Vlog: The Trojan War



The Trojan War Part 2 (Vlog)



The Trojan War Part 3 (Vlog)



As the Trojan War was an obsession of my adolescence, it took place before the days of blogging.  Nevertheless, I have occasionally referred to it on this blog:

Talking about the “The Trojan War” By Olivia Coolidge on my list of books that changed my life:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2005/06/because-im-bored-at-school-and-i-have.html

Talking about my expectations for the movie Troy before it came out:

http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2004/05/joels-movie-reviews-as-indicated-in.html

Talking about the movie Troy after I saw it:

http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2004/05/troy-oh-yeah-and-when-i-was-in.html

High school essay I wrote on the Trojan War:
http://papersiwrote.blogspot.com/2005/11/trojan-war-high-school-essay.html

My review of Ilium by Dan Simmons (a take-off on the Trojan War Story):
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2007/01/ilium-by-dan-simmons.html

My review of Olympus (sequel to Ilium):
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2007/02/olympus-by-dan-simmons.html

My defense of the Iliad (recounting comments that I left on someone else's blog):
https://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2010/10/defending-iliad.html

Vlog Playlist HERE:

TEFL Interviews 45: Ema Ushioda on Motivation

(TEFLology Podcast)

"decided" versus "have decided"

(Grammar Questions I Couldn't Answer)

With apologies, this is another question that I think I came to an answer on the end.  But I thought I'd through it out to the Internet for a second opinion.
After class, a student of mine came to me with a question he got from his grammar exercises in high school.  (I'm currently teaching in Vietnam, so this was part of what he was studying in Vietnamese high school.)

The text read:

I have changed my address and I live in Corydon now.  I ________ that I wanted a change from Central London because it was so expensive.

In the blank, the student had to choose between "decided" and "have decided".  He chose "decided" but his teacher (also Vietnamese) had marked it wrong and wrote "have decided".

"have decided" made a certain amount of sense to me based on the grammar rules.  The present perfect is used for past actions with present results.  The decision took place in the past, but the present result is that he is living in Corydon now instead of London.
And yet, my native speaker intuition was telling me that "decided" just sounded better.
I thought about it for a while, and decided that in this case, the result was not the focus of the second sentence.  Rather, the second sentence was focusing on the reason for the decision, not the result of it.  The result was in the previous sentence.
So, "decided" was indeed the correct answer.

But let me throw it out to the Internet for a second opinion.

Many companies also use his images in their advertisements

(Grammar Questions I Couldn't Answer)

Actually this is a question I did answer in the end.  Although I had to look it up.  I'm posting it here in case it's of interest to anyone else.  Or in case anyone else can give me some more insight.

In class the other day we were looking at the transcript from doing the lesson 7A X-Ray Photographer p.82-83 from Life Pre-Intermediate Textbook.  The following sentence appeared:

"You can see his photos in galleries all over the world and many companies also use his images in their advertisements."

A student raised her hand.  "You told us before that we only use 'many' in negative sentences and questions," she said.  "So why is it in an affirmative sentence here?"

Indeed, I had taught the class this before.  But I had been prompted by the textbook, and my first instinct was to say, "Oh, that's just a rule in the textbook.  In real life, people use 'many' in affirmative sentences all the time."
But instead of telling her this, I told her I would look it up.
So I consulted Practical English Usage by Michael Swan, which stated:

In an informal style, we use many and much mostly in questions and negative clauses.  In most affirmative clauses they are unusual. ...  In a formal style, much and many are more common in affirmative clauses.  Much has been written about unemployment. In the opinion of many economists...(Swan p.332)

I came back and told the student that because the listening transcript was in the style of a report, it was more formal.  And that is why "many" was used in the affirmative sentence.
But let me throw it out to the Internet for comment.  How does that sound to everyone else?

Finished: Teaching Unplugged by Luke Meddings and Scott Thornbury  (Review coming soon... hopefully)

Aesop's Fables: Story Time ESL Listening

(TESOL Worksheets--Story Time, Listening, Reading, Extensive Reading, Comprehensible Input)

Google Drive Folder HERE

Quizlet Folder HERE

Youtube Playlist HERE

Slow Speed Youtube Playlist HERE

Normal Speed Youtube Playlist HERE

Storytelling Playlist HERE

* Aesop Fables Introduction
* The Eagle and the Fox
* The Eagle, the Crow and the Shepherd

* The Eagle and the Beetle

* The Hawk and the Nightingale

* The Farmer and the Banker

* The Goatherd and the Wild Goats

* The Birds who were Sick and the Cat who was a Doctor

* Aesop at the Shipyard

* The Boy Who Yelled Wolf
* The Man The Boy and The Donkey

So, when I started working on The Grimm Brother's Fairy Tales ESL Listening, I was thinking in the back of my mind that once I got a certain number of Grimm Brother's Fairy Tales done, I would start branching off into other areas: Hans Christian Anderson, Arabian Nights, Greek Myths, and probably Aesop's Fables.

But I've decided to start with Aesop's Fables sooner rather than later.  The reason is that I'm having trouble keeping up with this project. 

I had wanted to give my students one new story a week, but that deadline is proving hard for me to meet.

Part of the problem is that a lot of these Grimm Brothers' Fairy Tales are pretty long.

So, I've decided I wanted to alternate Grimm Brothers' Fairy Tales with Aesop's Fables.  Because Aesop's Fables are super short.  (My childhood memories of Aesop's Fables is of the stories being longer.  But I think that's because a lot of children's books expand the fables in order to create more of a story around them.  But if you go back to the originals, most Aesop Fable's are only about a paragraph long.)

So, from now on, I'm going to try alternating my Story Time Project between Aesop's Fables and the Grimm Brothers' Fairy Tales. 

Sugar Street by Naguib Mahfouz

(Book Review)

Started: July 23, 2018
Finished: September 14, 2018

This is the 3rd book in the Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz.  For the first 2 books, see my review of Palace Walk and Palace of Desires.
Now that I'm at the 3rd book, I'm not going to waste any time re-explaining what this trilogy is and what it's about.  (See my previous 2 book reviews for that.)  I'm just going to jump right into the story.
And, because it's hard not to comment on the story without spoiling it, there will be plenty of spoilers.

The Review (*SPOILERS*)
This is the most depressing, and also the most interesting, book in the trilogy.

It's depressing because Naguib Mahfouz really hammers in his point about how time destroys everything.  He is not subtle about this at all.  He just hits the reader on the head over and over and over again with this theme.

In certain literary circles, subtlety is thought to be a virtue.  And if you're of that mindset, Mahfouz's explicitness about his themes is going to be irritating.
But perhaps these things go in and out of style?  In the Arab world in the 1950s, was the writing style more explicit?  I don't know.

Anyway, be prepared for a lot of long descriptions about how miserable aging has made most of the main characters.
Mahfouz really has a depressing view of aging.  His characters start to have problems at 50, and are dying by 65. It can be a bit of a drag to read this book, and think, "Is this what the next 30 years have in store for me? Boy, life really sucks!"
Personally, however, I'm inclined, to reject Mahfouz's extreme pessimism about aging.  The older people I know have continued to be happy and productive into old age.  (Or take Donald Trump.  For all his many many faults, he does seem to be proof that one's ability to be active and participate in society is not over by age 70). 
...I don't know.  Check back on this blog in another 20 or 30 years to see how life is treating me, I guess.

Not all of Mahfouz's characters are destroyed by aging.  Some of them have also been destroyed by tragedy.  Aisha, who was so happy and carefree child at the beginning of this trilogy, has been so completely destroyed by tragedy (the deaths of her husband and children) that she is just a ghost of herself by the end.  She is still technically alive (she still eats and smokes and drinks coffee), but she has completely given up on life.
And there are a lot of characters like this--characters who were once happy at the beginning of the trilogy, but whose fortune has been reversed.  A rich family who lost all their money.  A once respectable girl who ends up working at a disreputable bar.
It's a reminder, I suppose, that although our present happiness always has the illusion of permanency, life is inherently unstable.  Everything we love could be gone tomorrow.

(...did I mention this book was depressing to read?)

But, for all that depressing stuff, this book is also the most interesting in the trilogy.  A lot of things finally happen in this book.
On a societal level, changes in Egyptian society, that have been slowly brewing for the past couple decades, are now finally beginning to happen.
In the first two books, the second generation mildly pushed back against the traditions of their parents.  But in this last book, the grandchildren have full out embraced radical politics.
And on a character level, a lot of the plot points that were set up in the first two books are now finally beginning to pay off.  I used to be confused about what the point of certain characters was, but now that I've read the whole trilogy, I can see what everyone's arc was.

And it is for that second reason that I recommend this book.  And this trilogy. It's a fascinating look on the changes in Egyptian society.  I'll comment on a few of the themes that struck me, and some other odd details, down below.

Conversations With Egyptians
I've had the opportunity to talk to a two different Egyptian friends about these books on two different occasions, so I'll just jot down a few notes here about what they told me.
Both of them told me that these books are tremendously famous in Egypt.  And that Naguib Mahfouz is looked upon as a national treasure.

I was a bit confused, because these books present an image of Egypt getting gradually more liberal over time.  But isn't Egypt well-known nowadays for being a conservative Islamic country?
They both confirmed to me that there had been a period of liberalization, but now the pendulum has indeed swing back the other way. 
"Well, then, how are Naguib Mahfouz's books regarded now?"  I asked.  "Since Naguib Mahfouz shows the gradual introduction of Western ideas into Egypt (like Darwinism and Marxism) and the gradual lessening of the patriarchal power, wouldn't these books be out of favor in a conservative Islamic Egypt?"

(...although, re-thinking it now, I may have exaggerated the liberalism of these books.  The end of the trilogy has shown some changes in Egyptian society, but it's still firmly a traditional Muslim country.  But I got the sense that Mahfouz's sympathy was with the characters who were pushing the intellectual boundaries--the transformation of Kamal into a humanist philosopher in the second book, and the transformation of Kamal's nephew Ahmed into a Marxist revolutionary in the third book--but perhaps that was just me reading in my own sympathies.)

Anyway, both of them confirmed that inspite the changing intellectual climate, Mahfouz is still as popular as ever.
One of them told me that everyone loved Naguib Mahfouz because he is the only Egyptian author who has gotten any sort of broader international recognition.  "In Egypt, the people who read novels tend to be more open minded," he said.  "So the people who actual read Mahfouz's novels aren't offended by it, because they are open minded.  And the people who don't read still love Naguib Mahfouz because he has brought prestige to Egypt.  And because they don't read, they've never discovered what is in his books, so there's no chance of them getting offended."

All of this brings me to my next topic, which is...
Changes in Egyptian Society and the Expansion of Intellectual Boundaries
This book continues the theme of the trilogy which is that every generation pushes the boundaries of progress out a little bit more.
In the first book, the eldest son Fahmy became involved in the Egyptian nationalist revolution against the English. (And he became a martyr to that movement).  In the second book, the youngest son Kamal loses his religious faith and becomes a secular humanist.
By this 3rd book, the nephews of Fahmy and Kamal have fully embraced radical politics. One of them gets involved in the Muslim Brotherhood, the other one joins the communists.  (I suspect it's intentional symbolism that neither Fahmy nor Kamal have any physical offspring.  Fahmy died young, and Kamal remained a bachelor.  But in their nephews, they have intellectual offspring.)

Like most people, I first heard of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 2012 Egyptian revolution.  I had no idea they went back all the way to the 1930s.  But it turns out they do.  (See their Wikipedia Page.  Also one of my Egyptian friends confirmed this to me in conversation--although they only recently got political power, the Muslim Brotherhood have been around for a long time).

I do have one minor complaint, however....
In my original review of Palace Walk, I mentioned that Naguib Mahfouz had a talent for writing realistic 3-dimensional characters, with the exception of Fahmy's political radicalism, which seemed to me more contrived than realistic.
It's true that young people are often attracted to radical politics, but they do not become one note political zealots.  They also have complex emotional needs and insecurities which interact with their political development in all sorts of ways.
The two brothers in Sugar Street are in danger of becoming one-note characters.  One is always talking about Muslim purity, one is always talking about the poor people.
It's also maybe just a bit too contrived to have them be brothers in the same house-hold.  On the one hand, I see what Naguib Mahfouz is going for, and there is some interesting parallelism going on with their different trajectories.  (Each brother chooses a completely different path, but they both end up in the exact same place at the end of the novel.)  But it's also a little bit too neat.  In the first half of the book especially, I had trouble taking them seriously as characters.  They seemed more like plot devices than characters.
They do, however, get more depth as the book continues, so by the time we got to the end of the book, I felt like they had been a bit more fleshed out into full characters.
Both brothers do get a bit more humanized when they encounter romantic obstacles. And, interestingly enough, both end up falling in love in ways which is challenging to their respective ideology.  (The Muslim brother falls in love with a girl who he regards as a sexual temptation.  The Communist brother falls in love with a girl who is looking for a rich husband.)

That complaint aside, I like a lot of other things about this plot.
I like the interaction between the nephews and their uncle Kamal.  Kamal had been the radical intellectual in the previous book, but now he's finding himself outflanked by his nephews.

It's also interesting to see that the radicalism of the first novel (the Egyptian nationalist revolution) has now become regarded as conservative by the younger generation:

Ahmed, the communist nephew, says at one point: "It's not unlikely that in the future we'll come to regard martyrs of the nationalist movement as we now do victims of foolish battles between tribes and clans."
At which point his Uncle Kamal reacts by thinking "Foolish battles! You fool!" Kamal thought. "Fahmy did not die in a foolish battle. But how can you be certain?" (p.30-31)

By the end of the novel, both brothers are in jail.
The family members had suspected all along that the godless communist would end up in trouble, but it's a surprise that the brother obsessed with Muslim purity also ends up in jail.
When Kamal relates the news to his friend, his friend asks: "The one who worships God and the one who doesn't?"
Kamal answers "You must worship the government first and foremost if you wish your life to be free of problems." (p.328)
So true!

The interrogating police officer, it turns out, was a friend of Fahmy's 30 years ago.  (This was actually set up back in the first book.  Fahmy did have a police officer friend who was a minor character in Palace Walk.)
The officer says: "Your lamented uncle Fahmy was a dear friend of mine.  I assume you know that he died in the spring of his life and that those of his comrades who survived now hold some of the most important [government] posts."
The police officer means this as an admonishment for the young people to respect the government their martyred uncle helped to create.  But the communist nephew Ahmad sees it instead as a call to perpetual revolution, and replies, "Allow me to ask you, sir, what condition Egypt would be in if my uncle and others like him had not sacrificed their lives." (p.320)

(Professor Grant Voth, in his analysis of this trilogy, says that Mahfouz is showing how individuals die, but society progresses.  Fahmy sacrifices his life to the nationalist revolution, but by doing so he helps create the conditions that allows his nephews to push society further.  In effect, Fahmy willed his remaining lifespan over to the next generation.)

Other Notes
* Some interesting historical details in here about life in Cairo during World War II.
I had vaguely known that there was a North Africa campaign during World War II, but I hadn't quite realized that the inhabitants of Cairo experienced bombing raids.
Naguib Mahfouz does a good job of showing how the War directly affected everyday life in Cairo.

* I suspect most readers of this book identify most with Kamal.  At least this was true of me.  (I'd be flattering myself if I called myself an "intellectual", but I am at least more inclined to books than to sports.  And I think in general the type of person who would read a trilogy like this is most likely to be the type of person who would identify with the bookish Kamal.)
So I was most invested in Kamal's progression.
There's a frustrating moment in the trilogy when Kamal is on the verge of finding love, but throws it away through hesitation and failure to act.  It's frustrating for the reader.  (You want to slap Kamal.)  But at the same time, I identified with it.  I have been there many times in my own past.
Kamal had spent the whole 2nd book in the trilogy obsessed with a girl he could not possess.  By this book, he is no longer in love with her.  But he's still fascinated with his past obsession as something that had taken on a life of its own independent of the actual girl.

The truth was that he no longer wanted Aida.  But he still wished to learn her secret, which might at least convince him that the best years of his life had not been wasted. (p.257)

This, I also felt, was something I could identify with.
At the end, we get somewhat of a conclusion to Kamal's progression.  He leaves the book with at least some sort of purpose in his life.

Kamal had long wondered what was true and what was false, but perhaps doubt was as much of an evasion of responsibility as mysticism or a passive belief in science.
"Could you be a model teacher, an exemplary husband, and a lifelong revolutionary?" he asked himself. (p.330)

But the book ends before we find out if Kamal succeeds in his new purpose.  Or if this is just one of the many phases he goes through.  (Kamal has gone through several phases before.)

Connections with Other Books I've Read
I don't know exactly what Naguib Mahfouz's politics are, but he's obviously done his research on Marxism.  (According to Wikipedia, he had some sympathies with socialist ideas).
He knows about the romance between Karl Marx and the aristocrat Jenny Von Wesphalen, and makes references to this.  (Something that I had also picked up from the biographies - of  - Karl Marx I read).  And he seems well-versed in socialist history, name dropping figures like Louis Blanc (who was prominent in the 1848 Revolution).

Links
* Fellow blogger Blogging the Canon reviews this same book here.   His takeaway?

the genius of Mahfouz is that he makes his characters so familiar and so human that they transcend the foreignness of the culture and become instantly relate-able.  Whether we speak English or Arabic or German, we all have the same emotions, and we all grow old and have the same frustrations.  I highly recommend these books, they're some of the best I've read for this blog.  

* I mentioned this book briefly before in the vlog: The Books on My Shelf Part 3: The Books I Haven't Even Started.

Video Review
Video Review HERE and embedded below:



Link of the Day
Noam Chomsky | How Come we Live in Open Society with a lot of Information and yet we Know so Little?

Started: Aesop's Fables
As with the Brother's Grimm, this is something I plan to be work through in conjunction with my Story Time ESL project.  But I'll write about that in a separate post.

Lady Mary's Child: The Grimm Brothers' Fairy Tales Story Time ESL Listening

(TESOL Worksheets--The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales, Story Time ESL Listening)
Worksheet: drive, docs, pub
Slow Speed Video: HERE, Normal Speed Video: HERE, Quizlet: HERE

Lady Mary’s Child: Grimm Brothers Fairy Tale #3

(Original Title: Our Lady’s Child)

Video slow speed: https://youtu.be/sAHObIZJBPM

Video normal speed: https://youtu.be/Qu5kg3KOfcE

Quizlet: https://quizlet.com/_54g9kf

Suggested Use:

Step 1: Look at the vocabulary. Check any words that you don’t know in your dictionary.

Step 2: Listen to the video. (Listen only.  Don’t look at the reading yet).

Step  3: Practice the vocabulary on Quizlet 

Step 4: Watch the video again.  This time look at the reading. Read and listen at the same time.

Step 5: Practice the vocabulary on Quizlet again 

Step 6: Listen one last time.  The last time, don’t look at the reading. 

Vocabulary

admit, afraid, alive, allow, alone, amazement, angel, apostle, area, autumn, baby, behind, beat, beautiful, beauty, believe, berry, birth, bit, burn, bush, cake, calm, care, castle, charming, Christian, circle, clothes, complete, continue, councillor, country, cover, crawl, crazy, creature, cry out, curiosity, cut down, daughter, dear, decide, deep, deep sleep, deer, defend, demand, dirty, disappear, discover, disobey, door, drink, during, Earth, eater, empty, enough, escape, explore, fall, fall in love, fall into a deep sleep, fast, fear, feed, feel, follow, forest, forgive, front, full, gather, give birth, God, glory, golden, ground, grow, hair, happily, happiness, hear, heart, heart melt, heaven, hollow, horse, hungry, hunt, hurt, immediately, in front of, inside, journey, judge, jump, key, kill, kindly, king, lady, lie, lock, loudly, magical, marry, matter, melt, middle, milk, missing, moment, moreover, narrow, natural, newborn, nod, no matter,  nut, old, once, once upon a time, pass, path, place, plant, pocket, point, poor, promise, protect, punish, punishment, queen, quickly, quiet, rain, rainy, refuse, religion, rest, return, ride, root, rule, sad, save, sentence, sharp, shine, shut, sin, sink, sky, soil, soften, son, sorry, special, spring, stake, stay, stick, stick out, still, surprised, surround, sweet, sword, take care of, tall, terrible, thick, thorn, thornbush, tie, total, tree, trial, unhappy, unlock, upon, wake up, warm, wash, whisper,  wild, wilderness, windy, wing, winter, wonderful, woodcutter, woodpile

Proper names:

Names of people: Jesus Christ, Mary

Lady Mary’s Child: Grimm Brothers Fairy Tale #3

Once upon a time, there was a woodcutter who lived in the forest.  (A “woodcutter” is someone whose job is to cut down trees.)  The woodcutter had a wife, and together they had one child--a little girl who was 3 years old.  But the woodcutter and his wife were so poor that they couldn’t feed their child.  So they were very sad.

One morning the woodcutter went out to his work as usual.  And while he was cutting wood, he suddenly saw a tall and beautiful woman standing before him.  And she said, “I am the Lady Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.”  (In the Christian religion, “Lady Mary” is the mother of Jesus Christ, and is often believed to have special magical powers.)  “You are poor and hungry, and don’t have enough food to feed your daughter.  Give your daughter to me, and I will take her with me, and I will feed her, and love her, and take care of her.”

So the woodcutter did what Lady Mary had said.  He brought his daughter to Lady Mary, and Lady Mary took the child up to heaven with her.  (“Heaven” is a wonderful magical place in the sky where God and the angels live.)  In heaven, the child was very happy.  She ate sweet cakes, and drank sweet milk, and her clothes were made of gold, and little angels played with her.  (“Angels” are magical creatures with wings.  They live in heaven and help God.)

When the child was 14 years old, Lady Mary came to talk to her one day.  “Dear child, I am going to go on a long journey for many days, so you must stay here in heaven without me.  While I am gone, I will give you the keys to the thirteen doors of heaven.  12 of these doors you may open, if you want, and see the wonderful things inside them.  But the 13th door you must never open.  If you open the 13th door, terrible things will happen to you.”

The girl promised to do what Lady Mary had said, and Lady Mary left to go on her journey.

While Lady Mary was gone, the girl began to explore the doors of heaven.  Each day, she opened one new door, until she had seen all 12.  Behind each door was one of the apostles.  (The “apostles” were the men who helped Jesus Christ.  There were 12 of them in total.)  The apostles were each sitting in a great room full of light, and it was very wonderful to see.  Each time the girl opened one of the doors, she saw how wonderful the apostles were, and the angels, who always followed the girl around, were also very happy to see such wonderful apostles.

At last, only the 13th door was left.  And the girl wanted very badly to see what was inside it.  So she said to the angels, “I will not open the door all the way, and I will not go inside it.  But I will unlock it and open it a little bit so that I can see through the opening.”

“Oh no,” said the angels.  “That would be a sin.” (A “sin” is when you do a bad thing.)  “Lady Mary has told you not to open the door, so you mustn’t open it.”

After this, the girl was quiet.  But in her heart, she still really wanted to see what was behind the 13th door.  She thought about it, and thought about it, until she was almost crazy with curiosity.  (“Curiosity” is the feeling of wanting to know about something.)

At last, when the angels had left her, and the girl was all alone, the girl thought, “Now, I am all alone, and I will look into the 13th room.  If I do it now, no one will ever know.”  So she took the key out of her pocket, and held the key in her hand, and put the key in the lock, and turned the key.  And then, the door suddenly sprang open.  And behind the 13th door, the girl saw God himself, sitting in fire and light and glory.  (“Glory” is something of great beauty.) 
The girl stood still for a long time, and looked at everything in amazement.  Then she decided to stick out her hand and touch the light.  She touched the light with her finger, and her finger became golden.

Immediately after this, the girl felt very afraid.  She shut the door quickly, and ran away.  But the feeling of fear would not leave her.  She could not calm down, and her heart kept beating quickly.  The gold, too, stayed on her finger, and would not go away, no matter how many times the girl washed her hands.

Not long after that, Lady Mary returned from her journey.  Lady Mary came to talk to the girl, and asked to have the keys of heaven back.  “Did you open the 13th door?” asked Lady Mary.

“No,” answered the girl.

Then Lady Mary put her hand on the girl’s heart, and felt how fast it was beating.  And Lady Mary knew that the girl had disobeyed her.  (“Disobey” means to not do what someone tells you to do.)

So Mary asked her a second time, “Are you sure that you did not open the 13th door?” 

“Yes, I’m sure,” said the girl.

Then, Mary saw the golden finger.  So Mary asked a third time, “Are you sure you never opened the 13th door?”

“No, I never opened it,” said the girl.

Then Lady Mary said, “You have disobeyed me, and you have lied to me three times.  You have sinned, and people who sin cannot stay in heaven.  

Then, the girl fell into a deep sleep.  And when she woke up, she was back on Earth.  She was in the middle of a wilderness. (A “wilderness” is a natural place far away from where people live.) The girl tried to cry out, but she could not.  Lady Mary had taken her voice, and the girl could not talk, or make any other sounds with her mouth.  

Next, the girl tried to run away, but she could not. She was surrounded on all sides by a thick thornbush, so that she could not escape.  (A “thorn” is a sharp point that grows on some plants.  It hurts if you touch it.  A “thornbush” is a bush full of thorns.)

The thornbush made a complete circle around the girl.  But in the middle of this circle, there was a hollow tree.  (If something is “hollow” it means that it is empty inside.)  The girl crawled into the hollow tree, and it became her new home.  She slept in the tree, and she could also stay in the tree when it was windy or rainy.  But it was a terrible life.  The girl cried a lot when she remembered how happy she had been in heaven, and how the angels used to play with her.

The only food the girl could find to eat were wild berries, and nuts, and roots.  (“Roots” are the part of a plant that grows under the ground and gets water and food from the soil.)

In the autumn, she gathered a lot of nuts and leaves, and saved them in the tree for the winter.  The nuts were her only food during the winter.  And she used the leaves to cover herself and keep warm during the cold winter nights.  

Year after year, she lived this way in the wilderness, and was unhappy.  Her clothes became very old and dirty.  And yet, her hair grew very long, and became beautiful.  

One day, in the spring, when all the trees were green, the king of the country was hunting in the forest.  The king was hunting after a deer, and the deer jumped over the thornbush, which closed off that part of the forest.  So the king got off of his horse, and, with his sword, cut a path through the thornbushes.  (A “path” is a narrow area of ground between the plants that people can walk through in the forest.)  

And once the king was inside the thornbushes, he saw the girl.  Only by now, she was no longer a girl, but a young woman.  Her clothes were dirty, but her hair was very beautiful.  

The king was very surprised, and he spoke to her.  “Who are you? What are you doing here all alone in the forest?”

But she couldn’t give any answer, because Lady Mary had taken her voice.

The king said, “Will you come back with me to my castle?”

The young woman still could not talk, but she nodded her head to say yes.

So, the king took her in his arms, and carried her to his horse, and rode home with her.  And when they got back to the castle, the king had her cleaned up, and he gave her the most beautiful clothes to wear.  And after that, the king gave her the best of everything--the best clothes, the best food, the best room, and the best bed.  

Even though the young woman could not speak, she was so beautiful, and so charming, that the king fell in love with her.  And it was not long before he married her.  And she became the queen.
After one year passed, they had a son together.  But one night, when the queen was lying alone in bed, Lady Mary came to her, and Lady Mary said, “If you will tell the truth, and admit that you opened up the 13th door, then I will give you back your voice.”  (“Admit” means to agree that you did something bad.)  “But if you lie to me again, and continue in your sin, then I will take your newborn baby away with me.”

Then, Lady Mary allowed the queen to speak.  But the queen still would not tell the truth, and she said, “No, I did not open the 13th door.”

So Lady Mary took the newborn baby away from the queen, and disappeared with it.

The next morning, everyone looked for the baby, but they could not find it.  And when they could not find the baby, people began to whisper to each other that the queen was a baby-eater, and that she had eaten her own baby in the night.  The queen heard these whispers, but because her voice was gone, she could not say anything to defend herself.  The king heard the whispers as well, but the king loved the queen so much that he would not believe it.

After a year had gone by, the queen had a second son.  And in the night, Lady Mary came to her again.  “If you admit that you opened the 13th door, I will give you back your voice, and give you your first child back.  But if you lie to me again, I will take your new child with me also.”

Lady Mary allowed the queen to answer, but the queen said, “No, I did not open the 13th door.”

So Lady Mary took the newborn baby from the queen, and went back to heaven.

When this second child also disappeared, the people began to say very loudly that the queen was a baby-eater.  And the king’s councillors demanded that the queen be punished.  (A “councillor” is someone who helps the king to rule.)

But the king loved his queen so much that he refused to believe it.  And he told his councillors that he would kill anyone who said that the queen was a baby-eater.

The next year, the queen gave birth to a beautiful little daughter.  And once again, Lady Mary came to the queen during the night.  “Follow me,” Lady Mary said, and she took the queen by the hand, and brought her up to heaven.  There, Lady Mary showed the queen her two oldest children, who were playing in heaven with the angels, and who were very happy.  The queen was very happy to see that her children were happy.  And Lady Mary said to the queen, “Is your heart not softened? Can you please tell me the truth now?  Did you open the 13th door?  If you tell me the truth, I will give you back your voice, and your two little sons.”

But the queen said, “No, I did not open the 13th door.”

So, Lady Mary let the queen sink back to Earth, and also took her third child.

The next morning, when everyone discovered that the third child was missing, the people said very loudly, “The queen is a baby-eater.  She must be punished.”

The king was very sad, but he couldn’t protect the queen any longer.  The people were too angry.  

And so, a trial was held.  (A “trial” is when someone is asked questions in front of a judge to decide if they have done something bad.)  Because the queen still could not speak, she could not defend herself.  And so she was sentenced to be burned alive as punishment for eating her babies.

The wood was gathered together, and the queen was tied to a stake in the middle of the woodpile.  And as the fire started, the queen’s hard heart at last melted, and she felt sorry for her sin.  “If only I could tell the truth before I died, and admit my sin,” she thought to herself.

And at that moment, her voice came back to her.  So she called out to the sky, “Yes, Lady Mary, I did it.”

And immediately, rain fell from the sky, and put out the fire.  And then a great light shone from the sky, and Lady Mary came down from heaven with the queen’s two sons by her side, and the queen’s newborn baby in her arms.  And Lady Mary spoke kindly to the queen.  “Anyone who is sorry for their sin, and admits it, will be forgiven,” Lady Mary said.  (To “forgive” someone is to decide not to be angry with them, or to punish them, after they have done something bad.)

Then Lady Mary gave the queen back her three children.  And moreover, Lady Mary also gave the queen back her voice.  And moreover, Lady Mary also gave the queen happiness for the rest of her life.

And the queen, and the king, and their three children all lived happily ever after.

Vocabulary

admit - to agree that you did something bad, or that something bad is true:

I was wrong - I admit it.

afraid - frightened:

She's afraid of water.

alive - living, not dead:

Are your grandparents still alive?

allow - to give someone permission for something:

Smoking is not allowed in the restaurant.

alone - without other people:

She lives alone..

amazement - extreme surprise:

Jana looked at him in amazement.

angel - a spiritual creature like a human with wings, who some people believe lives with God in heaven

apostle - one of the twelve men chosen by Jesus Christ to teach people about Christianity

area - a region of a country or city:

The factory will provide hundreds of new jobs for the area.

autumn - the season of the year between summer and winter, when leaves fall from the trees:

I'm starting a new job in the autumn.

baby - a very young child:

Liz has had a baby.

behind - at or to the back of someone or something:

Close the door behind you.

beat - When your heart beats, it makes regular movements and sounds:

By the time the doctor arrived, his heart had stopped beating.

beautiful - very attractive:

In the moonlight she looked even more beautiful.

beauty - the quality of being beautiful:

The whole area is famous for its natural beauty.

believe - to think that something is true, or that what someone says is true:

They believe that their health has suffered because of the chemicals.

berry - a small, round fruit on some plants and trees

birth - the time when a baby is born:

Write your date of birth here.

bit - a small amount or piece of something:

There's a little bit more pasta left.

burn - to destroy something with fire, or to be destroyed by fire:

The factory burned to the ground.

bush - a short, thick plant with a lot of branches:

There was someone hiding in the brushes.

cake - a sweet food made from flour, butter, sugar, and eggs mixed together and baked:

Who wants the last piece of cake?

calm - relaxed and not worried, frightened, or excited:

Try to stay calm-- the doctor will be here soon.

care - to love someone:

Your parents are only doing this because they care about you.

castle - a large, strong building with towers and high walls, that was built in the past to protect the people inside from being attacked:

The castle attracts more than 300,000 visitors a year.

charming - pleasant or attractive:

She has a charming smile.

Christian - The adjective form for "Christianity":

It is a Christian charity.

circle - a round, flat shape like the letter O, or a group of people or things arranged in this shape:

We all sat on the floor in a circle.

clothes - items such as shirts and trousers that you wear on your body:

She was wearing her sister's clothes.

complete - finished:

Our report is almost complete.

continue - to keep happening, existing, or doing something:

It continued to snow heavily for three days.

councillor - a member of the local government

country - an area of land that has its own government, army, etc:

He is among the top five tennis players in the country.

cover - to put something over something else, in order to protect or hide it:

They covered him with a blanket.

crawl - to move on your hands and knees:

I crawled under the desk to plug the lamp in.

crazy - mentally ill:

I seriously think she'll go crazy if she doesn't have a holiday soon.

cry out - to shout or make a loud noise because you are frightened, hurt, etc:

She cried out in terror.

creature - anything that lives but is not a plant:

Dolphins are intelligent creatures.

curiosity - the feeling of wanting to know or learn about something:

My curiosity got the better of me and I opened the envelope.

cut down - to make a tree or other plant fall to the ground by cutting it near the bottom

daughter - your female child:

Janice is our youngest daughter.

dear - A dear person is someone who you know and like very much:

My dear Peter, I miss you very much.

decide - to choose something after thinking about several possibilities:

I haven't decided whether or not to tell him.

deep - A deep feeling is very strong:

I have very deep affection.

deep sleep - sleep that it is difficult to wake someone from

deer - a large, wild animal that is sometimes hunted for food and that has antlers (= long horns) if it is male

defend - to support someone or something that is being criticized:

The newspaper's editor defended his decision to publish the photos.

demand - to ask for something in a way that shows that you do not expect to be refused:

I demanded an explanation.

dirty - not clean:

She was wearing dirty clothes.

disappear - to become impossible to see:

She watched him disappear into the crowd.

discover - to find something:

They came to California hoping to discover gold.

disobey - to not do what you are told to do by someone in authority:

How dare you disobey me!

door - the part of a building, room, vehicle, or piece of furniture that you open or close to get inside it or out of it:

Please shut the door behind you.

drink - to put liquid into your mouth and swallow it:

Would you like something to drink?

during - at a particular moment in a period of time:

We'll arrange a meeting some time during the week.

Earth - the planet that we live on:

The spaceship returned to Earth.

eater - someone who eats in a particular way or eats a particular food:

He is a big eater.

empty - If something is empty, it does not contain any things or people:

The train was completely empty when it reached London.

enough - as much as is necessary:

Have you had enough to eat?

escape - to succeed in getting away from a place where you do not want to be:

The two killers escaped from prison last night.

explore - to go around a place where you have never been in order to find out what is there:

The best way to explore the countryside is on foot.

fall - to move down towards the ground:

Huge drops of rain were falling from the sky.

fall in love - to start to love someone romantically:

You are never too young to fall in love.

fall into a deep sleep - to start sleeping in a way that is very difficult to wake up from

fast - moving, happening, or doing something quickly:

Computers are getting faster all the time.

feed - to give food to a person, group, or animal:

Let's feed the children first, and then have our dinner.

feel - to experience an emotion or a physical feeling:

You shouldn't feel embarrassed about making a mistake.

feel - to touch something, especially with your hands, in order to examine it:

He felt her ankle to see if it was broken.

follow - to move behind someone or something and go where they go:

She followed me into the kitchen.

forest - a large area of trees growing closely together:

There are some lovely walks in the forest.

forgive - to decide not to be angry with someone or not to punish them for something they have done:

I've apologized, but I don't think she'll ever forgive me.

front - the side of something that is most important or most often seen because it faces forward:

You need to write the address clearly on the front of the envelope.

in front of - where someone can see or hear you:

Please don't swear in front of the children.

full - containing a lot of things or people or a lot of something:

The room was full of people.

gather - to collect several things together, often from different places or people:

She gathered her things together and left.

give birth - When a woman or an animal gives birth, she produces a baby from her body:

She gave birth to twins.

glory - praise and respect you get from people for achieving something important

great beauty:

The castle has been restored to its former glory.

God - in Jewish, Christian, or Muslim belief, the spirit who created the universe and everything in it, and who rules over it:

He prayed to God to make his mother well again.

golden - made of gold or like gold:

She had a golden ring.

ground - the surface of the Earth:

I sat down on the ground.

grow - to develop and become bigger or taller as time passes:

Children grow very quickly.

hair - the thin, thread-like parts that grow on your head:

She is a girl with long, fair hair.

happily - in a happy way:

They were happily married.

happiness - the feeling of being happy:

Your happiness is all that matters to me.

hear - to be aware of a sound through your ears:

I could hear his voice in the distance.

heart - the organ inside your chest that sends blood around your body:

Isabel's heart was beating fast.

heaven - according to some religions, the place where good people go when they die

hollow - having a hole or empty space inside:

This is a hollow shell.

horse - a large animal with four legs, which people ride or use to pull heavy things:

The horse jumped the last fence.

hungry - wanting or needing food:

I'm hungry. What's for supper?

hunt - to chase and kill wild animals:

He is going out to hunt deer.

hurt - to cause someone pain or to injure them:

Simon hurt his knee playing football.

immediately - now or without waiting or thinking about something:

You have to come home immediately.

inside - the part of something that is under its surface:

I cleaned the inside of the oven.

journey - If you go on a journey, you travel from one place to another:

We take games for the children when we go on a long journey.

judge - someone who controls a trial in court, decides how criminals should be punished, and makes decisions about legal things:

The judge ruled that they had acted correctly.

jump - to push your body up and away from the ground using your feet and legs:

The children were jumping up and down with excitement.

key - a piece of metal cut into a particular shape and used for locking things such as doors, or for starting an engine:

I've lost my car key.

kill - to make someone or something die:

Sunday's bomb killed 19 people.

kindly - in a kind or generous way:

He smiled at her kindly.

king - a male ruler in some countries:

This is King Richard II.

lady - a polite way of saying 'woman':

There's a young lady here to see you.

a title used before the name of some women of high social rank in the UK:

This is Lady Alison Weir

lie - to be in a horizontal or flat position on a surface:

I love to lie in bed.

lie - to say or write something that is not true in order to deceive someone:

Are you lying to me?

lock - the thing that is used to close a door, window, etc, and that needs a key to open it:

I heard someone turn a key in the lock.

loudly - making a lot of noise [adverb]:

She was speaking very loudly.

magical - with special powers:

Diamonds were once thought to have magical powers.

marry - to begin a legal relationship with someone as their husband or wife:

Will you marry me?

matter - a subject or situation that you need to think about, discuss, or deal with:

I've been thinking about this matter for a long time.

no matter - used with "how/what/when, etc" to emphasize that something cannot be changed:

I never manage to lose any weight, no matter how hard I try.

melt - If something melts, it changes from a solid into a liquid because of heat and if you melt something, you heat it until it becomes liquid:

The sun soon melted the ice on the pond.

heart melt - used to say that someone begins to feel love, affection, or sympathy for someone or something. Or, stop feeling angry:

 When he saw the puppies, his heart melted.

middle - the central part, position, or point in time:

We used to live just outside Boston but now we live right in the middle.

milk - a white liquid produced by women and other female animals, such as cows, for feeding their babies:

This is a carton of milk.

missing - If someone or something is missing, you cannot find them because they are not in their usual place:

Her daughter went missing a week ago.

moment - a point in time:

Just at that moment, the phone rang.

moreover - also:

It is a cheap and, moreover, effective way of dealing with the problem.

narrow - Narrow things measure a small distance from one side to the other:

It is a narrow street..

natural - Something that is natural exists or happens because of nature, not because it was made or done by people:

This is an area of great natural beauty.

newborn - A newborn baby has just been born.

nod - to move your head up and down as a way of agreeing, to give someone a sign, or to point to something:

They nodded enthusiastically at the proposal.

nut - the dry fruit of some trees that grows in a hard shell, and can often be eaten:

The cake was topped with chopped nuts.

old - having lived or existed for a long time:

He is an old man.

once - in the past, but not now:

This house once belonged to my grandfather.

once upon a time - used at the beginning of a children's story to mean that something happened a long time ago

pass - If a period of time passes, it happens:

Four years have passed since that day.

path - a long, narrow area of ground for people to walk along:

There's a path through the forest.

place - a position, building, town, area, etc:

Edinburgh would be a nice place to live.

plant - a living thing that grows in the soil or water and has leaves and roots, especially one that is smaller than a tree:

Have you watered the plants?

pocket - a small bag that is sewn or fixed onto or into a piece of clothing, a bag, the back of a seat, etc:

He was asked to empty his pockets.

point - the thin, sharp end of something:

Careful with the point of a needle.

poor - having very little money or few possessions:

Most of these people are desperately poor.

promise - to say that you will certainly do something or that something will certainly happen:

She promised to write to me every week.

protect - to keep someone or something safe from something dangerous or bad:

It's important to protect your skin from the harmful effects of the sun.

punish - to make someone suffer because they have done something bad:

They must be severely punished for these crimes.

punishment - something that is done to punish someone:

He had to stay in his bedroom as a punishment for fighting.

queen - a female ruler in some countries:

She is Queen Elizabeth II.

quickly - fast or in a short time:

I quickly shut the door.

quiet - making little or no noise:

Can you be quiet, please?

unlock - to open something which is locked using a key

upon - on:

The jar had been placed upon the table.

rain - water that falls from the sky in small drops:

It is a heavy rain.

rainy - raining a lot:

It is a rainy afternoon

refuse - to say that you will not do or accept something:

I asked him to leave but he refused.

religion - the belief in a god or gods, or a particular system of belief in a god or gods:

I believe in the Christian religion.

rest - the part of something that remains, or the others that remain:

I'm not sure I want to spend the rest of my life with him.

return - to go or come back to a place where you were before:

She returned to America in 1954.

ride - to travel by sitting on a horse, bicycle, or motorcycle and controlling it:

I ride my bike to work.

root - the part of a plant that grows under the ground and gets water and food from the soil:

Plants absorb water through their roots.

rule - to be in control of somewhere, usually a country:

They were ruled for many years by a dictator.

sad - unhappy or making you feel unhappy:

I was very sad when our cat died.

save - to keep something to use in the future:

I've saved some food for you.

sentence - to give a punishment to someone who has committed a crime:

She was sentenced to six months in prison.

sharp - having a very thin or pointed edge that can cut things:

This is a sharp knife.

shine - to produce bright light:

The sun was shining brightly through the window.

shut - to close something, or to become closed:

Shut the door.

sin - something that you should not do because it is morally wrong (NOUN):

You've only got one life and it's a sin to waste it.

sin - to do something that is against the rules of a religion (VERB)

sink - to go down, or make something go down, into something soft:

My feet keep sinking into the sand.

sky - the area above the Earth where you can see clouds, the sun, the moon, etc:

It was a beautiful, blue sky.

soil - the top layer of earth that plants grow in:

This is sandy soil.

soften - to become softer or to make something become softer:

Heat the butter until it softens.

to become more gentle or to make someone or something become more gentle:

Her voice softened.

son - your male child

Jenny has a grown-up son of 24.

sorry - something that you say to be polite when you have done something wrong, or when you cannot agree with someone or accept something:

Sorry I'm late.

special - better or more important than usual things:

I'm cooking something special for her birthday.

spring - the season of the year between winter and summer, when the weather becomes warmer and plants start to grow again:

I'm starting a new course in the spring.

spring - to jump or move somewhere suddenly:

I tried to shut the door, but it kept springing open.

stake - a strong stick with a pointed end that you push into the ground:

This is a wooden stake.

stay - to continue to be in a place, job, etc and not leave:

The weather was bad so we stayed at home.

stick - to put something somewhere:

Just stick your bag under the table.

stick out - to make part of your body come forward from the rest of your body:

The little boy stuck his tongue out.

still - used to say that something is continuing to happen now or that someone is continuing to do something now:

He's still here if you want to speak to him.

still - to stand, stay, sit, etc without moving:

Sit still so I can brush your hair.

surprised - feeling surprise because something has happened that you did not expect:

I'm surprised to see you here.

surround - to be or go everywhere around something or someone:

The house is surrounded by a large garden.

sweet - with a taste like sugar:

It was covered in a very sweet chocolate sauce.

sword - a weapon with a long, metal blade and a handle, used especially in the past

take care of - to look after someone or something:

My parents are going to take care of the house while we're away.

tall - having a greater than average height:

He's tall and thin.

terrible - very bad, of low quality, or unpleasant:

She had a terrible accident.

thick - Something that is thick is larger than usual between its opposite sides:

The shelf was covered in a thick layer of dust.

thorn - a small, sharp point on the stem of a plant

thornbush - any of various spiny or thorny shrubs or small trees

tie - to fasten something with string, rope, etc:

The dog was tied to a tree.

total - including everything:

The total cost of the work was $800.

tree - a tall plant with a thick stem that has branches coming from it and leaves:

They went under a tree to shelter from the rain.

trial - a legal process to decide if someone is guilty of a crime:

The two men are now on trial for attempted murder.

unhappy - sad:

I had an unhappy childhood.

warm - having a temperature between cool and hot:

Make sure you keep warm.

wash - to make something clean using water, or water and soap:

Dad was washing the dishes.

whisper - to speak extremely quietly so that other people cannot hear (VERB):

She whispered something to the girl sitting next to her.

wild - A wild animal or plant lives or grows in its natural environment and not where people live:

The river is fringed with wild flowers.

wilderness - a place that is in a completely natural state without houses, industry, roads, etc:

This is a beautiful mountain wilderness.

windy - with a lot of wind:

Outside it was cold and windy.

wing - one of the two parts that a bird or insect uses to fly:

Eagles have long, broad wings.

winter - the coldest season of the year, between autumn and spring:

We went skiing last winter.

wake up - to stop sleeping or to make someone else stop sleeping:

I generally wake up early.

wonderful - very good:

We had a wonderful time in Spain.

woodcutter - someone whose job is to cut down trees and branches for wood:

The woodcutter lived in a hut in a clearing in the forest.

woodpile - a pile of wood that has been collected to be used as fuel:

We walked round to the back of the house, passing the neatly stacked woodpile.

Names:

Christ - a title for the saviour and redeemer who would bring salvation to the Jewish people and mankind. Christians believe Jesus is the Jewish messiah foretold in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Christ, used by Christians as both a name and a title, is synonymous with Jesus.

Jesus - the Jewish holy man believed by Christians to be the Son of God, and on whose life and teachings Christianity is based

Mary - a 1st-century BC Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth, and the mother of Jesus, according to the New Testament and the Quran.