English Fairy Tales / Английские сказки. Elementary

Did you meet a maid of mine?”

And the cow said, “She passed me by.”

A little further on he met the same mule and sang:

“Mule of mine, mule of thine,
Did you meet a maid of mine?”

And the mule said, “She passed me by.”

A little further he met the same dog and sang:

“Dog of mine, dog of thine,
Did you meet a maid of mine?”

And the dog said, “She passed me by.”

A little further he met the same cat and sang:

“Cat of mine, cat of thine,
Did you meet a maid of mine?”

And the cat said, “She passed me by.”

Finally, he met the owl and sang:

“Owl of mine, owl of thine,
Did you meet a maid of mine?”

And the owl said, “She passed me by.”

“Which way did she go?” said the fox.

The owl answered, “You must go over that gate[51 - go over that gate – пройти через эти ворота] and across that field, and you will find her behind the wood.”

The fox ran away, over the gate and across the field and into the wood, but he did not find neither the girl nor the glass ball.

The Three Sillies

Once upon a time, there was a farmer and his wife who had one daughter. And a gentleman courted this girl. He came every evening to see her and stopped to supper at the farmhouse, and the daughter went down into the cellar to bring the beer for supper. So one evening she went down to bring the beer, and she saw a mallet that was hanging on the ceiling. She did not notice it before. She thought it was very dangerous to have that mallet there, and she said to herself, “If we marry, and we have a son, and he grows up and comes down into the cellar to bring the beer, the mallet will fall on his head and kill him. How awful!” And she sat down and began to cry.

Her father and the gentleman were wondering upstairs where the girl disappeared, and her mother went down to look for[52 - look for – искать] her. She saw that the girl was sitting and crying, and the beer was running all over the floor[53 - was running all over the floor – растекалось по полу].

“What’s the matter?” said her mother.

“Oh, mother!” says she. “Look at that horrid mallet! If we marry, and we have a son, and he grows up and comes down into the cellar to bring the beer, the mallet will fall on his head and kill him. How awful! How awful!”

“Dear, dear! That’s really terrible!” said the mother, and she sat down and started to cry, too. Then the father began to wonder that they didn’t come back, and he went down into the cellar. They were sitting and crying, and the beer was running all over the floor.

“What’s the matter?” says he.

“Oh,” says the mother, “look at that horrid mallet. Just think: if our daughter and her sweetheart marry, and they have a son, and he grows up and comes down into the cellar to bring the beer, the mallet will fall on his head and kill him. How awful! How awful!”

“Dear, dear, dear! It is so dreadful!” said the father, and he sat down and started to cry, too.

Now the gentleman went down into the cellar too, to see what they were doing there. They three were sitting and crying side by side[54 - side by side – бок о бок], and the beer was running all over the floor. And he ran and turned the tap.

Then he said, “What are you three doing? Why are you sitting and crying?”

“Oh!” says the father, “look at that horrid mallet! Just think: if you and our daughter marry, and you have a son, and he grows up and comes down into the cellar to bring the beer, the mallet will fall on his head and kill him. How awful! How awful!” And then they all started to cry worse than before.

But the gentleman smiled and took the mallet, and then he said, “I travelled many miles, and I never met such big sillies as you three before. Now I shall start my travels again, and when I can find three bigger sillies than you three, then I’ll come back and marry your daughter.” So he wished them good-bye and went away. The three sillies were all crying because the girl lost her sweetheart.

Well, he travelled a long way, and at last[55 - at last – наконец] he came to a woman’s cottage. It had some grass on the roof. And the woman was trying to get her cow to go up a ladder[56 - was trying to get her cow to go up a ladder – пыталась заставить свою корову взобраться наверх по лестнице] to the grass. So the gentleman asked the woman what she was doing. “Look at all that beautiful grass,” she said, “I’m going to feed my cow with it.” “Oh, you poor silly!” said the gentleman, “you must cut the grass and throw it down[57 - throw it down – сбросить её вниз] to the cow!”

Well, that was one big silly.

Then the gentleman came to an inn. In the morning he saw a strange man. He hang his trousers on the knobs of the chest of drawers[58 - chest of drawers – комод] and ran across the room and tried to jump into them. At last, he stopped and wiped his face with his handkerchief. “Trousers,” he says, “are the most terrible kind of clothes in the world. Who could invent such things?! I usually spend an hour to get into my trousers every morning!” So the gentleman laughed, and showed him how to put the trousers on[59 - how to put the trousers on – как надеть брюки].

So that was another big silly.

Then the gentleman came to a village. Outside the village there was a pond, and round the pond was a crowd of people. And they had rakes, and brooms, and pitchforks, and they were piercing the water of the pond. The gentleman asked what was the matter. “Don’t you see[60 - Don’t you see – Разве ты не видишь],” they say, “Moon fell down into the pond, and we can’t catch it!” So the gentleman laughed and told them to look up into the sky and that it was only the shadow in the water. But they didn’t listen to him and abused him.

And he saw more and more sillies, even more than three. So the gentleman came back home again and married the farmer’s daughter. And if they didn’t live happily, that’s nothing to do with you or me[61 - that’s nothing to do with you or me – это ни вас, ни меня не касается].

The Old Woman and Her Pig

An old woman was sweeping her house, and she found a sixpence. “What,” said she, “shall I do with this little sixpence? I will go to market and buy a little pig.”

While she was coming home, she came to a stile, but the pig did not want to go over the stile.

She went a little further, and she met a dog. So she said to the dog, “Dog! bite the pig; the pig doesn’t go over the stile, and I shan’t get home tonight.” But the dog refused.

She went a little further, and she met a stick. So she said, “Stick! stick! beat the dog! The dog doesn’t bite the pig, the pig doesn’t get over the stile, and I shan’t get home tonight.” But the stick refused.

She went a little further, and she met a fire. So she said, “Fire! fire! burn the stick; the stick doesn’t beat the dog, the dog doesn’t bite the pig, the pig doesn’t get over the stile, and I shan’t get home tonight.” But the fire refused.

She went a little further, and she met some water. So she said, “Water, water! quench the fire; the fire doesn’t burn the stick, the stick doesn’t beat the dog; the dog doesn’t bite the pig; the pig doesn’t get over the stile, and I shan’t get home tonight.” But the water refused.

She went a little further, and she met an ox. So she said, “Ox! ox! drink the water; the water doesn’t quench the fire, the fire doesn’t burn the stick, the stick doesn’t beat the dog, the dog doesn’t bite the pig, the pig doesn’t get over the stile, and I shan’t get home tonight.” But the ox refused.

She went a little further, and she met a butcher. So she said, “Butcher! butcher! kill the ox; the ox doesn’t drink the water, the water doesn’t quench the fire, the fire doesn’t burn the stick, the stick doesn’t beat the dog, the dog doesn’t bite the pig, the pig doesn’t get over the stile, and I shan’t get home tonight.” But the butcher refused.

She went a little further, and she met a rope. So she said, “Rope! rope! hang the butcher, the butcher doesn’t kill the ox, the ox doesn’t drink the water, the water doesn’t quench the fire, the fire doesn’t burn the stick, the stick doesn’t beat the dog, the dog doesn’t bite the pig, the pig doesn’t get over the stile, and I shan’t get home tonight.” But the rope refused.

She went a little further, and she met a rat. So she said, “Rat! rat! gnaw rope, rope doesn’t hang the butcher, the butcher doesn’t kill the ox, the ox doesn’t drink the water, the water doesn’t quench the fire, the fire doesn’t burn the stick, the stick doesn’t beat the dog, the dog doesn’t bite the pig, the pig doesn’t get over the stile, and I shan’t get home tonight.” But the rat refused.

She went a little further, and she met a cat. So she said, “Cat! cat! kill the rat, the rat doesn’t gnaw the rope, the rope doesn’t hang the butcher, the butcher doesn’t kill the ox, the ox doesn’t drink the water, the water doesn’t quench the fire, the fire doesn’t burn the stick, the stick doesn’t beat the dog, the dog doesn’t bite the pig, the pig doesn’t get over the stile, and I shan’t get home tonight.” But the cat said to her, “If you go to that cow and fetch me a saucer of milk, I will kill the rat.”