out to the giant, and the giant woke up.   The giant began to chase Jack but Jack could run faster than the giant.   He ran as fast as he could, reached the beanstalk first and climbed down it.   He called to his mother to bring the axe.   He could hear the giant at the top of the beanstalk and as the giant began to climb down, Jack chopped at the beanstalk until it fell down with a terrific crash.

And that was the end of the giant!   And Jack and his mother lived happily ever after.

21 - THE STORY OF THE BEWITCHED PUDDING

This is a story about a pudding - one of those puddings made with fruit and flour which is tied up in a cloth and boiled in a saucepan.   The story is also about a man called Jim, his wife Katy, and Katy’s Uncle Harry.

Now, Katy and Jim had a daughter who was going to be married.   “After the wedding”, said Katy said to Uncle Harry, “we’re going to have a party for everyone in the village and we hope you’ll come too.”   But Uncle Harry said:  “Another dull party.   I’ll have to see if I can liven it up a bit.”   Katy was rather worried about what Uncle Harry might do at the party and she talked to Jim about it.   “He knows some magic tricks,” she told him.   “I think he’s going to cause trouble and play tricks on the guests at the wedding party.”   “Funny chap, your Uncle Harry,” said Jim.   “But don’t worry.   Everything will be all right.”

On the morning of the wedding, Katy and Jim were in the kitchen.   Katy was making a large fruit putting for the party.   Suddenly the door burst open and in rushed Uncle Harry.   “Come outside”, he shouted.   “Come and look at the sky.   There’s something funny going on up there.”   So Katy and Jim rushed outside and looked up at the sky.   But they couldn’t see anything unusual.   “What’s wrong with the sky, Harry?”, Jim asked.   “We can’t see anything,” said Katy.   “There are strange things going on up there, said Uncle Harry.   “And I tell you this, you’ll have a livelier wedding party than you expect.”  And then Uncle Harry left the house.