Material supplied by ASUMAN BİRDAL

THE   LAZY FARMER

 Once upon a time  there was a farmer. The farmer’s name was Eric .Look at Eric’s farm. His fields are full of weeds. His cows and goats are hungry and his house is falling down. Look at Eric’s family. His wife and children work hard. But there is no food to eat. Their clothes are old and they are unhappy. The family is very poor.

Eric: Oh dear! I am very hungry. Can I have something to eat please, Anna?

Anna: No, you cannot. There is no food. Go out and work.

Eric: I can’t  work. I am hungry and I am tired, too.

Anna: You are lazy and you owe people money. Go out and work. Go on, get out!

(ERIC goes out and thinks about his situation alone)

 Eric: What can I do now? I don’t like working. I want to sit under this tree and sleep. Ah, that is nice and it is cool here. Oh! What is this? It is an old flute. I like playing the flute. Hey, this flute is great!

 (ERIC meets  a woman and cheats  her )

 Eric: Good morning!

Woman: Good morning!

Eric: I am tired and I am hungry. Do you have any food in your basket?

Woman: Yes, I have some bread, apples, some cheese and a lovely cake.

Eric: Fantastic! Give me the cake, the apples and the cheese, please.

Woman: All right. You can have the food. But I want some money for it.

Eric: I am sorry. I don’t have any  money. But you can have this flute.

Woman: I don’t want your flute. I want money for my food.

Eric: But it is a very good flute. Listen.

Women: Help! Help! I can’t stop dancing.

Eric: Hey! This flute is magic. Come on ,dance! Faster, faster !

Woman: Please stop playing your flute. You can have all my food. I don’t want any money. Please stop!

Eric: OK. Thanks very much for the food. You can go now.

Woman: You are a wicked man, Eric. You have all my food and I don’t have any money.

Eric: Mmm…This cake is very lovely. The apples and oranges are delicious. And this flute is fantastic. I play it and people can’t stop dancing . Then they give me what I want. Ha, ha! Why work now?

 (ERIC meets a boy and cheats  him.)

 Eric: Good morning !

Boy: Good morning!

Eric: You have fine goats Can I have them please?

Boy: But I want some money for them.

Eric: I am sorry, I don’t have any money. You can have this flute.

Boy: I don’t want your flute. I want some money for my goats.

Eric: But it is a very good flute . Listen!

Boy: Help! Help! I can’t stop dancing.

Eric: Come on, dance. Faster!  Faster!

Boy: Please stop playing your flute. You can have all my goats. Take them.

Eric: Thanks very much. You can go now.

Boy: You are a wicked man. You have all my goats and I don’t have any money.

 (Eric meets a man and cheats him.)

 Eric: Good morning, sir.

Man: Good morning.

Eric: I am very poor, sir. Please give me some money.

Man: You aren’t poor. You have food in that basket and you have these goats.

Eric: Give me some money or hear my flute.

Man: I don’t want to hear your flute.

Man: Help!  Help! I can’t stop dancing.

Eric: Come on , dance or give me your money.

Man: Please stop playing your flute. You can have all my money. Take it. TAKE IT!

Eric: Thanks very much. You can go now.

Man: You are a wicked man. You have all my money and I have nothing.

(ERIC goes to his house and speaks to his wife.)

Eric: Hello, Anna. Look! I have a basket of food ,all these things and lots of money.

Anna: How did you get all these?

Eric: WITH THIS FLUTE. I found it. When I play it people dance and dance and dance.

Anna : You are a wicked man, Eric. It is dishonest. We must give these things back. That is a terrible flute. Throw it away.  

Eric: Don’t say that ,Anna . It is a wonderful flute. We can get food and money and goats and cows with this flute.

Anna: You are a lazy, dishonest man. You must work for our food and money and animals. Don’t cheat people with this flute. Give it to me. I want to throw it on the fire.

Eric: Stop! Don’t throw it on the fire. Play it , it is really good.

Anna: OK. Listen to the flute, Eric. And dance . Come on , dance! Faster, faster!

Eric: HELP! HELP! I can’t stop dancing. Please stop playing the flute , Anna.

Anna: Do you want to work or dance, Eric?

Eric: I want to work hard. Please stop, Anna.

 You must see the Eric’s farm now. The fields are full of animals. The animals have food to eat. Anna and the children are happy. Eric works hard. But the flute is never far from Anna .She always keeps it with her.

                                                                                                                        (Donald Dallas)

 ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS ABOUT ERIC’S LIFE:

 1 ) Does Eric work hard?

 2 ) Are Eric and his wife rich?

 3 ) Does Eric like working?

 4 ) What does Eric find outside?

 5 ) Who does Eric meet first?

 6 ) Who does Eric meet next?

 7 ) Who does Eric meet finally?

 8 ) What does Anna say to Eric when Eric goes to house?

 9 ) What does Anna do with a flute?

 10 )Is Eric lazy now?

NOW  SUMMARIZE THE STORY AND  MAKE  YOUR OWN QUESTIONS FROM THE STORY!

                                                  KATE  AND  THE  CLOCK

It is Saturday morning. Kate is eating her breakfast. Kate’s mother and father are with her.On Saturday mornings Kate doesn’t go to her school. She helps her mother and father. This morning she says to her mother:

‘Can I help you mummy?’

‘Yes you can help me, Kate.’her mother says. ‘You can go to Mr. Hunter’s shop.Our clock is in his shop.’

‘Mr.Hunter mends clocks,’ Kate’s father says.

‘Is he mending our clock?’ Kate asks.

‘Yes ,’ her father says. ‘ And this morning it is ready.’

‘Yes ,it is ready,’ her mother says.

‘Go to Mr. Hunter’s shop,Kate. Take this bag. You can put the clock in the bag.’

Kate takes the bag.

‘Here is fifty pence, Kate,’Her father says.’Give it to Mr.Hunter, please.’

‘Yes ,Daddy,’ Kate says.

She puts the fifty pence in her purse in the bag.

‘Good-bye, Mummy; good-bye ,Daddy,’ she says.

‘Good-bye, Kate,’ they say.

Kate is happy. She is helping her mother and father.

Kate goes to Mr.Hunter’s shop. Kate is listening. Mr.Hunter’s shop is noisy.In the shop,there  are small clocks, big clocks, old clocks and new clccks.One clock isn’t noisy, but fifty clocks are very noisy.

The clccks are ticking. Kate is listening to them.

‘Hello, Kate,’ Mr. Hunter says.

Mr.Hunter is behind the counter.He is smiling . He is a happy manKate smiles, too.

‘Hello, Mr. Hunter,’ Kate says . ‘Is our clock ready,please?’

‘Yes, here it is, Kate .’

Mr.Hunter puts the clock on the counter. It is a blue clock.

‘It is very noisy in your shop, Mr.Hunter,’ Kate says. ‘Your clocks are noisy.’

Mr.Hunter smiles.

‘I like clocks, Kate ,’he says. ‘They talk to me.’

‘They talk to you?’ Kate says. ‘The clocks talk to you?’

   ‘Yes ,’Mr.Hunter says. ‘Listen-they are talking .Can you hear them?’

Kate listens.

‘I can hear tick-tock,tick-tock, tick-tock,’ she says. ‘The clocks are ticking, but they are not talking.’

But tick-tock is clock talk.’

‘Clock talk!’ Kate says.She hears tick-tock,tick-tock,tick-tock.

‘Ican’t understand clock talk.’ She says. ‘Can you understand it?’

Mr. Hunter smiles. ‘Yes, Kate ,’He says. ‘I understand clocks.’

‘What are they saying?’ Kate says.

‘They are telling stories.’

Kate goes to a big, old clock.She listens ,the clock is ticking.

‘Is this clock talking?,Is it telling a story?’ she asks Mr.Hunter

Mr.Hunter listens, He smiles.

‘yes it is telling a story.’ He says.

‘What is it saying?’ Kate says.

‘That is a grandfather clock, it is very very old.It lives in a big house. It stands near the door.The people in the house say: ‘What is the time clock?’ and the clocks tell them.’

‘Who are the people in the house?’ Kate asks.

Mr.Hunter can’t answer. A man comes into the shop. He goes quickly to the counter.

‘Sorry, Kate,’ Mr.Hunter says. He goes to the man. ‘Can I help you, sir ?’ he asks.

‘I want a clock,’ the man says.

‘Yes, sir’ Mr. Hunter says.

‘This clock.’

‘I am sorry , Mr.Hunter says.

‘Not that clock.YOU can’t buy that clock.’

The man is looking at Kate’s clock!

‘I have fifty clocks. Look- you can but this one, or that one-‘

‘Mr. Hunter!,Look!, Two policemen are coming into the shop.’ Kate says.

Two policemen go to the man at the counter.

‘Come with us.’ They say. ‘No,’ the man says. He runs into the road.

The policemen run into the road, too. They catch  the man. They put him into their car.One policeman talks to Mr.Hunter: ‘Sorry,Mr. Hunter; but the man is a thief .He takes things from the shops.This morning he ha sa necklace from Mr.Smith’s shop.’

‘A thief!Athief in my shop!’ Mr. Hunter says.

‘Oh good!,I can tell Mummy and Daddy. Two POLICEMEN catching a thief- super!’Kate says.