Антоний Погорельский - Черная курица, или Подземные жители / The Black Hen

Suddenly the sheet started moving.

"Blacky! Blacky!" said Alyosha in a low voice.

The sheet moved once more. Then the black hen flew up on the boy's bed. Alyosha was very happy to see his friend.

"Oh, Blacky!" he said. "Why didn't you come? I am your friend."

"Yes," said the hen. "I know. You are my friend. And you saved me from the cook. You were a good boy then. Everyone liked you. But now… you are awful!"

Alyosha started crying. Blacky spoke to him for a long time. She asked him to become a nice, kind boy again. In the end the hen told him:

"I must leave you now, Alyosha. Here is your hemp seed. You lost it in the yard. Our King doesn't take his present away from you. But you should become a good boy. And remember your promise. Don't tell anyone about us, Alyosha!"

Alyosha took the hemp seed from the hen.

"Dear Blacky, thank you for your help. Don't worry. I promise to become better in the morning."

"It is not easy. Remember that," said the hen. "I'm sorry, I must go now. Good-bye, Alyosha!"

Alyosha looked at the hemp seed. He was happy again.

"I can say twenty pages of the text without a mistake now. And it is very easy to become better," he thought.

The next morning the headmaster told Alyosha to come to the classroom.

"Do you know your lesson?" he said.

"Yes, I do," said the boy quickly.

And he said his lesson without any mistakes. Then he looked at the headmaster and the boys. The headmaster didn't like Alyosha's proud smile.

"You know your lesson now," said the headmaster. "But why didn't you want to say it yesterday?"

"I didn't know it yesterday," said Alyosha.

"Didn't you?" said the headmaster. "Yesterday evening you knew two pages. You told me that. And today you know all twenty pages without any mistakes! When did you learn them?"

Alyosha said in low voice:

"I learned them in the morning."

But then the children shouted:

"No! He didn't look at the book this morning."

Alyosha said nothing.

"Answer me!" the headmaster said. "When did you learn the lesson?"

Alyosha didn't know what to say.

Helpful Words & Notes

He tried hard — Он очень старался.

in tears — в слезах.

Exercises

1 Answer the questions.

1) Did Alyosha start learning his lesson at once?

2) What did Alyosha have for dinner?

3) How many pages did Alyosha know in the evening?

4) What did Blacky give Alyosha?

5) What did Alyosha promise to Blacky?

6) What happened at the next History lesson?

2 Put the sentences in the right order.

1) It was time to go to bed.

2) Alyosha said his lesson without any mistakes.

3) Blacky asked Alyosha to become a nice, kind boy again.

4) Alyosha started looking for the hemp seed.

5) The headmaster didn't like Alyosha's proud smile.

6) Alyosha tried hard to learn the text by heart.

7) The headmaster brought Alyosha a glass of water and a piece of bread.

3 Match the opposites.

4 Choose right: do, did, didn't.

1) No, he ____ look at the book this morning.

2) When ____ you learn all the pages?

3) Why ____ you want to say it yesterday?

4) Alyosha, ____ you know the lesson now?

5 Say why:

1) Alyosha could learn only two pages.

2) The other boys didn't want to be Alyosha's friend any longer.

3) Blacky talked to Alyosha for a long time.

6 Is it easy for you learn something by heart? What do you usually learn by heart?

Chapter 8

The headmaster was very angry. He said:

"You are a clever boy, Alyosha. But yesterday you were very naughty. And you are naughty today. I am going to punish you for that."

It was a terrible thing for Alyosha.

"Boys!" said the headmaster to the other children. "Don't speak to Alyosha." The headmaster took the birch. Alyosha ran up to the headmaster in tears:

"Please, don't do it. I promise to become better!"

"Why didn't you think about it before?" asked the headmaster.

The other boys asked the headmaster to forgive Alyosha.

"Very well," said the headmaster, "I forgive you. But first you must say when you learned the lesson."

Alyosha was very unhappy. He forgot his promise to the King and his minister. He told the headmaster about the black hen. He told him about the knights and the underground people.

The headmaster stopped the boy.

"What!" he cried angrily. "You're trying to tell me a story about a hen now! That is too much. No, children. I must punish this boy!"

The headmaster punished Alyosha. After that the boy went to the bedroom. It was a terrible time for him. Alyosha put his hand in his pocket. The hemp seed wasn't there. The boy started crying again.

That evening he went to bed with the other children. But he couldn't sleep.

"I must become better. I was so bad," he thought. "And I can't get the hemp seed back now."

Suddenly the sheet moved. Alyosha closed his eyes. He was afraid of seeing Blacky.

"Only yesterday I promised her to become better. What can I tell her now?" he thought.

Somebody came up to his bed. A voice called his name: "Alyosha! Alyosha!" It was the voice of Blacky.

Alyosha opened his eyes. But it was not the black hen near his bed. The boy saw a sad small man in black. He had his little red hat on his head.

"Alyosha!" said the Minister. "I can see that you are not sleeping. I want to tell you something important. We are going away. Good-bye, Alyosha!"

"Good-bye, Blacky!" said Alyosha. "Good-bye! And please forgive me."

"Alyosha," said the Minister sadly, "I forgive you. You saved my life. I still love you. But we can't stay under your school any longer. We are going far away. Everyone is so unhappy! We lived here many years. It was such a good place!"

Alyosha tried to take the Minister's small hand. Suddenly he saw something strange.

"What is it on your hands?" he asked.

The Minister showed him his hands. Alyosha saw gold chains.

"I must wear these chains now," said the Minister. "But don't cry, Alyosha! Your tears can't help me. Do one thing for me: be a good boy. Good-bye!"

And the Minister disappeared under the bed.

"Blacky! Blacky!" cried Alyosha. But Blacky didn't say a word.

Alyosha didn't sleep all night. He heard voices under the floor. He got out of the bed and sat down on the floor. He listened to the voices for a long time.

"The little people are going away because of me," he thought.

Then he heard the voice of Minister Blacky:

"Good-bye, Alyosha! Good-bye!"

The next morning the children found Alyosha on the floor. He was ill. They put him to bed. Soon the doctor came.

"The boy is very ill," he said. "He must stay in bed."

Alyosha stayed in bed for a long time.

In spring he was back in classroom. The headmaster and the other boys didn't talk to him about the black hen or about the birch. Alyosha didn't like to remember them, either. He tried to be good and kind. Everyone became nice to him again. But he couldn't learn twenty pages by heart. In fact, nobody asked him to do that any more.

Helpful Words & Notes

birch — розга; березовый прут, который использовался для телесного наказания.

chains — цепи.

Exercises

1 Say who:

1) took the birch.

2) told the headmaster about the black hen.

3) went to bed with the other children.

4) had gold chains on his hands.

5) found Alyosha on the floor in the morning.

6) became nice to Alyosha again.

2 Correct the statements.

1) The other boys asked the headmaster to punish Alyosha.

2) Alyosha didn't say a word about the little people.

3) The hemp seed was still in Alyosha's pocket.

4) Alyosha was happy to see Blacky.

5) Alyosha stayed in bed for two days.

6) Alyosha could still learn twenty pages by heart.

3 Fill in the verbs.

1) You are very naughty today. I am going to ____ you for that.

2) Please don't punish me. I ____ to become better.

3) I must ____ these chains now.

4) Good-bye, Blacky! And please ____ me.

5) Your tears can't ____ me, Alyosha.

4 Fill in the prepositions.

on, for, because of, about

1) Why didn't you think ____ it before?

2) What is it ____ your hands?

3) Blacky is going away ____ me.

4) Do one thing ____ me: try to be a good boy.

5 Answer the questions and speak about the end of the story.

1) Why did the headmaster punish Alyosha?

2) Why did Alyosha tell the headmaster about the little people?

3) What happened to Blacky and the underground people?

4) What happened to Alyosha?

Did you like the story? What can you say about Alyosha? Do you like him? Was he always brave?

Vocabulary

A

alone [əˈləʊn] а один, оставшийся в одиночестве

along [ə’lɔ:ŋ] prep вдоль, по

already [ɔːlˈredɪ] adv уже

always [ˈɔːlweɪz] adv всегда

angrily [æŋgrɪlɪ] adv сердито

angry ['aengn] а сердитый, злой

animal [ˈænɪməl] n животное

another [ə’nʌðər] а еще один, другой такой же

around [əˈraʊnd] prep вокруг

ask [ɑːsk] v спрашивать ask a question задавать вопрос ask for просить чего-л.

awful [’ɔ:fəl] а ужасный

В

beat [biːt] v бить, побеждать; биться

became [bɪˈkeɪm] форма прошедшего времени от become

because [bɪˈkɒz] cj потому что

become [become] v становиться

before [bɪˈfɔː] prep перед, до; раньше

behind [bɪˈhaɪnd] prep за, позади

best [best] а лучший

better [ˈbetə] а лучше

bottle [ˈbɒtl] n бутылка

bought [bɔːt] форма прошедшего времени от buy

brave [breɪv] а смелый

bravely [ˈbreɪvlɪ] adv смело

bread [bred] n хлеб

bridge [bridge] n мост

bright [braɪt] а яркий

bring [brɪŋ] v приносить

brought [brɔːt] форма прошедшего времени от bring

busy [ˈbɪzɪ] а занятой

С

cage [keɪdʒ] n клетка

call [kɔːl] v звать; называть

came [keɪm] форма прошедшего времени от come

candle [ˈkændl] n свеча

castle ['ka: sl] n замок

catch [kætʃ] v поймать

chain [tʃeɪn] n цепь

change [tʃeɪndʒ] v (из)менять

cheese [tʃiːz] n сыр

city [siti] n (большой) город

clothes [kləʊðz] n одежда

coin [koin] n монета

colour [kʌləʳ] n цвет

come [kʌm] v приходить, приезжать

come out выходить

come up подходить, приближаться

cook [kʊk] n повар, повариха

corner [ˈkɔːnə] n угол

cried [kraid] форма прошедшего времени от cry

crown [kraun] n корона

cry [krai] v кричать; плакать

D

dead [ded] а мертвый, умерший

decide [di'said] v решать, принимать решение

decorate [dekəreɪt] v украшать

disappear [ˌdɪsəˈpɪə] v исчезать

doll [dɒl] n кукла

downstairs [daʊnˈstɛəz] adv вниз no лестнице

drawing room [drɔːɪŋ rum] n гостиная

dream [dri: m] n сон

during ['djʊərɪŋ] prep во время, в течение

Dutch [dʌtʃ] а голландский

E

each [iːtʃ] а каждый

ear [ɪə] n ухо

easy ['i: zi] а легкий, простой; adv легко, просто

egg [eg] n яйцо

either [aɪðə] adv тоже, также (в отрицательных и вопросительных предложениях)

end [end] п конец

even [’i: vən] adv даже

everywhere [evrɪwɛə] adv везде

F

faint [feint] v потерять сознание

fairy [fean] n фея, волшебница

fairy tale ['fesnteil] n сказка

fall [fɔːl] n падать