Tell Me a Story (21 traditional stories from the British Isles dramatised by J.D.Graham), страница 7

Mr. Smith didn’t understand and he wanted an explanation.   He was a reasonable man and he understood that Robin’s family were short of money.   So Mr. Smith decided to make a bargain with Robin.   “If you can do everything I ask you to do, I’ll let your father off the rent for this month,” he said.   “What do you want me to do?” asked Robin.   And Mr. Smith said:  “I want you to come to my house tomorrow at twelve o’clock and explain - exactly at twelve o’clock.   But, you mustn’t come straight down the road and mustn’t come across the field.   And you mustn’t walk and you mustn’t come on horseback.”   And he added:  “If you can do all that and if you can explain what you told me, I’ll let your father off the rent he owes me.”   And off Mr. Smith went.

Now, while Mr. Smith was thinking about what Robin had said to him, Robin was thinking about what Mr. Smith had said to him.   Then he had an idea.   The next day came and Robin went out into the field.   A sheep was standing there.   “I’m not going to ride a horse,” he said, “I’m going to ride a sheep!”   And he got on to the sheep’s back.   The sheep began to run down the road - but it didn’t run straight down the road - it ran from one side of the road to the other.   It ran into the bushes on each side and the bushes scratched Robin’s face.   It was a very uncomfortable ride!

At last the sheep came to Mr. Smith’s house - and stopped.   Robin got off the sheep’s back and he walked up to Mr. Smith’s house.   It was exactly 12 o’clock and Mr. Smith came out of his house to meet Robin.   “How did you get here?” he asked.   “Well,” said Robin, “I didn’t come straight down the road and I didn’t come across the fields and I didn’t walk and I didn’t come on horseback.”   And he explained how he rode on a sheep and came across the road.   He showed Mr. Smith the scratches on his face where the sheep had run into the bushes at the side of the road.   “It must have been a very uncomfortable ride,” commented Mr. Smith.

Then Mr. Smith wanted some explanations from Robin.   First, why was his father making a bad matter worse?   Robin explained that the cow had died and his father was going to buy a new cow but on the way he stopped at an inn and spent the money.   And so he was making a bad matter worse.

And why was Robin’s mother baking a loaf of bread that was eaten last week?   Last week, explained Robin, the family didn’t have any bread.   The neighbours gave them a loaf of bread and so Robin’s mother was baking a loaf of bread to replace the bread that was eaten last week!

And what about Robin’s brother who was out hunting?   Robin explained that he was hunting for fleas.   And all the fleas he killed he left behind and all the fleas he didn’t kill he brought home alive.

Robin had done everything that Mr. Smith had asked him to do and so Mr. Smith said that he would let Robin’s father off the rent for the month.   “You’re a clever boy”, he said.   So, Mr. Smith was amused and Robin and his family were very happy - even the sheep was happy!

6.  THE STORY OF THE BUYER AND THE SELLER

This is a story about a man named James and his nephew Simon.   James lived in the north of the country.   He had moved up there many years ago from the south.   He owned a fruit shop.   Now, one day James’s nephew came up to stay with his uncle.   On the first evening, Simon and James sat and talked.   “You’ve been living here for a long time now,” Simon said to his uncle.   And his Uncle said “I like it here.”   “It’s a very pretty place,” said Simon, “but there’s just one problem.

I can’t understand what the people here are saying.”

James said that when he first came he couldn’t understand the local people either, but he assured Simon that if he stayed a little longer he would be able to understand them.   Simon had been staying with his uncle for a few days when his uncle James came in looking worried.   James employed a man to sell oranges at the railway station every day but the man had a cold.   “He can’t go to the station tomorrow”, he told Simon.   James had to look after the shop so he couldn’t go to the station either.   “If no-one can go to the station, there’ll be no oranges to sell to the passengers when they get off the train, and I’ll lose a lot of money.”   Then he had an idea.   He asked Simon:   “Could you possibly help me?   Could you sell the oranges?”