|
STONE SOUP
Retold by Nancy Ross Ryan One cold day, in a place far away, three soldiers were walking together. The soldiers had been walking a long time. They were very hungry. "How I would like to get some good food to eat!" said the first soldier. "A bed to sleep in too," said the second. "Then we must walk on," said the last. They walked a little faster. Just then, in front of them, they saw the lights of a village. "We may find something to eat there," said the first soldier. "A place to sleep too," said the second. "We will share what we find," said the third. Now the people in that village were afraid of people they did not know. "Oh, oh," they said. "Here come three soldiers. We know how soldiers are. They are always hungry. We have little enough food for us." So the people ran to hide their food. They hid every last bit. They pushed bags of potatoes under the straw. They put pails of milk down the wells. They spread old sheets over the carrots. They hid all their meat. Then they went inside their houses and closed their windows and doors. The soldiers first stopped at the house of Anne and Robert. "Hello," the first soldier said. "Could you share a bit of food with three hungry soldiers?" "Sorry," the man and woman said. "We are hungry too. Our family has had nothing to eat for three days. It has been a bad year for farmers." Then they shut the door. The soldiers went on to the next house, which belonged to Paul and Marie. "Could you share a bit of food?" the second soldier asked Marie. "Some straw will do for the night," said the third. "We are sorry," said Marie. The soldiers who came before you ate everything we had to give." "The animals ate all the straw," said Paul. At every house people said the same thing. Nobody had any food to give away. People got together in the middle of the village and looked as hungry as they could. The three soldiers talked together. "No use talking about it," said the first soldier. "We will have to make stone soup." "Stone soup?" thought the people. Everyone wanted to see stone soup being made. "First, we will need a large pot," one soldier said. The people got as large a pot as they could find. "Now, some water to put into the pot and wood to cook with," said the soldiers. People came running with pails of water and wood. "Now, we must add three smooth stones," said the last soldier. Everyone helped to find the stones. "Stones like this can make good soup," said the first soldier, as he began to stir the soup. "But a really great stone soup needs carrots." "Why, I just remembered," said Anne, "I think I put a carrot or two away," and off she ran. She came back with the carrots she had been hiding. "If we only had a bit of meat and some potatoes," said the next soldier. "I saw some potatoes under some straw the other day," said a man. "What they were doing there, I'll never know." Off he ran to get them. He came back with the potatoes. A second man came back with some meat he had been hiding. The soldiers cut up the meat and potatoes and put them in the soup. "Oh," said one soldier as he stirred, "a cup of milk would make this soup fit for the queen. Come to think of it, that is just what she asked for when she last ate with us. No use asking for what you don't have," he said, and looked around. "Well!" the people thought. "The soldiers ate with the queen!" They went to get their milk from the wells. The soldiers stirred the milk into the hot soup as the people looked on. At last the soup was done. "The soup is ready," the soldiers said, "but to eat stone soup we all need to sit together. We need a big, long table." The people put many tables together. They made a huge table in the middle of the village. One man asked, "Don't we need bread and something to drink with this fine soup?" Soon all kinds of food were spread on the table and everyone sat down to eat. Imagine eating a soup made from stones! Never before had the people been so happy. Never before had there been such fun. The people ate and ate. After that, they danced late into the night. Then the first soldier asked, "Is there a bed of straw where we could sleep?" "We wouldn't think of letting you sleep on straw," the people said. So the soldiers got to sleep in the longest, finest beds in the village. "Many thanks for what you showed us," said a man the next morning. "We will never go hungry, now that we know how to make stone soup."
"Just remember," said the first soldier, "you begin with three smooth stones." Then the soldiers went on their way.
BEST FRIENDS
By Nancy Ross Ryan
On Monday afternoon Angela's teacher said, "Class, we are going to put on a play. I wrote the parts down on paper and put them in this hat. One at a time, you may pick your part from the hat."
When it was Angela's turn, she put her hand into the hat and pulled out the paper with the words Snow Queen on it. Angela had really wanted that part all along.
That night Angela didn't want to save her news. "Guess what happened today," she said to her grandma. "I am going to be the Snow Queen in the class play."
Angela wanted everyone to be really proud of her, so she practiced every afternoon. One afternoon as she practiced, her cousin Donna came over. Donna was Angela's cousin and her best friend too. She was always there when Angela needed help. Today Donna helped her fix her costume so it would look just right.
Donna's class was going to work behind the stage with the lights and music.
The big night came at last. "I guess I know my part," Angela said. "I have been practicing since Monday."
"If you have practiced since Monday, you will not have a problem doing your best. We are all proud of your hard work," Angela's mother said. "Your dad will be home from downtown soon. It will be time to go. Come along and help Grandma and me fix the popcorn for the party after the play."
Angela and Donna walked along on their way to school with the bag of popcorn. Then their problems began. Angela tripped over a branch and the popcorn fell all over.
"Oh, no!" said Angela. "Now we have a problem. Since we can't eat the popcorn, we don't have anything to take to the party. It's too late to get anything now."
"It doesn't matter," said Donna. "Let's clean up this mess. Here, put the popcorn back in the bag."
When the girls got to school, Angela went to her teacher and told her about the problem. The teacher said it didn't matter. The popcorn wasn't a problem.
Just then Donna had a thought. "We don't have anything to eat, but I can still put this popcorn to good use," Donna said.
The play started. Angela walked on the stage in her costume. Then zap! Soft, white snowflakes started falling on the stage.
Angela's family was proud of her as she remembered all her lines. But they could not guess where the snowflakes had come from.
No one knew that Donna was behind the stage. She was busy making snow by throwing the old popcorn over Angela, the Snow Queen.
It didn't matter that there wasn't any popcorn to eat at the party, because everyone said the snow was great. Angela's best friend had helped her again. Donna had helped make the whole night very special.
THE UGLY DUCKLING
Adapted by Nancy Ross Ryan
Two fine ducks lived near the pond on a farm. Each spring they were very busy with their nest. The mother duck sat on her eggs to keep them warm. The father duck brought her food to eat.
"When will the eggs be ready to open?" the father duck wondered. "How many ducklings will there be?"
One day the farmer found an egg by the pond. "Look what I found," he said. "I guess this egg rolled out of the mother duck's nest. I'll just put it back when she takes her walk. She will never know it was missing."
Then the farmer hid the egg in the nest.
That night the mother duck felt the eggs stir. "It won't be long now," she said. "I think we will be seeing ducklings soon."
By morning the eggs began to open. One yellow duckling pushed its way out into the sun. Another duckling climbed out of its egg. Soon there were five little ducklings.
"Oh, what pretty ducklings," the mother duck said.
"They are as fine as can be," the proud father said.
"But what is this?" the mother duck asked "This big egg has not opened yet."
The mother duck sat down upon the nest again. Soon other ducks came to visit. The old goose came to watch the egg open too.
"You never can tell." the old goose said to the mother duck. "Maybe someone played a trick on you and put a different egg in your nest"
"Maybe it's an owl's egg," said one duck.
"Maybe it's one of the goose's eggs," said another duck.
"Maybe it's a snake's egg," said yet another duck.
At last the big egg began to open and the last duckling rolled out. The last duckling didn't look anything like the other ducklings. He wasn't little and yellow but big and gray. This duckling was not small and pretty. He was large and funny-looking.
"Oh, my!" the mother duck said. "You are such an ugly duckling. Maybe you are not a duckling after all, and you are too ugly to be a goose. Let's go down to the pond to see if you can swim. If you are a duck, you will swim. If you are an owl, or a chicken, you won't be able to swim."
The mother duck started out for the pond. She was the first in line, waddling along on her big, flat feet. The little yellow ducklings followed along on their little flat feet. The ugly duckling was at the end.
The mother duck was the first one in the pond. Then splash! The ugly duckling jumped in as the other ducklings just watched.
"Won't you join us in the pond?" the mother duck asked the other ducklings. "Come right in, the water is fine."
The little yellow ducklings jumped in. They, too, could swim, but the ugly duckling was the best swimmer. Now the mother duck knew he belonged to her.
"Come along, children," the mother duck said to all the ducklings. "It is time to meet the other animals. Now watch your father and walk as he does, with your feet turned out. Remember, the old goose is queen of the farm. When you meet her, bend your neck. Bend your neck and bow."
The farm animals looked at the new ducklings. "What an ugly duckling that one is," a goose said. "Is it really a duckling?"
"It is a duckling," the mother duck said. "He is very clever. Out of all my ducklings, he is the best swimmer and I think he is cute."
As the days went by, the ugly duckling grew sad. Nobody would play with him. Everyone made fun of him. All the animals called him the ugly duckling. When the farmer fed the animals, the ugly duckling was always the last to eat.
"I am so ugly, I don't have any friends," the ugly duckling said. "I am going to fly away. It won't matter if I leave, since I am always so alone."
The ugly duckling left the farm and didn't say good-by. He lived alone as the days grew colder. He sometimes felt afraid, sometimes hungry, but he always felt alone.
One day the ugly duckling came upon a flock of beautiful birds. The great birds had long necks, and feathers as white as snow. Their beaks were as black as night.
The duckling wanted to talk to the birds, but they spread their wings to fly. As they flew away, they gave out a loud cry. The cry made the ugly duckling want to join them. When the beautiful birds had left, the ugly duckling felt more alone than before.
Winter came at least. Since it was so cold, the ugly duckling could no longer swim in the lake. The duckling walked until he found a little house where an old man, his wife, a cat, and an old chicken lived. They took the ugly duckling in.
The ugly duckling was safe and warm, but he missed the water. He told the cat about the deep, blue lake and the beautiful birds.
"Don't tell me anything about water," the cat sniffed. "I never get wet."
"Don't tell me anything about water either," the chicken said. "I don't swim."
When spring came, the duckling said good-by to the man and his wife. The ugly duckling knew he had to go back to the lake.
The duckling spread his wings and flew away. The sun was bright, the air was warm.
"If only I had a friend," the ugly duckling thought.
At the lake the duckling saw the beautiful birds again. The duckling asked one of them, "What kind of bird are you?"
"Why, I am a swan just like you," the white bird said. "Won't you come along with us since you are alone? You are so beautiful you could be the prince of all the swans."
The ugly duckling know the swan was joking. The duckling bowed his head. Then the duckling saw himself in the water.
What a surprise! The duckling was a beautiful swan. How happy he was! He had never been an ugly duckling. All along he had been a baby swan. So off he went to join the other swans.
Under the Moon - Level 5 Reader - Scott Foresman |