Passage G1f

 17

PICK, SHOVEL AND SPEAR

In England there are two places very near each other called "Brancepeth" and "Brandon".

What do you think these names mean?

Brancepeth means "the bear's path" and Bran-don means "the bear's den".

Here is the story of how these two places got their names. Long, long ago a bear had his den in the place now called Brandon. There was a forest in that place.

The bear killed many people, and nobody dared to go near "the bear's path".

One day a brave man, Hodge by name, set out to kill the great bear.

He took with him only a pick, a shovel and a spear. The people did not know what he could do with a pick and a shovel.

Hodge went to the wood. With his pick and shovel he dug a pit in the bear's path.

He then covered the pit with turf and nobody could see that there was a pit there.

Then Hodge took his spear and hid himself behind a tree.

At last the bear came out of his den. He walked to the pit and fell into it. Hodge ran up to the pit, and killed the bear with the spear.

In an old churchyard, near that place, there is a stone in memory of Hodge, the brave man who killed the bear. On the stone there are pictures of a pick, a shovel and a spear.

18

BRUCE AND THE SPIDER

There was once a king of Scotland whose name was Robert Bruce.

The King of England was at war with him and led a great army into Scotland to conquer the land and the people.

Bruce fought the enemy most bravely. Six times he led his brave little army against his enemy; and six times his men were beaten. At last he was forced to hide himself in the mountains.

One day, feeling tired and sick at heart, he lay on the ground under a farmhouse. He was ready to give up all hope for it seemed to him that it was no use fighting any longer.

As he lay thinking, he saw a spider over his head, getting ready to weave her web. He watched her as she worked slowly and with great care. Six times she tried to throw her thread from one beam to another, and six times she failed.

"Poor thing!" said Bruce. "You, too know what it is to fail."

But the spider did not lose hope. With still more care, she made ready to try for the seventh time. Bruce almost forgot his own troubles as he watched her struggling with the thin thread. Would she fail again? No! The thread was carried safely to the beam.

"I, too, will try a seventh time!" cried Bruce.

Inspired by the spirit of the spider, Bruce called his men together and made careful plans. Soon another battle was fought. This time the king of England was beaten and driven out of Scotland.

Revision 4

MERRY CHRISTMAS

It was one of the last days before Christmas, and the assistants in the large store had their hands full serving eager Christmas shoppers.

At one counter an old lady was choosing gloves—red ones for her daughter-in-law, light-blue ones for her niece, pink ones for her granddaughter, green ones for her sister—and by the time she had found what she wanted the counter was covered with pairs of all colours and sizes.

When the salesgirl had finally written out the bill and was about to turn to the next customer with a tired "Thank you very much, madam," the old lady suddenly cried out, "Oh, I almost forgot..."—"Anything else, madam? "said the girl. "Yes," began the old lady, "I'd like to buy another pair, but I'm not quite sure about what exactly I should choose. I wonder if you could help me.” “Certainly, madam,” was the girl's reply. The old lady then went on to explain that what she was looking for was a pair of gloves for a girl of her age. She was not at all sure what colour to choose, and the design was a problem, too.

The tired salesgirl did her best to help the old lady make up her mind, showing her all kinds of gloves.

At last the chosen pair of gloves were wrapped up and paid for as well, and as the girl was about to turn to the next customer, the old lady handed her the little parcel and said, “These now, dear, these are for you—and thank you for being so patient. I do hope you have a merry Christmas!”