Английские сказки для мальчиков / English Fairy Tales for Boys - стр. 3
“I have further been told,” said the cat, “that you can also transform yourself into the smallest of animals, for example, a rat or a mouse. But I can scarcely believe that. I think that that would be quite impossible.”
“Impossible!” cried the ogre. “You shall see!”
He immediately changed himself into a mouse and began to run about the floor. As soon as the cat saw this, he fell upon him and ate him up.
Meanwhile the king, who saw this fine castle of the ogre’s as he passed, decided to go inside. The cat, who heard the noise of his majesty’s coach running over the drawbridge, ran out and said to the king, “Your majesty is welcome to this castle of my Lord Marquis of Carabas.”
“What! My Lord Marquis,” cried the king, “and does this castle also belong to you? There can be nothing finer than this court and all the stately buildings which surround it. Let us go inside, if you don’t mind.[21]”
The marquis gave his hand to the princess and followed the king, who went first. They passed into a spacious hall, where they found a magnificent feast, which the ogre had prepared for his friends, who were coming to visit him that very day but dared not to enter, knowing the king was there.
His majesty was perfectly charmed with the good qualities of my Lord Marquis of Carabas, as was his daughter, who had fallen violently in love with him. Seeing the vast estate he possessed, the king said to him, after having drunk five or six glasses, “It will be your own fault, my Lord Marquis, if you do not become my son-in-law.”
The marquis, making several low bows, accepted the honor which his majesty conferred upon him[22] and that very same day married the princess.
The cat became a great lord and never again ran after mice, except for entertainment.
Упражнения
1. Ответьте на вопросы:
1. How many sons did the miller have?
2. What did the eldest son take?
3. What did the cat ask his new master for?
4. How did the cat catch the rabbit?
5. What title did the cat give to his master?
6. Was the king pleased with the gifts?
7. Who was passing by the riverside?
8. Did the meadow belong to the Marquis of Carabas?
9. How did the ogre die?
10. Whom did the Marquis of Carabas marry?
2. Расставьте предложения в правильном порядке:
a) “Sir, I have brought you a rabbit from my noble lord, the Marquis of Carabas”.
b) He commanded his guards to help the Marquis of Carabas.
c) “There can be nothing finer than this court and all the stately buildings which surround it,” said the king.
d) After receiving what he had asked for, the cat gallantly pulled on the boots and slung the bag about his neck.