In the yard, the Captain whispered to his men, "Wait until you hear my signal. Then leave your barrels and storm the house." Morgiana helped Ali Baba's family feed their guest. She thought it strange that a man would arrive so early for market, but the oil merchant seemed very polite. After everyone had gone to bed, Morgiana finished cleaning up. Her lamp ran out of oil. She thought she'd have to finish cleaning in the dark until she remembered the barrels of oil in the yard. She walked up to a barrel. A voice whispered, "Is it time?" Morgiana sensed danger. She answered in a deep voice, "Not yet, but soon." Then, gathering some hay around each barrel, Morgiana lit the hay with a torch. The 39 cowardly thieves coughed from the smoke. They popped out from their barrels and ran away to keep from getting burned. The Captain of Thieves made his signal, but none of his men moved. Something had gone wrong again. The Captain returned to the cave to find his 39 robbers gone. Now on his own, the thief decided he would have to use all his cunning to plan his revenge. it would take time, too. The Captain dressed as a shop owner, went into town, and took up lodgings at an inn. He opened a shop across the road from Ali Baba's shop. The Captain pretended to be somebody else for many months. He waited in this disguise until just the right moment. After a while, Ali Baba invited the newest shop owner over for dinner. The Captain accepted and brought a basket of fine goods. He smiled as he met Ali Baba and his family. Even though he was polite, the Captain carried a dagger in his belt which was intended for Ali Baba and his son. Morgiana saw the dagger first. She then recognized the man as the oil merchant who had threatened Ali's household. Morgiana quickly came up with a plan. She wore long, flowing scarves, then entered the dining room to dance for the guest. Morgiana danced close to the Captain. Stepping behind him, she wrapped a scarf lightly around his arms then pulled hard. He could not move. "What are you doing?" Ali Baba cried. "This man is our guest." "He is your enemy," she exclaimed. "He has a dagger!" At that, Ali Baba's son took the dagger, and the Captain of Thieves was sent directly to prison. "I owe you my life, Morgiana," Ali Baba said. "Please marry my son and join our family." Morgiana agreed and they celebrated with a splendid wedding.
By now, Ali Baba had opened the shop which he had always dreamed about. He was a fair and generous shop owner. He was happy, his family had plenty, and every neighbor was his friend. Ali Baba hired a helper named Morgiana. She was a very clever and beautiful young lady. She enjoyed her work at the shop. And Morgiana cared for Ali Baba and his family very much. One day, a stranger came calling at the shop. He asked Morgiana many questions about the owner. The odd stranger's questions worried Morgiana. She vowed to keep a watchful eye on the shop. The stranger was really a thief in disguise. The thief returned to the robber's cave to report back to the Captain. "His name is Ali Baba, Captain," said the thief. "He lives behind his new shop in town. He was a poor woodcutter only a few weeks ago." "Go back there at nightfall," the Captain ordered. "Mark his house with this white chalk, and later, I will take 20 men to the marked house and finish him." As he was told, the thief crept in the shadows to mark Ali Baba's home. Little did he know that clever Morgiana had spotted him. As the thief marked the door, she followed with white chalk, too, and marked all the doors. When the Captain and his 20 thieves arrived later that night, they found every door was marked. They did not know which house to attack, so they crept away in shame. Their leader was angry and said, "Who will get this right?" One brave thief stepped forward. "Here is some red chalk," the Captain offered. "Mark the door, and I will lead 30 men to storm Ali Baba's home."The thief did as he was told, but again Morgiana played her trick on the Captain and his 30 thieves. The Captain decided to use all his power against Ali Baba. The Forty Thieves gathered together and made a plan. The Captain would disguise himself as an oil merchant. He would lead a train of mules that carried 39 barrels. The thieves would hide inside the barrels and await their Captain's signal. It was a great plan. Early that night, they arrived at Ali Baba's shop. "I have brought some oil to sell at market tomorrow," the Captain lied. "But tonight I need a place to stay and I have a lot of cargo. Will you take me in?" Ali Baba was as generous as usual. "Of course you can stay here," he replied. "Leave your cargo in the back. There is hay there for the mules. Then come in for dinner."
In a town in Persia there lived a man called Ali Baba. He was a poor woodcutter, and he struggled each day to feed his wife and children. All he ever wanted was to own a shop in the town, sell goods to his neighbors, and have plenty for his family. One day Ali Baba was cutting wood in the forest. He saw a troop of men on horseback approaching. Ali Baba thought these men were robbers, so he climbed a tree to hide. Ali Baba counted 40 men. He wondered whether this could be the band of Forty Thieves he had heard so much about, the robbers that all of Persia feared. Their leader got off his horse and stepped around a bush towards a large rock wall. The powerful man faced the wall, and Ali Baba clearly heard him shout, "Open, Sesame!" A door opened in the rock wall! The door revealed a secret opening to a cave. The leader of the thieves stepped in, and the other robbers followed him. Ali Baba waited until the thieves filed out from the cave. The Captain closed the door, saying, "Shut, Sesame!" Then the thieves rode away. When he was sure they were gone, Ali Baba stepped toward the rock and shouted, "Open, Sesame!" And the door opened for him just as miraculously as it had for the Captain of Thieves. Ali Baba stepped through the threshold to find a large room, filled at every inch with all sorts of valuables, so brilliant with gold, silver, and jewels that Ali Baba had to squint. He feared the robbers might soon return. He quickly gathered as much gold as he could carry. Ali Baba remembered to say, "Shut, Sesame!" when he left the cave. Ali Baba did not notice that a single gold coin dropped from his cloak to the base of the bush that covered the secret door. The Captain of Thieves caught sight of the coin glimmering in the sunlight one day. He was very angry. "How could you drop this and risk revealing our hiding place?" he shouted at his 39 companions. "But, Master," the thieves said, "we know that the punishment for such a mistake is severe. Surely, none of us has done this." "Then we have been discovered," the Captain growled. He paced for several minutes with the thieves waiting anxiously for him to speak. Then he announced, "We must learn who has just become rich in town. That man and all his famiily must die!"
The minister saw the odd procession and cried out at the three sisters, "Have you no shame, girls? Why are you running after the boy? It's just not right!" He tried to pull the youngest girl away. Suddenly, he felt that he was stuck in the crowd and had to follow the goose, like everybody else. The minister's wife saw her husband running along with the three girls. She cried out in amazement, "Dear husband, slow down! We have to be at a wedding in a few minutes!" She pulled on his sleeve to try and stop him. Then, she was caught in this silly parade too. They passed two farmers on a road. The minister's wife called for help, but as soon as they touched her, the farmers were pulled along, too! Samuel hurried into the next town, with the curious party of seven behind him. There a king lived with his only daughter. The princess was so serious that it was believed that she could not laugh. So the king sent out a proclamation. Whoever made the princess laugh would have her hand in marriage. When Samuel heard about the princess, he took his golden goose to her. At the sight of this silly group of people, the princess burst into laughter. The king thought she might not stop. Samuel asked the princess to marry him. But, before she could answer, the king stepped in. He did not want Samuel to marry his daughter, so he made up a list of conditions. "First," the king said, "bring me a man who can drink a whole cellarful of cider, then a man who can eat a mountain of bread." Samuel thought of the little man in the woods and rushed off. The old man was sitting in the same spot as before. "Oh, I'm so thirsty, and so very hungry," said the man to Samuel. "I cannot seem to drink enough cider or eat enought bread." Samuel quickly took the old man to see the king. The little man happily drank all the cider and ate all the bread in the king's cellar. Then Samuel approached the king and asked for his bride. But the kiing was ready with a third demand. "Now bring me a ship which sails on land as well as on sea." Again, Samuel went to see the little man. " I will share all my magic with you," said the old man, "because you have been so kind to me." Soon Samuel was back at the castel with a ship that sailed on land and sea. The king had no choice but to let Samuel marry the princess. The two were married that very day.
When Samuel reached for their snack, he found a magnificent sweet cake and a large bottle of cider for them to share. "My, look at this," said Samuel. "I am glad I have much more than stale bread to share with you." When they finished their tasty meal, the old man told Samuel, "You shared your goods with me, and for that I am grateful. Now you will have good luck to go with your kind heart." The little man pointed at an old tree nearby. "Cut down that tree and you'll find something special there in its roots." Then the man walked away without another word. Samuel was puzzled, but did as the old man had said. Samuel raised his ax and cut down the tree. When the tree fell, more than just a stump remained. Samuel found a goose sitting among the roots. This was no ordinary goose. Its feathers were made of gold! "What a wonderful surprise!" shouted Samuel. He had never seen anything like this before. He picked up the goose. Sure enough, its feathers were pure gold. Samuel took the goose and hurried into town. He had to show this goose to everyone he knew. Samuel was proud as he carried this goose through town. He passed an inn, and the innkeeper's three curious daughters came out to see the bird. Each of the three daughters wanted to take one of the goose's golden feathers to keep. When Samuel stopped to show off the golden goose to the three sisters, the oldest sister tiptoed behind Samuel and tugged at the goose's wing. her hand stuck there so tightly that she could not move it away. She waved to her sisters for their help. The sisters thought that together they could surely pluck out three gold feathers. They joined hands to pull. Instead, the three sisters found they were all stuck to each other! The sisters hushed their worried squeals and scurried behind Samuel, who never noticed the girls hanging on behind. He marched for the next town to share his goose's beauty with anyone who wished to behold it. Samuel hurried through a field on his way to the next town. The three stuck girls followed closely behind.
Hello everyone, just to let you know, there will be no podcasts this week, but I will continue our readings the following week. Keep up with your English!
There once was a gentle boy called Samuel. He lived at the edge of the forest with his parents and two older brothers. His family often treated him poorly. They didn't know that he was capable of much greater things, until the day that he met a strange old man in the woods. That day began as Samuel's oldest brother went to cut wood. Their mother packed a sweet cake and a bottle of cider for her oldest son to take into the woods. Samuel stayed at home and chopped nuts. In the woods, Samuels's brother came upon a little gray man. The man kindly said good day and asked, "Will you share your meals with a tired old man? I am very hungry and thirsty." Samuel's brother yelled at the man. "If I share with you, I won't have enough for myself," he said. "Now out of my way!" The brother left the man standing there and went to chop a tree. After a few strong swings, his ax slipped and hit his arm. He suffered a deep cut and could no longer continue his work. The little man saw all this happen. He smiled as the oldest brother hurried home to dress his wound. Now, the second brother was called to get the firewood. Their mother gave him sweet cake and cider for his journey, as she'd done for the oldest brother. Before long the second brother also met up with the old man in the woods. The man kindly said good day and asked if he would share his meal with him. This next brother was as selfish as the first. "If I give you my food and drink, I won't have enough for myself," he said. "Now get out of my way!" The second brother walked away and found a tree to chop. He swung so strongly with the ax that the head dropped off. It fell right on his foot, and so, he also had to go home hurt. Back at the house, young Samuel said, "Let me go and cut wood, Father." "You know nothing about it," replied his father harshly. "But if you want to get hurt, then go." Samuel's mother gave him some stale bread and a jug of warm water. In the forest, Samuel met the little gray man as well. "Would you share some food and drink with a tired old man? I am so very hungry and thirsty," he said. "I have only stale bread and warm water," Samuel said, "but if you don't mind that, we can eat together." They sat in the woods to eat.
Alistair led Oliver through the dining room. They hid behind potted plants and raced under tablecloths. They waited until the chef went to check something in the dining room, then they scampered across the kitchen and into the dark pantry where Oliver stumbled over something. "Do be careful," said Alistair. Oliver saw what he'd stumbled over. "It's a-a-a..." "A mousetrap," Alistair knocked it under a shelf with his paw. "You will learn to stay away from them." Alistair led Oliver up the shelves to the hors d'oeuvres. Alistair gobbled fancy crackers, nibbled pasta, and even managed to chew a hole in a tin of smoked salmon. "Now this," said Alistair, patting his tummy, "is fine dining." Oliver was still so frightened, that he barely ate a crumb. "Tonight the chef is preapring roast duck with herbed potatoes in a delicate cream sauce." Alistair's mouth watered. His whiskers twitched. "One taste and you'll never go back to the country." The mice crept out of the pantry. The kitchen seemed empty. Alistair rushed about, gathering up bits of duck and potatoes. He didn't notice the chef coming back into the kitchen. But the chef noticed Alistair. "You again!" shouted the chef. The chef chased the mice around the kitchen with a broom. Alistair and Oliver escaped through a hole under the sink. "No main course tonight, I'm afraid," said Alistair. "But don't worry, cousin. We'll make up for it with dessert." Alistair showed Oliver the tarts and pies and cheesecakes. Oliver nibbled the edge of a flaky cream puff. It was so delicious! He leaned forward to get a bigger bite and splat! He landed face down right in it. Alistair helped him climb out, and cleaned him off. "I'm not cut out for life in the city," Oliver said. "You take too many risks for your dinner. A mouse could starve to death here, too. I'm going home to the good life." So Oliver dragged his carpet bag back through the crowded city streets, over fields and valleys, until he reached his hole under the roof of the big oak tree. He ate a late supper of acorns and wheat seeds, then curled up in his leaf bed. He could hear the crickets chirping. Back at his hotel, Alistair curled up in his linen napkin and listened to the orchestra play. Both mice sighed. "I love being home," they said.
Oliver gathered acorns and stacked them near his hole. Then he collected seeds from the grass and carried them into the hole. Then he went to the cornfield to find fallen corn. While Oliver was hard at work, Alistair yawned and leaned against the root of the oak tree. Then he wiped the dust from his shoes with his silk handkerchief. When Oliver returned with some corn, he piled it neatly. "Thank goodness you're done." Alistair collapsed into the wheelbarrow. "Now I'd say it's time for a snack and a nap." Oliver giggled. "The work isn't finished. We still have lots to do before we can rest." Alistair sighed. "I'm simply not cut out for the country life," he said. "A mouse could starve to death here. Come home with me for a while. I'll show you the good life." Alistair packed his silk pajamas into his fine leather suitcase. Oliver packed his long johns into his old carpet bag. The two mice set out for Alistair's home in the city. Oliver followed Alistair over fields and valleys, into dark, noisy subway tunnels, and through crowded streets, until they reached the luxury hotel where Alistair lived. Alistair stopped in front of the door. "Polished marble floors and shiny brass knobs," he said. "Now, this is how mice like us are supposed to live." Oliver stared up at the revolving glass door. "H-h-how do we get inside?" "Wait until the opening comes around, then run through," Alistair replied. The door swing around, and Alistair disappeared inside. It took a few more spins before Oliver gave it a try. Oliver spun around and around in the door until Alistair pulled his carpet bag and got him inside. Oliver followed Alistair across the lobby and through a small crack in the wall hidden by velvet draperies. "My appartment," Alistair said when they were inside. Oliver looked around in amazement. Alistair's home was filled with gold candlesticks, crystal goblets, and linen napkins. "We're under a bandstand." Alistair pointed out of the hole that was his front door. "An orchestra plays, and ladies and gentlemen dance every night until dawn." "How can you sleep with all the noise?' asked Oliver. "Sleep?" said Alistair. "I can sleep during the day. We do things a little differently here. Dinner, for example. At a five-star hotel, dinner begins with hors d'oeuvres."
Once upon a time, a country mouse named Oliver lived in a hole under the root of a big, old oak tree. Oliver loved the sound of squirrels chattering during the day and crickets chirping at night. He loved the smell of rich dirt and sweet grass all around him. One day Oliver invited his city cousin, Alistair, for a visit. Before Alistair arrrived, Oliver tidied up his hole. He straightened his leaf bed. He spread fresh pine needles on the floor. He scrubbed the tuna can table and polished the bottle cap plates. Then Oliver sat by the entrance to his hole, gazed out at the stars, and waited for his cousin to arrive. When Alistair arrived, he put his fine leather suitcase on the pine needles. "I say, cousin, is this your cellar?" he asked Oliver. "No," said Oliver, "it's my home." Oliver showed Alistair the back of the hole, where he stored his grain. He led Alistair up to the top of the old oak root, where he sometimes sat to watch the sunset. Then he sat Alistair down at the tuna can table and served him a dinner of barley and corn. Alistair nibbled his meal politely. "This certainly tastes as though it's good for me." He coughed and swallowed. "A bit dry, perhaps. Could I bother you for a cup of tea?" Oliver brewed a thimble of dandelion tea for them both. "Here's to my cousin Alistair! Thanks for visiting," toasted Oliver. When the thimbles were empty, Oliver changed into his long johns, Alistair changed into his silk pajamas, and the mice settled into their leaves for the night. After Alistair rustled around in his oak leaf for a while, he finally went to sleep.Oliver woke up early the next morning, as usual. A robin family was singing in the old oak tree. A rooster crowed in a nearby farm. Alistair squeezed his pillow over his ears. "Oh, dear. What is that terrible noise?" he mumbled. "That's the sound of morning in the country," said Oliver. "It's the wonderful music that makes me want to start the new day." Alistair pulled the pillow from his face and opened one eye. "You start your day in the morning?" he asked. "Here in the country we rise at dawn," Oliver said, putting on his clothes. He pulled on his work boots, and pushed his wheelbarrow out into the garden. Alistair rolled to the edge of his bed. He wiped the sleep from his eyes. He slid his feet into his shiny black shoes, and followed his cousin outside.
Summer time is check-up time for the kids. When school is out, it's convenient to take them to their various appointments with doctors or dentists. Now, believe it or not, dental check-ups are quite exciting for my kids. I know, it sounds crazy. The reason for the excitement is that we have an agreement. If they have no new cavities, then they get a cash prize. The aim is to encourage them to brush their teeth well. They make their plans to buy a certain toy, and I hope that they don't need any fillings. You might think that it's a bit extravagant to pay the kids for not having cavities. Well, when you consider that one filling costs anywhere between one hundred and two hundred dollars, it's worth paying a lot less to a child to keep them brushing. Of course, I help my little ones brush. They always need a bit of extra help cleaning out the hard to reach places of their teeth. But, so far, I'm happy with our system. Only once did one of my children not get his prize, and that was because he would sneak candies into his room and eat them at night, and then fall asleep without brushing his teeth. I only realised this after cleaning his room one day, when I decided to pull out everything that was under his bed. What an experience. Amongst the jumble of toys, books, dirty socks, rocks from the garden, and gross unrecognisable thing, were candy wrappers. "Uh-oh," I thought to myself, "I wonder how long this has been going on..." When we found out that he had a couple of cavities, I had to give him the bad news that he wouldn't get his cash prize. That made a lasting impression! So he had two appointments with the dentist. They gave him the gas to relax him, the injections in his mouth, the fillings and the clean-up. Fortunately, the dentist and his assistant are extremely friendly, - not scary at all. They made every stage of his appointments fun and pleasant, as far as is possible at the dentist. And you know little kids, they love all the equipment, from the reclinable chair, to 'Mr. Thirsty', the liquid extractor that is put in your mouth. And the place looks so nice. There are flowers everywhere, nice furniture, photos of smiling people, and little toys for kids. They manage to create quite an illusion!
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: check-up, fillings, extravagant, 'hard to reach' places.
1. It's time for a dental check-up; we have them every six months.
2. He didn't brush his teeth at all. When he went to the dentist, he needed to have twelve fillings!
3. That lady is quite extravagant. She spends a lot of money on jewellery.
4. My new mop helps me to clean the 'hard to reach' places of my kitchen.
Hello there podlisteners. I hope your Summer is going really well so far. I realise that I have 'slacked off' this week when it comes to podcasting. The Summer bug has bitten me, and I have been having too much fun to sit down at work at a computer. To slack off means to become lazy, or to not do your job properly. And, we talk about being 'bitten' by a certain bug, when we mean that we become enthused by an activity. For example: The baking bug has bitten me; I bake every day. OR The tennis bug has bitten me; all I want to do is watch the matches on television. So it is with me. There's the good weather, the baseball, the gardening etc etc, so I have officially 'slacked off' this week. However, I'm back in gear again (that's another expression which means to be ready and prepared) to give you all some more podcasts. The thing about slacking off is that it is not satisfying in the end. When you know that you should do something, but don't do it, it's hard to enjoy everything else. My children were watching an episode of Spongebob Squarepants the other day that showed him 'slacking off' and being miserable because of it. He had to write an essay for his boating class. He procrastinated and procrastinated so much, that his time ran out, and he got into a big panic. For some reason, he occupied himself at home with all sorts of activities and chores, even things that he normally wouldn't do, instead of writing his essay. He exercised, cleaned the house until every square inch shone, and did all kinds of unnecessary, silly things, just to avoid his essay. Well, I remember those days in college when I would have an essay to write, and for some reason it would become a painful process of procrastinating. Finally, I would get on with it, and feel much better about myself once it was finished. Podcasting, though, is much more satisfying than writing an essay because I know that my international friends will be listening.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: to slack off, to be in gear, to procrastinate, a chore.
1. I'm not surprised that he didn't do well in his exam; he slacked off and didn't study.
2. We are prepared and in gear to take part in the sailing race.
3. You must get on with the job and stop procrastinating!
4. I have lots of chores to do. The laundry needs to be done, and then I must mop the floors.