It was getting round to that time of year, and all the little tadpoles who live in the pond were very, very, very excited. “Yippeee ! they were saying “We’re going to have lots and lots and lots of green slime for lunch - and presents, and games, and wrapping paper.”
“Oh hark the little tadpoles,’ said Colin from beneath a stone. “No they’re going to have wrapping paper in a pond ! That’s really intelligent. It’s not as if paper is going to get at all soggy in the water.”
Prince Bertie the Frog was sitting on a stone watching all the tadpoles swimming in somersaults and circles, and he was starting to feel quite christmassy. At this time of year, he always remembers the lovely princess Beatrice, how, when he was still a prince, they used to walk hand in hand over the frosty lawns and round the palace ponds , and she would ask him,
“Bertie darling, dearest, do you think that fish get cold in winter? I”m quite sure that I saw that big ugly carp shiver. Poor thing. No wonder his face looks so grumpy. Can’t we get the water heated for the pondlife?”
And Bertie would say,
“My precious petal. You are truly the sweetest princess in the whole wide world. But don’t worry yourself on account of the frogs and fishes. They aren’t like humans. They don’t mind the cold at all.”
But now that poor Prince Bertie has been turned into a frog, he knows differently. “Brrr.” he said. “If only I could have a nice hot bath.’
Colin overheard Bertie saying this and said: “Ah ! At long last a voice of reason ! Bertie, you and I are the only sensible creatures in this pond. Doesn’t all this merry christmas stuff drive you crazy? It’s the coldest, darkest, most boring time of the year, and everyone keeps telling you be happy. ! UUUUGH ! “
“Well actually, I’m afraid I can’t agree with you there,” said Bertie. “Christmas is cold in this part of the world, but it is merry! “
“No it’s not,’ said Colin. “It’s a pain.’
“Yes it is Merry.” said Bertie. “It’s a time of a good will to all creatures on earth.”
“Rubbish! “ said Colin.
Just then, Tim, who is a tiny Tadpole, swam up to Colin’s left nostril and said
“Oh Mr. Carp. What do want for Christmas?”
“That’s easy.” said Colin glumly. “I want to be alone.”
Now, as Bertie always says, you should never wish for something unless you truly want it in your heart - for you never know, your wish might come true, and they you will be sorry. And it so happened that the Christmas fairy was swimming past when Colin asked to be alone, and she heard this wish, and reported it back to Santa. And on Christmas night, when santa came down to the pond with a sack full of fresh green slime for all the pondlife, he scooped up the sleeping Colin into a bucket of water, and took him over to another pond at the other end of the garden. A pond where nobody lived except a gold statue of a cherub. And the cherub didn’t really live at all. He just spouted water out of his mouth.
“Yo ho-ho” said Santa. “There you are carp. Santa always delivers. This Christmas you shall be all alone !”
And in the morning, Colin opened his sleepy eyes and said to himself. “Oh no. It’s the worst day of the year. Those tadpoles will soon be singing christmas carols. I think I’ll just hide under a stone until it’s all over.”
But after a while, he couldn’t help noticing that the pond was strangely quiet. He swam around a bit, and found that it was wonderfully free of stilly tadpoles, quacking ducks, stuck-up swans, and deluded frogs who think that they are princes.
“This is fabulous! “ said Colin. “Just listen to that peace and quiet. Santa must have heard my wish and given me my own pond for christmas ! That’s because I’ve been such a good carp all year round. Thank you Santa ! I’m truly grateful. The only problem is….it’s just perfect. What am going to grump about ? Oh never mind that. I’m…. I’m…. I”m happy!”
And he even did a little dance in the water, because nobody was looking, and he really was happy to be alone for once.
In the Royal Palace, all the children who live there were very excited about all the presents waiting to be opened under the Christmas tree. But the wicked queen was in a furious mood, because she simply hates christmas, even more than Colin does.
She went into the kitchen where the cook and her helpers were all working hard making lunch. And the Queen screeched.
“Not Turkey ! I hate Turkey ! It’s the stupidest bird that was ever eaten!”
“Oh madam, “ said the cook. “I ordered the Turkey weeks ago. There’s nothing else for lunch.”
“Well let everyone else stuff themselves silly with Turkey and roast potatoes. A queen has to mind her figure. I want something healthy. I want, I want….. er fish. In fact, I want poached carp with a little sprig of parsley.”
And with those words, the Wicked Queen swept out of the kitchen and went up stares to shout at the children.
Princess Beatrice loved Christmas day more than any other day in the whole year. She was just coming back from Church when she decided to take a little walk around the ponds and remember her long lost Prince Bertie. Her happiness was tinged with a sadness as she thought about her handsome prince whom she hadn’t seen for quite a while, but she was sure that he would return one day from a brave quest and they would be married and live happily ever after.
At the edge of the garden, she stopped at the pond where Colin was enjoying his solitude. Even though he was happy, his face still looked grumpy. It was just made that way.
“Poor fish.,” said Beatrice. “He’s all on his own on Christmas Day. I”m sure he’s the same one I’ve seen many times before on the other side of the garden, in that slimy pond where they funny looking frog lives. I know. I’ll go and get a net and a bucket, and I’ll take him back to the other pond so he can have some company. That will be a lovely christmas present for him.”
Colin heard this and he said, “Oh no. Your Royal Highness. That’s not what I want at all….” But Beatrice couldn’t understand what Colin was saying, because he’s just a fish, and besides, he was speaking under water.
Instead, she turned around and hurried back to the palace to look for a bucket and a net.
At the same time, the cook was wondering where she was going to find a carp to poach for the Wicked Queen’s lunch. As it was christmas day, all the shops were shut - even the special shops that work by Royal Appointment. Then she remembered that she had seen a fat carp swimming around one of the ponds in the garden, and she went out to look for him.
In his pond, Colin was feeling his usual grumpy self again. “Oh well,” he said to himself. “Soon that air-headed princess will be fishing me out of here and taking me back Bertie’s pond. That’s what I hate about christmas. If people laid off doing good deeds and minded their own business, we would all be a lot happier.”
Then he heard a voice - but it wasn’t princess Beatrice’s - it was the cook, and she was saying”
“There he is. He’s an ugly brute, but he’ll look a lot better when he’s on a plate with a spring of parsley in his mouth. I’ll tell the kitchen boy to come down here with a net and fish him out.”
“What’s this? Said Colin. “On a plate with a spring of parsley in my mouth? Oh No ! Christmas truly is the worst day of the year - and it looks like it’s going to be my last day ever ! “
He started to swim around in a panic, looking for somewhere to hide, but the pond was not like the one where Bertie lived. There was no slime, no muddy bottom, not big rocks. It was just full of pure, clean water. In fact, it was the worst place in the entire world for a fish to hide in.
Soon colin felt himself being lifted up through the air. He was wriggling and fighting and gasping for breath, but he just got his fins tangled in the net. And then Plop ! he was dropped, not even into a bucket, but a plastic shopping bag full of water.
“The indignity of it,” said Colin. “Carried to my own funeral in a shopping bag. Merry Christmas !”
It was very dark inside the bag, and he couldn’t see where he was going. Then the motion stopped. They had arrived. He got ready to whack the cook around the face with his tale.
“At least they will say that Colin The Carp went down fighting,” he said himself.
The bag turned upside down, and all the water and Colin with it went slopping out
“That’s it !” Thought Colin. “Straight into the cooking pot !”
Splash !
And all his scales tingled with lovely cold water.
“Ooh Look,” said a squeaky little voice. “There’s Colin. He’s come out of hiding.”
And all the little tadpoles were swimming around him singing,
“We wish you a merry christmas We Wish you a merry Christmas.
And Princess Beatrice said
“Merry Christmas Pond Life”
The cook didn’t make poached carp for the Wicked Queen’s lunch, because when she went back to the pond, colin had mysteriously disappeared. But it didn’t matter, because the Queen decided to skip christmas all together, and she went up to her room to read up on wicked spells.
And as for Colin, for the first time in his long, grumpy life, he has a very, very, very, merry Christmas because he was so glad to be alive and with his friends.
http://storynory.com/2007/12/09/colins-grumpy-christmas/
Words
1.tadpoles/オタマジャクシ
2.hark/聞く
3.beneath/…の下に(below)
4.pond/池
5.soggy/ずぶぬれ
6.frosty/凍りつくような、氷のような
7.pond life/池生活
8.prtal/花びら
9.truly/本当に、真実に
10.sensible/分別のある、思慮のある
11.creatures/生き物、家畜
12.cherub/ケリビム（天使）
13.fabulous/伝説上の、ものすごい
14.persley/パセリ
15.solitude/一人ぼっち
16.muddy/ぬかるみ、泥だらけ
17.tangled/もつれた、からまる
18.indignity/軽蔑、侮辱
19.splash/（泥、水を）はねる、かける
20.wicked/不道徳な、意地悪な
21.disappeared/姿をけす
This story is difficult for me.
But it was interesting.
2008年12月16日火曜日
The Girl Who Missed Christmas
Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Natalie.
Natalie was six. She lived on a nice house, in a nice street. She had a little brother called Joe, and dog called Marmalade.
And most of the time Natalie was happy.
She played with her friends.
She played with her dog.
Sometimes she even played with Joe - when he wasn’t being annoying.
But there was one thing Natalie didn’t like.
Getting up.
Every morning her Dad would come into her room and say: “C’mon Natalie, time to get up.”
And Natalie would say: “Just one more minute.”
“Now, now, you’ll be late for school,” said Dad.
“Just one tiny minute,” Natalie would say. “Pleeeeeeease…..”
“Now, Natalie.”
“It’s so warm in bed,” Natalie would moan.
And so it went on every morning.
Dad would shout at Natalie to get up.
Mum would shout at her.
And Marmalade the dog would bark.
And Joe would already be up.
And then Mum would shout at her again.
And the dog would bark even louder.
But Natalie just pulled the cover over her ears.
Because Natalie just really, really, really hated getting out of bed in the morning.
“You know, Natalie, one day you’re going to miss something really important because you stay in bed to long,” said Dad.
As it happened, something very important was about to happen. The nights were getting longer, and the leaves were falling from the trees, and soon Natalie was getting very excited because it was getting close to Christmas.
And she had so many different things she had asked for.
She wanted a new game for her Nintendo DS.
And a doll that cried real tears.
And a new DVD.
And lots and lots and lots of things.
Of course, she had to rehearse for the school play - except she nearly missed it because she was sleeping in.
And she had to go and see Santa in the grotto - but she nearly missed that as well because she didn’t want to get out of bed.
“I just don’t what to do about all this sleeping,” said Mum.
But Natalie didn’t care.
If I want to stay in bed, why shouldn’t I? she decided to herself.
So finally Christmas Eve arrived. And Natalie was so excited she found it really hard to get to sleep. She wanted to stay and see if she could really see Santa. She tried ever so hard to stay awake as long as she could.
But eventually, she went off to sleep.
And she slept.
And slept.
And slept.
At one point she heard Dad coming into the room to wake her - but she just rolled over, put the pillow over her head, and went back to sleep again.
Finally she decided she she had been so long in bed that it was starting to get boring.
She pulled away the pillow and looked towards the window.
It was morning.
“Wow, it’s Christmas day,” said Natalie. “I’m so excited.”
She looked towards the end of her bed.
But where was the stocking? she wondered.
Where had Santa left all his toys?
Natalie jumped out of bed, and ran downstairs.
She was quite out of breath - because she’d never jumped out of bed before.
“Mum, Dad, its Christmas,” she shouted.
She glanced around the room.
Joe was playing with a new toy car.
Mum was folding away some used wrapping paper.
Dad was reading a boring looking book with no pictures — in fact, the sort of book Mum gave him every year.
And Marmalade the dog was eating something that looked suspiciously like turkey leftovers.
“Mum, Dad, it’s Christmas,” shouted Natalie, even louder this time.
There was a silence.
Everyone looked at her - everyone that is except Marmalade who was busy eating turkey.
“It’s Christmas…isn’t it?” said Natalie, more quietly now.
“You mean, it was Christmas,” said Dad.
“You slept right through,” said Mum.
“We tried to wake you,” said Dad.
“But, but, but….” Said Natalie.
“I told you you’d miss something important one day,” said Dad.
“It was really good,” said Joe. “We had loads of food, and loads of presents.”
“And I missed it,” wailed Natalie.
And she started to cry.
And cry.
And cry.
“Sorry,” said Dad. “It also means you didn’t get any presents from Santa. But don’t worry, there will be another Christmas next year.”
“It’s not faaaaair,” wailed Natalie.
“But I always told you you’d miss something important if you didn’t get out of bed in time,” said Dad. “Now, help me clear away all this wrapping paper….”
But Natalie just walked out of the house.
She walked through the garden.
And across the park.
When she got there, she cried and cried.
She was so upset about missing Christmas.
And she didn’t know how she could wait for a whole year.
Now, it so happened that it was still very early in the morning.
And the sun was only just coming up, so it was still quite dark.
And at that very moment, Santa was just trudging his way across the sky in his sleigh on his way back to Lapland.
He was very tired.
And so were the reindeer, because they’d been all around the world delivering presents to all the children.
But, even though he was tired, he couldn’t help noticing one little girl sitting on a park bench all by herself.
And crying and crying.
“Whoa there Rudolf,” said Santa. “I wonder what’s wrong with that girl.”
“Maybe she didn’t like her presents,” said Rudolf, who was hungry and tired, and wanted to get back to his grotto to get some food. “Kids today! No gratitude….”
“We better see,” said Santa.
And so he pulled the sleigh down into the park.
“What’s the matter?” asked Santa.
But Natalie was so upset, she just kept crying, and her eyes were so full of water she couldn’t see anything.
“Huh, she’s probably upset because she only got one Nintendo, ten Polly Pockets, and a dozen Barbie dolls,” said Rudolph. “Kids today! When I started this job they were happy with a small piece of wood and an orange. The stuff you have to carry noawadays. It’s hardly surprising my back hurts.”
“Didn’t you like your presents?” said Santa.
Natalie rubbed her eyes, and then looked up.
And she gasped.
Santa was sitting right next to her.
“Oh-my-gosh,” she said. “Is it….you?”
“Shhhhh,” said Santa. “You see I’m not really supposed to show myself to children.”
“We’ll be in trouble for this,” moaned Rudolph. “I told you we should have gone straight home.”
But Natalie gave Santa a hug.
“You see Santa, I slept right through Christmas….and now I’ve missed it.”
“Oh dear, oh dear,” said Santa.
Then he looked towards the house.
“We’ve still got a few things left in the sack,” he said. “So go inside, and check the fireplace in your bedroom in a few minutes.”
“But, but….”
“Just go,” said Santa.
So Natalie stated to walk home.
And Santa went back to his sleigh.
“We’re not doing another delivery are we,” said Rudolph. “Because, that’s overtime, that what that is…I’ll need an extra carrot for that.”
“Oh, c’mon you lazy animal,” said Santa.
And then Natalie came back into the house.
She couldn’t believe her eyes.
Jingle bells was playing on the hi-fi.
Everyone was wearing hats.
And her mum had re-heated some turkey and made some fresh roast potatoes.
“We thought we’d re-start Christmas,” said Dad. “Just for you.”
And Natalie jumped up and down, then ran upstairs.
Because in the fireplace in her bedroom there was stocking bursting with presents - there was a doll with real tears, a princess on a white pony, game for her nintendo, and, finally, after she had opened all the other presents from Santa there was one special one from Dad - An Alarm Clock !
So for the rest of the day, Natalie had the best Christmas ever.
And do you know what?
A couple of weeks later it was the first day of a new term.
Dad came into the bedroom. “Wake up, Natalie. Time to go back to school,” he said.
The he looked around.
“Natalie,” he said, sounding worried. “Natalie..”
But he couldn’t see her anywhere.
Then he heard a voice from downstairs.
So he rushed down to kitchen.
And Natalie was out of bed, had put on her school uniform and brushed her hair, and had made breakfast for everyone.
“I’m never going to be late for anything again, Dad,” she said.
http://storynory.com/2007/12/02/the-girl-who-missed-christmas/
Words
1.annoying/うるさい
2.moan/
3.shout/叫ぶ、大声を出す
4.bark/ほえる、犬の鳴き声
5.louder/騒々しい
6.rehearse/リハーサル
7.except/除く
8.grotto/岩屋
9.awake/目覚める
10.eventually/結局
11.towards/～に向かって
12.downstairs/解下
13.glanced/ちらっと見る
14.suspiciously/けげんそうに
15.loads/
16.wailed/声をあげて泣く
17.trudging/重そうに歩く
18.Lapland/ラップランド
19.raindeer/トナカイ
20.gratitude/感謝、感謝する
21.delivering/配達
22.upset/ひっくり返る、混乱する
23.dozen/ダース
24.rubbed/こする、磨く
25.gosh/おや
26.lazy/ダラダラした、のろまな
Natalie was six. She lived on a nice house, in a nice street. She had a little brother called Joe, and dog called Marmalade.
And most of the time Natalie was happy.
She played with her friends.
She played with her dog.
Sometimes she even played with Joe - when he wasn’t being annoying.
But there was one thing Natalie didn’t like.
Getting up.
Every morning her Dad would come into her room and say: “C’mon Natalie, time to get up.”
And Natalie would say: “Just one more minute.”
“Now, now, you’ll be late for school,” said Dad.
“Just one tiny minute,” Natalie would say. “Pleeeeeeease…..”
“Now, Natalie.”
“It’s so warm in bed,” Natalie would moan.
And so it went on every morning.
Dad would shout at Natalie to get up.
Mum would shout at her.
And Marmalade the dog would bark.
And Joe would already be up.
And then Mum would shout at her again.
And the dog would bark even louder.
But Natalie just pulled the cover over her ears.
Because Natalie just really, really, really hated getting out of bed in the morning.
“You know, Natalie, one day you’re going to miss something really important because you stay in bed to long,” said Dad.
As it happened, something very important was about to happen. The nights were getting longer, and the leaves were falling from the trees, and soon Natalie was getting very excited because it was getting close to Christmas.
And she had so many different things she had asked for.
She wanted a new game for her Nintendo DS.
And a doll that cried real tears.
And a new DVD.
And lots and lots and lots of things.
Of course, she had to rehearse for the school play - except she nearly missed it because she was sleeping in.
And she had to go and see Santa in the grotto - but she nearly missed that as well because she didn’t want to get out of bed.
“I just don’t what to do about all this sleeping,” said Mum.
But Natalie didn’t care.
If I want to stay in bed, why shouldn’t I? she decided to herself.
So finally Christmas Eve arrived. And Natalie was so excited she found it really hard to get to sleep. She wanted to stay and see if she could really see Santa. She tried ever so hard to stay awake as long as she could.
But eventually, she went off to sleep.
And she slept.
And slept.
And slept.
At one point she heard Dad coming into the room to wake her - but she just rolled over, put the pillow over her head, and went back to sleep again.
Finally she decided she she had been so long in bed that it was starting to get boring.
She pulled away the pillow and looked towards the window.
It was morning.
“Wow, it’s Christmas day,” said Natalie. “I’m so excited.”
She looked towards the end of her bed.
But where was the stocking? she wondered.
Where had Santa left all his toys?
Natalie jumped out of bed, and ran downstairs.
She was quite out of breath - because she’d never jumped out of bed before.
“Mum, Dad, its Christmas,” she shouted.
She glanced around the room.
Joe was playing with a new toy car.
Mum was folding away some used wrapping paper.
Dad was reading a boring looking book with no pictures — in fact, the sort of book Mum gave him every year.
And Marmalade the dog was eating something that looked suspiciously like turkey leftovers.
“Mum, Dad, it’s Christmas,” shouted Natalie, even louder this time.
There was a silence.
Everyone looked at her - everyone that is except Marmalade who was busy eating turkey.
“It’s Christmas…isn’t it?” said Natalie, more quietly now.
“You mean, it was Christmas,” said Dad.
“You slept right through,” said Mum.
“We tried to wake you,” said Dad.
“But, but, but….” Said Natalie.
“I told you you’d miss something important one day,” said Dad.
“It was really good,” said Joe. “We had loads of food, and loads of presents.”
“And I missed it,” wailed Natalie.
And she started to cry.
And cry.
And cry.
“Sorry,” said Dad. “It also means you didn’t get any presents from Santa. But don’t worry, there will be another Christmas next year.”
“It’s not faaaaair,” wailed Natalie.
“But I always told you you’d miss something important if you didn’t get out of bed in time,” said Dad. “Now, help me clear away all this wrapping paper….”
But Natalie just walked out of the house.
She walked through the garden.
And across the park.
When she got there, she cried and cried.
She was so upset about missing Christmas.
And she didn’t know how she could wait for a whole year.
Now, it so happened that it was still very early in the morning.
And the sun was only just coming up, so it was still quite dark.
And at that very moment, Santa was just trudging his way across the sky in his sleigh on his way back to Lapland.
He was very tired.
And so were the reindeer, because they’d been all around the world delivering presents to all the children.
But, even though he was tired, he couldn’t help noticing one little girl sitting on a park bench all by herself.
And crying and crying.
“Whoa there Rudolf,” said Santa. “I wonder what’s wrong with that girl.”
“Maybe she didn’t like her presents,” said Rudolf, who was hungry and tired, and wanted to get back to his grotto to get some food. “Kids today! No gratitude….”
“We better see,” said Santa.
And so he pulled the sleigh down into the park.
“What’s the matter?” asked Santa.
But Natalie was so upset, she just kept crying, and her eyes were so full of water she couldn’t see anything.
“Huh, she’s probably upset because she only got one Nintendo, ten Polly Pockets, and a dozen Barbie dolls,” said Rudolph. “Kids today! When I started this job they were happy with a small piece of wood and an orange. The stuff you have to carry noawadays. It’s hardly surprising my back hurts.”
“Didn’t you like your presents?” said Santa.
Natalie rubbed her eyes, and then looked up.
And she gasped.
Santa was sitting right next to her.
“Oh-my-gosh,” she said. “Is it….you?”
“Shhhhh,” said Santa. “You see I’m not really supposed to show myself to children.”
“We’ll be in trouble for this,” moaned Rudolph. “I told you we should have gone straight home.”
But Natalie gave Santa a hug.
“You see Santa, I slept right through Christmas….and now I’ve missed it.”
“Oh dear, oh dear,” said Santa.
Then he looked towards the house.
“We’ve still got a few things left in the sack,” he said. “So go inside, and check the fireplace in your bedroom in a few minutes.”
“But, but….”
“Just go,” said Santa.
So Natalie stated to walk home.
And Santa went back to his sleigh.
“We’re not doing another delivery are we,” said Rudolph. “Because, that’s overtime, that what that is…I’ll need an extra carrot for that.”
“Oh, c’mon you lazy animal,” said Santa.
And then Natalie came back into the house.
She couldn’t believe her eyes.
Jingle bells was playing on the hi-fi.
Everyone was wearing hats.
And her mum had re-heated some turkey and made some fresh roast potatoes.
“We thought we’d re-start Christmas,” said Dad. “Just for you.”
And Natalie jumped up and down, then ran upstairs.
Because in the fireplace in her bedroom there was stocking bursting with presents - there was a doll with real tears, a princess on a white pony, game for her nintendo, and, finally, after she had opened all the other presents from Santa there was one special one from Dad - An Alarm Clock !
So for the rest of the day, Natalie had the best Christmas ever.
And do you know what?
A couple of weeks later it was the first day of a new term.
Dad came into the bedroom. “Wake up, Natalie. Time to go back to school,” he said.
The he looked around.
“Natalie,” he said, sounding worried. “Natalie..”
But he couldn’t see her anywhere.
Then he heard a voice from downstairs.
So he rushed down to kitchen.
And Natalie was out of bed, had put on her school uniform and brushed her hair, and had made breakfast for everyone.
“I’m never going to be late for anything again, Dad,” she said.
http://storynory.com/2007/12/02/the-girl-who-missed-christmas/
Words
1.annoying/うるさい
2.moan/
3.shout/叫ぶ、大声を出す
4.bark/ほえる、犬の鳴き声
5.louder/騒々しい
6.rehearse/リハーサル
7.except/除く
8.grotto/岩屋
9.awake/目覚める
10.eventually/結局
11.towards/～に向かって
12.downstairs/解下
13.glanced/ちらっと見る
14.suspiciously/けげんそうに
15.loads/
16.wailed/声をあげて泣く
17.trudging/重そうに歩く
18.Lapland/ラップランド
19.raindeer/トナカイ
20.gratitude/感謝、感謝する
21.delivering/配達
22.upset/ひっくり返る、混乱する
23.dozen/ダース
24.rubbed/こする、磨く
25.gosh/おや
26.lazy/ダラダラした、のろまな
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