The Three Brothers
Once upon a time...
There was once upon a time a witch, who in the shape of a hawk used every night to break the windows of a certain village church. In the same village there lived three brothers, who were all determined to kill the mischievous hawk. But in vain did the two eldest mount guard in the church with their guns; as soon as the bird appeared high above their heads, sleep overpowered them, and they only awoke to hear the windows crashing in.
Then the youngest brother took his turn of guarding the windows, and to prevent his being overcome by sleep he placed a lot of thorns under his chin, so that if he felt drowsy and nodded his head, they would prick him and keep him awake.
The moon was already risen, and it was as light as day, when suddenly he heard a fearful noise, and at the same time a terrible desire to sleep overpowered him.
His eyelids closed, and his head sank on his shoulders, but the thorns ran into him and were so painful that he awoke at once. He saw the hawk swooping down upon the church, and in a moment he had seized his gun and shot at the bird. The hawk fell heavily under a big stone, severely wounded in its right wing. The youth ran to look at it, and saw that a huge abyss had opened below the stone. He went at once to fetch his brothers, and with their help dragged a lot of pine-wood and ropes to the spot. They fastened some of the burning pine-wood to the end of the rope, and let it slowly down to the bottom of the abyss. At first it was quite dark, and the flaming torch only lit up dirty grey stone walls. But the youngest brother determined to explore the abyss, and letting himself down by the rope he soon reached the bottom. Here he found a lovely meadow full of green trees and exquisite flowers.
In the middle of the meadow stood a huge stone castle, with an iron gate leading to it, which was wide open. Everything in the castle seemed to be made of copper, and the only inhabitant he could discover was a lovely girl, who was combing her golden hair; and he noticed that whenever one of her hairs fell on the ground it rang out like pure metal. The youth looked at her more closely, and saw that her skin was smooth and fair, her blue eyes bright and sparkling, and her hair as golden as the sun. He fell in love with her on the spot, and kneeling at her feet, he implored her to become his wife.
The lovely girl accepted his proposal gladly; but at the same time she warned him that she could never come up to the world above till her mother, the old witch, was dead. And she went on to tell him that the only way in which the old creature could be killed was with the sword that hung up in the castle; but the sword was so heavy that no one could lift it.
Then the youth went into a room in the castle where everything was made of silver, and here he found another beautiful girl, the sister of his bride. She was combing her silver hair
, and every hair that fell on the ground rang out like pure metal. The second girl handed him the sword, but though he tried with all his strength he could not lift it. At last a third sister came to him and gave him a drop of something to drink, which she said would give him the needful strength. He drank one drop, but still he could not lift the sword; then he drank a second, and the sword began to move; but only after he had drunk a third drop was he able to swing the sword over his head.
ren lay. They trembled with terror when they saw the hideous creature, and hid themselves beneath the leaves.
Then the youth swung his mighty sword in the air, and with one blow cut off the serpent's head. He cut up the rest of the body into little bits and strewed them to the four winds.
The father of the rescued children was so delighted over the death of his enemy that he told the youth to get on his back, and in this way he carried him up to the world above.
With what joy did he hurry now to his brothers' house! He burst into a room where they were all assembled, but no one knew who he was. Only his bride, who was serving as cook to her sisters, recognised her lover at once.
国内英语资讯:Top justice stresses better judicial service for economic development
意科学家因强震前辟谣被控过失杀人
双语:肥胖青少年更易早尝禁果
职场白领下班后做家务有害健康
米歇尔牛津激情演讲 场景似魔法学校
如此休假:只要做完工作 休假随你定
体坛英语资讯:Serbia, Croatia open with wins at Water Polo Super Finals
过去30年印度1200万女胎被流产
巴西某部落不识“年月”只分“昼夜”
约会时什么必须做,什么不该做
缓解压力的6个惊人秘密
普京化身漫画英雄 大战僵尸拯救乘客
兴奋!迪士尼获得授权,要建造漫威乐园了!
超有才流浪汉纸片创意乞讨
轻松找出谁是真正的骗子
国内英语资讯:China, Bulgaria lift ties to strategic partnership
调查:男人最喜欢爱挖苦人的女人
国内英语资讯:Economic Watch: Chinas economy resilient, rebalanced in H1
韩国惊现神秘病毒,两位孕妇死亡
爱沙尼亚20名大力士拖动2万吨巨轮
国际英语资讯:Re-elected Romanian central bank governor sets joining Eurozone as main task
Lesson From Parents 父母的教诲
国外流行古董打字机 与ipad完美结合
国外罂粟花季到 绽放盛景美不胜收
体坛英语资讯:Ukraine win seven titles at FINA Artistic Swimming World Series Super Final
最酷的隐蔽门! 你能找的到吗?
如何使你的日常锻炼变得更加活跃
他悄悄为邻桌付了400美元的账单!
英天文学家公布宇宙空间最详细地图
如何戒除咖啡因瘾
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |