英语阅读素材

1、000 The Hen and the Little GirlIn a country home, a mother hen and her cute chicks were living happily. A little girl came to visit the country home, but was very bored. One night, the girl went into the chicken house. As soon as she went in, there was disorder.Here and there cries of the chickens c

2、ould be heard. The father, who was inside, woke up."What's going on? Why are you bothering the chickens?" "Because I'm bored." "You have to sleep now, go inside."The girl went into the chicken house, again, the next day. There was a racket again, as the chickens

3、 were frightened. The moon in the night sky was worried. This time, the little girl's father will not be forgiving.Finally, the sleeping father woke up. "Why are the chickens crying? By chance" The father was angry and came out to the yard."What's wrong with you? Is it okay to

4、 bother animals that can't talk? You need to be punished." When the little girl saw her father's angry face, she began to cry."It is true that I bothered the chickens, but I was bored yesterday. But today I went in to apologize to the chickens. I was going to hug the chickens."

5、;When the father heard what his daughter said, a smile quickly appeared on his face. "You are truly my daughter." The father praised his daughter. He was proud of his daughter that knew how to apologize. The moon in the sky gave a big laugh, too.001 The Mermaid PrincessIn the deep, sea pal

6、ace, there lived a mermaid princess. Whenever she sang a song with her beautiful voice, everyone envied her. However, the mermaid princess wanted to go to the outside world."I would like to hear the beautiful sound of birds. "The king promised her. "When you turn 15 years old, you can

7、 go and see the life above the sea." "Oh, I can't wait!Finally, it was the mermaid princess' 15th birthday. She went up to the sea. The princess saw a great ship. And she saw a handsome prince standing on the ship. The princess fell in love with him at first sight.However, as thund

8、er and lightning struck, the ship sank on its side. The prince lost his consciousness and fell deep into the sea. "Oh, no! The prince fell into the water. Let me hurry and save him."The princess saved the prince and laid him on the sand. The princess took care of him all night. When the pr

9、ince opened his eyes, the mermaid princess hid from him. She thought he might get scared by her tail. Just then, a princess from a neighbor land came out to see the sea and she saw the prince.The princess watched from a far the prince who always came out to the sea at night. The princess was very sa

10、d. She wanted to become a human so that she could be with the prince.She asked the witch. "Okay, I will make you into a human, but you must give me your beautiful voice. If the prince marries someone else, you will become a water bubble. You must marry the prince."On the sand, she drank th

11、e medicine that the witch had given her. With the big sudden pain, she turned into a human. Just then, the prince who came out to the sea saw the princess.The prince took the princess who could not speak, to his palace. Although she could not speak, she was happy to be living near the prince. The pr

12、ince was going to be married to a princess from a neighbor land."I will be marrying the princess that saved my life." 'I am the one that saved your life.' But, her voice could not be heard.At night, the mermaid princess' older sisters came up to the sea. They gave the mermaid p

13、rincess a knife and said, "If you stab the prince with this knife, you can be a mermaid again. If you don't, you will become a water bubble."On the night of the wedding, the mermaid princess was going to stab the sleeping prince with the knife. But, she could not kill the loving prince

14、. "It's best that I just turn into a water bubble. "When morning came, the mermaid turned into a water bubble and went up to heaven.002 The Naked KingLong, long time ago, there lived a very fancy king. The king changed his clothes 12 times a day. He really liked to show off to his subj

15、ects. "My clothes are the best in the world."One day, two tailors planned a trick. "Why don't we teach that stupid and extravagant king a lesson. He doesn't even worry about his starving people." "That's right! He thinks he's the best."The two men went t

16、o see the king. "Oh, the world's most marvelous king! We have brought the most beautiful cloth in the whole world." "However, not everyone is able to see the cloth. Those that tell lies and have bad hearts are not able to see this fine cloth."After the king heard those words,

17、 he became very interested. "Could there really be such a cloth? If I can make clothes out of those cloths, my clothes will be the best in the whole world. Hurry and show me the cloth." The king began to get more and more greedy.The tailors pretended that the cloth was real, as they showed

18、 it to the king. The king and the fine-spoken subjects could not see anything before them. But, none of them could show that they could not see it.The king and his fine-spoken subjects just looked at each other. Then, the tailor quickly spoke in a arrogant manner. "Well, is there no honest man

19、here? How can you look at this beautiful cloth and not praise it."Among the subjects, one of them made a flattering comment out loud. "Wow! This is the first time that I have seen such a wonderful cloth." All the subjects tried to be the first to praise the cloth. Then, the king was a

20、mazed with the beauty of the cloth, too.The king gave the money and ordered them to make his clothes. For several days, the tailors pretended to be making the clothes. The king became worried and told one of his subjects to go and see how the clothes was coming along.The subject could not say how mu

21、ch the clothes had been completed. As hard as he looked, he could not see it. But, he could not say that he was unable to see it. Instead, he pretended to be amazed at how beautiful it was coming along.A few days later, the tailors came back with the King's clothes. "Here you are, try on th

22、is clothes." The king was not able to honestly say that he could not see the clothes. He, too, pretended to look over it.One man said, "Your majesty, lets go and show off this finest clothes in the world." The subjects all agreed at the same time. "Yes, that is a good idea."

23、The king walked out to the street very proudly and walked with pride. All the people in the land came out to see the king's new clothes. They were all surprised, though.Just then, a little girl shouted out, "Our king is naked!" Then everyone said,"He's naked, he's naked!&q

24、uot;The king now realized the truth. However, with only his undergarments on, he still walked in a dignified manner. Even though he was embarrassed, he could not stop walking. Why not? Because he was the king.003 The Elf of the RoseThere once was a rose bush in full bloom in a big garden. An elf was

25、 living in the most beautiful rose in the garden, and she was so small that people could not see her. She had long blond hair to her toes and beautiful wings.One day, it got dark before she got home. She had been dancing and flying around so she didn't have time to get back to the rose bush. Sud

26、denly, the weather got cold, evening dew started to fall, and a strong wind began to blow. She could not stay in the other flowers because they were all closed up."What am I going to do now? It's too cold." She got scared because she had never stayed outside at night. There was a twink

27、ling light from the other side of the garden. "It's too cold, and I am scared. Maybe I should spend tonight there."The elf flew to a pavilion on the other side of the garden in a hurry. But there were already two people in the pavilion. A beautiful young lady and a handsome man were pr

28、aying that they would never be apart from each other. They were in love."But we must go far away from each other soon." "Your brother is sending me away because he does not like our marriage. Oh my bride, please wait for me until I come back to you!" She sobbed and nodded her hea

29、d.She pulled off a rose from the bush which was aside her and kissed it. Then she gave him the rose as a token of her love. At that moment, the rose opened up. The elf went into the rose secretly.At that moment, a horrible looking man entered the pavillion. He was the brother of the young lady. &quo

30、t;What? You want to marry my sister?" He drew his sword and cut the young man and buried him under a linden-tree."He is gone forever now, and he will forget my sister. How dare the poor little boy want to marry my sister? It is common to die during a trip, so nobody will suspect me of murd

31、ering him." The brother brushed up his clothes and disappeared.The elf woke up and found she was in the middle of a dark forest. "Oh my! The forest is moving!" But it was not a forest. It was the hair of the young lady's brother. She shivered with fear and anger.When they got in t

32、he house, the young lady from the garden was crying. The man looked at his sister and gave her a chilly smile, and went to bed. "Oh my lover, my dear fiance, please come back safely." She sobbed sadly and fell asleep.The elf sat down quietly spreading her wings and told the young lady what

33、 she saw that day. "What I am trying to say now is not a dream. If you dig under the linden-tree in the garden, you will find your fiance. It is your brother who killed him."The beautiful young lady woke up. She secretly went out of her room and dug under the linden-tree as the elf had sai

34、d.Her lover was lying in the ground, cold dead. She cried out sadly and killed herself right next to her fiance. After some time passed, a flower called, 'Jasmine' came into bloom at the place where the two lovers had died. The Jasmine had big white flowers on the branch and had a sweet smel

35、l.Incidentally, the young lady's brother was walking down the road and he pulled off a branch of the jasmine and put it near his bedside. When night fell, two bees with poison stingers came out of the jasmine flowers and bit the brother's ears and mouth, and then they vanished.004 The Ugly D

36、ucklingA mother duck was brooding on her eggs near the margin of a pond. A flock of lovely baby ducks was soon born, making sweet peeping sounds when the eggs were broken. But one egg remained unbroken. "It is strange. Why has this egg not broken?"The mother duck continued her brooding. At

37、 last, the egg was broken and a baby duck was born. However that baby duck was very ugly compared to the other baby ducks.The mother duck was worried, but still she took the baby ducks near the water and taught them how to swim. The ugly duckling also swam with his brothers and sisters, moving his l

38、egs eagerly. "It is lucky though. That baby swims well." Still his brothers pecked at the ugly duckling with their bills."How hideous this baby duck is. We don't want to see you. Go to a cat." His brothers gave a very hard time to the poor duckling. "Stop it, don't d

39、o that!" The mother duck sighed and said, "Ah! I wish that this baby could live happily at another place."The baby duck heard what his mother said and dropped tears of sorrow saying, "Mom, I will leave. Good-bye." The ugly duckling left his nest beyond the pond.When he enter

40、ed the forest, other birds were frightened by the baby duck and ran away. "Why do they run away? Is it because I am so awful?" The baby duck became sadder and plodded along the field.Near the water beside the field, two wild ducks were playing around. "Yah, what is that ugly duck? Let

41、's make fun of him." The two wild ducks flew up in the air and threw stones at the baby duck."Bang! Bang!" At that time, a hunter shot his gun. The two wild ducks fell down dead to the ground. "Uh? What is this small bird?" The hunter took home the awkward little baby du

42、ck along with the two wild ducks."Dad, what is this poor-looking bird?" "I took it with me in order to give it to you, my son. It was trembling with fear in the water." The children gave a hard time to the baby duck by pulling its wings and tail."That hurts! Ow!" The ba

43、by duck spilled a jug of milk while running away from the cruel hands of the children. The dishes on the table were also broken. The angry hunter sent out the baby duck with a flourish of his broomstick. And so the after being cast out from the house of the hunter, the ugly duckling spent a long and

44、 cold winter alone.Finally spring came. The baby duck had a good stretch and flew up in the air vigorously. "Uh! I am flying!"Upon the lake, a flock of white and pretty swans were playing around while swimming. "They are indeed pretty birds." The baby duck became sad. "Those

45、 birds may not like me as I am so ugly."The baby duck tried to run away from the group of beautiful swans. "Hi! Where are you going? Come and play around with us!" The baby duck approached the swans hesitatingly. At that moment, the baby duck saw his own appearance reflected to the la

46、ke. There was one more beautiful swan gliding gracefully across the water.The ugly duckling who overcame all suffering had finally become a beautiful swan. And so he lived happily ever after.005 NightingaleA long time ago in China there lived an emperor. The emperor loved to read books. One day, in

47、the book he was reading, it wrote, "The most beautiful precious treasure is the bird nightingale."The emperor had never seen or heard of nightingale. "What is nightingale?" No one has ever seen or heard of it.The emperor was very curious as to what nightingale was. "Bring ni

48、ghtingale to me at once". The servants were worried by the emperor's command. They looked here and there.One day a little girl said that she knew of nightingale. She said that the bird she had was nightingale. It was a small cute bird. At once nightingale was brought to the emperor.The empe

49、ror was very happy. "Ah is this bird called nightingale?" For the first time in his life, he heard the beautiful voice and was impressed and deeply moved."Please give me nightingale and I will reward you handsomely." So nightingale came to live in the palace. Everyday Nightingale

50、 sang for the emperor.Emperor was happy every time he heard Nightingale sing. He was so proud of Nightingale that he allowed the servants to hear it too. However, Nightingale was not happy. Nightingale felt trapped and had no freedom.One day the neighboring country sent a gift to the emperor. It was

51、 a nightingale doll made of jewels and gold. Every time the doll was wound up it sang beautifully. Furthermore, the emperor if wanted could hear it everyday."It's really amazing. It's beauty is the finest in the world." The real Nightingale was sad. The real Nightingale decided to

52、leave. It flew off into the forest of freedom.The Nightingale doll kept on singing. One day the doll broke. No body was able to fix it. The emperor was heart broken.The emperor became ill. He just laid there waiting to die. Just then, from the window, a beautiful song came flowing in. Everyone looke

53、d.Sitting by the window, Nightingale began singing. Shortly after, the emperor became better. Nightingale was happy. Soon, the emperor's face was filled with happiness once again.006 The Wild SwansOnce upon a time in a kingdom far away, there were eleven Princes and a single Princess, by the nam

54、e of Elisa. One day, their mother died of a disease.Eventually the King married again. The new Queen hated the twelve children.She said craftily, "Elisa is weak, and it would be good for her to go to the country for recuperation." The King was grateful to the Queen, as she seemed to care f

55、or the health of his daughter. Therefore, the Princess was sent off to the remotest corner of the country.The Queen then changed the eleven Princes into swans through her magic power, and sent them away from the royal palace. The Princes flew away crying sadly. "Oh! I feel good. It is my world

56、now."After some time, the King missed Princess Elisa and sent for her. The Queen had Princess Elisa wear a dirty and worn-out dress. The King was very surprised to see the dirty Princess Elisa. "Elisa, how do you dress yourself?" Then the Queen said quickly, "Dear Lord, it seems

57、that Princess Elisa has gone mad." The King was furious and sent the Princess away from him."Ah! Where are my brothers?" The Princess asked a man passing by, "Have you ever seen eleven Princes?" The man said, "I have not seen eleven Princes but I have seen eleven swans.

58、 Strangely the swans wore golden crowns. You may find them near the river."Princess Elisa waited for her brothers near the river hoping to find them. At night, eleven swans swooped down to the ground and were turned into the form of Princes. "My brothers!" "Elisa!" They crie

59、d and embraced each other.The brothers were trapped under the spell of the wicked Queen, and were forced to become swans and fly around to look for something to eat during the day. Elisa prayed earnestly, "Dear God, please release the magic curse from my brothers." In her dreams that night

60、, a fairy appeared and said, "Make mantles for your brothers with hemp and have them wear the mantles. However, you should not speak at all until those mantles are made completely."The Princes thought that Elisa, who did not speak and merely kept knitting, had become strange. One day, a Pr

61、ince from a neighboring kingdom saw the knitting Princess when he was out hunting. The Prince took Elisa to his palace saying to himself, "She is a really beautiful lady. I am going to make her happy."But Elisa did not say anything, and only kept knitting eagerly. At nightfall of the next

62、day, the hemp was all used up. Elisa picked some more hemp near a grave but was caught by the Prince. The Prince said, "You dared to go to a grave at night? You must be a witch. Take this witch and burn her at the stake!"Princess Elisa was unable to say anything and was imprisoned. Princess Elisa continued knitting without taking rest even in the prison.