Черная курица, или Подземные жители / The Black Hen
Шрифт:
Somebody came up to his bed. A voice called his name: "Alyosha! Alyosha!" It was the voice of Blacky.
Alyosha opened his eyes. But it was not the black hen near his bed. The boy saw a sad small man in black. He had his little red hat on his head.
"Alyosha!" said the Minister. "I can see that you are not sleeping. I want to tell you something important. We are going away. Good-bye, Alyosha!"
"Good-bye, Blacky!" said Alyosha. "Good-bye! And please forgive me."
"Alyosha," said the Minister sadly, "I forgive you. You saved my life. I still love you. But we can't stay under your school any longer. We are going far away. Everyone is so unhappy! We lived here many years. It was such a good place!"
Alyosha tried to take the Minister's small hand. Suddenly he saw something strange.
"What is it on your hands?" he asked.
The Minister showed him his hands. Alyosha saw gold chains.
"I must wear these chains now," said the Minister. "But don't cry, Alyosha! Your tears can't help me. Do one thing for me: be a good boy. Good-bye!"
And the Minister disappeared under the bed.
"Blacky! Blacky!" cried Alyosha. But Blacky didn't say a word.
Alyosha didn't sleep all night. He heard voices under the floor. He got out of the bed and sat down on the floor. He listened to the voices for a long time.
"The little people are going away because of me," he thought.
Then he heard the voice of Minister Blacky:
"Good-bye, Alyosha! Good-bye!"
The next morning the children found Alyosha on the floor. He was ill. They put him to bed. Soon the doctor came.
"The boy is very ill," he said. "He must stay in bed."
Alyosha stayed in bed for a long time.
In spring he was back in classroom. The headmaster and the other boys didn't talk to him about the black hen or about the birch. Alyosha didn't like to remember them, either. He tried to be good and kind. Everyone became nice to him again. But he couldn't learn twenty pages by heart. In fact, nobody asked him to do that any more.
Helpful Words & Notes
birch—
chains— цепи.
Exercises
1 Say who:
1) took the birch.
2) told the headmaster about the black hen.
3) went to bed with the other children.
4) had gold chains on his hands.
5) found Alyosha on the floor in the morning.
6) became nice to Alyosha again.
2 Correct the statements.
1) The other boys asked the headmaster to punish Alyosha.
2) Alyosha didn't say a word about the little people.
3) The hemp seed was still in Alyosha's pocket.
4) Alyosha was happy to see Blacky.
5) Alyosha stayed in bed for two days.
6) Alyosha could still learn twenty pages by heart.
3 Fill in the verbs.
1) You are very naughty today. I am going to ____ you for that.
2) Please don't punish me. I ____ to become better.
3) I must ____ these chains now.
4) Good-bye, Blacky! And please ____ me.
5) Your tears can't ____ me, Alyosha.
4 Fill in the prepositions.
on, for, because of, about
1) Why didn't you think ____ it before?
2) What is it ____ your hands?
3) Blacky is going away ____ me.
4) Do one thing ____ me: try to be a good boy.
5 Answer the questions and speak about the end of the story.
1) Why did the headmaster punish Alyosha?
2) Why did Alyosha tell the headmaster about the little people?
3) What happened to Blacky and the underground people?
4) What happened to Alyosha?
Did you like the story? What can you say about Alyosha? Do you like him? Was he always brave?
Vocabulary
A
alone ['ln]
а один, оставшийся в одиночествеalong [’l:] prep вдоль, по
already [l'red] adv уже
always ['lwez] adv всегда
angrily [aegrl] adv сердито
angry ['aengn] а сердитый, злой
animal ['aenml] n животное
another [’ndr] а еще один, другой такой же
around ['rand] prep вокруг
ask [sk] v спрашивать ask a question задавать вопрос ask for просить чего-л.
awful [’:fl] а ужасный
В
beat [bit] v бить, побеждать; биться
became [b'kem] форма прошедшего времени от become
because [b'kz] cj потому что
become [become] v становиться
before [b'f] prep перед, до; раньше
behind [b'hand] prep за, позади
best [best] а лучший
better ['bet] а лучше
bottle ['btl] n бутылка
bought [bt] форма прошедшего времени от buy
brave [brev] а смелый
bravely ['brevl] adv смело
bread [bred] n хлеб
bridge [bridge] n мост
bright [brat] а яркий
bring [br] v приносить
brought [brt] форма прошедшего времени от bring
busy ['bz] а занятой
С
cage [ked] n клетка
call [kl] v звать; называть
came [kem] форма прошедшего времени от come
candle ['kaendl] n свеча
castle ['ka: sl] n замок
catch [kaet] v поймать
chain [ten] n цепь
change [tend] v (из)менять
cheese [tiz] n сыр
city [siti] n (большой) город
clothes [kldz] n одежда
coin [koin] n монета
colour [kl] n цвет
come [km] v приходить, приезжать
come out выходить
come up подходить, приближаться
cook [kk] n повар, повариха
corner ['kn] n угол