The World of Fairy Tales. The Ultramarine Book / Мир волшебных сказок. Синяя книга. Книга для чтения на английском языке - стр. 5

The clever nightingale promised to visit his friend Emperor and sing to him about good and evil things, about everything what happened in his Empire.

A moment later, the courtiers and servants came to see the Emperor for the last time. You can’t imagine how they were surprised when the Emperor sat up and wished them to have a good day.

Once upon a time there lived a family, a mother, a father and their two nice children, a son and a daughter. One day, a boy had a birthday and as a present he received twenty-five lead soldiers. They looked like brothers, brave and proud. The lead soldiers had guns and their uniforms were painted red and blue.

The boy lined them on the table. All the soldiers were the same, except for one who had only one leg. There were also many other toys on the table. The most remarkable was a cardboard castle. Through the windows the kids could see the rooms of the castle. The rooms were furnished and looked very pretty. Outside the castle, there were trees which looked like real and a castle moat made from a mirror. Two magnificent swans glided on the castle moat.

The kids could spend hours playing with their toys and even telling magical fairy tales. The girl especially liked a little ballerina who stood by the castle gate. She was made of cardboard, too. The little dancer wore a tutu and a blue scarf. She stretched her arms above her head like a real ballerina on the stage. The maiden held one of her legs so high that the one-legged little lead soldier couldn't see it. He supposed that the girl had only one leg like him. The little lead soldier was sure that the dancer would be a perfect wife for him. Every night, when the house was quiet our little brave soldier dreamed of her.

One night, on the last stroke of midnight, there was a click. It was an ugly Jack-in-the-box. He popped out from his box and started to threaten the little lead soldier The ugly Jack liked the ballerina too and didn't need any rivals. But the little soldier just pretended not to hear his loud threats.

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